Right to left:
Lazer Ginzburg - Stefan Colmer - During happier times in the Mir Yeshiva learning Torah together.
The Colmer hearing is scheduled for this coming Wednesday morning (no time specified) July 16,2008 at the Brooklyn (Kings County) Supreme Court (Criminal Term), 320 Jay Street, Part 11, before Judge Mullen. The docket number is 04314-2007.
Rabbi Lazer Ginzburg of Flatbush (Agudath Israel Synagogue) is involved in raising money for his bail, and there is a good chance that he will be in court (or his representative).
If members of the Jewish community attend, please act respectfully. It would be rather important that our community demonstrate to the D.A., that "we're angry as hell and we won't take it anymore." This hopefully, will set the stage for the D.A.'s conduct, when Mondrowitz is extradited from Israel. Avrohom Mondrowitz is being held in an Israeli jail until he is extradited. The warden - Mickey Achbar - confiscated his shipments of Preparation H; he now sleeps standing up.
Various members of the national and international media will be in attendance.
Steve gently adds his thoughts:
Anyone that contributes to this fund to free Colmer deserves to be locked up together with him and those who enabled him. This is the most perverted distortion of the halacha of pidyon shvuyim. Just like it is a tremendous mitzvah to help free an innocent man, such as Jonathan Pollard, it is a huge aveira to help free a sexual predator like Stefan Colmer. This is a slap in the face of his countless victims, several of which found the courage to go to the police. Is the message we want to send to other child molesters? Do what you want, and if you get turned in, we will set you free and call your victims "shakranim" and "reshaim". This is exactly what is happening. It is Kolko circa 1985 once again, only the players are now Ginsberg and Levin. To them and to all those that aid and abet them by contributing to this criminal fund I say, IT'S OVER! The days of cover ups and pidyon shvuyim for molesters and the perversion of the laws of messira, lashon hara, rechilus are over!
The klal has had enough already! The victims are finding the courage to do the right thing by turning these predators over to the police so that no more innocent children can be harmed. Look at the Yona Weinberg case as one example. All of you that think that you are baalei chessed by contributing to free this beast are baalei chassidim shotim of the worst kind and baalei aveira of the worst kind. You will be exposed and help up to ridicule just like the enablers. If Colmer sees the light of day again, it will be shortlived. The same goes for Mondrowitz and Leizerowitz. The under the carpet sweeping days are over! The reign of terror by the molesters and their enablers is over! We will not turn back the clock to 1985 or 2005 for that matter. Justice will be served and our children will be protected, despite all your perverted efforts.
P.S. Lazer Ginzburg & A.C. Levin fom Chicago are brothers in-law!
UOJ
About one thing Aharon Barak is right: Constitutionalism - the imposition by judges of their moral intuitions on an unsuspecting public - is on the rise everywhere. The opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court in Kennedy vs. Louisiana could have been written by an Israeli Supreme Court justice, so lacking was it in anything bordering on coherent analysis.
ReplyDeleteA 5-4 majority of the court ruled that imposition by Louisiana of the death penalty on Patrick Kennedy for brutally raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter and inflicting internal injuries far too gruesome to describe would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. According to Justice Kennedy, the Constitution contemplates that in the end “our [i.e., the justices] own judgment” will be determinative. Yet the only argument he offered for why murder, alone of crimes against individuals, may be punished by death is that murder victims are dead.
Such profundity is Kennedy’s trademark.
In ruling that the death penalty may not be imposed in even the most serious cases of child rape, Justice Kennedy purported to be giving voice to the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” It may well be questioned, however, whether in our respect for the value of human life that evolution has been upward.
WE ARE witnessing a sustained assault on the traditional view of man as the height of creation. Evolutionists deny any difference in kind between human beings and other species. Global warming activists speak of the duty not to reproduce, and view human beings as the enemy of nature’s order. New reproductive technologies, in particular cloning, and drugs for physical and psychological enhancement threaten to turn human beings into by-products of technology rather than the result of two human beings joined in an act of commitment and faith.
Like cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who claimed to have disproved the existence of God because he did not see him from his spaceship, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinsker “proves” that there is no soul from the fact that the brain can be dissected, altered by drugs and extinguished by a sharp blow. To which philosopher Dr. Leon Kass effectively replies: “[Pinsker] does not understand that the vital powers of an organism do not reside in its constituent materials… but emerge only when those materials are formed and organized in a particular way… [T]he empowering organization of materials - the vital form or soul - is not itself material” (Keeping Life Human,” Azure, Spring 2008).
Such materialist reductionism dominated German science long before the Nazi rise to power, and paved the way for the murder of thousands of German “defectives” before the Nazis embarked on their Final Solution for the Jews. Richard Weikart describes the congerie of ideas that dominated German science in From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics and Racism in Germany: There is no fundamental distinction between humans and animals; human beings do not possess a soul that endows them with any rights or superiority to any other species; among human beings there are “inferior” and “superior” individuals, and inferior and superior races; and it is the iron will of nature that species should evolve through the survival of superior members and the death of the inferior.
TODAY MANY doctors again claim their scientific knowledge imbues them with some special insight into which life is worthy of preservation. The doctors in Winnipeg, Canada, who sought to disconnect Samuel Golubchuk, an elderly religious Jew, from his ventilator and feeding tube asserted that the decision was theirs alone, regardless of Golubchuk’s wishes. And the Canadian Medical Association fully supported that claim.
Such decisions are not about the “best interests” of the patient, as the doctors claimed, but about which life is worth preserving. And that is a moral, not scientific, decision for which doctors’ have no special expertise.
To think otherwise is an example of what Kass calls “soulless scientism” - the failure to recognize that science is morally neutral and exists on a different plane than moral reasoning. In Kass’s words, “Science seeks to know only how things work, not what they are and why. Science gives the histories of things, but not their aspirations or purposes.”
None of us is capable of evaluating another’s life. When confronted with severely disabled people - e.g., Siamese twins - who profess to be happy, our typical reaction is to assume they are lying or don’t really know what happiness is. (Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explores this phenomenon in Stumbling onto Happiness.) For that reason, disabled persons and their advocates are at the forefront of every legal case in which doctors insist on their unique ability to determine which lives are no longer worth the effort. They know that once quality of life is viewed as something quantifiable, and one life is compared in value to another, the slope is very slippery indeed.
A hospital in Wales, for instance, recently informed the parents of Amber Hartland, six, who suffers from Tay-Sachs, that it would not readmit her to the pediatric intensive care unit, after five such visits in four years, absent a court order. Without such periodic interventions, however, Amber will choke to death.
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE does not imbue doctors with any special moral insight, and those who assume otherwise often turn out to be neither good prognosticators nor good doctors. Sometime after the Winnipeg doctors tried to remove Golubchuk’s life support, he was described as “awake, alert, sitting up in a chair at times, more interactive and shaking hands purposively.”
In nearby Calgary, doctors put a “Do not resuscitate” order in the file of a Mr. Jin, whom they claimed would remain in a permanent vegetative state as the result of a fall. His family took the hospital to court, and Jin recovered well enough to speak, write and read. That did not prevent the doctors from appealing the court order limiting their discretion.
On June 17, 2006, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts granted the request of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services to cut off the respirator from Haleigh Poutre, an 11-year-old girl who had been savagely beaten by her aunt and stepfather. The court was informed that Haleigh was “in an irreversible and permanent coma, with the least amount of brain function that a person can still have and be considered alive.”
As it happens, little Haleigh had already begun to show signs of responsiveness a week before the Massachusetts court entered its judgment. (The day before judgment was entered she began to breathe independently.) Nevertheless, the doctors insisted that her chances of recovery were absolutely zero and told the Department of Social Services that there was no need to inform the court of her improvement. Remarkably in the Poutre case, the doctors determined that she was in a permanent vegetative state after only eight days, even though the definition of a permanent vegetative state is at least one month.
That case, writes Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, an expert in Jewish medical ethics, is a good example of the slide into the abyss of allowing ethical decisions to be outsourced to doctors “who all too often do not view life as intrinsically valuable.”
So much for the progress of a maturing society.
This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post on July 10th, 2008
Uoj, do you think that another massive phone call by the klal to the D.A. would help, you know just to let him refresh his memory of what we are capable of.
ReplyDeleteY'did LVF;
ReplyDeleteLet's wait to protest Hynes' office when Mondrowitz returns. The decision to release Colmer is the judge's.
It is (Rav) Lazer Ginsburgs fault that this went on for so long. He blocked the investigation and urged parents not to cooperate with the D.A.s office. The Gedolei Poskim have ruled that a molestor is a Rodeif and must be reported to the authorities and it is not Mesirah but a Mitzvah of Pikuach Nefesh to do so. Your Amharatzus and excessive frumkeit is akin to Retzicha. Shame on you and all of your ilk. You have no business being a Rov if you do not know how to pasken, and it does not matter who your grandfather was.
ReplyDeleteIndymac Bank, the largest independent mortgage provider (a title formerly held by Countrywide until it failed into the arms of Bank of America), was seized Friday by federal regulators. The bank held about $32 billion in assets, although its anyone's guess what those might be worth these days. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp will run the bank, promising to have it open for business on Monday. The Journal says the cost of the bank failure will be between $4 billion and $8 billion.
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, the same finger prints that were found on the corpse of Countrywide are all over this collapse of a large mortgage bank. That's right. Meet the founder of Indymac, Angelo Mozilo. Back in Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, and David Loeb, a founder of Countrywide, founded Indymac. Mozilo left in 2000. Someone please tell us there's not a third huge home lender founded by the toxic duo.
Agudath Israel and Ohel Family Services to Torah Temimah Parents:
ReplyDeleteYOUR KIDS ARE SAFE!
-----------------------------
IndyMac: Your money is safe - FDIC
It's a massive bank failure, but the vast majority of customers see little disruption or risk.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The FDIC stressed Sunday that the takeover of failed bank IndyMac is largely a "non-event" for most customers.
"Come Monday morning, it will be business as usual for all insured customers," said John Bovenzi, chief operating officer of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures U.S. banks.
When a bank shuts down, traditional accounts are insured to at least $100,000. Some accounts, such as annuities and mutual funds, are not insured at all. Individual Retirement Account (IRAs) funds are insured to $250,000.
If you had $100,000 at one bank and $100,000 at another, both would be insured, according to Allan Roth, a Colorado Springs, Colo. financial planner.
Individuals with multiple accounts in the same name at the same bank are limited to the $100,000 cap. If an individual has a $100,000 savings account in her name and a $100,000 joint account with her husband, both accounts would be covered.
