Shockingly, Only 2% of Catholic Clergy Sexual Abusers Were Ever Jailed:
A Demonstration that the Self-Policing of Criminal Behavior Will Never Work!
By MARCI HAMILTON
hamilton02@aol.com
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Thursday, Mar. 11, 2004
There were some disturbing statistics in the John Jay College Report on sexual abuse by the Catholic Church's clergy over the last 50 years. (The report was released February 27, 2004.)
But the shocking and most telling of all was the statistic as to the percentage of abusers who were ever incarcerated -- only 2% (3% were prosecuted and convicted but apparently, of those, a third either will not serve time, or have yet to serve time).
What does this statistic tell us? It tells us the Church dramatically failed in its obligations to the public good. And it also tells us that one current "remedy" for abuse that the Church is still putting forward -- more self-policing -- will never work.
As Predicted, There Are Thousands of Victims and Abusers
The number of victims was 10,667. The number of abusers? A minimum of 4,392.
And these statistics, sadly, were not the shocking ones. Those familiar with these issues knew there were many more abusers than had yet been revealed. And there are very probably many more -- even ten times more -- victims and abusers than the Report indicated, as the Report itself acknowledges.
The sociologist and Catholic priest Andrew Greeley predicted long ago that the number of victims was probably on the order of 100,000. Decades ago, psychologist Richard Sipe, an expert on the issue predicted that as much as 6-8 % of priests sexually abused minors. And psychologists estimate that only a fraction of childhood sexual abuse victims ever come forward, anywhere from 5-35%.
Among So Many Abusers, Only a Tiny Percentage Were Ever Incarcerated
The shocking statistic in the Report, then, is not the number of victims, or the numbers of abusers. It is the statistic reflecting that while Dioceses and bishops knew about these criminals within their midst -- as the Lay Review Board's Report, issued the same day, made clear -- only a measly 2% were brought to justice.
That means that thousands -- probably tens of thousands -- of victims never got justice. It also means that 98% of offenders were left at large -- able to come into contact with more child victims, and unable to be added to any sex offender list.
By taking upon itself to operate in a private sphere untouched by concerns with the public good, the Church by its own actions increased the number of crimes, pushed the numbers of victims to stratospheric heights (no other organization in the United States has ever come remotely close in terms of numbers of victims), and destroyed its own credibility on social and faith issues.
Remember when alleged abuse at a small daycare center was a huge scandal? Now multiply that abuse by literally thousands -- or tens of thousands.
Society has a fundamental right to justice for crimes committed.
The Church did not just let its own down, it let society down.
The Incarceration Statistic's Message: Self-Policing Cannot Work
This era in the Catholic Church -- if it is just an era, and not the Church's demise
-- will doubtless be the subject of study for psychologists, political scientists, lawmakers, sociologists, and children's advocates for centuries to come.
What this law scholar finds most interesting, however, in light of the Report is the clarity of the lesson of the Church's mistakes:
self-policing criminal conduct simply does not work.
And why would anyone in this country ever think it could?
The Constitution is built on the core belief that humans are always tempted to abuse power, so checks must be built into the system to deter those abuses of power.
Many are advocating more lay involvement in the Church to increase accountability. That move makes tremendous sense. But lay involvement will never be enough.
Instead, there will have to be a wholesale rejection, within the Church, of the Church's apparent belief that it operates above and beyond the sphere of the criminal and civil laws that prohibit harming fellow citizens. And that, I'm afraid, will take far more than reports controlled by the bishops, as these were, or sincere self-reflection, in which the bishops claimed they have engaged. It will take a soul-baring that has yet to be seen in the Church.
To redress the public harm done by the Church, it would be nice if there were a sea change in the Church's view of its relationship to the law. But, even more important in the face of this public crisis, the press and prosecutors must finally and completely forego being co-dependents of the Church's addiction to its own power. It will take no less than the most dedicated and combined efforts of prosecutors, judges, and reporters to right this wrong.
The 2% incarceration rate did not come solely from the failures of the Church, but also law enforcement and the media. They permitted the Church to operate undercover. Now that the enormity of the harm is dawning on the public, giving the Church a pass to handle its own criminal affairs is simply impossible.
The Case of Bishop Dupre Underlines the Failures of Self-Policing
The colossal failure of self-policing is illustrated by the notorious example in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the story is unfolding on a day-to-day basis.
Last month, two men publicly charged Bishop Thomas Dupre with abusing them for years. He abruptly resigned, and left for a clinic known to treat sexual abusers. Dupre is now under investigation for the abuse, and for his administration's cover-up of the crimes of other abusers.
When even the Bishop is alleged to be an abuser, it is plain that internal self-policing by the clergy itself will be utterly ineffective. But what about lay review? In that case, that too has failed.
In 1992, Springfield initiated a lay review board -- but it was controlled by the bishop. The catalyst was a guilty plea by Richard Lavigne, a notorious pedophile in the archdiocese, as well as the diocese's payment of $1.4 million in settlements to 17 men.
Despite the lay review board, it took years to defrock Lavigne; it also took many, many years before prosecutors returned to a "cold case" involving an altar boy who died. Lavigne is now under investigation in that case.
Those who suggest that lay review is the answer should consider that Springfield's lay review board operated for twelve years before it was learned that its own bishop was a serial abuser of boys.
In Springfield, in the wake of the Dupre scandal, local prosecutors have been forced to investigate and seriously consider charges from childhood sexual abuse to obstruction of justice. Even the federal prosecutor has offered assistance.
Prosecutorial actions like these pave the way for other prosecutors to take what they would have viewed in the past as a political risk, and turn it into a righteous cause. Virtually no one believes the Church ought to be left alone this much.
Why Lay Review Boards Alone Won't Work
Perhaps lay review boards could be more effective if they were completely independent of the Church, and if their monetary support came from other sources. But in the end, no lay review board will ever be capable by itself of serving as prosecutor and judge. Why?
Because lay review boards simply do not have the built-in accountability to the public good inherent in a democratic government.
When board members are among the devoted, there will always be hesitation to accuse the very clergy who are supposed to be the servants of God. One could describe this as divided sympathies; in the law, however, it's a conflict of interest, and a classic reason for poor decisionmaking, and thus for disqualification of a decisionmaker.
Instead of being exclusively subject to lay review, allegations of abuse need to be vetted by law enforcement professionals who have no conflict of interest. But that will not be done until the bishops realize that they can no longer serve as the gatekeeper between victims and law enforcement.
Despite their advertised "no-tolerance" policy, which includes removal and reporting of abuse to authorities, bishops are only reporting claims to authorities that they believe are "credible." (And, as Dupre's example shows, they are hardly wont to find accusations against themselves credible!) So long as the bishops are a bottleneck through which only certain claims pass, they will hold singular responsibility for every victim.
The Church's Current Policies Are Rightly Making It Uninsurable
In a number of dioceses, the Church is now finding it increasingly difficult to get insurance coverage for the misdeeds of its clergy. If coverage is procured, it is extremely expensive. And insurers are rightly reluctant to cover instances of abuse that are also the fault of the Church itself, not only the fault of the abuser.
Churches cannot operate without some coverage. They are rightly subject to the same general criminal and tort laws we all must obey. So they are going to have to dance to the insurance companies' tune in order to obtain the coverage.
The Church may not be able to bring itself to report every allegation of abuse to authorities. But there is little reason for insurance adjustors to give the church coverage if it is going to continue to take the same risks that led to the enormity of the problem in the first place.
In contrast, if the Church were to report all abuse allegations to authorities, it would ameliorate the harm it is still doing; reduce its policing role to one of a team of investigators, not that of a sole overseer; and in the process, make itself far more attractive to insurers. Only full cooperation with law enforcement will allow the Church to be fully and affordably insurable.
And that is only right. Insurance companies are supposed to cover accidents and unknown, unpreventable, and unforeseeable situations -- not, as here, an intentional pattern of conduct of which the institution that is insured is well aware.
It's Time For the Church to Stop Fighting, and Start Cooperating
To win confidence from the devoted, from society, and from insurance companies, the Church has no choice but to fully cooperate with police and prosecutors, reporting to them every allegation of clergy abuse.
Tragically, however, the Church continues, instead, to fight tooth and nail in the state legislatures to prevent laws that would mandate the Church and its clergy to reporting clergy sexual abuse to the proper authorities and to prevent extension of statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse.
In court, Church lawyers are arguing, among other theories, that imposing a theory of "negligent hiring" on the Church violates the First Amendment. But that is a ridiculous argument. Surely, the government cannot vet the theological credentials of clergy candidates. But just as surely, the law can insist that the Church does not hire known abusers.
Courts need not determine whether the Church is acting as a reasonable Church, but rather as a reasonable citizen. Theology is sacrosanct; prior criminal behavior certainly is not. Merely telling a church not to hire criminals is a far cry from telling it who to hire, or what to preach.
In any event, the Church will find itself uninsurable--in addition to untrustworthy--if it keeps hiring and harboring known abusers. Background checks on all seminarians surely will be required by the insurance companies even if they are not required by law.
The era of self-policing is over!!!
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
155 comments:
Extradition! (from the Broadway sensation Fondler on the Roof)
Extradition, extradition! Extradition!
Extradition, extradition! Extradition!
Who, day and night, must sodomize talmidim,
tell them it's okay, behind shadowy closed doors?
And who has the right, as scoffers of the law,
to seek asylum in the Holy Land?
The Rebbeim, the Rebbeim! Extradition!
The Rebbeim, the Rebbeim! Extradition!
Who must know the way to run a yeshiva,
A quiet yeshiva, a kosher yeshiva?
Who must squirrel away all the sexual abuse,
To perpetuate the torah way?
The hanhala, the hanhala! Extradition!
The hanhala, the hanhala! Extradition!
At three, I learned the alef bais.
At four, my balls were fondled.
I hear they found the bastard.
I hope he rots in hell.
The talmidim, the talmidim! Extradition!
The talmidim, the talmidim! Extradition!
And who is it that makes sure
that whatever comes to pass,
molesters of children
will get it up their ass?
The zroya netuyah! Extradition!
Of the law! The law! Extradition!
Does anyone know of any religious institutions dropped by their insurance carriers for this reason?
Let the avalanche begin.
January 15, 2008
In regards to yesterdays article written by Menachem Lubinsky, the following letter was written by Mayer Fertig [Publisher and Editor-in-chief of The Jewish Star]:
Menachem,
You are certainly entitled to your view that it is appropriate to simultaneously function as a journalist and as a paid mouthpiece for a company you’re covering. Unfortunately, this would not meet the baseline ethical standards of any legitimate publication. It’s a shame that as editor of a newsletter that you bill as ‘The mouthpiece of the kosher food industry,’ you would fail to meet such a standard.
Even after you have been exposed in print, you continue to stand by the company line — which you wrote. Yes, disputes of the sort you describe are commonplace. I just find it hard to believe that you see no news value in any hint of uncertainty related to the largest kosher meat provider in the US. Particularly after you chose to report on the same issue just last week. This would seem to cast doubt on the quality of your news judgment rather than the quality of the story.
Furthermore, your dismissal of legitimate reporting on AgriProcessors and its hashgachas as the work of ‘disgruntled writers’ strikes me as more than a little convenient. Such a mischaracterization only serves to further undermine your position.
Sincerely,
Mayer Fertig
Publisher and Editor-in-chief
The Jewish Star.
EXCELLENT!
----------------
The Monster Inside
Protecting our Children – Part One
By: Rabbi Yakov Horowitz Mishpocho Magazine
A classic comedy routine involves a ‘good guy’ being chased by a villain. The good guy finally finds a safe haven, enters, slams the door behind him, and mops his brow with a sign of relief. However, he soon discovers that somehow the villain snuck in behind him. Now, he is alone in a locked space with the ‘bad guy’ – and nowhere to escape.
Whenever I hear people discussing the need to build higher and higher walls around our homes and communities to protect our children from the very real spiritual danger of ‘Walmart’ that I discussed in a recent column, I find myself increasingly playing in my mind a tragic version of this scene. Why? Because it is my strong and growing feeling that the number one risk factor for our beloved children abandoning Yiddishkeit is child molestation/abuse.
This is not to say that a majority of kids who are ‘off the derech’ were abused. But of all the complex and varied educational, social and familial factors that endanger to our children, the most damaging by far, in my opinion, is abuse. The very real threat posed by the external influences from which we all strive (in various degrees) to protect our children – such as media, Internet, and ‘bad friends’ – are all firecrackers compared to the atom bomb of sexual abuse.
Abuse robs children of their safety and innocence. Its ravages follow them through their teens and into adulthood, often shredding their marriages and complicating their relationships. Children who were molested harbor a simmering rage at the adult world that could not provide them with what should be the most basic birthright of every child; a sense of security. This anger displays itself in many forms – cultural, familial and spiritual. What is most dangerous, however, is when the rage turns inward and the children begin to self destruct by using drugs, abusing alcohol, engaging in self-mutilation … even committing suicide.
A close friend of mine runs a shelter/group home for charedi runaway kids. I recently ran into him at a wedding and asked him what his thoughts were on the correlation between abuse and the off-the-derech phenomenon. His immediate response was, “Yankie, all I deal with is abuse [victims],” meaning that virtually all the teens in his program were molested.
Most frightening from a communal perspective is that it is difficult if not impossible to cure a serial molester, even one who goes, or is forced to go, for help. Furthermore, untreated abuse victims are far more likely to abuse others then are people in the general population. So what we have is analogous to the Midrashic frog in Egypt (Shmos 8:2; Rashi) that multiplied each time it was struck. Similarly, a molester typically harms dozens or even hundreds of kids – each in turn a prime candidate to molest others; on and on.
How bad is it? Very, very bad. To paraphrase Rudy Giuliani’s famous quote in his 9/11 press conference, the number of abuse victims in our community is more than any of us can bear. I do not keep records of people who call me, or speak to me in public settings, but I would estimate that in the past year months alone between fifty and one hundred abuse victims and/or their parents contacted me. It has gotten so bad that when parents who do not suspect any form of abuse call me to discuss their at-risk children, the very first thing I listen for are the classic red-flags for abuse/molestation. (If I do suspect abuse, I immediately refer them to mental health professionals, as I do not feel qualified to deal with these matters.)
Why am I writing about this subject in the context of the ‘Walmart’ discussion? Because as we talk about building walls around our children to protect them from the decadence of secular culture, we had better make certain that the ‘monster’ of child abuse is on the other side of the wall.
Abusers are nocturnal creatures, operating most effectively in the darkness of denial. What they fear most is the light of day and the righteous indignation of victims. Most predators have a sixth sense of which children are from homes with parents who are inattentive or not ‘complainers.’ They zoom in on them like a moth to light knowing that the odds are slim that their despicable acts will be reported.
So ‘walled’ communities are the dream setting for a child molester. A community where negative news is not reported and the fear of causing a chilul Hashem makes people hush things up is a community where an abuser can comfortably set up shop.
Much as I would love to pass on the sensitive matter of child abuse and molestation, I feel the burden of responsibility to squarely address it due to the life-threatening danger that it represents to our children. I write these lines because I am haunted by the images of the many abuse victims I have encountered over the years. I visited shelters and substance-abuse facilities where they attempted to recover from drug overdoses. I tried my best to comfort their parents who were going through their own personal gehenom, while their children confronted theirs. I paid shiva calls to bereaved parents and siblings of abused children who later committed suicide and to those whose children’s suicides were presented to the public as death by other cause.
In short, I keep seeing the horrific carnage that the monster of abuse is causing among our children. We have the capacity to banish it to the other side of the door. All we need is courage and conviction.
L’maan Hashem, let’s finally do it.
http://www.ejpress.org/article/news/23173
VIENNA (AFP)---Prosecutors in Austria said they had launched an inquiry into anti-Islamic remarks made by a far-right politician that have provoked outrage among politicians, Muslims and church leaders.
Leaders of Austria’s Islamic community meanwhile said that Muslims were angered by the remarks, but appealed for calm.
Susanne Winter, an activist with the populist far-right FPOe party was reported by media as describing Islam’s prophet Mohammed as a "child molester" who wrote the Koran "during epileptic fits".
Reprint!
My comment on the Archie Versus Shmarya debate at the end of their comments on FM...so far!
--------------------------
AB - Shmarya, I'm sorry but I feel your self-description is kind of disingenious.
You make yourself sound like Bruce Almighty or some kind of personal savior of the downtrodden. While many incest victims and others may in fact be emailing you, you do NOT publicize their plight. Years ago you even deleted UOJ's comments on your blog to raise the alarm about Kolko and Margulies and brushed off his pleas to you, adamant that you won't publish what a newspaper has not covered.
So the question stands. What do we need you for? We also have Vicky Polin's Awareness Center and others who provide a platform for those who you claim to advocate for when in fact you don't.
And perhaps we should be impressed with your voluminous reading hobby but it was readers of UOJ and Yudel who went through hundreds of pages of USDA documents to highlight bad behavior by Rubashkin.
If you are behind major newspaper exposes as you claim then show us where. And why don't you ask these media outlets to compensate you instead of asking for spare change on the virtual street corner?
