Every parent has to protect his / her own children. Do not rely on rabbis or 'mechanchim.' Rely on your gut instincts. Teach your children what is inappropriate, and make sure they are comfortable telling you everything.
Pelcovitz: Dr. Pelcovitz makes a point. ‘People are so quick to judge our Rabbanim for not exposing every alleged predator.
Do you realize how tough the Rabbi’s job is? They are the ones who see the entire situation, the bigger picture and have to weigh all the variables. The alleged perpetrator may have a wife, children and other close family for whom exposure can be devastating. They need to be absolutely certain before doing anything. We are talking about true dinei nefashos.’
Lipschutz: I am all too aware that it is fashionable in certain circles to blame this all on our rabbinic leadership. These people have yet to explain why our rabbonim, who devote their lives to serving people, would want to hurt anyone. The days when being a rov or rosh yeshiva meant strictly paskening shailos or teaching Torah are long gone. Rabbonim routinely spend an overwhelming portion of their time dealing with every type of personal problem imaginable. I don’t have to elaborate on this now, but suffice it to say that it defies logic to accuse our most choshuve leaders, who exhibit much mesiras nefesh, of coldhearted indifference. As I said, the problem was a lack of understanding.
*
Pelcovitz's above comments are inaccurate and misleading, and Lipschutz's is sheker v'chazuv!
The cover-ups were malicious and intentional! If we do not recognize this sad truth, we will never properly address this tragedy!
sorry, but i don't think i will be able to see the whole film, 2 minutes of preview and my stomach is turning. i can watch the most gory slasher films, and know it isn't real, this is just looking pure evil in the eye, and people were really destroyed by these monsters.
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner will step down after more than eight years running the largest U.S. automaker, people familiar with the situation said.
The people, who asked not to be named because the announcement hasn’t been made, didn’t give a reason why Wagoner, 56, is leaving the job. Wagoner said March 19 that he didn’t plan to resign.
The departure of Wagoner comes as President Barack Obama prepares an address tomorrow morning on his plans for the future of the U.S. auto industry. GM is surviving on $13.4 billion in U.S. loans and is asking for as much as $16.6 billion in additional aid to survive.
Wagoner, who has been lampooned in Saturday Night Live skits and vilified for his central role in the auto-industry collapse, said March 19 that he hadn’t been asked by the government or his own board to resign and his plan is to finish the restructuring.
“I do it because it’s important and I feel like I have a responsibility to do it,” Wagoner said.
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor David Paterson agreed with legislative leaders on a budget plan that calls for higher income taxes on households with adjusted income exceeding $300,000, according to a person familiar with negotiations.
Rivevos Ephraim: Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky Paid Taxes On Mishloach Manos!
There is a chiyuv to give Ma'aser from your income. If you receive an expensive Mishloach Manos do you need to give Ma'aser from it? This was the question asked to Rav Ephraim Greenblatt (Rivevos Ephraim 6:389).
He answered that he saw in a Sefer Uvacharta BaChaim that Rav Chaim Kreiswirth said in hesped for Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky that Rav Yaakov would report as income and pay taxes on mishloach manos that he received. If so then similarly one should give ma'aser. He concludes by saying that nevertheless the matter needs further research.
Titein Emes L'Yaakov!
Important Note: We try to convey the Tshuva to the best of our ability. We admit that our understanding may not be accurate. One should learn the tshuva to verify the accuracy of our interpretation. Please also understand that this Tshuva may not be the final word on this topic. One should consult a Rav before drawing any conclusions.
This article has not been reviewed by the posek of the AskRevach section, Rav Peretz Moncharsh.
Boymelgreen Capital seeks bondholder help as default looms Jump to Comments
The yield for the Series A Bond is over 1,000%.
