Here are 20 Best Orthodox Jewish Blogs you should follow in 2024 - 20 Best Orthodox Jewish Blogs and Websites

 

20 Best Orthodox Jewish Blogs and Websites

Jan 20, 2024⋅Contents

 

The best Orthodox Jewish blogs from thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers & freshness.

 

Orthodox Jewish Blogs

 

Here are 20 Best Orthodox Jewish Blogs you should follow in 2024

1. Local Jewish News

Israel
Local Jewish News contains articles, information and resources for the Cleveland Orthodox Jewish Community. They are bifurcated into announcements, al...more
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2. Jew in the City Blog

Jew in the City has quickly grown to be a leading voice in this generation. It is the only nonprofit dedicated to changing negative perceptions about ...more
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41.3K 11.3K 28.9K 3 posts / week DA 46 Get Email Contact

 

3. Unorthodox-Jew

California, US
Paul Mendlowitz is the CEO & Founder of IsrAm Global Private Equity Group. Also the author of Unorthodox-Jew A Critical View of Orthodox Judaism. Her...more
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4. Melinda Strauss Blog

New York City, New York, US
Melinda Strauss is on a mission to make an impact on the world through Jewish education and empowerment. She is a Jewish Content Creator, well known f...more
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1.6K 141.8K 1 post / quarter DA 21 Get Email Contact

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5. Yaffed Blog

YAFFED Rabbinical Council (YRC) is an interdenominational body of rabbis united by their abiding commitment to Jewish learning and shared concern abou...more
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3.8K 3.4K 1K 12 posts / year DA 39 Get Email Contact

6. The Times of Israel Blog » Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Israel
The Times of Israel is a Jerusalem-based online newspaper, the one-stop news site for Israel, the region & the Jewish world. They provide premier news...more
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1.1M 409.3K 136.4K 5 posts / week DA 91 Get Email Contact

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7. Jewish News » Orthodox Judaism

London, England, UK
Britain's Biggest Jewish Newspaper Online is a former Press Gazette free newspaper exclusively serving the Jewish communities, providing a weekly ...more
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43.2K 47.3K 32.7K 2 posts / day DA 68 Get Email Contact

8. Frieda Vizel Blog

Brooklyn, New York, US
Tours by Frieda is a website by Frieda Vizel, a tour guide in Hasidic Williamsburg. She is a writer, blogger, and vlogger. Follow me for my walking ...more
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9. You're Not Crazy

I'm trying to navigate the Jewish world without losing my mind. Kochava is entirely self-taught in Jewish practice, tradition, and halacha. His bl...more
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10. The Hasidic World

New York, US
The Hasidic World is a blog to learn more about Hasidic life. This blog teaches about a long list of customs abided by Hasidic Jews, interviews, movie...more
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1.4K 1 post / quarter DA 9 Get Email Contact

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Orthodox Jewish Bloggers

Top Authors, Journalists, and Publishers covering Orthodox Jewish. Get Spreadsheet

Blogger Name	Email	Blog Link	Total Blog Posts
Paul Mendlowitz		theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com	52
thehasidicworld		hasidicworld.wordpress.com	28
Alex Abel		jewinthecity.com	17
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz		jewinthecity.com	16
Ben Tocker		yaffed.org	12
Allison Josephs		jewinthecity.com	11
bweber11111		beatriceweber.com	10
JITC Staff		jewinthecity.com	7
LJNOffice		localjewishnews.com	7
yaffed		yaffed.org	6
Naftuli		yaffed.org	5
Melinda Strauss		melindastrauss.com	5
Elad Nehorai		yaffed.org	3
Sara Levine		jewinthecity.com	2
Frieda Vizel		friedavizel.com	1
Shannon		friedavizel.com	1
Yaakov Schy		jewinthecity.com	1
Gila Ross		jewinthecity.com	1
Elisheva Rishon		jewinthecity.com	1
Dani Ishai Behan		jewinthecity.com	1

https://jewish.feedspot.com/orthodox_jewish_blogs/

“Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of the truth.” Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life

Rule #1: Expend your efforts on the things that matter.

Rule #2: Do things you love, even if you’re terrible at them.

Rule #3: Have a puzzle mindset.

Rule #4: Think deeply, both long and hard, about things that truly fascinate you.

Rule #5: Don’t let politics fill you with either rage or despair.

Rule #6: Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of the truth.

Rule #7: Science, truth, and education are for everyone, not just the privileged few.

 

Albert Einstein (right) is shown with physicists Robert Millikan (left) and Georges Lemaître (center)

 

Rule #6: Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of the truth.

