Julia Haart, who left the Haredi lifestyle for one of glamour and high fashion and is now featured in the Netflix series My Unorthodox Life, is the it-woman of the moment, but there are plenty of critics who disapprove of how she portrays ultra-Orthodox Jewish life.

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Allison Josephs, the founder of the group Jew in the City, whose goal is to break down stigmas about Judaism in general and Haredi society in particular, recently expressed her anger at Haart in an interview to TMZ.

Josephs argued that the story presented in the Netflix series is not Haart's true-life story, but rather an adaptation. Josephs also said that Haart made generalizations about Haredi society, casting it as fundamentalist and extremist – all at a time when antisemitic crimes were hitting a new peak.

According to Josephs, Haart's characterization of her former society is "destructive and dangerous." Josephs claimed that while she believed that Haart had indeed undergone experiences that had left her in pain, what is portrayed in the series "My Unorthodox Life" is "not what she experienced" as a member of a Hassidic community.

"It's not authentic," Josephs told TMZ.

Haart, 50, was born in Russia and moved to the US with her family when she was three. The family eventually relocated to Monsey, New York, home to a large Haredi community. She married at age 19 and had four children, but always felt suffocated. She later said in interviews that she even considered suicide.

At age 42, Haart decided to leave the Haredi way of life. She went on to launch a luxury shoe line, despite having no formal training in design. A few years later, she had worked her way up to creative director of the Italian luxury lingerie and swimwear brand La Perla.

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The number of confirmed carriers identified since the start of the coronavirus epidemic in Israel stood at 103,274 on Monday, after passing the 100,000-mark this past weekend. As of Monday morning, there were 21,914 active or symptomatic cases identified in Israel after tests conducted between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday confirmed 962 new cases.

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A total of 877 COVID patients were hospitalized nationwide, of whom 411 were listed in serious condition, including 116 patients on ventilators. Another 200 hospitalized patients were listed in moderate condition.

The dedicated COVID treatment units at Poria Hospital, Laniado Hospital, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center were at capacity on Monday, and a total of 1,756 doctors, nurses, and members of other medical professions were in quarantine.

The death toll from coronavirus has reached 839 since the start of the epidemic. Approximately 40% of the total deaths from the virus occurred between July 31 and Aug. 24, well into the second wave.

Meanwhile, former Health Minister Yakov Litzman tore into Professor Ronni Gamzu, the coordinator for Israel's efforts to battle the spread of the virus, on Sunday over Gamzu's objection to allowing Hassidic Jews to travel to Uman in Ukraine to pray at the grave of Rabbi Nahman of Uman, a traditional High Holiday event.

Litzman, who is now serving as housing and construction minister, told reporters that Gamzu should resign because of the various measures he was taking to prevent flights leaving Israel for Uman. Gamzu has even reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the matter.

Earlier Sunday, Litzman claimed that Gamzu had overstepped the bounds of his authority by contacting Zelensky and called it a "slap in the face to the many Breslov Hassidim who travel to Uman every year."

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Every Rosh Hashanah, tens of thousands of Hassidic Jews flock to the town.

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"The common opinion is that the arrival of tens of thousands of Hassidic pilgrims to Uman to conduct the celebration in the traditional format is impossible," Uman Mayor Oleksander Tsebriy said on Facebook.

He cited the prevalence of the coronavirus in both Ukraine and Israel, and the difficulty of monitoring compliance with the required safety measures.

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State and federal law enforcement officials revealed details about the months leading up to the shootings by David Anderson and Francine Graham, a couple who expressed hatred of Jews and law enforcement in notes left at the grocery shooting scene and in online posts.

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"This was a senseless and cowardly act," US Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

Anderson, 47, and Graham, 50, shot and killed Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals in a chance meeting in a cemetery Dec. 10, then drove to the market and killed Mindel Ferencz, 31, who owned the store with her husband; Moshe Deutsch, 24, a rabbinical student from Brooklyn who was shopping there; and store employee Douglas Miguel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez held the back door open for a wounded customer to escape before he was shot, authorities said Monday.

Video: Reuters

Five weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in the store afterward. Investigators also found a bomb in the couple's van that could have sprayed shrapnel fragments "five football fields long," Gregory Ehrie, special agent in charge of the FBI in Newark, said. The van also contained materials that could have made a second bomb, he said.

