Yeshiva World News

AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: [via email]

Shortly after 7 PM I arrived to the corner of 48st & 16th Ave. I saw a tall Chassid in handcuffs being led away by the Police. A hundred or so people were watching and screaming.Then an elderly man in shirtsleeves on a stretcher was put in an ambulance. Fresh ashes were in front of Shicks Bakery as people mulled around.The head Police Officers went into the suit store next to Shicks Bakery together with Rabbi Edger Gluck & other Police Chaplains’s. They spoke and made phone calls for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile out doors a fire was lit on the corner of 48th Street without any Police Officers in sight. when the conducting officer came out of the store he glanced at the fire in frustration; then upon spotting a news camera (channel 2) running to the fire he muttered, “let them burn it all down”, quickly adding: “not the buildings!” The police obviously then made a tactful (in my opinion very questionable) decision: LEAVING the tense scene. In the 8 o’clock hour the overwhelmingly chassidish crowd lit a number of fires as the crowd continued to grow. Helicopters circled above and the media showed up en masse.shortly before 9 dozens of police in riot gear arrived and pushed the rowdy crowd, who now were mostly excited teenagers, to the higher street numbers. Not till after 10 did the crowds finally disperse with riot gear officers remaining on the street corners and lots of unanswered questions hanging in the community.

NYPD Chief Of Department Joseph Esposito issued an apology for his racial slurs that he used last night at Councilman Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Rabbi Edger Gluck and many other community leaders.

NY1:

Chief of Department Joseph Esposito now admits he made inappropriate comments during the chaos. He does not however admit to singling out Jews in his words as some city council members say he did. Brooklyn City Councilor Simcha Felder accused the chief of saying, “get the F Jews out of here. Get the F Jews out of here. That is something that is inexcusable, intolerable,” Felder says……..

Yeshivaorthodoxy (A”H) asks; The coverage of this story begs the question: Does the Times or any other secular media have orthodox reporters?! where’s diversity and/or affirmative action?

NYT:

A routine traffic stop of a 75-year-old Hasidic driver in Brooklyn escalated into a protest last night by hundreds of Orthodox Jews, who surrounded a police station house, chanted “No justice no peace,” lighted bonfires and set a police car afire. The driver and two other men were arrested, but no serious injuries were reported…….Witnesses said the police were unnecessarily rough with an elderly man. “Arthur had stepped out of his car, and was pushed by police officers against the car and put in a hand-lock behind his back,” said Sariel Widawsky, 49, a co-owner of Schick’s bakery, formerly owned by Mr. Schick’s family, who said he saw the arrest. “People saw what the police were doing to a 70-to-80-year-old man and starting screaming at police to leave him alone.” “They literally threw him down into the van,” Mr. Widawsky said. “He fell on the first step. They picked him up and manhandled him into the van.” “Another witness said the police had overreacted. “For nothing — he didn’t do anything — they cuffed him and took him like an animal,” said Jacob Jacobvitz, 21…..The Hasidic population of Borough Park has sometimes had tense relations with the police. In 1999, several hundred angry residents poured onto the streets to protest the fatal police shooting of a mentally disturbed Orthodox Jewish man, Gidone Busch. Mr. Busch was fired upon at least 12 times when he threatened neighbors with a hammer. Residents said the police had used excessive force. The driver was charged with obstructing governmental administration. He was given a desk appearance ticket and released later that night, the police said. A second man was charged with disorderly conduct, and a third with assault……

BND:

Though the number of anti-Semitic incidents declined across the nation last year, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday it is troubled that the number of incidents in the upper Midwest is on the rise so far this year.The ADL documented 45 anti-Semitic incidents last year across a six-state region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the ADL’s Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest office…

I came across these these two pictures from the notoriously anti Semitic NYPD Blog. Why have these NYPD Officer’s who rant on this blog not been fired? How about the officers that posted these clearly anti-semitic pictures? Where is Simcha Felder & Dov Hikind? Where is the NYPD Internal Affairs Department?

