Ezra Friedlander spits in the Torah's Face and vote for a gay mayor

This is the "gay lover's" endorsement!

New York - In less than 90 days from now, New York City will vote in the Democratic Primary for mayor.
Elections are about determining the future of our city and our ability to enjoy the quality of life, however we choose to live. Elections for mayor should be based on whoever best fits the criteria as outlined in the city charter.  I will cast my ballot for NYC Council Speaker Chris Quinn and I urge the members of our community to do the same.
The dialogue so far in our community has not concentrated enough on the issues that truly matter. We should focus on choosing a mayor who possesses the following attributes: smart, sensible, stable, strong, and sensitive. Christine Quinn is just the candidate who has these qualities of an ideal New York City mayor.

Most candidates for public office will promise everything to everyone and ultimately make no one happy. Those who do not make empty promises satisfy more people because they are true to their word. The old saying of “promise less and deliver more” seems appropriate here. When candidates are sincere, they may give statements you do not want to hear, however, you can believe they will deliver on commitments they do make.
For me, the turning point in deciding to write this op-ed was precisely when Speaker Quinn decried the pandering of the other candidates. It was precisely what she was not promising that convinced me that when she does make a commitment, you can bank on it. I have known Quinn since her earliest days in the New York City Council prior to her becoming speaker and her record exhibits that she is sincere and dependable.
What should be most important to you as a voter, is a mayor who empathizes with the constituents. Christine Quinn’s record of public service and not her personal life demonstrates that she has the unique insights to understand the challenges and particular needs of the Orthodox Jewish Community.
There is a notion that those in public life need to mirror their constituents. This belief is a fallacy of the highest magnitude. Many people before me have made the argument that it is in the community’s best interest not to have a member of our community in the oval office (or for that matter, city hall) but rather one who can best govern in a way that addresses the real concerns of our community. One may argue the pros and cons of this approach, but my point is that you don’t have to be a card carrying member of our community or subscribe to our tenets to represent us well.
Let me be clear. Torah values must be part and parcel of our daily existence. It is the only map a religious Jew must call upon to navigate the complexities of daily life. Torah values belong in our home and in our interactions with one another. Torah values belong in the way we conduct business as prescribed in the highest ethos of Jewish Law; and in the way we want to educate and raise our children. And yes, Torah values should play a central role in how we present ourselves to secular society every day and on every issue.
However, in that same secular society, it is unrealistic and frankly short-sighted to expect those in government to live by those same high Torah standards we as religious people set for ourselves. Those who want to raise the banner of Torah values in a political context ultimately dilute Torah values and the ability for our community to engage effectively in the political world.
You may hear a radically different perspective from those with their own agenda but as one who deals with elected officials every single day for over two decades, voters who care about their community and the many challenges facing us, would be wise to at least consider a different opinion.
Politics is not the Bais Medrash. None of the serious mayoral candidates reflect our lifestyle, nor do they have to, in order be effective advocates for our community.
To all those trying to inject Torah values into this campaign or any political campaign, recent history shows,  though you may have the community’s best interests at heart, your efforts are counter-productive and damaging.
Historically, the vast majority of American rabbinical leadership did not inject religion or express the opinion that secular public officials in a democratic society adopt a Torah position or platform. Nor did the rabbinic leadership personally raise the issue of religion and politics even when they interacted with those running for or sitting in elected office. It is only a relatively new phenomenon that we use a moral or religious litmus test before considering a candidate for office.
Once we fuse religion and politics and use religion as the only litmus test to support or oppose a particular candidate, it could lead to a dangerous downward spiral that completely closes government’s door to our needs and concerns. Don’t believe it? It’s already happening.
Once we mix religion and politics, every religious viewpoint will have a right to air their beliefs in the political discourse. This country has a very strict interpretation of separation of church and state. For us, the word Torah is warm, welcoming, and sacrosanct; but perhaps the viewpoint of other religions is not so welcoming or interested in our way of life. Hence, it is in our self-interest not to allow anyone to dictate their religious principles on others.
Our overriding concern should always be to protect our right to conduct our lives in the religious fashion which we hold dear. It is the very reason our ancestors came to these safe shores. Furthermore, as an electoral minority, forcing our viewpoint upon others will only be counterproductive. It’s about the numbers and on a Citywide or statewide basis; we simply don’t have the numbers to dictate to anybody.
The role of government in regards to religion is to allow us as individuals to raise our families in the religious tradition with which we wish to convey. To that extent we want government’s cooperation, nothing more. We also should not want to impose our religious beliefs on secular society.
I am convinced that Christine Quinn as Mayor of New York City will not only be sympathetic to the unique challenges facing our community, but will surpass all expectations. That is because a mayor who is strong and sensitive as Christine Quinn has proven herself to be understanding of the needs of our community and supportive of us.  Her strong leadership in the City Council and her ability to work with Mayor Bloomberg is indicative of her ability to govern effectively.
It is very easy to be a steadfast ideologue unwilling to compromise, and a hero to a very narrow constituent base. However, a real leader like Christine Quinn understands the need to be effective so that government can be a catalyst for good, even if imperfect. Christine Quinn also understands how to stand up for those who need a strong advocate.
I am convinced that Christine Quinn as Mayor of New York City will not only be sympathetic to the unique challenges facing our community, but will surpass all expectations. That is because a mayor who is strong and sensitive as Christine Quinn has proven herself to be understanding of the needs of our community and supportive of us.  Her strong leadership in the City Council and her ability to work with Mayor Bloomberg is indicative of her ability to govern effectively.
It is very easy to be a steadfast ideologue unwilling to compromise, and a hero to a very narrow constituent base. However, a true leader like Christine Quinn understands the need to be effective so that government can be a catalyst for good, even if imperfect.
Christine Quinn also understands how to stand up for those who need a strong advocate.
I am convinced that Christine Quinn will understand the struggles of a middle class Orthodox Jewish family in our community. She can relate to a special needs child whose parents are fighting the bureaucracy and need to get their child approved in an appropriate school setting.
Christine Quinn will ensure that Yeshiva kids have their transportation needs taken care of, recognizing the safety concerns of a late dismissal. Christine Quinn demonstrates that she understands the challenges of the middle class by public stating that city fines should be a warning only for the first time with any financial consequences, providing that it is a non-emergency related.
Christine Quinn understands the importance of preserving communities and due to her experience as housing organizer. Christine Quinn understands the invaluable communal infrastructure that the Orthodox community has built in NYC and our commitment to this city. Her blueprints for creating affordable housing will help our community continue to flourish and grow in New York City.
When it comes to politics, I always keep the following expression in mind, “Don’t be right, be smart.” I urge you to understand, don’t be right. Elections are not about being right on every issue; start thinking smart. Elections are about being able to deliver for our community, children, and continuity. Christine Quinn as mayor will achieve all those objectives.
Ezra Friedlander is CEO of The Friedlander Group a NYC and Washington DC public policy consulting firm.

