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Lifted in its entirety from the - New Jersey Turnpike road scholars - at Yeshiva World!
Preventing Transgression: Gedolei HaPoskim Asur Pressing Buttons on ‘Shabbos Mode Ovens’ on Yom Tov
The modern electronic ovens presently being sold are no longer simply ovens that cook, but rather sophisticated, computer driven electronic marvels. While in the past, the Halochos pertaining to using ovens on Shabbos and Yom Tov were pretty straightforward, nowadays simply opening and closing the ovens can entail violations of Shabbos and Yom Tov.
The “Sabbath Mode” on many of the ovens sold today actually do resolve many of these issues, and is very useful.
However, utilizing the “Sabbath Mode” to raise or lower the temperature on Yom Tov is a matter which has been presented to the Gedolei HaPoskim and they have all unequivocally rendered their decision that it is absolutely forbidden to utilize that feature on Yom Tov.
Having seen the written explanation for the basis of the leniency, HoRav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv Shlit”a, HoRav Shmuel Wosner Shlit”a, HoRav Nisim Karelitz Shlit”a and HoRav Moshe Sternbuch Shlit”a all signed that it is strictly forbidden to rely on this leniency on Yom Tov.
In addition, when a written lenient opinion (”Daas Yochid”) was presented to local Rabbonim, they were also unanimous in their decision that it is forbidden to utilize that feature on Yom Tov.
Among the Rabbonim who signed were HoRav Yechezkel Roth Shlit”a, HoRav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a Rosh Kollel Avreichim of Toronto, HoRav Yechiel Tauber Shlit”a, Rosh Kollel Mechon Hoyroa in Monsey, HoRav Yaakov Horowitz Shlit”a, Rav Of Telze Minyan in Boro Park, Horav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, Rosh Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, HoRav Gershon Bess, Rav Kehilas Yaakov in Los Angeles.
HoRav Feivel Cohen Shlit”a corresponded with HoRav Elyashiv shlit”a and also expressed his opinion that one cannot rely on the leniency.
Erev Rav Yisroel Hazmana Halevi responded publicly that it is forbidden to adjust the temperature on these ovens, but Yudi Kolko should be reinstated as a rebbe at Yeshiva Torah Temimah.
Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, Av Bais Din of the Agudah in Chicago also publicly forbade the adjustment of the temperature on Yom tov.
Rav Moshe Shternbach Shlita forbids its use as well.
The following is a translation of the Kol Koreh by a Rov and Posek that was not paid off by Heinemann:
The development of “Sabbath Mode” operation of ovens seeks to permit the raising and lowering of oven temperatures on Yom Tov. The change in temperature settings is accomplished by pressing keys on a keypad that is connected to the microcontroller built into the oven. Pressing the keys while in “Sabbath Mode” does not result in an immediate change in oven temperature nor does it have any other observable effect. Allowing this activity is based on the presumption that pressing the keys is merely a “Grama” and is therefore permitted on Yom Tov.
In our opinion, pressing the keys on Yom Tov is strictly forbidden since pressing a key immediately closes an electrical circuit and instructs the microcontroller to carry out an action. Pressing the key is forbidden just as all manipulation of electricity is forbidden on Shabbos and Yom Tov either because of “Makeh B’patish” or because of “Mesaken” as described in Igros Moshe (vol.3 §42 and vol.4 §84) whereby there can be a Torah violation immediately upon pressing the key even if no “fire’”is created. This operation is not considered “Grama”. [Furthermore, according to a number of authorities, “Grama” does not apply to situations where the eventual outcome is intentional.]
In our opinion, use of “Sabbath Mode” to change the temperature of an oven on Yom Tov represents an assault on the sanctity of Shabbos and Yom Tov and will lead to deterioration in their observance. We hereby declare that one may not rely on “Sabbath Mode” operation to adjust oven temperatures on Yom Tov despite the presence of a Hechsher on these ovens.
To all of the above we affix our signatures:
(HoRav) Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
I have seen the lengthy words of the Rov that permitted the above and they are Halachically incorrect and it is clearly forbidden. - (HoRav) Nisim Karelitz
There is no Heter for the above, nor will Grama accomplish here.
I affix my signature, awaiting the redemption. - (HoRav) Shmuel Wozner
Surely, one is obligated to protest this leniency with all our might. Such leniencies are a great degradation in the foundation of Shmiras Shabbos and those that are careful with the honor of Shabbos will bring an eternal Brocho upon themselves. - (HoRav) Yechezkel Roth, Head of Karlsbad Bais Din
Aside from the actual prohibition, there lies herein a breach in the wall of Shmiras Shabbos and Yom Tov through which the Jewish nation is sanctified thoughout the generations. - (HoRav) Yaakov Horowitz, Rav ,Telz Minyan
(HoRav) Elya Ber Wachtfogel (the world is only 100 years old)
(HoRav) Shlomo Miller, Rosh Kollel, Kollel Avreichim Toronto
(HoRav) Yechiel Tauber, Rosh Kollel Mechon L’Hoyroa, Monsey, NY
(HoRav, Hagaon) Gershon Bess shlita, Chief Rabbi & Posek of Los Angeles, California
***************************************
The $tar-K has just released the following statement:
Rav Heinemann, $hlita, $tands by his P$ak that it is permi$$ible to raise and lower temperatures on Yom Tov on ovens equipped with that particular $abbath Mode feature.
The Hancocker Rebbe - Moreinu Chaim Big-Boich Rubin adds his endorsement to any oven that works!
Plea$e $ee $tar-K web$ite, or call our office for detail$ about your particular model.
***************************************
79 comments:
i was abused by henya schechter in eitz chaim girls school of toronto, (spring farm campus )when i was ten years old. i never got over the trauma.not a day goes by that i don,t think about it. it has affected every aspect of my life. i just heard that she is becoming the vice principal of eitz chaim girls division!
Why didn't a school in the Far Rockaway area warn its students' parents of a recent kidnapping attempt near the school? Read of the lame excuse of the principal in the Five Towns Jewish Star and you be the judge whether schools should notify parents of near kidnappings or just tell the "older" students without saying anything to the parents.
What are these administrators afraid of? Do they want to risk the lives of another frum girl?
Why weren't notices posted throughout the area? Why wasn't anything posted in the email list for the community?
http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=994&ThisGroup_ID=346&Type=Article&SID=47#Com_5194
21. The Wrong Half 6/6/08 - 7:02 PM
Yakov Horowitz - Monsey NY
We are paying a terrible price for 'sitting' on information that will help keep them safe. And this 'sheltering' is totally ineffective anyway.
WE ARE SHELTERING OUR CHILDREN FROM THE WRONG HALF!!
We are well-meaningly witholding important information from them in order to shelter them. It is not working. And they are left unprotected anyway.
2 simple examples:
1) The 3 drug runners in jail in Japan were duped into taking the bags because (that is the official story at least. I am unconvinced) they did not know that there are frum drug pushers. Why? Because we don't discuss it. Guys like me who do, are decried for doing so.
So our kids are not getting anti-drug information from rabbis, rebbeim and parents because "We don't want to give them ideas."
Is it working? You decide. Brooklyn is flooded -- flooded -- with frum drug dealers, selling coke and heroin not just pot. Don't trust me?? Ask any cop.
At the same time, any kid can go to the library, go online and see every type of shmutz there is.
So we are not really effective at protecting them from shmutz, but we are very effective at witholding information that can save their lives -- like the fact that there are frum drug dealers and WHY they should not do drugs.
2) It is MUCH worse with molestation information. There are simple, tzniyusdik ways to inform kids about abuse prevention
see here: http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=934&ThisGroup_ID=346&ID=Most%20Viewed&Type=Article
We don't talk about this in our homes or schools because we don't want to talk about these topics.
So; our kids are terribly at-risk for being abused, and, again, they are not really protected from shmutz.
The sex abuse/molestation is skyrocketing in the chassidish and very yeshivish community. I didn't write this publicly (yet), but my gut tells me that it is much higher in these kehilos than in the non-Jewish , secular or modern orthodox world. (The party line is that "Baruch Hashem it is lower, but it is still a problem.... I used to think so. I do not anymore)
Why? Because we are protecting them from THE WRONG HALF.
Imagine how many hundreds (really many thousands) of lives would have been saved had we listened and not supressed the words of Rabbi Dr. Twerski shlita over a generation ago.
And we have learned little in 30 years.
If I am to endure slings and arrows for standing with him, I will accept them with pride.
I get at least 5-10 abuse calls each week. Stories that would make you lose your sanity.
We are headed off the cliff, my friends, if we don't get our acts together.
May Hashem have mercy
Yakov Horowitz
I am surprised that no one from the Beis Yaakov of North Miami Beach has written in about a female administrator there and her relations with students.
[Notwithstanding the threats against those who try to expose such depravity, the truth must come out, for the sake of children's safety.]
There are female lesbian predators, as well, even married (a cover for some)--and protected by the same systems which protect the male homosexual predators and the male heterosexual predators, it seems.
Coupled with the ignorance fostered by an overzealous interpretation of the laws of loshon hara, we as a society are crippled and impotent in the face of these terrible, ongoing dangers.
One wonders why such problems do not exist to this degree in other communities. Perhaps one answer is that someone who is a sexual predator would not last long in certain communities.
please i live in nmb
give him the name i will endeavor to remove her from the building or bring it up that every rabbi will have to deal with this
if this is credible contact uoj or mike lesher and ill reach them
> Like Ali felt after he beat Liston
> Like USA Hockey felt after beating the USSR
> Like Lance Armstrong after beating cancer, let alone his
> six championships
> Like a miner being rescued after days in the dark
> Like a passenger on a crippled airplane when it finally
> touches down
>
> Enough with the "Likes" already
>
> You're solid steel,
> coated with teflon, wrapped in kevlar . . . can I have your autograph?
> I wish I had your guts!
> God Bless!
It's really a matter of politics and money.
If you can't control it, just ban it, damn it.
If it affects only 10 or 100 it's not an issue or a crisis. If you can't control it, just ban it, damn it.
Don't give out information don't let the minions think. Chas Ve'Shalom you want a Shabbatai Zvi or an Erev Rav in your midst. If it can't be controlled, ban it, damn it.
Remember Jabotinsky, he couldn't be controlled so they banned him, damn him and his rhetoric.
