Rabbi Also Molested Girls
Phil Jacobs Executive Editor
MAY 04, 2007
Part of a continuing series on sexual molestation in the Jewish community. Warning: This article contains graphic sexual descriptions that may be offensive to some readers.
It wasn't only boys. Since the Baltimore Jewish Times' April 13 account that the deceased Rabbi Ephraim F. Shapiro—former principal of the Talmudical Academy and spiritual leader of the old Agudas Achim Synagogue—molested young boys hundreds of times, at least three women have come forward to share their molestation stories.
Pedophiles, according to Lisa Ferentz, a Pikesville-based clinical social worker and creator of a certificate program in Advanced Trauma Treatment, are not necessarily attracted to one gender over the other.
"What matters the most to many pedophiles," she said, "is the age of the victim. They are attracted to, and interested in controlling and maintaining power, over a child—it can either be a boy or a girl. This is important for parents to understand as they work to protect their children from potential predators.
"If they have information about a pedophile molesting boys, they shouldn't assume that their daughters are any safer in the company of that person," said Ms. Ferentz. "All kids need to be educated about inappropriate touch, and they should be empowered to fight back whenever possible, and to immediately tell a safe adult."
The following are accounts of three women now ranging in age from 58-69. When molested by Rabbi Shapiro, their age range was 7-12. (One of the women contacted the newspaper anonymously.)
Annette Stadd-Wilson
She was 7 and in second grade when she was molested after a Sunday school class by her teacher, Rabbi Ephraim F. Shapiro. He would go on to molest her countless number of times.
Annette Stadd-Wilson is now 58 and living in Phoenix, Ariz. She is a yoga instructor.
"This was a married man with children," she said with anger in her voice. "This was a man of God. He got away with this his entire life, and nobody came forward to make him stop."
Rabbi Shapiro would call her into his office, she recounted. He would then unzip his pants and ask her to caress him, she said. "This happened many times, and he would press me against his private parts," she said.
For Mrs. Wilson, there was even a deeper double meaning. The two shared the same birthday.
"As a girl, I always thought that something was wrong with me, for this to happen to me. When you are a young child and this happens, you think it is OK because you are the child and he is the adult—and a rabbi as well."
Rabbi Shapiro also officiated at her late father's funeral. She remembered the rabbi giving her some advice about the grieving process. Ms. Stadd chose to ignore him.
"I chose to leave the Jewish religion and found Eastern religion and yoga," she said. "I thank God that I did. It gave me an understanding of life and religion that made sense. I have thought that what happened to me does affect my lack of trust and feeling good about myself. Human beings all have a right to grow up feeling happy and healthy about themselves, and molestation destroys this."
Mrs. Wilson said she rarely speaks about her experiences.
"It's so devastating," she said, "you can't even talk about it. We have to ask ourselves, ‘How do we stop this?' I would like for Jewish people to stand up and come forward and face this. ... And I'm not sure I left Judaism because of this or not, but it probably had something to do with it. There's just way too much hypocrisy here."
E.J. Dopkin
Ellen Jane Dopkin was the only girl in her Agudas Achim Synagogue class.
She was post-bat mitzvah age, but her Hebrew school classroom achievements gave her the rare opportunity as a girl to be part of a special class studying the works of the Jewish sage Rashi.
She was the only girl in a class of about 15 young teens. One day, her teacher, the late Rabbi Shapiro, asked her to stay after class. They were alone. He placed his hands all over her body. He forced a kiss on her lips.
It happened over and over, she said.
Known to friends as "E.J.," Mrs. Dopkin sits in her beautiful Pikesville home with her husband, Michael. The events described above happened decades ago. Yet, they remain fresh for Mrs. Dopkin.
She was told about the April 13 Jewish Times story on Rabbi Shapiro and boys. She wanted to make sure that the community understood that girls were involved, too.
"Sometimes it happened in his office in the downstairs part of the school," she said. "Sometimes he had me come to his house. I never told anybody. I was a young girl. I didn't know what to do.
"It impacted me," she said. "It kept a block in front of me and my life. I felt that I wasn't able to accomplish as much as I could have because of what he did to me."
