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Monday, February 25, 2008

"More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion!"

LVF DRESSED UP AS SHOLOM RUBASHKIN AND GOT IN TO BELSKY'S HOUSE AS PESACH CLEANING IS UNDER WAY!




WILL THE ORTHODOX JEWS HAVE A CATHOLIC PROBLEM? (My words)....The unaffiliated are the country’s fourth largest “religious group.” for the full article go to The New York Times Site. I believe we are headed in the same direction as the Catholics; a religion full of meaningless rituals, a barbaric - heartless clergy, and destruction of the essence of religion - a meaningful relationship with our Creator. The disenfranchisement in our camps, is not from the "fringe element". It is from the mainstream; Judaism lovers, and adherents to our Mesorah and halacha.

We are now facing troubled waters and a "perfect storm". The (economic) real estate collapse has come home to roost in the hood. People, that only a short year ago were able to meet monstrous financial obligations, are now painfully screaming for help. Mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and housing and Wall St. related incomes, have all gone away with a thump. Yeshivas are seeking new and desperate ways to meet their obligations. Ask the thief from Spinka, and the other pious frauds that call themselves rabbis.

A glut of homes in Lakewood are sitting empty and the people that built and financed them are wondering what went wrong. And there's the "bitachon" crowd that are certain that by some miracle, the more people that sit in kollel, the same people who never learned prior to their wedding, God will certainly intervene and provide them with all their needs. After all, they received a bracha or two from the Kupat Ha'ir gedolim.

So history repeats itself. The rabbis are leading their flock to slaughter, while they run off to safety in the havens of their real estate empires that they built off your broken backs. And this is just the beginning, the storm has just begun!


Americans Change Faiths at Rising Rate, Report Finds

By NEELA BANERJEE

Published: February 25, 2008

WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, according to a new survey of religious affiliation by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The report, titled “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” depicts a highly fluid and diverse national religious life. If shifts among Protestant denominations are included, then it appears that 44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations.

For at least a generation, scholars have noted that more Americans are moving among faiths, as denominational loyalty erodes. But the survey, based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans, offers one of the clearest views yet of that trend, scholars said. The United States Census does not track religious affiliation.

The report shows, for example, that every religion is losing and gaining members, but that the Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes.”

The survey also indicates that the group that had the greatest net gain was the unaffiliated. More than 16 percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth largest “religious group.”

Detailing the nature of religious affiliation — who has the numbers, the education, the money — signals who could hold sway over the country’s political and cultural life, said John Green, an author of the report who is a senior fellow on religion and American politics at Pew.

Michael Lindsay, assistant director of the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life at Rice University, echoed that view. “Religion is the single most important factor that drives American belief attitudes and behaviors,” said Mr. Lindsay, who had read the Pew report. “It is a powerful indicator of where America will end up on politics, culture, family life. If you want to understand America, you have to understand religion in America.”

In the 1980s, the General Social Survey by the National Opinion Research Center indicated that from 5 percent to 8 percent of the population described itself as unaffiliated with a particular religion.

In the Pew survey 7.3 percent of the adult population said they were unaffiliated with a faith as children. That segment increases to 16.1 percent of the population in adulthood, the survey found. The unaffiliated are largely under 50 and male. “Nearly one-in-five men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13 percent of women,” the survey said.

The rise of the unaffiliated does not mean that Americans are becoming less religious, however. Contrary to assumptions that most of the unaffiliated are atheists or agnostics, most described their religion “as nothing in particular.” Pew researchers said that later projects would delve more deeply into the beliefs and practices of the unaffiliated and would try to determine if they remain so as they age.


To Prof. Stephen Prothero, large numbers of Americans leaving organized religion....

“Those losing out are offering impersonal religion .............

The percentage of Catholics in the American population has held steady for decades at about 25 percent. But that masks a precipitous decline in native-born Catholics. The proportion has been bolstered by the large influx of Catholic immigrants, mostly from Latin America, the survey found.............

The Catholic Church has lost more adherents than any other group: about one-third of respondents raised Catholic said they no longer identified as such. Based on the data, the survey showed, “this means that roughly 10 percent of all Americans are former Catholics.”**********************

74 comments:

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Anonymous said...

From BeliefNet
http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9776&page=4

Some background information, the EJF is run by Rabbi Leib Tropper and funded and controlled by Thomas Kaplan and Guma Aguiar of Leor Energy (http://www.leorenergy.com/t_kaplan_management.php)

Thomas Kaplan fortune enables the EJF to run fancy conferences all over the country and to buy rabbis. Unfortunately for Kaplan/Leor Energy/Tropper/EJF some rabbis could not be bought.

Leib Tropper himself is a controversial figure, divorced, which is unusual for rabbis who are expected to keep their house in order. He is Obese (300+ pounds) which is also unusual for rabbis who are expected to have self control.

He received his rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Pinchas Sceinberg who is infamous for his edict that there is no child molestation if there is no penetration.
http://nymag.com/news/features/17010/index3.html

He is cousin of the late Shlomo Carleback an alleged sexual predator
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/carlebach_shlomo.html

Tropper other business is Kol Yaakov Torah Center, a cult like BT yeshiva in Monsey. The students in the yeshiva are tightly controlled by Tropper. They are not allowed to stay in their parents house if the parents do not become observant. Their shiduch has to be approved by Tropper and they are not allowed to go college not even to YU.

One of many life shuttered by Tropper is the life of Gideon Busch, a promissing medical school student who Tropper told to drop out of medical school and join the yeshiva. In the yeshiva Gideon Busch got brain washed and then expelled by Tropper. Gideon Busch ended up getting shot and killed by the NYPD.
http://www.observer.com/node/42000

When he is involved with returnee couples who have religious differences he encourages the more religious spouse to divorce the other spouse regardless of the children welfare.


Tropper was behind the ban of Rabbi Slifkin’s books.
http://www.zootorah.com/controversy/account.html

He is best friend with convicted felon and ArtScrol author Leib Pinter (AKA The Energizer Ganev)
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com...10489685238257

more facts to come

If someone knows about inappropriate conduct by EJF, Kol Yaakov, Leib Tropper please contact the UOJ, Failed Messiah and Anthony Weiss of the Forward

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Inflation Soars as Confidence Plunges

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 26, 2008
Filed at 10:17 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- No good news today on the economic front. Consumer confidence plunged, the wholesale inflation rate soared, the number of homes being foreclosed jumped, home prices fell sharply and a report predicts big increases in health care costs.

Consumer confidence weakened significantly as Americans worry about less-favorable business conditions and job prospects. The New York-based Conference Board says in a report released on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plunged in February to 75.0 from a revised 87.3 in January.

The reading -- the lowest since the index registered 64.8 in February 2003 -- is far below the 83.0 analysts expected.

The index measures how consumers feel now about the economy. It has been weakening since July, suggesting that wary consumers may retrench financially, which could fatigue the economy further.

Inflation at the wholesale level soared in January, pushed higher by rising costs for food, energy and medicine. The monthly increase carried the annual inflation rate to its fastest jump in a quarter century.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent last month, more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting.

The January surge left wholesale prices rising by 7.5 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace in more than 26 years, since prices had risen at a 7.5 percent pace in the 12 months ending in October 1981.

The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn't unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday.

Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices.

The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions

U.S. home prices lost 8.9 percent in the final quarter of 2007, Standard & Poor's said Tuesday, marking a full year of declining values and the steepest drop in the 20-year history of its housing index.

''We reached a somber year-end for the housing market in 2007,'' said one of the index's creators Robert Shiller. ''Home prices across the nation and in most metro areas are significantly lower than where they were a year ago. Wherever you look things look bleak.''

