And he that steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. (Shemos 21:16)
Our holy Torah made no exception for Aaron Schechter. The Torah recognizes Isaac Hersh as an adult and there can be no rationalization made for the horrendous crime committed by Schechter against Hersh.
What has become of us? How do we allow people like Schechter to sit on our dais’ and appear at our simchas? Where is the outcry?
Everyone in Chaim Berlin is aware of the fact that Aaron Schechter was a horribly abusive father. His beatings of his sons are legendary. One need look no further than his two sons to see what happens when Aaron Schechter is allowed free reign on an innocent child.
Yet, once again Chaim Berlin sat quietly this shabbos as Aaron Schechter stood for one of his theatrical shemona esrais. Not one word of protest was heard in Chaim Berlin.
I again ask, HOW MANY OTHER CHILDREN ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE TO AARON SCHECHTER’S SICK VIEW OF THE WORLD?
I fear for our future as a nation when we bestow honor upon Aaron Schechter, someone who is a Lo Tzayit Dino for over 25 years.
Devorim 17:
If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, even matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and get you up unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose.
And you shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and you shall inquire; and they shall declare unto you the sentence of judgment.
And you shall do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto you from that place which the LORD shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you.
According to the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, so you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto you, to the right hand, nor to the left.
And the man that does presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and you shall exterminate the evil from Israel.
וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
AARON SCHECHTER, HOW MANY OTHER CHILDREN ARE YOU HOLDING HOSTAGE TO YOUR EVIL AND SICK VIEW OF THE WORLD? YOU ARE A RASHA AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH!!!
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A young Bais Yaakov girl expresses her gratitude to Hashem:
The boy was happy
He had escaped his home of sorrow and pain
The boy was happy
He was living in a place where no on could harm him
The boy was happy
Until it was shattered
The phone call
Was received
The phone call
Seemed a peace offering
The phone call
Was not what it seemed
The boy was in pain
He was suffering
The boy was in pain
In a place devoid of Torah
The boy was in pain
He was trapped
The boy was in pain
There was no way out
The boy has been freed
Hashem stretched out his hand
The boy has been freed
Hashem held him in his mighty grip
The boy has been freed
And took him out of Gehenim
The boy has been freed
How mighty are the ways of Hashem?
*********************************
WELCOME HOME ISAAC! THE JEWISH NATION - WITH THE HELP OF HASHEM - WILL WATCH OVER YOU AND PROTECT YOU FROM ALL EVIL! AM YISROEL CHAI!
Isaac is on U.S. soil!
AARON SCHECHTER, THE CHARADE IS OVER. YOU’VE BEEN EXPOSED FOR THE EVIL LOW-LIFE THAT YOU ARE!
Harav Shamshon Weiss, ZTL to Fruchthandler and Schechter:
“…you digest the problem of “Gezeyla.” “Gezeyla Me’deuraisa,” pure and simple. Try to digest it, if you can. Or will that, too, become part of the strategy to destroy a fine, good and noble Jew, of course all in the service of “Kvod Horav” and “L’shem Shomayim”? I DO NOT ENVY YOU PEOPLE. [In other words, you’re all going straight to hell.]
Read the entire letter below:
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:
.jpg)
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UPDATE 4:28 P.M. EST!!!!!!!!!
UOJ Exclusive
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica:
The three medical and legal professionals who flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica to examine Isaac Hersh were detained yesterday by the Jamaican authorities on charges of impersonating a parent and attempted kidnapping after successfully having met with Isaac Hersh.
According to sources in the United States Embassy, a complaint was sworn to the Jamaican authorities by Michael Hersh, Steven Mostofsky, Esq. and Rabbi Aaron Schechter in which they alleged that the three professionals were attempting to kidnap Isaac Hersh.
They remain in the custody of the Jamaican authorities pending clarification of the veracity of the Schechter teams' allegations.
**********************************************************
NEWSFLASH - 3:08 P.M. EST!!!!!!!!
UOJ Exclusive
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica:
A private jet carrying medical and legal professionals arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica yesterday where they were met by officials from the United States Embassy who escorted them to the Tranquility Bay compound.
Once there they demanded and were granted access to Isaac Hersh.
Isaac was taken to the Embassy where he confirmed on the record that he had been abused by his father, Michael Hersh while living at home and was currently being tortured and deprived of basic necessities in Tranquility Bay.
At the insistence of Michael Hersh who currently has legal custody of Isaac, Steve Mostofsky who is Michael’s attorney and Rabbi Aaron Schechter who is Michael’s spiritual advisor, Isaac was returned to the Tranquility Bay compound.
Affidavits, together with testimony - is being presented to a federal judge in New York --- who is being asked to take custody of Isaac from his father, Michael Hersh.
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UPDATED! Reb Moshe Feinstein bestows semicah on the Mashgiach of Chaim Berlin, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein brands Aaron Schechter a Lo Tzayit Dino.************************************
CLICK ON LETTER TO ENLARGE!
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Hey Aaron Schlechter you Lo Tzayit Dino - sheigetz - putz - bum - who gave you semicha? You had better release Isaac from prison NOW or this onslaught will continue until you're forced off the Moetzes and no self respecting Jew will allow you on their dais.***************************************************
NEW - UPDATED LASHON HARA!!!!NEW LETTERS!!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!! PRINT THEM OUT!!!*****************************************************
***WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS PUTZ?*** "Aaron and Avrohom, if you want to see swine just look in the mirror"
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*********NEVER BEFORE RELEASED LETTER ON AARON SCHLECHTER. R' MOSHE BRANDED HIM "LO TZAYIT DINO"!CLICK ON LETTER TO ENLARGE!*******************************
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE: THE LETTER NEEDS NO EXPLANATION!
February 1, 1982
To the honorable Rabbi Aaron Moshe Schechter, head of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh and Reb Avrohom Chaim Fruchthandler, President of the Board of Directors:
Peace and Blessings!
Upon the claim of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, we are summoning you to stand in judgment before the Bais Din of Agudas Harabonim within the next two weeks from today. Please respond by return mail as to your readiness to stand before us in judgment.
In the interim, Rabbi Carlebach retains his rights to his position as Mashgiach and spiritual leader of Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh, and it is therefore forbidden for anyone to assume this position and it is further forbidden for anyone to rise to his position. You are also obligated to continue paying him his full salary as before.
With much respect,
Bais Din of Agudas Harabonim
[Rabbi] Moshe Feinstein, Head
[Rabbi] Tzvi Meir Ginzberg, Dean
**********************Isaac Hersh*****************
************************************************************
From independent sources as well on the JS Blog:
I am informed that Rabbi Aaron Schechter from Chaim Berlin and the Agudath Israel Moetzes Gedolei Torah of America - has approved of the incarceration of this child, and supports the parents Michael and Miriam Hersh! Schechter should be locked up in a nut-house!
Law Offices
Joshua M. Ambush, LLC
Hilton Plaza
1726 Reisterstown Rd., Suite 206
Baltimore, Maryland 21208
Contact: Joshua M. Ambush, Esquire, 410-484-2070
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEDERAL LAW SUIT FILED TO RESCUE CHILD FROM MODERN DAY CONCENTRATION CAMP
March 20, 2008, Baltimore, MD
The Washington Center for Peace and Justice, Inc. filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a 16 year old Brooklyn boy seeking injunctive relief to stop his abuse and to gain his release from a notorious behavior modification facility in Jamaica, West Indies, where he was sent after being brutally seized at the behest of his parents, Michael and Miriam Hersh. Michael Hersh is a former student of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and a disciple of Rabbi Aaron M. Schechter, dean of the Yeshiva.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, details the long history of abuse of the boy by his father that culminated in his being forcibly removed from his house in the early morning hours on June 13, 2007. The boy was sadistically handcuffed and dragged to a waiting van by two men hired by his parents while shocked witnesses helplessly watched him plead with his abductors.
It was not until several months later that worried family members learned that the boy had been sent by his parents to Tranquility Bay, an affiliate of World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs, WWASPS. The complaint details documented cases of abuse at Tranquility Bay which includes beatings, sexual assault, food deprivation and excessive use of isolation.
Joshua Ambush, the lead counsel in the case, announced the filing of the action against the parents. Michael Hersh, father of the boy is the CEO of Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc., the largest all-volunteer ambulance service in the United States. The complaint also names the State Department for constitutional and civil rights violations.
Ambush emphasized that the lawsuit is not about tort damages, but rather is an effort to save the boy's life and rescue him from a modern day concentration camp. "Child abuse by a parent should not be tolerated in civilized society, and should not be tolerated when the parents hires surrogates to perpetrate the abuse. It is unconscionable that perpetrators of abuse are able to evade prosecution by virtue of the fact that the abuse is taking place outside the jurisdiction of the Untied States. In addition to rescuing this child, this suit seeks to demonstrate that federal courts, in such cases, retain jurisdiction over the abusers and those that aid and protect them."
A copy of the complaint that was failed in this case is attached.
http://www.geocites.com/safeisaac/files/HershComplaint.pdf
Joshua Ambush will be available for interviews by phone appointment at 410-484-2070
http://geocities.com/saveisaac/
http://geocities.com/saveisaac/files/HershComplaint.pdf
http://geocities.com/saveisaac/files/UpdatedPressRelease.pdf
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2001/04/24/2001-04-24_stox_fraud_won_t_fly_ranch_1.html
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:
KAJ WITHDREW SUPERVISION FROM RUBASHKIN FOR KASHRUTH REASONS! CLICK ON LETTER!
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK JEWISH COMMUNITY
After speaking with numerous Hatzoloh members it has been made clear that the people primarily responsible for the hiring of Michael Hersh and seeing Hatzoloh dragged into the public eye are: Zelig Gitelis (F-19) who lives at 1319 East 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 [Cell no. 1-917-612-3519 – Home no. 1-718-434-5359] and Yitzi Stern (B-30) who lives at 1405 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11204 [Cell no. 1-917-559-8880 – Home no. 1-718-633-3905].
They were the active members of the Hatzoloh search committee and offered the most vocal support for his hire. They failed us and their executive responsibilities by hiring someone with no previous employment history and a record of child abuse. In addition, the fact that we’re paying him an annual salary $250,000 is an outrage.
All this on the say of Rabbi Aaron Schechter.
Their responsibilities are to Hatzoloh and the Jewish community who support Hatzoloh, not to any individual or other group. We hold them personally responsible for this embarrassment of Hatzoloh, Klal Yisroel’s proudest organization, and demand they take immediate action to see that Hatzoloh is kept out of the news and can return to their incredible mission of saving, not assisting in the destruction of, Jewish lives.
We are going to research and post the names of all the guilty members of the Hatzoloh board that caused this travesty and hold them personally responsible for their actions.***********************
YESHIVA VERITZKY/CHAIM BERLIN DISPUTE!CLICK ON LETTER!
343 comments:
1 – 200 of 343 Newer› Newest»http://www.geocites.com/safeisaac/files/HershComplaint.pdf
The link is not presently operational. Mr. Ambush will take calls from members of the media.
STOX FRAUD WON'T FLY Ranch 1 owners used yeshiva in scheme
By GREG B. SMITH DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 24th 2001, 2:21AM
A mob-controlled owner of the popular Ranch 1 fast-food chain cooked up a unique recipe for laundering cash - he used a Brooklyn yeshiva to hide the origin of bribes paid in a multimillion-dollar Mafia stock fraud scheme, according to FBI tapes.
James Chickara, co-owner of the Ranch 1 chain, has been captured on the undercover recordings saying he used the Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin on Coney Island Ave. to launder bribes paid to brokers in the stock scams.
Chickara and Sebastian Rametta, who the FBI says are associates of the Colombo crime family, were co-owners of Ranch 1 when they were arrested in June in a mammoth "mob on Wall Street" bust.
Both men quietly pleaded guilty to stock fraud in Manhattan Federal Court three weeks ago. Rametta faces up to a year in jail, Chickara up to 16 months.
The school is run by Abraham Fruchthandler, a politically connected real estate developer.
An assistant of Fruchthandler, who has donated more than $22,000 to political candidates in the last four years, said he would not comment.
In their March 29 plea before Judge William Pauley, Rametta and Chickara admitted hiding an inflated commission paid to a broker to hype stock of their food retailer, Manhattan Soup Man, which they modeled on "The Soup Nazi" character of the TV sitcom "Seinfeld."
In talks secretly taped by the FBI, Chickara said that he twice wrote checks to the Brooklyn yeshiva and that school president Fruchthandler tapped into yeshiva bank accounts to give cash back.
The yeshiva got a fee for its services, and Chickara and Rametta were able to claim a tax deduction for charitable giving, according to a talk secretly recorded Dec. 14, 1999, between Chickara and an informant named Jeffrey Pokross.
"We donated money to his yeshiva," Chickara said. "Let's say we gave him a $100,000 check. ... Out of the yeshiva, he gave me back $75,000 or $80,000, actually $80,000 in cash."
Pokross: "And you get the tax deduction?"
Chickara: "Exactly."
Pokross: "And it's reliable?"
Chickara: "Yeah."
Before their arrest, Rametta was listed as Ranch 1's CEO and Chickara as its vice chairman. Since then, they have been removed from the executive suite, though Rametta continues working as a Ranch 1 consultant and both still own stock in the firm.
The company owns 60 restaurants, including 23 in New York City, selling what it terms healthy fast food such as flame-broiled chicken sandwiches. Current CEO George Naddaff said the company had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by Rametta and Chickara.
Rametta's lawyer, Edward Little, noted that in accepting his client's plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the mob-related racketeering charges.
Little also questioned whether Chickara actually laundered money through the yeshiva, though he couldn't say it didn't happen.
Chickara's lawyer, Robert Gage, did not return calls seeking comment.
The guilty pleas tarnished the image of respectability the men have carefully maintained in cobbling together several multimillion-dollar business deals over the last decade.
The two sold Arnie's Bagelicious Bagels to Quaker Oats in 1994, took the profits and started Ranch 1 in 1996. They brought in several big-name investors, including John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computers.
At the same time, according to tapes made by the FBI, they were hanging around gangsters from the Brooklyn neighborhood where they grew up.
In a Jan. 26, 2000, taped conversation, Chickara said he and Rametta had "been around" Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso, the homicidal ex-underboss of the Luchese crime family.
After Casso was arrested, Chickara said on the tape, he and Rametta became associated with William (Wild Bill) Cutolo, a Colombo capo who disappeared in 1999.
By last year, Rametta and Chickara were working with Bonanno crime family capo Robert (Little Robert) Lino to take Ranch 1 and Manhattan Soup Man public in a mob-orchestrated pump-and-dump scheme, according to court papers.
On tape, Chickara said the mob would do well in the deal. He noted that his Mafia handlers got a $500,000 payment when they sold Arnie's Bagels to Quaker Oats and said the Colombo crime family stood to profit from Ranch 1 and Manhattan Soup Man as well.
"They'll make money with Ranch 1, they'll make money with soup," Chickara said. "Basically, anything we do, we try to give them something. And always to stay on good terms."
Sidebar:
In describing how he laundered cash as part of a Mafia stock fraud scheme, a former Ranch 1 executive said he used a religious school as the conduit and netted a hefty tax break in the process. Here's how he said the scheme worked:
1 Write a check for a charitable donation to a yeshiva called Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin on Coney Island Ave. in Brooklyn. The yeshiva is run by a friend.
2 The friend gives back 80% of the check in cash. The yeshiva keeps 20% as a fee.
3 Pay off brokers and stock promoters with the cash. Brokers hype worthless stock until its value crests, then insiders sell off, sending the stock crashing. This is called pump and dump.
4 The Ranch 1 executive claims a tax break for the charitable donation to the yeshiva.
Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum - formerly of Yeshiva Torah Temimah - found dead this morning!
Shea ain't off to a good start if he can't get a zipcode right on page 1 of the document.
But I hope he does well!
Aaron Schechter is locked up in a nut house. Chaim Berlin is its name. In fact, he's the head nut.
This is Dass Toiyreh!? Chaim Berlin?
FEH!
Laundering money for Mobsters! Hochee Mama!
And for the rest of us you give a Louima by signing on to ban concerts and remove faces from store-window Sheitels.
Kiss my hairy A--.
T Minus 4 weeks to the Shabbos Hagodel D-Roshos.
Love Is Blind.
Did R' Eli Teitelbaum have a heart attack or something?
I wonder if Margo & Belsky were afraid he would talk about what happened in YTT and Camp Agudah back in the 1960s. He was after all the only rabbi who did the right thing and resigned.
It won't help much to be mazmin Rabbi Schechter. He wouldn't even show up when R' Moishe Feinstein zl demanded he appear.
R' Yitzchok Chinn of Pittsburg, a talmid of R' Shraga Feivel, was niftar on Taanis Esther.
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton adviser James Carville is refusing to apologize for comparing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to Judas.
Carville made the comparison to The New York Times after Richardson, once a member of President Clinton's Cabinet, endorsed Hillary Clinton rival Barack Obama last week for the Democratic presidential nomination. Carville called it an "act of betrayal," and pointed out that it came during Holy Week.
James Carville is a mechutzef on the scale of Kolko's lawyer Jeff Schwartz. I should know. I married the hideous looking putz.
A sizzling summer in Malibu: a rental for $150,000 a month
That's the peak -- so far. Those who can handle a sky-high price like the proximity to stars that it buys them.
By Ann Brenoff, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 24, 2008
For summer lease: Four-bedroom, eight-bathroom bluff-side Malibu house. Price -- $150,000 a month.
That's a jaw dropper, even for Malibu.
Hey conspiracy;
You think Banner Margo and Belshky were Mechaibed Teitelbaum with some Erev Shabbos Kool-Aid?
Teitelbaum was a loose cannon.
UOJ should get a hold of the letter that R' Dovid Feinstein wrote for the Carlebachs testifying that R' Moishe was ignored by the Chaim Berlin gang when he asked them to appear in beis din. Fruchthandler tried to start a rumor after R' Moishe was niftar that everything was settled when it wasn't. R' Moishe allegedly called der Chaim Berlin rosh yeshiva at the time a young mechutzef.
Mendel Epstein probably had some thugs hold down Rabbi Teitelbaum so they could squirt the Kool Aid down his throat with a squirt gun.
WHy didn't Federal prosecutors come after Fruchthandler for money laundering like with Spinka?
Lesbian molester Malka Leifer has been spotted hiding out in Bnei Brak.
Zipporah Oliver, a prominent Orthodox psychologist, is suspected of helping cover up Leifer's crimes in Australia and is encouraging victims to go to rabbonim instead of Police.
I think that the Yidden in Australia will hunt down Leifer. It's one thing if she's a molester but she also stole 100 grand from the community which people will not let pass.
UOJ should get a hold of the letter that R' Dovid Feinstein wrote for the Carlebachs testifying that R' Moishe was ignored by the Chaim Berlin gang when he asked them to appear in beis din. Fruchthandler tried to start a rumor after R' Moishe was niftar that everything was settled when it wasn't. R' Moishe allegedly called der Chaim Berlin rosh yeshiva at the time a young mechutzef.
--------------------
The story is certainly true. Schechter is a dumb bum and Avrumy is a gangster. Go talk to the Sopranos.
R' Dovid refuses to release the letter - as he refused to do anything about Margulies/Kolko in the 80's. Very sad state of affairs !
"R' Dovid refuses to release the letter"
--------------------
Doesn't Rav Carlebach's son have the only other original copy? I heard he was circulating it to put Fruchthandler's false rumor to bed.
"I think that the Yidden in Australia will hunt down Leifer."
She might not want to hide out in South America. When I tried that in the early 1990s, some angry investors hunted me down and put a red hot cattle brander to my tender tuchess!
Get me R' Moshe's letter I'll put it up.
a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com
http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2008/03/05/news/news12.txt
Interesting that he is bankrolling this modern orthodox school.
Some background information on Tranquility Bay and its owner, Jay Kay:
http://www.isaccorp.org/tranquilitybay.asp
and here:
http://www.nospank.net/n-k52.htm
ST. ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Tranquility Bay is a troubled paradise.
A tightly guarded compound in a lovely Caribbean hamlet, it is the oldest foreign outpost in a booming network of behavior-modification programs for American teenagers. Tranquility Bay has a reputation as the harshest of them all.
Tim Weiner for The New York Times
Mike Neumann, 42, of Minnesota, came to Tranquility Bay to look for his niece, Amanda Campbell
Many who have been there describe a life of pain and fear. They say they spent 13 hours a day, for weeks or months on end, lying on their stomachs in an isolation room, their arms repeatedly twisted to the breaking point. Others say the program took them off a road to hell and saved their lives.
Tranquility Bay's methods have spawned fierce supporters and critics, none more passionate than the children who have been through the program and the parents who sent them there.
