Why Orthodox Judaism Fails

Rabbi Without A Cause, the RCA-affiliated rabbi so loved by Rabbi Gil Student (and so ridiculed by many of Gil’s readers and by me) has this to say about the behavior of the ‘gedolim’ in the Rabbi Slifkin Ban:

[L]abelling books kefirah and someone a kofer is well-within halachah, as is refusing to meet,if the claims are well-grounded. Read the position of Rabbi Akiva in Perek Chelek.

In other words, a shomer Shabbat Jew with recognized smicha wrote a series of books that quoted Rishonim and later authorities. Gedolim labeled those positions heresy, and Rabbi Slifkin a heretic. They refused to meet with him or his representatives. And, when pushed by others to explain themselves, they were left with saying that what was permissible for Maimonides or Nachmanides or Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch to believe is not permissible for us.

These rabbinic fools tried to destroy Rabbi Slifkin. They did so with no due process granted to the man they condemned. And who defends their misbehavior? An RCA rabbi.

This is Orthodox Judaism. People, run away from it as fast as you can.

Hundreds Of Haredim Riot Near Jerusalem

Efrat Weiss of Y-net reports:

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox on Monday blocked a road leading to the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood near Jerusalem, set fire to garbage carts and hurled stones at police officers who were dispatched to the area.

The reason for the commotion was a protest against a new family that moved to the neighborhood and is "not religious enough," according to the protestors.…

The demonstrators were also protesting the arrest of two ultra-Orthodox men Sunday night, after the two blocked the road with garbage bins to protest against the presence of the new family.…

The new family moved to Ramat Beit Shemesh a number of weeks ago. The other families in the neighborhood decided the newcomers were "not religious enough" and began harassing them in a bid to prompt them to move somewhere else.

But, God forbid, normal non-haredi Israelis even non-violently protest against haredim moving into their neighborhoods. That would be "racist," (Just ask Am Echad and Agudath Israel. But it is worse than that. Many haredim who moved into secular neighborhoods were missionaries trying to convert the secular populace to haredism.)

Har Nof, Ramot, and many other post-1967 neighborhoods started off as secular. Then haredim moved in and took over. How did they do that? In part, this way:

Riots against pizzeria, bus route

This is not the first time ultra-Orthodox people are rioting in the area. In September, clashes erupted between police officers and about 100 ultra-Orthodox residents next to a neighborhood pizzeria.

The protestors arrived at the pizzeria and demanded that its owner close it, claiming that he was selling pizzas to inappropriately dressed teenagers. A policewoman was lightly injured during the clashes and an ultra-Orthodox man was arrested.

Two and a half years ago, neighborhood residents demonstrated against a new bus route connecting the town of Beit Shemesh with ultra-orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

"The buses are not modest enough," the ultra-Orthodox residents claimed, while attempting to block the neighborhood’s main road. Police removed the protestors from the area and arrested seven ultra-Orthodox men on suspicion they tried to disrupt buses.

Which way to the stone age? Just follow the thugs with the dirty black hats.

Putin Cuts Gas To Ukraine In Bid To Freeze Democracy In Central Europe

Russia’s neo-Stalinist president and Chabad "chief rabbi" of Russia Berel Lazar’s good friend Vladimir Putin has cut all gas to Ukraine, potentially freezing to death many elderly people there and in the Baltic states. Ukraine’s crime? Democracy.

First, Kevin Kerr of MarketWatch reports from Estonia on the potential for this to happen, 11 days before it actually took place:

…Like most of the Baltic countries, Estonia has relied on Russia to provide a vast amount of its energy supply throughout the years. But that relationship has soured somewhat with Estonia. A far worse situation is brewing in some of the former Soviet Union States.

For example, the Ukraine has been a thorn in the side of Russia and the Putin administration. Now Russia is pursuing a geopolitical goal to block Ukraine from joining NATO and the E.U. something that Ukraine certainly wants.

Turning off the spigot and turning up the heat

The Kremlin is well aware that energy is a tried and tested political weapon and they are ready and willing to use it. When I turned on the evening news last night from Russia, watching from my home in Estonia, the first three stories pertained to the Putin administration, energy and the cold, cold winter.

The Kremlin is seeking control over pricing of the vast pipelines that crisscross the Ukraine. These vital pipelines are at present the primary gateway for the wealthy European market. The Kremlin has Rubles on the brain and sees Ukraine as a major impediment to the riches that lie beyond.

Other former Soviet Union States like Belarus have capitulated to Russia and continue to given Russia a cut-rate, bargain basement deal. As a reward Belarus will continue to pay only $49 a thousand cubic meters for Russian Gas in 2006.