Posted by: Archie Bunker | January 15, 2008 at 09:15 AM
Years ago you even deleted UOJ's comments on your blog to raise the alarm about Kolko and Margulies and brushed off his pleas to you, adamant that you won't publish what a newspaper has not covered.
Now we see Archie Bunker for the twisted bigot he really is.
If you were to ask UOJ, what you would hear would be those facts but in a different context.
1. There was no valid information on Kolko anywhere in print.
2. UOJ and other people leaving those comments on this blog were, a) Anonymous and b) had no sources themselves
3. I told UOJ and others that I ddn't have the resources to cover the story. I would need to fly to NYC, spend a few weeks talking to victims and Kolko defenders, check court records, etc. I had no way to do this and I had no one in NYC I could get to do it.
4. I also told UOJ and others that the best way to deal with Kolko was to get a mainstream print media outlet to do a story on him. I promised UOJ I would push that story 100% when it was printed and that I would do everything in my power to help before that.
5. Printing unsourced and unsubstantiated allegations against people is wrong.
If UOJ had said, "My name is _______ and this is what I know," and if at least one victim had said, "My name is _______ and this is what happened to me," I could have published on Kolko.
That did not happen.
And you'll note that NY Magazine did the story only because Framowitz went on the record. Without that, no story.
6. Because you are profoundly unethical, you don't realize the responsibility involved in destroying a man. For all I knew, Koloko could have been innocent and I had no way to really find out.
Today, if someone came to me with a similar story I'd have many ways of checking it out that I did not have 2 years ago.
7. UOJ repeatedly has asked me NOT to quit, NOT to stop publishing and NOT to give up the fight.
You, who considers himself to be a follower of UOJ's, are too blinded by your hatred to understand even this.
8.And perhaps we should be impressed with your voluminous reading hobby but it was readers of UOJ and Yudel who went through hundreds of pages of USDA documents to highlight bad behavior by Rubashkin.
False. I published extensive details neither had months and even years before them.
And they have published nothing regarding the USDA I didn't have and publish first.
9. You are a disgusting person, AB. I hope you spend the rest of your life wallowing in your own filth.
Posted by: Shmarya | January 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM
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Gentlemen:
When I initially contacted Shmarya with the Kolko matter, I was a nobody! (still am to many..and that's OK by me.)
He had an obligation to fact- check --- although I had my facts verified. I could not share them with him at the time.
Little did anybody know the material I became privy to.
Shmarya's blog was actually one of the models I used in attempting to ascertain the facts --- but I was so certain of them --- that I circumvented journalistic standards - to get at the criminals. I was not concerned with the libel laws -- "truth is an absolute defense."
I look to Shmarya for his ability to spend precious time on investigating...where I just do not have the time. I have 20 full time jobs!
He has helped me considerably...on more than one issue...I ONLY PUT UP INFORMATION IN THE POST SECTION THAT I AM ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN WOULD STAND UP TO SCRUTINY IN A COURT OF LAW!
There is sooo much I can't verify to my satisfaction...so it DOES NOT GO UP!
Therefore my blog is focused on select areas...where Shmarya is able to focus on a broader spectrum of issues.
For the record...Shmarya and I - agree to disagree - on certain topics...and that's fine by me.
Support him if you're able to...please!
UOJ
Show me Rabbi Yakov Horowitz and I'll kiss his shoes for writting an article Margo Belsky Olefski Silbershtein Scheinberg Fisher Kaminetsky FeintienX2 etc were too stupid to write or even wrap thier brains around.
I'm going to say this again in no uncertain terms:
The Agudath Israel and their affiliated organizations - including hundreds upon hundreds of rabbis - are directly responsible for the covering up of child rape incidents for 40 - 50 years! Two of the oldest claims, that I'm aware of against rabbi-child-rapists...date back to Baltimore and Philadelphia yeshivas in the 1950's. You want me to prove it?...sue me!
SHAME ON US THAT AGUDATH ISRAEL IS STILL IN EXISTENCE!
Does that mean actual PENETRATION in the hallowed dorms of NIRC & Philly?
Vos vet nebich zein mit der kinder?
Are we to infer that one of the same perps was raping kids in both cities?
Maybe that's why the mashgiach Rav Golombek would pull the covers off bochurim laying in bed. Maybe he wasn't just looking for radios and dirty magazines but wanted to make sure there weren't any pedophiles underneath.
Of course none of my extended family were raping mesivta boys in Lakewood either.
For those of us who are 38 years old, there was a freshman classmate who was booted by R' Shmuel Kaminetzky after allegations that he was making gay physical advances.
Any further details will be provided in the court room by the victims themselves...or any time they deem fit!
The klal is now calling the shots; to hell with these criminals!
I wonder if a rabbi in charge of the dorm is legally allowed to rip the covers off someone.
"Any further details will be provided in the court room by the victims themselves...or any time they deem fit!"
Oh brother! Just when I thought the weather was clearing up ...
The 100s of rabbis are part of my social circle. They are all honorable men.
This is the problem with Blogistan. All loshon hora, all the time. Old stories from Philly and my hometown Baltimore are like pornography.
Charlie Hynes is already getting ready to blame his rabbinic council if he loses the 2009 election because of UOJ.
There was a bochur kicked out of Philly for going to an X-rated theater. I hear he's in pretty bad shape these days, in and out of court all the time for financial scandals. I wonder if he was badly influenced by anyone there.
I'll say this for D.A. Hynes; Whatever his reasons may be at the present time - he's hell-bent in getting Mondrowitz back on U.S. soil.
I am not in a position to speak about his foot-dragging for years; the Mondrowitz victims have experienced too much pain for me to give him a pass.
D.A. Hynes - we're grateful - get the bastard back here to face the wrath of the criminal justice system - that so failed the Mondrowitz victims!
"Whatever his reasons may be at the present time - he's hell-bent in getting Mondrowitz back on U.S. soil."
I was one of the 1100+ people who called Hynes to complain. I told the DA's office that if Mondro isn't extradited, I will start a campaign to get Hynes voted out of office in the 2009 election.
He also shut down the comments before they could start on Fertig's reply to Lubinsky.
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/files/mondrowitz_11208.pdf
It's a good thing my customers & licensers can't read Ivrit.
I told the DA's office that if Mondro isn't extradited, I will start a campaign to get Hynes voted out of office in the 2009 election.
-----------------
God bless!
The Tort Putz's brother of course explained that YTT, the Best yeshiva, does not have these kinds of problems.
My former employee, Dr. Tuvya Chaim (Bungalow Putz) Neuhoff works for SAFE.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/13694/PHOTOS:+SAFE:+Rabbi+Twerski+&+Others+On+The+Dangers+Of+Winter+Break.html
Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski spoke together with Rabbi Meyer Yedid at the Bnei Yitzhak shul in Flatbush on the dangers of winter break - how it affects parents and students alike - in a program run by the SAFE foundation, which helps people with drug, alcohol, and gambling problems. They have a 24 hour confidential hotline: 1-866-569-SAFE
21 Comments
Maybe we should leave our kids in school all year, from morning until night? Let’s see how many burnt out kids we can make. It will surely bring Rabbi Twerski alot of business.
Comment by kollel99 — January 15, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
I never heard of kids mutilating themselves. Does that mean getting tatooed as a rebellion or is it the worst possible meaning?
http://consumerist.com/345184/best-buy-busts-middle+school-janitor-for-having-child-porn
Best Buy's Geek Squad tech repair service helped bust a middle-school custodian for having child porn on his hard-drive. Fox9 reports:
Geek Squad employees viewed over 800 images contained in a folder titled XXXYOUNGS. The images featured young girls believed to be between the ages of 7 and 15. In some of the pictures the children were nude; in others, they were engaged in sexual acts with adult males.
You would think they could stop after the first couple or so. Pedophiles should die a thousand deaths, but no doubt police appreciate that some tech services are now performing warrantless searches of citizen's hard drives for them.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1199964914321&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Meir Spiegler, director-general of the National Authority for Religious Services - the body that replaced the Religious Affairs Ministry - said that over the last four years, he has managed to eradicate the rampant corruption that plagued the ministry.
"Thanks to our close supervision over the management of the religious councils, we have brought about a significant improvement in management norms," said Spiegler. "We've managed to wipe out the endemic waste that delegitimized the religious councils. There are no more unauthorized salary raises, and we have significantly cut back on excess labor costs."
Spiegler said that during his term as director-general, the salaries of religious council chairmen had been cut sharply. Instead of earning as much as NIS 40,000 a month, religious council heads now earn no more than NIS 18,000 a month. This highest salary goes to only three council heads in the three largest cities: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. All other religious council heads earn between NIS 5,000 and NIS 12,000, depending on the size of the city.
Before the ministry was dismantled, religious council jobs were handed out on the basis of political allegiance, said Spiegler.
Since the National Authority for Religious Services began functioning, Spiegler added, several other negative phenomena have been eradicated as well.
Neighborhood rabbis are now forced to retire from their positions at age 67 in accordance with the law governing all state employees. In the past, these rabbis would continue to receive a salary years after they were supposed to retire.
Spiegler also described corruption in the areas of kosher supervision and the running of mikvaot.
"Workers used to live in fear of being fired suddenly," he said. "They were afraid to open their mouths. They knew they would be fired if they did not go along with the game. There was no one who could come along and say, 'You can't do that,' Now there is."
Another Gerrer victim of AM Leizerowitz has been comitted to an institution for intense long term treatment. Die Leizerowitz! And die you alte fart david olefski for covering this up for 15+ years and still hanging on to your job at the mesifta till this very day. If boog called olefski a shtick drek, drek would sue boog for defamation of charachter!
Whichever lobby offers him the most money?
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/177951.html
BY MICHAEL DOYLE
BEE WASHINGTON BUREAU
last updated: January 12, 2008 04:33:32 AM
WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities ate the evidence this week as they considered allegations that Israel shortchanges San Joaquin Valley pistachio growers, winemakers and almond farmers.
Israel complicates wine sales, one witness told the International Trade Commission. The country's tariffs impede U.S. almonds, a Blue Diamond Growers witness said. Illegally imported Iranian pistachios are supplanting Californian-grown nuts, a third witness added.
"It is very easy to distinguish the country of origin of pistachios through a simple visual inspection," declared Western Pistachio Association representative Carter Brown.
Brown delivered domestic pistachio samples to the six trade commissioners in order for them to "understand what U.S. exporters would, if given the opportunity, export to Israel," he said.
Officials with the Fresno-based association pointedly provided several brand names, including Keenan, Nichols, Primex and Setton.
"Except on price, (we believe) U.S. pistachio growers can compete against the Iranian pistachio in any developed market," Brown testified.
Israel is supposed to open its arms to U.S. products under a free trade agreement approved in 1985. Farmers, though, repeatedly have complained that unfair barriers remain.
'Unconditional commitment' asked
Now, the farmers' complaints are gaining traction as the Bush administration and Israeli government review the Israeli free trade deal's agricultural components. The International Trade Commission hearing Thursday is one step in a larger investigation into the economic consequences of freer agricultural trade with Israel.
"Don't let this negotiation pass without an unconditional commitment that they will put an end to all trade with Iran," Brown urged.
Brown is a senior associate with the Washington-based lobbying firm of Schramm Williams & Associates, and one of several lobbyists to testify during the Thursday morning hearing. Israeli government officials did not testify, and Israeli Embassy officials could not be reached afterward to comment.
Israel is a particularly alluring agricultural market, with U.S. farm and food exports totaling about $376 million in 2006. The country's rules, though, can be complex.
Some complications reflect religious scruples that may be unavoidable. Israeli importers, for instance, cannot bring in kosher and nonkosher wine. Other complications come from secular barriers such as tariffs.
"In a nutshell, the Israeli government continues to protect its domestic wine industry by refusing to fully open its consumer market to wines from the U.S. as agreed to by Israel more than 22 years ago," Washington-based consultant Jim Clawson said.
Clawson was testifying on behalf of the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. Veteran agricultural lobbyist Julian Heron repre- sented Blue Diamond.
Each industry represented Thursday sees frustrated potential. Israel, for instance, is the developed country with the world's largest per capita consumption of pistachios. California accounts for 98 percent of U.S. production, which is second in the world behind Iran.
The U.S. pistachio industry contends Iranian pistachios dominate the $10 million-a-year Israeli market despite Israel's legal prohibition against trade with Iran.
Officials quietly have bought pistachios in Tel Aviv, developed special lab tests and obtained Turkish trade documents allegedly confirming Iranian origins. Brown said some of the evidence couldn't be publicly disclosed Thursday for fear it would give Israeli pistachio importers an advantage if the Israeli government ever takes legal action.
The trade commission is expected to complete its investigation by April, and negotiators are supposed to finish their work by the end of the year.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/01/15/michael-nifong-files-for-personal-bankruptcy/?mod=homeblogmod_lawblog
Michael Nifong, the former North Carolina DA who filed rape charges against three Duke lax players and then resigned after being accused of withholding evidence, has filed for bankruptcy. Click here for the bankruptcy filing.
Nifong, who has lost his law license, listed assets of $243,898 and debts of $180.3 million.
$180.3 million?! $180 million of that is from a prosecutorial-misconduct lawsuit filed by six Duke lax players. Each claim $30 million in damages, and each are listed as creditors.
“This looks like a smart move for Mr. Nifong,” Charles Tatelbaum, a Florida lawyer and Law Blog Moustache Society member, told Bloomberg. “This stops all the cases against him so he doesn’t have to pay legal fees if he doesn’t have insurance.” But if the bankruptcy judge decides Nifong’s committed wrongdoing in prosecuting the case, any damages award wouldn’t be erased.
Mr. Nifong has been ruined; he has a negative net worth even if the pending suits are ignored, and he’ll be lucky to find a job flipping burgers. This tragic downfall might strike us as sad. But then one recalls what he put those Duke lacrosse players and their families through. He was willing to send the players to prison for decades, just to assist in his own re-election bid. (Stuart Taylor’s book, “Presumed Guilty,” provides a terrifying account of what Nifong, the corrupt Durham police, and a pathetic Duke University faculty and leadership, put these young men through.) Nifong violated his oath of office, not to mention basic principles of fairness.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/01/14/is-there-something-rotten-in-the-state-of-countrywide/
The last time we told you about the U.S. Trustee Program, that DOJ division that oversees the bankruptcy system, we highlighted its investigation into frequent alleged misrepresentations that mortgage companies such as Countrywide had made in bankruptcy cases.
Today Law Blog colleague Amir Efrati reports that more judges overseeing those cases are raising concerns about the big mortgage lender ahead of its planned acquisition by Bank of America. (Click here for a WSJ story on B of A’s possible legal liabilities in acquiring Countrywide, including an investigation by the SEC.)
Countrywide’s errors include charging the borrowers improper and unsubstantiated fees; inflating what borrowers owe in filings with the court; and applying payments borrowers made after filing for bankruptcy toward pre-bankruptcy debt—a big no-no.
Countrywide told the WSJ that “we believe we have fully complied with all rules and regulations.”
During a hearing last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeff Bohm chastised Countrywide and its lawyers after the company admitted making numerous errors in a case. “How many times do I have to listen to that before I conclude, ‘You know, there’s got to be some kind of reckoning’ when I keep hearing time after time, ‘we made a mistake, we made a mistake, we made a mistake, we made a mistake?’” Judge Bohm said. He is considering sanctions against the company, which has already spent $400,000 in costs associated with the case after having its employees deposed by a U.S. Trustee.
In Miami, Bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol last month said the company had been found “with its hand in the cookie jar” after it said it overstated how much a borrower owed. Last week the New York Times reported that in Pittsburgh, Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Agresti criticized Countrywide for fabricating documents after the company began foreclosure proceedings against a borrower. The documents purported to show that the borrower owed nearly $5,000.
Said Judge Agresti in a hearing last month, channelling Billy Shakes: “These letters are a smoking gun that something is not right in Denmark.”
Nov. 2007: Thacher Proffitt notifies 24 associates in the real estate and structured-finance groups that unless the market improves substantially, they will almost certainly be laid off in January.
Nov. 2007: Clifford Chance lays off six associates in its structured-finance area.
Jan. 2008: Cadwalader fires 35 lawyers, or just under 5% of its staff due to a slowdown in its finance and capital-markets practices. The firm’s large structured-finance practice, including configuring CDOs, has been particularly impacted by the recent downturn, according to the firm.
We normally like to end the week on a high note but let’s face it readers, it’s getting ugly out there. Today we received a pithy email from a loyal reader who seems to have a handle on these matters. “The credit markets have gotten worse,” he wrote. And the stock market ain’t much better, with the S&P down almost 5% in these first two weeks of 2008. That doesn’t bode well for M&A deals, which have been a law-firm gravy train these last few years.
O Beloved readers, where does Big Law go from here?
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/01/11/anytown-usa-v-the-financial-services-industry/
Foreclosure hot zone Cleveland has sued 21 big banks under a novel legal theory. It claims the financial instituions created a public nuisance in the city’s neighborhood that hurt property values and city tax collections. The lawsuit, filed in state court by Josh Cohen at Cohen Rosenthal & Kramer, seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, including city money spent demolishing and boarding up abandoned houses. Here are Plain-Dealer and AP stories.
Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson, who earned his law degree at Cleveland State, called a press conference this morning to announce the lawsuit and gave us our Law Blog Quote of the Day: “To me, this is no different than organized crime or drugs. It has the same effect as drug activity in neighborhoods. It’s a form of organized crime that happens to be legal in many respects.”
The WSJ editorial board wrote this amusing lead:
John Yoo can be forgiven if he’s having second thoughts about his career choice. A Yale Law School graduate, the Berkeley professor of law went on to serve his country at the Justice Department. Yet last week he was sued by convicted terrorist Jose Padilla and his mother, who are represented by none other than lawyers at Yale. Perhaps if Mr. Yoo had decided to pursue a life of terrorism, he too could be represented by his alma mater.
“What we really have here is less a tort claim than a political stunt intended to intimidate government officials,” the editorial says. “In short, the Yale attorneys are using Padilla as a legal prop in one more attempt to find a judge willing to declare that the Bush Administration’s antiterror policies are illegal.”
Confident the case will be dismissed because government officials like Yoo have broad legal immunity (save for criminal acts), the editorial board still warns, “If political appointees can be sued years later for advice that was accepted by their superiors, we will soon have a government run not by elected officials but by tort (Putz) lawyers and judges.”
It closes with a zinger:
Which brings us back to Yale. The real litigant here is the National Litigation Project at the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School. That sounds august, but this is really a leftwing bucket shop using Yale’s sponsorship to achieve antiwar policy goals via lawsuit. We trust the dean of Yale Law, Harold Koh, is proud of suing an alumnus on behalf of a terrorist, and that Yale’s other alumni know how their donations are being used.
Something for victims to consider before deciding which jurisdiction to file suit in.
Litigation-wise, there are some strong disincentives to bringing weak cases in Israel. There’s a filing fee that’s a percentage of the plaintiff’s claim (2.5%, half of which is due with the filing of the complaint). The losing party often pays at least a portion of the prevailing party’s attorney fees. And there are no juries.
The most interesting difference that I have encountered in my practice is that the Israeli Supreme Court not only serves as an appellate court but also as the court of first (and last) instance in most administrative suits challenging decisions or actions taken by state authorities. Unlike the US Supreme Court, which now routinely decides fewer than 100 cases a year, the Israeli Supreme Court decides over a thousand and has an almost unlimited conception of justiciability.
Outrageous — and tragic — is the tale of Megan Meier, the Missouri teenager who hanged herself after being rejected by the person she thought was a 16-year-old boy she met on MySpace. That person, it turned out, was really a neighbor who was the mother of one of her former friends. The mother was allegedly trying to exact revenge on Meier, who had allegedly dissed her daughter.
Missouri authorities looked into the case, but didn’t file any charges against the mother for her alleged role in the hoax. They couldn’t find any criminal statute under which to try and hold her responsible for the girl’s death. The case touched off a national uproar over Internet laws and cyber-bullying.
The LA Times reports that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles has begun issuing subpoenas in the case. Prosecutors there are exploring the possibility of charging the mother with defrauding the MySpace social networking website by allegedly creating the false account. The story cited unnamed sources who said the feds are looking at federal wire fraud and cyber fraud statutes. Jurisdiction, you ask? MySpace is headquartered in Beverly Hills.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/06/EDONTOA06.DTL
The interest rate cuts and discounted funds they mainlined into the marketplace help big banks and their customers. The Federal Bank Board has shoveled out $200 billion in loans to big subprime lenders to keep them afloat. Expectations of another Fed Reserve interest rate cut are widespread - enough to generate a 500-point jump in the Dow just a few days ago.
Economists call this a moral hazard. By removing the penalty for speculation, which is supposed to be a part of free market capitalism, they encourage its repetition. The average Joe would call it favoritism to the rich and powerful. The average Joes, sitting on lawn chairs watching the foreclosure of their homes, can't access the Fed, borrow from the Bank Board or call a chief lending officer. Joe is, as Shakespeare put it, "fortune's fool."
How did we get here? Cheap credit.
These subprime loans would never have been made if traditional lending concepts like down payments and income-to-debt ratio standards had been applied. The no documentation/no income verification "teaser" loans came with interest rates that would reset in a few years to levels these borrowers could never pay. But who could resist? These new "teaser" loans met everyone's needs.
Millions of Joes got new homes. Mortgage brokers got fees. Lenders booked quick profits. Wall Street pocketed fees to sell collateralized debt obligations (pools of cash flows from these low-interest rate mortgages). Because mortgage brokers got paid up-front, they could care less if the loan was repaid. The lender also cared little, as Wall Street sold off the loans. Bad loans thus were camouflaged by bundling them into large packages. As legendary investor Warren Buffet would say - "a toad became a prince."
Some will say Joe speculated and lost. But he was no more improvident than the big banks that lost billions of dollars - and are getting help.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/MNI5UE0L8.DTL
A new variety of staph bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics and possibly transmitted by sexual contact, is spreading among gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110901563.html?nav=most_emailed
The fallen class-action lawyer Bill Lerach is angry over the large payouts received by the ousted CEOs at Citigroup (Chuck Prince) and Merrill (Stan O’Neal), despite their wiping out billions of dollars in company profits by mishandling the credit crunch:
The American principles of responsibility, accountability and justice require everyone, even corporate titans, to pay a price when they mess up. I’ve dedicated my career to holding powerful corporations accountable when they victimized innocent people. CEOs such as Enron’s Jeffrey K. Skilling, WorldCom’s Bernard J. Ebbers and Tyco’s L. Dennis Kozlowski all went to prison for their fraud. Now I’m being held accountable for overzealously pursuing these corporate scam artists.
Two weeks ago, I pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge involving payments made to plaintiffs in lawsuits against major corporations. Under the terms of the plea, which requires court approval, I agreed to pay the government $8 million in fines and penalties and to serve at least one year in federal prison.
Lerach compares Citi and Merrill to Enron. “Prince and O’Neal have admitted to ‘mistakes’ and ‘flawed risk models,’ he writes. “These ‘mistakes’ and ‘risks’ are reminiscent of those of Andrew Fastow, Kenneth L. Lay and the other Enron boys in their ’structured’ ‘off balance sheet’ deals — contrivances that were really designed to put shareholders at risk while lining the insiders’ pockets.” He says it’s deja vu all over again:
“It would be one thing if this were an isolated incident reflecting just terribly bad judgment by these CEOs’ pals on their boards. But it’s not. It’s a way of life in American executive suites, aided and abetted by lax regulations and politically compromised regulators at the SEC. Executive failure is consistently rewarded with giant payments — or, really, payoffs — to keep the parting sacrificial lamb quiet so that he or she won’t bleat to the stockholders, lawyers and the media that the others at the top of the company (and in the boardroom) knew what was really going on.
“I’m on my way to prison because, in my zeal to stand up against this kind of corporate greed over the years, I stepped over the line,” concludes Lerach. “It turns out that the legal system is a lot tougher on shareholder lawyers than it appears to be on Wall Street executives.”
There are legitimate concerns about Obama caving in to the Arabs to the detriment of Israel. Obama's father is an African Muslim and Obama himself went to an Islamic school in Indonesia. Obama has been pulling a stunt with gullible alter Yidden in old age homes, telling them that Barack means "Baruch".
The OU joins here with a bunch of left wing organizations and UOJ's "friend" Marvin Hier in this politically correct outburst.
The OU's Nathan Diament is pulling a Lubinsky and not disclosing that he is a classmate and personal friend of Obama's from Harvard Law School.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/13698/OU+Joins+Jewish+Groups+in+Letter+Re:+Attacks+on+Sen.+Obama.html
An Open Letter to the Jewish Community:
As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person.
These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates.
Sincerely,
William Daroff, Vice President, United Jewish Communities
Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress
David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Phyllis Snyder, President, National Council of Jewish Women
Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
(AP) - Asian stock markets plunged Wednesday on growing speculation the U.S. economy - a vital export market - is sliding into a recession that could lead to a global slowdown.
Investors dumped stocks after an overnight sell-off in U.S. markets and on news that Citigroup Inc. had lost nearly $10 billion in the fourth quarter as it wrote down bad mortgage assets.
The United States economy, battered by problems in the housing and credit markets, is a major export market for Asian companies, and weaker demand from American consumers will likely hurt profits at some of the region's companies. The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that retail sales fell in December, and it revised the November figure lower.
Investors saw more fallout from the subprime mortgage market when Citigroup said Tuesday it had written down $18.1 billion for bad mortgage assets.
"The fallout from the Citigroup result is significant, with many saying ... there is more bad news to come," said Trent Muller, an ABN Amro Morgan analyst in Sydney, Australia. "We will see a bit of panic selling with a lot of investors taking cash off the table today."
There is also a growing fear that the Federal Reserve hasn't done enough to keep the U.S. economy going. The central bank has lowered its key interest rate by a full percentage point to 4.25 percent since early August.
Now many investors and analysts believe the Fed will cut rates by a half-point at its Jan. 29-30 meeting.
"The risks of a recession in the United States appear to have increased," said David Cohen, director of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore. "It's still clearly up in the air and that is reflected in the volatility that we see in the markets day-to-day. Every new headline can spook the market."
Japanese semiconductor stocks also fell after Intel Corp. shares plunged on concerns that the world's largest semiconductor maker is feeling the pinch of an ailing U.S. economy.
I hate to say....I told you this would happen....8 months ago!
----------
WASHINGTON - Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed inflation up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas.
Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, with consumers especially feeling the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.
Bill Lerach who figures prominently on UOJ this morning is both the laughing stock at law firms and dreaded by Wall St. He's on his way to prison for breaking the law but he refuses to go quietly, trying to pull down as many bank CEOs as he can.
Will this portend how Mondrowitz will start singing when he gets back here?
Just my opinion ...
Interesting how Shmarya attacks me as a "twisted bigot" when all he does is look to twist facts around to attack orthodox Judaism and even rehabilitate a Nazi collaborator like Rudolph Kasztner.
Despite whatever accolades UOJ sends Shmarya's way, these two bloggers do not operate the same and do not espouse the same philosophies.
Many readers firmly believe that UOJ seeks to preserve orthodox Judaism while Shmarya seeks to destroy it.
Has Shmarya had original material? Sure! But so does the neo-Nazi "Stormfront" and some Ukranian anti-Semite based in Canada who works hard to destroy relationships between food companies and kashruth agencies.
My impression from the UOJ-Shmarya exchange years ago was based on the fact that even after Shmarya first denied the anti-Kolko/Margulies platform, UOJ still frustratingly argued and pleaded, to no avail, that Shmarya reconsider. I don't know why it was so difficult for Shmarya to do the same thing I did, namely speak to YTT alumni, who are respected people in the community, who are convinced of Kolko-Margulies guilt. I also heard from those in Stolin yeshiva who Kolko earlier tried getting into their pants. There are so many people from so many different locations like various Catskills camps that I find it difficult to believe that Shmarya couldn't find credible witnesses with very little effort.
Shmarya can scream "FALSE" until he is blue in the face but I stand by what I say about the USDA records on UOJ's & Yudel's blogs. Readers went through hundreds of pages to excerpt exact details like chicken franks full of feathers and contaminated water drip on meat to name only two of many examples of the kind of material not covered by Shmarya.
Shmarya then conveniently ignored the most damaging questions.
1. Why does he not name the print media whose article are supposedly by his pen but with no byline?
2. Why does Shmarya not look to be compensated by them instead of shnorring from the public?
3. Why did he promote himself as the savior of incest victims? Has he gone to bat for a single one on Failed Messiah? I don't think so, but Vicky Polin does.
There is a rosh kollel who is on trial for assault by vehicle. He was originally going to be charged with homocide but there wasn't enough evidence. He was yapping on his cell phone while driving his daughter to school and killed an elected politician who was crossing a crosswalk. The rov has a long rap sheet of moving violations. He once smashed into a lady riding her bike so hard that he catapulted her into a forest, breaking her helmet. After a year of intense rehab, she is lucky to be alive.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=58263§ion=homepage
They stand behind their rabbi after she drove while intoxicated and refused to cooperate with police.
http://jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/2008/01/watch-panel-discussion-on-child-sexual.html
See the flyer below about a program being put together by Ohel for the Baltimore Jewish community. The program is called: "How to Keep Our Children Safe". As you may be aware, Ohel is a community mental health center based in the ultra-orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York. Over the years The Awareness Center has heard complaint after complaint from survivors who utilized their services. Unfortunately, Ohel has a bad habit of making the orthodox community believe they are experts in the field of child sexual abuse. What ends up happening is that hey are doing a disservice to those who have been sexually victimized. When a survivor doesn't get help from those who really understand the dynamics and work with them from a multidiscipline approach the survivors end up getting re-victimized, making healing almost impossible. If the rabbonim really wanted to make changes they should be educating the community with professionals who really know what they are doing. The Ohel - Baltimore program includes:
Rabbi David Gottlieb - promised a survivor to do something when the survivors alleged child molester moved to the community. A year has passed and nothing was done. The alleged sex offender is roaming freely attending classes in which minors are present.
David Mandel - has a degree in Business, has no clinical experience yet continues to speak out as an expert in the child abuse field. Mandel and Rabbi Dovid Cohen have been named by many as helping to cover up sex crimes in Boro Park and other Jewish communities around the globe.
Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer - who has been advocating for the rights of alleged sex offenders and has a long history of shaming and blaming survivors of sexual abuse.
David Pelcovitz - a psychologist who jumped on the sex abuse bandwagon when he thought it was a trendy thing to do, yet really does not have the background to be working with survivors.
CALL TO ACTION: Demand the Rabbonim of Baltimore Stop Playing Games! Demanding that when programs are presented about sexual abuse they bring in professionals who actually have the education and experience to be presenting such a program. Contact:
Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb
Shomrei Emunah
Shul Office: 410-358-8604 (Option #1)
Home Office: 410-653-2423
Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer
(Note: when you call Rabbi Hopfer be aware that his secretary is the daughter of alleged sex offender, Rabbi Moshe Eisemann. Demand she not screen the message and actually gives it to him).
Shearith Yisrael (Glen Ave. Shul)
Phone: 410-466-3060
Fax: 410-367-9183
Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation
410-764-6810
Fax: 410-358-2631
http://bp0.blogger.com/_PxepB5WL1N0/R419XiYvZcI/AAAAAAAAAHo/tH5lVPlM5ts/s1600-h/OhelAbuseLectures.jpg
I'm an academic chair at YU. Do you wonder if YU approves of participating in Ohel scams?
Good question!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124939
Allegations of police abuse and a call for a public fast day Thursday by leading rabbis herald the third week in jail for seven teenage girls arrested for building a hilltop outpost.
Police forced several of the girls, who are all under the age of 16, to strip in prison, according to their parents. Police also subjected the youngsters to sleep deprivation, a tactic used by the Shabak (General Security Service) when dealing with ‘ticking-bomb’ terrorists, to break their determination.
Israel's National Child Welfare Council protested the treatment of the girls. Director Dr. Yitzchak Kadmon sent a sharply-worded letter to the Jerusalem District Attorney's office, protesting the continued incarceration under abusive conditions of the seven. Kadmon mentioned the fact that the girls have been deprived of food and bathroom privileges for hours at a time, and are not allowed to have school books brought in.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2008/01/16/nprices116.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
As experts warn that a fall in the value of house prices in Britain is inevitable, Edmund Conway looks at a new report that appears to confirm the price slide is underway
Britain's property market is in the midst of a full-scale slump with house prices falling at their fastest rate in 15 years, according to a new study.
At first they thought it was Margulies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3MBUEZLXEEBH3QFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/earth/2008/01/16/scirodent116.xml
Discovered: a rodent bigger than a bull
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 16/01/2008
The new issue is online now. The letters section on page 4 is mostly not visible because they made a mistake and superimposed an advertisement on the PDF.
There are two yeshiva principals writing about the winter vacation letter from Yankel Horowitz. I was curious to know if the missing parts contain anymore criticism of that fat idiot Margo.
"Obama has been pulling a stunt with gullible alter Yidden in old age homes, telling them that Barack means "Baruch".
--------------------
Chuck Schumer allegedly behaves even worse. He hauls his broken Yiddish out of the closet and tells residents of nursing homes lies about his Republican opponents that start like this: "Hust du gehert vos er hot getonn der anti-semitt?"
The crowd suffering from senility (but still able to vote) collectively gasps in horror.
I don't know how the lying putz gets away with it.
Here is a heads up.
Rabbi Belsky gave a shiur at Agudas Israel of Madison (Reisman's shul) last Sunday and he said that there was a problem with the Kasruth at Aarons (Rubashkin) becaause a truck carrying a shipment of 9000 chickens fell over creating a shaila of trefos. The person giving the Hechser took his own name off the Hasgacha and KAJ off but had the chickens sold with the OU's hecsher. Rabbi Belsky said in front of everybody that he did not know if you could buy Aarons at the present time until the matter was cleared up.
A tape of the shiur was made and is presumably available from Aguda of Madison for anybody who wants it. I can assure you that this information is accurate from personal knowledge (I was either there or heard the tape).
