Stamford Hill, London – Williamsburg Controversial Activist Heckled, Flees To Get Police Protection
Published on: 07-24-08 at 07:19 PM - London
Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg of Brooklyn, New York, and a controversial figure in its Williamsburg-neighborhood Chasidic community, was physically accosted this evening by dozens of angry Chasidim in London’s Stamford Hill, after he visited today that community to assist in a private matter.
Seeing a hostile situation about to erupt out of control, Rabbi Rosenberg managed to flee to a passing police car, which carried him away to safety. He is currently being held under protection of the Met, London’s police force, until his departure and return to the U.S.
Rabbi Rosenberg is well-known for helping establish mikvaos all over the world over the past 20 years. His notoriety has spiked in recent months, however, due to his newly-adopted personal crusade against an internal communal problem which he claims goes ignored and untreated in the Orthodox community: molestation of children.
His advice/support hotline and call-in phone show, which he claims draws 10,000 listeners, has labeled specific prominent rabbis and educators as perpetrators, earning him a ban by several dozen New York rabbonim a few weeks ago on grounds of unnecessarily vulgar and graphic language, not to mention exposure of otherwise reputable individuals.
Mr. Rosenberg appeared a couple of weeks ago on a Jewish talk radio show , where he vowed he will not stop his crusade despite a ban against him.
........ And the great rabbis and sages - gedolim - and great judges - say thank you to R' Nuchem!
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:
I just added this criminal to my gedolim album!
ReplyDelete--------------------------
Senator Ted Stevens Is Reportedly Indicted
The Republican senator from Alaska was indicted on seven
counts related to his holding of public office, a federal law
enforcement official told Reuters on Tuesday.
R' Nuchem is the perfect sort of figure to take on these mafia animals. He is a tremendous talmid chochom & yiras shomoyim so no one can question his integrity. He can wipe the floor with most of them in learning. He is the biggest bokee in hilchos mikvaos since the Helmetzer Rebbe was niftar.
ReplyDeleteGood! Let the humble and righteous who truly sacrifice for the good of the little guy get some positive exposure on the father of all warrior's website. Go UOJ! Go Nuchem Rosenberg! Go Shmarya! Go Vikki! Go Michael Lesher! Go Framowitz! Go HaAretz! Go get them bastards you lonesome doves who now do battle against the empire of fraud that has sucked every last dollar and ounce of strength and pride from our communities. Together we stand and together we shall conquer! Mi Lashem Elei!!!
ReplyDeleteDr. Lipner's interview will be posted when the clip becomes available.
ReplyDeleteNuchem Rosenberg went to London to meet with a victim of sexual abuse and his family. The child alleges he was molested by his rebbe. I have not been able to confirm the allegations independently - YET!
Comments on the Dov Hikind interview with Dr. Asher Lipner.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------
A Yasher Koach to NYS Assemblyman Dov Hikind and his panelists on his most recent radio show this past motsei Shabbos, Saturday night at 11 p.m. Together with my wife, we sat in our car, in the driveway, for the full hour, and listened to the show in its entirety. What I came away with the most was the great emotion involved on the part of all, and the commitment, particularly on the part of the Assemblyman, to eradicate this terrible problem among us. I was very pleased to hear that future radio shows on this subject will be held.
-------------------------------
The issue of mesira was addressed - can a Jew inform the Government that another Jew is a sex molester? One panelist correctly said, Our major halachic authorities have answered affirmatively. I recall Mr. Hikind commenting to the effect that this information has become well-known, and by now, it is a "simple" matter. I agree. It is a davar pashut, a simple matter. One of the great benefits of filing a criminal complaint against a sex molester is that once convicted, this person becomes listed on the public "Megan's Law" sex offender registries. It will become difficult for him to get a job working with children, if the prospective employer does a due diligence background check. Child sex molesters are notorious repeat offenders, and many lives will be saved because one brave person decided to "press charges".
I also recall panelist Asher Lipner drawing attention to last week's case of a frum New Jersey part-time basketball coach deceiving boys into delivering immodest photos to him. Photographs can also be defined as sex abuse. We were also reminded, unfortunately, that despite the increase public attention the sex abuse problem has received, the problem remains with us, and occasionally breaks into the news.
-------------------------
As I was reading Asher's email, particularly the part about "attacking rabbonim", another thought came to mind. A caller name "Dovid" attacked Dov Hikind by saying he "hated rabbonim". Before Dov had a chance to respond, "Dovid" hung up the phone. I started to think - What's wrong with hate? We're against sinas chinam, unjustified hatred, but what about hatred that is justified? It is, in fact, a mitzvah, to at least hate Amalek. Unfortunately, there are a few r'shaim among our people. Some of them are child sex molesters. Do we tell the victims, You are not allowed to hate your molesters? Do we tell that to the victims' parents? Do we tell that to anybody? Other religions emphasize love to the exclusion of everything else. Torah is different. We at first hate the sin, and not the sinner, but if the sin is great, and the sinner does not do teshuvah, I, for one, would never lecture anybody that he should not hate. Just one man's thoughts.
I cannot name names at this time but I was there when a choshuve rosh kollel spoke up on Shabbos in support of R' Nochum Rosenberg. He says R' Nochum of course hot groise zchusim if he is matzil even a single neshomo and that he wishes more rabbonim would step up to the plate. He is appalled that anyone is trying to stop him.
ReplyDeleteHey lakewood talmid, y dont u name names? Y must all who stand for whats halachicly right cower in the corner in secrecy? Stand up and say it out loud or these chicken roshei kolel should get a regular 9-5 job and leave rabonis for the likes of r' nuchem rosenberg, R' Yankel Horowitz, Rabbis Shachter & Blau etc.
ReplyDeleteNo room for cowards now that "Rosenberg Time" has arrived. Stand up and be counted for g-d's sake or shutup and watch from the sidelines with your frock tails between your legs like a contrite puppy!
Wew! UOJ, it must be the heat getting to me. Sorry.
(Signed, Your old disciple and direct beneficiary of your endless support and kindness, in semi-hiding, who comes up for some air every now and then.)
God bless you Rabbi Rosenberg you’re amazing. Only truly great people are treated this way by rabbis.
ReplyDeleteIt is rooted in these two elements, greed and cowardice. They are paid or threatened to be cut by some philanthropists for them to follow orders. They are fed one-sided arguments and perceptions, without inquiring about the other side of the equation. Once they make their proclamations, they are too cowardly to reverse course and do what’s right. Look at Hirsch and Finkel the rabbis were sold a bill of goods, bribed and threatened to take action. The evil rabbis followed the money and listened. Once they heard the truth, the rabbis were too cowardly to reverse course. The desecration of God’s name is truly mindboggling.
The great sages of Agudath Israel are making a mockery of our religion. We are turning into “the laugh unto the nations”. No organization is perfect, everyone has shortcomings. The Orthodox Union had problems, but eventually addressed them. The RCA had an issue, but addressed it head on. They followed a crisis plan, and came away stronger as a result. Agudath Israel is too cowardly to admit there is a problem.
The time has come for the OU and RCA to actively lobby for Orthodoxy. Let the message go out, Agudath Israel is not Orthodoxy. Agudath Israel represents less than 30% of Orthodoxy. Agudath Israel only represents individuals 63 and older, not te future of Orthodoxy.
God bless you Rabbi Rosenberg!
God bless all victims of abuse and oppression!
Young Israeli is a troubled organization. So troubled, in fact, that it is leading an Agriprocessors–paid tour to Postville.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Young Israel doing this? Let's see what Rabbi…
…Pesach Lerner has to say:
“We’re going down to see for ourselves, ask our own questions, and see where the truth lies,” said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who is executive vice president of the National Council for Young Israel, an umbrella group for Orthodox synagogues that is helping to organize the trip. “We’ve already learned that you can’t trust any of the papers in the media. Too many have their own agenda, and too many write with their own angles.”
With three short sentences Rabbi Lerner has dismissed the work of dozens of reporters.
But worse than that, nowhere does Rabbi Lerner mention what should be the flip side to his argument – every rabbi involved with Agriprocessors must also be viewed as biased and those rabbis' claims should be dismissed.
The same holds true for Agriprocessors and its owners, the Rubashkin family of Chabad-Lubavitch hasidim.