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices, which include a quarterly index, a 20-city index and a 10-city index, reflect year-over-year declines in 17 metropolitan areas with double-digit declines in eight of them.

By 2017, total health care spending will double to more than $4 trillion a year, accounting for one of every $5 the nation spends, the federal government projects.

The 6.7 percent annual increase in spending -- nearly three times the rate of inflation-- will be largely driven by higher prices and an increased demand for care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday. Other factors in the mix include a growing and aging population. The first wave of baby boomers become eligible for Medicare beginning in 2011.

With the aging population, the federal government will be picking up the tab for a growing share of the nation's medical expenses. Overall, federal and state governments accounted for about 46 percent of health expenditures in 2006. That percentage will increase to 49 percent over the next decade.

Anonymous said...

The heilige “Hamodia” endorses Hillary… Yes, yes, of course, I know all the teirutzim on the book… it’s only for the Democratic nomination blah blah blah… so why no endorsement for a Republican candidate?

And let’s face it: besides her Presidential Majesty, Hillary Innocent Clinton, who would give a damn about New York’s hook-nosed cloak-clad population? Barack Non-Terrorist, Non-Hussein O’Bama? Mitt Romney who wants to throw our dear Mexican builders out of the country, and then all our dropouts will have to start working in supermarkets? Hucklabeery Finn the evangelist? John McCocaine?

Obviously, only Her Eminence Queen Clinton –wink wink- will remember –wink wink- how we put her in office, -wink wink-. And how our innocently jailed non-criminals were pardoned –wink, wink- by her “husband”. Oh, her husband’s closest friends are murderers, rapists, shakedown experts, con artists, world-class terrorists and pornographers? So what? Why not lighten the picture by throwing in a few rabbis? Hey, for money, isn’t everything kosher veyosher?

I just can’t understand it. When Mordechai the Jew banned Seudas Achashverosh, all the Persian bloggers made fun of him, said he’s a fanatic, and invents new chumras everyday. Then, when he refused to bow down to Hamany Clinton, they all screamed that he endangers all Jews. But now those who claim to be Mordechai’s representatives shamelessly bow down to the worst possible people. How come these heilige hassidim don’t back up from a promoter of homosexual marriage?

And it gets even better: the “Hamodia” is endorsing her! There are also a bunch of paid ads and letters from America’s best and brightest swindlers, shakedown experts and con artists with shterimels supporting her!

Anonymous said...

If the illegal immigrants are ח"ו amnestized, the Orthodox community can kiss their darling politicians goodbye. The immigrants understand less, vote more, demand less, and it will be a lot easier to pull the wool over their eyes. The very arms on which dignified Rebbes and important Roshey yeshiva used to hang will stab us all in the back. “הוו זהירין ברשות שאין מקרבין לו לאדם אלא לצורך עצמן, נראין כאוהבין בשעת הנאתן ואין עומדין לו בשעת דחקו” The boots which you diligently licked will kick you in the face faster than you can say “gevald!” Goobye cheap housing! Goodbye Yeshiva freebies! Goodbye seudos Achashverosh! Goodbye shopping with food stamps while being clad in thousands of dollars in clothing! Goodbye uncontrolled building permits, grants, “congregations” and parsonage deductions!

Anonymous said...

http://theantisemite.blogspot.com/2008/02/fool-for-your-loving-no-more.html

Read Joe Izrael here give a thrashing to Harry Maryles & Avi Shafran.

Anonymous said...

No surprise.

Lipa canceled out of another concert today, this one in London April 1st.

He's drunk on the Kool-Aid supplied by the "Tachtonim".

No Concerts, but eating treif meat while your kids are getting sodomized by Rebbeim, that's OK.

What a beautiful religion!

T Minus 7-1/2 weeks to the Shabbos Hagodol D-Roshos by Unserer Tachtonim.

Anonymous said...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23350937/

Anonymous said...

i for one believe we should take a new approach

every bochur that gets married now unless the parents place in escrow the money to support him should be required to get a job

all yeshivos must lower tuition 50 percent and hold the line
every body who works for the klal like a david mandel shall not be allowed to earn over 120K not the 330k that her earns while hosting fundraisers for a lesbian citycouncilwoman and telling people not to go to that authorities but to the rabbis when molested (or did i forget ohel sent victims to mondorowitz)
after 10 years of work if the person still wishes to go to kolel then a group of professional business leaders should decide if they wish to support this drain on our economy
it is time this welfare state stops

Paul Mendlowitz said...

February 26, 2008 Solomon’s Ground Buffalo

Brands:
Solomon's
Products:
Ground Buffalo (UPC #0-53390-061038-8)
Company:
Blackwing Bison Meats, Inc. - Antioch, IL
Issue:
The Orthodox Union certifies Solomon Ground Buffalo as kosher. A limited amount of non-kosher meat was substituted for kosher meat and sold in Solomon's packaging. The non-kosher product is identifiable by the following:

1) The inner plastic wrap does not contain a plastic OU seal.
2) The meat is on a black Styrofoam tray.

Consumers spotting the mislabeled product are requested to contact the Orthodox Union at 212-613-8241 or at kashalerts@ou.org.

Anonymous said...

A limited amount?

How limited is limited?

The silver lining in this announcement is that at least this stuff won't be served to us at Concerts.

Anonymous said...

If you notice on the kol koreh of the concert ban, it states that if they went ahead with the concert, these performers would be banned from performing at weddings or fundraisers. In Israel, they already banned Yaakov Shwekey and Avrohom Fried. Meanwhile, there is nothing stopping Yudi Kolko, Lipa Brenner, Ephraim Bryks, et al, from attaining teaching positions. Let me get this straight: had Lipa Schmeltzer performed religious Jewish music in front of separately seated religious Jewish men and women, he would have been banned for life from doing what he does to earn a living. On the other hand, Yudi Kolko and Lipa Brenner perform lewd acts upon pure and innocent Jewish children, and they are allowed to continue in chinuch for forty years. In the eyes of concert ban signers, Lipa Margulies and Yisroel Belsky, this makes perfect sense and is totally just!

The banners want you to think that they are looking out for the welfare of our children by issuing these decrees. If they are really concerned, then why not give them the same protection from child molesters as the public school children enjoy? Instead they are sitting ducks waiting for the next predator to strike, chas veshalom. What about the real issues of undersge drinking (Purim is coming soon) and underage smoking? What about what goes on at winter vacations in Florida, and at Passover "retreats"? For these real problems, we hear nothing from them. It's hear no evil, see no evil. The real evil is those concerts!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

I said kaddish at shacharit and tore my garment this morning (riced kriah).

I am very serious...Yiddishkeit of our ancestors I pronounced dead. I am in mourning!

Anonymous said...

The making of a Kol Koreh

It has been said that there are two things that should not be watched how they are made; sausages and laws. The same rule goes for Kol Korehs. This is exactly how they are done from beginning to end.

First, some Yingerman, who never earned a dime in his life nor ever opened a sefer, has an idea come to him on his way to Kollel from Minkatch after Shachris at 2pm. He mulls this idea over in his head and looks for an angle how to make the biggest stink with his idea. The more people he can inconvenience the more attention and success his proposal can have. He then goes to his local group of fellow leidigeiers and pitches the idea. Gevaldig! They all scream in unison. They now have what to do for weeks.

So, they now go home to their brand new internet equipped computers start up the 'ol MS Word and start typing up a nissuch. The more times the word z'nus is used, the better it will look.

Now comes the fun part. The Rabbanim hopping. The technique can be a bit tricky but this is how it goes. You go to the first Rav and lie through your teeth about how horrible the transgression is. You make sure to fabricate as many issur d'oireisas that people may be oiver there. Then when the Rav thinks about signing it or not. You lie to him in your most persuasive voice and tell him how many other Rabbanim have signed it already. Then this Rav has no choice. How would it look that he was the only one not signing? Who would he be then? So, sight unseen he signs the Kol Koreh.