On the contrary, the defiant Ukraine is getting socked with an increase from $50 per thousand cubic feet to a whopping $160-$230 price tag in 2006. Other countries feeling the energy pinch include: Moldova ($150-$160), Estonia ($120-$125), Lithuania ($120-125) and Latvia ($120-$125).

It could be a very long and cold winter for many of these countries citizens that live on fixed incomes. Capitalism has provided many comforts not seen during communism and war, but has also brought with it the growing pains of a free market economy.

In an attempt to further legitimize its position, the Putin government and the state owned Rosneft, (formerly Yukos), is seeking out Western leaders to put a better face on the situation and encourage Western investment in the major Russian energy company.

‘Bushneft or bust’

When the Kremlin seized Yukos and jailed its leader Mikhail Khordokovsky in Siberia for "tax evasion," the wheels of change were set in motion, and they continue to roll on.

Another major shift just occurred as ousted German leader Gerhard Schröder, plagued by unemployment in his country, decided not to become a statistic himself and accepted a job in a top post with Gazprom the giant energy company in Russia.

Ironically Gazprom is behnd an ambitious pipeline project between Russia and Germany that Schröder championed while in office. Actually, it´s not that ironic, just disturbing.

In a similar move, the Kremlin is purportedly trying to entice former U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to come on board as the new chairman of Rosneft. Clearly all of this is an attempt to calm the fears of investors from the West ahead of the Rosneft initial public offering set for 2006.

"This is the latest Kremlin strategy to co-opt and hush the Western nations by making them complicit in its crimes… When everyone is guilty, then no one is guilty goes the logic… Oil, gas, politics, intimidation, and repression are all mixed together," observed chess master and political dissident Garry Kasparov In a recent Wall Street Journal article.…

Now, today’s London Telegraph breaks the news – Russia is freezing out Ukarine:

Russia took Europe to the brink of a winter energy crisis yesterday when it carried out a Cold War-style threat and halted gas deliveries to Ukraine, the main conduit for exports to the West.

With a quarter of its gas supplied by Russia, Europe is facing serious disruption and price rises for as long as the dispute rumbles on.

Moscow turned off the tap at 10am after Ukraine refused to sign a new contract with the Russian state monopoly Gazprom quadrupling prices.

Critics of the Kremlin say the rise was punishment for the Orange Revolution in 2004 which brought in a westward-leaning government that promised to remove Ukraine from the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.

The American State Department said that "such an abrupt stop creates insecurity in the energy sector in the region and raises serious questions about the use of energy to exert political pressure".

The European Union has called an emergency meeting of energy ministers on Wednesday.

Britain is less vulnerable than mainland Europe because it does not receive direct supplies from the former Soviet bloc.

But as other countries seek to shore up their reserves, less gas is likely to be pumped through the pipeline that links the Continent with Britain. That could mean higher prices and, if there is no quick resolution, possible breaks in supplies.

The European Commission says that most countries have between a week and two months’ emergency reserves.

Ukraine has upset Moscow by pushing to join the EU and Nato. However, Russia insists that the price rise merely brings Ukraine in line with the price that most of Europe pays: about $240 per 1,000 cubic metres.

President Vladimir Putin adopted almost warlike terms when he spoke on television as the hours ticked by before the ultimatum expired.

"If no clear response [from Kiev] follows, we will conclude that our proposal has been rejected," he said.

If Ukraine’s reserves run out, it could be tempted to siphon off gas intended for other countries. It claims the right to do so in lieu of transit fees.

The cut-off coincided with Russia assuming the rotating presidency of the G8 leading industrialised nations.

In Britain, millions of families started paying higher fuel prices yesterday.

Scottish and Southern Energy raised prices by 13.6 per cent, adding approximately £50 to the average annual bill, while electricity charges will go up by 12 per cent, or about £30 a year.

Npower puts its rises into effect today, adding 14.5 per cent for gas and 13.6 per cent for electricity.

This thug is Berel Lazar‘s close friend. Lazar shills for him. Lazar even intercedes for him in Washington.

Wake up Jews – Chabad is your enemy.

UPDATE: Russia restores gas to central and western Europe – but not the Ukraine. The Financial Times reports after the jump.

Lakewood Cop Smear Continues

A small Lakewood area newspaper, the Tri Town News, reports on the Lakewood rabbi, the cop, and the "newly abused." Key quotes:

This week, Nichole Robinson, 29, said she and her attorney are
preparing to file a lawsuit for an as yet undetermined amount of money
based on injuries she claims to have sustained after being taken into
custody by Menck on Nov. 20.…

Although Robinson said she would fax a copy of the police report and
the complaint she filed with the Lakewood Police Department’s Internal
Affairs unit to the Tri-Town News in order to prove her claim, no
documents were ever provided and she did not return subsequent calls
requesting them.

This is not a surprise. Robinson’s medical records released so far do not support her claim. She promised to release the full medical record, which she claimed does support her. She has not done so.