Rabbi Pesach Lerner's little field trip, wholly paid for by Agriprocessors, is not open to the media. It is also not open to gathering accurate information:
“The more people who visit and take an interest in what’s going on in Postville, the better,” Allen told the Forward, adding that if the Orthodox leaders “really want to find out what’s going on, they need to speak not only with people at the plant but they need to speak with the workers, and the workers need to be able to talk openly and honestly, without any fear of intimidation or repercussions.”
Lerner said that no time had been set aside specifically to talk to workers but that Agriprocessors had assured the Orthodox delegation that its members could speak with anyone in the plant. He said he believed that some of the members of the group speak Spanish.
This is simply taking a page out of Rabbi Asher Zeilingold's playbook. Zeilingold, who "investigated" Agriprocessors in 2006 and found absolutely nothing wrong, did exactly what Young Israel is about to do.
PR – no matter how bad – is not a crime (unless 5WPR is involved, that is).
Still, it is hard to find another word to describe what these rabbis are about to do, and what so many rabbis have done before.
http://www.forward.com/articles/13860/
Lerner, the trip organizer, declined to provide names of the people making the upcoming trip, but he said that the group would include 20 to 25 rabbis and organizational leaders from all parts of the country. Lerner also said that Agriprocessors was paying for the visit and that the trip would be closed to the press.
Menachem Lubinsky, president and CEO of the kosher industry consulting firm Lubicom and a spokesman for Agriprocessors, declined to comment on the visit.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005954.html
ReplyDeleteSurf's up - but it's kosher!
By Tamar Rotem
At the beginning of July, Belz, the second-largest Hasidic sect in Israel after the Gur Hasidim, openly declared it was connected to the Internet. The announcements the sect distributed at synagogues in its centers in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem were, in effect, an exhortation to members who need the Internet for purposes of earning a living to use the "kosher" Internet. The message was also received by the greater ultra-Orthodox world to "make the vermin kosher" on the Web - in a supervised way, of course. Thus Belz fomented a revolution, whose outcome is not yet clear.
More than 60 percent of ultra-Orthodox households have computers, but many people in the community still relate to them with suspicion. The computer has not been banned outright like television, because there is a general understanding that it is needed for people's livelihoods. "Making a living" has always been a rationale for allowing modernity to come in through the front door, even in such households. The same is true with the Internet, even though it is considered more problematic because it is potentially a link to everything that is forbidden, from pornography to apostasy.
It is hard to estimate the number of ultra-Orthodox surfers, but from the flourishing of forums catering to this sector (at the Hydepark site alone there are more than 200), one can understand that the Internet "underworld" has already become an integral part of ultra-Orthodox life and a vital need in a community where restrictions and prohibitions are the daily bread.
"The Internet is a reality. It is inevitable. Every day more and more ultra-Orthodox surfers appear. But this threatens the foundations of ultra-Orthodox society," explains an ultra-Orthodox commentator on media matters. He preferred not to be identified by name, which testifies to the fact that despite relative openness, everything connected to the Internet is still problematic in his community.
"The problem is that exposure to pornography can occur very quickly," he explains. "I'm not talking about people who are looking for it, but about those who are not. Innocent people. It happens by chance: A fellow of 30, married and the father of children, suddenly sees naked girls and all the rest. This is tragic, because his world collapses in an instant. He is not prepared for this psychologically and emotionally. But even without pornography, there's a problem because our public is curious, and this is a world of information to which a person can become addicted."
The man adds that until now, ultra-Orthodox functionaries who deal with media matters have understood the dangers of Internet, but have swept them under the rug because it was not legitimate to talk about the subject. But these boundaries have been broken. "Belz are the first to have come out of the closet. They have admitted that that such a thing exists, that their Hasids surf, so now they have come up with a solution," he says.
The solution is supervised surfing. Belz representatives recently signed a contract with Rimon Internet, which provides various surfing packages at different levels of "openness," according to the client's requirements.
"Thus far the solutions provided in the context of kosher Internet were a closed list of sites, but this has not proven itself," says Kobi Hacker, CEO of Rimon Internet. "We screen the sites, but provide a surfing experience."
Without women
For the client, Rimon Internet acts as an Internet provider. The person connects to it and can only surf sites whose contents have been approved. At the company they offer three different, closed packages. All allow access only to sites that are safe with respect to modesty - that is, there are no photographs of women on them. But some sites have been blocked that are problematic from the perspective of the ultra-Orthodox worldview - like, for example, the Geographical Society's site or others belonging to museums. At some sites certain textual contents or photos have been blocked, and they can only be accessed in a limited way.
In cooperation with a special committee on media matters, which gives "certifications of kashrut" on behalf of the Belz sect, a special package called Natir has been created, which is even more restricted than other ultra-Orthodox ones.
What is permitted? A map of the accessible sites provides a look at the sect's worldview. One can see from it how the rather dour Belz community - which is actually more connected to the world than, say, the Satmars - wants the average Hasid to experience the world. This is, of course, a black-and-white world, both in terms of content and visuals.
First of all, there are 150 different sites that are generally useful or business-related, and are open to the Belz surfer. Plus an immeasurably longer list of sites that are blocked, which are defined as "black," at Rimon. It is not surprising, for example, that Belz leaders aren't interested in having their members surf the Hadrei Haredim forum on the Hydepark site. This forum provides a stage for harsh criticism of the ultra-Orthodox public and its leaders. Forums of the Satmar community, Belz's greatest rival, are also off-bounds.
Belz allows its adherents to surf news sites, but not those with contents that are not to its liking. Thus, for example, the sites of Haaretz or TheMarker, as well as Globes, with the photos missing, are open for surfing. NRG and Ynet, however, are forbidden. University sites are also open.
The religious feminist Kolech site is not accessible, nor is Hadaf Hayomi, which offers a daily page of Gemara. "We prefer that people study from a book," said one functionary. The educational Matah site is also blocked, as is Mikranet, which provides modern commentaries on the Bible.
At Belz they know that this solution is not airtight. After all, it is not possible to sift through every single one of the millions of sites that exist in various languages. Therefore, every day an inspector on behalf of the special media committee reviews the sites Hasidim have surfed, and decides whether to approve them. Moreover, a Hasid can pick up the phone to the committee and inform them of a site which he thinks should be be blocked.
Not in the home
Still, the Belz solution is indicative of a sensible view of reality. The Gur sect, for example, has acted in almost the opposite way and has sent representatives into adherents' homes to get them to sign agreements not to use the Internet. In the wake of Belz, however, Gur is looking into the possibility of connecting to Rimon.
There is also the policy adopted by the ultra-Orthodox community in London, which has forbidden the use of Internet in the home: The elders of the community have set up a kosher Internet cafe in the city, for the purpose of helping people to earn a living.
"We hereby appeal to all the inhabitants of our city," is the message to members. "Have mercy on your souls and on the souls of your children and our coming generations. Happy is the man who has the possibility of not bringing the Internet into his home or his office, and it shall be well for him and his generations, and he will be able to arrange the things that he needs on the Internet there."
Thus far several hundred households in the local Belz community have connected to Rimon. At the company, they say that the suffix on the e-mail address reveals who is connected and this will operate like a kosher cellular phone. Currently, every ultra-Orthodox cell-phone user has a kosher number because otherwise eyebrows would be raised, but deep in his pocket he may keep another phone. At Rimon they do not believe that ultra-Orthodox users will be willing to pay double for two Internet connections, and they will thus need the unique address of the company's surfers.
