Apple the most contaminated fruit?

Could an apple a day really keep the doctor away?

 Maybe -- but it may also be coated in pesticides.

Today, the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy nonprofit, released its latest "Dirty Dozen" list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that are most contaminated with pesticides, as an update to its 2010 rankings. And taking first place this year? Apples. The ubiquitous fruit beat out last year's top spot, which went to celery (now at number two).

The health benefits of fruits and vegetables are, without a doubt, a known fact -- reinstating the message was last month's release of the USDA's MyPlatefood pyramid replacement, which suggests filling half of your plate with fruits and vegetables.

But the potentially darker side of fruits and vegetables is centered around concerns about their pesticide loads, which some studies have linked to possible health problems, particularly among women who are pregnant and children. So when organic foods typically carry a higher price tag, what's a frugal shopper to do?

That's where the new shopper's guide comes into play (download it here).

"Picking five servings of fruits and vegetables from the 12 most contaminated would cause you to consume an average of 14 different pesticides a day," the group reports in its findings, which were based on data collected by the United States Departure of Agriculture of food samples that often were ready to be eaten (meaning that they had already been peeled or washed as necessary).

On the flip side, EWG writes that choosing foods from their counterpart "Clean 15" list will slash the pesticide volume by more than 90 percent. Topping the "Clean 15" were onions, sweet corn, pineapples and avocado (check out the full list here).

"We have very good data showing that if people eat organic that measurable pesticide levels in their tissues drop, and this has been shown with kids as well," HuffPost blogger Dr. Andrew Weil told EWGlast year when they released the 2010 Shopper's List. "I've always said that it would be wise to learn which crops are more likely to carry pesticide residues and in those instance to try to get organic versions or to reduce consumption or avoid the conventional varieties."

Of course, while the EWG encourages going organic when it comes to items on their Dirty Dozen List, they do clearly state that conventional produce is certainly better than none at all: "The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure."

Very Long Total Lunar Eclipse coming Wednesday

This montage of images taken by skywatcher Kieth Burns shows the Dec. 20, 2010 total lunar eclipse. The photos won a NASA contest to become an official NASA/JPL wallpaper for the public.

This photo of the Dec. 20 total lunar eclipse by Jimmy Westlake shows the blue edge to Earth's shadow set against the reddened moon.

This month's full moon will pass almost directly through the center
 of Earth's shadowon Wednesday in what will be an unusually
 long total eclipse of the moon. 
The lunar eclipse will occur just two weeks after a June 1 
partial solar eclipse, when the moon blocked part of the sun 
as viewed from Arctic regions. The eclipse won't be visible
from North America due to its timing, which places the event
 in the daylight hours when the moon is behind the local horizon. 

But the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth will be facing the moon 
during the eclipse. This hemisphere, centered on a spot in the Indian
Ocean to the east of the island nation of Madagascar, 
will have a ringside seat for this event. 
[ Video: Inside the June 15 Total LunarEclipse ] 
Since the Earth rotates during the several hours of the eclipse,
 more than a hemisphere sees stages of it. 

New York Times Releases 24,000 Palin E-Mails

Eager members of the Main Stream Media  and liberal bloggers have been poring over 24,000 emails from Palin’s time as governor and still, the most shocking thing remains the media’s obsession with a woman they call “irrelevant.”

Irrelevant, really? Nothing says “power” to me than knowing that a bunch of die hard Palin-haters are giving up one of their first summer weekends to learn that Palin thought the media was biased.

Kiddush Clubs Boycott "Chivas Regal" & "Glenlivit" Scotch Whiskey!

Nu!
 The Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) – a partnership of 250 Jewish men’s clubs that claims more than 25,000 members throughout North America – has joined with synagogues both in Israel and in the diaspora in “suggesting a boycott of scotch from distillers located in West Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland at Kiddush and [in] public and private” celebrations.

The FJMC, which is affiliated with the Conservative movement, has called for Jews to avoid certain brands of spirits following a boycott of Israeli goods instituted by the local council of the whiskey-producing region.

Among the distilleries named in the boycott are Morrison Bowmore, Loch Lamond and Chivas Brothers.

Chivas Brothers produces the well-regarded Chivas, Glenlivet and Ballantine’s brands which are the preferred spirits in many so-called “Kiddush clubs,” which gather following services in some synagogues.

