Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Mondrowitz, the child molester beaten in Yerushalyim, video


Avrohom Mondrowitz, a notorious fake rabbi and child psychologist who fled US arrest warrants for child molestation in 1984, was attacked and beaten by an unknown vigilante assailant last week in Jerusalem, according to cellphone video footage of the incident released exclusively to The Algemeiner.


“Isaac,” a 22-year old American studying in Jerusalem who recorded the scene, asked that his full name not be used and that his voice be altered in the footage.
Isaac, who recognized Mondrowitz from a newspaper report last year in which he was labeled the “Bin Laden of pedophiles,” said he first called out to him by name. “He stopped, turned around and responded ‘yes’ with a heavy New York accent,” Isaac said.

The video begins shortly thereafter with Issac following from a distance, then, loudly, calling Mondrowitz a “molester,” and telling passersby that Mondrowitz ”molested 100 kids in New York.” At that point, an unknown vigilante, who appears to be at least six feet tall and well-built, also apparently recognizing Mondrowitz, grabbed the hat from the fake shrink’s head, beat him with it, then let him escape, briefly, before racing after him, catching up to him, and throwing Mondrowitz to the ground.
The cameraman said he did not know the identity of the assailant nor was he, personally, someone who typically resorted to violence, but the frustrating circumstances surrounding Mondrowitz’s continued freedom from hundreds of accusers made this an occasion where “vigilante justice could be justified.”
Isaac, originally from the New York area, said that he was neither a victim of child abuse nor an activist, but knew many people who had suffered abuse and felt “someone has to do something,” and that he had to “speak up.”
“It’s really upsetting to see this man living freely and openly in this community of Nachlaot, a tight-knit neighborhood, with children everywhere, and apparently he goes to a synagogue, where people need to know who he is and what he’s done,” Isaac said. “It’s just outrageous that someone wanted for these crimes in the US, accused of raping and sodomizing hundreds of kids, has the opportunity to offend again, to commit these heinous acts here, in Israel. I’m a non-confrontational kind of person, but I couldn’t just do nothing, I couldn’t just continue walking. Someone has to do something. I had to speak up.”
“My hope is that by calling him out, by identifying him in the neighborhood, by releasing this video, that people here won’t believe that he’s repented, that he’s been cleared of these accusations. No, his neighbors deserve to know the truth about this evil man, this pedophile, living in their midst,” Isaac said.
Mondrowitz has been living in Israel since skipping out on the New York warrants almost thirty years ago. Twelve hours after he left on a plane for Chicago, then to Canada, then to Israel, NYPD officers entered his Borough Park, Brooklyn, home, after following up on an anonymous tip. They found child pornography and lists of hundreds of names of local boys, many referred to him by Jewish families and children’s services agencies for counseling, the New York Post reported. E-mails on his computer turned over to the FBI also showed that Mondrowitz trolled child-pornography Web sites. “Moshe Rosenbaum, one of the activists who first aired concerns about Mondrowitz in the late 1980s, estimates the number to be 300,” reported Tablet magazine in 2011.
In 1985, Mondrowitz was indicted, in absentia, on four counts of sodomy and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree against four Italian-American boys, ages 11 to 16, who also lived in the same Brooklyn neighborhood and had agreed to press charges and testify. The same year, the US federal government sought his extradition from Israel, but the treaty between the countries at the time did not cover his crimes. In 1993, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes dropped the deportation effort.
In 2007, the treaty was revised, and Mondrowitz became eligible for extradition. A search of his home in Israel found four child-pornography films, and he was arrested and jailed. But in 2010, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Mondrowitz was grandfathered and exempt from the revised treaty, and set him free.
At the time, The Jewish Week published selections from a 2006 document allegedly found on Mondrowitz’s computer, which indicates that he was still a threat in Israel, again, posing as a psychologist. In the document he provides a mental health evaluation of a 15-year-old boy, based on in-person interviews, and notes the “hormonal and physical changes in his body.” “Mondrowitz’s name appears at the end of the assessment, followed by the credentials “Ph.D., L.N.H.A.” (Licensed Nursing Home Administrator)” reported The Jewish Week further. On a resume obtained by the paper Mondrowitz claimed to have received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1977 from “Teachers College, Colombia [sic] University,” but a NYPD detective told Israeli daily Haaretz in 2007 that all of his diplomas, including his rabbinic ordination, were “fakes.”
Last year, the New York Post published a photo of Mondrowitz, dressed similarly to how he appears in the new video, wearing religious garb, as well as tefilin, a tallis and carrying his fedora, near his apartment on Yizreel Street, in Nachlaot. The photo sparked outrage as proof that the alleged child molester was living freely in Israel, while many young men who claimed to be his victims still suffered many years later from harrowing physical and mental abuse.
Mark Appel, Director of Voice of Justice, a non-profit that works with child abuse victims in the Orthodox community and lobbies for their rights, said the Mondrowitz case was “truly sickening” and one of the reasons he became involved in the field.
“There were hundreds and hundreds of victims, Jews and non-Jews alike,” Appel told The Algemeiner. “This was the case that really opened up the wounds of society, a major case that energized the movement to get justice for these kids.”
“In the Chasidic community, Mondrowitz was very high-profile; a rabbi, a psychologist, with his own radio show, a very prominent person, who, because of the high esteem everyone had for him, was getting lots of referrals to evaluate even more kids in trouble,” Appel said. “This was in the early 1980s, and I had just begun working with at-risk youth and on early intervention programs, and there was just this very high percentage of kids coming forward; it was as if every second kid were telling us they had been abused. It just didn’t register, until the pieces came together; Mondrowitz was a monster.”
Mark Weiss, at 13 years old, was molested by Mondrowitz. “I would love to see the guy run over by Egged’s finest,” Weiss told The Algemeiner, referring to the drivers of Israel’s largest bus company. “But I just think that even more than seeing Mondrowitz get beaten up, I’d rather see his whole support system, what allowed him to continue for so long, be ‘hit over the head.’ The mentality of irresponsible people that led to his continued ability to roam free is what needs to be assaulted.”
“This is something that we’ve been working very hard on as advocates, and cases are bearing fruit,” Weiss said, adding that “the Charedi (Orthodox) community has been slowly learning to no longer tolerate this, and education has been key.”
“Symbolically, I think the assailant is representative of a bigger thing happening, that this is a form of people showing outrage. Mondrowitz will one day get what’s coming to him, and I’m certainly not in control of that. The random guy getting pissed off and going ahead, assaulting Mondrowitz, that’s good to see, the outrage is starting to show. But Mondrowitz is just symbolic of the problem. We’ve reached a certain critical point where parents are talking to their kids, parents today check the right box, and say the right things to them; we’re not going to tolerate this c*** anymore.”
Jerry Schmetterer, Director of Public Information for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, told The Algemeiner simply, “If Mondrowitz came back to the US, we would arrest him.”

