Jewish Press ATTACKS BMG!!

CORRECTED: This article in this weeks "Jewish MESS" just proves a point about how anti yeshivish this DIRT really is. (see previous post) I would consult a Posek about using this paper to clean up after your dog. I would also like for the Jewish Press to interview a "bochur" learning in YU. Don't forget to add ALL of the night activities (including various Campus "CLUBS") Jewish Press: It's six o'clock and Lakewood ``Ir Hakodesh'' is silent. All the bochurim are getting in their last hour of sleep. Now it's 7:15, and Lakewood is hopping. Everyone is fighting for a parking spot closest to the Yeshiva. Shacharis is at 7:30 and as usual, there are not enough parking spaces. This is the life of the Lakewood boys you always heard about. The life of your brother, cousin, and maybe future husband. Besides for shteiging, what else does your shteiger do all day? Do Lakewood guys play sports? Who's really the best boy in Lakewood? To answer some of your questions (as well as my own) I took the liberty of interviewing my brother who, as it happens, goes to Lakewood. For those of you who are curious, here is an outline of the boys' schedule: 7:30 — Shacharis; 10:00 — First Seder; 1:30 — Lunch; 3:30 — Second Seder; 7:15 — Mussar; 7:45 — Supper; and 9:00 — Night Seder. In other words, the day never ends. And for all of you who don't know what a seder means (like me), it's the period of time during which the boys study the Talmud, the laws of the Jewish people. At this stage in the bochurim's lives, no one is standing over them all day and making sure that they're learning. It's free will. But all the guys in Lakewood are serious and intense. Most guys are there for a reason — to learn. Like my brother said, "It's real." So, what do these intense guys do when they're not learning? "Well, we read about gedolim, and Jewish books." They shmooze and play ball (but only on Friday, or else they're too tired for night seder). Last but not least, they go.... shopping. Life in Lakewood sounds like heaven. But it's not. There is one major problem with Lakewood. Not enough parking spaces. "We need more parking spots," my brother says, "because the walk is ridiculous." How long is the walk? "A whole 10 minutes."......There is nothing in Lakewood besides the Yeshiva. There is no nightlife and no distractions, so it helps the learning. The houses are much nicer and cheaper, which is probably one of the reasons why a lot of the yungeleit are moving there now. Also, it sounds like a wonderful place to raise children. Okay. Here's something I bet everyone wants to know. Who is the best boy in Lakewood? You know, the one that all the mothers want their daughters to marry. When asked this question, my brother turned a slight shade of pink, and said, "I don't know.... It really depends who's asking." My brother came from Israel and went straight to the freezer like thousands of other boys his age. The freezer means that a boy can't date for the first six months — or something like that. So when asked why he came back from Israel, he said, "Looking for a shidduch." I laughed in his face. "Sorry. Say it again." You left Israel to go to the freezer to date? Am I missing something? I'm confused. But that's okay. OK. Let's just review a bit, shall we? First, boys go to Lakewood because it's a town where everything revolves around Torah, yet they have to walk 10 minutes to Yeshiva if they don't have a parking space. Fine. Second, all boys in Lakewood are "the best boy in Lakewood." (That's not even grammatically correct.) And, for the finale, bochurim leave Israel to go to America to date to go to the freezer. Wow! Lakewood. What a place!

Cell phones during davening

I just davened in a "Factory Minyan" that has Minyonim every few minutes for Mincha and Maariv and I must say that I'm really getting annoyed of every single cell phone ringing during davening. Why can't people just switch their phones either to vibrate, or shut them off while Davening??!! Then there are the people who insist on answering them and going "nu uh huh, nu nu uh huh huh? nu! uh huh", as if to say I'm davening right now & I'll call u back in five minutes. Last but not least we can't forget the group of individuals who while davening Shmona Esray and their cell phone rings, they simply IGNORE the phone and let it ring away and disturb everyone else's Tefillos! I guess this group of people feel that since they are being "Omed Lifnei Hamelech" they can't stop for a second and shut the phone off; but rather disturb the rest of the Minyon with some silly ringer like Yackov Shwekey singing Bag Bag! Grow up, people!

Jewish Press?

This is an open forum regarding the Jewish Press. Kindly voice your opinion's regarding this filthy kefira loaded newspaper. I strongly believe that if the Rabbonim should ban anything it should be this paper. Comments?

Postal stamp of "Rebbe"

Shmais: SNS has learned that in the coming weeks IYH the Israeli Postal Authority will be issuing a stamp that will no doubt be a Kovod to Chabad-Lubavitch. The stamp has a drawing of 770 and the words Chochma, Bina, Daas printed on it. In addition there are images of Tefillin and Shabbos candles. This stamp celebrates the major impact the Rebbe and Chabad have had in Israel and their social and religious contributions to Judaism globally. Interestingly enough, a few years ago the Israel Postal Authority prepared a stamp with a drawing of the Rebbe but that one was never actually issued. Mr. Sam Malamud, whose firm represents the Israeli Postal Authority in the United States and Europe, expects an immediate sellout of the “770” stamp. Given the global admiration of the Rebbe and Chabad, this may possibly be the most sought after Israeli stamp ever issued. The stamp carries a denomination of 2.20 NIS and is valid for use within Israel or can be used to send mail from Israel, worldwide. According to our source, once released, the stamp will be available at The Shluchim Office.

Lulav crooks

DeahVidibur: Jerusalem District Court Judge Jonathan Adiel sentenced lulav importers Avraham Balili and Jean Manshapoor to three months of community service and a fine of NIS 30,000 ($6,500) each after being convicted of taking part in a lulav cartel seven years ago, a scandal first exposed in Yated Ne'eman. The importers faced charges of forming a cartel before Succos 5759 (1999) by coordinating lulav marketing and sales. The main charge against them was price fixing. The court determined that the cartel's lulav prices were significantly higher than in the previous year and higher than the price at the beginning of the lulav season. In its ruling the court noted that the increase in lulav prices was not coincidental, but stemmed from a deliberate, calculated decision by the cartel members. The affair began when MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz filed a complaint with the Antitrust Authority regarding the cartel among El-Arish lulav importers, which had led to a sharp price increase in 5759. The Authority's investigations department found that the importers had fixed prices by storing all of the lulovim arriving from El-Arish in a single warehouse and then controlling distribution to dealers. Following the investigation, the Antitrust Authority's legal department decided to file an indictment. Three months ago the court found the defendants guilty of forming a binding arrangement.........Nevertheless lulav dealers claim the punishment was a just a tap on the wrist since these penalties will not deter importers from forming another cartel.....This year dealers faced the worst lulav shortage in years. Shortly before Succos, Balili was again accused of creating a shortage of lulovim in an attempt to control the market. An investigative report published in Yated Ne'eman uncovered the techniques he used to create an artificially small supply to jack up prices. Only through the efforts of a number of chareidi dealers and the help of chareidi MKs were tens of thousands of lulovim brought into the country at the last moment through alternative routes, bringing down prices. In the US, however, there was a serious shortage of lulovim this year.

A "Ness" in Montreal

Gazette: Two people were injured after a fire and an explosion destroyed a three-storey apartment building in the Plateau Mont Royal area last night. All of the building's residents safely escaped the flames and blast. Police have yet to determine whether the explosion was an accident or of criminal intent. Shortly after 7, a loud noise from inside a first-floor appliance store on Park Ave. near Bernard St. rocked the area. Firefighters arrived within minutes to find the entire building ablaze. Shards of glass, door frames and window frames were strewn across the street. "When the call was made, there were reports of people caught in the building," said Denis Doucet, a chief of operations with the Montreal Fire Department. Fortunately, all the residents were outside their homes when the fire started, Doucet said. Firefighters quickly scoured parts of the building but the intensity of the five-alarm outbreak prompted them to abandon their search. "The structure of the building is in a much too dangerous state for us to go in," Doucet said, as heavy smoke billowed out of the building. Two people were treated for minor injuries to the legs, possibly caused by the blast, said a volunteer working for the Jewish ambulance service Hatzoloh, which was called as a backup for Urgences Sante. The area is home to many of Montreal's ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews. "We're here in case they need us," Hatzoloh's Aaron Schmelszer said. Calin Ratis, who lives in a nearby building was watching last night's hockey game between the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs when the explosion rattled his walls. "I came outside and there was a huge fire coming out of that store," said the 24-year-old university student, who had no time to grab a coat before he left. He stood outside in a track suit, bathing in the lights of about 25 fire trucks. About 20 people who were forced out of their homes were watching the blaze. An estimated 150 firefighters fought the blaze for three hours before gaining control, a fire official said. Estimated damage was upward of $500,000, fire chief Doucet said.

