PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY AT 2:00 P.M. IN FRONT OF YESHIVA TORAH TEMIMAH - 555 OCEAN PARKWAY - NEW LAWSUIT FILED!

LAWSUIT DOCUMENTS AT THE END OF THIS POST! SCROLL DOWN!

***PRESS RELEASE***

$10 Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed Against YESHIVA TORAH TEMIMAH & LIPA MARGULIES, Alleging Sexual Abuse by Rabbi Kolko

What: Attorneys Jeffrey Herman and Adam Horowitz of HERMAN & MERMELSTEIN, P.A., and Michael Dowd, Esq., announce the filing of another ten million dollar lawsuit against YESHIVA TORAH TEMIMAH (based in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn ) in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a minor child by RABBI YUDI KOLKO. According to the Complaint:

The victim, identified as John Doe No. 6, was enrolled as a student in TORAH TEMIMAH, where Rabbi Kolko was a rabbi and teacher.

When JOHN DOE was approximately 11-13 years old and a student at TORAH TEMIMAH, JOHN was sexually abused by Rabbi Kolko on multiple occasions. The abuse took place at various locations, including, without limitation, Rabbi Kolko’s private office in TORAH TEMIMAH and the basement of TORAH TEMIMAH.

Rabbi Margulies, the head administrator at Torah Temimah, knew of allegations that Rabbi Kolko was sexually abusing boys at Torah Temimah years before John Doe No. 6 was abused.

Despite the fact that Rabbi Margulies knew of allegations that Rabbi Kolko was sexually abusing children and was unfit to be a Rabbi or teacher at TORAH TEMIMAH, he took no action to protect the young male students at his school and continued to give Rabbi Kolko unfettered access to young children.

A copy of the lawsuit is available upon request.

When: Monday, March 31 at 2:00 p.m.

Who: Attorneys Adam Horowitz and Michael Dowd

Where: On public sidewalk in front of Yeshiva Torah Temimah

555 Ocean Parkway

Brooklyn , NY 11218

- Jeffrey Herman previously filed four (4) other cases against Yeshiva Torah Temimah alleging sexual abuse by Rabbi Kolko.

- Mr. Herman stated: “The allegations of this Plaintiff are similar to the allegations of the other boys who claim that Rabbi Kolko sexually abused them, and are very disturbing.”

_________________________________________

CONTACT INFORMATION: JEFFREY HERMAN, ESQ. or ADAM HOROWITZ, ESQ. @ 305-931-2200

MICHAEL DOWD, ESQ. @ 212-751-1640

HERMAN & MERMELSTEIN, P.A.

Attorneys At Law

18205 Biscayne Boulevard

Suite 2218

Miami, Florida 33160

www.hermanlaw.com

THE DEFINITION OF RISHUS AND EVIL!

JTA Breaking News

Fifth sex suit filed against N.Y. yeshiva


Published: 03/31/2008

A fifth lawsuit was filed against a New York yeshiva alleged to have covered up the molestation of several students by a rabbi.

Two Miami attorneys filed the $10 million suit Monday against Yeshiva-Mesivta Torah Temimah in Brooklyn alleging that their client, identified only as John Doe No. 6, was abused on multiple occasions as a student in the mid-1990s by Rabbi Yehuda Kolko.

The suit claims that the yeshiva's head administrator, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, who is also named as a defendant, should have been aware of credible accusations against Kolko for at least 25 years prior to the plaintiff's alleged abuse.

Several former students have accused Kolko, a former teacher and assistant principal at the school, of sexual abuse. At least four other pending lawsuits have alleged that the school knew of Kolko's activities and took no action to protect the students.

Kolko was the subject of a 2006 story in New York magazine which said that molestation of young boys by rabbis was a "widespread problem" in the fervently Orthodox community. He is also facing criminal charges brought by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO DISPLAY NEW TORAH TEMIMAH LAWSUIT!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

ISAAC HERSH HAS BEEN FREED FROM THE CLUTCHES OF AARON SCHECHTER AND HIS MINION STEVE MOSTOFSKY!

Have we forgotten our holy Torah?

And he that steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. (Shemos 21:16)

Our holy Torah made no exception for Aaron Schechter. The Torah recognizes Isaac Hersh as an adult and there can be no rationalization made for the horrendous crime committed by Schechter against Hersh.