Content provided as courtesy by the Algemeiner

Halachic ruling issued by Rabbi Karelitz says because advanced cellular phone is 'not kosher,' there is no obligation to give it back to its owner

An innovative halachic ruling issued recently states that there is no need to return a lost "non-kosher" phone to its owner.

 The ruling was given following an incident which took place in a bakery in the central city of Bnei Brak, when a saleswoman refused to return a smartphone to its owner. The case sparked a halachic debate on social networks on whether the saleswoman had violated the "thou shalt not steal" commandment. The new halachic ruling, issued by Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, states that banned cellular phone are not considered a property which, if lost, must be returned to its owner according to the Torah. Meanwhile, a new court on communication affairs was established in the ultra-Orthodox sector at the initiative of Refael Meir, the brother of haredi journalist Yedidia Meir. The court will headed by five leading rabbis, who will issue rulings on the use of cellular phones and the Internet. The decision to set up the new institution was made during a meeting held at the home of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the leaders of the haredi Ashkenazi public. The court will also run a PR campaign against haredi websites which rabbis have ordered their followers to boycott. Some of these websites have been taken down as a result of the boycott calls, yet many other websites have been launched recently.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Missing 10 year old found! Updated

Kiryas JOel, NY - After a frantic search that lasted over twelve hours, Shimon Zorger, the 10 year old Williamsburg boy who vanished last night from Kiryas Joel, has been located.  Zorger had been in Kiryas Joel for the day to pay a visit to his grandparents who live on Lizensk Boulevard.
“We found him,” Moses Vitriol, director of the Kiryas Joel Public Safety Patrol, told VIN News.
It was New York State Trooper Danny Harter who found the missing autistic boy in the woods near the V’Yoel Moshe school, which backs onto Lizensk Boulevard.  Zorger, who is reportedly in good condition, was found at approximately 9:50 AM and was transported to Westchester Medical Center as a precautionary measure

