New Beginnings

A special Tisha B'Av Drusha from my brother

Rabbi Zitzinheimer MacDougal on the laws of Tisha B' Av

Rabbeisai (Holy Rabbis) Tesha Bav is a special time where all the yiddishe kinder (Jewish people) take the time to actually sit during a weekday. No running, jumping, hopping, skipping, rolling or dancing for Hashem's holy children. In a technically advanced age this is a big deal for anyone not just all the yiddishe kinder. Tomorrow night is a very holy night for sitting and listening to Eicha the holy book that is read on Tesha Bav.

Not only must we sit but we must sit on the floor or on small stools or technologically advanced mini beach chairs. The beach is assur (not permissible) to go to and stare at the scantily clad women without schvim kleids, the chairs are ok to use in Shul, unless of course there is a scantily clad woman on the chair. That is Assur of the highest degree, but the nekeivas (women) are nice to look at and really helps the concentration. 

One may not wear leather shoes because its super comfortable and a sign of being rich when we are supposed to be like a poor person mourning and feeling sad. Rabbosai you may wear the Tretorn Skymra SL Lace-Up Canvas Sneaker because it is made of canvas not leather. You can perform a huge hiddur mitzveh (enhancement) for Tesha Bav and buy it on amazon for $750.

Drinking and eating is not permitted on the holy tzoim (fast) yum tuv (holiday) of Tesha Bav unless you are suffering from pavlovian urges and really get hungry for a delectable hot kiddush and mashke when you drive by or get to shul. I posskin that you follow the Hydra Rav and use vitamin suppositories to nourish to body like a hydra.

You may not wash your hantelach (hands) past your knuckles, but roiv (most) people don't seem to wash them  so this halucheh (law) is one you don't have to remember anyway.

For the best Tesha Bav experience, I recommend a Shul with a women's section, with lots of mashke (booze) and loose moral standards with fraud and gambling, a Ninve (Non Jewish city that Jonah got to repent after the whale vomited him up) if you will like the one at the residence of the brilliant Bekiyus (proficiency) of the Rav of YU at 554 Queen Anne Rd.

But I digress. I would like to share something I read on Tesha Bav that is fitting for our times and Shluffenheimer's message to the sefardim (spanish/porteguese/middle eastern Jews) at Ohr Saadya. It is from the ou.org and it has shaychis (appropriateness) to the matzav (situation) in Teaneck with Ohr Saadya today.

The prophet Jeremiah spent years warning his people that they repent and stop insisting that the Temple would protect them. To his chagrin, the Jews honored the Temple more in spectacle than in spirit.

But, the Jews ignored him, even imprisoned him, and to his unbearable agony, he was proven right. The Temple was destroyed, the people ravaged, the nation dispersed and he was the witness.

The book of Eichah is timeless. Although it was composed in the wake of the end of the first Temple era, the Sages of the Midrash find it full of allusions to the destruction of the second Temple, over 500 years later. This is not at all an anachronism, because Jewish history is a continuum. Just as we live by the torah that was given over 33 centuries ago, so we are molded by the experiences of our forbears and the historical epochs they created.

Jeremiah weeps and we weep with him, because – if we are thoughtful and perceptive – we can see all of Jewish history in the dirges of Eichah. This is the challenge of Tisha B’av. Can we realize that this is not merely a day of tears, but of challenge and hope?

The book of Eichah calls Tisha B’av "a day of Jewish rendezvous with G-d" and we don’t recite Tachanun because it has elements of a festival.

Rendezvous with G-d? Festival? On a day of destruction and suffering? Yes, because Tisha B’av proves that G-d is not indifferent to Jewish conduct. We matter to him. And since we do, we know that He awaits our repentance and that there will be a third Temple, an eternal one.

The Sages say that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’av. Let us read Eichah with the prayerful hope that he has already been born and that this day next year will be a day of joy.

\

OY! Alla Da Yiddisher Kinder should know that Shluffenheimer is like the prophet Jeremiah in that he weeps and cries and lives through the scorn and deridation of the Jewish people of Etz Chaim and Ohr Saadya as they ignore his lessons and pleas for repentance for their actions that affect all the yiddishe kinder. 


Hashem watches and judges the actions of am Yisroel (the Jewish people) and the actions of these Ohr Saadya and Robert Erlich and Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Zalman Levine and Akiva Shapiro and Rachelle Mandelbaum are causing negativity towards Jews and a huge chillul (embarrassment towards) Hashem and towards the yiddishe kinder of Teaneck. 


