Thursday, October 31, 2024
Man berates Jewish customer who was getting breakfast with his kid at kosher cafe in NYC: ‘Hitler was onto something’
A man berating a Jewish customer trying to enjoy breakfast with his young child inside a kosher cafe in Brooklyn — with disturbing video showing the unhinged man describing all Jewish people as "evil" and claiming Adolf Hitler "was onto something."
The footage, shot inside the Almah cafe, along Utica Avenue, shows the moment a man dressed in a pink hoodie confronts a customer on Thursday morning, demanding he give his opinion on the war in Gaza.
"You guys are killing babies," the man tells the frustrated father, adding that "something bad is going to happen" to Jewish people.
"Jewish people are evil," he repeatedly yells at the people inside the restaurant. "I think Hitler was onto something."
Along with the veiled threat, the man also claimed Jewish people were behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy and attempted assassinations of Donald Trump.
Almah cafe owner Shira Asias, 34, said she was shocked and embarrassed to see such hateful rhetoric spewed inside her own establishment.
Asias opened the cafe in 2020 with her husband, and she said the two of them have never witnessed anything like this before in their diverse neighborhood.
"This is the first time seeing something like this inside our own place," she told The Post. "I feel so ashamed and embarrassed.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2024
The high-stakes battle for the Skver vote
The battle for a key endorsement from a sizable Hasidic voting bloc in New York's Hudson Valley is reaching a crucial moment in the final days of a closely contested congressional race that could determine the balance of power in the House.
In an 11th-hour effort to court the Orthodox vote on Monday, the two top Democrats in Congress — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — paid a visit to the Hasidic village of New Square, where they met privately with Rabbi David Twersky, known as the Skverer rebbe, to boost the candidacy of former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) as he fights to reclaim his old House seat.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to make a similar trek on Thursday, according to sources familiar with the situation. The visit would be his second trip to New Square in four months as he has sought to assist Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a vulnerable incumbent facing Jones in New York's 17th Congressional District, which is home to one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country.
A spokesperson for Johnson said he has "several meetings with the Jewish community" on Thursday on Lawler's turf as well as a neighboring swing district where Alison Esposito, a Republican, is challenging Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), who claimed a major endorsement from the local Satmar Hasidic sect on Monday.
The focus on New Square, in particular, underscores the importance both parties place on securing an endorsement from the politically powerful Hasidic community in Rockland County, which includes some 3,000 votes that typically support candidates as a bloc and could make the difference in a tight race.
It also represents what may be the only major Hasidic enclave that could go either way in the election. During his first bid for Congress in 2020, Jones won a key endorsement from New Square — even as former President Donald Trump carried the village with nearly unanimous support from voters. President Joe Biden won the district by 10 points the same year.
Last cycle, Jewish leaders in New Square endorsed former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) thanks to behind-the-scenes advocacy from former President Bill Clinton and Biden — the latter of whom placed a personal call to Twersky in the final leg of the race.
Representatives for Biden and Clinton did not respond to requests for comment regarding the matchup between Jones and Lawler, which has grown increasingly acrimonious in recent weeks.
During his tenure, Lawler has actively engaged in outreach to New Square, as Republican leaders have made continued overtures to the village, including a March 2023 visit by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Following McCarthy's ouster last October, Jones, who lost his seat when he chose to run in a separate district in New York City, faced scrutiny for calling the meeting "a waste of everyone's time" in a social media comment that was deemed offensive to many Orthodox Jews in the district. In response, Jones said the post had been misinterpreted, and that he meant "to communicate that Kevin McCarthy, and by extension Mike Lawler, cannot possibly deliver for communities in Rockland because he's no longer Speaker."
In a statement shared with Jewish Insider on Tuesday, Jones said he had also met on Monday with Jewish leaders in Kaser, another Hasidic village in the district, "to discuss the issues important to our ultra-Orthodox communities."