What has become of us? How do we allow people like Schechter to sit on our dais’ and appear at our simchas? Where is the outcry?

Everyone in Chaim Berlin is aware of the fact that Aaron Schechter was a horribly abusive father. His beatings of his sons are legendary. One need look no further than his two sons to see what happens when Aaron Schechter is allowed free reign on an innocent child.

Yet, once again Chaim Berlin sat quietly this shabbos as Aaron Schechter stood for one of his theatrical shemona esrais. Not one word of protest was heard in Chaim Berlin.

I again ask, HOW MANY OTHER CHILDREN ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE TO AARON SCHECHTER’S SICK VIEW OF THE WORLD?

I fear for our future as a nation when we bestow honor upon Aaron Schechter, someone who is a Lo Tzayit Dino for over 25 years.

Devorim 17:

If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, even matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and get you up unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose.

And you shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and you shall inquire; and they shall declare unto you the sentence of judgment.

And you shall do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto you from that place which the LORD shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you.

According to the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, so you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto you, to the right hand, nor to the left.

And the man that does presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and you shall exterminate the evil from Israel.

וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל

AARON SCHECHTER, HOW MANY OTHER CHILDREN ARE YOU HOLDING HOSTAGE TO YOUR EVIL AND SICK VIEW OF THE WORLD? YOU ARE A RASHA AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH!!!
***************************
A young Bais Yaakov girl expresses her gratitude to Hashem:

The boy was happy

He had escaped his home of sorrow and pain

The boy was happy

He was living in a place where no on could harm him

The boy was happy

Until it was shattered

The phone call

Was received

The phone call

Seemed a peace offering

The phone call

Was not what it seemed

The boy was in pain

He was suffering

The boy was in pain

In a place devoid of Torah

The boy was in pain

He was trapped

The boy was in pain

There was no way out

The boy has been freed

Hashem stretched out his hand

The boy has been freed

Hashem held him in his mighty grip

The boy has been freed

And took him out of Gehenim

The boy has been freed

How mighty are the ways of Hashem?
*********************************
WELCOME HOME ISAAC! THE JEWISH NATION - WITH THE HELP OF HASHEM - WILL WATCH OVER YOU AND PROTECT YOU FROM ALL EVIL! AM YISROEL CHAI!
Isaac is on U.S. soil!

AARON SCHECHTER, THE CHARADE IS OVER. YOU’VE BEEN EXPOSED FOR THE EVIL LOW-LIFE THAT YOU ARE!

Harav Shamshon Weiss, ZTL to Fruchthandler and Schechter:

“…you digest the problem of “Gezeyla.” “Gezeyla Me’deuraisa,” pure and simple. Try to digest it, if you can. Or will that, too, become part of the strategy to destroy a fine, good and noble Jew, of course all in the service of “Kvod Horav” and “L’shem Shomayim”? I DO NOT ENVY YOU PEOPLE. [In other words, you’re all going straight to hell.]

Read the entire letter below:

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:



****************************************************
UPDATE 4:28 P.M. EST!!!!!!!!!

UOJ Exclusive

St. Elizabeth, Jamaica:

The three medical and legal professionals who flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica to examine Isaac Hersh were detained yesterday by the Jamaican authorities on charges of impersonating a parent and attempted kidnapping after successfully having met with Isaac Hersh.

According to sources in the United States Embassy, a complaint was sworn to the Jamaican authorities by Michael Hersh, Steven Mostofsky, Esq. and Rabbi Aaron Schechter in which they alleged that the three professionals were attempting to kidnap Isaac Hersh.

They remain in the custody of the Jamaican authorities pending clarification of the veracity of the Schechter teams' allegations.

**********************************************************
NEWSFLASH - 3:08 P.M. EST!!!!!!!!

UOJ Exclusive

St. Elizabeth, Jamaica:

A private jet carrying medical and legal professionals arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica yesterday where they were met by officials from the United States Embassy who escorted them to the Tranquility Bay compound.

Once there they demanded and were granted access to Isaac Hersh.

Isaac was taken to the Embassy where he confirmed on the record that he had been abused by his father, Michael Hersh while living at home and was currently being tortured and deprived of basic necessities in Tranquility Bay.