MND:

For years now, the American political landscape has slowly been swinging to the right. Even the moderate or centrist these days leans slightly to the right on many issues. The hard-left liberals of the world believe there is an evil Evangelical agenda, even conspiracy in some circles, that is taking America down an irrevocable path towards an intolerant and less democratic society.In the Jewish Week, Rabbi Bruce Dollin, who runs a fairly liberal congregation in Boulder, Colarado, tells why he left the Democratic party and aligned himself with the Republicans. In recent years, I have reevaluated my political identity and found myself very confused. For disillusioned Democrats, Rabbi Dollin’s story is an inspiration. He explains the reluctance and ambiguity that goes into the hard work of political upheaval. He gives insight into reconciling very liberal causes such as poverty and the envionment with the blatant conservatism of Bush.Rabbi Dollin said, “I still hate war and have a hard time taking an inarticulate president seriously,” but he made the switch because liberals were not hard on the Lewinsky scandal, the War on Terror, and, conversely, are hard on Israel……

Who is this ‘Rabbi’?? Put him in Cherem!
NYMAG:

When is a restaurant that serves bacon considered kosher? To most Orthodox rabbis, the answer is easy: never. But Staten Island rabbi Dov Hazdan has been granting his own kosher certification to city Dunkin’ Donuts franchises that have served bacon, ham, and sausage, the trayf trifecta. “The meats all come prepackaged,” says Hazdan. “The employees have to wear gloves. I do not condone mixing kosher with nonkosher.” In Manhattan, Hazdan has also given his ner tamid K stamp to Pongal Vegetarian, an Indian restaurant that operates during the Jewish Sabbath, another no-no among the pork police. Hazdan was recently fired as the kosher supervisor at a Dunkin’ franchise on 34th Street after it received complaints from the Yeshiva University community about the rabbi and the pork. Spokesmen for the four top kosher-certifying agencies said they would never approve a restaurant that served nonkosher meats or operated on the Sabbath. “Who knows what goes on behind the counter?” says one Staten Island rabbi of Hazdan-approved shops. Hazdan insists his methods are 100 percent kosher. “I know a lot of people with beards who go into my stores,” he says.

An update to our original post:

It’s about time someone wrote an article about some of the ridicules statements made by some Rabbi’s.

MET:

With Israel’s religious leaders embroiled in unprecedented scandals and rabbis issuing bizarre edicts, commentators say that the Jewish state’s rabbinate authority is at an all-time low. Since the start of the year, both of Israel’s chief rabbis have been tainted, with the attorney general on Monday telling Ashkenazi leader Yona Metzger to quit for allegedly receiving kickbacks, a first in Israel’s history……In January the son of fellow chief rabbi Shlomo Amar was jailed for abducting and assaulting his sister’s 17-year-old boyfriend, adding insult to injury by cutting the hapless paramour’s kippa in half. Amid reports that his wife had instigated the attack, Amar was forced to deny involvement, but the damage to the rabbinate’s standing was done. Then there are the rabbis’ seemingly odd rulings. Last month former grand rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu told parents to amputate an arm or a leg from dolls to avoid the perils of idolatry. Teddy bears or other stuffed animals were sentenced to lose an ear or an eye. Another former chief rabbi in July urged Israelis to stop eating hummus as believers had no way of knowing whether it had been prepared by non-Jews, to the mirth of the press and many secular Israelis…..Two years ago a rabbi said Orthodox Jewish women shouldn’t wear wigs made from Indian hair because it could belong to Hindus who are idol worshipers. It was an economic catastrophe as women changed their wigs.” And, says Sharkansky, when you visit the doctor “there are Orthodox women in the waiting room with their 800 children discussing what treatment this rabbi said, what that rabbi said”. “But the rabbi can’t give a prescription so they go in and tell the doctor the rabbi said I need this medicine for my child so can I have a prescription….

Monsey Hatzoloh keeps on making a Kiddush Hashem………Keep is up!

TJN:

A pedestrian was hit by a car while crossing Route 306 Monday night, the second such incident in three days, Ramapo police said. A 37-year-old Monsey woman was crossing Route 306 from the west side about 8:15 p.m. when she was hit by Yehudah Walden, 26, of Monsey, who was driving a 2006 Acura northbound near First Street. The impact injured the woman’s leg and damaged the front driver’s side of the car, Sgt. Robert Lancia said. The woman was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital by Hatzoloh Ambulance Corps. No charges had been filed against Walden as of yesterday, and police said the accident appeared to be a result of pedestrian error.