5,000 Yeshiva Students will now enroll in East Ramapo Public Schools to teach them a lesson

The Advocate, a Monsey based newsletter, reports that Yeshivah parents will enroll their children into the Public School System of East Ramapo this coming fall, thereby increasing the budget. The rough estimate is about 5,000 yeshiva students that would enroll, leaving school officials scrambling for resources. This would require 175 new classrooms, and 200 new teachers would be needed. Special classes like ESL, would also be required for the school year.
It was reported that if every private school student enrolled in the public schools, the budget would be increased an additional $525 million. Another half a billion would need to be allocated to house the students in buildings.

Islamists kill 14 year-old because he insulted Mohammad, 'he wouldn't give the Prophet a free coffee'

An Islamic group shot dead a Syrian 14-year-old boy in front of his parents for blasphemy after overhearing him say he 'wouldn't even give the Prophet a free coffee.'
Mohammad Qataa was shot in the face and neck a day after being seized by members of an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A photo released by the Observatory showed Qataa's face with his mouth and jaw bloodied and destroyed as well as a bullet wound in his neck.

A picture taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by the Aleppo Media Centre allegedly shows 14-year-old Mohammad Qataa (right) who was killed by insurgents for apparently insulting the Prophet Mohammad

An image grab taken from Syria's official television channel al-Ikhbariya reportedly shows the body of 14-year old Mohammad after he was shot dead

Today it emerged Qataa was working as a street vendor in the al-Shaa district of Aleppo when three members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a militant group that started off known as the Nusra Front, overheard him arguing with a friend over a bill.

 

It is thought the boy had given his friend a coffee which the friend wanted to pay for later.

'Mohammad Qataa was working at his street trolley and remarked to his friend that even if the Prophet Mohammad came down he would not give him credit,' said Rami Abdulrahman, who heads the UK-based human rights group, told The Times.
The three fighters overheard and accused the teenager of blasphemy and insulting the prophet.
The gunmen took Qataa on Saturday and brought him back alive in the early hours of Sunday to his wooden stand, with whiplash marks visible on his body.