"The difference is not in the number of accounts [that each individual has at an FDIC-insured bank]," said Roth. "The difference is in the titling [or name] on the account."
IndyMac Bancorp, once one of the nation's largest home lenders, was taken over by federal regulators on Friday and transferred to the FDIC.
While IndyMac customers did not have access to online and phone banking services over the weekend, they could access funds by ATM, debit cards and checks.
"That fact is that for insured depositors, IndyMac's conversion has been largely a non-event," said Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC in a statement.
IndyMac customers with uninsured deposits will get at least half that money back, and they could get more back, depending on what the FDIC gets when it sells the bank, said Bair.
Loan customers were advised to continue making loan payments as usual.
The FDIC disclosed last month that it was closely watching 90 financial institutions on its "problem list," up from 76 in the first quarter of 2008. The total assets of "problem" institutions rose from $22.2 billion to $26.3 billion, the FDIC said. The FDIC does not publish a list of trouble banks out of concern it could spur a bank run
But for non-IndyMac customers, Bair stressed that their money is safe.
"IndyMac is only one of 8,494 depository institutions operating throughout the country," she said. "The overwhelming majority of banks in this country are safe and sound. The chance that your own bank will be taken over by the FDIC is extremely remote. And if that does happen, you will continue to have virtually uninterrupted access to your insured deposits."
Bovenzi added that all IndyMac branches will reopen Monday with full operations. "Customers should view this as a change in ownership," he said.
First Published: July 13, 2008: 5:06 PM EDT
Careful!!
ReplyDeleteA showing of Othodox Jews at Colmer's bail hearing could be misinterpreted as support for Colmer, especially if there will be Chareidie Rabbis and others there in support of him.
http://upchucky.com/flash-farmer-donkey.html
ReplyDeleteNisht upgelernt fun der chamor.
Keep an eye on Ben Barber. He is the go between from the Iggud Haganovim to Charlie Hynes.
ReplyDeleteThings to be aware of.
Barber was involved in the case of a 20 year old Chassidishe guy in Williamsburg who is accused of molesting a Hispanic girl when they were alone together on an elevator. Barber's shita is we don't know if alleged perps are innocent or guilty. It's just our job to keep them out of prison.
Barber's son in law by the way was jailed for some kind of financial scandal.
http://www.jeremyrosen.com/others/shain.pdf
ReplyDeleteRSFM writes “I accuse the very
great Rabbonim Machshirim - don’t you see what has become of our youth? Don’t you know that our children have become gamblers, gangsters, candidates for the electric chair, etc only because they’ve been raised on neveilos utreifos r'l?”
Engelmayer owns Kossar's Bialys on the Lower East Side under Hisachdus hashgocho.
ReplyDelete367 Grand Street
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kossar's_Bialys
Kossar's Bialys (Kossar's Bialystoker Kuchen Bakery) on the Lower East Side, Manhattan is the oldest bialy bakery in the United States.
In 1998, Juda and Debra Engelmayer and brother-in-law / sister-in-law Daniel and Malki Cohen purchased the bakery
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/07/looking-for-help-from-tzibur_13.html
ReplyDeleteLooking for help from the Tzibur.
An unfortunate incident occured as a result of the "oilum's" families going to the Catskills...........
It's alledged that an adulteras relationship developed. The "noi'efes" got a get. Now the " Noi'ef" wants a get from his wife in order to marry the "noi'efes". She refuses unless certain conditions are met including financial...
The "noi'ef's" family is very well to do.....They are now looking for a "heter-mai'yah" from Agudas Yisroel. (He is a very big supporter including a Sefer-Torah (what a shame). NOTE: We would assume that Aguda is not fammilliar with the whole story including the tapes etc. Only what they are being told by the "noi'ef's family.
Whoever is in a posistion to stop Aguda from being pressured into such a shamefull scheme should please do so.
Please No comments, emails, phone calls etc on this issue.
Posted by Yudel Shain
Anonymous said...
A special presentation of a beautiful framed klaf containing a stirring tribute and bracha was made to Mr. Elly Kleinman, who, along with his eishes chayil, have undertaken to underwrite the Daf Yomi Commission in honor of their parents and in memory of those in their families who died al kiddush Hashem during Churban Europe.
Mr. Kleinman spoke about Rav Meir Shapiro’s vision of unifying Klal Yisroel through Torah, and of his personal joy at having merited to be part of furthering that goal.
Now Agudah ba-shmu-tzed the Daf-yomi. a-shanda-und-a-charpah.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2007/05/kashrus-hotline-1-212-990-7238.html?showComment=1215982740000#c248098281006768534
ReplyDeleteYudel Shain said...
Rabbis Spiegel & Steinmetz only know how to supervise & set-up treifis, bishul-akum, bosor-she'nisalem etc
Anonymous said...
What's this about Rabbi Speigel leaving rubashkin? It must be pretty bad if even he left them.
Yudel Shain said...
Rabbi Weismandel says there isn't enough dollars for spiegel (& to give treifas-I don't need him, I can do it alone-) regards to Rav Gornish.
There is a Chassidish lady who worked for Diet Center in Boro Park. While she was still working there she was oyveir on hasogas gvul and geneiveh, telling clients to come to her house for half price. When she left, she stole the client list from the computer and goes after all their customers. She falsely claims to be a registered dietician and falsely claims to be a branch of Diet Center. She sells fake diet foods made in her house and not nutritionally evaluated as being from Diet Center.
ReplyDeleteHer home is not zoned for her business nor does she pay any taxes. The Govt and Diet Center have a hard time investigating her with undercover agents because she does not respond to people unless they speak heimish Yiddish or use frum code words.
The Novominsker Rebbe Shlita - chief shaigetz and m'shuched of the Agudath Israel - is arranging the heter meah - and got the 100 midgets all lined up (including himself b'rosh)
ReplyDeleteNow even Yudel Shain is stooping to UOJ's style of pornography?
ReplyDeleteHey, how come the Novominkser didn't ask me to join the choshuver roster of signatures?
ReplyDelete5W owner Ron Torossian from Riverdale is very close to Avi Weiss. Conspiracy theories are flying that he pressured Weiss to drop the YCT boycott of Rubashkin. Torossian's wife has also allegedly been implicated in the Ehud Olmert scandal.
ReplyDelete5W VP Juda Engelmayer was involved in the Le Marais cover up & is currently battling R' Dovid Feinstein to erect a Lower East Side eruv against R' Moishe's wishes. He also owns Kossar's Bialys Bakery.
http://gawker.com/tag/5wpr/?i=5024131&t=scheme-to-blame-intern-for-pr-fraud-unravels
Scheme To Blame Intern For PR Fraud Unravels
It's not entirely surprising that the PR firm that misspelled the online signature of the guy they were trying to impersonate has now been busted for ineptly trying to blame an unidentified "intern" for everything. Bumbling disaster of a publicity shop 5WPR posted, in the name of a rabbi, fake blog comments about a sweatshoppy kosher slaughterhouse. When busted, senior vice president Juda Engelmayer blamed an unpaid 5WPR intern who he refused to name. Now, news service JTA is severely undercutting this explanation by reporting it traced one of the fake comments to Engelmayer's home (in part by matching the internet address of a comment to the internet address of an Engelmayer email). Whoops! Hard to blame interns at the office when the stuff is coming from your own pad. How are you going to explain this one, Juda?
By claiming he had an intern at his Lower East Side apartment at 10 pm on a Tuesday night, apparently. Said JTA:
A person identifying himself as the intern in question called JTA Thursday, but refused to provide a full name. The caller said that he posted the fraudulent comment to the JTA site using a computer at Engelmayer’s apartment during a get-together there Tuesday night, but without Engelmayer’s knowledge.
Now would be a good time to recap the various levels of incompetence in this whole 5WPR scheme:
After being hired for its internet PR expertise, 5WPR attempts to plant fake comments from both supporters and (most deviously) critics of the kosher slaughterhouse on various websites.
This scheme unravels because the company doesn't bother to leave its office or mask its IP address when posting.
This scheme also unravels because the company misspells the name of a rabbi when signing a comment in that rabbi's name.
CEO Ronn [sic] Torossian claims an "investigation" is under way to find out which of his employees spun a laughably incompetent Web of amoral deception in the service of flackery. This time.
VP Engelmayer, assigned the slaughterhouse account, blames an unnamed, unpaid "intern" for the fraud. Says this "intern" has been fired.
This story starts to unravel because, as blog Failed Messiah notes, the first two impersonation posts appeared in February, "well before any summer interns were working at 5W." Ahem.
The story unravels further when two fraudulent Web comments are traced to Engelmayer's apartment.
"Intern" calls to say he was hanging with Engelmayer at his apartment Tuesday night and slipped, undetected, onto Engelmayer's computer to do some impromptu character assassination, so don't blame Engelmayer because Engelmayer did not do it.
Probably next: Caller comes forward as a paid shill. Engelmayer said he hired him on behalf of the intern, who is deathly afraid of the press, because that's the sort of person who takes an unpaid PR internship.
flack at 10:45 AM on 07/11/08
I once met Engelmeyer at an industry event. You could tell the guy has no ethical center. When I asked him what he considered the best part of working at 5W, he said it was that Ronn (sic) always has your back...not clients, not colleagues, not any of the usual "work-life balance" **** that gets thrown around, but that if you screwed up, Ronn would help cover your ***.
I don't understand how an respectable company, organization, or individual would ever allow their brand to be tarnished by association with 5W. They're not just liars - they're poor liars.
http://www.prblognews.com/2008/07/13/week-in-review/
What is Ronn Torossian thinking?
Torossian, CEO of 5W PR, really stepped in it this week and hubris and deflection will not save him. He needs to fire Juda Engelmayer and accept full responsibility for the latest ethical lapse at his company or suffer serious credibility damage.
The thumbnail of this outrageous story: Engelmayer impersonated a prominent Rabbi and fabicated other characters who posted laudatory comments about a 5W client and mimicked critics in blogs and chats. Shmarya Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com did some sharp investigating and found that the posts were coming from Engelmayer.
At first, Torossian countered with his usual bluster: “I have complete confidence in knowing that my account team who runs these accounts did not make these posts.”
When Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com persisted Engelmayer said that an intern was responsible and was fired. Friday, however, Torossian revealed that Engelmayer was covering up the deception with the fired intern story when he released a statement to the Jewish daily Forward saying “A senior staff member failed to be transparent in dealing with client matters. He has taken full responsibility.”
Torossian said Engelmayer was not fired. He would not explain further and fell back on message: “This battle is not about blogging, it is however about protecting the highest levels of Kashrut in the Jewish community.”