Assault by vehicle is no minor crime in that jurisdiction. If found guilty, the rosh kollel would be looking at a year in jail and a $5000 fine besides any possible civil suits. There are questions of political motivations however. The judges in that state have the right to individually disqualify that law as unconstitutional but that presiding judge has indicated he has no such plans.
Archie,
You have every right to express yourself and your opinion. You are welcome here...and I believe on Shmarya. I believe I'm troubled personally by the name-calling against a man, that I believe, is a proud, but extremely upset Jew.
I consider Shmarya a friend, although we never met personally.
I would like to consider my response to you; in this sliding economy -- I would hate to alienate any customers -- even the non-paying ones!
Please give me 24 hours.
UOJ
I have been very critical of the blogger Un-Orthodox Jew (UOJ) in the past. And with good reason. My criticism is in the way he operates. He maintains anonymity but identifies himself as an Orthodox Rabbi. As such he should not be using the kind of language he does. I understand his emotion. One can perhaps forgive someone for using such language about situations that UOJ focuses on. But as an Orthodox rabbi he should speak in a manner more befitting of his title as a preacher and teacher in Israel. I therefore strongly object to it.
More troubling is his attitude towards various rabbinic leaders. Frankly it is beyond disgusting. It is unacceptable, no matter how he feels about their culpability in these matters. It debases him and in my view detracts tremendously from his message, which is an extremely important one.
That said - I have always made sure to give credit where credit is due. And UOJ deserves a lot of credit. I doubt that there is another blogger that has accomplished as much for abuse victims as he has. My hat is off to him for that.
UOJ has not been that kind with me. He has in fact attacked me several times on his blog. But that’s OK. I am not looking for his approval. It is not my purpose to be loved by him or anyone else. My purpose is to bring up important issues of the day and provide a venue for discussing them. And of course one of the most important of those issues is child sexual abuse.
I’ve written about this before. Many times. This issue has not gone away. It not only continues to fester, it seems to be growing. It contributes to one of the biggest problems in our day - that of children who go ‘Off the Derech’ …young people that drop out of observance.
There are of course many and varied reasons why this happens. But the most serious cases of dropouts involve children that were sexually abused. It is probably the number one risk factor. And the effects of abuse can last a lifetime causing tremendous and sometimes irreversible damage to marriages. And that’s not all. An individual heavily involved in these kinds of issues writes:
A close friend of mine runs a shelter/group home for charedi runaway kids. I recently ran into him at a wedding and asked him what his thoughts were on the correlation between abuse and the off-the-derech phenomenon. His immediate response was, “Yankie, all I deal with is abuse [victims],” meaning that virtually all the teens in his program were molested.
Most frightening from a communal perspective is that it is difficult if not impossible to cure a serial molester, even one who goes, or is forced to go, for help. Furthermore, untreated abuse victims are far more likely to abuse others then are people in the general population. So what we have is analogous to the Midrashic frog in Egypt (Shmos 8:2; Rashi) that multiplied each time it was struck. Similarly, a molester typically harms dozens or even hundreds of kids – each in turn a prime candidate to molest others; on and on.
How bad is it? Very, very bad. To paraphrase Rudy Giuliani’s famous quote in his 9/11 press conference, the number of abuse victims in our community is more than any of us can bear. I do not keep records of people who call me, or speak to me in public settings, but I would estimate that in the past year months alone between fifty and one hundred abuse victims and/or their parents contacted me. It has gotten so bad that when parents who do not suspect any form of abuse call me to discuss their at-risk children, the very first thing I listen for are the classic red-flags for abuse/molestation.
Those words were written by an authentic hero. He is a man who will not stand safely silent on the side-lines. Instead he risks his reputation and career by speaking out on issues that others won’t touch with a ten foot pole… or if they do - they treat far too gingerly. That man is Rabbi Yakov Horowitz. He is not afraid of telling it like it is. And he did so recently in a Mishpacha Magazine column which is now available in its entirety at his website.
I’m afraid we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows how many children have been abused and have not told anyone?! …or have told a parent who has kept it quiet - depriving their own children of possibly life saving therapy! Why? For fear of how it will affect Shiduch prospects for their older children or future Shidach prospects for the victims themselves.
How many victims have remained silent and locked in the ‘closet’? ...who, without the benefit of therapy are descending rapidly into a lifetime of clinical depression or worse - suicide! All for fear by their parents of word getting out.
And that brings me back to UOJ. He is screaming at the top of his lungs. I might not like his tactics but I can’t argue with his results. And that is one thing we need a lot more of. Results.
I will end with the same words Rabbi Horowitz does as he describes what I think motivated this column:
In short, I keep seeing the horrific carnage that the monster of abuse is causing among our children. We have the capacity to banish it to the other side of the door. All we need is courage and conviction. L’maan Hashem, let’s finally do it.
Nothing wil change because we don't have the spine to change anything. Charedim have to learn to ignore their rabbis and go straight to the proper authorities: not the principal, not the rosh yeshiva, but the local police precinct or DA. What we have witnessed over the past 40-50 years, and today, is nothing less than a communal atrocity perpetrated by some pedophile rabbis and their rabbinical protectors. When a child is abused by his rabbi, or parent, or trusted adult friend, that's horrible enough to drive some of them out of the religion. But when he or she complains and parents don't want to take action for fear of shiddduch repercussions for the siblings, or the principal/rosh yeshiva ignores their complaints, hushes them up, intimidates them, commands them not to go to the proper authorities, well, then, I want to check out of this religion. Crime is bad enough, and pedophilia is a sickness which cuts across race and religion. But it's the rabbinic coverup, or ignoring the problem, which is insufferable for any thinking, sensitive soul. And so they check out of what has become over the past 20 years an onerous, heavy-handed religion, whose leaders try however they can to take joy of the day to day lives of youth by forbidding anything and everything, and then, on top of all that, those very leaders, who "lead" by screaming against TV, movies, radio, newspapers, the web, etc., are silent, not home, unconcerned, nogea badavar, in the face of child sex abuse by yeshiva rebbes. So they intimidate, coverup, fight against New York state sponsored legislation seeking mandatory fingerprinting of yeshiva employees (the Agudah and the Catholic Church: perfect together), "sweep under the carpet" by 'caring about the kavod' of a pedophile and his family, all the while not realizing the depth and breadth of the problem. The Baltimore 23 last year signed a communal mea culpa acknowledging they had no clue of the extent of the problem. For 40 years! This is leadership? This is a disgrace. Shame on all of us for having leaders such as these.
Regarding UOJ: He says that he doesn't name names without several independent sources. So let's suppose for a minute that everything he says is true. That would mean that important rabbis, pivotal figures in major Orthodox movements, were involved in protecting molesters, allowing them to keep on molesting, and helping them to escape prosecution. All for reasons justified by halacha.
So let's suppose that to be true. Such figures are untouchable by Beis Dins. In many cases they are, or heavily influence, the Beis Dins.
So put yourself in UOJ's shoes. You know these things, you see the protection that molesters and their enablers have. Would you be moderate in the language you use regarding such male individuals with semicha? In my mind, aren't men. The Unabomber's brother is a man. Honoring them as rabbis? Would you be as solicitous of the name and reputation of a man who had been selling treif as kosher to the Jewish public for years as some are of males with semicha who, immune to any sanction from the Torah world, and sheltered by that world from secular law allowed children to be molested?
I was initially horrified by UOJ's tone. I am less so now. Is he right 100% of the time? Perhaps not. But when terrorists and criminals hide behind the innocent to escape capture for their evil deeds, are the police always to blame for death of an innocent during the their effort to capture menaces to society?
Or are the terrorists and their enablers culpable?
What if UOJ is right? What if the corruption and evil have penetrated Torah Judaism to the extent he says? What if well-meaning but ignorant people are, at the side of monsters and their knowing enablers, unknowingly defending monsters? What tone would you have UOJ take? What else could he have done to achieve the results he has, and G-d willing will continue to have?
UOJ is certainly way over the top with his tactics. Do the ends justify the means? That is certainly debatable.
Be that as it may, I have noticed a consistent reaction to UOJ and the mainstream secular Jewish media. That is for the many who still take a primitive approach to the abuse issue have started to turn the abusers into victims and the accusers into villians. This of course diverts attention from the main issues of the abusive behavior, cover-ups, Chillul Hashem, etc.--not to mention the message that is being sent to the victims and their families about how seriously the abuse problem is being taken.
As long as the Rabbinic leadership of our communities continues to try to deal with issues (often behind the scenes) that are beyond their training and expertise, this will continue. There is an incredible amount of cynicism out there towards Rabbinic authority right now. This has developed as a backlash to the leadership wanting to retain ownership in these cases, by framing the entire issue in a pure Halachic context (or even worse a "Daas Torah" one which closes the door on anyone else intervening). The real factors are psychological, public safety and legal--and the Rabbinic establishment must come to grips with that and let the professionals take over.
I am a convert to Judaism, with children, now living in the Charedi community.
I agree 100% with Shmuel. The only action which will change things is to defy rabbinical figures who cover up. Go straight to the authorities, but do so in the knowledge that the action may cost you your place in the community.
I for one am highly regretful of having joined a group who allow this outrage to continue, whatever the rationale.
UOJ's rhetoric may be distasteful, but his essential point is correct. Pomp and ceremony, titles and slogans are all nothing in the face of the debasement of humanity. It is irrelevant what language UOJ uses. The fact remains that Orthodox rabbonim, of almost every shade (though admittedly, to put it crudely, the frummer the crowd the worse they are in this area) have aided and abetted the abuse of children for decades to their certain knowledge.
It is all enough to cause a mass exodus from the religion. I for one will simply get up and leave the society of Orthodox Jews if I have first hand experience of these matters.
I would only add that the matter does not end with sexual abuse. The widespread physical abuse in Charedi "educational" institutions is also intolerable.
And before any frothing at the mouth fanatic accuses me of a lack of relgious integrity, I would add that I have been a proud, observant and conservative member of a right wing Charedi community for the bulk of my adult life.
Time to rip kria.
I realize that this is indeed how charedim think. After all, one must be intellectually consistent. But it really does shed light on David's mindset.
So let's compare the two: one guy, UOJ, is furious at rabbinic incompetence and/or intentional coverup of 40-50 years of child sex abuse in the orthodox community --the community they allegedly want to serve. So he creates a blog, names names, insults a lot of rabbis, creates a pressure cooker for some baddies in Brooklyn, encourages plaintiffs to come forward, and now they're in court. Not bad work. Money? Doesn't get a penny for his efforts.
The other? He sees a need to support his holy school system and the thousands of men who study there. For some reason, he allegedly turns to assisting tax evaders, keeping up to 15% of donations and allowing donors to write off the rest as a tax-deductable donation. This, if true, is assisting in tax evasion. Not a good thing. He may have broken the law. He may sit in jail for a while. He and his devotees profitted. Beginning to see a difference, David? One is a whistle-blower of the evil in our community; the other allegedly perpetuates that evil.
And, for all the anti-UOJ types: tough duck. He single-handedly helped create a firestorm of indignation and revulsion of rabbinic coverup among many Orthodox Jews--though not all, since some are convinced that they help Klal Yisroel.
>if his intention was to oust kolko, that was done by the 2 brave souls [and others] who came out and accused him and had him brought to justice. this could have been done sans blog. and believe me, the frum world would have known about this even without blogs.
This is entirely mistaken. People of my age knew about Kolko's reputation since we were children. Did any adult pay heed? Not at all--and chatasi, I became an adult and did not personally do anything about it (in case this is ambiguous, I am not saying I have ever had any contact with him; only that his name was well-known to people of my generation, so this entire affair was not a shock).
However, there was simply no impetus whatever for anyone to do anything about it, until UOJ screamed FIRE!
That, and only that, got the attention of a critical mass of the Orthodox community. Furthermore, that and only that proved to his victims that they weren't alone. The first victim who came forward attested that the impetus to do so was reading about him online, on UOJ.
So the fact is that if not for UOJ Kolko would have been teaching little boys only three hours ago.
If UOJ was really the impetus for bringing Kolko to justice then he deserves tremendous accolades for his efforts.
So his language is harsh.
So He curses.
Big Deal.
No one else has the (courage) to get up and take a stand against these beasts so instead of nitpicking at his tactics we should laud his results.
We might not agree with his actions but his results will lead him to heaven.
Its pains me to read that many people outside the clergy knew of Kolko and did nothing. The "Wall of Silence" is an embarrassment. I heard similar stories about someone in Chicago that many laymen knew of his abuse and did nothing about it. The community along with the leadership are then accomplices and share part of the blame for allowing the abuse to continue.
Was the expose on Lanner a terrible Chilul Hashem? Absolutely. But if not for it, he would never have been stopped.
This is not to say that UOJ is blameless for how he handles things. But nobody else has the right to criticize him, because they didn't stop Kolko.
My purpose is to bring up important issues of the day and provide a venue for discussing them. And of course one of the most important of those issues is child sexual abuse.
Child abuse you not be taken lightly and those who foolishly try to cover it up,are as guilty as the perpetrator's.But I don't think a frustrated,vulgar self proclaimed "Rabbi" deserves any kudos or accolades
Forget me...how about words of praise for Rabbi Horowitz. For all I know he may be hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, but friends of mine tell me there's Internet service there.
C'mon...put your hands together for the good rabbi who may be on the run:-)
Reb Yankel,
"Don't be taken in. Never explain. Never retract. keep it going, Get it done, and let them howl."
Thanks rabbi.
Rabbi Horwitz:
How long have you known about this and why have we not heard from you before on this issue?
To anon @7:13, Rabbi Horowitz has written several articles on sexual molestation, including on his blog. Rabbi Horowitz is giving us firsthand accounts of how serious this plague is. The Avi Shafrans of the world that still try to downplay the enormity of the problem("we're underrepresented", "why should we comment","tawdry tale", "anectodal evidence") should shut up already.
la' gerorista said...
Another Gerrer victim of AM Leizerowitz has been comitted to an institution for intense long term treatment
The fact that this molester is still roaming freely in Israel is a disgrace. I know that a civil lawsuit was started against him last year. I don't know the status of that suit. We need the victims, the ones who were victimized within the last five years, to come forward and make a police report. They can contact attorney Michael Lesher who was instrumental in the extradition processes of Colmer and Mondrowitz. I e-mailed him regarding Leizerowitz a few months ago and he said that he will look into it. His e-mail address is mlesher@michaellesher.com.
Steve - your'e a super mentch. Michael recently changed his e-mail address to:
michaellesher@optonline.net
Noclue said...
Here is a heads up.
Rabbi Belsky gave a shiur at Agudas Israel of Madison (Reisman's shul) last Sunday and he said that there was a problem with the Kasruth at Aarons (Rubashkin) becaause a truck carrying a shipment of 9000 chickens fell over creating a shaila of trefos.
On the lighter side, I couldn't help but laugh hysterically when I read this, thinking of UOJ's side picture of "Belsky and the Rubashkin Truck Drivers".
Is anyone privy to inside information of whether the Agudah may come down on Rabbi Horowitz with all their wrath and fury?
I trust that Rabbi Horowitz wants to make a difference. I also trust that he realizes, that as long as he's associated with the Agudah, he will have mountains to climb before the klal will seriously trust his efforts. At some point the cord has to be cut for the baby to live.
My cord was cut a while back.
I hope R' Yaakov you've got what it takes. It won't be easy...but necessary.
B'hatzlacha..
Sometimes people ask me, Why are so involved in this issue? To be honest, I am perplexed by the question, although I try not to reveal my feelings. In a discussion about the merits of different yeshivas, would one Jew ask another, Why are you involved in this issue? Talking about the kashrus of different hotels, restaurants, and brands, would a Jew ask, Why are you so involved in this issue?
I recently read a fascinating Mishpacha article about the history of checking for shatnez in America. I was startled to read that mid-twentieth century, shatnez was an overlooked mitzvah. Few people knew about the mitzvah, or if they did, checked for it. One dedicated man brought this subject to people's attention. Today, who doesn't check for shatnez?
Perhaps the root of the problem is that few people realize that "Lo sa'amod al dam ra'echa" is one of Hashem's 613 Commandments - as much as kashrus, shatnez, and all the others. Do not stand on the blood of your brother - you are required to protect and save the life of a fellow Jew in distress. Please note that I quoted this mitzvah in the RCA Resolution above. Perhaps what we need is extreme communal education on this particular mitzvah.
I have twice contacted the appropriate Government agencies when I possessed credible evidence of molestation committed by certain individuals. I had no choice. My Creator ordered me to do so.
The peleh - ploim - is once you know the depth of the problem, both the illness and coverups, how can you NOT lose it!
I keep asking that to myself - over and over.
I have no answer!
Pikuach nefesh dochech Shabbos.
Eis laasos l'Hashem hafaru Torasecha. Muttar l'shaker m'pnei haShalom.
Etc., etc.
I think that if there is an element of pikuach nefesh, the ends may indeed justify the means.