Mrs. Dopkin said she thinks of herself as a survivor. She said she's working to do what she can to get past her memories.
"Having an experience such as this makes you feel as if you don't want to trust people of authority, and then you don't want to trust anyone else, and then you don't even want to trust yourself," she said. "Then, the healing process is to say to yourself, ‘I can try to get past this.'"
What would Mrs. Dopkin ask Rabbi Shapiro today if she could?
"How could you use religion as an entering point to your terrible behavior?"
An Anonymous Caller
The Jewish Times received a call on Wednesday, April 25, from another woman who claimed she was molested by the late Ephraim Shapiro.
She was 111/2 and taking private bat mitzvah lessons with the rabbi at Agudas Achim.
"He would cop a feel," said the 68-year-old woman, who asked for anonymity. "He'd try to get underneath my sweaters. I was a little skinny minnie. I didn't know from this stuff. We didn't talk about these things."
"I never thought about it all of these years, I never told anybody," she said. "That's the trouble with the Jewish people. We sweep everything under the rug.
"It's a shame this wasn't told while he was living."
The impact stayed with her for years. "I didn't want to have any more with Jewish learning," she said. "I was sick of the whole damn thing. I knew he should not touch me, but he did.
"I remember his grubby hands. But Agudas Achim was a second home to my grandfather. I hated it, but I had to go."
For tips on future stories for this series, contact Phil Jacobs at pjacobs@jewishtimes.com . The next story in this series will be on the efforts by local groups and rabbis to offer resources for healing for sexual abuse survivors.
*******************************************
URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!
Victims Of Leizerowitz and his enabler Olewski from the Ger Yeshiva in Boro Park PLEASE immediately contact award winning journalist Kristen Lombardi: klombardi@villagevoice.com
Ms. Lombardi broke the back of the Boston Archdiocese, and was able to revive the Abraham Mondrowitz case in the D.A.'s office. Your anonymity is guaranteed!
UOJ
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
49 comments:
You got to start wondering when this bum had the time to eat breakfast!
She was 7 and in second grade when she was molested after a Sunday school class by her teacher, Rabbi Ephraim F. Shapiro. He would go on to molest her countless number of times.
Could it be that Judaism is not equipped to handle accusations brought from childhood memories? To wit:
אין מביאין ראיה מן הקטן
Megillah 20a
According to Rabbenu Art Scroll:
Since you witnessed the episode when you were a minor, your testimony is unacceptable, since halachah does not attach credence to the observations of a minor.
Could this halachah be an impediment in getting these alleged cases of abuse adjudicated?
--
From the RCA:
RCA Seeks to Combat Abuse of Children by Applying Public School Standards to Nonpublic Schools
May 1, 2007 -- Whereas, we, the Rabbinical Council of America, are deeply committed to the health, safety and security of all Jewish children attending yeshivas and Hebrew day schools, which includes their right to be free of any physical, emotional or sexual abuse or violence; and,
Whereas, we embrace the mitzvah of Lo ta'amod al dam ra'echa, (Do not stand upon the blood of your brother, Lev. 19:16), and we acknowledge the principle, BeHezaika DeRabim, Chaishinan Tfei (when there is an issue that affects the masses, we are vigilant), and how much more so does this principle apply when the health, safety and welfare of school children are affected; and,
Whereas, we acknowledge the devastating affect that even a single act of physical, emotional or sexual abuse can have upon a child, when inflicted by an adult authority figure, and such abuse can have long term serious physical and mental health consequences; and,
Whereas, we note that Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, writes in "Halachic Man", that his grandfather, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, of blessed memory, was once asked what the function of a rabbi is, and he replied: “to address the grievances of those who are abandoned and alone, to protect the dignity of the poor, and to save the oppressed from the hands of his oppressor”; and,
Whereas, we acknowledge the legal principle of in loco parentis, which provides that during the school day, the yeshiva and day school stand in the shoes of the parents, and owe the children the high degree of care in health, safety and welfare that parents owe their children; and,
Whereas, we acknowledge the legal principle of parens patrae, whereby the government always has a legitimate interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its children-citizens, regardless of whether they attend public or nonpublic schools, and this interest is reflected in numerous statutes and judicial opinions; and,
Whereas, we take note of the U.S. Congress-mandated report prepared by the U.S. Department of Education, "Educator Sexual Misconduct" (June 2004), which documents the extent of the problem, and at section 12 strongly recommends for all schools employee background checks, registries of abusive school employees, standardized abuse prevention policies, and other prophylactic measures
Now, therefore, it is resolved that
We reiterate support for our 2005 convention resolution, Criminal Background Checks for Workers with Youth; and
We generally support the enactment of decent and humane laws that seek to secure and enhance the health, safety and welfare of nonpublic school children; and
We support the application to the nonpublic schools of the health and safety laws currently applicable to public schools, including
mandatory employee fingerprinting and halachically or legally appropriate background checks;
mandatory written school plans and polices intended to safeguard the life, health, and safety of children, and to prevent physical, emotional and sexual abuse, including appropriate reporting guidelines;
mandatory employee registration and disciplinary hearings;
mandatory emergency health care, including nursing, modern first aid, and modern medical devices, including, defibrillators; and
We call upon members of the RCA to encourage awareness of these issues with their constituencies so as to facilitate detection of abuse in our community.
