The NYPD Hate Crimes task force is investigating an anti- Semitic scrawl at NYU.Cleaning staff found “Damn Orthodox Jews” scrawled in a first- floor men’s room at 40 Washington Square South at 1: 45 p.m. Monday.Cops are poring over surveillance video.http: //www.istockanalyst. Read More »
Chaptzem Blog! 
At B&H Photo, Employees Say Not Everything Is Picture Perfect
Walking in the doors of B&H Photo in Midtown Manhattan is a study in classic New York contradictions. The first thing you hear is the mechanical whirring of conveyor belts overhead, zipping goods from the stock room to the registers in front. Read More »
Kiryas Joel posts new signs for visitors
A large new sign greets visitors as they cross over Route 17 on Forest Avenue and enter a world where the skirts and shirt sleeves are always long, regardless of the season.”Welcome to Kiryas Joel,” it reads. Read More »
Armed bank robber nabbed in Brooklyn after failed heist, carjacking, wild chase
An armed bank robber was nabbed in a Brooklyn alley by cops Monday following a failed heist, a carjacking and a wild chase involving a Jewish neighborhood patrol, police and witnesses said.The 39-year-old held up an Apple Bank on 13th Ave. at 46th St. in Borough Park about 1 p.m. Read More »
Jewish Community Center Theft
Filled-in registration forms on file and $100 were stolen between Aug. 15 and 24 from a safe at Anita Stone Jewish Community Center, 3450 196th St. There were no signs of forced entry into the safe.http: //www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/homewood-flossmoor/2646604,082910hfcops. Read More »
Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction
In yeshivas, they are sometimes taunted as “monkeys” or with the Yiddish epithet for blacks. At synagogues and kosher restaurants, they engender blank stares. Read More »
Yeshiva approval to be conditional
Ramapo’s Planning Board was right to ask the Bobover of Monsey congregation to complete some homework before it will approve its site plan for a two-story yeshiva on Route 306.The site has made headlines repeatedly because of the congregation’s wrongful conduct, which has suggested that it can do what it wants whenever it wants. Read More »
Weinstein Gets Bail in $200 Million Ponzi Scheme
Eliyahu Weinstein, a New Jersey man charged with leading a $200 million Ponzi scheme that targeted fellow Orthodox Jews, was granted $10 million bail today by a U.S. judge.Weinstein, 35, was accused Aug. 12 of running a real-estate investment fraud that duped victims in New Jersey, New York, Florida, California and abroad. Read More »
Lakewood Orthodox Jewish leaders want abuse accusations addressed
One man’s criminal accusation that a teacher molested his young son has widened the rift in the Orthodox Jewish community over where religious rights stop and the justice system begins. Read More »
Cops Question Suspect in Brooklyn Liquor Store Murder
New York City police say they have a person of interest in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred at a Brooklyn liquor store last week.The suspect — who has not been identified — was reportedly tracked down overnight by detectives. Authorities say they arrested him after receiving a number of tips. Read More »
Garbage dumping in Kiryas Joel stems from dispute over unauthorized weddings
The garbage-dumping that nearly blocked a main road in Kiryas Joel and led to disorderly conduct tickets for four men over the weekend stemmed from an ongoing fight over a wedding hall just outside the village where dissident community members have held services since January. Read More »
Ex-con shot rabbi’s son over $5: cops
An ex-con mugged and shot a rabbinical student and son of a prominent Brooklyn rabbi for a measly $5, sources said yesterday.Baruch Halberstam, 25, was outside his home on South Ninth Street in Williamsburg on Aug. 10 when Jaquan Vaughn, armed with a gun, and another thug allegedly approached him and demanded money. Read More »
Rabbi not allowed to serve in army with beard
An Orthodox rabbi is being forced to choose between serving his country or his religion.The rabbi was recently accepted to become a U.S. army chaplain, but the acceptance came with the condition that he shaves his beard.That demand directly contradicts Jewish law that states shaving is forbidden.”Everybody has a beard. Read More »
Yoseph Robinson, Former Hip-Hop Exec Turned Orthodox Jew, Murdered in Robbery
A robbery in Brooklyn Thursday night led to the death Yoseph Robinson, a man whose life led him on a journey from street criminal, to music executive, to a conversion to Orthodox Judaism. Read More »
$17M surplus surprises East Ramapo school board
The East Ramapo school board is holding an estimated surplus that tops $17 million as members meet tonight to try to set a tax rate for the 2010-11 budget year. Read More »
Thousands gather in Lakewood to hear from Jewish spiritual leader