This picture from a video released by the Aleppo Media Centre reportedly shows Mohammad's parents who watched as their son was shot dead in the street by an Al Qaeda-linked group

Qataa's parents said the youth had taken part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Aleppo

The gunmen belonged to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a militant group that started off known as the Al-Nusra Front (file picture)

People gathered around him and a member of the fighting brigade said: 'Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is a polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this.'
'He then fired two bullets from an automatic rifle in view of the crowd and in front of the boy's mother and father, and got into a car and left,' the report said.
Abdulrahman said the boy's mother had pleaded with the killers, whose Arabic suggested they might not be Syrian, not to shoot her son.
'The Observatory cannot ignore these crimes, which only serve the enemies of the revolution and the enemies of humanity,' said Rami Abdulrahman.
Qataa's parents said the youth had taken part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Aleppo.

Egyptian 13 year girl dies during "bris", no word whether "meziza pe'peh" caused it!

Thirteen year old Egyptian girl Suhair al-Bata’a died Thursday during a circumcision operation, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice decried by human rights groups and the World Health Organization.

The girl’s father, farmer Mohammed Ibrahim who had intended for his daughter to have the procedure, told al-Masry al-Youm, “We left our daughter with the doctor and the nurse. Fifteen minutes later, the nurse took my daughter out of the operation room to a nearby room, along with three other girls whom the doctor was circumcising.”

“I waited half an hour, hoping that my daughter would wake up, but, unfortunately, unlike the rest of the girls, she did not,” he recounted.

The girl’s mother, Hasanat Naeem Fawzy, said, “I want nothing but to hold the doctor accountable and to have justice for my daughter,”

According to Al Arabiya, Egyptian police are investigating and have summoned the doctor and ordered an autopsy.

It further reports that the same doctor two years ago circumcised Suheir’s older sister.

A health inspector’s report attributed the cause of the death to “a sharp drop in blood pressure resulting from shock trauma,” according to the family’s lawyer, Abdel Salam.

Egypt Independent writes: “Forensic doctors reported her death was caused by an overdose of anesthetic drugs.”

Egypt’s National Council for Women called it a criminal act of “extreme savagery.” It is calling on the government to investigate and punish those responsible for al-Bata’a’s death.

The United Nations’ Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Population Fund (UNFPA) issued a joint statement condemning the practice, calling al-Bata’a’s death a “sad illustration of the terrible consequences that female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has on the girl child.”

 

“On multiple occasions it has been clearly demonstrated that there are no medical or religious justifications for such a practice,” the statement said. “This violation of children and women’s rights should be stopped once and for all.”

Human rights activists have for years warned that female genital mutilation is a “harmful practice.”

The WHO calls it “a violation of the human rights of girls and women,” while Human Rights Watch writes: “FGM is a medically unnecessary and irreversible procedure that damages the health of millions of girls worldwide.”

A 2008 study found that 91 percent of Egyptian women between the ages of 15 and 49 underwent FGM, while 74 percent of girls aged 15-17 years have undergone the procedure which since 2008 has been illegal in Egypt, according to Egypt Independent.

Egypt Independent explains that the “phenomenon has continued unabated in some poorer communities, which see it as a sanitary, physically-beneficial practice.”

According to  Human Rights Watch, FGM is practiced in more than 27 countries, mostly in the Middle East, Africa and some parts of Asia, specifically Malaysia and Indonesia.

"Massive" Protest was very tiny, Media totally ignored the Protest! B"H!

The "Massive" protest went out with a wimper, according to Police estimates barely 5,000 "chillul Hashemnikers" showed up. 50,000 were expected. The Media by in large ignored this event...
thank G-D..
Satmar can't make an event without bashing other Talmidei Chachomim like Rav Shteiman Shlita! And now that it is over, The Satmar Brothers can continue to go after each other's throat again.Menachem Begin said it best, when asked during the  the Iran/Iraq war, whom he favors, he answered, "I wish them both success." Amen!

Rabbi Noach Oelbaum, and Rabbi Moshe Meiselman , join the fanatical Satmar protest against Israel

R' Oelbaum upper lever to the extreme right, Rabbi Moshe Meiselman on the lower level on the left!

Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum, Rav of Khal Nachlas Yitzchok of Kew Gardens Queens joined in the Chillul Hashem protest against the State of Israel.... one can clearly see Rabbi Oelbaum holding his hand over his mouth. I wonder what his congregation in Kew Gardens think of their Rabbi joining the Satmar feuding brothers in condemning Israel...
One can also see Rabbi Moshe Meiselman,rosh yeshiva of the Yeshivas Toras Moshe, a small American yeshiva in Jerusalem, I wonder what the donors of his yeshiva will say when they see this picture of their Rabbi joining self hating Jews!