APP:

The township wants to open a muster zone along Swarthmore Avenue in Lakewood Industrial Park, a move which could siphon the familiar throngs of day laborers out of the downtown shopping district.The plan, euphemistically called an employment center, was unveiled today at an afternoon meeting of the Lakewood Development Corp.It would create a gathering place on less than 2 acres of publicly-owned land near Cedar Bridge Avenue. Portable bathrooms would be installed and garbage cans would be put out, said township Committeeman Charles Cunliffe.The plan will be discussed again at Thursday’s committee meeting.Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said this afternoon the proposal gives day laborers and the contractors that hire them a place to meet, but also takes those workers away from the downtown, where merchants complain about their presence.The LDC is involved because Lichtenstein asked it to pay the $37,500 it will cost to create the zone, which should open in the next few months. The money — which was approved– will pay for land clearing, bathrooms and an area for trucks to pull over to pick up workers.The plan drew mostly praise from the LDC’s trustees board.”We have to start someplace,” said board member James Savage…….

UPDATED 8:34 pm / 8:55 pm / 11:25 pm / 12:33 am / 8:53 am / 10:30 am / 12:05 pm / 2:20 pm

Click HERE to see a video of Chassidim calling the NYPD Nazis.
Click HERE to see a video of Chassidim rioting in Boro Park.
Click HERE to see pictures.

Breaking news from Boro Park:
Just a short while ago an elderly gentleman, Mr. Arthur Schick was arrested in Boro Park, Brooklyn [on 16th Avenue & 48th Street]. Apparently he was talking on a cell phone while getting out of his car and ended up in a confrontation with a Police Officer over using the cell phone while operating his vehicle. The Officer then hit Mr. Schick “after resisting arrrest”. Within minutes there were hundreds of chassidim starting fires and pelting the cops with various items. An additional 3 people were arrested. The crowd seems to be moving towards the 66th Pct Station House.
There are hundreds of people in the street, dozens of news reporters and numerous NYPD & city officials on the scene now. They seem to want to try and get a handle on the situation before it spirals out of control…..Seems like it’s too late….8:35 pm….multiple fires burning. Surrounding a police car now….over a thousand people chanting “we want justice”… 47th Street & 17th Ave cops are screaming for assistance….. Cops are now in riot gear across 16th Avenue pushing the crowd from 47th Street to 49th Street….there are firesthroughout Boro Park….18th Ave Park is blazing now…NYPD cruiser burning on 47th Street & 17th Avenue…Curfew on Boro Park……..Anyone caught on the streets will be arrested…Simcha Felder will be holding a Press Conference at the 66th Pct (59th Street & 16th Avenue)….Exact time will be posted shortly… Simcha Felder & Dov Hikind just held the press conf. They said “Joseph Esposito the chief of the Department (PD) said GET THE FUC*ING JEWS OUT OF HERE…I WANT SOME HEADS ROLLING”….they also condemmed all the fires and violence….said that Joseph Esposito must be removed since there is no confidence left in him anymore…see how the NYPD really hats the Jews. CLICK HERE (NYPD Blog)…..Click HERE to hear 1010/WINS interview Mr. Arthur Schick…..

Forget the “Kiddush Club….now you can get TORAH COCKTAIL PARTIES!

AT:

A hipster synagogue grows in SoHo, drawing large crowds with its “Torah cocktail parties” in fancy loft apartments and user-friendly prayer services designed especially for the uninitiated.A group of New York-area congregations, along with others across the country, refashion their synagogues into religious multiplexes on the Sabbath, featuring programs like “Shabbat yoga” and comedy alongside traditional worship. Several synagogues on Long Island — as well as in Seattle, Tucson and elsewhere — station volunteers in supermarket aisles as part of a national program that started several years ago to reach out to Jews who are buying matzos for Passover but do not belong to a house of worship.These are just some of the ways that Jewish religious leaders, driven by fears about shrinking numbers, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and aggressive about marketing Judaism, turning to the same kinds of outreach techniques that evangelical Christians rode to mega-church success.In some cases, Jewish groups are explicitly borrowing from the evangelical playbook to reach those who do not attend synagogue; in others, the parallels have been largely coincidental. Although the efforts to market Judaism have drawn criticism from some corners, Jewish leaders across the theological spectrum are realizing what evangelicals have long concluded, that the faithful are easily distracted in America’s spiritual marketplace and religious institutions have to adjust if they hope to survive. “I think what’s going on is a product of the consumer-driven nature of this culture and the need to compete for people’s time and attention,” said Jack Wertheimer, provost and professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. “Christians do it from the imperative of evangelizing. Jews are doing it far more because they see their community shrinking……..