Metzitzah B'peh Part 6

Newsday: For thousands of years, rabbis performed a simple procedure to cleanse the wound left by a ritual circumcision. Like Boy Scouts treating a snake bite, they quickly sucked blood from the cut and spit it aside, ostensibly disposing of any harmful impurities. The procedure may seem pure 18th Century, but it is the subject of a clash between religion and science in modern-day New York. Prompted by a child's death, the state health department is developing its first set of safety guidelines on the ritual of oral suction, which was abandoned by most Jews long ago but survived in a handful of Hasidic communities. Doctors have long been concerned that the act, called "metzitzah b'peh" in Hebrew, could spread disease, but their argument became urgent last year when New York City health officials said the procedure had given a baby a fatal infection. The illness was herpes simplex type 1, the common virus transmitted by saliva that causes cold sores. Usually harmless to adults, it can be deadly to newborns. The death was believed to be the first in the United States to be associated with metzitzah b'peh, but the city said it had linked four other herpes infections to two mohels, or circumcision performers, since 1988. Two more cases were reported in 2005, including one in which a child suffered brain damage. Efforts to curtail the practice, however, have met with resistance. Some Hasidic leaders, who say the act is commanded by Jewish law, threatened protests after city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden recommended that infants not undergo the procedure. The new state guidelines would stop short of a ban, but include precautions that could reduce the chances of infection, said New York State Department of Health spokesman Robert Kenny. Rabbis will likely be asked to inform their congregations about the potential risks of the procedure and parents advised to seek prompt care from a pediatrician if their baby develops a fever or rash. Steps would also be taken to "ensure that mohels have full knowledge of their health status" before they perform the ritual, Kenny said. He declined to discuss details of the guidelines, saying they were still being developed. Several religious leaders who support metzitzah b'peh have suggested that mohels be asked to rinse their mouths with alcohol, undergo regular testing for disease and refrain from doing circumcisions if they have a cold sore. "Our priority is to protect the public health, and increase the awareness of the potential health risks associated with this practice," Kenny said. The guidelines are likely to displease some doctors. Dr. Jonathan M. Zenilman, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said that while infections have been rare, the potential for harm is substantial enough to justify a ban. "This is something that is pretty much counter to all of the infection-control measures that we have," Zenilman said. Asking mohels to police themselves could be ineffective, he warned. As many as 70 percent of all adults have herpes simplex 1, and it is difficult to detect periods when the virus is contagious. It is unclear how the Hasidic community will react to the guidelines, which would be voluntary. Rabbi David Niederman, of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, has argued for no government action, saying there is too little medical evidence to justify a public warning on a ritual performed safely thousands of times a year. "Parents have been alarmed unnecessarily," he said, adding that he has already begun receiving calls from worried mothers. He said religious law contained provisions that would allow oral suction to be abandoned, but only if there was proof it could cause permanent harm. "We are not fanatics," Niederman said. "If there is evidence that this practice is not safe, we will not do it. We will be the first ones to act. That is embodied in the same Torah that tells us to make a bris for a child." Rabbi J. David Bleich, a professor of both Jewish and secular law at Yeshiva University, said the debate over metzitzah b'peh began in Europe during the mid-19th Century, when suspicion arose that it was spreading tuberculosis. Ever since, there has been disagreement over whether the practice was recommended by the Talmud for medical reasons, or ordered as a requirement of a covenant with God. A majority of reform and modern orthodox mohels decided on the former, and now clean a circumcision wound with sterile gauze, a sponge or a glass tube. But a century and a half of debate hasn't resolved the argument, and Bleich suggested that actions by health authorities wouldn't settle the issue either. "Whatever changes are going to come are not going to come because of government pressure. If you want to change the way rabbis are doing things, the way to do it isn't to threaten them."

Rav Kaduri ZATZAL

Jpost: [Click HERE to view a video of Rav Kaduri ZATZAL with the Lubavitch Rebbe.] Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, the legendary centenarian kabbalist, passed away Saturday evening due to complications caused by pneumonia. Nobody knows precisely how old Kaduri was as the time of his death at Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem. Estimates range between 106 and 113. Kaduri's funeral was scheduled to be held Sunday afternoon, with the funeral procession scheduled to leave Jerusalem's Bukharan neighborhood for Har Hamenuhot cemetery at 1:30 p.m. Legend has it that when Kaduri was 16 years old, Rabbi Yosef Haim, known as the Ben Ish Chai, one of the most influential Sephardi rabbis of the 19th century, blessed Kaduri with a long life. Kaduri came to Israel from Baghdad at age 17 and studied under several legendary kabbalists, including Rabbi Yehuda Petaya, author of Beit Lechem Yehuda, and Rabbi Efraim Cohen, head of a group of kabbalists who studied at Porat Yosef Yeshiva. Other rabbis included in that study group were Rabbi Ezra Atia, head of Porat Yosef, Rabbi Mansour Ben-Shimon and Rabbi Salman Eliyahu, father of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Kaduri later studied at Rabbi Yehuda Hadaya's Yeshivat Beit El in Jerusalem's Makor Baruch neighborhood. Rabbi Shmuel Darzi, one of Kaduri's last students and study partners passed away in January. Darzi was in his eighties. Kaduri, known as "the senior kabbalist," is the last of a generation of Sephardi Jewish mystics. His close circle of friends and family say he was one of the few known living kabbalists who used "practical kabbalah," a type of Jewish magic aimed at affecting a change in the world. They say Kaduri learned from the great kabbalists of previous generations the practice of writing amulets which heal, enhance fertility and bring success. Also, according to his son David, Kaduri was involved in the removal of at least 20 dybbuks, lost souls that stray into the hapless bodies of living people to torment them. However, according to sources close to the ancient mystic, even Kaduri never dabbled in the most dangerous types of Kabbalah that included forcing oaths on demons and evil spirits. Kabbalists believe that it is possible, in theory, to use holy names to trap demons and harness their powers. But those who do risk heavenly retribution. More rational schools of Judaism are skeptical about Kaduri's powers. In contrast, in certain Sephardi circles Kaduri is considered a miracle worker. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of testimonials by Kaduri's faithful back up this claim to supernatural power. But even in the Sephardi yeshiva world, rabbis such as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef discounted Kaduri's ability to work miracles. Nevertheless, few doubted Kaduri's righteousness and vast knowledge of both conventional and more esoteric Jewish thought and law. For most of his life Kaduri was unknown to the general public. He led a modest life of study and prayer and worked as a bookbinder. During the past decade and a half he served as the head of Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Bukharan quarter. Kaduri's reputation as supernatural mystic began during and after the Yom Kippur War. Families of soldiers missing in action came to Kaduri to ask him to use his powers to determine whether their loved ones were dead or alive. Kaduri's popularity reached an all-time high in the 1996 elections when the centenarian kabbalist's amulets helped Shas achieve an amazing electoral success. At the time, Shas was at an electoral low point. Shas managed to distribute 100,000 amulets before chairman of the Elections Committee Theodore Or prohibited their use. Soon after Ophir Paz-Pines drafted a bill ratified by the Knesset that anchored Or's prohibition in legislation. But the amulets did the trick: Shas mustered 10 mandates. Boruch Dayon Ha'emmes.

Aron Tendler resigns

Jewishjournal: After 22 years as head rabbi of Shaarey Zedek Congregation in Valley Village, Rabbi Aron Tendler resigned last weekend. "It is with mixed emotions that I write you today to let you know of my decision that, after 22 wonderful years, I have decided to step down as rabbi of Shaarey Zedek," Tendler wrote in a letter to the 400-member families of the Orthodox synagogue. "This has been a decision I have contemplated for some time, and after great soul searching and deliberation and with the full support of Esther and the family, I decided that it was time to explore other opportunities and embark on a new aspect of my personal and professional life." Tendler wrote that he intends to stay in the community but wants to spend more time with his family and pursuing writing, teaching and other projects. "On occasion, I would like to sleep for more than four hours. Selfishly put, I want more time, and if not now when?" he wrote. Tendler will stay on through the High Holidays and help the search committee in its quest to find a new rabbi. "Rabbi Tendler turned innumerable lives around, and it will be a great loss for us," Brad Turell, Shaarey Zedek’s communications director, told The Journal. "He’s very talented and we wish him the best."

Stadium still in the news

Can't this just go away..... APP: The Asbury Park Press' news coverage of the abortive effort to bring an arena to Lakewood has once again dramatized the power of the press in shaping attitudes toward the township's large Orthodox Jewish population. There is no disputing.........hockey team to Lakewood and build a $50 million facility to house the New Jersey Devils farm team makes front-page news. But, in its zeal to make headlines like "Multiple factors doomed arena: Funding, Orthodox opposition hurt," the Press fuels reader perceptions of a stereotypical Orthodox community where the lines between religious tradition and political power blur. Funding the arena could have cost the Lakewood taxpayer — regardless of religion, ethnicity or age — big time. The complexity of the funding issues required time and reflection on the part of the Township Committee before a decision was reached. But those complexities and implications for the taxpayer were not the focus of the article. The Jan. 12 story that broke the doomsday news that the arena was dead trained the spotlight on the Orthodox community — before all the facts were in. It cited views of leaders from the Yeshiva community, "according to interviews and postings on Internet blogs," that the atmosphere would be inappropriate for children. Other sources cited in the story were the Devils' owners ("the Orthodox . . . simply didn't back it") and two former Township Committee candidates, one of whom quoted the sentiments of an Orthodox person with whom he had spoken: "We don't want Elton John over here." The former candidates are both Orthodox themselves. At least one of them, Steven Langert, is reported as supporting the project. That there may have been others in the Orthodox community with equally supportive views was not, however, explored in the article. The article's message was clear: The Orthodox community (not the Lakewood community nor its elected officials) crashed the deal based on their religious/cultural convictions. The story has had a profound impact on the consciousness of your readers. Sadly, much of that impact is less than positive in building understanding within our community.