Satmar insults the Gadol Hador Rav Steinman at the protest

The Sign denegrating Rav steinman stood in front of all the above Rabbis

Satmar Protester talks to Non-Tznisdik Girl, all in the name of G-D

To fight the State of Israel, one is allowed to violate the Torah and talk to girls not dressed Tznisdik. In all Satmar establishments, in Williamsburg and Monroe, there are signs that customers must dress modestly, but not when it comes to fight other Jews!
See Satmar Protester talking to scantly clad "shiksis"...
Even Korach refused to look at "Oin ben peles's" wife  because she had her hair uncovered... but not these baalai machlokas!

ultraorthodox Jewish rally in Foley Square Manhattan NY, against the secularization and army service conscription for Haredi Jews in Israel. photo by Stefano Giovannini



RCA is "Moche" the huge Chillil Hashem taking place in lower Manhattan

Discusting Poster against the Eretz Yisroel

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest Orthodox rabbinic group in North America, deplores the attempt of a small but vocal group to undermine the image Americans have of strong, unshakeable, wall-to-wall Jewish support of Israel.
Two chassidic communities well known for their rejection of a Jewish state have agreed to a joint rally in Manhattan on Sunday, June 9.
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, RCA President, said, “It is an insult to the memory of the Satmar Rov, ob"m, that his disciples a generation later would take to the streets to publicly aid the many enemies who stand ready to destroy, G-d forbid, the Jewish State - and all Jews. For all his well-known opposition to a secular state, he always put the protection of Jewish lives first. It is unthinkable that as the largest Jewish community in the world deals with a nuclear threat from Iran, a military front opening with Syria, and the mushrooming of global anti-Semitism, that he would have countenanced aiding and abetting our enemies.”
Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive Vice President of the RCA, added, “We call on all Jews, Orthodox and not, to redouble their efforts to explain to their fellow Americans their commitment to the Jewish State and its central position in their thinking, even when they find fault with certain positions of its government, as happens with the policies of any true democracy.”

Michael Koplen runs for Ramapo Town Supervisor!

By Sandy Eller for VIN
As the FBI continues to investigate possible corruption in the town of Ramapo, an Orthodox Jew has accepted the Republican party’s nomination to run for the position of Ramapo Town Supervisor in the upcoming November election, an office that has held by Democrat Christopher St. Lawrence for over twelve and a half years.
Michael Koplen is a practicing local lawyer who has served as a county legislator, assistant county attorney, civil court arbitrator and deputy mayor of the village of New Hempstead.  Koplen, a 28 year resident of New Hempstead, located just north of Monsey, has been elected as a village trustee three times and has served in that capacity for the last eleven years.  Koplen is also the founder and director of the Washington Online Learning Institute, an online paralegal college.
“There is a pressing need for leadership in Town Hall,” Koplen told VIN News.  “The town is a financial mess and you have a situation where people are at war with each other and there is a lot of resentment and hostility.  St. Lawrence and his crew have no credibility and cannot repair the damage that has been done. “
FBI agents conducted a raid on the Ramapo Town Hall on May 16th, as previously reported on VIN News.  While the reason for the raid is still unknown, St. Lawrence has been involved in several potentially controversial issues and has long been accused of catering to the Orthodox community in exchange for their vote.
Koplen dismissed the notion that religion played any role in his nomination.
“I think the party approached me because of my record as a legislator, a county attorney and as a trustee of the village of New Hempstead,” said Koplen.  “I want to get my message across and have people see my competence and experience, not what religion I practice.”
The 59 year old father of five acknowledged that religious tension runs high in Ramapo.
“There is incredible hostility directed at the Orthodox community and it is all St. Lawrence’s fault because he has been ignoring everyone else in the town,” explained Koplen.  “I am part of the Orthodox community and am sensitive to their needs but I am not going to pander to the Orthodox community or any other special interest group.  It may have worked for St. Lawrence but his time has come and gone.”
High on Koplen’s list of priorities is resolving financial issues at Provident Bank Park, a minor league baseball stadium in Pomona, built by St. Lawrence in 2011.  While residents voted against issuing a bond to pay for the stadium, St. Lawrence issued a different bond which was not subject to public referendum in order to finance the project after failing to find private investors.
“71 percent of the voters voted against floating bonds to build the stadium and St. Lawrence pulled some kind of financial shenanigans, circumventing the will of the people as if their opinion didn’t count,” said Koplen.  “Anyone doing a financial analysis of the project would see that the stadium would lose money, saddling taxpayers with the bill.  I really can’t understand what his motivation was to go out and bury taxpayers with a huge bill for a stadium they voted against.  Something funny is going on here and it is a very expensive joke.”
Koplen is confident that his background in bankruptcy law can help him find a way to help alleviate the situation, calling it a “terribly unfair burden to taxpayers.”
While Ramapo has typically been a Democratic stronghold, the Republican Koplen is convinced that political affiliation is a non-issue.

“It is tough running as a Republican in Rockland County, but I think party won’t count as much as leadership, integrity and experience.”