Clean Up Young Israel

Young Israel rabbi tells people they SHOULD drive to shul on Shabbos!!

2012-02-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

At about 19 minutes into this radio show [click here to open MP3] this so-called rabbi uses the same distorted, anti-Halachic logic of Conservative Judaism in telling his congregants they should drive to his Young Israel synagogue ON SHABBAT instead of staying home. When someone had already expressed an understanding they should not drive on Shabbat, this excommunicated apikorus holding the title of a Young Israel rabbi undermines their Shemiras Shabbos.

Even the Conservative Movement has admitted giving permission to drive to shul on Shabbat was a mistake --> Conservative Halakhah - Riding to the Synagogue on Shabbat & Conservative Head Calls Sabbath-Driving Rule a ‘Mistake’
Yet despite Conservative Judaism's grudging confirmation that the logic they used has proven erroneous, the leader of a YOUNG ISRAEL dares use it to encourage driving on Shabbat to his synagogue ?!
In contrast, this is what Rabbi Amos Bunim, zt'l had to say on the specific topic Lorne (Yitz) sWyne twisted like a pretzel on the radio about driving to shul on Shabbos: "The next compromise: Conservative constituents were given dispensation to drive to the synagogue on Shabbos. It was felt that this would increase attendance in the synagogue, since they were driving to the mall and to Saturday-afternoon soccer games anyway. The cardinal error in this approach was that instead of trying to educate and develop their constituency to explore and appreciate the beauties and ideals of Judaism, the leaders of the Conservative movement brought Judaism down toward the rampant assimilation of a society trying to distance itself from the heritage of Sinai." (from http://www.5tjt.com/component/content/article/30-torah/933-toras-emes-and-modernity)

DON'T BE FOOLED BY EARLIER PARTS OF THE BROADCAST WHERE sWYNE SOUNDS REASONABLE. HE IS A CHAZIR PUTTING FORTH SPLIT HOOVES TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE HE'S KOSHER. And remember that even the hooves are treif because they are part of the pig.

and the stamp of approval from the Las Vegas Kollel

HIS WORDS ON THIS TOPIC UNDERMINE THE GOALS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE FOUNDERS AND MOST OF YOUNG ISRAEL YET INSTEAD OF EXPELLING HIM, NATIONAL COUNCIL HAS KEPT HIM IN POWER AND USED FRAUD AND FORGERY TO CONCEAL HIS EXCOMMUNICATION EVEN AFTER THE BAIS DIN VERIFIED IT!!!

The Bais Din verified the authenticity of the seruv that declares him a moser!

Last year when he said the Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution, why did the Las Vegas Kollel (affiliated with Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim - Rabbinical Seminary of America) honor him and had him speak at their Annual Dinner after broadcasting such heretical sheker publicly on the radio, all the while emphasizing he is a YOUNG ISRAEL rabbi?!?

Why does Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim help an excommunicated rabbi instead of his victims?

2012-01-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Scroll down and read earlier posts for more details.

National Council of Young Israel tried to fool everyone into thinking the siruv was removed again.

Between the first siruv and this reinstatement there was a mistaken removal on Rosh Chodeh Kislev 5765. Look at the altered document above to see it.

This is the first siruv / excommunication

The leaders of Young Israel of Las Vegas are like the hooligans in Beit Shemesh!!

2012-01-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

There is an earlier incident that happened in front of reliable witnesses when the so-called rabbi's father-in-law shoved and pushed the widow (the same one they later charged with trespassing), because she was davening too long and he wanted her out of the YOUNG ISRAEL!!

Is this the right image for Young Israel and a Kollel?

2011-12-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

[Scroll down or Click here to view the siruv / excommunication]

The rabbi of the Young Israel of Las Vegas was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal : "Hanukkah owes a great debt of gratitude to Christmas for making it famous," says Rabbi Yitzchak Wyne of the Orthodox Young Israel Aish Congregation of Las Vegas. "If it didn't fall around Christmas, no one would celebrate it."

He diminishes Chanukah when he ties it in with the goyishe holiday. What a low opinion he must have of his congregants and other Jews in Las Vegas if he feels they wouldn't celebrate Chanukah without the goyim having a holiday at the same time. Does he also feel that Pesach needs Easter the same way?

The photos above were at two separate events where the excommunicated rabbi was selling his self-published book. That he enlists the aid of a personification of Xmas at one event is his prerogative. But what business did the members of the Las Vegas Community Kollel have to help him sell his personal book?

On Sunday, Dec 18, 2011, Wyne expressed further apikorsus by using rationalizations of both the Reform and Conservative Movements (without identifying them as such) on his radio program. In this clip he speaks about Cincinnati rabbis from the 1800s without identifying them as Reform, Isaac Mayer Wise and Max Lilienthal. At about 19 minutes into this clip a week earlier he gave excuses that match the failed logic of the Conservative Rabbis of the mid-20th Century why his congregants should drive to his Young Israel synagogue ON SHABBAT instead of staying home. When someone had already expressed an understanding they should not drive on Shabbat, this excommunicated apikorus holding the title of a Young Israel rabbi undermines their nascent Shemiras Shabbos.

