tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post4689524843097022873..comments2024-03-27T15:07:31.495-04:00Comments on <b><center>Unorthodox-Jew </center></b> <br><small>A Critical View of Orthodox Judaism</small>: (AIG) Agudath Israel Gangsters - (AIG) American International Group - Wal*MartPaul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-1728912816868981122012-06-23T23:09:24.639-04:002012-06-23T23:09:24.639-04:00Police have not found any sign of blood on Guma...Police have not found any sign of blood on Guma's boat. Federal investigators are checking his cell phone records and GPS device.<br /><br />In 2010, Guma's mother told the media that her son has been having nervous breakdowns due to psychological terrorism from Kaplan, regarding his friend Tropper and over the $2.6 billion from the sale of Leor Energy. Tropper plays dirty so when Guma stopped giving him money, Tropper started spreading malicious rumors about Guma's wife.Mr. Ventananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-88600442525851552482012-06-22T20:09:48.019-04:002012-06-22T20:09:48.019-04:00According to R' Nuchem Rosenberg, victims of D...According to R' Nuchem Rosenberg, victims of Dascalowitz who went to the police have been hounded out from davening in Bobov Willy by Bobover Dayan Yechiel Geller & Hatzulah of Willy macher Avrum Follman.<br /><br />Sounds like it's shoin tzeit far a nuch an early morning perp walkWilly Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-87824921759261718302012-06-22T19:33:55.363-04:002012-06-22T19:33:55.363-04:00Shmarya and his groupies got very angry at Archie ...Shmarya and his groupies got very angry at Archie Bunker when he criticized beastiality advocate Peter Singer, a Professor at Princeton. All they did was scream & yell at Archie without saying anything of substance because they knew he had them on an irrefutable example of how secularism has no bounds. Shmarya then pulled the plug on Archie's IP so that he couldn't respond to their attacks.<br /><br />http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-man-charged-bestiality-case-law-loophole-article-1.1100381<br /><br />Florida authorities are powerless to prosecute a former animal shelter worker accused of performing sex acts on a dog because of a loophole in the state’s anti-bestiality laws — a development that has outraged animal activists.<br /><br />While a Sunshine State law enacted last year prohibits bestiality, it doesn’t explicitly forbid oral sex with animals, the Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday.<br /><br />Now, animal advocacy groups are calling for an amendment to the law after the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office reportedly declined to charge suspect Eric Antunes with animal cruelty for allegedly engaging in oral sex with his girlfriend’s three-legged pit-bull mix.<br /><br />Rick Chaboudy, executive director of the Suncoast Animal League, told the Tampa Bay Times he wants Florida to “do away with the gray areas” in the anti-bestiality law.<br /><br />“We need to close up this loose loophole,” Chaboudy said. “This is one of those crimes that you can’t possibly imagine that it goes on, but I’m sure at one point in time, somebody said the same thing about child pornography.”<br /><br />The alleged images were found on his cell phone, and he was arrested May 1, CBSMiami reported.<br /><br />Antunes previously worked as a contract employee at the Pinellas County Humane Society and is the live-in-boyfriend of Katerina Williamson, who also worked as the organizations’ medical director, the Tampa Bay Times said. She resigned after his arrest.<br /><br />Assistant State Attorney Beverly Andringa declined to charge Antunes with bestiality because only one of the six photos found on his cell phone “would meet the strict criteria of the statute,” she told the Tampa Bay Times.<br /><br />In addition, officials were not sure if that picture was taken before the new laws went into effect, potentially making the case difficult to prosecute, the newspaper said.<br /><br />Williamson and Antunes declined to comment to the newspaper.<br /><br />Twila Cole, the Humane Society’s director of development, told CBS Miami that Antunes “was never on the property working unsupervised.”<br /><br />Another Humane Society employee, Eric Eagle, remembered Antunes as a “strange” man who never talked to anyone besides Williams, he told the Tampa Bay Times.<br /><br />Despite Antunes’ odd behavior, Eagle added, he never thought his former co-worker had a different kind of affinity for dogs than most people.<br /><br />“That is sick,” Eagle told the newspaper of the allegations. “I didn’t see anything like that.”Shmarya gets resultshttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-man-charged-bestiality-case-law-loophole-article-1.1100381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-86958999586481295332012-06-22T19:22:10.170-04:002012-06-22T19:22:10.170-04:00http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/18827095/church-a...http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/18827095/church-abuse-victim-faces-trial-for-beating-priest?obref=obinsite<br /><br />Reminds me when I got beaten up at the bungalow colony Bris.Yudi Kolkohttp://www.myfoxboston.com/story/18827095/church-abuse-victim-faces-trial-for-beating-priest?obref=obinsitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-17049418321837464762012-06-22T19:16:09.108-04:002012-06-22T19:16:09.108-04:00http://www.scribd.com/doc/96309241/R-Meir-Bar-Ilan...http://www.scribd.com/doc/96309241/R-Meir-Bar-Ilan-on-the-Agudah-Conference-at-Kattowice<br /><br />Meir Bar Ilan may not have had the best outcome himself but at least he had a first hand look in the early days of AgudahBar Ilanhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/96309241/R-Meir-Bar-Ilan-on-the-Agudah-Conference-at-Kattowicenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-55940760256470801432012-06-22T17:27:41.230-04:002012-06-22T17:27:41.230-04:00And how about the Agudah using R' Meyer Shapir...And how about the Agudah using R' Meyer Shapiro's picture for their Daf Hayomi? It's chutzpah. Everyone knows that the Agudah voted it down and didn't want this concept of Daf Yomi, its only through the advice of the Chofetz Chaim, that R' Meyer Shapiro took courage and decided to go against the Agudah, only then did it come to fruition. How do they take credit for it? It's clearly documented that R' Meyer Shapiro resigned from the Agudah as printed in R' Chaim Oizer's letter to ("Moreinu") R' Yaakov Rosenheim. Shame on you Agudas Yisroel.