The children say their parents have no idea what goes on behind the walls. The parents say program directors tell them to ignore all accusations of abuse.
"They tell your parents, `Your son may say he's been beaten, but he's lying,' and that, to me, is the greatest manipulation they pull," said Andrew Emmett, 16, of Washington, Pa.
Enrollment at Tranquility Bay, founded in 1996, has grown in the past two years from 140 to 300 youths, most of them 12 to 19 years old. It is becoming a battleground for the warring camps of parents and children, a growing number of whom oppose the program.
That fight may shape the future of Tranquility Bay's parent organization, the Utah-based World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, known as Wwasps, one of the biggest and most lucrative businesses of its kind.
In a statement sent to parents last month, Ken Kay, Wwasps' president, wrote: "The accusations are from students. The parents may believe them, but the parents weren't there." He continued: "The teens making the allegations generally have a long history of lying, exaggerating and dishonesty."
By telephone, he said that he did not welcome new requests for comment, as Wwasps had signed a television contract to tell its story in its own words.
Mr. Kay's son, Jay Kay, director of Tranquility Bay, said in an e-mail message declining a face-to-face interview that criticisms come from "one-tenth of one percent" of past clients — a few people with "axes to grind."
There is little question that Wwasps programs — including two in Mexico and at least eight in the United States, with a total of roughly 2,300 children — fill a crying need for parents unable to cope with their children.
Many parents who strongly support Tranquility Bay, which costs more than $33,000 a year, see it as a near-miraculous crucible for changing defiant and delinquent teenagers. But others who sent their children say the program damaged their sons and daughters. A striking number of youths say that, while the program's goals may be noble, its methods are not.
In all, 32 children and parents spoke by telephone for this article, 23 others communicated by e-mail, and five face-to-face interviews took place in Jamaica.
"I got some good out of it," said Colin Johnstone, 15, of Louisville, Ky., who came to Tranquility Bay at 13. "But it is kind of like torture. It did me more damage than good."
He was not drinking or taking drugs, said his mother, Lisa Todd. He was "just immature." She said Colin had two teeth knocked loose by a staff member's fist and spent at least eight months in the isolation room. "They are very physically severe in Jamaica," she said. "For sure, they did things they couldn't do in America." But, she added, "I do think the program helps a lot of families that are desperate and don't know where to turn."
Oliver Bucolo, 18, of St. Petersburg, Fla., spent more than two years at Tranquility Bay. "You can't go there and not be changed," he said. "The program's intentions are good. They do help some people."
But, he added: "The staff has no training. They know how to restrain kids."
Restraint, as practiced at Tranquility Bay, can be punishing. Many children, mostly boys, say staff members twist their arms behind their backs until their hands touch their heads, inflicting intense pain without bruises.
"You could hear kids screaming when they were getting restrained," Mr. Bucolo said. "It was horrible. They would do it behind closed doors. And say the kids were lying if they complained."
Jill Himmelfarb, 18, of Coral Springs, Fla., spent two years at Tranquility Bay. At Christmas, she graduated, as have one in every five enrollees. She grew to love the program. "The place saved my life," she said. But soon after leaving, she said, she was taking heroin and trying to kill herself with pills.
Deborah Stilwell, 49, of Lake Forest Park, Wash., one of the parents who supports the program, said it was "nothing short of miraculous."
"It was the best thing we've ever done," said Mrs. Stilwell, whose 16-year-old daughter is at Tranquility Bay, on Prozac, but off drink and other drugs. "Tranquility Bay is not cushy," she said. "It's harsh. But it saved her life."
Kristin Smith, 46, of Bradenton, Fla., said her son Zack, 18, had benefited greatly from Tranquility Bay. She said the program was not suitable for children with emotional or psychological problems — although many youths with such problems are there — but for those who had abused drugs and alcohol, like her son did.
"It was the hardest thing we ever did," she said. "It's tough. It's hard. And that's what he needed — absolute strict rules."
Other parents call Tranquility Bay a Caribbean gulag. "It's like a communist regime," said Julie Wilkinson, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., whose son, Winston, just returned home from Tranquility Bay. "The tragedy is that there is such a desperate outcry for help for kids, from parents who are at their wits' end and will do anything."
Christine Smith, 42, of Flemington, N.J., said she sold her home to pay tuition for her son, Thomas Owens, 16. "I was doing research on the Internet, and World Wide popped up everywhere. It looked good, it really did." She said program officials led her to believe that her son would receive counseling and therapy, but instead, she said, he spent two-thirds of his time at Tranquility Bay in isolation. "They hurt my son," she said. "Dramatically."
"They say the kids manipulate, they lie, they embellish," she said. But so do the program's officials, she said.
"You're paying Harvard prices, and that's O.K. if it helps the child," she said. "But to beat the child, just beat them into submission? If you did this to your child, you would be arrested for child abuse."
Wwasps has sued some of its critics and threatened others. But it is braced for new suits from parents and children alike. One basis for those challenges was expressed by Alex Wolland, 18, of Miami, who spent a year at Tranquility Bay, "The parents have absolutely no clue what is going on."
In his statement to parents last month, Ken Kay, the Wwasps' president, wrote, "We run a tight ship and a tough program where inappropriate attitudes and choices are confronted and redirected and the living conditions are not as nice as the homes the parents had so kindly provided the teen before the teen sabotaged it.
"If these are the accusations, then we have no problem with the accusations. If the accusations are more than that, then there is no basis for the accusations."
In a 1999 interview with The Rocky Mountain News, however, Mr. Kay, who at that time had left the Wwasps organization, criticized its programs and staff.
The staff was "a bunch of untrained people," he said, according to the newspaper. "They don't have credentials of any kind."
"We could be leading these kids to long-term problems that we don't have a clue about because we're not going about it in the proper way," he said. "How in the hell can you call yourself a behavior-modification program — and that's one of the ways it's marketed — when nobody has the experience to determine: Is this good, is this bad?"
That question remains unanswered. No long-term studies of the 1,500 youths who have been to Tranquility Bay, or the 300 who have graduated, have been done. Outside experts say the test will come after Tranquility Bay's youths become adults.
Patrick Quinn, 18, now a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, said: "There were kids there who needed psychiatric help. Professional help. And there are no professionals there."
Instead, he said, the staff inflicted pain on the children, mostly on the boys. Among those youths, he said, was Colin Johnstone. "Every night you heard him there, screaming at the top of his lungs," Mr. Quinn said. "There are a lot of kids there who will never be the same."
Some of the youths at Tranquility Bay have histories of drug and alcohol abuse; 15 percent to 20 percent have had a brush with the law, according to program officials.
Many others have never had encounters with the police, or with drugs. They are there, in large part, because of family crises, including the divorce or the death of a parent.
One such child was Tyler Marshall of Tazewell, Va. "Tyler was 12 when he went to Tranquility Bay," said his cousin, Gini Farmer Remines, "and he had never been in trouble with the law. Basically, he did not get along with the woman his dad was going to marry."
Ms. Remines won custody of her cousin and obtained a judge's order releasing Tyler from Tranquility Bay last year.
Tranquility Bay is the oldest of Wwasps' surviving overseas operations. Wwasps affiliates in Mexico and the Czech Republic have shut down under government pressure; its Costa Rica program closed after a revolt by students last month. In the United States, the organization has affiliated programs, some of which are brand-new, in Utah, Montana, New York, California, Iowa and South Carolina, according to public records.
With a payroll estimated at $1 million a year, and gross annual revenues approaching $10 million, Tranquility Bay is by far the leading economic power in St. Elizabeth, a poor parish on Jamaica's southern shore, where farms are failing and the sea is fished out.
It employs more than 150 Jamaicans, some of whom wear crisp white shirts emblazoned with a patch reading, "Tranquility Bay — Working for the Future of the World." Several have been dismissed recently after being accused of assault or selling drugs, according to two parents and one government official.
Throughout the Wwasps network in the United States and Mexico, many youths say, Tranquility Bay is held out as a warning.
"They threaten you with Tranquility Bay," said Andrew Emmett, who said he was briefly transferred here after attending Carolina Springs Academy, a Wwasps program in South Carolina. "They tell you they can twist up and grind your body and never leave a mark."
Any parent that sends their child to this place needs to be locked up for a long time. They are no better than parents that throw their babies into garbage dumpsters! I don't care how troubled this child was and what kind of "threat" they perceived him to be to their family. The fact that such a place as Tranquility Bay is allowed to exist in this day and age is criminal. This nazi Jay Kay and whis WWASP father need to be hung from their testicles along with their Jamaican cohorts, while the parents of these kids should be arrested for the worst form of child abuse imaginable. I don't think the U.S. government can do anything to help the situation, short of a rescue operation. The Jamaican government is in cahoots with Kay, read $$$$$. These poor children need to be rescued before this turns into another Jim Jones/Guyana kool aid episode.
During sworn testimony in the August 2004 case of WWASPS vs. PURE, Ken Kay stated that in his opinion, sexual activity between staff members and students is "not necessarily" abuse.
During sworn testimony in the August 2004 case of WWASPS vs. PURE, Ken Kay stated that in his opinion, sexual activity between staff members and students is "not necessarily" abuse.
---------------
You seem shocked Steve. Is this not identical to daas Torah - Pinchos Scheinberg - and the entire Torah Umesorah - Agudah crowd?
Ask Shmuel Kaminetzky - what he would do if a rebbe stole $100 out of his petty cash draw! At what dollar amount would these low-lives call the police? Ask Sheftel Neuberger the same!
What makes this story even more bizarre is that Michael Hersh is the CEO of Hatzalah in Brooklyn. This guy is supposed to be involved in saving lives and he goes and throws his own child to the wolves.
http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s19&SecId=19&AId=58897&ATypeId=1
Not only Israeli exporters and hotels are suffering. Hard hit are Israeli population sectors which receive donations from Diaspora Jewry, particularly the strictly Orthodox community, which is dependent on philanthropic contributions from America.
The rabbinical elders of the Lithuanian Charedi community in Israel have even ruled that the dollar exchange rate to the shekel should be four.
Perhaps the sages have heard of hedging, because Jewish Agency Spokesman Michael Jankelowitz told the JC that his organisation had so far been able to maintain programming because of shrewd hedging with banks. “But we will soon have to negotiate a new hedging arrangement,” he said, “and this entire issue is a major worry for us.”
http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s20s22&SecId=22&AId=58923&ATypeId=1
British Neturei Karta leader laments dead Hizbollah man
21/03/2008
By Yaakov Wise, Manchester
A Manchester Neturei Karta activist has commiserated with Hizbollah over the death of terrorist Imad Mughniyah in a car bomb last month.
Ahron Cohen, of Higher Broughton, signed a condolence letter written to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbollah in Lebanon, over Mughniyah’s death. The letter, which has just been made public, condemns the “atrocities perpetrated by the wholly illegitimate state of Israel” and claims: “Arab and Muslim people despite their long suffering at the hands of Zionism have not fallen prey to the influence of evil.”
In addition to Mr Cohen, who signs himself as “Rabbi” but does not have rabbinical ordination, the letter was signed by other Neturei Karta leaders Moshe Beck (USA), Yisroel Weiss (Canada) and Meir Hirsh (“Palestine”).
The letter opens: “Asalaam Alaikum. The Almighty’s blessings on all of you [Hizbollah], your families and our esteemed brethren in Lebanon.
“Our G-d-fearing brethren throughout the entire Palestine have been and are continually beaten, murdered, imprisoned and oppressed, since the beginning of Zionism up until today. They are and have always been the victims of these same perpetrators of evil, who are oppressing the Palestinian and Lebanese people.”
The signatories also state: “We are exceptionally sensitive to the Palestinian and Lebanese people’s plight, for we, the Jewish people, have just recently experienced extreme discrimination and all the tragic sufferings in the concentration camps in Europe. Our close relatives have suffered indescribably and died there. Also we know and have experienced what it means to be displaced as we have all been uprooted from our original homes and dwellings throughout Europe. This of course compounds our understanding of the Palestinian and Lebanese suffering.”
It concludes: “Let us all pray for the peaceful and speedy dismantlement of this illegitimate state.”
The Neturei Karta leadership has also written to all the US presidential candidates asking them to support the Palestinian people and claiming “thousands of Orthodox Jews and their rabbis oppose the evil state of Israel.
Peter Brieger, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, March 24, 2008
TORONTO - Canadian and U.S. regulators slapped Biovail Corp. founder Eugene Melnyk and three company executives with charges of accounting fraud, saying they misled investors about the pharmaceutical company's financial results.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Canada's biggest publicly traded drug maker agreed to pay $10 million US to settle charges against the company.
But the stock market regulator said it will press on with its case against Melnyk - the billionaire owner of the Ottawa Senators hockey team
"Biovail and senior executives engaged in a pattern of systemic, chronic fraud that impacted its public filings of quarterly and annual reports over the course of four years," Mark Schonfeld, director of the SEC's New York regional office, said in a statement. "In an effort to conceal the fraud, Biovail's senior officers intentionally misled the company's auditors and the investing public, showing their complete disregard for their responsibilities to shareholders."
Meanwhile, the Ontario Securities Commission also announced that it has slapped the four men with regulatory charges over allegations they misled analysts and investors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/966267.html
A well-known and senior West Bank rabbi yesterday called on Israelis not to employ Arabs or rent homes to them.
"It is completely forbidden to employ them [Arabs] and rent houses to them in Israel," Kiryat Arba chief rabbi and chairman of the Yesha rabbinical council Dov Lior said in an interview published in a newsletter to be distributed in synagogues on Shabbat. The flyer, is to be circulated in Synagogues this Saturday.
"Employing Arabs is forbidden not only at yeshivas but at factories, hotels and everywhere," said Lior in the interview in "Eretz Yisrael Shelanu" (Our Land of Israel). Lior lashed out at the country's leaders' and their "inconceivable idiocy" in carrying out the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. He also said he supported the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva rabbis' decision to prevent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's from visiting there after the terror attack two weeks ago.
An alumnus of Israel's most prestigious Haredi rabbinical academy, the storied Ponevezh Yeshiva of Bnei Berak, Volach was reared, along with his 19 siblings, in the most austere and learned sector of Israel's Haredi society, Jerusalem's yeshiva-centered Misnagdic community. He finally broke with Orthodoxy at age 25, moving to secular Tel Aviv to study film. In his 13th year as a secular Jew, the 37-year-old rabbinical renegade received a deliciously subversive "bar un-mitzvah" gift when Robert De Niro personally presented Volach with the Tribeca Film festival's 2007 Founder's Award for best narrative feature film.
http://www.forward.com/articles/12955/
With the national mortgage crisis growing worse by the day, a Boston lawyer is looking to alleviate matters by appealing to Jewish law.
David Grossack, an attorney representing an elderly couple whose home is being foreclosed on, argued in a letter to a Boston rabbinical court, or beit din, that his opposing counsel, Jewish lawyers who represent the Federal National Mortgage Association, have defied Jewish law and therefore should be excommunicated. To be specific, Grossack is seeks for them to be put in what’s known as cherem, or full exclusion from the Jewish community. This legal feature in Halacha, or Jewish law, was famously applied to philosopher Baruch Spinoza in the 17th century but has been used very rarely in modern times.
“I want to shame them,” Grossack said of attorneys Mark Harmon and Jason Greenberg. “They’re not doing anything illegal. But it’s not halachically correct, and it’s not helping the Jewish community.”
Grossack, who is not affiliated with any congregation, describes himself as “self-taught.” In his letter to the Rabbinical Court of Justice, Grossack claimed that defending “predatory lending practices” in court is tantamount to “aiding and abetting lending at interest, which we Jews forbid to each other.” Although neither party represented in the case is Jewish, the lawyers on both sides are, and Grossack interprets the talmudic injunction as extending beyond its literal meaning.
Grossack added that he approached Greenberg about taking the case to a rabbinical court. He also said that his threat may have had an effect.
“I told him I intended to go to a beit din,” Grossack said. “A couple days later, he called me up and said he wanted to work it out.”
For now, “working it out” means that the eviction case against Grossack’s clients has been dropped for the moment. They were originally threatened with eviction by the end of March if Grossack lost the case. But Grossack doesn’t plan to drop the case in the rabbinical court. Even if he wins the civil case, he said, the attorneys he is battling “are doing this to people every day.”
Neither Harmon nor Greenberg could be reached for comment. Rabbis at the court, Boston’s primary beit din — which is officiated by Orthodox rabbis but open to claimants from all denominations — have not yet issued a response but are considering the plea.
“We don’t just issue cherems,” Rabbi Abraham Halbfinger, director of the Rabbinical Court, told the Forward. Indeed, Halbfinger said that his court had never issued a writ of excommunication but stressed that it would review the case.
According to Yitzhok Adlerstein, a professor of Jewish law and ethics at Loyola Law School Los Angeles, Grossack’s case doesn’t look good.
“The only time you can use cherem is when you live in a structured Jewish community, with one recognized Jewish court that has the tacit approval of the people in the community,” Adlerstein said. “In the modern world, cherem can’t be used, because a person can just say to the court, ‘Who are you?’”
Adlerstein was also skeptical of Grossack’s claim that Harmon and Greenberg were acting in defiance of Jewish law in the first place, arguing that it was indeed permissible for a debtor’s assets to be seized according to Halacha. Finally, he argued that “a Jewish lawyer cannot be party to certain actions that directly defy Jewish law, but there are lots of things that Jewish attorneys can do when the litigants involved agree to be governed by secular law. Heartless as it may be, the law is the law.”
For Grossack, all this is somewhat beside the point. In response to the question of whether a writ of excommunication was feasible, Grossack said that he just wanted to “have a statement on record.”
“I feel like I’ve released holy sparks,” he added.
See R'Moshe's leeter to CB guys:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_IC1swogp6gc/R2FeZag8SmI/AAAAAAAAA1U/3fTYtvUQklA/s1600-h/ScannedImage-11.jpg
other interesting letter regarding Aguda's silence:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_IC1swogp6gc/R2Fdcag8SlI/AAAAAAAAA1M/NeV3zO9Xwyo/s1600-h/ScannedImage-4.jpg
&
http://bp2.blogger.com/_IC1swogp6gc/R2Fm_6g8SnI/AAAAAAAAA1c/IjsScxgn3-0/s1600-h/ScannedImage-5.jpg
See: http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/search?q=carlebach
UOJ,
Please have rachmonus. 'Effin Wachsman might have an effin heart attack from seeing so many gedolim from previous generations lambast the Moetzes.
What did R' Shimon Schwab say against Schechter? I can't make it out from the handwriting.
We have no knowledge of any letters from Rav Carlebach. Is he sure he sent it to the right address?
If anyone has the most recent letter from R' Dovid Feinstein after Fruchthandler started lying to cover this up, please pass it on to UOJ.
Please ask the Carlebach mishpoche for a copy if you know them.
R' Shmuel Berenbaum didn't think much of the current Moetzes and referred to them as the college boys.
Back off, UOJ! I'm the choshuve guy who graced Fruchthandler by taking him as a shver.
Hey Frucht,
you were laughing at Margo when UOJ nailed him, shaking your head at his stupidity.
Get your own house in order first.
Eckstein says he will post any letter signed by rabbonim.
How much do you want to bet that the little weasel won't post these letters from R' Moishe & Rav Carlebach?
Did Margo, Belsky and the rest of those shmucks have enough decency to show up to R' Eli Teitelbaum's levaya?
http://www.thejewishpress.com/displaycontent_new.cfm?contentid=30620&mode=a§ionid=14&contentname=Fighting_Even_Where_It%27s_Uncomfortable%3A_Why_The_OU_Voted_As_It_Did_At_JCPA&recnum=1
They send their in house lawyer on to the pages of the Jewish Press to weasel their way out of the anti-OU backlash after their vote on the Palestinian state.
NEW YORK - New York's new governor, who disclosed last week that he and his wife both committed adultery several years ago, said Monday that he used cocaine in his 20s and smoked marijuana when he was younger.
In reference to cocaine, Gov. David Paterson, 53, said in a television interview that he "tried it a couple of times" when he was "about 22 or 23."
"And marijuana probably when I was about 20," he said on the NY1 cable news station. "I don't think I touched marijuana since the '70s."
"More Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and gone on to lead responsible lives and hopefully have lived their lives to their fullest," he said.
Paterson was lieutenant governor under Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned last week amid a prostitution scandal.
Last week, Paterson and his wife, Michelle Paterson, disclosed they each had strayed from the marriage years ago. The couple were separated for a "couple years" at the time, David Paterson said Monday.
In Monday's interview, Paterson pointed out that he had acknowledged to a television journalist in 2006 that he had used illegal drugs.