Perek 5, Mishna 11 Avot : The sword comes to the world due to delay of justice, the perversion of justice and distortion of the Torah

2011-07-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

[click on image above to enlarge it]

Excerpt from What to do with Abusive Rabbis

(Please click on hyperlinked texts)
We cannot say any of the tragedies that have befallen us in recent years are a direct consequence of the particular injustices by Young Israel of Las Vegas to a widow and the discrimination against a wheelchair-bound veteran US Army Chaplain (click to view letter NCYI turns a blind eye to) or to the Torah elder drenched with water or the broadcast on the radio by the "rabbi" of Young Israel in Las Vegas where he says "the Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution"! Yet how can the national Young Israel stand by and allow these things the Mishnah warns us about to continue?

"the delay of justice (by issuing a fraudulent letter saying to ignore the seruv),
the perversion of justice (by the FORGERY to negate the seruv)
More information can be read in this Google doc
and distortion of the Torah" (public distortion of Devarim 23:18 by a YOUNG ISRAEL rabbi with the declaration "the Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution")

Other hard-to-believe misdeeds unworthy of a Young Israel that have actually occurred at YILV WITH THE NATIONAL COUNCIL of YOUNG ISRAEL HAVING FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THESE EVENTS FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS include:

That it was built on Shabbos and the construction on Shabbos was actively inspected on Shabbos by the "rabbi"
On his Feb 14, 2010 KDWN radio show, Rabbi Wyne said "if you want the girl of your dreams, don't bother with romance, KNOCK HER UP". It was crude, extremely offensive and certainly not befitting anyone using the title "Rabbi" especially of a Young Israel.
National Council of Young Israel has a recording of the show yet did nothing about it just as they have done nothing since a year later after he said "the Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution".
It has shul officers who are NOT Shabbos observant. This violates a basic requirement of the Young Israel charter
After raising money from the community for a brand new Sefer Torah, the shul held a Hachnosas Sefer Torah. A very short time after the event Yitz Wyne removed the handles (atzai chaim) and the cover from the brand new Sefer Torah and placed them on an old Sefer Torah. He secretly returned the brand new Sefer Torah to the sofer for a refund of most the money previously paid. One of the congregants learned of this when the sofer asked him where else he could sell the brand new Sefer Torah. What are the halachos regarding money raised specifically for a new Sefer Torah? Where did the refunded money actually go after Wyne received it?
More than once served food clearly cooked on Shabbos upon instruction of the "rabbi" who only has Rav uManhig ordination. The following is a statement from a former congregant who was forced to leave the synagogue:
On Shabbos my husband went into the shul kitchen as they were preparing for a kiddush and noticed that they were mixing mocha mix in hot noodles...clearly Bishul. My husband called in Mr. Wyne [she refuses to address him as "rabbi"] and this was his response "just serve it- no one will know about it". There were witnesses to this. After this incident my husband approached Mr. Wyne privately with a Mishna Brurah and was told "just put that book away!" The entire letter can be read at this link
On another occasion Wyne also said to go ahead and serve bourekas which had just been baked on Shabbos, that no one would know (except the witnesses who spoke up about it). Who knows how many other times the same thing happened?
Specifically leaves its parking spaces open on Shabbos contrary to the long-standing Young Israel rule. It was declared by the rabbi of the Kew Gardens Synagogue that Young Israel of Las Vegas will never even put up a sign not to park in front of the Young Israel on Shabbos!
Placed large advertisements on bus shelters saying "Come to YOUNG ISRAEL to meet Jewish chicks"
Destroyed a tiny Shabbos minyan of people who could not or would not daven in such a temple with an excommunicated rabbi
Threatened to throw out a veteran US Army Chaplain rabbi who is an invalid in a wheelchair if he would try coming in to daven at the YOUNG ISRAEL (click to view letter)
Which is the rabbi?
Wyne was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal : "Hanukkah owes a great debt of gratitude to Christmas for making it famous," says Rabbi Yitzchak Wyne of the Orthodox Young Israel Aish Congregation of Las Vegas. "If it didn't fall around Christmas, no one would celebrate it."
He diminishes Chanukah when he ties it in with the goyishe holiday. What a low opinion he must have of his congregants and other Jews in Las Vegas if he feels they wouldn't celebrate Chanukah without the goyim having a holiday at the same time. Does he also feel that Pesach needs Easter the same way?

No man can say that any specific tragedy is a direct result to "the delay of justice, the perversion of justice and distortion of the Torah" occurring under the auspices of Young Israel. But the Mishna in Avos says "the sword comes to the world" as a result of "the delay of justice, the perversion of justice and interpretation of the Torah at variance with Halacha". So why allow these atrocities at the Young Israel of Las Vegas to continue anyway?

Artscroll Sefer Yehoshua, Perek 7, pasuk 6, footnote: According to Rambam (Hil. Taanis 1:1-3), it is a positive commandment of the Torah for every individual to cry out and search his ways at a time of national calamity, for G-d visits calamities upon Israel to inspire each Jew to repent for his misdeeds. If someone fails to recognize that tragedies occur through an act of G-d rather [than] through happenstance, he is considered cruel, because he will not be motivated to improve his behavior. as a result, G-d will beset Israel with more troubles, until all are motivated to change their ways.

