Mentalblog links

Biur Chametz: According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, there are some 290,000 such citizens who are neither recognized as Jewish nor Arab.
Bloghead: Isaiah Berlin, Yehudi Menuhin and Lubavitcher Rebbe are cousins.
Dramatic news from the Hassid and the Heretic, the Shtreimel is outed: Jnet - BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
Rabbinical Authority Consortium of HACKers: What do you want from blogging?
Out of Step Jew: The Challenge of the Religious Soldier.
Dark day for men everywhere, Noa is engaged! Jerusalem revealed: Od Yishama B'arei Yehuda.
Crown Heights: Mrs. Mermelstein, the wife of Mr. Mermelstein of Mermelstien Catering on Kingston Ave passed away.
JTA NEWS: To deal with his son�s death, father writes Orthodox westerns.
If I forget thee...... Gilly has a fasinating serious of posts from his Miluim service.

Bring back the Lubavitcher headgear

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to Wedding in Moscow:

In the memoirs of the late R. Israel Jacobson (in Hebrew, published by KEHOTH) of Ch, there is a note that the great Mashpiah Reb Nissan Neminov urgerd Anash upon leaving Russia in 1946 not to abandon the kasket (Russian peasant cap) and not to wear the fedora. Only when they came to Pocking a DP camp in Germany did the Russian Lubavitchers feel strange as they wore different head gear than the charedim from Hungary, Galicia and Poland. So they buckled under "peer" pressure and abandoned their levush that Stalin could not get them to change ! When Reb Mendel Futterfass came to the USA in 1962 he wore the kasket, later on there were about a dozen or so zikne Anash who still wore the kasket. Most Lubavitcher are into imitatio dei - that is copying the Boss and wore and still wear Al Capone type hats. More and more younger Chabad people (since 1994) just wear a middle sized modern type yarmulka reserving the hat for ritual occasions.

UPDATE: Shmarya asks� �Can one buy a kasket in America? If so, where? (And I don't mean a modified Greek Fisherman's Cap or a 'Fiddler' Cap.)�
I will have to look into importing. Meanwhile I propose some alternatives: perhaps this trusted brand of Borsalino or that, but here is my real recommendation.

Rubashkin family consolidates power in Chabad

Results of yesterdays Community Consul elections in Crown Heights via comments to 770 Blog:

Anonymous said... "After nearly 3 hours of counting 1208 ballots, the results are all in and Crown Heights has a new Vaad HaKohol - CHJCC of 5 members. The 1208 ballots cast represent an increase of 100 total votes from the last election 3 years ago.

The winners, in order of most votes received are: Moshe Rubashkin, Tzvi Lang, Shmuel Plotkin, Leibish Nash and Chanina Sperlin. The following is the breakdown of the final amount of votes and percentage of the votes received by the candidates.

CANDIDATES, NUMBER OF VOTES & % VOTES
1 - Zev Cadaner - 590 - 49%
2 - Yosef Keller - 452 - 38%
3 - Tzvi Lang - 718 - 60%
4 - Yossel Mochkin - 564 - 46%
5 - Leibish Nash - 634 - 53%
6 - Shmuel Plotkin - 636 - 53%
7 - Moshe Rubashkin - 849 - 71%
8 - Chanina Sperlin - 621 - 52%"

Tzemach says: The winner Moshe Rubashkin will become Chair of the Vaad and now naturally we will never, ever hear any explanation about Shechita-gate from any Chabad Rabbi.

UPDATE No.1: Via Shmarya. A question to our readers: who is Moshe Rubashkin who pleaded guilty to bank fraud here in the court papers? Is that the same person?

UPDATE No.2: New blog "Crown Heights" reports on the New Gaboyim.

UPDATE No.3: Jewish Whistleblower finds this to be an excellent opportunity to dig knee deep into the publicly available dirt on the subject.

Al Jazeera No.5 global brand in 2004

So much for Hasbara:
In the survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics by online magazine Brandchannel, Apple ousted search engine Google from last year's top spot, but the surprise to many will be Al Jazeera's entry into the top five.
1. Apple
2. Google
3. Ikea
4. Starbucks
5. Al Jazeera
The rest of the survey: via Yahoo! News.
OK, the survey included British academics. So the inclusion of the Al Jazeera is to be expected.