Chassidic 10 year old Shimon Zorger missing



A full scale search continues in the village of Kiryas Joel for a 10 year old autistic boy who has been missing for several hours.
Shimon Zorger, who was outside his family’s Lizensk Boulevard home with his father, wandered off at approximately 6 PM this evening and a massive search, which includes state troopers, K-9 units, Chaverim and other volunteers, is currently underway and it is believed that he is still within the village of Kiryas Joel.
“There was a report that he was seen in the village at around 9:30, but because he is autistic he has a tendency to run away when approached,” Donald Marshall of the Kiryas Joel Public Safety Patrol told VIN News.
A spokesperson for the New York State Police confirmed that the ground search, which currently does not include any helicopters, encompasses a wide circumference around the town of Monroe and the village of Kiryas Joel.
Zorger was wearing a black and white striped shirt at the time of his disappearance.  This is the second time within a week that the boy has wandered off.
Anyone with any information regarding Shimon Zorger’s whereabouts is asked to contact the State Police at 845-782-8311 or the Kiryas Joel Public Safety Office at 845-782-5577.
Director of Kiryas Joel Public Safety director Moses Witriol is reporting that the search is still continuing, as of 11:30 PM, with state police, KJPS and volunteers searching the wooded areas around Lizensk Boulevard.  Anyone wishing to join the search is asked to report the the KJPS command center at Lizensk Boulevard and the public is requested to say Tehillim for Shimon ben Raizel Devorah.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Chassidishe Chussen dumps his Kallah at the wedding

The dumped Kallah

The "dumper" Chussen

From yourjewishnews
By: Debbie Gross 
 A man, who was moments away from tying the knot, ditched his bride at the altar and ran, according to reports in Israel.

The overjoyed ultra-Orthodox Jewish families of the bride and groom were already at the wedding hall, “Hod Vehadar Yad Ezra”, located in the city of Bnei Brak on Shlomo Hamelech Street. A few moments before the chuppah ceremony, the groom fled from the wedding hall. His horrified parents reached him on his cell phone, but the groom told them that he doesn't want to get married.

Meanwhile, the guests at the wedding hall were anxiously waiting for the wedding to continue. Later that night, the groom returned, but then, the bride refused to go ahead with the wedding. The waiters, realizing that the wedding will probably not take place, began to distribute the wedding meal to the remaining guests.

The groom began dancing with family and friends despite the fact that the bride locked herself in a room.
At around 1:00 am, Rabbi Moshe Shafran along with a government social worker arrived. They spoke with the parties. The wedding was officially canceled and the bride, groom and their families went home.

The bride and groom are followers of Eliezer Berland, a Breslov rabbi accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of girls. Berland fled Israel and is currently holding up in Morocco.


Muslim needs facial surgery after horse he tried having sex with kicks his head in.


When it comes to sex it seems Muslim men seem to live by the saying of "any port in a storm" and have no boundaries where they get it regardless of whether its morally or legally right.To their warped minds anything is fair game, consensual or by force, of legal age or under age, dead or alive,human or animal. The Muslim world is quite partial to a bit of bestiality.
 So I couldn't help but have a little chuckle to myself when i read this Spanish story. Turns out a North African Muslim immigrant in Almeria, Spain was feeling a bit frisky thought he would rape a horse. Having already been disturbed twice before by the farmer he must of hoped it was 3rd time lucky.
Just a shame the horse had other ideas than let some perverted muslim rape her. Kicking the sicko so hard in the face that he needed reconstructive surgery haha. As if the incident itself and being arrested wasnt bad enough for him. He now faces deportation. What a shame!!!!

A mare smashes him the face of a Moor in Almeria when he tried to rape her

SPANISH HOSPITAL WHERE THE MUSLIM ATTENDED AFTER TRYING TO HAVE SEX WITH A HORSE
Torre Cardenas hospital image center of the capital, where the Maghreb remains degenerate input.
A North African had to undergo emergency Torrecárdenas hospital after a horse to give him a kick in the face and the destrozase while trying to abuse her sexually. According to Diario de Almeria account, the events occurred in a private estate in the municipality of El Ejido.
Apparently not the first time the individual was served in the farm to be with animals, mainly mares. In fact, the owner of it surprised him twice, but not known to have filed a complaint.
Health officials confirmed that the wounded man entered the same day of the incident through the Emergency Unit and immediately underwent surgery in which surgeons had to reconstruct his face. He was part of the facial bones and multiple bruises parties. The blow caused her to haemorrhage ceased after it was treated at the hospital.
After discharge, a week ago, the individual left the Torrecárdenas Hospital and the Civil Guard has identified and located as it is in an irregular situation in the country. On completion of the arrest, the immigrant could be deported to their country for an offense against the Immigration Act.

Monsey "Camp" Bizzy Bee closed by the Board of Health

Camp Bizzy Bee was closed by the Board of Health, They mislead the Board of Health for years convincing them that they were actually a school and not a Camp.
But which school is open in July and August??
Look at their Web Site and tell me if this is a school.

And if you read the E-mail, you will notice that it keeps referring to itself  as 'camp".
for example: "The police came to camp"?????????

The administration of the camp sent an  e-mail  to the parent body, explaining in the most convoluted, confusing way that the CAMP is not really a CAMP but actually a School!


The name itself is a dead give away "CAMP BIZZY BEE!"

