"To punish me for contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.
Although I'm a typical loner in daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community, of those who strive for truth, beauty and justice, has prevented me from feelings of isolation.
People flatter me as long as I'm of use to them. But when I try to serve goals which they are in disagreement, they immediately turn to abuse and calumny in defense of their own interests.
Arrows of hate have been aimed at me too, but they have never hit me because somehow they belonged to another world with whom I have no connection whatsoever.
God gave me the stubbornness of a mule and a fairly keen scent.
When I was very young, all I expected from life was to sit quietly in a corner doing my work without the public paying any attention to me. And now see what has become of me.
Many crackpots of the world frown on my work, but they are of interest to me. A favorite pastime of mine is to reconstruct their thinking process; I feel genuinely sorry for them.
Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human actions."
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
52 comments:
http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=7485
Here is a letter that Rubashkin wrote from jail where he refers to the Rebbe as "shlita".
It was always a big open secret that Rubashkin is a Meshichist but the OU and other hashgochos ignored their own rules about not certifying an avowed Meshichist. And his whole mishpocho is running the plant still for Hershey Friedman.
ARK hashgocho closes down after years of R' Yudel criticizing Yankel Reisman and the Monsey affiliate that was involved in the Moish Finkel scandal.
Avi Weiss talmidim are doing hashgochos and shechitos. These chevra are apikorsim who sit with Reform & Conservative "rabbis" on transdenominational "batei din". R' Hershel Schechter told Young Israel not to give a shteller to any of them.
http://matzav.com/assault-on-authentic-orthodoxy-continues-as-orthodox-woman-to-get-title-of-%E2%80%98rabbah-rather-than-maharat
To understand the background of this story, we highly recommend that two prior reports about Chovevei Torah, here and here, be read. The following is from a JTA report, which follows earlier developments and attempts by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sara Hurwitz, and others to redefine Orthodox Judaism and, among other things, install women in clergy positions in Orthodox shuls.
The following is from the JTA report:
An Orthodox clergywoman will now be known as “rabbah” rather than an acronym that had been created on her behalf.
Sara Hurwitz, who has been performing rabbinical duties at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York City, last year had been given the title of Maharat — a Hebrew acronym that stands for a leader in legal, spiritual and Torah matters.
But in a statement issued Wednesday, Rabbi Avi Weiss, spiritual leader of the Hebrew Institute and Hurwitz’s mentor, said the acronym had failed to take hold and that Hurwitz would henceforth be called “rabbah,” a feminized version of the title “rabbi.”
“This will make it clear to everyone that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice,” said the statement issued by Weiss’ office.
Hurwitz, who has served at the Hebrew Institute for nearly seven years, has completed the same course of training and examination as male Orthodox rabbinical students. Her curriculum was modeled after that of the male students at the liberal rabbinical school Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in Riverdale, which Weiss founded and now leads.
The JTA report can be seen here.
Two women were lightly injured and four men were arrested Saturday afternoon at the Arad Central Synagogue in violence sparked by women entering the men's section after prayers had ended. A mob of at least 100 Gerrer Chassidim reportedly hurled chairs and tables at the two women who had entered the men's section between the afternoon and evening services to get in out of the rain.
Chabad.info
One woman, age 54, was struck in the face by a chair; her 19-year-old daughter was hit in the head by a table. According to eyewitnesses, Gerrer Chassidim hurled the furniture directly at both women while cursing them and calling them “whores”.
The women, who spoke on condition that their names be withheld, said the head of the local Chabad boys' school had told told them they could enter because prayers were over and it was the closest entrance into the building.
“It had begun to rain and we were getting wet. Everyone else had already left the room and had gone into other side to start seuda shlishit, the meal between the afternoon and evening services,” explained the older woman.
The mob also broke down two of the doors leading to the smaller room where the meal is eaten, both of which were locked during services. There was other damage to the building reported to the police by one of the synagogue's sextons as well.
Disturbances were also reported Friday night, when Gerrer Chassidim reportedly formed their own prayer circle in the middle of the services already in progress, loudly chanting their own prayers and singing to drown out the rabbi.
Eyewitnesses said the provocations continued Saturday morning, with Gerrer Chassidim creating disturbances during the Bar Mitzvah celebration of the rabbi's son.
“This is going to stop,” declared the head of the board of directors, “ Yisrael Pshetitsky, as he stood near the Ark and addressed the congregation during the Bar Mitzvah. “I don't need to be told who Chabad is. I was in Russia for five years, and the only people who had the courage to make sure there was always a minyan were the Chabad Chassidim. I love Chabad.”
By 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, Arad's small police station was still processing criminal complaints; numerous people from both the Chabad and Gerrer communities were turned away and told to return in the morning to submit complaints as there was not enough manpower available to handle the load.
Police have repeatedly been called to quell disturbances at the synagogue over the past several months, and clashes have escalated between Gerrer Chassidim, who insist their greater numbers entitle them to take over the synagogue, and the Chabad Chassidim who formally merged with the congregation several months ago.