The culture of Rabbinic accomplices covering up for pedophiles is changing. Since the NCSY-Lanner scandal and subsequently all the Tendlers episodes people are starting to engage in dialogue about the issue.
The maskanah of most people is that our community from the far right to the far left has let us down. I think many more people now, after all these episodes have come to light, will pass over the Beth din and go straight to the police.
I asked Rabbi Mordechai Willig about seven years ago if it was permissible to report to the cops someone who is a threat to the community. He responded in the affirmative.
That is enough for me.
1. I believe Yankel Horowitz was cut loose from the Agudah the same time they formaly threw JEP overboard.
2. I'm amazed why all this bickering and arguing over the fact if ger is protecting or attempting to protect mondrowitz. Why can't we get meir silbershtyn's phone number posted here by boog , lvf or some other guy with a gerer phone book and then every yiddish or hebrew speaking UOJ deputy or UOJ doubter can call him and see for themselves what ger is up to? additionaly, we have not heard any quotes from sol werdyger of late. does this transalate into an admission of having lied to us or that he too was dupped by the money leachers in gur?
"la' gerorista said...
Another Gerrer victim of AM Leizerowitz has been comitted to an institution for intense long term treatment"
If you feel up to it, you can contact me at lvfofgur@yahoo.com.
"I had no choice. My Creator ordered me to do so."
Thanks mr pasik for doing the right thing, and for all your work in helping the klal.
Rabbi Horowitz, Thanks for telling the truth.
I heard stories about Satmars calling CPS on Teimani families, inventing or blowing up child abuse charges. The CPS then takes the kid away, and lo and behold the Satmar families "volunteer" to take the kid in, you know, for the kid's benefit, to stay in a warm orthodox environment. Of course, they get govt $$$ for it. Then they magnanimously give the kid back to the parents (and keep the check).
I was never able to verify if and in what measure the story is true. In another instance an old guy who used to be a social worker told me it's not a new thing - he claims Harlem is replete with this.
With all due respect, I don't care if rabbis thought they were doing the right thing when it comes to sweeping molestation allegations brought to their attention under the rug. as community leaders, they are obligated to make sure they're doing the right thing. It also makes them the opposite of leaders. Maybe, just maybe, they deserve the kind of criticism UOJ is dishing out. Enough is enough when it comes to child abuse like this, and there's no reason for any of those culpable to get any kind of break, especially one based on the titles they hold.
In the "ends not justifying the means" category, let's just say that it's not so pashut, and clearly, Jewish history attests to this.
1. Why on earth did Aharon HaKohen agree to craft the golden calf?? He should have given up his life instead, right?
2. What posessed Esther to marry, cohort with, and raise a child with Achashverosh? Shouldn't a bas Yisroel choose death before engaging in such tawdry behavior?? And how could the Jews of Shushan fast on Pesach and neglect the Mitzvah of eating matza??
3. How could Yehuda, one of the 12 shvatim, have even thought about Tamar?
Of course, there are many more examples, but my simple point is that in all these cases, the holy individuals involved, (most probably through nevuah, ruach hakodesh, or REAL chareidus) were able to act in a fashion that was completely against every grain of what they knew to be proper conduct because THE ALTERNATIVE WOULD HAVE DEALT A FATAL BLOW TO OUR JEWISH EXISTENCE!!
Yes, these are rare exceptions, but the ends definitely justified the means in these dire circumstances.
Now, on to UOJ. I once heard Rabbi Noson Cordoza explain that a holocaust survivor has been exposed to a great deal of extreme trauma and shock that are beyond normal human behavior or understanding. Therefore, you and I, who B"H have not been through this pain, have no right to pass judgement on them in regard to their level of religious observance or lack thereof.
Bear with me for a minute, folks.
Now perhaps, JUST perhaps, UOJ has a dear relative or a close friend who, lo aleinu, has been abused.(All it takes is one pedophile and a few unsupervised seconds to ruin your child's life - forever.) And perhaps he has appealed to rabbinic leadership countless times to take action - any action - to go after the perpetrators, to warn Jewish communities, to require a background check of EACH AND EVERY EMPLOYEE HIRED BY A JEWISH INSTITUTION(why haven't we done this?),etc., and he has been met with silence and indifference.
Is it such a stretch to imagine that such maddening anger and frustration could send someone over the edge, to where he must resort to obscenity to try to get his point across?
I am not condoning the use of foul language - we all know that, objectively, Hashem does not wish his Am HaNivchar to speak this way.
But the same way you would never tell a non-religious holocaust survivor that he/she was wrong for not keeping kosher, could you ever tell a victim of abuse or his immediate family that he shouldn't curse about it?
I don't believe what I've written here should be offensive to holocaust survivors; the analogy is a good one; victims of abuse are going through their own, personal, holocaust - more so than any of us can imagine.
And so, in summation, I know it is assur to use foul language - I don't do it, and I wouldn't tolerate it from my children. But I can't look a victim of abuse in the eye and say they're wrong
"Pondering?" is probably a professional standup comedian. He actually thinks UOJ did nothing in this whole affair. He did it ALL. What are you pondering? That one man finally stood up and he did something. That one man had the guts to do an end-around, and blog like crazy about evil, and corruption, and coverups, while they're kvitching at Agudah conventions in between the fish and soup about how bad the web is?
>had the ny mag written the article without uoj's blog existing, the results would have been the same.
But...it would never have been written without UOJ.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/01/kaj-v-weismandel.html#c5129831422842308802
Yudel Shain said...
RE: 9000 chickens that turned over:
When I heard the story a few weeks ago it was , that R' Weismandel's people didn't tell KAJ about it & it went out as KAJ/OU- BTW that is one of the KAJ reasons for leaving Weismandel / Brodie / Rubashkin & Co. THERE WERE NUMEROUS episodes kashrus related.
Fallen chickens in crates are a serious "treif" problem, every chicken must be checked prior to use.
Why does KAJ claim that they are remaining till Pesach "because we didn't have a problef of treifas"? They sure did have more than one.
had the ny mag written the article without uoj's blog existing, the results would have been the same.
But without UOJ's blog, the article would have never been written because the victim wouldn't have come forward.
Didn't you read the letter of the Baltimore rabbis, who confessed they let the whole miserable problem fester for 40-50 years and did absolutely nothing to stop the prolem? You think noone ever approached them, and noone ever complained of sex abuse? What more could the victims have done, if not approach their rabbis and complain--which they did? Are the victims now at fault for not alerting the rabbis?
And to Amanda: hear hear. These were acts of coverup. And they were done by rabbis. Woe unto us for "leaders" who don't even know how to handle a problem of such simplicity. All they had to say was: "Go to the proper authorities. A crime may have been perpetrated. You must go to the police or the district attorney immediately, not me. I'm just a rabbi, not a proper authority. I have no idea what to say or do for you. I can't help you in the least. Now run, save your life and the lives of hundreds of others, and inform the PROPER authorities, who can help. I can't help you! I know nothing about these matters!" That would have been daas Torah.
Instead, we got threats of expulsion from school, threats of loss of communal respect, threats of poor shidduch prospects (!) (only among charedim can this be believed), intimidation, accusations of lashon hara....endless.
Now we learn that it's not lashon hara to go after these guys. Rabbi S.Y. Elyashiv tells us that they're rodfim. When did the hashkafah and halacha change on this? Why the 180 degree change in attitude? Why are rabbis (hopefully) not advising silence and sufferance to victims anymore? Can you spell "Fear"? "Prison"?
"Lawsuit"?
Can you spell "UOJ"?
In reference to the Shmarya/Archie debate - I believe it's best not to comment on specifics. I believe I voiced my opinion already.
I support Shmarya's right to say anything he wants...in any way he wants to. I truly believe he's a very good man! His beliefs are his business. And you don't have to agree with them.
Archie - from what I can tell - Shmarya has no problem with your critiques - it's the way you say it.
So - You get invited to his house (blog)- he tells you - criticize me all you want - just don't belittle me IN MY HOUSE - I think that's fair.
It would be similar to the Agudah inviting me to write a piece for "The Non-Jewish Non-Observant" - Do you expect them to permit me to abuse them in their "house?"
So...I abuse them in my house.
AB - Consider writing on your own blog - you certainly have the ability to express your thoughts and ideas.
I'm a member of Glen Ave shul. The secretary was hired to screen calls and make sure that the dues-paying shul members can get access to the Rov. Prior to that, the members were lost in the bazillion callers who needed help figuring out what brand of cottage cheese to buy or what they should wear the next day.
If you want to be connected to him directly or receive a callback, become a member.
Simple.
The secretary can provide details.
Oh, and the Rov is out of the country for the next couple of weeks.
Just business as usual over at Shmarya's. Maybe he should learn to speak for himself instead of everyone else.
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/01/and-our-fathers.html
January 17, 2008
And Our Fathers Worshiped Idols
I don't get all these attacks on UOJ over "nivul peh." Don't these am haaratzim know that the Rishonim learn the Gemora Shabbos and all it's included klallos to mean sexual innuendo?
In the worst case scenario, plain vanilla foul language may be under Kedoshim tihiyu or vehiyisem nekiyim. Maybe they will calm down if they just look in the right margin at the Rashi ofen ort.
If nivel peh the best shot they got, they're bigger losers than any one thought.
Rabbi Horowitz is still the director of Project YES. Is "Confused" saying that the Agudah booted the entire subsidiary AND cut their purse strings like what they did to JEP? JEP was originally spun off after Agudah Fresser lawyers were terrified that a Lanner-like incident could open them up to huge financial liability like with NCSY-OU. The Agudah continued to provide funding for years but just shut off the tap some months ago.
If you are correct, the Project YES website needs to be updated:
http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/index.cfm
Project Y.E.S. is a project of Agudath Israel of America Community Services, Inc.
Project Y.E.S. 1404 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230 - 718-758-3131, fax: 718-758-3130
projectyes@pyes.org
UOJ is a bad man because I was told in yeshiva that even "Shutup" is a bad word and he indiscriminately calls people putzes.
What's even worse is everywhere I go everybody calls me bungalow putz instead of Chaim Neuhoff. I even have to change my drivers license now.
http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=931&ThisGroup_ID=272&Type=Article&SID=2
1. Courage and conviction 1/15/08 - 12:51 PM
Too long in Galus
Looking forward to the practical prevention tips, and wondering if you will address what parents can do when yeshivas put up a wall of denial, sometimes to protect their own staff if the abuse generates from the yeshiva, or to protect a well-connected member of the community, or just to protect their reputation so the school's name will not be in any way involved.
I had a personal experience where my son related that a yeshiva support staff member showed inappropriate pictures and played a "tackle" game with him and other students. When we tried to bring the subject up to the administration, their wall of defense was solid, and in fact the situation was turned around to make my son feel as though he was fabricating a story and should be ashamed for possibly causing someone to lose their job!!!. I will not go into all of the details of how the situation escalated, but after a few days of this my son expressed regret that he had ever told anyone about the staff member's actions. I have heard interviews with victims of abuse in the Jewish community who have expressed similar reactions by their yeshivas/community leaders. So, thank you, Rabbi Horowitz, for bringing the issue to light, but will you show the courage and conviction you speak of, in not throwing the entire achrayus on the parents, but acknowlege and advise how to handle the "partnership" between home and yeshiva in this delicate situation?
2. school and parents 1/15/08 - 1:36 PM
Yakov Horowitz - Monsey NY
too long:
this is not a school issue (only). and i most certanly am not suggesting that schools don't need to do everything possible to prevent abuse.
but as i note in next week's column, most abuse is not school-related. so my advice is more global in nature.
keep in mind, as well, that this series in mishpacha is a parenting column; so the thrust of my thoughts are directed to parents.
My arrangement with mishpacha is not to post the columns before they run. but here are the first few lines of next week's column:
Safe and Secure
Protecting Our Children – Part Two
Sad as it may sound, the painful reality is that you cannot provide your children foolproof protection from what are, in my opinion, the greatest physical and spiritual dangers that they might face during their formative years; abuse and molestation. Why? Because it is simply impossible to follow them wherever they go, all the more so as they pass through their pre-teen and teenage years. Furthermore, it is impractical and harmful to their sense of security to raise them to be frightened or suspicious of every adult that they meet. Finally, it is important to understand that although most of the high-profile abuse cases are school based, they are only a tiny percentage of the instances of molestation. Abusers are far more likely to be extended or close family members, older kids in the neighborhood, family friends, neighbors and peers.
With that in mind, I suggest that you view things from a broader perspective and think of protecting your children from abuse/molestation in the following four domains:
1) Training your children about healthy and appropriate norms for behavior between adults and children; 2) Equipping your children with the knowledge of what abusive behaviors are; 3) Empowering your children with the self-confidence to assert themselves when their personal space is violated; and 4) Supporting your children if and when they report to you that they are feeling that things are out of order.
Yakov
10. A comment to "Did you ask Das Torah?" 1/15/08 - 5:39 PM
Anonymous
I have taught on the college level for many years. Additionally, I have over twenty-five years teaching and evaluation experience of teenagers.When I taught abuse prevention one day to my college students, who were planning careers in Yeshivos, I was ordered by the religious administration to stop and never to touch that topic again.I was certainly very careful with my language when I was teaching the topic.
Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz is a talmid chochom with extensive knowledge of these problems. He is perfectly qualified to make his own decision regarding publishing a column on this topic. In fact, he is probably far more qualified than a Rosh Yeshivah who is an outstanding lamdan but is not so experienced with the prevalence of such problems.
Years ago I worked in the Insurance Industry. When the Sexual Abuse policy was "all the rage" and every office, school, organization were jumping on the band wagon making sure they were signed on and covered in case they were accused, charged or G-d forbid convicted, most Yeshivas turned down the coverage claiming it was a waste of money. No one would have the nerve to sue them or even accuse them in public. It would never happen, they have their own ways to take care of their own.
Sounds to me like Rabbi Horowitz is realizing that the only way to get the frum community to pay attention to the problem of abuse is to put it in terms they respond to - It causes people to go off the derech! Oy gevalt! Now we really have to do something about it!
Please email your thanks and encouragement to Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz:
admin@RabbiHorowitz.com
It looks like Vicky's rabbi supports an alleged sex offender. I wonder why she hasn't had a call to action against him? Is our Vickipoo protecing someone who is enabling a sex offender?
Look at the links on the Etz Chaim web page http://etzchaimusa.org/node/3. It lists torah.org as a resource. torah.org is owned and operated by Yaakov Menken.
Rabbi Shlomo Porter
(410) 764-1553, ext. 202
rabbiporter@aol.com
I think what UOJ blogger does is far superior to what the actions of the coverup rabbis. The rabbis really lost credibility by defending and tolerating the abuse. If I had to choose between them and UOJ its an easy choice.
Now instead of everyone like prominent rabbis in the east coast complaining about bloogers maybe they should comlain about abusers???
When you argue on strict halachic grounds about lashon hara, nivel peh, etc. you may be making a point. But you continue to ignore one of the most important American Jewish social stories of the past half century---the past 50 years--the fact that there has been an avalanche of child sex abuse cases inthe charedi community, certainly in the hundreds, perhaps in the thousands, over that time period, and rabbis knew full well about it, and did absolutely nothing. NOTHING. Unless you consider threatening the victims as action. Hence the uproar. They did NOTHING.
Ever read the prophets? Read them again. They bashed the leaders of their day. Who were they talking against? Secular zionist pygmies who were amei haaretz? Of course not. The leaders then, like the leaders now, were religious men. And they were doing NOTHING to improve things. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
NOTHING!
I didn't say a word about rabbis needing to be infallible, just that they need to be leaders. Leaders of a community are supposed to act as its watchmen, protecting it from all manner of bad influences, whether those influences come from inside or outside the community. These rabbis have failed at that task, and done so abysmally. And we're not talking about just being unaware of what's going on, which would be bad enough. We're talking about actively taking a role in the crime of child molestation, I.E., afflicting the helpless in the community. People who don't possess Da'at Torah figured out a very long time ago that child molestation is a hanus crime. Now, if Da'at Torah is supposed to be a higher form of knowledge, then why is it that, not only has this crime been allowed to go on for the past fifty years with the criminals being given the benefit of shelter by those in a position of leadership, the leadership has *actively participated* in the commission of the crime by putting up all kinds of roadblocks in front of the victims to prevent them from going to the authorities? Furthermore, the mea culpa letter didn't get released until *after* the media got the story and started reporting on it. So things would have gone on like usual had the secular media not gotten involved.
Great Point ! Forget about that the act(s)(and the cover up from the rabbis) are causing tremendous pain and suffering to the individual for the rest of his life. But he is going "off the derech". Now that's a problem ! By the way, many adults who were molested as kids are still "on the derech". Yet many are suffering from emotional pain and are having relationship issues with family and friends.
What are they, chopped liver ?
What the rabbis should really be concerned about is having a student who was molested coming back as an adult to the yeshiva and turning the rosh yeshiva's or administrators office into another columbine. Then maybe they will get it.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush will lay out the principles behind his idea of a new economic stimulus package on Friday.
I'd like to address a number of issues raised here. As an introduction, I'd like to state that I am not speaking for Rabbi Horowitz, but as a staff member who has worked closely with Rabbi Horowitz as Director of Operations at Project YES since 1999.