Rebbe's on Google Video

It seems that Rebbe's and their Chassidim started promoting themselvs on Google Video. If you go to Google Video and type in Rebbe into the search box approx. 150 video clips of various Rebbe's doing various thing show up. They range from Rebbe's "Feering Tish" to Rebbe's visiting Kevorim. I thought the Internet was Assur!! Here are a few: (some I've never even heard of!!!) Pittsburger Rebbe: (for the funniest scene: skip to 8:40 into the video & watch his Chassidim grab his Hoshaynos to pieces.) Coronation of Bobover Rebbe: Yeruslaver Rebbe: Klausenberg USA: Shidlovtza Rebbe: Nadvorna Rebbe: Spinka Rebbe: Satmer Rebba ZY'A Toldos Aharon: Biala Rebbe: Satmer Rebbe Shlita: Bobov (Unger): Yaasee Rebbe: (COMEDY SHOW!!) Nadvorna Rebbe: (Tzafas Division) Klausenberg: (Israel Division) Bobover Rebbe ZATZAL: Nicklesberg Rebbe: Tosher Rebbe: Munkatcher Rebbe: Toldos Avraham Yitzchok: Lubavitcher Rebbe SHLITA: Satmer Monroe: (Ahron T) Skulener Rebbe: Carlebach Rebbe: Belzer Rebbe: Is this enough???

Tenafly Eruv

AJC: The American Jewish Committee welcomed the decision of elected officials in Tenafly, New Jersey, after a six-year battle, to finally allow the construction of an "eruv."An eruv uses existing utility poles and wires to circumscribe an area where Orthodox Jews can exercise their religious liberty to observe the Sabbath......"The erection of an eruv, which critically affects the ability of Orthodox Jews to live in a particular community, does not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause," AJC wrote in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The court upheld the constitutionality of the eruv, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling. The Tenafly Borough Council voted 5-0 this week to allow the eruv to stand, putting an end to the controversy.The Orthodox community built the eruv with the consent of Bergen County, but for years the town of Tenafly had denied the use of its utility poles and ordered the eruv taken down. "Local officials should never be allowed to manipulate town laws to keep certain groups out," said AJC General Counsel Jeffrey Sinensky. “This was always simply a matter of religious accommodation, not an issue of the government endorsing a particular religion in any way.”

Rabbis are now "popes"

At least thats what this writer had to say to the filthy Jewish Press in this weeks "letters to the editors". Jewishpress: Can Rabbis Be Wrong? Readers Respond ‘Jewish Popes’ Kudos to Rabbi Mordechai Weiss ("Can Our Rabbis Be Wrong?" op-ed, Jan. 13) for having the courage to write what so many frum Jews are petrified to even whisper about. When did the notion ever seep into our consciousness that rabbis are somehow infallible or above criticism? As a child I always heard Orthodox Jews speak with condescension of Catholics who believed a human being like the pope could be infallible, beyond question, all seeing and all knowing, etc. And now, as a senior citizen some sixty years later, I see in the Orthodox community exactly the same phenomenon, although in our case this blasphemous elevation of mere mortals extends beyond one man to many, many rabbis. It seems that every learned or respected rabbi is now, lehavdil, a Jewish pope — not to be questioned, criticized or second-guessed, no matter the issue. Tibor Marger Jerusalem

Wierd Shul?

Jewishtimes: In a chic Rio de Janeiro suburb, a Jewish congregation occasionally holds services in mountainous tropical forest surrounding the city, at beaches that ring the city and at old colonial fortresses. Welcome to the Jewish Congregation of Brazil, where Rabbi Nilton Bonder has melded Conservative and Jewish renewal movement ideas to create a 550-member congregation that is perhaps the most politically and socially liberal Jewish religious group in the country.....But as is common in the renewal movement, Bonder's services feature a lively musical accompaniment, in this case a guitarist, flutist and keyboard player. Some congregants occasionally join hands and spontaneously break into a circle dance around seated or standing prayers. The rabbi's sermon, which ends the service, often embraces mystical, kabbalistic teachings. Women also read from the Torah, and men and women sit together, unlike the seating arrangements at the 20 Orthodox synagogues in Rio....Many of the Jews in Bonder's congregation are politically left-wing: pro-gay rights, pro-women's rights, concerned with environmental issues and willing to be critical of Israel....On Rosh Hashanah, the congregation goes to the beach at sunrise to pray and throw bread crumbs, representing the old, into the sea.....Claudio Rehfeld, a 43-year-old engineer, whose family has been part of Bonder's congregation since 1994, agreed. "Bonder offers a strong link to Jewish tradition, but, by incorporating music and dance, does so in a spiritually joyful way, similar to Chasidic Judaism," said Rehfeld........ Ah Freilichen Purim!

London Eruv heating up

After doing some research, it seems that there is a two huge fights going on there about this. The first one is from the Chassidish & Litvish Kehilla's who's Rabbonim are against this eruv; Maran Horav Eliyashiv included. The second fight is between the Conservative & Reform Jewish groups who feel that an Eruv will cause anti-semitism. Yeshivaworld posted about this two weeks ago. This letter was written to the editor of a London Newspaper by a non-frum jew in regards to the new London Eruv (Hendon 1/5/06) that's being put up now. Hendon: As a non-observant Jew, the eruv means little to me. I believe that one can interpret biblical commands and manipulate them to an absurd degree. That orthodox Jews should remain prisoners in their homes on the Sabbath is a complete nonsense.I see no objection to a mother taking out her child in a pushchair or a disabled person being wheeled to synagogue.The installation of poles and wires creating a boundary enabling them to do so is quite absurd and I am sure the good Lord thinks so too.However, so what. It does no harm and satisfies some members of the community, although not all. Some ultra-orthodox Jews find it still unacceptable.The subject regularly seems to offend Walter Grey (Be mindful of an anti-Semitic backlash', Letters, January 19). Why?He suggests an anti-Semitic backlash because of the large Jewish population in the borough of Barnet. Is he really concerned about anti-Semitism? I think not.One does not have to be particularly brilliant to read between the lines. He may claim not to be an anti-Semite, but whom is he fooling? Why is he concerned about the prospect of an increase in anti-Semitism?It obviously upsets him deeply that there is a large Jewish population in Barnet and the eruv is a politically correct way for him to express his prejudiced views.Who do you think you are fooling Mr Grey?I care not about the installation of an eruv, one way or another. But please do not insult the intelligence of the Jewish community.........

Chesed Shel Emmes? Or Geneiva?

This story blew my mind! It's hard to belive that there are actually such sick individuals in this world. JewishPress: .....In the early 1980’s Reb A’s parents and siblings decided to buy a family plot in Eretz Yisrael because they wanted to be buried in adjoining graves. They contacted a Chevra Kaddisha and, for a considerable sum of money, purchased a family burial place in a cemetery in Yerushalayim. At the time of the purchase they received official-looking documents attesting to their ownership. These were put away in a safe place, and no further thought was given the matter. (In order for the reader to fully understand the problem, it is important to point out here that the organization from which Reb A’s family purchased their family burial place is not one of the chevra kadishas of Yerushalayim.)About ten years ago Reb A’s father passed away. After a funeral in the U.S., Reb A flew with the nifter to Eretz Yisrael in order to have his father interred in one of the family plots. At the time of the actual burial Reb A noted that the grave that had been dug for his father was not where he thought it should be — while in the same row, it was adjacent to the plots indicated on the deeds in his possession. When Reb A mentioned this, his concerns were dismissed, and he did not argue....About a year ago, Reb A’s mother became quite ill. To save her from dying from infection, it became necessary to amputate one of her legs. Since the limb required burial, Reb A contacted representatives of the Chevra Kadisha of Yerushalayim to advise them that he would be sending the limb for burial. It was then that Reb A got the shock of his life: He was told that his family did not own any graves next to his father. Reb A was dumbfounded. He could not believe what he had been told. "I have certificates for graves next to my father, for my mother, my siblings and me," he insisted. After a good deal of back and forth it emerged that the organization that had sold Reb A’s family the plots had also sold those same plots to a number of other families. Another family had purchased the plots two years before. These buyers had deeds from the Chevra Kadisha of Yerushalayim, whereas the deeds that Reb A had were issued by another organization. Those with deeds from the Chevra Kadisha of Yerushalayim were the rightful owners. Reb A’s official-looking certificates were worthless. The greed of the representatives of this other organization had led to a scam...After some discussion, he was told that the required number of graves was available in a spot not far from where his father was buried. Before agreeing to the purchase of these plots Reb A wanted to see them, so he flew to Eretz Yisrael. Upon his arrival in Israel he met with a representative of the Chevra Kadisha of Yerushalayim and was shown the plots being offered. He agreed to take them. But now the question was who would pay for the purchase of these new plots. Reb A naturally felt the organization that had taken his family’s money for a fraudulent sale of nonexistent graves should pay. At first this organization actually had the nerve to equivocate about paying. It was only after Reb A threatened to contact a lawyer and go public with this sordid incident that the organization agreed to pay for the new plots. Reb A and his family now have graves near each other and his mother’s leg is buried in one of them. He still, however, cannot get over the fact that his family may never, after 120 years, be buried in the same row as his father........... Buyer beware — of grave robbers.