The tension between the two groups, which has simmered beneath the surface for several years, broke out into the open following the death of Rabbi Ben Tzion Lipsker, Arad's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi and the spiritual leader of the congregation for some 35 years. Lipsker's son-in-law, Rabbi Yaakov Mendelsohn, succeeded him as the synagogue's rabbi.
Bemakom Chillul Hashem Ain Cholkim Kavod LaRav.
When Torah is watered down to such a degree that a person with the title of Rav conducts himself no greater than an African-American golfer, we have a problem.
The Torah wrote the laws of Zaken Mamrei and Navi Sheker because the Torah understood that as long as their is power and benefit to be gained through leadership, there will be some unscrupulous people trying to exploit the nation's vulnerabilities. The Torah doesn't scream Lo Sassur from fraudulent masqueraders of Judaism, such people aren't given the time of day to continue to besmirch the name of Hashem further with their antics.
When the leaders of the generation sit back and silently refuse to lead out of appreciation for the positive attributes the masquerader has or for other reasons, they failed to lead and caused a greater Chillul Hashem. Daas Torah shouldn't be decided based upon the P.R. firm one hires, nor should it be decided based upon the reaction to an essay by an organizational spokesman, rather it must be based upon Torah principles and laws.
Sitting back with arms folded in refusal is not Torah and has caused a Chillul Hashem to turn into a Chillul Hashem of monumental proportion. When a Chillul Hashem is being perpetrated on such a mass scale, Ain Cholkim Kavod LaRav.
Either the American generational leaders follow the words of the Torah, or the money flow to their mosdos will be cut off completely. Tom Kaplan and Mr. Fruchthandler can't support every mossad in America by themselves. They have until February 5, 2010 to choose wisely, or seal their own fate. They must choose whether it's Kaplan's money or Hashem's Torah they are following.
U'Bacharta BaChaim!!
UOJ, did you ever independently confirm the allegations about schmeltzer, in particular the allegations of mollestation?
I appreciate what you said. Yes, if those morons would just stick to the principals they claim, within which we were raised, we would respectfully disagree. Instead so many are rank destructive hypocrites who expel reason and then resent those outside their circle who do the work of trying to call them to account.
I have few new posts that may interest UOJ readers.
Rabbi Reuven Feinstein Explains Why He Supports Tropper(Satire)http://wp.me/pFbfD-cA
Train to Become an Internet Goy (Satire) http://wp.me/pFbfD-cu
Why Tiger Woods is Better than Leib Tropper http://wp.me/pFbfD-cj
The RCA is a division of the OU who are among the biggest culprits of what these supposed RCA guidelines are supposed to put an end to.
The OU doesn't give a hoot about "significant wrongdoing" and criminal offenses if Rubashkin and Kolatin are any indication and who they continue to certify.
http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=105520
RCA Issues Guidelines to Enhance Kosher Food Producers’ Compliance with Jewish Legal and Ethical Teachings.
Among the provisions of the guidelines are:
• All US kashrut agencies are urged to adopt transparent policies for withdrawing approval from companies engaged in significant wrongdoing.
• Kashrut inspectors should have clear procedures for reporting to agencies on problems they encounter.
• Effective and equitable responses to reports of wrongdoing should be developed and implemented. There should be fair and equitable policies for following up on any problems detected.
• The Task Force also released sample materials to help ease adoption of the guidelines. In particular, they provide sample contract language for agencies to formalize their expectation of companies under their supervision that kashrus approval is dependent on law-abiding behavior, and a sample training module for kosher agency staff
The guidelines include a list of legal offenses which should be considered significant wrongdoing, including
• misleading the consumer
• neglecting the health and safety of the customer, employees, or the public; and
• mistreatment of animals.
So much for OU-RCA ethical standards.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9631145
The Federal EEOC has been coming after national food chains, including Starbucks which has many OU certified products, for fostering and covering up child sex abuse of teenage girls working at their retail outlets. Managers are forcing the girls into illegal znus. On the full report of ABC 20/20 you will see cases that if the girl or her parents complain, she gets fired but nothing happens to the manager.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was recently honored at the Aish Hatorah dinner but Starbucks has it's hands dirty in other areas as well.
http://stopstarbucks.com/articles.php
In the past few years, Starbucks has settled five labor complaints in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota that threatened to expose their unfair labor practices.
In 2008, the National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks maintained multiple policies which interfered with workers' right to communicate about the union and about working conditions; terminated three workers in retaliation for union activity; and repeatedly discriminated against union supporters.
At eight Starbucks located in the Twin Cities, the National Labor Relations Board found the company engaged in unfair labor practices to thwart workers' efforts to unionize.
Starbucks and Schultz engaged in union busting tactics at the company's Kent, Washington roasting plant in 1999, when workers wanted to unionize for regulated wages.
At a Washington state roasting plant, Starbucks workers filed local, state, and federal charges of coercion, discrimination, health and safety violations, intimidation, and physical assault.