An estimated 5,000 Orthodox Jews flocked to the former Little League park off Clifton Avenue this morning for the arrival of spiritual leader Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, visiting from Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv, Israel. Read More »
E. Ramapo board owes explanation
Members of the public and reporters have tried to shake loose from the East Ramapo school board key information used to justify the $3.1 million sale of Hillcrest Elementary School to Yeshiva Avir Yakov of New Square. From all appearances, the yeshiva got a great deal, paying much less than the $10. Read More »
Kicking up a stink in Glen Eira
JEWISH families have asked for manual toilets in parks in St Kilda East and Caulfield North because they can’t use automated facilities on holy days.Submissions to Glen Eira Council’s 2010 public toilet strategy also highlighted lack of wheelchair access, poor hygiene, and used syringes on baby change tables. Read More »
Visiting Prince of Wales Hospital? Kiss the Mezuzah
At a special ceremony on the fifth floor admission area of the hospital, the CEO of Sydney’s The Jewish House Rabbi Mendel Kastel attached the Mezuzah to the wall at the entry.Assisting him were the hospital’s Chief of Staff Professor Graham Newstead and General Manager Deborah Latta. Read More »
Levi Meisner’S Shofar Shop
LEVI MEISNER’S SHOFAR SHOP is really the corner of the living room of his third-floor apartment on 12th Avenue, and it is open for browsing for the Hebrew month of Elul. That month leads into Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which this year begins at sundown on Sept. 8. Mr. Read More »
Perv rabbi gets special jail meals
It’s unholy.A rabbi convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy has his kosher meals picked up from a Queens store by an on-duty jail captain. Read More »
Brooklyn man, teen arrested for drug possession, police say
A man and a teenager from Brooklyn were arrested and charged with drug possession Friday, said Monticello police.Yitzchok Belsky, 18, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and having an open container, and Efraim Levy, 17, with felony fifth-degree criminal possession of controlled substance. Read More »
Two New Jersey Men Charged in $200 Million Fraud Targeting Orthodox Jews
Two New Jersey men were charged for their role in a $200 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Orthodox Jews, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. prosecutors. Read More »
Study: Mental health needs of Orthodox Jews not being met
The mental health needs of the Orthodox community are not being sufficiently addressed, according to a new study from Yeshiva University.The service gaps are particularly pronounced in the haredi Orthodox and Chasidic communities, according to the study. Read More »
Hasidic man’s family blames cops — not anti-Semites — for shooting
The family of the Hasidic man who was shot in the stomach in front of his Williamsburg home on Tuesday are blaming a lack of police — not anti-Semitism — for the robbery attempt-turned-shooting. “I don’t want to make accusations, but we just need more police in the area,” said the victim’s mother, who requested that her name not be used. Read More »
Russia refuses to turn over Jewish library to US
Russia has rejected a U.S. court ruling to turn over a Jewish library to a Hasidic group in New York.A U.S. judge last week ruled against the Russian government for its refusal to return thousands of manuscripts that once belonged to a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi. The library was seized by Red Army in Nazi Germany as war booty. Read More »
Ramapo Planning Board delays decision on Route 306 yeshiva
The Ramapo Planning Board heard from both sides on Tuesday night before adjourning a decision on whether a Hasidic Jewish congregation can open a controversial two-story yeshiva along Route 306 near Pomona.The board members told Bobover of Monsey to resolve three issues by Oct. Read More »
Hasidic Jew shot once in Brooklyn during robbery attempt
A 25-year-old Orthodox Jew shot was shot in Brooklyn early today during a robbery attempt, police sources said.Burech Halberstam, son of Rabbi Zalman Halberstam, is in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital after he was shot once in the stomach.The shooting took place around 12: 30 a.m. Read More »
Rubashkin moved to downstate N.Y. prison
Convicted fraudster Sholom Rubashkin was sent to a downstate New York prison last week that can meet his religious needs as a Chabad-Lubavitch Jew, according to federal court papers.U.S. Marshals moved Rubashkin to the FCI Otisville, a medium-security federal prison for male offenders in southeastern New York. Read More »
Ramapo considers approving religious school at site of cow slaughter
The Planning Board will consider final site plan approval tomorrow for a Route 306 religious school that a Hasidic Jewish congregation ran illegally for a few years and where a calf was slaughtered.The Planning Board meeting is scheduled to meet at 8 p.m. in Ramapo Town Hall, 237 Route 59, Airmont. Read More »
