Wisconsin attorney who spat at BLM protester rejects probation deal: ‘Rather go to jail’

 

A white Wisconsin lawyer who spat at a black teen during a Black Lives Matter protest rejected a sweetheart deal to walk free from court — saying she’d “rather go to jail right now.”

Stephanie Rapkin, 67, was told at her sentencing Tuesday that her 60-day sentence would be stayed if she agreed to a year of probation with 100 hours of community service.

“It’s not viable,” she said, interrupting Milwaukee County Judge Laura Crivello as she offered the deal as credit for her “working to rebuild your faith and your trust in the community.”

“Your Honor, I am outright refusing the probation,” said Rapkin, who’d initially been charged with a hate crime for spitting at the then-17-year-old teen protest leader.

“I’d rather go to jail right now and take care of it.”

Rapkin’s attorney, Anthony Cotton — who’d initially asked her to be sentenced to time served in the case — was left noting to the judge that his client had the right to reject her offer.

“She does,” the judge acknowledged. “Then at this point in time, the 60 days that I imposed in stay will be starting today.”

“Thanks To You, I Stopped Attending Anti-Chareidi Protests”

 

A Chareidi tzedaka organization recently received a surprising message from a man who said he will no longer attend anti-Chareidi protests due to the assistance his needy relative in Tel Aviv received from the organization.

“My name is S.,” the message, sent to Chasdei Yosef, a well-known tzedaka organization in Jerusalem, began. “In recent months, I participated several times in protests against the Chareidi sector, including in Bnei Brak. On Thursday, I visited a relative whose financial situation has deteriorated in recent years. While I was there, I saw gift vouchers for Shavuot. He told me that he appealed to several organizations but the only one that helped him was yours.”

“I asked him if he knows you personally and he said no. I realized that you assist people without ‘checking their tzitziot’ and without asking about their political opinions. I was astounded. I realized that the hatred against you is not necessarily justified and it’s forbidden to generalize. It suddenly dawned on me that all the stories about the chessed of the Chareidim are true. I still have differences of opinion with you but not everything is black and white and hating others is a terrible thing. I regret it and promise not to go to protests against you anymore and I would be happy to meet you personally and hear your opinions on the current issues.”

“We were very happy to receive the moving message,” a source at Chasdei Yosef said. “It’s a bonus for helping a Jew in need.”

Woody Allen Saves His Jewish Friend With Heimlich Maneuver While Eating Pork At Dinner

 

87 year old Woody Allen stepped into a different kind of starring role this week: the good Samaritan who saves someone with the Heimlich maneuver.

The embattled Jewish Oscar winner helped his friend, Andrew Stein, a former Manhattan borough president, when Stein choked on a piece of pork at the Caravaggio restaurant on the Upper East Side last Tuesday, the New York Post reported.

“I am embarrassed to say it, but Woody actually saved my life,” said Stein, who is Jewish. “I normally order fish, but this time I went for the pork.”

Allen, Stein and Allen’s wife Soon-Yi Previn were joined at the dinner by the prominent lawyer and political analyst Alan Dershowitz.

“It really was like a scene from one of his movies,” Stein told the Post, which noted that the diminutive Allen leapt to the rescue with “surprising strength and vigor,” according to witnesses.

The longtime power player Stein, who was also president of the New York City Council from 1986-1994, shortened his name from Finkelstein when he entered politics. His father, Jerry Finkelstein, was the publisher of the New York Law Journal and his brother, Jimmy Finkelstein, is also a media mogul, having founded The Messenger after partially owning The Hollywood Reporter and The Hill. Stein, a Democrat, left politics in the mid-1990s.

Stein failed to pay over $1 million in income tax in 2008, leading to a sentencing of 500 hours of community service.

In a recent op-ed co-authored with Dershowitz titled “Why Biden might be the Dems’ last pro-Israel president,” Stein wrote that he will now be voting Republican because of the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel. (Dershowitz wrote that he “is planning to remain a Democrat and vote for Biden while seeking to marginalize the radical anti-Israel elements in that party.”)

As the Post reported, Allen has saved another person with the Heimlich maneuver at an Upper East Side Italian restaurant: In 1992, he sprang to the rescue of Jean Doumanian, a former “Saturday Night Live” producer, at Primola on 2nd Avenue.

Alan Dershowitz: I will represent Rabbi Leo Dee against CNN pro bono

 

Professor Alan Dershowitz has announced that he will be representing Rabbi Leo Dee, whose daughters and wife were killed in a shooting attack in the Jordan valley, at no charge in a lawsuit against CNN.

In an interview with I24NEWS, Professor Dershowitz denounced the apology given by CNN anchor Christine Amanpour after she stated during a broadcast that Lucy Dee and her daughters Rina and Maia had been killed in "a shootout".

"This was not a slip of the tongue," Professor Dershowitz claimed. "It comes as a part of a pattern that CNN and Amanpour have created over more than a decade."

"Amanpour constantly creates a false equivalence between terrorists who murder people in cold blood and the innocent victims, like the victims in this case," says Professor Dershowitz. "An organization called Camera, which documents these things, has documented a long pattern by CNN and by Amanpour of constantly siding against Israel and trying to create a moral equivalence between innocent victims of terrorism and actual terrorists."

"Let's see what Amanpour has to say - not in a scripted apology, but under my cross-examination and that of other lawyers," Professor Dershowitz challenged.

RARE PHOTOS: IDF Soldiers At The Kosel After Liberation Of Jerusalem

 

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim last week, the IDF Archives at the Defense Ministry published rare photos of the battles to liberate Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, 56 years ago.

