Rebel Rabbi England’s Top Jew Of All Time

The UPI reports:
Jews in Britain have voted a controversial 85-year-old rabbi from Manchester as the greatest member of their community.
The winner in the poll by The Jewish Chronicle was Louis Jacobs, a ground-breaking Jewish thinker noted for his attempt to reconcile modern scholarship and Orthodox teachings, reports the Independent newspaper.
He won over other illustrious British [...]

Forward Reports Rabbi Who Resigned From RCA In Support Of Rabbi Mordechai Tendler Is Rabbi Tendler’s Wife’s Cousin – Did Not Disclose Relationship When Publicly Criticizing RCA

The Forward reports:
Last week the Brooklyn-based Jewish Press published an open letter from
Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz announcing his resignation from the RCA in
connection to the Tendler controversy. Faskowitz quit the RCA after a
Jerusalem regional rabbinical court characterized the organization as
being in violation of its rulings.
Tendler had filed a complaint with the Jerusalem court in July, claiming [...]

Rabbis Dance To Nirvana

Rabbis dance to Nirvana. Is that Rav Shteinman in the front row? Pretty hip for a guy who didn’t know how a credit card works.

Rabbi Moshe Tendler Backs Intelligent Design Quid-Pro-Quo Deal To Save Son Accused Of Abuse?

Mariah Blake of the Miami New Times reports :
On a recent Tuesday evening, Moshe Tendler, an influential Orthodox rabbi and Yeshiva University biology professor, ambled onto the stage at Kovens Conference Center in North Miami. A stately figure with a wispy white beard and heavy glasses, he surveyed the 300-strong crowd of scientists and intellectuals [...]

Israel Admits White Orthodox Rabbis Descriminate Against Ordained Ethiopian Orthodox Rabbis – Prime Minister Mandates Change

In a shocking article, Matthew Wagner of the Jerusalem Post documents official discrimination against Ethiopian Rabbis by Israel’s religious councils and city rabbis:
PMO orders equality for Ethiopian rabbis
Matthew Wagner, THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 27, 2005

The Prime Minister’s Office ordered religious councils Monday to stop
what it called "apparent discrimination" against Ethiopian rabbis and
kessim (traditional Ethiopian spiritual leaders).

Meir [...]

More Deceptive Advertising From Oorah & Kars4Kids

[Please click on image to enlarge.]
Oorah sent the above e-mail to its list today. Note what it says:
Proceeds benefit Joy for Our Youth. J.O.Y. is an international organization providing for the physical, emotional,  and spiritual needs of distressed and at-risk youth.

Again, J.O.Y. gifts all of its money to Oorah. Oorah is a sectarian missionary organization [...]

The Little Menorah That Didn’t, #2

Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s rabbinical school questions why we say the full Hallel prayer every day of Hanukka:
There are two distinct mitzvos that we perform on Chanukah, the mitzvah of hadlakas neiros and the mitzvah of krias Hallel. It is not surprising that Chazal instituted two different mitzvos to commemorate [...]

RCA: Evolution Compatible With Judaism

The Rabbinical Council of America, the largest Orthodox rabbinic organization in America, has issued a statement saying that Judaism and evolution are compatible:
Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design:The View of the Rabbinical Council of America
December 22nd 200521 Kislev 5766
In light of the ongoing public controversy about Evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design, the RCA notes that significant [...]

The Rebbe And The Menorah, #2

 
The Lubavitch News Service propagandizes:

Millions are by now accustomed to the menorah display in their
respective town squares, and, Jewish or not, they welcome the light,
often joining in the festivities celebrating the message of Chanukah.
After all, the menorah’s message is universal, which explains why
governors and mayors and councilmen nationwide are eager for the chance
to get [...]

Lawsuit Against Rabbi Tendler Made Public

The New York Post has a report on a lawsuit filed against Rabbi Mordechai Tendler. Rabbi Tendler is the son of Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Moshe Tendler, the grandson of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and the nephew of Rabbi Dovid Feinstein. Rabbi Tendler was removed from the Rabbinical Council of America because of a related issue. His [...]

The Little Menorah That Didn’t

Here we are, soon to light the second candle on this 2169th Hanukka. For 2169 years, our ancestors have lit candles, most often in menorah’s, to celebrate the "miracle of the oil." Or have they?
We all know the story. The Maccabee’s capture Jerusalem, free the Temple and find it defiled. Worse yet, there is only [...]

Haredim: Metzitza B’Peh Equal To Shabbat, Not Enough Risk To Stop

Agudath Israel of America’s Rabbi David Zwiebel explains Agudath Israel’s view on MBP’s risk to Steven I. Weiss:
We neither accept nor reject that metzitzah b’peh is a health risk – we haven’t been privy to the evidence on which the Health Department bases its claim. What we do know is what we hear (and [...]

Oorah Gives Less Than 38% Of Income To Charity

Oorah, the Lakewood-based haredi missionary organization whose deceptive advertising practices were exposed by the Saint Louis Post Dispatch, distributes less than 38%*** of its income to the childrens programs it champions. According to the most recent IRS 990 filing available (Download oorah_2003_irs_990.pdf)
, Oorah had gross revenues of almost $2,000,000 yet used only $741,639 of that [...]

Haredim Attack City Over Circumcision

The Jewish Week reports that two pediatricians with practices overwhelmingly made up of haredim have attacked the city and its health commissioner for warnings he issued about the dangers of metzitza b’peh, oral-to-genital-contact during circumcision. Both doctors are medical advisors to the new haredi "circumcision board."
The pediatricians have raised the following objections:
Drs. Robert Adler and [...]