Thursday, March 31, 2005
Munkatcher Rebbe's son splits with Yeshiva
Munkatcher Rebbe's oldest son, R' Chaim Eluzer, split off from his father with his Yeshiva. The split took place after his father had opened up a new Yeshiva for his son-in-law, Rabbi Horowitz, a little while back. R' Chaim Eluzer, feeling betrayed by his father, renounced what his father had done and will not affiliate himself with him any longer.
6 comments
Munkatcher Rebbe's oldest son, R' Chaim Eluzer, split off from his father with his Yeshiva. The split took place after his father had opened up a new Yeshiva for his son-in-law, Rabbi Horowitz, a little while back. R' Chaim Eluzer, feeling betrayed by his father, renounced what his father had done and will not affiliate himself with him any longer.
6 comments
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
R' Mordche Dovid Ungar opens new Yeshiva on Staten Island
Working overnight on a building on Staten Island, R' Mordche Dovid Ungar was able to setup an impromptu Yeshiva for his bochurim. This move came as his followers were forced to splinter off into a separate branch of the Bobov chassidus.
7 comments
Working overnight on a building on Staten Island, R' Mordche Dovid Ungar was able to setup an impromptu Yeshiva for his bochurim. This move came as his followers were forced to splinter off into a separate branch of the Bobov chassidus.
7 comments
Starbucks coming to Boro-Park
A brand new cholov yisroel Starbucks coffee shop is preparing to open up its doors in Boro-Park pretty soon. The high end coffee franchise will now have its first store in Boro-Park on 13th Avenue corner of 50th Street (formerly Matamim). The store will be partly owned by the same owner as Emporio clothing store. Now we can sip Starbucks coffee and fight through the stroller throngs at the same time, how cool.
7 comments
A brand new cholov yisroel Starbucks coffee shop is preparing to open up its doors in Boro-Park pretty soon. The high end coffee franchise will now have its first store in Boro-Park on 13th Avenue corner of 50th Street (formerly Matamim). The store will be partly owned by the same owner as Emporio clothing store. Now we can sip Starbucks coffee and fight through the stroller throngs at the same time, how cool.
7 comments
Friday, March 25, 2005
CBS News video of the Bobover Rebbe's levya
CBS News ran a feature on the Bobover Rebbe's levya
Link to video
0 comments
CBS News ran a feature on the Bobover Rebbe's levya
Link to video
0 comments
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Bobover Rebbe is mourned
Throngs of mourners filled the streets of Borough
Park in Brooklyn last night for the funeral of Grand Rabbi Naftali
Halberstam, the leader of the Bobov sect, who died yesterday at age
74.
Halberstam, who suffered a series of health problems, died at
Maimonides Hospital.
He had been ill with Parkinson's and had suffered a heart attack a
year ago.
Halberstam was "one of the most respected" Hasidic rabbis, said
community leader Isaac Abraham.
"He was one that attracted people. People would want to meet with
him, talk to him listen to him."
Halberstam took over as head of the sect following the death of his
father, Solomon, at age 92 in 2000.
They both were Holocaust survivors and the elder Halberstam led the
sect out of Europe after his wife, father and two of his other
children were killed by the Nazis.
They were buried in a mass grave in Lvov, Poland.
Halberstam helped his father establish synagogues and Hebrew schools
in New York, Canada, England and Belgium.
Thousands packed the Bobov world headquarters on 15th Avenue for the
rabbi's funeral last night. According to Jewish tradition, burial
must take place before sundown on the day following his death.
"This is a person who helped to build an empire," said Jack Wiesel,
55, one of the mourners.
"He had a short leadership in public but he was his father's right
hand man. He helped build this place from the ground up."
He was also a great spiritual leader said Chaim Langer, 37, another
follower.
"People in this community based every aspect of their life on his
teachings," he said. "It's a great loss to the community."
Mourner Goldie Palm remembered Halberstam as "a very goodhearted
person."
"He was very simple and unassuming. He led thousands of people but
had time for everybody."