In 1967, Israel was attacked by its neighbors, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, and miraculously overpowered all three powerful countries in just six days.

On June 7, after fierce battles with Jordanian soldiers, Israeli paratroopers liberated the Old City of Jerusalem and gained control of Har HaBayis and the Kosel. The war ended on June 10, after Israel conquered the Golan Heights.

IDF soldiers in the Muslim Quarter.

Gafni Gets into the Mud With Pop Star Noa Kirel

 

I have to laugh, Gafni who represents Torah in the Knesset as an MK, must have taken some of his precious time from learning the daf to watch the Eurovision contest where the Israeli pop star Noa Kirel came in third. He couldn't help but notice that Noa was wearing a skimpy outfit during her performance, and couldn't resist taking a swipe at her, mentioning her outfit publicly while addressing the Knesset. He said in his important speech during a debate on the budget that he would "donate some clothes" to Noa.

But Noa who was educated in the Israeli public schools, and served in the IDF, didn't take Gafni's bait, answered him with class and derech eretz, matching any Bais Yaakov student, 

“I really think that each person has a right to express his opinion, and this is his opinion, and I respect it. Everyone can think what he wants and this is his, it’s totally fine,” she told Channel 12 News.

Israeli pop star Noa Kirel said on Tuesday that she was not disappointed or upset about remarks made the previous day by Knesset member Moshe Gafni.

Speaking during a parliamentary debate on the budget, the United Torah Judaism party leader and finance committee chairman said that he would “donate some clothes” to the 22-year-old performer.

He was apparently referring to the skimpy outfits Kirel wears during her performances, which included a third-place finish for her song “Unicorn” at the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool on May 13.

“I really think that each person has a right to express his opinion, and this is his opinion, and I respect it. Everyone can think what he wants and this is his, it’s totally fine,” she told Channel 12 News.

“Most opinions are ones of pride and love, and there are also these opinions, and it’s totally fine, he has a right to express his opinion,” she continued.

Chassidishe Guy Says He "Is Happy that Soldiers are Getting Killed"

 

The guy in the video is not from the Neturei Karta!

 Just something to think about, how low they have sunk!

Iyar 28 is the date Rabbi Kook arrived in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem was liberated 63 years later on that very date.

 

The first of the three dates engraved on Rav Kook’s tombstone in the Mount of Olives cemetery is the 28th of Iyyar, 5664 (1904). This was a deeply significant date in Rav Kook’s life: it marked the day he was privileged to ascend to the Land of Israel.

On the 28th of Iyyar — the same date on which, 63 years later, Jerusalem would be reunited, the day we celebrated this past Friday with prayer, song and the flag march through the Old City — a ship docked at the port of Jaffa, bearing Rav Kook and his family.

The New Rabbi of Jaffa

Jaffa’s previous rabbi had passed away two years prior. Rabbi Yoel Moshe Solomon (1838-1912), a pioneering figure in Jerusalem and one of the founders of Petach Tikva, was among the first to suggest that Rav Kook, then rabbi of Bausk, be offered the position. Solomon brought the proposal to Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teumim (commonly referred to as ‘Aderet'), the chief rabbi of Jerusalem and Rabbi Kook’s father-in-law.

That very day, the Aderet sent an urgent message to his son-in-law advising him to accept the position of rabbi of Jaffa and its surrounding communities. Rabbi Kook was delighted with the suggestion, but wanted to know what Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the previous chief rabbi of Jerusalem and its elder statesman, thought about the proposal. The Aderet reported that when he queried Rabbi Salant, the scholar happily responded, “If only!”

The Aderet later noted with irony, “In truth, my son-in-law should have been appointed the rabbi of the holy city of Jerusalem, and I should have been the rabbi of the small town of Jaffa.” Fifteen years later, Rav Kook in fact did become the chief rabbi of Jerusalem.

Toronto: Neturei Karta Help Palestinian Arabs burn Israeli flag

 

The UJA Federation of Greater Toronto on Monday held its annual Walk with Israel, with the goal of demonstrating the Jewish community's support for Israel and to raise donations to aid projects for the advancement of needy populations in Israel.

Thousands of Jews and supporters of Israel marched through the streets of Toronto towards the Jewish Community Center, waving Israeli flags and singing Israeli songs.

On the other side of the Jewish Community Center, dozens of Muslims, Palestinian Arabs, left-wing activists and representatives of Neturei Karta demonstrated against the State of Israel and the Jewish community which supports Israel.

The demonstrators expressed open support for Hamas, for launching of rockets at Israel and for Jihad and called for an intifada, the annihilation of Israel and the return of the "Zionists" to the places from which they came to "Palestine".

Towards the end of the march for Israel, the Neturei Karta assisted pro-Palestinian Arab protesters in burning Israeli flags. The participants of the Walk for Israel stood on the other side and sang Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah”.

Neturei Karta is a radical, anti-Israel group whose activists regularly take part in anti-Israeli demonstrations around the world, including those identified as pro-Iranian or supporters of armed Palestinian Arab resistance against Israel.

Neturei Karta’s support for the government of Iran and for terrorist groups has led to its ostracization by the wider haredi community.

No need to delete: WhatsApp introduces message editing

 

WhatsApp on Monday announced that has granted users one of its most awaited features - the ability to edit messages, Reuters reported.

"For the moments when you make a mistake or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages on WhatsApp," the Meta Platforms Inc-owned messaging app said in a blog post.

With the feature rolling out globally in the coming weeks, senders will be able to modify their messages within 15 minutes of hitting send.

The function can be accessed by long-pressing the message and choosing "edit" in the drop-down menu. The modified message will carry the label "edited" and will not show edit history.