And then this from Rabbi Yehuda (Yudel) Shain, a leading kanoi:

“Believe me, many times the people who get the ticket are wrong, but
just as often the police officer oversteps his boundaries,” Shain said
in June. “Most people don’t want to file anything with Internal Affairs
because they don’t feel they are going to get any place. We get calls
every day because of the problems we get. The police department feels
they don’t have to answer to anybody and can do whatever they want.”

At several Lakewood Township Committee meetings held after the
incident, non-orthodox Jewish residents said orthodox Jews did not
respect the authority of police officers, such as Menck, who were just
doing their job.

Rabbi Shain actively supported Robinson in her claims against the police, which conveniently "surfaced" a few days before Rabbi Bursztyn’s trial was to begin. Rabbi Shain also made claims of "many witnesses" supporting the rabbi and proving the police wrong. None have ever gone pubic, and Rabbi Shain has refused repeated requests to name them or to provide any proof of their existence.

You can read the entire article on the Tri City News website. (The copy archived below, after the jump, is only for archive purposes.)

Update On Rabbi Goldschmidt Ban

Forum 18 reports:

Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s Swiss-born Chief Rabbi, is now back in
the Russian capital after having his one-year multi-entry visa revoked
without explanation on 27 September (see F18News 6 October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=668). Speaking to Forum 18 following his 8 December return to Russia, Rabbi
Goldschmidt said that he now holds a one-month single-entry religious
work visa supported by an invitation from "one of the Jewish
communities." Goldschmidt’s Moscow Jewish Religious Community is
affiliated to the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and
Organisations of Russia (known as KEROOR).

Rabbi Goldschmidt confirmed to Forum 18 on 16 December that he thus has
to leave Russia again in early January, but added that he hopes to
re-enter holding a one-year multi-entry religious work visa. He
declined to comment on the possible reasons for his September
deportation.

Immediately following that incident, there were suggestions in the
Russian media that it might be linked with the Moscow rabbi’s
possession of a business rather than a religious work visa. A faxed
reply from the Russian Foreign Ministry to Forum 18’s 29 November query
about his predicament (see F18News 30 November 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=697)
appears to support this view. Dated 5 December, it maintains that
Goldschmidt visited Russia on business visas supported by invitations
from "various commercial structures" from 2003 – in particular, the
SA-SEV "financial-trade" company during 2004-05. According to the
Russian tourism website turist.ru, SA-SEV is a Moscow-based limited
company which received licences to offer tour agency and tour operator
services in April 2002.

Pointing out that his wife Dara teaches in a Jewish school in Moscow,
Rabbi Goldschmidt maintained to Forum 18 that his annulled visa had not
been supported by a business as such, but an organisation offering
services to educational institutions.

The Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department’s assistant
director Mikhail Troyansky, however, maintains that, while holding
business visas, Goldschmidt "actually visited Russia to conduct
professional religious activity," a fact confirmed in writing by the
Swiss Embassy, Adolf Shayevich ("the Chief Rabbi of Russia according to
KEROOR") and his own public appearances as Chief Rabbi of Moscow. As a
result, continues Troyansky, Goldschmidt "repeatedly violated" Article
26, Part 2 of the 1996 law on entry to and exit from the Russian
Federation, which states that foreign citizens may be barred from
entering the country if they "submit false documentation or knowingly
provide false information about themselves or the purpose of their
visit." This, according to the Foreign Ministry’s reply, is the reason
why Goldschmidt was prevented from entering Russia.

Troyansky concludes, however, that all bars on Rabbi Goldschmidt’s
travel to Russia have been lifted. "Goldschmidt may obtain a visa at
any Russian consulate by presenting all the necessary documentation,
including an invitation from a Russian religious organisation issued in
accordance with the legally prescribed procedure via the Interior
Ministry." He duly received his one-month visa on 6 December.

Lev Krichevsky, Moscow correspondent for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
(JTA), reported a quite different reason for Rabbi Goldschmidt’s
expulsion. In a 22 November JTA article, he noted that, according to
Russia’s Interior Ministry, Rabbi Goldschmidt was being kept out of the
country "for national security reasons." Contacted by Forum 18 on 9
December, Krichevsky confirmed that a 9 November Interior Ministry
official letter he saw – to which he no longer had access – explicitly
referred to Article 27, Part 1 of the 1996 law on entry to and exit
from Russia as the reason for Goldschmidt’s visa annulment. This
provision indeed states that foreign citizens may be prevented from
entering Russia "for the purposes of ensuring state security."

While a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry told Russia’s Interfax news
agency on 28 September that they were "examining the circumstances"
connected with the annulment of Rabbi Goldschmidt’s visa, the Interior
Ministry is qualified to comment on the case as it took over the
handling of foreign religious workers’ visa applications from the
Foreign Ministry at the end of 2002.