Wedding in Moscow

I scanned some of the photos I took in 1988 in the Old Maryina Roscha Shule (before it burned down). I am not sure who are the Choson and Cala but there were a lot of old friends in Shule that day and generally it was simple and full of joy. That was an ideal wedding to my taste.

Shame on Chabad Shluchim for importing kitsch fashion of 1930s fedoras to the Mother Russia.

Reb Geitcha was Mesader Kiddushin. In the far left corner looking on is Uri Kamyshov (he is now in Maale Adumim).


First on the left is Misha Goihberg (last time I saw him at Shloshim of Grisha Rosenstein Zal in Jerusalem 2 years ago but he migh be back in Russia now, teaching). I miss the Russian salads...

Schneur Zalman of NY on elections in Crown Heights

There are two important elections today one is in Iraq and the other in Crown Heights. Both regions yearn for democratic process and order. Shheur Zalman is thinking about one of the elections (via comments to this post).

Elections are being held today (Jan. 30, 2005) for the Vaad Hakahal (Community Council) of Crown Heights. This body is supposed to be sort of a neighborhood Jewish governing body dealing with communal religious and secular issues. The body is currently led by Rav Chanina Sperlin Shlita.

Many candidates are running for the 7 slots on this council. The Crown Heights hotline has allowed them to tape their messages in hopes of winning election. One can dial it up and listen to the truth in Crown Heights. Yes the truth is available for the cost of a phone call!

A common theme is that there are many widows, orphans and poor people in CH not being assisted by anyone. They are allowed to remain isolated and poor. Exact numbers of such cases are given. The rabbinate is split and do not talk to each other. Here we are even not talking about Rav Heller who in fact quit the rabbinate. One candidate suggests that they "duke it out" in private. Others suggest new rabbinical elections. Clearly the Rabbis rabbi Ozdaba and Schvei are having problems dealing with each other.

The candidates recognize the need for social services for teenage boys and girls and young married. One calls for the erection of a JCC with a swimming pool so that women can relax in the AM by taking in a few laps. Perhaps this center could be named after the ideological father of community centers - Dr. Mordecai Kaplan. The candidates recognize that the present Vaad is a no can do group. They claim it does not represent neighborhood needs at the appropriate legislative and administrative bodies. Some candidates admit that the Williamsburg leadership has led to an unprecedented growth of that kehilla, including massive housing construction, while CH is not growing. Other talk of some 30 millionaires among Chabad yungeleit in CH. The implication being that these men are not too supportive of neighborhood needs. The new Children's Museum also comes in for criticism as a waste of millions that the community needs in terms of social services (by the way kahal's mikveh in Ch was closed for almost a week recently).

A general consensus is a breakdown in religious values among many teenagers and young married. Rav Muchkin a serious candidate calls for a VH paid mashpia on each and every blokc using the Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin mentor model. Only in this way does he claim can younger people be influenced to daven and learn. What is clear is that CH has many spiritual and material problems. And that the locals recognize these issues and seek to deal with them. Unlike the Krinsky propaganda aimed at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and its affiliates claiming that all is well after the events of 1994, all in fact is not well. And in fact these issues do not even include the messianic issue!

It seems that locals in CH know well what is going on in Flatbush and Williamsburg and BP. They know of rabbinical groups, social services and serious attempts to deal with at risk kids.

The reality of Crown Heights conflicts with the PR image so important to Krinsky, Herson , Cunin , Kotlarsky and Co. Why not appoint a shliach to CH, someone like Krinsky or one of the Cunins. If no one wants the job I will gladly take it and I promise not to fund raise.
Signed: Schneur Zalman of NY

The Shaigetz of London

Him, Me and I:

People like me could be dangerous to the force because looking in from inside you see with more clarity. But we can also be used to provide information they could never get otherwise. I believe the Shgatzim and the Chassidim are using each other blatantly. The Chassidim use the shgatzim as a buffer zone between the world outside with its vital information and the rose-coloured world inside the bubble where the truth is what the Rebbe says it is and tomorrow Mashich will come, hopefully before the bailiffs. The Shgatzim meanwhile from inside propogate their agenda of education and cultural awareness.