Helloooooow!!!

They must take their parent body for a bunch of idiotic fools!

But the clincher is  that the administrator is Eliyahu Fink, who never misses an opportunity to attack Yeshivas and Shuls in Monsey when they violate zoning laws.

 Just yesterday this "Tzaddik", Fink  in response to a "Protest against a Yeshiva" sympathised with the Protesters commenting in Facebook,

 " the sad thing is that the frum community will look at this (the protest) as anti-Semitisim or some preemptive offensive. When in reality it's just a reaction to the last 25 years."

So now this Hypocrite does the same thing! 
why Mr. fink is your "school" different?
Read his "nutty" e-mail! 

(We highlighted in blue where they refer to themselves as a camp)
The following is an E-Mail to the Parents from "Camp Bizzy Bee

Camp ends today at 2:45 PM. Please pick up as close to 2:45 PM as you can. If you cannot come to camp until 4 PM we will be taking good care of your children until you can be here. We are so sorry for the inconvenience. Please accept our apologies.

What's Going On?
\We would like to explain the full situation to all of our parents. Please read this carefully.

For the last 11 summers, Camp Bizzy Bee has operated legally as a summer program of Ateres Bais Yaakov. This classification was unofficially approved by the Board of Health many times over the years. This classification means that we are a school and not a camp in a legal sense. This means that we are subject to school regulations and not camp regulations. The schools are governed by private school regulations and camps are governed by the Board of Health. Thankfully we have never had any legal or health related issues at camp.

This is our second summer at Bais Yaakov of Ramapo. We love the grounds and are very proud of the product we can provide at BYR. There is a neighbor who resents the school and Camp Bizzy Bee as well. The neighbor has given us a lot of trouble. For example, the neighbor calls the Ramapo Police on a regular basis with false complaints. The police come to camp, are satisfied that the neighbor's complaint was not valid, and they leave. Last week the neighbor reported Camp Bizzy Bee to the Board of Health as an illegal camp. This too was a false complaint. We are not illegal and we are not a camp. However the Board of Health decided to investigate our program anyway.

On Tuesday the Board of Health sent an inspector to observe our camp. The inspector noted several issues that would be violations if we were in fact a camp. None of these issues are violations for a school program. However we were confident that we would be able to work out the issues with the Board of Health supervisor.

We met with the inspector and supervisor at the Board of Health. They were adamant that we were a camp and not a school. This is an issue that we will be challenging. Despite our disagreement on how to classify our program we asked what we must do to have camp while we sorted out the many details. We were given several matters to resolve which we resolved immediately. To the best of our knowledge we were compliant.

The inspector returned today and was not satisfied with what she saw. A report was written and we have been ordered to shut down camp for the day. This has completely blindsided us because we have always been fully compliant with the regulations for schools and and we are doing everything we can to get everything sorted out so that the Board of Health is satisfied but they are not quite satisfied yet. We are confident that we will be able to reopen on Monday and there is a small possibility we can reopen tomorrow.

Please be prepared for either option and look for future correspondence from Camp Bizzy Bee regarding this matter.

As you can imagine this a very busy time for us and we recognize that you may have some questions. You may email us with any questions. Please do not flood the camp phone numbers with your questions. If we see that there are some issues that must be clarified we will send out further communication.

Thank you for your understanding as we navigate this situation

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Get rid of the Republicans, they want us to work to get Food Stamps!


About 47 million Americans received food stamps last year, but only a relative few are required to work or look for a job as a condition of receiving the aid.