Rabbi Feldman's disciples who comment on this holy blog with their foul language embody all the negative traits of the Ninve at 554 Queen Anne Rd. 

Rabbosai there is hope in these troubled times.


I use the heilige (holy) term Ninve because just like the inhabitants of Ninve repented for their evil ways there is hope for the future of all the yiddishe kinder and the sefardim at Ohr Saadya that they will repent and return to the fold of the tzibbur (the community) of Teaneck.

As we say in Eicha:
Hashivenu Hashem Eilecha VenaShuva - Chadesh Yameinu KeKedem

Bring us back to you Hashem, and we shall return, renew our days as of old

Drop the lawsuit heilige neshama (holy soul) Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Robert Erlich and Akiva Shapiro and approach the Board of Adjustment with love and respect and don't forget 
אנחנו חייבים לבצע את חוקי המדינה בה אנו נמצאים.


While we are in golus (exile) we must follow the laws of the country we are in and Ohr Saadya should file for everything they want for their family room in the BOA of Teaneck, the way that Hashem wants them to.




Have a good shabbos and a meaningful fast,


Rabbi Zitzinheimer MacDougal

Halakha > Secular Courts

Toras Chesed/Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya (TCECOS)
will claim that they postponed their case
because of the 3 weeks
and Rabbi Daniel Feldman said that
Jews shouldn't do anything dangerous
during the 3 weeks
and especially
 during the nine days.

Instead, the case will be tried around
Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur,
because they are hoping that
their loss against Teaneck
will be an atonement for everything they have done wrong
and Hashem will judge them favorably.

Either way, Robert "Teflon" Erlich

Sooner or later its gonna hit that fan!

Complaints? Comments?

Let the ”puppet”ship of OHR SAADYA know how you feel:

Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Founder and Spiritual Leader –
rabbi@ohrsaadya.org

Robert Erlich, President and
Spokesperson Under Duress –
president@ohrsaadya.org

Levi Goldberg, Vice President and Gabbai 1-3 –
goldberg@ohrsaadya.org

Gabrielle Silverberg, Treasurer NOT Gambler–
silverberg@ohrsaadya.org

Yaakov Kramer, Secretary and Doodler–
kramer@ohrsaadya.org

AvI-Gil Chaitovsky, Board Member -
Feldman Affirmative Action –
chaitovsky@ohrsaadya.org

Yaron Hirschkorn, Board Member –
Zalmallen Levinohen Affirmative Action
hirschkorn@ohrsaadya.org


Feel free to CC me on your emails.
macdmusings@mac.hush.com

Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya needs to know that you do not support them

The Gold Standard

To win a courtcase, there must be some contact with the opposing counsel. In the case of Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya or ECOS (Every Congregant's Overtly Sinning) there was a winner before any correspondence was sent between Akiva Shapiro ECOS lawyer and Teaneck.

When going to court against a township, especially in the case of "religious discrimination" and the duress of Robert Erlich, it is important to pick an experienced and qualified lawyer to help you win. But that's not the case here. ECOS picked a lawyer who values something more than religious freedom for the Shtibshul Prayer Group. It can't be the money because he is doing the case pro bono, so what is in it for him?

Lets learn a little bit more about Akiva Shapiro from Martindale (a handy website where you can research lawyers). I'll be sure to bold the important parts.

Practice Areas Litigation Appellate and Constitutional Law Media, Entertainment and Technology White Collar Defense and Investigations
University	Columbia University, Bachelor of Arts, History, 2001; Yale University, Master of Arts, Religious Studies, 2008
Law School	Columbia University Law School, Juris Doctor, 2008
Admitted	2009, New York; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Akiva Shapiro is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's New York office, where he is a member of the firm's Litigation Practice, as well as its Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group. Mr. Shapiro's practice focuses on a broad range of appellate, constitutional, criminal, and complex commercial litigation matters, often involving challenges to the policies and legal determinations of government actors. Mr. Shapiro is regularly engaged in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts of appeal, and New York's trial courts. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)


Some representative matters in which Mr. Shapiro has been involved include: Persuading a New York appellate court to grant an emergency stay, and issue a precedent-setting ruling on the merits, preventing the NYPD from continuing to target the ticket-sales practices of an entertainment venue; representing a brand drug manufacturer in an interlocking, multi-year cluster of intellectual property lawsuits, both at trial and on appeal ; suing to prevent the implementation of a statute on takings and environmental impact grounds; and a wide range of high-stakes commercial disputes involving-among other things-fraud, breach of contract, and class action claims. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)

Mr. Shapiro has participated in the preparation of numerous certiorari and merits stage briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, including as principal architect and author of a number of amicus briefs relied on by the Court in the constitutional, criminal-immigration, and separation of powers contexts.