A group of Lubavitchers known as Tsfatim, the foot soldiers of the Mashiach army pictured last week in front of 770.

A Simple Jew writes that he quit some of his Chabad minhogim (customs) and turned to the traditions of his heritage in Ukraine. Josh who chronicles the life of Baal Tshuva applauds his decision.

It is all one genetic pool with slight cultural differences (ok not slight). But anyhow imagine someone in the future would say that he is done with minhogim of California because he discovered that his ancestors are from Pennsylvania? I am sure it would sound silly to you. On the other hand Lubavitch is very adamant about having superior way of doing everything. Cheers to the mature soul for questioning the supremacy.

Go Iraq...go!

IRAQ THE MODEL: On Sunday, the sun will rise on the land of Mesopotamia. I can't wait, the dream is becoming true and I will stand in front of the box to put my heart in it.
Mohammed.

Friends of Democracy - Iraq Election News

Matisyahu in Chicago, music and blog media

People occasionally send me links to a local newspaper articles about Matisyahu. Inevitably I find them boring. Confronted by the Hasidic reggae freak the newspapers have an unenviable task of concocting a brew consisting of 40% political correctness, 50% stereotypes and 10% unintelligible interviews. Contrast that with the live sophisticated spot on reporting one reads in the blogs and you will understand that this medium is the future of communication.

By the way of illustration you can find a top shelf reports about Matisyahu Chicago concert, one by Psycho Toddler and another by Velvel. Both have the level of sophistication about music, Jewish music and Jewish culture that is unmatched at any old media publications. Chop 'em Down boys!

P. S. By the way I was having lunch today with friends. There was a 15 years old kid who claimed that when he was at Matisyahu concert at the New Jew in Boston he understood 85% of the words! Is it physically possible to understand 85% of the words on the first listen?

Erich Neumann is 100 years old

Haaretz published a long article about Erich Neuman: Psychologist Erich Neumann - designated heir to the great Carl Jung - would have been 100 years old this week. Despite his renown abroad, Neumann lived in relative obscurity in Israel, enveloped in Tel Aviv's 'yekke' culture.

I spend few years thinking about Jungian legacy and ideas. Among his talmidim there were two giants - Erich Neuman and Marie-Louise von Franz. I recommend The Fear of the Feminine by Neuman and Golden Ass of Apuleius: The Liberation of the Feminine in Man by Marie-Louise von Franz, and actually everything else written by the authors. That reminds me that my "project" of reading the book about Alchemy by von Franz is still incomplete.

Fake VW Polo ad

The ad everyone's talking about. It shows a car withstanding a suicide bomber blast. Nice�

Someone sent the ad as a demo to a British agency and it was leaked, to the dismay of VW.
New York Times article.

Yitro - an interlude with meaning

Sharvul of Nafka Mina blogs about the Parsha from Tokyo, Japan (or is he still in New Zealand? I can't keep up with his travels).

Auschwitz Blogburst

Psycho Toddler tells the story of his family.

Yahoo! News: Asteriod named after murdered Czech Jewish boy 60 years after his death.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld to the Vatican's embassy in Washington: "We want our children back."

Times Online: Could Britain have done more to stop the horrors of Auschwitz?

for Anton Rosenberg

REMBRANDT, Philosopher in Meditation 1632, Mus�e du Louvre

Lukeford.net is banned from USA

Luke Ford writes:

Lukeford.net is down because pesky lawyers got to my host. I'd like recommendations for a good offshore website host, preferably one who will be anonymous, so that I can publish with little fear of nasty lawyers reaching out and harassing my hosting company. I am not concerned with lawyers threatening me with charges of libel. I just don't want to hop around from host to host. (P. S. he found a host)

Little wonder that the lawyers are after Luke. Witness the poor S&M Rabbi who was outed by Luke Ford. The Rabbi Jeremy Hershy Worch his last family in shambles is in exile in Istanbul Turkey where he continues to blog about desire.

Golden era of Moscow Jewry

Schneur Zalman of NY asks: Who are the true spiritual leaders of Russian Jewry who emigrated to the West? By 1990 there were only a few old real rabbis left in European Russia. The rabbis of Moscow and Leningrad, Riga and Kiev were all trained in the rabbinical seminary in Hungary. Lubavitch is appointing rabbis as political leaders not as dayanim who know no Jewish history. I doubt R. Lazar knows much about Jewish history or secular history. I am sure he has no idea who Molotov was? But he outmaneuvered rabbis Shayevitch and Goldschmid and took over.

Shneur, as you know there were two waves of Lubavitch emigration from Russia. 1st was after the WWII when thousands of Lubavitchers left USSR pretending to be displaced Polish citizens. The second emigration was in the late 60s. That�s when the last of Geza Lubavitchers like Mendel Futerfas, Bisk (Labkovsky) from Moscow, Mishulovins from Samarkand, Osher Sassonkin from Donezk (?), Yosif Mochkin from Tashkent, etc. left USSR. By the late sixties the world wide wave of spiritual revival reached Moscow but there were virtually no Geza Lubavitchers left. There is this big myth that Lubavitch kept religion alive in Russia. I can tell you that by the end of 70s there were no Lubavitchers in Moscow. Except a few whom I can count on one hand like Reb Geitcha Zal, Reb Sholom der Soyfer (not even sure they were original Geza).

There was a window of tremendous grown in Jewish learning between 1977 and 1987. When I say leaders I do not mean appointees I mean people who had influence on others and had a big role in those years. I call this the golden era of Moscow Jewry.

Firstly there was Reb Avrohom Miller, Zal (a talmid of Chofetz Chayim) who for years had a daily gemora shir in Moscow. He taught people what is limud. Then there was Eliyahu Essas (currently in Jerusalem), who despite allegation of being in the KGB pocket attracted countless people, Michael Schneider (currently in Maale Adumim) a spiritual giant, Pinchas Polonsky (currently in Bet El) who continues to be the most exciting thinker amongst Russian Jews today and finally my blood brother Zeev Meshkov, a poet and philosopher (sorry no Morristown degrees) (currently in Daniel, Gush Etzion). There were number of great Jews who revived Ivrit as a gateway to Jewish culture. They created an underground school who�s educational excellence was never duplicated anywhere in the world.

Birobidzan born Shayevitch came to replace Rabbi Fishman. He was an official appointee and subsequently he could not be taken seriously, although he is a nice man and a decent Jew.

But the key to understanding the "success" of Lazar and others is the deep secret about Russian culture that many overlook. Hidden within a Russian soul is the belief that foreigners are better. That is why they imported Italian architects to built Kremlin, mimicked Dutch in planning Saint Petersburg to resemble Amsterdam, made sure that French was a "mama loshen" of Russian aristocracy and had German engineers run all important factories during the Industrial revolution. So Shayevitch can not match an appeal (rooted in inferiority) of foreign born Rabbis nor can he match their undisputable authenticity.


The picture of Reb Geitcha Zal, I took it on my trip back to Moscow in 1988. Behind Reb Geitcha is is his portrait painted by my friend an artist Anton Rosenberg. People do not like to talk about it but Anton Rosenberg killed himself after living in Crown Heights. Anton, you adored Rembrandt, I post his paintings in your memory.

Lubavitch of Ukraine, what side are you on?

Just like Rabbi Berl Lazar who provides a political cover for Putin, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky served as a cover to the ex president Kuchma who�s regime was marred by overwhelming corruption and beheadings of journalists.

Walter Ruby reports in JTA: This year, the rabbi lost power, Yuschenko�s win weakens Jewish leader. Kaminetzky frequently jetted to Israel with top Ukrainian government leaders, and his praise for Kuchma�s successful efforts to prevent anti-Semitic violence in this traditionally anti-Semitic country helped Kuchma in his interactions with the United States and other Western countries.

It is especially astounding that CJP of Boston still supports the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk with full knowledge of virtual fusion between Rabbi Kaminetzky and the oligarchs of Ukraine.

Victor Yuschenko, you are on the side of light against darkness.

Happy Tu B'Shvat from Boston!

Drug-hit yeshivot fear for their future

First there was this Jerusalem post article, then a follow up. And now Out of Step Jew reports from the scene.

UPDATE: A letter from the Mashgiach of Neve Tzion via Luke Ford.

Matisyahu video on Last Call with Carson Daly

Finally, there is a video of Matisyahu on Last Call with Carson Daly.
Matisyahu is performing "A King Without A Crown", enjoy!

I think this was a very strong performance as is evidenced by the reaction. But to my taste it was a bit rushed. Matisyahu was not relaxed enough and rushed some of his transitions. Aaron Dugan fabulous guitar solo was perhaps a 10th of his normal routine. For what it�s worth this was a superb performance but it was not as powerful as the one on Jimmy Kimmel.

Putin to get a medal from Lubavitch in... Auschwitz

(News via Shmarya) Reaching a new low in the annals of Lubavitch history, Moscow's Rabbi Berl Lazar announced that "on January 27 Russian President Vladimir Putin will be decorated at Auschwitz with the Salvation medal as a symbol of gratitude to the Soviet people for the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp�"


Imprisoned Jewish head of Yukos oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky caged in defendant's box. (See Kremlin Targets Jewish Tycoons In War on Critics)

Just like the oligarch in Russia who managed to accumulate wealth after destruction of the "Evil Empire" by grabbing it�s property, the Italian born Lazar entered the vacuum after the true spiritual leaders of the soviet Jewry emigrated to the West. One of his job descriptions is occasionally to serve as an ideological "krysha" (cover) in Putin's court. Particularly now when Putin�s Russia is in the middle of the totalitarian through back.

In fact while Soviet role in defeating Hitler is indisputable it is precisely the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that sealed the fate of most Polish and Central European Jews murdered in Auschwitz. Putin�s Alma Mater is KGB. Indeed when Lubavitch is brownnosing power and money from Boston to Moscow, there are no discernable moral boundaries.

Alas Putin is not alone. Here you can see Berl Lazar and others give "covod" to Romano Prodi, a notoriously pro Palestinian Chief of European Commission.(want to know more about Prodi? Drill this Front Page article)

P.S. How is it possible for Rabbi Berl Lazar to hold a BA in Religious Studies and MA in Jewish Philosophy from Rabbinical College of America when the college doesn�t not even offer a masters program? But then again, if the Rebbe can be a graduate of Sorbonne why can�t Berl Lazar have a Masters in philosophy from Morristown?

Patriots are going to the big dance!

The dynasty.

Blogging - "a waste of time"?

Why do people consider blogging "a waste of time"? People often ask me: "How much time do you spend doing this?" I have a friend who is a gardener in addition to his day job; he divides the universe into two categories � stuff he planted or will be planting and everything else. I don't think anyone ever asked him how much time he spends in his garden. It�s the same with people who have a hobby; they are immune from the charge. But blogging is associated with internet hence it�s wasteful. Somehow even the big bloggers who have left the traditional journalism in the dust are also wasting their time by virtue of the medium.

OK, let's agree that my blog is indeed "a waste of time" but what are your thoughts on this in general?

Clueless in Israel

How does this become a front page news? Haaretz Article: A 16-year-old from the settlement of Kedumim was arrested Sunday for running over and killing a sheep which belonged to a Palestinian shepherd. The youth was being held in the police station in the settlement city of Ariel, and police will ask for him to be remanded on Monday morning.

Message of Israel�s Ministry of Education to American Olim - Stay home: The Ministry of Education is refusing to recognize undergraduate diplomas issued by U.S. universities that accept a year of yeshiva study in Israel as degree credits.

Mentalblog award

Mentalblog award for design and content of a Jewish blog goes to Robert Avrech�s Seraphic Secret.

Obituary page

Our condolences to Rabbis Eli and Yudel Shain who were sitting shiva last week. The famous Mohel Rabbi Eli Shain brought into the covenant thousands of Jewish souls. Rabbi Yudel Shain is a courageous defender of laws and principals of kashrus. This is a truly unique family and the soul of their mother will be a defender for us all.

