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Rav Shmuel against smoking
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Lippy Marguelis among many others - Enabled Child Molester Yehuda Kolko to sexually violate boys for over 40 years. Lippy also slapped one of the victims across the face for "poor grades".
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Shachris with the Skulener Rebbe Brings Success
The following story was told over by Reb Shlomo (crocodile tears) Mandel, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Brooklyn:
He has a relative, a diamond dealer, who was walking to the train station, in order to get to a very important business meeting. As he passed by the Skulener Beis HaMedrash, a man asked him to help the Skulener Rebbe, Reb Eliezer Zusia Portugal, complete a minyan for Shachris. The diamond dealer, who, of course, had already davened, responded that he was in a hurry, but the man convinced him to stay and help the Rebbe's minyan. He walked into the Shul and saw that they were still short the required ten for a minyan, but he was there already, so he stuck around. They finally gathered the required ten men and started to daven at the Rebbes usual deliberate pace. The man kept glancing at his watch and realized that he was going to miss his important business meeting. At this point, he couldn't leave and ruin the minyan, so he stayed.
To make a long story short, he missed his important meeting. However, that day turned out to be his most successful day in business ever, despite missing an important meeting. Reb Shlomo Mandel concluded, "after a Shachris with the Skulener Rebbe, of course it was his most successful day in business."
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For anyone who has been affected by overzealous traffic enforcement agents; this sure will make you laugh. "Jimmy Justice" catches NYPD meter maids breaking the law they're supposed to enforce.
Rav Shmuel against smoking 2 min 49 sec - Jul 10, 2007 > Rav Shmuel Kamintezky, Rosh HaYeshiva of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, speaks o...
Smoking is sakunas nefoshos R, shmuel, what about molesting children? What about those who enable the sexual violation of children? What do you say about yourself, someone who helped a sexual offender move to another city?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lippy Marguelis among many others - Enabled Child Molester Yehuda Kolko to sexually violate boys for over 40 years. Lippy also slapped one of the victims across the face for "poor grades".
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37 min - May 16, 2006 - (20 ratings)
. Three of the greatest Rabbis from Israel visited Los Angeles for Lag B'Omer 2006/6766. First is the reception for Rabbi Shteinmen and the Gerrer
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Shachris with the Skulener Rebbe Brings Success
The following story was told over by Reb Shlomo (crocodile tears) Mandel, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Brooklyn:
He has a relative, a diamond dealer, who was walking to the train station, in order to get to a very important business meeting. As he passed by the Skulener Beis HaMedrash, a man asked him to help the Skulener Rebbe, Reb Eliezer Zusia Portugal, complete a minyan for Shachris. The diamond dealer, who, of course, had already davened, responded that he was in a hurry, but the man convinced him to stay and help the Rebbe's minyan. He walked into the Shul and saw that they were still short the required ten for a minyan, but he was there already, so he stuck around. They finally gathered the required ten men and started to daven at the Rebbes usual deliberate pace. The man kept glancing at his watch and realized that he was going to miss his important business meeting. At this point, he couldn't leave and ruin the minyan, so he stayed.
To make a long story short, he missed his important meeting. However, that day turned out to be his most successful day in business ever, despite missing an important meeting. Reb Shlomo Mandel concluded, "after a Shachris with the Skulener Rebbe, of course it was his most successful day in business."
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For anyone who has been affected by overzealous traffic enforcement agents; this sure will make you laugh. "Jimmy Justice" catches NYPD meter maids breaking the law they're supposed to enforce.
  | Jimmy Justice goes inside to give her a piece of his mind....traffic enforcement agent police officer cop abuse of power fire firemen pump hydrant jimmy justice (more) |   Views: 120,711 Added: 1 month ago |
Tags: traffic enforcement agent police officer cop abuse of power fire firemen pump hydrant jimmy justice meter maid brownie Time: 03:25 | More in People & Blogs |
 | New York City only apply to civilians.... In this scene Jimmy Justice observes a traffic enforcement agent make an illegal u-turn.Then she (more) | Views: 64,522 Added: 1 month ago |
| Time: 02:45 | More in People & Blogs |
 | This is a scene from my upcoming documentary Jimmy Justice. What can we do when officers openly flout the same laws they are charged with enforcing? A traffic (more) | Views: 98,242 Added: 1 month ago |
Tags: cops traffic enforcement agent parking ticket summons abuse cunt nazi meter maid fire hydrant police brownie Time: 03:26 | More in People & Blogs |
 | the exact same violations with their official vehicles. In this scene from the Jimmy Justice documentary we witness sanitation enforcement agent Agnone illegally park her vehicle in a bus (more) | Views: 39,299 Added: 1 month ago |
Tags: sanitation enforcement agent cop police traffic summons ticket cunt parking break law abuse of power no standing zone Time: 04:40 | More in People & Blogs |
 | Jimmy Justice films and confronts city employees breaking the law....countdown keith olbermann jimmy justice | Views: 4,067 Added: 6 days ago |
| Time: 02:13 | More in People & Blogs | |
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 | afternoon after leaving Jimmy Justice's residence in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn...traffic enforcement agent police officer cop abuse of power response to jimmy justice (more) | From: batdemon Views: 1,263 Added: 3 days ago |
| Time: 05:24 | More in People & Blogs |
 | http://www.podblanc.com...jimmy justice police officer caught tape crime felony OWNED | Views: 293 Added: 2 days ago |
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 | Wow Jimmy Justice NYC local Superhero final get some recognition...Jimmy Justice | From: WDziekanowski Views: 50 Added: 22 hours ago |
| Time: 04:22 | More in Entertainment |
 | eachother tickets. In this scene a cauldron of traffic enforcement agents explain to Jimmy Justice that they are above the law and can violate any parking statute they want (more) | Views: 68,050 Added: 3 weeks ago |
Tags: female cop police officer period traffic enforcement agent jimmy justice brownie meter maid abuse double Time: 04:07 | More in People & Blogs |
 | In this scene from the Jimmy Justice documentary, a civilian tells Jimmy that the fascist government of New York City instructs its officers to write as many summonses as (more) | Views: 28,231 Added: 2 weeks ago |
Tags: jimmy justice traffic enforcement agent cop police parking ticket summons nypd new york city video vigilante who watches Time: 01:27 | More in People & Blogs |
 | jimmy justice on the news in australia on prime. 6:20pm....jimmy justice jimmyjustice4753 on news prime seven |  Views: 554 Added: 5 days ago |
| Time: 00:28 | More in News & Politics |
 | that create public safety hazards by violating those same rules. In this scene Jimmy Justice confronts a board of education official who turns violent when confronted for breaking the (more) | Views: 18,987 Added: 2 weeks ago |
Tags: offcial vehicle board of education jimmy justice parking sidewalk no standing ticket summons traffic enforcement officer Time: 00:45 | More in People & Blogs |
 | hazards with their official vehicles while writing summonses to civilians. In this scene Jimmy Justice witnesses a traffic enforcement agent double park while writing a summons to a vehicle (more) | Views: 22,156 Added: 2 weeks ago |
| Time: 00:52 | More in People & Blogs |
 | based on their religion or the color of their skin. In this scene Jimmy Justice listens to a conversation between a UPS driver and a racist traffic enforcement agent (more) | Views: 29,084 Added: 2 weeks ago |
| Time: 00:22 | More in People & Blogs |
 | Eyewitness News report on Jimmy Justice....cops traffic enforcement agent parking ticket summons abuse cunt nazi meter maid fire hydrant police brownie | Views: 4,911 Added: 1 week ago |
Tags: cops traffic enforcement agent parking ticket summons abuse cunt nazi meter maid fire hydrant police brownie Time: 02:32 |
Whoever has the guts and stamina to watch this bloody video of what appears to be an unprecedented amount of animal cruelty by the Kosher Slaughterhouse belonging to Rubashkins, please go ahead and do so.