However, it must be noted that the Belz surfing policy relies on trust. It is subject to the Hasid's judgment and to the degree of his piety and obedience. He can change the connection whenever he wants to and connect to a more open package - and the rebbe will never know.
http://www.vosizneias.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/nucham.jpg
ReplyDeleteChassidishe Rabbonim making a cherem on R' Nuchem Rosenberg with very bad wording:
Getzel Berkowitz - Satmar Dayan
Yisroel Chaim Menashe Friedman - Satmar Dayan
Lazer Chaim Blum - Kashau Av Beis Din
Tzvi Yissocher Dov Katz - Dushinsky Av Beis Din
Moishe Green - Rosh Yeshiva Yeshiva D'Monsey
Shraga Feivush Hager - Kossover Rebbe
Binyomin Zev Landau - Tosher Dayan
Pinchos Sholom - Vizhnitzer Dayan
Hillel Weinberger - Serdehel Av Beis Din & Nitra Dayan (& rav hamachshir on Kesser Wines)
Shloyma Gross - Belzer Dayan
Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld - Mattersdorfer Rov
Menachem Zecharya Zilber - Freimaner Rov
Yitzchok Eizik Eichenstein - Galanter Rebbe
Shia Rubin - Bobover Av Beis Din
Shloyma Yuda Weinberger - Satmar Dayan
Moishe Friedman - Satmar Dayan
Yechiel Michel Steinmetz - Skverrer Dayan (responsible for treif restaurants in Monsey)
Yisroel Hager - Vizhnitzer Dayan
Tzvi Hirsh Meisels - Shopron Av Beis Din
Betzalel Wettenstein - Belzer Dayan
Yekusiel Yuda Fulop - Satmar Dayan
Menachem Mendel Teitelbaum - Satmar Av Beis Din
Meshulam Dov Polatchek - Meged Yehuda Av Beis Din
Menachem Fisher - Viener Dayan
Dovid Eichenstein - Burshteener Rebbe
Yosef Eisenberger - Skverrer Dayan
Yoel Morgenstern - Sharmash Av Beis Din
And other assorted clowns no one ever heard of before.
These are the same Chassidishe guys who just assered women from wearing metallic colored shoes and white suit jackets.
ReplyDeleteConvicted felon Gershon Tannenbaum lets everyone know in his Jewish Press column about their latest proclamations.
If you don't speak or understand Yiddish - you must throw a "Rosenberg party" - bring a translator - he uses descriptions of the rabbonim that make me look like a very shy, mild-mannered and timid guy.
ReplyDeleteOne of his many assertions - the rabbis are much worse than the "molestrations"
With all that pornographic language on the hotline, I think UOJ is pulling a 5W and impersonating R' Nuchem Rosenberg!
ReplyDeleteHe goes everywhere. Blames the rabbonim gedolim for the drug problem, prostitution in their circles, parents who don't give a damn about their kids, and rabbis whose only interest is lining their pockets with blood money. Rabbis who give gittin for money - when not get should be issued. Chassidim who have love children and create mamzerim..... and that's the first 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI hope Nuchem Rosenberg doesn't name anyone in the gittin for money industry!
ReplyDeleteSteinmetz with the Monsey restaurant scam is a sometimes shutef with Spiegel who just got tossed from Rubashkin because Weissmandel decided there wasn't enough money to go around. All these wise guys are making a churban with the fresser scene together with Zishe Blech, another Weissmandel stooge.
ReplyDeleteMost of the only restaurants not under their control are under these Talibanis out to get Rav Rosenberg.
He does credit the rabbonim gedolim with dealing with the REAL threats to Yiddishkeit - bugs in the water and the unimaginable DANGER of Lipa Shmeltzer.
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed that the Mattersdorfer & the Monsey-Viener Dayan signed against R' Nuchem but you do not see the names of the true Chassidishe gedolim like the Chaleiner Ruv (R' Fishel Hershkovitz), Boro Park Viener Dayan (R' Avrum Chaim Shpitzer) and the Karlsburg Ruv (R' Chatzkel Roth).
ReplyDeleteMy challenge to Rubashkin as laid out yesterday on Shmarya's blog:
ReplyDelete1)Rabbi Weissmandl must go. The hashgacha must be turned over to a reputable rav hamachsir or agency, such as the Kaf-K.
2)A sophisticated tracking system installed and on site mashgichim from an independent kashrus agency (like the KIC) that will monitor how the meat is labeled and shipped.
3)An open door policy for any and all outside kashrus agencies and their mashgichim to be able to make unannounced visits.
4)A thorough background check system for all shochtim to determine if they have messichist beliefs.
5)All plants must be closed on Shabbos.
6)New shechita pens must be installed that conform to halacha and humane slaughter.
7)A new inspection report from independent agencies that verifies that you are in compliance with all food safety guidelines, plant safety guidelines and environmental guidelines.
8)A detailed report showing marked improvement in working conditions and treatment of workers, and that no immigration and social security laws are being violated. Also, permission must be granted for the workers to unionize.
UOJ or anyone else, if you feel that I omitted anything important please add it to the list.
He does credit the rabbonim gedolim with dealing with the REAL threats to Yiddishkeit - bugs in the water and the unimaginable DANGER of Lipa Shmeltzer.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------
You can add this to your list:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3575160,00.html
Rabbi Metzger: Married women should give up maiden name
Chief Ashkenazi rabbi tells women they should reconsider tendency to keep maiden name
Advice to women from the chief rabbi: Married women should give up their maiden name, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger told hundreds of women at a convention Monday dedicated to Jewish family values and religiosity.
"We are currently in an era of permissiveness and there are many messages that create cracks in the Jewish home's whole structure," the rabbi told the women in attendence
Turning his attention to the question of last names, Rabbi Metzger said that even though this was not a Jewish law issue, but rather, a move that took root in the past 200 years, a woman should stick to the husband's last name and renounce her maiden name.
"The agenda whereby a woman wants to bring the independent entity of her last name to the home should be reconsidered," the rabbi said. "If this came out of unity it's one thing…but If there is a message that the woman is an independent entity and the husband is an independent entity, this does not unite the home into a whole home."
At the end of his talk, Rabbi Metzger recommended that women "reconsider the phenomenon."
In this case, Dear UOJ, competition and envy does a heck of alot good. Though where this guy was till now I don't know. Nevertheless if he joins ranks with us in a genuine fashion so be it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vosizneias.com/18687/2008/07/30/brooklyn-ny-dov-hikind-frum-community-ignorant-about-child-molestation-i-am-going-to-be-an-activist-to-help/
As for the "molestration" gaffe, you got to admit its kinda cute. In an esoterical sense, Reb Nuchem means to say (perhaps) that he is of the opinion that "molesters should get castration" albeit with a rusty jagged hack saw.
BTW, I hear Reb Nuchem is a phenomenal talmid chochim, a rav in his own right ("earned it the hard way"- to quote someone VERY famous), a heart of gold AND does not feed off the system like the swine who banned him. Furthermore he is a self made man of means and advocates working for a living (gasp!). His own son realizing that tuches-kvetching for a lifetime is not to aspire to, went to college and is now a respected physicians assistant.
http://chaptzem.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteCHAPTZEM EXCLUSIVE - Accused child molester Yona Weinberg not allowed to live at home due to order of protection
According to a source close to accused child molester Yona Weinberg, an order of protection has been issued for Mr. Weinberg's children protecting them from their father. The source says that Yona is no longer aloud to live at home or be around his children due to an order signed by a Judge. The source also says that the Judge originally wanted to up Yona's bail to $250K after two more children came forward accusing him of molesting them, but after pleas from Yona's lawyer decided not to.
Why was I not hired to sign off on the ban of Nuchem Rosenberg? Just because I'm an Agudah Fresser and a 2 time molester protector? As far as Nuchem Rosenberg saying jewish girls are involved in prostitution, wait till he hears what my mother was up to post WW2.
ReplyDeletePM of Israel resigning!
ReplyDeleteWhich other rabbi is next?
Whats the latest on Dr. Murderwitz? Is he still incarcerated in Jerusalem pending extradition to the US? Will Ehud Olmert pardon him before leaving office. That would be the natural reflex of Silberstein the rav of gur who is hellbent on defending him.
ReplyDeleteA group of Rabbinical Council of America rabbis will "inspect" Agriprocessors later this week. The "inspection" has been arranged by paid Agriprocessors flack Menachem Lubinsky and clearly is taking place with the full knowledge and participation of Agriprocessors management, as…
ReplyDelete…Yudel Shain reports via email:
This week, the RCA will have a 15 hour extravaganza that was orchestrated by Lubinsky.
They will fly out a group of Rabbonim who will inspect the Agri plant and return to NY, all within 15 hours.
I have the following questions before they go there -
1) Does Rubashkin know that they are coming? I know, the OU knows, the RCA knows. What preperations will take place before they come? What song and dance will they see?
2) Who is coming? What knowledge do they have of shechita, nikkur, melhicha, meat butchering, OSHA, labor laws, immigration laws, etc??