Remember Twersky when he repeated the Brisker Rov that what happens in Paris six months later happens in the yeshiva, he couldn't be controlled so they banned him damn him and his rhetoric.
Remember the priest who stood by while the hooligans and thugs beat and killed the innocent Jews, he couldn't control it so ban it damn it and let's not remember him.
Remember Santanya - those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. It can't be controlled, so ban it damn it.
The answer is clear - it can't be controlled ban it damn it.
Some people have said that Reb Shmuel Kaminetsky is the best gadol on the issue of child molestation. I don't understand this:
1) He refused to help the Kolko victims saying that unless Kolko can be PROVEN to have molested recently, we must assume he did Tshuvah. When confronted with the scientific evidence that molesters have high recidivism rates, he said we don't believe in science, we believe in Tshuvah. However, every 5 year old cheder child knows that to do tshuvah on ein adam lchaveiro you have to admit your crime and beg mechilah, so what's up with Reb Shmuel?
2) He heard testimony about Mattis Weinberg and then when the rabbis in Israel didn't want to do anything about it, he told the victims to sue. Why could he not publicize his own findings? Would that be Lashon Harah? Why not go to the police? Would that be Mesirah?
3) There were several people who went to Reb Shmuel 40 years ago about Moshe Eiseman in Philly. he ignored them, but soon afterwards Eiseman was headed to Baltimore. OK, maybe back then he made a mistake, but why can't Reb Shmuel be a man now, admit it, and force NIRC to do the right thing????
If this is the best of our Gedolim, G-d help us.
Hoo wood lyke too reed my brilyeant post on Rabbi Horowitz's blog. Yoo see I went to the best skool in Chicago weer no abyuse or milesting hapins. Rabbi Meisels even says no won evir went off the derech:
38. Out of touch 6/11/08 - 10:18 PM
Tzvi
Yanky horowitz is a fake! yes he is a fake not only that,but totally out of touch .while most rabbis are out there in the field actually dealing with people and helping them out being hands on and meeting people face to face,Yanky horowitz is in a different world, he lives in the cyber world of charedi bashing in the communities of hate blogs and websites instead of seeing the good and the bad thats out there he finds a few extreme cases of molestation and abuse and claims thats its rampant. well if thats all you see of course you would say that.If your neighbors are the likes of UOJ and harry maryliss what else do you expect? he is a wolf in sheeps clothing disgiused under the banner of AGUDAH and a master mechanech (ask all the parents why they pulled the kids out of darchei noam and why he is no longer there). he is morer dangerous than a modern orthodox rabbi because he is dressed like a charedi. he feeds fuel to the fire of rabbanim bashing he is smarter and more educated than our roshei yeshiva and manhigim. and do you realy think that since rabbanim dont post evreything on the web and blog about it that it is not being dealt with?for someone that does nothing except for talking and bashing and then taking credit for it yeah,then if its not out in the open for all the self haters to see than it is being swept under the rug but there is another world out therer a worlds of people who have ahavas yisrael rabbanim that dont have time on their hands rabbanim who are tending to their flock roshei yeshivos who are busy wit htzorchei amchah who dont have to impress the modern orthodox and anti rabbanim bashers. who are the ones that are realy making the diffrence.
Supreme Court mulls whether to take a suit accusing Illinois of forcing families to give up rights.
By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 12, 2008 edition
Washington - The US Supreme Court is being asked to determine whether procedures used in Illinois to investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect violate the fundamental rights of parents.
The case arises at a legal crossroads between the government's interest in moving quickly to safeguard children from abuse or neglect and the right of parents to raise and maintain a family without undue government interference.
The high court is scheduled to consider whether to take up the case, Dupuy v. McEwen, at its private conference Thursday. An order agreeing or refusing to hear the appeal could come as early as Monday.
State procedures to investigate allegations of child abuse have been a topic of national concern after more than 400 children from a polygamist group's ranch in west Texas were taken from their parents and held for nearly two months in foster care. The Texas Supreme Court later ordered state officials to return the children to their parents while the investigation continues.
At issue in the Illinois case is whether state officials can use the potential threat of placing children in foster care as a means to pressure parents to forfeit their parental rights.
Agents with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) routinely advise parents in the initial stage of an abuse investigation that their children may be taken into state custody unless the parents agree to a state-imposed "safety plan." Such plans can require the accused parent or parents to leave the home immediately and cease all unsupervised contact with their children for the duration of the investigation, according to a lawsuit filed by a group of Illinois parents.
Imposition of the safety plan can be authorized by a single unconfirmed tip received via an anonymous child-abuse hot line, the suit says.
In contrast, to authorize the removal of children from their parents, authorities must be able to present enough evidence to convince a judge that there is "reasonable suspicion" that a child has been abused or is in imminent danger.
Illinois officials bypass this evidentiary standard and judicial oversight by giving parents an offer they can't refuse, according to the lawsuit.
The offer: Agree to a safety plan or your children may be taken away. Parents are not given an opportunity to know the substance and source of an abuse allegation, nor are they given an opportunity to challenge the safety plan before a neutral decisionmaker.
Is it coercion? Judges disagree.
A federal judge ruled that such tactics by state officials were a form of coercion. But a federal appeals court disagreed. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld the state program, saying it raised no constitutional issues because the parents had voluntarily agreed to the safety plan.
"We can't see how parents are made worse off by being given the option of accepting the offer of a safety plan," wrote Circuit Judge Richard Posner. He said the safety plan offers parents more options, not fewer options.
"If you tell a guest that you will mix him either a Martini or a Manhattan, how is he worse off than if you tell him you'll mix him a Martini?" Judge Posner wrote.
Lawyers for the families say parents have a fundamental right to raise their children without government involvement unless officials can show evidence of abuse.
"There has to be some compelling interest in overriding that basic protection [of parents' rights], and a hot-line call by itself doesn't cut it," says Diane Redleaf, executive director of the Family Defense Center in Chicago and a lead lawyer in the case.
"The Seventh Circuit's suggestion that the agonizing choice at the center of this case – between leaving one's family or having one's children taken into state custody – is no different than choosing between a 'Martini' or a 'Manhattan' at a cocktail party, trivializes the family's fundamental liberty interests," writes Stanford law professor and lawyer Jeffrey Fisher in a brief to the court on behalf of the Illinois families.
"When a person is offered a 'Martini or a Manhattan,' he always retains the option of declining both drinks," Mr. Fisher says. "Though it has no evidence of parental wrongdoing, DCFS does not offer parents the option of no restrictions on their family life when it 'offers' safety plans."
Parents never risk losing children
The safety plan program began in 1995. Safety plans are offered to an estimated 10,000 Illinois families each year. There is no record that any parent has ever refused to participate in a safety plan and risk having the state take custody of his or her children.
Illinois officials defend the program, saying parents voluntarily agree to safety plans. They say the plans are designed to provide a middle path between taking every child into state custody or leaving children in the presence of potential abusers during an investigation.
The safety plans are severe enough to prompt the participation of other family members like grandparents or aunts but not so severe as to wrest the child from his or her home, officials say.
State child-protection officials say their mission is different from that of the criminal justice system and that they should not be held to a high legal standard. DCFS is protective and supportive, not punitive, they say. As one official put it: "We are expected to go into a home, determine what has happened, and predict what might happen in the future."
Both sides in the case dispute various statistics. Fisher says allegations in approximately two-thirds of all Illinois hot-line reports are eventually determined to be "unfounded." The state responds that less than 20 percent of all hot-line reports are even investigated.
Fisher and Ms. Redleaf offer several examples of parents accused of child abuse. One case involved a married couple, both professors at a major Chicago-area university. Someone made an anonymous call to the hot line suggesting that one of the professors had abused his 8-year-old adopted daughter. Prior to any investigation into the veracity of the charge, state agents offered the professor a choice: leave the home immediately pursuant to a safety plan or DCFS would take the girl into foster care. The professor moved out. During the investigation, the state found no credible evidence supporting the abuse charge.
In another case, high school science teacher James Redlin was suspected of child abuse after state authorities received an anonymous tip that he had sexually abused his mildly autistic 6-year-old son on an occupied subway train. Mr. Redlin says it was playful tickling, not sexual abuse. But someone thought his conduct was inappropriate and informed state investigators. The state's safety plan required Mr. Redlin's wife, who uses a wheelchair, to provide 24-hour supervision of any contact between Redlin and their son. That case was later determined to be "unfounded."
In a third case, a preschool teacher, Patrick DeLaFont, was accused in a hot-line call of abusing a preschool child. State investigators required Mr. DeLaFont to move out of his home, pending the investigation, even though none of his own children were the subject of the accusation. After living apart from his family for 11 months, investigators concluded the allegation against DeLaFont was "unfounded."
After a 2-year-old girl fell from a back porch while playing, her parents took her to a hospital emergency room where X-rays revealed a fractured arm. Someone at the hospital doubted the back-porch explanation. State investigators demanded that the husband – seen as the likely abuser – leave the family home for 24 hours. He did so. A week later, the day before Thanksgiving, agents ordered both parents out of the house or risk having both their children taken into foster care. Grandparents arrived to care for the children while the parents were sent away. A week later, the parents were allowed to return home to their children after another doctor examined the X-rays and found no basis to suspect child abuse.
Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0612/p02s01-usju.html
see www.yudelstake.blogspot.com
for more on the Oven..
Mel Brooks had you in mind when he came up with the line "it's good to be king."
Any person that was able to turn the system on its head and force these misguided rabbis out in the open, is not only king but deserving the respect of every Jew.
Never give up. You have the blessings of this rabbi and Kohen.
regarding north miami beach
i state here clearly that if yiou get me the name there will be an investigation and we will publicize this but if you dont give us in north miami anything to work with we cant do anything
please forward the name to UOJ if you are williong and i will contact him
Come with a camcorder and heckle them about Rubashkin & Kolko.
http://www.ou.org/ou/event_more/askou_mesorah_conference_iv
OU MESORA CONFERENCE on KEDUSHAS HA'ARETZ
"Issues Pertaining to the Holiness of the Land of Israel"
DATE: Sunday June 15
TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
PLACE: Lander College for Men
75-31 150th St.
Kew Gardens Hills, Queens
Men and Women are welcome.
