Brooklyn prosecutor to seek freedom for man convicted in 1990 killing of rabbi

Published on March 20, 2013

In the wintry darkness 23 years ago on a back street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a jewelry thief fleeing a botched robbery panicked and shot a Hasidic rabbi in the head.

Driver in accident that killed Chasidic couple charged with manslaughter

Published on March 19, 2013

Julio Acevedo, the driver of car in an accident that killed a young Chasidic couple in Brooklyn, was charged with manslaughter.

Matisyahu talks about his new religious outlook and appearance [Q & A]

Published on March 13, 2013

Cigarette in one hand and cup of tea in the other, Matisyahu sat down with JTA in his closet-sized dressing room during his European tour to talk about his life, his music, how he's raising his kids, and the recent changes in his religious outlook and physical appearance.

Chasidic counseler Nechemya Weberman sentenced to 103 years for abuse

Published on January 22, 2013

Chasidic counselor Nechemya Weberman was sentenced to 103 years in prison for sexual abuse of a teenage female patient over several years.

Brooklyn man indicted for throwing bleach in rabbi’s face

Published on December 27, 2012

A Brooklyn fishmonger was indicted for allegedly throwing a cup of bleach in the face of a Chasidic rabbi who had accused the man's father of being a sexual predator.

Nechemya Weberman convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse

Published on December 10, 2012

Nechemya Weberman, a member of the Satmar Chasidic community in Brooklyn who practiced therapy without a license, was found guilty on 59 counts of sexual abuse.

For Jewish Deadheads, the music plays on

Published on December 4, 2012

As a gentle snow fell on the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center last Friday evening, some 85 people gathered inside a wooden lodge to welcome Shabbat -- half in a meditation circle in which Grateful Dead lyrics served as a kind of mantra, the other in a more "traditional" service where the Lecha Dodi prayer was sung to the tune of the Dead classic "Ripple."

Orthodox Jewish woman who claims abuse ostracized by own community

By JewishJournal
Published on June 11, 2012

The abuse went on for nearly three years before the schoolgirl told anyone that her spiritual adviser was molesting her while he was supposed to be mentoring her about her religion, authorities said.

House committee to hold hearing on Chasidic Jew held in Bolivia

Published on June 6, 2012

The House Foreign Affairs human rights subcommittee will hold a hearing about the plight of a Chasidic Jew from Brooklyn being held in a Bolivian jail.

‘Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish’: A love-hate relationship

By Danielle Berrin
Published on May 9, 2012

Report: N.Y. mohel apparently tested postive for herpes

Published on April 9, 2012

A New York mohel tied to the death from herpes of one newborn and to three others who contracted the disease, apparently tested positive for herpes, The Jewish Week reported.

Woody Allen to play pimp who irks Chasidic neighbors

Published on March 8, 2012

Woody Allen will play a pimp who irks his Chasidic neighbors in a movie directed by John Turturro.

Attorney for Levi Aron: ‘Inbreeding’ was a factor in Leiby’s murder

Published on December 22, 2011

A lawyer for the man accused of killing 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky said his client has a mental deficiency due to inbreeding in the Chasidic community.

Apres le beard: Matisyahu takes the stage in Boulder

Published on December 19, 2011

When Matisyahu, the 32-year-old Chasidic reggae superstar, appeared onstage for the first time since shaving his trademark beard, no one in the audience at the Boulder Theater seemed surprised.

Bigger than the beard, Matisyahu move marks ongoing spiritual journey

Published on December 13, 2011

The world's most famous Chasidic Jew has shaved his beard. With a declaration Tuesday morning that he was "reclaiming" himself, Jewish music star Matisyahu -- a.k.a. Matthew Miller -- shaved his signature beard and wrote, "No more Chassidic reggae superstar."

Jewish community member dies in car accident

By Ryan Torok
Published on November 23, 2011

Ukrainians protest Chasidic pilgrimage to Uman

Published on September 26, 2011

Dozens of Ukrainian nationalists protested the annual pilgrimage of Jews to the grave of a Chasidic rabbi in Uman.