Many of us, upon hearing something that we are certain is either absurd, flawed, or hopelessly corrupt, immediately and vociferously make up our minds to oppose them, regardless of what the full suite of evidence actually indicates. Once we abandon our critical thinking faculties because we are certain we know the answer, we tend to simply go along with those who agree with us and oppose those who espouse anything different. To Einstein, this represented the death of the rational mind, which he called “collective insanity” or a “herd mind.” Today, we would likely call it groupthink, and Einstein noted that it was often driven by a prominent figure spouting propaganda.

Scientists, including formerly reputable ones like Johannes Stark (Nobel Laureate and founder of the Stark effect), formed an anti-relativity society that discredited Einstein and his theory. Fueled by nationalism and anti-semitism, Einstein and his ideas became a target, with one line of attack claiming relativity was wrong and dangerous, and another line claiming it was brilliant but that Einstein stole the idea from “real” (non-Jewish) scientists. It was this course of action that eventually led to Einstein having a bounty placed on his head, leading to him fleeing Germany for the United States. While Einstein initially thought these machinations were silly, ridiculous, and harmless, he later concluded that “Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of the truth.” In the era of fake news, this lesson is more important to assimilate than ever.

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/einstein-rules-better-life/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

Grunwald is accused of meeting the child in person, providing gifts and engaging in sexual assault. The complaint includes explicit details of these interactions and the alleged threats made by Grunwald against the child. These threats reportedly ranged from physical harm to the exposure of private images and information to the public and the victim’s family.

 

Joseph Grunwald

FBI arrests Williamsburg man for alleged sexual assault of minor

  by Brooklyn Eagle

A 31-year-old resident of Williamsburg, who is a convicted sex offender, was arrested Wednesday and charged in Brooklyn’s federal court on Thursday of engaging in the luring and sexual molestation of a minor. 

Joseph Grunwald’s alleged activities took place between April and June 2023, where he is accused of using internet and mobile applications, specifically Telegram, to knowingly attempt to persuade and coerce a minor into sexual activities. 

The case against Grunwald, detailed by an FBI special agent, paints a grim picture. The agent, part of the Violent Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Task Force, outlines how Grunwald initiated contact with the victim through Telegram. Despite being informed of the child’s age, Grunwald allegedly continued the engagement, eventually leading it to sexually explicit conversations and requests for inappropriate images.

Grunwald is accused of meeting the child in person, providing gifts and engaging in sexual assault. The complaint includes explicit details of these interactions and the alleged threats made by Grunwald against the child. These threats reportedly ranged from physical harm to the exposure of private images and information to the public and the victim’s family.

On Jan. 3, 2024, the FBI executed search warrants at Grunwald’s residence, uncovering additional evidence pertinent to the case. Though Grunwald was not present during the search, he was later apprehended in Brooklyn leaving a synagogue in Borough Park that same night.

Gunwald is a registered sex offender. In September 2017, Joseph Grunwald was arrested for molesting a 7-year-old girl in a synagogue during Yom Kippur. He faced charges including three misdemeanors for forcible touching and acting injuriously towards a child, alongside a felony count for sexual contact with a child under 11. 

Despite his indictment, Grunwald committed another offense, molesting a 13-year-old boy, leading to his re-arrest and charges on 11…

Read the full article here

COMPLAINT: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24352294-grunwald-complaint

The Top Brass at Chabad Calculated And Would Never Admit This Truth --- Their Leader Is Dead - To Install another Rebbe Would Admit The Movement Is And Always Was A Fraud!

CHAOS BY DESIGN: The only franchise in the world where people stand in line for decades waiting for their cheeseburger, and it never comes!

 

While the tunnels breathed new life into old antisemitic conspiracies, the reality was that a group of students had decided to take 770's expansion into their own hands.

Footage of New York Jews appearing from tunnels surrounding Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, known as 770, quickly circulated online. Alongside the videos were countless antisemitic theories, many of which referenced “sewer Jews,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. So, why were the tunnels really there?

Some of the students at the Chabad had secretly constructed tunnels connecting 770 with adjacent buildings in an attempt to expand the center. After Chabad was made aware of the damage caused by the young men, the buildings administrators tried to repair the damage which was met with further damage by the young men, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported. 

Police vs. Hasidim: orthodox Jews riot in New York CityAfter noise complaints from local residents, the NYPD found a mysterious tunnel under the synagogue of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The Hasidim had illegally dug the tunnel and connected the synagogue to the… pic.twitter.com/Asb9kaSTdK

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 10, 2024

As the dispute between the administrators and students continued, the NYPD was brought in. Nine people were arrested and three were cited for disorderly conduct during the commotion, JTA published.

