First Amendment Activist is in Danger. Lakewood is a War Zone. Litvaks Attack Hassidim? A Load of Nonsense…

When Harming Another Becomes An Indoctrinated Acceptable Practice, Religious Belief Has Little Value

Published 5.13.21 10:33 am, edited 5.16.21 6:07pm

Dear Readers:

Before we begin, we had contemplated whiting out the faces of the children in the photos below. But they are published and we decided we would follow the lead of the publication. The children and parents, it would seem, take such pride in their behavior.

The story is not about the “Litvaks versus the Hasidim. That is a load of “Chara” put out as poor excuse to enshroud deeply violent behavior. The violence is against one family, that of First Amendment Activist. It is intended to shut him up. And, in our view, there is little difference between indoctrinating your children to violently terrorize a family or strapping a bomb to their waists and telling them to explode it where it can cause the most damage – all for a cause – religion.

We have relied on facts presented by First Amendment Activist, a fellow blogger and journalist looking out for the well-being of his friends, family and Jewish brethren in Lakewood, Toms River and Ocean County, New Jersey. A fact-check of FAA’s material is nothing if not accurate. Scary thing for a community that wants to keep its dirty laundry out of plain sight.

EVERYONE, bar none, should be thankful for his advocacy in New Jersey. What the protesters are doing is not a “great goal” as stated by a Rebbitzin in the article below. These children, encouraged by their parents, are treacherous savages trying to silence a blogger and activist.

First Amendment Activist is a deeply religious person, with a steady ethical and moral set of views and standards grounded in a belief in G-d, family and country. He should be declared a hero in his community. Instead, he is now being treated as a Pariah. Sadly, the hierarchy of police, government, the mayor, the governing bodies are doing nothing to assist him as he gets his house “egged” on a daily basis, as he gets ostracized and as his family gets threatened with violence. All in the name of G-d? No. All in the name of covering up crimes committed in the name of G-d. That is nothing if not G-dless.

The responsible parties of these children who find pleasure in violence, are parents who have taught their children that this behavior is okay, acceptable, if not encouraged. Religious, allegedly devout parents are teaching their children that violence is to be rewarded. The JNews which published this story has it all wrong. The “Litvaks versus the Hassidim” story is not the reason for these young thugs to behave as they are behaving.

Yes. The Litvaks and the Hassidim in Ocean County, generally and Lakewood, particularly, are not allied. They are engaged in their own version of a holy war. But the reality of the story has little to do with that battle. The story should have been focused on the utter savagery being imparted upon one family. It is covered under a shroud of this holy war. And that is a lie.

To the parents of the children pictured in the below, public clips, you should be ashamed of yourselves, teaching your children that “egging” houses, that calling someone a “moser” is okay. The children are dressed as G-d faring disciples. Sadly, the children suffer the sins of the parents and they are nothing, if not thugs and hoodlums bullying and endorsing violence.

The Massive Funeral Reported Earlier Today Makes the Papers – Covid-19 and Superspreading at a Satmar Funeral

Maskless funeral goers in Williamsburg from the New York Post

NYC synagogue foiled over giant wedding succeeds in holding jam-packed funeral

A Brooklyn synagogue that was stopped by the state before it could host a massive wedding in October finally succeeded on Monday in pulling off another potential super-spreader event — a jam-packed funeral.

The Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar went coronavirus rogue for the funeral of 94-year-old former chief Satmar judge Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Menashe Friedman — with up to an estimated 5,000 people cramming the house of worship at 152 Rodney St. in Williamsburg.

Bodies were pressed in on all sides and spilled out onto the sidewalk as just a fraction of the Hasidic crowd was seen wearing masks.

Five NYPD officers were seen standing nearby outside the house of worship — where a crowd of men and boys failed to socially distance, many also maskless or with their masks down around their necks.

“Normally, we would avoid having such a crowd unless it was for something very, very important. This was one of those times,’’ said an attendee whose first name is Lipa.

“This man was a giant,’’ he said of Friedman. “He was there from the beginning, when the community was rebuilding after the war. A very, very holy man. For someone like him, you couldn’t keep people from coming even if you wanted to.”

To continue reading click here.

