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.

Oprah Winfrey becomes Chassidish? Video

Oprah Winfrey has discovered her inner Jewishness.

Winfrey, who rarely does interviews, sat for a TV chat with a Hasidic rabbi on the day last fall she immersed herself in Brooklyn’s Hasidic neighborhoods.

The interview, produced by Oprah’s OWN network and posted Wednesday only on chabad.org, the Web site of the Lubavitcher sect, was a rare scoop for a site that deals mainly in religious practices.

“There’s more Hasidic Jew in me than I know,” says Winfrey — dressed in a modesty-preserving ankle-length skirt— at the end of the interview with Rabbi Motti Seligson, the Web site’s media liason.

“She was very real and very warm and easy to connect with,” Seligson told The Post yesterday. “What I really think was nice about this was [Winfrey’s] willingness to experience Hasidic life — as opposed to just going off stereotypes.”

Last October, Oprah took cameras into Hasidic homes in Borough Park, Crown Heights and a mikvah, a ritual bathhouse, in Brooklyn Heights as a part of her “America’s Hidden Culture” segment on her weekly “Oprah’s Next Chapter” show.

Seligson is briefly featured at the beginning of Sunday’s episode, in which Winfrey also visits the Ginsberg family.

In the interview, Winfrey says that her experience dispelled some of her misconceptions about Hasidic Jews.

“I have been perhaps, like most people who’ve walked down the street and seen Hasidic Jewish men, in particular . . . oftentimes wearing the hats and long beards and always found it somewhat formidable or intimidating,” she says.

“This experience has really confirmed and affirmed what I truly believe as one of my deep spiritual principles — that we’re all more alike than different.”

Winfrey also says she was “speechless” that, when she visited the Ginsberg family — and mentioned Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Beyoncé and Jay-Z to their kids — none of them recognized the references.

“They said they didn’t even care and weren’t even curious about it,” she tells Seligson.

“We live in a culture where seven-and-a-half hours a day are spent consumed by some electronic device . . . It’s amazing to me that, right across from Manhattan, there’s a whole world of children who aren’t doing that and who are happy, fulfilled and loved.”

“I had a few questions I wanted to ask her,” Seligson said yesterday, explaining innocently how he got the interview.

“I really wanted to hear about her experiences,” he said

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/chutzpah_winfrey_XrVGo0ZFoOh0J7ZUV76AwN#ixzz1m7gwHEXj

Visit Jewish.TV for more Jewish videos.

MK Avigdor Lieberman thanks the USA for Supporting Israel at the Gateways Dinner at Sotheby's

Avigdar Lieberman on one of the screens that were all around the ballroom.
Photo Credit: A.Kiss

Avigdar Lieberman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, attended the Gateways 14th Annual Dinner held at Sotheby's on February 8, 2012. Gateways was inaugurating the "Brownstone" project, a building dedicated to "strengthen Jewish identity and cultivate the next generation of Jewish leaders."  Lieberman reiterated "hakoras hatov" that the State of Israel has to the United States and its present administration. He noted that the State of Israel is especially grateful for imposing "stricter sanctions" on Iran. The dinner was well attended and had many Israeli dignitaries. Ms. Sonya Bekkerman, Senior VP of Sotheby's hosted.

Chassidishe Lady, Deborah Feldman, goes "off the derech" and writes her story in a book

After an uber-strict childhood and an arranged marriage at 17, Deborah Feldman decided she’d had enough

In her memoir, “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots,” out Feb. 14, she chronicles her oppressive upbringing and arranged marriage.

At 23, emboldened by classes at Sarah Lawrence College, she left her husband and the community for good — taking her 3-year-old son with her.

Feldman recently discussed her experiences with The Post over (very nonkosher) crabcake sandwiches and Key lime tarts: “I think I love eating out more than most people,” she says, “because I was never allowed to do it. Women aren’t allowed to eat out.

She continues her interview and says:

My family started sending me hate mail, really bad. They want me to commit suicide. They’ve got my grave ready. [“R U ready to CROKE [sic]” reads one e-mail she shared with The Post. “We are most definitely going to rejoice in your misery,” another declares.]