The program is entitled "Kedushas Ha'Aretz and its Mitzvos." It will include a halachic, historic, and archeological perspective of Eretz Yisroel, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount, as well as the special mitzvos that are connected to the Holy Land when it involves kedushas ha'aretz.
Admission is $10 (free to members of the OU). An OU certified box lunch is available during the conference for an additional $10.
Pre-registration is required.
Contact: 212-613-8212
email to: kleina@ou.org
TOPICS and SPEAKERS:
Mitzvot Hatelyot Ba'aretz Bazman Hazeh, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Korbonos Today? Rabbi Menachem Genack
The Unique Halachot of Yerushalayim: A Mikdash Extension, Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky
The Shape of the Menorah and its Base, Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel
The Heter Mechira of Shmita, Rabbi Menachem Genack
Seeing the Exact Boundaries of Eretz Yisroel Through Google, Dr. Shalom Kelman
Shmitas Kesofim, Rabbi Hershel Schachter
Kedushas Ha'aretz and Its Ramifications, Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum
Har Habayit - A Halachic and Archaeologic Tour, Dr. Ari Greenspan
The Precise Location of the Mizbeach HaChitzon, Rabbi Liebel Reznick
Unearthing Tanach - The Message of "Yerushalayim Shel Matah", Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky
Halachic Archaeology - "When I was in Rome I Saw the Menorah", Dr. Ari Greenspan
Schedule:
9:30 - 5:30 (doors open at 9 am)
All welcome.
http://www.ou.org/ou/event_more/dinner_series_45_fleishig_buffet_and_investing_successfully
Dinner Series: 35-50: Fleishig Buffet and Investing Successfully
Date:
16 Jun, 2008
Description:
Join singles from around New York city for an >>> All-U-Can-Eat Buffet dinner <<<<. Following which you can learn how to successfully invest in volatile times.
Presentation will be made by:
David Goldwasser, CLU, CHFC
Scott Menta, CLU, CHFC, CFP
MetLife Securities, Inc.
Food by Mendy's Galleria
Cost:
$30 in advance
$36 at the door (space permitting)
For Singles ages 35-50+
View Color Flyer
Schedule:
Monday, June 16, 2008
6:30 PM
Location:
Mendy's Galleria
115 East 57 Street
New York, NY
Contact:
RSVP: 212-613-8300
The problem with this ruling about stoves isn't about the buttons - it's about the fact that the family is forced to waste electricity, which raises their electric bill, drives up the price of the electricity because it is likely generated mostly or in part by non-renewable resources, and burdens the poor because of the higher prices which result from unnecessarily leaving ovens on and at temps higher than they need to be. What will these families do when rolling blackouts and strict rationing cause both electric and gas stove use for 26 hours straight to be impossible? By refusing to make rulings that reflect the realities of non-renewable resources the ravs are simply setting their followers up to have punitive measures taken against them in the future, either through simple supply and demand price hikes, or through fines and cut-offs for "excessive" usage. It's not the middle ages anymore. Nor is it ethical to waste resources or burden the poor in the first place because we have some narcissistic and misplaced idea that we're entitled to do so.
Anon 3:19 should go join the other disgruntled losers on Failed Messiah who attack rabbis even when they are right.
http://www.profilecanada.com/companydetail.cfm?company=571594_Tja_Ohr_Menachem_Thornhill_ON
She was at Bais Chomesh girls High School a few years ago. She seems to currently be a big shot at Ohr Menachem.
Both of these places appear to be Lubab schools.
Does anyone remember that ridiculous lawsuit against McDonald's where some Muslim shtick drek sued for distress because there was lard in the french fries?
It's hard to believe the Arab won and even harder to believe that as part of the judgement, McDonald's also paid a huge sum of money to kashrus organizations. Heinemann somehow got the lion's share of the payola.
You Americans know nutting about fine food and take the cheapo way out wit lard from a pig.
Duck fat is dee ideal ting to put in les French fries and BIG BEATLES in le salad.
what about north miami beach beis yaacov
UOJ PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE:
CDC: Salmonella-tainted tomato illnesses reach 228
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON - The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes jumped to 228 illnesses Thursday as the government learned of five dozen previously unknown cases and said it is possible the food poisoning contributed to a cancer patient's death.
Six more states — Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermont — reported illnesses related to the outbreak, bringing the number of affected states to 23.
The Food and Drug Administration has not pinpointed the source of the outbreak. With the latest known illness striking on June 1, officials also are not sure if all the tainted tomatoes are off the market.
"As long as we are continuing to see new cases come on board, it is a concern that there are still contaminated tomatoes out there," said the agency's food safety chief, Dr. David Acheson.
Government officials have said all week they were close to cracking the case, but "maybe we were being too optimistic," Acheson acknowledged.
How much longer? "That's impossible to say."
On the do-not-eat list are raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes, unless they were grown in specific states or countries that the FDA has cleared because they were not harvesting when the outbreak began or were not selling their tomatoes in places where people got sick.
The FDA is directing consumers to its Web site — http://www.fda.gov — for updated lists of the safe regions.
Also safe are grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached. That is not because there is anything biologically safer about those with a vine but because the sick have assured investigators that is not the kind of tomato they ate.
What if you did not go to the store armed with a list, or the store or restaurant manager cannot assure that any plum, Roma or round tomatoes came from safe regions?
"If you don't know, don't take the risk," Acheson said.
Cooking also kills salmonella, but the FDA is not formally advising people to cook suspect tomatoes for fear they will not get them heated thoroughly.
Mexico and parts of central Florida, two chief tomato suppliers, are still on FDA's suspect list. But the agency would not say they were top suspects, and in fact, said certain parts of Mexico that were not harvesting when the outbreak began are working to be cleared.
At least 25 people have been hospitalized during the outbreak, caused by a relatively rare strain of salmonella known as Saintpaul.
"At this point, there isn't a lot of data to suggest this is a more virulent strain," said Dr. Ian Williams of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
No deaths have been attributed to the salmonella. But the CDC for the first time Thursday acknowledged that the salmonella may have been a contributing factor in the cancer-caused death of a 67-year-old Texas man.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=19538
He teams up with Leib Tropper.
Like Rav Bloch in Monsey points out, rabbonim in America know he's a BIG FAT ZERO, so Tropper has to go to Eretz Yisroel where no one knows who he is to dupe the rabbonim there into giving him legitimacy.
http://www.eternaljewishfamily.org/about_response.html
EJF Responds to Accusations
Various blogs have featured information on EJF that are full of distortions, lies, and simple inaccuracies. EJF does not as a matter of principle wish to dignify these inaccurate comments about EJF. To point out just how inaccurate these blogs are, here is our ONE-TIME sample review of the facts:
Rabbi Leib Tropper does not sit on any Beit din that performs Geirus, and therefore he could not nullify any conversion, as a blogger charges. Any information on invalidation (never were valid) is merely information relayed by an affiliate Beit din.
No beit din can "Revoke" a conversion. A nullification of conversion can happen when (like the case on the Blog) Abraham told people including the sponsoring Rabbi that his wife Sarah did not observe even the first Sabbath after her conversion or subsequent Shabbos despite her promise during the conversion process to the contrary greatly upsetting her husband.
EJF tried to contact Sarah for clarification to relay her response to the Beth din but EJF was told that she was unwilling to come to the phone.
EJF subsequently called a Chabad rabbi in their area to discuss her situation. He intimated that she was not yet observant, adding that there was 'progress'
Most Batei Din including those that are affiliated with EJF do NOT condition a women's conversion on her covering her hair. This was the written halachic decision of the leading Halachic Authority, Hagaon Rav Moshe Feinstein ,OB'm.
Please note that EJF will not discuss the Bourne case out of respect for ALL parties involved.
All of the assumptions and claims of S. Rosenberg and friend (host of the blog called 'Failed Messiah') are patently false. Kol Yaakov did not throw out the son of Mr. & Mrs. Bourne into the street. He made a decision to leave when he was told that the Beit din in NY that converted him would not convert his parents.
It is our view that the bloggers misrepresentation of the two cases is born out of cynicism and sounds consistent with what appears to be his negative attitude towards Orthodox Jews in general.
Tropper and EJF misrepresent what the Jewcy article says and fail to mention that Tropper was given several opportunities over almost two years to tell his and EJF's side of the story. Tropper refused to do so.
http://www.vosizneias.com/16816/2008/06/06/new-york-lipa-in-flammatory-interview-my-mistake-to-cancel-bigevent-concert/
Vos Iz Neias is reporting that in a recent interview, Lipa Schmeltzer maintains that the Rabbanim were lied to regarding what was going to happen at the Big Event Concert.
From the article:
Schmeltzer claims he has come to understand how activists work after speaking with several leading rabbonim. “Many gedolei hatorah have told me that people came to them with false information regarding my concert: they said it would have mixed dancing or mixed seating. But they weren’t satisfied with that—they brought photos of women dancing so as to ‘prove’ that that’s what would happen.”
There are only so many times you can say the "askanim misled us" before it loses credibility.
Anyone care to explain how photos "prove" anything about an event that hasn't happened yet?
Leib Tropper is trying to monopolize the geirus industry. It's like Rubashkin trying to monopolize the meat industry by using bullying tactics. He figures he can get his way by destroying the crediblity of other rabbis that are in the business. Meanwhile, he is the one who is lacking in credibility and integrity. Kashrus and geirus are two important areas that need a complete overhaul. It begins by exposing the fraudsters and hucksters that have turned religion into a mafia-style business.
UOJ,
Genug ! When are we going to hear the stories that you heard from reb yakov z"l before his petira ??
Dear UOJ
do you know anything about the north maimi beis yaacov
i saw this post i have freinds kids that are there but the person that posted doesnt give the information
this is wrong either put it out there or dont bring it up
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/lawmakers-say-china-hackers-stole-files/20080611164709990001
WASHINGTON (June 11) - Two House members said Wednesday their Capitol Hill computers, containing information about political dissidents from around the world, have been hacked by sources apparently working out of China.
Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf says four of his computers were hacked. New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith says two of his computers were compromised in December 2006 and March 2007.
The two lawmakers are longtime critics of China's record on human rights.
In an interview Wednesday, Wolf said the hacking of computers in his Capitol Hill office began in August 2006. He says a computer at a House committee office also was hacked, and he suggested others in the House and possibly the Senate could be involved.