<br /><br />The Agudah lies and deceives just like any other political party. It banks that the masses are stupid fools & imbeciles, looking for fast fixes.Carpetbaggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-281903897588914212012-06-22T17:15:57.445-04:002012-06-22T17:15:57.445-04:00http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2012/06/is-agud...http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2012/06/is-agudath-israel-misusing-reb-chaim.html<br /><br />More slimy behavior from the Agudah as they misrepresent R' Chaim Brisker as backing them. (The blogger doesn't realize that R' Chaim Oizer also refused to join the Agudah)Carpetbaggerhttp://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2012/06/is-agudath-israel-misusing-reb-chaim.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-79143681630012703192008-12-17T20:52:00.000-05:002008-12-17T20:52:00.000-05:00Out of curiosity is there a chance the Delmonico C...Out of curiosity is there a chance the Delmonico Collection (named not for the owner, but for the hotel the goods were give to Sotheby's at) is owned by Rubashkin?<BR/><BR/>8 millon dollars worth of judaica is a lot to sell when you are looking for cash.<BR/><BR/>(I went to the exhibition at Sotheby's and it was just breathtaking to see these books. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-5876823131637173052008-12-14T10:09:00.000-05:002008-12-14T10:09:00.000-05:00And then there's the "Gedolim of the Round Table o...And then there's the "Gedolim of the Round Table of Chinuch in the Yated" <BR/><BR/>Let's be fair. The forum is actually the first evidence that some people recognize that even intelligent and experienced educators that are not longbeard Rosh Yeshivas can also have good answers. It specifically does not feature daas Torah personalities, but smart, wise, older chinuch people like aisenstark and bender.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-36444634832476312332008-12-07T23:12:00.000-05:002008-12-07T23:12:00.000-05:00By Moshe Arens'Where have all the young men gone.....By Moshe Arens<BR/>'Where have all the young men gone... When will they ever learn?" Pete Seeger, the American troubadour, used to sing. Israelis can nowadays join with a refrain that runs as follows: "They've become juvenile delinquents and gone to Hebron... When will they ever learn?" <BR/><BR/>Everything that needed to be said in condemnation of the criminal behavior of the youngsters with the flying ear-locks who gathered around the disputed building on the way to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and engaged in vandalism, attacks against Palestinians in the area, and against the police that was called in to restore order and evict then from the building, has already been said. For a long time all Israelis will continue to feel ashamed that Israeli young men and women committed these acts. One question will stay with us: who are these youngsters, most of them raised in religious homes, homes of Zionist idealist settlers in Judea, Samaria, and Gush Katif, children from families that have in recent years sent their sons to the elite units of the IDF to become exemplary soldiers and officers? Where and how have they gone wrong? Where are the sociologists and psychologists who will provide the answer to this question? <BR/><BR/>WHILE AWAITING the results of such research, one can venture some educated guesswork. The turning point that sent these youngsters off on a deviant tangent was most probably the disengagement from Gush Katif, the uprooting of 8000 Israeli settlers from their homes, and the use of the IDF to carry out this forcible evacuation. In many ways it was the original sin, from which Israel will continue to suffer for years to come. The blow, which was directed at the settlers in Gush Katif was felt by all the settlers in Judea and Samaria and their families as being directed at them, especially as the prime minister stated that it was the intention of the Kadima-led government to continue the process by evacuating settlements in Judea and Samaria. The youngsters in the settlements looked to their elders to avert what they considered a catastrophe, and the elders, backed by a good part of the population of Israel, pleaded with the government and organized mass demonstration in the hope that wisdom would prevail. They stopped short of using violence to oppose the evacuation. No blood was shed in those traumatic days and nights in August 2005, not because of the sensitivity and determination displayed by the army and police, but because the leaders of the settlement movement decided to refrain from encouraging violent resistance to the removal of the settlers from their homes. Is it any wonder that many of the youngsters in the settlements considered their elders as having failed to protect their homes, and that some of them began considering other means of preventing the destruction of their homes in the future? <BR/><BR/>What is really surprising is that the leaders of the country who had ordered the IDF to carry out the disengagement from Gush Katif, those simple-minded souls who claimed they were waging a crusade for a