YOUNG ISRAEL rabbi broadcasts "Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution"

2011-06-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

The excommunicated spiritual leader of YOUNG ISRAEL Aish of Las Vegas publicly presented his views on what the Torah says. Listen to this YOUNG ISRAEL "rabbi's" distortion of the Torah on his Feb 27, 2011 radio broadcast on KDWN, especially his interpretation of pasuk 23:18 in Sefer Devarim, Parshas Ki Seitze at the 10 minute point of the broadcast. [Click here to hear the broadcast --> http://therabbishow.com/wp-content/Rabbi-Show-Audio/Feb%2027%202011/rabbi%20pt%201%20227.MP3]

A year previously on his Feb 14, 2010 KDWN radio show, Rabbi Wyne said "if you want the girl of your dreams, don't bother with romance, KNOCK HER UP". It was crude, extremely offensive and certainly not befitting anyone using the title "Rabbi" especially of a Young Israel.
National Council of Young Israel had a recording of the show yet did nothing about it then just as they did nothing a year later when he said "the Torah does NOT prohibit prostitution".

Since the broadcasts aired, the Las Vegas Kollel (set up by Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim of Flushing, NY) has said nothing to counter the heresy, continues to daven at the Young Israel and even had the apikorus-rabbi speak at the LV Kollel's Annual Dinner!

How does your local Young Israel rabbi feel about these broadcasts? How does your rabbi feel about the constant emphasis by the excommunicated host that he is the "Rabbi of YOUNG ISRAEL Aish of Las Vegas" ? (Note: The document Young Israel claims showed the seruv lifted on Lamed-Gimel (??) Elul 5767 is a blatant forgery!!! [click to view])

National Council sold Young Israel of Oxford Circle for AVODAH ZARAH!!!!!

2011-06-17T06:50:00.000-07:00


This used to be the Young Israel of Oxford Circle

It was closed in 2009! (click for newspaper article)

Less than a year later it was sold by National Council of Young Israel to Bhuddists! It is now a temple for Avodah Zarah! A Bhuddha idol is now where an Aron Kodesh once stood!!

(http://www.personal.psu.edu/cps14/temples.html look for "Phat Bao Temple" using Ctrl-F in browser)

An officer of the former Young Israel of Oxford Circle told me NCYI knew exactly who they were selling to and what it was to be used for!!

Did any rabbi of Young Israel's Vaad Halacha approve the sale of a Young Israel shul building to be used for Buddhist idol worship?!?!? (Every Orthodox rabbi considers Buddhism to be Avodah Zarah)

What A Man of Principles did in this situation (from the obituary of Rabbi David B. Hollander on www.Chabad.org)

When the Mount Eden Jewish Center closed, Rabbi David B. Hollander was owed a large sum for his salary and assorted services. Seeking to repay their beloved rabbi, who had a family to support, the synagogue’s board members decided to sell the building.

But an organization that Rabbi Hollander was ideologically opposed to offered the only hope of the synagogue being able to repay the rabbi. Knowing that he would not approve of the sale, the board members solicited, and received, approbations from several rabbinical authorities.

True to form, Rabbi Hollander refused to sanction the transaction.

“Gentleman,” Rabbi Hollander told the group, “you do not owe me anything.”

Board members exited the room misty-eyed, in awe that the rabbi they came to revere made such a sacrifice.

“He was a man of tremendous principles,” said Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld of the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills. “He had no doubts in them, and tried to bring them into practice.”

Every widow and orphan, you shall not anguish! (Shemos 22:21)

2010-08-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Does any shul charge a widow with trespassing simply because she stopped paying dues after the rabbi mistreated her?

Seruv (Only letterhead, stamps and handwriting are from Bais Din. Printed footnotes and comments were added for posting)

Shiur of HaRav Y. B. Soloveitchik, zt'l, on Parshas Mishpatim:
"You shall not oppress any widow or orphan". "If you shall oppress them and he shall cry out to me I will listen to his plea". "And I shall be angry and I will kill you through the sword and your wives will become widows and your children orphans". (Shemos 22:21‑23)

The Torah enjoins the Jew from oppressing any widow or orphan. One who commits this action is to be punished by HKB'H (V'Haragti Eschem B'Cherev). The Gemara (Sanhedrin 17b) enumerates the transgressions for which one receives Misah Biyday Shamayim. Why does the Gemara omit the case of oppressing the widow?

The Ramban offers an answer to this question: all other instances of Misah Biyday Shamayim have a natural appearance however the penalty for this sin will be an unnatural death, through the sword. The Ramban and Rashi add that in addition, the death will be unwitnessed and unknown to others leaving the wives of such individuals as permanent widows as well (V'Hayu N'shayhem Almanos Lolam).

The Ibn Ezra notes the transition from the plural (Lo Ta'anun) to the singular (Im Aneh Te'aneh) followed by the plural (Vharagti Eschem). According to the Ibn Ezra, this indicates that if someone observes someone else treating a widow or orphan in this manner and does not intercede on their behalf, the silent observer is considered to have transgressed as well. He too will receive the identical punishment as the one who committed the act. The Torah uses the plural form to indicate that both the transgressor and the observer will be considered guilty (Teanun) and are both punishable by death (Vharagti ESCHEM). In fact, this is the only place we ascribe guilt to both the transgressor and silent observer and both receive the same punishment. For example, one who observes a Jew who desecrates the Shabbos may transgress on the obligation to rebuke his fellow Jew. However he is not considered to have violated the Shabbos on his own. This unique situation of associating the the observer and the transgressor with guilt is to teach us that there is no room for tolerance of any degree of wickedness. One who is tolerant of such behavior is as wicked as the perpetrator. Aneh Taaneh is an application of Lo Taamod Al Dam Rayecha, standing by while a fellow Jew is killed. Even though you personally did not murder the individual, in the eyes of heaven you are still considered a murderer.