At the insistence of Michael Hersh who currently has legal custody of Isaac, Steve Mostofsky who is Michael’s attorney and Rabbi Aaron Schechter who is Michael’s spiritual advisor, Isaac was returned to the Tranquility Bay compound.

Affidavits, together with testimony - is being presented to a federal judge in New York --- who is being asked to take custody of Isaac from his father, Michael Hersh.
*******************************************************
UPDATED! Reb Moshe Feinstein bestows semicah on the Mashgiach of Chaim Berlin, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein brands Aaron Schechter a Lo Tzayit Dino.************************************
CLICK ON LETTER TO ENLARGE!

*********************************************************
Hey Aaron Schlechter you Lo Tzayit Dino - sheigetz - putz - bum - who gave you semicha? You had better release Isaac from prison NOW or this onslaught will continue until you're forced off the Moetzes and no self respecting Jew will allow you on their dais.***************************************************
NEW - UPDATED LASHON HARA!!!!NEW LETTERS!!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!! PRINT THEM OUT!!!*****************************************************

***WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS PUTZ?*** "Aaron and Avrohom, if you want to see swine just look in the mirror"
****************************************************
*********NEVER BEFORE RELEASED LETTER ON AARON SCHLECHTER. R' MOSHE BRANDED HIM "LO TZAYIT DINO"!CLICK ON LETTER TO ENLARGE!*******************************
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE: THE LETTER NEEDS NO EXPLANATION!


February 1, 1982

To the honorable Rabbi Aaron Moshe Schechter, head of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh and Reb Avrohom Chaim Fruchthandler, President of the Board of Directors:

Peace and Blessings!

Upon the claim of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, we are summoning you to stand in judgment before the Bais Din of Agudas Harabonim within the next two weeks from today. Please respond by return mail as to your readiness to stand before us in judgment.

In the interim, Rabbi Carlebach retains his rights to his position as Mashgiach and spiritual leader of Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh, and it is therefore forbidden for anyone to assume this position and it is further forbidden for anyone to rise to his position. You are also obligated to continue paying him his full salary as before.

With much respect,

Bais Din of Agudas Harabonim

[Rabbi] Moshe Feinstein, Head

[Rabbi] Tzvi Meir Ginzberg, Dean



**********************Isaac Hersh*****************
************************************************************
From independent sources as well on the JS Blog:

I am informed that Rabbi Aaron Schechter from Chaim Berlin and the Agudath Israel Moetzes Gedolei Torah of America - has approved of the incarceration of this child, and supports the parents Michael and Miriam Hersh! Schechter should be locked up in a nut-house!

Law Offices
Joshua M. Ambush, LLC
Hilton Plaza
1726 Reisterstown Rd., Suite 206
Baltimore, Maryland 21208

Contact: Joshua M. Ambush, Esquire, 410-484-2070

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDERAL LAW SUIT FILED TO RESCUE CHILD FROM MODERN DAY CONCENTRATION CAMP


March 20, 2008, Baltimore, MD

The Washington Center for Peace and Justice, Inc. filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a 16 year old Brooklyn boy seeking injunctive relief to stop his abuse and to gain his release from a notorious behavior modification facility in Jamaica, West Indies, where he was sent after being brutally seized at the behest of his parents, Michael and Miriam Hersh. Michael Hersh is a former student of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and a disciple of Rabbi Aaron M. Schechter, dean of the Yeshiva.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, details the long history of abuse of the boy by his father that culminated in his being forcibly removed from his house in the early morning hours on June 13, 2007. The boy was sadistically handcuffed and dragged to a waiting van by two men hired by his parents while shocked witnesses helplessly watched him plead with his abductors.

It was not until several months later that worried family members learned that the boy had been sent by his parents to Tranquility Bay, an affiliate of World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs, WWASPS. The complaint details documented cases of abuse at Tranquility Bay which includes beatings, sexual assault, food deprivation and excessive use of isolation.

Joshua Ambush, the lead counsel in the case, announced the filing of the action against the parents. Michael Hersh, father of the boy is the CEO of Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc., the largest all-volunteer ambulance service in the United States. The complaint also names the State Department for constitutional and civil rights violations.