Mr. Shapiro is also currently leading the trial team in a suit to protect the land use and First Amendment rights of a New Jersey synagogue; for his work on that case, among others, Mr. Shapiro was nominated for the Frank Wheat Award, given to lawyers in the firm who demonstrate leadership and obtain significant results for their pro bono clients.

Mr. Shapiro earned his Juris Doctor in 2008 from Columbia Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Columbia Law Review, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and a semifinalist in the Harlan Fiske Stone Honors Moot Court competition. After law school, Mr. Shapiro served as a research assistant to Judge Debra Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Professor Harold Edgar. He also received a Master's Degree in Religious Studies from Yale University, where he was a member of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities and the recipient of a Yale University Fellowship. In 2001, Mr. Shapiro graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Mr. Shapiro is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)

Mr. Shapiro regularly speaks on constitutional and legal ethics topics , and has published "Should the Lower Courts Save Taxpayer Standing?" in The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, 10 J. APP. PRAC. & PROCESS 273 (2009)."

Very impressive guy this Akiva Shapiro and he totally fits ECOS. He graduated college in 2001 and got his MA in religious studies and his JD in 2008, from two different Universities located in two different states. Very impressive to  go to Yale and Columbia concurrently and earn those degrees. He was admitted to the bar in 2009. That's a ton of education and experience for ECOS to draw upon to help them win, NOT! 

Akiva Shapiro has an impressive write up and has achieved a lot since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most. Obviously ECOS wasn't happy with their last lawyer and they took on this experienced lawyer to show Teaneck that they mean business, afterall he was the lawyer who prepared a brief for Zivotofsky vs Clinton which was argued in the Supreme Court in 2011. 

So what is in it for  Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya or ECOS (Every Congregant's Overtly Sinning) ? Why Akiva Shapiro? 

• He's a member of  ECOS
• He's doing it Pro Bono
• He convinced Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman its a good idea
• Zalman Levine doesn't like losing
• Robert Erlich wasn't happy with the accurate quotes in the various newspapers
• Since Mario Guralnik is not involved with ECOS anymore they feel their chances for victory greatly improved
• ECOS already used Jason Flynn for their parking initiative and it failed
• Gary Miller was extremely active and disappeared
• They will have nothing to talk about during laining if there are no lawsuits

Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya loses either way because of the bad press and the stigma of going to a shul that has separated itself from the community and is built on hate.

Teaneck loses either way because the tax payers have to foot the bill for the BOA's defense.

Akiva Shapiro, ESQ has already won. 

• He is lead counsel on this case.
• He was nominated for the Frank Wheat Award, given to lawyers in the firm who demonstrate leadership and obtain significant results for their pro bono clients.
• He was honored at Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya's  last dinner.
• He was promised  2 aliya's a month by Levi Goldberg and then Levi changed it to 3 aliya's because Zalman told him to.
• Rabbi Daniel Feldman will speak at Beth Aaron on a Tuesday night in his honor, for a modest donation of course.
• He will have his picture and name in prestigious newspapers like the Jewish Standard and Teaneck Suburbanite.
• Columbia and Yale will write about him in their alumnus newsletters.
• The Famous Urine Cake King will give Akiva a lifetime supply of splash guards and cakes for his urinals.
• Free high risk deliveries from Dr. Abdelhak.
• Mario Guralnik promised him free parking in his backyard.
• Rochelle Mandelbaum will make sure he gets all the approvals to extend his house, when Akiva is ready.
• Elliot Frome put in a huge bet in Vegas on the verdict and promised Akiva 10%.
• Allan Chanan Cohen promised to smile if Akiva wins.

Akiva Shapiro arranged special permission to argue the case in NJ because he is only recognized in NYS. 

He wins no matter what the outcome, because Akiva doesn't "really" care about ECOS or money. Akiva wants the recognition, the press, the awards and the accolades. Akiva Shapiro is 2 1/2 years into his law career and isn't focused on the outcome. Being first chair is all he cares about and he steered ECOS and Teaneck into the lawsuit for personal reasons. 