Another Chillul Hashem

Newsday: Two accountants have been indicted on charges of tax evasion and helping hundreds of their clients file false city and state tax returns, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars. A 21-count indictment accuses Jeffrey C. Rosner, 52, of Queens, and David E. Cohen, 54, of Staten Island, of filing false returns for themselves and their wives from 1999 through 2003, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Tuesday. In those five years, Rosner and Cohen _ who had offices in the Empire State Building _ also helped at least 600 clients evade millions in taxes, charging up to $500 to prepare a tax return, the prosecutor said. "This is a massive tax fraud," he said. "This case is one of the largest we've ever brought."Mariani said investigators know the names of all the suspects' clients. She and Stark suggested that people whose returns were prepared by the defendants contact the Finance Department or the district attorney before those offices contact them. Morgenthau said both defendants taught at local colleges - Rosner at Touro and Cohen at Rutgers and City College of New York. As for Rosner, Morgenthau said, from 1999 through 2003 he failed to report any of the $1.2 million he earned as a tax preparer, the interest income he charged on loans to clients or the rental income he received from three New York properties. In the same five years, Cohen underreported $500,000 in income from his accounting business, Morgenthau said.......Rosner's lawyer, Richard Finkel, said, "Of course he's going to plead not guilty. He's a highly respected accountant. He will defend vehemently against the charges and in the end he will be vindicated." Cohen's lawyer, Joseph DeMatteo, did not immediately return calls for comment. Both defendants were expected to be arraigned later Tuesday.

Lakewoods snow problems

APP: WHAT'S THE ISSUE? Snow plowing. A resident complained at last week's Township Committee meeting that the Public Works Department could do a better job plowing streets after winter storms. Officials defended the township, citing the difficulties of snow removal and the housing boom in Lakewood over the past decade that has added to the department's workload. WHAT DOES THE TOWN SAY? John Franklin, Lakewood's public works director, said his workers do as much as they can to plow every street quickly. The township, though, has to focus first on main thoroughfares — such as Clifton Avenue, Pine Street and portions of Squankum Road — to clear the downtown and help traffic move. "Nobody is ever happy when there's snow on the ground," Franklin said. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Committeeman Charles Cunliffe said residents could help themselves by removing vehicles, garbage cans and other obstacles from the street so plows can go "curb to curb." When residents leave obstacles, plows can not clear the entire street....... WHAT'S NEXT? Although this winter has been light on snow to date, Mayor Meir Lichtenstein commended Franklin for the job he does in keeping up with snowstorms, even as new housing developments continually add new streets each year. "The town is growing very quickly," Lichtenstein said. "John is doing his best to keep up."

Reevaluating:

I am reevaluating my blog. I'm not sure if it's possible to have a good blog in a 100% Kosher manner. Any ideas? Please comment. NOTE: Comment moderation has been turned ON.

I apoligize

My last post should have never been posted. It was wrong and I regret it. It was wrong to have posted it in the first place. There will be no more Loshon Horah or Richilus on this blog again. Period.

Bikur Cholim house under attack!

Have any comments? Email the writer of the article: Mike Dawson, mdawson@th-record.com If the Catholic Chuch had a guest house there, would anyone be making a fuss? Record: "This is what I'm talking about," said Cathy Mills as she stood in her driveway across from Good Samaritan Hospital watching a young Hasidic man wearing a black suit and stovepipe hat walk briskly from the hospital into the house next door."This will go on all day and tomorrow. Complete strangers coming and going, coming and going," Mills said Friday.The stranger was Isaac Guttman from Kiryas Joel. He was nervous and hungry, but mostly nervous. His wife was at Good Samaritan Hospital.......On Friday and Saturday, Guttman had - at no charge - free reign of the house, which is owned and operated by Bikur Cholim ("visiting the sick"). The Monsey-based nonprofit group offers Orthodox Jews who are visiting family members at Good Samaritan a place to eat and sleep (and pace) during the Sabbath, which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Orthodox Jews are forbidden to drive during the Sabbath.But Mills and her neighbors, along with village officials, call the yellow two-story house at 5 Hillcrest Road an illegal transient motel and say it should be shuttered. In response, Bikur Cholim has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming its religious rights are being violated.The village denied a zoning variance for the home in November on the grounds that it was located on a residential block. Village Attorney Terry Rice said nowhere in the village is there zoning that would allow the Bikur Cholim house.Bikur Cholim, which operates similar homes........without any complaints or interference from the village.Only when the group bought the home on Hillcrest in April did the village step in, citing the house for code violations and for illegal use."This is a religious institution that is used on the Sabbath and on about 10 holy days per year," said Rabbi Simon Lauber, CEO of Bikur Cholim.Dr. Michael Lippe, director of emergency services at Good Samaritan, told the village Zoning Board that without a place to stay on the Sabbath, he feared Orthodox Jews might forgo coming to the hospital if it means breaking Sabbath laws.But Mills and her husband say they bought their home in 2004 under the premise that the corner lot, where Bikur Cholim sits, would stay residential."This is not about the group," Mills said. "This is about the land use. We want neighbors, not different strangers every week.......

Aryeh Deri helps Kadima

Ynet: Former Shas Chairman and convicted felon Aryeh Dari is emerging as Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's "advisor on ultra-Orthodox affairs," Ynet has learned. Sources familiar with the developments told Ynet Tuesday the relationship between the two figures, who were close even before, tightened further recently, partly because ultra-Orthodox leaders realize Olmert will likely win the upcoming elections. As a result, Deri has apparently become Olmert's advisor and senior mediator vis-a-vis the ultra-Orthodox world. According to the reports, Deri has been boosting his power in Kadima since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hospitalization and renewed his ties with Olmert after the latter was designated as Sharon's temporary replacement. The two first met 15 years ago when Deri served as the Interior Ministry's director General and Olmert as health minister. The two figures grew closer when Olmert served as Jerusalem mayor and Deri was the interior minister.Deri was apparently one of the first figures to arrive at Olmert's office after he assumed the post of acting prime minister. The two figures speak on a regular basis and do not hide the close trust they share for each other. As it turns out, Deri provided mediation services between Olmert and the ultra-Orthodox on more than one occasion this year. Olmert's associates do not hide their appreciation for Deri but are aware of the problems associated with his criminal record, which disqualifies him from returning to politics.....

Satmar video from CNN

Click HERE to view a video of a CNN interview with Satmer rebels.

El Al used racial profiling

Newsday: A Manhattan man said that El Al Israel Airlines, known for its supertough security, went too far in searching him before a flight to Tel Aviv last April, and has filed suit claiming he was singled out and strip-searched because of his race.In the suit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Shawn Davis said El Al security officials placed a metal detector in his crotch and between his buttocks after pulling him out of line at Kennedy International Airport. The suit says he was singled out from other passengers because he is "African-American and is not of the Jewish faith" and claims he was subjected to "unlawful discrimination, unjustified detention, humiliation and illegal searches."Cheryl Stein, an El Al spokeswoman in Manhattan, said earlier this week that the airline "maintains the highest level of security at all times and each passenger gets treated equally."Jonathan W. Lubell, Davis' attorney, Thursday declined to discuss the case "in the media." Davis said in the suit -- which calls for at least $8 million in damages -- that he arrived at Kennedy Airport on April 9, 2005 for an El Al flight to Tel Aviv......Davis said he was soon asked by a female El Al employee to step out of line "to answer some questions." He said after being interrogated about the purpose of his trip, Davis was asked to leave his bags with the El Al employee and proceed to a private room.There, Davis said, he was asked to remove his shirt and pants and was frisked with a handheld wand. He said an El Al employee "also protruded the wand [into his] crotch and between his buttocks."Davis said he was the only passenger who was not white.

Female Mohel??!!!

In the words of the "great" Bob Grant "things are sick out there and getting sicker". I want to see someone stick up for her. The kicker is this "It's a custom, a strong custom, but there's no law except that the mohel be Jewish," says Rabbi Donni Aaron, director of the Reform Berit Mila Program" did this JERK "Rabbi" ever hear of Minhag Yisroel Torah? AND why don't the editors of this article think of consulting some REAL rabbis? JewishTimes: When Dr. Debra Weiss-Ishai watched her son's brit milah two years ago, she thought to herself, I could do this better. Not just technically, although as a pediatrician she had done numerous medical circumcisions. She felt she could bring a warmth and spiritual beauty to the ritual in ways her old-school mohel, who she says "rushed through" the ceremony, did not. Last April Weiss-Ishai completed the Reform movement's Berit Mila Program, an intensive 35-hour certification course for physicians and nurse-midwives at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She now has performed seven or eight Jewish ritual circumcisions in the San Francisco Bay area. Weiss-Ishai spends hours preparing for each brit milah.....Weiss-Ishai is one of just a few female mohels in the United States. There are about 35 Reform female mohels, and just four trained by the U.S. Conservative movement, as well as a handful trained by the Conservative movement outside the United States....It's not surprising that throughout Jewish history, mohels have been men. Circumcision is, after all, a guy thing. Beyond the obvious anatomical requirements, it's something the Torah commands a father, not a mother, to do for his son on the eighth day of life. Yet unlike rabbis and cantors, there is no halachic prohibition against female mohels. Every Orthodox authority consulted for this story agreed on that point, though most asked not to be quoted. "It's a custom, a strong custom, but there's no law except that the mohel be Jewish," says Rabbi Donni Aaron, director of the Reform Berit Mila Program......Her male rabbi told her that women bring "a gentleness, a sensitivity" to the ceremony, but she says there are other advantages. "First, I don't have a penis," she says. "With men, when you talk about circumcision, there's an instinctive protecting of the genitals. I'm a little more thick-skinned. And as a mother, I can empathize with that mother's feelings and tenderness toward that child. I can reassure her, perhaps more than a male mohel can." At the end of every brit milah, "sometimes surreptitiously," Radovsky says, she kisses the baby's head to welcome him into the Jewish community. "I really feel I can make a difference in the world," she says. Uch! I'm going to go throw up now....

