This posting is about the “Paradoxical Legacy of Rabbi Yeshua Witt” who is or was Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s #1 man who lived in Jerusalem for many years. Yeshua was involved with me for a time spanning over 20 years. I found him to be a friend in need and I needed his help several times. But the story is complicated and a lot needs to be analyzed. Of all the people Shlomo m’kareved (“brou
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The above is his website, with additional information.
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

Dying in the name of god (in Judaism it's called "dying al kiddush hashem") is a belief that many religions have. I wouldn't be so quick to die. My dad used to say, "Once you're dead, you're going to be dead a long, long time!" Like forever, I believe. The booklet, The Story of Chanukah, published by Chabad's Kehot publshing said, "... and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Wednesday, May 07, 2008 The question you might have is “Who is Rabbi Shea Hecht?” The answer is as follows: Rabbi Hecht is a descendent of a 4th generation line of rabbis. His father, Rabbi JJ Hecht, was the official interpreter for the late Lubavitcher Rebbe as per the Rebbes sichas (“talks”) given on Sunday in Yiddish. While Shea was raised inside Chabad, his father came in
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

Friday, May 02, 2008 As long time readers of this board know, I have been having a very hard time maintaining my balance over the years. I was involved in Shoresh Yishai, and Lubavitch and it may seem strange but I have bounced from one bad deal after the other. The first bad and controlling relationship I had was with my father and his physical and mental abuse of me. I actually
Forum: Abusive and Controlling Relationships

I am really at a loss as to how much of a bad influence Chabad and the Baal Teshuva movement have been on me. It boggles the mind. Years ago, at the time I got married through that cult, I had recently gone to COPE Institute for training in computer programming. It wasn’t easy finding a job. My uncle told me about a Bobover Chasid that he knew that had a “headhunting” firm. I ca
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what people think you know. It can be very hard to be me. You have to understand what I go through and my consternation when it comes to religion and politics. Ever since I came back from Israel in ’95 and wound up on Federal Social Security Disability benefits, I am like the proverbial Humpty Dumpty. All the king’s horses and all the kin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The presence of the Carlebach movement on the web has changed drastically over the years. I have been tracking it for years. Let’s take it step by step. First and foremost is , which is the Shir L’Shlomo’s, the Carlebach Foundation’s, main page. It is based in Jerusalem. There is or was, My Humble Abode too. The old Rebshlomo site, had extensive links to musmachim (people who ha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Ohr Sameach and Aish Hatorah were both started by Rabbi Noach Weinberg. I have seen the rabbi at Aish in '95. Most of their efforts are fraught with failure. BTs have a way of coming and going.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Saturday, January 19, 2008 This posting will deal with my arrival in Brooklyn in ’87 around the time I got married and also with what transpired later on in Israel in ’95. Essentially, I will discuss my extended family and their wanting to retrain me to become an Orthodox Jew. As a child, my family used to make a lot of visits to my late Uncle’s house. We were sort of playing a r
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One small correction: I met Rabbi Carlebach when I was 15 not when I was 25.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thursday, January 17, 2008 An Overview of the Baal Teshuva Movement – Part Two As a preface to this article I need to explain something. Rabbi Carlebach was a central figure in my youth. I found out about him from Ben Yishai and met him when I was 25. I was going to his concerts at the same time I was in Ben Yishai and he was the reason that I left the cult. He cheered me up and he mad
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yesterday evening someone yelled out, "Hey Jew boy!" at me three times about 1 block away from my apartment. This was the second time since September of last year that I had an incident that I had to report to the ADL and also to the police. Last week, in New Brunswick, over 500 grave stones were toppled and some were broken as a Jewish cemetery was targeted for a bias crime. I
Forum: Hate Groups

QuotebeckerHi Your story is very interesting...I grew up in a small cult in Wisconsin and they considered themselves Jewish. They were quite like the Haradi, or so I thought. They always said they were the real Jews but now when I went to Israel I find that They are a cult. I went through quite a bit of fighting with myself before I was able to admit the morally horrible things this cult did.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