The leidigeiers follow this pattern another twenty to thirty times and poof, you have a Kol Koreh.

Now please don't vomit.

Ahavah said...

It doesn't have to be dead. People only stay where they are, figuratively and literally, because they've been told they have no other options - they're afraid of being cast out alone.

Those who are in a position to do so must step up to the plate and start new shuls, new homeschool cooperatives, apprenticeships and job training to replace the indoctrination factories, new transparent charities and pooled funds that really help people who are trying to help themselves but just need a leg up.

And yell, loud and long, that these new places of worship, schooling, and self-help are the real deal - true Judaism - not that powermongering crap the "gedolim" are dishing out.

Light always wins against darkness. We have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the structure is too hopelessly corrupt to be reformed from the inside. There is no soundness there - only rot. We have to build anew, excluding the rot. It's like cancer surgery - we cut out the tumors and begin healing the good flesh.

We can no longer be afraid to wipe the slate clean and start again. They will call us names and fight tooth and nail, but when they do, we just point out that they're scared and desperate to hold onto their power and privilege. Those who are seeking light will hear the truth. Those who benefit from the darkness will go down with their ship - natural selection, of sorts.

Don't give up. Abraham walked away from the land of his fathers to follow Hashem's call. So can we.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

So, sight unseen he signs the Kol Koreh.
------------------

Don't kid yourself, Kaminetzky, Belsky and Perlow know exactly what they're doing by including Lipa Margulies - they're telling all of us to go to hell!

I spit on them and what they stand for!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Ahavah,

The lonely voices are so few...I know that they think they will prevail. Perhaps in the short run...history will treat them as zonas, that sold their souls for a few bucks!

Anonymous said...

JS Comments on Vaad of Baltimore, Mandel, Hopfer presentation

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great article. Thanks for posting it. I was wondering if David Mandel would have gone on like he did at the end if Dr. Pelcovitz would have been able to stay longer?

I just thought it was interesting that he waited until Pelcovitz left.
February 25, 2008 10:28 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what about the case of Shmuel Juravel? Did Hopfer and his friends cover that case up too?

Think about how many children could have been spared becoming victimized by Shmuel and the rest of the Juravel family if the Vaad would have done the right thing and allow law enforcement investigate the allegations.
February 25, 2008 12:14 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Vicki is absolutely right. I should have stood up and said something. I was outraged at what Mandel was saying. Next time I won't keep quiet.
February 25, 2008 1:17 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Enough already with the Rabbi bashing. these blogs all have the same whining complaints. yes there is a problem, and yes its probably been addressed incorrectly. however, the rabbonim in Baltimore, and in particular Rabbi Hopfer, are well meaning and kind people.
February 25, 2008 3:01 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't see this as rabbi bashing at all. I see this as exposing the truth. Giving people who have been harmed a voice.

I might feel differently about rabbi hopfer if he would allow the Eisgrau daughter contact with her siblings. By not doing so he is showing his ignorance and arrogance, which I personally find repulsive.

I think about what Hopfer knows about Yaakov Menken and how he has done nothing to protect unsuspecting young women from being the next victim.

What about the Eisemann survivors who went to Hopfer? He heard what they had to say and then had rav Moshe Eisemann retire, yet did nothing to ensure no more bar mitzva students went near him, nor did he do anything to prevent children on the campus of Ner Israel from being harmed.

I also can't stop thinking about all of the Juravel survivors and their family members who went to Hopfer for help and guidance over the last fifteen years. All he did was shun them and help Shmuel move out of town.

Sorry, this is not rabbi bashing, this is called exposing the truth, the facts and asking for our rabbis to do the right thing. . . they need to stop trying to investigate these crimes on their own. They need to automatically call law enforcement and report the allegations immediately upon hearing about them.
February 25, 2008 4:14 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

of course it bashing. vp can't post a story without diving straight into the negativity of the rabbis in baltimore. go to the press, talk on tv, hand out flyers. the story here is not how the rabbis have covered up the crimes, the story is the crime itself.
February 25, 2008 5:23 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah. Way to go Vicki.

It takes courage to stand up in the face of the enemy.

Chazak!
February 25, 2008 5:44 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're absolutely correct. The original story is about the sex crime committed against our children. It's a story that definitely needs to be told. The problem is that story changes very quickly when those with power and authority use their influence to cover up the crimes.

I do not believe that anyone is rabbi bashing here. I'm sure the same would be said if it was a teacher or school covering up a crime; or if it was a mental health professional, hospital or any other institution.

We cannot ignore the fact that our rabbonim have been those with power, control and influence. Unfortunately, they have done the unthinkable.

Our rabbonim have been doing what they can to protect the few sexual predators who live in our community, at the expense of our children who have been sexually victimized and also these children's family members.

Each time a family is forced to move away from Baltimore to protect their children or have been shamed and blamed for speaking what our rabbonim want to call "lashon hara" -- both our rabbis and are community members are allowing more neshema's to be destroy.

One of the biggest problems Jewish communities have to face is the rate of assimilation of our young people. According to statistics 1/4 of all adults were sexually abused as children. Many of those who are Jewish who have been abused (and or their family members) are no longer keeping kosher or shabbos. The reason that is often given is because of the way our rabbonim have been conducting themselves.

Who is responsible for allowing survivors of child sexual abuse neshema's (Jewish souls) to decay? I definitely do not believe it is the fault of those who have been victimized. I personally put the blame on anyone who shames or blames a victim, especially our rabbonim and also many of our community members.

The issue is not only that our children are being molested by a few sexual predators within the eruv of Baltimore, the issue is that those with power and control have been allowing it to happen.

Think about this, if our beloved rabbonim would have reported Shmuel Juravel to the police the first time there were allegations made against him -- instead of handling things on their own, many innocent children could have been spared a life of depression, low self-esteem, addictions and also suicide attempts.

Similar things could be said about the case rav Eliezer Eisgrau. Can you imagine how different the life of his daughter would have been if the community would have worked with law enforcement several years ago when they tried to investigate the allegations?

Instead we are all at fault for allowing the message to be sent out to the Eisgrau daughter that she was a liar, not trustworthy and or that she was deranged, young woman. The message we should have been sending was that she was loved and cared for. I'm saying this even if the allegations were not true. The most important message was that she was crying out for help. She needed unconditional love, something was wrong and most people in the community turned their backs on her.

What ended up happening was that the Eisgrau daughter was forced to leave the only community she knew. She had to choose to between keeping quiet and possibly ending up committing suicide . . . or speaking the truth about what happened to her.

B'H' the Eisgrau daughter chose life!

The sickening and sad part has to do with the decree bestowed upon her by rav Hopfer. Because of him we have all lost a great deal. None of us have gotten the opportunity to meet her husband, or their children. The grandchildren of rav Eisgrau are also being harmed by rav Hopfer.

The president of the Baltimore Vaad took away the opportunity of the Eisgrau children being surrounded by their aunts, uncles and cousins. These children are missing out in getting to know all of us.

This is a curse put on them by rav Hopfer, a man who knows very little about sexual abuse. I find it outrageous that someone who is the president of our Vaad would do something like this to a young woman who was struggling to stay alive. I'll be honest with you, it's extremely difficult for me to respect a man who could do all of this.

I often wonder if Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer actions could have been a blessing in disguise? Maybe his actions spared the young lives of the Eisgrau survivors from becoming sexually victimized by their maternal grandfather?

We also have to take a hard look those who were allegedly sexually terrorized by harav Moshe Eisemann.

Does anyone really know how many of them are really out there?