So I’m very careful. My doorbell doesn’t have my name on it. But I think the book is a protection in this situation, because [my relatives] are terrified of having their actions become public. So it’s an insurance policy, in a way. There’s a reason why Hasidic people in New York get away with so much. There’s this sort of tacit arrangement: They don’t do anything the media can criticize.

Over the past 10 or 20 years [the Hasidic community] has gone from being extreme to being ultra-extreme. They’ve passed more laws from out of nowhere, limiting women — there’s a rule that women can’t be on the street after a certain hour. That was new when I was growing up. We hear all these stories about Muslim extremists; how is this any better? This is just another example of extreme fundamentalism.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/was_hasidic_jew_but_broke_free_IeRSVA4eX8ypg4Ne8cBdSK#ixzz1lhwnnqgX

Rav Elyashiv needs our prayers, condition very critical

Rav Shlomo Kook reports on Tuesday morning, 14 Shevat 5772 that Rav Elyashiv remains in critical/serious condition. According to combined reports, the posek hador’s condition has taken a turn for the worse.
Rabbi Kook stated “The rav is hanging between Heaven and earth” calling upon the tzibur to continue davening for Rav Yosef Sholom ben Chaya Musha b’soch kol cholei am yisrael.
MK Moshe Gafne emerged from Shaare Zedek Medical Center with a similar message, calling on the tzibur to continue davening. He explained there does not appear to be any improved.

Amsterdad Chief Rabbi apologises for calling homosexuality an illness

AS THE chief rabbi of Amsterdam apologised for signing a declaration which described homosexuality as an illness, a new row has broken out in the Netherlands over a therapy promoted by a Christian mental health group to help 

homosexuals “repress their sinful urges”.

Aryeh Ralbag, who is based in New York, was suspended last week by the city’s orthodox Jewish community after using his official title to sign with more than 180 other rabbis the Declaration on the Torah Approach to Homosexuality

The declaration caused outrage among liberal Jews on both sides of the Atlantic by not alone describing homosexuality as “an illness” which could be “modified and healed”, but by characterising it as “an unacceptable lifestyle choice”.

It emerged yesterday that Rabbi Ralbag had apologised to the city’s orthodox leaders for using his Amsterdam title when signing the controversial document, which he now accepted had been “wrong”. As a result he has been reinstated.

However, with his position still in doubt in the long term, he also said that with the benefit of hindsight he now believed that he should not, perhaps, have signed it at all because “it did not properly reflect my position”.

There was even a suggestion last night that Rabbi Ralbag flew to Amsterdam at the end of last week to meet Jewish elders – just days after insisting that he and his wife believed their lives would be “in danger” if they visited the country to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, in a new row, MPs and gay rights groups have demanded details of a therapy promoted by the Christian mental health organisation Different – which claims to teach homosexuals how to ignore their sexual feelings – because it is available on State-subsidised health insurance lists.

The therapy has become an embarrassment for health minister Edith Schippers, who at first said it should be taken off insurance lists because “health insurance is to pay for treatment or to prevent illness – and homosexuality is not an illness”. Later, she too was forced to make a U-turn, saying the therapy did not attempt to “cure” homosexuality, rather it aimed to help homosexuals decide whether or not they could accept their sexual feelings.

From the Irish Times

Black Preacher gets wrapped in a Torah while talking about JC

Beit Shemesh Gangster who advocates forcing women to dress like Chareidim speaks out on video

The interview is in hebrew!

Cancer can be prevented! Says the Israel Cancer Association

It is possible to prevent 60 percent of cancer deaths by lifestyle changes, early diagnoses and proven medical interventions, according to the Israel Cancer Association.

To avoid a wide variety of cancers, maintain normal weight over the years, without yo-yo dieting. Exercise regularly and minimize the number of fattening foods you eat. Youth should exercise daily, if possible, but at least three times a week. Cut the number of hours you spent sitting or lying down and watching TV.

Minimize the amount of high-calorie, salty and sugary foods you eat and prefer vegetables, fiber and fruit. Poultry and fish are much preferable to red and fatty meat. Prefer baking and cooking to grilling and frying meat. Whole wheat products are much more healthful that those made from while flour.

Eating garlic reduces the risk of colorectal cancer, according to recent research. There is no evidence, the experts say, that artificial sweeteners used in normal quantities raise the cancer risk, and they are preferable to sugar.

