Avram Simcha Samet killed by Car in Boro Park

A pedestrian by the name of Avram Samet z"l was killed while crossing a street in Borough Park Monday afternoon, according fire officials.

The accident occured at New Utrecht Avenue and 49th Street about 12:30 p.m., the fire department said.

The 68-year-old victim who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center by a Hatzolah ambulence where he was pronounced dead.

NYPD of the 66th Pct and Chesed Shell Emes are all on the scene, Highway units responding.

While Jewish Children in Israel are getting Bombed, Satmar & Neturi Karta Gangsters burn Israeli Flag!

Rashi z"l wrote long ago "we don't need your honey or your bite"
Its time to tell the Romanian Satmars gangsters , we don't need your "chesed" and don't give us your "Chillul Hashem"
Notice there is not one Satamar guy who has guts to stop this atrocity! This is what they teach their children, hate for a fellow Jew!

Rottenberg doesn't believe his car was burned because of the New Square controversy !

A village dissident once set on fire for bucking rabbinical orders said his car was torched Thursday night by a drunken Purim reveler who was angry when he was denied more booze, according to Ramapo police.

Based on those circumstances, Aron Rottenberg doesn’t believe the arson fire to his car at 10:40 p.m. resulted from his previous problems with the New Square theocracy, police said.

“We’re looking to talk to that young man,” Ramapo Police Chief Peter Brower said.

Brower said Rottenberg told investigators that he “tried to counsel the young fellow against the dangers of drinking.”

“That led to some words along the line of ‘Don’t Tell me what to do’ and he left,” Brower said. “The next thing you know the car is ignited. Mr. Rottenberg stated there is no nexus between the incident last year and the incident last night.”

Parents of child that died because of Metzizah Be'peh, don't care if other children die !

According to a New York Daily News article the parents of the boy that died because the Mohel that  did Metzizah B'peh had herpes are stonewalling the investigation thereby causing hundreds of future children to be contaminated by that Mohel!

Authorities are being stonewalled by the family of a newborn boy who died after contracting herpes through a controversial religious circumcision ritual, the Daily News has learned.

Multiple sources in the Orthodox Jewish community said the 2-week-old boy’s parents were related to a herpes-infected rabbi who conducted the circumcision according to tradition — using one’s mouth to remove blood from the wound.

“You guys are barking up the right tree,” a law enforcement source said of word that the mohel was related to the boy. “But we don’t know yet who did what.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is investigating the death and trying to identify the rabbi, or mohel, but family members have not been cooperative, sources said.

City health officials have criticized the religious practice, saying that putting the open wound into contact with the mouth of the rabbi carries “inherent risks” for the infant.

The unidentified infant died at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center last Sept. 28. An autopsy listed the cause of death as

“disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction,” according to a spokeswoman for the city Medical Examiner.

A Chabad Survivor Of Child Sex Abuse Speaks In Albany! Video

Activists and pols gather in support of the Child Victims Act which would extend the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases.
Agudath Israel of America and Satmar, along with the Catholic Church, oppose the bill.

"Metziztzah B'Peh" linked to child's death at Maimonides Hospital!

A two-week old boy died at a Brooklyn hospital in September after contracting herpes through a religious circumcision ritual that ignited controversy in 2005 after another infant died, the Daily News has learned.

The unidentified infant died Sept. 28, 2011, at Maimonides Hospital, according to a spokeswoman for the city Medical Examiner, who confirmed the death after a News inquiry.

The cause of death was listed as “disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction.”

City officials declined to comment Friday.

Under the practice, the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth — a practice city health officials have criticized, saying it carried “inherent risks” for babies.

It’s unclear who performed the circumcision.

"I'm Sitting in the Gates of Hell" Perry Reich about her Chassidic Background! Video!

"I was raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family," says Pearl, as she describes some of the customs of her faith. "A married woman has to cover her hair. I was expected to wear a skirt down to mid-calf, a shirt covering the collar bone."
Dr. Phil Show Friday March 2, 2012

DUSIZNIES:

We had the opportunity to watch the entire segment of Dr. Phil, and we found Perry Reich to be angry, not genuine, a blatant liar, and bizarre. At times during the show she had incoherent outbursts! We believe she came on the show to further her "modeling" career and was not at all interested in retaining custody of her children. In fact, what she she didn't mention was that the court appointed psychologist was one of her own choosing and that psychologist recommended that the father have full custody. She signed the arbitration agreement as an adult, and no one coerced her to sign it.