The tunnel had been discovered a month before the commotion, with public attention only now being grabbed as a result of the violent reaction to repairing the damage.

Investigators uncovered “a single linear underground tunnel” approximately the length of a bowling alley that had been illegally excavated, the buildings department told the New York Jewish Weekly.

Those who dug the tunnel had created several openings in the basement walls of the single-story building. It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the tunnel had been excavated from the ground, and how much was formed by making openings in existing rooms.

The tunnel had rudimentary supports in place and was constructed without approval or permits. City engineers said the excavation had undermined the building above it, as well as another building on Kingston Avenue, causing structural stability issues. The Department of Buildings issued partial vacate orders for both buildings due to safety concerns.

The department said other neighboring structures were unaffected and could be reoccupied, apparently meaning that the synagogue itself was secure.

“The safety of our fellow New Yorkers is our highest priority,” the department said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the progress of this emergency stabilization work, and if necessary, we are ready to take additional actions that may be required in the interest of public safety.”

Chabad Chairman Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky issued a statement on X on behalf of 770, stating “The Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue below Chabad Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway Monday night.

“These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored. Our thanks to the NYPD for their professionalism and sensitivity.

“We are grateful for the outpouring of concern, and for the support of our Chabad-Lubavitch institutions around the world.”

STATEMENT BY CHABAD-LUBAVITCH HEADQUARTERSThe Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue below Chabad Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway Monday night.These odious actions will be investigated, and the… pic.twitter.com/Ysn0jr7FTr

— Chabad Lubavitch HQ (@Lubavitch) January 9, 2024

‘Sewer Jews,’ and old antisemitic tropes

While social media posts seem to have been made with only the intention of laughing at a somewhat bizarre occurrence, the footage seemed to breathe new life into old tropes that Jews traffic, abuse, and ritualistically kill children, the ADL said. Antisemitic online pages have peddled lies that items belonging to babies were found in the tunnels and that the attempts to fill in the tunnels were to hide evidence.

The influx of antisemitism that followed news of a tunnel beneath Chabad headquarters is inexcusable. As our Center on Extremism explains in a new blog, antisemites take advantage of stories like this to promote age-old tropes and conspiracy theories about Jews.… pic.twitter.com/2xW8HyVQZ1

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) January 12, 2024

First Miami aliens now tunnel Jews in NY?! 2024 is WILD #TunnelJews #TunnelGate pic.twitter.com/5unIZRdGqW

— Patrick Bateman (@DynamoCreative) January 10, 2024

The ADL added that others used the tunnels as an excuse to claim that Jews had disproportionate power and that they could do whatever they wanted without permits.

The tunnel that was built by a group of Jews under a #Jewish_synagogue in New York and was discovered a short while ago is one of many tunnels under New York City that were dug and prepared to carry out #rituals and atrocities that you cannot even imagine the possibility of their… pic.twitter.com/eyalHQX2Ed

— Triple H️ (@xxx3333_x) January 9, 2024

Others connected the tunnels in New York to the terror tunnels dug by Hamas, some stating that the Hamas tunnels were for self-defense while the Jews had some kind of nefarious plan.

It appears that the items being retrieved from the Synagogue Jews tunnel dungeons include stained With blood mattresses. ( Who is the dead the blood and why are they trying to hide it ? must be analyzed in the laboratory ) #Tuneles #NYC #NYCTunnels #JewishTunnels pic.twitter.com/3KujcctaQz

— bomahdi (@marlboro870) January 9, 2024

“Users on 4chan, Telegram and X used generative artificial intelligence tools, or GAI, to generate images of the incident. Some content was hyper-realistic, falsely depicting actual documentation of the tunnels,” the ADL wrote. “Other content manifested as grotesque antisemitic propaganda, portraying religious Jews in the form of antisemitic caricatures or rats, carrying bloodied children and mattresses.”

In one heavily disputed viral X post, a man had previously claimed to be hearing Yiddish under his floorboards.

some of you owe me an apology pic.twitter.com/OzG20SKNka

— Richard Strocher (@RichardStrocher) January 9, 2024

I AM NOT CRAZY pic.twitter.com/JuAcGjAyxx

— Richard Strocher (@RichardStrocher) January 9, 2024

Online users have said that the posts cannot be found on his profile and that screenshots of the posts are doctored. In addition, the account had never posted about living in Crown Heights before the story broke, and he has posted several antisemitic and racist content. 

