Lakewood Blockbusting! A lesson in real estate

An Open Letter to Rabbi Shlomo Kanarek of Lakewood

Rechnitz "bows out of Lakewood Parsha" under extreme pressure and walks back his remarks!

So there you have it, as we all predicted, the kids will now be screwed over again ... and it's all back to regular business....

Kids in Lakewood were represented by a powerful "askin" for about two days, and now see how the mighty have fallen!

Woe to our kids! Woe to Lakewood, Woe to Torah and Woe to the frum communities!

R' Rechnitz meant good, but the Lakewood Askanim, guys like Moshe Dovid Perlstein, "The Maramorsher" would have none of this .... 
So they told Rechnitz "take your filthy money and shove it up, you are not going to delegate how we run our communities" 
"You, Rechnitz, you are not the only one that has money .... we have other suckers that will feed our coffers and will shut the hell up!"

And so they forced Rechnitz to capitulate and fold like a cardboard box ....They made him write an apology that you can read below.

Moshe Dovid Perlstein, "The Chuchim fun Dee Ma'Nishtana" and "nisht kein groiser chuchem and nisht kein kleiner naar" called Rechnitz a Liar and then mussered him by saying 
" he had no problem attacking the entire mindset of the community in front of the Bais Medrash Govoha Roshei Yeshiva and many Rabbanim of the city, thus publicly shaming them, which was even more disturbing."

Hey Perlstein.... where were the Roshei Yeshiva and the "many Rabbanim of the city" when our daughter cried  herself  to sleep??????
"Publicly shaming them?"  What about shaming our Tinokas Shel Bais Raban?
Is the blood of the Roshei Yeshiva any redder than the blood of our children?

Notice how Perlstein,the Hungarian turned Litvak, says that Rechnitz "attacked the mindset of the community" 
Yes ... absolutely, he was for sure  attacking the "mindset of the community" .........which has been by in large "Middas Sdoim"!

It's dangerous guys like the "maramorsher" Perlstein that are destroying our Moisdois Hatorah and are directly the cause of children going off the derech! 


You know guys  ....So few people actually ever stand up for themselves.  
It's considered too risky.  It's safer to conform. 
It's safer to go by the rules. It's just safer to let everything fall out as it's supposed to and try to make your mark within those confines.  

But when you do stand up like Rechnitz did ... and you want people to join you in battle ....
you will find yourself all alone... just like the naive Rechnitz found out! 


Who will now speak for the children without Yeshivos? 
Who will now advocate for victim of bullies ....?
Who will tell the "Elite" parents that dictate to Yeshivos which holy neshomos to throw out, that they should take their rascals out of Yeshiva? 

Who?

No one..... because if  gangs like The Perslstein boys, took down a guy like Rechnitz ... in a matter of days, no one will ever be brave enough to face those miserable "Askonim"

There was a smidgen of light this Sunday when Rechnitz spoke the truth, but it was quickly extinguished by the likes of Hungarians that turned into Litvaks!

And that's why Hashem created blogs .... because this is the only way people can communicate anonymously, without repercussions and that's why our leaders are against blogs ....because they fear an uprising that will be soon in coming...
 ....
Hashem Yeracheim 



Dear Readers 
As there is a lot of confusion regarding my speech, I would like to clarify some of my points and my intentions. I apologize for any typos etc….but I am writing at a very inconvenient time from a very inconvenient place (Maimonides Hospital). I nevertheless feel it’s important to write now, to avoid anymore potential Lashon Harah. -

1. I apologize and ask Mechila for not for seeing the possibility of people using my comments out of context. The point of my speech was to deliver one message, and one message only, and that is to make sure that there is a place in school for all our children in Lakewood.  It was not meant in any way to “bash” Lakewood or its leaders. Anyone using my comments to support their own ulterior agendas are twisting my words. I am not Anti-Lakewood or Anti-Kollel, and if that happens to be your position, I would reccomend you take a tour of the city and its Mikomos Hakdoshim and I assure you, that you will be impressed. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with the substantial financial resources that I’ve invested and will continue to invest in Lakewood, would quickmy Family, and am proud and thankful that I can be a part of this extraordinary Makom Torah. Besides supporting the Mosdos, I think I’ve proven that I try to do everything in my power to help any Yungerman or their children in a time of need, and IY’H hope to continue to do so, in addition to the rest of Klal Yisroel. 