The NY1 interviewer, Dominic Carter, noted that few people paid attention to Paterson's revelation then because he was running for lieutenant governor.
Left wing "Rabbi" Michael Lerner has an insane defense of Eliot Spitzer in his toilet paper magazine called Tikkun.
He basically says there's nothing wrong betzem with using zoynos except in the eyes of holier than thou right wingers. Then he mentions there's grada a different problem of the zoyna being abused by her pimp.
After this he lashes out at George Bush for the Iraq war which he of course says is a bigger avlah than Spitzer screwing around.
Finally, Lerner even attacks his own chossid Chuck Schumer for not stopping Michael Mukasey's appointment to Attorney General because the AG holds al Qaeda terrorists can be tortured for information if we can save American lives.
http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=30777&mode=a§ionid=59&contentname=Letters_To_The_Editor&recnum=0
This story illustrates the faith we must have in our religious leaders. Sadly, we see how far we are from this ideal in light of the reaction to the banning of the Lipa concert. I hate to use clichés, but in the matter of following Gedolei Yisrael, “Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or…” You can fill in the blanks, and they should be taken literally because not only we are dealing with a lav of the Torah (Lo Tosur), but to malign our religious leaders is to undermine the foundation of Yiddishkeit.
Alas, I fear this exhortation will be lost due to the modern day Korachs who appeal to the masses to reject the edicts of those who seek only our best long-term interests.
Dr. Yaakov Stern
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.thejc.com/Home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18&AId=58552&ATypeId=1&secid=18&prev=true
Pesach pricesset to soar, say butchers
07/03/2008
By Leon Symons
The prices of beef, lamb, poultry and matzot are all set to rise in the run-up to Pesach, which begins on April 20.
Kosher butchers in London and Manchester say that constant increases in wholesale and farm-gate prices can no longer be absorbed.
Beef prices have risen by 20 per cent in two months. Increases in poultry prices are being staggered in the next month to try to minimise the impact.
The increases are being blamed on the rocketing price of wheat, which has risen from £86 to almost £200 a ton in the past 10 months, and other grain-based animal feed, together with rising oil prices.
Richard Hyman of Titanics in Manchester said: “One beef supplier put up his price by 37p a kilo two weeks ago. We have absorbed most of that, but it has got to a point where decisions have to be made about increases. We cannot sell food at a loss, otherwise none of us will be around in the future.”
Stephen Grossman, managing director of kosher poultry abattoir LewcoPak in Bedfordshire, confirmed consumers’ fears, saying: “All poultry will go up [in price] before Pesach. This is due primarily to huge increases in the price of wheat, which is an integral part of animal feed.
“Since last April, the price of the live birds we buy has risen by 18 per cent. We have been told to expect a rise of another 13 per cent in the next six weeks. Two-thirds of the cost of every bird goes on feed.
“Everyone has also felt the effects of the rise in oil prices. Put it all together and it makes it very difficult to keep down prices.”
Elaine Mann, owner of Edgware butcher Louis Mann, said: “We want to give our customers the best prices we can. But we also have to maintain the quality of our products and cover our expenses, so we must reluctantly put up some prices.”
The cost of wheat has also had an effect on matzah prices. A spokesman for Rakusen, which makes matzah for all the main Pesach suppliers, said the high prices would have an effect but it would be up to individual supermarkets — including the big four of Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Waitrose — to set their own prices.
Orthodox Jewish consumers who buy hand-made shemurah (wheat watched from harvesting) matzah will be paying between 10 and 30 per cent more than a year ago, according to a US kosher-food-industry survey. Prices in Britain, which averaged £9 a pound last year, will be even higher once the cost of air freight has been added. One Manchester dealer is already quoting £12 a pound for American matzos.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/business/24jobs.html?ei=5087&em=&en=f01363f68d5dfce7&ex=1206590400&pagewanted=print
March 24, 2008
With Economy Tied to Wall St., New York Braces for Job Cuts
By LOUISE STORY
http://www.ejpress.org/article/25566
PARIS (EJP)--- A French senior civil servant was fired after publishing an anti-Israeli pamphlet on internet, the Interior Ministry announced Sunday.
According to French television, Bruno Guigue, deputy prefect of the southwestern French town of Saintes, wrote in an online column this month that Israel was the only regime that allows "snipers shoot down little girls outside their school gates.»
Guigue, author of several books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, also wrote of the "Israeli jails where -- thanks to religious law -- they stop torturing on the Sabbath."
In his article, he appears to justify Iran's diatribes against Israel by the Israeli attitude itself and adds that "concerning terrorism the state of Israel can pride itself on a abnormal prize list."
The column published on Oumma.com, a website of the French-speaking Islam, was entitled «When the pro-Israel lobby unleashes against the United Nations.»
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie dismissed Guigue, after learning of the column on Wednesday.
Fantastic comments from vosizneias
Anonymous said...
I just did some research on TB. And what ever parent sends there kids to this place is insane. I dont care how bad a kid is they do not deserve to be treated worse then animals.
March 25, 2008 9:14 AM
Sorry to disagree, but parents who send their kids to this place are not insane.
If they checked themselves into this place they would be insane. If they send their kids there they are RESHO'IM.
March 25, 2008 9:22 AM
He was caught with non-kosher cheese. I think by R' M. D. Tendler. Mainly because the owner of a major kosher cheese producer who is a congregant of his noticed that he was ordering significantly less than any other pizza shop. Ironically, it was located in the same strip mall as Shvach was.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/03/ny-state-kosher-law-challenged.html#c7455826658238679582
Heshy Gottesman's Cheese Company said...
Gottesman's brands include Foodworks, The Good Life Cheese, La Dolce Vita, Lite and Lacey and To Your Health.
http://www.cheesemaven.com/Content/Shopping.htm
All of our cheeses have the kosher symbol originally made by its owner Rabbi Heshy Gottesman. Our cheeses aresupervised by Rabbi Dovid Katz of Avenue L in Brooklyn, NY, a member of Igud Harrabanim, who says all of the ingredients are kosher and acceptable.
An article written by Rabbi Sholom (Sidney) Klass (of the Jewish Press) many years ago answers the question why all hard cheeses are Kosher (including when made from dried intestine rennet from non-kosher animals).The article explains different interpretations by different Rabbis regarding cheese, and it should answer many questions people have about what makes cheese kosher in general. His findings and all the Rabbi’s theories are what we base our teshuvas on.
http://www.cheesemaven.com/images/koshercheese.pdf
To read the article, click here.
http://www.cheesemaven.com/Content/Our%20History.htm
Food Distributors, Inc. and Cheesemaven, LLC are a direct reflection of our heritage and
lineage. As you may know, a maven is a person with special knowledge, experience
and expertise. The word “maven” is derived from the Yiddish “meyvn” which is highly
appropriate given that our roots stem from the Jerusalem Cheese products originally created by Heshy Gottesman in Monsey, New York.
In this famous little hamlet in New York, Heshy’s Pizza was a popular gathering spot for people throughout Rockland County (New York) and North Bergen County (New Jersey) who wanted to meet and enjoy great tasting food. But in addition to pizza, Heshy also produced the enormously popular Jerusalem Cheese products like Blintzes, Kreplach, Perogen, musaka, muenster and mozzarella cheese.
Born originally in Poland, Heshy Gottesman is the son of the Lashkowitzer Rebbe. Heshy Gottesman is also a 7th generation, direct descendant of Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, or BeSHT ("Possessor of the Good Name" or "Master of the Divine
Name") who founded the Hassidic movement.
When the Germans invaded Poland during World War II, Heshy’s family fled to Siberia where they spent the war years in a state of near starvation. After the war, the Gottesmans came to America where Heshy’s father had a following of Chassidim on
the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father was known as a great Baal Tfilah but Heshy stood out as a singer of Jewish songs and as a chef of incredible Jewish delicacies.
Anonymous said...
Someone writes that he contacted Gottessman's distributor who lied about the certification:
http://www.kosherblog.net/discuss/forum.php?req=thread&id=110&page=-1&sid-bb-341=go2tg7063cb3dt12g1t6m8a4lr75dqb1
I contacted the distributer though - Pryority Foods, Inc. They did a little research and told me that this cheese is under the OU. I asked why the symbol is not an OU and the woman didn't seem to know but tried to assure me that it is kosher...
In the meantime, I also emailed kosherquest.org and they got back to me and told me that it is a made-up symbol by the company and should not be trusted.
Anonymous said...
"Heshy Gottesman is the son of the Lashkowitzer Rebbe. Heshy Gottesman is also a 7th generation, direct descendant of Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, or BeSHT ("Possessor of the Good Name" or "Master of the Divine
Name") who founded the Hassidic movement."
I'm not a fan of Rav Heinemann's shitos but he has a very good vort, that he's always suspicious of people who boast that they "shtam from the Noam Elimelech & Dovid HaMelech"
Anonymous said...
Lakewood ShopRite used to sell his cheeses in the fridges in the back with a big sign saying Kosher Cheese. I and a few others who knew the history of his cheeses pressured them to remove the sign. It didn't work until we got Rabbi Chomsky on the case. He was very helpful and the sign was removed. I hope it was removed in other stores too. Rabbi Tendler has/d signs in his shul saying to keep far away from these cheeses.
Anonymous said...
Gottesman is a smart businessman. He knew 20 years ago that kosher cheese companies did not carry most cheeses on the market. Decades later, he still has cheese varieties that are not yet offered by kosher producers. Because of his wide selection, probably rov supermarkets including Shoprite of Boro Park / Flatbush are carrying his chazirei, thinking it's kosher. They are packaged attractively so the goyim are probably buying them.
I don't know where to post this - It has come to light that a Choshuva Askan in Switzerland has misappropriated up to 40 million dollars of client's money. He has been managing bank accounts for various people who have funds in Switzerland. He has allegedly forged signatures and taken out loans for these people. Beware anyone who "invested" with this man in Switzerland.
When will anyone put an end to Camp Morris and its financial shenanigans?
Please forward this to the hanhala as I can post . . .
Hard to trust everyone in the office now!
Today's NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/03/25/2008-03-25_jewish_family_sues_jamaican_reform_schoo.html
Jewish family sues Jamaican reform school for troubled teens
BY KIRSTEN DANIS
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, March 25th 2008, 4:00 AM
Boys lay prone on stone floor at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica that has been called a concentration camp.
Isaac Hersh
A battle has erupted in the Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager sent by his prominent family to a behavior boot camp accused of terrifying abuse.
Isaac Hersh, 16, has been trapped since last summer at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica with a soothing name - and harsh discipline, according to the lawyer hired to try to get him out.
"It's a modern-day concentration camp," said Maryland lawyer Joshua Ambush.
Isaac's estranged parents sent him to the boot camp last year after luring him back to Brooklyn from his new home in Texas, court papers claim.
Isaac's twin brother, Sol, is panicked he's next to go.
"He's very worried about his brother. He's very worried about himself, too," said a friend of the family who asked to remain anonymous.
Tranquility Bay offers the promise of turning bad boys into focused achievers, but the walled-off camp with barred windows has been called a nightmare.
Children have been beaten, forced to eat their vomit and made to stand in painful contortions for hours, according to a separate suit filed in Utah by former students against private boot camps, including Tranquility Bay.
The case has so riled up members of the normally insular Orthodox community that several are taking the rare step of publicizing Isaac's situation.
One one side is Isaac's informal Texas foster family, who are also Orthodox, and their supporters, who prompted a nonprofit to file suit in Washington last week on Isaac's behalf.
They claim he was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of a job, handcuffed and thrown into a van that took him to the boot camp as he cried and begged to be released, the suit says.
On the other side are the teen's father, Michael Hersh - CEO of Brooklyn's huge Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah - and his wife, Miriam.
"Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement.
The couple has a prominent supporter in Rabbi Aaron Schecter, head of Brooklyn's tight-knit Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, according to the suit.
It is unclear what prompted the parents to send Isaac to another country. Michael Hersh did not return a call for comment.
They had a troubled relationship for years, according to the suit.
Isaac, one of eight children, was sent to schools in Virginia and Long Island before the family moved to Israel in 2002, where the parents were accused of abusing Isaac, the suit says.
From there, the boys went to live with families in Texas, although the parents never lost custody.
"They're healthy, good, normal teenage boys," said the family friend.
kdanis@nydailynews.com
Take your kids out of yeshiva today!
From The Hooray For Me and Screw You Louima Dept.
Significant Price Increases for Shmura Matzoh for 2008!?
These baking bastards (BB's) locked in the lower existing 2007 wheat crop prices for this year's Pesach matzoh baking back in mid 2007.
Sent in by a Chaptzem reader
And it was in the days of Eliot, Governor of New York, he was Eliot who ruled from Brooklyn to Buffalo, sixty three counties, and he found favor in the eyes of all who voted for him. And he was elected by a landslide and his approval rating soared.
One night, his sleep was troubled and he said to Queen Silda, “But all of this means nothing to me when I see Bruno the Republican being driven around by State Troopers and he doesn’t bow down or prostate himself before me.” And Silda said, “Investigate and prosecute him, and hang him on a 50-foot gallows,” and it was good in the eyes of Eliot.
And it was in the second month of the second year of Eliot’s reign, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, that he traveled to the capital city of Washington to testify before Congress and to party. And he called upon Hagai the Webmaster, keeper of the women, President of the Emperors’ Club, and he ordered Hagai to send to the royal chambers at the Mayfair the fairest maiden in the land. And Hagai sent Kristen, also known as Ashley, also known as Alexandra, also known as Dupree, and she found favor in Eliot’s eyes, and he gave her up to one-half of his kingdom (or $4,300, whichever was less).
And when Queen Silda learned of the party to which she had not been invited, she flew into a rage and declared, “An evil and treacherous man is this wicked Eliot, who would deign to deface the Queen in the Mayfair House! McGreevey may be a faigele, but at least he included his wife in the festivities!” And Eliot was hung on the gallows that he had prepared for Bruno, Hevesi, Greenberg and countless other defendants.
And Shelly took the ring that had been given to Eliot and gave it to David, and the anger of the people subsided.
Sent in by a Chaptzem reader
And it was in the days of Eliot, Governor of New York, he was Eliot who ruled from Brooklyn to Buffalo, sixty three counties, and he found favor in the eyes of all who voted for him. And he was elected by a landslide and his approval rating soared.
One night, his sleep was troubled and he said to Queen Silda, “But all of this means nothing to me when I see Bruno the Republican being driven around by State Troopers and he doesn’t bow down or prostate himself before me.” And Silda said, “Investigate and prosecute him, and hang him on a 50-foot gallows,” and it was good in the eyes of Eliot.
And it was in the second month of the second year of Eliot’s reign, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, that he traveled to the capital city of Washington to testify before Congress and to party. And he called upon Hagai the Webmaster, keeper of the women, President of the Emperors’ Club, and he ordered Hagai to send to the royal chambers at the Mayfair the fairest maiden in the land. And Hagai sent Kristen, also known as Ashley, also known as Alexandra, also known as Dupree, and she found favor in Eliot’s eyes, and he gave her up to one-half of his kingdom (or $4,300, whichever was less).
And when Queen Silda learned of the party to which she had not been invited, she flew into a rage and declared, “An evil and treacherous man is this wicked Eliot, who would deign to deface the Queen in the Mayfair House! McGreevey may be a faigele, but at least he included his wife in the festivities!” And Eliot was hung on the gallows that he had prepared for Bruno, Hevesi, Greenberg and countless other defendants.
And Shelly took the ring that had been given to Eliot and gave it to David, and the anger of the people subsided.
wHAT possible "CRIME" DID THIS YOUNG BOY COMMIT TO HAVE HIS PARENTS DO SUCH A HORRIBLE AND HORRIFIC ACT? Read from the link and you will see they abandoned him before in Houston. This story has made me sick, someone pls. answer my question
can someone translate rav moshes letter?
Chilling words of Rabbi Carlbach:
" A Chillul Hashem unresolved ultimately revenges itself upon its perpetrators as well as upon those who reward it."
I hope the gerrer rebbe reads these words and takes to heart the chillul hashem caused by his minions, Avraham Mondrowitz and Avraham Leizerowitz. Leizerowitz prior to being outed for sexual molestation of young teenage boys was known as a notorious hater of overweight boys. He would publicly embarass them and also punch them in the groin and viciously slap them around for the slightest infraction causing lifelong trauma. It turned out that he had a sick fetish over slender teenagers who were slow to mature sexualy. Some beleive he figured it was permissable since these boys might not be "spilling seed" while molested. This sick dude actualy made a name for himself preaching holiness. The Chilul Hashem caused by these 2 child molesters is what Rabbi Fogel should be concerned about - not bans against Lipa Shmeltzer which he allowed into the Hamodia newspaper.
OHR ZARUAH LATZADDIKIM!!!
The following information is public knowledge:
R’ Aron Schechter is not the first Rosh Yeshiva to condone kidnapping your own child. In 1994 right before his serious heart trouble, R’ Zelik Epstein was involved in a case where the married sister-in-law of a “prominent” Rosh Yeshiva was kidnapped on orders from her parents, who were upset with who she married and demanded a divorce. When she stood by her husband, the mother-in-law arranged her kidnapping in Israel. As a result, they moved back to America, but the victim’s brother-in-law the “prominent” rosh yeshiva arranged that no kollel should accept her husband. R’ Zelik went ballistic at the “prominent” Rosh Yeshiva who was forced to cut out his thuggery.
The “prominent” Rosh Yeshiva is none other than RAV MALKIEL KOTLER, whose mother-in-law Tikotski is the aunt of another “prominent” Gadol, HARAV HAGAON MOISH “SHEVACH” FINKEL.
Speaking of Finkel & Heshy Gottesman, Kashrus Magazine once published a blurb in the days before Gottesman's cheese was officially "certified" by cartoon character Dovid Katz, that it has no hashgocho besides the personal "guarantee" of Gottesman himself. Mr. Thug Gottesman then forced the magazine to retract or be sued.
Dovid Katz by the way, who scampers out of his basement apartment every so often to collect his fees, relies on the "word" of establishment owners without checking to see if anything is true.
Is that the eidim who is partially Sefardi? Did they not want the shidduch for that reason?
What kind of financial shenanigans are going on in Camp Morris?
Anon 3:30,
I understand that the machlokos between reb yaakov and reb gedalia schorr was mainly due to reb yakov wanting reb zelig to be rosh yeshiva in torah voddath. I have heard that they even ignored each other when they were both on the moetzes !!
UOJ knows the truth about all of this. And of course we are all looking forward to the "rest of the story".
Hey Obermeister, good question!
Especially since no one gets past you even for a 30 minute visit without paying.
"Ask Shmuel Kaminetzky - what he would do if a rebbe stole $100 out of his petty cash draw! At what dollar amount would these low-lives call the police? Ask Sheftel Neuberger the same!"
Have there been actual incidents of rebbeim stealing petty cash?
You know what garbage is/was at camp. Same deal and same perps and vendors as in the city. New Square had Bill. Warning. Clean up your act now.
Don't you remember that some of your office staff is not so stupid.
1 and 1 makes ?
Court extends remand for mother suspected of abusing her 12 children
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Police, Jerusalem
A Jerusalem court on Tuesday extended by six days the remand of a Beit Shemesh woman suspected of abusing her twelve children.
Police believe that the children had sexual intercourse with each other, some for a long period of time.
"The investigation started a few months ago following a complaint from a distressed teen. I arrived at the house and it seemed as though something was not right there," said police head of investigations in Beit Shemesh, Roni Markovitch. "We opened with a wide-scale undercover investigation, and then we received complaints of violence within the family and incest between the siblings."
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Markovitch maintained that not all of the 12 children were involved in incest.
During the police investigation, it became evident that the mother was violent towards some of her children, and would routinely beat them, sometimes with a sharp object. In other instances, when the children would come home late, they would be sent to sleep in a locked shed outside of the house.
"The mother called what happened there 'education,' and I call it terror," said Markovitch, "the violence in that house was not easy. I have investigated many cases, and this is the hardest."
Father, son indicted for raping daughter over 9-year period
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
A 48-year-old man and his son, 21, were indicted Sunday at Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court for allegedly raping and sexually abusing the family's 14-year-old daughter over a period of nine years.
The girl's mother is accused of knowing about the alleged attacks and doing nothing to prevent or report them.
Both parents and their son were arrested in mid-January, and the daughter was placed in the care of welfare services. Another man was also charged in connection with the case.
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According to the prosecution, the father and son have confessed to most of the charges against them. The father faces charges of raping a family member, sexual abuse and forcing a minor to use drugs.
The indictment claims the girl was first raped by her brother when she was five. In some cases, the charge sheets says, he had forced her to perform acts of oral sex.