First regarding Daas Torah. This subject, as well as, all or most subjects Rabbi Horowitz writes about have been discussed in detail with Gedolei Yisroel. In regard to mesirah about physical and sexual abuse, no less than three, well-known, acclaimed gedolim were consulted over the last ten years. One of these great Torah giants spent 2 hours in our offices educating our staff.
Secondly, regarding responses or lack of response, from gedolim. Rest assured that the gedolim who lead our communities are completely aware of all the issues being discussed here. They certainly have responded to these matters in many ways. It is naiveté to believe that because the gedolim do not resort to forums such as this one or 'kol koreis', means that they are ignoring the problem. The reason that many people can't imagine what the gedolim are doing or what they have done, is because they do not regularly interact with gedolim. Gedolim choose their venues carefully, for action in all matters public.
Thirdly, regarding the prevalence of sexual abuse. Rabbi Horowitz wisely maintains a polite and measured stance when discussing sensitive matters. Although dealing with victims of physical and sexual abuse are far beyond the scope of our work at Project YES, we receive very many calls about these matters and refer them to capable professionals. The numbers and the details are staggering. Although no formal study has been done, there is a tremendous amount of empirical, anecdotal and logical data to support Rabbi Horowitz's article. Unfortunately, incestual behavior (from fondling to actual sexual relations) is a very real part of this problem.
Finally, regarding outlets for sexual expression. People who have studied abuse or have engaged in even a cursory talk with a mental health professional will learn that sexual abuse is not at all about desire, morals or release of sexual frustration. It is primarily about control and power. This may be surprising to many lay people, just as it was to me when I first became educated about this, (case in point, the youthful predator who violates an elderly woman). Rabbi Horowitz's articles should motivate us to becoming as educated as we need to be, depending on whether we are parents, grandparents, educators or klal workers.
As to whether "we need to live in a heightened state of fear and dare I say hysteria", I suggest that readers look forward to Rabbi Horowitz's continued discussion on this matter, as well as, other forums that deal with abuse.
Avrohom Meir Gluck - Director of Operations, Project YES
amg@pyes.org
First regarding Daas Torah. This subject, as well as, all or most subjects Rabbi Horowitz writes about have been discussed in detail with Gedolei Yisroel. In regard to mesirah about physical and sexual abuse, no less than three, well-known, acclaimed gedolim were consulted over the last ten years. One of these great Torah giants spent 2 hours in our offices educating our staff.
Secondly, regarding responses or lack of response, from gedolim. Rest assured that the gedolim who lead our communities are completely aware of all the issues being discussed here. They certainly have responded to these matters in many ways. It is naiveté to believe that because the gedolim do not resort to forums such as this one or 'kol koreis', means that they are ignoring the problem. The reason that many people can't imagine what the gedolim are doing or what they have done, is because they do not regularly interact with gedolim. Gedolim choose their venues carefully, for action in all matters public.
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Rabbi Gluck,
We do not know each other. I'm not at all certain, based on the above comments, that we are living on the same planet!
I mean no personal disrespect; I do find the above statements - incredulous!
UOJ
Rubashkin has gotten together with two other companies under attack from the union and started a counter-attack website.
I do mean disrespect, Rabbi Gluck is not being honest at all.
I would like to believe that rabbi Gluck is referring to true gedolim like R' Zelig Epstein shlita who rise above politics to do the right thing.
I do think however that he should have left out the paragraph that implied the rank and file Agudah "gadol" is tirelessly working to stop monsters like Margulies.
Rabbi Gluck,
Certainly you can tell us which rabbonim/gedolim you are referring to. Please...give us names. By doing that - you would give all of the klal hope.
I hope your words are sincere, if not, they're just another nail in the Establishment coffin.
Now this from The Forward! i can't take it anymore!
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By Marissa Brostoff
Wed. Jan 16, 2008
Alumni of a prominent Modern Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn were prohibited from bringing same-sex partners to a class reunion last month, causing an uproar among some former students.
The high-school division of Yeshivah of Flatbush, one of the most prestigious Modern Orthodox schools in New York City, held a reunion in late December for members of the class of 1997. While most alumni were invited to bring guests, a few were explicitly forbidden to do so. According to sources, graduates thought by yeshiva personnel to have same-sex significant others were sent an e-mail that barred them from bringing their partners.
“As previously stated to you, we welcome your attendance and look forward to your participation,” read the letter, which appeared on the blog JVoices. “However, your partner cannot attend.”
Angered by what they see as a discriminatory and hypocritical stance on the part of the yeshiva, some alumni have taken the issue to the Internet, where they have circulated a petition and created a Facebook group calling for “Open Flatbush Reunions” at which “everyone… [is] entitled to bring a guest.”
They have also called for an end to what they say is censorship on the part of the administration, which, they claim, selectively edited alumni biographies compiled at the reunion to weed out information they found undesirable.
The petition has received around 80 signatures, including one from Eric Kandel, a Nobel laureate in medicine who graduated from the school in 1944. As of press time, the Facebook group had 260 members.
“I think it is an affront to decency,” Kandel told the Forward, referring to his alma mater’s ban on same-sex partners at reunions. “Jews of all people — we’re supposed to be so tolerant! Judaism is a living tradition. We now realize that homosexuality is not bad behavior. It’s a style of life that is probably in large part biologically determined.”
The issue is not a new one for the venerable school, whose alumni roster includes Jewish scholar and author Joseph Telushkin, radio host Dennis Prager, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein and Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic. Two years ago, Alan Stadtmauer, a beloved rabbi, teacher and onetime principal of the school, shocked students and colleagues by coming out as gay. Concomitantly, he resigned from the school and said that he no longer regarded himself as an Orthodox Jew. Stadtmauer has signed the petition against the yeshiva’s reunion policy.
More broadly, the reunion controversy echoes a more recent frisson in the world of Modern Orthodoxy, in which Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor, suggested in a 2007 New York Times Magazine article that he and his wife, who is not Jewish, had been excised from a class reunion photograph by administrators at the Maimonides School, his Modern Orthodox alma mater in Brookline, Mass. The school later claimed that it had not intentionally omitted anyone from the photograph.
When asked about the reunion letter, Yeshivah of Flatbush administrators issued a statement to the Forward.
“There are standards of Halacha that guide the Orthodox community,” Dennis Eisenberg, the school’s executive vice president, said in the prepared statement. “All of our graduates are welcome to attend our reunion but only those involved in recognized halachic relationships may register as a couple.”
Erez Lieberman, a Yeshivah of Flatbush alumnus who is leading the protest against the school’s actions, questioned the accuracy of that statement.
“I do not know of incidents in which students who were intermarried or engaged in other extra-halachic relationships have been profiled in this way,” Lieberman said. He added that opposite-sex romantic partners who are not married — girlfriends, boyfriends and, by some standards, fiances — are not participating in approved relationships, either, and that many alumni have brought girlfriends and boyfriends to reunions. Fiances are encouraged to attend as part of the school’s existing policy.
But Lieberman also emphasized that he did not want the controversy to turn into a dispute over Jewish law.
“Let’s move away from the vocabulary of Halacha in defining acceptable ‘reunion guests,’” he said. “There’s nothing in [traditional Jewish texts] about reunions. We’re not talking about something with stronger halachic connotations, like a wedding.”
For Clarity:
Mental health professionals claim that in most cases - the Gay lifestyle is unrelated to sexual abuse. I thought I should add that comment.
"Mental health professionals claim that in most cases - the Gay lifestyle is unrelated to sexual abuse."
Oder ja, oder nicht. Zey are known to say many things out of political correctness, ja?
He sent a letter to all customers that beat around the bush for an entire page about raising his prices. You'd think the chuchem could find a better time to do it. Among his excuses are rising health insurance premiums. Are we really supposed to believe he buys insurance for illegal Mexicans that he fires if they even think about unionizing?
Starting Jan. 20 is a 3% across the board price hike. Then he hits you with a BIG agav that they may be forced to hike prices again immediately afterwards.
What do you expect from Rubashkin? Considering that he's under investigation from countless State and Federal angles and embroiled in other various legal fiascos, he's paying me and his team of lawyers through the nose. Although Rubashkin is not affected by the national minimum wage hike because Iowa was already there, I'm sure his high flying consultants like Lubinsky are looking for a pay raise too.
Ever read the prophets? Read them again. They bashed the leaders of their day
"Your leaders are wayward and associates of thieves; the whole of them loves bribery and pursue (illegal) payments; for the orphan they do not do justice, the cause of the widow does not come unto them" Yeshaya 1:23
Just replace the words orphan and widow with "abuse victims" and there you have it in a nutshell, our leaders of today. I wonder if Rabbi Gluck has read the letter from the Baltimore rabbis from last April. My question is, why haven't the rabbis from NYC, LA and Chicago, as well as Israel, put out a similar letter? Do they think that they have acted any better than the Baltimore rabbis? Do they think that they are on such a high level that they cannot ever admit to past mistakes? Why do they leave their colleagues in Baltimore alone to wallow in their shame and disgrace? It's about time the rabbis from ALL the major cities did their own vidui. This will at least be a start. Next, we need some bona fide action, such as mandatory reporting, mandatory background checks, fingerprinting and a sex offender registry. Remember, teshuva is a process. Vidui on the past is only one part of it. They must come up with a plan for the future. The days of sweeping abuse under the carpeet are over!
High flying? My pants and zipper are at my ankles after Mayer Fertig & Yudel Shain caught me with my pants down!
UOJ no matter what praises you have for R' Horowitz the credit is yours. you are a true revolutionary & my hero. You are years ahead of the pack. As a young parent I feel my kids are safer because of you. I thank you & i wish you much continued success in your work leshem shomayim for klal yisrael with no pay or kovod ad bias goel zedek bby"a
Yesterday I was in Madison, WI providing testimony to the Wisconsin state senate in support of Senate Bill 356. The bill introduced would abolish the statute of limitations for filing a civil suit in cases of child sexual abuse.
The Awareness Center wants to encourage all survivors to get invovled in the legislative process in the state in which you were abused. By doing something you are helping other adult survivors and also helping to prevent any more children from being abused. If you would like to learn how to do this give me a call at 443-857-5560.
To read my entire testimony download you can download the pdf file:
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/WisconsinTestimony-2008.pdf
_____________________
Wisconsin: Bill would erase sex abuse suit deadlines
Critics say the measure might be unconstitutional
Associated Press - January 17, 2008
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=187539
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- People who believe they were sexually abused as children would no longer face a deadline for filing a civil lawsuit under a bill a legislative committee considered Wednesday.
Critics told the Senate Judiciary, Corrections and Housing Committee the bipartisan measure would expose the Catholic church in Wisconsin to expensive lawsuits and is probably unconstitutional.
Supporters countered the state's current deadline -- file by age 35 -- is arbitrary and doing away with it would expose more sexual predators.
"This bill is about protecting victims and giving them the ability to tell their story," said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, one of the bill's co-sponsors. "We truly believe it will make Wisconsin a sex predator's worst nightmare."
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed a law in 2004 that increased the statute of limitations for adults who think they were sexually abused as children from five years after the incident to age 35. The change was triggered largely by the Roman Catholic church clergy sex abuse scandal.
The bill would erase that deadline going forward and create a 3-year window during which someone who had a lawsuit dismissed because they were too old could renew their actions.
Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan told the committee his diocese has paid more than $17 million in sex abuse mediation, therapy and outreach since 2002. The 3-year window would allow so many lawsuits his diocese could go bankrupt, he said.
"There is no Catholic 'Superfund' that can provide the monies this legislation will require of the church," he told the panel.
"We are at the limit of our ability to pay massive tort settlements "| plain and simple, a window is unjust."
James Friedman, a constitutional law expert at the Godfrey & Khan law firm in Madison, said the window likely violates the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions. The statute of limitations clearly gives defendants the right not to be sued after it expires, Friedman said.
Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, stressed the bill isn't designed to single out any specific entity, such as the Catholic church.
She believes the bill is constitutional because it clearly reflects legislative intent and would protect people. She pointed out the state places no statute of limitations on murder and the age 35 deadline was picked at random.
"There is no statute of limitations on pain and suffering," Lassa said. "If they're 33, they can do it. At 36 they can't ... it's just an arbitrary line in the sand."
Vicki Polin, a 48-year-old counselor based in Baltimore, told the committee her mother and father sexually abused her when she was a child, including instances camping near Mukwonago. She confronted them in her 20s, and they cut off all contact. She learned last year her family was avoiding her until the statute of limitations had expired.
She said civil lawsuits would help victims pay for therapy. They also would compel the legal discovery process. That could uncover more information about possible victims, leading to identification of more abusers and, perhaps, criminal charges.
"It's validation," she said.
The bill got a cool reception from the committee. Sen. Jim Sullivan, a Wauwatosa Democrat and attorney, called the bill a "sweeping change of precedence." He questioned why the bill is needed since the state just increased the deadline to age 35 four years ago.
Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, asked Suder and Lassa why they didn't address the criminal statute of limitations. He also asked how many predators would escape litigation because they have no money for lawyers to win.
Lassa said the civil process could lead to criminal charges. Suder said he didn't know how many would escape a lawsuit because they're poor.
The committee wasn't scheduled to vote on the bill.
UOJ,
After reading Rabbi Gluck's comment about Project Yes and how they know that Daas TOrah has done a great job: DO US ALL A FAVOR AND REMOVE YOUR THANK YOU TO RABBI HOROWITZ PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED ON THE SIDEBAR!!!!!!!!!! IT LOOKS LIKE HE SUFFERS FROM THE SAME DISEASE LIKE THE REST OF THEM, AND, QUITE FRANKLY, COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO SEEMED LIKE A LIGHT N THE DARK IT IS EVEN MORE DISAPPOINTING TO HEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Avrohom Meir Gluck -
Your response in regards to the reaction of the gedolim is exactly what people have been saying all these years: "Trust them. They're acting behind the scenes. They're handling it." Grandiose claims with absolutely nothing concrete. With all due respect, these are empty words until they are backed up with some substantial proof. I've heard all my life that I should trust the gedolim. And I've tried to. But why should anyone trust them that they are doing anything at all when it seems clear that the problem has been festering for years and only getting worse? Why should they be trusted to have been on top of the situation when we all know of people who remained in their positions with access to children and freedom to act as they please, despite there being years of suspicions about them? I ask this not to attack, but to sincerely inquire, on what should we be basing our trust? I would love to trust them, but tell me why they deserve that trust. Please, give me something solid, anything at all!, on which I can rest my hope that they have not been negligent in this matter.
> The gedolim do not resort to forums such as this one or 'kol koreis'...
I don't expect them to be using blogs, but if they had something to say they have ways of getting a message out. They have publications. They have spokespeople. They have events where they speak to the public. For crying out loud, they have a national organization with influence in Washington! The fact that they are virtually silent on this matter is, to me, an unequivocal indictment of their lack of action in this matter.
You say that three "well known gedolim" spoke to your staff? Well, why don't they speak to the public? Why don't you tell us who they are? Why can't they tell us what steps they've taken to redress these problems? Why can't they be asked what they advised victims to do when people confided in them?
Some might say that it's disrespectful to pose these question to gedolim. But in any other society, it's expected that leaders of a community or institution would be posed these questions when problems under their leadership are revealed. That's what responsibility is about. Asking for answers is not disrespectful. It's simple accountability. Don't we deserve to know the truth of how our leaders our leading us?
http://www.observer.com/2008/shiller-new-york-we-re-ancient-rome-right-fall
Shiller on New York: We're Ancient Rome, Right Before the Fall
Yale economics professor Robert Shiller famously predicted the death of the dotcom boom. He’s been warning about a real estate bubble for years, but now he says New York will self-destruct if prices don’t come down: ‘It can’t keep going like this!’
by Max Abelson | January 15, 2008
Location: You’ve been warning of a national real estate collapse since 2005. Do you feel vindicated by last year’s downturn?
Mr. Shiller: Well, I don’t like to use the word vindicated, but it is unraveling as more or less I expected.
When your S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices came out last year showing record drops, you said things hadn’t been this bad nationally since the Second World War. Yet the sub-prime mortgage scandal hasn’t much affected Manhattan. Are we immune?
Firstly, you’re definitely not immune, OK? Manhattan is a unique place, and that does mean that it has different dynamics, but it’s not immune, I can guarantee you that … If it gets too expensive in New York, people will leave it, no matter what—they can’t afford to live there. And so it’s just not true that New York will keep appreciating independently of everywhere else, I just don’t believe it. Elementary economics say people will always substitute away when the price gets too high, and so they’re doing that.
What will the bursting of the real estate bubble in New York look and feel like?
It will probably start showing synchrony with the rest of the country, and it will happen very gradually, it will start slowing down. If we’re going into a recession, it won’t be that exceptional, people won’t be that surprised.
Our real estate boom since the 90’s is unrivaled, you’ve said, even by the post-war baby boom. So would it be normal, even desirable, for it to end?
It would be a great thing for New York if prices came down, because more interesting people would move in. Your artists can’t afford to live there anymore … They’ll move out of Brooklyn, they won’t be anywhere nearby.