Imagine that Eisemann molested one boy per month (x) forty years. That would mean he would have molested at least 480 boys. But what if that estimate was too low. What if the reality is that harav Eisemann molested one boy per week (x) 40 years. That would mean he molested at least 2080 boys.

We also have to remember that Rav Eisemann traveled the world, between England, Germany and Kishnev, Russia, so we really need to try to figure out how many different countries could he have allegedly left boys he sexually victimized? Don't forget on average someone who had been sexually victimized as a child never come forward, and those that do so often don't even begin to share their experiences until they are in their forties or fifties.
February 25, 2008 11:54 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for the last comment. I agree completely. The conspiracy of silence and cover up is much worse then the original crime. I also think that Dr. Aviva Weisbord's role in this needs to be addressed and publicized. Isn't she the director of the Big Brother Big Sister program at JFS? What if one of the children in her program discloses that he was molested by Eisgrau? Would she report it? She treated Eisgrau's daughter years ago and has told Hopfer that nothing happened to her. Hopfer is trusting her word which is why he is protecting Eisgrau. She told Hopfer as well as others that she does not believe the allegations. Never mind that R' Eisgrau is a friend of hers and that she was seeing his daughter as a favor to him! She thinks nothing of breaking confidentiality and telling people that Eisgrau's daughter is "crazy." A very professional diagnosis from a psychologist.(sarcasm intended.) I would love to see Eisgrau's daughter take her to civil court for her unethical and immoral behavior toward her. Let's ask Weisbord why she won't she make a public comment against her brother Matis's molesting behavior? Is she protecting him too? The Baltimore community functions in many ways like one big dysfunctional family.
February 26, 2008 7:18 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aviva Weisbord has another brother besides Matis who had allegations made against him. Don't forget about his younger brother Simcha Weinberg.

Years ago allegations were made against Simcha of clergy sexual abuse / professional sexual misconduct. He was allegedly luring in adult women he was providing spiritual counseling to, and having sexual relations with them. Simcha's behavior ended in the divorce of his first wife, who is one of the daughter of rav Norman Lamm. This also started the battle between Ner Israel and YU.

The rumors that have been floating around for years is that Matis Weinberg molested Simcha. Matis was about sixteen at the time. Does anyone know if Matis also molested some of his other siblings too?

The status quo in Baltimore of how to deal with cases of sexual abuse or sexual assault has been to cover up the crimes. Protect those who offend at the expense of the children and or young adults who have been victimized.

The first case of covering up sex crimes that I know of in Baltimore was that of Matis Weinberg, who is the son of the past rosh yeshiva. That first case occurred at close to fifty years ago. But then again the case of rav Ephraim Shapiro started many years prior to that. So maybe it's been around 60 or 70's years of cover-ups in Baltimore? That trend has gone on for way to many years.
February 26, 2008 9:19 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's links to some of the cases that are brought up on the comment section for those of you who don't know them.

www.theawarenesscenter.org/Juravel_Samuel.html


www.theawarenesscenter.org/Weinberg_Matis.html


www.theawarenesscenter.org/Eisgrau_Eliezer.html


www.theawarenesscenter.org/Menken_Yaakov.html


www.theawarenesscenter.org/clergyabuse.html
February 26, 2008 9:22 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the estimates of the number of boys that rav Eisemann could have abused is a bit extreme, but then I started thinking about Shlomo Carlebach and the number of women he allegedly molested.

So how many boys do you think Matis Weinberg molested over his life time?
February 26, 2008 12:43 PM

Anonymous said...

I had my own repressed story. At some point in the last decade I remebered something that happened to me when I was at MTA. I remembered the man's face I remembered it occcured in the gym couldn't for the life of me remember the guys name all i remebered was that he was older than me ( i was 14 at the time ) and that was a smicha student. I am sure it affected me on some level but don't know in what way.

One day several years after I remembered the repressed memory a name popped into mine. I went to the holy of holies google and I googled him. Only reference was re him being an attorney who had been a chaplain and was involved in a civil law suit dealing with a homosexual issue. OK , caplain means he was ordained representing a gay issue doesn't mean your gay but be a could be. ( Note this comments does not reflect anything about homosexuals. There is no correlation between homosexuality and abuse.)

Anyway I called a Rabbi at YU that I knew and asked point blank about this guy. He told yes he was ordained at YU and yes they knew he was " strange" and he explained that in the late sixties this sort of thing was not even on the radar screen. I told him what happened and he told me over the years and heard some other things. He assured that this guy was in no position to abuse anyone. Apparently this rabbi started keeping track of him . The Rabbi didn't say a word about where the guy wss in life but this Rabbi is someone I do trust.


Note I am not saying that what I had in terms of memory has anything to do with what was presented on the skeptic sight.

I didn't persue the issue because the offender ws not i a position to hurt anyone. And Vicki would not deal with the issue because other myself it was unsubstantiated. And although I am pretty confident that Vicki beleived my story, it didn't meet one the tests for posting on the Awarenss center site.

Anonymous said...

It's going to get worse, much worse.

Just go over to YWN and read the comments. Vintage Jim Jones.

Anonymous said...

This is one gadol b'yisroel that has it right.

Interior Ministry Meir Sheetrit. (Daniel Bar On/Jini)







Last update - 21:07 06/02/2008


Interior Minister to ultra-Orthodox: Find work and enlist in IDF

By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: ultra-Orthodox, Elad

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said Tuesday that the ultra-Orthodox population should "find work," enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, and not rely on monetary donations.

Sheetrit made the remarks in Elad, an ultra-Orthodox community, at a ceremony recognizing the community as a city.

The interior minister even made comments on stage to the ceremony's organizers regarding the separation between the men and women in the audience, even though separation between the sexes is acceptable in all Haredi events.
Advertisement

Sheetrit's comments spurred embarrassment from the ceremony's audience, which included numerous rabbis and ultra-Orthodox politicians.

However, he praised the municipality, saying that "the time has come that we recognize the donations of the residents who have come to live here."

Elad, which was established in 1997 southwest of Petah Tikwa, joined Beitar Illit and Modiin Illit as new cities attracting mainly young Hardei couples. An estimated 35,000 people live in the city, whereas 60 percent of them are younger than 18. The head of the community, who became the city's mayor on Tuesday, is Shas party member Tzvika Cohen.

Shas head Minister Eli Yishai took advantage of Tuesday's ceremony to call for Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel, who was in attendance, to step up the pace of housing construction in Jerusalem.

Anonymous said...

So now we're stuck between the
facism of Agudah and the pritzus
of Modern Orthodoxy- where to
go?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any updates on the Colmer case? He was scheduled for an appearance on February 25th.
Up until now, info. about the case could be found on the e-couts webcrims site, but now the case doesn't seem to be listed.

Anonymous said...

Boog,

Your latest comments sounded like a desperate comeback.

Listen, I feel for you man, don't misinterpet! However you have to learn how to concede, just like Lipa did. It's not all black and white. I personally agree with 90% of yours and UOJ's sediments, but there remains gray areas.

It's never a good habit to turn to curse words, it lacks content and reflects one who's at a loss of what to say.

It takes true men like Lipa who concede especially in a public domain.

Be a man, be a grownup, your not a kid anymore, take a chill too, it's good for you! I love ya and G-D does too Happy purim :-)

Anonymous said...

Maase shehaya

One day the turtle in the Bronx zoo refused to stick his neck out and eat. The zoo workers tries everything , they even brought over a professor of veterinary but to no avail.

Then a frum yid walks by and asks “what’s going on ? “ after the zoo workers explained the situation to him the yid says “I know what to do”. He walks toward the turtle and sticks his finger up the turtles ass, the turtle then sticks his neck out.