 | A new undercover investigation again reveals extreme cruelty and non-compliance with kosher rules. http://www.goveg.com/undercover-agri. (more) | Views: 915 Added: 1 month ago |
| Time: 03:29 | More in Pets & Animals |
 | it called "grisly" animal abuse at the world's largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse, agriprocessors Inc. The story, based on this disturbing undercover investigation, received wide (more) | Views: 32,986 Added: 1 year ago |
| Time: 25:07 | More in Pets & Animals |
 | "PETA spent seven weeks undercover at agriprocessors, Inc., slaughterhouse in Iowa. What's being done to animals there defies description. For more information, check (more) | From: pinkcarrot4 Views: 190 Added: 2 weeks ago |
| Time: 03:30 |
Watch this and and cry: But most of all learn from it!
 | hopes that someone will look for the WARNING SIGNS of sexual child molestation and or rape in your own child , even unacceptable cuddling like a Father figure is completely (more) | Views: 1,363 Added: 2 months ago |
Tags: pedophile homosexual heterosexual addiction child molestation molester rape rapist detriment society police arrest Time: 09:28 |
 | hopes that someone will look for the WARNING SIGNS of sexual child molestation and or rape in your own child , even unacceptable cuddling like a Father figure is completely (more) | Views: 817 Added: 2 months ago |
| Time: 09:58 | More in People & Blogs |
 | hopes that someone will look for the WARNING SIGNS of sexual child molestation and or rape in your own child , even unacceptable cuddling like a Father figure is completely (more) | Views: 560 Added: 2 months ago |
Tags: pedophile homosexual heterosexual addiction child molestation molester rape rapist detriment society police Time: 07:51 |
 | I am posting this in hopes that someone will look for the WARNING SIGNS of sexual child molestation and or rape in your own child , even unacceptable cuddling like (more) | Views: 727 Added: 2 months ago |
Tags: pedophile homosexual heterosexual addiction child molestation molester rape rapist detriment society police Time: 05:36 |
 | Don't Talk to Strangers" (circa 1950s)...child molester molesters molestation sexual abuse children strangers strange man assault sex acts drive predator kidnap | Views: 4,242 Added: 3 months ago |
Tags: child molester molesters molestation sexual abuse children strangers strange man assault sex acts drive predator kidnap Time: 06:25 |
 | Don't Talk to Strangers" (circa 1950s)...child molester molesters molestation sexual abuse children strangers strange man assault sex acts drive predator kidnap | Views: 912 Added: 3 months ago |
Tags: child molester molesters molestation sexual abuse children strangers strange man assault sex acts drive predator kidnap Time: 06:39 |
 | This Fulton County judge gives a child molester and the mother of the molested children a bitter piece of his mind. We need more judges like this! | Views: 203 Added: 1 week ago |
| Time: 02:44 |
 | Child molester attacks reporter that confronts him. This guy is sick in the head....child molester crazy man old confrontation reporter molestation news sick disturbed insane | Views: 4,295 Added: 5 months ago |
| Time: |
 | child molesters. Please don't think you know all the answers, please take a few minutes and watch this eye opening video....child molester (more) | Views: 138 Added: 3 months ago |
| Time: 05:56 |
 | Jackson and his trail and accusations....chris rock comedy micheal Jackson jail trial child molestation funny comedian stand up never scared sex porn rape santa | Views: 814,716 Added: 1 year ago |
Tags: chris rock comedy micheal Jackson jail trial child molestation funny comedian stand up never scared sex porn rape santa Time: 04:11 |
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1 min - Oct 1, 2006 - (1 rating)
Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam, Bobover Rebbe, blessing his followers before the Jewish Day of Atonement...Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam
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44 sec - Mar 12, 2005 - (3 ratings)
of Bnei Brak, and the Gerrer Rebbe walk in to the celebration of the completion of the Talmud....Grand Rebbe J. Alter of Gur
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54 min - May 1, 2006 -
(6 ratings)
(6 ratings)
After the passing of Grand Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, Satmar Rebbe, zt"l, there is a discussion on Motzei Shabbos on Zev Brenner's Jewish radio show between
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5588331286838811484
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6 min - May 3, 2007 - (12 ratings)
2007, For the Groundbreaking of a new Satmar Synagogue....satmar rabbi boropark rebbe rabbe teitelbaum hasidim chasidim satmer zalmen zali jewish jew williamsburg kiryas
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6 min - May 15, 2006 -
(2 ratings)
(2 ratings)
Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam - Bobover Rebbe - saying a brief sermon for the Jewish Holiday of Lag Bomer in his synagogue in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn
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 | 6 min - Aug 22, 2006 - (764 ratings) the "Palestinians"? Does Jewish existence in general irriatate you? Written by Rabbi Meir Kahane, May Gd avenge his blood!...kahane world israel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_LxmkTSX4 |
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45 min - May 15, 2005 - (3 ratings)
by Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, Rabbi of YILC [ Torah, Judaism, shiur, rabbi ]...Rabbi Mayer Twersky...TorahWeb.org...Rabbi
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1 hr 59 min - Sep 12, 2006 - (19 ratings)
Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZT"L, HY"D, at Yeshiva University "The Yoke of Heaven" Feb 14, 1989 Fantastic Torah Lecture Judaism
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2 min - May 19, 2007 - (39 ratings)
Israeli Rabbi Condemns CCP Organ Harvesting http://www.cntv.us/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=850&Itemid=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpnFzzB90mU
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3 min - Jun 11, 2007 - (43 ratings) " The Rabbi, a fearless fighter for the truth, also sharply criticized the Zionist Movement....Occupied Palestine Gaza Israel Zionism Apartheid US Capitol Rabbi Yisroel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCKD6u1gGzs |
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22 min - Nov 20, 2005 - (8 ratings)
www.TorahWeb.org for more info. [ Torah, Judaism, shiur, rabbi ]...Rabbi Hershel Schachter...TorahWeb.org
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13 comments:
When there's a will there's a way. These dorks who pass themselves off as Rabbi's don't have the will or desire to admit their mistakes and learn from their past.
