Crown Heights - Four-Alarm Fire Spread Quickly at Large Apartment Building

Twenty-two people were hurt -- including 11 firefighters -- in a four-alarm fire in Crown Heights early Monday, fire officials said, just blocks from where revelers would soon march in the West Indian Day Parade.

The blaze, at 1365 Carroll St., started around 2:30 a.m. on the second floor of the renovated building before spreading, said Deputy Assistant Fire Chief Jack Mooney.

"I just ran out of the building and I actually saw flames," said resident Mushky Giro. "It was really scary."

Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire. Officials said it might have been set intentionally because it was so fast-moving.

"If we had stayed in there for 20 more seconds, 30 more seconds, our chances for survival would have been very, very low," said Eli Raskin, whose third-floor apartment was destroyed. "We got out without a scratch."

Of the 22 people injured, the 11 civilians were treated at the scene. One firefighter was being treated for burns on his neck, another for chest pains, and eight for exhaustion at Kings County Hospital, Mooney said.
   

NY Pol's Reliance On Rabbi Pinto Comes Back To Haunt Him

NEW YORK — When he announced his run for congress in the fall of 2009, future U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, then a political novice, sorely needed a rainmaker who could get the dollars flowing to his nascent campaign. He found one in an Israeli rabbi, Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto.

Now, that fruitful association has turned into a big headache for the Staten Island Republican — one involving allegations of illegal donations, a bizarre blackmail claim and potentially embarrassing associations with people in the pornography business.

In mid-August, FBI agents arrested an Israeli businessman who had helped Grimm raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from Pinto's wealthy, zealous followers in New York.

The entrepreneur and rabbinical aide, Ofer Biton, was charged with lying about his financial dealings in 2010 when he applied for a U.S. visa.

The arrest came as the FBI has been investigating claims made by other Pinto followers, who say they made tens of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions to Grimm during his 2010 run, including gifts that were passed through straw donors to hide the true source of the donations.

FBI agents have recently been requesting records and interviewing people who were on the campaign staff.

Grimm, himself a former FBI agent, has repeatedly declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press about the matter. He has acknowledged raising $250,000 to $300,000 from Pinto's supporters — about a third of all money contributed in the first 12 months of his campaign — but denied any knowledge of improprieties.

"My campaign and I followed the fundraising rules, and took reasonable measures to vet the contributions received by my campaign," he said in a statement to the AP. "Indeed, I relied on Rabbi Pinto's status as a clergyman and holy man when agreeing to meet with individuals associated with his congregation."

Campaign records and other public documents make it clear, however, that after tapping the rabbi's followers for money, Grimm wound up getting help from people who candidates normally keep at arm's length.

One of the rabbi's closest aides, Benzion Suky, owned a company that distributed porn videos and has settled lawsuits by adult film studios who accused him of selling bootlegged DVDs, according to court records.

Suky and his wife gave a combined $9,600 to Grimm's 2010 campaign and a real estate partnership that lists Suky as its managing member gave $4,800, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Another big donor was Rafi Maman, proprietor of companies in North Bergen, N.J., that distribute adult films and sex toys.

He also has settled lawsuits accusing him of bootlegging, including two which also named Suky as a defendant.

Maman, his wife and a real estate partnership that he listed as his employer gave $19,200 to Grimm's campaign. That total includes $7,200 in individual contributions from Maman, or $2,400 more than is allowed by law.

A third Grimm contributor, Eli Halali, is listed in business records as the agent of another company that distributed pornographic movies.

His name also appears on at least one such video, "Blonde & Beautiful Vol. 1," as the keeper of records verifying that the film's performers were over age 18. He gave $4,800. Two apparent relatives, Bluria Halali and Jaclyn Halali, each contributed $4,800.

Biton, formerly one of Pinto's top aides, also had a hand in adult entertainment. Florida business records list him as being the president of AMOB Inc.

The company is registered at the same address as the Miami Playground, a shop once named by an alternative newspaper as the city's the best adult video store.

Election records do not list any donations from Biton, who, as an Israeli citizen without permanent residency in the U.S, is barred from giving money to political candidates.

