Three Orthodox rabbis — Mendel Epstein (shown right), Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, and Martin Wolmark — are under arrest this week for allegedly plotting kidnappings and beatings of Jewish men to get them to consent to religious divorces. They allegedly hired out to women who wanted a religious divorce but saw nothing immoral about kidnapping and beating their husbands to achieve it. So far a total of four people have been arrested.
Orthodox rules allow only a man to initiate a divorce. Accordingly, men can demand large sums of money to secure a “get.” The rabbis allegedly demanded tens of thousands of dollars to kidnap and beat husbands to get them to consent to divorces. This included the use of electric cattle prods, plastic bags over heads and other forms of torture.
What is astonishing is that the means of obtaining a moral divorce is entirely immaterial to these people. It is quite an industry for Rabbis who can operate a cattle prod. One report states that Epstein could make $100,000 for a single “get.”
Epstein is quoted as the man with the cattle prod, explaining ““If it can get a bull that weighs 5 tons to move. . . you put it in certain parts of his body and in one minute, the guy will know.”
Source: NBC
That’s because we all hear a different drummer..a good thing. Gallup put out a poll this week showing that 60%..60, want a 3rd political party. That is the highest percentage since they began asking that question decades ago. More people are hearing that different drummer, makes my smile.
os and gene im gonna walk off mumbling to myself about how both of you have me crying laughing at your posts…. Thank you the laugh is truly needed.. now walking off mumbling that os,and gene ,dredd, , nick ,blouise, and elaine are all just a lil bit off the beaten path
**Who says romance is dead…**
“These rabbi’s are not men of God. They are merely felons.”
Yep.
Disgusting example of religion gone wild. These rabbi’s are not men of God. They are merely felons.
No offense to Disgusted but this is less about the religion than it is about the “religious”. Religion is merely the field, the book is the ball, but ultimately it is all about the players. While the coaches (rabbis, imams, priests) do have a say in the tactics used, and can determine whether these tactics are old school, modern, fair or even dictatorial, the players have the ability to go on strike, quit the game, quit the sports, or even in the cases where they are asked to play dirty, to simply refuse to.
Ultimately, only they, the players,the flock, can move the ball, not the coach.
The facts that these rabbis are corrupt does in no way make the religion corrupt, or nefaste, or unnecessary.
Most rabbis aren’t corrupt, so let’s move away from deeming the whole so because the lesser part is so.
The “get” is a big deal in Orthodox Jewish circles and there have been many abuses of the system by husbands in civil divorce cases. Without a “get” a woman cannot remarry in the eyes of the “close-knit” Orthodox communities.
Orthodoxy has been struggling with the problem of recalcitrant husbands, who use a “get” as leverage in a civil divorce. I somehow though don’t think that this method is the answer. Rabbi’s are people, mainly men, just like those in any other religion. That means the profession attracts just as many with a sociopathic bent as any other religion. The common mistake many people of faith make is to fully trust the piety and religious devotion of any religious leader under the mistaken assumption that it translates into a good human being. Often it does not translate, as this case illustrates.
And, to think my wife kept trying to tell me the Sopranos wasn’t real!!
This plot was an episode in the Sopranos. The stubborn Jew would not give, the get, even though beaten by Tony’s crew.
Holy Meddling Batman …
(also mumbling to self but with more expletives)
is this news or a trailer for a new reality show?
Better in God’s eyes to beat another human than to have the woman file for divorce? This is the hypocrital b.s. that keeps me with God but far away from organized crime (religion)! Why would these woman feel that the “go to hitmen” are the Rabbi’s? That is the strangest part of this story to me. Hey Rabbi’s, that Holy book you hold in your hand is not a paper weight! Try opening it and maybe, just maybe live by what you preach!
Let’s see if I have this straight. In order to get a “moral” divorce and have a clear conscience, the wife pays to have her husband kidnapped and tortured until he capitulates. Now her conscience is clear and she gets the divorce. OK, got it.
{Walks off mumbling to self….}
Ain’t religion grand. 10 grand, it seems.
Meshugganah!
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
Careful folks…. Religions, even my own, one time religion…. has the effect of turning human brains into SHIT!!!!
Unbelievable! The saddest part to me is that at one time these married couples loved each other. Or then again maybe not. I am so glad I have a conscious because quite frankly I have no idea how you lay your head at night on your pillow during that quietest time, when it is just you and God and what you have done. I would rather feel good then have all the riches in the world.