Starbucks Washington managers have filed suit after being forced to work unpaid overtime.
The new OU glatt line at BJ's Wholesale is called American Kosher with an address in New City, outside Monsey.
A pound of completely lean, no fat visible corned beef / pastrami is only $9.99 a pound which is less than half price compared to buying in heimishe NY deli stores.
Is it takke Rubashkin that is providing the raw meat to them?
http://www.kosherblog.net/media/knishes_package.jpg
Is this the same American Kosher that used to have a plant in West Bridgewater, Mass.? Here is a picture of the OU glatt beef knishes they used to produce.
http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=286255
http://www.house.gov/list/press/ma09_lynch/SWBWorkers102907.html
Both Houses of Congress came after the parent company SWB New England for violating the Federal WARN Act when they suddenly shut down the plant without notifying the employees. SWB first opened in 1922.
When I was a dorm counselor at Mir I kicked out Shmuel Borger because I found him poaching on my thing
We went down different paths. He becanme a choir director and a videographer and I became a Rebbe. We both did quite well for ourselves.
He could have gone further if he got his temper under control.
Bizarre Connection Between Accused Rabbi and Formerly Accused Businessman
Special to the Jewish News Datawire
One was formerly the head of an orthodox Jewish organization that
dealt with facilitating the conversion process to Orthodox Judaism.
He resigned amid allegations of impropriety with a candidate for
conversion. The other was a wealthy businessman who was somehow
acquitted of accusations that he had molested two women by pretending
to be a gynecologist.
Leib Tropper is the former. Zalman Leib Silber is the latter. And
the connection between the two of them is bizarre. Apparently, this
past Sunday, the latter paid an unannounced visit to some of the
Rabbis conducting an investigation into Leib Tropper’s behavior,
asking that they drop the investigation.
Leib Tropper is the former head of the Eternal Jewish Foundation
(EJF), an organization that has in the past successfully promoted the
conversion process to Orthodox Judaism to couples that are
intermarried. EJF, among its other activities, provides scholarships
for intermarried couples to attend seminars in Judaism at various
hotels throughout the country, to promote their conversion to Orthodox
Judaism promoting something that they term “Universally Recognized
Conversions..”
It is unclear on what basis Mr. Silber had made the request and
whether or not there were any attempted threats of intimidation. It
is also unclear as to who had informed Mr. Silber as to which Rabbis
were involved in the Beth Din investigating the charges against
Tropper. A Beth Din is the Hebrew Term for a religious court.
Zalman Leib Silber is the former owner of Skyride, located with the
Empire State Building. In the summer of 2008, he was arrested in his
Monsey home and charged with a 22 count indictment regarding
allegations that he had molested two women ages 18 and 20. They were
apparently dismissed on a technicality.
Silber is a Hasidic Jew who formerly lived in Borough Park and moved
to Monsey. Prosecutors stated at the time that he fooled his victims
by saying that the exams were part of a medical survey.
Silber’s defense was that the person in question was actually not him
and that his ex-wife had instigated the charges. However, Manhattan
Assistant Prosecutor Amy Hare had argued in court that she had a
strong case against Silber, according to the Manhattan District
Attorney's Office spokeswoman Alicia Maxey-Greene.
Hare told the justice that she had two female victims, videotape of
Silber entering the doctor's office on Park Avenue where Hare
maintained that Silber had rented space. She further told the judge
that she had testimony that Silber had a card calling himself a doctor
and claimed he conducted lung transplants.
Hare also told the justice that she had moved to dismiss the
indictment based upon a technicality.
Laufer, the attorney that represented Silber, said that the case
against Silber had been dropped on legal issues.
“The real scandal here is not the association between the two, but
that someone would have the temerity to interfere with an
investigation conducted by leading and respected Rabbis,” remarked a
former colleague of Tropper.
uoj, can we deduct from your non-response to the query about schmeltzer that you have NOT been able to independently confirm the allegations?
I have been traveling much, and involved in projects that require my undivided attention.
The NMB community has much talent and resources, please select a qualified leader amongst yourselves to root out the human garbage.
Keep in touch on your progress.
McDonald's in one of the fast food chains exposed by ABC News where part time high school girls are being raped and groped by managers.
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/bios/steve_plotkin.html
Steve Plotkin serves as President, West Division, for McDonald's USA.
I do not see the problem of corned beef and pastrami being $ 9.99 a lb. I think it shows how much people have been getting ripped off till now. Costco carries 20 ozs. of Meal Mart for the same price.
Same thing for girls being raped at the Taco Bell division of YUM! Brands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_C._Novak
David C. Novak is the current Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President and Chairman of the Executive & Finance Committee at YUM! Brands Inc. Novak has also served as Chief Operating Officer of Pepsi-Cola North America, and Executive Vice President of Marketing and National Sales for the Pepsi-Cola Company. He has been an Independent Director of JPMorgan Chase & Co. since 2001. He also serves as a Director of Bank One Corporation.