Everyone is impressed and they ask the yid “awhere did you learn that” the yid answers “I used to be a shamash for Leib Tropper and that was the only way I was able to put his tie on”

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:44 PM

Desperate? Hardly. More like Realistic.

You haven't addressed even one of the points I made. Between the curse words there was plenty of on the point content which you conveniently ignored. But then again, I didn't expect you too address them. You and your ilk apparently don't have the ability nor the interest.

I do, however, agree with you on your one and only salient word "sediments" [sic]:

We are definitely Teef-Teef in the "sediments" [sic], courtesy of the Tachtonim that you hold so high and dear.

Malach HaMovies said...

UOJ,

Asher Friedman of Nechomas Yisroel was behind the ban and the harassment of schmeltzer and his family - www.thejewishstar.com It's high time that he gets a piece of his own medicine.

Also, no one should give another dime to his organization.

Anonymous said...

http://zootorah.com/controversy/controversy.html

That scumbag Leib Pinter would probably have spearheaded the smear campaign against Lipa if he wasn't busy fighting off all kinds of Federal investigators and judges.

Like Rav Elyashev told R' Aharon Feldman in the above letter, organizers of bans often twist around what rabbonim actually said.

Anonymous said...

Hey Asher Friedman;

I'm going to the next Blue Fringe concert.

Stick that up your Kanoyee Ass.

Anonymous said...

http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-stand-up-modified-aspca-box-answer.html#c6953244187208947392

yossel lakevooder said...
Rabbi Belsky said in Lakewood that his "hemshech yovo" tshuva (for his wishy washy excuse to allow milk from treif cows) will be in his upcoming sefer. He also said that the reason he doesn't publish as much as he'd like to, is that 50% of his time is taken up dealing with meshugoim. (What a farce!)

Anonymous said...

http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-stand-up-modified-aspca-box-answer.html#c4091005715137183259

Anonymous said...
Is there still a schechita in South America? If not, then the price of meat will rise dramatically before Yom Tov because there is a shortage.

Regardless, the cost of meat down there is a lot less (like $1.00 to $1.25 less per pound. That adds up to a lot of profit for Rubashkin, Alle and Globex. Meat is cheap. labor is for pennies a pound and we have to pay for Moshe Rubashkin's $450,000 fine.

We are our own worst enemy.

(The fine is actually half a miliion and that does not include lawyer fees)

Anonymous said...

Guys: Calm down. The rabbis have outsmarted themselves this time. The backlash will come. It may take a little time but all but the most lost will no longer blindly listen to the mindless self serving drivel of these corrupt phonies.

The beauty of Lipa Margulies signing this ban will not be lost to klal yisroel.

UOJ, don't mourn. Rejoice.

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120398607404892133.html

FDIC to Add Staff as
Bank Failures Loom
By DAMIAN PALETTA
February 26, 2008; Page A2

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is taking steps to brace for an increase in failed financial institutions as the nation's housing and credit markets continue to worsen.

"Regulators are bracing for well over 100 bank failures in the next 12 to 24 months, including First National Margo in Brooklyn, NY.

The FDIC was created by Congress in the 1930s after a series of bank runs during the Great Depression.

Anonymous said...

From a mailing from The Awareness Center

Letter from a parent in Baltimore
Permission was granted to publish this letter


The case of Shmuel Zev Juravel is a perfect example of what happens when the rabbis in our community know about an active pedophile and cover up his crimes. Shmuel Juravel, now convicted and serving a sentence of 22 years, reportedly continued to victimize hundreds of boys first in Baltimore and later in Savannah, Georgia, after parents of victims repeatedly reported Juravel's crimes to Rabbis Yaakov Hopfer and Moshe Heinneman. We have learned the hard way that surveillance by rabbis is not a viable option.

It is incredibly sad that Shmuel Juravel's crimes were only stopped after decades of him sexually victimizing children, when he was finally caught in an FBI sting operation, after he answered an ad soliciting relations with boys in Alabama.

According to the Bureau of Missing and Exploited Children only three percent of pedophiles ever get caught. As parents and community members we all need to be concerned about all the other sex offenders who are protected by our rabbis and living under the radar in our community. At this time we cannot trust our rabbis to keep us safe.

Think about it, what kind of surveillance did the rabbis use years ago when Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro, past principal of TA, victimized hundreds of students for decades. Can we believe the rabbonim back then had no idea that Ephraim Shapiro was committing sex crimes against our children?

And more recently: Didn't the rabbis sign a letter last April (2007) stating that they had made mistakes in the past and that they were now encouraging victims to go to our public authorities? What happened to that stance? Why did they go against their own words at this community gathering last week? Didn't the letter state that the Gedolei Ha Dor encourage us to report these crimes to the police? Why the double-talk now?

Anonymous said...

comments on JS

Anonymous said...

Why isn't anyone suing these rabbis for their complicity in these crimes?

I think the term is "callous disregard."
February 27, 2008 10:37 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think all survivors should be calling the law firm of Jeff Anderson and Associates. A good contact person at that firm is Pat Noaker.

(651) 227-9990
http://www.andersonadvocates.com/sexualabuse.aspx

Most of Patrick’s work involves representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Patrick has been a trial lawyer for seventeen years. Patrick has handled over 300 childhood sexual abuse cases in state, federal and tribal courts across the nation. In fact, Patrick was the first attorney in the country to file a civil childhood sexual abuse lawsuit against a diocese and priest in Navajo tribal court. Part of Patrick’s practice involves working with persons from different cultures. Understanding a client’s cultural background is critical to successfully pursuing a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit because clients from different cultures have different needs when recovering from the abuse.
February 27, 2008 10:42 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another good attorney for survivors of sexual abuse is Rachel Steamer.

646-734-3346
February 27, 2008 10:44 AM

Anonymous said...

"Rubashkin's $450,000 fine" or whatever it is.

Remember last year when UOJ had a snippet from the NY State OAG website about some putz from Toiv's shul who was fined 300k by Elliot Spitzer for underpaying his restaurant workers? I'm told that City records show he then took out another mortgage on his house for the same amount. Mortgages exist because people can't come up with the money up front. The fresser banks then wind up with double the loan amount.

This means that Rubashkin is in the hole for $1 million before legal fees.

The Rubashkin letter in January that heralded price increases listed every preposterous excuse, but omitted the real reason Rubashkin fressers will have to shell out more to gorge their steaks and pastrami.

Anonymous said...

kolko leizerowitz and all other molesting rebbeim out there, beware. your next!

Conn. Girl Lights Teacher's Hair On Fire
Milford Student Arrested, Expelled
MILFORD, Conn. (AP) ― Milford officials have expelled a Jonathan Law High School student accused of lighting her science teacher's hair on fire during class.

Police say the girl was arrested after she ignited the ponytail of George Lardas with a lighter.

A police spokesman says Lardas did not require medical attention, but his hair was singed.

School officals say the incident occurred in late January, but became public on Tuesday.

School officials called police at the time and the girl has been charged with reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and breach of peace.

Anonymous said...

"A police spokesman says Lardas did not require medical attention"

Lard-ass? Are they sure that wasn't Margo?

Anonymous said...

The Jewish Star Speaks With Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky About The Concert Ban
February 27, 2008

Producer Sheya Mendlowitz was hoping Tuesday afternoon to get the final go-ahead to resurrect his “Big Event” concert, scheduled for March 9 at Madison Square Garden but, at the last minute, talks fell apart and the concert was canceled.

The final details of the agreement were being hammered out Tuesday afternoon. Minutes before The Jewish Star went to press Mendlowitz said it was over.

A deal would have capped a week of talks between Mendlowitz and many of the 33 rabbonim who, last week, issued a kol korei - as a rabbinical pronouncement is known in the Charedi world - to prevent popular Chassidic singer Lipa Schmelzer from performing.

