Failed Messiah

Defunct American Jewish blog focused on ultra-Orthodox community scandals

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Failed Messiah was an influential American Jewish blog that operated from 2004 until early 2016. It was known for its muckraking coverage of scandals, corruption, cover-ups, and controversies within the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish community, particularly in the United States and Israel.

The blog was written almost single-handedly by its founder and primary author, Shmarya Rosenberg (also known as Scott Rosenberg), a former member of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement who became a sharp critic of aspects of Haredi and Hasidic life. It gained a reputation as one of the few English-language sources providing detailed, often critical reporting on topics such as sexual abuse cover-ups, financial misconduct, rabbinic authority, and internal community power struggles that mainstream Jewish media sometimes avoided.

History

Failed Messiah launched in 2004 as a personal blog on the Typepad platform (original URL: failedmessiah.typepad.com). Rosenberg used it to expose what he described as hypocrisy, corruption, and failures within ultra-Orthodox institutions, often drawing on insider sources, leaked documents, and public records.

The blog quickly became controversial. Supporters praised it for holding powerful community figures accountable; critics accused it of being sensationalist, anti-Haredi, or motivated by personal grudges. It frequently broke stories on child sexual abuse in yeshivas, fraudulent charities, rabbinic misconduct, and political machinations within Hasidic groups.

In February 2016, after nearly 12 years of continuous operation, Rosenberg announced he was stepping down as publisher and sole writer. He sold the blog to an anonymous group called Diversified Holdings. In his farewell post, he expressed a desire to focus on anti-poverty work and other projects. The blog effectively ceased its original form shortly thereafter, though the domain and archives were briefly maintained under new ownership amid speculation that the buyers intended to silence or soften its critical tone.

The site is now defunct in its original independent form, with content primarily accessible only through internet archives such as the Wayback Machine.

Impact and legacy

Failed Messiah was one of the earliest and most prominent examples of citizen journalism within the Jewish world, particularly in exposing issues inside insular Haredi communities. It influenced mainstream coverage of topics like sexual abuse in Orthodox institutions and prompted internal discussions about transparency and accountability.

Its shutdown in 2016 was widely noted in Jewish media as the end of an era for independent, critical blogging in the Orthodox space. Some observers expressed concern that the sale could lead to the blog’s voice being muted.

Archives

Original content from Failed Messiah is preserved in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (search for failedmessiah.typepad.com). No active official mirror or continuation of the blog exists as of March 2026.

January 2016

• Arson Fire Targets Left-Wing Rights Group, Jewish-Arab School, One Hospitalized
• Alleged Sex Abuser Hasidic Rabbi Allegedly Given South African Citizenship, Diplomatic Immunity
• Haredi Man Arrested For More Than 100 Alleged Sexual Assaults Against Young Daughter
• Nathan Lewin Spins For The “Prodfather”
• Do Playgrounds Tell Israel’s Story Of (Dis)Integration?
• Netanyahu Government Unanimously Approves Twice-Convicted Unrepentant Bribe-Taking Haredi Felon As Interior Minister
• Video: Non-Orthodox Israeli Soldiers Will Go To Hell, Even If They're Killed Protecting Israel, Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi Says
• Catholic Cemetery In Israel Vandalized In Possible Hate Crime
• Roman Toilets Gave No Clear Health Benefit; Romanization Actually Spread Parasites, Researchers Find