But the Israeli helped Grimm in other ways that are allowed, including accompanying him on fundraising visits to congregation members, several of whom were heavy hitters in New York's real estate and jewelry businesses.

Suky, who is also a real estate investor, says he is no longer involved in distributing adult films and has now devoted his life to helping Pinto spread his message.

During the bootlegging lawsuits, he had argued that he was unaware DVDs he purchased from a supplier were knockoffs.

Halali, who is also a co-owner of a popular chain of New York pizza shops, declined through a relative to comment about his donations. Maman didn't return numerous phone messages. It was unclear whether either man was actively involved in Pinto's congregation.

Grimm told his hometown newspaper on Staten Island, The Advance, that he began cultivating a relationship with Pinto in October of 2009 on the advice of a friend, who thought the rabbi might be helpful raising money.

At age 38, Pinto has achieved a fervent following in Israel, and has become famous there for his connections to political figures and business tycoons, some of whom credit him with mystical powers to bless their deals.

His success as an adviser to the rich and famous has made his organization wealthy; the Israeli edition of Forbes magazine recently ranked Pinto as Israel's 7th richest rabbi, based on organizational holdings.

Long based in the Mediterranean port city of Ashdod, Pinto opened a second headquarters in 2002 in New York, where he resides in a $6.5 million town house and delivers sermons in a building purchased in 2009 for $28.5 million.

When Grimm's campaign began, Pinto's U.S. followers had also begun to establish themselves as a source of campaign cash for pro-Israel candidates.

A handful had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to political committees controlled by U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, and U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat.

Grimm, a Catholic ex-Marine and a ferocious supporter of Israel, received his first bundle of checks from the rabbi's supporters in December of 2009, just two months after entering the race.

One donor, New York deli owner Josef Ben Moha, said he and his wife gave a combined $4,800.

"It's not something that I had to have my arm twisted. I was asked nicely. I decided he was a nice guy," said Ben Moha, who has been one of Suky's partners in a real estate venture. "The people who seemed to be helping him, they saw good qualities in him. I guess I did too."

In the two years since the election, Pinto's religious organization, Mosdot Shuva Israel, has been a frequent target of media scrutiny.

News articles in the Jewish press accused it of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury travel and raised questions about its handling of millions of dollars in donations.

Pinto's own father-in-law, an influential rabbi in Argentina, complained in a court filing that Pinto — who professes to have no worldly possessions — had enlisted him in a scheme to conceal his ownership of luxury apartments in Jerusalem.

More recently, a Pinto aide, rabbi Abraham Israel, was detained by Israeli police in April as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected money laundering and theft at an anti-poverty charity, Hazon Yeshaya. A spokesman for Pinto said he had no involvement in that charity.

Large amounts of Shuva Israel's money have also disappeared, according to the organization's lawyers. In December, Pinto and his supporters publicly blamed Biton, claiming he had embezzled large sums.

They also made allegations, first reported last year in The New York Times, that Biton had conspired with another member of the congregation to extort money from the rabbi by threatening to plant damaging stories about him in the media.

Biton has called the extortion and embezzlement allegations lies.

In the waning days of the 2010 election, Pinto also began telling associates, including then-Congressman Anthony Weiner, that his support of Grimm had been coerced.

Weiner wound up reporting that murky allegation to the FBI. He told the AP he didn't say anything publicly at the time and won't discuss the details of the rabbi's allegations now, because, "I didn't know whether it was true or not." A law enforcement official confirmed that the FBI had received the report.

Grimm has called any suggestion that he was tied up in some sort of plot with Biton, "profoundly absurd."

The criminal complaint filed against Biton in August makes no mention of blackmail, embezzlement or the campaign allegations, but focuses instead on information he submitted in 2010 when he applied for a visa available to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in a U.S. business.

In his application, Biton said most of his investment money had been loaned to him by a family friend. But the FBI said it had bank records showing that the money had actually been funneled through an account controlled by an unnamed "co-conspirator," who, in turn, had demanded most of the cash from an unnamed witness to pay off a debt. Biton's lawyer, Jeffrey Udell, declined to comment.

Pinto's attorney in New York, Arthur Aidala, said the rabbi was "very satisfied with the arrest, and looks forward to the prosecution of this defendant and others who have done harm to rabbi Pinto and his family."

