The story of an arrest in Lakewood as it is reported is very strange.

There is some funny fight going on over in Lakewood, Ir Hakodesh, about making aliyah... I am not quite sure what the exact story is and who is behind what, but this is pretty intriguing..

The State of New Jersey recently joined the movement and legalized marijuana.

great story!

I heard today that Rav Malkiel Kotler, the Rosh Yeshiva of BMG, the lakewood Yeshiva, sad on Simchas Torah in his drasha, "A person who wants to wear a mask in the bais midrash is the same as a person who wants to open an umbrella on the teivah"

Undercover law enforcement dressed as frum Jews as yesterday’s protest in Lakewood. Not clear where they buy these disguises 🤷‍♂️ 🤔🙈 pic.twitter.com/qczhIXtkJz

— Mishpacha Magazine (@themishpacha) June 7, 2020

 

the replies on it are pretty funny...

The mitzva of "shiluach hakan", sending away a mother bird and taking the chick or eggs, is an unusual one, not frequently performed. It is also not well understood as it instructs what seems to be a certain amount of cruelty yet brings with it a promise of longevity. It is also almost always done with a level of uncertainty - nowadays, as most of us in the Jewish community are not farmers or ranchers, we rarely know definitely if the bird we are looking at in a nest is the right bird for the mitzva - the female rather than the male, a kosher bird, if the nest is high in a tree we might not even be sure there are eggs in the nest... yet when the occasion befalls us, we rush to perform this "rare" mitzva to the best of our ability.

A shiluach hakan situation in Lakewood was pretty funny and weird when it became a public spectacle.

According to NJ 101.5, a report was filed with the Division of Fish and Wildlife about a family that came daily, over a period of a number of days, to beat and harass a goose in her nest near a pond - "perhaps to steal the eggs".

The article knows nothing about shiluach hakan and thus makes no mention of it. It is thought by the authorities and the witnesses that this family and the relevant children simply like to abuse geese, and maybe like goose eggs and need to steal them from a live nest.

The witness, a woman who wants to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution form the community, sits in an office overlooking the pond with the nesting geese. She witnessed a bunch of kids screaming at the geese and clapping and advancing towards the geese. Thinking nothing of it at the time, she later saw more kids coming, this time swinging sticks around the geese. She witnessed similar scenes on several consecutive days. She even witnessed them actually hit the goose with sticks and knocking it off its nest and into the water. Thankfully when authorities came the goose was examined and found to not be hurt.

Shiluach Hakan can look really strange to the public that knows nothing about it!

Ariel Smith, formerly known as Chris Smith, grew up in Lakewood and played in the NBA for the New York Nicks. After retiring from the NBA and going through a Jewish conversion, Orthodox, Smith has changed his name to Ariel, made aliya to Israel and is now restarting his basketball career playing for the team in Nahariya.
source: NY Post

not quite the Lakewood star you would expect, but he is a star, and I don't mean specifically in the basketball sense..

I think his comment about eventually not being buried in a Jewish cemetery because of having a tattoo is a widely spread myth. I have met religious people who tried ti hide their tats from the previous life, and others who were  proud of their tats as they saw them as symbols of what they returned from and how much they have changed.

If you've got a problem with other people's level of tzniyus, when you complain about at least tell us what the problem,in your eyes, actually is...

This reader-submitted complaint on The Lakewood Scoop is rich but ambiguous. She won't let her son go to the grocery store to do the shopping because of the tzniyus problems even in Lakewood, but she doesn't say what the problems are. Are they long sheitels? Is it tight clothing? Skirts that are too short? Are some women not wearing tights with the appropriate level of denier? Is it something more ostentatious like the cars or the brand name clothing and heavy bling?

I am not asking for pictures, but at least tell us what the problem is.

The rules are very confusing. You have to be a Talmudist to figure out which program treats gifts from family as ordinary income

   -- Rabbi Moshe Weisberg, head of the Vaad in Lakewood, in LA Times story rehashing the story of the welfare arrests in Lakewood

It must be difficult to find a Talmudist in Lakewood..

Of all places to try to fight against Jews practicing their religious duties, I would never have expected to see the city of Lakewood.

In a place like Mahwah, I can understand it, even if I disagree with it, - they feel their town is changing with an influx of new residents living a different lifestyle and they might want to do whatever they can to preserve their lifestyle.

But in Lakewood?

Lakewood has an Orthodox Jewish population that is larger than 50% of the towns population. I think the current mayor is not Jewish but in the past they have had Orthodox Jews as mayor. The Orthodox Jewish community is enmeshed in every aspect of Lakewood and everything that goes on there.