The decision by Rabbi Simon to urge FJMC members to engage in a counter-boycott came after well known Israeli-Anglo blogger and pro-settlement activist, Jameel Rashid, publicized on his website a letter to several distilleries located within West Dunbartonshire. Rashid wrote: “the global counterboycott of Scottish whiskey products, distilled in the West Durbanshire council region, is beginning.”

Anglo-Israelis, an important target market for purveyors of liquor here, have been circulating e-mails calling on both Israeli and American Jews to cease consumption of Scotch whiskey, and urging supporters of Israel to send copies of Rashid’s missive to the distilleries in question.

When “your local council representatives boycott my country – under the most unethical and immoral of pretext – you cannot expect your market to sit idly and pretend you are not perverting justice,” wrote Rashid.

The boycott against Israel was initially introduced by the West Dunbartonshire Council in response to what councilmen described as “the disproportionate use of force used against Palestinians” during the IDF’s Gaza incursion in 2009.

Read more in the Jerusalem Post

Bikur Cholim of Monsey wins $286,000.00 Lawsuit against Suffern, New York

From the Journal News:

A U.S. magistrate judge has recommended that the village pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to a nonprofit agency and several others who sued the village, claiming their religious rights had been violated.

According to court documents filed Friday, Magistrate Judge George A. Yanthis recommended that Suffern pay $286,387.26 to Bikur Cholim Inc. and seven other plaintiffs who had first brought a lawsuit against the village in 2006.

Bikur Cholim has operated the Shabbos house in Suffern for more than 20 years. The house provides free kosher meals and lodging to observant Jews visiting patients at Good Samaritan Hospital on the Sabbath and on 13 Jewish holy days, when Jews are required to refrain from activities such as using electricity, driving and exchanging money.

In 2005, the Shabbos house, which had operated from inside Good Samaritan, was moved to a home on Hillcrest Road.

Following the move, village officials accused the operators of the Shabbos house of violating zoning regulations — the facility provided lodging for up to 14 people at a time, but was in a zone reserved for single-family housing.

Bikur Cholim took the village to federal court, claiming its rights guaranteed under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 were violated when the village failed to grant the organization a variance. A civil rights suit filed against the village by the federal government soon followed.

In June 2010, the village, Bikur Cholim and the federal government struck a deal allowing the Shabbos house to remain in operation.

Village Attorney Terry A. Rice said that despite Yanthis' recommendation, the village can only be held accountable for up to $200,000 in legal fees, a figure agreed to previously by all parties.

Suffern Mayor Dagan LaCorte, who said the village intends to pay the fees by authorizing a bond anticipation note over five years, agreed, noting that the settlement in the case avoided significantly higher fees that would likely have resulted from taking on the plaintiffs as well as the federal government.

"The litigation and our pursuit of this case would have most likely led to legal fees of $1 million," LaCorte said. "The next step was a trial and a trial obviously generates a substantial amount of legal fees."

Paul Savad, the lead attorney for Bikur Cholim and the other plaintiffs, said he viewed Friday's recommendation as further evidence that his clients are the prevailing parties in the case.

"The village gave us the opportunity to apply for legal fees and the court agreed with our position that we were entitled to legal fees," Savad said. Savad also confirmed that $200,000 is the maximum amount for which Suffern can be held responsible.

Rice said he would discuss with the village board whether or not to appeal Yanthis' decision. An appeal must be filed 14 days from Friday's decision if the village opts to pursue that route.

Homeland Security Chief: "No Logic in Profiling Muslim Men Under the age of 35"

"You're not using good logic there. You've got to use actual intelligence that you received. And, so, you might -- all you've given me is a kind of status. You have not given me a technique for tactic or behavior. Something that would suggest somebody is not Muslim, but Islamic, that has actually moved into the category of violent extremists," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at a forum on U.S. security and preventing terrorist attacks.

"We have ways to make some of those cuts. And they involve the intel that comes in, the analysis that goes on. For example, we often times, for travelers entering the United States, we won't not do what is called a secondary inspection just because they are a 35-year- old male who appears to be Muslim, whatever that means. But we know from intelligence that if they have a certain travel pattern over a certain period of time, that should cause us to ask some more significant questions than if we don't."