The investigation has been more than a distraction for Grimm as he battles for re-election against Democratic challenger Mark Murphy. His campaign has incurred $320,000 in legal fees this year, according to campaign records.

Grimm's lawyer, William McGinley, confirmed that the FBI is probing claims of illegal donations by Pinto's followers, and that the campaign has turned over documents, but he said there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. He said Grimm was being victimized by a smear campaign and "malicious leaks" by law enforcement.

"Yes, there is an investigation, but we have no reason to believe that it will lead to charges and every reason to believe that ... the (Department of Justice) investigation will vindicate Congressman Grimm," McGinley said.

Israeli actress Orly Weinerman urges Tony Blair to save Gaddafi’s son

Orly Weinerman

The last-known girlfriend of Colonel Gaddafi’s playboy son Saif al-Islam has called on his ‘old friend’ Tony Blair to save his life.

Saif Gaddafi is facing the death penalty in Libya where he is on trial for his role in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against his father.

Human rights groups are concerned that he will not face a fair trial and efforts to extradite him to the International Criminal Court in the Hague have failed.

Now Orly Weinerman, a 41-year-old Israeli model and actress who dated Saif for six years after meeting him in London in 2005, has called on Mr Blair to make Saif’s accusers ‘see reason’.

She said: ‘Saif worked closely with Mr Blair before he was captured.

'The two are old friends – it is time that Mr Blair returned some loyalty.

'Mr Blair is a man of God – as a Christian he has a moral duty to help a friend in need.’

Saif’s close links with Mr Blair were illustrated in documents found during the uprising.

A letter written by Mr Blair in 2007 gave suggestions to help with Saif’s PhD, which he was taking at the London School of Economics.

Miss Weinerman added: ‘You should just ask Mr Blair what a serious, honourable person he is.

The ICC has let him down, and so has the international community.

‘Killing him will achieve absolutely nothing, beyond punishing him for who his father was. Absolutely everything must be done to save him.’

The Israeli actress said her ‘discreet relationship’ with Saif al-Islam - whose name means ‘Sword of Islam’ - began in April 2005 when they were introduced by mutual friends.

It was strained from the start because she is Jewish - a fact that caused complications in an Islamic country such as Libya.

Her parents - her father is a green energy consultant and her mother a pianist - were also opposed to her converting to Islam, she said, and her relationship with Saif came in for much criticism in the Israeli press.

‘It was something we had to deal with,’ said Miss Weinerman, who is now based in her home city of Tel Aviv.

‘The fact that Saif was prepared to involve himself in a loving relationship with a Jew is a measure of how open and civilised he is.

‘He judged people for what they are - not what people perceive them to be. Saif never made an issue of my religion, or the country I came from.’

She had previously denied having any contact with Saif, after publications including Germany’s Der Spiegel reported their romance in 2006.

Saif’s reputation is as a notorious womaniser, and he has been photographed surrounded by gorgeous women.

When his father ruled Libya, Saif played a key role in dealings with the West, and in particular with Mr Blair who met the tyrant in the infamous ‘Deal in the Desert’ in 2004 to bring Libya in from the cold.

It was around then that a grubby backroom deal is suspected of being done to free the Lockerbie bomber, although Mr Blair denies any part in this.

When Mr Blair stepped down as premier, he pursued business interests in the North African country, assisting international companies to make profits from its oil and gas reserves.

Miss Weinerman did not meet Mr Blair or any of Saif’s other high-profile Western contacts, but says she was dating him during the period when he was meeting them.

She was also busy with modelling assignments and soap opera parts in mainly Israeli TV shows at the time.

At one stage the couple talked of marriage, she said, but were finally separated last year when the Libyan uprising toppled the dictator after 42 years in power, and Saif went on the run.

The trial of Saif Gaddafi, being held in the mountain town of Zintan, will be one of the biggest events the country has seen.

Previous attempts to bring him to trial had been plagued with arguments over whether the case should be heard in the capital.

The Zintan brigade fighters - who captured him - insisted he be tried in their home town amid fears he might escape with the help of sympathisers if he was put in the dock in Tripoli, or that he would be treated leniently.

