Jewish lightning?

[yankeedoodle]

An empty synagogue is burning in New York City.  Obviously, it's those damned "anti-semites," and, if you ask about the insurance, that means you're an "anti-semite," too.     Clever, don't you think?   

A historic synagogue in New York City is on fire
http://www.businessinsider.com/synagogue-fire-new-york-city-beth-hamedrash-hagodol-2017-5

A massive fire in New York City has engulfed an abandoned synagogue, appearing to cause major damage.

The fire was reported at 60 Norfolk Street, in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. The building appears to be Beth Hamedrash Hagodol synagogue, which formerly housed an Orthodox Jewish congregation.

Firefighters are on the scene, but the roof of the building has reportedly collapsed:

The building was built in 1850 as a Baptist church and was used as an Orthodox synagogue from 1885 to 2007, when it was closed by the congregation. Here's what it looked like before the fire:

[yankeedoodle]

From Karl Radl at Semitic Controversies

Insurance Fraud: The Congregation Beth Hamedrash Fire in New York (2017)

http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2017/05/insurance-fraud-congregation-beth.html

Yesterday 14th May 2017 the following occurred in New York:

'The fire engulfed the Congregation Beth Hamedrash synagogue in the Lower East Side.

Social media videos showed heavy flames raging from the top of the building, which appeared to be severely damaged.

East Side residents were urged to keep their windows closed to avoid the hazardous smoke.

The congregation is the oldest for orthodox Russian Jews in the United States, and occupied the 1850s-era building since 1885.

As recently as 2013, the congregation had considered demolishing the building altogether, before a change of heart kept it open.

No people are thought to have been injured in the blaze.' (1)

You might ask why I would this be the subject of an article, but I think that much is obvious: it could easily be blamed on nameless shameless 'anti-Semites' by the jews. So in order to preempt this I decided to dig a little based on the comment in the article in 'The Daily Star'.

The key passage is when we read:

'As recently as 2013, the congregation had considered demolishing the building altogether, before a change of heart kept it open.'

So in other words: in 2013 Congregation Beth Hamedrash was almost demolished.

As it turns out: it was to be replaced by apartments and a small kollel (i.e. study institute), but this move was nixed by a group called the Friends of the Lower East Side. Who successfully campaigned to have the shul kept open.

Also of interest is that Congregation Beth Hamedrash had over a million dollars in grants for its renovation and restoration open, but yet had been deliberately left to go to rack and ruin by its current spiritual leader: Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum. (2) Greenbaum has been campaigning to have Congregation Beth Hamedrash shut down since 2006/2007. (3)

I really don't think it is a coincidence that a few years after having been forced to keep the synagogue running rather than using the land to build new apartments. It suddenly has a massive fire, which will almost certainly result in its complete demolition and the construction of the apartments.

Not only will Greenbaum likely get a considerable pay out from his insurance provider – assuming he is covered for what the Fire Department designates as the cause – but he can then sell the land to a developer for another hefty pay out.

Does that sound all a bit too convenient to you?

It should, because yesterday's fire at Congregation Beth Hamedrash stinks of insurance fraud.


References

(1) http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/614218/synagogue-fire-nyc-lower-east-side-beth-hamedrash-hagodol-manhattan; alternatively see: http://forward.com/news/371915/massive-fire-destroys-120-year-old-synagogue-on-lower-east-side/
(2) http://forward.com/news/172797/beth-hamedrash-hagodol-synagogue-has-change-of-hea/
(3) http://archive.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/newyork/articles/2007/10/28/synagogues_tell_story_of_lower_east_sides_past/?page=2