Tankred Golenpolsky, editor of the International Jewish Newspaper,
speculated to Forum 18 in early October that Rabbi Goldschmidt’s
expulsion may actually have been connected with a property dispute
between Moscow’s Choral Synagogue and the Russian Jewish Congress under
its president since November 2004, [Chabad-affiliated oligarch] Vladimir Sluzker (see F18News 6
October 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=668). On 10 November [non-Chabad oligarch] Vyacheslav Kantor was elected president of the Russian Jewish Congress in place of Sluzker.

Rabbi Goldschmidt is the 53rd foreign religious worker – and the first
Jew – known to Forum 18 to have been denied entry to Russian since
March 1998 (see F18News 7 September 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=644).

The Russian authorities’ expulsion of foreign religious workers is not
usually explained. However, Jeffrey, Susan and Jordan Wollman, a US
evangelical missionary family previously based in Kostroma, were
informed by the Foreign Ministry in July 2002 that they had been denied
visas the same month specifically under Article 27, Part 1 of the 1996
law on entry to and exit from Russia. Without specifying which part,
the Foreign Ministry subsequently stated that the visa of Irkutsk-based
Polish Catholic bishop Jerzy Mazur was revoked in April 2002 "strictly
in accordance with" Article 27, and that Canadian Salvation Army
officer Geoff Ryan, based until September 2000 in Rostov-on-Don, was
barred from travelling to Russia under the same provision. A
Krasnodar-based lawyer representing Swedish evangelical missionary Leo
Martensson, whose Russian visa was revoked in September 2002, was
reportedly told by the Foreign Ministry in early 2004 that he posed a
security risk.

Rabbi Goldschmidt’s case demonstrates that it remains unclear what
foreign religious personnel are entitled to do in Russia. Officially
employed as a computer studies teacher, US citizen Craig Rucin was
involved in unpaid religious work in his spare time when deported from
Udmurtia in 2001. Officially a religious worker with the Church of
Christ in Volgograd, by contrast, US citizen Charles Landreth was
ordered to leave Russia by local police in September 1999 on the
grounds that he was breaking the law by working in orphanages and
"having social interaction outside church activities."

Lakewood Rabbi Pleads Guilty – Police Officer Cleared

I suspect Nicole Robinson’s lack of medical documentation for her charges of police brutality, her constantly shifting story and the lack of support she garnered outside the haredi community (Robinson is not Jewish), influenced Rabbi Bursztyn decision to admit his guilt rather than go to trial.

Haredim, including Rabbi Yudel Shain, claim there were many unnamed "witnesses" to support Rabbi Bursztyn’s claim of police brutality. They also claim the same for Nicole Robinson. Haredim also claim the police and city "refused" to interview said witnesses for Officer Menck’s Internal Affairs hearing. Yet, somehow, when these many "witnesses" could have to testified (but under oath and with the risk of perjury) and supported the rabbi’s claims, the rabbi pleads guilty and no "witnesses" testify.

The Asbury Park Press reports:

A rabbi, whose altercation with police earlier this year sparked
protests in Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community, has pleaded guilty to
obstruction of justice in connection with the incident in Lakewood.

Rabbi
Yosef Bursztyn, 63, of Sixth Street, Lakewood, pleaded guilty Tuesday
to the disorderly persons offense before Superior Court Judge Edward J.
Turnbach, who imposed $125 in fines, said Executive Assistant
Prosecutor Ronald F. DeLigny. Bursztyn could have faced up to up to six
months in jail and fine up to $1,000.

Bursztyn admitted he
failed to comply with a directive of Lakewood Officer Erik Menck on
June 26 while Menck was performing an official function, court
documents said.

Police said Bursztyn reached inside Menck’s
patrol car after the officer had stopped the rabbi’s niece for
allegedly tailgaiting another vehicle.

Bursztyn’s arrest sparked protests in Lakewood’s Orthodox community. Menck was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident.

If you have not yet done so, read my earlier coverage of this incident, especially the Lakewood Shopper’s "report" on the Robinson affair. This haredi-owned tabloid has been shameless in its attempts to whip up hatred for the Lakewood Police.

It should also be noted that yesterday’s (failed) rally to garner support for Robinson outside the haredi community was conveniently scheduled for the day before Rabbi Bursztyn’s court appearance. Now, why would that be?

Lakewood Cop Smear – Accuser Has Little Support, Except For Haredim

Nicole Robinson’s attempt to whip up non-haredi public support for her allegations of police brutality have faltered. The Asbury Park Press reports:

A protest rally to spotlight a woman’s claims she was beaten by a
township police officer drew only a handful of people Tuesday to Town
Square.