Their infallible attitude and distorted way of thinking is a recipe for disaster - and we see Jews from all over the world who are suffering because of it.
Our job is to put an end to this insanity and help restore some semblance of decency and dignity in the way Jews conduct their lives.
You should check out uoj's latest post. There seems to be a boro park molester on the loose
Berel Goldman
Age: mid-to-upper 50’s
Height: approx 5’6
Built: Stocky
Hair/Beard: black with streaks of gray
Skin color: olive
Eyes: blue (a little bloodshot)
You should check out uoj's latest post. There seems to be a boro park molester on the loose
=================================
Someone snap a picture of this guy and send it to me please. He sounds like the molester that someone brought to my attention.
In that case, the now grown man related to me how a chasidishe guy lured him into his home under the guise of needing some help with a dryer plug. When the boy (about 13 at the time) went looking for the wire the man promptly unzipped the boys pants and attempted to suck his penis. Luckily, the boy fought him off and ran away. The boy remembered the house and came back with his father to confront the man. The man denied the accusations. Unfortunately, they did not report the abuse to the police.
Tactless rabbi; petty journalists
Media storm over Yosef's words reminiscent of hyenas drawn by smell of blood
Assaf Weiss
"Not every thought should be said out loud" is a cliché that someone should be whispering in Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's ear. Yet at the same time, news organizations should also internalize something: Not every word that is uttered should be publicized.
Exploitation
Unworthy spiritual leader / Michael Boyden
Rabbi Yosef exploits thousands of bereaved families to score political points
Full Story
Once in a while, someone throws a tempting cookie in the direction of democracy's watchdog, which in turn wags its tail and abandons the routine and boring dog food, curbs its attacks on various types of crooks, and is suddenly unable to sniff out government corruption.
Yet these cookies cause the media dog to suffer from diarrhea. And so, when Rabbi Ovadia utters yet another controversial statement, this immediately creates a media buzz followed by an assortment of furious reactions by spin-loving Knesset members who also want to make the headlines.
Despite the revulsion over the statement that "soldiers were killed because they didn't observe mitzvot," we must realize that it was uttered as part of a weekly educational sermon. The rabbi was interested in conveying a message that would encourage his listeners to become more religious, ahead of judgment day, that is, Yom Kippur. He did not intend to provoke anyone.
Indeed, the example he chose sounds bad, and even as an allegory there is no room for such words about IDF soldiers who gave their lives, among other reasons, so that the rabbi and his students can live here safely.
Yet what can we do, the rabbi is not really interested in ever-changing politically correct fads, and he doesn't walk around with a smooth public relations advisor by his side.
Indeed, the rabbi's statement was grave, inconsiderate, and further aggravated the wounds of bereaved families. What's most bothersome, however, is that we're talking about a systemic phenomenon: A quick search of the news archive comes up with a plethora of embarrassing statements at best, and hurtful ones at worse – ranging from "we should hold a feast on the day she dies," referring to Shulamit Aloni, "they have intercourse with menstruating women," referring to Supreme Court judges, and "he's the devil, may his memory be erased" referring to Yossi Sarid (with the latter incident leading to a criminal investigation.)
Sermons not a press conference
Yet taking the text out of context constitutes unoriginal populism that had run its course back in the '80s. The mass media and mass sermons are two disconnected mediums that are being run in accordance with completely different codes. There is good reason why the ritual of reading the morning paper replaced morning prayers in western society.
While masses of believers attentively listen to the rabbi's words, masses of readers are passionately following the media. Both groups conduct themselves simultaneously, and are peacefully separated, until someone decides to home in on explosive sentence fragments. And this is the real problem. After all, it's easier to quote weekly sermons than to try to expose the next Watergate.
So until media outlets internalize the need to be careful with what they report, the rabbi's weekly sermon will continue to be more popular than respectable government sessions and poverty figures.
Just like hyenas that smell blood proceed to gather around the carcass, notebooks are pulled out, recording devices are activated, and the rabbi's words of wisdom reach every home in Israel in the form of a newspaper or through the internet. And then, instead of being a great religious adjudicator and spiritual leader, the rabbi continues to be portrayed like the global village fool.
Thus, it would be better to keep such statements out. At least keep them out of the news. Until that time, this foretold cycle will continue: The rabbi will again say something insensitive, and journalists will again decide that a Torah lesson is the same as a press conference, and again an "Ovadia storm" headline will appear. One is left to wonder how many more storms are left in store?
Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal TheStar.com - GTA - Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal
Woman who claims cleric pressured her into a sexual relationship wants $1.3M in compensation
August 29, 2007
Sandro Contenta
Staff reporter
A woman claiming she was coerced into a sexual relationship by a rabbi is suing the rabbi and a prominent Toronto synagogue for $1.3 million.
Richmond Hill resident Yona Nadler, 52, is suing Rabbi Tobias Gabriel and the Beth Tzedec Synagogue for breach of fiduciary duty and the pain and suffering she claims the relationship caused her and her marriage.
The lawsuit highlights an issue that has pushed some religious institutions into writing codes of conduct that govern relationships between clergy and members of their congregations.
Nadler's position is the rabbi abused the trust of a deeply religious woman, according to her lawyer Simona Jellinek.
Gabriel responded to a Toronto Star request for an interview by calling the allegations "groundless" and refusing further comment. His lawyer, Alf Kwinter, stressed none of the allegations have been proven in court. "He's going to vigorously defend this lawsuit," he added.
Kwinter described Gabriel's 13 years of service at the synagogue as "outstanding" and "exemplary." Beth Tzedec's website describes Gabriel as happily married.
The incident rocked the congregation Monday when a letter was sent to the synagogue's 6,000 members, three days after the Toronto Star made repeated requests to Beth Tzedec authorities for comment.
"Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the impropriety occurred," wrote Shep Gangbar, president of the Beth Tzedec Congregation, who called the situation "distressing."