The sect started in Bobova, a town in southern Poland where the
rabbi's family came from.
2 comments
Throngs of mourners filled the streets of Borough
Park in Brooklyn last night for the funeral of Grand Rabbi Naftali
Halberstam, the leader of the Bobov sect, who died yesterday at age
74.
Halberstam, who suffered a series of health problems, died at
Maimonides Hospital.
He had been ill with Parkinson's and had suffered a heart attack a
year ago.
Halberstam was "one of the most respected" Hasidic rabbis, said
community leader Isaac Abraham.
"He was one that attracted people. People would want to meet with
him, talk to him listen to him."
Halberstam took over as head of the sect following the death of his
father, Solomon, at age 92 in 2000.
They both were Holocaust survivors and the elder Halberstam led the
sect out of Europe after his wife, father and two of his other
children were killed by the Nazis.
They were buried in a mass grave in Lvov, Poland.
Halberstam helped his father establish synagogues and Hebrew schools
in New York, Canada, England and Belgium.
Thousands packed the Bobov world headquarters on 15th Avenue for the
rabbi's funeral last night. According to Jewish tradition, burial
must take place before sundown on the day following his death.
"This is a person who helped to build an empire," said Jack Wiesel,
55, one of the mourners.
"He had a short leadership in public but he was his father's right
hand man. He helped build this place from the ground up."
He was also a great spiritual leader said Chaim Langer, 37, another
follower.
"People in this community based every aspect of their life on his
teachings," he said. "It's a great loss to the community."
Mourner Goldie Palm remembered Halberstam as "a very goodhearted
person."
"He was very simple and unassuming. He led thousands of people but
had time for everybody."
The sect started in Bobova, a town in southern Poland where the
rabbi's family came from.
2 comments
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Chassidishe pregnant woman and husband burglarized in Williamsburg
A man was arrested for attacking a pregnant woman during a botched robbery in Williamsburg, authorities said yesterday.
Luis Martinez, 27, and an accomplice accosted the 36-year-old woman and her husband at Williamsburg Street West and Wythe Avenue at 3:30 a.m. Monday, police sources said.
When Martinez pulled a gun, the woman, who is eight months pregnant, screamed and ran away, sources said.
The two men pursued the woman and caught up to her, throwing her to the ground and demanding money, the sources said. When she began screaming again, the men fled.
Meanwhile, the husband called Shomrim, a neighborhood patrol organization, and gave a description of the thugs.
During a search, a Shomrim member spotted Martinez in a parking lot on Franklin Avenue and contacted police.
Martinez was charged with assault and attempted robbery.
The woman was treated for cuts to her hand.
0 comments
A man was arrested for attacking a pregnant woman during a botched robbery in Williamsburg, authorities said yesterday.
Luis Martinez, 27, and an accomplice accosted the 36-year-old woman and her husband at Williamsburg Street West and Wythe Avenue at 3:30 a.m. Monday, police sources said.
When Martinez pulled a gun, the woman, who is eight months pregnant, screamed and ran away, sources said.
The two men pursued the woman and caught up to her, throwing her to the ground and demanding money, the sources said. When she began screaming again, the men fled.
Meanwhile, the husband called Shomrim, a neighborhood patrol organization, and gave a description of the thugs.
During a search, a Shomrim member spotted Martinez in a parking lot on Franklin Avenue and contacted police.
Martinez was charged with assault and attempted robbery.
The woman was treated for cuts to her hand.
0 comments
Four children die in Teaneck house fire
four children will be buried today, victims of a fire that
swept their home, a three-story brick Tudor Revival at 501 Rutland
Ave. The blaze, traced to the power lines for basement appliances,
broke out about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday - mere hours after fire officials
had inspected the house and declared it safe.
On Tuesday night, two of the surviving siblings - who were rescued by
a neighbor with a ladder - remained hospitalized, and their 42-year-
old mother, Philyss Seidenfeld, was in critical condition. Her ex-
husband, who lives in New York City, went to her bedside; the eldest
of their seven children was heading home from school in Israel.
