Anti-Trust In Kosher Saint Paul

Rubashkin’s distributor in the upper midwest has consistently refused to sell non-glatt meat – even Rubashkin non-glatt – in the Twin Cities. Rabbi Morris Allen, the Saint Paul-based Conservative rabbi leading the Conservative Movement’s investigation of Rubashkin, has been fighting to get non-glatt for his community. But after many months of fighting, no results – [...]

MORE ABUSE? Rubashkin And His Workers, cont.

The Rubashkin family opened a sister plant to Postville last year in Nebraska. The JournalStar, seemingly oblivious to the legal and ethical troubles plaguing the Rubashkin operation, reports on the plant’s first year of operations. First, what’s in it for Rubashkin?

The Nebraska plant is also unique in its partnership with the Oglala Lakota Nation, which [...]

Haredi Expert Misleads On Circumcision

Dr. Daniel S. Berman is a haredi-linked "expert" with very few published papers and no special expertise. He bills himself as "Chief of Infectious -Disease Section. New York Westchester Square Hospital Medical Center." The center is not a research facility and is merely a decent community hospital. Berman has been in the forefront of the [...]

President Katsav: Conservative Rabbis Rabbis

israel’s president Moshe Katsav digs himself (and his mentor, Sefardic chief rabbi Shlomo Amar) deeper into a PR hole. Katsav has told the Conservative movement that he will address their rabbis as “rabbi.” Exactly how he intends to explain this to the Reform movement, whose rabbis he refuses to call rabbi, is, to say the [...]

Chabad Calls For More Federation ‘Inclusiveness,’ Argues Against Helping Non-Jews

Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie, a quasi-official Chabad spokesman, argues in the Forward for Federations opening their doors – and wallets – to haredi causes. Steven I. Weiss breaks down Eliezrie’s arguments here. Most notable is this claim by Eliezrie, with SIW’s response following in italics:

Just imagine if Orthodox scholars had a major seminar and referred [...]

Rabbi Avi Shafran And Agudath Israel Exposed And Rebuked

Rabbi Avi Shafran, perhaps the sleeziest PR person Judaism has ever known, wrote a disgusting piece last week on the Rabbi Kolko Man Boy Sex Abuse Scandal. The Jewish Week published three responses in this week’s paper that reveal Shafran’s lack of moral compass:

Orthodox Abuse And Cultural Forces
Robert Kolker
For those closely following the issue of [...]

The OU, etc.

It seems to me the OU and other kosher supervising agencies may be targets of the new federal investigation of price fixing and collusion in the kosher meat industry. This is a good time to point out that, with only one or two exceptions, these companies operate as tax exempt religious corporations and shield their [...]

RUBASHKIN HIT WITH FEDERAL ANTITRUST SUBPOENA – “CRIMINAL COLLUSION” INVESTIGATED

Larry Cohler-Esses of the Jewish Week reports AgriProcessors and other unnamed glatt kosher meat providers have been hit with federal anti-trust subpoenas. The justice Department is investigating apparent price-fixing. The Jewish Week notes this appears to be part of a criminal investigation:

A law enforcement official who specializes in antitrust cases termed the fact that a [...]

Edah To Fold

Edah, the 9-year-old Modern Orthodox think tank, has gone out of business. Too bad.

[Hat tip: JWB.]

Founder Of Lakewood’s Shomrim Arrested For Bribing Police

Chaim Rubin, the 25-year-old founder of Lakewood’s haredi Shomrim street patrol, has been arrested for bribing two policemen in an attempt to have a moving violation issued to his wife voided:

Rubin’s wife, Raizel, was stopped last fall by Lakewood Officer Michael Ruiz for an undisclosed motor vehicle violation. On Sept. 28, Rubin showed up at [...]

Circumcision Deal Fatally Flawed

Steven I. Weiss has been doing some work on the circumcision deal between haredim and NY State. He interviewed an expert cited by the state in support of its new protocol. The expert, Dr. Timothy F. Meiller, had never heard of metzitza b’peh (MBP), the controversy or the new protocol. Worse yet – he rejects [...]

Rabbi Yehuda Levin And Jerusalem’s Gay Pride March

The “leading American rabbi” Yehuda Levin mentioned in this Ynet article appears to be the same Yehuda Levin who was on Pat Buchanan’s staff for his presidential runs.

Levin wanted me to write an anti-abortion article for the Minnesota Jewish newspaper to publicize an anti-abortion campaign he was heading. I told him I would write an [...]

Star Wars

A Star Wars organic food parody on YouTube. Check it out.

[Hat tip: C Girl.]

Neshama Carlebach

I’ve been listening to several Neshama Carlebach CDs for a project I’m working on. She has an amazing voice, and the discs I’m listening to are excellent. David Morgan, who produces her and co-writes and co-arranges her work, shows a depth of talent rarely seen in the Jewish market. And Neshama’s voice is so polished [...]