New Square's Purchase of Public School Blocked by State Education Commissioner

From Journal News:

The ruling by the state education commissioner nullifying the bargain-basement sale of Hillcrest Elementary School to a local yeshiva gives force to criticism that the transaction was tantamount to a charade and that the East Ramapo school board failed to discharge its fiduciary duty to taxpayers . The findings also raise troubling questions about a key appraisal the board maintains helped justify its decision; the commissioner found no clear evidence that the appraisal was even authorized by the trustees until after the bid from Congregation Yeshiva Avir Yakov of New Square was accepted.

In setting aside the sale this week, Education Commissioner David Steiner concluded that the board had "abused its discretion by hastily approving the sale" and ordered the board to do what it clearly failed to do when it pushed through the transaction last July — "take reasonable steps ... to secure the best price obtainable for Hillcrest." The 10-page ruling leaves much for school board members to explain, including how they could so thoroughly disregard their obligations to taxpayers. Steiner makes plain that the trustees came up woefully short — not the first time such criticism has been heard.

The board, whose majority comes from the ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic communities, has been accused of favoring members of the bloc-voting religious communities — where children attend private yeshivas — at the expense of the public schools. The closing of Hillcrest, and its fast-track sale to the yeshiva — for an apparent bargain-basement price — fits that narrative. School closures, like Hillcrest and Colton elementary before, have been justified by the district as enrollment numbers dwindled and the district's limited finances worsened. That a yeshiva would be interested in purchasing the property makes sense in a region with a burgeoning religious population.

Steiner did not address the accusations of favoritism — and he supported the district's right to sell the property without a public vote. The commissioner made plain, however, that the school board failed taxpayers: "... (A) board of education has a fiduciary duty to secure the best price obtainable" on behalf of its taxpayers. There was noting in the record to show that the trustees took even modest steps to ensure taxpayers were treated fairly.

When and why

Key to Steiner's ruling were property appraisals secured by the school board. The trustees voted to close the school in April of 2010. The 12-acre property was then appraised at $5.9 million. At the same time, Clarkstown listed the property's assessed value at $10.2 million. In July, Yeshiva Avir Yakov offered $3.1 million for the school; the district subsequently ordered a second appraisal, which came in at $3.2 million — significantly less than the first. On July 28, the board OK'd the sale to Yeshiva Avir Yakov.

Steiner faulted the board's documentation of key facts surrounding the second appraisal. While board members said they ordered and accepted that appraisal before signing off on the sale, Steiner found no documentation to support this contention. Meeting minutes don't mention the second appraisal until Aug. 4, after the sale was completed. Wrote Steiner: "While the board contends that it directed its attorney to obtain the appraisal on July 13, 2010, there is no evidence that this actually occurred." The trustees should take time to explain to taxpayers what they could not adequately clear up with the education chief.

Steiner also questioned the board's "circular" reasoning for so easily disregarding the higher first appraisal. The school board said that appraisal didn't reflect current market conditions. But the board failed to take the steps outlined in the appraisal: aggressive marketing of the property and listing it broadly for approximately a year. Instead, they marketed the property for less than a month and treated it to limited advertising: mention on the school district's website and a legal notice in The Journal News. That hardly evinces a good faith effort to secure the best price.

While a school board has broad discretion in determining the best method for a sale, Steiner noted that "a board of education may not act arbitrarily, and it must exercise its judgment and discretion in good faith. ... this includes taking reasonable steps to ascertain the value of a property and/or to utilize a method of sale which is apt to bring in the best price." He added: "The record before me ... calls into question the reasonableness of the board's action under the totality of circumstances."

Steiner's ruling won't preclude the eventual sale of Hillcrest, just this ill-advised one.

The school could even end up being sold to Yeshiva Avir Yakov, or another religious school that has a growing student body.

The ruling, however, sets forth what a proper sale should look like — and how these trustees failed taxpayers.

Popular Lesbian Blogger Kidnapped in Syria

Amina Abdallah

The popular lesbian author of the Syrian blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus" was kidnapped by armed men in Damascus.

Amina Arraf, who blogs under the name Amina Abdallah, was kidnapped while she and her friend were going to a meeting in the Syrian capital.

"Amina was seized by three men in their early 20s. According to the witness (who does not want her identity known), the men were armed," Rania Ismail, Amina's cousin, wrote on the blog.

"Amina hit one of them and told the friend to go find her father. One of the men then put his hand over Amina's mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan," the blog post continued.

"We do not know who took her so we do not know who to ask to get her back. It is possible that they are forcibly deporting her."