The current issue of The Jewish Press has a letter from Faye Wilbur, of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, in response to Elliot Pasik's letter last week (link):
Re Elliot Pasik’s “How to Eradicate Abuse in Our Communities” (op-ed, April 27):
As an active member of the Task Force on Families & Children at Risk, I would like to assure Mr. Pasik that there is a lot of work being done in New York to protect our children. For many years we have been sponsoring educational symposia for mechanchim/mechanchot, rebbetzins, and the lay community abuse as well as on many other issues.
On May 9, my agency, the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, will be hosting a similar program focused on prevention for the Queens community with Dr. David Pelcovitz as a presenter. Later in the month, the task force will be presenting a prominent rav and Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski to speak with mechanchim/mechanchot on this topic.
We in the frum mental health community have been responding, and the attitude of our rabbonim has likewise shifted. While the shift may not be as swift or as public as we might like it to be, I believe that, after 120 years, many members of the community will be able to respond confidently when we are asked “Ayeka?”
Faye Wilbur, LCSW
Boro Park Office
Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services
This is nothing short of infuriating. First of all, as a parent with children in Brooklyn yeshivas, why have I never heard of any of these educational symposia? Why have the teachers and principals with whom I have discussed this issue never heard of them? And, if they are so successful, why is there an eighth grade rebbe in a prominent yeshiva who is still allowed to have his students sit on his lap and rub his back (as told to me by a parent who complained to the administration and was ignored)? Why was a known sexual abuser run out of one town--a huge step--but not kept track of so that he is certainly living in another frum community, probably in Israel?
What I suspect is that this organization is full of well-meaning, tirelessly working people who are trying to do whatever they can to solve communal problems but will not, by any means, rock the boat or use any unconventional approaches. Yesterday's paradigms of change have proven ineffective. We need to think outside the proverbial box and do something that works.
Have attitudes shifted on this issue? Yes. And it is not due to any organization but to a single blogger who has gone much farther than I will but has gotten much better results than I ever will. Even if you disagree with him, try learning from him. Because he's gotten results while we've just run into one brick wall after another while children are suffering.
When is this being published?
Warning!!!!!!!!
Shlomo Hafner, author of a picture book illustrating the daf yomi masechte starting this week, is the same solomon Hafner alleged to have abused a Bobover boy whose family was subsequently bannished by bobov and driven out of town. For details see the awareness center web site.
When it involves rape or molestation, women and children are as good witness as men AND A SINGLW WITNESS IS SUFFICIENT TO BANISH ONE FROM HIS POSITION. This has been proven from the gemarah, ramban, Maharal and the famous teshuva (responsa) from Harav Ben Zion Wozner. The statement to the contrary earlier in this blos is incorrect. Do your homework.
I'm pleased to see UOJ has enhanced my program of "no child will left behind."
I will create a special program in UOJ's honor-"no rabbi will be left in a child's behind"
God bless you and God bless America.
Dear mr. president,
that is one of the greatest lines i ever heard.
god bless you,
I can't eat breakfast either. I lost my appetite with Phil & UOJ saying all this loshon hora about a dead man.