Critics apparently disapprove of his humorous on-stage antics and the non-Jewish musical influences incorporated in his act. One Brooklyn man, Asher Friedman, who also heads the tuition assistance organization Nechomas Yisroel, apparently set out to shut Schmelzer down. He convinced nearly three dozen rabbonim, including some of America’s most revered contemporary Charedi leaders, that Schmelzer should be reined in.

In a statement, Schmelzer said he has decided to discontinue performing any music of non-Jewish origin.

In keeping Schmelzer off the stage, Friedman appeared to have met his primary goal.

On Monday someone with direct knowledge of the situation described Friedman, who is not a rabbi, as “a kanoi [zealot] and a loose cannon” who aligned himself with [others] who have an ax to grind “with Lipa and the Jewish music industry.”

Contacted by The Jewish Star for comment, Friedman said he would first have to consult his Da’as Torah. A short time later he called back to say, “The gedolei yisroel don’t want that issue [to be discussed] on the radio and in newspapers. It doesn’t belong for the public to decide on issues that belong for Da’as Torah.”

He refused to disclose the names of rabbonim he consulted.

“When we went out with the kol korei, every rosh yeshiva was tortured and made crazy — people were threatening them,” Friedman claimed. Pressed for specifics about his claim of threats, he maintained that “it would be a chilul Hashem to write about it.”

“Everything a person does has to be through Da’as Torah. Everything I do, I make sure to have Da’as Torah backing me,” he claimed.

It seemed clear that Friedman risked embarrassment to the rabbonim he claims to revere, as the text of the ban was identical to that of a ban enacted in Israel last year, which succeeded in shutting down a joint performance of Mordechai Ben David and Avrohom Fried. It included references to Israel and called for a complete end to Jewish music concerts. That made it unclear if the document was intended to apply only to the Madison Square Garden event, or if American Charedi rabbonim intended to follow the lead of Israeli colleagues and enact a sweeping prohibition against Jewish music.

In an interview with The Jewish Star, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, a rosh yeshiva in Philadelphia who signed the ban, said, “It is very general, you’re right, but I don’t think it will refer to all concerts. You have to have an outlet for kids.”

Rabbi Kamenetzky confirmed that he had spoken to Friedman and said that he had understood that the request for the ban originally came “from rabbis in Eretz Yisroel. We didn’t want to differ with them. It was expressed that certain performers…upset some people.”

The Rosh Yeshiva was asked whether anybody had confirmed the origin of the request.

“It seems that it was a request from mouth to ear and everyone went along with them,” he responded. “What they said was that it was a request from Rav Elyashiv and Rav Steinman. I didn’t confirm that.”

Asked if it is unusual for distinguished rabbonim to sign a kol korei on the say-so of one person, Rabbi Kamenetzky was candid: “Usually we meet together. This time, with time pressing, we did not get together. And maybe it was not the right thing.”

The concert was supposed to have been a benefit for Simchat Tzion, a group that makes weddings for orphaned brides and grooms in Israel.

Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel of America, said he couldn’t explain why the text of the ban would have been released without removing references to last year’s concert ban in Israel, or why rabbonim would have risked jeopardizing their reputations by signing a document not carefully vetted for inaccuracies.

A second performer, Shloime Gertner, was said to have dropped out immediately, according to Hamodia, a Charedi paper that announced the ban. News of his withdrawal proved premature. As of Monday he was still in, although his name was removed from the concert web site on Monday night.

“There’s definitely a mystery here”, said Shafran. “It wouldn’t make sense for the rabbonim to say that somebody had pulled out if they are just setting themselves up to be disproved.”

Late Tuesday afternoon Yeshiva World News (www.theyeshivaworld.com) reported that Schmelzer has also canceled a concert scheduled for London in April.

Schmelzer, who lives in the Monsey, N.Y., area, was well received as the featured performer at a benefit performance in Hewlett Bay Park last year.

Anonymous said...

http://www.zootorah.com/controversy/ravelyashiv.html

This is the direct link to where Rav Elyashev says his words were distorted against Slifkin.

Anonymous said...

Just as I said.

Lipa was threatened.

Asher Friedman and his Taliban MF's.

Take it to the D.A.

Anonymous said...

The Fed lowers interest rates yet the banks and other fresser lenders have been raising mortgage rates by a quarter to half a percent in the last couple of weeks. Not only are they not passing along their new savings, but they are making an even bigger killing.

That should be illegal in my opinion like price gouging on gasoline.

Is there any rationale behind this besides for greed?

Anonymous said...

PAGE ONE

Decline in Home Prices Accelerates

Fed's Efforts Have
Only Muted Effect
On Mortgage Rates

By KELLY EVANS, SERENA NG and RUTH SIMON

Staff reporters of the Wall Street Journal

February 27, 2008; Page A1

A top Federal Reserve official indicated the housing slump and its broadening impact on the economy probably would keep the central bank biased in favor of more interest-rate cuts. "It appears that the correction in the housing market has further to go," Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said yesterday in a speech in North Carolina. Mr. Kohn said that the downturn, after being "contained" for nearly two years, "appears to have spread to other sectors of the economy." He added that if the housing market deteriorates more than expected, "lenders might further reduce credit availability."

The Fed's efforts so far to soften the blow of the housing slump with lower interest rates appear to be having a muted effect. Since September, the Fed has reduced its target for short-term interest rates by 2.25 percentage points to 3%. But some mortgage rates are actually rising

The average interest rate on a standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.38% yesterday, up from 5.61% in late January, according to HSH Associates, a mortgage-data publisher in Pompton Plains, N.J.

There are two reasons mortgage rates haven't responded more to the Fed's rate cuts. One is that long-term Treasury yields, which are the benchmark for most mortgage rates, have risen recently, perhaps because of increased concern about inflation as the prices of oil and other commodities soar. The other is that the spread between mortgage rates and Treasury rates has widened as investors and banks become increasingly reluctant to make home loans.

William Zempsky, a pediatrician who lives in West Hartford, Conn., was hoping to refinance his adjustable-rate mortgage before the rate -- which had been fixed at 4.5% for five years -- jumps to 6% or so in March. "I started to put my stuff together to refinance, but before we could pull the trigger, rates bounced up again," Mr. Zempsky said. "It seemed that with the Fed dropping rates that things would stay low, but they haven't."

"Consumer spending is going to take a hit," said Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight in Waltham, Mass. "The hit will be bigger the more home prices drop."

A growing glut of homes for sale suggests buyers have little interest in snapping up houses at current prices. Buyers "are waiting for the bottom to be there," said Vicki Nellis, a real-estate agent at Re/Max Allegiance in Burke, Va. She said this is the worst market she has seen in her 25 years in the business.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates home prices ultimately will fall by 20% to 25% from the peak of the housing boom, while Merrill Lynch chief economist Dave Rosenberg says they could fall even further.

Other borrowers have been hamstrung by tighter credit standards as lenders eliminate programs and set tighter requirements, particularly in markets where home prices are falling. Steve Walsh, a mortgage broker in Scottsdale, Ariz., says his firm is originating about 300 loans a month, but closing only about 65. Mr. Walsh says that about 100 applications fell apart because of problems with appraisals. Another 100 loans didn't close because of rising mortgage rates.

In addition to inflation concerns, rates are rising because the market for mortgage-backed securities is in upheaval, thanks to rising mortgage delinquencies and the collapse of the high-risk subprime corner of the mortgage business.

Fresser Investors are demanding higher risk premiums for securities they buy with mortgages attached to them. And that is putting upward pressure on the rates charged to individuals. Even bonds backed by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which are considered safe triple-A-rated institutions -- have declined in value, pushing mortgage rates higher.