"I was proud to represent our growing Hasidic communities in Congress, and to have delivered resources and services in a way Mike Lawler has not due to the chaos and dysfunction of his failed Republican majority," Jones added, noting he is "going everywhere in the district to make my case to voters."
But this cycle, Lawler, whose narrow upset over Maloney in 2022 was attributed largely to strong backing from Orthodox voters in Rockland County, is expected to lock up an endorsement from New Square that had remained elusive in his first race, according to Jewish leaders in the district familiar with the matter.
"I would be totally shocked if they went the other way," said one of the Jewish leaders, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss the race with JI on Tuesday. "Lawler has worked very diligently to woo the community and has been directly responsible for bringing substantial funding back into the community."
A spokesperson for Lawler did not respond to a request for comment from JI on Tuesday, nor did a political adviser to Twersky, whose community has long typically issued its endorsements near the end of the general election.
In a recent interview with JI, meanwhile, Lawler predicted that he would once again win strong backing from the Orthodox community, whose support he is depending on in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 80,000 voters.
"The issues that people are focused on, from the affordability crisis to the migrant crisis to the crises around the globe — including the conflict in the Middle East — are issues that I've been heavily focused on and done a lot of work on in Congress," he said.
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Monday, October 28, 2024
'Harris is bad for Jews': Satmar hasidim to support Trump's candidacy
Grand Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum's Satmar hasidic sect in New York has announced that it will officially support former US President Donald Trump's candidacy for US president.
The decision follows a set of discussions by the Satmar leadership, due to concerns that US Vice President Kamala Harris may pose a threat to the "Jewish people" if she is elected president.
The support means tens of thousands of additional votes for Trump, in a neck-to-neck race.
Satmar will also provide free transportation to voting booths for early voting.
The second sect of Satmar hasidim who follow Grand Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, has not yet issued an official announcement, but it is expected that they, too, will support Trump.
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GOP candidate Alison Esposito says she’s courting key Hasidic vote in battleground upstate NY district
Republican congressional candidate Alison Esposito says she's courting key Hasidic voters in New York's battleground 18th District in the run up to election day.
Esposito touted her outreach effort while pushing back against a recent New York Times report suggesting leaders of the Satmar Jewish sects are planning to back her Democratic opponent, Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY).
"We don't believe that," Esposito told The Post editorial board during an interview, in reference to the Times report.
"We have had meetings. I have been doorknocking. There was a recent meet and greet. There's a meeting scheduled with some of the hierarchy in the different areas, but I don't believe that," the former NYPD Deputy Inspector said.
The 18th Congressional District includes the village of Kiryas Joel, home to a quickly expanding and ever more influential group of Orthodox Jewish voters.
The Town of Palm Tree, which includes Kiryas Joel, significantly backed Ryan over his Republican opponent, Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, in 2022. Ryan carried 4,134 votes in Palm Tree compared with Schmitt's 2,607 last cycle.
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Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Chabad rabbis give Netanyahu Chassidic text printed in Lebanon
In a symbolic move on Tuesday, a delegation of Chabad-Lubvitch rabbis presented Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an early work of Chassidic philosophy by the first Chabad rabbi printed in various places in Lebanon during the First Lebanon War in 1982.
The Tanya, written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Chassidism, was first published in 1796.
The rabbis also gave the prime minister the traditional "Four Species" used during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins on Wednesday evening. They include the lulav, etrog, myrtle and willow.
"We must be strong, resourceful and hope for assistance from Heaven," Netanyahu told them, according to his office. "This is a long war; it does not proceed as we might prefer. There are good days and less good days, but the main thing is to strive for victory."
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Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Lufthansa Fined $4 Million Over Alleged Discrimination of Jewish Passengers
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced a $4 million penalty on Tuesday against Lufthansa for discriminating against Jewish passengers who were traveling from New York City through Frankfurt to Budapest in May 2022.
The penalty is the largest ever issued by the DOT against an airline for civil rights violations.
