An Orthodox Jewish rabbi pleaded guilty on Wednesday to playing a role in a scheme to kidnap Jewish men and force them to grant divorces to their unhappy wives, said federal authorities in New Jersey. Martin Wolmark, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiring to travel to New Jersey to coerce a man to give his wife…
Rabbi Miriam Spitzer did not have to mention him by name. The class of sixth graders at Temple Israel, in Sharon, Massachusetts, knew exactly whom Spitzer was thinking of when she dedicated that day’s lesson to Elisha ben Abuyah, a revered rabbi who became a heretic. “The lesson was that the Torah taught [by Abuyah]…
Two Orthodox rabbis and two others were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and beating men in order to force them to grant their wives religious Jewish divorces. The men were arrested Wednesday night in a monthlong sting operation in which a female FBI agent posed as an Orthodox woman trying to get a religious divorce, or…
Two Israeli men were indicted for plotting to send women to seduce a New York City rabbi and blackmail him with photos of the encounter. The men, in their mid-30s from central Israel, were charged Monday in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court with conspiracy to commit a crime and attempted extortion under threat. The Jerusalem…
When lobbyist Jack Abramoff appeared in federal court, where he was eventually convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy, he faced a sartorial dilemma. Abramoff, an Orthodox Jew, wondered whether he wear his kippah and risk smearing the Jewish people with his transgressions? Or should he cover his silver mop with a fedora, which would diminish…
Forget Hamas, forget the massive housing protest. Right now Israel’s attention is squarely focused on Margalit Tzanani, a major music and TV star who has been jailed on charges of extortion. Best-known in recent years as a judge on the Israeli version of “American Idol,” Tzanani was arrested at her home this morning, in a…
100% of profits support our journalism