Metzitzah B'peh Part 5

Jewishweek: Opposition is building to a city Health Department campaign to warn new Jewish parents against a circumcision procedure it describes as life threatening — even before the plan is launched. In a full-page ad in last week’s Brooklyn Orthodox paper, The Jewish Press, a new group calling itself Friends of Bris Milah (ritual circumcision) urged parents to call a 24-hour hot line “to report any conversation initiated by doctors, hospitals and other professional caregivers” regarding the procedure known as metzitzah b’peh. Describing the plan as “a giant step leading to a ban” on the procedure, the hot-line message asked callers to leave the names of any health professional making “negative statements ... against our mesorah [tradition]” and specifics about what was said, where and when. The information will be used to prepare for “future action,” the message said, raising the possibility of protests and pressure on specific caregivers. Efforts to reach Rabbi S.F. Zimmerman of Monsey, identified in the ad as a recipient of contributions to the group, went unanswered. But sources in the Satmar chasidic community of Williamsburg in Brooklyn said the group was tied to the Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States and Canada, a Satmar rabbinic organization that has taken a lead in opposing city plans. The same group met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion to protest the plan in an exchange on Jan. 5. City officials described their plans, first announced more than a month ago, as unchanged despite the moves. They disavow any intent to seek a ban. “The details of our community outreach are still being finalized,” said Health Department spokesman Andrew Tucker, “but the plan remains to distribute [information about metzitzah b’peh] to parents of newborns in hospitals. We expect this to begin over the next several weeks.” The information sheets, to be distributed at hospitals used heavily by the Orthodox community, alert parents of male newborns to risks the Health Department has found in the practice. The procedure, in which the mohel orally sucks blood from the site of the genital cut, has been blamed for transmitting several cases of life-threatening genital herpes to newborns. Type 1 herpes is a common virus carried by the majority of adults with no harm, but it can cause brain damage or death if passed to newborns, who have little immunity. The department has identified seven such cases since 1988, including five in the last two years. They include one child who died and two who suffered significant brain damage. David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox umbrella group, estimates some 2,500 metzitzah b’peh procedures are performed annually in the five boroughs. Even within the Orthodox community, the practice is far from universal....

Bin Laden's new album

Why can't Satmer ban this album also? I think it's worse then Lipa's! A new audiotape warns that plans for attacks in the United States are under way. CIA intelligence officials who analyzed the recording believe the voice on the poor-quality audiotape is that of bin Laden. The message said attacks against America "are in the planning stages and you will see them in the heart of your land as soon as the planning is complete."

Free trip to Israel!

I was asked to put this up: click here for your free chance to win 10 free tickets to Israel!!

Suozzi Gubernatorial Campaign

Well I guess he lost my vote...No vouchers, no vote! There are people who so badly need the assistance with School Vouchers and are paying tuition through the nose; while continuing to pay taxes (which goes straight to the Public Schools). Newsday: Surrounded by men in long, black coats and long, white beards, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi took his young campaign for governor into the heart of Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community Wednesday -- and he didn't forget his Hebrew."Good morning to everyone -- Boker Tov," Suozzi bellowed, greeting local leaders at a breakfast in Borough Park. He grinned as he repeated the salutation in Hebrew, then threw in some Yiddish for good measure. The first day of Suozzi's listening tour of New York State had a distinctly Jewish flavor. He spoke on a Jewish-themed radio program, attended the breakfast, visited an Orthodox school, met with Jewish editorial writers, and last night presented an award at an autism awareness dinner sponsored by a Jewish group in Manhattan.While Suozzi is Catholic and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic favorite, is Jewish, some at the breakfast at the Renaissance Ballroom Wednesday said Spitzer is no shoo-in for the Orthodox vote."He maybe thinks Tom Suozzi is not an issue to him," said Chanina Sperlin, head of a Crown Heights political action committee, criticizing Spitzer for ignoring his group. "But he makes a mistake."Ryan Toohey, a Spitzer spokesman, said the campaign is "not taking any community, part of the state, or individual voter for granted."City Councilman Simcha Felder, who represents Borough Park and the surrounding area, said it was "very early on" and he had not decided whom to support. He said key issues for local voters are state aid for parochial schools tuition, affordable housing and social services funding."This is a community with large families that needs help in every which way," Felder said.The breakfast, attended by 50 to 60 people, was organized by Ezra Friedlander, a local political consultant who has been working with Suozzi.....calling a proposal by Gov. George Pataki to give tax credits to parochial and public school parents "very clever." But Suozzi stopped short of endorsing it, and said he is against private school vouchers."I don't think vouchers is a politically viable option," he said.. Also see the NYSUN.

Rabbi Balkany & Sen. Lieberman

If there was only eight people around the dinner table, how did they daven Mincha & Maariv? Forward: Senator Joseph Lieberman met last week with some Orthodox leaders at the home of Milton Balkany, a rabbi whose legal troubles led President Bush's campaign and a New York mayoral candidate to return contributions linked to him. The well-connected political fund-raiser once dubbed the "Brooklyn Bundler" by the good-government watchdog group Common Cause, Balkany has been at the center of controversies dating back some years, which have led to various accusations but no criminal convictions. In August 2003, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York charged Balkany, president and director of the Bais Yaakov School in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn, with theft of government property, false claims, and wire fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly misappropriating a $700,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The charges prompted President Bush's campaign to return $4,000 that Balkany, a self-described Republican, had raised for the 2004 re-election run, the Forward reported in 2003. In March 2004, the charges were dropped when prosecutors came to a deferred prosecution agreement with Balkany that allowed him to return the money.Bush is not the only politician to have returned campaign funds linked to Balkany. After Balkany's agreement with the government, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York congressman who ran for New York City mayor in 2005, returned contributions from relatives of Balkany when the government's original charges were brought to his attention, the New York Post reported in January 2005. Federal records show that Balkany gave Lieberman a $2,000 contribution in May 2003 and a $500 contribution in March 1999. The recent meeting at Balkany's home was first reported in the January 11 weekly edition of Hamodia, an Orthodox newspaper published in Brooklyn.The recent meeting comes as Lieberman, a Democrat, is seeking re-election in Connecticut. The Lieberman campaign told the Forward that the event was arranged by the senator's fund-raiser, Fran Katz Watson. Lieberman's senatorial office confirmed the fund-raiser's involvement, but insisted that the gathering was not a fund-raising event."Senator Lieberman is an observant Jew, and there is support for him in the Orthodox community," Lieberman's spokeswoman, Casey Aden Wansbury, wrote in an e-mail. "This was not a fund-raiser, but an outreach event with this community of supporters and potential supporters."The national president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, who attended the gathering, confirmed the assertion."This was not a fund-raiser," Klein said. "It was a friendly get-together. Nobody was writing checks. We talked about issues surrounding the Arab war against Israel and [confessed spy Jonathan] Pollard. It was eight people around [Balkany's] dinner table. We davened. Joe Lieberman led Mincha and Ma'ariv. He said Kaddish for his mother......

Suicide Bomber - 16 Wounded

HatzolahIsrael: At about 3:45 PM Israel Standard Time, a suicide bomber affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terror organization exploded at a schwarma restaurant at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. Hatzolah Israel volunteers rushed to the scene to treat those wounded. Thank G-d, no one aside from the terrorist was killed, but 16 people were wounded - one in serious condition, 5 in moderate condition and the rest were lightly injured. Our prayers for a speedy and full recovery are extended to those injured.

Jewish Blogs? No way!

Jpost: At times, the chatter between American Jews can seem hushed, even silent. While questions about assimilation, Israeli politics and Jewish identity swirl overhead, many American Jews maintain an arms-length complacency about it all. But a post, click and hyperlink away, the burgeoning blogosphere offers a forum for Jewish conversation. Jewish blogs, or Web diaries, run the gamut from kosher cooking to Israeli advocacy. They include leftist rants, dating melodramas, rabbinic ruminations and secular musings from all corners of the globe. Last year, the Pew Internet and American Life Project estimated that 8 million American adults had created blogs. Though the number of specifically Jewish blogs is unconfirmed, those with knowledge of the blogosphere say the pool is substantial. "I d estimate the number of active blogs at some several thousand," says Steven Weiss, who currently blogs about religion (canonist.com), food (kosherbachelor.com) and the Jewish college experience (campusj). "Among young, highly-affiliated Jews, J-blogs are very popular," the 24 year-old New Yorker continues. "As you move up the age brackets, the popularity drops off somewhat, though many in the organizational and rabbinic establishment have started paying a lot of attention to them." The Religious Action Committee of Reform Judaism, for instance, launched a blog of its own last year at rac.org. "The amount of interest in blogging has just gone through the roof," confirms Alexis Rice, the RAC's communications director. "I think the Jewish community is more connected now than ever before. "A rabbi used to give a sermon and it was heard by 200 people in services Friday night," Rice continues. "Now he puts the sermon on a blog, and thousands of people access it." What exactly are these Jewish bloggers seeking on the Web? Some, like 30-something New York blogging guru Esther Kustanowitz, say the blogosphere connects them to a larger, global Jewish community. "I started looking at other Jewish blogs to see if there were other people like me out there - single, Jewish and blogging," she explains....