The decision was also complicated by a demand from the International Criminal Court that Saif be tried at The Hague.

One official from the Libyan prosecutor’s office said recently: ‘We are sure that the evidence we have gathered is solid and it will shock and surprise the world. We believe we are capable of holding a fair trial.’

Three Libyan judges will hear the case, which is expected to last for up to six months, with two prosecutors.

Saif has so far refused to appoint a lawyer to defend him, and one will be appointed for him if he continues to refuse.

Human rights groups have argued that the Libyan justice system is not capable of dealing with such a high-profile case.

Amnesty International said an unfair trial in Libya would go against ‘justice and accountability’.

Yesterday a spokesman for Tony Blair declined to comment.

Detroit police recover stolen Secret Service truck carrying Biden supplies

Police have recovered a stolen rental truck that was carrying equipment for Vice President Joe Biden's Labor Day visit to Detroit.

The U-Haul truck was stolen late Saturday or early Sunday outside the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit.

It was found Monday in the New Center area north of downtown, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens told the Detroit News.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told the newspaper it was found in an apartment parking lot near Henry Ford Hospital

Donovan had said the truck had equipment on board but no weapons or anything that could put the public at risk. He declined to say whether any of the equipment was stolen.

A law enforcement official briefed on the issue told the Detroit News the vehicle held portable metal detectors and that some of the equipment was missing when the truck was recovered.

Biden was in Detroit to address a union rally Monday to mark Labor Day. The rally site is near the hotel.

Iranian athlete refuses to shake hands with Kate at Paralympics

Kate Middleton was given a “cultural snub” when a Paralympian refused to shake her hand, it emerged today.

The Duchess of Cambridge was presenting gongs in the Stratford stadium on Sunday night to discus throwers in front of 80,000 fans.

But after hanging a silver around the neck of Iranian Mehrdad Karam Zadeh, 40, he kept his hands clamped firmly to his chest.

Kate, 30, did not extend her hand to be clutched.

British winner Aled Davies, 21, and China’s Lezheng Wang, who got bronze, both warmly embraced the royal from the podium.

Fatal House Fire On Long Island Under Investigation

Long Island police are investigating whether a young mother was torched in her house early Monday.

The 21-year-old victim’s husband was being questioned about the suspicious Freeport blaze that left her dead with “extensive burns,” a police source said.

Friends of the woman said her two kids, ages 5 and 2, were visiting family in Guyana.

She had lived at a group home for unwed mothers until she graduated from high school and married her much older boyfriend two years ago.

“She was happy and thought he was the one,” said Elaine McArthur, who worked in the group home, Regina Maternity Services of Merrick.

“She said they had their normal arguments but I never thought it would be something like this. He just seemed like a very nice guy.”

Regina’s manager, Linda Jones, said the victim had not complained of any abuse.

“I cannot imagine anyone doing that to a human being, let alone their spouse,” she said.

Berlin prosecutor drops charges against rabbi who pledged to continue circumcising

The Berlin prosecution has dropped its investigation against a prominent local rabbi who vowed to continue performing circumcisions, saying that his statements did not constitute any illegal behavior.

Berlin prosecutor Matthias Weidling told Rabbi Yitzhak Ehrenberg that the charges filed against him in mid-August — for “disturbance of the public peace and other offenses” — had been halted.

Weidling stopped the proceedings even before initiating a investigation because the police complaint against him contained “no indications of illegal behavior.”

As reported by The Times of Israel, Ehrenberg had become the second German rabbi to be charged in connection with remarks he made regarding the current circumcision controversy raging in that country. In June, a Cologne court declared the ritual illegal.

As a direct consequence of that ruling, a German citizen last month filed a police complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg, from the Bavarian town of Hof, who said he had performed hundreds of circumcisions in recent years.

On July 11, Ehrenberg — a well-known figure among German Jews — participated in a debate on “Anne Will,” a popular talk show, dedicated to the Cologne ruling and its implications. “Circumcision is a basic law for us Jews. There is no Judaism without circumcision, and therefore — we will continue,” Ehrenberg said during the show.