While the synagogue "strongly affirms that such actions are improper and wrong," it is not legally liable for the actions of Gabriel, the letter states. "Beth Tzedec has never condoned or tolerated such behaviour and will never do so."
Beth Tzedec is prepared to provide financial compensation to Nadler, the synagogue's lawyer, Michael Royce, said yesterday.
Gabriel, who was hired as a cantor by Beth Tzedec, has accepted an agreement with the synagogue that will see him resign at the end of the year, Kwinter said. He will be paid until then, he added.
Gabriel, who is not the synagogue's chief rabbi, has been suspended and will no longer work at Beth Tzedec, Royce said.
This week, representatives of the New York-based Rabbinical Association, of which Gabriel was a member when the incidents are said to have occurred, will come to the synagogue to investigate the claims. The group runs the cantor classes Gabriel taught in the synagogue.
Beth Tzedec, in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood, practises the Conservative stream of Judaism. One of the country's largest synagogues, it was recently the site of Ed Mirvish's funeral.
In July 2006, Nadler was the only female in Gabriel's class for student cantors at the Bathurst St. synagogue when Gabriel became "friendly and flirtatious," according to a statement of claim filed by Nadler and her husband, Samuel, at Ontario's Superior Court last month.
Gabriel kissed Nadler in his office at the end of the course after she gave him "a small token of appreciation," the statement alleges. She "fled" the office "confused and shaken," the statement adds.
Gabriel then called her repeatedly while she vacationed in Israel, the statement alleges. It claims he "pressured" her into seeing him when she returned.
When they met, "Rabbi Gabriel began to kiss Yona and told her that he will take responsibility and that it would not be wrong to be intimate with him," the statement claims. He told Nadler "it is acceptable that she love two men," it alleges. The claim also alleges the relationship progressed to sexual intercourse.
"Did he use violence and rape her? No, he did not," Jellinek said. Nadler's husband, who learned of the relationship last September, is claiming $100,000 for the damage it caused to his marriage.
The claim alleges the synagogue knew that Gabriel "had previously engaged in sexual relations with another married woman who was attending the Beth Tzedec Synagogue while she was grieving the loss of one of her parents."
The statement of claim says Nadler relied on Gabriel as "an authority figure to give advice to her, to guide her and to protect her from harm."
"Gabriel knew or ought to have known that Yona would follow his instructions without resistance," it says. "Gabriel knew or ought to have known that he had Yona's absolute trust in all regards and that she would obey Gabriel's instructions and follow his advice in all matters."
Nadler refused to comment when contacted by the Star. Her husband, Samuel, said: "There's been incredible grief and publicity would only cause more."
The experience continues to cause Nadler "physical and mental stress," including "inability to trust others ... suicidal behaviour ... sexual dysfunction ... (and) marital discord and breakdown," the statement of claim says. It calls the alleged incident a "sexual assault."
The synagogue does not have a written policy governing conduct between employees and members of the congregation. But the New York-based Rabbinical Association strictly forbids sexual relationships, Royce said.
Kwinter accused Beth Tzedec of convicting Gabriel although none of the allegations have been proven.
"We're not talking about young children. ... Nothing here is alleged to be illegal," Kwinter said. "The allegations are being made against adults."
Rabbi Michal Shekel, executive director of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, would not comment on the case but noted that adultery contravenes one of the Ten Commandments.
More modern concerns about the power a cleric may have over a member of the congregation, particularly one seeking counselling, has resulted in different branches of Judaism – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – writing codes of conduct, Shekel said.
In the United States, windows are being added to rabbis' offices when old synagogues are redesigned. It allows for privacy while ensuring that others can witness the meeting, Shekel added.
In a teacher-student relationship, concerns are similar to those in universities, where a teacher has power over whether a student makes the grade, Shekel said.
In the Anglican church, it used to be common for a young cleric to fall in love with, or marry, a parishioner, said Archdeacon Peter Fenty, executive assistant to the Anglican Bishop of Toronto.
But recent reforms, including a "Sexual Misconduct Policy" for staff and volunteers adopted by the General Synod in 2005, resulted in the Toronto diocese banning romantic relationships between a cleric and a parishioner, Fenty said.
When that happens, the parishioner is asked to seek another parish. It avoids embroiling the parish into conflict that may arise if the relationship breaks down, and preserves the integrity of the pastoral relationship, Fenty added.
"When are you the person's priest and when are you the person's lover? It is in the interest of the cleric, the parishioner and the church community that there be clarity," Fenty said.
Rabbi Reuven Tradburks, president of the Toronto-based Council of Orthodox Rabbis, said his Judaic movement prohibits any man or woman being alone together in a room unless they're married or closely related.
Single rabbis are permitted to date and marry members of their congregations but sex is the reserve of married couples, Tradburks added.
People who go to rabbis for wisdom and guidance have a right to expect high ethical and moral standards from representatives of the Torah, Tradburks said.
"People will say, `Well, if a rabbi can behave that way, who needs the whole religion; it must not be worth much if he can act like that,'" he said.
"I'm a person like anyone else and I have my failings, but that's an expectation people have a right to make: a rabbi should do things differently," he added.
Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal TheStar.com - GTA - Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal
Woman who claims cleric pressured her into a sexual relationship wants $1.3M in compensation
August 29, 2007
Sandro Contenta
Staff reporter
A woman claiming she was coerced into a sexual relationship by a rabbi is suing the rabbi and a prominent Toronto synagogue for $1.3 million.
Richmond Hill resident Yona Nadler, 52, is suing Rabbi Tobias Gabriel and the Beth Tzedec Synagogue for breach of fiduciary duty and the pain and suffering she claims the relationship caused her and her marriage.
The lawsuit highlights an issue that has pushed some religious institutions into writing codes of conduct that govern relationships between clergy and members of their congregations.
Nadler's position is the rabbi abused the trust of a deeply religious woman, according to her lawyer Simona Jellinek.
Gabriel responded to a Toronto Star request for an interview by calling the allegations "groundless" and refusing further comment. His lawyer, Alf Kwinter, stressed none of the allegations have been proven in court. "He's going to vigorously defend this lawsuit," he added.
Kwinter described Gabriel's 13 years of service at the synagogue as "outstanding" and "exemplary." Beth Tzedec's website describes Gabriel as happily married.
The incident rocked the congregation Monday when a letter was sent to the synagogue's 6,000 members, three days after the Toronto Star made repeated requests to Beth Tzedec authorities for comment.
"Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the impropriety occurred," wrote Shep Gangbar, president of the Beth Tzedec Congregation, who called the situation "distressing."
While the synagogue "strongly affirms that such actions are improper and wrong," it is not legally liable for the actions of Gabriel, the letter states. "Beth Tzedec has never condoned or tolerated such behaviour and will never do so."