• Haredim Buy Guns As Top Haredi Rabbis Try To Find Ways To Explain Recent Wave Of Terror And Death
• Iconic Manhattan Modern Orthodox Synagogue Threatens NYC’s Most Prominent Kosher Restauranteur That It Will Have The OU Pull Its Kosher Supervision Unless The Restauranteur Withdraws A $1.8 Million Civil Suit Against It
• Ex-Rabbi Marc Gafni Talks With Advisors About Suing The Forward For Defamation
• Haredi City Demolishes Building Because African Asylum Seekers Were Living There
• High Court Orders Baby's Immediate “Limited” Autopsy Despite Haredi Riots
• Chief Rabbinate’s Behavior “Inhumane,” Judge Says
• Yosef Kolko Loses Appeal, Will Stay In Prison Until At Least 2026
• How Alleged Sexual Predator Rabbis Gain And Keep Community Support
• To Catch A Rapist
• UPDATED: Haredim Riot And Stone Police Over Baby's Autopsy
• Video: Haredim Scream "Nazi!" At Police And Help Suspect Flee Justice
• Chabad Rabbi Aryeh Leib “Larry” Dudovitz Gets 8 Years For Child Sex Assault
• Israel’s Supreme Court Issues Conditional Order Against Amendment That Gutted Haredi Draft
• Jewish Hate Crimes Down Dramatically, Cops Say, But Stats Reveal Apathetic Response By Police, Shin Bet, Government
• Lying In The Name Of God
• Video: Non-Orthodox Jewish Children Are Born 'Impure," Causing Incest And Sexual Misbehavior To Be Widespread, Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi Says
• Million Dollar Ostentatious Russian Jewish Wedding Ends With Gunshot, Pandamonium 2016/01
• Brooklyn Judge Gives Man 5-Day Sentence In Child Porn Case 2016/01
• Supreme Court Extends Prison Sentences For 2 Haredi Hate Crime Arsonists 2016/01
• Reform Movement Loses Almost Everything In New Kotel Deal But Declares "Historic" Victory 2016/01
• Haredim Block Government Funding For Egalitarian Prayer Area Near Western Wall 2016/01
• PBS: Hasidic Yeshivas And Secular Education 2016/01
• Breslov Hasidim Issue Death Threat Against South Africa’s Chief Rabbi 2016/01
• To Stave Off Drought, African Dictator Allegedly Sends Delegation To Apologize To Hasidic Rabbi Wanted For Alleged Sex Crimes 2016/01
• NY Man Arrested On Child Sex Abuse Charges 2016/01
• Government Scrutiny Of Kosher Slaughter, Circumcision And Religious Schools May Force Jews To Leave Britain, Prominent Orthodox Jewish Community Member Says 2016/01
• Haredim Use Secular City’s Public Library Computers To Surf Porn Sites, Patrons Complain 2016/01
• Who Is Getting Screwed In The New Kotel Deal? Allegedly, Every Non-Haredi Jew In The World 2016/01
• Powerful Haredi MK To Block Official Government Funding For New Egalitarian Prayer Area At Western Wall 2016/01
• Don't Report Child Sex Abuse To Police, Leading Haredi Rabbi Says 2016/01
• Chabad And Haredi Rabbis Ban Rabbi Meir Rabi's Ben Pakuah Meats 2016/01
• London Haredim Warn Wedding Photographers Not To Photograph Women Dancing 2016/01
• Israel Set To Allow Haredi Boys Schools To Teach No Secular Subjects At All 2016/01
• Leading Israeli Right Wing Activists Praise… US Senator Joseph McCarthy 2016/01
• Attention Mister Comrade Haredi! Don’t Like Following Education Law In Britain Or The US? You’re Invited To Immigrate To The Jewish Autonomous Oblast Of Russia 2016/01
• Video: 7 Arrests In Haredi Anti-Draft Protest 2016/01
• Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Grandson And Second Detained Right-Wing Extremist Go On Hunger Strikes 2016/01
• Government Targets For Haredi Employment Not Being Met, Less Than Half Of Israeli Haredi Men Employed 2016/01
• Today, You Are Not Quite A Man: Haredi Rabbi Arrested And Charged With Bar Mitzvah-Based Child Sexual Abuse 2016/01
• Women Of The Wall, Non-Orthodox Movements, Set To Fold In Kotel Prayer Area Negotiations 2016/01
• Belz Issues Women's Driving Ban – Again 2016/01

September 2015

• Chabad Messianists Lose Fight To Retain Control Over Most Of Rebbe's Books
• 21 New COs Issued For Controversial Satmar Hasidic Development In Bloomingburg, NY
• Massive Jewish Social Services Agency’s Execs Got Fat Payouts As Bankruptcy Loomed
• In Child Sex Abuse Blowback, Australia May Force Rabbis And Other Clergy To Be Licensed, Those Who Don't Comply Would Lose Tax Exempt Status
• FBI Allegedly Destroys Evidence Of Massive Kiryas Joel Welfare Fraud
• Jerusalem Diary: One ‘Impure’ Smartphone Dampens Hasidic Rebbe’s Sukkah Celebration
• The Section Of The Torah Many Haredi Rabbis Ignore
• 2 Zionist Orthodox IDF Frontline Soldiers Refuse Direct Order To Drink Water On Yom Kippur
• Picture Of The Day: Unusual Haredi Sukkah
• Sefardi Chief Rabbi Of Jerusalem Calls Homosexuality An “Abomination” That Must Be Fought
• Israel's Chief Rabbinate Rejects Conversion Done By Chabad Rabbi Under RCA Auspices
• Chag Samayach!
• Poll Asked Americans: Would You Have Hidden Jews During The Holocaust?
• Are There Illegal Haredi Currency Systems That Are Used To Defraud The Government?
• Cops Do About Face, Now Say They Might Criminally Investigate Haredi School's Board
• Video: How Mystics, Kabbalists, And Even Many Hasidic Rebbes Can Often Fool You – And Even Fool Themselves
• Is This The Most Dangerous Sukkah In The World?
• The Chofetz Chaim Then And Now
• Is Extra Funding From The Government For Gender-Segregated Classes Illegal?
• Negative Spiritual Beliefs Associated with More Pain and Worse Physical, Mental Health
• MO Synagogue That Fired Woman For Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy Claims It Didn't Do It
• Lakewood Haredi Rabbi Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud
• Did School District Employee Illegally Favor Haredim At The Expense Of Non-Jewish Children?
• NYC Hid Haredi Baby’s Metzitzah B'Peh Herpes Infection From Public In Run-Up To Regulation Change
• Jerusalem Rabbi Busted For Alleged Child Rape And Abuse

See also

Shmarya Rosenberg Haredi Judaism

External links

• Times of Israel article on the blog’s closure (4 February 2016)
• Forward article on Rosenberg stepping down (3 February 2016)
• Columbia Journalism Review profile of the blog (26 May 2011)

Resources

• Internet Archive holdings of Failedmessiah.typepad.com