The Rav added the following explanation: Mechilta (22) quotes the following: When Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel (the Nasi) and Rabbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol were taken out to be murdered (they were 2 of the 10 Rabbinic Martyrs), Rabbi Yishmael asked Rabbi Shimon w hy he was crying when he was about to fulfill the mitzvah of giving one's life for Kiddush Hashem and will soon enter the world to come. Rabbi Shimon answered that he is crying because of the type of death they were to endure. They were to be executed through the sword (Misas Sayif) which is the punishment reserved for murderers and those who have desecrated the Shabbos. He was concerned lest any passers-by misconstrue them as such unsavory characters. Rabbi Yishmael responded by asking him if he could recall a situation where a woman came to ask him a question and his sexton made her wait until Rabbi Shimon put on his shoes or finished his meal. When Rabbi Shimon said that this did indeed happen, Rabbi Yishmael said that their punishment is fitting as the Torah admonishes anyone that oppresses a widow or orphan punishable by death through the sword (V'haragti Eschem B'cherev). The magnitude of the Inuy does not matter (Echad Inuy Merubah V'echad Inuy Muat). (Note: the Rav quoted from a combination of the Mechilta and the Masechet Smachos, chapter 8. There are different versions as to whether Rabbi Shimon or Rabbi Yishmael was the one crying).

The above Mechilta is telling us that the punishment for intolerance towards the widow or orphan does not necessarily derive from an actual transgression. Even if the act of intolerance appears justifiable and insignificant, it is still a punishable offense if the affected party is offended psychologically. As far as the letter of the law was concerned, there was no obligation of Rabbi Shimon to have come out barefoot to answer the question of the poor woman. (Rabbi Shimon should have realized that the woman might be offended by deferring her question. Rabbi Shimon should have been attuned to the needs of the woman and that she be made to feel welcome and comfortable). Because he unknowingly delayed the woman till he was ready, apparrently Rabbi Shimon was guilty in the view of HKB'H of Inuy Muat.

The above points to a powerful message: that one can transgress Aneh Taaneh even when there is technically no transgression (Maaseh Aveirah). An individual in a position of importance must be vigilant to be attuned to the psychological needs of his fellow man. Failing to show the utmost compassion and attentiveness can result in offending the unfortunate and carry with it grave consequences.

The Torah uses the double syntax, e.g. Aneh Taaneh, throughout these verses. Sometimes a person shows obvious intolerance and persecution of a less fortunate individual. This constitutes an identifiable transgression. It is called Inuy Merubah. There are other times when the intolerance is more subtle and requires an ability to feel the psychological pain of the less fortunate who are offended by direct or indirect actions. This is considered Inuy Muat. In either case, the Torah says Tzaok Yitzak, both types of offended individuals will call out to HKB'H. Hashem will listen to both types, Shamoah Eshma, to the one who cries out from Inuy Merubah as well as the one who cries out from Inuy Muat. (The Rav added that Inuy Merubah causes Inuy Muat. Taking advantage of a widow causes her direct anguish. This is Inuy Merubah. It also triggers the subtle internal feeling of helplessness: that she is being persecuted because her husband is no longer alive to protect her (Inuy Muat). One who does this receives Misah Biyday Shamayim (V'haragti Eschem) and his family is placed in a similar situation (V'hayu Nshaychem Almanos).

This summary is Copyright 1996 by Dr. Israel Rivkin and Josh Rapps, Edison, N.J. Permission to reprint and distribute, with this notice, is hereby granted. These summaries are based on notes taken by Dr. Rivkin at the weekly Moriah Shiur given by Moraynu V'Rabbeinu Harav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveichik ZT'L over many years.

Attack on Reb Moshe Peltz. Reb Peltz was Baal Koreh by Rav Avigdor Miller's shul for 25 years until he retired to Las Vegas.

Who will be the next victim if NCYI is not stopped?

2010-06-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Young Israel of Fifth Avenue,
Rabbi Kolakowski in Richmond,
Susan Shalov in Las Vegas,
any visitor to Las Vegas who expects a shul with the name Young Israel to abide by the Torah standards Young Israel is supposed to follow,
the unnamed shul mentioned in the YU Commentator article in 2007,
Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse,
etc. etc.

The National Council of Young Israel has proven repeatedly that it abides neither by the Torah nor its own supposed standards. It has proven itself to be worse than a mere bully. It has committed fraud and forgery in pursuit of goals that are against the mission the National Council was created to perform. It is time for the Torah-True Young Israel membership and branches to end the reign of kefirah of the current administration of NCYI.

Why was National Council ready to shut down the shul in Syracuse for having a woman-President (who was NOT running a Women's Prayer Group) but allows Young Israel of Sharon to run a Women's Prayer Group?
It is interesting that Young Israel claims to follow the psak of 5 RIETS Roshei Yeshiva regarding Women's Prayer Groups yet turns a blind eye towards this activity at the Young Israel of Sharon, MA:
Tefillat Nashim
Tefillat Nashim is a tefilah group service that started over 10 years ago. There are 2 services a month, starting at 9:30 AM in the Beit Midrash. See Davening Times for the next Tefillat Nashim service.
About the Service:
P’sukeh D’Zimrah, is often lead off by a young girl. Another Kehilah member takes over as a Chazanit leads through the Shacharit service. Our Torah portion consists of taking the Torah out of the Aron Kodesh and then Laining the first three portions aloud, with different woman or girls reading each Aliyah (no B’rachot are recited). A D’var Torah follows, and then the Haftarah is chanted by another Kehilah member. The service continues with the Musaf Amidah and then one or more of our younger girls leads us in the concluding prayers. During the Tefilah group, songs are song together, especially some selections during the Shacharit and Musaf Amidah.

Special Services:

Every Simhat Torah we lain vezot hatorah as many times as we have lainers. This happens while the men are receiving their aliyot. It is also an opportunity if there are any women who are interested in benching gomel. If you would like to participate in this very special experience, please contact Cheryl Harris. We can also teach new lainers for this parsha. After the laining is finished Rabbi Sendor will give a dvar Torah.

Two other special davenings we have are on Purim and Tisha B'Av. We lain Megilat Esther on Purim morning and Eicha on Tisha B'Av evening. New lainers are always welcome.

NCYI again using and hurting Jonathan Pollard

2010-06-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

National Council of Young Israel keeps claiming their approach of demanding clemency for Jonathan Pollard is working. Just give it a little more time. Really? Haven't they said that for the last 20 years?

Contacting the White House to request clemency for Jonathan Pollard does little good if he won’t apply for parole. All requests for Presidential clemency go through the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney, Ronald L. Rodgers. Mr Rodger’s office has pointed out a number of times that unless Jonathan Pollard applies for parole he will not be considered for Executive Clemency.

In the United States Attorneys' Manual, Section 1-2.113, Standards for Considering Commutation Petitions paragraph 4 begins: The amount of time already served and the availability of other remedies (such as parole) are taken into account in deciding whether to recommend clemency.

The Rules Governing Petitions for Executive Clemency clearly state in Section 1.3 Eligibility for filing petition for commutation of sentence: No petition for commutation of sentence, including remission of fine, should be filed if other forms of judicial or administrative relief are available [like parole], except upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.

Pollards' own website has a letter ""I followed [the National Council of Young Israel] request to send a letter to President Bush. The response from the White House was that Mr. Pollard was eligible for parole, but had not requested parole."
How can we expect anything different from Obama when the Pardon Attorney is the same who served President Bush?

Calling for clemency over and over hasn't worked. Maybe applying for parole would? It cannot do any harm at this point and perhaps it will be granted. Even if it is not granted, it fulfills the prerequisite required for consideration of clemency. Supporters of Jonathan Pollard need to be made aware of this and help persuade Jonathan that it is in his best interest to apply for parole without any further delay.

(Below is the original blog post from 06/2010)

NCYI is once again presenting itself as Pollard's champion to try and distract attention away from what they have done to Syracuse, 5th Avenue and Susan Shalov. But it is Lerner's continuing discouragement to apply for parole that is hurting Jonathan Pollard the most and preventing him from being released.
NCYI should be dealing with its internal problems instead of repeating the same failed campaign supposedly on behalf of Jonathan Pollard.

We have seen that hishtadlus on Pollard's behalf by organizations led by NCYI seeking Presidential clemency have repeatedly failed. Jonathan Pollard’s best hope is to apply for parole and not involve the President at all. Our hishtadlus should be to support him in any way parole requires such as guaranteeing employment for him. Lerner keeps saying that in 1995 Jonathan Pollard's attorney said applying for parole would have been futile. The situation in 1995 was different than it is now. Since then appeals for clemency were not accepted by Bill Clinton nor George Bush and are most likely going to be completely ignored by Barak Obama or even worse, he will take notice and actively oppose parole.

We need to contact the United States Parole Commission (http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/index.html) and request parole be granted to Jonathan Pollard. But in order to do that Jonathan Pollard first needs to file an application requesting parole. So when you write the USPC, also write to Jonathan Pollard tohave emunah and bitachon that Hashem will grant him parole so he should file the application and request it. For additional information please see http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/questions.htm . Note that conditions may be required to be met in order for parole to be granted (http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/furquest.htm). But those conditions would still be better than Jonathan Pollard remaining in prison.

NCYI planning to expel Syracuse shul and seize assets but won't do so to Las Vegas????

2010-06-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how the current National Council of Young Israel can be sanctimonious about what their legacy is and what their Constitution says. It is a very far cry from what NCYI was when Rabbi Ephraim Sturm was directing it.

Young Israel of Las Vegas had a President who smoked on Shabbos for years but they never did anything about that.
How was that allowed over having a woman shul President when the YI Constitution expressly requires Sabbath Observers but says nothing about gender?

Regarding the parent Organization it says:

Sec. 4.3. The offices of President, Chairman, 1st Vice President and Second Vice President shall be filled by male delegates only.

But by the branch synagogues section there is no mention of any requirement of gender. But there are requirements regarding:
d. have as its President, Vice Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurer and Delegates to the Delegates Assembly- regular, alternate and at-large- only Sabbath observers;
e. follow halacha in all dealings by and between the group, its members, its rabbi, its officers and directors, other branches of the Organization and the Organization; and

The Halacha as I understand it regarding a moser declared by a Bais Din excommunicating him is that such a person is NOT QUALIFIED TO BE A RABBI! Why then has Young Israel of Las Vegas had such a rabbi for over the last five years?!?
http://cleanupyoungisrael.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

It was during the tenure of the Shabbos-smoker president that NCYI committed forgery to try to hide the excommunication of YILV's rabbi. (http://cleanupyoungisrael.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-details-and-can-be-found-on.html)

Why didn't the NCYI convene a Delegates Assembly then instead of committing fraud?

And since the Syracuse synagogue is already out of the organization what right does NCYI have to "expel" them and seize their assets?

Dear Friends,

I have recently been informed that National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) is having a meeting of the Delegates Assembly on this coming Thursday, June 24th, during which they plan to vote to expel our synagogue, Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse. This is in spite of the fact that we legally resigned from them on August 24, 2008. According to their constitution, the assets of any synagogue that is expelled revert to NCYI.

We have prepared a position paper that details the history of what occurred, and explains why we resigned. We would like as many delegates as possible to be made aware of our story. If you know members of Young Israel synagogues in other cities, please send them the link[s] to this website. http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Welcome.html
http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Position.html
http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Documents_1.html
http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Documents_2.html
http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Documents_3.html
http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Documents_4.html

With thanks,

Beverly S. Marmor

President
Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse

RESPONSES TO THIS WEB SITE ARE WELCOMED http://www.stocs-chai.org/STOCS-CHAI/Welcome.html

PLEASE EMAIL TO:

SavetheShul@yahoo.com

Are coincidences the Yad Hashem connecting events?

2010-06-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Are coincidences the Yad Hashem (Hand of G-d) connecting them or simply unrelated events that may just happen to occur at the same time? Does it matter? http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2010/01/22/the-earth-trembles/

I bring this up now because in a flyer about Shalom Rubashkin's plight distributed in Monsey shuls it notes that he was arrested on November 14, 2008. Coincidentally that was the same day I was let go from my job in Las Vegas and had to leave that city. Before that on May 12 was the raid in Postville. That same day I had to submit answers to harassing interrogatories by Young Israel's lawyer. And to go all the way back to when the Justice Department and Judge Reade started planning the raid, that began in October 2007 just shortly after Young Israel created a forgery in order to pervert justice for the widow and to, their own words, 'put me in jail' for publishing the seruv. Were there any connections between my situation and that of Shalom Rubashkin? We were both relentlessly hounded by large organizations determined to incarcerate us through the secular Justice system. In his case it is the US Justice Department. In my case and the widow's it is Young Israel. There is one main difference, the Justice Department uses the secular courts because they have no Torah. What is Young Israel's excuse?

So many people are desperately trying to help Shalom Rubashkin. Rightly so. In 2007-2008 I was only one of very few voices trying to obtain truth and justice for Susan Shalov after she was brutally afflicted and tormented by Young Israel for which I became their target. Is Rubashkin's plight a magnified reflection of Young Israel's distortions of justice?

A periscope is a device using reflection and magnification to see that which is hidden. The image vanishes when the source of the reflection is gone. Perhaps the best way to help Shalom Rubashkin is to state the whole truth, eliminate the secular court cases and rectify the damages Young Israel has caused, ASAP. Perhaps by achieving Emes, Mishpot and Shalom in Young Israel, Shalom Rubashkin will have the same.

How is National Council using your dues?

2010-05-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

--- On Wed, 5/26/10, lashontov@aol.com wrote:

From the Jewish Week, September 10, 2008: (http://www.thejewishweek.com/features/lifetime_contract_means_lifetime)

Now 78, Rabbi Charlop, who hasn’t been paid by the shul in years, opens the morning doors hoping for a minyan, makes sermons on Shabbat for a crowd of 12 and is in his fifth year of negotiating with the insurance company over $575,000 in claimed damages from a frozen pipe that burst on a winter’s dawn in the women’s balcony. The water trickled down the steps of the women’s section, lifting up the carpeting; trickled down the walls to the men’s section, curling up the wallpaper; trickled down the stairs to the ballroom, bubbling up pieces of the wooden floor. Everywhere there are piles and rubble. ... A once terrific shul now resembles nothing so much as the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

Mishpacha Magazine had a similar article in their March 2 issue of this year describing the same damage.
Why can't or won't National Council loan the money to fix this "once terrific shul"?
Aren't they ashamed that a Young Israel is left in such a deplorable state for 7 years?

Has National Council presented a financial statement in recent years to the branches and lay members?

How much and where is the money they have on account?

How much do they take in from dues from your shul? What do you receive in return? Why don't they lend the Young Israel of Mosholu Parkway the money needed to repair the water damage?

Since the Comptroller [of National Council] notarized a forged/altered document can she be considered reliable regarding financial matters?

-----Original Message-----
From: Rabbi of a branch outside NY

National Council of Young Israel never helps their dying branches - they wait for them to die so they can seize the assets - they are basically a mafia

--- On Thu, 5/27/10, lashontov@aol.com wrote:

Since you feel that way you may find this excerpt interesting: (http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/18632/)

According to Young Israel's by-laws, if a congregation can no longer support a daily minyan -- something Oxford Circle hasn't been able to do for some time now -- the synagogue property is supposed to revert to the national organization.
"It's unfortunate," said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive vice president of the National Council of Young Israel.
Lerner said it's rare that the national council has actually had to take such a step. He added that the fate of the building has not yet been decided, but acknowledged that selling it is indeed a possibility.
"Whatever proceeds there are will go to continue [our] mission," said Lerner.
Not Happy With the Outcome
Grosswald doesn't dispute that control of the building rests with the office in New York; he's just not happy about it.
"I have the terrible task of closing the synagogue and saying 'New York, take it away and make your money,' " he said.

