Shmarya Rosenberg - Biography

Shmarya Rosenberg (born Scott Rosenberg) is a former Habad-Lubavitch Hasid, baal teshuva and graduate of Hadar Hatorah, who after becoming discontented with Habad's policies regarding the Jewishness of Ethiopian Jews, left the movement, and went on to operate a full time blog known as Failed Messiah.

Biography

Rosenberg was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Originally a secular Jew, Rosenberg joined Chabad and became a baal teshuvah. After joining the movement, he asked Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to move the Chabad movement to aid in the effort to rescue the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. When he found out that the Rebbe ultimately rejected his suggestion, he became disenchanted with Chabad and its Rebbe. Due to his perception of alleged hypocrisy within Orthodox Judaism, he eventually created a blog with the purpose of reporting on the shortcomings and hypocrisy of Orthodox Jewry in general, and Chabad in particular. Because of his outspoken and often brazen disrespect of Chabad and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he claims he was excommunicated by Chabad of St. Paul. However the group denies this, claiming they have no mechanism for excommunication

While he was in the Chabad community he was still referred to as Scott, since leaving the movement he goes by his Hebrew name Shmarya.

Failed Messiah

Considered by some as "a Baal Loshen Hora," i.e., gossipmonger, the Failed Messiah blog, which claims it has been hacked into several times, serves as a news-style outlet with the motto Covering Orthodox Judaism since 2004.

Using the blog as a means of reaching a wide audience and covering the largely under-reported Haredi/Hasidic sector, Rosenberg reports as a whistle blower, uncovering and publicizing scandals relating to violence, sex abuse, and gossip within the Orthodox Jewish community.

A frequent target of Failed Messiah is the Rubashkin family, former owners of Agriprocessors, a kosher meat-packaging factory in Postville, Iowa. Rosenberg was a frequent guest at the Rubashkin home prior to their moving to Iowa.

Rosenberg also writes a weekly column for Heeb Magazine called "Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Ancestry

Rosenberg's maternal grandfather was Leon Gleckman. Known as the "Al Capone of St. Paul", he was a bootlegger who at one point was considered the unofficial "czar" of St. Paul.

External links

• Failed Messiah
• Samuel G. Freedman: Muckraking Blogger Focuses on Jews. The New York Times, January 8, 2010