The indictment also alleges that at the age of eight, the daughter was raped by a man who had sold an apartment to her parents. During this alleged incident, the father had sent his daughter to the man's home, and he allegedly abused her, raped her and made her watch pornographic movies.
According to the indictment, the father allegedly began raping his daughter two years later, in 2002. For the first four years he is suspected of raping her twice weekly, but, since the summer of 2006, he is suspected of raping his daughter on a daily basis.
The indictment also said that the father allegedly forced his daughter to perform oral sex on him and be photographed in the nude. He also allegedly forced her to smoke marijuana before performing sexual acts.
When the brother found out his father had been arrested, he allegedly pressured his sister to not to speak to the police. The brother also allegedly asked a friend to testify to police that he was homosexual, and had no interest in sex with women. The brother is also charged with hampering the investigation.
The mother was charged with failing to report a crime after she noticed her daughter alone in the bedroom with her husband, who did not allow his wife to enter.
In addition to the indictment, the prosecution also requested that the father, brother and other man be kept in custody for the remainder of the proceedings.
The other man denies the charges against him and says that the girl never visited his home. But the prosecution said that the girl had accurately described the interior of the man's house, including the presence of a video that began as a nature film and ended as a pornographic film.
Parental abuse at the hands of children a growing Israeli trend
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Violence in Israel has manifested itself into a disturbing and growing new trend, children who strike their parents.
When Y.G. was 10 years old, his father was jailed for beating his wife. When Y.G. was 11 he hit his mother so hard she had to be hospitalized. He was removed from his home in the north and taken to an emergency center run by the Social Welfare Ministry, from which he was transferred to another institution for treatment.
Until a few years ago, social workers were unfamiliar with children like Y.G., but the phenomenon of children being violent toward their parents is now growing. In 2005, 26 such children were removed from their homes, according to said Social Welfare Ministry official Hanna Slotzky. In 2006, the number jumped to 47, with some of the children as young as nine or ten.
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But violence toward parents actually starts at a much younger age, according to data publicized yesterday, at the third Eilat conference on violence in Israeli society.
Excessive violence is found in some 18 percent of children aged one to two who are treated at the infant unit at Geha Psychiatric Hospital in Petah Tikva, said Dr. Miri Keren, a child psychiatrist and expert on infant psychiatric problems. The proportion rises to 24 percent for children between the ages of two and three, she said, adding that the number of infants treated there for excessive violence comes to more than 200 per year.
Keren said parents often don't know how to react appropriately to a young child who hits them.
"Many parents don't understand that they need to stop this, but not by hitting," she said. "They think it's not terrible, they say the child doesn't understand what he's doing, doesn't understand that he's hurting [someone]. There are some who say that he's simply mischievous.
Many times the children first hit the parents and then start to hit other children; they push, bite, and grab the parent's hair."
Over the last few years, Keren has helped establish seven psychiatric units for young children across the country, where thousands of kids are brought every year. Sometimes the children come after day-care centers refuse to care for them because they hit other children or the teachers.
Keren rejects the argument of some child development experts that aggression at such a young age is a natural stage of development.
"If we let these children continue their behavior without treatment, there's at least a 50 percent chance they will grow up to be violent as children and adults," she said. The violence is deemed to be a problem, she added, when it is repeated and keeps the child and the family from functioning normally.
The older children who are removed from their homes are brought to emergency centers that were established to protect children from parental abuse and neglect. Many of the violent children suffer from emotional problems, learning difficulties or both, said Slotzky. And many parents lack the ability to set boundaries; quite a few of the children come from broken homes.
Reports of violent children generally come from the schools, not the parents, as parents fear their children will be taken from them if they complain to social services. Slotzky recalls a mother who came to the ministry because she couldn't cope with her violent 6-year-old son
and found herself being questioned by the police.
But Slotzky thinks social services have changed their approach over the past year and are not merely more aware of the existence of violent children, but are also prepared to provide parents with tools to help them set limits and cope with the violence. One technique is to teach children and parents new coping skills.
"I would want every parent who feels that he's losing control, that he's losing authority to feel that he can ask us for help," said Slotzky.
Last update - 06:13 21/02/2008
Education Ministry report shows increased sexual violence in schools
By Or Kashti, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: israel, schools
Incidences of sexual violence in schools increased 26 percent last year, the Ministry of Education's Psychological Counseling Service (Shefi) said Wednesday.
Annual incidents of abuse, meanwhile, soared from 186 seven years ago to 404 last year. Shefi's department for combating child abuse is handling 24 percent more cases.
Shefi head Shosh Zimerman said sexual abuse among youths "is much more prevalent than people think, because society is not aware of what exactly constitutes sexual abuse. Comments on body parts or showing off pornographic pictures are often seen as normal adolescent behavior."
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The law and the Education Ministry require the school staff to report every incident of sexual abuse to the welfare authorities, police and ministry inspectors.
Shefi is frequently called on to find educational and therapeutic ways to help the assault victim, other pupils, parents and even the perpetrator himself. Among other things, the counselors handle small children's aberrant sexual behavior, sexual harassment and serious crimes like rape and sodomy.
Out of 602 cases SHEFI handled last year, 166 involved children who were sexually abused by adults (compared to 127 in 2006), 404 involved students abused by other students (compared to 26), 321 were "general" complaints and six were cases of adults abused by minors.
Sixty-five percent of the incidents occurred in elementary schools, and 12 percent (about 70) in kindergartens.
The lowest number of incidents was reported in high schools.
Greater clarity
"Aberrant sexual behavior in kindergarten suggests the need for counseling and therapy," says Zimerman. "On the other hand, in junior high and high school there is more clarity regarding sexual harassment or abuse."
She says more incidents are being reported in part due to "increased teacher awareness about the situation and work with students to enable them to detect sexual abuse and encourage them to complain."
The figures show that more boys than girls were sexually abused by fellow students (343 compared to 287) and that the overwhelming majority of attackers are boys (482 compared to 46). Most assaults took place in schools or kindergartens.
A large percentage - 26 percent - of adults molesting children occur inside the family.
The victims in about half of these cases - usually girls - are in elementary school.
Some of the baal habatim from Merchav / Kochav who daven in the Camp Morris beis medrash act like overgrown babies about their seats.
Shut Chaim Berlin & YTT Down, NOW!
YTT
Chaim Berlin
Molding our future leaders. Semper Fi.
Tranquility Island. An oxymoron supported by Morons.
Hey Fruit-launderer, how would you like to have your overweight conniving putrid body waterboarded by Professional Interrogators?
Perhaps we can get Michael Mukasey to issue an Order.
Get the hell out of Chinuch.
"Fruit-launderer"
Gold medal for Boog
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19409793&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=551069&rfi=6
Winston Moseley, who confessed to the 1964 murder of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese outside her Kew Gardens home in a crime said to have demonstrated the concept that city people are not their brother's keeper, has been denied parole for the 13th time.
"Your release would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of the community," board members of the New York State Division of Parole told Moseley March 12.
Moseley, a business machine operator from Richmond Hill, will come up for parole again in two years.
Genovese, 28, was arriving home at 82-62 Austin St. in Kew Gardens at 3:20 a.m. on a cold March 13, 1964, after working as night manager of Eve's 11th Hour Bar in Hollis. The white Chevrolet Corvair that followed her the five miles from Hollis stopped and her attacker emerged, chased her down and stabbed her repeatedly.
Despite her screams, police investigators said, none of the 38 neighbors they questioned went to her aid. Some said they did not want to get involved.
Police said someone did shout from a nearby apartment building, whereupon the attacker fled but returned to finish off his wounded victim.
The case was proclaimed an example of the concept that big city life can promote an "every-man-for-himself" society.
Moseley, 29, was arrested in East Elmhurst five days later and confessed to murdering Genovese, explaining he picked her at random. He was sentenced to death, but on appeal the capital sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.
Moseley, now 73, escaped from a hospital ward of Attica state prison in 1968 and terrorized a rural area for three days, raping a woman before he was recaptured.
The public debate over why no one tried to come to the aid of Genovese went on for years, including a discussion at a symposium in New York City a few months after the slaying.
A.M. Rosenthal, executive editor of the New York Times, in his book "Thirty-Eight Witnesses," wrote: "My own favorite comment came from the theologian who said that he could not understand it and that perhaps 'depersonalization' in New York had gone farther than he thought."
They just park in people's driveways like it means nothing.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19409764&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=542415&rfi=6
Community Board 8 voted down a petition from a new Jewish congregation seeking to build a large temple on an empty lot in Jamaica Estates, citing worries about parking and the proposed size of the congregation but also concern there may be too many temples in the neighborhood.
The Bukharian Community Center, a 10-year-old congregation in Jamaica Estates, began its application last year after it grew too large to continue leasing space from other temples nearby. With a congregation numbering about 400 and expected to grow, residents complained during the public comment portion of the meeting that on high holy days there would be no space to park because express bus commuters' cars already line the streets nearby.
Speakers from the neighborhood who addressed the board during the public comment portion of the meeting became upset when they said members of the congregation frequently parked in front of driveways, blocking them in, held raucous parties that last late into the night, and stand to overtax the sewers if 400 more people come into the community, however frequently. Though they could not speak during the meeting, they made themselves heard in other ways.
CB 8 member Howard Fried said the congregation agreed to valet parking, but added that there was nothing to worry about now because the site is vacant.
"One thing that should be clear is there is no activity at the site because there's nothing there," he said.
The mention of valet parking prompted neighbors of the site to call out, "Where? In our neighborhood?"
Zoning does not require parking for community facilities where the majority of users live within three-quarters of a mile and parking would not be a problem, said attorney Richard Lobell, who represents the congregation.
"Ninety-six percent of the congregation falls within a three-quarter mile radius" of the temple, he said. During the week, "for davening [prayer reciting] and minyan [a group that leads communal worship], people are expected to walk."
The congregation approached CB 8 in February to seek a variance to allow the building size to exceed the existing zoning regulations. The zoning committee brought the matter to the full board at a meeting March 12, where it was voted down, 23 to 13.
Laura Schwartzberg, who lives near the site, got up several times during the meeting to hold up her presentation opposing the temple, and board members told her to sit down or she would be kicked out.
The plans call for a basement that extends almost to the property lines, plus the variance would permit two stories above ground that would make the building twice as big as the zoning allows, but create space for women to sit during services, according to plans CB 8's zoning committee reviewed.
"So without the variance, women can't attend?" CB 8 member Martha Taylor asked before the board voted on the petition.
The lot at the corner of Chevy Chase Street and 80th Road would be the third temple site on the block, with Hillcrest Jewish Center behind it on Union Turnpike and Anshe Shalom under construction at the corner of 80th Road and Kent Street. Another temple is across Union Turnpike at 180th Street.
After the meeting, one resident said the temples influence who chooses to move to the area, that when she moved into a neighborhood 34 years ago with people of all faiths and ethnicities, now the majority of newcomers are Jewish.
"I feel like I'm living in a ghetto. And I'm Jewish," she said.
Rabbi Hillel Haber Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivat Shaare Torah's son Rahmey was in a terrible accident broke almost every bone in his body. Please say tehillim NOW Rahamim ben Yehudit Please Pass along.
One of the Tikotzky relatives was caught in yeshiva stealing stuff from other bochurim in the dorm. It was dealt with quietly because of who he is.
http://mominisrael.blogspot.com/2008/03/layered-beit-shemesh-mother-of-12.html
According to news reports, a mother of twelve from Beit Shemesh was arrested for severely abusing her children, who were having incestuous relationships with one another in the home. The woman was covered in several layers of clothing and initially refused to reveal her face to the judge.
Trilcat wrote to me suggesting that this might be Rabbanit Keren herself, but there is a discrepancy regarding the number of children; previous news articles reported that she had ten.
Batya and Trilcat both emailed me the Jerusalem Post report:
The defendant, who was covered in layers of clothing, did not speak in court.
Her attorney, who successfully attained a court order barring the publication of his client's name, explained that the woman "did not speak with men," and that he would speak on her behalf, according to a court protocol of the proceedings. [emphasis Batya's]
Commenter Abbi saw the TV news and reports that the woman had on multiple layers and a shawl. She also sent this Ynet report. My translation:
The investigation began a month and a half ago when a boy called the Beit Shemesh police to complain about trauma he was enduring; in the background were sounds of breaking dishes. The police investigators and the local social services came to the house of the family, which was already known to social services. The boy who had made the complaint was removed from the house.
Sometime afterward the boy’s brother told the police of abuse and incest among several members of the family. According to suspicions, the children had sexual relations with one another in the home; the mother was aware and did nothing.
The mother is suspected of hitting the children for two years with blunt objects, including a rolling pin and electric cables. Similarly she is suspected of preventing them from getting medical treatment. One of the children had to sleep outside if he came home late. The mother maintained that this is her educational philosophy.
The social services took all of the children out of the house and brought them to different places. The police are intending to investigate the father regarding his involvement.
Rafi sent me a link to the video of the news report, which he promises to put up on Youtube. (It gave my computer a ton of trouble; don't say I didn't warn you.) According to the television news, the defendant refused to show her face to the court at first. Eventually she agreed to show only her eyes. The lawyer of the accused claims that the defendant did not know of any incest, and that people in the community, who don't like the way the she dresses, made up the stories.
The news report mentions two other recent incidents of serious child abuse by mothers in Israel. One involves a religious American family from a prestigious Jerusalem neighborhood, and the third mother is from Or Yehuda, a development town.
http://mominisrael.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-on-hyper-tzniut-shawl-wearer.html
Y-Love from Jewlicious spotted a super-modest woman in Borough Park:
For the first time, I saw one of the followers of veil advocate Rabbanit Bruria Keren decked out in hijab sal and abaya…in Boro Park, walking down 13th Avenue with her friend, chatting and schmoozing in frumspeak.
That Messianist nut who hangs out on Shmarya's blog posted something really dumb. "Archie Bunker" puts him in his place:
B"H
What about the fact that he (Hersh) stood idly by as they handcuffed his son while the boy pleaded with his captors?
It may be cruel of them yet it is probably not illegal (for better of for worse) the United States never ratified the UN convention on the rights of children.
Also let's suppose they would have called the police or EMTs on their kid and filed a a form asking that he be interned in a psychiatric facility and evaluated for a few days.
The kid (or an adult for that matter) would have been restrained in the same exact way wit them standing and watching.
Posted by: Ariel Sokolovsky BostonChabad
Ariel, you are really getting silly.
Doctors or other authorities can order someone to be forcibly restrained but in all other cases it is against State law and against Federal law if the child is transported across state lines.
Is that a Purim joke about ratifying the UN Convention? Maybe it was ratified at the Agudah Fresser Convention.
Posted by: Archie Bunker
http://mominisrael.blogspot.com/2008/03/explosive-purim.html
This article is a must read.
Mr. Malach Hamovies is correct that R' Yaakov wanted R' Zelig Epstein shlita to become the rosh yeshiva of YTV.
Why?
That's the very painful story that I hesitate in disclosing. The truth is so unbearable as to the reasons - ones that almost nobody living knows - that would definitely traumatize every ben Torah!
There is a prominent NYC shul that plays games with its catering, parking and purchasing. Are they alone? Is it true that . . .
I am scared of posting details--can I be traced?
http://www.isaccorp.org/tranquilitybay.asp
Tranquility Bay - Jamaica
Tranquility Bay, located in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica opened in 1997. The program has also been known as the Caribbean Centre for Change.
Jamaica has the highest crime rate of all Caribbean nations and averages 4 murders per day.
According to UNICEF, more than 900 children were sexually assaulted in Jamaica in 2004.
ISAC has received more complaints about Tranquility Bay than any other facility.
Complaints include beatings, brutal physical restraint resulting in broken bones, sexual assault, food deprivation, and excessive use of isolation - known as Observation Placement or OP.
The facility operates according to the guidelines of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), and is marketed by Teen Help, LLC, both located in St. George, Utah.
For additional information about WWASPS, please see our main WWASPS page.
Jay Kay, owner and director of Tranquility Bay, holds no credentials that commonly qualify individuals to work with children.
He is however, the son of WWASPS President Ken Kay.
After dropping out of college, Jay Kay managed a gas station mini-mart in San Diego, CA.
He then worked as a guard at Brightway Adolescent Hospital and eventually became the administrator of the facility.
Children were "evaluated" at Brightway before being sent to other WWASPS/Teen Help affiliated facilities such as Tranquility Bay and Casa by the Sea.
During an investigation of Brightway, Utah State officials found that many of the patient care plans were identical and the staff had failed to report at least one suspected case of abuse.
Jay Kay was declared bankrupt in 1994, just 2 years prior to the purchase of Tranquility Bay.
As with several WWASPS facilities, Tranquility Bay used to be a hotel.
It is guarded and gated, complete with barbed wire and barred windows.
Following a suicide in 2001, bars were added to all balconies.
Most of the 200 Jamaican staff members are reportedly in their late teens or early 20's and are unskilled workers earning a minimum wage.
Students at Tranquility Bay are chaperoned and scrutinized by these staff members 24 hours a day, even while using the toilet.
ISAC has received reports of staff members providing marijuana and cocaine to students in exchange for sexual favors.
During sworn testimony in the August 2004 case of WWASPS vs PURE, WWASPS President Ken Kay stated that in his opinion, sexual activity between staff members and students is "not necessarily" abuse.
When he made the remark, Kay was being questioned about an incident at Tranquility Bay involving a female student and a male staff member.
Of all programs currently under the WWASP/Teen Help referral umbrella, Tranquility Bay carries the reputation of being the "harshest."
Many of the former Tranquility Bay students who have spoken with ISAC were originally placed in other WWASP-affiliated facilities, but were transferred to Tranquility Bay for not complying with the program's rules.
Randall Hinton, a former long-time staff member, has reportedly admitted to using pepper spray on students and spraying it in their eyes from a distance of about 2 feet.
At least one student was reportedly hog-tied when he was sprayed by Hinton.
Hinton also admitted to diapering a teenager with a plastic garbage bag after the child had been pepper-sprayed.
Hinton has stated that he had the approval of Director Jay Kay.
Randall Hinton is currently an administrator of Royal Peak Academy in Colorado. Royal Peak appears to be affiliated with WWASP.
ISAC has received statements alleging that Jay Kay has personally pepper-sprayed, restrained and beaten students.
Tranquility Bay has been described by parents of former students as a "private detention facility," "a holding pen for teens" and "a place for parents to dump their kids."
It appears to ISAC that the statistics support those descriptions.
According to reports, only 20% of all students "graduate" from the program.
Of the remaining 80%, many are withdrawn by their parents, but most withdraw themselves when they turn 18.
Some students are not allowed to leave even when reaching age 18 because parents refuse to make arrangements for the students to return home, and the students themselves are not permitted to do so.
Anyone know why Margo split from torah vadas?
UOJ,
AS a YTV talmid It's traumatizing to me just thinking what the real story was all about.
I can see now why the yeshiva world is terrified of you. You must have some historical explosive information that no one else knows.
The question is will you eventually reveal everything ? As much as i and many others would like to know it just might be too painful for you (and others). And i can fully understand .
Zelig Gitlis is a long-time thug.
Him and moshe williger are known to ruff the hatzolah members for years.
Not only that, but moshe williger, is a coordinator at flatbush hatzolah and you want to know what he did one time? he punced a member in the face at a membership meeting.
that's right.
he clocked brachya binik, the tzadik who runs and owns 'our-place' (for kids on the streets) in flatbush, in the face.
there were 75 members there and no one did anything.
Why? because everyone is scared to death from these maniacs.
it's good times that the world starts to see what these scum-bags who claim to save lives are really all about.
YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!!!!!!
DAVID COHEN IS THE ROV OF FLATBUSH HATZOLAH, AND ZELIG GITILIS CONSULTS WITH HIM DAILY.
LET THEM ALL ROT IN HELL!
To flatbush cockaroach,
moshe williger might be a bit ruff, but do not criticize this man on the amount of chesed he does unbeknownst to others, besides his work of saving hundreds if not thousands of lives throught his years with hatzolah.
Moishe williger was so close to Rav birenbaum zt'l, with the rav literally attending every single simcha the guy made, and I dont think the rav would have kept a chaver rah.
FDIC adds 140 workers to bank-failure division
Federal regulators will increase by 60% the number of workers who handle bank failures.
March 25, 2008: 6:50 PM EDT
Banks: $285 billion more to lose
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anticipating a surge in troubled financial institutions, federal regulators will increase by 60% the number of workers who handle bank failures.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to add 140 workers to bring staff levels to 360 workers in the division that handles bank failures, John Bovenzi, the agency's chief operating officer, said Tuesday.
"We want to make sure that we're prepared," Bovenzi said, adding that most of the hires will be temporary and based in Dallas.