Ambush emphasized that the lawsuit is not about tort damages, but rather is an effort to save the boy's life and rescue him from a modern day concentration camp. "Child abuse by a parent should not be tolerated in civilized society, and should not be tolerated when the parents hires surrogates to perpetrate the abuse. It is unconscionable that perpetrators of abuse are able to evade prosecution by virtue of the fact that the abuse is taking place outside the jurisdiction of the Untied States. In addition to rescuing this child, this suit seeks to demonstrate that federal courts, in such cases, retain jurisdiction over the abusers and those that aid and protect them."

A copy of the complaint that was failed in this case is attached.

http://www.geocites.com/safeisaac/files/HershComplaint.pdf

Joshua Ambush will be available for interviews by phone appointment at 410-484-2070

http://geocities.com/saveisaac/

http://geocities.com/saveisaac/files/HershComplaint.pdf

http://geocities.com/saveisaac/files/UpdatedPressRelease.pdf

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2001/04/24/2001-04-24_stox_fraud_won_t_fly_ranch_1.html
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:


KAJ WITHDREW SUPERVISION FROM RUBASHKIN FOR KASHRUTH REASONS! CLICK ON LETTER!

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK JEWISH COMMUNITY

After speaking with numerous Hatzoloh members it has been made clear that the people primarily responsible for the hiring of Michael Hersh and seeing Hatzoloh dragged into the public eye are: Zelig Gitelis (F-19) who lives at 1319 East 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 [Cell no. 1-917-612-3519 – Home no. 1-718-434-5359] and Yitzi Stern (B-30) who lives at 1405 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11204 [Cell no. 1-917-559-8880 – Home no. 1-718-633-3905].

They were the active members of the Hatzoloh search committee and offered the most vocal support for his hire. They failed us and their executive responsibilities by hiring someone with no previous employment history and a record of child abuse. In addition, the fact that we’re paying him an annual salary $250,000 is an outrage.

All this on the say of Rabbi Aaron Schechter.

Their responsibilities are to Hatzoloh and the Jewish community who support Hatzoloh, not to any individual or other group. We hold them personally responsible for this embarrassment of Hatzoloh, Klal Yisroel’s proudest organization, and demand they take immediate action to see that Hatzoloh is kept out of the news and can return to their incredible mission of saving, not assisting in the destruction of, Jewish lives.

We are going to research and post the names of all the guilty members of the Hatzoloh board that caused this travesty and hold them personally responsible for their actions.***********************
YESHIVA VERITZKY/CHAIM BERLIN DISPUTE!CLICK ON LETTER!

Jewish family sues Jamaican reform school for troubled teens

BY KIRSTEN DANIS
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, March 25th 2008, 4:00 AM

A battle has erupted in the Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager sent by his prominent family to a behavior boot camp accused of terrifying abuse.
Isaac Hersh, 16, has been trapped since last summer at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica with a soothing name - and harsh discipline, according to the lawyer hired to try to get him out.
"It's a modern-day concentration camp," said Maryland lawyer Joshua Ambush.
Isaac's estranged parents sent him to the boot camp last year after luring him back to Brooklyn from his new home in Texas, court papers claim.
Isaac's twin brother, Sol, is panicked he's next to go.
"He's very worried about his brother. He's very worried about himself, too," said a friend of the family who asked to remain anonymous.
Tranquility Bay offers the promise of turning bad boys into focused achievers, but the walled-off camp with barred windows has been called a nightmare.
Children have been beaten, forced to eat their vomit and made to stand in painful contortions for hours, according to a separate suit filed in Utah by former students against private boot camps, including Tranquility Bay.
The case has so riled up members of the normally insular Orthodox community that several are taking the rare step of publicizing Isaac's situation.
One one side is Isaac's informal Texas foster family, who are also Orthodox, and their supporters, who prompted a nonprofit to file suit in Washington last week on Isaac's behalf.
They claim he was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of a job, handcuffed and thrown into a van that took him to the boot camp as he cried and begged to be released, the suit says.
On the other side are the teen's father, Michael Hersh - CEO of Brooklyn's huge Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah - and his wife, Miriam.
"Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement.
The couple has a prominent supporter in Rabbi Aaron Schecter, head of Brooklyn's tight-knit Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, according to the suit.
It is unclear what prompted the parents to send Isaac to another country. Michael Hersh did not return a call for comment.
They had a troubled relationship for years, according to the suit.
Isaac, one of eight children, was sent to schools in Virginia and Long Island before the family moved to Israel in 2002, where the parents were accused of abusing Isaac, the suit says.
From there, the boys went to live with families in Texas, although the parents never lost custody.
"They're healthy, good, normal teenage boys," said the family friend.