So to see an attempt to prevent Jews in Lakewood from being able to erect a sukka for the week of the Sukkos holiday is very surprising. Yet, according to The Lakewood Scoop, that is exactly what is happening. The attempt to prevent the Jews from erecting sukkas is happening by the Homeowners Association of seniors development complex.

Weird. Lakewood is the wrong town in which to try to fight the Orthodox.

There is something funny about this, despite the main aspect that arouses anger and opposition.

The fight against Haredim and the army, with the attacks, verbal or otherwise, focusing on the chardak campaign, has already made its way to the USA, for the most part in Lakewood. Yesterday an avreich in Lakewood who has been vocal in saying Rav Shteinman must be supported and adhered to in his opinion on the matter was targeted by the thugs behinf the chardak campaign there.

They tossed piles of flyers with epithets against this guy outside his home.

The funny thing about this is that they just took a pack of paper and wrote some nasty things on each page and threw the pack outside his house. Talk about cheap. Put your money where your mouth is. They even got some lunch stains on the paper..

Behadrei has the pictures..

here are a few samples for your viewing pleasure...











so unprofessional

There was supposed to be a fundraising dinner in Lakewood during the Nine Days for some benefit called "the good of Clal Yisrael".

I don't know what that means, but it seems this is a backdoor way of raising money for the yeshiva BMG in Lakewood. I don't know why they need to do it like this and can't raise explicitly for Lakewood, but this besides the point.

The dinner was set to be an uppity dinner with seven courses of gourmet meat dishes, and obviously open exclusively to a select list of invited guests.

Rav Malkiel Kotler, Rosh Yeshiva of BMG, was set to participate in this dinner and was scheduled to be making a siyyum at the dinner.

It seems this created an uproar. How can the Rosh yeshiva participate in such a dinner and make the siyyum, and, for some reason, this is inappropriate - maybe to make a siyyum in order to eat meat during the Nine Days or that he is participating in such a gourmet event, maybe the entire thing being in the Nine Days... it is unclear, but people were upset and the event was changed to a pareve menu.
source: Haredim10

Appropriate or not, I don't know. I would think if the Rosh Yeshiva was participating in it, with an active role, he must have decided it was ok. Perhaps because it is a dvar mitzva, raising money for the yeshiva or whatever the good cause is, or maybe for other reasons. I find it interesting that the people do not follow the lead of the Rosh Yeshiva, especially in such a town as Lakewood where, I would think  fealty to the gedolim and the local rosh yeshiva is of utmost priority, but basically tell him what he can and cannot do - what is appropriate for him to do and what is not.

Considering the recent scandal in Lakewood that gave it, and the entire frum community, a bad name, it is worth publishing this story out of Lakewood to show that, obviously, not everyone is bad, there are good people there, and perhaps more importantly, just to give Lakewood some good press.

The Lakewood Scoop is reporting that a local resident was waiting for a wire transfer to his account from a corporation. When it came through he noticed that he was given too much money, by $30,000!

He contacted the relevant people and they insisted the sum was correct and that he should keep the money. He still refused to keep the money that did not belong to him and that was given to him by some mistake. He contacted the corporation again and proved to them their error, and then ordered the bank to transfer the money back.

Kiddush Hashem!

and, sure enough, after writing the above, I saw online that a friend in Jerusalem posted a similar story that just happened to him, and it has happened to him before as well

I did not mention the arrests in Lakewood for alleged welfare fraud, as I had nothing different to say about it beyond the shock and anger everyone else was already expressing. A news report that was published today provides some additional insight worth getting upset about.

Previously, when the news broke, it was relatively easy to say it is a few people, and even though a shul rabbi was involved, and just less than a dozen people - ok, every community has its black sheep. As much of a chilul hashem it is, and it is, at the end of the day it is a few people and not widespread.

According to today's news report on the matter, "In the last two days, hundreds of residents called township leaders asking how they can avoid arrest or get amnesty related to an alleged public-assistance fraud scheme that could stretch into the millions of dollars, according to one law enforcement with knowledge of the ongoing probes." (from APP)

Did you get that? hundreds of residents are calling township leaders asking how to avouid arrest or if they can get amnesty.

That means it is widespread. Assuming, of course, this one law enforcement officer with knowledge is not actually just making it up to scare people.

It is shocking and upsetting that it is so widespread, and it is shocking that they would call in like that looking for amnesty. When, as reported, law officials last year warned community leadership about welfare fraud and how seriously they are taking it and investigating such matters, nobody seemed worried enough to stop or put an end to it, but now that arrests are coming down the pipeline, suddenly everyone is looking to cut a deal.