The FBI declined to comment.
Wolf said that in his office, the hackers "got everything," including all the casework regarding political dissidents around the world.
In comments to The Associated Press earlier in the day, Wolf suggested the problem probably goes further. "If it's been done in the House, don't you think that they're doing the same thing in the Senate?"
"I think this is very bad because you have the Chinese compromising and gaining access to computers of any number of members of the House and a major committee of the House," Wolf said. "We don't know how many others."
In calling for hearings in both the House and Senate, Wolf said there "probably are members serving in Congress whose computers have been compromised and they may not even know it."
Separately, U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into Commerce Department computers.
The FBI declined to comment. In Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no immediate comment. Last week, China denied the accusations regarding Gutierrez's laptop and the alleged effort to hack Commerce Department computers.
Wolf said he has known about the hacking for a long time but was discouraged from discussing it publicly by people inside U.S. government, whom he refused to identify.
"The problem has been that no one wants to talk about this issue," said Wolf. "Every time I've started to do something I've been told 'You can't do this.' A lot of people have made it very, very difficult."
Wolf plans to introduce a resolution that he says will help ensure protection for all House computers and information systems. In a draft of prepared remarks he planned to deliver on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, Wolf says he is "deeply concerned that Congress is not adequately aware of or protected" from cyber attacks.
"My own suspicion is I was targeted by China because of my long history of speaking out about China's abysmal human rights record," Wolf says in his remarks. He said Congress should hold hearings, specifically the House Intelligence Committee, Armed Services Committee and Government Operations Committee.
Wolf's resolution calls for the chief administrative officer and sergeant at arms of the House, in consultation with the FBI, to alert House members and their staffs to the danger of electronic attacks. He also wants lawmakers to be fully briefed on ways to safeguard official records from electronic security breaches.
Speaking generally in May 2006, Wolf called Chinese spying efforts "frightening" and said it was no secret that the United States is a principal target of Chinese intelligence services.
http://www.organicpastures.com/index.html
The company featured in the article doesn't claim to be kosher but points consumers in this direction if they want "kosher" raw milk:
To see if you have Kosher Raw Milk in your area, please call us at 1-877-RAW-MILK.
http://news.aol.com/health/story/_a/health-officials-crack-down-on/n20080611145809990022
Health officials crack down on unpasteurized milk
By PAUL ELIAS,AP
Posted: 2008-06-11 14:58:44
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Dairy owner Mark McAfee started selling raw milk in 2000, marketing it to customers who believe it contains beneficial microbes that treat everything from asthma to autism.
The unpasteurized milk swiftly caught on as part of the growing natural food movement. But the Food and Drug Administration considers McAfee a snake oil salesman and recently launched an investigation into whether his dairy illegally shipped raw milk across state lines. The agency even tried to recruit one of his employees to secretly record conversations with him.
The case against McAfee is part of a crackdown on raw milk by government health officials who are concerned about the spread of food-borne illnesses. Lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to keep unpasteurized milk out of reach, even as demand for the niche product grows.
McAfee, who was among the first in California to sell raw milk on a large scale, brushed off the investigation: "When you're a pioneer, you have to expect to take a few arrows."
Twenty-two states prohibit sales of raw milk for human consumption, and the rest allow it within their borders. The FDA bans cross-border sales.
In Pennsylvania, local officials recently busted two dairies unlawfully selling milk straight from the cow.
And in Maryland, health officials issued an emergency ban late last year on "cow-sharing" agreements, claiming they were aimed at skirting a ban on raw milk sales.
"Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone for any reason," said John Sheehan, head of the FDA's dairy office. "It is an inherently dangerous product."
But shutting down sales is tricky because the federal government has largely let states regulate the raw milk industry. The result is a hodgepodge of laws that confuse consumers, dairy farmers and regulators alike.
McAfee said he expects the FDA's criminal probe to be dropped without charges in a deal that will require him to guarantee his interstate shipments are for use only as pet food. The FDA declined to comment.
Raw milk proponents insist they are under siege by state and federal regulators intent on snuffing out the industry.
The popularity of raw milk is fueled by consumers' concerns about the chemicals and hormones used in traditional dairy farming, and a growing interest in unprocessed, organic foods.
Devotees of raw milk ascribe to it almost mythical healing powers. They feed it to babies, believing it strengthens the immune system and staves off digestive troubles. The heat used in pasteurization, they say, kills healthy natural proteins and enzymes.
"It's a magic food," said Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates consumption of natural foods.
The FDA insists pasteurization destroys harmful bacteria without significantly changing milk's nutritional value. The process also extends its shelf life.
Nevertheless, some consumers have formed cooperatives to support dairy farmers who offer raw milk. They also join "cow-sharing" programs in which farmers take care of cows that are "leased" by consumers.
Food safety officials say raw milk has sickened hundreds of people with salmonella, E. coli and other bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,000 people fell ill from raw milk between 1998 and 2005. Two died.
The FDA ban on cross-border sales of raw milk led to its criminal investigation of Organic Pastures, a Fresno dairy owned by McAfee that is California's largest raw milk supplier.
The agency ordered two of McAfee's employees to testify before a grand jury and offered to pay one of them to surreptitiously record her conversations with McAfee, according to the worker.
"The main issue was selling our products outside the state of California," said dairy worker Amanda Hall, who refused to wear the wire. The two workers' grand jury appearances were canceled last month.
Even if McAfee avoids criminal charges, he still faces lawsuits filed by the families of five children who claim his raw milk made them seriously ill.
He denies the allegations and said testing at his dairy did not detect the strain of E. coli that sickened some of the children.
McAfee also is challenging a new California law requiring lower bacteria levels in raw milk. He fears the change will put him out of business. A judge in San Benito County last month ruled for the state, but McAfee appealed the decision on Thursday. Also, a state senator plans to introduce a bill to repeal the law.
Whole Foods Co. lobbied for a law that ensure raw milk dairies can stay in business.
"It is a growing piece of our business," said Walter Robb, the company's co-president. "We want to protect consumer choice."
He and other raw milk proponents argue that the FDA should spend its time working on other agricultural practices that jeopardize food safety, such as the way large farms confine animals.
But parents like Melissa Herzog strongly disagree.
Herzog, whose 10-year-old daughter spent two months in the hospital after her kidneys failed because of E. coli poisoning, is one of the families suing Organic Pastures over the 2006 outbreak that health officials determined was probably caused by raw milk from the dairy.
"I don't have anything good to say about raw milk," she said. "It was a horrible experience."
It's no big deal. The Congressmen are just embarrassed that the Chinese found pornographic files on their computers and UOJ's blog was saved as a "favorites" page.
This sounds like when I smeared Eliot Pasik, but "I suspect the Congressmen have 'another agenda'" when they make the hacker accusations.
Good to see that our diversionary tactics are working. Wasn't Tendler in court up in NY for a couple of days? copy/paste link for a picture of the menuval
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/12/2008-06-12_exchief_of_empire_state_building_skyride-2.html
Ex-chief of Empire State Building Skyride accused in fake gyno exams
BY BARBARA ROSS, KERRY BURKE and ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, June 13th 2008, 12:47 AM
Zalmon Silber Keivom/News
Zalmon Silber
The former operator of the Empire State Building's Skyride was charged Thursday with pretending to be a doctor so he could give unsuspecting women "gynecological exams," police and prosecutors said.
Wealthy businessman Zalman Silber, 40, was arrested at his Monsey, N.Y., home Thursday morning and accused of molesting two women, ages 18 and 20, in his twisted charade, sources said.
He hired as his defense lawyer disgraced former Rockland County prosecutor Kenneth Gribetz, who stepped down after his proclivities for wearing women's clothing and a dog collar were exposed by the Daily News more than a decade ago.
"It doesn't often get stranger than this," a police source said.
Silber, a Hasidic Jew and father of five, was charged with third-degree sexual abuse and unauthorized practice and professions for impersonating a doctor, law enforcement sources said.
Silber's pregnant wife, Gila, declined to comment at their home Thursday night. Silber moved to the Rockland County community from Borough Park, Brooklyn, a year ago, neighbors said.
Silber fooled his victims by saying the exams were part of a medical survey, prosecutors said.
Legitimate doctors who had offices in the same Manhattan building where Silber allegedly molested the women were stunned to find the polite man was accused as an imposter, sources said.
Investigators in the NYPD's Manhattan special victims unit believe Silber's "exams" may have started in 2003 and were checking into the possibility that there are more victims, law enforcement sources said.
"He asserts his innocence. We feel this is a total mistake," Gribetz said.
In the 1990s, Silber was considered something of a business whiz. He was hailed by Inc. magazine in 1998 for creating a $9 million business offering tourists a simulated helicopter tour of the Big Apple through the New York Skyride at the Empire State Building.
"Take advantage of other people's toil. That's really what everything is about," Silber told Inc.
Silber gave up his post as the company's president that same year and promised not to compete in the virtual entertainment industry for 10 years, according to financial documents. It was unclear why.
The suspect was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court early Friday morning and released on $10,000 bail. Gribetz told the judge his client earned more than $1 million a year.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Hare said Silber used an unnamed intermediary to bring the victims to him. "Those women assumed they were going to see a real doctor," she said.
In Borough Park, Alexander Halpert, 29, whose sister was formerly married to Silber, defended him.
"He's a good man. When someone needed a doctor, he would arrange it," he said
I wonder if R' Shmuel Deutsch and Rav Wosner's shaliach knew what they were getting into with that meeting with Tropper. The azhorah from the Badatz was seemingly aimed at American rabbonim so it's possible they don't know about it.
The meeting was otherwise very small and comprised mostly of no-name and low level officials of the government Rabbanut. Lubinsky was so desperate to make it sound grand that he publicized a "toen" was in attendance.
There you have it folks. Zalman Silber no longer lives in Boro Park.
UOJ: one of your best play on words. HaHa
By NEDRA PICKLER,AP
Posted: 2008-06-12 12:27:36
Filed Under: Barack Obama
WASHINGTON (June 11) - A former CEO leading Barack Obama's search for a vice presidential candidate resigned abruptly Wednesday after questions about his home mortgage deals became a distraction for a candidate who argues he's not influenced by special interests.