Trickled Down Hate Mail!

The hate mail is all but gone!

For shame; I used to learn so much from them. I would see the blind hatred for the truth. I would see what brainwashing has done to a generation. It destroyed logic - rationalism and common sense, and essentially destroyed Orthodox Judaism. The rabbis - you got to hand it to them - they got it down to a science.

They created this atmosphere of blind obedience; the kind we saw by David Koresch in Waco, and Jim Jones in Jonestown. They must have had a few meetings with the most Reverend Moon, Jew-lover - America-lover - white-boy lover - Jeremiah Obama Wright, and Ron Hubbard. Maybe a lesson or two from Jesse Jackson.

Keep your people dumb and ignorant - make certain they consider everything evil - except the ideas you want them to adhere to.

Make certain they hate reason, and intellect. Never let them make a move without your approval. Keep them poor - except for the rich that you designate as your ally - for your whims. Keep the passions alive - not the healthy ones - the most hysterical - venom filled - disdain for any reasonable value that is not congruous with your agenda.

Make certain you keep them desperate; desperate people will grab on to any idea that will make them a "somebody" in your evil eyes. Keep them in a ghetto/community - where they can be supervised and controlled. Create a huge sense of shame - if they dare step outside the box. Control the food they eat - where you profit off every morsel. Tell them how much sex they can have - and when and how to have it. Tell them that science is off limits - they just may discover a truth or two - Heaven forbid!

Tell them the rabbis are infallible - and anyone that does not buy that - is deemed an apostate - not worthy of being a member of the Jewish community. Never let your kids marry in to that family - God protect us. Break the "average" guy's back with $25/lb. matzohs - $200 esrogim - $10,000 a year tuition - $5000 for summer camps! Don't let the poor bastard breathe! Make certain that you follow him to the office - than double back to his house in a different car with a different driver - a week later with a different notebook of fraudulent rabbinic endorsements.

Create emergency meetings for the self-inflicted poor in Israel - because they were instructed never to leave the four walls of B'nei Brak or Jerusalem. Keep their wives pregnant - forbidding birth control - to make certain they are never able to feed themselves without your brachas, advice and "wisdom".

Ban anything and everything that may cause them to have moments of truth and enjoyment - and maybe just maybe - for a brief second - they may actually feel good -and find life worth living. Disgrace them for not being able to donate huge sums of money to your family businesses - by seating them in the back of the catering hall at dinners and gatherings. Never honor a "poor" guy --- that may be the "honorable" thing to do - Heaven forbid. Sit every thief and low-life at the dais of your dinners - teach our kids who the real people are.

Create perpetual " parasites" by keeping every one in kollel, and denying them a reasonable secular education - breaking their will to the point that they can not have a healthy mind --- in fact turning them in to perverts in one sense or another. Then put these same people around our children as teachers, mentors and rabbis --- broke, desperate, eager to please themselves in any way possible - fearful of their jobs, fearful of every healthy thing, fearful to think, fearful of being exposed for the misfits they are.

Elevate them to principals or rosh yeshivas - strictly because their fathers own the place. Never concern yourselves with "ability" or healthy psyche - or appropriate values! Perpetuating the family name and business is what counts - at the expense of your children - and their children - and their children - until the end of time!

The Dr. Death laboratory experiment continues. Even the rats get to enjoy a bite of cheese here and there - not you!

Oh yes - the more you suffer in this life - the more enjoyment in the World To Come!

Ah Letter In A Bottle!

Lipa Margulies
Yeshiva & MesiFta Torah Temimah
555 Ocean Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11218

Dear Lipa,

Ah freilichen erev Purim. I am writing to say hello (it’s been a while) and give you a heads-up on the next few months scheduling - so that you can plan accordingly.

As you know, attorneys Jeff Herman and Michael Dowd sent a letter to over a thousand of your and Kolko’s korbonot - inviting them to join him in putting you away for good. People have responded and --- I expect to be announcing a new lawsuit next week.--- Maybe this time you’ll come out and say hello to all the nice reporters and TV camera men instead of hiding under your desk.