Anonymous said...

"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."

Anonymous said...

"The BEST yeshiva that is big enough to take in your sons is big enough to take it all away in the boiler room."

Anonymous said...

The Rubashkin downturn, after being "contained" for nearly two years, "appears to have spread to other sectors of the Fresser economy." He added that if the market deteriorates more than expected as with tarfus slipping into OU-certified Solomon buffalo meat, "Fressers might further reduce what they eat."

Anonymous said...

It must be very embarrassing for my mechutan Rav Ehrenfeld to have discovered his signature appeared next to Margo on the ban.

Anonymous said...

By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last update: 12:46 p.m. EST Feb. 27, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Despite a record drop in prices, sales of new homes nationwide fell by 2.8% in January, led by a drop of more than 10% in the Northeast, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

January's sales pace was down 33.9% compared with January 2007.

Sales are off 58% from the peak in mid-2005.

The figures likely overstate the level of sales, because they count canceled sales contracts, which have jumped in the past year.

Inventories of unsold homes hit a fresh 27-year high at 9.9 months.

The median sales price fell to $216,000, down 15.1% compared with January 2007. That's the largest yearly decline in prices since the government began tracking sales in 1963.

"Bloated inventories combined with a shallower pool of potential buyers, thanks in large part to the return of mortgage lending standards, will result in sustained downward pressure on house prices for the remainder of 2008," wrote Richard Moody, chief economist for Mission Residential.
Earlier Wednesday, luxury home builder Toll Bros. reported a 23% decline in revenue in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, and posted a $96 million loss. The builder blamed "ceaseless talk of a recession by UOJ" for depressing buyers' spirits.

Also Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the economy is very sluggish, adding that "the housing market is expected to continue to weigh on economic activity in coming quarters."

Anonymous said...

http://www.bambinodiapers.com/

Frishvasser, that's nothing.

What's really embarrassing is all the grown men wearing adult diapers around here after UOJ inspired a slowdown in donations!

Anonymous said...

Shafran thinks we're some kind of Gemach. First he was swiping Band-aids for his brain, now he's taking even more to fasten his diapers.

There's poshut nothing left in the First Aid kit.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203847455751&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

You may have seen The New York Times headline ("Imprisoned, Rabbi Sues Over Space for Prayer," February 16), and perhaps, like I did, shook your head in amazement. A hassidic rabbi serving time in a federal penitentiary in New York State has sued the Bureau of Prisons for infringing upon his right to pray. He claims that because there is a toilet in his cell he is unable to pray there, and is demanding that the prison create another space within the facility where he can worship.

The rabbi, (Satmar Putz) Mordechai Samet, is serving a 27-year sentence at the Frankel's shul division of Otisville for financial fraud - including soliciting money for a fake lottery, submitting false death claims to insurance companies, and defrauding banks with counterfeit checks.
This raises the question of what constitutes being "observant" or "religious" or "Orthodox" - for God's sake.
Over the years, world Jewry has debated the issue of "Who is a Jew?" hotly and ad nauseam. But I suggest that "Who is a religious Jew" is no less important a question, for the answer has profound implications for Jewish and Israeli society.

HOW DO we define "religious?"

Is it a function of the clothes we wear, the company we keep, the type of synagogue we pray in, the particular laws we observe? If a person defrauds a yeshiva or bribes a health inspector, if he is a child molester or a spousal abuser - but he covers his head, keeps kosher and davens three times a day - is he still "religious?"

And if a soldier risks his life to defend Israel and the Jewish people - but does not put on tefillin every day or wait six hours between eating meat and milk - is he "irreligious?"
We are a label-obsessed people. The moment we lay eyes on someone, before we get to know them at all, we are already drawing a box around them and sticking on all kinds of isolating labels: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, leftist, rightist, secular, observant or Orthodox.

And not just Orthodox: We subdivide them into haredi, dati, dati-leumi, dosi or hardal. We have neatly judged, packaged and labeled a stranger before we know the first thing about him.

SADLY, THERE are whole political parties that stake their existence on attracting the "religious" or "secular" voter, yet may not have a clue as to what those labels really mean. Shas, for example, claims to be a religious party, with all policies and platforms kosher-supervised by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. But when Shas official David Yifrach, director of the Histadrut Labor Federation's welfare services division, was suspended recently for alleged sexual harassment of three women in his office, party leaders avoided any expressions of the issue.

And when Meretz, the great champion of secular rights, waged a campaign a few years ago to keep the Ramat Aviv mall open on Shabbat, the vast majority of the area's residents, who are not necessarily Sabbath observant, as well as the workers in the mall's establishments, rejected Meretz's efforts and insisted that they, too, were entitled to a day of rest.

ISRAELI SOCIETY, infused with so much intensely Jewish culture and character, and built upon an ancient homestead that oozes spirituality, adamantly defies black-and-white characterization. And because we are so fiercely individualistic, with such diverse input into our personalities, we cannot be simplistically corralled into one corner or another.

I vividly recall an incident when I first moved to Israel. The mover, whom I assumed was totally secular, asked me for a drink of water.

When I brought it to him, he took the glass in one hand and placed his other hand over his bare head. He then pronounced the blessing before drinking. Seeing that I was astonished, he smiled and said, "I never put anything in my mouth unless I first bless God, who gave it."

I learned early on that, certainly in this country, looks can be deceiving and the still waters of religiosity run deep. We have to give people the benefit of the doubt and learn to focus much more on the actions and emotions of those around us, and much less on the superficial, external trappings of what passes for religion.

Instead of judging others too quickly, we should be more open-minded and less clothes-minded.

The writer is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana. jocmtv@netvision.net.il

Ahavah said...

Can someone explain this:

The banks have no legal obligation whatsoever to lower your mortgage or credit card rates. They interest rate fund that was lowered has nothing to do with your consumer loans - it is the rate that banks us to borrow from the Fed and from each other. Their contract with you says that they can raise or lower rates 100% at their own discretion, and can change your rate at any time for any reason or no reason at all.

The safeguards that we used to have in place against these glorified loan sharks have been steadily removed by congress (both parties) and no longer apply. Any adjustable rate loan, credit card, or any card or loan that can be made "adjustable" by them for any reason must be avoided completely - it's a scam from top to bottom.

They have no intention of every voluntarily lowering their interest rates. They could have solved this whole sub-prime mortgage mess in one fell swoop by simply exchanging all adjustable rate loans for a fixed 5% loan, no questions asked - but they chose not to. It was more profitable for them to continue to drain people as much as they could stand - and it's still more profitable. Most people will cough up as much as they can to keep their house - and the banks know that and are exploiting people, pure and simple.

The "social contract" that consumers used to have with businesses and employers is gone. They have embraced dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest darwinism and greed-mongering as their guiding principle. The less business you do with them, the less opportunity they have to ensnare you.

Anonymous said...

http://jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18922

Schwartzie from Los Angeles acting like a putz means more potential victims for me to scam.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

There are now orders from Perlow and Kaminetzky to Shafran - to play down the wording of the ban - as an error that somehow slipped through their fingers like child-rapists slip Mattisyahu Salomon's lying fingers!

Don't be fooled by this.

The lies will continue as long as you let them get away with it! Lipa Margulies' signature and the wording were EXACTLY what they had in mind. Now - the behaimas are caught with their hands in Kolko's pants...oooohhh..."a mistake in the wording"......ooooooohhhhh....
"we didn't meet together", setting the stage for more pathetic word games!