Jim Johnson's resignation came a day after Obama defended Johnson and dismissed the Republican criticism of him.
Johnson, the former chairman of mortgage lender Fannie Mae, came under fire from GOP candidate John McCain and the Republican Party after The Wall Street Journal reported last Saturday that Johnson got mortgages with help from the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp.
McCain had accused Obama of hypocrisy for speaking out against Countrywide's role in the subprime mortgage crisis.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/13/real_estate/foreclosures_may/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The housing crisis grew worse in May, as more than 73,000 American families lost their homes to bank repossessions, up a staggering 158% from the 28,548 households that were dispossessed in May 2007.
Foreclosure filings of all kinds, including default notices, notices of sheriff's sales and bank repossessions, were up 48% from May 2007, according to the latest release from RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties. Filings increased 7% from April.
"May was the 29th straight month we've seen a year-over-year increase," RealtyTrac's CEO James Saccacio said in a statement.
The report follows months of increasingly gloomy housing market conditions with home prices, existing home sales and new housing starts all plummeting. The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index posted a record 14.1% decline in national home prices for the 12 months ending March 31, while April's existing-home sales were down 17.5% year over year.
Default rates will rise for many more months, according to RealtyTrac vice president Rick Sharga, who thinks that there could be another 18 months of this activity left. Several factors will continue to boost filings.
"We haven't even seen the full effects of the Alt-As (mostly loans issued without verification of income and assets) yet," said Sharga. Many of these mortgages are option ARMs, negative amortization loans that let borrowers make very small, minimum payments that don't even cover the interest they owe each month. But soon, these payments will spike.
Also driving foreclosures is the fact that more people are walking away from homes they bought at the top of the market that have since lost a lot of value, according to Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a publisher of mortgage industry data.
"These people are looking at the present value of their homes and at their debts and saying, 'What's the point of paying the mortgage?'" said Gumbinger. "We may have not finished wringing these people out of the market yet."
Sharga says that price declines are probably the market's biggest problem right now.
As more people than ever are losing their homes, some state and local governments are trying to slow the foreclosure tsunami with Avi Shafran style Band-Aid on the brain fixes. Colorado has extended the initial default period to as much as 125 days, and Maryland has increased it to 150 days.
In Philadelphia, homeowner's can't be foreclosed on without having the opportunity to go through a court-sponsored reconciliation session.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/09/real_estate/FHA_ban_on_downpayment_help/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A Bush administration official warned Monday that a proposal to have the government back more bad loans would hurt taxpayers and could make the housing crisis even worse.
Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery told the National Press Club that Congress legislation proposing that the FHA back up to $300 billion worth of troubled mortgages - or about two million loans - would weaken the agency.
"This is a worrisome idea," Montgomery said. "FHA is designed to help stabilize the economy, operating within manageable, low-risk loans. It's not designed to become the federal lender of last resort, a mega-agency to subsidize bad loans."
US foreclosure filings surge 48 percent in May
Friday June 13, 7:29 am ET
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
Housing crisis worsens as number of US homes facing foreclosure in May up 48 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of U.S. homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday.
Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48 percent from 176,137 in the same month last year and up 7 percent from April, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
One in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-straight monthly record.
Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but 10 states. Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan had the highest statewide foreclosure rates.
Metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounted for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure. That list was led by Stockton, Calif. and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Nearly 74,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in May, while more than 58,000 received default notices, the company said.
In Nevada, one in every 118 households received a foreclosure-related notice last month, more than four times the national rate. In California, one in every 183 households faced foreclosure.
The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left financially strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't get refinanced into an affordable loan.
Making matters worse, mortgage rates have been rising, reflecting increased concerns about what the Federal Reserve might do to battle inflation. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.32 percent this week, the highest level in nearly eight months and up sharply from 6.09 percent last week.
Efforts by government and the mortgage industry to stem the tide of foreclosures aren't keeping up with the rising number of troubled homeowners, and critics say a Bush administration-backed mortgage industry coalition, dubbed Hope Now, is falling far short.
Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing, said foreclosures are unlikely to peak until sometime this fall, as more loans made to borrowers with poor credit records reset at higher levels. "I don't think we've seen the high point," he said.
About 50 to 60 percent of borrowers who receive foreclosure filings are likely to lose their homes, Sharga said. The rest are likely to be able to sell or refinance.
A new government report released Wednesday found that among mortgages held by Bank of America, Citigroup Inc. and seven other large banks, foreclosures climbed to 1.23 percent of all loans in March from 0.9 percent in October.
As foreclosed properties pile up, they add to the inventory of homes on the market and drag down home prices. The trend is most dramatic in many parts of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, where prices skyrocketed during the housing boom and are now falling precipitously.
Sales of foreclosures, vacant new homes and other distressed properties now dominate some markets, causing grief for individual homeowners who need to sell for other reasons, like a job in a new city.
Nationwide, one out of every four sales between January and March was a distressed sale, and that figure jumps to more than 50 percent in the hardest-hit areas like Las Vegas, Detroit and distant suburbs of Los Angeles, according to Moody's Economy.com.
In some neighborhoods, lenders are slashing prices dramatically to rid themselves of an unprecedented number of foreclosed properties, sparking bidding wars and multiple offers.
While that's a positive for the real estate market, buyers in other parts of the country are still holding back.
"I think a lot of people are waiting to see if we really have hit the bottom," Sharga said.
Lehman Brothers economist Michelle Meyer said in a report Thursday that U.S. home sales are likely to hit bottom at the end of this summer, but said a recovery in sales is likely to be "feeble." Home prices, she wrote, are still expected to fall another 10 percent by the end of 2009.
RealtyTrac Inc.: http://www.realtytrac.com
UOJ:
I am researching into Sammy Reshevsky, and I know you that you played some games against him. Are the moves still available? I would very much like to see those games.
Thank you for your help.
Respectfully,
http://bp1.blogger.com/_DCGOA_RlajQ/SE_YHVm7iNI/AAAAAAAABtI/dP3Xyd_kYoc/s1600-h/scan0008.gif
R' Moishe Shternbuch points out that these Baltimoron & Tartikover clowns were even $$$ mattir $$$ matzos & meat that rabbonim in South Africa had assered.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/19613/Photos:+WARNING+From+Boro+Park+Shomrim+Following+Arrest+Of+Car+Service+Driver.html
WARNING From Boro Park Shomrim Following Arrest Of Car Service Driver
June 12, 2008
(Click HERE for photos) 8:15PM EST: A frightening ordeal for a 17-year-old girl came to a screeching halt just moments ago - thanks to the brave men of Boro Park Shomrim.
A spokesperson for BSSP tells YWN, that a Frum girl called a local car service to drive her from Williamsburg to Boro Park. Somewhere along the way, the Shvartza driver began touching her inappropriately. The frightened girl used her cell phone and called Boro Park Shomrim - where they waited for the man on 14th Avenue & 50th Street.
The girl exited the vehicle, and upon seeing the Shomrim members, the man fled the scene.
Shomrim units canvassed the area, and found the vehicle on Ocean Parkway and 18th Avenue - where the man was apprehended until the NYPD arrived and placed him under arrest.
Unfortunately, this is not the first incident of its kind. In April of 2007, YWN posted a similar story (HERE) titled “Boro Park Shomrim: Car Service Warning”.
Shomrim is warning everyone once again:
*If you must use a car service, don’t just pick one out of the phone book; ask around and only use one – preferably heimish – which people you trust have used and have had a good experience with.
*Always be cautious.
*If it can possibly be avoided, DO NOT ALLOW UNESCORTED CHILDREN to ride in cabs by themselves – an adult should go with them.
*Women should also be wary about riding alone.
Any incidents involving car service drivers which you feel Shomrim should know about, should be IMMEDIATELY reported to Shomrim via the 24-hour Emergency Hotline number, 718-871-6666.
Does UOJ know about the petirah of Rav Brus ztl? A true gadol batorah and talmid of R' Boruch Ber.
Tim Russert from Meet The Press passed away.
Baruch Dayan Haemet on Rav Brus. He was an adam gadol meod and a true oved Hashem.
Anon 12:49,
I had saved the game moves with Reshevsky's comments and signature - I have no idea where they may be, but you have given me a reason to look for them.
Sincerely,
UOJ
We posted it on our website at 4:01 p.m. - and it gets posted on UOJ at 3:51 p.m. exactly ten minutes before we got it. Heads will roll.
R' Boruch Borchardt was also niftar this week. He is also of Bais Hatalmud but primarily of 42 Broadway. Alter Mirrer from Germany.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--fugitivecaptured0611jun11,0,911866,print.story
Austrian fugitive captured in New Jersey
June 11, 2008
LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) _ A man wanted in Austria on bank fraud charges that allegedly cost his victims $4.6 million was captured at an Ocean County home this week.
Ernest Strulovics, 60, was known to travel between the New York City area and Lakewood, said James T. Plousis, U.S. Marshal for New Jersey.
Plousis said authorities had received a tip that Strulovics would be in the Lakewood area on Tuesday, and they put an Eighth Street home under surveillance. He was arrested there without incident around 10:30 a.m.
Strulovics was wanted on charges of inducing others to commit aggravated commercial fraud, inducing others to commit breach of trust and committing fraudulent bankruptcy. More than 43 European investors and 15 Austrian banks allegedly were victimized by the fraud.
Strulovics was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark and remanded to the Essex County Jail, where he remained Wednesday night. A bail hearing in federal court was scheduled for Thursday. Plousis said he did not know if Strulovics had retained a lawyer.
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_05067.htm
Tendler appealed to a higher court and won - so far. The higher court reversed a lower court decision by arguing that the fine print in a written contract is not religious. Tendler won on a technicality that a beis din approved his firing AFTER it happened instead of before.
Hopefully the shul will appeal and put the predator in his place.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/NEWS03/806120582/1007/NEWS03
LAKEWOOD — A two-day stakeout by U.S. Marshals resulted in the arrest of a Lakewood man for an alleged multimillion dollar bank fraud scheme in Austria, police and the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Ernest Strulovics, 60, was arrested Tuesday on charges he participated in a fraud scheme that cost his alleged victims more than $4 million.
U.S. Marshal for New Jersey James T. Plousis said Strulovics was arrested without incident near the surveillance location on Eighth Street.