Are these pulpit Rabbis that have to rely on others to pasken sheylos on nikkur and shechita or are these mashgichim that have years of experience in the field, knowing how to use a knife to break down a piece of meat, not just looking over someone's shoulder.
Intelligent minds want to know........
The RCA is a wholly owned subsidiary, so to speak, of the Orthodox Union. The OU has a large dog in this fight, and it has consistently protected Agriprocessors despite Agriprocessors' guilt.
What will these RCA rabbis do?
I found the "molestration" cute as well - I had my own Rosenberg party last night - many understood Yiddish - some not - We were on the floor - HINKIND" was funny - he said some site listed 80 molestrers - "nisht ala vet zitzen" - al kaponim - der rabbonim zenen shakronim - then he switches to english - "lining their pockets" - If he can't get in to a shul to daven - he'll do what the Chazon Ish did in Bnei Brak - he'll make a minyan on the corner of Wilson and Bedford - in the street! The guy is something else. Gonna ask for some ranting lessons from him.
ReplyDeleteAnother criminal just added to my gedolim album!
ReplyDelete--------------------------
By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Wednesday he will resign in September, throwing his country into political turmoil and raising doubts about progress for U.S.-backed Mideast peace efforts.
Olmert's brief address, given at his official Jerusalem residence, included harsh criticism of corruption investigations against him. He said he was choosing the public good over his personal justice. He has consistently denied wrongdoing but pledged to resign if indicted.
Appearing angry and reading from a prepared text, Olmert said, "I was forced to defend myself against relentless attacks from self-appointed 'fighters for justice' who sought to depose me from my position, when the ends sanctified all the means."
STEVE:
ReplyDeleteMashgichim Temidim - handpicked by R' Yudel Shain - I would certainly add to your list!
The union bit is a bit too far left, Steve. Unions have become the biggest and baddest bullies. They should be made to play with the same rules as the ownership, without federal and state mandates leaning heavily towards the union camp. Politicians pander too much to the unions and the consumer (that is us steve) losses out.
ReplyDeleteSatmar Leads The Field...
ReplyDeleteSix Satmar Dayanim signed the Kol Koreh...six?
How come Skver got only two and everyone else only got one?
How come they didn't ask Margo this time? I guess they wanted to be taken seriously. =)
This Sounds Very Positive...
ReplyDeleteFrom VIN:
Brooklyn, NY - Dov Hikind: Frum Community Ignorant About Child Molestation, I am Going To Be An Activist To Help
07-30-2008 - 10:18 AM
Brooklyn, NY—High-profile Assemblyman Dov Hikind, no stranger to controversial issues, has thrust himself to the forefront of a burning Jewish-community issue once again.
But this time, perhaps, the stakes have never been higher—because Hikind’s target is an issue the long-time activist himself confesses ignorance of until recently: molestation and abuse of children in the Orthodox community.
The saga reignited itself only recently and coincidentally after controversial firebrand Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, who at the minimum deserves some begrudging, backhanded respect for dragging the issue out of the shadows, might have inspired four professional Orthodox therapists to re-launch an abuse hotline and treatment service operated under the auspices of the venerable Beth Israel Hospital after it was closed a few years ago due to lack of funding. The four professionals [ a separate story about this new help line will be posted on VIN in next few days] are Chaya Mermerstein, LCSW and Cheryl Friedman, LCSW, both of Beth Israel’s staff, psychotherapist Yoni Hikind, LMSW, and psychotherapist Dr. Asher Lipner, Ph.D., who specializes in frum survivors of sexual abuse.
[Editor's Note: After VIN's posting of the Hikind/molestation article this morning, which mentioned four frum therapists who have been involved in this issue for a number of years, VIN received the following e-mail from one of the foursome stating that "Nachum Rosenberg had NOTHING to do with creating this help line, Nor credit should be given to him" and VIN was told so on a phone interview as well]. In response, VIN will simply and neutrally reiterate the facts that Rabbi Rosenberg has created a firestorm of discussion on this issue in recent months and that the abuse hotline, which was in the works for several years, was launched in recent months. You decide]
That foursome earned a group interview last weekend on Hikind’s radio show as a result—and Hikind claims to have been overwhelmed with calls from all over in the ensuing days: calls from Orthodox Jews with horrific stories of molestation and victimization as children.
The startling reaction has prompted Hikind to take action.
“I have to admit I have not done enough on this issue; I am throwing myself into it and I am now fully dedicated to addressing this issue very forcefully,” Hikind told VIN in a phone interview.
“According to my info since I did the radio show last week, I have been shocked [by the response] and I would say after speaking to highly professional people who deal with this, it’s an epidemic in this community.”
When asked specifically about Rabbi Rosenberg’s hotline, Hikind says that while he would meet with Rabbi Rosenberg in the context of meeting anyone in the community motivated to do something about the issues, and that he “agrees strongly” with the issues Rosenberg has raised, “I have never listened to his phone line but based on what I was told, I will say I do not acknowledge his way of attacking individuals on his [phone-show] line. Having said that, the community needs to wake up and form a very strong internal organization—and a real one, not a politically correct one—to resolve this with a team of real professionals.”
Additionally, Hikind plans on demonstrating his serious concern about this issue by meeting with leaders of all major Chasidic groups to Litvishe Roshei Yeshivos and rabbonim.
Regarding rabbinical bans of Rabbi Rosenberg, Hikind believes said reaction resulted from rabbonim who are “really not aware how shrecklich this issue is. I am not going to argue if the way Rosenberg addresses this issue is right or wrong because I never listened to him, but the fact remains he is touching upon a very serious issue.”
The State Assemblyman still insisted that he maintains the highest respect for rabbonim, mentioning his close work with them. “As a matter of fact, my kids learned in Eretz Yisroel and I was really looking forward for them to become rabbonim and school teachers. I always consult sensitive issue with rabonim.”
Hikind said anyone who needs help on this matter should feel free to contact his office and feel confident that their anonymity will be protected.
While we support and laud Mr. Hikind’s statements and commitment to action, we will let the results be his ultimate judge. In the meantime, we say to Dov Hikind, “Hatzlachah rabbah! We’ll be watching you.”
The organizers of the Rosenberg ban asked some patients in the psyche ward to sign on.
ReplyDeleteThe patients answered "Vos du meint az ich bin a mishuggena?".
Yasher Koach to Rabbi Shain for exposing these Young Israel frauds.
ReplyDeletehttp://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/07/note-national-council-of-young-israel_30.html
We contacted Rabbi Lerner as President of Young Israel to join the group that will visit Thursday at Rubashkin.
Rabbi Lerner responded "It's not a kashrus inspection",
Then he wrote "It's full",
We wrote that Rabbi Yehuda Shain is an ISO and HAACP inspector among other credentials and I'm sure no one on the team has any of these qualifications...
Then he wrote "It's by invitation only" & I should make my own arangements..
I Wrote I can pay my own way (so I wouldn't be biased).
I can see Lerner with an Agudah Convention-like statement:
ReplyDelete"Maybe we had a problem with one cow"
Remember it's more important what comes out of your mouth, than what comes in it.
ReplyDeleteEspecially, when the butcher is the cousin of my boss!!
Where's Marty Samson? Someone holds a copyright on the word "cow" so we are going to get Google's Blogger division to shut down UOJ for infringement.
ReplyDeleteI'm responding to a few e-mails that questioned my previous comment about "rolling on the floor" at the "Rosenberg party."
ReplyDeleteThanks, I should be more careful perhaps....I was referring to his over the top presentation...not chalila to the matzav the klal is in.
Slicha!
UOJ,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a better chance of becoming the new YTT Rosh Yeshiva or their guest of honor at the next dinner, than Yudel has of ever becoming the Rav Hamachshir at Rubashkin.
Regarding labor unions, I for one am no fan of them and I am no bleeding heart liberal. I consider myself a Reagan Republican as far as politics goes. Nevertheless, you have to be aware of the daily chillul hashem that these mamzerim at Rubashkin are causing by their mistreatment of the workers. These workers are human beings and they deserve the same rights as any other worker, provided that they are here legally.