A news release from the DOT stated that Lufthansa prohibited 128 Jewish passengers from boarding their connecting flight in Germany after alleged misconduct of some passengers. The release stated that most of the Jewish passengers were wearing distinctive garb typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men, and many of the passengers did not know each other nor were traveling together.
These passengers stated that Lufthansa treated them all as if they were a single group and denied them boarding for the alleged misbehavior of a few. The DOT received over 40 discrimination complaints from the Jewish passengers.
"No one should face discrimination when they travel, and today's action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers' civil rights are violated," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in the release. "From cracking down on long tarmac delays to ensuring passengers are properly refunded, our department has strengthened our enforcement efforts to hold airlines accountable for their treatment of passengers, and we will continue to push the industry to serve passengers with the fairness and dignity they deserve."
Investigations by the DOT found that during the first flight, the captain alerted Lufthansa security that some passengers were not following crew instructions and were connecting to another flight in Budapest. The release stated that the carrier later failed to identify any one passenger who failed to follow crewmember instructions.
The alert to security resulted in a hold being placed on over 100 passengers' tickets – all of which were Jewish. These passengers then couldn't board their next scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Budapest.
According to the DOT's consent order, Lufthansa stated that a large number of the passengers aboard the flight arriving at Frankfurt repeatedly disregarded crew instructions to wear face masks, which at the time was mandated under German law due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Additionally, Lufthansa stated that passengers were requested to avoid gathering in the aisles, galleys, and near emergency exit doors, as is required under U.S. and German law.
"Lufthansa steadfastly maintains that the actions of the crew of LH 401 were taken in the interest of safety and security," the consent order stated. "Lufthansa states that the crew of LH 401 did not discriminate against any passenger on the basis of perceived religion or ethnicity or manifest any intentional malice or ill intent toward any passenger. Lufthansa notes that certain flight attendants on LH401 permitted and facilitated praying by small gatherings of passengers during the flight, which the carrier asserts underscores the Lufthansa crew's lack of any discriminatory feelings or actions toward any of the passengers."
According to the consent order, $2 million of the $4 million penalty will be due within 30 days of the order. The remaining $2 million is being credited for compensation Lufthansa paid to the affected passengers.
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Monday, October 14, 2024
Anti-Israel protesters arrested after storming New York Stock Exchange
Dozens of Jewish anti-Israel protesters were arrested Monday after hundreds of rowdy demonstrators rushed the New York Stock Exchange and staged a sit-in outside the historic Manhattan building.
Scores of pro-Palestinian protesters wearing red shirts stormed toward the building on Broad Street in Lower Manhattan — then chained themselves to the doors just before the stock market's opening bell at 9:30 a.m., footage shows.
A handful of demonstrators, who hail from the Jewish Voices for Peace group, could be seen removing their jackets as they set up shop outside the building — jackets they wore in a possible bid to conceal their anti-Israel attire and thwart any attempt to stop them ahead of time.
The group immediately started screaming "Free Palestine" and quickly brandished signs reading "Jews for Palestine's freedom" as they blocked off the building and demanded the US government "fund FEMA, not genocide."
At one point, they dressed the iconic bronze Fearless Girl statue in one of their shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Stop arming Israel."
Roughly 200 protesters were nabbed by cops, the group's political director, Beth Miller, told The Post.
The NYPD confirmed that arrests were made amid the chaos, but the exact number wasn't immediately available.
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Friday, October 11, 2024
Armed guards at synagogues, security forces on high alert on Yom Kippur
Synagogues in major cities and susceptible areas will be under armed guard on Yom Kippur amid concerns that terrorists will try to launch attacks on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Police deployment was already spread to major highways and city centers with special attention placed on mixed Jewish and Arab cities where tensions have traditionally been high during the holiday.
Synagogues were asked to place an armed guard outside their door and leave a phone available to call for help if the need arises.