Her "modeling" career will go nowhere, no agency needs a 30 year old. Most models who are 30 and above started their careers at 18 years old.

News report:

The mother of four says her dream is to become a successful model and actress, and she aspires to be a criminal lawyer. "The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community would not allow me to model or act in any way —- my kids would be thrown out of school. I would be completely isolated," she shares.

To pursue her dreams, Pearl left the only way of life she knew, but it hasn't been easy. "Five years ago when I decided to leave the marriage, my husband declared me a bitch and a whore. That is the worst thing that a Jewish religious woman can be labeled," she says. "Once we leave a religious marriage, the rabbis force the women to go to rabbinical court. At this point, my husband is trying to portray me as an unstable mom and a promiscuous woman, because he’s trying to take the kids away from me. They are fabricated stories so my kids are on the verge of not having a mom." She adds that her husband will not give her a divorce unless he gets custody of their four children. "He wants me deleted from his life and from my kids’ lives," she explains. "I’m about to lose custody of my children. My greatest fear is knowing that my kids are on the verge of being deprived of a healthy home."Not to be able to leave something, and not to be able to have your personal happiness — that is a cult, and that’s what I’m facing right now," she continues. "I am extremely resentful. I am extremely pained. I am sitting in the gates of hell." 

Perry Reich on Dr. Phil Tomorrow , Video

Pearl says for six years she was trapped in an abusive arranged marriage in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. She says she escaped five years ago but is now at war with her soon-to-be ex husband for custody of their four kids.

Aharon Friedman, staffer of Rep Dave Camp refuses to grant his wife a get!

A social-media campaign is being waged to pressure Rep. Dave Camp to encourage a top staffer to grant his wife a Jewish divorce, and the lawmaker restricted public posts on his Facebook page after a flood of comments about the issue

Protesting Aharon Friedman

Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, employs a staff member, Aharon Friedman, who is the subject of intense anger from some in the Orthodox Jewish community for refusing to provide his wife with a Jewish divorce decree, known as a “get,” despite the finalization of their civil divorce nearly two years ago.

Friedman, a tax counsel for Camp who has worked for the Michigan Republican since 2007, must consent to the get in order for his ex-wife, Tamar Epstein, to remarry, have additional children or even for her to wear her hair uncovered as unmarried Orthodox Jewish women are permitted to do. Friedman’s detractors charge that his behavior amounts to “domestic abuse.”

The situation is awkward for Camp because it is rare that the personal lives of congressional staffers become political issues for members of Congress. But the influential committee chairman is being dragged into the highly unusual situation now that Friedman’s opponents have decided to thrust it into the public sphere.

Camp’s office turned off a public posting feature on the Facebook page and declined to answer questions about why it did so. Public users can no longer add original posts to Camp’s wall, but can still comment on existing posts.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, the rabbi for Ohev Sholom, an Orthodox synagogue in Washington, D.C., that serves more than 300 families, told POLITICO that he will go further than the online campaign and intends to write a letter of complaint to the House Ethics Committee.

The Liar Deborah Feldman Exposed!

She’s got some chutzpah!

She lied about her education, lied about her mother, lied about her sister, lied about her husband, when did she tell the truth?

A gal who ditched her hubby and ultra-Orthodox Satmar community in Brooklyn left behind a trail of broken hearts and hurt feelings to pen a controversial yarn.

Deborah Feldman, 25, says she was choked by an antiquated religion and trapped in a loveless marriage — but that’s news to her husband, Joel Feldman, who friends and family say is “shattered” by the damning memoir.

“She was crazy about this boy,” Feldman’s uncle, Izzy Berkowitz, 58, told The Post. “She was dying to get married.
“He did everything and anything for her, but she never appreciated anything no matter what he did,” Berkowitz insisted. “She lacked happiness. Nothing was good enough for her.”

Feldman, who’s been on a whirlwind publicity tour for “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots” that’s included a powwow with Barbara Walters on “The View,” offers a clinical account of the couple’s marital intimacies.

“He feels betrayed,’ said an old friend of the jilted pop. “She wasn’t forced to marry him. They were madly in love.”

Pearl Engelman, 64, a neighbor of Feldman’s when she lived in Williamsburg, blasted the author.

Rebbetzin Chaya Mussia Schneerson in video has most of her hair uncovered!

Rebbetzin Chaya Mussia, wife of the last Lubavitcher Rebbi Z"L being deposed over the ownership of Rabbi Josef Isaac Schneerson's library, she clearly has most of her hair uncovered!