Nichole Robinson, the woman who says she was beaten last
month by embattled Patrolman Erik Menck, said the rally was canceled
because Public Safety Director Al Peters told her that organizers
needed a permit.

Peters said he told Robinson that no permit was necessary.

The
rally will be rescheduled for next month, Robinson said, but the
disagreement is her latest with the township since she went public last
week with allegations of police brutality.

On Nov. 20, four
police officers, including Menck, went to Robinson’s Coventry Square
town house to question her about a disorderly persons call earlier that
day.

Robinson maintains Menck asked her for a statement and then
beat her in front of her two children. Wearing a bandage on her left
arm, Robinson said Tuesday she suffered injuries to her arm, her hand
and her back.  [The doctor’s diagnostic notes do not support this claim.]

Police say Robinson attacked Menck while he
attempted to get a statement from her. Robinson was then taken to
Kimball Medical Center for treatment of asthma, police add.

Robinson,
29, says she does not suffer from asthma. After the incident, she was
charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and her father,
Horace Cody, 66, was charged with interfering with an arrest.

Robinson
later filed a formal complaint against Menck, she said Tuesday. She
also has retained a lawyer, who said last week he plans to sue the
township for damages.

Robinson said Tuesday she has received a
lot of support from members of the Orthodox Jewish community, some of
whom distrust Menck because he charged a respected rabbi with assault
over the summer.

Menck charged Rabbi Yosef Bursztyn, 62, with
aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest after a
physical confrontation on Forest Avenue on June 26.

An Internal
Affairs investigation cleared Menck of wrongdoing, but the altercation
sparked tension between some in the Orthodox community and the Police
Department.

Bursztyn’s charges are still pending at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Robinson has changed her story several times and her claims do not match the doctor’s diagnostic notes from the night of the incident. She has promised to release medical records to back her claim, but has failed to do so. Yet it appears that the haredi community is still behind Robinson and may be giving her more than moral support in an attempt to keep Rabbi Bursztyn out of jail. Smearing a police officer is apparently kosher for that purpose.

Extensive coverage of this incident can read here.

Satmar Shul Brawl: A Return To The Garden Of Eden?

Four men charged with misdemeanor assult in the Satmar shul brawl have pleaded guilty. The New York Daily News reports:

The four were initially charged with felony assault after pouncing on victim Jacob Brach last December after he burst into the temple and sat in a seat reserved for the Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum. Also attacked was Brach’s pal Leon Teilebaum. Brach suffered a broken leg and Teilebaum a broken ankle.

Zalman Teitelbaum was appointed by his father, Grand Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, to run the Williamsburg congregation. But Brach is among followers of Zalman’s older brother, Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, who believe he is entitled to run the synagogue. Two lawsuits aimed at getting the civil courts to settle the vicious battle are still pending.

Yesterday, prosecutor John Omara told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Anne Feldman that he accepted the lesser pleas because Brach, who has a federal conviction, was "provocative" and offensive by deliberately placing himself in the seat reserved for Zalman.

Thousands of incensed Zalman followers packed the synagogue after the incident. The four were charged with attacking Brach with a door and a baton and choking, kicking and punching him.

"We had two police officers who will testify they were present when Mr. Brach was involved in praying," Omara said in court. "There was a lot of commotion. They broke down the door and began attacking."

He said if the case went to trial, the victims would be able to identify the four men, and a retired cop who took pictures of the men would testify they continued to assault Brach even after police arrived.

Krausz’s lawyer George Farkas was gratified Omara described the scene as he did, noting that Brach had committed the ultimate affront and provocation to Zalman’s followers by sitting in a place so holy they forbid their children from touching it.

A traditional explanation for the Sin of Adam and Eve is that Adam told Eve that God had forbidden them from touching and eating from the tree on penalty of death, when in fact God had only forbidden eating. The serpent pushed Eve, she touched the tree and did not die. The serpent then said, if you can touch the tree and not die, why not eat from it, too? You will become like God! And so Eve ate.

The point is that adding onto a law without specifying that this is only a fence and not the law itself leads to greater sin.

And so is the case here. When one treats a rabbis chair as "so holy they forbid their children from touching it," one elevates a chair to a presumed status it does not in fact have. This led to tremendous chillul hashem, desecration of God’s name, and the violation of real biblical commandments.

This is the problem with the hasidic movement as a whole. It elevates customs to a place higher than law. This can only lead to destruction. And so it has.

Ha’aretz: How Chabad Took Russia

Ha’aretz has a long, detailed report on the fighting between the various Jewish organizations in Russia, with a focus on the Rabbi Goldschmidt ban. It contains the best explanation of how Berel Lazar and Chabad took over Russia:

[Oligarch Roman] Abramovich, who had business ties with [Chabad Oligarch Lev] Leviev, recruited the Israeli
diamond merchant for a struggle on behalf of Putin and against
Gusinsky. In return, Leviev received the support of Putin, who in 2000
was elected president of Russia. That support made it possible for
Lazar to receive Russian citizenship in record time and to be
recognized in practice as the chief rabbi of Russian Jewry. Shayevich
was shunted to the sidelines.