Jerusalem police will be on high alert around the city and at the Western Wall, to bolster the sense of security for Jewish worshipers. Checkpoints will also be set up leading to the holy site for increased security and to prevent overcrowding.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2024
Interior Minister responds to Breslov hasidim stranded abroad
Due to the chaos at the borders of Ukraine and Romania, which has caused thousands of Breslov hasidim to be unable to return home to Israel, representatives for the Breslov community have turned to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) for assistance.
In their request, the hasidim noted the chaos and the overcrowding which travelers faced in their attempts to return to Israel following their Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine.
Responding to one of the requests, Arbel answered that he has no way to help them, since, "Israel is at war."
"We are at war right now, and there was a travel warning," he wrote. "Whoever decided to travel anyway should take into account the risks which come with it."
"I am sorry. I do not have any way to help," he apologized. The government issued clear warnings to Israeli citizens not to travel to Uman for the holidays this year.
According to sources in the community, many people are forced to wait in inclement weather, without proper shelter.
A senior source in United Breslov said, "The Ukrainians have created an electronic line and they only accept those who booked an appointment ahead of time. And sometimes there are no open appointments for the border for many hours ahead. It creates insane chaos."
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Wednesday, October 02, 2024
Gerrer hasidim to hold Rosh Hashanah events as usual after Home Front restrictions removed
The Gur hasidic sect on Wednesday morning announced that the traditional "travel" for the Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) holiday will take place as usual this year, in light of the Home Front Command's new guidelines.
Just after midnight Wednesday morning, the IDF's Home Front Command announced that restrictions imposed on Jerusalem and central Israel on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00p.m. would be removed. The restrictions, which led to the cancellation of the central Selichot prayer gathering at the Western Wall, included a limit on gatherings of more than 30 people outdoors and more than 300 people indoors.
The limits forced Jews around Israel to rethink their plans for Rosh Hashanah, especially if the plans included large gatherings, as is customary in many hasidic courts.
"Upon removal of the Home Front Command restrictions, an announcement was made this morning by the Gerrer hasidic court to hold the events as usual," a Gur statement read.
Rabbi Yosef Schiff, aide to the Gerrer Rebbe, who on Tuesday night ordered hasidim to return home due to the security threats, on Wednesday morning reported that the decision had changed in light of recent developments.
Alongside the Gerrer hasidim, thousands of families from other hasidic courts around Israel are expected to travel to Jerusalem and Bnei Brak on Wednesday, in order to celebrate the holiday with their rebbe (hasidic leader) and fellow hasidim.
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Tuesday, October 01, 2024
President cancels Rosh Hashanah call with US Jewish community
U.S. President Joe Biden canceled a planned Rosh Hashanah call with the Jewish community that had been scheduled for 1:15 pm Eastern Standard Time. Earlier in the day, the U.S. administration had previously warned its employees in Israel to return to their homes and warned of an imminent attack on the Jewish state.
Posting on X at 12:40 this afternoon, the president wrote, "This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel. We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on X that he had spoken with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about the then-pending Iranian attack and "the severe consequences for Iran in the event Iran chooses to launch a direct military attack against Israel."
U.S. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on X, "Iran is launching missiles against Israel. Israel has an unquestionable right to defend itself against all forms of Iranian aggression. The United States should, must and will stand with the Jewish State as it defends itself from the root of all evil in the Middle East—the Islamic Republic of Iran. I stand with Israel. Always have and always will. #AmYisraslChai."
"This is a moment of choosing for the free world regarding Iran, said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on X. "The Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] and Iranian regime are religious Nazis who want to destroy the State of Israel—their words, not mine. They want to purify Islam and attack the United States—again, their words, not mine.
"This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point, and I would urge the Biden administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran's ability to refine oil," Graham said. "These oil refineries need to be hit and hit hard because that is the source of cash for the regime to perpetrate their terror. My prayers are with the people of Israel, and may God continue to bless Israel."
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