Beth Tzedec is prepared to provide financial compensation to Nadler, the synagogue's lawyer, Michael Royce, said yesterday.
Gabriel, who was hired as a cantor by Beth Tzedec, has accepted an agreement with the synagogue that will see him resign at the end of the year, Kwinter said. He will be paid until then, he added.
Gabriel, who is not the synagogue's chief rabbi, has been suspended and will no longer work at Beth Tzedec, Royce said.
This week, representatives of the New York-based Rabbinical Association, of which Gabriel was a member when the incidents are said to have occurred, will come to the synagogue to investigate the claims. The group runs the cantor classes Gabriel taught in the synagogue.
Beth Tzedec, in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood, practises the Conservative stream of Judaism. One of the country's largest synagogues, it was recently the site of Ed Mirvish's funeral.
In July 2006, Nadler was the only female in Gabriel's class for student cantors at the Bathurst St. synagogue when Gabriel became "friendly and flirtatious," according to a statement of claim filed by Nadler and her husband, Samuel, at Ontario's Superior Court last month.
Gabriel kissed Nadler in his office at the end of the course after she gave him "a small token of appreciation," the statement alleges. She "fled" the office "confused and shaken," the statement adds.
Gabriel then called her repeatedly while she vacationed in Israel, the statement alleges. It claims he "pressured" her into seeing him when she returned.
When they met, "Rabbi Gabriel began to kiss Yona and told her that he will take responsibility and that it would not be wrong to be intimate with him," the statement claims. He told Nadler "it is acceptable that she love two men," it alleges. The claim also alleges the relationship progressed to sexual intercourse.
"Did he use violence and rape her? No, he did not," Jellinek said. Nadler's husband, who learned of the relationship last September, is claiming $100,000 for the damage it caused to his marriage.
The claim alleges the synagogue knew that Gabriel "had previously engaged in sexual relations with another married woman who was attending the Beth Tzedec Synagogue while she was grieving the loss of one of her parents."
The statement of claim says Nadler relied on Gabriel as "an authority figure to give advice to her, to guide her and to protect her from harm."
"Gabriel knew or ought to have known that Yona would follow his instructions without resistance," it says. "Gabriel knew or ought to have known that he had Yona's absolute trust in all regards and that she would obey Gabriel's instructions and follow his advice in all matters."
Nadler refused to comment when contacted by the Star. Her husband, Samuel, said: "There's been incredible grief and publicity would only cause more."
The experience continues to cause Nadler "physical and mental stress," including "inability to trust others ... suicidal behaviour ... sexual dysfunction ... (and) marital discord and breakdown," the statement of claim says. It calls the alleged incident a "sexual assault."
The synagogue does not have a written policy governing conduct between employees and members of the congregation. But the New York-based Rabbinical Association strictly forbids sexual relationships, Royce said.
Kwinter accused Beth Tzedec of convicting Gabriel although none of the allegations have been proven.
"We're not talking about young children. ... Nothing here is alleged to be illegal," Kwinter said. "The allegations are being made against adults."
Rabbi Michal Shekel, executive director of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, would not comment on the case but noted that adultery contravenes one of the Ten Commandments.
More modern concerns about the power a cleric may have over a member of the congregation, particularly one seeking counselling, has resulted in different branches of Judaism – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – writing codes of conduct, Shekel said.
In the United States, windows are being added to rabbis' offices when old synagogues are redesigned. It allows for privacy while ensuring that others can witness the meeting, Shekel added.
In a teacher-student relationship, concerns are similar to those in universities, where a teacher has power over whether a student makes the grade, Shekel said.
In the Anglican church, it used to be common for a young cleric to fall in love with, or marry, a parishioner, said Archdeacon Peter Fenty, executive assistant to the Anglican Bishop of Toronto.
But recent reforms, including a "Sexual Misconduct Policy" for staff and volunteers adopted by the General Synod in 2005, resulted in the Toronto diocese banning romantic relationships between a cleric and a parishioner, Fenty said.
When that happens, the parishioner is asked to seek another parish. It avoids embroiling the parish into conflict that may arise if the relationship breaks down, and preserves the integrity of the pastoral relationship, Fenty added.
"When are you the person's priest and when are you the person's lover? It is in the interest of the cleric, the parishioner and the church community that there be clarity," Fenty said.
Rabbi Reuven Tradburks, president of the Toronto-based Council of Orthodox Rabbis, said his Judaic movement prohibits any man or woman being alone together in a room unless they're married or closely related.
Single rabbis are permitted to date and marry members of their congregations but sex is the reserve of married couples, Tradburks added.
People who go to rabbis for wisdom and guidance have a right to expect high ethical and moral standards from representatives of the Torah, Tradburks said.
"People will say, `Well, if a rabbi can behave that way, who needs the whole religion; it must not be worth much if he can act like that,'" he said.
"I'm a person like anyone else and I have my failings, but that's an expectation people have a right to make: a rabbi should do things differently," he added.
Rabbi Judah Nadich, Eisenhower Adviser
Obituary
Claire Levenson | Wed. Aug 29, 2007
Rabbi Judah Nadich, an adviser to Dwight Eisenhower on Jewish affairs and later a prominent New York rabbi, died Sunday. He was 95.
Born in Baltimore in 1912, Nadich was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1937. In 1942, he enlisted as a chaplain in the Army and was the first American rabbi to be a chaplain in the European Operations Theater.
He was based in Paris after the liberation of the city in August 1944, where he served at the Office of the Theater Chaplain. This central position allowed him to inform American Jewish organizations about the plight of France’s Jews. He also became an unofficial spokesman on Jewish affairs for American news correspondents.
In 1945, he was appointed as General Dwight Eisenhower’s adviser on Jewish affairs. Thanks to this position, Nadich visited several Jewish refugee camps in Germany, where he witnessed the bad conditions under which Jewish displaced persons were living. After Nadich issued a report on these refugee camps, Eisenhower ordered commanders to treat displaced persons more humanely and to provide them with adequate housing and food.
“His presence was extremely important…. Jews needed an advocate and Nadich was at the right place at the right time,” said Alex Grobman, the author of “Rekindling the Flame: American Jewish Chaplains and the Survivors of European Jewry.”
This experience with Holocaust survivors had a major impact on Nadich. “It was the defining time in his life,” his daughter Leah Meir told the Forward. “He always maintained the memory of the threat to the survival of the Jewish people. His life was dedicated to making sure that the Jewish people not only survived, but became stronger.”