Pomegranate in Flatbush is selling repackaged Meal Mart cuts that they sneakily call "homemade" for $23 a pound which is more than triple the price of Costco ($9.99 is $7.50 per pound when you get 20 ounces).
What's really gross about the Meal Mart stuff though is that it has plenty of fat but when it marinates in it's own juices while vacuum packed, the fat takes on the color of the meat and you get a surprise when biting into it.
A lawsuit filed in 1998 by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks alleged Taco Bell failed to pay them for use of the Chihuahua character they created. The men alleged that Taco Bell had breached payment on a contract after they worked with the restaurant chain for a year to develop the talking Chihuahua for use in marketing. The Chihuahua became a hit: In a commercial, the character bypasses a female Chihuahua for a Taco Bell taco and declares: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." The two men received $30.1 million in compensation plus nearly $12 million in additional interest three months later. Taco Bell in turn sued its ad agency TBWA saying it should have been aware of the conflicts. In 2009, a three-judge federal appeals panel ruled against Taco Bell.
The rap artist 50 Cent filed a federal lawsuit against Taco Bell on July 23, 2008. The suit claimed that his name was used in a print ad asking him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent as a part of the "Why Pay More?" campaign. 50 Cent was not aware of the ad until it came out, while fake letters containing the name change request were sent to the news media for promotional purposes. He sought $4 million in damages. In turn, Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said they made a good faith, charitable offer of $10,000 to 50 Cent if he would change his name to 79, 89 or 99 Cent for one day and rap his order at a Taco Bell location. On November 24, 2009 50 Cent and Yum! Brands/Taco Bell settled the suit for an undisclosed amount.
Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film Super Size Me said that McDonald's food was contributing to the epidemic of obesity in society, and that the company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald's announced that it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult happy meal.
In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the business practices of McDonald's. Among the critiques were allegations that McDonald's uses its political influence to increase its profits at the expense of people's health and the social conditions of its workers. The book also brought into question McDonald's advertisement techniques in which it targets children with brainwash-like inducements.
In 2001 the company was fined £12,400 by British magistrates for illegally employing and over-working child labor in one of its London restaurants. In April 2007 in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald's pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined AU$8,000.
I spent a lifetime learning this sugya beiyun.
Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, also known as the "McDonald's coffee case," is a 1994 product liability lawsuit that became a flashpoint in the debate in the U.S. over tort reform after a jury awarded $2.86 million to a woman who burned herself with hot coffee she purchased from fast food restaurant McDonald's. The trial judge reduced the total award to $640,000, and the parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided. The case entered popular understanding as an example of frivolous litigation; ABC News calls the case “the poster child of excessive lawsuits."
On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, ordered a 49¢ cup of coffee from the drive-through window of a local McDonald's restaurant. Liebeck was in the passenger's seat of her Ford Probe, and her grandson Chris parked the car so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. She placed the coffee cup between her knees and pulled the far side of the lid toward her to remove it. In the process, she spilled the entire cup of coffee on her lap. Liebeck was wearing cotton sweatpants; they absorbed the coffee and held it against her skin as she sat in the puddle of hot liquid for over 90 seconds, scalding her thighs, buttocks, and groin. Liebeck was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered third-degree burns on six percent of her skin and lesser burns over sixteen percent. She remained in the hospital for eight days while she underwent skin grafting. During this period, Liebeck lost 20 pounds (nearly 20% of her body weight), reducing her down to 83 pounds. Two years of medical treatment followed.
Leadership in NMB/MB-
1.Rabbis Zweig knew all about Schmeltzer but signed an agreement with him on the condition that the big dog would resign.
2. Rabbi David Lehrfield the elderly Dayyan/Chief Rabbi of NMB recently learned that not only are his conversions not accepted by the CR of Israel, but also many of his Gittin. Rabbi Lehrfield is not going after anyone.
3. Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro is Schmeltzer's brother in law. He is not going to destroy his sister's life.
4. Rabbi Bensinger has his own problems that anyone who has ever attended one of his Gemara shiurim surely knows about.
5. Rabbi Yair Shemesh's mother and wife are not Jewish in Israel. (Rabbi Lehrfield converted his wife and his mother was a volunteer nurse from Latvia in Israel in the 70s when she met his father).
6. Rabbi Yossi Marlowe of Chabad harbors his own twice convicted Rabbi/child molester Moshe Druin (call the Beis Din in Johannesburg South Africa to confirm this).
7. Rabbi Ephraim Lazerson of the BY has his own problems with little girls so he is not going to do anything about Schmeltzer.
In fact, if anything, the recent aishes ish problem (and it is a public record now) between Meisels and Rosenberg indicates that there is no Torah leadership in NMB.
The Rabbis are very busy trying to find out who used the internet despite the ban and posted about the kollel adulter. They do not have time to look into the kollel Rabbi who was caught on video with a married woman.
If you know any "leadership" or even a decent Rabbi in NMB, please direct me. I could use some counseling.