That statement stinks like a pile of rotting non-Kosher gefilte fish. Torossian has a knack for overshadowing his clients with his marginal defenses but this one is so outrageous that the PR community - if there is one - should rise up and demand some action.
Torossian is right. This battle is not about blogging. It’s about countering the widespread perception that all PR people are scheming liars who will saying anything and do anything to promote their clients without regard for ethics or morals. The client Torossian is representing, Agriprocessors, was recently the target of a huge immigration raid and the Rabbi that Engelmayer impersonated is attempting to create ethical standards for the production of kosher food.
PR 101 for Ronn Torossian: 1) Admit the mistake 2) Fire the offender 3) Apologize and vow it will never happen again 4) Institute policies to assure that it will never happen again. Stonewalling on this will not do him, or the PR industry, any good.
I'll just say that I'm not at all convinced Engelmayer was in this alone or that he acted without Torossian's knowledge. Engelmayer may end up being the fall guy – but I hope not. At the very least, he should not allow himself to go down alone.
http://gawker.com/tag/5wpr/?i=5024264&t=5wpr-busted-for-even-more-blog-fraud-uses-apology-as-slimy-sales-pitch-opportunity
5WPR Busted For Even More Blog Fraud; Uses Apology As Slimy Sales Pitch Opportunity
At the risk of sounding earnest, there is simply no end to the incompetence and ethical failure at 5WPR, profane superflack Ronn [sic] Torossian's comically inept PR firm. FailedMessiah.com finds 11 more fraudulent, sock puppet blog comments, dating back to last month, that came from the IP address of the home computer of Juda Engelmayer, the 5WPR VP already busted for one earlier fake comment. I guess the evidence has now become overwhelming enough that Ronn himself has issued a statement—possibly the most laughable, inadequate apology-turned-sales pitch I've ever heard from a PR guy:
While traveling this week with my family out of the country, my IT department investigated accusations, which we have now learned to be true. A senior staff member failed to be transparent in dealing with client matters. He has taken full responsibility.
We have been in business since January 2003 – and according to O’Dwyer’s 2007 rankings our revenues exceeded $11.5M, and we are the 21st largest independent PR firm in the United States .
Growing companies often have problems in their expansion, and we continue to strive for the highest performance. We have instituted internal measures to ensure this cannot happen again. We continue to strive for the highest ethical standards.
This battle is not about blogging, it is however about protecting the highest levels of Kashrut in the Jewish community. We, as a firm. feel personally and professionally passionate about these and related issues. Critics of traditional Judaism, who have in recent days targeted the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, have chosen to smear the largest provider of the highest quality Kashrut meat in the world. We stand with protecting Kashrut.
http://www.forward.com/articles/13734/
A spokesman for Hekhsher Tzedek said that the group is consulting an intellectual property lawyer and planning to take legal action against whoever made the fraudulent comments.
Quoted
ReplyDelete"I saw an awesome thing in the Sefer Divrei Yonah (Parshas Toldos s.v. V’yesh L’orer): “I heard from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl zt”l that he said, explaining that which we saw in the latest Hurban, Lo Aleinu, that even though the source of the tribulation, in our great sins, was in Germany and from there spread to the other countries, despite this in reality our brethren in Germany merited to be saved at a far greater ratio than our brethren in the other countries, and they also merited saving their money and property to a great extent, whereas in the other countries all of their money and possessions came into the hands of their gentile neighbors, Lo Aleinu. And he said that the reason for this was that our brethren in Germany had more honesty in their business dealings with the non-Jews during all the years, without cunning, and therefore the money that they had was more their own and there was no mixture of the share of the gentiles, as opposed to the other countries where the poverty and destitution was horrible, Lo Aleinu, and therefore they allowed themselves to sometimes engage in swindling activities in monetary matters in their business dealings with the gentiles and therefore on the day of retribution Lo Aleinu the property ended up in the hands of the gentiles, in order to return the property to the gentile neighbors, and in Heaven the matter was orchestrated that the money should reach the heirs and the like.”
The point of R. Weissmandl’s vort was to impress upon his listeners or readers that dishonesty in business dealings with Gentiles is a serious sin and sins have serious consequences. The example he used was a shocking one and that was precisely his point in making it. Sometimes ,in fact often , it is necessary to give people a jolt so the message will enter their heart and strengthen their yiras Shomyim…literally fear of Heaven. Chas v’sholom that anyone would misinterpret R. Weissmandl’s words as blaming the Yidden for the Nazi holocaust.
5W and Agudath Israel Join Forces to protect innocent defendants!
ReplyDelete---------------------------------
3 plead to charges in plot that changed air travel By MEERA SELVA, Associated Press Writer
33 minutes ago
LONDON - In a case that changed the face of air travel, three men charged with a plot to kill trans-Atlantic airline passengers with bombs in soda bottles admitted Monday they intended to cause explosions.
But the men appealed to the jury to believe their story — that they wanted to stage an elaborate publicity stunt at one of London's iconic sites to promote a film, rather than commit mass murder.
The men are charged with a plot to kill hundreds of passengers at the height of the summer vacation season. When police discovered the plot in August 2006, airports around the world immediately changed their security procedures.
As security guards examined every bag by hand, passengers dumped bottles of water, wine and perfume. Tents were erected in airport parking lots as passengers waited, sometimes for days, to board flights. Airports and airlines needed weeks to recover from the chaos.
Monday's change of plea on some of the charges comes as the case winds to a close, infuriating prosecutors who say the men simply wanted to sway jurors before deliberations on the main charge against them: conspiring to kill thousands of airline passengers on flights over the Atlantic Ocean or U.S. cities.
"This was no propaganda video, no documentary, no exercise or stunt — this was for real," prosecutor Peter Wright said. "Human beings ready, able and willing to commit carnage for the sake of Islam."
He told jurors the men the men were "almost ready to go" when they were arrested in raids in and around London.
In his opening statement in April, Wright said officers found a computer memory stick in Abdulla Ahmed Ali's pocket with details of flights from London's Heathrow Airport to Chicago, New York, Boston, Denver, Miami and Montreal. He was not interested in return bookings, prosecutors say.
The three — Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27 — pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiring to set off explosions, but still say they are innocent of conspiracy to murder, a charge for which they are still being tried.
The three admitted they conspired to cause explosions, but deny intending to wreak havoc on passenger jets. Ali, the alleged ringleader, testified early in the trial that he and Sarwar wanted to promote an anti-Western documentary with an explosion — although it is not clear whether the film was actually made. Ali said he hoped a small, nonfatal, bombing — at a site such as Britain's Houses of Parliament, an oil refinery, or an airport — would jolt Londoners and draw attention to the movie.
The suspects said the movie was intended to record injustices against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prosecutors in the 3-month-long trial accuse the five — along with three other co-defendants — of planning an in-flight bombing. If found guilty, they face a maximum life sentence.
"Each was prepared to kill and to do so on a wholly indiscriminate basis, irrespective of age, belief, sex and to do so without the slightest blink of an eye," Wright said. "(The attack) was intended to be an act of terrorism to not only alter aviation history but also to strike a blow on behalf of radicalized Islamists the world over."
Wright told Woolwich Crown Court in London the defendants wanted "to murder as many civilian passengers as possible."
The eight men are accused of stockpiling enough hydrogen peroxide to create 20 liquid bombs, although they did not create any viable explosives.
"We did not want to kill or injure anyone," Ali testified last month.
Ali, Sarwar, Hussain, along with two other defendants — Ibrahim Savant, 27, and Umar Islam, 30 — have also admitted to "conspiring to cause a public nuisance" by publishing the alleged martyrdom videos.
Defense attorneys are expected to begin their closing arguments in the case Tuesday.
Seriously worrisome times!
ReplyDelete========================
IndyMac customers line up to withdraw money
Hundreds gathered Monday to pull savings; many fear losses as largest regulated thrift fails.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Hundreds of worried IndyMac Bancorp Inc. customers lined up Monday to pull as much money as they could from the failed financial institution.
However, federal regulators said it could be years before the affairs of the bank were fully resolved.
Charles Tengeri, a retired school teacher, was the first customer to emerge from the Pasadena headquarters of the bank.
He held a check for $171,000 -- an amount that he said represented most of his savings.
"I didn't think this could happen," he said. "But I'm glad to get anything out."
Customer Harvey Soldan said he had more than $100,000 in the bank whose assets were seized Friday by federal regulators.
"It's a question of how much we can get and how soon," he said while waiting in line.
Soldan spent Sunday night at a hotel near the bank so he could be at the door more than three hours before it opened at 9 a.m.
Two-hundred people were in line when the bank opened. A security guard at the door was allowing 10 people at a time to enter the branch.
Customers were orderly as the line stretched around the block.
The mortgage lender, which succumbed to the pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures, is the largest regulated thrift to fail and the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, regulators said.
The Office of Thrift Supervision said it transferred IndyMac (IMB)'s operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation because it did not think the lender could meet its depositors' demands.
The FDIC insures bank deposits of up to $100,000 per depositor and up to $250,000 for funds in retirement accounts such as an IRA.
Customers with uninsured deposits could begin making appointments to file a claim with the FDIC on Monday. The agency said it would pay unsecured depositors an advance dividend equal to half of the uninsured amount.
As of March 31, IndyMac had total deposits of $19.06 billion. The company operates 33 retail branches, all in Southern California.
Some 10,000 depositors had funds in excess of the insured limit, for a total of $1 billion in potentially uninsured funds, the FDIC has said.
David Barr, an FDIC spokesman, was stationed outside the IndyMac headquarters on Monday. He said people might actually have more money insured than they think.
Customers will be informed about how their accounts are structured and may be eligible to recoup dollar-for-dollar beyond the $100,000 limit, he said.
If deposits aren't fully insured, customers will receive a receivership certificate and told about the process to possibly recoup more of their money.
Barr said it may take several years before the FDIC completely resolves the collapse and addresses customer claims.
"We have to completely unwind the affairs" of the bank, he said. "We may sell a portion to another bank, sell real estate. There may be lawsuits. There are a lot of different aspects to this."
He said the FDIC will waive any early withdrawal penalties for certificates of deposit, with interest paid up to the withdrawal date.
Customer James Sherman said he also had more than $100,000 in the bank.
"This is my life savings here. I feel really horrible," he said.
Sherman said he was hoping to get 50 cents on the dollar above the federally insured limit, with the remainder possibly applied to his mortgage with IndyMac.
"What do you resort to now, putting money back in the mattress?" he asked.
Tengeri said he was hopeful about getting the remainder of his life savings from the bank.
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," he said. "I have full trust in the U.S. government. It may take a little time but I'm not worried."
First Published: July 14, 2008: 1:57 PM EDT
YAWN!