When he came back to the United States after the war, Nadich got married and resumed his career as a rabbi. He served at Congregation Knesset Israel in Brookline, Mass., for 10 years and at the prestigious Park Avenue Synagogue, in New York, from 1957 to 1987.
Under his leadership, the Park Avenue Synagogue, a Conservative congregation, was at the forefront of the fight for equal participation of women in religious life. Nadich also helped develop a strong educational after-school program, which is now called the Rabbi Judah Nadich Hebrew High School.
Peter Geffen, who went on to found the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, started working with Nadich on the after-school project at the age of 21. He says that the rabbi supported him in his defense of progressive causes.
“In the late ’60s, at a time when synagogues were losing teenagers, Judah understood the need to communicate with young people,” Geffen said. “His experience in Europe influenced his deep convictions about justice and equality.”
In his later years, Nadich remained active in the Jewish community and was on the board of several institutions, including the Heschel School, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the 92nd Street Y and JBI International, formerly the Jewish Braille Institute. Nadich is survived by his wife Martha Hadassah; three daughters, Leah, Shira and Nahma, and several grandchildren.
Wed. Aug 29, 2007
Surveillance camera spurs lawsuit from Freehold Township rabbi
Town: Home being used as place of worship, violating zoning rules
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/29/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
Story Chat Post Comment
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Municipal officials' training of a surveillance camera on an Orthodox rabbi's home has prompted a federal lawsuit.
Attorney Gerald Marks of Red Bank, who represents Rabbi Avraham Bernstein of Stillwells Corner Road, filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Trenton.
The suit alleges the camera — which was aimed through a municipal building window toward the front of Bernstein's property across the street — was set in retaliation to an ongoing legal battle and interferes further with the rabbi's right to the free exercise of religion in his home.
"We affectionately refer to it as the "rabbi cam,' " said Marks, who is also representing the rabbi in a lawsuit previously filed in state Superior Court in Freehold.
Township Attorney Duane Davison acknowledged the camera was set up and said it was done so the township could get an accurate count of the number of people going into the home during the Jewish sabbath, which is a concern of the township, along with the frequency of the gatherings there.
The township, before the state suit was filed, accused the rabbi of operating a house of worship out of his home in violation of municipal zoning ordinances and filed charges in Municipal Court.
Bernstein sued the township, alleging the municipality was violating his First Amendment rights, his state constitutional rights and a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
Davison said the township has "bent over backwards" to work with the rabbi and the neighbors who have complained about the gatherings of people in the rabbi's backyard.
He said the issue comes down to the intensity of the use, specifically the number of people going to the rabbi's home and frequency of the activity, and nothing more.
The rabbi, according to Davison, said 10 to 20 people were coming to his home during the sabbath. Neighbors, he said, put the number between 50 and 70 and sometimes up to 100. The surveillance camera showed the truth was somewhere between the two extremes, at 35 to 50 people, he said.
"We needed to determine what was really going on here," Davison said.
While Marks said the surveillance was prejudicial, Davison said the camera was set up during a finite period of time — from the end of May until late July or the beginning of August — and was done so at a distance from which no faces were recognizable and from a vantage point ordinarily viewable from the street.
Marks contends his client has a right to practice religion in his own home and is protected by the federal and state constitutions and a federal land-use act.
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752
or npetruncio@app.com
Rabbis set up committee on kashrut concerns
By CAROLYN BLACKMAN, Staff Reporter
Thursday, 30 August 2007
TORONTO - The Toronto Board of Rabbis has struck a committee to deal with concerns about the service provided by the Kashruth Council of Canada.
Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich, spiritual leader of Beth Sholom Synagogue and president of the board, made up largely of Conservative and Reform clergy, said the committee, chaired by Rabbi Steven Saltzman of Adath Israel Congregation, was established in response to issues raised by local Conservative congregations.
Complaints about the council – commonly known by its hechsher COR, an acronym for Council of Orthodox Rabbis – run the gamut from access to service to the quality of mashgichim, he said.
For example, Rabbi Flanzraich said, some congregations have received phone calls from COR on a Thursday evening informing them it would be unable to provide mashgichim for Shabbat, and the synagogues may have been expecting hundreds of people for a bar or bat mitzvah.
“Eventually the problem was sorted out, but it created an air of unpredictability to an important aspect of congregational life,” he said.
Armed with those concerns, he said, the committee was formed in order to speak to COR about these and other issues.
Rabbi Flanzraich said the committee, which has yet to meet with COR, believes that diversity and pluralism shape the fabric of religious institutions, and that it’s not in their best interest to be served by an unrepresentative monopoly.
“We do appreciate and respect what COR does, but we would like to see it achieve a sense of transparency,” he said.
This could be achieved, he added, by having a COR board of directors that represents a broader cross-section of the Jewish community.
“There is no transparency if the board’s values are based on the standards of a single person or single organization. The idea behind transparency is compromise and reasonable balance. The board should not be led by the right or the left.”
The nature of a communal organization is that it lends itself to a standard that is reasonable and rational, and based on Halachah, Rabbi Flanzraich said.
He also said he sees no problem in welcoming new hechshers into the city, “provided they are reliable and halachically trustworthy.
“New York has hundreds of hechsherim, and people do their research. They are well informed as to what best suits their level of comfort.”
Many people have accepted a new local hechsher, Mehadrin Kosher, supervised by Rabbi Moshe Levy of Nachal Yisrael, a small shul and beit midrash near Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue, Rabbi Flanzraich said.
“He is supervising [at least] six establishments and it does not sound like he is providing a lesser form of kosher supervision. People should be free to make their own decisions without the fear of public ridicule.”
Rabbi Flanzraich stressed that he has a lot of respect for COR, “but having a number of [kashrut] organizations will not imperil anybody.”
The Toronto Jewish community has grown tremendously, and it’s far more diverse than it ever was, he said.
He noted that as the community has grown, most of its institutions have had to re-evaluate their procedures so that they fit the new reality.
“Almost every [Jewish communal] organization has gone through an internal audit to see how it can best serve the broader community.”
Calls to COR for comment were not returned by The CJN’s deadline.
Some News Clips--
2007-08-29 10:41:00
Russia's chief rabbi begets his 12th child
Moscow, August 29, Interfax - On the night of August 28, Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar's wife Hannah gave birth to a daughter, the rabbi's press service has informed Interfax.
Now the Lazars have 12 children - 5 boys: Jehezkel, 15; Menachem Mendel, 13; Sholom 12; Isroel Arie Leib, 9; Levi Itzhak, 8; and 7 girls: Bluma, 16; Fradel, 12; Dvorah Lea, 8; Sterna Sarah 6; Broha, 6, Rivka, 3; and their newly born sister.