Tution help?

NYSun: The budget also frees up state building aid for charter schools and authorizes nonprofit organizationIn what could be another sweeping change to the system, Mr. Pataki's budget includes a $400 million education tax credit plan. Viewed as a version of school vouchers, the $500 a child tax credits would be granted to families with incomes of less than $90,000 that reside in low-performing school districts. The credits are to be used for tutoring, after-school programs, or for private school tuition.Many religious organizations welcomed the proposed credits."Until now, needy parents in the state seeking to ensure that their children are educated in their religious tradition have struggled mightily under a double burden: They pay high taxes to support public schools that their children cannot attend, and they pay high tuition for their children to attend nonpublic schools," an Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America, said in a statement issued yesterday. Education tax credit programs exist in about a half-dozen other states, according to the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability.Opponents of the credits, including the United Federation of Teachers, say they would funnel money away from public schools.

Rabbi Lau for President?

Jewishtelegraph: We report elsewhere in this edition the intriguing prospect of Israel, for the first time since its establishment, having a rabbinical head of state. The country's former Chief Rabbi Yisroel Lau, currently the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, indicated to the Jewish Telegraph this week that were the circumstances to be right and were the majority of Knesset members to support his nomination, he would in the future accept the presidency of Israel. There will be those who wrongly suggest that this would be a move in the wrong direction for Israel - towards a religious dictatorship. Some Israelis say they fear a situation akin to that in Iran, where ayatollahs have ruled. But those who know Rabbi Lau realise that he is a unique character - an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who is as popular amongst charedim as he is amongst the irreligious and the unidentified. He has the ability to mix at every level, to communicate brilliantly and to mediate in the most difficult situations. Rabbi Lau was at one time the front-runner to be Chief Rabbi of Britain but he chose to remain in Israel, because that was his home and where his heart lay. Some will protest that age is against him, but here is a man who is not only vibrant and in many ways youthful in his outlook, but the perfect figurehead for a Jewish state which often finds it difficult to satisfy the many strands of Judaism which make up its complex tapestry. In 18 months Israel will be set to elect a new President. Need the country look further than Rabbi Lau?

London Eruv going up

To our London readers: EJP: The eruv, which allows orthodox Jews to carry goods on the Sabbath, was granted planning permission by Barnet Council’s Planning and Environment Committee in December 2005. The eruv will be completed in April of this year. Eruv is a series of posts connected with string that fence in an area, making it permissible to carry goods on the Sabbath in that area. Harvey Brown, chairman of the Edgware Eruv Committee, said: “That’s all the red tape and now we can set the thing up. It makes the observance of the Sabbath a little easier. The restrictions on movement are removed.” He added: “Without an eruv, you are not allowed to carry in public or push a pram or wheelchair and that confines people to the house.” Rabbi Benjamin Rabinowitz, of the United Synagogue in Edgware, said that thousands of families would benefit from an Edgware eruv. “It will increase the quality of life in a way that does not impinge on anyone else, Jewish or non-Jewish,” he said. Broad support Councillor Matthew Offord, cabinet member for Barnet Council’s Environment and Transport, paid tribute to the strong cooperation between council officers and Edgware Eruv Committee. He said: “I am pleased that legal hurdles have been cleared and progress has been made over this issue.” The eruv, budgeted to cost the community 15,000 pounds (22,500 euros) a year, was initiated by the Hadas Yisrael congregation in Edgware and supported by the London Beth Din.....

Pope worried by anti-Semitism?

I just don't belive a word that comes out of the Vatician after reading this article from Haaretz!! Jpost: Pope Benedict XVI, meeting with Rome's chief rabbi Monday, expressed pain and worry over fresh outbreaks of anti-Semitism, and called on Jews and Christians to wage a united battle against hate. Waves of anti-Semitic violence and vandalism have hit Europe in the past few years. Last week, worshippers in a Moscow synagogue were attacked by a man with a knife. Benedict did not mention specific occurrences of anti-Semitism in his speech welcoming Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni to an audience at the Vatican. The rabbi led a delegation from Rome's Jewish community, one of the oldest in the world. Benedict said that Jews and Christians have the responsibility to cooperate to promote justice, love and freedom....

Chareidim refused entry to Jordan

Picture of Aharon Hokohen's Kever, Petra Jordan Where in the world were they going? My only thought is to Aharon Hakohen's Kever. Jpost: Israelis with a religious exterior are being prohibited by Jordanian authorities from entering their country, according to Israeli foreign ministry officials on Wednesday. Eight Israeli tourists were forbidden entry to Jordan Wednesday morning after tefilin and talitim (prayer shawls) were found in their bags. One of the tourists, Yoram Cohen, told Army Radio that once the Jordanian border officials realized that they were religious they were banned entry. "During the border check the Jordanians found tefilin in our bags. When they asked what it was, we said we were religious," said Cohen. "At that moment they said 'ok, go home.' "On the Israeli side we were informed that they don't let religious people through," he said. The foreign ministry said Wednesday that Israel was holding a dialogue with the Jordanians concerning the issue, with the goal of convincing them to change their policy. However, official said, due to their concern of terrorist attacks, they forbid people that look religious entrance to their territory. Back in August Israel warned citizens not to travel to Jordan, based on intelligence that militant groups were planning attacks against Israelis in the country. Sixty three people were killed On Nov. 9, in triple suicide bombings in Amman hotels, one of them an Israeli-Arab. Al-Qaida in Iraq took responsibility for the attack. Click HERE to view a video of Aharon Hakohen's Kever in Petra, Jordan.

Sium L"ZN Horav Kreiswirth Zt"l

R' Chaim Kreiswirth ZATZAL's last Drasha Dei'ahVedibur: A special event was held to mark the completion of the entire Shas in memory of HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth zt"l, the late gavad of Antwerp, on the occasion of his fourth yahrtzeit at Beis Knesses Ahavas Torah in Jerusalem. The event was attended by gedolei Torah. The siyum itself was led by the deceased's son, HaRav Dov Tzvi Kreiswirth, rosh yeshiva of Merkaz HaTorah and rov of Beis Medrash Derech Chaim and Kehillas Meir in Jerusalem. Speakers included HaRav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ateres Yisroel; HaRav Yitzchok Tuvioh Weiss, gavad of the Eida Chareidis of Jerusalem; the deceased's son-in-law, HaRav Pinchos Zelivansky, rosh kollel of Kollel Derech Chaim, named after the deceased; and HaRav Binyomin Finkel. On Monday, the day of the yahrtzeit, family members, talmidim and others who hold his memory fondly went up to the gravesite at Har Hamenuchos. Click HERE to view an interesting website about R' Chaim Kreiswirth ZATZAL. R' Chaim Kreiswirth ZATZAL'S first Drasha

Siyum on Mesechta Erivun

A video of the event will be posted later I"H. Dei'ahVedibur: Gedolei Yisroel shlita, including Maran HaRav Eliashiv, HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, the Admor of Belz, the Admor of Novominsk, the Admor of Nadvorna, the Admor of Boyan and HaRav Yisroel Hagar joined thousands of Daf Yomi lomdim and maggidei shiurim for a major event at Binyanei Ha'Uma in Jerusalem to mark the completion of Masechta Eruvin and the beginning of Masechta Pesochim. To accommodate the large number of participants Meoros HaDaf HaYomi, which organized the event, reserved the main hall of the International Congress Center, as well as adjacent halls where the proceedings were screened live for ladies and the overflow crowd. The event was also broadcast live at gathering points in Bnei Brak, Kiryat Sefer, Ashdod, Rechasim, Elad and Beit Shemesh... At that point HaRav Kovalsky announced enthusiastically, "We have the merit of receiving Maran Posek Hador shlita, who is entering the hall." The audience responded by rising to its feet and bursting out in a long round of "Yomim Al yemei Melech tosif" as Maran HaRav Eliashiv, followed by HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, the Admor of Belz and the Admor of Novominsk filed in one after the next and took their seats on the dais, joining several long rows of prominent roshei yeshivos and rabbonim, including HaRav Shmuel Deutsch, HaRav Dovid Cohen, HaRav Dov Yaffeh, HaRav Moshe Shapira, HaRav Dovid Shapira, HaRav Leib Minzberg, HaRav Ezriel Auerbach, HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein, HaRav Mordechai Gross, HaRav Binyomin Rimer, HaRav Michel Barniker, HaRav Avrohom Eliashiv, the Admor of Nadvorna, the Admor of Boyan, the Admor of Sochotchov and HaRav Yisroel Hagar....

I told ya!