About Dov Hikind, now that he's on board, we need to get him to push through Elliot Pasik's bill in the Assembly. It's been sitting there for over a year now with the Agudah, the Catholic Church and Shelly Silver fighting against it. Let's defeat this axis of evil once and for all and help protect our children.
Steve:
ReplyDeleteYou mean the contract Margo sent me was a fake? I can't believe it.
Anyway, there would be a conflict of interest; chief auctioneer of the property and rosh yeshiva - I'll check with my lawyer.
While I hope you're right about Hikind - time will tell. Talk is really cheap; especially when you need the Establishment support and votes to stay in office.
I hope you're right - Dov: let's see what you're made of!
People here in Brooklyn have taken to calling Rabbi Nachum Rosenberg "The Chassidish UOJ". Now you are thinking of taking ranting lessons from him. Kias Sofrim Marbe Chochma. Lets make a competition. So far, UOJ with a head start is winning 6-0 in exposing molesters. (I have heard that r'nachum names enablers but has he named any molesters?) UOJ's accomplishments:
ReplyDeleteKolko
Mondrowitz
Colmer
Eiseman
Lazerovitz
Aron Tendler
Reb Nachum kif you're reading this (I wonder if he has internet access) you got some catching up to do.
And maybe Dov Hikind is striving to be the UOJ of the Albany set. if so then he too has some catching up to do with his on air promise of "I will start naming molesters!"
the allies for good (UOJ, Dov, and Nochum) against the AXIS of evil (Agudah, Shelly Silver and the Catholic Church).
Anybody know what the Attorney General Mukasey who is a day school graduate and sends his kids to Ramaz and has spent his life fighting for the rule of law feels about child abuse being legally protected in non-private schools?
UOJ, do you know anyone who could ask him for a public comment on a sane approach to legislation and enforcement of laws to protect Jewish children? I think Joe Lieberman sends his kids to public school.
How come none of the Gerrorists signed?
ReplyDeleteThere was also only one signature from Bobov. Which faction is Shea Rubin part of?
Joe Lieberman cannot be considered orthodox. He admitted when confronted about his non-Torah beliefs that he is merely "observant". His children are even more secular than he is.
ReplyDeleteI am not naming the rosh kollel because he is a chassidishe who could be lynched. He commented at a kiddush where he trusts everyone who was there.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, does anyone know if Asher Friedman & Avremel Schorr were gathering the signatures this time?
Where did they dig up the dude from Dushinsky? I never knew they had any chassidim in America. It may be some clown who is trying to cash in on the name. The Dushinsky chevrah in Eretz Yisroel can get really fanatical. When the Rebbe's granddaughter wanted to marry, loy aleinu, a clean shaven Lakewood bochur, the chosson started getting death threats despite his bekitshe mit velvet strip.
This blogger went to Postville this week for the anti-Rubashkin protests. He was supposed to live-blog from there. I wonder what happened. Both sides protesting were against Rubashkin although they have opposing views on illegal immigrants.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs4borders.blogspot.com/
Bush should strip sanctuary cities of federal funds
ARRA News Service - Michael Reagan: Three good men are dead thanks largely to San Francisco's outrageous sanctuary-city policy, which forbids city authorities from notifying federal immigration authorities when they arrest illegal aliens for crimes they commit, and it's time for President Bush to crack down on all the cities in the United States that follow this absurd policy.
On June 22, Anthony Bologna and his sons Michael and Matthew were shot to death by Edwin Ramos, 21, after a brief traffic incident when Anthony Bologna allegedly briefly blocked Ramos' car from making a left turn, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Ramos, an alleged member of the vicious the Mara Salvatrucha gang, known as MS-13, should never have been around to kill the three men, and wouldn’t have been -- were not for the city’s sanctuary-city policy. . . .
Mondrowitz...Mondrowitz...Dr. Avrohom Mondrowitz. Where the f*@K is he and what takes so long?!?!
ReplyDeleteDon't try calling me for comment. I'm skipping town tomorrow for another one of those two week vacations. If anyone claims to still see me around Flatbush, it must be a look-alike.
ReplyDeleteIt's mamash klor vee tog that Rosenberg is not listening to Daas Toyreh.
ReplyDeleteI bet Scheinerman was plotting in the background against Reb Nuchem because he was machshir Halberstam's mikva.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the criteria in the chassidish velt to decide if the Rebbe alein signs a tzettl or only the dayonim?
ReplyDeleteThe reason ger did not sign this ban was 1) they got hell after signing the lipa shmeltzer ban 2) I heard from a reliable source that R, Nuchem had a long conversation with the gerer rav moishe fogel, I am still trying to get all the details of their conversation, but I do know it was regarding molestation, I just dont know if he was refering to old cases with a warning for the future or he knows something about someone in ger that we don't.
ReplyDeleteI hope R' Nochum doesn't get his pants stolen in the mikva like what happens in Crown Heights when people get even with their enemies.
ReplyDeleteThe criteria is only the shvantz that is easier to access. No kabballa from the Baal Shem or something like that.
ReplyDeleteI have been shmoozing up chassidishe chevrah to get a feel of what their oylam is thinking.
ReplyDeleteOne common school of thought is to be enamored with the cherem and offer up that Rosenberg is a filthy pervert for being interested in "inyunei molestration". I have actually long feared that this smear would be used against supporters of UOJ. Danken Got it only materialized among these peasants.
One fellow admits that R' Nuchem is major in learning and doing the right thing but insists he is the wrong guy for the job.
His taynos?
- R' Nuchem dresses "vee a shlumpf"
- One of his relatives hired R' Nuchem as a mikva consultant. They claim R' Nuchem offered his services for free far der mitzva but then demanded payment and that R' Nuchem is now bashmutzing him on the radio as a deadbeat. Can anyone verify that R' Nuchem advertises all his work is pro bono like they claim? I doubt it.
There are also the sane people who stand behind R' Nuchem but are terrified of the mafia.
http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=13009
ReplyDeleteThis is the closest thing in Lubavitch to an Agudah Fresser event.
I listened to a part of the hotline this morning. Amazing man. Deserves a Nobel prize.
ReplyDeleteBy chance does anyone aware if there is a way of fast forwarding the tape in order to avoid listening a second time to the part already heard?
Too long has the American public stood in the shadows to speak openly against illegal immigration. I have been following both sides of the illegal immigration debate and found that the issues are much larger than harvesting crops or media examples of illegal immigrants being deported away from their child, something extremely rare.
ReplyDeleteEvery year more than 4,320 US Citizens are killed by illegal immigrants. Since 9/11 over 25,920 Americans have died as a result of an un-secure border. On January 21, 2008, in Cottonwood, MI an illegal immigrant struck a school bus that killed 4 students: Hunter & Jesse Javens (9 & 13 years old), Emilee Olsen (9 years old) and Steve Reed (12 years old). How many more thousands of senseless deaths could have been prevented if the State and Local Government would enforce sound immigration laws and secure the border?
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that over 2,900 children are molested by illegal immigrants yearly. On July 2007, Zina Linnik (12 years old) was raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant. On January 2008 an illegal immigrant was arrested in Chandler AZ on 25 felonies including kidnapping and child molestation. The Rutherford Institute reported that over 18,000 women and children are being sold as sex slaves and transported into the United States each year. How many more thousands of children will be victimized until we speak up for them?
For fair and open debate we cannot ignore the human cost to American Citizens on the cost of illegal immigration.
Oy vey, is this nogeah to Kosher Delight?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/business/30restaurant.html
July 30, 2008
Restaurant Chains Close as Diners Reduce Spending
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Several national restaurant chains were shuttered on Tuesday, possibly offering an early taste of what’s in store this year for businesses that depend on free-spending consumers whose budgets are now being squeezed.
The parent company of Bennigan’s, an Irish-themed bar and grill with about 200 sites across the country, filed for bankruptcy, a move that will put hundreds of employees out of work and leave many landlords with empty retail space during a painful time in the real estate market.
A sister brand, Steak & Ale, will also close. Franchise units of Bennigan’s will remain open for now, a spokeswoman, Leah Templeton, wrote in an e-mail message.
The restaurants are the latest casualties in the so-called casual dining sector, considered a cut above fast food. Soaring food costs and a surfeit of locations have hurt the companies’ bottom lines just as Americans are choosing to take more meals at home.