There is no agreement among scientists that eating organic foods are more effective in reducing cancer risks than ordinary food, the ICA said. Wash produce with water (and soap if possible). Avoid trans fats that are produced from turning vegetable oil to solid fat such as margarine.

Read more Jerusalem Post

No....He's not Jewish ... that's Cardinal Dolan of New York

Scientists: "Forget Global Warming" "Mini Ice-age Coming!"

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.
The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

A painting, dated 1684, by Abraham Hondius depicts one of many frost fairs on the River Thames during the mini ice age

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2093264/Forget-global-warming--Cycle-25-need-worry-NASA-scientists-right-Thames-freezing-again.html#ixzz1ktIqVUd

Noah Foxman struck twice, killed in Hit and Run in Flatbush...Video

Police say the 58 year-old, Noach foxman was knocked to the ground by a grey van, which remained on the scene. As he lay in the crosswalk, the man was struck again by a sedan that did not stop.

The tragic accident unfolded at around 10:30PM, when R’ Noach was crossing Coney Island Avenue and Avenue K, when he was struck by a vehicle. He was conscious and alert, and told bystanders to call for an ambulance. Then, as he lay in the crosswalk in the rain, a speeding vehicle struck him very hard, and took off without stopping.
Flatbush Hatzolah raced to the scene, and did everything they could to try and save his life. He was rushed to Coney Island Hospital, but was R”L pronounced dead a few minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Police were combing the streets late at night looking for the second vehicle, reported to be a dark colored small-sized SUV.
Reb Noach Z”L was a fixture at the Bais Medrash of HaRav Hillel David Shlita, where he Davened for many years.
Shocked friends and neighbors gathered at the scene until past midnight, and awaited the Levaya details.
As of this posting, the Levaya will take place in Midwood Chapels on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue M on Friday (exact time to be published when available).

R' Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, Satmar Rebbi of Williamsburg, rejects reconciliation with Belz!

The Bais Din of R' Zalman Leib, sent an open letter to the Satmar paper Der Yid, stating that they absolutely reject any reconciliation with Belz and blamed Belzer Chassidus and its leader for making "changes in age-old chinuch" and "for becoming too close with the Zionist establishment." This letter was signed by six leading dayanim and rabbonim of the kehillah of R' Zalman Leib. We reported last week that R' Zalman Leib denounced the Belzer Rebbi for asking Chareidim to stop the violence in Yerushalyim.

The Baal Mochlokas Rebbi, R' Zalman Leib Shlitah

We (Dusizneis) believe that the only reason R' Aaron Teitelbaum accepted Shalom with Belz is because the two Rebbis, are brother-in-laws, married to two sisters. The sisters are very close, and speak to each other on a weekly basis in the "tumedike" language Ivrit.

Chareidim in Israel are Defying Poskim and seeking Academic Degrees!

Chareidim in Eretz Yisroel finally are finally realizing  that the present Kollel situation is not sustainable, and are ignoring the "Gedolim" and seeking careers.
Read the following article from Yeshiva World!

Chareidim at a recent job fair in Yerushalayim

There is a growing trend among chareidim in Israel who wish to attain an academic degree. In 5772, there are over 6,000 students identified with the chareidi tzibur studying for a degree, and N’vei Institute reports a 30% increase in registration this year, Kikar Shabbat reports.

Upon completion of the program, N’vei also assists graduates in finding suitable positions in the workforce. The school will be holding an open day for prospective students on January 29, 2012. The program is designed for yeshiva graduates that wish to invest in a future in the workplace, willing to work hard towards earning a degree that can open doors in a number of fields, including high-tech.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky mobilizing world wide support for Rav Ralbag

Rabbi Ralbag

The decision by Amsterdam's orthodox Jewish community to suspend its chief rabbi because of his controversial beliefs about homosexuality is 'verging on fascism', a committee of orthodox Jews in the US has told the Volkskrant.

The Committee for the Declaration on the Torah Approach to Homosexuality told the paper in an email it is 'shocking' that a chief rabbi in the Netherlands has been suspended for his statements on 'centuries-old religious truths'.