It's not known for certain what prompted the confrontation between Seals and the shooters. Officials speculated that Seals, a 13-year veteran who was meeting someone about returning a car that had been impounded, may have stopped the U-Haul van Anderson and Graham were driving because it fit the description of a vehicle connected to the slaying of a livery car driver in Bayonne a few days earlier.

In doing so, Seals may have thrown off their plans and prevented more bloodshed, Carpenito said, but he did not provide more detail.

Anderson and Graham bludgeoned and then shot the livery driver Michael Rumberger, 34, officials said, though it wasn't clear if he had been targeted. The pair also had done online research on a Jewish center in nearby Bayonne in the days before the attack in Jersey City, Carpenito said.

Barricaded in the kosher store, Anderson and Graham were killed after a lengthy gun battle with the police that sent the sound of gunfire booming for hours through the neighborhood in New Jersey's second-largest city, across the street from a school.

A gun recovered at the kosher grocery that was used by Anderson and Graham to kill Rumberger also was used to shoot out the windows of a car driven by a hassidic man on a highway near Jersey City, the investigation revealed. That man was not injured.

That shooting wasn't reported until investigators began probing the market shootings.

"Up until the attack, there wasn't anything that would have put either of them on anybody's radar," Ehrie said.

But surveillance video showed Anderson and Graham had driven past the market in their rented U-Haul van twice in the week leading up to the shootings, Carpenito said.

At the scene, a note found on Anderson contained a reference to a 1990s documentary, "The FBI's War on Black America," which explored the FBI's targeting of individuals involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Carpenito said. He added that a timestamp written on the note corresponded to a segment in the documentary where an interviewee advocates killing "fascist pig cops."

Investigators found among Anderson's social media posts a reference to Jews as "imposters who inhabited synagogues of Satan."

Anderson received about $560 per month as a military veteran and may have sold property and a van to make money, officials said, but investigators have found no evidence he received outside assistance to purchase weapons or bomb-making materials.

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The Journal News reports 73 pistol permit applications have been filed with the Rockland County Clerk's Office since the Dec. 28 attack at a rabbi's home in Monsey, a hamlet in the town of Ramapo northwest of New York City.

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That compares to 51 applications the office received during the eight weeks prior to the stabbing, County Clerk Paul Piperato told the newspaper.

Sixty-eight of the new applications came from Ramapo residents, including 31 from Monsey.

"It's definitely because of this incident," Piperato told the newspaper, referring to the attack. "In some way, shape or form, they want to defend themselves."

Chief William Barbera of the Rockland County Sheriff's Department says an application is the first step in a months-long process. Applicants are required to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check and firearms training before the paperwork is submitted to a licensing officer.

An academy run by IDF veterans has been providing weapons training in Ramapo's synagogues since the machete attack, The Journal News reports. Its trainers have been advising Jewish residents to seek unrestricted pistol permits.

"The goal is to be able to carry at synagogue and not to just possess at home and take to the range," said Yonatan Stern, the academy's director.

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"The expansion of hassidic communities in New York's Hudson Valley, the Catskills, and northern New Jersey has led to predictable sparring over new housing development and local political control. It has also led to flare-ups of rhetoric seen by some as anti-Semitic," the NBC report said.

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The article was also picked up by The Associated Press.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat lambasted NBC for running the article, which implies that Jews were to blame for the recent attacks against them.

The "outrageous NBC New York article blames the Jews for the rising of anti-Semitism in the New York area. Once again, the victim is blamed for the attacker's racism. Instead of explanations and excuses, we need unequivocal action against racism and anti-Semitism," Haiat wrote on Twitter.

An outrageous @NBCNewYork article blames the Jews for the rising of anti-Semitism in the New York area.
Once again, the victim is blamed for the attacker's racism.
Instead of explanations and excuses, we need unequivocal action against #racism and #antiSemitism pic.twitter.com/mllHNNOY9J

— Lior Haiat (@LiorHaiat) January 2, 2020

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The 22-year-old man was attacked near Gerry Street and Broadway in Williamsburg around 1:00 p.m. by two women, ABC News reported.

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According to the report, the assailants, ages 24 and 34, yelled anti-Semitic epithets at the man. When he called 911, they attacked him with his own phone, threatened to kill him, and punched him in the throat.