So you know those tweets from that guy “Richard” who claimed he was vindicated after the Chabad basement issue was revealed?He was saying he tweeted in the past that he could hear people digging beneath his apartment & speaking Yiddish.It’s BS…watch this. pic.twitter.com/H1BDrZujQW

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) January 11, 2024

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-782009?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israel+marks+100+days+of+war+with+Hamas+in+Gaza&utm_campaign=January+14%2C+2024

Footage of a stained mattress seemingly being pulled from the tunnel got anti-Semites salivating. ‘Secret underground tunnels, blood-soaked mattresses, baby strollers…

 

Looking For The Rebbe In Tunnels - Where can Moshiach be?

 Social-media outlets are awash with Jew-tunnel talk. Every old trope is being vented on the back of this NYC incident. Key among them is the idea that the tunnel was likely dug for the purposes of trafficking kids for sexual abuse.

 

The myth of Brooklyn’s ‘Jew tunnels’

 

Why is so much of the West in the grip of anti-Semitic paranoia?

So, some religious men in New York City dug a hole. I’m sorry, but why is this global news? Why is the Guardian reporting on it? Why was it splashed all over the pages of the Mirror and the Mail? Why did it trend on social media for hours? I was even WhatsApped video clips of this global non-event. ‘Look, a hole in the ground in NYC!’ And? I understand that the juggernaut of American culture, propelled across Earth by social media, makes spectators of us all to every incident and idea that unfolds across the pond. But a hole in the ground is a new low – pun intended.

Perhaps it’s because of who the hole-digging religious men were. Whisper it: Jews. Worse, Hasidic Jews. This is the case, of course, of 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, home to the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters. This is an insular Orthodox Jewish movement. On Monday night, some men were arrested at 770, as the headquarters are locally known, following the discovery of a kind of tunnel. A passageway had been illegally dug under the building, structural engineers turned up to fill it in, a few young Hasidics got angry with the engineers and the cops cuffed them. I can see why this is of interest to New Yorkers. It makes perfect sense that it made the pages of the New York press. But why can’t I, 3,500 miles away, so much as switch on a gadget without seeing breathless commentary on the Hasidic diggers and even feverish talk of ‘Jew tunnels’?

As far as we can tell, the tunnel was dug by rogue members of Chabad-Lubavitch. It is reportedly around 50 feet in length and stretches from the 770 synagogue to a men’s ritual bath area, which had been closed. Apparently, the young renegades dug the hole in the belief that they would enjoy redemption if they followed the command of Chabad-Lubavitch’s late rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, to extend the HQ. Most members of the movement frowned on the tunnel-digging. In fact, it was they who reported it to officialdom. A spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch branded the zealous diggers ‘odious’.

That’s it. It’s a colourful story, for sure. If the Atlantic publishes a longform piece on the doctrinal clashes in this curious community, I’ll probably read it. But for it to trend, to make waves worldwide, is odd to say the least. A clue to this global spread of a local religious spat can be found in how it is being talked about. In some circles it is being held up as proof of the sneaky, iffy nature of Jews. As Rolling Stone says, this hole in the ground has ‘sparked an onslaught of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories’. The tall tale of a ‘Jew tunnel’ in New York City has leant itself beautifully, and terrifyingly, to the conspiracist paranoia that has much of the West in its grip, and which has worsened significantly since the start of the Israel-Hamas War.

Social-media outlets are awash with Jew-tunnel talk. Every old trope is being vented on the back of this NYC incident. Key among them is the idea that the tunnel was likely dug for the purposes of trafficking kids for sexual abuse. That there is not a sliver of evidence for such a preposterous take makes no difference. ‘NYC’s Jew tunnel’ had a child’s ‘high chair’ in it, said one far-right tweeter, and we all know what that means: the Jews are brutalising children again.

Footage of a stained mattress seemingly being pulled from the tunnel got anti-Semites salivating. ‘Secret underground tunnels, blood-soaked mattresses, baby strollers… Getting real strong “Simon of Trent” vibes here’, said a hard-right influencer. That’s a reference to the young Christian boy killed in Trento in Italy in 1475, a killing later pinned on Jews, 15 of whom were burnt at the stake. 

Ancient blood libels given a new lease of life via modern tech. Only where the demonisation of Jews following the murder of Simon was a mostly localised event, that tweet about baby strollers at 770 has been viewed 1.2 million times. We’re all village idiots now having Jew-hate whispered in our ears.