Amsterdam's orthodox Jewish community (NIHS) suspended rabbi Aryeh Ralbag as its nominal chief last week after the New York-based official signed a statement describing homosexuality as an illness which can be cured.

Discussion

Ralbag will remain suspended until he and community leaders have spoken about the issue, but it is unclear when this will happen. On Sunday, the NRC said the rabbi believes his life would be in danger if he came to the Netherlands.

Ralbag told the paper: ‘I have strong indications that my wife and I would not be sure of our lives if we came to the Netherlands now.’ He declined to say what the threats were but did say he took them ‘extremely seriously’, the paper reported.

The declaration, signed by 162 rabbis and mental health practitioners last year, states that 'homosexuality is not an acceptable lifestyle' and that 'behaviours are changeable'.

Freedom of speech

In the email, committee spokeswoman Susie Rosenbluth says freedom of speech and freedom of religion are holy. The NIHS is officially part of the orthodox community and cannot then point to the 'unique position of Dutch orthodox Jews' as some in Amsterdam have done, she wrote.

New Jersey rabbi Steven Pruzansky, who is mobilizing intenational support for Ralbag, blames Dutch tolerance for the situation, the paper says.

Rabbi Pruzansky

'Dutch society is so tolerant, with legal and open prostitution and a sharp reduction in faithfulness in marriage, that it is impossible for Jews who grow up in such surroundings to embrace the moral message of the Torah,' the Volkskrant quoted him as saying. 'They are in spiritual shock.'

Time out

Ronnie Eisemann, chairman of the NIHS, had hoped the suspension would allow for a cooling-off period in order to prevent a schism between the orthodox and more liberal wings of the Dutch community.

However, a speedy solution is now unlikely, the paper argues.

Rabbi Ralbag, Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam Suspended for signing Anti-Gay Letter!

Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag Shlitah is also the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Avenue K in Brooklyn. The "Orthodox" Jews of Amsterdam want their Rabbi to go against the Torah and be Pro Gay, so they suspended him!

The chief rabbi of Amsterdam, Aryeh Ralbag, was temporarily relieved from his post Wednesday by the board of the Orthodox Jewish community, after he signed a document describing homosexuality as an inclination which “can be modified and healed.”

Ralbag, a US-born Orthodox rabbi nominated to head the Amsterdam community in 2005, had recently cosigned the document titled “Declaration On The Torah Approach To Homosexuality,” which called on “authority figures” to “guide same-sex strugglers towards a path of healing and overcoming their inclinations.”

“Rabbi Ralbag’s signature may give the impression the Orthodox Jewish community of Amsterdam shares his view,” a press release by the community’s board, known the NIHS, read. “This is absolutely untrue. Homosexuals are welcome at the Amsterdam Jewish community.”

Ronnie Eisenmann, chairperson of the board, added: “The community regrets that the chief rabbi cosigned this document and distances itself from this view.” He also offered “heartfelt apologies to anyone who may have been hurt by the rabbi’s signature.”

“The board has decided to (temporarily) relieve the chief rabbi from his duties, in any case until he travels to Amsterdam to discuss the issue.”

Esther Voet, former editor-in-chief of Dutch Jewish weekly Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad, supported the decision to relieve Ralbag of his duties.  “I think it’s the only right position because the policies of rabbi Ralbag have come repeatedly under scrutiny for a while now.”

Voet, currently vice-director of CIDI - the Dutch Jewish community’s watchdog on anti-Semitism – said there was a cultural gap between the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of Brooklyn and the relatively liberal Dutch Orthodox community. Her organization called on Ralbag to step down as chief rabbi on Tuesday, following his signature on the document.

“The Dutch Jewish neshoma (soul) is unique. We have special rules, like waiting only one hour before eating meat and dairy. We need a chief rabbi who is aware of our traditions and that’s something you cannot fly in two times a year,” she said.

Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post

Jewish New York Times Travel Editor Vows Never to Visit Israel! Sounds just like the Satmars!

I sat down to read the New York Times Travel section, which this week featured a major piece on Jerusalem. By the second paragraph, I was shaking my head in disbelief.

Matt Gross

The author, Matt Gross, declared up front that “I will go pretty much anywhere, anytime” as a travel writer. Yet, in the very next paragraph, he revealed that “of the world’s roughly 200 nations, there was only one – besides Afghanistan and Iraq (which my wife has deemed too dangerous) – that I had absolutely zero interest in ever visiting: Israel.”