The man was taken to the hospital for treatment. His two attackers were arrested shortly after the incident.

A police source said that the 34-year-old has been charged with aggravated harassment, assault, and criminal mischief. The other suspect is still in custody but has not been charged at this time.

The incident remains under investigation, the source said.

NYPD has enhanced patrol presence in Jewish communities. Starting tonight, additional officers from the Strategic Response Group, the same highly trained unit that helped keep New Yorkers safe in Times Square last night, will be on the streets.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 1, 2020

New York City has seen an alarming rise in anti-Semitic incidents. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the NYPD will increase patrols in Jewish communities and people must be able to walk their own neighborhoods free from fear.

Wednesday's incident is the 12^th attack in the past two weeks. It follows a stabbing attack in Monsey, NY on Saturday night.

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"Israel strongly condemns the recent displays of anti-Semitism, including the vicious attack at the home of a rabbi ... during Hanukkah," Netanyahu said.

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"We send our best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We will cooperate however possible with the local authorities in order to assist in defeating this phenomenon. We offer our assistance to every country," the prime minister added.

According to CBS New York, the assailant reportedly used a machete to attack people attending a Hanukkah lighting celebration at hassidic Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's home, which also functions as the Netzach Yisroel synagogue.

Two people were said to be in critical condition, with one of them stabbed at least six times, and three others were moderately wounded.

According to local media reports, the assailant was apprehended in Harlem early Sunday morning after a short manhunt.

Video from the scene pic.twitter.com/anPwVW1Jhv

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) December 29, 2019

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region tweeted, "At 9:50 [EST] this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing at 47 Forshay Road in Monsey (Rockland County; 30 miles North of NYC). It's the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals," it said on Twitter.

The council said the assailant was an African American male, his face partially masked with a scarf.

We are closely monitoring the reports of multiple people stabbed at a synagogue in Monsey, NY (Rockland County) pic.twitter.com/cHoQnbneKO

— NYPDCounterterrorism (@NYPDCT) December 29, 2019

Clips circulated on social media show ambulances and security personnel rushing to the site.

Investigators cordoned off the large home on Forshay Road with yellow crime scene tape as of 3 a.m. Onlookers gathered nearby and watched as officers collected evidence and worked to determine what occurred hours earlier. A number of police and emergency vehicles also remained at the scene.

The incident follows a string of anti-Semitic assaults in New York, including on Friday morning, when three young Jewish women were attacked in Brooklyn.

"I am horrified by the stabbing of multiple people at a synagogue in Rockland County tonight," Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo tweeted. "We have zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law. NY stands with the Jewish community."

I am horrified by the stabbing of multiple people at a synagogue in Rockland County tonight.

We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

NY stands with the Jewish community. pic.twitter.com/JILUoFXJc9

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 29, 2019

Cuomo, who called the stabbings a "cowardly act" has directed the state police hate crimes task force to investigate the attacks.

"Let me be clear: anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate," he said in a statement. "In New York we will always stand up and say with one voice to anyone who wishes to divide and spread fear: you do not represent New York and your actions will not go unpunished."

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also condemned the attack on Twitter saying a collective effort is needed to stop future incidents.

"Shocked and outraged by the terrible attack in #NY and praying for the recovery of those injured. #Antisemitism is not just a #Jewish problem, and certainly not just the State of #Israel's problem," he tweeted. "We must work together to confront this rising evil, which is a real global threat."

Officials with the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on US President Donald Trump to instruct the FBI to create a special task force in wake of unending attacks against Jews and their religious institutions.

Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the leading Jewish Human Rights NGO are also urging Black leaders to speak out against the spate of recent hate crimes in New York and New Jersey carried out by African Americans.

"Enough is enough! Jews should not have to fear for their lives in America to go to their houses of worship. The FBI must step up and take the lead in all recent violent hate crimes targeting religious Jews."

New York Attorney General, Letitia James, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the situation in Monsey. "There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that police presence would increase in Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations.

Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism at the National Institutions in Israel Yaakov Hagoel issued a statement saying, "I am appalled to see Jews brutally harmed in the synagogue as a place of prayer, just because they are Jews. I demand from the US government to protect Jews, pass strict laws to combat anti-Semitism, enforce existing anti-xenophobia legislation and, most importantly, implement anti-hate programs in all schools. We must show zero tolerance for any anti-Semitic incident."

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