It feels pointless to say there’s no proof that the stain on that mattress was blood, or to point out that there has rarely existed a mattress that hasn’t had some kind of stain on it. Anti-Semitic paranoia is notoriously impervious to reason. Even the old, vile image of Jews as rats has been rehabilitated through the 770 story. ‘Drain that swamp! Rats must run’, said a social-media user with 30k followers. Images of rats wearing shtreimels were shared online. Jackson Hinkle, the bigot who’s refashioned himself as a pro-Palestine activist, asked: ‘Why were there high chairs and stained mattresses in the NYC synagogue tunnels?’ His sly nod and wink has been viewed 2.9million times. These days a blood libel travels halfway around the world while the truth is putting its boots on.

And what is that truth? It’s that the small passageway – even calling it ‘tunnel’ is a stretch – was dug by young hotheads who were later reprimanded by their religious elders. Elders who, according to Forward, ordered the cement truck that filled the passageway in. Facts count for nothing, though, in the face of a good old tunnel conspiracy theory. As Vice reminds us, ‘conspiracy theories about tunnels have radiated outwards from the Middle Ages on’. From the anti-Semitic hysteria of Old Europe to the Satanic ritual abuse panic of recent decades, the dark vision of kids in underground lairs has long kept the mad awake at night.

There’s another striking element to the 770 conspiracy theories: the way they’ve been weaved together with ‘anti-Israel’ sentiment. As Rolling Stone reports, some have made ‘false comparisons to Hamas tunnels in Gaza’. Apparently, what we have in Brooklyn are ‘Zionist tunnels’. If a stained mattress had been pulled from a tunnel in Gaza, say the 770 obsessives, the Zionists (they mean Jews) would have cited it as proof of rape. This folding together of the classical anti-Semitic view that Jews abuse children with the modern Israelophobic view that Zionists are sneaky liars is incredibly revealing. It confirms that some old-fashioned racists now see ‘pro-Palestine’ activism as a prime outlet for their poisonous bigotry.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/01/10/the-myth-of-brooklyns-jew-tunnels/

Nobody From This Cult Has The Guts To Tell These Hooligans Their Rebbe Is Dead And Not Coming Back!

Cops clash with dozens of Orthodox men in synagogue as riot breaks out over secret underground tunnel

A riot broke out in a historic Brooklyn synagogue when a group of rebellious Orthodox men tried to stop police and construction crews from filling in a secret tunnel they illegally dug to reach a closed-down women’s bath.

The enraged men, thought to be mostly in their teens and early 20s, were filmed tearing down wood panels and wooden support beams Monday at the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights.

Other footage from the temple on Eastern Parkway showed cops trying to hold back dozens of Hasidic Jewish men as they pushed their way into the 20-foot-wide enclosure underneath the women’s section, toppling over wooden pews in their anger.

Synagogue leader Rabbi Yosef Braun condemned those involved, saying they arrived “ready to destroy and deface the Holy Walls” — calling it “mind-boggling.”

Members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement have reportedly been digging a tunnel under the Crown Heights synagogue for nearly a year.

It was apparently designed to reach an abandoned women’s mikvah — or ritual bath — around the corner and “expand” the synagogue, according to the Jewish outlet Forward, but it is unclear what motivated the members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community to start digging the passage.

9

A riot broke out at a Brooklyn synagogue Monday when cops tried to hold back a group of Orthodox Jewish men who were pushing their way into an illegal tunnel they built. @FrumTikTok / X

The tunnel was finally discovered last month when neighbors reported suspicious noises coming from underneath their homes, Israel National News reports.

A video posted on CrownHeights.Info’s Instagram in December showed a dark, dirt-walled space in the recesses of the shuttered women’s mikvah nearby.

Following the discovery, the synagogue leadership called in structural engineers to assess the damage, and on Monday cement mixers arrived to fill it in — sparking the riot.

9

The group of young Orthodox Jewish men clamored to get inside the tunnel to prevent crews from filling it with cement. @FrumTikTok / X

9

Some of the rioters were also seen jeering at the cops and filming their efforts to get inside the tunnel. @FrumTikTok / X

The Hasidic men appeared to use a hammer to break through the synagogue’s brick walls.

A few even managed to make their way into the makeshift tunnel, with video showing at least one man brazenly drinking out of a can inside the tunnel as cops tried to hold off the others who were trying to get inside.

Some of the rioters were also seen jeering at the cops and filming their efforts to get inside the tunnel, according to Forward.