UPDATED:
The 90+ year old Satmar Rebbe Shlita is in critical condition. Please be mispallel for: Moshe Ben Brucha Sima.
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ROL:

The Satmar grand rebbe is said to be in deteriorating condition at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, setting off calls for prayers and renewing preparations for thousands of visitors to descend on Kiryas Joel for a funeral and burial.Sources within the Hasidic movement say Moses Teitelbaum’s health worsened in recent weeks when doctors found a tumor in his spine. Since then, according to sources, the 91-year-old spiritual leader has lost and regained consciousness and been placed on a ventilator to assist his breathing. Today, sources said, the grand rebbe’s kidneys failed.Teitelbaum’s family has rushed to the Upper East Side Hospital, sources said. The Israeli National News service has reported that the rebbe’s aides have asked Jews worldwide to recite psalms from the bible on behalf of Teitelbaum.Kiryas Joel leaders, anticipating a crush of mourners that will likely jam all roads approaching the village, met today with the state police and spoke with Monroe-Woodbury school officials, Orange & Rockland Utilities Inc. and other entities that might be affected.When Teitelbaum’s uncle and predecessor, Satmar founder Joel Teitelbaum, died in 1979, an estimated 100,000 followers poured into Kiryas Joel for his funeral and burial, the Times Herald-Record reported at the time…..

CJP:

Russian Jewish organizers of a trip for 15 Iranian Jewish women in Russia say they hope the trip will launch contacts between the two communities.”We have not had any contacts with Iranian Jews,” said Adolph Shayevich, one of Russia’s two chief rabbis. “We have heard various rumors lately, that there is no Jewish community in Iran, that things are bad for Jews there. We are happy to see it for ourselves that this isn’t the whole truth.”The group is a 15-member women’s amateur folk dance group that came to Moscow last week to take part in the Light a Candle Jewish children’s arts festival.The trip was a rare group visit abroad by Iranian Jews, who live in an Islamic community virulently opposed to the State of Israel — and they visited Russia, where Jews lived under tight restrictions until the fall of Communism.The Iranians — aged 14 to 30 — came to Russia thanks to diplomatic efforts by Arkady Gaidamak, a Russian Jewish leader and businessman, and with a special permit from the Iranian authorities……The main problem the community has, she said, was lack of rabbis and teachers of Judaism.There are no yeshivot, or fervently religious schools, in Iran, and only one ordained rabbi is serving the Tehran community that maintains 16 active synagogues.A Moscow Jewish leader said the Russian community should take advantage of Moscow’s good relations with Tehran to benefit Iran’s Jews.”Maybe we can invite a group of Iranian Jewish boys to study in a Moscow yeshiva,” said Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s chief rabbi……

NJHN:

A vitriolic online discussion about building a school at Latteri Park shocked and angered city and Jewish leaders when Board of Education member Norman Tahan added his voice. Tahan, responding to a previous post on the nj.com Clifton forum, asked why observant Jewish residents outline a certain territory with a boundary, or eruv. “You mean they mark their territory like dogs?” he asked in his post of March 25.Tahan said he never meant his comment to be offensive, and apologized if it was. He said he was merely trying to clarify a previous post explaining what an eruv was.”It is extraordinarily upsetting,” said Julie Skolnik, a candidate for the Board of Education and daughter of Rabbi Stanley Skolnik of Beth Sholom Reform Temple in Clifton. Skolnik said she had seen the remarks online. “My child is a Jewish child in the public schools and does not deserve that by anyone, most especially by an adult and sitting member of the Board of Education.”Several board members reached Monday were offended by Tahan’s online remarks. Board President Joseph Kolodziej said censuring Tahan is an option, though he didn’t believe board members could remove him from office.The Anti-Defamation League has been notified of all the comments on the site, said Etzion Neuer, director of the League’s New Jersey office. The group will be watching the situation and possibly speaking out on the matter in the future, he said….