So what is the mission of Young Israel? To have their rabbis broadcast on the radio to knock up women and to call the rabbis of the Gemara "shmucks" ?
In Rabbi Sturm's time NCYI accomplished much that the present administration has thrown away. What has happened to the Young Israel Kosher Dining Clubs on college campuses? There is as much a need (or more) for them today as there was 50 years ago. Hear what Rabbi Sturm had to say about them, http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/929635/jewish/Consistency.htm

What ever happened to the Young Israel Collegiates and Young Adults or Young Israel Youth (see http://books.google.com/books?id=daFeyrLbqy0C&lpg=PA497&ots=pL_7Zlq0A9&dq=%22young%20israel%22%20college%20campus%20kosher%20%22dining%20clubs%22&pg=PA497#v=onepage&q&f=false) since Lerner took over? There doesn't seem to an entry for them or much else for youth on NCYI's website.

Why call it Young Israel if the young are not part of it?

-----Original Message-----
From: Rabbi
To: lashontov
Sent: Fri, May 28, 2010 10:47 am
Subject: Re: How is National Council using your dues?

the current bylaws only mention Shabbos and Yom Tov services (doesn't specify minyanim - i.e. could be interpreted as just having the doors open and at least one person present, as I often had as rabbi). But this is one of the big issues here in (you know which city). Many had tried to merge the practically defunct Young Israel with the Yeshivah to keep the money here locally, but the handful of people who wanted to keep the shul open didn't want to do that. However, they always complained about how NCYI was a "mafia" and said how both NCYI and ... were "vultures" waiting for the shul to die so they could seize the assets.

----------------From: lashontov@aol.com -------------------

Parashat Toledot- The Sin of Denial by Rabbi Eli Mansour

[Below is the final paragraph, the whole article is at http://dailyhalacha.com/WeeklyParasha.asp?ParashaClipID=173]

Many centuries later, before the destruction of the First Temple, God warns Bene Yisrael through the prophet Yirmiyahu (2:35), "Behold, I shall bring you to judgment for your having said, 'I did not sin'!" God does not threaten to punish the people for sinning; everybody sins at some point, and the process of Teshuva is designed to help us recover from our mistakes and thereby escape punishment. But the people in Yirmiyahu's time were guilt of not only sin, but also of denying their having sinned. Rather than confess and repent, they added insult to injury by avowing, "I did not sin!" The sin of denial is deemed more grievous than the sin itself. Sins can be forgiven, but provided that a person is willing to lower his head and admit his wrongdoing. Rationalizing and justifying wrongdoing precludes any possibility of Teshuva and self-improvement, and it is therefore considered the most severe sin of all.

Not only does National Council of YI not admit and correct their mistakes, they obstinately cling to them and compound their disgrace by lying and feigning indignation. They claim to have a "mission". They claimed that as well when they drove the Young Israel of 5th Ave out of the organization and extorted the cost of the building from them without a care for the Young Jewish NYU students and others in the area just as don't care about the exploitation of the Young people in Las Vegas who are learning from Young Israel Aish to "knock her up" and Rabbi Tarfon in the Gemara was a "shmuck".

It made me sick to type that last line. Doesn't it bother you these things are said on the radio in the name of Young Israel?

Here are the forgeries created by Young Israel

2010-05-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

As can be plainly seen, the lifting took place in Kislev 5765 and was the document referred to as a "mistake" in the Tevet 5765 reissuance of the seruv. The Hebrew document was fraudulently altered (note the Hebrew date on next to last signature, Lamed-Gimel Elul??) in 2007 and a translation (with a false translation of Lamed-Gimel) of was notarized to give the false impression that the excommunication was lifted.

[click here to view the siruv which is still in effect]

This forgery was used to file a lawsuit in SECULAR court for the purpose of trying to intimidate those who were publishing the siruv. Annotations to the forgery are in colored text.

More information including a timeline of the excommunication can be read in this Google doc

In perek 7 of sefer Yehoshua we read how "like 36 men" were killed at the city of Ai. Some say it was only Yair ben Menashe who was killed, for he was equal to 36 men. but the aveiroh was not his, it was that of another, Achan ben Carmi. Perhaps Hashem is repeating the story of Yehoshua perek 7?

Is Sholom Rubashkin like Yair ben Menashe in that he is paying the price for an injustice in a different city? Much of Reb Sholom's travail's began in autumn of 2007, the same time as this forgery was committed by National Council of Young Israel to sue Jews in SECULAR court to be silent about the seruv. Reb Sholom's situation worsened after he unwittingly was allied by the forger.

National Council of Young Israel died in 1992

2010-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

On page 258 of the Artscroll biography of Reb Elchonon Wasserman, zt"l, it quotes a halachic ruling he made:

"An organization of G-d fearing individuals must be free of the desire to affix the the organizational stamp on each of its activities. The good works must be regarded as necessary, and the stamp will not help (and might even harm) them."