There have been five bank failures since February 2007 following an uneventful more than two-year stretch. The last time the agency was hit hard with failures was during the 1990-1991 recession, when 502 banks failed in three years.
Analysts see casualties rising, but don't believe they will reach early-1990s levels.
Gerard Cassidy, managing director of bank equity research at RBC Capital Markets, projects 150 U.S. bank failures over the next three years, with the highest concentration coming from states such as California and Florida where an overheated real estate market is in a fast freeze.
When will the Rabbonim wake up and admit to the abuse in the chareidi community and bring awareness on this issue to our childrens schools and yeshivos, how many more lives and souls have to be lost or destroyed???
This from vos iz neies,
Beit Shemesh, Israel - Mother of 12 Held for Repeat Child Abuse
Beit Shemesh, Israel - A 54-year-old Israeli mother of 12 was under arrest today for allegedly severely abusing her children.
The mother was also suspected of failing to report multiple cases of incest among her children.
The suspected child abuser was apprehended after police were summoned to her Beit Shemesh home by neighbors, who heard a child crying for help and objects being broken in the house, a police investigator told a Jerusalem court during a remand hearing today.
Police, with the help of social workers, soon uncovered a history of brutal physical abuse against several of the children, which included whippings with belts and electric cables, according to the police officer's testimony. [jpost]
After speaking with numerous Hatzoloh members it has been made clear that the people primarily responsible for the hiring of Michael Hersh and seeing Hatzoloh dragged into the public eye are:
Zelig Gitelis (F-19) who lives at 1319 East 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 [Cell no. 1-917-612-3519 – Home no. 1-718-434-5359]
and,
Yitzi Stern (B-30) who lives at 1405 48th Street, Brooklyn NY 11204 [Cell no. 1-917-559-8880 – Home no. 718-633-3905].
They were the active members of the Hatzoloh search committee and offered the most vocal support for his hire. They failed us and their executive responsibilities by hiring someone with no previous employment history and a record of child abuse. In addition, the fact that we’re paying him an annual salary $250,000 is an outrage.
All this on the say of Rabbi Aaron Schechter.
Their responsibilities are to Hatzoloh and the Jewish community who support Hatzoloh, not to any individual or other group. We hold them personally responsible for this embarrassment of Hatzoloh, Klal Yisroel’s proudest organization, and demand they take immediate action to see that Hatzoloh is kept out of the news and can return to their incredible mission of saving, not assisting in the destruction of, Jewish lives.
We are going to research and post the names of all the guilty members of the Hatzoloh board that caused this travesty and hold them personally responsible for their actions.
BUYER BEWARE
B’Derech Hatevah the love of a parent to their child is the closest imaginable. If parent and child become estranged is a sign that something unusual and serious transpired.
Anyone willing to marry into a family with parent-child estrangement [3 or more years with no contact] issues has to be crazy. Estrangement is not caused by financial disagreements, rather by far more severe issues of various types of abuse. The divorce rate increases to a whopping 82% in these situations [Psychology Today, Nov.2007]. The average marriage length is 4 months. It is a shaila whether the brachos under the chuppa are a bracha livatolah since these are disposable marriages not a Binyan Adai Ad. .
Boys growing up in these homes are especially eager to have children immediately, to distract their wives and gain a bargaining chip in divorce proceedings.
With the creation of NASI, and citywide initiatives to stimulate shidduchim, the situation spirals downhill quicker. A shadchan in Lakewood was saying how he recently made a shidduch for a boy two years younger than the girl [$2,000 from NASI], the girls town pays a fee [$2,000], plus both sides will also pay $2,000 a piece. He is making $8,000 for a shidduch. The problem as the shadchan admits is, the boy is stubborn, unstable, and is from a broken and abusive home, When asked how could he do this to the girl?, he calmly said that she should have checked him out better it’s not my problem.
Moral of the story, be careful with people from estranged families, ask IMPORTANT questions, and listen to logic NOT emotions.
As much as I am scared to hear the true story of YTV and Reb Yaakov, and I also understand the fear that UOJ has about traumatizing others, isn't that what this whole site is about? That any Judaism based on false notions about leaders leads to the ultimate traumatic experience. We have taken great hits already, finding out about Rabbi Neuberger's terrible mistakes, and now Reb Aharon Shechter showing his true colors, and so on and so forth.
As the Kotzker said, Az Mir Est Chazer, Zol Zen Rinnen fun Mol. If we are going to do this here, lets go all the way. Lets publicly discuss the most painful stuff and see if we can help each other cope and understand and go forward.
It's just a feeling I have, but I, again, do understand UOJ's hesitation. It must be so tough to know things that noone knows and to try to deal with it alone. How do you do it?
UOJ... how about shedding some light on the Yeshiva tuition ……….
Where is all there money going……
at some point in time people arent going to be able to afford it anymore....
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=31&ar=mabat
2 molesters featured. Moshe Katzav & the veiled woman from Beit Shemesh.
rav birnbaum could not stand williger.
its a known fact.
he could not stand leib pinter either, but spoke to him too and attended all his simchas.
and stop answering flatbush cockaroachs' points with idiotic answers.
i spoke to a fe hatzalah guys today and they all said that he did punch a seasoned paramedic in the face.
there are no excuses.
the man should not be in charge of 180 hatzalah guys saving lives.
perhaps you did not understand what he wrote, so i will repeat what i heard.
there was a meeting of many members, and it became heated.
brachya binik was very vocal and williger got in his face telling him to shut up. binik refused and williger punched him.
simple.
the head of flatbush hatzlah punched a paramedic in the face and walked away.
how can u tell me that u feel safe calling hatzalah and a man who should have been arrested by te cops for assault shows up and tells your daughter he needs to see her chest.
seriously.
whats your answer
stop with the chesed bulshit
does chesed give you a liscenece to kill too?
david shick did chesed too. now hes in jail
call wiliger and ask him if he punched a member in the face. his number is 917.612.3554 and home number is 718.871.3499
now, the next head of flatbush hatzlzah is responsible for hiring a monster.
we'll get to isac unger soon. there is a long rap sheet on him.
but as we knoe david cohen is the rabbi of these creeps at hazalah so anything goes
ill bet that david cohen will one day be arrested for touching young tushys
one crackhead at a time.
let uoj get to work
http://theawarenesscenter.org/hersh_michael.html
Vicky Polin writes here that R' Aron Schechter is also complicit in the Ephraim Bryks case but doesn't elaborate. Does anyone know how that is?
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/HershComplaint.pdf
Some of the details here are frightening.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/25/lawsuit_claims_boy_kidnapped_to_boot_camp/8260/
NEW YORK, March 25 (UPI) -- A lawsuit claims that a prominent Orthodox Jewish couple in New York effectively kidnapped their son to send him to a Jamaican boot camp.
Advocates for 16-year-old Isaac Hersh say that his parents lured him back to Brooklyn under false pretenses last summer, the New York Daily News reported. He thought he was to be given a job but instead was sent to Tranquility Bay.
Isaac had been living with a foster family, also Orthodox, in Texas.
Joshua Ambush, a Maryland lawyer who has filed suit on the teenager's behalf, describes Tranquility Bay as a "modern-day concentration camp."
Isaac's father, Michael, heads Hatzalah, a volunteer ambulance organization that serves the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. Hatzalah released a statement saying it would monitor the legal proceedings.
On its Web site, Tranquility Bay describes itself as a "specialty boarding school."
(Posted at Shmarya's)
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK JEWISH COMMUNITY
After speaking with numerous Hatzoloh members it has been made clear that the people primarily responsible for the hiring of Michael Hersh and seeing Hatzoloh dragged into the public eye are:
Zelig Gitelis (F-19) who lives at 1319 East 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 [Cell no. 1-917-612-3519 – Home no. 1-718-434-5359]
and,
Yitzi Stern (B-30) who lives at 1405 48th Street, Brooklyn NY 11204 [Cell no. 1-917-559-8880 – Home no. 718-633-3905].
They were the active members of the Hatzoloh search committee and offered the most vocal support for his hire. They failed us and their executive responsibilities by hiring someone with no previous employment history and a record of child abuse. In addition, the fact that we’re paying him an annual salary $250,000 is an outrage.
All this on the say of Rabbi Aaron Schechter.
Their responsibilities are to Hatzoloh and the Jewish community who support Hatzoloh, not to any individual or other group. We hold them personally responsible for this embarrassment of Hatzoloh, Klal Yisroel’s proudest organization, and demand they take immediate action to see that Hatzoloh is kept out of the news and can return to their incredible mission of saving, not assisting in the destruction of, Jewish lives.
We are going to research and post the names of all the guilty members of the Hatzoloh board that caused this travesty and hold them personally responsible for their actions.
The Supreme Court appeal of Avrohom Mondrowitz has been moved up to May 29, 2008.
You would think that now that israel has more than its share of gay and lesbian child molesters hiding in jerusalem and bnei baraq they might be able to spare avreml mondrowitz and send him stateside to stand trial.
Anyone have an idea when that murderer is expected to be extradited? Or is rabbi zilberstein so infatuated with his newfound lover that he'll do anything to keep him within arms length of his zipper?!
I read somewhere that the great rabbi judas kolko, credited with inspiring UOJ to action, is expected to have his criminal trial begin this week. Any details? Can't wait to introduce him to the hom boyz here.
What has been hatzoloh's reaction when people call about the Hirsch abduction? Rumor has it that members are clamoring for his dismissal. I here he is a serial abuser of his children.
Oh to live to see Mondrowitz in a US prison and in shackles before a judge for all his victims to see! I wonder what Colmer's case is up to. It will set a precedence for the ultra messed up orthodox community. From my own research, 90% of them are cult followers who give leaders a pass for blatant disregard of law and halakha. And most all of the rabbis there are have more charisma then they know torah. Fakers, Frauds and kiddy fornicators! And those covering for them are just the same. Jews never learnt the lessons of the holocaust and will never learn the lessons taught from these neverending scandals.
UOJ, a public screening of some excellent documentaries of orthodox molestation would benefit those ultra-orthos who keep some form of open mind. That education would be the best way to help save the children from the blatant ignorance of parents and blatant disregard for human life shown by parents and educaters in that hell of a cesspool called heimishe communities. Raising children in that environment is tantamount to commiting the biblical sin of Moilech, where parents ritualy roasted the first born alive as a sacrifice to paganism while the music played loud to distract any feelings of sympathy.
you probably hear this everyday, but i gotta tell you. there is a new revolution. it started forming on the day you posted your first blog. it is getting larger by the day, but alas not remotely close to being complete. im proud to announce i am a dedicated soldier in this war. long live truth, long live the jews.
Remember when Tuvia said, "I asked 60 people in my bungalow colony if they ever heard of UOJ. 59 said no. Only 1 said yes, and he was bitter because a din Torah had just ruled against him. Nobody takes him seriously."
Well, I see that the ruckus about people actually getting an education and earning a living had some effect!
Although some individuals seem to have gotten confused along the way....
This is very sad......
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=31&ar=mabat
At the tail end of the report on the Beit Shemesh incest, there is a picture of a creep named Shimon Gabbai who the Police are looking for. They warn that he may have already fled to the Diaspora.
I came to Chaim Berlin as a really raw new baal teshuva from public school about 25 years ago. I was so weird. I used to smile at everyone and talk at the top of my voice. My brother came along too, but he was quieter than me and soon got lost.
I was in Rabbi Shmuel Brog's shiur. He was my "Rebbe" and was the first one to really brainwash me so much that I started to forget that I was just a public school dropout and now I was becoming a "real ben Torah" & I was so happy that I just wanted to learn anything they would teach me in Chaim Berlin, where noone thought I was anything special, but I just stuck around so long & got rid of my funny colored wrinkled yamulka and put on a white shirt dark pants and jacket and grew a little beard, wow was I chushuv now, I could feel the kedusha coming down and making me into one big talmid chochem. Hey this must have been what Moshe Rabbeinu felt when he felt the ruach hakoidesh coming onto him, man was I one holy dude wow. I was "on the derech" for sure!
When did I fall in love with reb AronShechter? Hmm hard to tell but everytime he'd walk by me and smile and wisk his long beard I would get thrills down my legs and melt, this was my new hero and when he started to say hello a few times and keep me going on with my open gemoras wow that sold me & I was his slave for life I would never think again cause daas Toireh was my new drug of choice I would never have to be alone & just go wait for hours to hear what reb Aron would tell me to do.
Then they discovered that I had a good IQ, that I was marketable for shidduchim, so they got me a nice girl from BJJ to marry me. Hehehe, she was naive. Sweet gal from Silver Spring from a frum home with nice hard working humble parents, her name was Miriam Greher. Yeah I found out that she had a downs syndrome brother, but hey, her parents were great, they took care of that little kid, they NEVER sent him to an institution, they made the Hebrew Academy of Silver Spring let him come to regular classes and the kids there were so nice to him (why I could not do this for my own kids who are not downsyndrome I don't know) but you see I don't believe in therapy or mental health (it's only for crazy people) because I am a disciple of Rav Brog and Rav Brog is Rav Avigdor Miller's son-in-law and he said that all psychiatrists and psychologists and social workers are crazy and evil, I had to believe this to be accepted as Rav Brog's talmid, otherwise I would not be able to call him "Rebbe". Good thing they never asked me about my real views about this when they hired me at Hatzolo, but that is another story, when you have gedoilim like R. Shechter pull the strings get me the job so you wing it, I am smooth talker and a VERY S M I L E R you know, like super :) :) :) when inside I am more like grrrrrrrrr like a dog all the time, good thing I hate shrinks, I will never be discovered for who I am!
So Haha, I fooled the Hatzala people too, and hey, when I needed to get my own son dragged off I didn't even call my own Hatzola vans, I just hired goons from a fancy "WWASP" sounding place that are gangsters from Utah who make money of this...well Hatzoloa pays me $250,000- a year now so I have lots to spare when it comes to spending a mere $30,000 to imprison my own kid and frighten the heck out of the rest of em...but hey, Reb Aron says this is da'aas Toooiiirraaaah to come in the middle of the night with handcuffs and terrorize not just my kids but my entire neighborhood & reb aron has been doing that lately, he frightened the heck out of a sheitel macher store to take down a couple of innocent photos of a frum young lady's face (she was wearing a sheitel and I could see lots more chicks dressed a lot worse all the weay to the floor at yeshivish weddings, but hey, who cares about the truth here, only daas toireeeeh counts), he frightened the heck out of L>I>P>A to get the heck out of making other yidden happy so this is great stuff here I am helping him practice what he does best, frighten and intimidate people and, isn't that what Hatzolo does when it comes it frightens a lot of people, I guess I must have gotten something mixed up here.
This is becoming like all those things I used to watch on TV and at the movies that are sitting in my subconscious which I am not supposed to have according to Rabbis brog, Miller and Shechter (they are just jealous that Freud was a bigger rebbe and chochom than they will ever be) and maybe I might get called a socio-path if I went to a shrink to sort out my own deep problems. I have never told people what happened to me at my own home or in public school and I might have even tried going to college but nothing ever worked, till I became a "ben Toooooiraaaaah" at CB and hey that made me feel oh so goooood when the ruach hakoidesh cam down upon me and I knew what the right derech is and what the bad derech looks like.
Anyhow, back to my wife's family. They are naive people, but they had no clue about who I really was. They thought I was this great tzadik and Toirah scholar from Chaim Berlin and in Silver Spring they have pint-size bat-looking Rabbi Merkin who has told everyone that CB and Reb Aron Shechter are the closest thing to the messiah (outside of Lubavitch who we all hate of course) so those folks in Silver Spring really thought I was some great young luminary when all I was was just a twisted NYC street smart public school bum who landed up in the beginners program in CB and from there (like I saw in the movies that I loved, yup us public school kids go to movies but I would never admit it now that I learn so much Toooooiiiiraaaaah) I just changed my Clarke Kent do and put on the CB superman outfit and I was a made man, but those folks in Silver Spring are naive country bumpkins who just don't get that stuff about the CB trick acts (the main trick is that we SMILE a lot) and I got myself a nice sweet smart and bright Miriam Greher to marry me and off we went.
The rest of the story you know from all the court papers etc, I am still trying to figure how I couldn't read my own kids' signals, but I was never smart in that way. All my thinking is done by daas Toireh outside of my brain, my great Rebbes, Brog and Shechter (I do not respect or talk to any other real humans) who have totally brainwashed me into thinking that I am doing the will of Hashem and that what happens to my own kids in a "WWASP" concentration camp doesn't matter.
Of course I won't learn from my in-laws who never put my wife's brother into an institution because he was not off the derech (he was born with downs nebech) and besides they are the naive people I fooled into giving me their daughter so why should I think that I should learn from them and not from the gedoileeem Brog and Schechter who guide my life.
Sometimes I think back to my great public school days when life was so much fun and happy. No rabbis to hassle me. Who was it that sent me to Chaim Berlin in the first place, hmmm, can anyone remind me please....
UOJ should capture the picture of Shimon Gabbai and put it on the sidebar.
He is an imminent threat to children everywhere.
Check out how many "frum" yidden are attending "John" school. There are at least three yarmulkes in the picture:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=4488623&page=1
They should at least have the decency to take off their yarmulkes and not cause a bigger chillul hashem.
I hate to make trite generalizations, however, this Tranquility Bay reminds me of Pesach hotels. How's that? It all goes back to using money to shirk responsibility. The same type of parents that sign off and dump their troubled kids in boot camps and wilderness programs, are the parents most likely to sign off on mechirat chametz and go to Pesach hotels. After all, they are so "overwhelmed" that they cannot possibly check the house for chametz, even with the cleaning ladies doing most of the actual cleaning. The big fat slob doesn't want to get down on his hands and knees to check under the bed. Then he says "I did it because I feel bad for my poor wife". Nonsense! He does it either because he's afraid to say no to her, or he's too lazy, or because he enjoys the non-stop 24 hour fress fest, or all of the above.
We say at the seder, "Baavur ZEH Assa Hashem Li", that Hashem took us out of Mitrayim so that we will keep Pesach properly for all the generations. Properly means at home with our families, not in some overcrowded hotel dining room. Baavur "ZEH" doesn't mean fressing on bishulei akum (non-gebrokhs off course, Rubashkin meat-only the best OU hechsher-FEH!). Baavur "ZEH" doesn't mean mashgiach "temidi" (somewhere) on premises (sleeping or reading a book). Baavur "ZEH" doesn't mean the 24 hour non-gebrokhs, potato starch infested tea room. Baavur "ZEH" doesn't mean pritzus in the hotel lobby and on the beaches. If the Jews in Egypt told Hashem thAt they intended to spend future Pesachs in such a manner, they would never have been redeemed. Ilu Haya Sham, Lo Haya Nigal.
What bothers me even more than the hotels is the hypocrisy. Many of these same people that sign away their chametz homes are the ones who support rabbis that are critical of heter mechirah. They shake their heads and say that shemitta must be observed properly and that the Israeli farmers have no right to work the land. They criticize Rav Ovadya Yosef who states that heter mechira is halacha and that the farmer and his family shouldn't starve. The critics say, "They need to feed their families? Let them collect from Keren Shvi'is, heck I just sent them a $20 check!" They say, "how dare you compare heter mechira to mechirat chametz. We're not profiting, they are. How dare they circumvent halacha to feed their families! We're not circumventing anything, we're protecting our poor hard working wives!". DISGUSTING PIGS ALL OF THEM!!! If they are so concerned about the laws of shmitta, then let them forego using the Prozbol and dismiss all Jewish debts! Let them write off 3/4 of their accounts receivable. That is if their income is not coming from Section 8 tenants, where they don't have to spend a dime on their run down shacks. These "frum" slumlords are equally despicable as they destroy whole neighborhoods bringing in the Section 8 element. They don't care about risking the lives of Jewish neighbors, as long as the government pays the rent on time. But I digress....
We are clearly dealing with what is described in Haazinu as a Dor Tahpuchot. This generation of lazy, obese, spoiled, irresponsible hypocrites needs to learn what it means to be a decent Jew. Of course I don't mean this whole generation. Only the Pesach hotel/Tranquilty Bay/Wilderness camp Jews. Unfortunately, there are too many of them amongst us.
Someone asked on the other post when UOJ finds the time to sleep.
A better question is how can anyone with a conscience sleep as long as these monsters are destroying children and other vulnerable people?
Bemakom sheain ish yishtadel lihiyos UOJ!
Steve,
while I dont disagree with some of the things you point out, There is no comparison between this case of a child being brutalized and pesach hotels. These "camps" are literaly killing children while they continue on without goverment supervision. And thats beside for the torture and rape thats being done to these children.
Even the people running these camps are without remorse and continue raking in millions off the torture of innocent victims. they should all be bombed into oblivioun.