NMB
lets follow the trail
there are certain undisputable facts about shmeltzer
A. he protects molesters ( type in 33162 under the registry list of zip codes and see the name that pops up and look in the kolel to see him learning there.
b> he has a person learning in the kolel that has admitted to him he was involved with eishes ish ( the brother of his large donor)schmeltzer also used a bully pulpit to tell this mans wife not to believe what she hears and its loshon hora even though STD's were involved.
C. His kolel directors who decide where the money and accts are held are not available to the public and he takes for himself 100k plus plus . All this for supervising 7 kolel boys.
the three signators or directors that matter for the kolel are his wife mother in law and schmeltzer himself so he cant be fired.
d> schmeltzer was removed from yeshiva elementary after numerous complaints of innapropriate behavior by parents . ( check with the zwieg fanmily but they may be bound by the agreement they needed to sign to get him out )
e> where there is smoke there is fire these are indisputable facts
former students may be coming forward shortly
dear UOJ
please remove the names of the offenders and adulterres from 1.46 posting
while i agree with all that was written it isnt fair for kids in 5 years to read about their mother that way
To the NMB people and Jews everywhere:
One has choices; if you are disenchanted with the rabbinic members of your community, either find a new community to join or "aseh l'cho rav" - find a person that you can call "my rav" and open a new shul/community.
Start in a storefront; if the new rav is an man of principles, you will draw a crowd. Eventually the shul will have to buy a building for lack of space.
I've been there; I'm talking from experience. It requires strong people, unrelenting in their pursuit of emes and tzedek to accomplish this; but is important that you take this step.
If not, you chance losing all of your emunah.
Rabbi Bensinger's son learned bechavrusa with R' Aron Schechter.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/26/AR2010012600116_pf.html
In the U.S., home to the world's second-largest Jewish community after Israel, there's been no similar boycott call, said Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for the haredi Agudath Israel of America group. But he said he could identify with the rabbis' concerns.
The blogosphere "may have worthy offerings but it is saturated, too, with hatred, lies, half-truths and slander," Shafran said in an e-mail. He said when sites allow anonymous comments, "the potential for what is Jewishly wrong is magnified exponentially."
Agudath Israel of America has never maintained a Web site, Shafran said, for fear that would "send a subliminal message to people that the Web is a place they should regard as benign."
....And yet this mentally-challenged Shafran posts his drivel on Cross Currents, Am Echad Resources, and YWN.
HaGaon HaRav Yosef Rosenblum last week took part in a kinos of Bais Yaakov Boro Park teachers. They delved into the issue of the dangers of regular cellular telephone technology as opposed to the ‘kosher’ cell phones, which prohibit access to internet connectivity and the sending or receiving of SMS text messages.
At the conclusion, the teachers received a page, which they were expected to sign, committing not to bring any non-kosher cellular telephone into a Beis Yaakov facility. They also committed not to use a non-kosher phone for anything to do with students, even outside the school campus, the weekly Belz-affiliated BaKehilla newspaper reports.
dear UOJ
we the disenfranchised of NMB would like to make you an offer to become a pulpit rabbi
we will provide a new shul we just need the rabbi
It seems that I have a very different understanding of Gedolim and Jewish leadership than at least some who have posted comments. Whether born of frustration or anything else, demands (or even requests) that Gedolim “show leadership” (i.e. do what we think they should be doing) are incoherent. If a leader is a leader, it is ipso facto his choice to decide whether to do or not do something. If leaders need to hew to what some of their ostensible followers, or others, feel they should do, then they are followers, not leaders.
Yes, silence can be evil. But assuming, based one’s personal perceptions (or those of likeminded persons), that a respectable person’s silence in a particular situation is evil is an evil in its own right. And insinuating that recognized rabbonim chashuvim are useless (or worse) is profoundly wrong. “Mai a’hani lon rabbonon?” is not a sentiment Chazal considered proper, to say the least.
I realize that the sentiment may not derive from any inherent disdain of, or condescension toward, Gedolim. What I suspect is that people are insufficiently respectful of the Gedolim of our day simply because of an assumption that today’s chachomim don’t “measure up” to those of yesteryear. The truth, though, is that yesteryear’s Gedolim were criticized too by some in their time, by people who felt that they too didn’t “measure up” to Gedolim of generations yet earlier. (Even Moshe Rabbeinu, for that matter, as per the Midrash, was subject to gossip and derision.) Plus ca change… What has changed today, though, is the internet’s ability to bring together and amplify the voices and reach of critics. Yes, niskatnu hadoros (as any Godol will readily attest), but the bottom line is “Yiftach bidoro k’Shmuel bidoro.” Each generation’s Torah leaders are their Torah leaders, no less than any earlier generation’s were theirs. And let’s not forget that we, too, are part of the dor that is niskaton. Our Gedolim remain our Gedolim, the chachomim that are the einei ha’eidah for our times.