Another Chasidic Lady leaves the fold!

Pearl perry Reich, 30, a stunning mother of four, said she’s done with the Hasidic community after it fought tooth-and-nail against her repeated attempts to end her rocky marriage — despite her claims of emotional and physical abuse.

“It was an arranged marriage,” she said of her betrothal at the tender age of 18. “We got married and right away we had issues.”

Now, after 12 years of “war zone” living, she wants custody of her kids, is trying to launch a career in acting and modeling, and no longer plans to follow the Hasidic teachings she was raised with in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

Her husband, Sinai Susholz, wants his children to remain within the faith.

“There are issues of her leaving Orthodoxy,” said Susholz’s attorney, Richard Sevrin. “It’s not in the best interest of the children to raise them other than how they’ve been brought up.”

But apparently that isn’t the only bone Susholz has to pick.

In a Facebook exchange, someone identifying himself as Susholz leveled accusations including “promiscuous sexual activities.”

“There are much more deeper issues involved,” the Facebook post noted. “She has no ability to think in long term logical terms and behaves on her sexual impulses all the time.”

Reich — who now lives in Lakewood, NJ, where she says she continues to keep a traditional Orthodox home — contends Susholz is trying to portray her as unstable merely to make it harder to get a “get,” or a divorce, in rabbinic court.

Even her father, a prominent rabbi of the Riminov line, has encouraged her to remain married.

“My father gave me a very hard time. He didn’t want me to get divorced, period,” she said. “They discouraged me from making police reports about abuse — my father, the rabbis and my husband’s family . . . His parents made a meeting with my parents. They called me a bitch and a whore, and my parents accepted it.”

Reich’s father and husband refused to comment.

Reich claims that Susholz cut up her $4,000 wig, threw her sneakers in the garbage, stole her glasses and told their daughter that her mother was a “slut.”

Lakewood Police records show that Reich has been granted at least one restraining order after she received a text from Susholz stating, “You are playing with fire and by the time you realize it will be too late.”

The couple’s custody case will begin in a New Jersey Family Court in April.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/marriage_holy_war_tyfZMjU8fVFyuOdIlvm6iI#ixzz1mpwhBc7M

Deborah Feldman's book of lies?

With allegations of communal cover-ups involving child sexual abuse dogging the haredi community over the past several years, it may not be much of a stretch for some readers to believe a gruesome story that appears in a new memoir about growing up in, and leaving, the Satmar community.

Hella Winston reports in the Jewish Week:
The story, recounted by Deborah Feldman in “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots” (Simon and Schuster), involves the alleged mutilation and murder of a boy by his own father — supposedly for masturbating — and the subsequent cover-up of the crime by Hatzolah, the community’s volunteer ambulance service.


The only problem, however, is that based on information obtained by The Jewish Week, the seems not be true.…
Further, a death certificate obtained by The Jewish Week indicates that the death — which it noted occurred in a “storeroom” on a Friday afternoon in Kiryas Joel around the approximate date Feldman’s blog alleged — was ruled a suicide by coroner Thomas A. Murray, and lists the cause of death as “partial decapitation, severed carotid arteries due to circular saw.” The deceased’s age was listed as 20.


Several e-mails to Feldman and her publisher, Simon and Schuster, seeking comment did not receive a response.

Deborah Feldman on "The View" Video

Here see her plugging her book, video from Simon and Shuster, her publisher

Belz and Satmar meet in middle of the night! Video!

Women start their own Hatzalah after getting "nowhere with the Hatzalah organization"

From Vin ... Sandy Eller reporting:

Plans for a women’s division of Hatzalah dedicated to assisting in emergency births have been scrapped as the women, after consulting with a respected Brooklyn rabbi, have instead decided to create their own independent volunteer service, titled Ezras Nashim, that will be staffed entirely by women. 

Ezras Nashim spent more than half a year trying to join forces with Hatzalah, under the premise that many women who find themselves facing an emergency birth situation were uncomfortable with male emergency medical technicians, many of whom are community members and even neighbors.

VIN News has learned that, in a meeting that took place just prior to Chanukah, four women representing Ezras Nashim explained the need for women EMTs to be called in childbirth situations to noted Brooklyn Halachic authority Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, the Karlsburg Rov.

Several prominent rabbonim and numerous others were present at the meeting which took place at the Karlsburg Shul on 53rd Street in Borough Park.