In a letter to Ehrenberg, Weidling, the Berlin prosecutor, wrote that the law obligates the authorities to follow every hint received of an illegal act.

However, he added that authorities could only start investigating if there were concrete indications of any such activity. “This is currently not the case,” Weidling wrote.

The question of how to apply the Cologne ruling to Ehrenberg’s pledge to continue circumcisions could “remain open,” the prosecutor added.

 

Since the Ehrenberg’s remarks didn’t call on others to commit illegal acts and no cases are known of circumcisions that were performed as a direct result of his words, there was no reason to further investigate the issue, he wrote.

 

www.timesofisrael.com

PM Netanyahu urges international "red lines" to stop Iran

Netanyahu's remarks suggested a growing impatience with Israel's main ally, the United States, and other countries that have been pressing him to give diplomacy and sanctions more time to work and hold off on any go-it-alone strike on Iran.

Recent heightened Israeli rhetoric has stoked speculation that Israel might attack Iran before the U.S. elections in November, believing that President Barack Obama would give it military help and not risk alienating pro-Israeli voters.

"I believe the truth must be stated: The international community is not placing a clear red line for Iran and Iran does not see international resolve to stop its nuclear programme," Netanyahu told his cabinet.

"Unless Iran sees this clear red line and this clear resolve it will not stop moving forward with its nuclear programme, and Iran must not have nuclear weapons," he said, repeating his view that sanctions so far have not curbed Tehran's atomic ambitions.

Although Netanyahu did not single out Obama in his criticism, Israeli officials have said they hope for stronger language from the president about possible U.S. military action.

Obama, who has had a frosty relationship with Netanyahu, has insisted he will not allow Iran to build atomic weapons and that all options are on the table.

Israel's popular YNet news website described the prime minister's latest comments as a stinging rebuke of Obama. In a U.S. election year, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has also sharply criticized Obama's handling of Iran as not being tough enough.

And in another sign of a rift with Washington, Israeli officials voiced disappointment over recent remarks by the United States's top general signalling reluctance to intervene on Israel's behalf if it attacked Iran.

Tehran says it is refining uranium to fuel a planned network of nuclear power plants so that it can export more of its oil and gas. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of a covert bid to develop the capability to make nuclear bombs.

Israel, believed to have the only atomic arsenal in the Middle East, views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence.

U.N. ADDRESS

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, has suggested Washington would not be drawn into conflict with Iran should Israel attack.

"I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it," Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted him on Friday as saying.

Gilad Erdan, Israel's environment minister, said on Israel Radio that Dempsey's remarks "were definitely not to our liking". Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the general's choice of words "was not the best".

Israeli officials have said Israel has yet to decide on whether to attack Iran, amid divisions within its security cabinet and warnings by military and security chiefs that a strike would have only a limited effect.

Netanyahu has said he will speak out about what he termed the dangers Iran poses to the world in an address this month to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. He is also expected to meet Obama during his visit, but no announcement has been made.

A senior Israeli official told Reuters last week Netanyahu would seek a firm pledge of U.S. military action if Iran did not back down on uranium enrichment. Such a promise could dissuade Israel from attacking Iran alone, Israeli officials have said.

A United Nations report said on Thursday Iran had more than doubled the number of centrifuges in its fortified bunker at Fordow since May, despite Western pressure and threat of Israeli attack. The new machines are not yet operating, the report said.

"The report confirms what I have been saying for a long time, international sanctions are a burden on Iran's economy but they are not in any way delaying the advancement of Iran's nuclear programme," Netanyahu told his cabinet.

"The Iranians are using the talks with the world powers to win time and to advance their nuclear programme," he said.

An Iranian general said that if Israel were to strike Iran, Israeli officials would be the target of retaliation, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

"In case of Israel's military attack against Iran, the officials of (Israel) will be among the first victims of such an attack," Mohammad Ali Assoudi, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told Iran's English-language Press TV.

His broadcast remarks gave no details, but Press TV paraphrased him as saying Israel's policies had induced hatred of its officials among residents of the occupied territories.

Iran has undertaken large-scale military maneuvers this summer and unveiled upgrades to weapons it says are defensive, including what it said was a more accurate short-range missile.

