In Brief: Madoff, Messianic Jews in Jamaica, Haredi Violence, More

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Judge to Madoff: No ‘Jewish Jail’ for You. Madoff’s request to “serve his term in the medium-security Otisville Correctional Institute, which has an unusually high percentage of Jewish inmates” was denied. Instead, he will probably serve his 150-year sentence in a maximum security prison. [JC.com]

Jewish Women’s Advocate Sets Sight on Developing World. Barbara Dobkin, “a passionate advocate for women and girls in both Jewish and secular life,” who is involved in several organizations devoted to furthering women’s leadership and participation in the Jewish community, will take over the Chair of the Board position of the “international development and human rights organization” the American Jewish World Service, succeeding James Meier. [AJWS Press Release]

UK’s Chief rabbi fights back. Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks called on the British Jewish community to fight back against a supreme court verdict that deemed Jewish day schools’ policy of allowing only Jewish students to enroll as being “racist.” Sacks was joined by the head of the Reform movement in Britain, Rabbi Dr. Tony Bayfield, in condemning the verdict. [Chabad.info]

Messianic Jews in Jamaica. An American Messianic Jewish leader, Alex Schussler, will hold a seminar in Jamaica. As described in the TJC film Awake Zion, Rastafarians and Jews share some common beliefs, a kinship it appears Schussler would exploit to gain Jamaican followers to Messianic Judaism. [Jamaica Gleaner News]

Australian reporter gets beaten by haredi mob, lives to tell about it. Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Anne Barker learns the hard way not to use electronic equipment on the Sabbath in the middle of an ultra-Orthodox protest:

As the protest became noisier and the crowd began yelling, I took my recorder and microphone out of my bag to record the sound.
Suddenly the crowd turned on me, screaming in my face. Dozens of angry men began spitting on me.

Barker writes that though she has covered protests from Canberra to East Timor, “no protest – indeed no story in my career – has distressed me in the way I was distressed at a protest in Jerusalem on Saturday involving several hundred ultra-Orthodox Jews.” Presumably Barker never did anything to, albeit unintentionally, offend the violent hordes in other protests she’s covered, and thus never had to endure being repeatedly spit on and kicked by them.
Barker descries the lack of religiosity exhibited by these men in their violent treatment of her, but I would point out that nowhere in the Torah does it say not to hit a girl. [ABC.net.au]

Jewish groups react to anti-Semitic Formula One boss. The Canadian Jewish Congress is shocked at recent comments by Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone praising Hitler, and the World Jewish Congress is calling on Ecclestone to resign over the comments. WJC president Ronald Lauder said Ecclestone is “not fit to serve as head of Formula One,” and CJC head Bernie Farber said of Ecclestone, “The man is an ignoramus.” This is likely the most attention Jewish groups have ever paid to Formula One racing.