Her whereabouts are unknown.

Amina, whose blog has drawn fans from across the globe, holds both Syrian and American citizenships.

Thousands of people are supporting a "Free Amina" Facebook page, calling for her safe release.

On Sunday, Amina wrote about the Syrian crackdown on protesters.

"They must go, they must go soon. That is all there is to say."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/07/gay-girl-in-damascus-blogger-kidnapped-by-syrian-forces/#ixzz1Oc3xCO3T

First cousin marriages are putting hundreds of children at risk. What about Chassidic Families?

It's time to confront this taboo. This phenomenon is prevalent in Chassidic communities, primarily in "Rebbishe" families, and its time to stop this dangerous "Minhag."

The facts speak for themselves. British Pakistanis, half of whom marry a first cousin (a figure that is universally agreed), are 13 times more likely to produce children with genetic disorders than the general population, according to British Government-sponsored research.

One in ten children from these cousin marriages either dies in infancy or develops a serious life-threatening disability.  

While British Pakistanis account for three per cent of the births in this country, they are responsible for 33 per cent of the 15,000 to 20,000 children born each year with genetic defects.

The vast majority of problems are caused by recessive gene disorders, according to London’s Genetic Interest Group, which advises affected families.

Everyone carries some abnormal genes, but most people don’t have a defect because the normal gene overrules the abnormal one.

But if a husband and wife both have an abnormal recessive gene, they have a one in four chance of producing a child with defects.

These include blindness, deafness, blood ailments such as sickle cell anaemia, heart or kidney failure, lung or liver problems and myriad complex neurological or brain disorders.

Even their healthy children have a one in four chance of being a carrier of a defect, with terrible implications for the next generation.

The problem is most serious in Bradford. A recent survey of 1,100 pregnant women in the city showed that 70 per cent have husbands who are first cousins — a higher percentage than the average of 50 per cent among Pakistanis across the whole of Britain.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394119/Its-time-confront-taboo-First-cousin-marriages-Muslim-communities-putting-hundreds-children-risk.html#ixzz1Oal9JA5i

Archeologist positive that remains of the 1st & 2nd Bais Hamikdash underneath the Temple Mount

What are the Arabs going to say now? 
The World Net Daily in an exclusive report, writes that that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period – including the Second Temple itself – lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, just waiting to be excavated.

"I think we will find all the remains starting from the First Temple period and remains of the Temple itself," said Mazar, a third-generation archeologist. "I mean, no one took it out, it's there."

Mazar said she is "absolutely sure" remains from the First and Second Temple periods, including "the Second Temple itself," as well as later remains from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, are just under the surface of the Temple Mount.

Continued Mazar: "I am absolutely sure, in light of my very rich experience excavating Jerusalem for 30 years now, all these remains are waiting to be revealed. And if it can't be done nowadays because of all kinds of sensitivities, at least we should take care that it won't be ruined for future excavations when time comes."

Mazar was speaking in an interview with"Aaron Klein Investigative Radio"on New York's WABC Radio.

Read more:2nd Jewish Temple just 'waiting to be unearthed'http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=307697#ixzz1OWfMyBlM

Have you seen this Jewish Girl, Missing Since Friday

Lauren Spierer

Lauren Spierer, a 20-year-old IU student, has been missing since 4:30 a.m. Friday.
The Bloomington Police Department, family, friends and local residents continue to search for her.


Spierer is 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighs between 90 and 100 pounds and has blue eyes and blonde hair just below the shoulder, according to fliers posted throughout Bloomington.


She is from Westchester County near Scarsdale, N.Y. and just finished her sophomore year at IU.

Spierer studies fashion merchandising and is a University Division scholar. She planned to stay in Bloomington for part of this summer to take a course at Ivy Tech Community College before starting an internship at the clothing store Anthropologie in New York City. Her parents and older sister live in New York.

Spierer was last seen walking south on College Avenue. She had been hanging out with friends at Kilroy’s Sports Bar. The bar features a sand and beach area, which may explain why she was seen walking away with no shoes, her mother Charlene Spierer said.

She was wearing a white tank top, a loose, light-colored button shirt and full-length black stretch pants.

Spierer’s apartment is only a block and a half away from Kilroy’s Sports, and the last place she was seen, the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue, is another two and a half blocks away.