The naming of the youngest daughter is expected to take place this Saturday. In accordance with the Jewish tradition, the name of a newly born child is pronounced during the prayer, after the reading of the Torah.
Berel Lazar and his wife were married in 1989. All their children were born after the rabbi came to Russia.
=================================
Holocaust survivors return to Poland with new world fortunes to help rebuild Jewish life
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
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WARSAW, Poland: They spent their childhoods in the rich, layered Jewish life of prewar Poland, then survived Hitler's mission to wipe out European Jewry in the ghettos and gas chambers of occupied Europe.
Now, men such as Tad Taube, Sigmund Rolat and Severyn Ashkenazy have returned to Poland as philanthropists — after making fortunes in the United States — to nurture a grass-roots revival of Jewish life in their homeland.
And while some Jews in America and elsewhere cannot comprehend why the philanthropists choose to return to a land where their ancestors suffered such pain and loss, members of Poland's Jewish community praise the help as crucial to the small renaissance now under way.
"What the philanthropists have done — along with the importance of the material donation — is also empowered us, encouraged us, let us know we're not alone," said Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, an Orthodox leader from New York. "And that cannot be underestimated."
Following Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, about 3 million Polish Jews were murdered in Nazi-run death camps in occupied Poland. Of those who survived, many later fled in reaction to anti-Semitic violence or repression under communism, which eventually fell in 1989.
Of those who remained, many suppressed their identities and intermarried with the Roman Catholic majority, making it difficult to say how many Jews live in this country of 38 million today. However, some estimates put the numbers of people with some Jewish ancestry at between 10,000 and 30,000.
Taube, Rolat and Ashkenazy say Polish Jews, who are often struggling economically, need help in rebuilding a community that hopes to reclaim its place in a country where Jews lived and prospered for a thousand years.
"The population doesn't have a reasonable chance if there aren't institutions in place to support them," says Taube, who left Poland weeks before Hitler's tanks rolled across the border in their Blitzkrieg attack that started World War II.
And so foreign donors have stepped in to fill the void, funding everything from Hebrew classes and rabbis to big ticket items like the annual Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow and Warsaw's landmark Museum of the History of Polish Jews, due to open in 2009.
Ronald S. Lauder, the U.S. cosmetics heir, was among the first foreign philanthropists to take an interest in rebuilding Jewish life in Poland and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. More recently, as the indigenous Jewish community has grown in this young democracy, more philanthropists have begun to help.
Since launching operations in Poland more than three years ago, Taube's foundation has donated some US$2 million (€1.45 million) annually and encouraged other donors to contribute another US$8 million to help fund rabbis, educational programs, summer camps, day schools, as well as the Krakow festival and the Warsaw museum.
Taube says he wants to focus on Poland's living Jews, not on those wiped out in the Holocaust.
"The preoccupation of Jews in most of the diaspora is of Poland as a cemetery for Jews," he said during a recent visit to Warsaw. But his philanthropy efforts are "about Jewish life in Poland, not Jewish death."
Rolat, who closely cooperates with Taube and is involved in a host of similar projects, has also worked extensively in his hometown of Czestochowa to put its tiny surviving Jewish community back on its feet.
And there are signs of renewed vigor — and complexity — in Jewish life across Poland.
Ashkenazy survived the war in an underground bunker in the Polish city of Tarnopol, in what is now Ukraine. After the war he moved to France before settling in the United States where he, like Taube, made his fortune in real estate.
Ashkenazy got involved in Poland in 1999, when he helped launch Beit Warszawa, Poland's first Progressive, or Reform, community since World War II.
Beit Warszawa, which started as a handful of foreigners meeting in their homes, now has some 200 active members, and its own center for Sabbath services, meals, bar mitzvahs and other events.
Rabbi Burt Schuman arrived last year, becoming the country's first full-time Progressive rabbi since the Holocaust, and a second rabbi started this year, Tanya Segal, a Russian-born Israeli who is the country's first permanent woman rabbi.
"Someone needed to do it, and the perennial question is if not me, who, and if not now, when," Ashkenazy says. "It needed to be done. It still needs to be done. It's in its infancy, progressing, taking roots. We need support, we need help."
Rolat, who worked as a slave laborer in camps near his hometown of Czestochowa during the war, left Europe for the U.S. in 1948 as the sole survivor of his family. He acquired his wealth running international finance companies.
He has helped fund Warsaw rabbis, book publishing and educational programs to promote Jewish culture in Polish schools, but has also spent great effort to revive the Jewish community in his native Czestochowa. He is also involved in efforts to promote Polish-Jewish relations.
All three men speak openly of their love for Poland, and stress that the country was a true home for Jews for a millennium, where their people achieved great things in the arts, sciences and politics.
"Poland really was more than just a country where Jews took refuge," Rolat said in Warsaw. "Poland was really our home."
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Yaakov Shneur, a representative of the Jerusalem municipality, listens as Avraham Neimark, nephew of the deceased Rabbi Eliezer Nanas, tells of the self-sacrifice of his uncle and aunt Reizel as Jews in Soviet Union.
Chabad.org Staff
Aug 28, 2007
The Jerusalem municipality this week named a street after Rabbi Eliezer Nanas, who endured imprisonment at the hands of Soviet authorities and, later in life, tutored thousands of students in Israel's capital. In a ceremony attended by Rabbi Zeev Slonim, rabbi of central Jerusalem, the municipality unveiled Maaleh Harav Nanas, which translates to "Rabbi Nanas Ascent."
Nanas, who passed away 10 years ago in Jerusalem, was born in 1897 in Kherson, Ukraine. After completing his studies, he became an accountant, a job which allowed him to secretly support the Lubavitch underground yeshiva network in the Soviet Union. He helped provide food to the yeshiva students and also was instrumental in obtaining financial support for the teachers' salaries.
Later, he secured an agreement with a small town mayor in the vicinity of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, whereby students could learn in his jurisdiction even though the town had no Jews of its own. The students learned there for eight years without the Communist authorities discovering the yeshiva.
Nevertheless, Nanas spent a total of 20 years in Soviet prisons for actions deemed counterrevolutionary, an experience he recounted in Subbota under the pseudonym of Avraham Netzach. Among other charges, Nanas earned particularly harsh punishment for possessing letters proving his correspondence with the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
Nanas later related that he was able to withstand the interrogations, torture and confinement only because of what the Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber, told him when he was seven years old. According to Nanas, the Rebbe pointed out that his was the same name Moses gave to his son to thank G‑d for saving him from the Egyptians. "So it will be by you," the Rebbe said. "Their sword will not have any effect on you."