Bubba, shutup & eat your corn flakes. If you don't eat, people might chas vesholom think that the Agudah is displaying sympathy for the victims.
"According to Rabbenu Art Scroll ... Could this halachah be an impediment ... "
Is Nosson Scherman taking instructions from the Agudah on how to translate?
Maybe. And it doesn't help that Leib Pinter's son in law is part of the Artscroll Shas team. One of the many cushy jobs that Leib landed for his relatives around the yeshivishe velt. The same super-ganav Leib Pinter who fed treif sandwiches to the public that he claimed were kosher.
Boro Park survivor,
Thankfully you did not mention any rabbonim from a previous generation, but you are still hereby ordered to address high and mighty Agudah figures with kovod.
What's stated below is irrelevant because the Brisker Rov, Reb Velvel wouldn't let Elya Svei into Brisk.
"Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, of blessed memory, was once asked what the function of a rabbi is, and he replied: “to address the grievances of those who are abandoned and alone, to protect the dignity of the poor, and to save the oppressed from the hands of his oppressor”
Who publishes Hafner's picture sefer?
Artscroll?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855663.html
First he said that Sruly couldn't touch the Claims Conference money and the E&Y was keeping close watch. UOJ was right that they don't have enough eyes. Haaretz reports that they're now conducting an examination of fund transfers.
Gee Julie, why would you have to do that if Sruly was handcuffed?
award winning journalist Kristen Lombardi: klombardi@villagevoice.com
rxwan
She should do an expose of Ohel Family Services abuse cousling
Email David Mandel at DM@ohelfamily.org
Hirchson's attorney Yaakov Weinrot confirmed that his client brought Hoxter to March of Living, but said Hirchson had not "realized his salary would be so large."
The March of the Living began payments to Hoxter, totaling $709,000, the year Singer was instructed to stop making unauthorized payments to him via the WJC
It's true that Reb Elya couldn't get into Brisk. AJ also doesn't like taking his talmidim from Philly.
The Philly morons would all go running to the fresser convention to hear R' Elya's trademark "vos vet zein mit der kinder?"
Vos iz gevenn is Yudi Kolko feeling around their gatchkes and Margo frasking 6 year olds in the face when they don't understand it.
Hirchson had not "realized his salary would be so large."
Like when the Agudah put out the baloney story that Rav Salomon fell for that only one molester fell through the cracks.
Why doesn't Gil Student cut the crap already. He should stop talking in riddles and give us names and places otherwise his groveling amounts to more status quo.
Who paid for Sruly's latest hotel stay now that Edgar cancelled his credit cards?
http://floridajewishnews.com/News/World/World_Briefs_200705041093/
Israel Singer is pursuing an independent project in Buenos Aires. Singer, who was fired last month from the World Jewish Congress over allegations of financial impropriety, told JTA that he was involved in developing a new project in Argentina but would not offer further details. Singer said the project involves several local groups and is "going very well," but added that he wasn’t ready to discuss it yet with the media. He recently spent a week in Buenos Aires working on the project.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/RC_ins_advoc-03May07.html
Monsey -- Attorney Ryan Karben announced that his three-month old pro bono effort to assist Rockland County, residents who have been wrongly denied coverage by their health insurance companies is getting positive results. More than 30 cases have been opened to date and a significant number of denials of coverage have been reversed, he said.
"We are holding insurance companies accountable," Karben said. "Consumers do not need to stand alone when a health care crisis afflicts their family. We will stand with them and work to make sure they get the medical coverage that they are entitled to."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855824.html
I thought UOJ had forgotten about the Franken, but evidently he hasn't.
What is it about Philly that turns bochurim into social misfits?
Below is a link to the New York State Banking Department website that indicates that Fairmont DID lose their license, on March 7, 2007.
(Heino and a bunch of guys from Brooklyn & the 5 Towns were also suspended)
http://www.banking.state.ny.us/wb070316.htm
Comment Credit ---This article posted by Veganovich
We missed the boat now anyway but I wonder if there was more money in mortgage fraud for me and Belsky than in shakedowns?
Who Knew?
A tremendous amount of support should be given to the rabbis who signed last month’s statement on child molestation.