I fully recognize that the chachomim whom I consider to be those einei ha’ieda may not be the ones that others choose to follow. I respect those others’ choices and would never, chalila, disparage any Jew’s choice of a different recognized talmid chochom as his guide (even if that chochom’s approach to an issue was at odds with the position of those whom I revere). But just as I would not arrogate to judge (much less deride) that chochom’s decisions even if I personally thought they were misguided, so do I expect others to respect decisions of chachomim that I, and many thousands of others, consider to be the leaders of our generation.
All of which is not to say that any Godol is omniscient or infallible. No chochom could – or would – claim such status. It is only to say that those chachomim and their decisions about Jewish communal life deserve our respect, no less (in fact much more) than any accomplished doctor does in medical matters. One need not understand or agree with any stance to maintain respect for the one taking it. And to criticize a talmid chochom for rendering judgments about evidence entirely before him (whether a situation, an approach or a book) is, in my estimation, to chisel away at the very foundation of our mesorah, based as it is on regard for the chachomim of each generation.
Concluding that State Senator Hiram Monserrate lied about a domestic dispute in 2008 that left his companion with a gash to her face, a special Senate committee has recommended an immediate vote to remove the senator from office.
A report by the committee [pdf] determined that Mr. Monserrate, a Democrat from Queens, put his interests above the safety of his companion, Karla Giraldo, and never expressed a sincere apology.
“The decisions made that night by Senator Monserrate as to the treatment of someone he ostensibly loved and cared for, were not consistent with the obvious need to obtain swift medical care for an injury of the seriousness of Ms. Giraldo’s,” the report states. “Whether the senator was worried for his political future or not, the evidence demonstrates both recklessness and callousness.”
The nine-member committee, led by Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat from Manhattan, also found that Mr. Monserrate’s actions damaged the reputation of the Senate and demonstrated “a lack of fitness to serve in this body.”
“Accordingly,” the report states, “the Select Committee recommends that Senator Monserrate be sanctioned by the full Senate, and that the Senate vote to impose one of two punishments: expulsion, or in the alternative, censure with revocation of privileges. The Select Committee recommends that the full Senate convene to consider, debate and vote on both resolutions as soon as reasonably possible.”
Mr. Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault last year but acquitted of the more serious felony assault charges he faced, has said he would not step aside if expelled. He has also said he would immediately mount a court challenge to any attempt to remove him from office.
The report also accuses Mr. Monserrate’s staff of inappropriately trying to influence Ms. Giraldo’s statements to law enforcement officials. “The Select Committee was also troubled by the fact that three individuals who worked for Senator Monserrate appear to have been involved in ‘managing’ Ms. Giraldo in connection with the Senator’s defense in his criminal trial.”
Lakewood - A local landlord was arrested after one of his tenants told police that he had slept nude in her house, left behind condoms and possibly stole some of her property, Fox 8 News reports.
According to a Lakewood Police Department report, the 37-year-old victim told authorities that she has had an ongoing problem with her landlord -- Rak, 45, of Lakewood. She said that she received a telephone call from Rak late Friday night in which he told her that she needed to be completely moved out of the residence by Tuesday, and that he had placed all of her property into storage.
When the victim got home early Saturday morning, she found that her clothing had been placed into two large boxes. Missing, however, was some lingerie. A camera was also gone.
The victim explained to police that she was extremely frightened of Rak because of his menacing behavior, which had become increasingly more aggressive. She was so terrified that she vomited when sharing the information with police. She said that she was scared of what he might do next.
According to the victim, she had returned home in the past to find Rak sleeping nude on her couch. She had also come home to find many pieces of lingerie and condoms left behind by the landlord.
Rak was arrested later that morning and then transported to the Schenkolewski City Jail. He has been charged with menacing and petty theft.
Lakewood stories. Almost as sexciting about the one with rabbi kahan caught in Raintree with his live-in Goyte.
Why does a reputable blogspot like UOJ carry these stories? They fit better in weekly tabloids.
NMB Chaverim:
I am truly flattered by your suggestion; the best I can do is offer you advice on how to choose a rav that would meet your requirements.
If it is not a local, two years salary would have to be in a designated bank account, a board chosen, and a place leased.
Otherwise, I do not believe you would be able to attract a rav from outside the immediate area.
I am willing to help you in every way possible -
http://www.jewbyte.info/12/picturesagudath-israel-of-baltimore-celebrates-thirtieth-anniversary/5867
"It is only to say that those chachomim and their decisions about Jewish communal life deserve our respect, no less (in fact much more) than any accomplished doctor does in medical matters".
*
Dear Mr. Shafran,
How many patients does your "doctor" need to kill before you stop going to this doctor?
Fech what a putz!
And to Klal Yisroel;
“The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president.
The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.
The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president.”
You haven't seen the last of the tricks up Obama's sleeve.
His proposed budget still has his disastrous Hell-Care plan written into it. Just wait for the dirty tricks the Democrats will use to try to push it through.
And he is letting conglomerates off the hook who are using loopholes to avoid taxes overseas. He obviously has some kind of motive to lose $100 billion in revenue. What is he scheming?