The closings are “something we’re going to see more of over the next 6 to 12 months,” said Amy Greene, a director at Avondale Partners who tracks the restaurant industry.
“The companies have been getting squeezed from all directions,” Ms. Greene said. “You have had minimum wage go up again, commodity prices continue to go up. We’re in a softening consumer market where the consumer is less willing to accept the price increases than they might have been in the past. The companies are having to eat the cost difference.”
Trips to the mall or the local tavern — the casual outings that provide much of the business for midtier retailers — are falling by the wayside, analysts said, as gas prices reach record highs and Americans tighten their household budgets.
“Even folks for whom $3 gas is not necessarily a budget issue appear to be changing their behavior,” said Bryan C. Elliott, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates.
Another hurdle facing these restaurants is their copycat nature. Though Bennigan’s modeled itself as an Irish pub, its menu had Black Angus steaks, Southwestern-style appetizers and tempura shrimp, items that would not be unfamiliar to patrons of, say, T.G.I. Friday’s or Ruby Tuesday.
“All these bar and grill concepts are very, very similar,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, a restaurant industry consulting group. “They have the same kind of menu, décor, appeal,” which makes it more difficult to establish brand loyalty among customers.
The restaurant chains are owned by the Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, a unit of a business conglomerate owned by the billionaire John Kluge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/31housing.html
ReplyDeleteSome experts have said that the law was wrong-headed in its effort to retain the hybrid nature of the mortgage finance giants, which are private companies with publicly traded stock, but which now have an explicit guarantee of help from the government — an arrangement that critics say privatizes the profits but socializes the risk and any losses.
David M. Walker, the former comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office who is now president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said that Mr. Bush might have been unwise to sign the measure.
“Providing authority to the secretary of the Treasury to extend credit or to buy stock is one that will end up costing the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars,” Mr. Walker said in an interview earlier this week.
Mr. Walker noted that other government interventions in the private market, including a rescue of the Chrysler automobile company had provided an opportunity for taxpayers to profit. But when it comes to the mortgage giants, he said, there is no upside.
“The way this is structured,” he said. “It’s only a matter of how much the taxpayers are going to lose.”
http://www.jewcy.com/post/lashon_hara_how_law_meant_protect_people_gossip_has_been_perverted_orthodox_rabbis
ReplyDeleteShmarya is full of crap. He pooped this morning twice, first in claiming that all Charedim are backing Uncle Milton Balkany which is preposterous.
ReplyDeleteBut what's really outrageous are his constant attacks on the Chofetz Chaim ztl. Because Shmarya has gone completely off the derech and wants to drag all other frum Jews with him, he is creating conspiracy theories out of nowhere and attacking the true tzadikim with absurd complaints. There is a halacha in the Torah of Lashon Hara which the Chofetz Chaim wrote about. It's not his fault if corrupt "rabbis" are twisting his words. That's like blaming UOJ for writing about child abuse crimes if someone punches out the desk clerk because he's angry the hotel is hosting the Agudah Fresser convention.
Shmarya is as sick as any molester and enabler, who perverts the truth to fulfill his own vendetta. He is a living chilul hashem as opposed to true G-D fearing Jews who fight molesters like Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg. Rabbi Rosenberg may indeed be worthy of earning the brisi shalom that Pinchos Ben Elazer ben Aron hakohan earned standing up against the masses to halt a violation of the sacredness of the Bris kodesh.
ReplyDeleteShmarya is as sick as any molester and enabler,
ReplyDelete---------------------
I can't let that go without saying that I totally disagree with you. He has his worldview...and he's entitled to it. That does not make him sick.
He's a man that is a victim himself of the Jewish establishment - and sees things different than you may see them.
Credit him with the many good things he's done - we're ALL not perfect!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1004543.html
ReplyDeleteOnce The Triangle String in Jerusalem begins to empty, it is a sign that the night is about to begin. The hostel, run by the Chabad Hasidic movement, is just the first station on the nightly itinerary of loitering youth who have dropped out of schools.
Dozens of teenagers, who have fallen through the cracks in the education system and abandoned their homes, flock to the spacious apartment, located on a side street in the center of town. They come to lounge on the sofas, bide their time, or make themselves a cup of coffee.
Here, seated around an enormous table, some of them fantasize for a brief hour that they are all part of one big loving family. But after "dessert" - an easily digestable serving of Yiddishkeit (i.e. a Chabad course in "Judaism 101") or a game of backgammon - they are once again expelled to the streets. Small gangs of emaciated boys and girls - slightly hunched over, as if they were carrying the world's burdens on their shoulders - make their way to the next hostel.
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Education Ministry statistics reveal that Jerusalem has the highest school drop-out rate among Israel's major cities. Nearly 10 percent of youth aged 14-18 drop out of schools in the capital. For years, the city center has been a magnet for young refugees of the education system. Many of them are homeless and, in recent years, the influx of those from settlements in the northern West Bank, Gush Etzion and ultra-Orthodox suburbs has increased.
The Jerusalem Municipality is cautious in its estimates of the precise number of disenfranchised youth wandering the city's streets, but some of their caretakers say about 2,000 are registered. The city says the Education Ministry statistics are misleading because a significant number of those registered as dropouts are in fact ultra-Orthodox youth who have transferred from one unrecognized educational institution to another. But that only explains a small percentage of the total.
Until about a year ago, The Triangle String was located in one of the alleys adjoining Zion Square, in an apartment too small to accommodate all the visitors. But this lowly dig has swelled to dormitory proportions, and now includes a 10-room residential shelter. (The shelter serves only boys, in keeping with religious laws that prohibit co-ed residential facilities.) The development of The Triangle String and similar facilities for dropouts bears witness to the magnitude of the problem.
As the night continues, the youth gangs make their way en masse from The Triangle String to Koreh Becafe, a youth club established by the municipality. They stop here to chat or smoke a cigarette before sitting down to watch a movie at Hatzrif, another club operated by two members of the Mahanot Haolim youth movement currently serving in the Sherut Leumi national service. When the sun begins to rise, the youth will finally rest their heads in "Hatzroni's Hangout" or "The Shelter," makeshift dorms that were established to meet the needs of teenagers who have dropped out of alternative frameworks. Over the years, such makeshift solutions have turned into veritable institutions. Some of them are even funded by the Social Affairs Ministry.
During my nighttime tour of some of these clubs on Sunday, staff unanimously maintained that most of the youth were expelled from ultra-Orthodox homes. Baruch Mashkovsky, director of the Jerusalem Municipality's Keshet Haredi program to advance ultra-Orthodox youth, says that 600-700 adolescents are registered in one of his department's therapeutic facilities. He estimates that they constitute a third of the city's recognized dropouts. Yet, Mashkovsky believes the number of dropouts in Jerusalem is much larger, since the caretakers do not know of all of them.
Mashkovky's department operates two evening clubs for ultra-Orthodox dropouts - in Pisgat Ze'ev and Ramat Eshkol - as well as a day facility, Meitar, where 25 adolescents study for their bagrut matriculation exams or attend occupational training courses, like first-aid or entrepreneurship. Mashkovsky, who is a member of the Belz Hasidic movement, believes the large numbers of ultra-Orthodox dropouts stem from the low socioeconomic class of some ultra-Orthodox Jews and a lack of appropriate educational institutions in Jerusalem. He also warns that the average age of ultra-Orthodox dropouts has decreased in recent years. "We increasingly see 12- or 13-year-olds at our facilities. We are only now beginning to make arrangements to handle this problem and build them appropriate facilities."
R. was 12 years old when she first came to Jerusalem, three years ago. Now she is 15. She's a pretty girl, with heavily made-up gray eyes and fair hair. I met her next to the piano at The Triangle String. She speaks quietly, nervously puffing her cigarette. "Ever since I can remember, I didn't get along at school and I always wanted to come to Jerusalem," she says. "I remember the day I arrived. It was a cold, winter day, and I told my mother I was going to a friend's house. My friend also didn't get along at school and we decided to go to the city. We wanted to meet new people. We haven't gone back since."
R.'s parents are national-religious Jews, who live in a settlement near Jerusalem. She impassively divulges that she experimented with drugs before she was 12. She explains that she was expelled from the boarding school she attended after elementary school. "I was there for only two months. I convinced them that I didn't fit in," she recalls. "They always tried to talk to me - social workers, truant officers. They want to help, but they usually only make it worse because they don't know how a kid feels."