ReplyDelete-----------------------
After IndyMac's failure, which bank could be next?
Monday July 14, 4:46 pm ET
By Madlen Read, AP Business Writer
As banks prepare to reveal quarterly results, investors wonder which could be next to fail
NEW YORK (AP) -- The bank executives who promised months ago that the worst of the financial crisis had passed are looking less and less credible to investors. And that could pose a problem as the industry releases what are expected to be dismal second-quarter earnings over the next few weeks.
Certainly, not all banks are going the way of IndyMac Corp., which was seized by the government on Friday. In fact, analysts expect several banks to come out on top as the industry consolidates in the coming years.
But for now, investors aren't taking any chances. After IndyMac was seized -- the seventh bank to fail since the credit crisis began last summer, and the second-largest bank to fail in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s 75-year history -- stocks in nearly all the nation's banks were clobbered Monday as the market bet that there will be more failures.
Stocks that were hit the hardest Monday included First Horizon National Corp., which operates in the Southern United States; Zions Bancorp, located in Utah and Idaho; and Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan. Stocks of bigger banks such as Wachovia Corp., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co., also tumbled.
It's going to take more than a few hopeful corporate outlooks and capital raising plans this earnings season for investors and consumers to feel at ease again. No matter how much cash a bank has on hand, if enough customers are worried about their deposits and withdraw them, that bank will be in trouble, said Adam Schneider, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP.
"The noise becomes the story after a while," Schneider said. "Any institution can be hurt by a run on the bank."
A virtual run by investors who had bought securities through Bear Stearns Cos. led to its demise in March, when the flailing investment bank was bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
By examining banks' ratios of defaulting loans to total outstanding loans and to reserves and stock -- two measures of a bank's health -- only a handful of companies appear to be in jeopardy, according to bank analyst Richard Bove of Ladenburg Thalmann. These small banks include Downey Financial Corp., Corus Bankshares Inc., Doral Financial Corp., BFC Financial Corp., BankUnited Financial Corp. and FirstFed Financial Corp.
However, bank runs are unpredictable. To be sure, IndyMac did hold an extremely high number of defaulting loans compared to its total loans and reserves -- but the Southern California lender was not on the FDIC's list of 90 banks that could be in danger of failing.
This is why even those banks that have worked to raise extra cash are still losing investors.
Responding to its plunging stock price, National City said Monday it "is experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity," and that it had more than $12 billion in extra short-term liquidity at the close of the business day Friday. National City is expected to report a second-quarter loss on July 24.
And Washington Mutual tried to reassure investors Monday by saying it has enough cash available to survive tough conditions.
But home values are still falling, giving the market little reason to believe in a rebound anytime soon.
"It is a bit premature to suggest that this is the bottom," said Aite Group LLC bank analyst Eva Weber. "We'll need to keep a close eye on what the housing market continues to do."
The situation could be worse, according to Deloitte's Schneider. "We're not seeing massive runs on the bank on a Depression-era scale." And the ones that have occurred are "pretty orderly failures."
Also, big-name banks that have been losing money for nearly a year now -- like Citigroup Inc. -- have not yet seen depositers bail.
Citigroup, the nation's largest bank by assets, is expected on Friday to post a second-quarter loss, which would be its third-straight quarterly shortfall. The other four big U.S. banks are also expected to report worse results than last year and issue grim outlooks. Wachovia Corp. already announced it will post a loss for the second quarter, and analysts predict JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo will report profit declines.
Washingto Mutual is expected to report a second-quarter loss next week. Lehman Brothers analyst Bruce Harting predicted Monday the thrift will take a $4 billion loss provision, and that its loan losses will eventually amount to $26 billion.
For consumers, the worry is that they'll have an even more difficult time finding loans at affordable rates. When a bank says it is tightening lending standards and shedding assets, it means it's issuing fewer loans and charging higher rates -- particularly for mortgages and home-equity loans.
"They can expect a harder and longer search, and they can expect that rates will vary from institution to institution," Schneider said, noting that banks are targeting customers with better credit histories and more stable jobs and incomes.
The FDIC estimated it will take $4 billion to $8 billion to cover IndyMac's deposits, likely lowering its reserve ratio to a level that would require it to reassess the rates it charges banks.
When it comes to the day-to-day business of operating checking and savings accounts, not very much is changing for the consumer. But IndyMac's failure serves as a stark reminder to not deposit more than $100,000 in an account at a single institution -- the FDIC generally only guarantees up to $100,000 of your money if your bank goes under, or $250,000 for some retirement accounts. Beyond that amount, the government decides whether to pay back the customer on a case-by-case basis.
Agudha working on the wrong side of things again.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_re_us/immigration_raid_rally
Anyone that contributes to this fund to free Colmer deserves to be locked up together with him and those who enabled him. This is the most perverted distortion of the halacha of pidyon shvuyim. Just like it is a tremendous mitzvah to help free an innocent man, such as Jonathan Pollard, it is a huge aveira to help free a sexual predator like Stefan Colmer. This is a slap in the face of his countless victims, several of which found the courage to go to the police. Is the message we want to send to other child molesters? Do what you want, and if you get turned in, we will set you free and call your victims "shakranim" and "reshaim". This is exactly what is happening. It is Kolko circa 1985 once again, only the players are now Ginsberg and Levin. To them and to all those that aid and abet them by contributing to this criminal fund I say, IT'S OVER! The days of cover ups and pidyon shvuyim for molesters and the perversion of the laws of messira, lashon hara, rechilus are over!
ReplyDeleteThe klal has had enough already! The victims are finding the courage to do the right thing by turning these predators over to the police so that no more innocent children can be harmed. Look at the Yona Weinberg case as one example. All of you that think that you are baalei chessed by contributing to free this beast are baalei chassidim shotim of the worst kind and baalei aveira of the worst kind. You will be exposed and help up to ridicule just like the enablers. If Colmer sees the light of day again, it will be shortlived. The same goes for Mondrowitz and Leizerowitz. The under the carpet sweeping days are over! The reign of terror by the molesters and their enablers is over! We will not turn back the clock to 1985 or 2005 for that matter. Justice will be served and our children will be protected, despite all your perverted efforts.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE:WM - News) said it is "well capitalized" with more than $40 billion of liquidity and $150 billion of retail deposits, moving to reassure investors and depositors after shares of the largest U.S. savings and loan sank 34.7 percent on Monday.
ReplyDelete"The days of cover ups and pidyon shvuyim for molesters and the perversion of the laws of messira, lashon hara, rechilus are over!"
ReplyDeleteAre you sure? There seem to be plenty of morons giving handout$. It only took a few hours to get a million bucks for Mutterperl.
How I missed this when I linked to this article last week I don't know, although I was probably transfixed by Ronn Torossian's thuggish, abusive emails calling a former employee a {EDITED}. Anyway, as Archie rightly points out in a comment to another post, Ronn Torossian and 5WPR are a true match for Rubashkin and Agriprocessors.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
This, from Gawker:
http://gawker.com/365723/the-story-of-ronn-torossian
…According to Melissa Weiss' lawyer, she found out soon after she was hired at 5W last month that Ronn was violating the law by miscategorizing employees and not paying them overtime. "Ms. Weiss reported these violations to Mr. Torossian and he threatened to fire her and any employee not happy with their status," her lawyer writes. "Soon thereafter, Ms. Weiss was terminated and her final pay was withheld, leading her to bring a small claims action for her earned pay."
Weiss' story is not an unfamiliar one. We've received tips telling us the same thing. Among the claims, tipsters say that 5W does not pay overtime to low-level employees, in violation of labor law; that Ronn has docked employees for a full day's pay, or a vacation day, for being 15 minutes late to work, causing several people to resign; and that employees don't get proper comp time after working 7 days in a row or more.…
You have to love this. Torossian is a close personal friend of Rabbi Avi Weiss, and grew up in Weiss' Riverdale synagogue. Torossian is also close to Rabbi Benny Elon and to other right wing Israeli rabbis, and is a former head of the right wing Jewish youth movement Betar in America.
Torossian has portraits of Jabotinsly – who, I believe, would have been appalled by Torossian's language and by his coarsening of popular culture – and the late Chabad-Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson hanging in his office.
A very similar portrait of the late Rabbi Schneerson hangs in Agriprocessors' offices and in the homes of various members of the extended Rubashkin family.
But it is more than a picture that brings Torossian and Rubashkin together, it seems. The two are joined by a common disregard for human decency and law, and the abuse of people far weaker than they are.
They are both thugs and bullies. And they both believe themselves to be "absolved" for their sins by the rabbis and the causes they serve.
[Hat Tip: Archie Bunker.]
"A very similar portrait of the late Rabbi Schneerson hangs in Agriprocessors' offices and in the homes of various members of the extended Rubashkin family."
ReplyDeleteA similar portrait hangs in my home as well as in the homes of thousands of other individuals that are or are not members of that "nefarious and meaningless Chassidic sect
called Lubavitch".
So whats your point? I have other portraits of individuals, religious and secular such as other gedolim my children,grandchildren,Zaides,bubbas and otherwise but I fail to see the relevance to the rest of your post.
A huge article about a satmar girl.
ReplyDeleteEscape From the Holy Shtetl,
Copy & Paste
http://nymag.com/news/features/48532/
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/07/looking-for-help-from-tzibur_13.html
ReplyDeleteAn unfortunate incident occured that started in the Yeshiva of Manhatan Beach & continued as a result of the "oilum's" families going to the Catskills...........
The "noi'ef's" family is very well to do.....They are now looking for a "heter-mai'yah" . His father is a very big supporter of numerous Organizations. NOTE: We would assume that Aguda is not fammilliar with the whole story including the tapes etc. Only what they are being told by the "noi'ef's family. Whoever is in a posistion to stop Rabonim from being pressured into such a shamefull scheme of signing the Heter Mai'yah should please do so. Contrary to what others have claimed, the Noveminsker did not sign nor had anything at all to do with the unfortunate episode's outcome that landed up in the Courts R"L.
The fact that Chaim Krauss & Mendel Epstein Went out on a limb to put together the Heter Mai-yah is just up their alley-There was a cow to be milked for it$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
But the surprising thing is that the Noi'efs parents stooped so low to use Krauss & Epstein.....The bottom of the ....
And the Noi'efes is still the head of "tzinius" at Yeshiva of Manhatan Beach -
Anonymous said...
That sefer-torah & the Daf-Yomi commission of the Kleinman & aishes Chayal..........should all be ossur.
The noif says kesef is mi-taher mamzeirim.
Anonymous said...