Now, House Republicans are considering whether the work requirement should be strengthened as they seek cuts to the $80 billion-a-year program, which has doubled in cost over the last five years. One in seven Americans used the federal food aid last year.
A small group of GOP lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss trimming the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. One approach discussed in the meeting was a proposal by Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla., that would allow — but not require — individual states to test work requirements.
The push to pass a food stamp bill came after House GOP leaders stripped the domestic food aid from a farm bill that passed the chamber earlier this month following the defeat of a combined food-farm bill. Conservatives had demanded greater cuts in the food stamp program, so GOP leaders said they would take up the issue separately. But it’s unclear if they will be able to find enough consensus within their caucus to move on the issue quickly — or at all.
After the meeting, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., indicated that there is a good chance the food stamp debate will be pushed to the fall as Republicans try and decide their course.
The House has already voted in favor of the Southerland proposal, which was offered an amendment to the combined farm bill that was eventually defeated. But a more far-reaching amendment that would have cut $3 billion a year from the program and required most able-bodied adults to work to receive benefits was rejected. Many moderate Republicans opposed that amendment, proposed by Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.
Before the meeting Wednesday, Southerland said his work requirement proposal makes sense because it is optional for states and doesn’t cut dollars for the program.
“I think you have to have moral reformation before you have fiscal reformation,” he said.
The concept of requiring work for some SNAP recipients is not new. The 1996 welfare law laid out food stamp work requirements for some able-bodied adults who don’t have dependents. However, the 2009 stimulus law and waivers later allowed by the Obama administration have suspended those requirements in most states.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday that in looking at deeper work requirements, Republicans are ignoring who actually gets food stamps. He said 92 percent of recipients are children, the elderly, disabled or people who are already working.
Vilsack called the Southerland amendment “arbitrary” and said it would make more sense to improve state employment and training programs that help food stamp recipients find and keep jobs.
Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., said the lawmakers in Wednesday’s meeting discussed the Southerland proposal and whether work requirements should be voluntary or mandatory for states. She said the group floated other ideas such as drug testing recipients and reducing automatic food stamp eligibility for people who are enrolled in other benefit programs. Similar provisions were included in the version of the farm bill that was defeated.
She said there were no final decisions and the idea was “not to think so much in terms of dollars saved, but what is good policy.”
Another proposal favored by some Republicans, including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, is to turn all of the federal SNAP money over to the states and cap it. Ryan’s budget also proposed a cut of around $13 billion a year to food stamps. But those so-called “block grants” to states may be too much of a cut for the more moderate members of the GOP caucus.
Regardless of the approach, any bill passed by the conservative House will be difficult to reconcile with the Senate version of the farm bill, which keeps all of the programs together and makes only a half-percent cut to food stamps. Strong objections in the Democratic-led Senate chamber and in the Obama administration will make it difficult for anything the Republicans propose to become law.
If the two chambers cannot agree, which seems a very possible scenario, Congress may have to extend current farm law — and current levels of spending for food stamps — a second time when it expires at the end of September. The law originally expired last September and was extended as part of a larger New Year’s deal on the so-called fiscal cliff.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., have said the Senate will not pass another extension. But it may be the only option for farm programs that would be eliminated otherwise.
In remarks on the House floor last Friday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., would not say how he expects leaders to proceed on a food stamp bill, except to say they were working on it.
“We intend to proceed deliberately, looking at policies that make sense in reforming these programs in the vein of trying to get to those most vulnerable the relief they need, at the same time paying cognizance to the fact that we have fiscal challenges we must deal with,” Cantor said.
- See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/179146/House-GOP-Considers-Food-Stamp-Work-Requirements.html#sthash.uvWruvnT.dpuf

231 Olim Arrive in Israel To Build New Lives

A religious Jewish man from the United States kisses the ground next to his family after they disembarked a plane with other new Israeli immigrants on the Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv, 23 July 2013. A group of 231 new citizens, including 41 families, were brought to Israel in a plane from New York. New immigrants predominately move to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a key negotiation point in potential new peace talks between Israel and Palestine. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN

Israel - When Nefesh B’Nefesh invited me to join its first aliya flight of the summer, I was immediately interested.
It wasn’t just because it meant spending a few days in New York, but mostly because since I moved back to Israel after 18 years of living abroad, I’ve watched videos of NBN’s welcome ceremonies on YouTube several times and wondering what it would be like to be on one of those charter flights.
I thought I should tell you a little bit about covering the aliya of 231 North Americans on Tuesday, because I think it will interest you. To be honest, maybe also because I don’t feel like letting this story go just yet.
I interviewed the Erdfarb family in New York a few days before the flight. I knew that for my article, I would want to lead with a personal touch. We had an hour-long chat during which we talked about their motivations for making aliya and the whole packing and moving process.
Two things stood out to me: their strong love of Israel and their inexhaustible optimism about what life there would be like, which always seemed to overthrow any concerns or apprehensions they may have had about leaving their home in Bergenfield, New Jersey.
I found that same optimism in most of the olim I got a chance to talk to, both at JFK airport and later on the plane. Even those planning on joining combat units in the IDF didn’t seem worried at all.
I have to admit that hearing them talk about this idealistic picture of the Jewish state, I was skeptical and thought to myself: “They really have no idea of what awaits them.”
Perhaps we Israelis are so used to complaining about this country and wishing we were somewhere else, that we can’t really process the fact that someone would leave the United States of America for a dot on the map.
Being on the plane was a once in a lifetime experience.
I think it may have been the first time that I was on an aircraft where no one was grumpy or argued with a flight attendant over a defective screen or a glass of water that hadn’t arrived on time.
The 106 children onboard got to do some drawing and painting organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh in the back of the airplane.
Everyone was happy. They clapped each time the pilot made an announcement, even if he was simply notifying them of the sale of duty free items, and of course, as the plane’s wheels hit the runway at Ben-Gurion Airport.
For me as a reporter, being on the plane was a special moment. Seating among other journalists talking about the news; transcribing my interview with the Erdfarbs on my laptop; and walking around chatting with the olim, I had a feeling that I usually get when I write long features: Stories like these, the ones where you get to tell the personal narratives of people who otherwise would be voiceless, are why I love journalism.
I also believe readers enjoy those the most.
Before the flight, NBN had promised us that “the energy is palpable.” I couldn’t agree more.

Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post


Rabbi Lau and R' Yitzchok Yosef elected New Chief rabbis of Israel

Now if only Bobov, Satmar, Kloizenberg  and Viznitz would have elections, we wouldnt have all this Machlokas. And we wouldn't have 2 Satmar, 2 Bobov, 2 Kloizenberg, 2 Viznitzer Rabbis.
Rabbi lau in Center
Rabbi David Lau was voted Ashkenazi chief rabbi and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef was voted Sephardi chief rabbi on Wednesday after a heated campaign which saw the ultra-Orthodox victors challenged by Religious Zionist rivals.
Both Lau and Yosef will be secong generation chief rabbis of Israel. Yitzhak Yosef is the son of Shas spiritual leader and former Sephardi chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, while Lau is the son of Yisrael Meir Lau, Cheif Rabbi of Tel Aviv and former Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel.
Lau won 68 of the 147 votes, while Rabbi David Stav came in second with 54 votes and Ya’acov Shapira came in third with 25 votes.
In the Sephardi chief rabbi race, Yosef won 68 votes, followed by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu (49) and High Rabbinical Court Judge Zion Boaron (28).
The announcement of the results on Wednesday evening brought to an end one of the fiercest and most intense elections in Israel’s history.
Voting began Wednesday afternoon with Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat among the first to vote at the poll in the Leonardo Hotel. The polls closed at 6 p.m.
Out of 150 people eligible to vote, including 80 rabbis representing religious councils and 70 lay officials representing the government, the Knesset and local authorities, 147 cast their votes on Wednesday.
The vote was held over three hours in the afternoon, with Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli Ben-Dahan announcing the results at 8 p.m.
The Ashkenazi race set Shoham Chief Rabbi David Stav against Lau, Modi’in’s chief rabbi and Merkaz Harav yeshiva head Ya’acov Shapira.
Beersheba Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri and Jerusalem Rabbinical Court head Eliyahu Abergel quit the race for Sephardi chief rabbi on Tuesday, leaving four candidates: Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Yosef,  the Hazon Ovadia yeshiva head, High Rabbinical Court Judge Zion Boaron and Kiryat Ono Chief Rabbi Ratzon Arusi.
Both races featured face-offs between the religious-Zionist and ultra-Orthodox camps. Religious Zionists supported Stav and Eliyahu, while haredim backed Lau and Yosef. Stav had the backing of Bayit Yehudi, Yisrael Beytenu and Hatnua, while Shas leaders campaigned intensively for Yosef and Lau.
The election of Yosef, the son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, is considered key to the survival of the party. Prior to the announcement of the results, Shas faction chairman Ariel Attias said that based on conversations with nearly the entire electorate, he was positive Yosef would win. Attias dismissed the chances of Boaron, who has the backing of outgoing Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar.
A group of protesters demonstrated against Eliyahu’s candidacy outside of the polling station in Jerusalem on Wednesday due to past statements deemed racist..
Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On on Wednesday called the Chief Rabbinate a corrupt and nepotistic institution.
Gal-On said the Chief Rabbinate is an institution that “promotes homophobia and the exclusion of women and non of the candidates intend to change this.”
She added that the institution represented Orthodoxy and was “not interested to forward a more progressive and pluralistic Judaism.”
Gal-On called for the need to separate religion from state in Israel, abolish the official standing of the Chief Rabbinate and cease its funding.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refrained from endorsing a candidate, although he is considered close to Lau’s father, former Ashkenazi chief rabbi and current Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.
This election might be the last race for the Chief Rabbinate in which both an Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbi will be elected: Bayit Yehudi and Hatnua both support a proposal by Likud MK Moshe Feiglin to elect only one chief rabbi when the term of the rabbis named on Wednesday ends in 10 years. Bennett and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni of Hatnua sent a letter to the chief rabbi candidates on Tuesday stating their intention to merge the two chief rabbi positions.
According to the Bennett-Livni proposal, one rabbi will hold the chief rabbi position, while another will serve as the president of the High Rabbinical Court.
Livni and Bennett intend to implement their initiative in the term of the rabbis elected on Wednesday, their letter said.