“Rabbi Roth listened for at least an hour,” one person who asked to remain anonymous was present at the meeting told VIN News.  “He explained that historically the ‘miyaldos’ (mid-wives) were women and we see in our community that in the Chevra Kadisha, we have men attending to men and women attending to women.  Our shuls are separate, our weddings are separate and there is no reason for our emergency medical corps not to function in the same way, not only in childbirth but in other medical situations as well.

As for how to implement having women serve on Hatzalah, Rabbi Roth said that decision should be made by Hatzalah’s rabbinical advisors.  Rabbi Roth concluded by telling the women that the miracle of Chanukah, among many others, happened through the hands of women, the geula will come through women and that Ezras Nashim, also being brought about by women, should be blessed with hatzlacha.”

Following Rabbi Roth’s advice, Ezras Nashim arranged a meeting with Hatzalah.

“Hatzalah’s board told us that their members did not want women joining Hatzalah and that any changes to Hatzalah could potentially cause delays in service, which was obviously something that nobody wanted,” attorney and community activist Ruchie Freier who represents Ezras Nashim told VIN News.

In a news report that appeared Tuesday in The Forward , Ezras Nashim EMT Yocheved-Lerner Miller explained that the women decided that it was preferable to start their own corps instead of continuing their efforts to join Hatzalah.

“Basically, we did the Hatzalah routine and it is going to get us nowhere,” said Mrs. Lerner-Miller.  “They are adamant and the goal now is to get going. That is how we are going to do it. We are going to do our own thing.”

Hatzalah CEO David Cohen confirmed to VIN News, that he met with Ezras Nashim, but gave no further details, saying he wished Ezras Nashim well.

“We did our homework and we realized that if we aren’t providing medical transport, we don’t need to be a licensed ambulance corps,” said Mrs. Freier.  “Once we discovered that we didn’t have to buy an ambulance but could just contract out with a licensed medical transport provider, it was clear that we could do this on our own and didn’t need to join forces with Hatzalah.”

Members of Ezras Nashim will be trained as both EMTs and doulas or midwives and while the volunteer corps is being founded to aid women in childbirth, their members will be trained to assist in other medical situations as well.  The group expects to be classified as a tax exempt 501C3 charitable organization and will be relying on donations from the public.  Volunteers with Ezras Nashim will have to spend over a thousand dollars each to cover the cost of training, insurance, a medical kit and a phone.

“Our goal is not to encourage home birth,” explained Mrs. Freier.  “We will assess just like Hatzalah assesses and while we will have a full medical board of advisors on staff, as women who have had children, we have an extra sensitivity and awareness of the situation that men could never have.  What I find amazing is that Ezras Nashim is uniting women from all walks of life who want to be involved.  Women from Manhattan, women from New Square, irreligious women, Chasidic women, so many women who have never had the opportunity to use their medical skills in a volunteer fashion are coming forward and asking ‘How can I help?’”

According to Mrs. Freier Ezras Nashim will be in full operation within the next few months with an emergency Telephone number.

To find out more about Ezras Nashim or to make a donation contact Mrs. Freier at freieresq@gmail.com . 

Satmar Rebbe, R' Aaron Teitelbaum visits Israel but not Yerushalyim?

Article is from Theyeshivaworld.com

All statements marked in red are from Dusiznies:

The Satmar Rebbe from Kiryas Yoel, Rav Aron Teitlebaum Shlita, arrived in Eretz Yisrael on Tuesday. The rebbe arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport during the morning hours, on a Continental Airlines flight.

Notice, he will support the Goyim but not Chas v'sholem Yidden, G-D forbid to travel on El-Al

The rebbe traveled to Eretz Yisroel in honor of the chasnah of a grandson of his brother-in-law. The chosson is Chananya Yomtov Lipa Meizlish, the son of Rav Chaim Tzvi Meizlish Shlita, rav of the kehila and son-in-law of Rav Rav Yisrael Hager of Vishnitz and the great grandson of the Vishnitzer Rebbe Shlita.

Prior to setting out to Eretz Yisrael, the Satmar Rebbe Shlita made his first public statements regarding the recent agreement (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=114990) between Satmar and Belz, ending decades of disconnect and machlokes.

The rebbe addressed yeshiva bochrim prior to heading for the airport, discussing some of the history surrounding the severed ties, explaining that he will visit “admorim while in Eretz Yisrael, even those who are not part of our camp. We don’t plan to change out ways, fighting on behalf of Hashem, in line with the tradition handed down from our fathers”.