Her known locations are all within a three-block radius of her apartment. Video footage at the Smallwood apartment complex shows that she never made it home.

Robert and Charlene Spierer, Lauren’s parents, flew in from New York early Saturday morning.

They immediately contacted the Bloomington Police Department, filed a report and started printing fliers with their daughter’s smiling picture.

The police department told her parents they had custody of their daughter’s phone and wallet. There were conflicting reports stating the items were found in either her friend’s house or the bar. The Spierers stayed at a downtown hotel Saturday night.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, a search group of about 20 friends and Bloomington residents met outside Smallwood Plaza.

In the group was an Eagle Scout, a local resident with his two small children and a rabbi.

Robert and Charlene handed everyone fliers and tape, then split volunteers into groups to search around lakes Monroe, Griffy and Lemon. Others drove throughout Bloomington, hanging up posters at businesses and handing out fliers.

The Spierers said BPD forces had already combed through nearby construction sites, apartment complexes and streets. The Spierers themselves had spent all day Saturday searching the blocks around Smallwood and Kilroy’s Sports.

Amanda Monacy, who also just finished her sophomore year at IU and knows Lauren from Smallwood, said she can’t believe someone could disappear on such a popular, well-lit street in Bloomington.

“It’s really scary,” she said. “People walk here all the time and don’t think twice. Something happened a block and a half away from home. That’s crazy. We’re all really shaken up by this.”

In the rented car driving toward Lake Monroe, the Spierers answered constant calls and text messages on their cell phones, gathering any information.

Charlene said Lauren suffers from Long QT syndrome, a heart condition that sometimes requires medicine.

Charlene said this condition makes it all the more important that anyone with information come forward, in case Lauren is somewhere she could not receive medical attention.

At about 11 a.m. they pulled off along a gravel road near Lake Monroe.They parked the car and trekked into the woods, walking separate ways to cover ground.

They screamed their daughter’s name for about 45 minutes, their words echoing through the woods. They came back to the car and honked the horn repeatedly.

Then they got back in the car and drove up to Boy Scout Camp Maumee. Cars pulled in as people who had heard the news wanted to help search.Even as rain started to sprinkle at 1:15 p.m., the volunteers mapped out a search plan.

They would cover as much territory around Lake Monroe as possible, hanging up fliers at all boat launches and ramps.

One man suggested they leave stick crosses at trailheads after they had already searched to avoid covering the same ground.At 3 p.m. the family decided to head back into town to meet with police.

Friends of the Spierers also created a Facebook account, “Lauren Spierer Missing” and a Twitter handle, @NewsOnLaurenS for anyone who wants to give or receive more information.

If you have any information regarding Lauren Spierer, contact the Bloomington Police Department at 812-339-4477.

Handicapped Chasid Sues Strip Club & Treif Food Restaurants

Zoltan Hirsch, a riding Chillul Hashem, who is a double amputee in a wheelchair, has filed 87 federal claims in the last year seeking damages and legal fees against establishments that do not cater to the handicapped. People are wondering whether Hirsch is a con man. Hirsch who lost his legs in a car accident seven years ago, files lawsuits at the rate of one a day. He sued Dunkin Donuts and a City Crab restaurant, and get this, he sued The Lace Strip Club. He even sued the Red & White Spa in SoHo eventhough he has no legs. Hirsch typically maintains he cannot get into a business, but his lawsuits are filled with precise violations including bars that are inches too high. I am wondering if when Moshiach comes he will sue the Bais Hamikdash, because  Kohanim cannot serve if they are handicapped.
For more readNew York Post

Michael Sussman, Lawyer for Chaim Aaron Rottenberg, Says Rebbi Responsible for Violence

Michael Sussman

Michael Sussman in an interview with Zev Brenner, on Talkline, Saturday night, accused the Skverer Rebbi of having personal knowledge and having given approval of the violence perpetrated against Mr. Chaim Aaron Rottenberg. Mr. Sussman, the lawyer retained by the Rottenberg Family asked the District Attorney of the United States, Eric Holder to look into these accusations.

FBI ENTERS NEW SQUARE TERROR CASE, New Square will pray for Chaim Aaron Rottenberg on Sunday!

From the Journal News:

NEW SQUARE — The FBI is working with Ramapo police on an investigation into an attack that left a Hasidic dissident with third-degree burns over half his body, authorities said Friday.