It looks bad for the entire community, it looks bad for the entire nation, and it really looks bad for Lakewood. and I don't just mean "bad" as far as arrests, but as far as the State probably then changing the welfare system because of this, and the more difficult time people will have in the future qualifying and making a basic living as they have become accustomed to do.

My father has told many times in the past about such things that people need to realize that the government has people employed to spend the entire day, from when they wake up until they go to sleep being paid to find these schemes and charlatans. You might get away with it for a while, but eventually they will catch up to you.

good for her, standing up for what she believes in, even though I am sure many disagree. and even without the yeshivish community centered around BMG, there are non-Jews and non-BMG-affiliated Jewish communities in Lakewood that would benefit from a mall and their needs need o be taken care of as well...

in Lakewood, New Jersey, non-Jewish (or maybe also non-Orthodox) residents of a condomium are upset that ever since the Orthodox Jewish residents became the majority they have not taken the needs and requests of the minority residents into consideration, and they refuse to allow adequate hours for mixed swimming in the complex swimming pool.

The response to requests has been that they need to get used to the fact that it is now a Jewish building and they are the majority.
source: app.com

This is what has come to be known in Israel as the Bet Shemesh effect. Ultra orthodox move in, become a majority and then change the rules and take nobody else's needs into consideration. It is why mayors all over Israel refuse to approve new neighborhoods to be built for haredim

The majority in a democratic society is supposed to protect the rights of the minority. When the orthodox Jews were a minority in this home I would hope the administration was forthcoming and gave reasonable hours for separate swimming for them, and I would hope when the orthodox are the majority they'll give reasonable hours for mixed swimming for the minority.

While the majority of Orthodox Jews might be able to grab all the available hours for themselves and just give a pittance of time for others, it would probably be much wiser and more neighborly to also offer some reasonable hours of swimming to the other residents.

in New Jersey the top school in 2015 producing students passing the CPA exam on their first try was BMG - Beit Medrash Gavoha - in Lakewood.

I am sure there is a very high percentage of smart young men studying in BMG, and when they leave and study for a profession they probably do very well, but I am not sure how BMG is listed as a school whose students pass the CPA exam. Are BMG students studying for the CPA during yeshiva time and taking the tests? Does BMG also offer CPA courses? Are these young men post-BMG in some university or CPA course and just list BMG as their school?  Has BMG become a Yeshiva University or Skokie Yeshiva type place that offers college courses in addition to the yeshiva studies?

I don't understand how BMG can get listed here, no matter how smart their students are.

Strange story out of Lakewood...

Reportedly, a class in a Lakewood cheider was learning about the laws of nazir, and the kids were so fascinated by it that two of them announced acceptance of nezirus upon themselves.

uh oh. if this takes effect it means no wine, no cemeteries and no haircuts. Even worse is that nowadays there is not really a way out of nezirus, as the required korban cannot be brought.

Being that these two boys are 12 years old, near bar mitzvah age, their action could not just simply be discounted as the meaningless act of a child. The teacher went to the leading posek in Lakewood who turned to his rebbe Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky for a decision.

Rav Kaminetzky paskened that the nezirus took effect by their acceptance and they need to be "mattir neder" - annul the vow. Rav Kaminetzky added that they should wait until after Shabbos to do so  in order to give them time to contemplate what they had done and realize the seriousness of the matter.
sources: Kikar and The Lakewood Scoop

This reminds me of the famous psak of Rav Moshe Feinstein regarding a group of kids that in a school play of some sort a boy proposed marriage to a girl. Rav Moshe took that seriously as well and did not discount it as a simple kids meaningless joke.

What I don't understand, and would like more information about, is how Rav Kaminetzky paskened as he did - that they can be mattir neder. From what I remember, nowadays there is no way out of an acceptance of nezirus. Being "mattir nedder" seems like an easy way out, and saying a nazir nowadays is for life because of the lack of ability to bring the korban would then be false.

from a Haredi journalist..

התפללו לרפואת הגאון רבי אריה מלכיאל בן רישל, ראש ישיבת לייקווד שהחליק במהלך סקי בשווייץ ונפצע קלות. לרפואה שלמה בתוך שאר חולי ישראל.

— אברהם גרינצייג (@avigrin10) February 1, 2016

is it a joke or not? I don't know, though it does not sound like it.

I do know that you would never see an Israeli rosh yeshiva or gadol going skiing....