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The protesters knocked over wooden pews as they tried to make their way into the tunnel. @FrumTikTok / X

9

The riot came amid ongoing disputes between the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and synagogue leadership over who legally owns the property. @FrumTikTok / X

Officers were also seen holding back men outside the 100-year-old synagogue, the headquarters of one of the largest groups of Hasidic Jews in the world.

After several hours, footage showed officers taking the men out of the tunnel in handcuffs.

At least a dozen men were taken into custody, sources told The Post. Ten received criminal misdemeanor charges, another was charged with obstructing governmental administration and one other received a summons for disorderly conduct, sources said.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/09/news/riot-breaks-out-after-secret-tunnel-is-found-under-brooklyn-chabad/

Rabbi Nosson Scherman Shlita - From Public School To The Greatest Marbitz Torah Of This Generation

 

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‘Hey here’s a guy with a beard and a yarmulke, and he looks like a regular guy you’d see in shul, and look what sick things he’s done.’ And also get people thinking, opening their eyes that you really have to watch out for your kids.”

 

Sex offender who gave high profile interview to Hasidic comedian pleads guilty to new charges

Sex offender Gershon Selinger

 

(New York Jewish Week) – A convicted sex offender who gained widespread attention for speaking publicly about his crimes with a Hasidic comedian last year has pleaded guilty to new abuse allegations that surfaced as a result of the interview.

Gershon Selinger, 41, pleaded guilty in Dutchess County Court on Wednesday to the felony of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 11, according to court records. The incident occurred in 2008. Selinger was taken into custody after the hearing and will be sentenced in March.

The plea deal will see Selinger serve five years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to public defender Seth Gallagher, his defense attorney. Gallagher declined to give any further comment.

In 2015, Selinger was convicted in a Brooklyn court of abusing a 6-year-old, also in 2008, and was sentenced to 10 years probation, according to public record.

Last July, Selinger again drew attention when he sat for an interview with Mendy Pellin, a Hasidic comedian, and spoke about his abuse in explicit terms. In the 78-minute video, which has more than 250,000 views across the social platforms X and YouTube, Selinger discusses his molestation of several children, his treatment for pedophilia and his relationship with his wife.

Pellin said he recorded the video in order to raise awareness of child sex abuse. The interview sparked a discussion about sexual abuse among some in religious communities, garnering hundreds of comments.

Pellin published subsequent video interviews with two experts in the field – Michael Salamon, a psychologist, and Pattie Fitzgerald, a child safety educator and the founder of the educational group Safely Ever After.

“My intention was to get into the mind of a child molester so that parents and educators could be better equipped to [protect] the children,” Pellin, who is based in Brooklyn, told the New York Jewish Week. “And also just to show that, ‘Hey here’s a guy with a beard and a yarmulke, and he looks like a regular guy you’d see in shul, and look what sick things he’s done.’ And also get people thinking, opening their eyes that you really have to watch out for your kids.”

Selinger said in the interview that he had grown up in a religious Jewish household, and later worked as a lifeguard as well as in Hasidic Jewish schools in Brooklyn. Both were environments where he interacted with children, though he said that he did not carry out any abuse connected with his work. He went through therapy after his 2015 conviction and remains Jewishly observant, he said. His entry on the state sex offender registry lists an address in Brooklyn.

A New York City- and Jerusalem-based group that aids victims of abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community, thanked Pellin in a social media post for publishing the video, while acknowledging that he had concerns about its potential for triggering trauma in survivors of abuse. Some commenters said the video was informative and important for spreading awareness, while other social media users called the interview “highly unethical,” and traumatic to survivors.

One of the video’s viewers, according to Pellin, watched it from a different vantage point: As she heard Selinger retell his crimes, she recognized that he had abused her. Pellin says the victim contacted him, telling him she had largely repressed her memories of the abuse. But in October, less than three months after Pellin released the Selinger interview, the victim, who is not named in court records, filed charges against Selinger for the abuse — leading to Wednesday’s guilty plea.

“These flashbacks that she’s been getting for years, just trying to convince herself that they may not be real or they’re vague, just became very clear,” Pellin said. “She realized the beast that she’s been fighting all these years.”

The victim said in an impact statement in court on Wednesday that Selinger had abused her multiple times, causing her years of trauma, according to Asher Lovy, an advocate for sexual abuse victims who was in the courtroom. Judge Edward McLoughlin applauded the woman for coming forward, Lovy said, saying she had shown her strength by speaking out and seeking justice.