democratic Jewish State, nor the judges on the High Court of Justice who had approved the blatant violation of the civil rights of those being uprooted from their homes, seemed not to realize that they had set in motion a process of alienation of a significant part of Israeli society from the State and its institutions, on whose periphery a frustrated lunatic fringe would emerge. Nor did they realize they were creating a rift in Israeli society that would threaten the unity of the people of Israel. <BR/><BR/>There are, of course, those among us who do not care. Those who hate the religious. They do not hate religious Moslems or religious Christians, they just hate religious Jews. They show great respect for the sites in our land holy to the Moslem religion, and the sites holy to the Christian religion, but don't give a hoot for the holy sites of Judaism. Taking steps that might alienate religious Jews living in the settlements in Judea and Samaria, or even their supporters living within the "Green Line," does not seem to concern them greatly. Jewish access to Hebron, the city of our forefathers, or to the Cave of the Patriarchs, or even to the Temple Mount, seems of little interest to them. But the rest of us know we are dealing with a serious problem. <BR/><BR/>When sociologists and psychologists eventually get around to researching these developments, we may learn what lay behind the ugly scenes we witnessed recently. In any case they bode no good for our society.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-84234914889568512032008-12-07T21:36:00.000-05:002008-12-07T21:36:00.000-05:00The common practice of mosdos delaying payments to...The common practice of mosdos delaying payments to their teachers must end. This is pure "oshek" and is in violation of the Torah. Somehow this has become fashionable and is a ploy to plead poverty and to get more donations at the fancy dinners. The teachers at Bais Faiga in Lakewood have threatned to go on strike because they have not gotten paid yet this semester. I know of certain yeshivos and bais yaakovs in Brooklyn that have not paid their mechanchim since last March! <BR/><BR/>They have to get it through their heads that delaying payroll is not an option! These teachers do not have unlimited savings where they can forgo pay for nine months! Instead of the fancy marble tiles and cherry wood doors, pay the teachers! Instead of the fancy placques and the new buildings going up, pay the teachers! Instead of lavishing the rosh yeshivos (who sometimes lavish themselves) with fancy cars and fancy homes, pay the teachers! If you can't pay your teachers, or you can't get a bank loan to pay your teachers, then shut down! <BR/><BR/>Paying the teachers comes before paying the electric bill. Paying the teachers comes before adding a new wing. Paying the teachers comes before opening another kollel. <BR/><BR/>The problem of screwed up priorities in our communtity only gets worse. First they protect molesters instead of the children, then they pay builders and contractors instead of the teachers, who are woefully underpaid to begin with! <BR/><BR/>The economic situation is another excuse to shirk responsibility and continue to hold these teachers hostage. When will any rabbi stand up and say this is against the Torah? The teachers must come first. In any other industry would this be acceptable? Nine months late? Would this be acceptble in the public school system? Oh, I forgot, we're not as privileged as the public schools. At least there the children are protected from predators and the teachers are paid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-69186320495367806172008-12-07T19:59:00.000-05:002008-12-07T19:59:00.000-05:00From The Chareidi Welfare State Is Big and Getting...From The Chareidi Welfare State Is Big and Getting Bigger Dept:<BR/><BR/>http://www.vosizneias.com/23871/2008/12/07/jerusalem-experts-urge-change-in-charedi-school-system-to-battle-poverty/<BR/><BR/><BR/>Jerusalem - Regardless of the current global financial crisis, economists and educators warn that the cycle of poverty in Israel is expected to expand even further, due to the Education Ministry's failure to enforce core curriculum on ultra-Orthodox schools.<BR/><BR/>Several years ago, the High Court has instructed the ministry to include in the curriculums of all sectors several basic classes – math, English, science, citizenship education, history and bible studies – as a precondition for government funding.<BR/><BR/>However, prior to the opening of the current school year, the haredi parties managed to persuade the Education Ministry to support legislation that allows haredi schools not to teach those subjects while continuing to receive funding from the State.<BR/>Advertisement:<BR/><BR/>Twenty percent of all haredim are poor, although they make up only 10% of the population in the country.<BR/><BR/>Experts are now warning that the failure to enforce a core curriculum on parts of the student population will lead to a situation in which in several years- time tens of thousands of young haredi people will graduate from schools when they are ill-equipped to integrate into the employment market. Those young people will be doomed to a life of poverty and become a burden on taxpayers. Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, a senior Bank of Israel economist and a lecturer in Ben Gurion University, says that the fact that 60% of all Arabs and ultra-Orthodox in Israel live under the poverty line is linked in part to shortcomings in the education system.<BR/><BR/>He says that haredi education prevents graduates, mainly men, from integrating into the workforce. "Students, and particularly boys in the elementary school system are deprived of skills that are essential to producing adults able to provide for themselves."