any of the Roshei Yeshiva or Rabbonim. To the contrary, I spoke of the Roshei Yeshiva’s attempts and involvement in helping children get into Mosdos, only to be turned down. I have heard directly from many Roshei Yeshiva, both from Lakewood and other cities, that they consistently have problems getting children into Lakewood schools. If any of the Roshei Yeshiva or Rabbonim were offended, I hereby ask them publicly for Mechila. If any Rov or Rosh Hayeshiva would like me to come to them personally, I’m prepared to do so. I have, and always had tremendous Kavod for the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva. Im sure if asked, they will all tell you that I fulfill any and all requests they ask of me without asking any questions. As an Askan, I have never acted without the directive of the Gedolim. In all my Tzedakos, I believe that I’m known to never ever give with strings attached. I don’t discriminate against any person or Mosad even if they’ve done me wrong.

2. If I had to do it again, I would’ve spent the first hour telling people about the greatness of Lakewood. Lakewood has grown by leaps and bounds in population and Ruchniyus. Under the tutelage of the Rosh Hayeshiva, Hagaon Hatzadik, Reb Malkiel Kotler Shlit’a, Lakewood has been more successful than anyone’s wildest imaginations. It’s Talmidei Chachamim have sprouted all over the world, spreading Torah and Yiddishkeit. The city off route 9 that we call Lakewood is merely the “corporate office” for the world over. I mentioned that Lakewood is everything right, that there is nothing more beautiful than Lakewood, but they are deficient in just one area. Due to the fact that I wanted to get a point across in the time allotted to me, I clearly did not spend enough time describing my genuine Ahava for Lakewood.

3. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough when I specifically said  that I don’t place the blame on the Roshei Mosdos, as they’re doing what we’d all do, to protect their Mosdos and not compromise the Chinuch they provide for following years. I also did not want to place blame on them, as every single one of them have bent over backwards to try and help alleviate the problem. I’ve been in communication with most of them, and they’re always trying to place “just one more child”.

4. Let me be clear. I put most of the blame on the Elitists. An Elitist is someone who calls a Mosad, and holds them hostage forcing their will and desires, while clearly harming other children. They are generally of the belief that they are superior or frummer than everyone else. They put themselves on a pedestal and insist on their way or the highway. Instead of viewing other kids as the Aibeshters children, they view every child as a potential threat to their child’s reputation. This happens every year at nearly every Mosad. I can understand a parent wanting a school where all the children come from homes without Internet, televisions or other negative influences, but if you don’t want your child in a class that has children who’s fathers work to provide Parnasah for their family, then you are an elitist! The working father can be ehrlich, Kovea Ittim, have all the right Hashkofos, but that’s not good enough for you, because you consider yourself on a much higher Madreigah.

5. The one point where I should’ve been clearer is that the vast majority of Lakewood are not elitists. They are humble B’nei Torah who’s Zechusim we rely on to exist. But as in every religion and every culture, the extremists and the most vocal carry the show. While the elitists are the Mi’uta D’miuta, they’ll cause 90% of the problem. In my opinion, it’s incumbent on all of us, as the silent majority to speak up and not tolerate these attitudes that are the impetus and perpetuation of the problem.

6. I should have taken out the time to thank all the Askanim who work day and night, trying to get children placed. They Aibeshter should bench them with Shefa and  Bracha. Unfortunately, they don’t have the power alone to fix the system.

7. As I have clearly gotten too emotionally involved, I don’t think I’m the person to deal with the schooling issue. I have therefore decided to remove myself from this Parsha. In terms of financial support, I will continue to support this beautiful Makom Torah, and hopefully with Hashem’s help, and your Tefillos, I’ll be able to increase my support.