I would also like to give a yasher koach to the spiritual leaders who stood before their congregations to talk publicly about this deepening issue. Their words were courageous and supportive.
Both of these actions were encouraging first steps.
It is my hope that rabbis who don’t have formal training and certification in the areas of molestation do their utmost to refer congregants seeking help to those who do have proper qualifications.
I don’t go to my doctor to ask about a mezuzah. I don’t believe we go to therapists and dispute the opinions of the Rambam versus the Ramban. I doubt many therapists or doctors, (except of course those are Torah scholars) would even venture to give an answer to a question like this.
Of course not. They’d be the first tell all of us to ask a rabbi.
On the same course, we need to encourage our rabbis to have a list of proven resources that can help a family with these issues.
On the flipside, we need to give our rabbis a break. They don’t know everything. Yes, we want them to. And yes, the Torah is our precious codebook for life. No disputing that.
But on this issue of child molestation, there are so many incredible resources right here in town be it JFS or the Sidran Institute or Shofar Coalition or others.
Now, on another note.
Child molestation is a crime.
It is against G-d’s law. It is against society’s law.
Child molesters need to be identified to the local authorities if they committed the crime yesterday or 30 years ago. If found guilty, they need to go to jail.
We just can’t place them in other towns or jobs hoping that they will keep their hands off of our children. That “hope” is part of what got us into this mess.
That a rabbi molested hundreds of times not only speaks volumes about him, but also says something about us.
Why didn’t we know? You mean to tell me that besides the many children who knew, not one single adult was aware and did anything? Not one rabbi knew or did anything?
We are a community who dissects the finest points of Talmud. We are a kehillah who checks each lettuce leaf for bugs. We are a neighborhood who inspects our eruv each week and gets the word out if it is “down.”
How on earth did we not know that a man had molested on multiple times?
And if someone did know. Who knew?
If a person wounds or murders another person and there is a witness, is not that witness legally bound to come forward?
This issue isn’t about exposing names or loshon hora. The magnifying glass doesn’t belong on who is dead or who is alive.
The magnifying glass needs to be on the lives of the victims, and that they find justice for the people who violated their lives.
And most of all, that they find a healing.
Posted by Phil Jacobs on 05/03/07 at 10:50 AM |
Phil,
The issue that we have with the rabbis is not “how could they not know”. The problem is how do they not institute a policy that protects children against sexual predators. They did not have to know about specific cases to know there is such an incurable illness as pedophilia, and that child sexual abuse is rampant worldwide. They surely did hear about all the church scandals. It’s like keeping the yeshiva’s doors unlocked at night because they never heard of any break-ins in their town. It’s not an excuse. They have been totally negligent up until now and their negligence has caused thousands of lives to be irreparably damaged. I am only discussing those that were apathetic. The one’s that actually knew and went out of their way to cover up and muzzle victims and their families must be held accountable. They are as guilty as those who molested and are responsible for all the subsequent attacks by that molester. It’s time to implement the ideas laid out by Elliot Pasik, esq. in last week’s Jewish Press. They were adopted this past Tuesday by the RCA. It is also time to bring the molesters and enablers to justice.
Rumor has it that Shafran may be the next spinmeister in a new
Clinton Administration. Apparently,
Carville declined the offer.
http://www.joinrudy2008.com/
That's why your name is tsedrayter. You assume that UOJ will let Hillary win the election.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178096599367&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A historic yeshiva in Belarus that was returned to the Jewish community could be confiscated again if local Jews can't raise $20,000 to renovate the building.
Authorities last week gave the community until May 10 to raise the money or face a lawsuit returning ownership of the building to the municipality.
At stake is the fate of the Volozhiner Yeshiva, the 1806 building of the former Jewish religious school in the town of Volozhin, 55 miles from the Belarussian capital of Minsk.
"If we lose the building, we'll say goodbye to a huge part of our heritage," said Yuri Dorn, chairman of the Jewish Religious Union of Belarus, an Orthodox umbrella organization.
In 2000, authorities in Volozhin, a town of 5,500 that once was predominantly Jewish but today has only 11 Jews, returned the building to Dorn's group.