Elimelech Lebowitz was looking for a job for a long time after he left the OU. He must have hit very bad times if he joined up with Sourkrauss & Epstein to encourage adultry & poligamy.
he was worried that the OU might bashmutz him..& he wouldn't be able to marry off his children-He did pretty well on his own.
A majority owner in this company is a criminal wanted by Interpol.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8669024
G. Willi-Food Announces That its U.S. Subsidiary - WF Kosher Food Distributors Ltd. - Closes Doors of its Operations; WF Files Complaint for $10M Against Seller of U.S. Operations
YAVNE, Israel, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- G. Willi-Food International Ltd. (the "Company" or "Willi Food"), one of Israel's largest food importers and a single-source supplier of one of the world's most extensive range of quality kosher food products, today announced that its U.S. subsidiary - WF Kosher Food Distributors Ltd. ("WF") - has ceased the activities of its operations effective immediately. WF has filed a complaint in the New York Supreme Court against the seller to WF of the operations and assets of Laish Israeli Food Products Ltd. ("Laish") for losses incurred resulting from inaccurate representations made by the seller in connection with the sale of Laish assets to WF, and from the seller's malicious interference with the U.S. operations of WF after the sale of the operations to WF.
WF also intends to file a complaint against certain Israeli vendors that provided it with products not in accordance with the agreed upon terms.
Restaurant owners should be aware that serving food on a Taanis to someone who is obligated to fast (as opposed to a sick person for example - who may eat) may involve the issur of Lifnei Iver - "Placing a stumbling block before a blind man". Therefore, the decision of whether to remain open on a Taanis should be discussed with a Rov.
ReplyDeleteS"U Maharsham 6:11, S"U Bais Shlomo 38, Yalkut Yosef - Moadim 530
Ever notice how some Boro Park pizza stores are packed on taanesim with Chassidishe guys stuffing their faces? Even if they are sick, they are not supposed to do this befarhesya.
Some of Telshe-Chicago’s staunchest supporters were talking last night and were furious. With the dramatic rise of at-risk kids in Chicago, the increased efforts of the Jews for J in Chicago to grab the hearts of these kids, the thousands of dollars paid to therapists to help Chicago’s own kids rebuild their lives, the tragic newlywed divorces in town, and Rabbi Levin is worried about a criminal in Flatbush, he’s worried about politics in Cleveland. What’s the man thinking?
ReplyDeleteFrom an objective pov: carefully researched and not the usual revisionist history with which many have been brain washed,about the "Oihev Yisroel" of BB.(I am definitely not a Chabadnick).I just can't stand the BS that's paraded as truth.
ReplyDeletea) Rav Shach was a regular run-of-the-mill Talmid-Chacham; nothing special. Sure, ehr hot zich geveikt in lernen, but there were and are many Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva, Kollel Yungerleit and Baalei Batim who can be described the same. Admittedly, he was known for having a quick grasp, but ultimately that doesn't add up to much.
(anyone ever hear of the "sinai v'oker harim", the "pe'er hador" etc. etc. R' Meir Todros Zilber of Yavazhna? I didn't think so).
This is how it was for the first fifty years of his life.
b) Rav Shach did not grow up with an ideology; his wife was an affirmed Zionist who was later rumored as having campaigned for the left, his son was a mechalel Shabbos etc. etc. all he knew of was his simple lifestyle with which he grew up, and nothing else.
c) Rav Shach arrived in Eretz Yisroel and was greeted by... no one. He tried seeking a job at Tomchei T'mimim of either Lod and Kfar Chabad, but in the Bachurim and the Hanhala's view, his Chiddushim/hasbara were not too impressive. The Hanhala debated whether to accept him, and the majority's opinion was negative.
Instead, he accepted a position at Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, R' Moshe Avigdor Amiel (author of the unparalleled and brilliant "Hamidos L'cheker HaHalacha) 's Yeshivat Hayishuv Hachadash in Tel Aviv. This was a "Yeshiva Tichonit" similar to Ramaz and MTA.
The move in itself was not unusual, as this was a time of fluctuation for the Litvishe, as there were natural trends to the right and to the left, and one could get swept in either direction.
He then left and joined the Novharodoker Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, but he soon was appointed as a Ram in yet another Yeshiva Tichonit: Yeshivat Hadarom in Rechovot, in the company of luminaries such as R' Yehuda Amital, and R' Mordechai Breuer.
Hemshech yavo be"h
Abbreviated
ReplyDeleteNew york magazine piece this coming issue, up on web already
A more typical American scene would be hard to imagine: a young mother and her daughter in Wal-Mart. Yet as she pushed the shopping cart with the 4-year-old Esther Miriam sitting, princesslike, in the child’s seat, Sterna Gittel Grunwald (call her Gitty), her five-one frame nicely defined in snug black jeans and white cotton shirt, kept an eye out for spies.
The Satmar Hasidim from Kiryas Joel, the Catskill village where the now-23-year-old Gitty grew up, only came to Wal-Mart for the big sales. There was something about the store’s dizzying display of cheesy American choice that made the townspeople nervous, Gitty thought. But still, in KJ, you could never be too paranoid.....
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
ReplyDelete(St. Louis) June 26, 2008 -- David Kramer pled guilty to 2 counts of
ReplyDeletesexual molestation of a minor and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Below is a portion of the remarks made by the victim's father as part
of the Impact Statement that was stated before the judge. The father felt that these remarks were worthy for the broader Jewish community to hear.
...this sentence sends an important and much needed message to the Jewish community, and society at large: namely; there shall be zero tolerance of sexual abuse and molestation of children. We the parents, leaders and clergy have to stand up for our children, and
put our children first. Certain rabbis can't continue to shield
predators. Parents have to report predators who assault their
children. People in the Orthodox community must know: molestation is wrong and evil. Instead of the focus being on raising money for high priced attorneys to defend the predators --- let's support our children and put them first.
As a reaction to the case of David Kramer, Rabbi Ze'ev Smason was
involved in the creation o of 'Our Precious Children' -- a non-profit
organization dedicated to helping Jewish survivors of child sexual
abuse in the St. Louis area.
Rabbi Smason shared:
I was stunned both by the community resources and money that were gathered and collected for David Kramer and his defense fund AND the deafening silence when it came to verbal and monetary support for the child survivor, his family, and Our Precious Children. The family
told me that every morsel of support that they did receive, though, was greatly appreciated. Now that the sentence has been handed down, we're all hopeful that there's a degree of closure and the child survivor and family can move on.
There are other cases of sexual abuse and sex offenders here in our community. The obstinance of parents and clergy is stunning. For example, I warned one family who often hosts a certain "alleged" sex
offender who was kicked out of his home by his wife. The husband of
this host family said, 'we'll continue to keep having him over as a guest. I watch him carefully, and he doesn't show any interest in my children.' In another case, a family I know whose daughter was molested didn't report the abuse because ''our rabbi told us not to report it."
The needs of the survivor and family require support both for rape crisis counseling, as well as encouragement from the community to letthe survivors know that they are not alone.
Our Precious Children (St. Louis, MO) www.OurPreciousChildren.com
You think it's fun being right all the time?
ReplyDelete--------------------------
Inflation grows at fastest pace in 27 years
June wholesale prices surge 1.8%, propelled by soaring gas and food costs; biggest monthly rise since November.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy showed the depth of its twin problems on Tuesday, slow growth and rising inflation, as the nation wrestled with a teetering financial system, a slumping dollar and rising prices for food and fuel.
The Labor Department reported that soaring costs for gasoline and food pushed inflation at the wholesale level up by a bigger-than-expected 1.8% in June, leaving inflation rising over the past year at the fastest pace in more than a quarter-century.
Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up 9.2%, the largest year-over-year surge since June 1981, another period when soaring energy costs were giving the country inflation pains.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was better behaved in June, rising by just 0.2%, slightly lower than expectations.
Retail sales: A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that all the economy's problems were weighing on the consumer. Retail sales edged up by a tiny 0.1% in June, weaker than had been expected, as consumer spending was held back by a sharp plunge in sales at auto dealerships.
Stocks: U.S. stocks headed for a sharply lower open as the reports on inflation and retail sales failed to cool concerns about the financial sector. Banking stocks were pounded on Monday despite the government's efforts to calm concerns with a support package fashioned over the weekend for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fed: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who was scheduled to deliver his midyear report on the economy to Congress on Tuesday, was expected to highlight the threat posed by inflation pressures. The central bank at its June meeting brought an end to an aggressive rate-cutting campaign that had been designed to keep a prolonged housing slump and severe credit crunch from pushing the country into a deep recession.
The central bank is currently caught between the opposing forces of rising inflation and slumping economic growth.
Rising prices, weaker sales: For June, energy prices at the wholesale level shot up by 6%; the price of unleaded regular gasoline surged by 9% following an even bigger 9.6 % increase in May.
The 0.1% rise in retail sales was even weaker than the 0.4% gain that analysts had been expecting.
That small rise reflected a 3.3% drop in sales at auto dealerships, offsetting a big 4.6% jump in sales at gasoline stations, an increase that largely mirrored last month's huge jump in pump prices.
First Published: July 15, 2008: 8:52 AM EDT
Where did you dredge up that Chabad propaganda? Ask the alter Mirrers about the long train rides they took to Kletzk to speak to Rav Schach in learning. That's right - Kletzk in Lita - where Rav Schach gave a shiur before the war.
ReplyDeleteYishuv Hechodosh is NOT similar to the coed Ramaz. Yishuv has long been populated by Europeans who learned in Litivishe yeshivos, some of whom went on to Lakewood. The level of learning in Yishuv is top notch. Most American bochurim wouldn't last long there. There is then a farher at the end of the year on the every blatt with Rishonim & reid. Rav Amiel himself was a rov back in Lita.
Funny how you left out Ponivizh. What now? Are you going to come back with some preposterous claim that any yokel can become rosh yeshiva there?
You fool! Avi Ezri is a major work on the Rambam. You should to Rav Schach ztl's kever with a minyan to beg his mechila.
Why don't you contact the Board of Advocates for Jewish Children? They werw written up in the Five Towns Jewish paper which gave contact information. They are lobbying for fingerprinting and background checks in non-public schools.
ReplyDeleteP.S. It's pretty sad that we need a group of mothers against sexual abuse. Apparently too many mothers are not against it, which is why Torah Tmimah continues to thrive.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/07/looking-for-help-from-tzibur_13.html
ReplyDeleteAnd the Noi'efes is still the head of "tzinius" at Yeshiva of Manhatan Beach Day school- Noi'ef & Noi'efes are spending nights together, no Get & no Heter Mai'yah.
Anonymous said...
When Mendel Epstein is involved in these finsterra maaysos, you often find Rabbi Belsky tagging along.