Avi Shauly 19 Mar 09 13:50
Shaya Boymelgreen’s Israel real estate arm Boymelgreen Capital Ltd. (TASE:BMGN) apparently cannot meet its commitments to its bondholders, and may be facing insolvency. At the end of April, Boymelgreen Capital must pay 16.7% of the principle plus a 6.7% coupon interest payment on a NIS 180 million bond issue.
“Major changes are looming for customers that covet the higher kosher standard of Cholov Yisroel dairy, KosherToday has learned. A new brand, Machmirim, has already made its debut with milk and is expected to roll out many additional products, including yogurt. It is already being sold at lower prices than the existing products, such as Golden Flow and Ahava. The troubled Ahava Dairies was acquired by Toobro LLC, owned by Menachem and Schneur Bistritzky. The former owner had filed for bankruptcy protection, and the state agriculture department recently shut down the Ogdensburg operation because of contamination of the cheese products there. The Bistritskys are expected to pump new life into the Cholov Yisroel dairy, launching many new products and significantly upgrading the quality of existing products. The clear winner of all this activity will be the kosher consumer.”
End
So let's see. Some Lubavs buy the only Chabad certified dairy, the corrupt milchdika equivalent of Rubashkin, and it's being touted by Menachem Lubinsky.
Sounds pretty suspicious to me, especially since the stuff is so cheap.
“The Central Bureau of Statistics recently released data that showed there were 117,000 Jewish births in Israel in 2008.
The number of abortions in Israel for the same year is estimated to be over 40,000. Thus in 2008, of the approximately 160,000 pregnancies in Israel, 120,000 led to births and 40,000 (one in four) ended in abortion.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT'S THE ANGRIEST YOU'VE BEEN ON THE AIR?
O'Reilly: There was an attorney for people who oppose Jessica's Law (to punish sex offenders) that really got me. If you can't protect little kids, we should just pack it up as a country.
And if we can't protect our little kids, we should just pack it up as a religious community!
How far we have come since Rav Matisyahu Salomon spoke about child sex abuse a few short years ago at an Agudah convention. He gave very short shrift to the issue then - emphasizing that sometimes - sweeping things like that under the rug is the right thing to do.
I am not here to criticize Rabbi Salomon’s remarks. There is room to interpret his words in a positive light. But neither can I fully understand rabbinic leaders past reticence to speak out forcefully on the subject. In my view that reticence has contributed to prolonging the problem - even if was done with the best of intentions. Obviously that turned out to be a bad move. Too many people have suffered because of it.
But I am not here to talk about past mistakes. I am here to praise a latecomer. And I for one am willing to give him a good seat at the table.
Yated Ne’eman editor Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz is a man I do not often agree with. But he has done something remarkable in his latest editorial. He is now on board with those of us who want to see the scourge of child sexual abuse eradicated. What is important is not his past reticence - but his current stand. He has joined in the call to see our young people protected. And he does not mince words.
What is even more encouraging is that the Yated does not ‘speak’ without consulting rabbinic authorities – especially on sensitive issues like this. Rabbi Lipshutz acknowledges doing exactly that. Not only did he get their blessing, he was encouraged to use his own words.
Much of what he says has been said by others - including me. This may be a turning point in the way we deal with sex abusers in the future. With the exception of a few Charedi heroes like Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz and Dr. Ben Zion Twerski - I do not recall anyone in the Charedi world being as frank and bold in their language. Here are some excerpts from that editorial (available in full at VIN):
The sad fact is that children in our community are being abused by perpetrators who prey upon their innocence and our silence… There is no real debate about the catastrophic effects of abuse.
The innocence and purity of children is destroyed for life. The victims remain hurt, shamed and scarred. They suffer in silence, afraid to reveal their secret to anyone. They are hounded by feelings of guilt and embarrassment and live lives of tortured pain. The overwhelming majority of survivors suffer in silence, unless they are lucky enough to endure agonizing, arduous, expensive therapy.
However, even a lifetime of therapy doesn’t ensure that the victim can ever be fully healthy again. Not every young victim’s psyche can be healed. Victims are much more likely to go off the derech, become addicted to drugs and lead a life of abusing themselves and others.