Lovy, the director of Za’akah, a nonprofit that combats sexual abuse in religious communities and advocates for survivors, said he had mixed feelings about the video because it had given Selinger a platform to present his side of the story. Lovy felt that Selinger showed a lack of remorse in the interview, but added that the new victim coming forward was a benefit of the video.

“I don’t want anybody getting the idea that this is generally a good idea, that if you can convince a pedophile to make a video maybe more will come forward,” Lovy said. “Once the video was made, I’m glad that it could lead to Gershon being brought to justice for more of the abuse he’s committed.”

Pellin said he feels gratified with the video’s impact.

“She’s handling this with great strength and I think it’s very inspiring,” Pellin said of the victim. “Survivors should always have the final say.”

https://www.jta.org/2024/01/04/ny/sex-offender-who-gave-high-profile-interview-to-hasidic-comedian-pleads-guilty-to-new-charges?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-66784-462090

From the River to the Sea | Real Time with Bill Maher

| Movin' Right Along | The Jewish School Principals - Rabbi Ari Segal, former head of 2 Modern Orthodox schools, accused of ‘sexualized’ communications with students

 

 

(JTA) — A Houston Orthodox day school says it found credible allegations that a former head of school engaged in “sexualized” communications with students.

The school, Robert M. Beren Academy, is inviting graduates with similar experiences to reach out to an investigator who is scrutinizing the behavior of Rabbi Ari Segal, who served in senior positions at the school from 2004 to 2011 before assuming leadership of a prominent Orthodox day school in Los Angeles.

“Recently, multiple alumni came forward and stated that our former Upper School Judaica Principal and later Head of School, Rabbi Ari Segal (who served from 2004-2011), engaged in sexualized, persistent, emotionally charged communications with them — including communications indicating each were in a relationship — while they were students at Beren,” said the email to parents and alumni sent Tuesday evening and signed by Ethan Ludmir, Beren Academy’s president.

An outside investigator “determined that these reports are credible,” Ludmir said. He appealed to any alumni who had similar experiences with Segal to write to the law firm of the investigator, Ellen Spaulding. He said Segal declined to cooperate with the investigation.

The email gained a wider audience when it was posted to Facebook on Wednesday by Asher Lovy, an advocate for sexual abuse victims in the Orthodox community.

“Upon learning of the allegations we activated this pathway quite simply because it’s the right thing to do,” Ludmir told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview.  He said the allegations came to light this year.

A 1997 graduate of Yeshiva University who also holds degrees in social work and business administration, Segal worked in Orthodox high schools for three decades until earlier this year, according to his LinkedIn profile. He gained a reputation for urging open-mindedness in the schools, including in columns arguing for more conversation about sex and sexuality. 

“Why do we not have serious discussion in our yeshiva day school system about Jewish sexual ethics, the realities of Shabbat observance on a college campus, belief in God, the ubiquitous and insidiousness of pornography or the culture of drinking and drugs?” he wrote in a 2019 New York Jewish Week column about ideas he said he had raised at an Orthodox Union retreat.

After leaving Beren Academy, Segal served as head of school at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles until 2021 and then as a consultant there until earlier this year. Shalhevet did not reply to requests for comment, nor did employers before he took his job at Beren, including the Ramaz School in New York City.

He and his family moved to Israel in 2019. His LinkedIn profile says he now acts as a strategic planning consultant for institutions including Yeshiva of Flatbush and Israel’s Diaspora ministry. He did not reply to a message sent via LinkedIn.

A 2019 article on the Shalhevet school news site announcing his phasing out said he was responsible for the school’s substantial growth, for bringing in more women educators to Judaic studies and for pioneering the first LGBTQ inclusion pledge in an Orthodox school.

Beren’s transparency stands in contrast to how other Jewish institutions have handled harassment and assault scandals, with some allegedly engaging in coverups.

Who is Ari Segal?

 

PASSING THE TRASH - MAKING ALIYAH

 

A 1997 graduate of Yeshiva University who also holds degrees in social work and business administration, Segal worked in Orthodox high schools for three decades until earlier this year, according to his LinkedIn profile. He gained a reputation for urging open-mindedness in the schools, including in columns arguing for more conversation about sex and sexuality.

“Why do we not have serious discussion in our yeshiva day school system about Jewish sexual ethics, the realities of Shabbat observance on a college campus, belief in God, the ubiquitous and insidiousness of pornography or the culture of drinking and drugs?” he wrote in a 2019 New York Jewish Week column about ideas he said he had raised at an Orthodox Union retreat.