Boston blizzard

Diggin out.
Hey hatshepsut, does this look like your home in Island?

Yud Shvat 5765

24/7 guard protecting the plaque of Even Hapina in front of 770 (Photo COL)

Shneur Zalman of NY comments:
�shlichus has become the central force of Lubavitch. All adult males desire to be shluchim either in the US or overseas. And many actually do so. Hence fund raising and PR are always on the mind of most Lubavitcher shluchim.

Lets take a kollel in Chicago for example, there the director thinks about fund raising and the other guys learn. The rank and file do not do PR or fund raise. In the Chabad houses things are different almost every shliach is also a fund raiser and even his children are enlisted in PR work. Even shluchot (I wonder if the Rebbe authorized such an institutionalized title) are doing fund raising and PR work. In other Chasidic groups various specialists fund raise. In Lubavitch at least 30% of all adult males are just such specialists; always fund raising and doing PR work. Do reasonable people not see how this affects the spiritual nature of the group?

A message to Hasidic Musician from the JDub Records forum: Matisyahu On Last Call With Carson Daily:

Post subject: New fan... I had never heard of Matisyahu until I saw the show on Carson Daly early this morning. I'm a musician myself, and was completely blown away. Going to make the pilgrimage from my home in Florida to see the Atlanta show. I'm not even Jewish, but seeing Matisyahu and hearing the powerful lyrics inspires me to want to learn about Hasidic Judaism.

UPDATE: Jewlicious on Matisyahu in Montreal: Talk about a mixed crowd.

Naked Exile

We humans go to great lengths to belong to a tribe, an extended family that loves you unconditionally, rewards you with an ecstasy of tribal dance and purpose. To achieve this goal we are prepared to risk all, join gangs, face gulag, we are ready to forgo our very souls, our sense of truth and our dreams. I often feel that the price of admission is not worthy the rickety foundations? Yet the yearning to be part of something greater is unabated, so is disappointment of this naked exile.

Dirck van DELEN, Palace Courtyard with Figures, 1635, Philip Hahn Collection, New York

Shechita, secular courts and Lubavitch

To follow up on the questions about appropriateness of the secular courts in Krinsky versus 770 affair, etc.

The precedent was already set with the Rayatz Library. Lubavitch in general and many of the Chasidim yearn to be validated by the secular world. Within the movement there is a deep need to be approved and liked by people of position and stature in the secular society.

I remember how I was confused by the honors Lubavitchers gave to people like Prof. Branover and others like him. It seemed to me that one had to call himself a "professor" to be immediately placed on a pedestal in 770. This humiliation in front of people with secular knowledge always appeared to me disconnected from the rhetoric about spiritual superiority.

In addition Beis Din of Crownheights never retained the authority of Rabbi Dvorkin. This is now displayed in front of our very eyes with the silence about the Rubashkin Shechita.

Could any of our Shpitz Chabad readers do us all a big favor and call Rav Ozdoba with the following questions:

1. We think that Rabbi Zirkind inspected the Postville plant on behalf of BD of C. There are reasons to believe that the throat ripping AKA "the second cut" did not go unnoticed. Please clarify these finding and BD of C reaction to this discovery that occurred prior to the PETA controversy.
2. How do you respond to the Rabbi Yudel Shain allegations that there are no special productions in the Postville plant?
3. Are you in agreement with OU about the prohibition of the second cut procedure? Please clarify your position.
4. Do you think the current design of the rotating pen needs adjustments?
5. Do you think it is appropriate for the BD of C to comment on the issues of kashrus?

Mentalblog links

Out of step Jew: For many years, R. Soloveithcik opposed changes in Halakhah for the reason of "al tifrosh min hatzibbu" � we shall not separate ourselves from the community. However, in these times, it is not the modern-Orthodox or the religious-Zionists that have separated themselves from the community, but the haredi rabbinic leadership.

Jerusalem Post: Student came for Torah, but found heroin. FLASHBACK
The Village Voice: The problems of young Lubavitcher Hasidim in a world without the Rebbe.