As the Seforim Hakdoshim write: We’ll never know who is supporting who.

Ha’Aron Nosei Es Noisov. (Yalkut Shimoni)

B’Chavod Rav,

Lakewood "Askanim" Discredit Rechnitz

Dr Michael Salamon, a fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of ADC Psychological Services in New York. He is the author of numerous articles, several psychological tests and books including "The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures" (Urim Publications) and "Every Pot Has a Cover" (University Press of America). His newest book is called "Abuse in the Jewish Community: Religious and Communal Factors that Undermine the Apprehension of Offenders and the Treatment of Victims."

Dusizneis posted a video of Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz speaking at a gathering in Lakewood New Jersey a few days ago. The headline read – “A Path-Breaking Speech by R’ Shlomo Yehudah Rechnitz About Serious Issue Facing Lakewood Community”. By the time the video was posted on the news site I must have seen Rechnitz’s comments and video links on my Facebook and Twitter feeds posted at least a dozen times.

R. Rechnitz is famous for his generosity and is according to Wikipedia “an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of TwinMed, LLC and owner of Brius Healthcare Services, the largest nursing home provider in the State of California.” He recently purchased meals for some 400 American soldiers returning to the US who he met by chance while he was traveling to Israel, in the Shannon airport. He also purchased Powerball lottery tickets for his employees.

What Mr. Rechnitz said in Lakewood deserves the attention it is receiving. He called to task the mind set of Lakewood insularity that seeks to exclude certain individuals, especially children, who do not fit exactly into the rigid and increasingly stringent mold that the community stridently demands. You can watch the video and hear his passion and concern, and every word spoken is true. He confronts the false belief of superiority and that “your children are not good enough for my children” to go to school with and he speaks of the unacceptable rigidity the community adheres to exclude others even though they are part of the same group.

Rechnitz is spot on. I cannot begin to tell you how many families I have seen, who have taken a full day to drive to see me, to try to help their children, and themselves get through the trauma of rejection, and THEN go right back to the same community that has rejected them. The rejection is often for things like wearing a kippah that is not large enough for the community standards or davening without a jacket, or a skirt that does not go quite the minimum two and a half inches below the knee, or Gd forbid, speaking to a member of the opposite sex, or wanting to go to college or…well you get the picture.

But beyond this is the fact that there are now a good number of Lakewood people trying to discredit Rechnitz. As the owner of a large chain of health facilities it is inevitable that his organization is under investigation. He has not been personally implicated and there have not been any reports finalized yet. Still, for many Lakewooders Rechnitz is now persona non grata, and someone to vilify. But that cannot happen. And that is what really makes this story so important.

Remember the asaifa, the gathering to demand that the internet be banned? And, that you should only use a kosher phone not a smart phone with an internet connection? Internet connections were and in many communities remain, the work of the devil. This story is precisely why there was such an intense push to ban internet services. Rechnitz’s speech has caught on like wild fire. It has gone viral and that is simply too threatening to certain community members. It is threatening to their power, to their religious and social base and to their rigid but unsupportable lifestyle.

This is not just a clarion issue for Lakewood. Rechnitz has exposed the failings of Hareidi communities everywhere. What happens in Lakewood happens in other places. There will be people who, because of this unwanted media attention will become even more rigid. There will be others, however, who will use this viral event to begin the tedious but necessary process of change, welcoming diversity within the parameters of true Jewish life, not a false rigidity created of whole cloth that has no basis in Halacha.

I welcome his comments. Despite the efforts of some, Rechnitz cannot be easily dismissed. As a philanthropist with well known largess his words carry significant weight. One can only hope that he is heeded. If not, there will be a seismic shift in this, and similar communities with the potential to create havoc between the old order and a young society exposed to the hypocrisy of exclusion.

The Lakewood Churban .... Children without a place in Yeshivah in Lakewood

Finally these arrogant Lakewood "askanim" getting a kick in the teeth by R' Rechnitz !