A complaint produced at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Newark said he was wanted for commercial fraud, inducing others to commit a breach of fiduciary trust and committing fraudulent bankruptcy. The complaint alleged he had cheated more than 43 European investors and 15 Austrian banks.
Prosecutors did not specify what the alleged fraud involved or say whether the supposed fraudulent transactions took place in the U.S. or Europe.
Strulovics is being held in the Essex County Jail in Newark on a federal detainer until a bail hearing before a U.S. Magistrate Judge this morning in Newark, jail records show.
A public records check shows a series of property transactions in his name at locations in Ocean County.
In addition, incorporation papers show Eighth Street in Lakewood as the address for a corporate venture that lists him as an officer, according to the records of the New Jersey Secretary of State.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/arts/music/14kell.html
June 14, 2008
R. Kelly Is Acquitted in Child Pornography Case
By DAVID STREITFELD
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/15loans.html
Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, said Saturday that he would donate $10,500 to charity and refinance a property loan after suggestions that he and other prominent Washington figures received preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial Corporation.
Though Mr. Conrad, chairman of the Budget Committee, said he was not aware of any favoritism shown by the lender that has come under scrutiny in the mortgage crisis, he said a review of e-mail traffic suggested that the loan fee for a beach house may have been reduced because of his status, while a second loan called for an exception by the company.
“Although I did not ask for or know that I was receiving a discount, and even though I was offered a competitive loan from another lender, I do not want to have received preferential treatment,” said Mr. Conrad, who said he was giving $10,500 to Habitat for Humanity. The amount was equivalent to estimates of what Mr. Conrad saved through a reduction of one point on a $1.07 million mortgage.
The dealings of Countrywide with Washington officials have come to light in the past week after James A. Johnson, a former head of Fannie Mae, was forced to give up an influential advisory role with the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama following suggestions that Mr. Johnson got special treatment from Countrywide. Mr. Johnson was leading the search for a vice-presidential candidate.
Mr. Conrad and Mr. Johnson, as well as other notable Washington figures including Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, were apparently beneficiaries of the mortgage lender’s V.I.P. program, known informally as the “Friend of Angelo” program for Angelo Mozilo, the chief executive officer.
Mr. Conrad said Friday that Mr. Johnson had put him in touch with Mr. Mozilo when he was seeking a loan for a home he was buying in Bethany Beach, Del.
E-mail messages initially obtained by the Web site Portfolio.com showed that Mr. Mozilo told employees to “take off 1 point” when granting the loan. He also told them to approve a $96,000 mortgage for an eight-unit apartment building Mr. Conrad was buying in Bismarck, N.D., though the company typically provided mortgages for buildings with four or fewer units.
Mr. Conrad said he would now refinance that loan. “I believe the evidence showed that I paid more than full market rates on that loan,” he said Saturday. “But I do not want to leave any impression that I have received preferential treatment in my personal business dealings.”
Others named by Portfolio.com as having been part of the V.I.P. program were Alphonso R. Jackson, former secretary of housing and urban development under President Bush; Donna E. Shalala, secretary of health and human services under President Bill Clinton; and the former United Nations ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke.
Like Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dodd has said he was unaware of any special treatment in loans for a town house in Washington and a home in Connecticut. As chairman of the Senate banking committee, Mr. Dodd has been central in developing a legislative response to the housing foreclosure crisis.
Countrywide’s lending practices have been criticized for adding to the crisis, and Mr. Mozilo’s compensation has drawn fire.
A watchdog group in Washington has asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether the mortgage terms violated Senate rules on gifts or other prohibitions on dealings with companies with interests before Congress.
This 2 year old frozen garbage is what con-man Lubinsky earlier referred to as Rubashkin's backup inventory.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/109022.html
A group of Midwestern Jewish camps returned a shipment of kosher meat from the embattled slaughterhouse Agriprocessors.
Camp Ramah Wisconsin received a shipment that a source said was two years past its expiration date. Camp Interlaken, a JCC camp in Wisconsin, received meat dated "late last year," according to operations director Jonah Levenburg.
The two summer camps are part of a consortium that purchases foodstuffs together to get preferred prices. The consortium returned the meat to Agriprocessors and told its agent, H&H Purchasing Services of New York, to find alternate sources of kosher meat.
"We made the decision to collectively return the meat so as to ensure the safety of our children and the food product that we prepare and serve," Levenburg told JTA, adding that the decision had "absolutely nothing" to do with the recent controversy over Agriprocessors' labor practices.
The Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, last month was the target of the largest federal immigration raid in U.S. history. Agriprocessors is the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the United States, selling meat and poultry under various brands, including Aaron's Best, Rubashkin's and Supreme Kosher.
Since the raid, which placed more than a third of the company's work force in federal custody, the company has struggled to replenish its ranks, sparking fears of a nationwide kosher meat shortage.
Some industry observers have estimated Agriprocessors' output as low as 20 percent of its normal capacity. But Menachem Lubinsky, a company spokesman, said the plant is producing close to capacity on deli foods, nearly 70 percent on poultry and about one-third of its former beef output.
Even if a shortage is averted, the company's image has been severely tarnished, particularly in the liberal Jewish world, by the raid and by allegations of worker abuse that have emerged in its aftermath.
At least three Ramah camps will hold education sessions this summer on the issue of ethical kashrut, according to Jeffrey Goodman, the national business manager for Ramah camps.
Workers at the plant told me that every year at holiday time Rubashkin would give each employee a turkey. The birds were so old they stank and had to be thrown out.
That's what I like, an employer who thinks so much of his workers he gives them rotten meat as a bonus.
The Rubashkins are FOB's or they operate and comport themselves like 'fresh off the boats' and believe me I know what I am talking about having been one myself. They see the way some Americans do business or the way it is done sometimes, and they jump on it seriously. Very naive, very foolish. The only difference is that they don't cease and desist. No matter how many times they get caught, they pull themselves together and go for it again. No one can resist their money, the US government has become a whore to the meat industry and Rubbishking remains above the law. Meanwhile their supporters call us anit=semites, vermin, and mosers.
There's a lot of Rubashkin meat now on the shelves in the NY area with Rubashkin labels that havn't been used in more than 2 years since they redesigned the packaging. Now it suddenly shows up. It is most probably frozen stock from their "backup meat supply". It's really a health hazard.
Rabbi Hecht's Camp Emunah, Girls Camp, serves little children the Chickens they shecht for kapores which is about 3/4 of a year old.
Is that against the law?
It depends how they're frozen.
If they're frozen in a regular freezer, the chickens may be be bad or may still be good – but they'll be freezer burned and have less taste and poorer texture.
But meat or chicken shechted and deep frozen can last longer. I've been told up to 1 1/2 years.
In either case, after the expiration date – 6 months at best for home frozen and 1 1/2 years for commercially deep frozen – the meat may or may not be safe.
As for what Hecht does with Camp Emunah, I'd bet the state and local health departments would revoke his license if they knew.
http://jewschool.com/2008/06/11/midwest-jewish-camps-to-serve-non-agriprocessors-meat-this-summer/
Ramah Wisconsin purchases its meat as part of a group of seven midwestern camps (Chi, Beber, OSRUI, Interlaken, Moshava and Henry Horner being the others) that work together through a purchasing agent to obtain the best deal possible on kosher meat. The update I received suggested that all seven of these camps were dumping Agriprocessors for the 2008 summer. And apparently there are other Jewish camps across the country that work with the same purchasing agent, so there’s a chance this change may spread.
So please, get on the phone to your summer camp (or any other institution that buys a lot of kosher meat) and ask what they’re doing about the situation. All it takes is a few phone calls to drive home that there is real demand for food that is ethically produced.
LIPA BRENNER'S TALMID:
Man is accused of child rape
13/06/2008
By Dana Gloger
A man has been charged with raping a boy in a synagogue men’s room.
Moshe Reichman, 23, a father of two from Golders Green, North-West London, is accused of four offences which allegedly took place four years ago.
The boy, who is also Jewish and who was 11 or 12 years old at the time, cannot be named. He had left his family home on the day of the alleged incident to buy milk for his mother in nearby Stamford Hill.
Prosecutors say the boy was approached in the street by the defendant, who allegedly asked him to show him where a particular synagogue was.
Once there, Mr Reichman allegedly pulled the complainant inside and into a cubicle in the male toilets, where it is claimed he performed an indecent act on the boy before raping him.
The boy only complained to police this February and Mr Reichman was arrested on March 3. He was remanded in custody and twice refused bail.
But at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week, his barrister Gary Grant made a bail application with strict conditions, to which Judge Timothy King agreed.
The package included a £50,000 surety from the defendant’s rabbi, Leone Rabinowitz, and a 24-hour curfew at the Stamford Hill address of a fellow community member. Mr Reichman, who had to have the court proceedings translated into Yiddish, will be allowed to leave this address only if accompanied by one of six chaperones, who are rabbis and senior members of the Charedi community.
A trial date has been set for January 26 next year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the bergen record 6/13
http://www.northjersey.com/news/crimeandcourts/19880239.html
Clifton man, 78, scammed out of $35,700 Friday, June 13, 2008 BY SARAH SCHILLACISPECIAL TO THE RECORD
CLIFTON — A Lakewood yeshiva student who masterminded a sweepstakes scam has been caught, police said, but the Clifton senior citizen who fell victim to the con is still out $35,700.
On May 30, a 78-year-old Clifton resident came into police headquarters to report that he had been the victim of a sweepstakes fraud, police Detective Capt. Robert Rowan said Thursday.
The man said that on May 15 he received a call from a man purporting to be a lawyer named Richard Stevens.
Stevens told the victim he was the second-place winner in a sweepstakes and had won $500,000.
To obtain the money, the caller said, he needed to send a security deposit of $8,300 through Federal Express mail to an address in Lakewood.
The man did so, only to receive a call the next day from an individual who identified himself as Stevens.
Stevens told the Clifton man that the grand prize winner turned out not to be an American citizen and that he was now the grand prize winner. But now he needed to send $16,600 more for security in order to obtain the $1 million prize.
The Clifton man complied.
On May 19, the man received another call from Stevens, who said that a mistake had been made and he needed another $5,000. Later, a man called describing himself as a courier and asking that the man send $3,500 to cover the insurance for the winnings and $2,300 to Toronto for additional insurance.