Your good friend Yudi Kolko’s criminal trial is scheduled to start in two weeks and now that his lawyer has lost the Nixzmary Brown case - (25 years in prison is the expected sentence, a nice precedent) - the trial should move forward on time. Word is that he’s offering to testify against you and Applegrad in exchange for a plea deal - but the DA feels they have enough against you to indict and convict you without Kolko’s help. I’ll let you know how that turns out. Bet you can't wait!

Most importantly -- you grube menuvel, shtik ferd, fress drek du hunt -- (I’m sorry, I get carried away when I think of all the defenseless little children you hurt so badly over the past four decades), see if you can turn yourself in and avoid being picked up in handcuffs from the yeshiva --- and upsetting the yeshiva boys who can’t comprehend the pure evil you represent.

Lipa, you drekfresser - eat, drink and be merry this Purim; for, next week the end begins.

As always if you need to contact me just have Yaakov Applegrad post a comment on my blog and if it’s fit to print I’ll post it. I'm certain by now you know, the Authorities are monitoring every move - you, Applegrad and Kleinman are making! Every touch of the keyboard, every trip to the bathroom, every phone call, your cell phones, your mail, your conversations,...but no reason for paranoia! Daas Torah is on your side - so said Pinky Scheinberg when I visited him and recorded my conversations with him about you!

Oh yes, please tell your friend Shmuel Kaminetzky - I'm in posession of his "Kolko-teshuva" recording as well. Yes - you ever min hachai- you posul parah adumah - I am way ahead of all of you momzeirim - I keep immaculate records and have in my possession oh so many phone recordings - of sooo many "rabbis". I will strike - when I'm ready - in every forum - when you least expect it! I don't get angry - I GET EVEN - AND THEN SOME!

"Aza rasha - Ah yeshiva geboit oif geganveter gelt - ken kain mahl nit huben a kiyum!" ....Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky ztvk'l --- Miami Beach - winter 1985

UOJ

THANK YOU AGUDATH ISRAEL - THANK YOU MOETZES GEDOLEI TORAH OF AMERICA - THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FOR 40 YEARS!

************************************************************
I URGE EVERYONE AND ANYONE WITH INFORMATION HELPFUL TO THE CHILD VICTIMS OF YESHIVA TORAH TEMIMAH, LIPA MARGULIES, YEHUDA KOLKO...AND ALL THE RABBINICAL PARTICIPANTS OF THE COVER-UP FOR DECADES - TO CONTACT ATTORNEY JEFFREY HERMAN!***************************************************

Regarding Mesirah

by Rabbi Hershel Schachter - Rosh Kollel - Kollel Elyon

The prohibition of mesirah is well known among religious Jews. The severity of this issur becomes ever so clear when we read in Shulchan Aruch that a mosser is dino ke’akum with respect to writing a sefer Torah (Yoreh Deah 281:3) and with respect to shechitah ( Remah ibid 2:9). Even if the mosser is otherwise an observant individual, and is meticulous in fulfilling his religious duties, because he demonstrates his rejection of the unity of all of Klal Yisroel (by his act of mesirah), he is treated as an akum (see Rambam, Hilchos Teshuva 3:11 and Nefesh Horav pg. 235).

If, however, one is guilty of a crime, and according to the law of the land deserves a prison sentence, or will be put to death, even though according to Jewish law his punishment would not be as severe, this is not mesirah (see Ritva to Bava Metsia 83b; Dvar Avraham vol. I pg. 8). One would still not be allowed to hand this individual over to the civil authorities because this is the equivalent of returning aveidas akum, which is usually not allowed. In an instance of avoiding a chilul Hashem, just like we would be obligated to return the aveidas akum, so too we would be obligated to hand over this individual (see Rama, Choshen Mishpat 388:12).

If the non-Jewish governmental authorities know that one Jew is concealing information about another Jew in order to save him from punishment, the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 28:3) considers this a situation of chilul Hashem. Similarly, for many generations it was the practice that if a gneiva had occurred, and suspicion had fallen on the Jewish community, rather than allow that suspicion to hover over the entire community, the roshei hakehol, with the permission of the rabbonim, would inform the non-Jewish authorities who might possibly be the real ganav (Be’er Hagola, Choshen Mishpat 388:12).