<BR/><BR/>According to Gottlieb, poverty in haredi society could worsen with the disappearance of industries based on low education and low skills workers and the growing demand for academics.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Israel Religious Action Center claims that the new legislation discriminates against haredi students who are deprived of the right to a basic curriculum that would provide them with the general education needed to become a part of society.<BR/><BR/>"The Education Ministry sentences tens of thousands of haredi students to a life of poverty and is perpetuating ignorance. Only a few would be able to set themselves free of the cycle of poverty.<BR/><BR/>"Theses students will not study citizenship education, and this, in turn, will increase the rift, alienation and conflict in Israeli society. When they don't study citizenship and history, how can we expect them to sympathize with the principles of democracy?"<BR/><BR/>Zion Gabay, director-general of Elem, an organization that helps youth at risk in Israel, added that the high dropout rates in high schools in the haredi, Arab and immigrant sectors illustrate the severity of the situation<BR/><BR/>"Not all haredi youths can continue studying in high school yeshivas, and so a high percentage drops out of the education system entirely and they wander the streets aimlessly or gather to drink alcohol," he explained.<BR/><BR/>The solution for these alarming data, says Dr. Gottlieb, lies in a fundamental change in the curriculum of haredi schools, for boys and girls alike.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-81256533708983553342008-12-07T19:14:00.000-05:002008-12-07T19:14:00.000-05:00We should all be focused now on freeing Jonathan P...We should all be focused now on freeing Jonathan Pollard. This will be our last chance. Please call the White House and send e-mails:<BR/><BR/>202-456-1111<BR/>comments@whitehouse.gov<BR/><BR/>Please pick up the phone now and call and follow it up with an e-mail. You will be fulfilling the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim and will be helping to right a terrible wrong. Tizku L'Mitzvos!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-51033668156178511752008-12-07T15:35:00.000-05:002008-12-07T15:35:00.000-05:00Hey TruthMatters; Va'Yeekahtz Paroh"Your anger is ...Hey TruthMatters;<BR/><BR/><BR/> Va'Yeekahtz Paroh"<BR/><BR/>Your anger is too little-too late. <BR/><BR/>The left-wing media made sure this information never got out before and during the campaign. <BR/><BR/>Interesting to note that when then very popular Henry Kissinger was secstate, there was discussion among the media and Constitutional scholars regarding succession and also as to his ability to gain a waver to run for POTUS. My, how times have changed. <BR/><BR/>Bottom line is: Bim Bam is a 'sleeper' who will destroy America from within without firing a shot.<BR/><BR/>We're in for a very rough ride.<BR/><BR/>The Bim-Bam Identity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-63807813439969470892008-12-07T12:52:00.000-05:002008-12-07T12:52:00.000-05:00UOJ:You may very well be correct - that the chance...UOJ:<BR/><BR/>You may very well be correct - that the chances of the Supreme Court ruling against Obama are small. But only a constitutional scholar could accurately assess this matter.<BR/><BR/>It is still very disturbing that so many Jews could vote for Obama, an operative of the hard-core globalist left who is closely associated with the worst anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and anti-white demogogues. What is even more outrageous is when a so-called "chareidi" news site such as VIN could cover for Obama's crimes and denigrate decent people like attorney Phil Berg ( www.obamacrimes.com) who simply wants the US Constitution obeyed. Obama, if not disqualified by the Supreme Court, will no doubt make the forced expulsion of the Jews in Judea and Samaria a top priority. It would appear that the "anti-Zionist" agenda of certain chareidim coincides well with the international left's agenda - ie the forced ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria under the guise of a phony peace process.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-80746950894598559172008-12-07T12:26:00.000-05:002008-12-07T12:26:00.000-05:00The Obama "naturalized citizen" issue is now befor...The Obama "naturalized citizen" issue is now before the Supreme Court. They would need four justices to approve --- if the matter gets heard at all. Doubtful --- and the State Court ruling would stand.<BR/><BR/>Even if the Supreme Court does hear it --- it would not be heard until after the inauguration.<BR/><BR/>Will they rule against Obama once he becomes president? As much a chance of Lipa Margulies telling us the number and location of his Swiss bank account!Paul Mendlowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-91362464834269885162008-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:002008-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:00UOJ, you were absolutely correct to support John M...UOJ, you were absolutely correct to support John McCain for President, for both America and Israel's survival. But now the Obama bots are trying to cover up the greatest fraud in American history - Obama's ineligibility to be president.<BR/><BR/>VIN "chareidi" news site has been scrubbing truthful anti-Obama posts and allowing leftist Obama-bots to spew their disinformation to the Jews on a matter of critical importance to both America and Israel. Comments posted on VIN CANNOT be trusted to accurately represent Jewish opinion. <BR/><BR/>VIN posted the fake Obama "certification" as a valid birth certificate.