Berliners wear kippot in show of solidarity

The cover of BZ newspaper

"Berlin wears a yarmulke," the popular BZ local newspaper declared to its readers on Saturday. The reason: the front page presented a photo of five Berlin celebrities posing with skullcaps – including Mayor Klaus Wowereit, one of the best known gay politicians in Europe.

The city's residents decided to show their solidarity with the city's Jewish community following Tuesday's attack on Rabbi Daniel Alter. The assailants, locals of Arab origin, asked Alter - who was wearing a yarmulke - if he was Jewish, and then proceeded to attack him. On Thursday a rabbi was attacked in Vienna by soccer fans who abused him with anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans. A spontaneous rally was held in the city on Saturday.

Reinhard Naumann, head of the Charlottenburg– Wilmersdorf Berlin district, called for immediate action in response to the events. Naumann called on the Berlin newspaper to take action: "Berliners can show solidarity with Daniel Alter and the Jewish community by wearing skullcaps," Naumann told BZ on Friday.

The newspaper decided to accept the challenge, and turned to politicians, celebrities and citizens, who all agreed to pose wearing skullcaps. Sven Schulz, a parliament member from the Spandau neighborhood, explained: "'Berlin wears a yarmulke' is an excellent idea, and is a powerful symbol of solidarity."

Mayor Wowereit published a notice of support for the rally, calling the attack on Alter "violence directed against peace and communality in a multi-religious city… Berlin is proud of its liberal and tolerant heritage. Our multi-national city includes numerous religious communities. Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are all communal centers and carry an important social role."

A Facebook initiative also led to a demonstration which saw 150 people, most of them wearing skullcaps, marching through the streets. "We cannot accept the fact that people can be attacked in our streets only because they [are] identified as Jews," the organizers explained.

The demonstration was also meant to send a message to a Rabbinical College near Berlin, which advised its rabbis not to wear skullcaps on the street.

Orthodox rabbis say they’ll defy city Health Department law on circumcision ritual

Rabbi David Niedeman

Two children are dead, more are injured — yet a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis say they plan to defy a health order in the name of religious freedom.

Less than a year after a Brooklyn tot died following an ancient circumcision ritual, the rabbis say they will ignore a proposed law that would mandate parental-consent forms before performing the dangerous procedure.

Over the past decade, at least one other newborn died after contracting herpes from the rite, in which the rabbi draws blood from the penis with his mouth.

But ultra-Orthodox leaders are lashing out at the city’s “evil plans” ahead of the Board of Health’s vote next week.

About 200 rabbis signed a proclamation claiming the Health Department “printed and spread lies . . . in order to justify their evil decree.”

“It is clear to us, that there is not even an iota of blame or danger in this ancient and holy custom,” the letter states.

Most modern mohels — men trained to perform religious circumcisions, who are usually rabbis or doctors — remove blood from the baby’s wound using a sterile pipette.

But some Orthodox Jewish parents insist on an ancient “suction by mouth” ritual called metzitzah b’peh.

The city’s law would require mohels to distribute consent waivers, detailing the herpes risk, before the ritual.

Rabbi David Niederman, executive director of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, said no one will comply with the law, even if it’s passed.

“For the government to force a rabbi who’s practicing a religious act to tell his congregants it’s dangerous is totally unacceptable,” Niederman told The Post.

“You’re forcing the mohel and the parent to sign a piece of paper that contradicts their religious convictions.”

Niederman said there’s no substantive evidence linking herpes and the religious ritual.

Michael Tobman, a political consultant working with several large Hasidic communities, said the waiver is no minimal imposition.

“It warns parents that the city suggests a link between the practice and serious health worries, [and] it would undoubtedly have a chilling impact,” he said.

“City government shouldn’t be doing that.”

At least 11 babies in the city have contracted the herpes simplex virus since 2000 — and two developed brain damage and two died, according to a Health Department investigation.

In July, an Orange County infant was hospitalized after contracting a deadly strain of the virus.

Earlier this year, prosecutors were investigating the September 2011 death of a Brooklyn newborn at Maimonides Hospital from Type 1 herpes.

A Health Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the rabbis’ proclamation but said, “It is important that parents know the risks associated with the practice.”

NY POST