However, there is no comparison to hotels that people go to for pesach, where they can eat and sleep peacefuly without trembling as to what the next day of hell will be like. putting them in the same catergory does a severe injustice to the victims of these camps. lets try to keep these things in their respective places
1. Is it true that Fruchthandler tried to take Rav Landau from Veretzky to a din Torah over matzronus of the corner property at Ave L & Coney but the beis din threw him out on his big behind because he is a mesarev of R' Moishe Feinstein ztl? If so, who were the dayanim who told Frucht to take a hike?
2. Is it true that Shmeckstein from YeshivaWorld tried to complain about misappropriations / embezzlement at Hatzolah and was then kicked out of the organization by Dovid Cohen and threatened to shut his mouth?
What a knee slapper.
Doesn't sound too hard to get in BMG, huh?
How did they get their daughter in Lakewood schools???
Yudel is gonna make the whole Lakewood kosher their kaylim now?
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/16018/YWN+EXCLUSIVE:+Lakewood+Community+Rocked+By+Non-Jewish+Man+Posing+As+Jew!.html
YWN EXCLUSIVE: Lakewood Community Rocked By Non-Jewish Man Posing As Jew!
March 26, 2008
(Lakewood Staff Writer - YWN) The Lakewood Jewish community is shocked after learning that a “Frum” man living in the heart of Lakewood, was anything but Frum.
A source tells YWN, that a family has been living in the Forest Park area of Lakewood, NJ for the past few years, sent their kid to a Frum Yeshiva, Davened (prayed) three times a day, and was not even Jewish!
Apparently, a man posing as Mr. Natan Levi contacted “Partners In Torah” a few years back, and was interested in learning more about his “Jewish roots”. Naturally, the fabulous organization set him up with Chavrusas (study partners) to teach him all he wanted to know. The man seemed sincere that he wanted to become Frum (religious).
Eventually, the man was “Frum enough”, that he moved with his wife and kids from Kansas, and purchased a home in a prominent Development in the southern part of Lakewood, NJ. He enrolled one of his children in a Lakewood Yeshiva, and could be seen in Shul three times a day.
His charade came to a screeching halt last week - when the FBI suddenly arrived and whisked him away in handcuffs.
The charges?
Mr. Ted Larry Floyd, a Christian, had stolen the identity of a dead person by the name “Natan Levi”.
Mr. Floyd’s wife had apparently undergone some type of Geyrus (conversion process), although it is unclear who performed it, and if it is totally Kosher. His oldest child is 6-years-old.
YWN has not been able to confirm where the man is currently being held, although sources tell us he has been transferred to Kansas.
comments
Now I know why its so hard to get into Lakewood schools,They do allot of research.
Comment by jewish source — March 26, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
Big Deal?!? The Guy just took out an $80,000 loan from a Gmach!
Comment by Ploni Almony — March 26, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
uh-oh. now we have a “dudes pretending to be yidden crisis” on our hands. oh, the humanity of it all. when will this end?
Comment by telegrok — March 26, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
The entire LKWD is in major shock! Supposedly this guy sat & learnt for a few years in BMG!
Comment by lkwdfellow — March 26, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
# 11 you say he took $80,000 loan from a Gmach… which gemach in the world would give ANYONE (even a yid with yichus till moshe rabbeinu) 80K for a loan??? your smokin somthing?
BTW: was he a a YWN poster? under what name?
Comment by 08701lakewood — March 26, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
In light of the scorn heaped on non-frum Jews and the exclusivity of the level of learning at Lakewood, here was a non-Jew who could ‘pass’ at BMG and elsewhere for several years. One must question some of these premises.Perhaps less focus on the external superficial issues which seem to dominate and look to the essence. Maybe those lowly srugi’s and YU’s could now pass the BMG’s vaunted standards. Oh wait, I am sure someone will claim that they are below the status of a non-Jew. Well at least we are keeping up with the Monsey kashrus standards.
Comment by charvona — March 26, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
The worst part of it is that he actually wrote many volumes of shailos and teshuvos and was well on his way to becoming a renowned posek. He was even giving semicha to others.
(Just kidding. Couldn’t resist.)
Comment by Pashuteh Yid — March 26, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
When Veretzky Yeshiva wouldn't cave to Chaim Berlin's demands, and it would make sense then that CB lost any din Torah, I heard that R' Aron Schechter told the Chaim Berlin oylam that Rav Landau was "mevazeh" him and that no one should daven in his shul.
I think Eckstein has some of the facts mixed up. I checked the websites of the FBI in both Newark NJ & Kansas City and there are no arrests for anyone named Floyd or anyone in Lakewood.
Either a different Federal agency made the arrest or someone may be exaggerating this as a Federal case.
"I heard that R' Aron Schechter told the Chaim Berlin oylam that Rav Landau was "mevazeh" him and that no one should daven in his shul."
I don't know all the facts in the Chaim Berlin-Veretzky machlokes but the Chazon Ish writes in the Igros that if someone doesn't have a leg to stand on in dinei Torah, he has no recht to go making taarumos against people.
It also has nothing to do with US Marshalls or any other agency under DOJ according to the Dept of Justice website.
http://newark.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/nk031808.pdf
A former New Jersey business owner was sentenced today to 46 months in
federal prison for failing to report to the IRS more than $1.9 million in income he received
as part of a multimillion dollar fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie
announced.
U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh also fined Abie Moskowitz, 58, of Brooklyn,
N.Y. $24,000 due immediately. To date, Moskowitz has paid $1.2 million in forfeited
funds from the fraud.
Judge Cavanaugh ordered Moskowitz to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons to
begin serving his prison sentence at a date to be determined by the Bureau of Prisons.
Moskowitz pleaded guilty on Feb. 21, 2006, to one count of tax evasion, two counts of
aiding and assisting tax evasion, and one count each of bank fraud, mail fraud and
conspiracy to commit money laundering.
At his plea hearing, Moskowitz admitted that between about January 1998 and December
2001, he received unreported income in the form of corporate checks drawn on 10
corporate accounts he either controlled or had access to, and deposited those checks into
his personal bank accounts.
During that time, he said he was a 50-percent owner in Sea Jet Trucking/APA Warehouse,
Inc., a commercial shipping and storage business located in Carteret. Moskowitz admitted
that for calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000, he failed to report a total of approximately
$1,980,609 in income.
Moskowitz also admitted that on various occasions during 2000 and 2001, at his
suggestion, Simon Molinsky, the owner of Smart Telecom, in New York, caused corporate
checks to be issued, which were payable to fictitious vendors which allowed Molinsky not
to have to report the cash he received from Moskowitz as income on his 2000 and 2001
individual income tax returns. In these instances, Molinsky wrote the corporate checks for
goods he did not actually receive and gave the checks to Moskowitz.
Moskowitz admitted that he then gave the face value of the corporate checks back to
Molinsky, in cash, less a small percentage, which Moskowitz said he kept as a fee for his
role in the scheme.
Molinsky was sentenced on Jan. 22, 2007, to 15 months in prison for his guilty plea to tax
evasion for calendar years 2000 and 2001.
Moskowitz admitted that in addition to the tax schemes, he engaged in a bank fraud
scheme that began in November 2000 and continued through March 2001. During that
3
time, Moskowitz said he maintained checking accounts in the name of JSA at Sovereign
Bank in West Orange, N.J., and C&M at Fleet Bank in West Orange, and used those
accounts with full knowledge that the entities had ceased doing business and were dormant
accounts.
Moskowitz further admitted that he used accounts at Summit Bank in the names of JYB
and AANN, Inc. with full knowledge that these were shell companies with no legitimate
business purpose. Moskowitz also admitted his role in a mail fraud scheme that involved
mailing a Federal Express envelope containing approximately $378,705 in fraudulent
checks to an individual in Israel.
Moskowitz also admitted that he engaged in a money laundering scheme that began in
about June 2000 and continued to at least as late as June 2001. That scheme, in part,
included, third-party checks totaling approximately $2 million that Moskowitz said he
deposited into the JSA Account. He then caused the proceeds of the checks to be wired
from the JSA Account to various bank accounts which were located in Toronto, Canada
and Israel.
In all, Moskowitz admitted that he conspired to conduct financial transactions which
involved the disposition of approximately $3.88 million in bank fraud proceeds and the
disposition of approximately $378,705 in mail fraud proceeds. He admitted knowing that
the property represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that
the transactions were designed to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source,
ownership, and control of the proceeds of the bank fraud and mail fraud.
For the investigation of Moskowitz and others, Christie credited Special Agents of the IRS
Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William P.
Offord; Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan
Dun; and Postal Inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of
Postal Inspector in Charge David L. Collins.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah J. Gannett.
-end-
Defense Counsel: Paul Brickfield, Esq., River Edge, N.J. and Alan Ellis, Esq., Mill Valley,
Ca.
Oh no, you mean the Feds actually pursue people for structuring?
http://newark.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/nk031808a.pdf
Bayonne Man Indicted for
Structuring $3 Million in Cash
Can't prosecutors just call it a day already?
http://newark.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/nk031008.pdf
The tax preparer on a series of real-estate partnerships controlled by Charles
Kushner pleaded guilty today for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false and
fraudulent partnership tax return, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Anne Amici, 46, of Point Pleasant, who at the time of the offense worked as a tax
preparer for a Roseland accounting firm specializing in servicing the real-estate industry,
entered her guilty plea before Judge Jose L. Linares this morning.
The count charged that in April 2001, Amici aided and assisted in the preparation and
presentation of a U.S. Partnership Tax Return, IRS Forms 1065, which falsely
characterized gift and entertainment charges as fully deductible business expenses. The
false return had the effect of creating thousands of dollars worth of deductible expenses.
Kushner, a real estate mogul and national and state political contributor, was sentenced on
March 4, 2005, to a 24-month sentence for his convictions on charges of assisting in the
filing of false tax returns relating to the Kushner Companies, retaliating against a
cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Eicher, Rachael A. Honig, and Hallie
A. Mitchell who are prosecuting the case, the charge carries a maximum penalty of three
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Marci Plotkin, the former accountant on the Kushner Companies partnerships, and
Stanley Bekritsky, the tax partner on the Kushner Companies partnerships, previously
plead guilty to a conspiracy count that charged participation in a scheme to create false
partnership tax returns for the properties controlled by the Kushner Companies by
intentionally mischaracterizing millions of dollars worth of charitable and political
contributions, capital items and gift-and-entertainment charges as business expenses. The
scheme had the effect of creating millions of dollars worth of deductible expenses, which
the partnerships and partners could use to offset earnings in current and future years. The
scheme is charged to have involved the mischaracterization of more than $6 million worth
of expenses.
One other alleged member of the conspiracy is scheduled to start trial on March 31 before
Judge Linares. He is Richard Stadtmauer, 49, of Livingston, the Vice Chairman,
Managing Partner, and Vice President of the Kushner Companies. In addition to the
conspiracy charge, Stadtmauer faces 17 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation
of false partnership tax returns.
In determining an actual sentence, Judge Linares will consult the advisory U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into
account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if
3
any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in
determining a sentence.
Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial
terms must serve nearly all the time.
Christie credited Special Agents of the IRS, under the direction of Special Agent in
Charge William P. Offord, and Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special
Agent in Charge Weysan Dunn, with developing the case against Plotkin.
The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eicher, the Attorney in
Charge of the Trenton Office of the USAO, Honig and Mitchell of the U.S. Attorney's
Special Prosecutions Division, in Newark.
http://newark.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/nk021408a.htm
The head tax partner of an accounting firm involved in a series of real-estate partnerships controlled by Charles Kushner pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States by aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Stanley Bekritsky, 58, of Teaneck, a certified public accountant, who at the time of the offense was a partner at a Roseland accounting firm that specialized in servicing the real-estate industry, entered his guilty plea before Judge Jose L. Linares to a one-count Superseding Indictment. Bekritsky’s trial was scheduled to begin yesterday, but was delayed due to plea negotiations.
At his plea hearing, Bekritsky admitted that between 1997 and 2002, he participated in a scheme to create false partnership tax returns for properties controlled by the Kushner Companies. Bekritsky admitted that he assisted in the preparation of false corporate tax returns by intentionally mischaracterizing more than $6 million worth of charitable and political contributions, capital items and gift-and-entertainment charges as business expenses. Bekritsky admitted that the scheme had the effect of creating millions of dollars worth of deductible expenses, which the partnerships and partners could use to offset earnings in current and future years.
Kushner, a real estate mogul, was sentenced on March 4, 2005, to a 24-month sentence for his convictions on charges of assisting in the filing of false tax returns relating to the Kushner Companies, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
He is Richard Stadtmauer, 49, of Livingston, the Vice Chairman,
Managing Partner, and Vice President of the Kushner Companies.
Isn't he a former judge?
Any relation to Rabbi Alan Stadtmauer who resigned as principal at Yeshiva of Flatbush so he "come out of the closet"? He also publicly announced at the time that he's no longer orthodox.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/press/press/files/pdffiles/rose0208%20rel.pdf
A Cherry Hill man was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison today for
structuring bank transactions to evade reporting requirements and bankruptcy fraud, U.S.
Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman also ordered Moty Rosenkrantz, 54, a/k/a “Michael
Rosenkrantz,” to pay a $10,000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release upon the
completion of his prison term. Rosenkrantz, who owned of a business named B & W Motor
Cars, has been detained since his arrest on Sept. 6, 2006, on the grounds that he is a risk of
flight.
Rosenkrantz pleaded guilty on Feb. 5, 2007, before Judge Hillman to one-count of structuring
bank transactions to evade reporting requirements and one-count of bankruptcy fraud.
In pleading guilty, Rosenkrantz admitted that from late February 2003 through March 2003 he
structured at least 38 bank withdrawals, totaling approximately $368,100. Furthermore,
Rosenkrantz admitted that in July 2003 he filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy, in which
he falsely represented that no financial accounts in his name were closed, sold or otherwise
transferred within one year preceding the bankruptcy filing date, when in fact, he had closed
at least seven bank accounts in March 2003.
In determining the actual sentence, Judge Hillman consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity
and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors.
The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms
must serve nearly all that time.
Christie credited Special Agents with IRS Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction
of Special Agent in Charge William Offord, in Newark, and the FBI’s South Jersey Resident
Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert F. Downey, in
Philadelphia, for investigation of the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Prisinzano Mikkelsen of
the Criminal Division in Camden.
- end-
Defense Attorneys: David Shapiro, Esq. Philadelphia
Steven LaCheen, Esq. Philadelphia
Big scandals rocking the Ashdod chassidic community. Stories of swinging couples and cheating spouses are all the rage these days and no one has a clue as to how to stop this plague. Rumor mills are saying the whole epidemic started when some girls who were raped by fathers and forcibly married off, continued a messed up life by offering services to anything that walks or falling for charming oppurtunists. But WE high holy rollers, who preside over these incompetent welfare recipients will never admit we have a festering problen. Rather we will revert to what we do so well. i.e. COVERUP!!!!!!!!!
Rabbi calls for Israel to exact revenge By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - A prominent rabbi urged the Israeli government Wednesday to avenge the shooting attack that killed eight Jewish seminary students earlier this month, saying members of the Palestinian gunman's family should "hang ... from a high tree."
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of the northern town of Safed and the son of a former chief rabbi of Israel, issued the call in a newsletter distributed to synagogues around the country.
"A country that really cares about its citizens should hang the 10 sons of the terrorist from a high tree," he wrote, quoting the biblical Book of Esther. The original text referred to the book's villain, Haman, who plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia before he was foiled.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Eliyahu said he was using the reference as a "metaphor," but said he supported taking revenge against people who attack Jews. "I don't apologize for anything and stand behind everything I wrote," he said.
Tensions already were high before the harsh comments by Eliyahu, a relatively mainstream rabbi.
There has been a chorus of calls for revenge since the March 6 attack, in which a lone Palestinian gunman entered the library of the Mercaz Harav seminary and opened fire, killing eight young students and leaving a scene of bloodstained holy books before he was shot dead.
Just after the attack, hundreds of Jewish seminarians gathered outside the yeshiva and chanted: "Death to Arabs." Days later, a group of mourners marched toward the home of the Palestinian shooter, smashing car windows before being stopped by police.
Anon @2:37,
You totally misunderstood my post. I was not comparing the accomodations at Tranquility Bay to Pesach hotels. I was comparing PARENTS that send their kids to boot camps to those that go to Pesach hotels. Sheesh.
Two news items:
Rav Yudel Shain received a copy of the original October letter sent by the KAJ to Rubashkin. It clearly states that they are leaving for kashrut reaasons. Can't wait for Lubinsky's latest spin/lies.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/
Also, concerts are no longer banned in the yeshivish/haredi world. There will be a concert on April 24, Chol Hamoed Pesach, with Avrohom Fried, Miami Boys Choir and Boruch Levine at Brooklyn College. I guess the banners were only kidding.
To UOJ:
Read the report and guess which Iowa company shows up!
Jewish state--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Maura Pond 3/26/2008 4:30 PM >>>
March 26, 2008
Foul Fowl: Group Releases Exposé on Contaminated Chicken
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Food & Water Watch today released an update of a
2006 report detailing the names of chicken producers who have failed to
meet federal standards for Salmonella. The names of these failing plants
have never been publicly released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
the agency responsible for meat and poultry inspection. The consumer
group’s analysis of the USDA’s Salmonella testing program provides
direct evidence of the danger posed by a policy change that reduces the
frequency of testing at some plants.
The new report lists 27 broiler chicken plants in 16 states that failed
at least one Salmonella testing period in 2006 or 2007. The testing
results, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, are
from the USDA’s routine sampling program for Salmonella. To date,
USDA has never publicly released information on which plants failed to
meet Salmonella standards, despite an announcement that it would start
doing so in 2007. Recent statements by agency officials indicate that
the agency may soon publish the names, although the meat and poultry
industry continues to lobby against this change.
Earlier this year, the USDA weakened its testing program with a new
policy that delays testing at plants that met Salmonella standards in
the past. An analysis of past testing data from the 27 plants with
recent failures shows that this new policy could have delayed testing
during periods of poor performance at six of these plants.
“USDA has delayed giving consumers this important information about
their food for long enough,†said Wenonah Hauter, executive director
of Food & Water Watch. “It’s time for USDA to tighten up their
Salmonella testing program and let consumers know which companies are
not making the grade.â€
In light of these findings, Food & Water Watch recommends that the USDA
seek legislation to make microbial testing performance standards
enforceable, publish on its website the results of Salmonella testing
for every plant, and abandon a proposal to reduce the frequency of
testing at plants with previous good performance.
In 1996, the federal government instituted major changes in the meat
inspection system by creating the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) system. Under HACCP, USDA inspectors shifted to an auditing role
and have less authority to require corrective action when they see a
problem. As part of HACCP, the agency launched its Salmonella testing
program which it touts as an indicator of the effectiveness of meat
companies’ food safety procedures.
During a testing period, the USDA is supposed to take samples during 51
consecutive days of broiler chicken production. If a plant has more than
12 samples test positive for Salmonella during that period, they fail to
meet the standard.
The report can be seen at
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/pubs/reports/more-foul-fowl
Patty Lovera: (202) 683-2465
Tony Corbo: (202) 683-2449
###
http://bp3.blogger.com/_DCGOA_RlajQ/R-qXKuX5cWI/AAAAAAAABd0/kBBc5l3Totw/s1600-h/scan0002.gif
Here is the first KAJ to Rubashkin letter that is now being leaked.
The LIES & cover ups are over.
This version cannot be printed. Can UOJ reformat it for printing?
Lubinsky, you & your slimebag clients had better watch your backs!
Thank you AB, Mr.K, Steve and a few anonymous people for sending in the KAJ letter.
UOJ created the letter according to my good friend Jeffrey Scwartz, Kolko's lawyer.
Wise / David Elliott is distributing Rubashkin's processed smoked turkey since they don't make such a product themselves.
Tonight for the first time I saw an Aaron's Best label on one of these that had only "OU glatt". No KAJ & no Weissmandel. Is KAJ now out even earlier than planned? Did Weissmandel decide it's too embarassing to approve the tier lower than "Supreme" (even though Rubashkin mixes up all the minim anyway)?
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c37_a5879/News/National.html
Custody Case Over Son Of Hatzalah Executive Suit alleges 16-year-old ‘being abused’ at Jamaica facility.
by Stewart Ain
NY Jewish Week
March 26, 2008
A bitter custody case centered on a controversial rehabilitation center in Jamaica for troubled youth has embroiled the U.S. State Department, Israel and the CEO of the Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps here.