Even if one is guilty of a crime and deserves a punishment according to the laws of the land, but due to anti-semitic attitudes he will probably suffer more than if he were a non-Jew; or, the (state) prison conditions are such that he will suffer at the hands of the other inmates (or at the hands of the guards) in a manner that is not proscribed by law, then turning the offender in would constitute mesirah, since his added suffering will be shelo kadin. However, mesirah is permitted in situations where one is a public menace (see Shach to Choshen Mishpat 388, 59), or if one is physically or psychologically harming another individual (for example, in instances of sexual abuse of children, students, campers etc., or spousal abuse) (see Shach to Choshen Mishpat ibid, 45).

The Jewish community does not have the ability to investigate these types of cases. Wherever there are raglayim ladavar that there seems to be a problem, the proper government agencies should be contacted to investigate.

Just as in other areas of halachah, one should consult a competent moreh horaah when faced with such a shayla. Just because one is knowledgeable in Yoreh Deah vol. I or one delivers a good pilpul shiur on sugyos in Nashim or Nezikin, it does not necessarily follow that that individual will be qualified to pasken on hilchos mesirah – lehakel or lehachmir.


CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:


Lawyers Against Kolko Seek Additional Victims;

Trial Set For March 31, 2008

by Hella Winston

Special to the Jewish Week

Lawyers representing "several men" and "two young boys" who were allegedly sexually molested by a teacher at Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Brooklyn sent a letter March 13 to the families of more than 600 male students who had Rabbi Yehuda Kolko as an instructor.

The letter, from attorneys Jeffrey Herman and Michael Dowd, is "seeking any information that may be helpful to these important cases, including information that staff at Torah Temimah and/or [founder and head of school] Rabbi [Lipa] Margulies was aware of allegations against Rabbi Kolko."

According to the letter, "Two of the boys allege they were abused by Rabbi Kolko while attending the yeshiva during the past few years. Others allege they were abused by Rabbi Kolko at the yeshiva during the 1980s."

"[The letter] is part of our investigation," Herman told The Jewish Week Friday. "We are interested in speaking with families whose kids were with Rabbi Kolko at school and may have information that's relevant. We allege that there were complaints going back for decades about Rabbi Kolko.

"My sense is that the community is really coming around," Herman continued, "and that people [in the community] are much more willing to cooperate than they were a few years ago."

In December of 2006, Rabbi Kolko was arrested and indicted by a
Brooklyn grand jury on sexual abuse charges that involved a 6-year- old boy and a 31-year-old man; the latter alleges he was abused by the rabbi as a boy and again when he returned to visit the school in 2005.

Rabbi Kolko was arrested again in September 2007 on charges that he molested a first grader at the school in 2005. Rabbi Kolko remains free on $60,000 bail.

According to a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, preliminary hearings are set to begin in Rabbi Kolko's criminal case on March 31.

Over the past several years, YTT has been served with four civil lawsuits by five students. The most recent, filed in January 2007 on behalf of an underage "John Doe," alleges that the yeshiva covered up the abuse during the 2004-2005 school year, and seeks $10 million.

The yeshiva has denied a cover-up.

"I have been deeply involved in cases involving child sexual abuse for the past 12 years," Dowd, who just joined Herman on the Torah Temimah case, told The Jewish Week Friday. "And whether it be the Boy Scouts or the Catholic Church, whoever does this to children, they have to be stopped, the children have to be made whole and the children have to be protected in the future.

"The only way you defeat evil in this world is by standing up to it," Dowd continued. "We are asking and appealing to the children of the community that have been subjected to this evil to come forward and confront this evil, which is to be condemned in the eyes of men and in the eyes of God. We protect the evildoers when we remain silent. There is no difference whether it be a priest or a Boy Scout leader, it's all wrong."

A message left for the attorney for YTT, Avi Moskowitz, was unreturned.

A TIME TO COME TOGETHER IN TEFILLAH FOR KLAL YISROEL!

photos by Reuters

JERUSALEM - A terrorist entered the library of a rabbinical seminary - Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav Kook - and opened fire on a crowded nighttime study session Thursday, killing eight teens and wounding nine before he was slain, police and rescue workers said. It was the first major terrorist attack in Jerusalem in more than four years.

Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip praised the operation in a statement, and thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate......










************************************************************