The only town in the world with the most Roshei Yeshivos, yet are afraid to put their foot down and instead look away while precious children have no place in a Yeshivah! 

They shukkle and daven so so so erlich but don't care if a child that doesn't fit into their own agenda ..... have no place in a Yeshivah .....
These Yeshivas schnooor and schnoor but let Jewish children rot !
Finally a guy telling these guys off .... hope it works!
Kudos to R" Rechnitz!

The problem Mr. Rechnitz addressed was the growing number of rejected children – children that have been excluded or precluded from attending any of the fine mosdos in Lakewood.  

He addressed the bullet-like blow to the self-esteem of these children – to the instantaneous destruction of the self-worth of our youth, possibly never to be restored again.

He first spoke of almanos and young children who have lost their fathers.  He spoke of the daily tzaar of the almanah.  How they had lost the man who stood with them under the Chuppa not so long ago.. Who smiled, laughed, and danced before them.  He spoke how he had spent Shabbos with yesomos and yesomim.  Young boys under Bar Mitzvah, who don’t have a hand to hold onto, when they walk to Shul on Shabbos.

And then, Reb Shlomo Yehudah spoke of our own self-made problem – a problem we ourselves have created because of our attitudes. He spoke of fathers who don’t know where to turn, who were made to feel that they failed their innocent children. Of Mothers who cry themselves to sleep every night.  He spoke of the children who at a tender young age, try to put on a normal face, but hide in their room and cry and cry more. This child’s parents have already cried their hearts out to their Rabbanim, to the school administration. “Please, please take our child. It’s six weeks, and he’s still not in school.”

He spoke of a 13 year old girl, who clearly sees that nobody wants her. She’s the town’s Pesoles. “Can you imagine,” Mr. Rechnitz asked, “an innocent Bas Yisroel, putting on a face for her friends, claiming she hasn’t had enough time to decide which school to go to, only to lay her head down on her pillow at night, the pillow which is still wet from the tears of the night before?”

He remarked that just on his drive into Lakewood that day, he received three calls from parents who asked him, “I hear you’re coming to Lakewood, can you speak to so and so. And I will address every one of them, because how can I not? 

We are a nation who is Noseh B’oel Chaveiro. How can we be comfortable just because everything is fine and dandy by us, while someone else is clearly suffering. 

Forget Ahavas Yisroel. I won’t ask for that much, but another Yid needs us, another Yid is crying out to us. How can we not answer him, yet expect Hashem to answer us, to take care of our needs?”

Reb Shlomo Yehudah explained the rishonim on the Takana of Rav Yehoshua Ben Gamla, “Even if ONE child in not in school, any child, Nishtachach Torah M’yisroel.”

“Yehoshua Ben Gamla, as the Kohen Gadol, under Roman rule, knew that it was incumbent on him to make sure that every last child had a Cheder to go to. Zachur oisio ish l’tov, because if not for him, Nishtachach Torah M’Yisroel,” Reb Shlomo Yehuda continued.

And then he delivered the death thrust – the unmitigated, unvarnished truth, designed to open every one’s eyes to the tragedy unfolding in the heart of the greatest Torah city in the country.

“L’tzaareinu Harav, we have a Machla in Lakewood. 

No other out of town community would ever allow a child to be left without a school. 

In Los Angeles, if a child wouldn’t have a school the first day, the whole community would be all over it. The same thing would happen in Baltimore, Chicago and Toronto or anywhere else. 

This is basically a Lakewood Machla. Yes, there’s a few kids in Monsey, more than a few kids in Brooklyn, but nowhere else and in no other time in history was this problem close to the magnitude it is in Lakewood..

Even the children that get in, how many of them and their parents shvitz for months, making phone calls, waiting for phone calls?”