LYING BUMS! Causing major financial damage to innocent people!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

UPDATED KASHRUTH ALERT! NOW THESE WEASEL-WORDS FROM THE OU! SUPPORTERS OF SHALOM TENDLER, YISROEL BELSKY AND BARUCH LANNER!
---------------------------
February 27, 2008 Solomon’s Ground Buffalo

Brands:
Solomon's
Products:
Ground Buffalo (UPC #0-53390-06103-8)
Company:
Blackwing Bison Meats, Inc. - Antioch, IL
Issue:
The Orthodox Union certifies and wholly stands by Solomon's Ground Buffalo meat and all of Solomon's Finest Glatt Kosher Meats (fresh and frozen) are Glatt kosher. A limited amount of frozen non-kosher meat was substituted for kosher meat by an outside distributor and sold in Solomon's packaging. The non-kosher product is identifiable by the following:

1) The inner plastic wrap does not contain a plastic OU seal.
2) The meat is on a black Styrofoam tray.

Consumers spotting the mislabeled product are requested to contact the Orthodox Union at 212-613-8241 or at kashalerts@ou.org.

Anonymous said...

UOJ;

What about these threats that were made to Lipa and his family.

Actionable?

And Shia Mendlowitz. He should sue these bastards in Court for damages.

Anonymous said...

Good article. Stewart Weiss is a modern orthodox rabbi who made aliyah from Dallas, Texas.

Anonymous said...

What's Boog hocking a tcheinick about damages?

'Effin Wachsman tells me that Shea Mendlowitz's car windows were smashed while parked OUTSIDE of Boro Park.

Anonymous said...

Are there any other venues charging admission that coincide with the cancelled events in NY & London, that the rabbonim have no problem with. It wouldn't surprise me if someone connected stands to profit off the ban.

Anonymous said...

So did R' Matt Salomon start raising the money to cover the Gardens rental?

Anonymous said...

Hey Perlow, Putz. I thought you don't get involved with things outside of Boro Park.

Anonymous said...

I'm giving Rabbi Salomon the benefit of the doubt, that he didn't lie about only one pervert slipping through the Agudah's sticky fingers.

The man was in England all the years. I suspect he was set up as the fool to spread the lies concocted by the old boy network. They may have tried to get others to say it from the podium who squirmed out of it because they knew the story. They then tapped Rabbi Salomon as the sucker.

Just my theory.

Anonymous said...

UOJ should superimpose Shafran's head onto a baby in diapers for the sidebar.

It might even spark the BIG BABY to pen another pathetic screed against blogs.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

I'm giving Rabbi Salomon the benefit of the doubt, that he didn't lie about only one pervert slipping through the Agudah's sticky fingers.
---------------------
I'm not - I can't - because I know with absolute certainty - that he's covering for some 10 child-rapists and that Shenkolewski, in at least one case, had a police report vanish from the police files. Same for Malkiel and Aron Kotler.

In addition, I'm informed, not confirmed, that there are 80 very ill people seeing therapists for sex related crimes in Lakewood.

Anonymous said...

Drek Tinof-Tinofsim.

BTW, Mendlowitz is scheduled to be interviewed tonight by Zev Brenner on his Talkline Radio Program, 620 AM on your dial.

Curious to hear his take on this and whether he will tell it like it is.

Anonymous said...

Are those 80 people ill from the effects of being victims or are there 80 criminal perpetrators that have been quietly sent to professionals?

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Gumshoe:

I don't now know the answer, good question, I'll look into it.

Either way...a horrible tragedy, considering that "our" spokespeople - rabbis - and advocacy organizations don't even think there is a problem!

Anonymous said...

http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-yoshon-status-reliable.html#c7406471072687608254

There are a few honest bakeries that have put up signs letting customers know that they can not produce Yoshon this season anymore. Many bakeries still claim to be Yoshon, however it is impossible as Yoshon flour is no more available, and the bakeries have all replaced with non Yoshon.

Anonymous said...

It's a shame that Lipa cancelled out on everyone. I heard he was going to do a take off on the Planet of the Apes theme song and I was really looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

In a New York Times op-ed piece, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that he has listened carefully to UOJ who encouraged him to make a bid for the White House but that ultimately he will not run for president as an independent. The 66-year-old billionaire businessman had been coy in recent months about whether or not he would jump in the race.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28mike.html

February 28, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
I’m Not Running for President, but ...
By MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG
WATCHING the 2008 presidential campaign, you sometimes get the feeling that the candidates — smart, all of them — must know better. They must know we can’t fix our economy and create jobs by isolating America from global trade. They must know that we can’t fix our immigration problems with border security alone. They must know that we can’t fix our schools without holding teachers, principals and parents accountable for results. They must know that fighting global warming is not a costless challenge. And they must know that we can’t keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals unless we crack down on the black market for them.

The vast majority of Americans know that all of this is true, but — politics being what it is — the candidates seem afraid to level with them.

Over the past year, I have been working to raise issues that are important to New Yorkers and all Americans — and to speak plainly about common sense solutions. Some of these solutions have traditionally been seen as Republican, while others have been seen as Democratic. As a businessman, I never believed that either party had all the answers and, as mayor, I have seen just how true that is.

In every city I have visited — from Baltimore to New Orleans to Seattle — the message of an independent approach has resonated strongly, and so has the need for a new urban agenda. More than 65 percent of Americans now live in urban areas — our nation’s economic engines. But you would never know that listening to the presidential candidates. At a time when our national economy is sputtering, to say the least, what are we doing to fuel job growth in our cities, and to revive cities that have never fully recovered from the manufacturing losses of recent decades?

More of the same won’t do, on the economy or any other issue. We need innovative ideas, bold action and courageous leadership. That’s not just empty rhetoric, and the idea that we have the ability to solve our toughest problems isn’t some pie-in-the-sky dream. In New York, working with leaders from both parties and mayors and governors from across the country, we’ve demonstrated that an independent approach really can produce progress on the most critical issues, including the economy, education, the environment, energy, infrastructure and crime.

I believe that an independent approach to these issues is essential to governing our nation — and that an independent can win the presidency. I listened carefully to those who encouraged me to run, but I am not — and will not be — a candidate for president. I have watched this campaign unfold, and I am hopeful that the current campaigns can rise to the challenge by offering truly independent leadership. The most productive role that I can serve is to push them forward, by using the means at my disposal to promote a real and honest debate.

In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to work to steer the national conversation away from partisanship and toward unity; away from ideology and toward common sense; away from sound bites and toward substance. And while I have always said I am not running for president, the race is too important to sit on the sidelines, and so I have changed my mind in one area. If a candidate takes an independent, nonpartisan approach — and embraces practical solutions that challenge party orthodoxy — I’ll join others in helping that candidate win the White House.

The changes needed in this country are straightforward enough, but there are always partisan reasons to take an easy way out. There are always special interests that will fight against any challenge to the status quo. And there are always those who will worry more about their next election than the health of our country.

These forces that prevent meaningful progress are powerful, and they exist in both parties. I believe that the candidate who recognizes that the party is over — and begins enlisting all of us to clean up the mess — will be the winner this November, and will lead our country to a great and boundless future.

Michael R. Bloomberg is the mayor of New York.

Anonymous said...

Off to generate a kol koreh, see y'all later.

Anonymous said...

It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?

I like the variety with the new crop at Gissinger's shul.

Anonymous said...

Someone left a comment on Eckstein's YW that he shops in the 5 Towns and no one is pushing and shoving in store lines like in Brooklyn.

Maybe the putz is in another 5 Towns in an alternate universe. A huge percentage of 5 Towns people are Brooklyn transplants that got out of Dodge because they don't want to be as frum and can get away with it easier in Nassau County. They still retain all their bad middos and act like pigs. I've been budded in front while waiting in line at Chap a Nosh & the pizza store in Cedarhurst. They don't look chassidish or yeshivish like they did 10 years ago in Brooklyn but they've still got the same rotten personalities.