At the center of the controversy is Isaac Hersh, 16, who, according to a federal lawsuit, was handcuffed and forcibly dragged from his parents’ Brooklyn home at 5 a.m. on June 13 by two burly men. He was then taken to a school in Jamaica called Tranquility Bay.
The suit, filed by the Washington Center for Peace and Justice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting victims of injustice, alleges that an eyewitness at the facility saw Hersh “being abused by the staff.” The suit claims that there have been “numerous” other documented cases of abuse of youths there.
A former associate of the school, Ken Kay, called the allegations “ludicro us.”
The suit alleges that the “health and safety” of Hersh are in jeopardy and it seeks to compel the State Department to visit him and render him medical care. Named as defendants are the State Department and the teen’s parents, Michael and Miriam Hersh. The former has been the CEO of Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps for the past five months.
Meanwhile, the boy’s aunt and uncle, Rosa and Elliott Greher of Silver Spring, Md., are in Brooklyn Family Court seeking to wrest custody of the teen from his parents. In the same court, the youngster’s grandparents, Rafael and Rifka Cohen of Queens, are seeking visitation rights. A May 28 trial is scheduled.
“My only interest is the well-being of Isaac Hersh,” said Rafael Cohen. “I have no involvement in the federal suit.”
He said the custody case was begun “after the parents were willing to voluntarily relinquish custody.” He declined to say what changed their minds.
Asked what would happen if the judge revokes the parents’ custody since U.S. court rulings are unenforceable in Jamaica, Cohen said: “We will have to cross that bridge as we come to it.”
His lawyer, Leah Shedlo, said the Cohens have not spoken with Isaac for about two years. Asked about reports that Isaac has sent a letter home saying he was fine and being treated well, she said she understood that the “children are required to send these letters home. I have spoken with some [former] students and they confirmed it.”
Shedlo said also that Isaac’s court-appointed guardian had not spoken with him as of the last court date in January.
The Hersh’s lawyer, Shlomo Mostofsky, declined comment.
David Shipper, the attorney for Chevra Hatzalah, said his organization is “carefully monitoring” the two court cases, “taking into account the seriousness of the allegations.”
The federal suit contends that Michael Hersh was charged with child abuse by Israeli authorities while the family was living there several years ago. It was alleged that Hersh forced Isaac and his twin brother Shlomo to take medicine without a prescription. The drug was designed “to control them,” the suit said, adding that the family then “abruptly returned to New York.”
Ken Kay, president of the now defunct Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, said that until two years ago his organization had provided services to Tranquility Bay and that his son used to be its director. He denied that youngsters there are abused.
“They are there because they do not function well and have been in life-threatening situations,” he said. “It is a facility that is highly structured because the kids have lax structure.”
Asked about the complaints of abuse posted on the Web by former students, Kay said: “Those who don’t complete the program continue to be angry and mean. ... This is a character-building program accredited by the Northwestern Association of Accredited Schools.”
He said Jamaican officials and representatives from the American consulate “regularly visit and if there was abuse there, they would have reported it. ... I’m very comfortable with Tranquility Bay. I think it’s a good school.”
There are still plenty of options with that putz sheygetz arrested in Lakewood. The Treasury has at least 3 divisions with Federal agents who make arrests, so does the Defense Dept and then there are others like even the Commerce Dept.
http://oukosher.org/btus_issues/Wise.pdf
The OU recently issued an advisory that Wise "Dipsy Doodle" corn chips in bags like this one pictured may contain treif popcorn.
It was an ongoing problem for years with this company that treif cheese snacks were found in these packages too. This was true even for the bogus "special run" for the Yoka Ruv. After rabbonim notified "The Joker" several times and he would not require a recall or so much as do anything, "The Joker" became the first Chassidish hashgocho considered unreliable. There have been others since.
It also sounds like the OU "controls" at Wise are completely inadequate.
Great. Let's talk about popcorn while Isaac is held prisoner by Aaron Schechter.
this hersh story is insane
has the world gone completely mad
but think about it we reap what we sow
we put up "gedolim" like aron schechter who openly mocks r moshe feinstein wiothout shame or any fear of retribution
we put up gedolim like scheinberg and belsky who openly cover for a known child molester and his cohort lipa margolis without a hint of shame or fear of retribution
and weve all been sitting here like yukels nodding our heads like bobblehead dolls
we are hitting rock bottom
schechter is laughing at the whole frum oilam im gonna put this kid in a concentration camp and you aint gonna lay a glove on me
who you guys who chose fruchtys money over rav moshe
you guys who took margos money and as he fed kids to that monster
its now or never
we have to storm chaim berlin
storm the agudah
storm rav dovid
storm rav reuven
we have to take a stand and say this has gone to far either schecter lets this kid or were gonna turn the whole frum crazy world we live in on its head
LIPPA SCHMELTZER -- I DONT GIVE ONE DARN TOOTIN FLYING DAMN ABOUT LIPA SCHMELTZER NOT ONE HOOOOT
ARON SCHECHTER LET THIS CHILD GO NOW OR WE WILL TAKE YOU DOWN KNOW IT
UOJ, it's time for another poll:
WHAT'S WORSE A GOY FAKING TO BE A YID LIVING IN LAKEWOOD
OR
A YID FAKING TO BE A YID AND SELLING TARFUS IN MONSEY
Lakewood, NJ - The Yeshivishe community of Lakewood, NJ is all astir at the biggest exposé to hit the bastion of Torah Judaism in years.
After initially duping a number of reputable organizations, leaders, rabbis and volunteers, a non-Jewish individual who in recent court proceedings has stated his name as Ted Riley Floyd continued a years-long charade of posing as a Jewish baal teshuvah of Marrano ancestry. In the process, he deftly fooled an entire community to whom he was, for all they knew, a returning Jew deserving of their loving embrace.
"They took care of him panim v'achor," says his former Partners in Torah study partner, who was taken in by Mr. Floyd's convincing act for over six years, he told VIN News. The partner asked to remain anonymous.
Floyd succeeded in his subterfuge partially by assuming the identity of a deceased individual, introducing himself as Nathaniel James Levi—and later as Natan Yosef Levi—to Partners in Torah when in December of 2002 he first contacted the organization and filled out an application. He was living in Wichita, Kansas at the time. Not suspecting anything untoward, the organization shortly provided "Levi" with a partner; the two progressed fairly quickly.
In the summer of 2003, Floyd met his partner for the first time when the latter took him on a personal guided tour of Lakewood, where the ostensibly "newly-frum baal teshuvah" declared his love for the community and his interest in relocating from Kansas. Keeping up his assumed role, he said there was difficulty obtaining kosher food in Wichita, and expressed unhappiness with the local "Conservadox" synagogue.
As for any conversion concerns raised by his purported Marrano ancestry, Floyd claimed to be an "authentic" Marrano, therefore required no giyur misafek.
Floyd moved to Lakewood, first dwelling in a rented basement and later purchasing a home in the town's Forest Park section. According to his Partners in Torah friend, Floyd claimed to have sold his Wichita home.
Once living in Lakewood with his wife and children, who were accepted into local chedarim, he quickly became known as Natan (or Netan, as he spelled it on his MySpace.com page), a progressively-literate baal teshuvah whose growing knowledge in Torah continually impressed his long-time Partners in Torah volunteer, whom he regaled with claims of constant learning at Beth Medrash Govoha, a claim that seems to have been largely true. Floyd perfected the role of a Torah-observant Jew so well that he was even in the process of penning a sefer on hilchos kesivas sefer Torah.
In like manner did Floyd regularly attend minyanim at his local shul, integrating into the community well enough to start his own graphic design business, LevyDesign.org. Among other things, the company created LimudNet.org, an online resource of mussar shiurim by Rabbi Ezra Zafrani, a leader of Lakewood's Sephardic contingent, to whom Floyd had become close.
All along, his PIT chavrusa would occasionally call to learn that he and his wife were doing well. "He came to us for Chol HaMoed Sukkos," the chavrusa tells VIN. "I couldn't say, 'I knew something was wrong from the beginning.' He was different, but in the same way baalei teshuvos are different. It wasn't anything unusual."
"Levi" apparently was even featured in an article on Partners in Torah that ran in the Mishpacha magazine in 2006.
All that came to a shocking end on Monday, March 24, 2008, when Floyd and his family were exposed.
VIN has received confirmation from the U.S. Marshal's Service that the FBI was not involved in Mr. Floyd's sudden disappearance from Lakewood, as erroneously reported elsewhere; neither was he arrested by the FBI.
The facts are these: after departing Lakewood some time early in the week, Mr. Floyd personally appeared for his own volition on Monday, March 24 in the United States District Court of the Kansas District for a detention hearing, after having been previously released on bond by the Court's District of New Jersey. But after the U.S. government attorney presented evidence of "serious risk" of flight, including the facts that the New Jersey bond was placed under the false name of Levi, Floyd's Lakewood home had been acquired through some fraudulent mortgage loan, and the existence of two outstanding warrants in two Kansas counties, Floyd was denied release and is currently being detained by the federal government.
According to court sources, the case against Floyd was filed in February of 2008, with charged of submitting a fraudulent passport application in Kansas. His passport was scrutinized, resulting in evidence that he was not who he claimed to be, leading to an investigation by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. Apparently, Mr. Floyd was contacted by the government without fanfare or arrest, prompting him to face his past—and to flee Lakewood.
What this man's goal was in integrating so smoothly into the Lakewood Torah community still remains a mystery of the sketchiest nature. But as this story unfolds, VIN News will keep its readers posted.
Are we living in a Jewish insane asylum.. Ever day there are new things being exposed which is a good thing !!! sounds to me like Pandora box has been opened up and its not closing anytime soon…. .. the pot is over flowing with tears !!!!
The popcorn story IS important.
UOJ has pointed out many times that there is a rot that manifests itself in many ways. It can emerge as petty OU corruption with popcorn or children's lives being flushed down the toilet by the Agudah.
http://www.youngisrael.org/content/Contactus.cfm
As noted by The Jewish Week, the lawyer for Michael & Miriam Hersh is Shlomo (Steve) Mostofsky.
This putz is the President of the National Council of Young Israel.
It is well known that the current Young Israel is not only corrupt and involved in a bunch of financial shenanigans, but they coordinate their actions with the Agudah. Avi Shafran has a close relationship with Pesach Lerner.
Contact these Bums and tell them there will be a backlash against Young Israel unless Isaac is freed pronto!
Rabbi Pesach Lerner
Executive Vice President
212-929-1525 x100
plerner@youngisrael.org
Shlomo Z. Mostofsky
President
president@youngisrael.org
Rabbi Jonah Gewirtz
Chairman of the Board
Eli Dworetsky
First Vice President
Farley Weiss
Second Vice President
Associate Vice Presidents
Dr. Chanania Gang
Etan Mirwis
Raoul Moskovitz
Rozanne Polansky
Yosef Poplack
Rabbi Zev Schostak
Eliezer Silverman
Stanley Sved
Stanley Treitel
Jeffrey Winter
Commitee Chairs /
Board Members *
Lee Caplan
Seth Goldstein
Mark Herskovitz
Robert Jacobs
David Love
Ruth Saperstein
Shelden Schreiner
Haskell Yadlovker
* List in formation
Honorary Presidents
Rabbi David Hill
Chaim S. Kaminetzky
Nathaniel Saperstein
Honorary Vice Presidents
Judah Lifshitz
David Love
Ruth Saperstein
Few people in our history have trampled Torah as Schechter has here. He is tacitly committing murder, and investing energy to protect himself. He is trampling a yeshiva that deserves a role model of midos tovos. He is trampling the Aguda Moetzes that was always composed of gedolim that were pro-Yiddishkeit. And Hersh is trampling the reputation of Hatzoloh. Both of these monsters need to be deposed. Some day, they need to stand in front of beis din, or probably secular court since Schechter won’t even go to the beis din of Reb Moshe. These goons need to exposed. We will have lost the image of a gadol, but it lots better than continuing to granting him the undeserved kavod.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_WC3VtDsRQjc/R-sJd3sQrYI/AAAAAAAABWE/nT0XhcTgEZ4/s1600-h/5750-l-carlebach+to+jp-2.jpg
When I came to open the store at 7:30 this morning, the yenta was already waiting outside. She was all excited about this letter UOJ obtained that was never published before. She explained that her printer was jammed and wanted me to print it out for her.
There was someone else from the Chaim Berlin hanhala who was named a lo tzayis dina in another case.
From what I understand however the beis din in that case may have been corrupt and certainly made a very unusual demand of him that raised a lot of eyebrows. From my knowledge of halacha, and I am versed in large parts of Shulchan Aruch and sifrei teshuva, I do not understand why anyone would have to listen to them in that case.
It was rumored that one rabbi in Flatbush took the beis din's ruling very seriously and got into a physical altercation with the nitba. The rabbi who had trouble containing himself is somewhat of a laughing stock who UOJ would not hesitate to name after part of the male anatomy.
"Rabbi Ezra Zafrani"
Is that one of the Zafranis from YTT?
The leaked Rubashkin letter cannot be printed the way it is formatted here or at Yudel's & Shmarya's.
How do you reformat to allow for printing? There are a lot of yoyos who will get it shoved in their face as soon as it is printable.
UOJ should get the media (as well as the public) to start bombarding the National Council of Young Israel office with hard hitting questions.
I'm able to print all the letters, maybe its your printer.
UOJ,
Did the Low Klass gang at the Jewish Press assist in covering up the Chaim Berlin din Torah? I assume they never published anything about that outrage.
Perhaps the readers can answer Mr. Bunker.
That other "hanhala" member of Chaim Berlin is out of there for what I guess is over 40 years. Even after the beis din rescinded the sruv against him, he got into a shoving match in shul with someone related to the story and was asked to find somewhere else to daven.
I don't know who started shoving first but the other guy involved is a putz who has been featured on UOJ for a mortgage fraud conviction.
Oh, his name is Ted Floyd?
Ich hob gemeint it was "Pink" Floyd.
This is for it's own headliner perhaps, but what's the story with all the rebbeim in Chaim Berlin that got canned? Even the ones that weren't scammed into relocating to Far Rockaway.
A yungerman from Bais Hatalmud once mouthed off about it in Camp Morris and the Chaim Berliner "chassidim" physically threw him out.
The brothers R' Dovid & R' Reuvein Feinstein have been seen in public being very friendly to R' Aron Schechter.
How could they do this when the Shulchan Aruch demands a mesarev be ostracized.
And especially when their own father, the gadol hador, was the one slapped in the face.
Before Chaim Kaplan lost his mind in gantzin, he was fired from the 9th grade rebbe shteller in Chaim Berlin for taking his shiur to the zoo during seder.
At least that's one rebbe they had a right to get rid of.
I've tried to look up the 990's for Hatzolah, it seems that each location is it's own organziation which maintains itself. I found for burah parrrk, 47th street, villiamsboyg, mon-roe etc. I didnt see putz Hirsh on any of them. So what organization is he with, and how the hell did he get $250K a year?
Lakewood Hatzalah seems to be headed by all vounteers except for a "CFO" who makes $52K in 2005.
The brothers R' Dovid & R' Reuvein Feinstein have been seen in public being very friendly to R' Aron Schechter. How could they do this when the Shulchan Aruch demands a mesarev be ostracized. And especially when their own father, the gadol hador, was the one slapped in the face.
-----------------------
My sentiments exactly! Then throw in the fact that the Feinsteins' family member was raped by Kolko - they knew in the 80's - and did NOTHING!
"Groyse payos" is the nickname some Brisker chevra have for Avrom Fruchthandler.
It started when an Eretz Yisroeldik meshulach was complaining to some Briskers about what he described as stingy donations that he said Fruchthandler gives to meshulochim. The meshulach referred to him as "dem mit der groyse payos."
Hersh is with Flatbush Hatzolah on East 9th.
"throw in the fact that the Feinsteins' family member was raped by Kolko"
Actually raped or was it just one of Yudi's ole' Plymouth masturbation specials?
"R' Dovid & R' Reuvein Feinstein have been seen in public being very friendly to R' Aron Schechter."
That's why there are actually some people out there who think UOJ manufactured this story complete with fake letters.
"Hey Aaron Schlechter you Lo Tzayit Dino, who gave you semicha?"
Does a certificate for bus drivers or Rubashkin truck drivers count for anything?
Avadda, R' Lipa!
A Rubashkin truck driver sertifikat hot a din fun dayanus.
This is fascinating stuff.
I know that in the Sefer Maskil LiShlomah on Shemos in a footnote to a Maamar on Parshas Mishpotim on the Possuk Lo Sita Lecho Asheira Aitzel Mizbach Elokecho, Rav Shlomo Carlebach makes reference to this story without mentioning any names, but these documents do not mince any words.
Thank you issac gross
According to Guidestar, they never filed any 990's. They are also the only one not catogorized as NTEE Code: E62 (Ambulance/Emergency Transport). So where is this salary info coming from?
Wasn't this Rav Carlebach already a gadol Batorah in Europe already as the last Rov of Hamburg or is that a different relative?
I'm just wondering exactly how big this chutzpah is going back to when these Chaim Berliners were just young pishers.
WHAT ABOUT THE KOLKO PRESS CONFRENCE?
In response to the many inquiries:
The new Kolko press conference (and lawsuit) is delayed a few days - to be able to focus on getting Isaac Hersh released!
UOJ
Holy crap! Am I ever glad the OU isn't mixed up in this mess.
UOJ is out of control!
http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2007/12/gedolei-ha-what.html#5871784302923922544
Rav Schechter backs Leib Tropper's EJF said...
Something that may have been overlooked here is a topical issue:
The very recent ban/issur issued by the BADATZ in Yerushalayim against the proselytizing of Leib Tropper's "Eternal Jewish Family' ("EJF") is also a big knock against Reb Aron Schechter who also happens to be Leib Tropper's chief rabbinical advisor and attended a few of the EJF conventions.
More needs to be said about how is Rabbi Schechter reacting nowadays to the blow he got from Rav Moshe Shternbuch's Bais Din (the BADATZ).
http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2007/12/gedolei-ha-what.html#4685611539181015642
Rabbi Snow (a former magid Shiur in RCB) took RY Hutner to Bes Din. The Dayanim were Rav Moshe, Rav Yaackov and Rav Mendel Zacks. RY Hutner lost (not that that helped Rabbi Snow, as RYH did all he could to undermine the Psak). Perhaps that explains why he was not eager to return to Bes Din. I think Rabbi Shurkin (Leib Pinter's shver) took him to Bes Din also, but am not certain.
Anonymous said...
I went to CB mesivta during 77-78. Didn't know much about the inner-workings or history of the place, but it seemed like all the big machers, especially the Fruchthandlers and Danzigers, were creepy fellows. And practically each Rebbi was a cold fellow who basically took no real interest in us (at least those who weren't 'CBers').
One day, a wild-eyed, old man grabbed the crook of my arm with his cane handle as I was heading down to the lunchroom and started farhering me. Only later did I find out it was Hutner himself.
baalbatish said...
Izzy Englander #15 of Porfolio.com's top givers. He gave $1.7 million to Chaim Berlin. Who's Izzy and why is he giving so much to YRCB?
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2007/12/17/Top-50-Charitable-Foundations#page3
http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2007/12/gedolei-ha-what.html#5243608231083573400
Twistelton-Twistelton said...
CB story is that Rav Gustman Zt'l told CB that they don't have to respond. Which is why (CB claims) a siruv was never issued against CB from ANY Bes Din
Enquiring Jew said...
The reason no siruv was issued is because Rav Moshe never issued seruvim period becuase he held it was like a kelallah of sorts. It has nothing to do with Rav Gustman.
Nor is anything said by Rav Gustman of any Halachic import because he had no jurisdiction over the dispute. The only thing he could have done was given CB a letter to deliver to Rav Moshe requesting that he withdraw his hazmanah for whatever reason. It would then have been in Rav Moshe's sole discretion to decide whether he would withdraw his hazmanah.
Rav Gustman never issued such a letter, nor would he have in light of Rav Moshe's position. If he had written such a letter to Rav Moshe, Rav Moshe would have paid no attention to it as he was very adamant about CB's requirement to appear before him in BD.
The proof is in the pudding. Machon Lehorah, a reputable Bes Din whom CB chose as its BD to sue Veretzky, issued its Psak essentially calling CB a Moired in BD because of their defiance of R' Moshe. If CB had a legitamate halachically acceptable reason not to go to BD why would Machon Lehorah have given such a psak.
Bottom line is that all of these CB excuses are nonsense. No serious frum jew ignores an outstanding hazmanah especially not from the Gadol Hador.
Chaim Berlin tragedy said...
"enquiring Jew" concludes: "Bottom line is that all of these CB excuses are nonsense. No serious frum jew ignores an outstanding hazmanah especially not from the Gadol Hador."