He explained, of course that, “No one will dispute that Lakewood is everything right.. There is nothing as beautiful, no picture or painting, no scenery in the world that even slightly compares to the beauty of Lakewood. Walking into the multiple Chadorim and hearing the chorus of Komitz Aleph-Uh, Komitz Bais-buh, the angelic tune of our Tinokos Shel Bais Raban repeating pasuk after Pasuk after their Rebbe. The Rebbeim have a special place in their heart, a unique love for every single Talmid. You walk into the Kollelim..they’re so arayngetun in their learning. Their Ahavas Hatorah, their Simchas Hachaim. Chaim sheyesh bohem ahavas Hatorah V’yiras Shomayim…

But when it comes to schooling, we become Meshuga L’oisoi Davar.. 

We profess to teach Torah, and the importance of Daas Torah, yet when any Rosh Hayeshiva calls up a mosad to try to get a child in, they’re turned down with the swipe of a hand. How hypocritical can we be?”

He explained that the Roshei Mosdos shouldn’t take the blame. “They know that it just takes a few missteps, a few wrong decisions, a few wrong children, and next year, they quickly become the nebech school.”

He explained that the blame lies mostly on our shoulders. He said, “Many of us have created for ourselves a new  Torah, a new Yiddishkeit, that makes us feel good about ourselves, but has little to do with Hashem’s Torah that He gave us 3300 years ago. We turned our Frumkeit into an idol, and we have forgotten  some of the basic tenets of Yiddishkeit.”

He presented a list of five very false Ani Maamins:

1. I believe that “I am better than you.”

2. I believe that I have to show all my chumros, so everyone can see how frum I am.

3. I believe that “your children are not good enough for my children.”

4. I believe that the Torah was given to perfect children and perfect families.

5. I believe there is no room for individuality; we must all fit into the same perfect model.

And then he asked all present to declare the truth:

“1. We believe that Hashem loves every Yid, adult or child, unconditionally, and with tremendous  Ahava. We can never know the value of a particular Neshama. Every neshamah is a “chelek elokah memmaal.” 

Someone who is really frum loves every Yid with all his heart and all his soul. The notion that some of us are “better,” holier, and superior than others, is primitive, false, and simply foolish. Hashem calls each Yid his only child, yet we say, “You are not really that worthy.”

B’michilas Kvoidchem, we’ve skipped over the fundamentals and went directly to the Chumros. Bein Adam L’chaveiro is a nice thing if we can work it into our schedule, but Chas V’shalom, if my neighbor is struggling, instead of opening my heart to him, I become a cruel and arrogant Jew, and I think I am frum!

This is our Ani Maamin #1. Don’t tell me, you love me and you hate some of my children.it means you do not love me. Do not tell Hashem, I love you but I dislike some of your children.

Ani maamin #2. We believe that Torah is based on humility, on genuine relationships and dedication.. But if a yid is arrogant and elitist, Hashem runs away from him. It is time to realize how our elitism has destroyed our ruchniyus.

Ani maamin #3. We believe that every child is priceless, his or her value is infinite. For every child we need mesiras nefesh. The Midrash says, if one of the 3 million Jews were not by Sinai, the Torah could not be given. Everyone had to be there. How we can say, that some of our children do not belong in our schools? If we would have said that at Har Sinai, we would have never had a Torah!

Ani maamin #4. I believe that we all struggle. Torah was not given to perfect people. It was given to people who struggle with life and who have ups and downs. We all need each other and must learn from each other. The Gemarah says in Shabbos, that Torah could not be given to angels; only to people who fall and stumble. Yet we.. invented that Torah is only for angels!

Ani maamin #5. I believe that not everybody has to be, or even can be, the same. The Mishnah says in Sanhedrin that Hashem created every person different. Why? Because he wants us to be different. 

Let us respect differences. Let us respect individual journeys. Let us respect Neshamos not only robots. Let us respect hearts not only machines. Let us not crush every kid into a particular box even if he is sticking out. Let us be a little more confident and secure, and tolerate different types of people.

Reb Shlomo Yehudah continued, “I am heartbroken for one particular conversation that occurs nonstop in Lakewood. Parents call up a school and say: if you take in so and so, I am not sending my child. The school buckles under and rejects that child.