Very few of these youth are rehabilitated. During the last two months, R. returned home to live. She reluctantly declares that she has left street life, but says she has no regrets and would do it all over again. "It's like the school of life," she says, shrugging. She now hopes to start work at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
Baruch, 16, the son of an ultra-Orthodox American family, says he has a diagnosed attention deficit disorder. He has adopted a lifestyle beyond ultra-Orthodox frameworks and is now studying on his own for the matriculation exams. He does not think there is something to be gained from staying in school. He has attended a number of institutions, including religious yeshivas and schools. "Some of them were not bad," he says. He sits with 30 other youngsters in the Mahanot Haolim movement's Hatzrif, quietly watching "The Godfather." Baruch is somewhat annoyed when Hatzrif director Ya'arit Atraktzi invites him to attend dusk-to-dawn activities and watch films screened nightly during the week. "How do you expect me to wake up in the morning to study? I have matriculation exams coming up," he tells her. But he appears for activities because "I'm commited now."
Itzik, 18, sits in the front row as an interpreter. When Marlon Brando appears in the first scene, he explains that he is "The Godfather." "How do you know?" a boy in the back row asks. "I read the book," he responds, surprising the others. Itzik, who has lived on the streets since he was 13, explained that he "consumed" every book in the library until he was 10. Until he was 13, he read every historical book he could "get his hands on." He maintains that his historical knowledge is equivalent to that of someone with a master's degree.
Atraktzi is certain that Itzik is a genius. Then how come the system missed him? Itzik explains that he "doesn't like teachers. They're failures. They're people who didn't succeed anywhere else. I prefer to learn alone."
But he emphasizes that teachers are not the real problem. "If a kid wants to leave school - that's his right. But he can't go around blaming the world all day. I don't blame my teachers and certainly not my parents or the ultra-Orthodox system in which I studied. The responsibility is our own."
Uoj, the education minister of israel just helped a failed system fail even more, the agudas yisroel and its affiliate schools should have been brought to its knees to beg for money if they start a "secular studies" ie math, science, & history, not to be handed to them on a silver platter on the notion b/c they wont do it anyway.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331148034&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Education Minister Yuli Tamir's defense of a new law exempting haredi schools from teaching the core curriculum deserves attention. Since we cannot force the haredim to accept the core curriculum, Tamir argued, it would be pointless and wrong to condition funding for their schools on their doing so. She thereby expressed an attitude that has burdened Israeli policy debates for decades: that what is not legally prohibited must be state-funded.
The new law, passed last week, amends a 1950s-era law stating that to receive government funding, schools must teach a core curriculum determined by the Education Ministry. For decades, this law was systematically ignored: Haredi high schools never taught core curriculum subjects such as English, math and civics, but received state funding anyway. In 2004, the High Court of Justice finally intervened, ruling (properly) that the government could not simply ignore the law. Yet recognizing that schools could not be stripped of funding overnight, it postponed implementation of its ruling to give them time to either change their curricula or prepare themselves for losing their funding.
The current government's dependence on Shas made its response a foregone conclusion: last week's amendment, which requires the state to fund 60 percent of a school's budget even if it does not teach the core curriculum, while also entitling such schools to seek additional funding from local governments. Yet variations on Tamir's justification have come up too many times in other debates to be dismissed as merely another capitulation to coalition pressure.
Indeed, her stance is seductive precisely because she is half-right: The haredim will never voluntarily adopt the core curriculum, and it may well be impossible to force them to do so at a price society would find tolerable. For instance, Israel is not going to send in the army, as president Dwight Eisenhower did to enforce integration in American schools; our army has more pressing responsibilities.
That fact, however, in no way obligates the government to finance this lifestyle choice.
Tamir's concern that halting funding would harm haredi children, who should not be made to suffer for their parents' choices, is simply nonsense: Haredi parents care for their children no less than do non-haredi parents, and haredi society as a whole probably cares more about education than does general Israeli society, despite its different view of what a proper education constitutes. If it possibly could, the haredi community would find alternative funding for its schools, such as increased overseas donations. And if it could not, parental pressure would grow for curriculum changes that would enable state funding to resume. After all, haredi schools in other countries do comply with local curriculum requirements, so this is clearly not a religious impossibility.
That, obviously, is a major argument in favor of financial sanctions: They often do effect societal change. If faced with a choice between closing their doors for lack of funds and changing their curriculum, many haredi schools might view math and English as the lesser of two evils.
BUT EVEN if funding cuts had no effect, because the haredim succeeded in finding alternative funding, a country still has every right to deny state funds to goals the majority deems inimical to its interests and devote them instead to goals it deems essential to its interests. Democracy requires tolerance for dissident lifestyles. It does not require the state to finance them.
This confusion is not unique to haredi issues. It is equally evident in, for instance, the widely held belief that denying state funding to controversial cultural events (such as the Batsheva dance troupe's famous striptease to the Passover hymn "Who Knows One") constitutes "censorship," and is therefore impermissible. Yet denying government funding in no way deprives artists of the right to paint, sculpt or stage whatever they please; it simply requires them to do so at their own expense rather than the state's.
But perhaps nowhere is this confusion more pernicious than in the debate over drafting haredi yeshiva students. Typically, this debate vibrates between two poles - those who say that exempting haredim from service is unfair, and therefore they must be drafted, and those who argue that a haredi draft is unenforceable at a price Israeli society would be willing to pay, and therefore they must not be drafted. And in fact, both are correct: The exemption is utterly unfair, but enforcing the draft probably would be impossible at a price society would find tolerable.
YET THERE is a third alternative, which is almost never discussed: leaving the exemption in place, but ceasing to fund it. Specifically, the government could stop paying stipends to most yeshiva students (a limited number of grants to exceptional scholars, like those offered exceptional university students, should remain). Precisely because these stipends are what enable thousands of haredim to survive financially without working, they are also what enable them to afford draft-dodging in a country where army service is usually a prerequisite to working legally.
Here, too, fears that innocent haredi children would suffer poverty if the stipends were canceled without enforcing army service is nonsense. Either haredi society would find other funding sources (i.e. donations), or haredi parents, who care no less about their children than do non-haredi parents, would do what was necessary to keep their children fed - even if that meant leaving yeshiva, joining the army's special haredi battalion and then getting a job. Since haredim in other countries do work, this, too, is clearly not a religious impossibility.
Eliminating the stipends probably would impact on haredi behavior: Some haredi men would almost certainly feel financially constrained to leave yeshiva. But even if the impact were nil, the majority still has every right not to finance a lifestyle it considers inimical to its interests. That money could and should be devoted instead to purposes that the majority deems more important - for instance, rescuing our ailing university system.
A democratic society must have room for dissident views and lifestyles. But that is not the same as saying that it needs to fund them. And until Israeli policy-makers internalize this difference, too many debates will remain stuck in a sterile rut.
By chance does anyone aware if there is a way of fast forwarding the tape
ReplyDelete------------------------
Try the pound or the star buttons.
Chashuve LVF:
ReplyDeleteYes, Eretz Yisroel rabbonim are killing their kids faster than than the rabbonim in the U.S.
R' Nuchem said he sends kids to college if asked. His own son went to school.
Our issue in the U.S. is to wrest control away from the criminal rabbonim gedolim - who are killing this dor - and have ehrliche new rabbonim and askonim take over.
We need yeshuas in all areas - like R' Nuchem says - FOR 50 YEARS - these shkatzim gedolim have been destroying us and lining their pockets.............
If Shmarya has legit reasons to be as disillusioned as he is, he has not stated them.
ReplyDeleteAccording to what he writes in his own profile, here is how things appear ...
His falling out with Chabad was over their lack of support for Falashas. Mind you it is a machlokes haposkim if they are really Jewish. Maybe he had a right to be outraged but why didn't he focus his energies on helping them instead of blogging to death against Lubavitch?
Others, like Matisyahu, have left Lubavitch but are still at least Shomer Shabbos Jews. But what prompted Shmarya, now close to 50 years old, to leave frumkeit? He seems to blame Lubavitch for "wasting 20 years of his life" and "not getting married".