Nursing Home Negligence Leads to Wheelchair Accident
A basic part of almost all nursing home care is the guarantee that staff members will ensure that the most vulnerable residents be given near constant supervision to prevent harm. Many patients in these facilities decided to begin living there precisely because they had conditions which required close monitoring to ensure their safety. Read More »
RABBINICAL COLLEGE OF TELSHE, INC. v. U.S. BANK
Rabbinical College of Telshe, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellee,v.U.S. Bank, et al., Defendants..No. 93643.Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County.RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: August 5, 2010.Stephen M. O’Bryan, Patrick J. Read More »
The Rabbi – Questions for Yehuda Krinsky
Newsweek just published a list, “The 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America,” and placed you at No. 1. As a Hasidic rabbi and a leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, do you think you can rank rabbis or any other religious leaders as if they were athletes?I am of the opinion that you can’t rank human beings. Read More »
Rubashkin Judge Accused of Massive Conflict of Interest—Acted as Both Judge and Involved with …
Chief District Judge Linda Reade both coordinated with prosecutors and acted as judge in the contentious conviction of Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse operator Sholom Rubashkin, according to internal federal documents and court filings obtained by this reporter. Read More »
Judge rules against Russia on Jewish documents
A federal judge has issued a judgment against the Russian government for its refusal to return a library of historic books and documents to a Jewish group.Royce Lamberth, the chief judge of U.S. Read More »
Hillcrest School’s $3.1M price tag in doubt
Though the East Ramapo Board of Education approved the sale of Hillcrest Elementary School to a Hasidic congregation from New Square for $3.1 million, it appears that most board members never saw the most recent documentation of the property’s worth. Read More »
Hasidic Rapping in Brooklyn, 20 Years After Crown Heights Riots
A bunch of elected officials are gathering outside Brooklyn Borough Hall on Monday at 1 p.m. to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, when racial tensions in the neighborhood boiled over into thee days of violence. Read More »
Hatzalah Goes Public
for 35 years, the volunteer emergency medical service, which is operated largely by Orthodox Jews but refuses no call for help (the Hebrew name means Rescue), would not accept government support, despite the real relief they bring to the New York Read More »
10 reasons why you would want ultra-Orthodox Jews as neighbours
It’s not been a good week for the media’s treatment of ultra-Orthodox Jews – not that they will care: in their cloistered world they believe in the right not to know. Read More »
Israeli rabbis clamp down on burka
At the insistence of the husbands of some burka-wearing women, a leading rabbinical authority is to issue an edict declaring burka wearing a sexual fetish that is as promiscuous as wearing too little. Read More »
Seasonal grocery store gets facade
Inside, the scene looked like grocery stores everywhere: men and women shopped among shelves full of bread, produce, snacks and treats. Outside, the building had a new façade. Read More »
Eating Disorders A Hidden Problem For Orthodox Jews
When Faryn Hart settled into her seat at the weekly Shabbat table set for 20 at her home in Johannesburg, South Africa, she also settled into the role her grandmother expected her to play.Yes, she would study medicine. Yes, she would marry an engineer. Yes, she got an A on her exam. Read More »
Mazel tov! Hasidic Jewish wedding is a first for Rochester
What was believed to be Rochester’s first Hasidic Jewish wedding Monday brought centuries-old religious traditions to Peace Plaza, where Doba Greene of Rochester and Yossi Schlass of Jerusalem were married. Read More »
Un-kosher rabbi gets 27 months for defrauding goverment
An admittedly un-kosher rabbi was sentenced this morning to 27 months in the slammer for an unholy fraud for which four fellow crooks walked free after getting their sentences commuted by then-Preisdent Clinton. Read More »
Boxer Dmitriy Salita is Humbled, but not Down for the Count
Dmitriy Salita speaks about the future of his boxing career with a look of pure intensity in his otherwise mournful brown eyes.All the greatest boxers have this stare, a perfect distillation of concentration and discipline and total faith in the strength of their arms. Read More »
Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence for Murder of Jew
The Supreme Court, a highest judicial body, on Saturday upheld death sentence on Muslim man who shot dead a Jewish fellow citizen, Mashaa Yehiya bin Yaeesh Al-Nahari and overturned a previous sentence in March in which the court deemed Abdul-Aziz Al-Abdi, to pay a fine of 5.5 million riyals. Read More »