When it came to the shmutzigga maaysa in Las Vegas, the 2 of them were involved with Leibowitz I believe and others. They only backed down after the National Council of Young Israel went public against them and forced them with lawyers to back down.
They were also involved with the bogus bittul kiddushin at Scheinerman's shul until the gedolim came out against them. A convicted criminal from Stretin who was convicted together with the director of Epstein's "Iggud Haganovim" put up the 250k payment.
UOJ has all the tzetlach from the gedolim posted on his blog.
Anonymous said...
I forgot to mention that Chaim Krauss was also involved in the Las Vegas scandal.
It's also worthwhile to learn the circumstances why he had to leave Yeshiva of Brooklyn, then Machon Bais Yaakov. It may explain why he is so interested in this shmutz.
Anonymous said...
This girl has got some major issues. What i find weird is that she still walks the streets with tons of friends as if she did no wrong.
Anonymous said...
The Noiefes heads the Tzinus dept of Manhatan Beach Day School, What does the principal (Goldstein) have to say about it? "She has first hand experience" that's why she heads it.
Anonymous said...
Has the no'ef been cannonized yet by the Yated as a "noted askan"? It seems that various criminals & lowlives have a better chance of the newspaper bestowing them with that title.
Long Live Rav Shach and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
ReplyDeleteUOJ & Yudel have no evidence of adultery.
ReplyDeleteMaran Rav Belsky poskened that there have to be 2 eidim of machechol bashfoferes.
I'm afraid your the one that's been brainwashed by the history revisionists about the "tzoirer Hayhudim" of Bnai Brak.Your putting to much faith in Fartscroll for your "insider" information.
ReplyDeleteI am not a member of Chabad in any form or way and did not use any of their so called propaganda.In fact I am what some people would call an "Anti" but on this issue they happen to be right.I didn't depend on third hand information but spoke to various chreidishe, Litveshe guys who were there in those early years.
Do you only come out of the woodwork when "Maran"is being attacked? You seem to love that lovely name of yours.I see you used it when attacking some other individual who attacked your idol.
Take a look at the mirror.You'll see some true hogwash.
Yes indeed. Here are but a few snippets of what this hatemonger had to say about true gedolim of the last generation or two...
ReplyDeleteOn 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.
On 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.
On 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.]
On 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!”
Of course there are also his vile diatribes against Rabbi Menachem Kasher, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok HaKohain Kook, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi M.M. Schneerson, and…...
The bulk of his writing are full of such outrageous hate and stupidity, that one might be accused of forgery for quoting them. However it seems that this mekatreg-al-hayehudim has left behind some brainwashed followers who can't even read. I will, if necessary, follow-up with excerpts of his 'Michtavim u'Maamarim' that will leave no doubt as to what a reckless rodef R. Schach actually was.
It's mamash a toyeless for the noyaif and noyefess to be named so we can yell at the Agudah Fressers to stop this travesty!
ReplyDeleteSo lemaan kvod shomayim, what are their names? I will do the mitzva tzu mefarsem zein all over Sullivan County.
Cheating husband is Yossi Kleinman-was living in Bayswater. He was a
ReplyDelete"rebbe" in some kiruv school. He lost his job once someone informed
the school of his doings.
The girl he was cheating with was also working in the same school. Supposedly they both called in sick on the same days and spent time together.
His father is a bigshot At The Agudah and with one of the kiruv organizations dunno which one-lives on Bedford Ave in
Flatbush-owns "The Americare companies"http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5761/behar/adinner.htm
The lady he was cheating with her name is Effy Saftlas nee Kariti from Staten Island.
NEWS
ReplyDeleteAgudath Israel of America 79th Anniversary Dinner
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Agudath Israel of America will pay tribute to three renowned Torah activists at its upcoming 79th Annual Dinner, to be held May 20 at the New York Hilton Hotel.
The organization's Rabbi Aharon Kotler Memorial Award will be presented to Elly Kleinman, president and CEO of the Americare Companies, a group of companies that are major providers of home health and rehabilitation services throughout 14 counties in New York State. A national officer and member of the Vaad Hanhala of Agudath Israel of America, Mr. Kleinman has participated in Agudath Israel missions to Washington and served as a delegate on the Am Echad mission to Eretz Yisroel. He is also actively involved in numerous Torah and chesed institutions here and in Eretz Yisroel, including Sinai Academy, Torah Academy of Brooklyn, Yeshivas Hatalmud-Adelphia, Yeshivas Or Dovid-Yerushalayim, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Yoseph-Yerushalayim, Bikur Cholim of Boro Park, and Hatzolah of Flatbush. Mr. Kleinman is an active member of Bais Hamedrash Bais Yitzchok-Tenke in Flatbush. He and his wife, Brochie, have three children and five grandchildren.
David Axelrod: architect of Obama's unlikely campaign By Amanda Paulson
ReplyDeleteTue Jul 15, 4:00 AM ET
Chicago - These days, it's hard to remember a time when Barack Obama wasn't a front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
But last fall, Sen. Obama was down 33 points in one national poll, Hillary Rodham Clinton was the presumptive nominee, and Obama's campaign staff was under enormous pressure to shake things up and try a different tactic.
They didn't.
That decision – to stick to a largely positive message rooted in hope and change, convinced it was the one that would resonate with the public – is due in large part to Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod.
"Barack was the insurgent here, and he won, and that's a testament to Barack and to David, because history is against the insurgent," says Rahm Emanuel, a Democratic congressman from Illinois and a friend of Mr. Axelrod. "These guys decided to double down on 'change' ... They took a gamble that people's attitudes would still be hungry for more of the same."
As political scientists dissect just what happened between last fall and this spring, and how a junior senator with a funny name and little experience on the national stage was able to dethrone the Clintons, much of the credit will likely go to Axelrod – and to what is a pairing of candidate and adviser who are unusually well suited to each other.
He's Obama's answer to Karl Rove, the big-picture architect of the campaign who always seems to have his pulse on what will resonate with voters. But he's also, say colleagues, a rarity among political advisers: someone who still carries the idealism that got him started in the business.
"In a world where cynicism reigns supreme, he's a believer," says David Wilhelm, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who got to know Axelrod in 1984 when they were both working on the campaign of former Illinois Senator Paul Simon.
Axelrod cut his political teeth at age 13 as a boy living in Stuyvesant Town when he sold bumper stickers and buttons for Robert Kennedy's campaign.
"The times made people focused on politics, and David in particular," says Robert Swidler, a lawyer in Troy, N.Y., who grew up with Axelrod.
The assassinations of Kennedy and of Martin Luther King Jr. had a big impact, says Mr. Swidler. "You had to fight against disillusionment and cynicism and becoming angry. David just became committed."
Axelrod moved to Chicago for college, then spent several years as a rising young political reporter at the Chicago Tribune before deciding that he preferred practicing politics to writing about it, leaving to work for Simon's senatorial campaign.
While he's worked for a few "really bad machine hacks" over the years, there have been fewer and fewer of them as Axelrod became established, says Don Rose, a Chicago political consultant and early mentor of Axelrod.
And over the years he's mounted an impressive roster of clients – including Representative Emanuel, Sen. Herb Kohl, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
He has a close relationship with longtime Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, a client for 20 years, and he's done campaign work for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, and Sen. Chris Dodd – all vying for the nomination this year. But apparently Axelrod never has believed in a client as much as he does in Obama. "It's one of those things, where you pray for the day when you meet the right candidate and you meet at the right moment, and David Axelrod has done both of those," says Mr. Wilhelm.
Both men are from Chicago, and Axelrod first met Obama 15 years ago when Obama was a 30-year-old community organizer. Their friendship was solidified during Obama's 2004 run for the US Senate. Axelrod ran his campaign despite the fact that Obama was a little-known state senator who seemed to have little chance of beating his well-funded opponents.
Axelrod has a talent for mining his clients' biographies for details that will resonate with voters, and in Obama, he has found a uniquely American story to work with.
"David understands that the candidate himself – the candidate's values, the candidate's story – are what drives the message of the campaign," says Forrest Claypool, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and Axelrod's partner when he first began a political consulting business. "One of his strengths is to tie the individual story of candidates to the message and values that they're conveying on the campaign trail."
Axelrod doesn't shy away from negative campaigning, and colleagues point to some brutal ones he has run in the past. But in Obama, he sensed that the message that would resonate – and that was most natural to his client – was one that focused on ideals, hope, unity, and change.
Indeed, since Obama announced his candidacy on a frigid Saturday in February of last year – telling the crowd of an "unyielding faith that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it" – that core message has remained largely unchanged. Axelrod "had the initial vision of how this campaign might succeed," says John Kupper, a partner at Axelrod's firm.
"To make this decision to run is a huge personal sacrifice and commitment. Barack didn't want to be out chasing rainbows here," he says. "I think David is the guy who felt that Barack had a winning message and saw the path and put together a team that could help execute that plan."
Still, the success of that message was tested over the months, as Obama continued to trail in the polls and many pushed the campaign to increase attacks on Clinton or to shake up the campaign.
Both observers and those inside the campaign give much of the credit for resisting that pressure not just to Axelrod, but to the team that he and Obama built up.
Many of them had worked together for years, and they were selected in part for their ability to work as a team – starting with David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager. Many credit Mr. Plouffe, who is a partner in Axelrod's firm and a longtime friend, with the ultimately successful decision to eschew traditional wisdom and focus on rural and caucus states.
The seamlessness of the operation bore a stark contrast to the constant bickering and shake-ups within the Clinton organization, a far more typical model for presidential campaigns.
"Oftentimes, presidential campaigns are organizations of ill-fitting pieces jammed together by competing power centers," says Mr. Claypool. "That results in rivalries, turf wars, backbiting, intrigue, and drama – all the things missing from this campaign."
Axelrod, Claypool and others say, is a collegial manager who values – and actively seeks out – others' opinions. He's constantly obsessing over whether he got something right and he seeks out countering viewpoints – a trait many say he shares with Obama. The two have meshed well together in other ways as well, including the premium both place on language and the power of words.
Referred to by many in the campaign as "keeper of the message," Axelrod has a knack for honing the phrases and ideas that will resonate with everyday voters – and for anticipating and dealing with attacks.
"He's got what musicians would call perfect pitch," says Mr. Rose. "That's something you can develop, but a great deal of it is inherent."
Emanuel, a close friend who had Axelrod sign the ketubah (the Jewish marriage covenant) at his wedding, remembers his first run for his north Chicago congressional district, when he was criticized as being a wealthy outsider.
Axelrod created an ad with a Chicago policeman endorsing him – revealed at the end of the commercial to be Emanuel's uncle. "One-third of the Chicago police department lives in my district. It grounded me here," says Emanuel.