Unless there is more to the story, I don't see Shmarya as anything but a failure with a twisted sense of vengeance.
Every time you press #9 it forwards nuchems hotline by 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteOmbudsman, Archie and other Shmarya critics:
ReplyDeleteIn "UOJ IS THE ROTO ROOTER GUY" and in other pieces, I asked if you ask the plumber before he fixes your toilet, if he's a shomer Shabbos or if he uses nivel peh r"l.
Is Shmarya's accomplishments diminished because his level of observance may not meet your standards?
He makes no claim of rabbonus - he openly admits to his level of observance - therefore what?
Is William Safire, Tom Friedman, and a host of other Jewish writers - articles diminished because of their levels of observance?
He's not paskening shailos - he's stating his opinions on news items. Yo can agree or disagree with them - but there's no reason to ridicule him for his religious beliefs or non-beliefs!
Sen. Ted Stevens Enters Not Guilty Plea to Federal Corruption Charges
ReplyDeleteI know William Safire, Shmarya is no William Safire.
ReplyDeleteI hope Nuchem Rosenberg doesn't come after me for outfitting mikvos with electrical equipment that I don't pay for because I am a goniv. Mistumme the nignovim don't mind if the stuff is going for a dvar mitzve.
ReplyDeletei for one back rabbi rosenberg
ReplyDeletei just heard some news that will rock your socks off
a familty has made allegations against a noted rav in south florida
the police are looking if it is true and if it is wow wow wow
http://community.thejc.com./articles/anti-abuse-rabbi-run-out-town
ReplyDeleteMarcus Dysch
August 1, 2008
A rabbi who uncovers child abuse in strictly Orthodox communities says he feared for his life as he was chased by a group of 200 Charedi men in North London.
Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg, 58, was forced to flee from a Stamford Hill synagogue where he had been listening to a lecture last Thursday.
He ran into Manor Road, in the heart of the community, and was taken to safety after stopping a passing police car.
The rabbi, on a four-day trip to London from his New York home, said: "I was sitting in the lecture, where there were about 30 or 40 people, but I saw some taking out their phones and taking pictures of me. I decided it was getting too crowded, so I went outside.
"I went into the street and they started to follow me. I saw them sending text messages and calling more people. There were more and more crowds. I was about to cross the street and a car mounted the pavement.
"More cars came and people were following me, shouting. It was a riot.
"The police car turned into the street and as soon as I saw the marked car I started shouting ‘Police! Help me, help me!' The police asked what was going on and I said they were trying to kill me."
The officers took Rabbi Rosenberg to Stoke Newington Police Station before moving him to a hotel where he stayed until returning to New York on Sunday.
Hackney Police said: "Police saw a disturbance involving around 200 Chasidic Jews who appeared to be attacking somebody. Once he was removed, the disorder ended."
Rabbi Rosenberg claims to have led a campaign against the covering up of child abuse in strictly Orthodox communities for the past 18 months.
He runs a hotline in the US for youngsters to report abuse and appears on Jewish radio phone-in shows.
Rabbi Rosenberg said rabbis must "start facing reality".
He said: "Children are not toys. If you play with them you will go to jail. They should not give privileges to people with long beards.
"These things are happening all the time, but the rabbonim prefer to take a quiet road. "
Reports of the incident were posted on Jewish websites in America, prompting hundreds of comments. The majority attacked Rabbi Rosenberg's campaign.
Among the anonymous comments was one which said: "good - he is a pig", while others labelled him "a meshuggenah", "sick" and "mentally retarded".
But a more supportive comment asked: "Can someone please explain the warped rationale behind the attempt to lynch the man who is trying to bring child molesters to justice?"
Dr Asher Lipner, who counsels victims of abuse in Brooklyn, said: "Outside the Chasidic community no one has heard of Rabbi Rosenberg, but all the Chasidic communities know of his work."
anon 8:45 - if you have true info, who are you talking about?
ReplyDeleteHere are the details of the Dov Hikind radio program with Asher Lipner and the MOTHER OF A BOY WHO SAYS HIS MOLESTER IS STILL A REBBE IN THE YESHIVA IT HAPPENED IN!
ReplyDeleteRead it here:
http://hamercaz.com/hamercaz/sit...item.php? id=543
Or listen here:
http://hamercaz.com/hamercaz/sit...ile.php? id=3240
"Mitzvah Lefarsem Osey Mitzvah"
Give credit to Dov Hikind for fighting those who would stand by and cover up.
http://so.images.peoplefinders.com/so/200806/NY/26324.jpg
ReplyDeleteIt's not clear if convicted sex offender Malcolm Brenner is frum or not. He could have removed his yarmulka for this picture.
He lives around the corner from Faskowitz's yeshiva. Faskowitz is an enabler of at least 3 other sex offenders including Tendler, Bryks and the Doctor from the Steve Mostofsky scandal.
First: MALCOLM
Middle: D
Last: BRENNER
Date of Birth: 05/01/1938
Gender: M
Height: 5'08"
Weight: 190 lbs
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Gray
Ethnicity: White
Last Known Address:
16405 65TH AVE
FRESH MEADOWS, NY 11365
County: QUEENS
Offense Code: PL130.6501
Offense Description:
SEXUAL ABUSE 1ST DEGREE:CONTACT BY FORCIBLE COMPULSION
http://www.treifmeat.com/index.htm
ReplyDeleteShema, that every believing Jew cries out twice a day. Shema is composed of three letters: Shin, Mem, and Ayin.
The Shin is an allusion to Shechita, i.e., Kashrut;
The Mem is an allusion to Mikva and Mezzuzot, i.e., Taharat HaMishpichah (family purity)and Klaf; and
The Ayin is an allusion to Eruv, i.e, Shabbat.
I know it is hard to believe, that in today's world, with thousand's of G-d fearing Jews and Rabbis, that proper observance in these areas by the Torah community is anything less than perfect; but this is not the case.
The Satan doesn't have to work today on individuals; he is satisfied with pushing off the Geula by concentrating his attention on the heads of the Klal Yisroel, the Rabbis.
There are thousands of Sofrim in Eretz Yisroel that are writing Tefillin, Sefer Torah's, and parshiyot on Klaf without a Hescher, coming from Arabs, Chinese, and other places. Most Rabbis are silent.
Where are all of the Rabbanim? Why aren't they fighting against this? When Rabbis go door to door to raise money for their Yeshivot, showing pictures of starving Talmidim, they are asking you for money to feed them Treifos and Neveilot, because the Meat and the Chicken is not Kosher!!!
You may even ask your Rav, and I am sure he will tell you that this is all 'Baloney'. Is your Rabbi the Mashgiach? Is your Rabbi the Shochet? Does he make money from you eating from his Kashrus agency? Almost nobody wants to say the truth.
All people who went to fight in Ramat Beit Shemesh Beit against 1 sign that the police took down about modesty... Why aren't they fighting for Kashrut? For example, there are hundreds of Sofrim in the Beit Shemesh area who are writing on Klaf without a Hescher, that G-d forbid, thousands of Jews will make blessing in vain over. A Jew can go his whole life without putting on Kosher Tefillin, and after 120 years, the Beis Din upstairs will show him the truth.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/these-problems-are-behind-us/110591
ReplyDeleteWe have more capital than we need, so we can say to the market that we don't need more injections. We can confirm that we have tackled the problem." Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain , March 16.
Merrill was actually far from finished tapping the markets. Just in July, the bank raised $8 billion by selling stakes in Bloomberg and Financial Data Services and announced plans to issue $8.5 billion in new shares.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – About Louis Kestenbaum – A teenage girl has filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York billionaire, and the president of the ODA in Williamsburg NY saying he sexually abused her when she was 14.
ReplyDeleteLouis Kestenbaum”s attorney says the allegations are false and motivated by money. Kestenbaum is also the CEO of Fortis properties and the ODA a goverment funded organisation in the williamsburg section of Brooklyn NY
The girl, now 17, claims Louis Kestenbaum invited her to his Florida mansion in 2005 to perform a massage for $300. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims he demanded she remove her clothes, then sexually assaulted her.
The girl, her father and stepmother are seeking more than $50 million.
JOEL KESTENBAUM a son of Louis Kestenbaum said ” The family is in shock ” but had no comments when asked.