When I was a little boy, due to my father’s side of the family on his mother’s side, I was influenced such that I thought I wanted to be an orthodox Jew. I thought that orthodoxy was perfectly moral, perfectly rational, perfectly scientific, and well, just perfect. Then I went to Israel in the late ‘70’s and found out what was really flying. I had always asked my parents to send me to
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Rabbi Isaac Fried and Rabbi Yeshua Witt agreed to my ordination as an assistant rabbi. So I'm your official source for "Torah Truth". I have some questions about the 8th St. Shul as well as the 2 rabbis. I don't sell holy water or ginseng drinks though.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I just hope that all of my aggravation is useful to the rest of the people who come to this board. I am working on getting back on my feet again and I think it's doable. I have been working on writing a lot about my experiences in a book I'm entitling "Recovery from Mental Illness - a Faith Based Approach."
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My mother once gave me a talk about how their should be "free religious education for Jewish children!" Name one religious organization that does that? Hebrew school teachers need to eat too. It seems to me that not wanting to pay a going rate for religious education is one of the reasons we kept winding up in Chabad's court. Rabbi Fried was funding the 8th St. Shul
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteMaynardA joke is a joke dude... I think we should keep everything on the up and up here and not devolve into sexist jokes. I've informed Rick Ross about people breaking our rules before.
Forum: Destructive Churches

I had one video of Shlomo where he bragged that he was "working with young people" for about 40 years. Note, he wasn't working with adults. He mentions on the "Gift of Shabbos" recording how he got "a little boy of 14" to sing his melody Yidelai Shrai. What do children really know about religion anyway? I thought I knew what I was doing w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

When I lost my job as a computer programmer/analyst at Con Ed, I was a member of the Carlebach Shul. Rabbis Sammy Intrator and Yeshua Witt (Chief Carlebach Rabbi's West and East respectively) had a meeting and decided to ship me to Yeshua Witt's house in Jerusalem. They said it with a grain of salt. I went to my impending doom. I didn't go to Israel to find a job, I knew I c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It seems that most Conservative and Reform Jews have a worked out theory about why they are affiliated with those movements and not the Orthodoxy. In my family, that wasn' t the case. My parents always thought they "were doing the best they could" and they had issues with the fact that my father grew up in his mother's Orthodox home. My paternal grandmother rep
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One time I heard Shlomo say, "If someone don't tell me, tell psychiatrist." I think his legacy is being propagated past what he was really all about. I knew him better than most people and I'm not happy with what's going on in his shul these days. Hence my postings here.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoterichardmgreenQuoterichardmgreenThe following is a quote from the Carlebach Family's website at See the amended website. Her site also says she was a "corporate executive for over 19 years". Does anyone have any knowledge of which company she was leading? I'm interested to know what legitimacy she has as a leader. I had very little to do with the family when I
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoterichardmgreenThe following is a quote from the Carlebach Family's website at See the amended website.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The following is a quote from the Carlebach Family's website at The Kabbalah says that the greatest sin is to let someone take away your self-confidence. Neila is available to teach in your community at whatever level of Judaism you practice. Some of her lectures have included... RMG's comment: It seems that Neila knows that she can't make Haredi Jews out of Reform and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoterrmoderatorWhat cult were you in and how did it affect your life? How did you cope after leaving and what advice or insights do you have for others? I was in Ben Yishai and left it to go to Israel back in May of '78. I was part of the Baal Teshuva movement for a number of years. In '74 I learned about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and attended a number of his concets. It was Shlomo w
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quoteinspector 8This regards people who present themselves to other people as having a hotline to God. Often these sorts of people do not come out and overtly say they have a "hotline to God." But they conveniently imply that they do, and to young inexperienced and naive people, it is similar to being a baby, and thinking one's parents are "God."
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Quotebeckerbut I do still have nightmares of running and running trying to get away and seeing the end but never really reaching it...I guess that is what I have to deal with I still get nightmares sometimes about going back to Israel and going broke on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I broke with the Carlebach movement and I don't miss it.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

QuoterrmoderatorSee This is a section devoted to recovery from cults. It also features a directory of professional recovery resources. I've found that this board is very good. Former cult victims "know where the shoe pinches" so to speak.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups