Chabad school DQ’d from Kohl’s challenge for cheating
In my welcome back from the GA in New Orleans, I’ll share with you a little news that is not so uplifting.
The New York Post, citing failedmessiah.com, is reporting that the United Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Crown Heights, NY, has been disqualified from the Kohl’s Cares Challenge after allegations of cheating.
The school, which was one of 20 schools nationwide to receive $500,000 each for being a top vote-getter in an facebook contest, apparently rigged its vote total, according to the tabloid.
Reports the Post:
More than 11 million votes were cast, with parents and educators nationwide working feverishly to drum up support for their schools. The 600-boy elementary school on 570 Crown St. came in 18th, with 139,246 votes, according to Kohl's Facebook fan page.
But the Chabad yeshiva in Crown Heights was unceremoniously bounced from the Top 20 after the chain's auditor disqualified a chunk of its votes when the "Kohl's Cares" contest ended Sept. 3.
In a bid to lure voters, the yeshiva raffled off an iPod and even created a Web site to tout the raffle. It explained that people who got five others to vote for the school would get additional raffle tickets.
Shmarya Rosenberg, who writes the popular Jewish blog failedmessiah.com and has been a frequent critic of the Chabad movement of the Lubavitch Hasidim, also charged that the yeshiva broke the rules by buying votes from a so-called "vote broker."
"The schools would pay him money based on how many votes he delivered. He could get people from outside the country to vote for the school," said Rosenberg, referring to a broker he spoke with but would not identify.
The yeshiva denies it cheated.
(Hat-tip, the Brooklyn Community Foundation.)
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JTA taking news from the Jewish: “National Enquirer”??
Mr. Rosenberg is not exactly “Mr. Credentialed Reporter”. If anything he has an axe to grind with Chabad as reflected in his jaded reporting of Chabad events. This is no exception.
Even the weird name of his blog reflects the delusions of an obtuse personality.
If he hadn’t made a name for himself by his hatred for the Rubashkins (noone is sure why) and their subsequent fall (made greater with his help ranting against them for at least a year before the big fall) so what would he be?
Mr. Rosenberg makes a name for himself by defaming others.
What is the big talent in this...?
As for the Facebook competition, everyone calls their friends and asks them to vote-
If Mr. Rosenberg claims he spoke with a “vote broker” (whoever heard of such a rediculous thing?)
So why didn’t he name this person?
Obviously, there is no such person and it would be hard to prove that this “person” did anything wrong even according to what Rosenberg wrote.
Even he admits that the person did not himself vote 200,000 votes!
Is the JTA now in the business of taking news from the National Enquirer?
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Donna Cohen
11/15/10 09:35 PM
Whether the allegations are true or not, I don’t know. But to rely upon a newspaper which, in turn, relies upon a website with the raison d’etre of bashing Chabad, is just plain bad journalism.