The tragedy left township firefighters distraught but certain they
had done all they could, from the moment the mother first called at
8:30 p.m. to report something was burning. And it left friends and
classmates bereft over so many missed opportunities to prevent four
deaths.
"On our [first] arrival, there was no smoke," said Teaneck Fire Chief
John Bauer. "We spent over a half-hour checking the house. We
couldn't find anything wrong with the house. We checked all the
electrical devices."
A little over five hours later, police received a 911 call from the
family's nanny, 37-year-old Betty Mbaza, followed by three calls from
neighbors, all reporting flames. Before officers arrived, next-door
neighbor Paul Gingras had used his extension ladder to scale a porch
roof and rescue two children from a second-floor bathroom window.
"He's a hero," Bauer said.
But no one could reach the four other children. Thick smoke,
bellowing from most of the windows, thwarted the police officers. One
window was blocked by an air conditioner. Philyss Seidenfeld, wedged
in a bathroom window, was freed only after firefighters broke the
frame. Then they found two children on the bathroom floor and two
more in the attic.
The would-be rescuers were devastated.
"You don't want to be the guy who leaves a run without finding
anything and then a family dies," one fire official said.
"It's a tough scene," a police official said. "You go in and you see
baby shoes and it gets to you."
The victims were identified as:
ŸAri, 15, a student at Mesivta of North Jersey in Newark. He was
pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.
ŸNoah, 6, a student at Yeshivat Noam in Bergenfield. He was
pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.
ŸAdira, 5. She was pronounced dead at Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck.
ŸNatan, 4, a child with Down syndrome and a pre-kindergarten student
at Bryant Elementary School in Teaneck. He was pronounced dead at
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
The two siblings rescued by ladder were 14-year-old Zahava, a student
at Yeshiva of North Jersey in River Edge, and 7-year-old Aviva, a
student at Whittier Elementary School in Teaneck. They were being
treated at the Hackensack hospital.
The eldest, 17-year-old Helena, was flying home from Israel, where
she had been studying for a year. She was accompanied by an aunt and
uncle, according to officials from her school, Ayelet Hashachar near
Tel Aviv.
1 comments
four children will be buried today, victims of a fire that
swept their home, a three-story brick Tudor Revival at 501 Rutland
Ave. The blaze, traced to the power lines for basement appliances,
broke out about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday - mere hours after fire officials
had inspected the house and declared it safe.
On Tuesday night, two of the surviving siblings - who were rescued by
a neighbor with a ladder - remained hospitalized, and their 42-year-
old mother, Philyss Seidenfeld, was in critical condition. Her ex-
husband, who lives in New York City, went to her bedside; the eldest
of their seven children was heading home from school in Israel.
The tragedy left township firefighters distraught but certain they
had done all they could, from the moment the mother first called at
8:30 p.m. to report something was burning. And it left friends and
classmates bereft over so many missed opportunities to prevent four
deaths.
"On our [first] arrival, there was no smoke," said Teaneck Fire Chief
John Bauer. "We spent over a half-hour checking the house. We
couldn't find anything wrong with the house. We checked all the
electrical devices."
A little over five hours later, police received a 911 call from the
family's nanny, 37-year-old Betty Mbaza, followed by three calls from
neighbors, all reporting flames. Before officers arrived, next-door
neighbor Paul Gingras had used his extension ladder to scale a porch
roof and rescue two children from a second-floor bathroom window.
"He's a hero," Bauer said.
But no one could reach the four other children. Thick smoke,
bellowing from most of the windows, thwarted the police officers. One
window was blocked by an air conditioner. Philyss Seidenfeld, wedged
in a bathroom window, was freed only after firefighters broke the
frame. Then they found two children on the bathroom floor and two
more in the attic.
The would-be rescuers were devastated.
"You don't want to be the guy who leaves a run without finding
anything and then a family dies," one fire official said.
"It's a tough scene," a police official said. "You go in and you see
baby shoes and it gets to you."
The victims were identified as:
ŸAri, 15, a student at Mesivta of North Jersey in Newark. He was
pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.
ŸNoah, 6, a student at Yeshivat Noam in Bergenfield. He was
pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.
ŸAdira, 5. She was pronounced dead at Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck.
ŸNatan, 4, a child with Down syndrome and a pre-kindergarten student
at Bryant Elementary School in Teaneck. He was pronounced dead at
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
The two siblings rescued by ladder were 14-year-old Zahava, a student
at Yeshiva of North Jersey in River Edge, and 7-year-old Aviva, a
student at Whittier Elementary School in Teaneck. They were being
treated at the Hackensack hospital.
The eldest, 17-year-old Helena, was flying home from Israel, where
she had been studying for a year. She was accompanied by an aunt and
uncle, according to officials from her school, Ayelet Hashachar near
Tel Aviv.
1 comments
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Vien and Satmar court Wiener for Mayoral candidate
The Viener and Satmar Kehilas held a 'secret' meeting last night with New York City Mayoral candidate Anthony Wiener. The purpose of the meeting was to court the mayoral candidate and to show support for his campaign. The reason behind this change of support and abandonement of the current Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is due to the many 'Gold Train' funds (monies confiscated by the Nazis) which are due to be distributed to Jewish institutions by the next Mayor.
1 comments
The Viener and Satmar Kehilas held a 'secret' meeting last night with New York City Mayoral candidate Anthony Wiener. The purpose of the meeting was to court the mayoral candidate and to show support for his campaign. The reason behind this change of support and abandonement of the current Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is due to the many 'Gold Train' funds (monies confiscated by the Nazis) which are due to be distributed to Jewish institutions by the next Mayor.
1 comments
Monday, March 21, 2005
Kosher Spot reopens, sort of
The store formerly known as Kosher Spot has reopened with the name of Glatt Zone. I hope this time it will really be glatt.
2 comments
The store formerly known as Kosher Spot has reopened with the name of Glatt Zone. I hope this time it will really be glatt.
2 comments
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Police Interrogate U.S. Mission to Gush Katif
Police at the Ben Gurion airport this afternoon interrogated several Americans who are visiting Gush Katif to show solidarity with the Jewish communities there. The group was told that Gush Katif is "a closed military zone" and they could not go there, according to Ruth Lieberman, one of the people waiting outside to welcome the Americans.
She said New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is leading the mission, phoned her after police took passports away from 15 members of the group and asked them to explain the purpose of their visit. He said police told them they were being "detained and debriefed." Hikind said he explained to the authorities that arrangements had been made to stay with the Gush Katif residents. The visitors were released after half an hour.
0 comments
Police at the Ben Gurion airport this afternoon interrogated several Americans who are visiting Gush Katif to show solidarity with the Jewish communities there. The group was told that Gush Katif is "a closed military zone" and they could not go there, according to Ruth Lieberman, one of the people waiting outside to welcome the Americans.
She said New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is leading the mission, phoned her after police took passports away from 15 members of the group and asked them to explain the purpose of their visit. He said police told them they were being "detained and debriefed." Hikind said he explained to the authorities that arrangements had been made to stay with the Gush Katif residents. The visitors were released after half an hour.
0 comments
NYERS GAZA-BOUND TO SUPPORT SETTLERS
A delegation of 40 New Yorkers including judges, doctors and grandparents, is headed to the Gaza Strip today to show solidarity with Jewish settlers who are due to be ousted from their homes this summer.
During three days the group hopes to visit all of Gaza's 22 settlements, which Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to close down — by force if necessary — in his plan to "disengage" his countrymen from the Palestinians.
"They're going to have to leave everything, even uproot graves," said Sara Lehmann, a Brooklyn mother of five who said she is going "to show my support and my sympathy."
The delegation will travel through Gaza in a bulletproof bus and sleep and eat in settlements that have been targeted by terrorists and come under fire of Qassam rockets.
Joseph Stamm, CEO of Med Review, said he's "a regular visitor to Israel" and isn't worried because he's "been to all the places people tell you to stay away from" such as the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron.
He said he was going to "heighten awareness" over Sharon's controversial plan.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), who organized the trip, said the group, which includes two Brooklyn State Supreme Court judges and two administrative law judges, is the first of several American delegations expected to visit Gaza in coming months as the countdown to withdrawal begins.
Although some supporters of the settlers have urged them to actively defend their homes, members of the delegation say they will counsel calm.
"The worst thing to happen is to have Jew against Jew," said Stamm, 58.
0 comments
A delegation of 40 New Yorkers including judges, doctors and grandparents, is headed to the Gaza Strip today to show solidarity with Jewish settlers who are due to be ousted from their homes this summer.
During three days the group hopes to visit all of Gaza's 22 settlements, which Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to close down — by force if necessary — in his plan to "disengage" his countrymen from the Palestinians.
"They're going to have to leave everything, even uproot graves," said Sara Lehmann, a Brooklyn mother of five who said she is going "to show my support and my sympathy."
The delegation will travel through Gaza in a bulletproof bus and sleep and eat in settlements that have been targeted by terrorists and come under fire of Qassam rockets.
Joseph Stamm, CEO of Med Review, said he's "a regular visitor to Israel" and isn't worried because he's "been to all the places people tell you to stay away from" such as the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron.
He said he was going to "heighten awareness" over Sharon's controversial plan.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), who organized the trip, said the group, which includes two Brooklyn State Supreme Court judges and two administrative law judges, is the first of several American delegations expected to visit Gaza in coming months as the countdown to withdrawal begins.
Although some supporters of the settlers have urged them to actively defend their homes, members of the delegation say they will counsel calm.
"The worst thing to happen is to have Jew against Jew," said Stamm, 58.
0 comments
Sunday, March 13, 2005
New metzitza b'peh hotline
A new hotline regarding the topic of metzitza b'peh has been setup. The hotline features a couple of speeches on the topic, including one's by Rabbi Schlesinger and Rabbi Tendler. The number is (212) 461-9018.
1 comments
A new hotline regarding the topic of metzitza b'peh has been setup. The hotline features a couple of speeches on the topic, including one's by Rabbi Schlesinger and Rabbi Tendler. The number is (212) 461-9018.
1 comments
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Yehuda Glantz music video
Watch Yehuda Glantz perform 'Am Yisroel Chai' on the Chabad telethon.
Watch video
1 comments
Watch Yehuda Glantz perform 'Am Yisroel Chai' on the Chabad telethon.
Watch video
1 comments
Monday, March 07, 2005
Orthodox Jews protest filming of kissing scene at Kosel
According to the Associated Press, dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers confronted Natalie Portman and her co-star, objecting to the couple kissing during the filming of a scene beside Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The incident Tuesday evening underlined the sensitivity of the site, a remnant of the biblical Jewish temples, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
The site is controlled by strictly observant Jews. Male and female worshippers are separated by a barrier perpendicular to the wall, following Orthodox Jewish rules forbidding casual contact between the sexes.
Police said they had to step in when worshippers spotted Portman and Israeli actor Aki Avni embracing and kissing as part of a scene for Free Zone. The daily Yediot Ahronot said ultra-Orthodox Jews charged the couple, shouting, "Immoral, immoral!"
Police said they asked the actors to leave and return later, and they agreed.
The rabbi in charge of the site, Shmuel Rabinovitch, said that codes of conduct under religious and state law prohibit acting or romantic interaction near the wall. "That code was not followed," he said.
The Israeli-born Portman, 23, has been studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in recent months.
4 comments
According to the Associated Press, dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers confronted Natalie Portman and her co-star, objecting to the couple kissing during the filming of a scene beside Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The incident Tuesday evening underlined the sensitivity of the site, a remnant of the biblical Jewish temples, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
The site is controlled by strictly observant Jews. Male and female worshippers are separated by a barrier perpendicular to the wall, following Orthodox Jewish rules forbidding casual contact between the sexes.