The Jewish "federation" of Lazar and Leviev became the darling of the
government. This was clearly manifested when President Putin took part
in a resplendent ceremony to dedicate the FEOR center in the Marina
Roscha neighborhood in 2001.

A plaque at the entrance to the building lists the donors. They include
Leviev, his partner Gaydamak, [Chabad oligarch Vladimir] Slutsker [please see below] and other oligarchs. But at the
top of the list is Abramovich. He donated $5 million for the
construction of the building. Lazar and FEOR left REK. In 2002 Gusinsky
was forced to leave Russia and then to sell his assets there. The
authorities launched an investigation against him for tax violations.
He based himself in Israel and Europe and invested in the Israeli daily
Maariv and in the local Russian press; during the past year he has
spent most of his time in the United States. He was replaced as REK
president by Leonid Nevzlin, Khodorkovsky’s associate. However, a year
later, when it became apparent that the Putin government supported
FEOR, Nevzlin realized that his place at the head of an organization
identified with Gusinsky, who is loathed by the government, was liable
to be detrimental to him and to affect Yukos as well. Nevzlin resigned
and the deterioration of REK has continued apace ever since.

FEOR flourishes
In contrast, FEOR has flourished in the past five years. The success of
Lazar and Leviev can be attributed to the fact that Putin used them in
his struggle against Gusinsky and received a Jewish "umbrella" from
them in return. But another reason for the close ties between the Putin
government and FEOR lies in the promises made by Leviev and Lazar that
they would make their connections available to Putin and assist the
Kremlin to open doors in the corridors of power in Washington. Most
importantly, they let Putin and his aides understand that their
influence and lobbying would bring about the abolition of a 1974
Congressional amendment to the Trade Reform Act sponsored by Senator
Henry Jackson and Representative Charles Vanik, both Democrats. Putin
is deeply distressed by this legislation, which stipulates that
countries, such as the former Soviet Union, which restrict freedom of
movement and prevent the free emigration of their citizens will not
receive special trade benefits from the United States. Even though the
Jews of the former Soviet Union, and then Russia, were allowed to
leave, the amendment has not been repealed.…

… Rabbi Lazar
talks of an organization that has 200 communities across Russia and
which provides both spiritual support (sacred articles, religious
services, rabbis) and material backing (food, education, health,
financial aid) to hundreds of thousands of Jews. "In Moscow alone," he
says in an interview, "130,000 Jews have ties with us."

There are some who are skeptical of these figures. Two years ago, when
Tzipi Livni, then Israel’s immigrant absorption minister, asked FEOR
for a list of these Jews, her request was rejected with the slightly
peculiar explanation that this would be a violation of privacy.

Gusinsky supported democracy. Putin is a neo-Stalinist. Chabad supported Putin and worked to destroy Gusinsky and the Russian Jewish Congress. Then, late last year they got one of their own oilgarchs, Vladimir Slutsker, elected head of the now-comatose RJC. What was Slutsker’s first (and last) big move? He forced out the non-Chabad Chief Rabbi of Moscow:

The conversation with Slutsker took place over a month ago in his luxurious office, which is located in a modern new glass building in the center of Moscow. Even though he was ousted some weeks ago from his position as president of the Russian Jewish Congress (REK), he was in buoyant spirits. Like all the Russian oligarchs, he is surrounded by bodyguards, chauffeurs and young energetic female assistants dressed in tailored suits. Hanging above him on the wall is a photograph of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. "Don’t get me wrong," Slutsker emphasizes. "I do not care about money and I am not greedy, because I am a kabbalist [Jewish mystic] and therefore I have added the name Moshe Shlomo. I am not a Chabad member like Leviev, but I recognize the spiritual authority of the Lubavitcher Rebbe."…

Slutsker explains that he has always been drawn to public activity, especially "spiritual religious activity," and therefore he has donated generously from his own pocket to Jewish institutions and organizations in Russia. Under the influence of "my good friend" Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, he says, he established a yeshiva and a kabbala center called Tree of Life, which according to Slutsker has 200 students. "A year and a half ago I was approached with a request to save the Russian Jewish Congress, which was in a state of collapse and barely functioning," he continues, "I saw this as a challenge and threw myself into the work."…

Slutsker’s major and most talked-about dispute is with Rabbi Goldschmidt. At stake is control of a property – the headquarters of the Russian Jewish Congress, located in a building that was transferred to the ownership of the Jewish Community in Moscow, which is headed by Goldschmidt. As a religious organization, the community has a tax-exempt status. "After some time," Slutsker notes, "Rabbi Goldschmidt asked us to pay him rent as though the offices actually belong to him. Naturally, I and the congress refused to pay."