"They will assist us and will not take over the case," said Ramapo Detective Lt. Mark Emma. "If they determine federal crimes have been committed, they will make a determination on whether to pursue them."

Police and the FBI will not only investigate the attempt to burn down the home of Aron Rottenberg, 43, but also months of vandalism, harassment and threats in the Hasidic Jewish village, Emma said.

FBI spokesman Tim Flannelly declined to comment, saying the bureau's policy is not to discuss whether there is an investigation. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also declined to comment.

If federal authorities do decide to pursue a case, they would likely look at potential violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, said a former federal prosecutor .

"I think if they have jurisdictional grounds, this would be something they would look at," said Kenneth P. Thompson, who, as an assistant U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, prosecuted five New York City police officers in the 1997 assault of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.

Since September, scores of New Square residents have protested several times outside the homes of Rottenberg and others who have chosen to worship at places other than the synagogue of New Square's Grand Rebbe David Twersky.

Windows have been broken in their homes and cars, and their children have been threatened with expulsion from local religious schools, according to police reports. They also said they received threatening phone calls.

The incidents began after Rottenberg and some friends started praying regularly at Friedwald House senior residence outside of New Square rather than Twersky's synagogue.

On May 22, Rottenberg was burned when an incendiary device exploded as he wrestled with 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer outside Rottenberg's home.

Spitzer is a butler at Twersky's home and the cousin of the village's deputy mayor. Spitzer was also burned during the incident and is at a New York City hospital. He has been charged with arson and attempted murder.

The religious component of the alleged crime could make it a federal case, Thompson said.

"If it's a federal crime to burn down a church, a synagogue, a mosque because of someone's religion," he said, "why wouldn't it be a federal crime to burn down someone's house because of their religion?"

Emma said the investigation focuses on Spitzer but that earlier reports of vandalism were also part of the probe. Rottenberg's lawyer, Michael Sussman, who has called for a federal investigation, wrote a letter to Ramapo police chief Peter Brower on May 30 accusing the police of aligning itself with Twersky. Sussman wrote that the department had a report of a prior act of vandalism at Rottenberg's home but made no arrests. "We can't let him run our investigation," Emma said. "We will continue with our goal to get Spitzer convicted of the crimes he's been charged with." Rockland Legislator Joseph Meyers, D-Airmont, threw his support behind a federal investigation into New Square. Rep. Elliot Engel, D-Bronx, who represents parts of Rockland, called the attack on Rottenberg "horrific." "Justice must be vigorously pursued in this case," Engel said. "It is essential that this crime be thoroughly investigated to determine the extent of culpability."No other political leaders have called for federal intervention. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, declined comment.
Meanwhile New Square will "Davin" for Rottenberg!

NEW SQUARE — The Hasidic Jewish community plans a prayer session Sunday night for the man severely burned during an attempted arson allegedly by a follower of the grand rabbi.

Prayers and speeches will be offered for Aron Rottenberg at the community's synagogue, a large white stone building down Truman Avenue from Rottenberg's house.

Rottenberg, 43, a plumber who is married with children, remains in Westchester Medical Center with third-degree burns on 50 percent of his body.

He was severely burned on May 22 about 4 a.m.

Rottenberg and other residents say they had been targeted for protests and vandalism since September when they broke Grand Rabbi David Twersky's rules by praying outside the New Square synagogue at a local nursing home.

Shaul Spitzer, 18, is charged with felony counts of attempted murder and arson, along with assault.

During a struggle behind his neighbor's house, an incendiary device exploded, burning Rottenberg and Spitzer, Ramapo police said.

Spitzer is hospitalized in New York City with third-degree burns on his hands.

The prayer session is the first public event acknowledging Rottenberg's injuries.

Twerksy has spoken against violence and wished a recovery to those injured. Rottenberg's family blames the rabbi for not stepping in to stop the months of harassment that preceded the attack.

"New Square residents are continuing to pray for speedy recovery of those hurt and to remain the community known internationally since its inception for acts of charity," said Hank Sheinkopf, spokesman for the Committee of Friends of New Square, a group of concerned residents.
Here hear A child telling his father that he was humiliated publicly in school

Recent New Square Terror Attacks!

A report from today's Journal News

Windows were shattered, cars were vandalized and groups of men protested outside Aron Rottenberg's house well before he was badly burned confronting a man with an incendiary device.