In prison, Nanas earned the nickname of Subbota, the Russian word for the Sabbath, because of his scrupulous observance of Shabbat under the most brutal of circumstances. While behind bars, he also refused to eat cooked food and adhered strictly to the kosher dietary laws.
In 1955, Nanas was freed from prison and in 1965 was allowed to leave the Soviet Union for, eventually, Israel. Upon his arrival, he immediately began tutoring students; in 1986, at the age of 95, he opened a library in his house that offered Chassidic publications and a quiet place to learn. Today, the library he founded occupies a four-story building in Jerusalem.
"It is only befitting that every time that we pass by this street, we should remember Rabbi Nanas, who gave so much for Judaism," Slonim said at the ceremony this week.
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Rabbi Judah Nadich dies
mail E-mail News Brief
mail Tell the Editors
Published: 08/27/2007
Rabbi Judah Nadich, the longtime rabbi at The Park Avenue Synagogue-Agudat Yesharim in New York City, died Sunday. He was 95.
Nadich served at Park Avenue, one of the largest Conservative synagogues in the country, from 1957 until 1987, according to his successor and the current spiritual leader, Rabbi David Lincoln. Nadich also served a two-year term as the president of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, Lincoln said.
Born in Baltimore, Nadich was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1937. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army as a chaplain and was sent to London, becoming the first rabbi to serve as a chaplain in the European Operations theater.
Two years later Nadich was transferred to Paris, where he conducted the first post-liberation religious services for survivors and Jewish serviceman at the rue de la Victoire synagogue. In 1945 he became the the first adviser on Jewish affairs to the commander of the U.S. forces in Europe, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower.
Returning to the United States, Nadich worked as a fund-raiser and spokesman for the United Jewish Appeal and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. After holding a rabbinical post at a synagogue in Massachusetts, he became the rabbi at Park Avenue, which has 1,500 families.
Nadich is survived by his wife of 60 years, Hadassah; three daughters, Leah, Shira and Nommi; and several grandchildren.
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Orthodox Call on Sinners To Give Chickens a Fairer Shake
Nathaniel Popper | Wed. Aug 29, 2007
What happens when a ritual designed to remove sin might itself generate sin?
That was the thorny question asked by rabbis who met in Brooklyn earlier this month in preparation for this year’s High Holy Days. The ritual in question is kapparot, a practice generally performed during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in which a live chicken is swung over one’s head in a gesture of transferring one’s sins of the past year onto the animal.
At the August 6 meeting in the synagogue of the Novominsker rebbe, more than a dozen religious heavyweights — including Rabbi Aryeh Kotler and Rabbi David Zwiebel — considered evidence that the chickens may have been mistreated in past ceremonies and acknowledged that the problem rose to a level that could violate rabbinic law.
After the conference, the rabbis collectively issued a call for members of the community to clean up the process during this year’s holiday season. The move was particularly notable because it came in response to complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In recent years, the animal rights group has come to be viewed as an adversary to the Orthodox community, with PETA run-ins leading more often to the butting of heads than to conciliatory gestures.
“In general, I don’t think that PETA is taken very seriously in the Orthodox community, or in any civilized society,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel of America. “But that doesn’t mean that they won’t on occasion bring up something that is worth being brought up.”
In an editorial, the Orthodox newspaper Hamodia wrote that “the lofty purpose for which the bird is slaughtered cannot in any way excuse improper handling or storage of the birds prior to shechitah,” using the Hebrew word for slaughter.
The kapparot ceremony is one of the more colorful elements of the High Holy Days but one of the most historically fraught. Maimonides and later Joseph Caro, author of the authoritative code of Jewish law, both claimed that kapparot had its roots in pagan ritual and should be abandoned by religious Jews. But Moses Isserles, the famed 16th-century talmudist from Krakow promoted the practice, as did many of the founders of Hasidic Jewish sects.
Today, many Modern Orthodox Jews swing money, instead of chickens, over their heads. But Hasidic Jews have retained the use of the live animals. Men are instructed to use roosters, which are grasped by their shoulder blades and rotated above the person’s head three times. Women use hens for the ritual (two if the practitioner is pregnant). The animal is then supposed to be slaughtered immediately after the ritual and donated to a poor family.
Given the number of chickens required for this ceremony, some in the Orthodox community said it is not surprising that problems have arisen.
“It’s the very public nature and the pandemonium of slaughtering so many birds at one shot that necessarily involves problems,” said Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union and one of the participants at the August 6 meeting.
In recent years there have been a number of visible confrontations over the practice. In 2006, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals discovered 700 chickens that had been left in a garage in Brooklyn and, in another instance, PETA filed a complaint with the ASPCA in upstate New York when it found a batch of similarly abandoned birds.
PETA’s letter this year was accompanied by a lengthy video from ceremonies in 2005 and 2006. Included are scenes of live chickens being stuffed into garbage bags and teenagers ripping the heads off of chickens, which would clearly render the chickens un-kosher.
“The risk of communicable avian diseases and bacterial contamination is alarming, and the inhumane treatment and mishandling of animals at every stage of the process must be prevented,” the letter said.
PETA is known for its public campaigns, including the release of footage from the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse. In this case, the organization did not release the letter to the public but instead sent it and the video to Thomas Frieden, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as well as a few sympathetic members of the ultra-Orthodox community, who raised the issue with rabbis. A spokesman for Frieden said the department had no comment on the issue.
Weinreb said that, at the August 6 meeting, “there was no criticism of PETA per se; there was a discussion of on what level they should respond.”
The next day, Hamodia ran its editorial, which called for an independent certifier to ensure that the animals are slaughtered according to kosher rules. A week later, Rabbi Gershom Tannenbaum devoted a column in Brooklyn’s Jewish Press to the subject. He wrote that the “inhumane treatment is clearly prohibited by the Torah” and mentioned a number of new measures, including the use of temporary shelters for the crates of chickens.
Bruce Friedrich, a vice president at PETA, said he has heard encouraging things from the organization’s contacts inside the ultra-Orthodox community about this year’s ceremony. There is, however, still the question of the ritual itself. Friedrich said that even if the animals are treated well before and after kapparot, the ceremony itself “should be abandoned for the same reason you wouldn’t take a cat and swing it over your head.”
He might have an unlikely ally in this effort. Tannenbaum, in his Jewish Press column, finished by noting that “using alternatives to chickens such as money to tzedakah, might be a desirable option. Even using a fish might be a good idea, if you can hold onto it!”
Wed. Aug 29, 2007
We will get a picture of this molester Berel Goldman for you. This Shmuck should not be walking the streets
I was sexually abused in Bobov by my Rebbe. Please continue your/our fight to get these sickos put away forever.
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