Goldschmidt’s confidants say that the request was not for rent, but payments to cover the costs of ongoing maintenance of the structure, such as electricity.

Be that as it may, on September 15, 2005, Slutsker, to his "great surprise," received a fax from a rabbinical court, the Jerusalem Court for Civil Law and Ancestral Law, in which he was notified that he and the congress were being summoned to din Torah, a lawsuit in which judgment is given according to the strict letter of traditional Jewish law. The plaintiff was the "Jewish Community of Moscow." "I did not even bother to answer them," Slutsker says. "I do not recognize the authority of a court in Jerusalem to address a commercial dispute in Moscow. What connection do they have with me?"

Ten days later, in one of those strange coincidences, Goldschmidt was deported from Russia. "There is absolutely no connection," Slutsker states.

Please take the time to read this entire, feature-length report. [Also found after the jump, just in case it disappears from the Ha’aretz website – a problem of late.]

Moscow’s Chief Rabbi Returns

The JTA reports:

Moscow’s chief rabbi returned to the city after being barred from Russia since September.

Pinchas Goldschmidt landed at a Moscow airport Thursday evening. His
visa had been cancelled upon arrival at the Moscow airport in late
September, with no reason given, and he had been denied a new one for
nine weeks. He received a one-month visa earlier this week, but said he
hoped to extend his stay.

Goldschmidt told JTA he had no
problems at passport control in Moscow on Thursday, but would have to
leave Russia later this month to get a new visa. A Swiss citizen and
Russian resident for nearly 15 years, Goldschmidt previously received
one-year visas.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamentsky Flips Out

                                            [Please click on images to enlarge.]

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, the rosh yeshiva in Philadelphia and a supporter of the banned Rabbi Nosson Slifkin, has changed his mind and is now condemning Rabbi Slifkin and his books. From the appearance of his signature on a letter that he did not himself write, and from the dating on the letter (which closely corresponds with the dating on the letter condemning Rabbi Slifkin written by the Novominsker Rebbe), it appears Rav Shmuel was a reluctant signatory* forced to give in by pressure from Rabbi Elyashiv and the Israeli ‘gedolim.’

All the vitriol hurled at Rabbi Slifkin is misdirected. The ‘gedolim’ created this mess by their boorish behavior, disregard of halakha and downright ignorance of science, history and Jewish theology. Any animus on their part should be wholly self-directed.

Make no mistake about it. Being a haredi now means believing the entire universe is less than 6000 years old and that all of science is an elaborate fraud. And this applies to Aish HaTorah, Ohr Somayach, Discovery and Chabad just as much as it applies to Lakewood, Mir and Ponevitch.

The ‘gedolim’ have killed Judaism.

[First seen on GodolHador, and Maven Yavin.]

*UPDATE: Rav Shmuel is claiming to be concerned about a new article posted by Rabbi Slifkin on his website. The books and original views were not the object of his signature appended to Rabbi Schechter’s letter. The problem is the letter stands by the ban of the books and of Rabbi Slifkin. The other problem is Rabbi Slifkin’s only new piece is on elephants and contanins nothing different from his earlier work. In other words, Rav Shmuel is apparently lying. Reports are also coming in that point out that Rav Shmuel did not give Rabbi Slifkin a chance to respond to charges against him before Rav Shmuel made them public, and that Rav Shmuel violated other aspects of halakha by issuing this letter.

Such little men with such big hats.

Lazar Meets Antisemite Zhirinovsky To Storm Of Israeli Protest, Russia Cracks Down On “Foreign” Charities, Reason For Goldschmidt Ban Now Clear

As Chabad’s ‘chief rabbi’ of Russia Berel Lazar meets with noted antisemites Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Dmitri Rogozin (the heads of two Russian nationalist parties that disseminate anti-Semitic propaganda) to a storm of Israeli protest, Russia moves further away from democracy on a related front:

The lower house of Parliament gave preliminary approval to legislation that would require tens of thousands of Russian organizations to register with the Ministry of Justice. It would also impose restrictions on their ability to accept donations or hire foreigners and prohibit foreign organizations from opening branches in Russia.…

Although some of the bill’s supporters defended it as an effort to bring order to the registration of 450,000 private groups, others have said it was aimed at preventing foreign efforts to support political opposition movements, like the [pro-democracy] one that swept to power after the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine last fall. The legislation follows sharply worded remarks by President Vladimir V. Putin and the director of the Federal Security Service, the K.G.B’s successor, that foreign organizations often undermined Russian interests.…

"Let us resolve the internal political problems of Russia ourselves," Mr. Putin said this summer, criticizing nongovernmental organizations involved in what he called political activities.