Two paragraphs later, he took a stab at explaining why: “But to me, a deeply secular Jew, Israel has always felt less like a country than a politically iffy burden. For decades I’d tried to put as much distance between myself and Judaism as possible, and the idea that I was supposed to feel some connection to my ostensible homeland seemed ridiculous. Give me Montenegro, Chiapas, Iran even. But Israel was like Christmas: something I’d never do.”
Actually, I was hoping for a happy ending after that kind of set-up – some realization that, as a first-time visitor, Gross had forged a bond with Israel, that would outlast his stay. Yet, unless the tug of the Austrian Hospice, “my own secret hideout,” or the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, “now my favorite church in the world,” or the Barood bar, can lure him back, it didn’t seem to happen.

It almost goes without saying that the New York Times would find a travel writer on Jerusalem who brings some heavy-duty baggage to the topic. In this case, he turns out to be a person whose self-declared curiosity extends to every country – remember that Iraq and Afghanistan are off limits only because of a jittery wife – except one, Israel.
And this is my point. It’s that a travel writer by profession could proudly proclaim no place – not, in his own words, Bridgeport, Connecticut, nor Iran, nor Chiapas – was beyond his scope of interest, save the Jewish state.
And yes, that he considers his Jewish identity relevant to his self-description only makes matters worse.

How can it be that a (Jewish) travel writer could work in the field for so long and only because of a chance meeting with a friend reverse course – “suddenly feeling life calling my bluff” – and journey to Jerusalem, otherwise bypassing one of the most intriguing cities in one of the world’s most interesting countries?
But then again, for Gross, I repeat, “Israel felt less like a country than a politically iffy burden.”
Does Israel somehow make his life uncomfortable as “a deeply secular Jew,” while those pesky Israelis endlessly deal with the messy demands of sovereignty and neighbors who aren’t always ready, even after 63 years, to recognize the Jewish state’s right to exist? Would his self-image and place in the world be enhanced if only Israel closed up shop?

Funny how no other country awakens in him such feelings. He’s ready to go anywhere, he says, as if there were no other “politically iffy burdens” in the world, no other countries in conflict, no other territorial disputes, or, unlike Israel, no countries with major issues of domestic political legitimacy.
I understand that Judaism means little to him. He’s not alone. But if he’s willing to call himself a Jew, as he does, was there nothing about the Jewish state – its history, archaeology, society, complex tapestry, geopolitics, culture, or psyche – that aroused the faintest curiosity in all these years?

Does Gross think he was dropped by parachute onto this earth, disconnected from a past that, yes, originates in the Middle East, and not in the shtetls or in the suburbs of Boston where he was born?
Does he not realize that without this part of the world - without Jerusalem, without the Bible and the prophets who roamed the Land, without a territorial linkage, however abstract it might have become to some in centuries of Diaspora living - there would be no Jewish people today, not even "deeply secular" Jews?

And since he did visit Yad Vashem, where he described himself as moved by this “hellaciously detailed museum,” might he have reflected on the meaning of Israel for those who found refuge there? Or those who might have been saved had a Jewish state existed in the 1930s, at a time when Bridgeport, Connecticut, Iran, and Chiapas weren’t falling all over themselves to offer a new home to Europe’s beleaguered Jews? Instead, within a sentence, he moved on to his principal quest, as he said, in the western part of Jerusalem: “eating well.”
Sadly, of course, Gross is not unique. I know other American Jews for whom Israel has no meaning,

They’re missing out on an essential, and deeply fulfilling, part of their identity. For all of its daily challenges, the rebirth of Israel is nothing less than a modern-day miracle. How many Jews over the centuries, recognizing the intrinsic link between the land and people, would have given

That connection may not have happened, at least not yet, for Gross, who doubtless will rush off to Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as his wife gives him a green light, unfazed there by “politically iffy burdens.” But ask other first-time visitors to Jerusalem how they feel and you’re likely to catch the twinkle in their eye.
It’s only unfortunate that the Times’ editors didn’t turn to one of them – with the writing talent and absent the heavy psychological baggage – to author this featured travel article.

From The Jerusalem Post