Flushing Ave Bike Lane Arrives
As promised, the DOT is going ahead with the last piece of the bike lane puzzle connecting downtown Brooklyn to Greenpoint. This morning workers began buffing out the median divider on busy Flushing Avenue, and painting in the bike lanes. Read More »
Michael and Miriam Hersh demand Yahoo! and Google release names of blog commenters for $411M lawsuit
An angry Brooklyn couple whose parenting choices were excoriated online by scores of anonymous commenters are demanding Yahoo and Google unmask their attackers so they can sue them for $411 million. Read More »
Fast moving storm tears through Sullivan County
The skies darkened at 4 p.m. in the Monticello area as the rains came. They brought with them strong winds, quarter sized hail. The brief storm tore down power lines across the area.There were no reports of injuries. One resident said that as fast as the storm appeared, it left. Read More »
Bit by Electronic Bit, a Cantor’s Voice Is Restored
He was called the Jewish Caruso. Indeed, fervent enthusiasts sometimes referred to Caruso as the Italian Yossele Rosenblatt.Mr. Rosenblatt, who died in 1933, was regarded as the greatest cantor of his time. But his was a time when music was recorded on heavy shellac or celluloid 78 r.p.m. records. Read More »
Sex-abuse case against rabbi raises larger issues
Two years ago, Michael Brecher came to prosecutors in Boston with a disturbing allegation: In the 1970s, he said, he had been molested by a rabbi who was teaching sixth grade at one of the region’s most prestigious Jewish day schools, the Maimonides School.One of Brecher’s classmates came forward at the same time. Read More »
Hikind Announces No-Cost Energy Efficiency Services For Income-Qualified Households
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) announced today that his office has been designated as an authorized center for the EmPower New YorkSM Energy Services Program which provides cost-effective electric reduction measures for low-income National Grid and Con Edison customers. Read More »
City Religious Sites To Receive Millions In Federal Security Funds
The city is getting more money to protect religious institutions from security threats.According to Congressman Anthony Weiner, the Department of Homeland Security has awarded $5.8 million in grants to protect 80 yeshivas, museums and other cultural and religious institutions in the five boroughs, Westchester and on Long Island. Read More »
Dancing Holocaust Survivor at Auschwitz Sparks Debate
Is it ever OK to boogie at a concentration camp?That’s a question that has been debated back and forth since a video surfaced of a Holocaust survivor and his family dancing to the Gloria Gaynor tune “I Will Survive” at Auschwitz, the former Nazi camp where over 950,000 Jews were killed.The video is the work of Australian artist Jane Korman. Read More »
770 to Remain with Gaboim During Proceedings
The longstanding legal saga concerning the management of Chabad Headquarters 770 progressed a step further when the Gaboim appealed the verdict of a lower court’s ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, namely Aguch Chasidei Chabad and Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch. Read More »
Continuance sought for kosher take-out pizza restaurant proposal in University Heights
City Council has asked the owner of a proposed kosher take-out pizza restaurant to consider several different options if she wants the project approved.Talia Gahanian and her business partner, Zahava Seltzer, both of University Heights, seek to operate Top It Off Pizza out of the Heights Jewish Center, 14270 Cedar Road. Read More »
Villages move to evict families from yeshiva housing in Ramapo
Four villages today mailed eviction notices to 16 Israeli families living in yeshiva-owned housing on Grandview Avenue based on a state judge’s decision after yeshiva failed to follow his orders, officials said. Read More »
Judge stalls Williamsburg’s Broadway Triangle housing plan; says if legally favors Hasidic families
A judge has hit the city’s controversial plan to build housing at Williamsburg’s Broadway Triangle with the latest in a series of legal blows. Read More »
Lakewood rally to protest kosher slaughterhouse manager’s sentence
A rally is set to be held here tonight to protest the conviction of Sholom Rubashkin, the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa who was sentenced to 27 years in prison last month in a fraud case that drew national attention. Read More »
Sullivan County’s Walmart beefs up kosher section
First, Walmart conquered the Main Street market of hardware and underwear.Now the retail giant is going after another market — the Catskill kosher market of gefilte fish and blintzes.The Monticello Walmart just ran a full-page ad touting “expanded selections” in its “new kosher fresh section for the summer 2010. Read More »