Dorn says his organization has tried desperately to find resources to renovate the building, which was returned to the community in a rundown condition. In recent years the building had housed a deli.
Founded in 1803 the Volozhiner Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim, quickly became the spiritual center of Eastern Europe's Lithuanian, or non-Chasidic, Jewry.
Despite wars, czarist decrees and revolutions, the school stayed open in the historic building until World War II, when the Nazis occupied Belarus. They killed 800,000 of the country's Jews, including about 3,500 Jews of Volozhin and the surrounding area.
In the past seven years, Dorn said, his organization has raised $22,000 from foreign donors to paint parts of the facade and remove garbage from the grounds. The building houses a temporary exhibit on the history of the yeshiva that attracts about 300 foreign Jewish tourists a year, he said.
Since you witnessed the episode when you were a minor, your testimony is unacceptable, since halachah does not attach credence to the observations of a minor.
I suspect that the same editor at Artscroll would eagerly quote someone if they recalled seeing, as a minor, a "Gadol" acting per a particular halachic opinion - providing, of course, that ArtScroll agreed with that opionion.
How Eichman let this rubbish live to see the light of another day is beyond me.
This is beyond the pale.
I can't 100% blame the writer as his perspectives have been distorted by his abuse, but it's still an unconscionable thing to say.
While looking thru your archives I came across one dated 6/12/2005 that's frankly quite shocking. You have a buddy named deep nose that listed the good, medium and bad Rabbi's. Under good you have Yisroel Belsky! Explantion please.
Can someone here summarize the Colmer case in Brooklyn. Aguda is claiming that the NYC Health Department need no regulate the nurseries and child care centers in our synagogues and other religious locations. Aguda says there is no problem. Let's tell the Health Commissioner there is a problem that needs to be fixed.
Can someone collect all the facts, and write a neat summary on this blog. Then, we can all write letters to the Health Department, telling them about this case.
Progress update:
It was a little bit of a tircha because of some heat damage to the printed circuit board. I had to solder in a jumper wire because part of a trace had burned up and get some clear nail polish to make sure everything was still insulated properly, but in any case, the replacement transistor seems to be working and the pantograph arm is once again working in the Y-Axis.
Baruch HaShem.
Hakarat haTov to big bro Jeffrey, the world's best mechanic, and Ken Long, one of the chasidei umot haolam, for letting me pick their brains.
Particularly I want to thank my cousin David Klein, The Famous Plumber (tm). I wasn't quite suicidal, but was pretty despondent when the machine crapped out, so I called David for chizuk. He calmed me down, told me to have faith in the Aibeshter and that everything was for a purpose. David has tremendous bitachon. When he can't get a pipe loose, he prays.
So what possible good reason could their be for my machine breaking?
While picking Ken Long's brains, he mentioned that heat was a primary reason why that particular circuit board is not very reliable. He told me that by adding a second cooling fan (about $15 at any decent computer supply) he reduced the failure rate on that board by about 90%. If the transistor hadn't failed, I'd never have learned that and still be stuck in a cycle of having the board needing repair, at $300 a pop, every now and then.
Don't forget to enjoy Shabbat.
The statement to the contrary earlier in this blos is incorrect. Do your homework.
Relax. I only put it out there as a question. A little propriety would be nice.
Anyway, would you do us a favor and provide some sources for us?
Heads up to all those speech therapists that are babysitting on govt expense. It might become a crime in the near future. Someone recently told me a story of a woman that went to do speech therapy for a little kid and she walks into a house with a room full of kids (at least 10) and the mother of the intended patient was out the door calling out behind her, "good luck. I'll be back soon."
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=43477
Capitol Hill Watch | House Subcommittees Hold Hearing on Stopping Medicare Fraud
[Mar 09, 2007]
The House Ways and Means Oversight and Health subcommittees on Thursday held a joint hearing on Medicare fraud, with lawmakers estimating that as much as 50% of the $10.8 billion in Medicare overpayments in 2006 were the result of fraud, CQ HealthBeat reports. Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Oversight Subcommittee Chair John Lewis (D-Ga.) "put out feelers on a wide variety of topics," including dialysis services, medical equipment manufacturers, physician and hospital payments and other fraud schemes, CQ HealthBeat reports (Armstrong, CQ HealthBeat, 3/8). U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta testified that some perpetrators of fraud consider penalties to be a minor "cost of doing business." Acosta said prosecutors should pursue criminal charges in addition to civil lawsuits in fraud cases. Stark said, "We aren't the Judiciary Committee, but I suspect we have the legislative authority to change penalties." Lewis said he is "appalled" by reports of Medicare claims being filed for unnecessary hospital procedures performed on seniors.