The Clifton man complied on all three counts.
Later in the month, after not receiving any money, he reported the incidents to the police. Clifton Detective Robert Tillie tracked the Federal Express delivery to the Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva in Lakewood.
The yeshiva managers cooperated with investigators, who concluded that the man picking up the packages was Eliyohu Josephson, a 23-year-old student at the yeshiva.
Clifton police arrested Josephson Wednesday.
"I would take this opportunity to warn people not to send any kind of money to anyone under any circumstances," said Rowan. "If you won money, you shouldn't be paying money."
Rowan said the Clifton department is currently working with Lakewood police and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office to see if any of the money can be recovered.
CLIFTON — A Lakewood yeshiva student who masterminded a sweepstakes scam has been caught, police said, but the Clifton senior citizen who fell victim to the con is still out $35,700.
On May 30, a 78-year-old Clifton resident came into police headquarters to report that he had been the
Does anybody know at which shul this wild kiddush took place? Thanks.
Can anyone explain to why is it that the biggest yeshiva in the world known as BETH MEDRASH GAVOAH which claims to have produced thousands of Rabbonim over the years has to resort to import A Rabbi from canada to decide on everyday mundane and also important issues . His name is RABBI SHLOMO MILLER. He is in Lakewood twice a month but does not reside there. He comes in from canada of all places. The man lives in different country and comes to lakewood to decide on local issues. This boggles my mind . Anyone care to explain?
I know,I know.I did promise my eishes chayil"no more blogs"but she's sleeping and I just saw this on another blog and could not resist.
"To all you pious frauds enjoying life in fantasyland....'vu den' and his ilk;
Anyone remotely familiar with Rav Shach and most of what he had to say, knows that his was a message of vicious criticism, mean politics, and primitive hate - not exactly the 'ahavas yisroel machine', if you get his drift.... Here are a few sample lines of what this man was all about, quoted from his own writings;
Here is Maran on.....
Rabbi Joseph Baer Soloveitchik
Michtavim U-Ma’amarim (Bnei Brak, 5848 -5755), vol. 4 pages 36-40. [RS’s article is full] “of things that it is forbidden to hear”. See also ibid. p. 107 [in reference to RS’s work: “the book contains heresy, in the literal sense of the word. The mind is boggled by such a sight”.
It must be emphasized that Rabbi Shach was strongly apposed to communal disharmony, as he himself asserted many times. Yet, in such a situation he felt compelled to speak out in order to safeguard the Jewish heritage. For Rabbi Shach it was better to cause ruptures in the Jewish community than to allow thousands of Jewish hearts and minds to be poisoned by RS heresy.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Rabbi Shach, Michtavim U-Ma’amarim. vol. 4 pp. 65-7. [In a letter written two days before Rosh HaShanah in the year 5749]: “…All his works contain heresy. It is forbidden to debate with Steinsaltz, because, as a heretic, all the debates will only cause him to degenerate more. He is not a genuine person (ein tocho ke-baro) and everyone is obliged to distance themselves from him. This is the duty of the hour (mitzvah be-sha’atah). It will generate merit for the forthcoming Day of Judgement.”
See also ibid. vol. 5 pp. 163. There, Rabbi Shach declares that it will be impossible for Rabbi Steinsaltz to do Teshuvah (repent) and make right the colossal damage that his edition of the Talmud has wrought. See also ibid. p. 28-9. Rabbi Shach explained that he was not lacking in Ahavas Yisrael.On the contrary he was saving the souls of all the Jewish people who had the potential to be influenced by the impure works of rabbi Steinsaltz.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren
Rabbi Shach Michtavim U-Ma’amarim, vols.1-2, pp.73-4; vol. 6, pp.78-9. “He [Rabbi Goren] is not a Rabbi and his Halachik rulings are worth nothing. One may not eat food manufactured under his supervision or carrying his seal of approval. He belongs outside the camp (michutz la-machaneh mo’shavo)…he is worse than the Reformers. One must mourn for the Sefer Torah that was burned”.
Rabbi Shach acknowledged that Rabbi Goren claimed that he was not violating the law and had authored a book in which he justifies his opinion. However, although he himself had not read it, those who had, had informed him that it was no more than “a joke, falsification of facts and lies”.
Rabbi Yehudah Levi
Michtavim U-Ma’amarim vol. 1, pp. 107-8. [Book expressing ‘Hirschian’ philosophy was banned and the author severely chastised for expressing views that are held to be wrong in certain circles.]
Religious Zionists
Michtavim U-Ma’amarim vols.1-2, pp.75-6. [Although Rabbi Shach was most passionate in his views on the secular Israelis, he also inveighed heavily against religious Zionists (or ‘quasi aggudists’: “agguda’im le-machatzeh”). Rabbi Shach once said:] “I am compelled to tell you”, that they are essentially no different. It is “the same pot” of Tereifah meat; “the only difference is that their [the religious Zionist’s] pot is covered with a knitted yarmulke (Kippah Serugah)!” Religious Zionists have done nothing for the benefit of Torah causes in Israel. They are void of Torah and the fear of Heaven and are not capable of producing any gedolim. Any success that we – the Torah world have – is despite, not because, of them. Those quasi-aggudists who harbor pro-Zionistic sympathies may be observant Jews but they are guilty of Shittuf! (‘metaphorical idolatry’). They include Yeshivah high schools in the ambit of their interests – “Oy! What a sharp sword on the soul of the Yeshivos!”
Contrast the venomous diatribes with the torah insights, concern for fellow Jews, and practical advice which fill the letters of real manhigei-yisroel over the last century, and the contrast is too clear to ignore. R' Shach had nothing positive to contribute, so he relied on gool 'ol sinas chinam to make his mark. Unfortunately, as anyone familiar knows, the letters quoted above are merely a sample of the wanton hate this man spewed on a regular basis. Wake up, people. R'Isser Zalman didn't teach this 'derech', nor R'Chaim Oizer, nor does R'Chaim Kanievsky, nor did any real godol who had something to contribute to 'Olam haTorah'. The more R'Shach is analyzed, the clearer this becomes, and as he's already in Olam hoEmes, you don't do him any favors by repeating his mistakes."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080614/NEWS/806140337/1001/NEWS
Yehuda Shain, a rabbi who runs the group Kosher Consumers Union, said he already avoided the company's meat before the raid, mainly because of concerns about its kosher certification.
Shain said Agriprocessors has undercut its competitors' prices, mainly by paying low wages to its workers. The company's market dominance has grown for years, despite serious questions about its practices, he said. "Price is price," he said.
But the pattern could change, Shain said. "Now that their costs are going to go up considerably, they're no longer going to be able to play that game." He said Agriprocessors probably will be forced to pay higher wages and more closely follow government and kosher-agency regulations.
Shain said the company also might try to rely more heavily on a packing plant it owns in the South American country of Uruguay.
He said he doubts any other kosher-meat producer would be interested in buying the Agriprocessors plant if the Rubashkins have trouble staying in business. Shain said the plant supplies both kosher and nonkosher meat, and it would be hard to run it as a kosher-only operation. No other kosher-meat supplier owns a joint plant, he said, and he doubts any others would want to.
I've seen that you prefer not to comment on other's blogging. In this case I respectfully put forth a connection between your committed efforts and the letter posted on YWN today. It seems that the letter writers are appalled at the "dressed to kill" looks of Bnos Yisroel at kaddeshim. They are also appalled by the lack of control amongst the baal batim when they are inebriated. Since nichnas yaain yotzei yesod is a klall - would you comment on the connection or possible connection between out of control behavior in public and the private lewdity that goes on in public places such as a kiddush or chas ve'shalom a yeshivah (not even a joke as far as I'm concerned). When will people hold themselves to the high moral standards they demand from others, such as Rabbis, menahalim, madrichim? When will the baal habayis who spends 1000's on vacations and summer homes spend a couple a hundred more on material so that his wife and daughters are covered with something resembling a dress. I may be getting older and may be wiser, but when is the mirror going to start talking back to these people, especially when they get so holy around the actions of others. My father used to tell me, don't scream so loud about the other guys actions - it just may be you they start to examine.
x lakewooder said...
Can anyone explain to why is it that the biggest yeshiva in the world known as BETH MEDRASH GAVOAH which claims to have produced thousands of Rabbonim over the years has to resort to import A Rabbi from canada to decide on everyday mundane and also important issues . His name is RABBI SHLOMO MILLER. He is in Lakewood twice a month but does not reside there. He comes in from canada of all places. The man lives in different country and comes to lakewood to decide on local issues. This boggles my mind . Anyone care to explain?
1:02 AM, June 15, 2008
===============================
Sounds like this canadian Rabbi Miller will coming very soon to BMG to pasken whT TO do with this 23 year old bochur who was arrested today for some scam in sweepstakes.
R' Shlomo Miller is a major talmid of R' Aron Kotler and a big pikeach. The current roshei yeshiva have sought his input for decades now. He has Shas, Rishonim & Achronim at his fingertips. Most importantly, he is a man who possesses common sense.
The gedolim in 1700s Europe wrote a letter to scold the boors who complained about poskim from other countries. They pointed out that the Torah transcends international boundaries so those grumbling idiots should be ignored.
It's besides that R' Shlomo has sons in Lakewood and lives there part of the year.
Rabbi JB Soloveitchik has been criticized in public from many corners including Washington Heights. His rebbitzen allegedly had maskilishe tendencies which affected him. One complaint against him is that he may have found loopholes in halacha but did not take the poel yotzay into account.
Adin Steinsaltz grew up in the virulently anti-religious, pork eating kibbutz known as Shomer Hatzair. Steinsaltz does not have a mesorah as he never had a rebbe. He also reneged on promises to withdraw one of his troubling books.
Funny that Arthur is defending Shlomo Goren when Lubavitchers would not eat from his "hashgocho" either which was of typical Rabbinute stock of only fulfilling a fraction of the kosher requirements. This says nothing about his allowing mamzerim to get married for political reasons and allowing ascent to the Har Habayis while impure.
The reference to R' Yehuda Halevy is not clear.
Rav Schach's diatribe against Tzionim was the opinion of all Agudah rabbonim in 1948. While they may not have been as outspoken, they held these views while only working with the medinah so far as to benefit frum Jews.