Coping with the Tragedy of the Murder of Leiby Kletzky

By Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Published on July 15, 2011

New York shtetl where arson attack occurred, the rebbe’s word is law

Published on June 7, 2011

For years, this leafy Chasidic village about an hour north of New York City has been a shtetl-like haven where residents could live their strictly Orthodox lifestyle far from the temptations and bustle of the nation’s largest city. Out of view of all but very few, life in this community of some 7,000 Skverer Chasidim has revolved around its spiritual leader, the Skverer rebbe, Rabbi David Twersky.

Chasidic religious dissident burned by attacker in N.Y.

Published on May 24, 2011

A member of a dissident congregation in the Chasidic village of New Square, N.Y., suffered severe burns after confronting a suspected arsonist outside his home. The Journal News reported that Aaron Rottenberg, 43, suffered third-degree burns on 50 percent of his body after he confronted a man carrying a rag soaked in flammable liquid outside his home early Sunday morning. During the confrontation, Rottenberg’s clothes caught on fire.

Chasidic poet blends sacred, mundane in acclaimed debut

By Jonathan Kirsch
Published on May 10, 2011

Surely the most unusual title among the finalists in the poetry category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes is “God’s Optimism” by Yehoshua November (Main Street Rag, $14). After all, the rarefied world of poetry rarely encounters a Chasidic poet who declares that his intention is “to restore the sanctity to language.” And in case the book won first prize, I was asked to be ready to read the author’s acceptance speech, because the prize ceremony took place on a Friday night, and he is shomer Shabbat.

UPDATE: Chasidic paper removes Hillary Clinton from photo, apologizes

Published on May 10, 2011

A Chasidic paper in Brooklyn removed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from the White House photo of U.S. officials watching the deadly raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout. The Yiddish-language Der Zeitung manipulated the photo of political leaders watching the May 1 raid in Pakistan from the White House “situation room.”

The Colbert Report on Brooklyn Chasidic Newspaper’s removal of Hillary Clinton from photo

Published on May 10, 2011

Stephen Colbert riffs on Der Zeitung.

Chasidic man beaten in New York

Published on November 29, 2010

A Chasidic man wearing traditional clothing was beaten in New York in what appears to be a hate crime.

Center Provides Chasidut for All

By Orit Arfa
Published on September 2, 2009

As the High Holy Days approach, some Jews might dread sitting for hours on end in shul, crowning God as their King while their minds inevitably wander off to their missed calls, their mortgage payment or their next meal. Davening, the Yiddish term for prayer, may feel like a constant battle.

A certain magic

Published on August 28, 2009

Chasidic reggae and rap singer Matisyahu just released his fourth album, “Light” — his first full-length work in three years. He discussed his new music, God, spirituality, sex, drugs and Israel in a phone interview with Rabbi Naomi Levy, spiritual leader of Nashuva and author of “Talking to God” (Knopf, 2002) and “To Begin Again” (Ballantine Books, 1999).

Madoff’s Redemption

By David Suissa
Published on December 24, 2008

It's like a quadruple shot of cheap vodka that you drink quickly on an empty stomach. You feel disgusted and drunk at the same time.

Chasidic beatboxing keeps Matisyahu moving

By Matthue Roth
Published on November 12, 2008

David’s the singer, he’s the rapper

By Matthue Roth
Published on April 3, 2008

Oded Turgeman, director of the new short film "Song of David," doesn't do things the easy way.

The Spinka money trail—and the informant who brought them down

By Amy Klein
Published on January 10, 2008

On Dec. 19, 2007, the U.S. Attorney General's Office filed an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California naming the Chasidic yeshiva and four other Spinka organizations, as well as eight people, in a multimillion dollar tax fraud and money-laundering ring that stretched from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to Israel and elsewhere.

Grand Rabbi pleads not guilty

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 30, 2007

On Dec. 19, Los Angeles authorities arrested six people, including Naftali Tzi Weisz, 59, the grand rabbi of Spinka, a Brooklyn-based Hasidic sect, on charges of creating a money-laundering scheme that worked through financial networks in Los Angeles and Israel.

Charedi yuppies

By David Suissa
Published on December 26, 2007

When Baruch Meir Yaacov Shochet called Asher Klitnick into his office on that day in 2004 to discuss the growing crisis of poor Charedi families, the rebbe had more on his mind than just fundraising. This time, he was also thinking about jobs. He asked Klitnick and his team to prepare Charedis to join the working world.