Here's a case where a boy witnessed a Bas Cohen being burned alive, yet he isn't believed in adulthood:
תב ואיבהו אבא לש ופיתכ לע בכרומו קונית יתייהשכ ינרוכז" :(ב םש אתיירב)
םרמואב םימכח וחד וז ותייאר תא ."הופרשו תורומז יליבח הופיקהו התניזש ןהכ
."ןטקה ןמ היאר ןיאיבמ ןיאו ,תייה ןטק" :קודצ יברב רזעלא יברל
You can read more in context here.
People are defending Peretz Steinberg, saying that he owns millions in real estate and doesn't need money from Schattner. (As if it's still right to pull a bittul kiddushin stunt pro bono)
Is it possible that Belsky & Mendel Epstein divied up all the gelt for themselves?
And since they had to retract in the end, did Belsky give the money back?
Rudi-trust me I'm with you all the
way (unless Newt comes into play!)
The Yated on the headline banner
advertised OORAH 5$ auction! Can
you believe taht after it was revealed they only spend 38%
of proceeds on programs!!
Let me repeat waht I've stated many
times on this blog.
Whan I was in Yeshiva a great grandson of Rav Chaim Brisker told
me that Rav Chaim actually opposed the formation of Agudah.(He attended the convention only at the urging of the Chafetz Chaim but even then he left early) His reasoning was that 'today the
gedolim are making the decisions-
tomorrow the secretaries will be making the decisions'. How true
those words have become. Have you ever tried to approach Rav Elyashiv
without having a bouncer shove you?
Who do u think assigned these bouncers? that's right-
THE SECRETARIES!!!!!
Gil's readers are kvetching about an 8th grade rebbe somewhere who they say is touching kids inappropriately. They are begging Gil to do something about it.
After commending UOJ in a post, he criticizes him in the comments for attacking Belsky. Gilligan must be torn with his conflict of interest as a friend of Bungalow Putz Neuhoff.
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/9199906473571942760/#516181
"He's gone way beyond that and attacked other people, like Rav Belsky, for frivolous reasons and even attacked the OU for employing him"
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/9199906473571942760/#516370
If the OU employed R. Shlomo Goren as a posek, I would still trust their standards and would not demand his firing.
Gil | Homepage | 05.04.07 - 5:10 pm
And here's Gil defending enablers again:
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/hirhurim/9199906473571942760/#516385
Anyone who covers up for the molestors deserves all that and more?
If done with intent and malice, yes. If done based on incompetence or misguided piety, no.
Gil | Homepage | 05.04.07 - 6:37 pm
Where did Peretz Steinberg get "his millions in real estate" from? Also, from who does he have smicha from?
UOJ,
Did you read Alan Dershowitz' column on Finkelstein in the WSJ this week?
I don't always agree with Dershowitz but he's on the side of the angels in this dispute.
"As concerns particular assertions made by Finkelstein…, the appropriate response is not (exhilarating) "debate" but (tedious) examination of his footnotes. Such an examination reveals that many of those assertions are pure invention… No facts alleged by Finkelstein should be assumed to be really facts, no quotation in his book should be assumed to be accurate, without taking the time to carefully compare his claims with the sources he cites…"--Peter Novick.
Didn't Dershowitz once say
he'd defend Hitler if he was
on trial? I assume he meant after
that monster perpetrated the Holocaust?
Stopping Medicare Fraud,
The speech therapy scams have nothing to do with medicare, which is for the elderly, but I do agree with you about the free babysitting. One can write books on the million in tax dollars wasted on children of emotionally unfit parents.
Peretz Steinberg is an MTJ talmid and is said to be the recipient of a substantial yerusha.
Post a Comment