And why he puts his boyish and unphotogenic Budget Director, Pe-pe-peter stuttering fool Orzag on TV is beyond me.
Rav Eidensohn proposed according to Chazal that the Tiger Woods story portended the outing of Tropper.
Is there more to the Tropper story now that RadarOnline is reporting that Tiger Woods was also with men?
They'll get food poisoning from the dreck I'm hauling!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704722304575037241392821742.html
Heists Targeting Truckers On Rise
Robberies Are "Wreaking Havoc" on U.S. Highways
I would move back to NMB if UOJ were there.
There have been several times when community members in NMB have raised money to start a shul.
1. Kahal Chassidim was 100% paid for by one donor and promised to be the no politics, all davening shul. Now Schmeltzer has full control of the building and it is a kollel for child molesters.
2. Magen David was a haven for about 8 years. I can't figure out exactly what happened there except that the building was commandeered by Messianic Lubavitchers who are "makareving" Hispanic Gentiles.
3. Rabbi Chaim Fishweicker started a wonderful shul that was hijacked by mesichisticas also.
4. There was a great Yemenite synagogue on 10th Ave that somehow got hijacked and then folded.
I am sure that there are others that I am forgetting. There are some wonderful people in NMB.
A major problem with shuls in the US is that a sincere and dedicated group of people can start a minyan, raise money for a building, even hire a good Rabbi and then one day find themselves booted out of their own building by a majority rule of charlatans and their conversion mill, whore mongering, child molesting Rabbis.
South Fallsburg is one example of what can happen to a community, but it happens all over.
A lot of very sincere, dedicated Shomrei Shabbos are home on Shabbos and that is a shame.
What I suspect is that people are sufficiently disrespectful of some self anointed Gedolim of our day, because of a track record that fails to measure up to those of yesteryear. The truth, though, is that some of our yesteryears Gedolim were even far greater than the Gedolim of previous generations. Reb Moshe Feinstein, as an example, was universally accepted and never the subject to gossip and derision. Nothing has changed today as far as the Yiftach’s in our generations, other than the powerful capability of the internet to sweep out from under the rug all those sins that have remained secret for centuries and generations; sexual abuse and the like. As chazal clearly foresaw and proclaimed that, before the coming of mashich, the sins of the evil will be exposed across their foreheads – aka through the internet.
One need and is obligated to vehemently demonstrate disrespect and chisel away at a false leadership and mesorah that was invented in our times. Rebbe Nachman of Breslav in Likutei Maran (Tinyuna) 18 writes: “it is a great sakana for someone to assert themselves as a publicly known individual or leader. Not only because he may be wearing a Talis that doesn’t belong to him (not fit for the leadership role he asserted to lead), but even if he is indeed a true servant of Hashem, Gedolai Hador are in colossal sakana with the way they lead the people. Because, a poshuta (average individual), is typically far from violating murder even if he is not always so honest, since average people don’t typically have temptations to kill, and even if he would have a sudden temptation, it’s not always so easily accessible to enact, and even when he does manage to violate, it most likely will be a-once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. However, leaders, with the way they lead the people and the way they makeup hashkafas hatorah could be violating genaiva, znus, and retsicha every second. Rachamana litzlon.”
v’hamaivin yovin
.....Is there more to the Tropper story now that RadarOnline is reporting that Tiger Woods was also with men?
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1, 2010
Mekubal's Blog: Ezekiel 8 response to assertion that Orand's conversion vindicated Tropper
This is the purported response of the Ezekiel 8 group to a post on Mekubal's Blog "Apologies are in order":
==============================
B'ezrat Hashem Yitbarach
Ezekiel 8 : Groups 12/13
Official Response
HaMekubal, your analysis is so factually baseless/mistaken it's almost an EJF-Tropper advertisement.
You seem like a an honest enough fellow; where do you get your rumours from that mislead you into this kind of blatant foolishness?
Let us point out some of the major fallacies you suffer and promulgate, in the hope that you will correct yourself promptly:
To be clear the conversion was done against Israeli Law, and against the stance of the Rabbinate.
You say this, what is your proof, do you know that that the Israeli CR didn't authorise this in advance? For the record, this BD was authorised in advance by the Israeli CR.
This Gadol stated clearly that if the tapes were true...
This Gadol obviously has some tremendous problems with Choshen Mishpat; if you/he can prove that he is privvy to ALL of the evidence, that still doesn't mean his conclusion is right, his opinion is worth no more and no less than any other uninvolved bystander. At best, he certainly was not able to see/hear all of the evidence here, "chachamim, hizharu b'dvarechem", v'hamevin yavin.
It appears that despite professional authentication of the audios and videos that they simply cannot be relied upon
These kind of statements are non-sequitors, you state something as a fact, then you draw a concrete verdict from it, with no basis. Even you "hedge", saying: "It appears", without explicity acknowledging that what "appears" is not neccessarily what is.
She was accused of ... allowing a surveilance[sic] team to set up cameras in her hotel room(on more than one occaision[sic]) to video her having illicit relations with a man and his wife.