<BR/>http://www.vosizneias.com/23827/2008/12/06/washington-dc-supreme-court-to-consider-obama-birth-certificate-case/<BR/><BR/>The comment below was repeatedly blocked by the Obama shill VIN:<BR/><BR/>===========================<BR/><BR/>Obama has committed the greatest political fraud in American history! Why are Jews allowing themselves to be bamboozled by the Islamic fraud Obama? Obama's ultra-left, pro homo, pro feminist, pro tax, pro PLO terror state agenda is contrary to Torah values and Jewish interests on every issue. Have we chosen liberalism over Judaism and EMES? We Jews should be the first to oppose an Islamic imposter seizing power in the U.S. The so-called certification displayed above is NOT a birth certificate! A real birth certificate must list the name and location of a hospital, it must have the signature of an attendant who observed the birth, it must have an embossed seal and signature, etc. <BR/>See <BR/>http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/PROJECTS/Obama/Evidence/SAMPLE-HI-BirthCertificate-circa1963.htm <BR/>For a detailed expose of the fraudulent Obama "certification of live birth" displayed above, see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2136816/posts <BR/>Also see <BR/>http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0338/HRS_0338-0017_0008.htm <BR/>proving a Hawaii "certification" can be issued for a child born out of state! Furthermore, as attorney Phil Berg explains in his lawsuit (see www.obamacrimes.com), Obama would have lost his American citizenship when he moved to Indonesia with his father, an Indonesian citizen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-70953786204189951132008-12-07T11:56:00.000-05:002008-12-07T11:56:00.000-05:00At The Shabbos Table With Gabi And Rivkahby Joseph...At The Shabbos Table With Gabi And Rivkah<BR/><BR/>by Joseph Telushkin<BR/><BR/>Special To The Jewish Week<BR/><BR/>Walking to the Chabad House in Mumbai on a Friday evening in February 2007, my wife Dvorah, our daughter Rebecca (who is currently living in India) and I were passing half-naked families living on the cement streets. Outstretched hands. Wide, hollow eyes. We literally had to step over swarms of dejected souls.<BR/><BR/>But entering the Chabad House was like encountering a lighthouse in the middle of a dark ocean. It did not take long to realize that its proprietors, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, were extraordinary people and practitioners of kindness. Thirty-five guests attended the Shabbat dinner, a mix predominantly made up of Israelis, many of them doing business in India, a fair number of Americans and scattered Jews from other countries.<BR/><BR/>Many of them, we learned, came to the Chabad House often. I remember one Israeli in the group — who had earlier that day, at Rabbi Holtzberg’s request, helped us find a hotel room — telling us that in Israel he was not a religious Jew, but that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for Rabbi Holtzberg, and how often he spent Shabbat with the rabbi and rebbetzin.<BR/><BR/>I have a vivid memory of conversing at length with Rivkah Holtzberg as she was preparing shakshuka for about 30 people coming to a Saturday night Melava Malka. All this, after serving 35 people Friday night and then a big lunch on Saturday. Yet as she told me about Afula, the Israeli town where she was raised, she was very calm and so upbeat, a truly religious neshama (soul).<BR/><BR/>On Shabbat afternoon, Rabbi Holtzberg pulled out a copy of Taharat Mayim, my grandfather Rabbi Nissen Telushkin’s sefer (book) on the laws concerning the mikveh, which also contains directions on how to build a ritual bath. He told the assembled guests that he had used the book as his guide to building the mikveh in Mumbai.<BR/><BR/>He handed me the book, with a request that I teach from it. I opened up to my grandfather’s introduction in which he described how he had been driven, in part, to delve so deeply into the laws of mikveh when the Communists seized power in Russia and made it nearly impossible to observe this mitzvah. In societies like India with very few Jews, there are no government obstacles to building a mikveh, but there are few Jews to use it, and I commented on how moved I was that Rabbi Holtzberg had built a mikveh. The pages of his copy were worn from use. I understood that my grandfather’s book had found a sacred home 60 years after it was written.<BR/><BR/>And later, when Reb Gavriel also taught from the sefer, I recognized on his face his profound joy of learning.<BR/><BR/>On Sunday he took us to see the mikveh, and we toured the Bene Israel synagogue where it was located. The whole day was magical. A listing of names, founders of the synagogue, was engraved on one wall. One of the people recorded bore the same name as my stepdaughter, Rebecca Menashe. What was apparent as we went around the synagogue with Rabbi Holtzberg was that he was beloved in the community.<BR/><BR/>At the Shabbat table, everyone was a participant and was called upon to say something. Benjamin Holtzman recalls how Reb Gavriel gave each participant at the Friday evening meal an option, to say something about the parashah (the Torah portion), teach or lead a song, share an inspiring story, or announce some mitzvah they were committing to undertake. It took well over an hour to go around the room, but by that time friendships had been generated and there was a great feeling of oneness among us all.<BR/><BR/>This holy couple was dedicated to bringing Judaism to the four corners of the earth, and to doing so with carefree spirits. Both Gavriel and Rivkah smiled easily and often. Yet their lives were not easy. They had lost one child, and another child was very sick (both due to a genetic disorder), in addition to the healthy son whose life was saved this week. But they kept their sorrows inside. There was no self-pity about them.<BR/><BR/>In India’s vibrant business capital, a city also overwhelmed with need and despair, they responded with unending hope. Two beacons of light blazing in the darkness. Two living exemplars of Judaism’s teachings of hachnasat orachim (hospitality), a value so esteemed that the rabbinic sage, Rabbi Judah, went so far as to declare that “hospitality is even greater than receiving the divine presence” (Shabbat 127a).