Jack Abramoff's hat IS a Bencraft Borsalino! The Hill: In a profile of ascendant Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in the Jewish Forward newspaper last week, the paper reprised part of a story it broke three years ago on the saga of a sandwich named after Cantor at Stacks, the short-lived kosher deli owned by Jack Abramoff. At a January 2003 fundraiser for Cantor, who had just become chief deputy whip, Abramoff unveiled the Eric Cantor sandwich, “a tuna-based stacker,” which, lamentably, was “not quite [the] power lunch befitting” the only Jewish Republican in the House......So now we know what Larry David and Eric Cantor have in common. On a related note, the mystery of Abramoff’s gangster-like hat is now solved. The Forward reports that Abramoff purchased the hat from Bencraft Hatters, “a Brooklyn shop that caters largely to Orthodox Jews. The hat in question, a Como II fedora made by Borsalino, retails on the Bencraft Web site for $200.”

He did It!

Yudel Shain has gotten his hands on a copy of Maran Hagon R' Shach Zatzal's letter to the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva. Give the man credit where credit is due!! Here is the letter: אלעזר מנחם מן שך קרית הישיבה בני-ברק בס"ד, מוצש"ק צו י"ג ניסן תשמ"ז שלום ורב ברכה לש"ב ידידי ורב חביבי היקר יקרים מוכתר במעלות ובמידות שמנו חכמים בקנין תורה הגאון המפורסם ראש ישיבת לייקווד בארה"ב מוהר"ר...... שיחי' ולכל ראשי הישיבה אשר בישיבת לייקווד שיחי שלומכון יסגא עד בלי ירח . הנה באתי בזה לקדמכם בברכה ברכת חג שמח וכשר ותזכו כולכם להגדיל תורה ולהאדירה .בהרבה תלמידים הרוצים לעלות במעלות התו"י. ואגב, אני מנצל את האפשרות להיות כנדוש ללא שאלוני ואני מבקש סליחתכם ע"ז יען שאני מבוגר, ואינני יודע יומי, וכל יום ויום היא מתנת ה' אלי, ותאבני שיהי' לי אזה זכות וחלק בכל מקום שהוא בהחזקת התורה ויראת ה', ולכן אני מעיז להעיר לפניכם ממה שיש לי מתוך הנסיון . תפקידו של ראש ישיבה העיקר הוא להיות עסוק רק בתורה ועל ידי זה יראו התלמידים ויהי' להם לדוגמא. ואף שבמדה מסיומת יש לפקח ולראות על העיר והמקום שיתנהל בדרך התורה ושיהי' עין פקוחה על המוסדות המתיסדים שם, אבל זה לא יעסיק אתכם הרבה, וכל מה שהאדם הוא יותר גדול וירא שמים דבריו מתקבלים יותר, ובתבונה ובסבלנות ונחת אפשר לפעול הרבה. והעיקר העלי' העצמית משפיע הרבה, מה שיש להרבות בבתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות חברות ש"ס משניות חברות לימוד משנה ברורה, על ידי זה יהי' להם יותר השקפה האמיתית של דעת תורה ויראת שמים, וכידוע שבזמנינו ההפקרות שולט ברחוב ואין דבר העומד נגד התאוה וההפקרות והכל מותר, ואין ערך החיים תופס אצלם מקום, והכל נקלט אצלם בשטחיות, מה שכתוב בעיתון , וזהו רק מפני הריקנות שיש ורק המשחקים בכדורים זהו התענוג, אבל כשילמדו יקבלו השקפה אחרת על כל החיים ויהיו יותר רציניים. וזהו תפקידכם שב"ה זיכה ה' אתכם לעמוד בראש הישיבה הכי גדולה, מוטל החיוב עליכם להעסק רק בה מה שאפשר להשפיע יותר ולזרזם לגדלות בתו"י ואז יהי' הנאה להם והנאה לעולם, זהו מה שיש להעיר ואני מבקש סליחתכם מה שהוספתי בדברים בזה. ובזה אני גומר את דברי בברכה מרובה לכולכם בעלי' בתו"י וחג שמח וכשר, ממני המסור לכם. אלעזר מנחם מן שך ברכה מיוחדת שולח ל.... מר. ... ש' שתזכה לאריכת ימים ושנים ונחת מכל צאצאי הנ"ל

ARON KOTLER RESIGNS???

I've just received an email stating that Aron Kotler the CEO of BMG (Lakewood) has quit working for the Yeshiva, but will stay on as Cederbridge head. He claims to have this information from a semi-credible source. Can anyone confirm this?

Mosdos "look out"

APP: A bill from Sen. Robert W. Singer, R-Ocean, will now require charities to provide more financial information so donors can be confident they're not giving money to scams. The bill was signed into law earlier this month.The "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act'' requires officers, directors, trustees or principal salaried executives of a charitable organization to report any financial interests related to fund-raising. The information will be included in filings with the state Attorney General's Office. Call Singer's office at (732) 901-0702 for more information.

Lesson in life

Click HERE to view a lesson in life. Enjoy!

Holocaust painting returned

But the Iranian President: denies Holocaust!! Islandpacket: Maria Altmann fondly remembers her family's five precious Gustav Klimt paintings - as well as the bitter series of events that took them away.As a newlywed in Austria, Altmann was forced to watch as the Nazis seized power in 1938 and then stole the possessions of her wealthy Jewish family. She and her husband - who had been detained in the Dachau concentration camp - eventually escaped to safety in America."My husband was in the concentration camp and everything was taken - but material values at the time didn't matter one bit. It was only after that it did matter."Altmann, now 89, celebrated news Monday that an Austrian arbitration court had determined that the country is legally obligated to give her family back the paintings.The Klimt paintings have been estimated to be worth at least $150 million and are considered national treasures by Austria........

Internet study

And "this" is the reason why so many people just keep on returning to Yeshiva World!! Yahoo: Those who surf the Internet typically make snap decisions about the quality of a Web site, according to a new research study. The researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital city, discovered that the human brain makes decisions in a twentieth of a second after seeing a Web page for the first time....."Visual appeal can be assessed within 50 milliseconds, suggesting that Web designers have about 50 milliseconds to make a good impression," In other words, if visitors think that a Web site looks good, then this positive attitude will influence how they feel about other areas of the site, such as its content. According to Lingaard, because human beings like to be right, they will continue to use the Web site that made a good first impression because doing so will further confirm that their initial decision was a good one.

Israel bus "Issur"

Bicycles are now the wayto go in Eretz Yisroel. Click HERE to see why. I also love to see that another "issur" is not signed by anyone.

Lakewood's housing initiative

APP: The township now has a colorful brochure, which touts its affordable housing initiative, on its Web site.The document outlines the township's plan to help three nonprofit agencies build hundreds of affordable housing units over the next decade. It also provides information on the housing rehabilitation program.Ervin Oross Jr., director of community development, said the brochures will also be available in Spanish soon.Visit Lakewood's Web site — www.twp.lakewood.nj.us — for a copy of the brochure.

Lakewood's Kimball Hospitial

Why exactly is this important enough to be in the Asbury Park Press? APP: At some New Jersey hospitals, nearly 1 out of every 2 babies are delivered by Caesarean section. So how has Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood managed to keep its C-section rate below 18 percent?In 2004, Kimball's C-section rate was 17.8 percent — the lowest among New Jersey hospitals.Dr. Eric Lehnes, chairman of Kimball's OB-GYN department, said the fact that the medical center is located in a town with a large Orthodox Jewish community certainly is one factor. Many young Orthodox Jewish couples aspire to have large families and that goal provides a strong incentive for women to have vaginal deliveries, since Caesarean sections leave scar tissue in the uterus that can complicate future pregnancies.In contrast, delivering a first baby vaginally generally acts to shorten labor time and ease the delivery of subsequent babies, he said."By the seventh, eighth and ninth babies" — which is not uncommon among Orthodox families — "their C-section rate is going to be one-half of 1 percent," Lehnes said.The low rates aren't simply a matter of cultural preferences, however.In his private, all-male OB-GYN group, Lehnes said, "We practice a bit of a more old-fashioned medicine."By that, he means, "We don't do labor by the phone," a common practice elsewhere in which doctors remain home or work with other patients until the woman in labor is nearly ready to deliver. "While our patients are in labor, we're there."Dr. Bruce B. Feinberg said his OB-GYN group, Women's Health Associates, which is in Lakewood and affiliated with Kimball, has a C-section rate for first-time mothers of less than 3 percent....The group primarily uses certified nurse-midwives to direct the birthing process. There are six experienced nurse-midwives on staff......Shirley Cohen, the group's midwifery director, said it isn't only Orthodox patients who are interested in avoiding Caesarean sections. She also works in the Ocean Health Initiative public health clinic in Lakewood, where non-Jewish patients often express their strong preference for a natural birth.

Lakewood's day laborers need DIGNITY!