When Axelrod ran Mayor Daley's first campaign, he anticipated the criticisms that the sometimes awkward Daley wasn't up to the job. He ran an unconventional ad in which Daley told his audience that he might not be the best speaker, but he knew how to lead a city.
"It took away in one fell swoop the most likely line of attack," says Wilhelm.
With Obama's campaign, Axelrod has dealt with several crises – most notably regarding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright – and he's now gearing up for an even more brutal fight in the general election.
As a bigger operation, the campaign has had to hire many more people and delegate more decisions, and some worry whether that same collegial dynamic can be maintained. "The circle is expanding, more people are involved, and it becomes an even bigger management challenge," says Mr. Kupper. "But I think we've tried to put a premium on bringing aboard people who we like and respect."
The campaign has already signaled a few unconventional strategies since clinching the nomination, from the decision to campaign seriously in as many as 25 states to the announcement that Obama will give his acceptance speech in Denver's Invesco Field, which can seat more than 70,000 people – a move reminiscent of John F. Kennedy, the last candidate to accept the nomination in a stadium.
It remains to be seen whether the message Obama and Axelrod crafted together will hold up through November, or resonate as well with general election voters as it did in the primary. But observers say the campaign, so far, will go down in history books as a premier example of how an underdog can take on the establishment.
"This was truly a marathon, not a sprint, and I don't think Barack Obama ever really lost a sense of what he was trying to accomplish," says Wilhelm. "I look at Axelrod and the team, and the fact that they were able to persevere and win in the face of the extraordinary challenge represented by Senator Clinton and the national campaign organization that she put on the field as being one of the seminal achievements of modern-day politics."
DISGUSTING! CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER WANTS TO LIVE CLOSE TO A SHUL:
ReplyDeleteIn People v. Oberlander, 2008 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4111 (Sup. Ct. Rockland Co., June 18, 2008), a New York trial court rejected a free exercise challenge by plaintiff to a violation of probation order that had been issued against him. Yoel Oberlander moved to an area that was off imits to convicted sex offenders. He claimed that as an observant Orthodox Jew he needed to live within walking distance of a synagogue, and that he could find no permissible site in the Town of Ramapo, his selected town, that met this requirement. The court however rejected his claim, stating: "The defendant's 'need' to live in Ramapo is no stronger than those of the potential victims within the town that share the same religious beliefs. The State has validly exercised its police powers to protect vulnerable citizens of all religions, in Ramapo, and throughout Rockland County. Undoubtedly, a compelling government interest in the legislation has been demonstrated."
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/07/secret_tapes_show_that_li_rabb.html
ReplyDeleteSecret Tapes Show That L.I. Rabbi Who May Topple Olmert Has a Threatening History
Morris Talansky is the ordained rabbi, former Great Neck macher, and sometimes successful businessman who may bring down the government of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. In May, Talansky told Israeli prosecutors that he delivered envelopes of cash to Olmert, which he claimed were for both campaign and personal expenses. Olmert insisted on cash, Talansky said. “I just didn’t really understand the system in Israel,” said Talansky, and so he acquiesced.
But in cross-examination scheduled for this week in Israel, Olmert’s lawyers are expected to paint the roly-poly 75-year-old Talansky as an aggressive, threatening businessman who has long had a reputation as a bully. Talansky has characterized himself as a naïve lover of Israel taken advantage of by a cunning politician.
A transcript of secret tapes obtained by New York Magazine suggests that Talansky can indeed be willful and determined, and even threatening.
Twenty years ago Talansky invested in a Pittsburgh office building which quickly went bust. He felt he’d been fleeced by the sellers, among them a couple of Long Island rabbis.
In the 29-page handwritten transcript, Talansky demanded his money back at meetings and in phone calls, which were secretly recorded. If he didn’t get it, he said, there’d be consequences. At one point an angered Talansky suggested that a bomb would be placed in the car of Richard Penzer, the lead seller on the building. One rabbi confronted Talansky over this.
“There were threats mentioned about blowing up his” — Penzer’s — “car,” he told Talansky.
At first Talansky denied that any threats had been made, then he acknowledged the bomb threat.
“Yeah, okay,” he conceded. “That was the anger when millions of dollars are at stake.”
Talansky, who one participant at the meetings described as a “wild man,” also introduced a mysterious character named Bernie into discussions. Bernie, he said, had lost a lot of money in the deal. No one ever met Bernie. But Talansky, Bernie’s confidant, let the rabbis know that Bernie was not someone to be trifled with. The transcripts make clear that the rabbis were afraid. For good reason: Bernie apparently wanted to kill one of the participants before Christmas.
Is he “some type of Mafia guy?” one rabbi asked.
Another participant responded, “That’s what Talansky implies … Someone told me this guy Bernie is someone you want to stay away from.”
The rabbis grew more frightened when, on Sunday morning, January 19, 1992, three bulky “goons” showed up at the Lawrence, New York, home of Richard Penzer. One of them, Michael Sciotto, later said that he’d gone to collect a debt for Morris Talansky, according to Sciotto’s affidavit.
“I was petrified,” says Penzer. “I had young kids at home.”
Sciotto later changed his story. After viewing a photo of Talansky, he said the person who sent him to Penzer’s door wasn’t Talansky, but someone who said he was Morris Talansky.
Talansky’s career has involved more than one charge of aggressive behavior. He’s currently under investigation by Nassau County for allegedly assaulting his 84-year-old former dentist over a bill dispute. Once he accosted Fed Schulman, a former business associate he claimed owed him $300,000, according to a police report filed by Schulman. Later a man calling himself “Rocco” and an associate began showing up at Schulman’s office. He claimed he’d bought the $300,000 note. He left threatening messages on Schulman’s phone, one of which Schulman recorded. Schulman’s attorney, Sheldon Gopstein, summarized the message this way: “We’ve been patient long enough. You owe us $300,000 … Me and my partner are going to come up there.”
—Steve Fishman
Does Oberlander have a problem with neighboring Orange County? There is a daily minyan at Otisville.
ReplyDeletePolice show up at IndyMac Branches in Encino, Northridge as waiting customers clash
ReplyDeleteBy Andrea Chang and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
July 15, 2008
Los Angeles police were dispatched to IndyMac Bank branches in Encino and Northridge this morning when customers waiting to withdraw money became irate after several people tried to cut in line on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.
Police told customers to remain calm or face arrest as they tried to withdraw their money.
Three police units were dispatched shortly after 8 a.m. amid reports of a disruption outside branches at 17050 Ventura Blvd. in Encino and 8726 Tampa Ave. in Northridge, LAPD Officer Ana Aguirre said.
As many as 80 people were waiting outside the Encino branch when several people tried to cut in line, LAPD Officer April Harding said. Order was quickly restored at the branch and private security guards stood watch, with police acting as backup.
As the morning wore on, customers leaned over a metal railing separating them from a row of security guards and yelled complaints. The main point of contention surrounded a sign-up list that was started late Monday after many customers gave up and left for the day.
"He promised us there would not be a list," one woman yelled at a security guard. "We don't know who to believe!"
As tensions rose, customers began pointing fingers at one another and trying to cut in line.
"Listen to me, lady," Mahvash Barjasteh, 51, a loan broker from Woodland Hills said to a guard. "I was in front of him."
She was told to get to the back of the line.
Police left the branches at about 11:30 a.m. reporting no arrests or injuries.
Federal regulators seized Pasadena-based IndyMac on Friday and reopened the bank Monday under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Deposits to $100,000 are fully insured by the FDIC.
Worried customers with deposits in excess of insured limits flooded IndyMac Bank branches on Monday, demanding to withdraw as much money as they could or get answers about the fate of their funds.
When it was clear some wouldn't get in before closing, FDIC employees apparently took down names and told them to return today.
By 9:30 a.m., there were more than 100 customers waiting in two lines -- one for people who had put their names on the list Monday, and one for everyone else. Many brought their own lawn chairs and umbrellas. Cars passing by on Ventura Boulevard honked in support.
Joanne Knauss, 40, returned to the branch this morning after being turned away on Monday, when customers in line began chanting: "Give us numbers!"
"It's only fair -- we were sitting in line for so many hours," said Knauss, an attorney from Woodland Hills. Officials "literally didn't know what to do."
Barjasteh, though, complained that she had set up an appointment for 10 a.m. but arrived to find that the staff wasn't honoring it.
"They have to honor their word. How can I trust? They told me 10 o'clock," she said. "I honored their word. Can you believe this is how they're treating people?"
At one point, a security guard took to blocking the entryway to the Encino branch to prevent angry customers from trying to barge in. IndyMac and FDIC staff members came out to repeatedly apologize and try to soothe the crowd, but were met with screams.
"Two days I'm out of work because I'm standing here and they have no solution," said Hanita Horowitz, 44, an aesthetician from Woodland Hills. "They think we have time on our hands."
Real estate appraiser Don Hinoj, 48, of Sherman Oaks, was vacationing with his wife in Salt Lake City when he heard about the takeover. The couple drove all day Monday to return to Southern California to check on their money.
"I don't know if I'll get in there today," Hinoj said outside the Encino branch. He said he had one money market account and two certificate of deposits at the bank. All told, they contained "over half a million dollars, money I worked all my life for," he said.
Hinoj said he came to the branch Wednesday before leaving on his trip and was told by the manager that his money was safe.
"I regret that. Had I known that was going to happen, I would have taken my money out," he said. "My business is slow on top of everything else. . . . I'm missing work today and I'm going to miss work until I resolve this issue."
Staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this story.
andrea.chang@latimes.com
andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
Hahaha! dese shoytim are lining up a gantze tog by da bank and fighting over deir money. Me and Belsky are safe mit money in da mattress.