Akiva Shapiro is the perfect lawyer for Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya. They both fit together

”Poppa I'm A Real Boy!”

I had a great question posed to me this morning on the previous posting:

Anonymous said...

Here is an interesting question Mac. Why is it that you have no problem ripping Rabbi Feldman or Zalman Levine or Cohen, but the one guy that you have never taken to task in your open minded reporting is Levi (can do no wrong) Goldberg? He was right there from the beginning. He walked out of Arzei, took over the Gabbai position in the Jewish Center Orthodox Minyan and is involved in everything else. He is no better or worse than the rest if these houligans, yet for you he is above criticism. Why? June 24, 2012 7:08 AM



My response:

Shluffenheimer MacDougal said... 7:08am Critcising Levi Goldberg is like watching a puppeteer have his puppet make fun of you, but instead of yelling at the puppeteer, you yell at the puppet.

It does take a certain personality to be an effective puppet. You have to have be the correct balance of false modesty and two-faceness and not care about your family or livelihood. Etz Chaim had a ton of meetings at Goldberg's old office where he used to work. ”old” And ”used to”.

My guess and purely speculation is that Mr. Goldberg's bosses were not happy with all the afterhour shenanigans.

Levi is Zalman Levine's younger brother-in-law and Zalman wants to stay out of the spotlight, so he uses Levi as his puppet.

As a gabbai Mr. Goldberg wasn't worthy of my attention, so Mr. Vice President Levi Goldberg you've made the big time. Welcome to my blog. Thank Dr. Levine for all of the special attention you are going to get. June 24, 2012 8:22 AM


If you would like to let Levi Goldberg, Vice President of Ohr Saadya know how you feel, email him at goldberg@ohrsaadya.org

Beth Aaron's Trojan Horse

After helping Beth Aaron with their extensive sawdust expansion and Etz Chaim Ohr Saadya to their new family room sanctuary, last year their heroine found her way onto Beth Aaron's board.
Wonder what other good things are in store for Beth Aaron and Teaneck. If her track record at Arzei Darom, Jewish Center of Teaneck and Etz Chaim Ohr Saadya is any indication of what she's capable of, get your lawyers on speed-dial. There is no hiding or skirting the issue when it comes to this lady.

I wonder if you can guess who she is??????????

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Members:

The Nominating Committee has completed its assigned task, and has submitted its slate of nominees for the officers and members of the Board of Directors for 5772-5772 (2012-2013). Their terms of office will begin on Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 5772, which this year is June 20th.

According to the Beth Aaron Constitution, if there is no opposition to this slate, these nominees will be deemed elected. However, any member of the Congregation may submit a petition to me with additional names for any position no later than June 19th. To be considered for nomination, the petition must contain the signatures of at least ten percent of the members of the Congregation in good standing as of June 10, 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 201-743-8222 or president@bethaaron.org.

The members of the Nominating Committee are Aliza Fischman, Larry Kahn,

Ronnie Schwartz (Chair), Yacha Singer, and Moshe Teitelbaum. On behalf of the outgoing Board, I thank all of them for a job well-done.

Sincerely,


David Goldberg
President

Officers

President-- David Goldberg

First Vice President --- Hillel Hyman

Second Vice President -- Yair Mayerfeld

VP- Finance -- Jeff Neugroschl

VP -Programming -- Sandy Zlotnick

Treasurer -- Rob Sperber

Secretary - Moshe (mo-b) Singer

Financial Secretary -- Ben Alexander

Board of Directors

Two Year term (2011-2013)

Myron Chaitovsky

David Horowitz

Louis Karp

Rachelle Mandelbaum

Joel Richter

Ronnie Schwartz

Moshe Teitelbaum

One Year Term (2012-2013)

Marc Felsen

Larry Kahn

Micah Kaufman

Josh Klavan

Jordan Sterman

L'via Weisinger

Neal Yaros

Two Year Term (2012-2014)

Ben Cooper

Aliza Fischman

Isaac Hagler

Steve Hoenig

Abe Leidner

Steven Pudell

Pinny Wechter

Immediate Past President

Larry Shafier

Sisterhood Representative

TBA (Appointed by the Sisterhood President)

Men's Club Representative

TBA (Appointed by the Men's Club President)