<BR/>Reb Gavriel collected inspiring stories around his Shabbat table. Yet, as devastated and profoundly sad as I feel at this moment, I also realize that the sacred lives of these two shluchim was perhaps the most inspiring story of allArthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-35464275735439653212008-12-07T11:00:00.000-05:002008-12-07T11:00:00.000-05:00Full Disclosure:I liked R' Herman Neuberger and ha...Full Disclosure:<BR/><BR/>I liked R' Herman Neuberger and had great respect for him, I despised Moshe Sherer because I saw right through him!<BR/><BR/>Now....I was mishamish R' Tuvya Goldstein zt"l, and spent a great deal of time learning hilchot nidah with him one on one, after work, for 3 years or so, in his office -- what he called b'chavrusah -- what I called rebbe/talmid.<BR/><BR/>He paskened on the kesem in borderline cases "after" questioning the yunger man if there were issues with fertility, shalom bayit, and other problems in the home. Was the wife unhappy? Was he making parnassa?<BR/><BR/>There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever, although I was not there - that if R' Herman informed R' Ruderman about Eisemann or others it went something like this --- the bochurim that keep making up stories about rebbes -- should we keep them in the yeshiva (the bochurim) or should we send them away?<BR/><BR/>Sherer - NEVER would have brought this to R' Yaakov -- R' Yaakov did not trust Sherer and would have, in my opinion, launched his own investigation.<BR/><BR/>Zweibel --- as an attorney, knows the legal liability that all of the yeshivas now face. He'll first do EVERYTHING to see if he can "control" the situation --- and may even advise the yeshivas to find counsel.<BR/><BR/>He will, "and the gedolim" will continue to look away whenever possible --- which is getting tougher to do because of the Internet.<BR/><BR/>R' Yaakov and R' Moshe were already niftar at the first Kolko "crisis" in the late 1980's.Paul Mendlowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-65022611363640410962008-12-07T00:55:00.000-05:002008-12-07T00:55:00.000-05:00Please respond, anyone who thinks as much as i do:...Please respond, anyone who thinks as much as i do: <BR/><BR/>I have had a question about NerYisroel that has perplexed me for a while.<BR/><BR/>Did Rabbi Neuberger address the issue of Rabbi Eiseman's pedophilia with the Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Ruderman, Z"TL, and was he, chas v'shalom complicit in allowing the predator to prey on young bochurim?<BR/><BR/>Or did Rabbi Neuberger who claimed and whose family and talmidim still claim ALWAYS act only with Daas Torah, actuall choose to decide this one for himself, because he could not risk the reputation of the yeshivah on the possiblity that Rav Ruderman may care more about the boys' safety? Would that not show that in reality the whole Daas Torah concept is a fraud and that those who use it to abuse and to protect abusers do not really even have interest in knowing what people of great integrity have to say?<BR/><BR/>Could this actually have been true of Moshe Sherrer as well? That he only asked Reb Moshe, Reb Yaakov, et. al. what he wanted to, and somehow gained their trust so that they rubber stamped whatever he in his infinite arrogance decided was Daas Torah?<BR/><BR/>What Shimshy Sherrer actually based his advice about Kolko on was an actual statement from his father that sometimes lives have to be given up to avoid chillul hashem. This was based on some arcane exmple from a Psak of Reb Moshe about a situation invovling getting a Jew out of Russia but causing a chillul Hashem. Based on this Shimshy understood that his father believed in covering up for rabbis' molestation even if it allowed it to continue.<BR/><BR/>Now we have Zweibel who will ALWAYS act on Daas Torah that he creates based on his own image. Is it possible that this could end up being a good thing, as maybe he is getting the message that the OYLAM is not gonna take it anymore, so he can relay it to his "bosses" in a way that they will think that it is Daas Torah to reverste directions and stop abuse?<BR/><BR/>Or is Zweibel so power hungry that he will not want to "give in" to the demands of protecting children, especially when doing so means admitting that molestation does happen and that often it is by rabbis? Will he continue to follow the lead of Shechter, Perlow, Feldman, Levine, Kotler,and yes Fienstien and Kaminetsky, and fight against mandating rabbis and yeshvas to report molestation, and to have saftey protocols to hend ou parents?<BR/><BR/>Will all the above mentioned gentleman, along with the grand rabbis of Bobov and Satmar and Sqver cut a deal with Dov Hikind in which they "promise to address the epidemic" but without ANYONE going to jail or having their names publicized, chas vshalom?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-43319873020686985482008-12-07T00:02:00.000-05:002008-12-07T00:02:00.000-05:00Yacov Young is re-releasing the song Nacheim, dedi...Yacov Young is re-releasing the song Nacheim, dedicated in memory of his cousin Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivkah. <BR/>http://www.shmais.com/audio/Nacheim.mp3Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-48747453209882594372008-12-06T23:06:00.000-05:002008-12-06T23:06:00.000-05:00Dec 7-Jerusalem PostThe Human Spirit: Call-up for ...Dec 7-Jerusalem Post<BR/>The Human Spirit: Call-up for candle lighters<BR/>By BARBARA SOFER <BR/>This Hebrew month of Kislev, the season of Hanukka, began with a call-up for candlelighters. Last Friday, the first day of Kislev, the words of Hallel in my Jerusalem synagogue sounded like a cry of anguish: Please, God, save now! But then our worst fears were confirmed: Terrorists had murdered Rivka and Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, directors of the Chabad House in Mumbai, and their house guests.