You’ve suggested the Internet boom was ‘a silly, in fact embarrassing fad.’ But will the New York City real estate obsession ever die?
Did you know that the world financial center [of the 1600’s], Amsterdam, created a second city called New Amsterdam? And it’s the world financial center today. Amsterdam hasn’t gone up! It’s the satellite city, called New York now, that’s replaced it … New York will set up satellites; we’re starting to do that with Greenwich and Stamford and I don’t know where else, and it doesn’t have to stay there. The idea that it’s just going to keep going up, especially with the Internet age, which makes communications more easy, I just don’t think it’s reasonable to think it’s just going to keep getting more and more expensive.
So we’ll be replaced?
That’s right. People like urban living, I think we’ll see a movement toward building more urban centers. Manhattan is a symbol for a kind of living that people find very attractive … [Scholars] are arguing that zoning has to be rethought. We have to create new Manhattans, there’s a demand for them. It’s too expensive in Manhattan, there’s no reason why we can’t have a brand-new one somewhere. We just have to build it, plan it all out, a planned city, put it somewhere where land is really cheap, on the coast somewhere with a good location.
A New Yorker wouldn’t believe the city would be replaced! ‘Boom psychology’ is the egoism that investors get during good times. When that dissipates, it’s bad for the economy. So can New York’s cockiness be a good thing?
No, I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think it has encouraged people to push prices up too high, and that creates all kinds of distortions. Unfortunately people have trouble maintaining an even keel; we go through waves of optimism and then maybe excessive pessimism.
If New York’s unique, even among the so-called superstar cities, what’s our kryptonite? What could potentially bring us down?
I was just in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Bank of America headquarters, and they moved their headquarters from San Francisco. Why did they do that? Because it got so awfully expensive in San Francisco. Of course San Francisco is another superstar city. I asked people [who relocated to Charlotte], ‘Do you regret it?’ What do you think they said? They said ‘No, I have a two-acre lot, and I have a horse, and we just love it here’ … There’s always going to be something unique about New York, but you know sometimes these unique places are surprisingly not expensive.
I’m 23 and making under $30,000, and so of course I hate the expensiveness of this city. And yet I think you’re underestimating New York.
It’s a little bit like Rome. I don’t know if you’ve ever read what Roman historians say: People in that city, I’m talking about ancient Rome, there were poets who extolled it, it must have been an amazing place. I wish I could go back in a time machine, it must have been something! The Roman Empire centralized on Rome more than the U.S. does on New York; in fact their whole country was named after Rome … They definitely had great feeling for that city, and it’s still there, and it’s still a neat city. But it went through some bad periods, if you look at history: Really bad periods when it fell into decay! So it’s kind of up and down, and I think that’s the typical history of cities. Rome has not always been expensive.
What’s the psychological factor to a real estate bubble?
The human species is very empathetic; they connect with each other … We get the excitement—you get a sense of excitement of a boom. I was in Silicon Valley in the late 90’s, and I was at the hotel breakfast, listening to people at the tables, they were hatching these excited businesses, all sitting on the edge of their seats. There was a sense of euphoria, and it does infect everyone else.
Is the tip-top of the high-end market vulnerable, or is it protected because there will always be enough billionaires who want to grab up the small amount of trophy properties?
The point of the [Christopher] Mayer and [Todd] Sinai “Superstar Cities” paper is that income inequality is worsening in the U.S. and it’s worsening around the world. And their point about superstar cities is that they are increasingly populated by the super-rich, not just New York … Where will it go from here? The “Superstar Cities” people seem to think that it’s just a law of nature and will continue, but I wonder … The idea that Manhattan is going to be this super-rich city in the midst of a country where more and more people are having trouble, where these low-income wages are not going up? I don’t know! I just wouldn’t bet on it. I’m not talking about this election, but eventually something has a chance of happening that’s going to stop this.
A hedge-fund guy is paying $46 million, a New York record, for a co-op apartment this month. As long as there’s a single buyer willing to pay $46 million for a co-op, can we say the apartment is fundamentally worth $46 million? Or is the price inflated?
I would say the question is whether this is temporary or not. What I mean by inflated is that I don’t think it’s going to stay—it’s not going to hold. It happens all the time that some rich person pays way too much for something, and so he’ll discover that when he tries to sell it.
In 2003, New York magazine asked, ‘Is This the Year the BUBBLE BURSTS?’ and ‘crash’ cover stories have followed annually. At what point is a bubble no longer a bubble, just the normal state of affairs?
It can’t keep going like this! What’s it been going up, like 10 percent a year? That compounds. Eventually it compounds into something astronomical. It can’t be … You’ve got to really remember that this has been an unusual period, very unusual period, for Manhattan and for the country.
You’ve said that ‘a fundamental weakness of our free-market system is that, especially during boom periods, there tends to be a decline in ethical standards.’
I can’t speak specifically to New York, but there has been a decline in ethics in the real estate industry nationwide. A lot of mortgages were issued to people who shouldn’t have bought them, and they weren’t warned about interest rate resets and things like that.
Which was more dangerous, the dotcom bubble or the real estate bubble?
Interesting question—I think the real estate boom is more dangerous to our economy, because real estate is held more widely, and the effects on confidence are likely to be more severe, because it’s our homes now that are going down.
Two years ago, the chief executive of huge homebuilder Toll Brothers said: ‘Shiller is predicting the mountain goes into the sea. He’s selling himself.’ Toll just had their first quarterly loss in 21 years.
Their stock, I’m trying to remember, soared just like the NASDAQ stocks in the 90’s. I guess they didn’t appreciate anyone criticizing their optimism, investors were really believing in them, and they were doing extremely well because of the boom. Of course, they’re not going to want to hear it’s temporary.
Have you invested in property in New York City?
No. Hah.
To all who ask about Daas Torah consulting. Many of the victims were were molested by the "Daas Torah" who you are encouraging them to ask. Al Tadin Es Chaverecha Ad Shetageeya Le'mekomo. Until you have had a Daas Torah in places that you never imagined that Daas Torah could possibly ever be present do not play the Holy Card of "did you ask Daas Torah". The same way that you have no idea of who the victims are you also don't know who the Daas Torah really is either. Do a little homework.If you are reading this then you are already on the internet. (which is also against the very "Daas Torah" of which you allude to. Perhaps it has to do with exposing the travesty which they perpetrated against so many and taking away their ability to control what information you get. But that is another subject altogether) Give your mouse a little workout. It will not be very hard to find the "Daas Torah Enablers" who have swept this all under the carpet for Many years and listened to the victims with their fingers in their ears while humming loudly. So please, stick that argument in your pipe and smoke it.
http://jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/2008/01/watch-panel-discussion-on-child-sexual.html#6260201398709832662
Anonymous said...
Besides Eisemann, there's still a sex offender on the loose at NIRC. He has a connection to the dorms.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18795
"You call yourself a tzaddik, you're a liar!" Rabbi Steven Weil told his congregation in a fiery speech from the pulpit last Shabbat, regarding someone who acts very religious but may be involved in stealing, lying or cheating.
The rabbi of Beth Jacob, an Orthodox congregation in Beverly Hills, was reacting to the Spinka case, in which eight ultra-Orthodox men were indicted for tax fraud and money laundering.
A member of Beth Jacob is alleged to have been involved in the scheme, and served as a subject of the three-part speech. Robert Kasirer, the state's confidential witness, has donated funds to the synagogue, including a kollel named for his father, Jacob Kasirer, and machzors (high holiday prayer books) embossed with the family name.
Weil declined to be interviewed for this article, saying his speech was a private sermon for community members and not for publication. But past-president Marc Rohatiner confirmed the content of the three-part speech. Firstly, Weil condemned the alleged actions in the Spinka case, noting that the United States government has treated the Jewish community wonderfully, and that there is no excuse for defrauding the government.
"He said that when non-Jews look at our behavior, they don't look at whether you keep Shabbos or wear tzitzit or keep kosher, they look at how you treat your employees, how you deal with the government, are you an honest and straightforward person?" Rohatiner recounted.
Actions like these play into negative stereotypes about Jews, Weil said.
Shul President Steve Tabak then announced that "at the request of Robert Kasirer and with the agreement of Beth Jacob," Kasirer will remove his family's name from Kollel (the adult learning center and its program), the Torahs and from the prayer books.
Weil, who has come under fire for evicting members from synagogue, then resumed his speech and said that they will not "engage in collective punishment" by barring the family from the shul. Kasirer was not one of the anonymous donors who contributed to the purchase of a new lot for Beth Jacob, Weil said.
Weil concluded by saying no one should point fingers at other religious Jews. He did not talk about the issue of moser (being a Jewish informant on other Jews).
Michael Steinhardt, the famed Jewish philanthropist wrote in the pages of this newspaper on July 28, 2006: "We are donors to universities, museums, orchestras and hospitals, but when it comes to Jewish philanthropy, we fall short. Today, perhaps 20 percent or less of Jewish giving goes to Jewish causes.... Of the $5.3 billion in megagifts given by America's wealthiest Jews between 1995 and 2000, a mere 6 percent went to Jewish institutions……. Only 11 percent of Jews donate over $1,000 to Jewish causes."
Steve;
You're deluding yourself if you think, even for a moment, that the "Rabbis" in other Precincts will voluntarily take/advocate these steps/measures. Never will happen.
What happened in Baltimore was an isolated "Full-Moon" 'out-of-body'
Twilight Zone(Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo)experience.
I've said this several times before on this Blog:
All Yeshivas clearly understand and appreciate one thing: MONEY. Hit 'em in the pocket.
Therefore the only way that Yeshivas will have Mandatory Fingerprinting, Sex Registry, Mandatory Background Checks, and Mandatory Reporting is if it is enacted by the respective State Legislatures accompanied by very $tiff penalties in the form of loss of all Financial Aid, Tuition Credits, Bus Service, and removal of State Regents Accreditation for the English Departments. Annual Review and Compliance are to be made Mandatory.(I know some wags will opine that with the state of the Yeshiva English departments today you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Vy can't Yossi Read and speak Henglish?) But that's a horse to be rode another time and day.
Unless and until these measures are enacted into Law, progress in accomplishing the eradication and removal of sex predators and pedophiles from our yeshivas and all Mosdos will be slow and painful and result in more Tyreh Yiddeshe Neshomos being served up to the Molech.
(Lakewood, NJ) Looking For More Information on An Alleged sex offend
Posted by: "vickipolin@aol.com" vickipolin@aol.com shoshanaavigail
Rumors have been floating around that an orthodox rabbi who resides in Lakewood, NJ has been molesting high school aged boarders in his home for years.
The Vaad in Lakewood was made aware of the situation and handled the case quietly and discretely. They never reported the case to the child abuse hot line or
law enforcement. Instead they made an agreement with the rav that he would no longer taken boarders. Like in many Chassidic families this rabbi has many
of his own under age children still living at home. If the rumors are true that means the Rabbi's own children are also at risk of harm.
If anyone has more information or were abused by this Lakewood rabbi, please contact The Awareness Center immediately. 443-857-5560 or vickipolin@aol. com
As the United States Congress passed legislation in the form of Sarbanes-Oxley to eradicate corporate malfeasance, so too must State Legislatures pass compliance legislation to institute Mandatory Fingerprinting, Registries, Background checks, and Reporting of all Personnel for Yeshivas/Mosdos.
You can talk all you want about Dass Toiyreh, self-policing has been clearly shown to not work and it will not work.
UOJ Wrote; C'mon...put your hands together for the good rabbi who may be on the run:-)
Please also thank the Mishpocho Magazine for printing Rabbi Horowitz's article!
They deserve a thank you as well!
Rabbi Steven Weil - a good man - yet chooses to let Shalom Tendler in his shul.
Shalom Tendler is a despicable creature - and has done more damage to Judaism than the Spinka and Robert Kassirer combined.
Rabbi Weil - time to stop speaking out of both sides of your mouth! It smells real bad!
Rabbis On The Take - WHOLESALE!
-----------------------
Bloomberg Press
China Goes Kosher as Exporters Use Rabbis to Reassure Consumers
By Mark Drajem
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese exporters, facing a U.S. backlash over tainted food products, are turning to an unlikely group of inspectors to help clean up their act: Jewish rabbis.
Kosher certifications by rabbis have doubled to more than 300 in China in the past two years, according to the Orthodox Union, a New York-based organization that does inspections. The group expects thousands more plants to get certified in the next few years, covering everything from spices and chemical additives to frozen berries, sliced garlic and beef.
Chinese exporters, eager to gain access to the $11.5 billion U.S. kosher market, had already begun seeking the certifications before the uproar over contaminated seafood, toothpaste and pet food began last year. Now, after a rush of recalls, the rabbis say the companies are paying for the inspections to ease growing concern among U.S. consumers about imports from China.
``When we certify a product, consumers know there is another pair of eyes'' on it, said Mordechai Grunberg, an American rabbi whose seven-member team examines Chinese factories, scans company books, and even drops in for surprise inspections to ensure the biblical dietary laws are followed.
The surge of kosher certifications hasn't come without hiccups. Many Chinese companies were unfamiliar with the concept: One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff. Another facility asked to get certified as kosher even though it was smoking eel on site, a kosher no- no. The company was turned down; it is now building a separate, kosher-only facility.
Jarred by Grilling
And many companies weren't ready for the grilling the rabbis gave them on their first visits to their plants, seeing it as a sign of distrust. ``In China, everything works on relationships,'' said Grunberg of the Orthodox Union, which certifies more than 400,000 products worldwide.
Grunberg first traveled to China in 1981 in what would have been the first kosher-certification there. It didn't work out. His translator failed to meet him at the airport and his hotel had rats. Grunberg didn't bother to examine the facility, instead returning to New York the next day.
``It was a trip wasted,'' he said in a telephone interview from Israel, where he lives. When he returned two decades later, ``it was a different China.''
Now, kosher ``is part of the vernacular'' as companies there try to take advantage of the U.S. market, he said.
Fully half the Chinese exports to the U.S. of $2.5 billion a year in food ingredients, such as coloring agents and preservatives, are kosher, up 150 percent from two years ago, the Orthodox Union estimates.
`Phenomenal'
``We are experiencing phenomenal growth,'' said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, chief operating officer of the kosher-certification body.
While the rabbis see to it that the products adhere to such laws as prohibitions on pork and the mixing of meat and dairy, they don't perform scientific food-safety tests.
``There is definitely marketing power to have a kosher symbol on products,'' said Mark Overland, who directs the kosher and organic department at Cargill Inc., the largest U.S. agricultural company. ``But it would be a misnomer to equate kosher with food safety.''
Many consumers disagree. Buyers of kosher products -- the majority of whom in the U.S. are non-Jews -- are seeking healthy and safe products, according to a 2005 survey by Lubicom, a marketing firm specializing in kosher products.
Plant Codes
And one of the kosher safety measures has already been seized on by Chinese regulators since the U.S. began cracking down on the imports. Since 2001, the Orthodox Union has required makers of products it certifies as kosher to place a code on their packages identifying the plant where it was made so the product can be traced in a recall. In September, Chinese regulators began requiring the same code on all food exports.
For Chinese companies, the benefits are clear amid increasing scrutiny from foreign consumers. More than two-thirds of Americans say food and product recalls have dimmed their view of Chinese-made products, according to a poll released last month.
For Nanjing Biotogether Co., certification is a prerequisite for selling fructose, salts and amino acids to U.S. makers of sports drinks, pharmaceuticals and food flavoring. Exports may soar to 450 million yuan ($62 million) in the first year since it got the kosher stamp last June, more than 11 times the previous year's total, said sales manager Wu Yonghong.
`Vote of Confidence'
Zhoushan Genho Food Co., in eastern China's Zhejiang province, got its frozen tuna fillets certified as kosher last August. Its sales have picked up, too.
``At a time of renewed international scrutiny on quality and safety, any additional stamp of approval or certification is equivalent to a vote of confidence,'' said sales manager Chen Xing.
While food companies say they already use many comprehensive safety procedures, analysts say they have a lot to learn.
``If unsafe food is getting through, then someone has dropped the ball,'' said James Morehouse, a senior partner at A.T. Kearney in Chicago and lead author of a study on China's food-safety system. ``The rabbis are an example of a working inspection system.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajem@bloomberg.net
rabbinic corruption
Friday, January 18, 2008
rabbinic fraud to the MAX!!!!!!
SEE THIS EYEOPENING ARTICLE AT THIS WEBSITE EXPOSING FEMINIST RABBONIM AND PSEUDOFRUM IDEALOGIES: http://www.mishpattsedek.com/ORA-Report.htm
ORA Report
A Special Report on the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot
Recently an outrage was committed where a respected TALMID CHACHAM was viciously and publicly insulted and defamed. As reported in the Jewish Press on Nov. 9, 2007, with the headline "Rabbinic Rally Against Alleged Get Abuse", a protest against a Brooklyn rabbi who is a respected TALMID CHACHAM was called by Rabbi Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University and the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA).
Attending the rally were several rabbinic advisors and supporters of ORA including Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Kenneth Auman of the Young Israel of Flatbush, and Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere.