Maybe Arthur should cleanse himself of his bitter hatred for Rav Schach before lecturing on sinas chinam.
To deconstructing Yadah Yadah Yadah,
Since your only defense seems to be slander and personal invective against Rav YBS and other chosheve yidden are you aware of the fact that Rav Shachs wife was a Dr.(oy vay himmel geshrei)? That his son who is also a Dr.and By his own admission has left the Creidishe camp and is an ardent Zionist?So what does that make Rav Shach? Nobody invented all the filthy hate ascribed to R' Schach - it's clearly advertised by his own hand, in his own books, for all to see. That some of you are so brainwashed as to insist on re-casting such vile sinas-chinam as service to some supposed 'daas torah' is incredible, Can't you read - the man was a rabid anti-semite, and his hateful rants don't substitute for real lomdus in any way. I quoted mere snippets of the mass hate spewed by this man - isn't it time for the spin-doctors to reprint this nonsense as something else ?! Let's call a spade a...spade !! We can move on once the established facts are read into the record and the revisionists silenced. Don't you present yourself as some kind of researcher/historian ? Well how about some intellectual honesty for a change ! Or do I need to quote more of his senseless rants to convince you - the record is clear.To be continued.
To Yadah Yada Yada,continuation
An article written a number of years ago before the messhichistin became an issue
"There has been a lot of talk about gedolim and especially about
Rav Shach. Before people make any judgements I think it is important to
know something about the man and his teachings. If what I say ppears
harsh, let me assure the readers that I have said the same things to many
rabbis and they have agreed with me. Since the views I will be expressing
are also those of numerous others it would be best for the moderator not
to censor it. I realize that others are afraid to speak out so I will say
what everyone else is thinking. Needless to say, the Lubavitchers have
spoken out and been a great deal harsher than I will be but that is for
good reason. Rav Shach has branded the rebbe a heretic. Furthermore, he
has branded the entire movement as heretical. Most people respond harshly
when they have been called heretics, Especially since the other gedolim
seem to have no great problem with Habad. They don't support everything
Habad does but you don't have other gedolim using the inflammatory rhetoric
of R. Shach.
In fact he is very inconsistent. He mocks the Lubavithcher
rebbe's Rambam learning program saying that people knew about the
Rambabm before Lubavitch came around and that no one should follow
Habad's program and it is forbidden to innovate and yet he praises Daf
Yomi. Well, people knew about learning Talmud before R. Meir Shapiro.
The difference is that when Rav Shach likes something, when it comes
from his circles, then it is ok. However if an innovation, no matter how
good, comes from another circle then he viciosly attacks it.
In general, everything that comes out of his mouth is criticism.
He does not believe in building but in destroying. All of his volumes of
letters are attacks against everything from Lubavitch, to religious
Zionism, to Hesder yeshivot, to Rav Goreh (who has no yirat shamayim
according to Shach), to R. Steinsaltz (another heretic). When the rest
of he Jewish world was celebrating the Entebbe raid and R. Moshe said it
was an open miracle Shach gave a talk saying that what the Government
did was forbidden. This is exactly what the Satmar rebbe said! He gave
his famous talk last year viciously attacking the kibbutzim. Why? We all
know that they don't keep kosher there but why attack them. Is this the
way to bring people together and bring them to yiddishkeit? Is this
love? Lubavitch knows how to be mekarev, they do it through love. Shack
simply attacks. And then he attacked President Herzog for no reason.
Herzog did more for religious Jewry than any president and he is a fine
man but Shach viciously attacks him just like he attacks the kibbutzniks
who have laid down their lives so that he could live in peace. And he
expects the secularists to keep subsidizing the yeshivot at the massive
rate they have been?
Rav Shach has no value in his life other than that of learning
Torah. People can't feel good about anything other than learning Torah.
There is no value to the State of Israel other than that it enables us
to learn Torah and its destruction would be no great tragedy if Torah
continued to be learnt. He opposed the annexation of East Jerusalem and
Golan because it will get the goyim mad. He doesn't recognize the
concept that Jews should see something positive in annexing our
capital-- East Jerusalem. He also speaks of not provoking the Gentiles,
a concept which has no validity when Jews have a state, although he
thinks that the State is just as much a galut as N. Y. and London. He
says that Jews in Israel should act as if they were dancing before the
Polish nobleman. In other words, the fact that Jews now have a state
means nothing about how they relate to the world. They still must have
this inferiority comples. There is something wrong with having pride and
holding one's head up.
His views have infected the Haredi community. We all know that
they dodge the draft but it is even worse. They refuse to say a mi
shebarakh for IDF even though the latter protect them from the Arabs.
They refuse to say a prayer for the government which gives them millions
of dollars. In the diaspora they alwasy said a prayer for the government
but not in Israel. In the Diaspora they always acted patriotic and if
there was a moment of silence for war dead they wouldn't dream of
breaking with the practice. However in Israel while everyone stands at
attention on Yom Hashoah they go about their business. Do they realize
how much of a hillul hashem this is and how it hurts the feelings of
others who are remembering loved ones. Of course they know but they
don't care. Unlike Lubavitch they enjoy confrontation.
For R. Shach there is only one truth. He has no conception of
Jewish history and doesn't realize that there can be disputes in matters
of hashkafah, as long as we all accept Torah and halakhhah. Thus when R.
Ovadiah decided to join the government he threatened to ban all of the
latter's books No other gadol has ever made such irresponsible
statements and acted in such a dictatorial manner.
Everything I have described so far is written in his books. I
have not made any of it up and if gets you mad hearing what he believes
trust me that this is only the tip of the iceberg and there is no way
that anyone who reads this line should regard him as an important gadol,
since everything most of us view as important he mocks (he even says its
forbidden to form rabbinic organizations).
To give one final example of this let me refer to Rav Shach's
attack on R. Soloveitchik in vol. 4 of his letters. As everyone knows,
there were always disputes in hashkafah between the Rav and other
gedolim. However this never stopped the Lubvavitcher rebbe or R. Moshe
or R. Aharon Kotler from being on close personal terms with the Rav and
respecting his gadlus. Obviously R. Moshe and the Lubavticher Rebbe, as
well as the Rav, believed that their own approach was correct and the
others were wrong. But they never said that the approach of the other's
was forbidden. It was just misguided. Similarly, the Rav never said that
everyone had to learn secular studies, that other aproaches were
invalid. Rather, only that his approach was also legitimate.
Rav Shach has a different approach, one which shows all of his
feeling of knowing everything and his belief that he, and only he, knows
the truth, the one and only truth. In discussing the Rav's book Hamesh
Derashot he doesn't say that we have a different view or that the Rav is
wrong. No, what he says is that it is forbidden to listen to what the
Rav says. Forbidden. the Rav goes against Daat Torah and the Rav has
completely distorted Daas Torah (one wonders whose Daas Torah. Doesn't
the Rav have his own Daas Torah?) Since anyone who goes against Daas
Torah speaks heresy it is forbidden to listen to what the Rav says! Does
he realize who is talking about? This is not some Mizrachi functionary
he is mocking (not that this is forgivable either). He is speaking about
R. Soloveitchik, whom R. Tendler called the greatest Rosh Yeshivah of
our generation, whom the Lubavitcher rebbe stood up for etc. etc. May
God forgive him for degrading our teacher! Furthermore, R. Shach
continues, it is the Rav's secular studies which are responsible for
these distortions. Woe are the ears which hear such nonsense. What
chutzpah, to say that secular studies distorted the Rav's Torah! Rav
Shach goes on for a few pages without any respect for the fact that the
Rav was a gadol and he is entitled to have different hashkafah, also
throwing in some irrelevancies about how Hesder yeshivot have destroyed
any notion of striving for greatness in Torah learning. (He also hates
hesder because their students actually get a job. For R. Shach, and
Israeli Haredim, as oposed to American haradim, there is something
negative about actually working for a living. There is no concept of a
Baal ha-Bayit. That is why he put Leo Levi's book Shaare Talmud Torah in
Herem, since it advocates a Torah im Derekh Eretz [i. e.earning a
living] approach). Shach is also confused how come the rabbis in the U.
S. did not protest The Rav's opinions and furthermore that they
contributed to the book Kevod ha-Rav . This is a great hillul hashem
since by giving the Rav a book in his honor and praising him the
yeshivah students will see this and think that is ok to follow in the
Rav's path, God forbid, and will absorb his views which are completely
"pasul".
I could go on but I think everyone gets the point. When it comes
to gedolim we should consult R. Eliashiv, R. Shlomo Zalman, the chief
Rabbis, R. Ovadia etc. We should not even take Rav Shach's opinion into
consideration. By adopting such a hateful tone and being so opposed to
everything we consider decent he is not really different than the Satmar
rebbe, who was, as R. Aharon Soloveitchik told me, a great scholar who
made a terrible blunder. So too with Rav Shach. He has slandered great
gedolim and for his sake we should hope that it was all done le-shem
shamayim. When I asked R. Aharon why we don't put him in Herem in
accordance with the pesak of the Rambam re. anyone who slanders a gadol
all he could say was that we no longer use the Herem. One thing must be
said for Lubavitch, even thought R.Shach says they are heretics and that
their rebbe is one of the greatest sinners alive, and going straight to
gehinnom, they have not lost their cool. I don't think there will be any
rejoicing in Crown Heights when he passes away. They realize that this
whole affair is very sad. Unfortunately, however, when the rebbe passes
away there will be rejoicing in Ponovezh because one is supposed to
rejoice at the death of a heretic. What have we come to!"
To Reb UOJ,
I really had no intention to stir up the pot here and I apologize.I,however ,in a sense am like you.I can't stand the unadultrated (pardon the spelling) BS that some posters pass of as scholarship.I will now hold my peace bli neder no matter what they write.
Best,
A
R' Arthur,
Passion is good, it shows you care. Please be careful though; you had mentioned something previously about your health being affected.
a group of women want to start a organization called MASA mothers against sexual abuse Anyone interested in joing us? after seeing what a Rabbi in torah temimah has caused his own son who was abused by a first cousin is now into drugs and has severe depression and no reprecussion to the molesters makes our group upset for the children We need to help the children so as not to be abused twice once by the molester and again by the family who hides the dirty deed under the rug
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