I tell you today with all my heart: 

SHUMU SHAMAYIM AL ZOIS! This is a churban for klal yisroel!  How dare you destroy another child’s life because if your opinions of the other child?! How dare you become a murderer like that? How dare you face Hashem by davening when you snuffed out a Yiddishe Neshama? How DARE you?”

He exhorted the listeners, “This is mammash shefechus damim. If the school isn’t good enough for your child, shut your mouth and go find him a school that does work, or create your own school just for your child. Make a yeshiva just for him.

I call on every principal, every Rosh Hamosod, no, I’m not calling on you. I’m munning you. That from today on, if you ever get such a comment, that if you take in that kid, the other family will not send their kid to your school, have the courage to tell them, “We apologize, but we clearly are not the place for your child prodigy.”

And then he added, “And if you are afraid of the money.. you call me. I will supplement!”

Reb Shlomo Yehudah ended with the following thought, “Suddenly, when it comes to the most important thing, we leave out Hashem from the entire picture!…There goes that Bitachon.

Lakewood Rabbonim Blame All Tragedies in Lakewood on Women!

Lakewood Rabbonim have been proven to be a bunch of liars. 
There was an Asifah for ladies called "והי' מחנך קודש'' and the Rabbonim of Lakewood promised that there would be no more Hatzalah calls or tragedies in Lakewood if only the woman would shorten their shaitels!

A Robo call went out, stating that since the Asifah, no Hatzalah Calls!!!!!!!!

Well! Just yesterday 3 year old Yocheved Abraham was killed by a car in a driveway!

This is why people have no more respect for Rabbonim!
Maybe the tragedies happened because of all the Ponzi ripoffs!
Maybe because of the massive Chillul Hashem that the Lakewood Rabbonim did when they made the Yom Tefilah against Israel!
 To blame all tragedies on women is insane!

Lakewood girl schools again turning away Jewish Children!

See this letter from a victim

DEAR PROPRIETORS OF LAKEWOOD’S BAIS YAAKOV HIGH SCHOOLS:

Once again, you have seen fit to send out acceptance letters to most of Lakewood’s eighth grade girls. The “undesirable” minority will go to their graduations publicly degraded – everyone knows who they are.

You say there is no room, “the boat is full.” That’s exactly what the Swiss government said when denying refuge to Jews during World War II. Incongruous with a “poor” community such as Lakewood, your mosdos scream wealth and plenty. Surely you can find room for a few extra desks – even a new classroom – in those enormous, grand high school buildings of yours? 

---

You say the unaccepted girls are “not tznius.” This may be true of a select minority, and being in the business of chinuch, they are also your responsibility. However, you have an evil practice of persecuting the less academic students, children of divorce, those who have difficulty paying tuition, and those whose parents you can blackmail before you grant them a precious seat in your mosad.

Young, fragile, impressionable children and their families are at your mercy. Their hopes for the future, their self-esteem, their sholom bayis, and their physical health are being sacrificed on the altar of your egotistic iron grip of power. It must take a lot of strength to overcome your genetic predisposition to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim. Or perhaps we should examine your genealogy.

No one is fooled by your beard-stroking, yeshivish-talking imitation piety; not even your own employees or your own children. It only serves to remind us that you should know better. The Torah you appear to represent and impart in your schools does not condone your behavior.

Have yourselves an Evian conference and decide how to solve the problem of universal high school acceptance in a way that does not shame or destroy precious bnos yisroel. Treat them as you would your own beloved, superior, deserving children. Stop feigning innocence and blaming others; do the right thing.

Lakewood Yeshivas using Jewish Children "as pawns"

The following copy of a letter written to a Lakewood activist is being circulated around Lakewood. The letter addressed to Hershel Herskowitz, who ran for city office against a Lakewood lackey, threatens to throw his two daughters out of school unless he first asks the opinion of the Lakewood Roshei Yeshivah before he does anything that benefits the Lakewood Community! 

Get it?

I don't!