Torah law considers public humiliation to be akin to murder. Numerous witnesses at the Nov. 9 protest observed the respected TALMID CHACHAM being maligned with falsehood and attacked SHEH LO K'DERECH HATORAH by the vicious ORA protesters.
"He who publicly shames his neighbor ... though he may have Torah and good deeds, has no share in the world to come." (Pirkei Avos 3:11).
In early November 2007 a letter allegedly signed by Rabbi Hershel Schachter appeared on the website of the RCA rabbinic organization. Another letter, allegedly signed by Rabbi Hershel Schachter, appeared in late November 2007 on the RCA website. Both letters contained brazen SHEKER and MOTSI SHEM RAH against the rabbi and TALMID CHACHAM who is being targeted by Schachter and his feminist hench(wo)men.
In truth the rabbi and TALMID CHACHAM being targeted by ORA is one of the few remaining authentic rabbinic experts in GITTIN (Jewish divorce matters), and CHOSHEN MISHPAT. The said TALMID CHACHAM makes diligent and ethical efforts to resolve all divorce disputes AL PI HALACHA. ORA's true agenda is apparently to suppress and silence the few remaining rabbinic authorities who strictly adhere to authentic Torah law and values in Jewish divorce matters.
The protest mentioned above was shameful and disappointing and demonstrates how far some have traveled from the truth. It also demonstrates the tremendous feminization in many areas of of the Bais Din process and the process of obtaining a GET, and it exposes the Torah violations of those using ARCHAOS (non-Jewish courts), and those who are enabling them, two terrible transgressions.
ORA utilizes public demonstrations and other forms of pressure to coerce Jewish husbands to grant GITTIN to their wives. Mr. Joshua Ross ( Josh Ross ) of Manhattan is ORA's vice-president, and Rabbi Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University is ORA's primary rabbinic advisor.
For some time many EHRLICH YIDDEN have been shocked and outraged at the wild, unscrupulous, and anti-HALACHIC tactics of ORA. At the protest against the TALMID CHACHAM, while a severely handicapped Jewish man was being assisted to enter the TALMID CHACHAM's home, the vicious ORA protesters shouted "FAKER" at the handicapped man. The Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) in Evan HaEzer considers such cruelty to be a sign of non-Jewish ancestry !!!
Josh Ross (a YU student in his 20's) and the ORA organization have inflicted unjustified abuse and harassment against a number of decent Jewish men who are dealing with marriage or divorce issues, but who are in compliance with HALACHA. It is truely outrageous that Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a person considered a Torah scholar in the "Modern Orthodox" world, would be involved in a protest disgracing and defaming a respected TALMUD CHACHAM. On a number of occasions various activists have informed Rabbi Schachter that Josh Ross was involved in activities SH'LO K'HALACHA and SH'LO K'YASHRUSH. No apparent action was taken to correct Ross's behavior.
Now we see the same kind of reckless irresponsibility, where false statements are being made that a respected TALMUD CHACHAM (the target of the protest) is allegedly issuing HETER MEAH RABBANIM. Upon careful investigation, we were unable to determine the name of even one man who had obtained a HETER MEAH RABBANIM from the TALMUD CHACHAM who was targeted by the protest!
Fraudulent Seruvim Against Decent Men
A valid SERUV under Jewish law is a document issued by a reputable and KOSHER rabbinic court indicating that a Jew has been found in violation of a rabbinic court order. Bogus and fraudulent SERUVIM are being wielded on a more frequent basis to justify the vicious harassment and abuse of various decent Jewish men. An unsuspecting Jewish public is not aware of the extent of the invalid SERUV abuses. The Jewish Press and the ORA organization have eagerly publicized a number of these so-called SERUVIM in an attempt to create an appearance of halachic legitimacy to their coercion and abuse against Jewish husbands.
In the Justice Denied section of this site, a number of these PASUL (fraudulent) SERUVIM have been exposed. Bogus SERUVIM may be invalid for a number of reasons. For example, a PASUL SERUV may lack the name, address, and phone number of a real Bais Din, or else a SERUV may be PASUL because the defendant was willing to appear before another Bais Din (not the one he was summoned to), or else a SERUV may be PASUL because the plaintiff in Bais Din was litigating in a non-Jewish court while attempting to use a Bais Din only to obtain a GET.
Numerous Jewish women have had valid and KOSHER SERUVIM issued against them after they had utilized non-Jewish courts against their husbands in violation of HALACHA. Yet it appears that neither the Jewish Press, nor the ORA organization, nor any of the "Modern Orthodox" pro-feminist organizations have EVER published the names of any of the numerous women who have had valid SERUVIM issued against them!!!
Using these kinds of "tactics" of publishing bogus SEIRUVIM (against men only) in the Jewish Press and on the ORA website is another example of unscrupulousness that makes people question the authenticity of various "players" in the BAIS DIN system today. In fact according to HALACHA the persons responsible for these tactics deserve CHEREM, not their victims.
"For 24 actions we ostracize a person ... (1) One who disgraces a Talmid Chacham ... (24) Those who ostracize one who has not incurred ostracizing ..." (Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), Yoreh Deah 334:43).
OZER L'MOSRIM
In many cases women being assisted by ORA and the Jewish Press are utilizing non-Jewish courts in violation of HALACHA. Many of these women are or have engaged in MESIRAH against their husbands, one of the most serious AVEIROS in HALACHA, for which a Jew loses their OLAM HABAAH. Thus ORA and its rabbis and activists are protesting to champion the cases of certain women demanding GITTIN, even though these women may have the status of MOSRIM, and even though they are not conducting proper halachic BAIS DIN processes. These women and their supporters seem to figure - Why bother to appear before a BAIS DIN if we can obtain a bogus SEIRUV and scream AGUNAH?
There is certainly an increasing number of Jewish women attempting to dance at two CHASUNAS at the same time - by litigating in secular courts to get a better deal (K'NEGED HALACHA) and then attempting to utilize BAIS DIN only to obtain their GET afterwards. This unfortunately has been allowed in too many cases by spineless BATEI DIN who either due to profit motives or feminist influences take a very benign docile attitude in insisting that these women immediately withdraw from secular courts, stop the terrible transgression of MESIRAH, and cease throwing their husbands in jail with phony orders of protection. This whole system has caused various RABBANIM ranging from R. J.K. Bleich in America and New York to GADOLIM in Eretz Yisrael to question the validity of many GITTIN that are "coerced" in NY.
Coerced and PASUL GITTIN
No Jewish man is required to give his wife a GET just because the ORA feminists "paskened" that he is required to do so!
The fact of the matter is that one does not have to be a significant Torah scholar, (perhaps now with the feminist influences one does have to be a significant scholar) to know that just because a woman demands a GET, she is NOT entitled to break up her family and obtain a GET. This can only be decided in an authentic BAIS DIN setting that adjudicates the entire issue and rules that the husband is CHAYAV L'GARESHA (that the husband is required to divorce her). Anything less that such a ruling does not obligate a man to give a GET. EHRLICHE RABBANIM will say that its extremely important, lacking that PSAK, not to coerce the husband financially or socially, or to coerce him to give a GET as this will call into question the entire validity of the GET.
All disputes between a husband and wife must be resolved according to HALACHA before a GET procedure is performed. Both husband and wife are prohibited from making any new claims against each other after a GET is provided in a Bais Din, and all the more so in civil courts. The Ramo in Evan HaEzer, Seder HaGet, paragraph 81, clearly proscribes this, and Rav Moshe Feinstein Z"TL says that for many centuries no GET is given until all fiscal and other matters are settled. A woman who litigates in civil court after she receives her GET may very well invalidate the GET.
The activities of the ORA organization, and certain other "AGUNAH" organizations are resulting in coerced and PASUL GITTIN, along with grave injustices against various Jewish men and their families. There have been numerous reports of various Jewish men being harassed and abused by ORA. These are cases of decent men who are NOT obligated under HALACHA to give their wives a GET.
At times the infirm and elderly relatives of certain men have allegedly been subjected to abusive protests by ORA. There have also been reports that ORA has allegedly contacted the employers of some Jewish men in order to pressure the men into giving GITTIN to their wives - see the NY State police report reproduced at the end of this article.
Until recently, on the home page of ORA's web site www.getora.com, it stated that "An agunah is a woman whose husband refuses to grant her a Jewish divorce upon request." By this statement ORA revealed its true anti-TORAH, anti-family agenda. There appears to be no halachic source which can validate this fantastic claim. We consulted with a number of highly learned, senior rabbis, who specialize in Jewish divorce law. None of the rabbis we consulted were able to cite any source for ORA's definition of an "agunah" in any Jewish law texts. At least one learned rabbi this writer spoke with characterized ORA's definition of an "agunah" as being apikorsos.
The "Reformadox" Movements
ORA and other "agunah" organizations attempt to portray themselves as operating within the parameters of HALACHA, but they are clearly violating some of the most serious Torah prohibitions.
ORA could be characterized as a "Reformadox" movement - a movement which pretends to be adhering to Orthodox Jewish law by publicly practicing Jewish rituals like Shabbos and Kashrus, while privately promoting an anti-Torah, anti-male, new age feminist ideology.
As stated in the "Bitul Seruv" letter (in the Justice Denied - LA page of this site):
"... the "ORA" group - shamefully known for their disgraceful actions against the Torah - under the auspices of Josh Ross ( Yehoshua Ross AKA Yehoshua Zev), to whom many False and invalid GITTIN could be credited - which is causing the sin of ESHES EISH and ARAYOS to be allowed, as well as MAMZERIM B'MACHANEINU, [a Get obtained through such practices should be deemed highly questionable and most likely invalid PASUL, it makes one wonder why she would want a GET at all as required by the Torah, since they are violating many other severe laws of the Torah anyway!]
They (ORA) are following the crooked way of the Reform movement, as if in every conflict between husband and wife - the wife has to have the upper hand - to be able to force him to give a GET while depriving him of his rights, as well as in every detail of the conflict she has to have it all according to her wishes. And a husband who is willing to give his wife a GET, but insists on his basic human and halachic rights, is immediately being overwhelmed and publicized falsely as a (disobedient person) and is being shamed, humiliated and embarrassed as though he is a SARBAN (chaining) his wife, while quite the contrary, whereby the wife would only want a GET in a way that deprives her husband of his rights, it is only the wife that is chaining herself rather than the husband chaining her."
Several questions beg themselves: Why has Rabbi Schachter not spoken out about the numerous women using non-Jewish courts and committing MESIRAH, while being assisted by ORA? Is Rabbi Schachter in favor of forcing husbands to give GITTIN while their wives are in court and jailing their husbands? Can Rabbi Schachter's "Modern Orthodoxy" be considered authentic Torah Judaism or is it in reality a type of Reform in disguise?
A COURSE FOR THE ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY
We believe Torah law forbids assisting or participating in protests against decent, HALACHA observing rabbis and men unless and until a kosher, HALACHA observant, non-corrupt, non-feminist, and non-politicized Bais Din authorized such a protest.
No Jew who observes the Torah should support or assist in any way any persons or organizations which promote any violations of HALACHA, and especially severe violations of HALACHA.
We believe HALACHA requires that the Orthodox Jewish Community refrain from supporting or assisting ORA in any way, and HALACHA also requires Jews to refrain from supporting or assisting any other such organizations involved in coercing GITTIN, assisting MOSRIM, and publicly shaming KOSHER Rabbis and Jews.
Page Two of a New York State Police Report
Re: Abusive Communications Allegedly Made by Josh Ross of the ORA Organization Against a Monsey Man
Page Three of a New York State Police Report
Re: Abusive Communications Allegedly Made by Josh Ross of the ORA Organization Against a Monsey Man
Copyright © 2007 by Mishpat Tsedek. All Rights Reserved.
[ Agunot-ORA ] [ Beis Din ] [ Domestic Violence ] [ Erev Rav ] [ Jewish
Posted by shalom67 at 10:46 AM 0 comments
Sunday, January 13, 2008
RCC rabbinical Corruption in california
In the recent case of the "MOSER" relating to the "Spinker"money laundering scandal, I found it pathetic that once again Shachter, from Riets in NYC, and the RCC of California have been quoted as saying that in financial matters "its prohibited to inform the authorities against another jew".What hippocrits they and other rabbis are who allow women to JAIL their husbands or ex-husband in matters relating to finances;be it in divorce proceedings,child support arrears,or a means to extort a GET.There is no basis to have a person jailed in ANY case other than when this person is a danger and menace to society.Such as a rapist,robber,molester,wife beater,child abuser or predator.It is a fact that in many jails today,men are raped or beaten by other scum in the jail,because our system doesnt always put a "nice jew with a nice Goy"!! See this link where rabbi shachter own words prohibit it! http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2007/rsch_mesirah.html I abhor and am disgusted with Rabbis who bend the rules where they see fit to meet their agenda.So no rabbi shachter,no rabbi belski,no rabbi union,no rabbi landesman,no rabbi bryks,no rabbi ralbag, no rabbi kohn, ETC,ETC,ETC.......... A HETER ARKOOS IS UNCALLED FOR WHEN THE MAN DOESNT POSE A DANGER TO HIS WIFE OR CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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rabbinic fraud to the MAX!!!!!!
RCC rabbinical Corruption in california
"One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff."
I betcha any money with the Chumra Tzdreyter "Rabbis" we have today that Kosher certified furniture is not that far off.
Steve,
The only reason why the vaad put out the letter in Baltimore was because it was part of an agreement they made with some of the Eisemann survivors and the administration of Ner Israel. The letter was to only be signed by the rabbonim of Ner Israel. Unfortunately, Shefty Neuberger et al thought it would look much better if the letter came from the vaad. They knew the article about Ephraim Shapiro was about to come out and needed to do some damage control.
The letter was nothing more the a PR event as is the program they are putting together on Feb. 20.
The rav's in the Baltimore community are no better then those in Lakewood, Crown Heights, Williamsburg, etc.
UOJ if I remember correct, predicted the last rate cut would only be 1/4 percent and that the economy would slip into a recession afterwards. I didn't listen and I'm losing money every day in mutal funds. UOJ what should I do now? sell & cut my losses or stick it out.
Above Anon:
I don't know your ability to hang on, and don't know what sector of the economy the funds money is in.
Consumer spending decreased in December .04%...traditionally a pivotal economic indicator. The first such decrease in December, I believe, in 27 years.
A real tough call.
Hatzlacha!
Whatever the ulterior motive was, that letter was a mea culpa and should be used as an example to other communities that it's time for the Establishment to admit past mistakes. As Boog said correctly, we know that the others will never do the same and express vidui and charatta. I was just making a point that they should not feel that they are any better or holier than the Baltimore rabbis. Even when you know that they will not listen, you should always offer them a chance to do tshuvah. We learn this from Moshe Rabbeinu's dealing with Pharoh. A more recent example is UOJ's dealing with Margulies and YTT.
TO Eisemann Survivor,
Can you give us any more details of the agreement that was made between the survivors and the Baltimore rabbis? I understand that you may be prohibited to discuss specifics about the abuse you endured, however any information would be helpful. People need to be aware that this man is dangerous and that he must be kept away from children.
To Anon 9:20 re Mutual Funds:
Truthfully, all money you put in the stock market should be considered gambling money right now. If you have debts, focus on getting out of debt - which might mean pulling out of mutual funds, etc. to pay off debts. In the great scheme of things, being out of debt is likely to be more valuable in this coming cycle than having stocks that could end up not regaining their value for another 5-10 years.
The Chelme Putz from Chicago has another post up about child abuse. I think he envisions himself as taking over UOJ's position.
"UOJ" - "The Un-Orthodox Jew" said: "I am not in a position to speak about his foot-dragging for years;..." maybe because of this. (see esp. 2nd article under 2000 header)
This happened right after a deranged frum man was gunned down in Flatbush and Hynes didn't indict the cops. So the Satmarers took advantage of this to exort pressure on him to let a few criminals go. See also the pupa rebbe's son case (israel greenwald)
I was also at the 'Narrow Bridge' screening in Baltimore a few weeks ago. There was a man there who scared me. I didn't catch his name, yet he identified himself as being a rabbi, attorney and a psychologist.
The extremely large man was speaking extremely loudly while thrashing his arms around. I was afraid he was going to get up and hit someone as he spoke.
He was obviously out of control. All he was doing was spewing the propaganda of the Vaad of Baltimore.
I'm wondering if anyone knows his name? I think all survivors need to be warned to stay away from him.
I think this man should be reported to the APA if he's really a psychologist. I also believe that if he's really a rabbi he should have his ordination revoked. I think the only career this man is qualified for is being a defense attorney for sex offenders.
http://jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/2008/01/watch-panel-discussion-on-child-sexual.html
Audience Member said...
The man you are talking about identified himself as Rabbi Reuven Poupko. Here's his web page: http://www.poupko.com/
He also scared me and I think everyone in the room. I would have described his behavior as being irate.
I think Vicky Polin handled the situation perfectly. I was surprised that they edited his comments out of the video. I think it would have been important for the world to see how insane those who represent the Board of Rabbis are.
January 20, 2008 10:06 PM
No one is above the law even if you are a priest!
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