Thousands Attend Massive Funeral in Israel Little Regard for Public Safety in Covid-19, Government Gutless

Thousands attend Jerusalem funeral of top rabbi who died from COVID-19

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attend the funeral of late Rabbi Aharon David Hadash, spiritual leader of the Mir Yeshiva, in Jerusalem, on December 3, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Thousands of people took part in a Jerusalem funeral procession Thursday for a senior ultra-Orthodox rabbi who died after being infected with the coronavirus, with many disregarding Health Ministry social distancing rules.

Rabbi Aharon David Hadash, who died overnight Wednesday at the age of 93, was the spiritual leader of the world-famous Mir Yeshiva, one of the largest and most famous Talmudic colleges. He reportedly was diagnosed with COVID-19 two months ago and, although initially thought to be making a recovery, his condition recently deteriorated.

Funerals are currently limited to 20 people under government-mandated restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Yeshiva representatives were said to have reached an understanding with the Israel Police to enable a larger number of people to attend the funeral– with participants separated into groups of limited numbers that would maintain social distancing among themselves.

בניגוד להנחיות: קהל רב מתכנס כעת סמוך לישיבת מיר בירושלים, שם נשמעים הספדים לרב אהרן חדש. כוחות משטרה נמצאים במקום והם נערכים למסע הלוויה שייצא מהישיבה להר המנוחות בגבעת שאול@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/whVxLdKJZk

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 3, 2020

הלוויית הרב אהרן חדש: תיעוד נוסף מההתקהלות בישיבת מיר@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/WsIjEuRrWz

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 3, 2020

Minor scuffles broke out as police tried to block mourners taking part in the funeral procession from advancing beyond the Kikar Hashabat intersection, according to video aired by the Kan public broadcaster.

Continue reading at The Times of Israel by clicking here.

Scrutinizing Religious Leaders of Any Religion is Necessary When their Flouting Authority Leads to Death – Covid-19

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths look at Israeli police as they patrol to enforce restrictions of a partial lockdown against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, March 30, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.

Orthodox Leaders Flouted State Authority for Years — Coronavirus Spread Was the Result

By now, there is near universal agreement that the initial response from many ultra-Orthodox leaders to the spread of coronavirus was an embarrassing and deadly failure.

While some wanted to chalk up early non-compliance with the social distancing guidelines among the ultra-Orthodox to just a handful of crazies — or claim that the leadership has done everything in their power to stop it — more recent incidents of non-compliance leave no doubt that the problem is real and systemic.

A Yeshiva That Stays Open Amid Covid 19 Risks the Lives of Everyone – akin to Bio-Terrorism (Israel)

SHOWDOWN: Despite Police Visit to Harav Chaim Kanievsky, the Rav Says That Yeshivas & Chadarim Cannot Be Closed

Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Motzei Shabbos of the partial shutdown being imposed on Israeli citizens in wake of the spreading coronavirus, the Health Ministry issued a new order on Sunday morning, directing all yeshivos and kollelim to close down.

However, the yeshivos and kollelim were already opened for the day on Sunday and many chadarim opened as well as word spread that Hagadol Harav Chaim Kanievsky said that bittul Torah is more dangerous than the coronavirus.

Following the Health Ministry’s directives to close all schools, a principal of a cheder approached Harav Chaim and asked the Gadol what to do. Harav Chaim answered: “Continue learning as usual,” adding that the Health Ministry’s instructions in all other matters besides closing the chadarim and yeshivas should be strictly followed.

Later, the principal returned and asked HaRav Chaim if he should follow this instruction even if the school is visited by police and fined. HaRav Chaim answered that Torah learning must continue as usual.

To continue, please click here.

Rabbi Berland, Shuvu Banim, A Disappearance, Religious Extremism, Sexual Assault and Modesty Patrols

From HaAretz – To read the entire article click here.

New True Crime Show Explores ‘Insane’ Story of a Prominent Rabbi, Sexual Assault and a Missing Teen

‘It’s a story you hear and dismiss as an urban legend at first,’ says creator of Israeli docu series delving into the world of Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who served prison time for sexual assault

On the night of January 23, 1986, a 17-year-old yeshiva student disappeared in Jerusalem. Nissim Shitrit was last seen in the area of an ultra-Orthodox community in the Jerusalem Hills. Four months earlier, members of a so-called modesty patrol came to the yeshiva where Shitrit was enrolled. Disguised as yeshiva students, they told the teenager that two well-known rabbis wanted to speak to him about his future. Shitrit went with them to the beach. They began to beat him up, but stopped when a police van drove by.