The "good works" of the truly G-d fearing Young Israel has become secondary to National Council. The Young Israel stamp or label has become more important than the Torah goals written of in the Young Israel charter. The stamp has become devoid of the meaning imparted to it between 1912 and 1992. The Young Israel stamp is now on synagogues with officers and rabbis who violate Shabbos openly, who advocate on the radio knocking up women, who laugh on the radio at the respect Rabbi Tarfon showed his mother so she would not violate Shabbos by fixing her shoe, who tells children to "make more noise" to disturb his gentile neighbor right after telling the neighbor he would ask them to be quieter, who chase old men and widows out of shul, etc..

The Young Israel stamp is now upon a synagogue where the so-called rabbi was quoted in Las Vegas Magazine that he took the name because "it is the McDonalds of Orthodox Judaism". This is what people now see and hear of Young Israel when they see past the label and realize that the kosher label has been pasted on a can of pork. The label and the blessings of the Chairman of the YI Council of Rabbis and National Council cannot make the swine kosher. All it does is belittle the meaning of the stamp.

Emes, truth, is the best weapon to remove the Sheker v'Chazav (falsehood and deceit) that has infected the Young Israel core organization. I urge each of you and your shul memberships to tell National Council that you proudly bear the name and will continue to use the name despite its attachment by National Council to desecrators of Torah like the menuval in Las Vegas but they do not represent your Young Israel shul any longer and that you will not support National Council with dues until they return to Torah-True adherence to the Constitution and rules of the Young Israel movement.

Everyone rightfully cares about Shalom Rubashkin. So why is the widow Susan Shalov's torment ignored?

2010-04-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Please, the ability to do something about Rubaskin's case is in Hashem's hands but the ability to help the widow Susan Shalov is within yours if you publicize her story.

Is anything about Rubashkin's circumstances natural? He is awaiting sentencing more harsh than even that law seems to call for. Young Israel and other organizations say to write to the Justice Dept and people do, but it all seems to be ignored. What is going on here?

Perhaps it is Mida k'neged mida. Young Israel ignored the pleas for the widow so perhaps Hashem has hardened the heart of the Justice Dept, the Attorney General and the judge handling Rubashkin's case just as Young Israel leadership hardened their hearts to her cries and the efforts of those who speak up for her.

A Medrash quoted by Rashi on the incident of the Meraglim in Parshas Shelach states on the pasuk ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא that it was the night of Tisha B’av and Hashem said that you cried for no reason, I will give you a reason to cry in the future.

A short time before Tisha B’Av, 5768 a rabbi acting on behalf of Young Israel came crying to me to silence publicizing the aveiros of Young Israel of Las Vegas. He claimed that he was trying to keep me out of jail, that Young Israel was going to put me in jail, etc. There were two major problems with his plaint:

1- The lawsuit (filed using a forged document) against me and others by Young Israel in Nevada's 8th District Court (case 07A548690) is a civil defamation case. There was no way for NCYI to get me jailed unless they falsely accused me of a crime (as they also tried to do to the widow they charged with trespassing when she tried to daven and actually did several years earlier to another outspoken critic of YILV named Yaakov Van). This rabbi’s crying was sheker. The widow still cries real tears over what Young Israel did to her!

2- The ones actively trying to put us in jail were and still are rabbis and lay leaders of Young Israel, Jews trying to put another Jew in jail instead of seeking truth and justice in a Halachik way. If I had truly harmed them as they claimed, then why did they never seek to bring me to Din Torah? The rabbi who cried should have been stopping them from committing more mesirah and forgery instead of trying to silence me and intimidate others into silence about the seruv.

Getting back to Shalom Rubashkin, he was arrested and put in jail a few months after this rabbi cried when he should have instead been teaching Young Israel mussar. Lo and behold! This rabbi and the forger Pesach Lerner are there in the background when Rabbi Zwiebel went to plead for Shalom Rubashkin in Washington.
We learn that the incidents of our forebears are lessons for their descendants.
Is it possible that since Young Israel tried to put people in jail and cried false tears about it Hashem gave them what they wanted, a Jew in jail (just not the one they were trying for), and a real reason to cry?

While Young Israel was not successful in actually putting the widow or most of the others in jail, they still caused enormous harm and damage to us and many others. Perhaps if they implement the judgment specified in the seruv on the Las Vegas YI leader instead of using forgery and filing lawsuits continuing to hide it, maybe Shalom Rubashkin will benefit from Hashem’s mercy and have a true judgment?

It is absolutely NOT Loshon Hora to report all this for several reasons, primarily that Young Israel filed the secular lawsuit (which makes it a public record) in order to conceal the Seruv from a Bet Din about the despicable actions of the leader of YILV!

Also it is NOT Loshon Hora to tell that on February 14, 2010, this same Young Israel rabbi said on his radio program on KDWN in Las Vegas “if you want the girl of your dreams … KNOCK HER UP” because it was a very public statement broadcast for evryone, including goyim, to hear. Is this the way an Orthodox rabbi speaks on a heavily advertised radio program!?! National Council of Young Israel's Lerner has a tape of the broadcast but has done nothing about it.

What has all this got to do with Shalom Rubashkin? We know that that Hashem hears the cries of a widow. Maybe Hashem is using Rubashkin’s plight to illustrate a point. Maybe Hashem is trying to tell the rabbinic leadership in this country to dispense the justice they do have influence over and to do so in accordance with the Torah and not with sheker and forgery. Why are they so rightfully caring about Shalom Rubashkin but turning their backs on the widow Susan Shalov?