Shluchim PR Package

"Suppose you are to meet with a potential supporter for the first time. He's a well known philanthropist, possibly sympathetic to your cause, and extremely busy. Chabad is something he has never encountered, and he's given you seven minutes of his time for your pitch. What do you say?"

Trustees of 770 fight Yudel Krinsky in court

Shheur Zalman of NY writes in the comments to this post:

I am surprised that no one is reporting Yudel Krinsky�s attempt at evicting the Cong. 770 where the Rebbe davened from the building of 770. He is fighting the duly elected gabboim and leadership of this kahal of Lubavitcher chasidim. He is doing this in secular court and against the will of all official rabbonim in Crown Heights.

In fact 770Rambler is doing an excellent job reporting on the issue (Didan Nozach, the sequel).

If you recall it all started with the confrontation after Yudel Krinsky & Co. installed a plaque on 770 referring to the Rebbe in the past tense. Yudel Krinsky went to court placing a restraining order on the offenders of the plaque (see a clarification on the sequence of the events in comments to this post). In turn 770 Trustees and Gabboim claiming to represent Congregation Lubavitch filed a cross motion claiming the ownership of the 770. They assert that he has not right to place a "divisive" plaque on the building.

To add drama to the struggle, a contingent of Tzfat bohrim was airlifted to 770 to reinforce the Mashichist camp. They already managed to case trouble.

And today this: "The visitors from Sefad joined their older friends today in chanting aloud, and in unison, from the Rebbe's Farbrengen Bima the law from Maimonides forbidding cooperating with gentile authorities."

UPDATE #1: COL - Chabad On Line: Photographic evidence of the plaque fight. Complete with pictures of the arrest of our Boston's own Ariel Sokolovsky.

UPDATE #2: To prove my point that any revolution will be blogged, a competing blog to the 770Rambler: 770 Reality.

If you are confused by same-sex attractions

JONAH is a non-profit international organization dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the prevention, intervention, and healing of the underlying issues causing same-sex attractions.

Zombie report on Solomonia

Solomonia published a link to the Zombie report with photos and audio about the anti-terror rally in Berkley. Jerusalem Bus#19 crossed the continent. Thank you for positing a report about our rally in Boston past June.

PS Zombie is the Eurabia dude.

Lord raise me up!

New Matisyahu video.
Matisyahu rocks B.B. King Blues Club.
Who is Matt Miller AKA Matisyahu?

Rabbi Gadol on the nature of the Lubavitch franchise system

It's not just Boston versus Thailand, it is in LA and it is in Chicago, in Buffalo, etc.

Flashback to Protocols, Rabbi Gadol says: What everybody misses about Lubavitch is the nature of the Lubavitch franchise system. Everyone thinks the issue is the Rebbe being Moshiach? Obviously that is a theological issue.

Chabad set up a strict franchising system in the 1950s and early '60s. So, for example, R. Shlomo Cunin got California. I think R. Cunin invented the term "Chabad House" in the 1970s and the Rebbe liked it. At some point, it became a full franchising authority. Anybody who wants to open a Chabad House in California has to go through R. Cunin. This has been a stifler of the Chabad emissary movement. Any rabbi who has stepped into a community where a Chabad rabbi established a shul first, he will feel the heat. The Chabad franchising establishment affects non-Lubavitch Orthodox Jews.

Every territory has a head Chabad rabbi who can fire and get rid of any other Chabad rabbi in his territory.

This has torn the Chicago Lubavitch community apart. A girls school opened. The head of the Lubavitch franchise said you are not allowed to open the school. It caused divisiveness. They then opened up a boys school. It did not succeed. Now the parents want to send their boys back to the regular Chabad school. The head of Chabad in Illinois says that I am not going to allow any boy into the regular Chabad school who has a sister at the breakaway school. Chicagoanash.com is operated by the breakway girls school. It's an acronym for men who are at peace with one another.

These strong-arm tactics are being used in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere. Since the Rebbe died, there's no balance to the power of franchising. For all the good a Rabbi Cunin has done, there are Chabadniks in California who will point out an equal depth of problems.