<BR/><BR/>In the Diaspora, where the sun had not yet set, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the educational and social services arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, turned to Jewish women through the media, which for a moment were focused on the world family of Lubavitch. Light Shabbat candles, he urged, not for the death of the Holtzbergs, but as a fulfillment of their lives' mission: bringing light.<BR/><BR/>Thank you, Chabad. Thank you to the thousands of emissaries who brave Herculean challenges to bring Yiddishkeit to the world. Thank you to their parents, who part from tender young couples who will relocate, not for a semester, but for a lifetime.<BR/><BR/>THE LUBAVITCH shluchim whom Rabbi Menahem Schneerson charged with ministering to the Jewish people everywhere in the world are known as tzva Hashem, God's army. The military terminology isn't metaphorical. Only those with a soldier's strength and stoicism can take on the harsh conditions, the constant discomfort of blazing trails of Judaism through rugged terrain. They head for the wilderness at the difficult period of life when they're bringing up small children. They set up shop in lands with archaic medical infrastructure, far from supportive family and friends, not to mention kosher stores, Jewish schools and synagogues. They bring into the intimacy of their home local and visiting Jews, masses of back-packers, and the ragged and soul-weary.<BR/><BR/>It's a lifetime service - what we call in Israel tzva keva, the standing army. In Laos and Cambodia, in frozen Siberia, there's nothing watered-down about their Yiddishkeit, but they have a talent for sharing Jewish tradition without eliciting antagonism - an antidote for many who associate religion with coerciveness and politics.<BR/><BR/>It's not all cheerful dinners. On TV this week, a now-reformed Israeli told how when he sat in an Indian prison for drugs, Rabbi Holtzberg visited him and brought him books and hope. And there's the chronic need for fund-raising. Each Chabad House is independent, and the directors need to raise their own operating budget. That includes the festive meals that all of us Jewish travelers enjoy when we're touring or working abroad. The comforts of Shabbat on the road are also made possible by the sacrifices of these young people.<BR/>Lighting Shabbat candles at the Chabad House in Beijing. A talent for sharing Jewish tradition without eliciting antagonism.<BR/>And the most amazing part of all is that they do all this and make us feel welcome almost as if we're doing them a favor and not the other way around.<BR/><BR/>This national service is the mission of both men and women. In Mumbai, the Holtzbergs hosted thousands of guests, young and old, provided classes and religious services. Despite media descriptions of Rivky as "the rabbi's wife," she served as co-director of the center. Over the past two decades, in the memory of the late Rabbanit Chaya Mushka Schneerson, Chabad women have taken on more formal roles of teaching, organizing outreach activities and counseling visitors. Terror victim Norma Shvarzblat-Rabinovich was reportedly getting help from Rivky on paperwork to move to Israel.<BR/><BR/>JEWISH TRAVELERS like to swap personal Chabad travel stories. One repeating theme is the wonder at the mix of people sitting side by side at Shabbat tables, breaking halla together. You might meet an acquaintance from Petah Tikva or Poughkeepsie, backpackers from Haifa and Halifax, and an itinerant rabbi or two. Two of the slain this week, Benzion Chroman, a Bobov hassid, and Leibish Teitelbaum, a Volover hassid, were kashrut supervisors. At the gracious Chabad table in Beijing, my husband and I once sat across from three road-weary kashrut inspectors representing three different kosher certifications. They'd spent the weekdays traveling over broken roads to the backwaters of China to inspect food production plants. (If I'd ever thought that certain canned fruit and vegetable products didn't really require kosher certification, I changed my mind after hearing their reports.)<BR/><BR/>In Jerusalem those men might never have eaten at each other's tables or at the home of a Lubavitch hassid, for that matter, but on the road, Jews of all persuasions join together. That spirit of unity pervaded the unamenable arena of Israeli media coverage this week. As we followed every detail of the horrific tragedy in Mumbai, no one spoke of the victims being secular, religious or haredi. They were simply "Israelis."<BR/><BR/>HOW DID this attack on a Chabad House fit into the plans of the Mumbai terrorists? According to The New York Times, the Chabad House was an "unlikely target" of the terrorist gunmen who unleashed their series of bloody coordinated attacks at locations in and around Mumbai's commercial centers - "It is not known if the Jewish center was strategically chosen, or if it was an accidental hostage scene."<BR/><BR/>Let's look at the other targets: two famous hotels, a tourist cafe, a hospital, movie theater, police barracks. To those of us who live with terrorism, these are all familiar choices of those who want to destabilize the Western world. In addition are the Jewish targets: bar or bat mitzva gatherings, synagogue services, a Passover Seder. Let's not pretend otherwise: At the heart of international jihad lies odium for Israel and Jews.