King George, Though most babies born in the UK are named Mohammed

Mohammed reclaimed its place as the most popular name for baby boys born in England and Wales in 2011 - convincingly ahead of Harry, in second place, according to data released by the government this week.
The government declared that Harry was the most popular boy's name, but if you add up the five most popular different spellings of Mohammed, that name comes top.
Mohammed is also the most popular boy's name of the past five years for England and Wales, ahead of Oliver and Jack. It came first or second every year since 2007, the only name to do so.
And it could become even more popular in 2012, given the adulation around long-distance runner Mo Farah, who won two gold medals for Britain at the Olympics.

The popularity of the name comes as Britain's Muslim population is expected to double in the next 20 years.
The country, which was about 2% Muslim in 1990, grew to 4.6% Muslim in 2010, with nearly 2.9 million followers of the faith, according to analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
By 2030, the United Kingdom will be just over 8% Muslim, with more than 5.5 million adherents, the Washington-based think tank projected in a 2011 report, "The Future of the Global Muslim Population."
Mohammed first became the most popular boy's name in England in 2009, then was knocked back into second place the next year as Oliver enjoyed a huge surge in popularity.
Harry, the name of Prince William's younger brother and J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, leaped into second place in 2011, with 7,523 boys given the moniker, topping the 7,007 Olivers.
But the name of the Muslim prophet was given to 7,907 baby boys, according to CNN analysis of Office of National Statistics data. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the top 100 most popular names, with Muhammed and Mohamed also coming in the top 200.
A total of 37,564 babies have been given a variation of the name in the past five years. Some 36,653 Olivers and 36,581 Jacks were born in England and Wales since 2007. The British government keeps separate statistics for Scotland and for Northern Ireland, the other two nations that make up the United Kingdom.
The 2011 British census had an optional question about religion. Results are expected in November.
At least four different spellings of the name Mohammed are among the 1,000 most popular American boys' names in 2011, according to the Social Security Administration.
Mohamed is the top, in 428th place, with Muhammad in 480th, Mohammed in 562nd and Mohammad in 609th.
The United States is about 0.8% Muslim, with about 2.6 million adherents, the Pew Forum calculates.

Monday, July 22, 2013

George Zimmerman Rescues Family From Truck Crash Last Week


George Zimmerman, who has not been seen publicly since his acquittal in the murder of Trayvon Martin earlier this month, surfaced last week to rescue an unidentified family trapped in an overturned vehicle on a Florida highway, police said Monday.
Sanford Police Department Capt. Jim McAuliffe told Fox News that Zimmerman, 29, was identified by a crash victim as the man who pulled him from the mangled vehicle.
“George Zimmerman pulled me out,” firefighters were told by the unidentified driver, according to McAuliffe.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said the single-car accident occurred July 17 at approximately 5:45 pm. and involved a blue Ford Explorer SUV that had left the road and rolled over.
The sheriff’s office said there were four occupants inside—two parents and two children.
The responding deputy said that when he arrived, two men—one of whom was Zimmerman—had already gotten the family out of the overturned vehicle.
Zimmerman was not a witness to the crash and left after making contact with the deputy, the sheriff’s office said.
There were no reports of injuries to the vehicle occupants.
The crash occurred at the intersection of I-4 and Route 417 in Sanford, police said.

Jewish Lady accused of killing her husband gets support from Chabad Rabbi

Andrea Sneiderman listens during her Aug. 21 bond hearing. Photo courtesy of CBS Atlanta


A different picture of Andrea Sneiderman appeared in court at her Aug. 21 bond hearing as friends and relatives portrayed her as a kind-hearted mother, loyal friend and hard worker.
“She’s the best mother ever,” testified Joanne Powers, a close friend of Sneiderman’s. “She’s very loving and caring and calm. Sometimes I’m really amazed at her patience. She’s a wonderful mother.”
Her rabbi, Hirsch Minkowicz, said she is active in the synagogue, often taking the lead to volunteer for community projects.
Rabbi Minkowicz