Police said they had to step in when worshippers spotted Portman and Israeli actor Aki Avni embracing and kissing as part of a scene for Free Zone. The daily Yediot Ahronot said ultra-Orthodox Jews charged the couple, shouting, "Immoral, immoral!"
Police said they asked the actors to leave and return later, and they agreed.
The rabbi in charge of the site, Shmuel Rabinovitch, said that codes of conduct under religious and state law prohibit acting or romantic interaction near the wall. "That code was not followed," he said.
The Israeli-born Portman, 23, has been studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in recent months.
4 comments
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Medical journal article regarding metzitza b'peh and Rabbi Tendler's opinion
Neonatal Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection After Jewish Ritual Circumcision: Modern Medicine and Religious Tradition
Link to article
0 comments
Neonatal Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection After Jewish Ritual Circumcision: Modern Medicine and Religious Tradition
Link to article
0 comments
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Throw the Jew down the well
Watch Ali.G Borat singing an anti-Semitic song to the enthusisatic cheers of customers at a country-western bar. Observe the horn-like hand motions one woman made.
Watch video
1 comments
Watch Ali.G Borat singing an anti-Semitic song to the enthusisatic cheers of customers at a country-western bar. Observe the horn-like hand motions one woman made.
Watch video
1 comments
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Beware of check bouncer
A man has been going around and passing off large checks to tzedaka and asking for change, while there is no money in the account. The man has an Israeli accent has a beard and has already swindled thousands of dollars this way. Shomrim was contacted regarding this situation and they are trying to catch him red-handed. If anyone has been ripped off by this man or knows who he is, please contact Shomrim right away.
0 comments
A man has been going around and passing off large checks to tzedaka and asking for change, while there is no money in the account. The man has an Israeli accent has a beard and has already swindled thousands of dollars this way. Shomrim was contacted regarding this situation and they are trying to catch him red-handed. If anyone has been ripped off by this man or knows who he is, please contact Shomrim right away.
0 comments
Hasidim mourn death of prominent rabbi
Thousands of Hasidic Jews poured into the sleepy Westchester
County hamlet of Bedford Hills yesterday for a funeral of one of the
world's oldest and most prominent Hasidic rabbis.
Rabbi Rafael Blum, who ran a rabbinical college in Bedford Hills
called Ohel Schmuel of Kashau, is said to have died yesterday morning
at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at age 95. His body was brought
to Bedford Hills to be buried at the Cemetery of Congregation Kashau
as soon as possible, following Jewish tradition.
Twenty to 25 charter buses brought mourners from the Hasidic
community of Kiryas Joel to the Westchester cemetery, said Pinkus
Jakobowitz, leader of a social services organization called the
Kiryas Joel Community Council.
Blum, who led the Kashau Hasidic sect named for the place in
Hungary where he came from, helped rebuild the ultra-Orthodox
community after the Holocaust and was one of the last surviving
rabbis from that era, Jakobowitz said.
1 comments
Thousands of Hasidic Jews poured into the sleepy Westchester
County hamlet of Bedford Hills yesterday for a funeral of one of the
world's oldest and most prominent Hasidic rabbis.
Rabbi Rafael Blum, who ran a rabbinical college in Bedford Hills
called Ohel Schmuel of Kashau, is said to have died yesterday morning
at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at age 95. His body was brought
to Bedford Hills to be buried at the Cemetery of Congregation Kashau
as soon as possible, following Jewish tradition.
Twenty to 25 charter buses brought mourners from the Hasidic
community of Kiryas Joel to the Westchester cemetery, said Pinkus
Jakobowitz, leader of a social services organization called the
Kiryas Joel Community Council.
Blum, who led the Kashau Hasidic sect named for the place in
Hungary where he came from, helped rebuild the ultra-Orthodox
community after the Holocaust and was one of the last surviving
rabbis from that era, Jakobowitz said.
1 comments