He spoke of the need to continue fighting those who act contrary to the teachings of the previous Satmar Rebbes.

"Continue fighting"? oh well, it is the Satmar Shita to fight!

 What does he mean "continue fighting to those who act contrary to the teachings of the previous Samar Rebbes"?

 Ah ha,Yes! Absolutely! This is the way to Moshiach, let's fight with everyone that doesn't agree with us!

The rebbe continued, explaining the importance of clinging to the ways of the previous Satmar Rebbes ZY”A, concluding “those who get it get it and those who do not understand, never will”.

According to the rebbe’s itinerary, he is not going to be in Yerushalayim during his stay in Eretz Yisrael. 

Which human  travels to Eretz Yisroel and does  not step into Yerushalayim?

Even the soon to be Cardinal of New York went to the Kosel! I would be bodek his neshama to see if he is really a goy that was exchanged in the hospital at birth, otherwise it makes absolutely no sense!

Chadrei Chareidim reports a meeting with the Belzer Rebbe Shlita will most likely take place in an undisclosed location in the center of the country and it will be a closed meeting. 

WHY? If you are making Shalom, shouldn't everyone be there to witness the historic moment?

The rebbe will be in Eretz Yisrael until Wednesday, 29 Shevat.

Great Chinuch! Bais Yaakov Teacher Prohibits Tefilos For Harav Yaakov Yosef Shlitah

From THEYESHIVAWORLD.COM

Harav Yaakov Yosef Shlitah

According to a Kikar Shabbat report, a Jerusalem Beis Yaakov teacher prohibited her students from davening for a refuah shleima for HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Yosef even though they were already davening for Maran Posek HaDor HaGaon HaRav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv Shlita.
When the girls asked to add the name Yaakov Chai ben Margalit on behalf of the rav, their teacher refused, leaving them somewhat astonished.
In response to the report, the school’s principal stated, “There are clear guidelines and the family of HaRav Yosef did not file a request to have us daven on his behalf. Therefore, tefilos were not held on his behalf”.
She added that it would appear that people seeking to compromise the good relations in the community between Ashkenazim and Sephardim are behind the smear campaign.

Kolko the "Child Molester" threatens his victims!

The biggest "chazer" in modern Jewish history has the chutzpah to threaten his victims, here read the unbelievable article in today's post.

The family of a boy allegedly molested by notorious Brooklyn Rabbi Joel Kolko say they’ve received a barrage of harassing and threatening telephone calls — one warning, “You better back off or you’ll suffer the consequences.”

“We have been told by anonymous callers that our son would be publicly humiliated and named” as a student suing Kolko’s former yeshiva, the father said in a sworn statement obtained by The Post.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ office, which received the father’s affidavit, said recently that it has arrested 85 Orthodox child-molesters in the past two years, but some victims don’t pursue cases because their families are shunned, ostracized or retaliated against.

Kolko, 65, is set for trial in Brooklyn Criminal Court this week on charges he violated an order of protection against the boy, now 12.

Last year, Kolko moved into a Flatbush house near the kid’s family and “bumped into” him and his dad several times — once snapping a photo, court papers allege.

He also stared at the child, frightening him, as he walked to synagogue, the family told cops.

Kolko commented, “If it comes to trial, I’m sure my lawyer will have a defense.”

In a deal with the DA, Kolko pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child-endangerment of the boy and a classmate in May 2008.

The father's affidavit says he traced the "back off" call to Yeshiva Torah Temimah, where Kolko taught for more than 25 years.

The boy's lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Court charges the yeshiva ignored complaints that Kolko abused kids in his class. It charges Kolko sat the first-grader on his lap and molested him on multiple occasions.

In another affidavit given to the DA, the boy's therapist says Torah Temimah lawyer Avraham Moskowitz urged him to get the family to drop its suit or it could "bankrupt the yeshiva."

Moskowitz denied the allegation, calling it a "blatant lie," but he admitted sending an e-mail naming the boy to a non-profit -- where others could see it -- to contact the therapist.

The boy's father said the DA did nothing about the complaints of intimidation.

Hynes' spokesman Jerry Schmetterer said "the allegations were fully investigated," and "it was decided there were no additional charges that could be brought."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/threats_vs_rabbi_accuser_DGc2B4CYV8VtIUiTa2TbvN#ixzz1mBFZ1o5W

Whitney Houston Dies at 48 ....One of the most talented singers in American history! Video!

Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.