Sneiderman’s father, Herbert Greenberg, described her as “a model child” and a “total rule follower.” He said his daughter is well-liked and keeps in touch with friends from Chicago, Boston and Ohio in addition to her friends in Atlanta. “She has, of all the people we know, the largest circle of friends,” Greenberg said.
Over the past year, lawyers have portrayed Sneiderman in court as a cold, calculating manipulator during the trial of the man convicted of murdering her husband.
In March, Hemy Neuman was found guilty but mentally ill in the slaying of Rusty Sneiderman. Neuman was sentenced to life in prison without parole. During Neuman’s trial, lawyers on both sides pointed to Andrea Sneiderman as a co-conspirator, saying she manipulated Neuman into killing her husband.
On Aug. 21, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams agreed to let Andrea Sneiderman out of jail on $500,000 bond.
He put several conditions on her release. If she is able to pay the bond, half of which must be in cash, she is to live under house arrest at her parent’s Roswell home. She would be monitored by an ankle bracelet and must surrender her passport and the passports of her children.
Sneiderman has been at the DeKalb County Jail since Aug. 2 after a grand jury indicted her on eight counts including murder, racketeering and perjury in connection with the murder of her husband, Rusty Sneiderman. The Dunwoody businessman was shot on Nov. 18, 2010 outside of their son’s preschool.
The indictment alleges Andrea Sneiderman was having an affair with Neuman, her boss, and conspired with him to kill her husband and collect his $2 million life insurance policy. Andrea Sneiderman has denied having an affair with Neuman and any involvement in her husband’s death.
Andrea Sneiderman’s defense team called on a variety of character witnesses to illustrate that she would cooperate with the legal process, would not interfere with witnesses and would not attempt to flee if she is released from prison.
Lawyers brought in a range of people in Andrea Sneiderman’s life, including her father, rabbi, a sorority sister, a close friend of Rusty Sneiderman’s and the room mother at her children’s preschool to testify that she is a law abiding citizen who would never leave her family.
The prosecution hinged its argument that she should remain in jail on the testimony of Jay Abt, an attorney representing Andrea Sneiderman’s friend Shayna Citron.
Abt said following Citron’s testimony at Neuman’s trial, Andrea Sneiderman told her they could no longer be friends.
Citron challenged Andrea Sneiderman’s story when she told the court that Sneiderman knew her husband had been shot before she arrived at the hospital. As Citron left the courtroom, Andrea got up and hugged her –  a move that led to her being banned from the courtroom for the remainder of the trial.
Sneiderman’s attorneys argued that Abt’s fuzzy memory of the event was not enough to indicate that Andrea Sneiderman would interfere with witnesses.
Sneiderman’s attorney Tom Clegg said he expects to fully exonerate her at trial.
“She is anxious to have her day in court. She ain’t going anywhere,” Clegg said.
Clegg said Sneiderman has never tried to run away, even though she was well aware that she could be arrested — especially in light of the accusations against her during Neuman’s trial.
“There was little subtlety involved in those comments,” Clegg said. “If she didn’t know … she was simply not paying attention.”
But Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Geary argued that after seeing Neuman sentenced to life in prison, Andrea Sneiderman has more reason to flee.
“She’s had a preview of what’s coming,” Geary said. “The second phase has started. She sees what’s coming and has the incentive.”
Adams set Sneiderman’s arraignment for Sept. 6.

Jewish Banker jumps out the window because Co-op won't let him keep 3 dogs, survives!

 Adam Silberman (with wife Monique) survived a jump from a Fifth Avenue building yesterday.

An investment banker and husband of a powerful Manhattan real-estate broker — who was distraught over an ongoing battle with his co-op board involving the family’s three dogs — jumped out the window of his seventh-floor Upper East Side apartment yesterday.
 Adam Silberman survived a jump from this Fifth Avenue building yesterday.

Paramedics rushed Adam Silberman, 47, who miraculously survived the plunge, to Weill Cornell Medical Center with “multiple trauma” injuries after a 10:18 a.m. call for help, according to law-enforcement sources.
Silberman was in intensive care with several broken bones, and doctors put a balloon in his aorta to head off any potential clotting, according to his wife, Monique Ender Silberman, a broker at Town Residential.
The jump would have surely killed Silberman instantly if he hadn’t hit a second-floor awning, which broke his fall, law-enforcement sources said.
Silberman’s father-in-law, Paul Lord Ender, said the banker had been depressed about a long-running battle with the co-op board at his swanky Fifth Avenue building at 68th Street.
Neighbors of the power couple have been complaining about the pair’s dogs barking and their rambunctious play in the lobby, according to Ender and a Silberman pal. One dog had already been sent away.
Cops found “crack paraphernalia” inside the couple’s apartment, but it was not clear whether Silberman used drugs, law-enforcement sources said.
Family pal Michael Moss insisted Silberman doesn’t abuse alcohol or drugs. He said the jumper’s troubles are tied to his job and beloved pooches.
“The stress was too much for him,” Moss said.
Ender said Silberman was beside himself with worry about his three French poodles: Prince Polo, Princess Jasmine and Prince Bonbon.
“He was depressed about the situation,” Ender told The Post. “It’s horrible what happened. I’ve been praying and crying the whole day.”
Moss said his daughter took one of the pooches off the couple’s hands last week.
In addition to their pet woes, the Silbermans also have had some money troubles.
They were hit with more than $650,000 in state and federal tax liens during the past five years, according to public records.
In addition, the co-op corporation, 860 Fifth Avenue Corp., has an $18,000 judgment against Monique Ender Silberman’s parents — Paul and Simone Ender, who own the couple’s unit.