However he overlooks one very big point, that CB considers Rav Hutner to be THE Gadol HaDor and that Rav Schechter is likewise bigger than Rav Moishe. To CB , Rav Schechter is the "chad bedra" in America, and after Rav Elyashiv ein od milvado! So they are not answerable to anyone bazman hazeh, and hence Rav Carlebach's claims are meaningless to them. You may as well use all the hazmonas as toilet paper. He is just another Hutnerian who ran afoul of his Rebbe. They know that Rav Hutner said on him the words of the navi; "bonim romamti vegodalti vehem pashu bi..."
But there is another dimension to the story that everyone has missed here, and that is that Rav Carlebach was the official spokesman for Rav Hutner when his name was used to sign "beshem hava'ad" and it was not for nought that Rav Hutner chose him ("bonim romamti vegodalti" means that Rav Carlebach is a gadol created by Rav Hutner) as Rav Hutner knew his MAIN talmidim, all geniuses, and he hated mediocrity.
Rav Carlebach was one of the few select talmidim who were OFFICIALLY permitted by Rav Hutner to learn "Hilchos Dei'os VeChovos Halvevos" (the official name for Rav Hutner's derech hamachshava) and then, when as mashgiach of CB, Rav Carlebach showed that he knew his stuff ibber gut and could deliver the goods noch besser in his highly popular chaburos (he was the most interesting to listen to) that they chap'd a "pachad" from him -- what would be when Rav Hutner left this world and they would have to compete with the one person who was officially designated as the "spokesman of the ma'amorim" (his lengthy introductions signed with his name "Shlomo ben Harav R' Yosef Tzvi HY"D Carlebach" is printed in all the first prints of Rav Hutner's Pachad Yitzchoks) so they gave him the heave-ho after making silly demands on him that he should submit to Rav Schechter while Rav Hutner was still alive...as Rav Carlebach told people: "The Rosh Yeshiva wanted to know if I would be an eved kna'ani to Rav Aaron, and I told him, I ain't no eved kna'ani"! After that all hell broke loose in the basi medrash as they were mevze him left and right. But he took it like a gentleman and gavra and did not respond in kind. Instead he went to Batei Din and Gedolim, but to no avail, as CB just brushed them off.
Interesting that in Rav Moshe's letter/hazmoneh from the Agudas Harrabonim, he says that it's assure for CB to put another person into the mashgiach slot, well after a year they did, and it was Rav Shimon Groner zt"l who went through hell for 25 years, as he suffered though this position only because Rav Hutner asked him to do it. A slow suicide mission for the master... Now Rav Schechter has put in his oldest son as mashgiach and it's not going so good either... so this a tragedy that keeps on compounding itself because the air never gets to be cleared. properly with all the machlokes that still lingers. Too bad for all concerned!
And to prove that Rav Carlebach is the real thing when it comes to knowing Rav Hutner's Toirah, just read his hefty five volume "Maskil LiShlomo" set of seforim that he has produced in his years of exile from CB. Not one Chaim Berliner will ever hold a light to what Rav Carlebach has produced in kesav. Quite an accomplishment for someone who was set up for a fall and then attacked in the most vile of ways.
This tragedy put Shakespeare to shame.
Enquiring Jew said...
Tragedy:
I heard something else bishem Rav Moshe about RYH's conduct in this matter which I think further makes the point. He said on RYH "Als vus er hut hut er foon dinei torah's in ven me rooft em koomt er nisht" [Evreything he has he got from din torah's but when he is called he doesn't come"].
RYH was no newcomer to BD. Apparently, his whole hegemony over CB was only acheived through Din Torah's with Shurkin and others. Indeed Veretzky is a great example of CB being very proactive in pursuing their rights in BD. So your proposition that CB and RYH and RAS are too big to go Ledin is very wrong. They are acutely aware of BD and have used it at every turn to acheive their goals. They simply concluded that they will lose here so they decided not to go. Nothing fancy, just old fashioned Mesarvim.
Chaim Berlin tragedy responds said...
CB is still very much in the here and now big time. They dominate Agudath Israel in the USA through RAS's "Da'as Torah" and Fruchhandler's prestige and pull with every big-time gevir in America (And of course, this is something that RSC condemns and eschews.)
RAS helped to put Rav Dovid Feinstein on the Moetzes recently so how bad can things be between Rav Dovid Feinstein's Bais Din (as the continuation of his father's) and that of RAS and CB? The whole Torah world is running to meet and greet RAS and it's known that Rav Shach zt'l and ybd"l Rav Elyashiv have taken RAS very seriously all along. They would surely not bother with "simple mesarvim" so there must be more to the total picture here than meets the naked eye. So as the famous commercial once asked: "Where's the (hopefully glatt kosher) beef?"
If all enquiring jew sees in the previous post is symptoms of "grandiosity" and "megalomania" then it's very difficult to converse with him because *grandiosity* and *mega-drama* was the coin of the realm in CB and very much part of the Hutnerian way. Had he ever attended one of Rav Hutner's Sukkos, or Simchas Torah, or Purim mesibos and ma'amorim (on Purim a professional ten piece band with the loudest instruments being brought into the Bais Medrash) as CB is transformed into a Chasidishe tish with a Rebbe/RYH/RAS at its helm, it would be obvious that CB under RYH thrived on grandiosity and revelled in his "gadlus" (which to an outsider may seem like "megalomania".) Grandiosity of thought, speech and action, and even in bodily, Rav Hutner was big and the CB anash all had explanations and rationalizations for every tenuah and oisdruk, just like for a rebbe! To attribute "ordinaryness" to RH and CB is to hurl the greatest insult at them. And if they were so ordinary, they would not be so feared and stir so much controversy.
Other assertions by enquiring jew also reveal how he lacks basic facts and inside knowledge about CB, Booklyn's oldest yeshiva that preceded RYH's domination of it around 1935/1936 when he was appointed high school menahel of CB and builds it up to a bais medrash in 1940 and then with a Kollel Gur Aryeh in 1956.
At any rate, as a matter of fact, sources close to RSC have asserted that the real mastermind of RSC's ouster was Rav Hutner's son-in-law, the chasane debei nesiah, Rav Yonason David (RYD). From around 1966 (until his exit in 1978) he formed the original triumvirate that ruled CB, the other two being RAS and RSC (after the departure of Rav Avigdor Miller around 1965), with RYH as the rosh yeshiva emeritus. By 70 RYH was in great declining health, rushing to write and complete his magnum opus the ten-volume sifrei Pachad Yitzchok, and with great pland to return to EY.
Now, Rav Yonoson and Rebbetzin Dr. Bruriah Hutner David (BHD) have no children. This was a source of great anguish to RYH. BHD runs BJJ in Jerusalem and has to be there. RYH had made the decision in the early 1960s to move to EY and build a yeshiva. He entered into a shutfus with Rav Dov Schwartzman and when RYH tried to have RYD take his place with Rav Schwartzman, Rav Scwartzman instead said bye-bye to both RYD and to RYH. That lead to a famous din Torah (and indeed RYH was not afraid of dinei Torah, he relished them even though he did not respond to RSC's.)
Eventually, Rav Hutner went solo and established Yeshivas Pachad Yitzchok (YPY) in Yerushalayim of which RYD is the ONLY Rosh Yeshiva today. RAS is not permitted to go there by RYD. In Brooklyn however BOTH RYD and RAS serve as co-equal Roshei Yeshiva ad hayom hazeh.
Here's the catch: RYH, and after his 1980 petirah, RYD and BHD, were koveah themselves in Eretz Yisroel, but, like RYH had done, they come to CB in Brooklyn every year at least three times: For the entire Pesach; for the first days of Sukkos; and for the big annual combined CB-YPY fund raising dinner in December and sometimes staying for part of Chanuka.
As a sign of RYD's seniority, as his stataus as the chasane debei nesiah and as the only one who has put out written follow-ups to RYH's ma'amorim, RYD always gets kedimah to say the first ma'amorim in CB, and RAS speaks second. All this is part of the background about RSC's assertions that RYD engineered his ouster, using RAS as the battering ram, to ensure that the cumbersome triumvirate would be reduced to merely a 50-50 dual-monarchy at the top. No chance of RYD ever being outvoted "2 to 1" had RSC still been around without RYH to adjudicate (because RYH loved RSC and would listen to his eitzos in many fields, he called RSC his "secret weapon" to help CB, as RAS was too harsh with people but RSC is warm person.) That is why also, a shocked RSC told people when the machlokes first broke out 30 years ago and CB was pushing him out, that "I did not leave Chaim Berlin, Chaim Berlin left me!" Indeed.
As for RAS and who he places in shtelles, well he has two sons and three eidims. Not that many people. One son, Noson, is a mohel, and RAS tries to encourage CB to use him, but he is not on the hanhalla, he is on the board of directors. The oldest son is Mordechai who is giving it the good old college try as mashgiach, but they say it's not going so good, he is too overbearing and not a pleasnt presence. At least Rav Miller was funny, RSC warm and wise, and Rav Shimon Groner was ehrlich and kind.
The three RAS eidims are temimusdikke and truly eidel people. The genuine illui Shlomo Haliwa is the top magid shiur, and the other hard-working two, Yormak and Sendrowitz, say chaburos in the yeshiva. This is not an unusual arrangment for any yeshiva or rebbistive where sons and eidims get top positions. Where is it different? Lakewwod is ruled by the Kotler mishpoche and the Mir is ruled by Reb Beinish Finkel's eidims, etc etc.
The Fruchthandlers have plenty of shtelles and power in CB. Funny that enquiring jew should think that RAS is stiffing the Fruchthandlers when a common (mis?) conception has it that they own the place and that RAS works for them. But from the CB point of view, world view, it's a Zevulun-Yissacher partnership. RYH gave over the Brooklyn part of CB to RAS to run and the administration of the board and ensuring the fund-raisng and cash flow is Reb Avrohom Fruchthandler's headache as he was appointed the official Nasi/President of CB (but NOT a rosh yeshiva of any sort.) So Avrohom Fruchthandler is the money man and RAS is the Rosh Yeshiva together with RYD. And Fruchandler built YPY and has to support RYD as well as RAS.
The oldest Fruchhandler, Rav Yosef is a "RM" in CB and is one of the senior maggidei shiur. Another Fruchthandler brother, Rav Shlomo is co-rosh yeshiva of the CB high school mesivta, the other menahel is Shlomo Braunstein a mechutan of Avrohom Fruchandler. Two of Avrohom Fruchthandler's sons are rebbeim in the high school mesivta. So there are more Fruchthandlers in CB with shetteles than there are Schechters. It's a partnesrship and it works for both of them. They co-ordinate their moves together and that is why RSC lashes out in his hazmones and letter at both of them. (Note also how RSC refers to Avrohom F. as: "Mr Fruchthandler" as he really regards the F's as intellectual midgets!)
Had the independent thinking and acting RSC been around as mashgiach he would have had the right to give not just his popular and powerful chaburos but also his dei'os which the others might not have liked. RSC was always very popular with the college-going balebatishe crowd in CB and who knows he may have been able to sway them on the board had he been allowed to keep his shtelle.
So they engineered his ouster, no doubt about it, in coup-de-tat fashion, and from the CB point of view they went to war against him and, from *their* point of view *they* probably imagine that *they* did no less than Dovid Hamelech when he set up "Uriah HaChiti" (this is NOT chas vesholom to imply or compare RSC to Uriah in any way whatsoever, but it's only meant to illustrate the method of war-like and conspiritorial operation and aggressive milittant responses of CB to someone *THEY* conceived of as a "threat" to *their* plans for the future, even though RSC himself had done nothing wrong objectively.)
Paradoxically, RSC would probably have helped the place grow and become popular as he was so good at enunciating RYH's ideas and the CB point of view about yeshiva policies, such as going to college at night or who should be allowed into the kollel and popularizing the ma'amorim instead of belaboring them like RAS does in his over-bearing way.
So the fratricidal stand-off continues, and take note that in his letter of Shevat 5753, RSC writes that he was the victim of "...the betrayal, the deceit, the conspiracey to FRATRICIDE and the plunder..." and indeed it was FRATRICIDE as one CB brother rose up to eliminate another CB brother. The words "fratricide" and "plunder," among many's letter of Shevat 5753, reveal just how much of a war it really was and still is.
Reportedly RSC claimed at some points that his beef was not with RYH, who RSC held was being manipulated by RYD and RAS. So the name RYH isn't mentioned in the letter. But it's a key piece of this situation/equation because the main reason RYH and RAS never responded to any hazmonas to dinei Torah from RSC is that they held he was "lav ba'al devarim didi" that RSC had no legs and grounds to stand on since he receeived his mandate to be mashgiach from RYH in the first place and later, although painful for all, RYH withdrew than mandate, just as RYH had been forced to ask certain talmidim to return thier semichas after they were deemed to have "gone off the derech."
There was a story that was making the rounds 30 years ago, that when when RSC first heard of the new conditions being asked of him (to become the proverbial "eved kenani" to RAS), he reminded RYH that he (RYH) had promised him an equal vote with RAS and with RYD, to which RYH responded: "obber vos hob ich gezogt, ich hob oichet a vote! and as far as CB is concerned that is the beginning and the end of the story with RSC: He was given fresh orders. He couldn't and wouldn't comply, so RYH fired him. Poshut. No din Torah on Earth and no recounting of all the events going back to ma'aseh bereishi will ever convince the anash of CB otherwise
So, at this stage, 30 years on, the canons are still firing at each other, sometimes from a distance as on the Internet, and sometimes close by, as happened with the CB-Veretzky clash, the matter has still not been brought to proper closure.
This is so Hutnerian in its "grandiosity." To induce a "30 year war" that might well turn out to be a "100 year war" or a war that goes on till the coming of Moshiach.
There will be no winners in this ugly fratricidal family feud. It's as bad as the struggle between Barry Gurary and his uncle the Rebbe; the fight between Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum of Satmar; the Bobov war between the Halberstams and the Ungars; and a few other big time machlokesen. That is why we are still in golus and Moshiach has still not come ro redeem us. May it happen soon. Amen.
As Shakespeare says, what's done is done and cannot be undone.
Do you want RSC to become the Mashgiach of CB again? Do you wish to see all the parties appear at a Bais Din soon if CB has not done so for 30 year in spite of any and all arguments? Do you think that someone like RAS will now be in anything but war-mode once he knows that a private letter has been posted by his former friend that attacks him personally as if he is the root of all evil on this planet and labels him an "apikores"? Will Avrohom Fruchthandler sign a blank cheque for about a million dollars or more for all the "back pay" that RSC claims that he wishes to recoup? Will RAS be kicked off the Moetzes and will they put RSC in instead? Will RAS's mishpoche be removed from shttelles in CB and will they bring Rav Mottie Yafen, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novarodok in Flatbush who is married to Dr. Elisheva Carlebach the oldest daughter of RSC? Will RSC be allowed to say his version of RYH's ma'amorim in CB, and will CBers be told RAS and RYD that they should attend them in his house? Will RSC join RAS and RYD in sharing the top-billing at the official CB mesibos (considered to be the high point of all CB aviodah) on Purim, Pesach, and Sukkos? Will RSC be given shlishi In CB soon or will he get maftir Yonah next Yom Kippur in in front of the full CB bais medrash? Do you really think that ANY ONE of these scenarios will ever come to pass?
The answer is obvious. It will never happen, unless the Moshiach arrives suddenly and the Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim starts saying that such-and-such must be done.
So what exactly is your intent in this search of "justice" in this case remains totally unclear.
Has RSC recreated a latter-day Holocaust for himself because he was the victim of the origibal Holocaust. It has been said in CB circles for a long time, that at some point and on some level he "snapped" from all the tzores he had been through in life. Personally, as I have known him, I do not for one minute think that it is true, but that is what some of them have said. In fact, RYH once blurted out calling him "a meshuganer yekke" (RYG's words quoted verabim, not mine!) So there are tragice dimensions at work here, that's for sure, when each side conssiders the other to be beyond the pale of normalcy.
Or is this a fight to the death, like Shimshom hagibor, tamus nafshi im haplishtim? Is it about revenge at this point, and G-d alone knows there is a lot that RSC could seek revenge for, no doubt about it, or is it to be mevakesh es ha'emes and have a siyum and hadren that will close this sordid chapter in the history of the yeshiva world in America once and for all?
One final word, and it has been said, no matter what documents are revealed or posted here or anywhere, it will not change reality or the nature of this dispute. Both parties have various means at their disposal, and so far, as has proven by this 30 year war, noone has found the magic formula that will bring it to a close. So let this blog do as it wishes, America is a democracy and free speach is allowed that includes the aring of dirty laundry
Are there other ducuments against CB lurking? There may be. But you can rest assured that CB has the means and the influence and the time to hire the best defense teams in all senses of the word to fight any allegations. Such is life.
CB and RAS for their part go on with life as normal. They, like all leaders of the Oilam HaTorah, forbid anyone from looking at the Internet, so that what goes on here is moot. They are learning real Toirah, breaking the binding of umpteen seforim and shteiging. The President of CB, Avrohom Fruchtandler and cohorts is getting richer as proven by his former financial alliance with the Reichmans of Toronto and now the richest frum real estate tycoon in Brooklyn, Ruby Schron who supports the Mirrer yeshiva and zillions of other causes, and whose oldest daughter is married to a top CB maggid shiur, Rav Binyomin Cohen, son of Rav Feivel Cohen (another old CBer whom RAS displaced, and who also went on to write seforim, the Badei HaShulchan on YD, but at least who had the good sense not to fight fruitless hara-kiri wars against RAS and CB.)
RAS is in a solid alliance with Rav Dovid and Rav Reuven, the sons of Rav Moishe. In order to get onto the MGH there has to be a total consensus so that RAS must have voted to let Rav Dovid onto the MGH, so it is unlikely that RAS will face any problems from any Feinsteins ever. So who will presecute a 30 year old case? Machon Lehoraya in Monsey? It is hard to see that CB would take them seriously. So for now it looks like more of the status quo
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Keep the documents coming
Someone commented a couple days ago about that Tikotzky and Moishe Finkel relative stealing. Besides some Mickey Mouse stuff that he brazenly did in the open, someone caught him because he woke up late one morning and was with tefillin on in a hiding place in his dorm room away from the eyes of the roaming mashgiach. The ganav came in & started rumagging through the room.
Someone threatened the nignav to shut his mouth. It wasn't the yeshiva, just some dumb jerk that is friends with the ganav.
I wonder how the agudah is going to defend this creep. The "moetezet gedolei hatorah" should be renamed the "moetezet gedolei havantzen" - yiddish for BEDBUGS !!
Who is that thieving shadchan in Lakewood who took 8 grand and knew the chosson was unstable?
Pesach Lerner's father-in-law is a gadol hador. Was he involved in financial shenanigans too? Nursing home? Tzedakah? Dr?
Scratch a little Mr. Lerner and you'll be surprised. Were you ____ in Baltimore too?
Get rid of Mostofsky.
Help get Isaac out of reform school.
I will help you along if you want.
Greenwald.
Steve, you can't bash all hotel goers. Some women are too stressed to make Pesach. But be my guest and ridicule the true fressers and their excesses.
So who's Pesach Lerner's father in law?
I think we're long overdue for a big whiney outburst on the op-ed pages from Avi L. Shafran.
UOJ has never had the goods on Moetzes members & supporters like he has now on RAS & Frucht.
Rubashkin apparachniks are starting to pop up now all over the blogs, Yudel's and elsewhere, that are putting the heat on them. "Voice of Reason" on Shmarya's is the first literate one to crawl out of the woodwork. I expect we will see alot more of them the worse their situation becomes. So let us prepare.
UOJ, those new pictures on the sidebar are really below the belt.
Don't even start about me living directly across the street for years from Yudi Kolko. It's not relevant to anything.
Sitting in the good ole USA, there is precious little we can do to rescue Isaac Hersh. We can sign petitions, contact governmental representatives, make lots of noise, and vent our feelings of rage. I suspect that little will be accomplished. However, the community can take several necessary steps.
First – we should approach our Rabbonim with absolute insistence that they support a boycott on donations to Hatzoloh until Hersh is removed from its organization.
Second – we should monitor the coming days and weeks to insure that Shechter is held responsible for his role in supporting the attempted murder of Isaac Hersh. We need to recognize that he is far too incompetent to be considered daas Torah. Perhaps he can say a good shiur, but his role in this situation has been outrageous and inexcusable. He should be removed from any positions he holds that are community wide, such as the moetzes gedolei haTorah.
We need to emerge from this crisis with some conscience that makes it impossible for people to get away with murder, fraud, and the rest of the trickery and cruelty that have dominated the Schechter-Hersh-and others in this case.
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