Shitrit filed a complaint with the police about the attack, telling investigators that his assailants had identified themselves as members of a modesty patrol who told him they came to teach him a lesson for having dared to go out with girls. In his statement, he added that one of his attackers was Shmuel Habany, a known follower of Rabbi Eliezer Berland and a member of the rabbi’s Shuvu Banim Hasidic community in Jerusalem. Habany was arrested, but released after denying a connection to the incident.

 

…

Members of Berland’s community are people who became religiously observant and are not wanted in their secular home but also are not welcomed in the Haredi community, which often sees them as unmarriageable. To what extent did that situation allow Berland to wield control over consciousness of his followers?

“It’s easier to take these people, who are tabula rasa in terms of religion, and to tell them things that they’ll consider to be absolute truths. From there it’s easier to also arrive at extremism. Often they actually choose a new identity for themselves, changing their names. With Berland there was also this extremism surrounding the laws of modesty, until at the end he was convicted of sex crimes. I think Berland has obsessions surrounding sexual control, and that’s where all the insanity came from. There are testimonies I was exposed to from additional women who didn’t go to court but testified before a rabbinical tribunal.”

In the movie and beyond, Berland is portrayed as a dangerous man with great influence over his followers. Perhaps law enforcement isn’t dealing with him and his sect in a reasonable manner, even when he preaches violence.

“I can’t understand it. After all he is a spiritual authority who has great influence. It’s like a riddle. I don’t know why and how it happens. I don’t have answers. To come and say that maybe there’s someone in the police who wants to protect Berland? I find that hard to believe. He is a powerful man with connections to a lot of people, including people from the underworld, who are considered his followers.”

Do you think there’s a connection between underworld figures and the fact that the police seem to be lenient toward him?

“If there is, that would be frightening.”

During your research, did you consider whether there are figures in the police who are protecting Berland at some level?

“There’s a young woman who filed a police complaint against Berland for sexual harassment. A woman I know accompanied her. I know that a few hours after the complaint was submitted, Berland was already at Ben-Gurion International Airport and he left on a trip that lasted three years, until he was extradited [here]. People who left Shuvu Banim told me a few times that they had lost their faith in the police because of the way they were treated. There were so many things that Berland did and said, ostensibly including calls to murder someone, and you don’t understand how he wasn’t arrested.”

New investigation

In the wake of your movie’s findings, the police have launched a new investigation into the disappearance of Nissim Shitrit. Do you believe that this time they will investigate the case with the seriousness that it deserves?

“I shall be very disappointed if the case of Nissim and of Avi Edri is not reopened,” Haziza said, referring to a different unsolved murder, carried out in the Jerusalem Hills in 1990 and attributed to the modesty patrols.“If at the end of the new investigation there are no answers, it will surprise and disappoint me very much.”

It’s possible that you’ll be called in and asked about findings in the case. What will happen if you’re asked to testify in a way that involves reporter’s privilege – the protection of confidential sources?

To read the story in its entirety, click here.

RLUIPA – a Manipulation of Religious Law – Allowing Unabated Legal Segregation

From the Facebook pages of  Clarkstown What They Don’t Want You to Know

RLUIPA – Under This Law You Can Declare Your Stupidity Or Ignorance To Be Part Of Your ‘Religion’ And Claim A Benefit As Your Right.

The classical definitions of words in the English language continue to be lost as our courts lose common basic sense. How is the word ’Religion’ to be defined for the purpose of making government policies and laws? Is it any belief held by any person?

How is a ‘School’ to be defined for the purpose of ensuring that government policies and laws can be applied and public funds be expended?

Have you ever heard of the ‘Christian Identity’ religion? On what authority does the court accept that a ‘religion’ that claims to be ‘Christian’ is indeed either a ‘religion’ or that it holds to an historically recognizable ‘Christian’ theology.

What is the definition of a ‘school’? What is the definition of a ‘Christian’? What is the definition of a ‘law’ if an act such as RLUIPA has no foundation to support it in terms of historically understood definitions?

Read on ….

QUOTE
Two Michigan prison inmates, proclaiming themselves adherents of the “Christian Identity” religion, sought the prison’s official recognition to be allowed to conduct their own worship services, apart from other inmates. The prison already recognized 20 religions, including a number of Christian denominations, but the two men said they couldn’t pray with others because their religion demanded “white separatism.”