TJN:

Monsey: The state has ordered a preschool program being run out of a trailer at a yeshiva construction site to be closed for operating without a license. The order came in a letter sent last week to Chofetz Chaim of Radin, after an investigation by the state’s Office of Children and Family Services. Operating an unlicensed day-care center violates Social Services Law, wrote Frances I. Franco-Montero, regional manager of the Bureau of Early Childhood Services. “If you are caring for three or more children, for more than three hours per day on a regular basis, you are required to be licensed with the Office to operate,” she wrote. South Nyack attorney Dennis Lynch, who represents the developer, said the preschool continued to operate. He said neither he nor his client had received the state letter. “When and if we receive communications, we will respond accordingly,” Lynch said. “They are without jurisdiction and we are notifying them to cease and desist. They have no jurisdiction where a day care is affiliated with a religious education institution. This is an attempt to suppress the religious education of my client.” Franco-Montero said the developer, who is building a school and apartments for adult students at the Grandview Avenue site, should immediately close the preschool until it was licensed. She also wrote that the parents or guardians of the schoolchildren must be notified of the licensing violation. Continuing the program or failing to notify the parents could subject the operators to a $500 per day fine…Rabbi Aryeh Zaks disputed the town’s findings and said he was “appalled” that the town inspectors asked to see a state license for preschools. Zaks told Klein that religious educational facilities did not require any state licensing.

PH:

There were no handshakes, just sniffs, at the annual blessing of the animals. It was a dog day afternoon at Temple Israel, though a couple of safely crated cats could be spotted as well. This is only the second time the temple has participated in the blessing. “We’re giving it a particularly Jewish slant,” said Rabbi David Mark. The blessing was done in anticipation of Passover to commemorate the idea that during the exodus from Egypt, the Jews fled with their young, old, sheep and cattle, Mark said. Since there aren’t too many sheep and cattle sitting at home today, household pets were invited to be blessed…..

ChronWatch:

Moisha Rabinowitz in the late 1930s fled his native land of Germany. He sold all his assets and converted it to gold and then had five sets of solid gold false teeth made. When he arrived in New York the customs official was perplexed as to why anybody would have fove sets of gold teeth. So Moisha explained: “We Orthodox Jews have two separate sets of dishes for meat products and dairy products but I am so kosher and religious that I also have separate sets of teeth.”The customs official shook his head and said, “Well, that accounts for two sets of teeth. What about the other three?” Moisha then said, “Well, us very religious Orthodox Jews use separate dishes for Passover, but I am so religious I have separate teeth, one for meat and one for dairy food. The customs official slapped his head and then said, “You must be a very religious man with separate teeth for food and dairy products and likewise for Passover. That accounts for four sets of teeth. What about the fifth set?” “Well, to tell you the truth, once in a while I like a ham sandwich.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yahoo:

New Jersey-based Labriute Meals announced today the release of two new self-heating meal products which are 100 percent kosher for Passover. Company president Abe Halberstam said, “We’ve worked toward this for the last four years. Many of our customers requested it, but it was the US military that made it happen.”The US Department of Defense recognized the need for kosher for Passover MREs (meals ready to eat) for Jewish troops and turned to Labriute to supply and assemble Passover meal kits, which include Labriute entrees complemented by matzos, coffee, tea, dried fruits, nuts, canned salmon, and macaroons. Labriute’s two new kosher for Passover meals, which consist of Bone-In Chicken with Diced Potatoes and Beef Stew with Vegetables, employ the same patented self-heating technology manufactured by Truetech as their regular kosher meals and are based on the same field technology used by the Armed Services. Says Halberstam, “We’ve just shipped the orders to arrive in Iraq, Afghanistan and other bases in time for Passover.” The US Postal Service is actually handling the shipments for an on-time arrival…….

Ynet:

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled Monday not to indict Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, but recommended that Metzger quit his post. The recommendation follows an investigation into the rabbi’s stay at a Jerusalem hotel free of charge. Should the chief rabbi refuse to quit, Mazuz recommends that a procedure be initiated to remove Metzger from his post In his report, Mazuz accuses Metzger of lying, among other things. Although Mazuz decided not to indict the rabbi, the attorney general’s report includes a scathing attack on Metzger’s conduct and notes many of the versions provided by the rabbi raise doubts. “Rabbi Metzger’s versions provided during his questioning, in addition to responses issued on his behalf after the affair’s publication, are filled with oddities, version changes, the laying of blame on his subordinates, and at times even an avoidance of telling the truth,” Mazuz wrote….