ReplyDeleteCourt: Queens Civil Supreme
ReplyDeleteIndex Number: 011358/2007
Case Name: KLEINMAN, JOSEPH vs. KLEINMAN, BLIMA
Case Type: Matrimonial Contested
Track: Standard
Upstate RJI Number:
Disposition Date:
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Deadline:
Calendar Number:
RJI Filed: 05/02/2007
Jury Status:
Justice Name: SIDNEY F. STRAUSS
Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
MALLOW, KONSTAM & HAGER Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
321 BROADWAY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10007
212-964-7990
Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
ESTHER A. MACNER, ESQ.,P.C. Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
26 COURT ST.,
BROOKLYN,NY 11242
(718)233-2976
The trial started 13 months ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/fcas/FCAS_docs/2008MAR/4000185142007100SCIV.pdf
ReplyDeleteNEW YORK SUPREME COURT - QUEENS COUNTY
Present: HONORABLE ALLAN B. WEISS IA Part 2
Justice
MARTIN KLEINMAN, x Index
Number 18514 2007
Plaintiff,
Motion
- against - Date December 5, 2007
JOSEPH S. KLEINMAN and Motion
BLIMA KLEINMAN, Cal. Numbers 9, 10
Defendants. x Motion Seq. Nos. 1, 2
The following papers numbered 1 to 37 read on this motion by
plaintiff for summary judgment in lieu of complaint pursuant to
CPLR 3213 for the principal sum of $300,000.00, together with
attorneys’ fees and costs and disbursements; this cross motion by
defendant Blima Kleinman to void the subject promissory note, to
join this action for trial with the matrimonial action, Kleinman v
Kleinman, Index No. 11358/2007, pursuant to CPLR 602(a), or for
leave to deem the cross-motion papers to constitute an answer with
affirmative defenses, counterclaims and cross claims, to award
punitive and exemplary damages against plaintiff Martin Kleinman
and defendant Joseph Kleinman “for fraud,” and to award costs and
expenses, including attorneys’ fees; and this motion by plaintiff
for a protective order quashing the subpoenas duces tecum issued by
defendant Blima Kleinman, for an award of reasonable attorneys’
fees and costs in connection with the motion, pursuant to
22 NYCRR 130-1.1 and the subject note, and to impose sanctions
against defendant Blima Kleinman and her counsel, pursuant to
22 NYCRR 130-1.1; and this cross motion by defendant Blima Kleinman
to compel the nonparty law firm of Mallow, Konstam & Hager, P.C. to
comply with the subpoena duces tecum, or in the alternative, to
compel plaintiff to produce those documents demanded in the
proposed notice to produce; this cross motion by the nonparty
Mallow, Konstam & Hager, P.C. for a protective order quashing the
subpoena issued by defendant Blima Kleinman, for an award of
attorneys’ fees in relation to this cross motion and to impose
sanctions upon defendant Blima Kleinman and her counsel.
Defendant Blima Kleinman asserts
that the promissory note itself is the product of fraud committed
by defendant Joseph S. Kleinman in collusion with plaintiff in
anticipation of Joseph’s divorce action against Blima. She further
asserts this action is in furtherance of the fraudulent scheme, designed to deprive her from recovering her share of the equitable distribution of marital assets at the time of divorce, or later to divest her of any assets which may be awarded to her as part of any equitable distribution in the matrimonial action
Court: Queens Civil Supreme
ReplyDeleteIndex Number: 005209/2008
Case Name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. vs. KLEINMAN, JOSEPH S. ETAL.
Case Type: Foreclosure
Track: Standard
Upstate RJI Number:
Disposition Date: 05/14/2008
RJI Filed: 04/28/2008
Jury Status:
Justice Name: PHYLLIS ORLIKOFF FLUG
07/03/2008 PLAINT Judgement-Foreclosure & Sale No Decided: 14-JUL-08
PD - EXP ORDER SIGNED
Before Justice: FLUG
Hey, wasn't there a Yossi Kleinman who was involved in the supposed "outing" of UOJ?
ReplyDeleteSteven I "Cannon Fodder" Weiss and the gang were hyperventilating something to that effect.
Another no'ef named Joseph Kleinman
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0075473/bio
Biography for David Berkowitz
Date of Birth
1 June 1953, Bronx, New York
Birth Name
Richard David Falco
Nickname
The Son of Sam
The .44 Caliber Killer
Born David Falco to Betty Broder. His mother had him out of wedlock when she had an affair with a married real-estate agent named Joseph Kleinman. She named him Falco after her married name - her husband Tony Falco had left her and her daughter Roslyn a few years before that. His mother gave him up for adoption to Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz who named him David Berkowitz. Being rejected by his birth mother caused David to develop an inferiority complex especially with women and thought he was unappealing to them. He worked as a postman and a security guard. In 1974 he 'heard voices' in his head that ordered him to kill.
We need a mother's group to protect children I submit we call it MASA-Mothers against Sexual Abuse please print this and I hope someone responds There are still many issues plaguing Torah Temimah and its staff and their own families who are dealing with sexual abuse in secret and it is affecting innocent lives.
ReplyDeletehttp://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/07/klaf-batim-scandal-in-eretz-yisroel.html
ReplyDeleteThe "Klaf & Batim scandal" in Eretz Yisroel
There is brewing for a few months or longer the problem with the serious kashrus concerns of the Lazer Cohen Batim which was considered over the years as "prime".
There is also a serious kashrus concern about "Klaf" (parchment) from some of the prime sources of klaf.
Whoever has first hand information including the names of the recognized Poiskim that have formed opinions on the matter...(& their stated opinions) will greatly appreciated.
Anonymous said...
i heard r' malkiel had an esek with cohen
Yudel Shain said...
DETAILS please? What was the esek?
SDR said...
The esek w/ R. Malkiel is that he got his batim from Cohen. So far I know that R' Michaels from Bkly'n and R' Dovid Aryeh Morgenstern of Yerushalayim are telling people not to fix the batim.
I also heard there was a p'sak which is not being issued. R' Michaels known qan individual that saw it by R' Nissim Karelitz. The essence of the p'sak is that there are 8 things which must be inspected. If they check out then the owner must ask a shaila if he can wear the tefillin.
I also heard from a reliable source that Cohen is STILL SELLING BATIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I can say is htat I want my $2000.00 back if that's the case.
Anonymous said...
r' malkiel got batim from cohen and after the tumel checked it out and it was pasel
Anonymous said...
and i heard that cohen went in front of r' nissim karelitz and his beis din and was modah because they showed him batim that he did that were totally pasel. they found holes in the batim which he used to cover up with stockings and painted over (he tanyed he was too under pressure thats why he did it)- not only were they not mehudar they were pasel many of them despite people paying top dollar for them because he had the name as the best. the briskers used him and were in denial about it originally and i dont know now what they say. basically its a finkel masah with tefillen. r' yankel schiff also had his batim done by him that were posel
Don't tell me that Lazer Cohen was getting oyros on the cheap from Puerto Rico?
ReplyDeleteanyone aware that rabbi rottenberg in monsey just got someone accused of olestation released in his company
ReplyDeletethe guy who is a mispallel got out with no charges
how can this be
Rabbi Rottenberg from Forshea area also made sure that everyone in Monsey is nichshul in SHATNEZ, He defends Monsey test center even after is was proven to a group of Rabonim that Monsey test center doesn't know what he is doing.
ReplyDeleteDeconstructing everyone's
ReplyDeleteHogwash
I was amazed by the fantasy that seems to substitite for reality in certain peoples minds. So a few points are in order:
Yes, it's true that Rav Shach had lots of nasty things to say about lots of yidden, including rabbonim, rebbes, and drochim. Since he's been dead a few years already, and whatever influence his hate may have had is fading, why don't we leave him alone in the 'olam hoemes' to deal with these issues quietly. He may have had good intentions in attacking everybody, but it's clear that this was and is NOT the derech hatorah as taught by our gedolim. Was the Chofetz Chaim any less of a kanoie for torah than R' Shach ?! Of course not. Could anybody even imagine the CC attacking other jews like RS ? The same goes for the Chazon Ish. He was famous for his kanous in his derech and shittos. Did he go around screaming that those who printed a sefer he didn't hold of could never do teshuvah ?! The same goes for R' Chaim Oizer, R' Chaim Brisker, R' Chaim Volozhiner, and the many true gedolim of the last generations. When we try to defend behaviour that so clearly violates Torah, we only cheapen ourselves to look like fools. Many gedolim didn't hold of R'YB Soloveichik's derech either. Did they call him a kofer and continue to fight him after his passing ?!! THIS is torah ?!
R' Shach was elevated to 'godol' status by a political apparatus terrorizing the yeshivish-velt who used him for their narrow political agendas. Do you really think that our bochurim shteighing in learning today- our future gedolim- do you really think they won't realize that the Avi Ezri is really just a mediocre collection of biurim that never was and never will be a real classic ? How stupid do you think our children are ? The haskama from the Brisker Rov proves nothing at all. For starters, the Griz gave the haskama ONLY on condition that it be printed in the sefer, so why isn't it printed in any Avi Ezri in my yeshiva's library ? Then, for anyone bothering to read through the various hakdamas to the Avi Ezri's different editions, it becomes clear that either 1)much of it was written by different people, or 2) R' Shach was a severe schizophrenic. Go into Chevron today, into R'Dovids, into the Mir, into Merkaz Harav, into any major yeshiva, and find me even one where the Avi Ezri is a major focus. The sefer is a non-event, period. And for those fools who STILL claim the Brisker Rov supported R'Shach, learn some history. R' Velvil held that it's forbidden to take any money from the medina to support the yeshivos, and that a frumer yid should not be involved with them in any way. He was furious at R' Shach for going against the derech hatorah on this, and called any money that came to the yeshivos through this as a mitzva-habo-be'avera. My own uncle was in R' Velvil zlt's yeshiva at the time, and heard from R'Velvils OWN MOUTH- "er vill mishen tumos mit taharos, vos hot er, a nayer toireh". It's well known that for this reason, even though the Griz had held of R' Shach earlier on, he later distanced him and in his last few years was quite cold to him.
Our gedolim wre not baalei-loshon hora, they were not mechrchei riv, they did NOT wage war against other derochim, they merely focused on their own. In fact, they had derech-eretz for other geonim, and didn't make sinas chinam a new 'derech'.
Does anyone know what happened at the Colmer hearing today?
ReplyDeletePlease, please don't tell me that he was able to get out on bail.
anyone aware that rabbi rottenberg in monsey just got someone accused of olestation released in his company
ReplyDeletethe guy who is a mispallel got out with no charges
how can this be
details and names or shutup!
FIND OUT WHO WAS MISSING IN THE ROTTENBERGS SHUL ON TUES AND WEDS
ReplyDeleteHIS WIFE IS ONE OF THOSE THAT COME FOR HAVDALA TO SHUL BECAUSE THE HUSBANDS ARE ALREADY ON THE WAY TO THE CASINOS OR CLUBS
WATCH YOUR CHILDREN CAREFULLY IN THE SHUL
ARE YOU AWARE ABOUT ROTTENBERG
ReplyDeletei dont know about the molesters but his mizrach wall rivals frankels for convicted felons
maybe they fight over who gets the bigger crooks
He feels laws dont apply to him
he lost the shul school fight to convert the building
his school was closed down for fire code violations
city buses pick up his children for school thru grade 10
why dont the feds just stop and check the buses
then the will know what a fraud he is while he claims only till 6 years old
always a lier that rottenberg