A few comments on the comments:
1) Yes the breakaway group in Chicago are messianists. And that alone is frustrating to me, who despises their ersatz theology. But the point remains that these tactics would have been used, and are used in many franchises, where messianism is not the issue.
2) The Crown Heights Moshiach split has more to do with money than it does with moshiach. It's just that the moshiach/rebbe is alive stuff gives a "prinicipled", theological excuse to break away from the national institutions. They're dealing with tens of millions of dollars there.
3) someone wrote: "I will point out one error and gross exageration, which will serve as a lesson for the entire post: "This has been a stifler of the Chabad emissary movement." What the hell? an increase of 100% in shluchim is considered stifling?!"

Luke, YES, YES, and again YES. The Rebbe's influence is so far-reaching that it should be greater. But it's more than the numbers. One has to look at WHERE the numbers are increasing. It is true that there is now an emissary in Zimbabwe or Congo, with a combined Jewish population of 23. But while the PR machine pats itself on the back for the increased Chabad presence in Central Africa, Melbourne or LA remain controlled by the franchise system and an independent shaliach cannot go there, because it is so-and-so's territory. Or Michigan.

I have tried for 6 years to encourage shalichim to go to City X. And nobody will touch it with a fifty-mile pole because it is in Rabbi Q's territory and nobody wants to deal with him. They wouldn't HAVE to deal with him if not for this franchise system's strictness. Buffalo is torn apart by this.

CAVEAT: I love Chabad and I revere the Rebbe. I know they have grown in the last ten years. I point out to Luke areas of failure that kept them from growing more. Rabbi Gadol.

I, Tzemach Atlas, would like to follow up on Rabbi Gabol. Often this franchising system favors hustlers versus people of substance. There have been a disastrous hands off approach during the entire Rebbe�s administration, not just after.... This enabled a territorial grab and entrenchment of the worse kind. There isn�t even a system in place for a basic accountability and competence check. As a result in towns like Boston a few inept Shluchim where allowed a monopoly for close to thirty years (a lost generation on the Lubavitcher Rebbe watch) with disastrous results for the Jewish Schools and Yiddishkite. Boston obviously is not alone.

Mentalblog links

Da'as Hedyot: The Rise of Fundamentalism.
Rishon Rishon about the aerial map of Israel.
Agnoxodox: the proliferation of atheist orthodox blogs.
Failed Messiah.com: Aish.com has pulled a number of articles by various authors from its site for "review" by "today's leading Torah scholars."
Help the Hassid, I mean the Heretic.
treppenwitz writes an amazing story of the 35 hero soldiers: The '35'.
Jerusalem revealed: Women and The Wall.
Bloghead: Cross-currents - a note to Rabbi Adlerstein, more in sorrow than anger.

Matisyahu at New Jew in Boston

Some mental notes from the concert last night:

The New Jewish High School also referred to by many as "New Jew" or the "Gann Academy" is an experimental egalitarian Jewish high school. It was created for Jewish kis who are not on the track of the Day and yeshiva systems. The need for such institution was so obvious that money poured in quickly to build a state of art campus and attract world class teachers. For example David Mamet taught drama in the New Jew and there are many examples of the same unique caliber of teachers.

The venue:
The concert was in the school's gym. This proves some points mentioned by Psycho Toddler. The sound was loud enough but it was no comparison to the rich and textured sound of the BB King club. Acoustics of the gym are terrible, no horrible. The improvised low stage didn't allow interaction with the audience so Matisyahu kept climbing on the speaker boxes. It was also an abbreviated version of the band without a keyboards player or Moshe on the bongos.

The organizer:

This "out of the club scene" concert was organized by Rabbi Moishe Leiberman a Shliach in Newton Centre. Moishe is new to Boston. I heard from an unconfirmed source that his job in Newton Centre is to help this man. The Zvhiler Rebbe is AKA the former husband of Sumner Redstone's daughter.

The crowd:
As to be expected in a school in attendance were many kids, some with parents and several Shluchim with their families and their "mekurovim". I didn�t see any mechitza if that's want