Mr. Putin has long faced criticism for strengthening his political authority, despite his avowed commitment to democracy, and the legislation prompted still more criticism.

"This is the last sector of civil society that has not fallen under government control," Aleksandr B. Petrov, the deputy director in Moscow for the international group Human Rights Watch, said at a news conference held Tuesday in hopes of persuading the Parliament to reject or at least amend the legislation.

The critics of the law say that Russia’s restrictions would go beyond those imposed on nongovernmental organizations by most of the developed world, including the other members of the Group of 8, of which Russia is a part.

A legal analysis by the nongovernmental groups says that the law would put Russia in line with [repressive] countries like Turkmenistan …

Earlier this year, the director of the Federal Security Service, Nikolai Patrushev, accused Western organizations – including the Peace Corps and the British medical charity Merlin – of being fronts for espionage. "Under the cover of implementing humanitarian and educational programs in Russian regions, they lobby for the interests of certain countries and gather classified information on a wide range of issues," Mr. Patrushev told members of Parliament in May, referring to private organizations.

His remarks prompted unusually strong public rebukes from the United States and Britain, but the legislation he called for at the time became the basis for what Parliament adopted Wednesday despite a further outpouring of criticism once the bill appeared on the agenda. It passed by a vote of 370 to 18. Three members abstained, while 56 did not vote.

President Bush raised the subject during his meeting last Friday with Mr. Putin in Pusan, South Korea.…

Two former members of Congress, John Edwards and Jack Kemp, who together are overseeing a task force about American policy on Russian issues for the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote to Mr. Bush last week urging him to protest "in the frankest possible terms."

"It would roll back pluralism in Russia and curtail contact between our societies," they wrote.…

This also explains the expulsion and ban of Moscow’s non-Chabad chief rabbi Pinkhas Goldschmidt, and Lazar’s complete silence on the issue. Lazar, it seems, has never met a dictator he didn’t like. Thugs like the company of other thugs. Chabad should be ashamed.

Chief Rabbi’s Son, Wife Admit Attack, Kidnapping Charges

Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar‘s son has admitted to kidnapping and assult charges. His mother, Rabbi Amar’s wife, has admitted to knowing about the abduction and attack as it was happening and then doing nothing to stop it. Ha’aretz reports:

Meir Amar, the son of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, on Wednesday admitted under a plea bargain to charges of abducting his teenage sister’s 17-year-old suitor. In the deal between Amar’s attorneys and the State Prosecution, 31-year-old Amar also admitted to charges of abduction, extortion, physically abusing a minor and illegal incarceration.…

Under the deal, Amar will also pay the complainant NIS 35,000, and the Chief Rabbi’s family has promised to help the boy’s absorption in a yeshiva, a difficult task since he had decided to turn to the police.…

As part of the same bargain deal, the rabbi’s wife, Mazal, retracted her previous denials and admitted on Wednesday that she knew of the abduction and did not report it to police. She will, nevertheless, not be convicted.

Several months ago, Rabbi Amar visited the Former Soviet Union. Traveling with Lev Leviev, the Chabad-backer and oilgarch who pays for most of Chabad’s activities in Russia, and Berel Lazar, Chabad’s "chief rabbi" of Russia, Rabbi Amar was scheduled to visit a non-Chabad yeshiva. He did not show up. Staff and students waited in assembly for hours as they were assured by the Chief Rabbi’s staff that he would be arriving shortly.  He never did. He also never explained his absence or apologized, a source close to the yeshiva told FailedMesiah.com.

Previous reports: Here, here and here.

Moscow’s Chief Rabbi Deemed “Threat” To Russia’s National Security, Permanently Banned From Russia

Moscow’s chief rabbi, Pinkhas Goldschmidt has been banned from Russia for almost three months. At first, we were told his visa expired. Then there were rumors of a fight between Rabbi Goldschmidt and Chabad supporter Vladimir Slutsker, who headed the Russian Jewish Congress until his removal three weeks ago. Now the JTA is reporting that Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry has deemed Rabbi Goldschmidt an enemy of the state and permanently blocked Rabbi Goldschmidt’s return to Russia.

Rabbi Goldschmidt’s ‘crime’? Russia does not say, but it would appear to be a combination of the following: Supporting democracy, opposing Putin’s return to Stalinism, and not being Chabad. (All three are legal in Russia. None, however, are good career moves.)

In this sordid saga, one voice has been conspicuously silent – Chabad’s ‘chief rabbi’ of Russia and Putin lackey Berel Lazar – who has not spoken up in support of Rabbi Goldschmidt. Lazar is a thug. It’s time he was treated as one.

Earlier FailedMessiah.com coverage here.

Bloghead coverage here.

Mentalblog here.