‘Yippee’—Paul Mazursky documents Chasids gone wild

By Tom Tugend
Published on January 11, 2007

"Jews are not cultured people," she complains. The other woman disagrees.

"They are cultured," she insists, "they are just different."

The operatic model of a punk rock major satire

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on October 26, 2006

Mixing punk rock and opera may be about as heretical as it gets, yet that is precisely what Julien Nitzberg, librettist and lyricist of "The Beastly Bombing," has done.

Six self-help books seek to help you get sealed in the Book of Life

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on September 21, 2006

Self-help books are essential tools.

A Step Into Secular

By Sue Fishkoff
Published on January 26, 2006

Chaim is -- or was -- a Skver Chasid, born and raised in the ultra-Orthodox enclave of New Square, N.Y. His world until recently was Torah, family and a close-knit community.

But now he's entering the secular world.

Capturing Chasidim

By Susan Josephs
Published on January 19, 2006

While other photographers have sought to document Chasidism from more of an insider's perspective, Maya Dreilinger purposefully maintained her distance as an outsider. She wandered around the La Brea area dressed as she normally does and refused the occasional invitation to dinner at someone's home.

The New ‘King’ of KROQ

By Gaby Friedman
Published on December 1, 2005

The lyrics are from "King Without a Crown" by Matisyahu, the sensational Chasidic reggae artist whose CD, "Live at Stubbs," is already No. 3 on the Billboard reggae charts. ("King Without A Crown" stands at No. 24 on Billboard's modern rock chart.)

Power of Words

By Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer
Published on September 22, 2005

Each night before retiring, the great Chasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav would make a list. At the end of a long day, he would write down all the wrongs he had committed -- against other people, against God, against himself. Nachman would read the list over and over again, with increasing levels of agitation and remorse, until he welled up with sorrow.

In this week's Torah portion, the Israelites are encouraged -- commanded really -- to write something down.

Secular Fans Hip to Religious Rapper

By Kelly Hartog
Published on April 7, 2005

He's into rap, hip-hop, reggae -- and religion. He's not a Christian rocker; he's a Chasidic reggae/hip-hop musician.

Matisyahu is the artist formerly known as Mathew Miller -- until he found God, Lubavitch-style, almost five years ago.

Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on February 17, 2005

Circuit; Fine Thing for Feinstein; The Stem Cell Circuit; A Visit from The Rebbe; In Memory of Hindy; A Dance for Barbara; Baby Love.

The Once and Future Yiddish Language

By Zackary Sholem Berger
Published on January 13, 2005

Given the sentimentality of much recent writing on the subject, American Jews might be forgiven for believing that no one with a critical eye, or without

All-Female Plays Fill Niche for Frum

By Gaby Wenig
Published on February 26, 2004

For "Portraits in Faith," Robin Garbose's husband, Levi, adapted a novel by Marcus Lehman, a 19th-century German writer who is something of a John Grisham of the Orthodox world. His books typically are plot-driven, hard-to-put-down novels that are infused with messages of faith.

Shut Up, I Love You!

By David Suissa
Published on February 13, 2003

A group of Sephardic, Chasidic, Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, unaffiliated, atheist, right- and left-wing Jews were gathered at a private dinner -- and no one had to call security.

Antwerp’s Diamonds, Jews Are Forever

By Annette Bishop
Published on December 19, 2002

If you own a diamond, you can be 80 percent sure it's been to Antwerp, Belgium, at some point in its life. Perhaps it was graded there in the heart of ancient Europe -- or ground, polished, valued, bought or sold there.

World Briefs

By JTA Staff
Published on January 10, 2002

World Briefs.

A Different Standard

By Julie G Fax
Published on November 29, 2001

Ask Mimi Feigelson a simple question, you don't get a simple answer. "So how do you like L.A.?" I ask, as we sit down for coffee and pastries at a Pico-Robertson cafe, thinking this is just the warm-up for the real questions.

A New L.A. Shtibl

By Julie G Fax
Published on May 14, 2001

Community Briefs.