To Bob Singer: Let the immigrants wait at cederbridge, or perhaps just build a stadium for them. Oh by the way, maybe you should start checking these "immigrants" for their Green Cards. APP: Alice Kelsey wants the day laborers who line Clifton Avenue each morning to have a sense of dignity, but she worries the Township Committee's plan to create a no-standing zone in the downtown area will make that impossible."If we have a "no-stopping zone,' the immigrants cannot get jobs in this town," said Kelsey, who lives in Original Leisure Village. Whether Kelsey is right may depend on legal advice the township gets about a proposal to make the downtown — a loosely defined area bounded by Route 9 and Lexington Avenue and First to Fifth streets — a "no-stopping zone." Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said Township Attorney Steven Secare and Public Safety Director Al Peters are researching the plan."Hopefully, we'll have something prepared for us by the end of the month," Lichtenstein said at last week's Township Committee meeting....Lichtenstein declined comment on Monday."We, of course, are not trying to hurt anybody's dignity," he said at last week's meeting. "Many of the people who are being picked up . . . are not necessarily being treated with dignity."Lichtenstein said many of the day laborers complain about not getting paid or about exploitation by employers."I don't know how it could be dignified to stand in the freezing cold for two-and-a-half hours to get picked up," Lichtenstein said.Downtown merchants have complained that men waiting for work can impede pedestrian traffic, intimidate customers and give the downtown a poor public image.The township's answer, up until last month, was turning a parking lot between Clifton Avenue and Route 9 into a publicly funded muster zone. That idea, which would have cost about $80,000 to implement, was dropped because merchants no longer supported it.Coles said he still favors "some type of muster zone.""Don't forget these people that are the problem are human beings that have families they have to feed," he said.Committeeman Robert W. Singer said Lakewood has to find an answer to the problem soon because the number of men waiting for work has increased over the past few years."We have become a mecca now to attract people to come for day laborers," Singer said. "It's not going to get better. It's going to get worse."

Jack Abramoff wannabe?

DailyNews: An "appreciation party" where Brooklyn cops got free dinner and drinks — and expensive electronic goodies, in some cases — is now the subject of an NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau investigation, the Daily News has learned. The lavish New Year's celebration was thrown in January 2005 at Manhattan's Prime Grill, where sources said cops were entertained by a magician and walked out with presents and "prizes" in green gift boxes....The affair was hosted by Abe Friedman, an orthodox Jewish leader from South Williamsburg.......On other occasions, revelers were invited to Abigael's On Broadway for a Jan. 6, 2003, bash and again to the Prime Grill on Jan. 5, 2004. All invitations name Friedman as the "host," and described him as an "NYPD liaison." When asked by The News last week about the parties, Friedman said, "I don't know what you are talking about.".."There was a raffle for three GPS [Global Positioning System units]," said a civilian guest at the gala affair. "There were bigger prizes in boxes, but they put them in a room and said they'd get them at quieter times." When The News attempted to slip into the event, men who greeted many attendees by name turned a reporter away. "This is a private party," said the head of the Orthodox security detail, who declined to identify himself. "You are wasting your time. "It's an appreciation party, not just for police, but for whoever has an invitation," he added. The guests were made aware that The News was outside. "They announced that the press was outside taking pictures. They warned the crowd, 'Don't talk to anyone you don't know,' " said the civilian party guest. Some of the expensive electronics, sources said, came from Hello Cellular, a business in Williamsburg that has since been sold. The brothers who owned the store last year initially acknowledged giving BlackBerrys and cell phones to Friedman for the party, but then reversed themselves over the course of a brief interview.

CHUTZPAH!

Email: felder@council.nyc.ny.us Dailynews: City Councilman Simcha Felder may have given new meaning to "chutzpah," a Yiddish word with an elastic definition covering everything from gall to causing gallstones in others. Felder, a Democrat and Orthodox Jew who represents Borough Park, actively supported Christine Quinn in her successful bid to become speaker of the City Council. Yet, he took a convenient powder during the Jan. 4 voice vote that elected Quinn, who is openly gay, so as not to offend some of his more conservative Hasidic and Orthodox constituents, who are said to view homosexuality as "a grave sin" that is forbidden by Jewish rabbinic law. Felder made a well-timed visit to the men's room at the rear of the Council Chambers during the actual vote for speaker to avoid being recorded as having voted or abstained, according to a report published last week by The Jewish Week. So who does Felder invite to be one of the VIP speakers tomorrow night at his third-term Council inauguration celebration at Brooklyn Borough Hall? You guessed it - Quinn. Now that is chutzpah. Not only that, but Quinn has accepted the invitation, according to a spokeswoman. And if that's not chutzpah enough, several Council insiders report that Felder is in line to be tapped by Quinn to be chairman of a committee dealing with mental health, mental retardation, alcoholism, drug abuse and disability services. That committee carries a $15,000 stipend, which would give Felder a $7,000 raise over his current chairmanship of the landmarks subcommittee. Also planning to speak at Felder's celebration tomorrow is Mayor Bloomberg, a Republican for whom Felder crossed party lines last year to help head the Democrats for Bloomberg campaign efforts. The media originally reported that Quinn had been elected speaker with only one of the 51 members abstaining, Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), who had complained about the boss-driven process by which she became speaker. Felder now confirms that he did not participate in the vote.

Internet in the "Dira's"??!!

So back to my old question regarding the many Bochrim learning in Eretz Yisroel who have the internet in their diras: The only answer that I can figure out why the Roshei Yeshiva are not doing anything about it is, that they are busy placing an "issur" on cell phones that have no Hechsher. Comments?

Kosher's good for buisness

(The picture came from Hebrew National. You might want to check out their website to see what Hechsher they are under.) Seattle Times: When Albertsons hired Yakov Yarmove more than three years ago, the company found a point man to navigate what might seem an unlikely market for a grocery chain with stores in places like Cheyenne, Wyo.: kosher food. Albertsons has since dramatically expanded kosher aisles at hundreds of its supermarkets across the country....."There's a kosher awakening," said Yarmove, an observant Jew who is Albertsons' corporate kosher, marketing and operations manager. "Kosher was perceived as scary and foreign. Now it's perceived as chic. I think everybody is realizing that there is an opportunity.....Experts say the boom is being fueled by several factors, including vegetarians and younger customers looking for more healthful and safer food, the same demographic that has helped the organic market take off. Plenty of these customers are not Jewish. "When I take the matzos to the church, they love it," said Ursula Torres of New York, who was buying 100 percent wheat matzos recently at Streit's, a Jewish landmark on the Lower East Side.Marcia Mogelonsky......She found 55 percent of the people who buy kosher products believed the food was better for them...according to Jewish law, they cannot be pumped with antibiotics, additives, hormones or fed animal byproducts....Manischewitz, one of the best-known kosher-food companies, is developing an advertising campaign that says the name is "Jewish for good food." "First and foremost is taste, but number two is that it's 100 percent kosher beef — nothing artificial," said Nieto, who oversees the Hebrew National brand. He added that sales were being bolstered by non-Jewish customers, who devour the company's hot dogs at hundreds of venues nationwide....Even the Chinese are going kosher.....There is also a kosher energy drink called "Kabbalah.....

Chevron expulsion orders

Click HERE to view pictures of the attempts to distribute expulsion orders to Jewish residents in Chevron.

Chareidim vs Chilonim

I'd like to know the "other" side of the story. Jpost: A family living in Ramat Beit Shemesh has been targeted by a group of haredi extremists in the community who deemed that members of the family were not "religious enough" for its taste, police and the family said Monday. The family, which is haredi and has lived in the predominantly haredi community for the last six years, has been subject to four nights of protests outside their home. The target of the demonstrators has been the family's two eldest sons, 22 and 20, who no longer wear haredi garb and are modern Orthodox, the mother of the family said. Her two sons were beaten up on the way home Friday night by extremists, who have held a demonstration outside their home every night since then, calling on the family to move out, she said. "These people are not normal," she said. "It's like we are living in the Wild West." After police arrested two haredi protesters who took part in the Sunday night demonstration, hundreds of haredim rioted Monday afternoon on a main road leading into the neighborhood in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, setting trash bins on fire and pelting police with stones, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Five demonstrators were arrested. The mother said she had "no idea" why her family was suddenly being targeted, adding that the whole story was "very strange and troublesome," but that it had happened once before to a different family in the area. She added that local rabbis on Monday intervened in an attempt to stop the harassment.

Rav Shach letter

Yudel Shain is trying to locate a letter written by Rav Shach: There is a letter from מרן רב ש"ך זצ"ל regarding what are the responsibilities of a ראש ישיבה as far as the "shtuht" and a Yeshivah located in that "Shtuht"- Should any focus be put on the "shtuht" and their needs etc, or just the Torah & the Yeshiva?Any body that can provide that letter will be appreciated.Please send to P. O. Box 172, Lakewood, NJ 08701-0172Please mark envelope CONFIDENTIAL.

Lakewood No-Stopping Zone

Since Mayor Meir Lichtenstein is just DYING for his name to be in the Media, I figured I'll help him out a bit.. APP: A legal opinion on whether the township can make its downtown a no-stopping zone -- effectively banning day laborers from lining up for work -- could be ready in a couple of weeks."Hopefully, we'll have something prepared for us by the end of the month,'' Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said at last week's Township Committee meeting.Lichtenstein said township attorney Steven Secare and Public Safety Director Al Peters have been researching the proposed ordinance, which the township has pursued since last month, when it dropped a plan to create an official muster zone in a parking lot between Route 9 and Clifton Avenue.The new rule would likely ban stopping, standing, cruising, double-parking or picking people up in the downtown area, which usually includes the area of Clifton Avenue from Route 88 to Fifth Street.Issues that could have an affect on the ordinance could include whether delivery trucks could briefly double park or whether a driver could stop and pick up a spouse who had been shopping.Township officials say they must do something because downtown merchants often complain that men waiting for per-diem work can impede pedestrian traffic, intimidate customers and give the downtown a poor public image.