After leaving Beren Academy, Segal served as head of school at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles until 2021 and then as a consultant there until earlier this year. Shalhevet did not reply to requests for comment, nor did employers before he took his job at Beren, including the Ramaz School in New York City.

He and his family moved to Israel in 2019. His LinkedIn profile says he now acts as a strategic planning consultant for institutions including Yeshiva of Flatbush and Israel’s Diaspora ministry. He did not reply to a message sent via LinkedIn.

A 2019 article on the Shalhevet school news site announcing his phasing out said he was responsible for the school’s substantial growth, for bringing in more women educators to Judaic studies and for pioneering the first LGBTQ inclusion pledge in an Orthodox school.

 

John Doe Vs. Shalhevet /Segal

https://trellis.law/ruling/bs173706/john-doe-vs-shalhevet-high-school-et-al/20181108675019

THE VILE CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT RABBI MOSHE FEINSTEIN BY THE SATMAR RAV YOEL TEITELBAUM & OTHER PEASANTS!

Will the Child Victims Act be permanent? “We believe that any legislation dealing with child sexual abuse or adult sexual abuse needs to be equally applied to public institutions as well as private institutions”

After the Adult Survivors Act expired last month, state lawmakers are undertaking a new effort that aims to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases.

State lawmakers and advocates will make a push next year to completely remove the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases in a drive that supporters hope will have national implications. The measure is part of a four-bill package set to be unveiled today that’s meant to address New York’s laws for rape, sexual assault and human trafficking. The proposals are also intended to build on laws in recent years aimed at making it easier for sexual assault victims and survivors to file civil cases. “It’s to protect and improve society – whether it’s a skating rink, a church, Wall Street, or a prison,” Bridie Farrell, a former speed skater-turned-advocate, told Playbook in an interview. “It’s to improve society and make it safer.” Farrell’s organization, America Loves Kids, is leading the campaign to pass the measures. Farrell is survivor of sexual abuse herself and has pressed for laws across the country. The Child Victims Act , first approved in 2019, opened a “look-back” window for abuse survivors to file civil claims, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. The deadline to file cases was extended amid the Covid pandemic. Lawmakers and Hochul in 2022 also agreed to the Adult Survivors Act , a measure that applied to people aged 18 and older. The deadline to file cases expired Nov. 23. Prominent people have been sued under the measure, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and state Sen. Kevin Parker. All have denied any wrongdoing. But now lawmakers and advocates hope to go farther during the 2024 legislative session while also aiding survivors not covered by the initial laws. That includes ending the statute of limitations for most childhood sexual abuse claims – a sweeping move that could result in more cases being filed. “The most important thing that everyone has learned is that trauma takes time,” Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, the sponsor of the legislation with state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, told Playbook in an interview. “There are so many reasons why survivors don’t tell people. They’ve been threatened. They feel shame. They feel the stigma and they bury it deep within themselves because it’s so traumatic.” Lawmakers also want to expand the state’s rape shield law to include civil cases that would narrow the scope of what is considered admissible, like how a victim dresses. A one-year look-back window suspending the statute of limitations for sex trafficking victims to file claims is being pushed. And legislators propose creating a “tolling” provision to make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to bring sexual abuse claims once they are released. “The intent is to provide victims with a chance at justice,” bill sponsor Assemblymember Catalina Cruz said. “A person being in prison, a person being detained, doesn’t make them any less worthy of justice, let alone dignity.” Advocates have said they also want institutions that have covered up incidents of abuse and assault held accountable by the push to expand civil sexual assault laws. A flood of legal claims filed under the Child Victims Act have led to multiple Catholic dioceses in New York declaring bankruptcy. The New York State Catholic Conference had dropped its initial opposition to the Child Victims Act. Dennis Poust, the conference’s executive director, called for government entities that may have covered up abuse to be held accountable. “We believe that any legislation dealing with child sexual abuse or adult sexual abuse needs to be equally applied to public institutions as well as private institutions,” he said. — Nick Reisman  https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2023/12/19/will-the-child-victims-act-be-permanent-00132403?nname=new-york-playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b74f0000&nrid=0000016c-97f8-dfed-a7ee-fffdf1cb0000&nlid=630317

The Legend ---- Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz ZTVKL ---- The Visionary - The Ardent Zionist - The Giant of Giants!

RAV SHRAGA FEIVEL'S VISION OF THE ISRAELI FLAG -  "זכרו תורת משה עבדי"

 

LISTEN TO ALL 3 PODCASTS!

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OR THIS LINK: https://on.soundcloud.com/xyvQj