<BR/><BR/>Much about the terror attack in India remains hazy, but from the beginning Indian officials reported the meticulous preparation and professional execution of the terrorists' strategy. Who can imagine that those who knew the floor plan of the giant Taj Mahal Palace Hotel better than the hotel's security agents would stumble by accident on a hassidic center in a metropolis of nearly 20 million people? It's about as likely as a truck accidentally running into a Djerba synagogue in April 2002 or it being by chance that that wheelchair-bound terror victim tossed into the sea on the Achille Lauro in 1985 was a Jew.Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni affirmed that the Chabad House was indeed attacked as a symbol of the Jewish people.<BR/><BR/>Chabad Houses go way beyond symbolism; they're outposts of the Jewish people living and reclaiming our heritage. Thank you, Chabad. We owe it to your emissaries, who sacrifice so much for the Jewish people, to carry out their mission after their deaths. Lighting candles is a good place to start. But then we must go further to make our homes reflect the values of their Chabad House. The Chabad army fights with bowls of chicken soup, tefillin and the light of candlesticks, with loving-kindness and openness to the other, even when it's not convenient.<BR/><BR/>Conscription time is right now. Kislev 5769.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-19073803160309137682008-12-06T20:23:00.000-05:002008-12-06T20:23:00.000-05:00The Juice has finally been canned.A weary and grim...The Juice has finally been canned.<BR/><BR/>A weary and grim-faced O.J. Simpson was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison Friday for a botched armed robbery in Las Vegas, completing his epic fall from icon to inmate. <BR/><BR/>Before the sentence was read, the 61-year-old disgraced NFL star - who had rejected a plea deal for less time - choked back tears and softly apologized and begged Clark County Judge Jackie Glass for leniency. <BR/><BR/>"I wasn't there to hurt anybody. I just wanted my personal things, and I realize I was stupid," said Simpson, dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, his hands shackled to his waist. "I didn't want to steal anything from anyone. I'm sorry, sorry." <BR/><BR/>Glass was unmoved. <BR/><BR/>The no-nonsense judge lectured Simpson after his rambling, five-minute apology, calling his crime "a very violent event." <BR/><BR/>"Earlier in this case, at a bail hearing, I said to Mr. Simpson I didn't know if he was arrogant, ignorant or both," Glass said. "During the trial and through this proceeding, I got the answer - and it was both." <BR/><BR/>The NFL Hall of Famer was put away 13 years after he walked away a free man following the sensational murder trial of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in what came to be known as the "Trial of the Century."<BR/><BR/>Emotionally spent, the father of Ron Goldman told the Daily News Friday he hopes O.J. Simpson will "die a miserable death in prison." <BR/><BR/>"It was always like salt in a wound, seeing him roaming around, doing his thing," Fred Goldman said in his Las Vegas hotel room, hours after the ex-gridiron great was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison. <BR/><BR/>"Every day he's breathing is a day Ron isn't." <BR/><BR/>For Fred Goldman and his family - who never relented in their crusade against Simpson - seeing the Juice led off to prison was a long time coming. <BR/><BR/>He hit the airwaves in 1995, pleading for justice soon after Simpson was cleared in the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. <BR/><BR/>He sued Simpson, eventually winning more than $33.5 million in a wrongful-death civil judgment from the fallen NFL star in 1997. <BR/><BR/>And he waged a successful court battle against Simpson yet again in 2007 when a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the family the rights to Simpson's "hypothetical" tell-all book, "If I Did It." <BR/><BR/>"We've made a mission to never let up, to go after the killer. And we've been successful, finally," Goldman, 68, said. <BR/><BR/>"There's relief in that every time we turn around he won't be rearing his ugly face," Goldman added. "We know if we want him, we know where to find him." <BR/><BR/>Goldman, initially calm at the start of his 45-minute interview with The News, broke down in tears as he described the loss of his son. <BR/><BR/>"The pain of Ron's loss is excruciating," he said. <BR/><BR/>Kim Goldman said she will travel to her slain brother's grave today to deliver the news they've waited more than a decade to hear. <BR/><BR/>"I have to go there and tell him," Kim Goldman, 37, said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-16615957851629323272008-12-06T20:11:00.000-05:002008-12-06T20:11:00.000-05:00http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/12/05/2008-12...http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/12/05/2008-12-05_bias_suit_shame_for_eliot_spitzers_dad_f.html<BR/><BR/>Bias suit shame for Eliot Spitzer's dad: Four black ex-staffers awarded $1.3MAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-12135614970265329222008-12-05T12:02:00.000-05:002008-12-05T12:02:00.000-05:00By Michael Levenson Boston Globe Posted: 12/04/200...By Michael Levenson <BR/><BR/>Boston Globe <BR/><BR/>Posted: 12/04/2008 07:21:07 PM PST<BR/><BR/>A small-town Massachusetts police chief who authorities say promoted, organized and profited from a firearms exposition where children were encouraged to shoot machine guns and where an 8-year-old killed himself with a Micro Uzi was charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter. <BR/><BR/>Although the event was promoted as an opportunity for children to fire machine guns under the supervision of certified instructors, 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj had been supervised by a 15-year-old boy who was "knowledgeable about guns" but not certified as a firearms instructor, Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett said in outlining charges against Pelham Police Chief Edward B. Fleury and two others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com