1) Who "accused"? Why "accuse" someone of defending themselves? As it is, obviously many victims of erevRabbanim misLeaders have a difficult enough time believing hard evidence and hard facts, and it's also clear the "pilpul" dance of "make it go away" is really in full swing now.
Read and comprehend, please. She is NOT the only victim, she IS the only victim who has "gone public" (so far).
We are the surveillance team, and she and "her" hotel room wasn't the only persons or places involved, R"L.
What is more Rabbis who have recieved the full packet of evidence state that there are multiple videos of her also having relations with other men.
We repeat - THERE ARE MULTIPLE VIDEOS/AUDIOS OF TROPPER INVOLVED WITH WOMEN AND MEN (CANDIDATES FOR GIYUR, MARRIED AND UNMARRIED, AND OTHERS) WHO ARE NOT HIS WIFE, don't keep insisting that Rahel is the only victim, she is the only victim who has "gone public".
I would move back to NMB if UOJ were there.
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You're too kind!
Here's what I did. I had my eye on a candidate for the shul - he was in kollel - and over time, I encouraged him to write. His halacha bulletins are now sent to over 8000 households.
I posed different shailos to him, (really interviewing him although he did not know it).
He wanted to do kashrus part-time for the OU - I said no way Jose. It's a filthy rotten business.
Then the time came -- we rented a storefront - I made a t'nai with him, that under no circumstances can a board ever control the checkbook - that he was the board and he should surround himself with a few people he could trust to go to bat for him as the shul grew, and the inevitable troublemakers would attempt to oust him.
This model is unique - and I believe is the only one of its kind in America; I do not count Chassidishe crackpots -- unless the rabbi had his own money to open a shul in his house.
The kehilla, I'm told, has families in the hundreds and two generations of members.
Don't give up!
Schmeltzer is a cousin of the Juravel molesters. That includes Shmuel Zev Juravel, in federal prison for 22 years who was caught through an FBI sting soliciting boys on craigslist, and all the other Juravel molesters who haven't yet been caught.
checkout these sites;
rabbiniccorruptionatrcc.blogspot.com and mamzeralert.blogspot.com
you will be amazed at the blatant corruption!
kahal chasidim is not run by shmeltzer
a few crackpots wanted to give him the shul for the kolel until one guy stood up and told them he would see each guy personally
then they started to run for the hills
shmeltzer covers for molesters and eishes ish but he is not the baal habbos of kahal chasidim only because one guy sttod up to him
uoj for rav of nmb
this flyer went out
it says shmeltzer ould be replaced by a time clock and save NMB 100k for a new rabbi
Shmeltzer resign
ד
Dear Members of the NMB Kehilla,
In a few days it will be the Rosh Hashano LiIlanos, and we write this letter in a spirit of Achdus and Sholom.
During the last few weeks our kehila has been shaken by letters sent by unknowns, with an abundance of sinas chinum, against some of community bale batim and rabbonim
It is time for this garbage to stop, and we propose the following.
Individuals stop sending emails filled with untruths and threats, and we allow the rabbis to focus on their work---teaching, learning, helping members of our kehilo, and responding in a responsible manner when approached with issues that need to be addressed---and there are many.
We propose that the Community Kollel be a true COMMUNITY kolel, and that it be administered in a open & fiscally responsible way, ( Do 6 or 7 serious yingarleit need rabbinical supervision costing in excess of $100K ???? – our yeshivos are struggling to cover their payroll, and there are hungry families in our kehilo.) LET the books be visible to anyone wishing to see them .
In this time of financial crisis we propose that Rabbi A. D. Singer the Community coordinater of Development, a respected Talmid Chohom and well liked Administrator become head of the Community Kollel, and that each of our Shul Rabbis devote 3 hours a month to the Community Kollel and give a Shiur to the Yingelate. For time keeping and attendance there are timekeeping clocks… Do 6 or 7 serious yingarleit need rabbinical supervision costing in excess of $100K ????
We feel that these proposals will reduce the financial burden of our kehilo, and reduce the sinas chinum that is destroying our wonderful community.
In the spirit of Yagdil Tora vlAdira we wish our fellow community members a Shano Toivo Umesuko.
What kind of men are they to injure women? Not much of a man if you ask me. That was dispicable.
I am a former resident of NMB, it is an interesting combo of "Ir HaNidachas" and an "Ir Miklat". The native Floridians, never the sharpest tools in the shed, are easily bullied by the transplanted NYers, who are there to escape something, or are running there to be "frei". After nearly 2 years in that swamp I decided, for my children's sake to decamp. If an area's residents have to constantly sell you on how happy they are there, run for the hills. You will never attract a nice young Rav, because the spiritual stench, and dearth of educational choices for children would drive away anyone not already on the road to perdition. My educated suggestion would be to leave NMB. It was an extremely difficult decision for me, economically, but even I (who am not, unfortunately, from the biggest baalei bitachon)saw the yad hashem when I left. Hatzlocho.
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