Rottenberg and his friends called Ramapo police eight times in the fall, claiming they were being tormented for opting to pray outside of the Hasidic congregation, a Journal News review of police records shows.

But although patrols were increased, detectives did not get involved until last month — when windows were smashed on the family's Truman Avenue home.

That probe was still going on when Rottenberg was seriously burned early May 22. He remains at Westchester Medical

Center, where he underwent additional surgery Tuesday.

The suspect, 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer, is charged with

attempted murder and arson.Spitzer, a butler at the home of New Square Grand Rabbi David Twersky and cousin of the village's deputy mayor, was also burned during the incident and is at a New York City hospital.

Detective Sgt. John Lynch of the Ramapo police said he became aware of the other incidents — most of which he described as minor — only after the Rottenberg house

was vandalized May 14.

"A call like a broken window, a standalone case like that is not going to make it to the detective bureau," Lynch said Wednesday. "We have approximately 55,000 calls a year. In the real world here, if there's no forensic evidence or need for a further investigation, the investigation is conducted by the police officers handling the incident."

New Square is run by the Skver Hasidic sect, whose leadership and rabbinical court issued a letter in November warning that it was a serious violation not to worship in the main synagogue and that anyone who prayed elsewhere must be stopped from using the communitiy's facilities.

But the first signs of internal strife came two months earlier, in mid-September, shortly after Rottenberg and some friends started praying regularly at the Friedwald House senior residence outside the village.

On Sept. 13, he and two other men reported that windows on their cars had been smashed. 

Five weeks later, on Friday, Oct. 22, another friend, Jacob Surkis, reported that the license plates were stolen from his van. He told police that whoever stole his plates was trying to "make his life difficult" because of his decision where to pray

That same day, Rottenberg called police to report harassment and suspicious activity around his house. He said there was a knock on his upstairs bedroom window at 4:30 that morning and when he looked outside, he found a block of wood that he assumed had been used to reach the window.

He claimed that three days earlier, someone had left a message on his phone at 5:11 a.m. advising him not to send his 15-year-old daughter to school so she would not be embarrassed.

When he opened his front door at 8:45, her school desk and other belongings were on the front porch.

He told police he stopped sending her to school at that point and asked if they could increase their patrols in the village, with emphasis on his neighborhood — especially early Saturday mornings..

"Rottenberg advises that there is a small group of men who have decided to attend schul (sic) outside of the village and that all of these men have been tormented ever since," police said in an Oct. 22 report. The next night, as many as 50 men gathered outside Rottenberg's home and he called police. The group dispersed when cops arrived and the officers warned Rottenberg to stay out of harm's way and not confront the group.

Police suggested Rottenberg videotape such gatherings in case suspects ever needed to be identified.

Rottenberg asked the officers to speak with Mendel Berger, who lived around the corner, suggesting that Berger held somesway over the group and could get them to stop. But Berger told the officers he wanted nothing to do with the situation.

An hour later, the block was filled with hundreds of community residents who had blocked the road with metal barriers. Most were there protesting Rottenberg, his wife told police, but there was also a group supporting him. The officers eventually got the crowd to leave the area.

Rottenberg's wife called police just before 1 a.m. Oct. 29 to report that someone had smashed a rear bedroom window.

She said people in the community were trying to force the family to move out.

That Sabbath, a friend, Mordechai Surkis, stayed at the house while the Rottenbergs were away.

An officer was patrolling Truman Avenue just after 3 a.m. Oct. 30 when Surkis approached to say that a window in the house had been broken. The officer reported that he had seen a group of about a dozen Hasidic teenagers just before Surkis came outside, but that the group had left the area.

The next day, Jacob Surkis told police that his car windshield was smashed on Washington Avenue.

That was the last report to police until May 14, when three windows were smashed at the Rottenberg house around 3 a.m. Detective Sgt. Lynch said police do not believe that Spitzer was involved in that incident and that they have two teen suspects and expect to make an arrest.

The May 14 vandalism prompted the family to install video surveillance cameras and — for the first time — led to an

investigation by Ramapo detectives. Lynch said detectives get called in only when crimes have patterns or when there

are higher level felonies involved.

"In some cases, the challenge is the lack of evidence, the lack of witnesses," Lynch said. "The fact is we don't have enough evidence or witnesses to prosecute offenders in some of the cases. I mean — the police officers weren't present when these crimes occurred."