Let us be clear: For too long, we weren’t tuned in to these innocent victims’ stories and their pain. For too long, we weren’t sufficiently aware that this problem existed and thus were able to ignore the quiet pleas, the sad eyes, the pained lives, and the personalities withdrawn. We didn’t recognize the warning signs and thus largely ignored the phenomenon. Equally clear, this inattention was not a function of some high level conspiracy to harm people or cover up for criminals or abet nefarious activities. It was simply a function of a lack of education about a complex and highly sophisticated problem. It was a result of our leadership simply being unaware of the depths that such sordid people could sink to, and the extreme skill perpetrators exhibit in covering their tracks. And yes, it was undeniably a gezeirah, which, as so often is the case, claims innocent holy souls…
Truly amazing. I could have written those words myself.
There is one section of his editorial that I would like to address and that is the following:
I am all too aware that it is fashionable in certain circles to blame this all on our rabbinic leadership. These people have yet to explain why our rabbonim, who devote their lives to serving people, would want to hurt anyone. … suffice it to say that it defies logic to accuse our most choshuve leaders, who exhibit much mesiras nefesh, of coldhearted indifference.
I cannot speak for others, but I for one never said that rabbinic leaders were out to hurt anyone. On the contrary - but for a few obvious exceptions I think it is fair to say as Rabbi Lipshutz does: Rabbinic leaders - of all stripes - are Moser Nefesh for the welfare of Klal Yisroel. They have indeed dedicated their lives to that end. That is one of the attributes of being a true leader.
I have said this many times and I say it again now. To say that they don’t care or in some way conspire against the welfare of the Jewish people is both ridiculous and an outrage.
These rabbinic leaders are generally men of great wisdom who work very hard. They always mean well. At the same time I also believe that some of their decisions were made in error - even while they truly believed they were acting in the best interests of the Jewish world. And in the area of child sex abuse - that ended up doing harm to victims and prolonging the danger of abuse.
Hopefully this signals an over-all change in attitude - which will lead to more effective efforts to end abuse. We will have to wait and see. But in the meantime I welcome Rabbi Lipshutz’s late entry into battle against abuse. I would hope that people of all stripes who share these concerns welcome him too.
Family Feud Over Estate Nears an End After 25 Years
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
For nearly 30 years, Evelyn and Diana Sakow believed that their father, a small-time real estate broker and developer from the Bronx, had died broke and without a will in 1956. They worked their way through college, becoming public school teachers.
They lived quiet, uneventful lives — until 1983. That’s when Diana said she uncovered a secret while taking a night course in real estate: Not only had her father, Max, owned as many as 100 properties in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan at the time of his death, but he had left a handwritten will leaving the sisters a portion of his estate.
The revelation turned into a betrayal of biblical proportions, after the two sisters learned that their older brother, Walter, with the acquiescence of their mother, had built a real estate empire using their father’s legacy, court records and interviews show.
The sisters’ struggle to obtain their inheritance became a grueling, 25-year odyssey in Bronx Surrogate’s Court that is only now coming to an end after numerous delays, setbacks and appeals, as well as a disastrous trial in 2003 in which Evelyn, who wears hearing aids in both ears, represented the sisters in court because they could not afford a lawyer.
The courts ultimately voided most of their claims on technical grounds, but awarded each sister one-third rights to nine properties; two were sold under a court-appointed receiver, and the proceeds were shared by the three siblings.
Now in the final stages of the case, the battle continues over what to do with the remaining seven properties, which had an estimated value of $11.3 million in 2007. Walter is pushing for a quick sale. But in a depressed real estate market, the sisters fear there will be no interest at an auction, allowing their brother to buy them back for pennies on the dollar.
The sisters have asked the courts to divide the properties among the three siblings; the sisters especially want Rose Gardens, a 62-unit apartment house off Pelham Parkway in the Bronx that was built on their father’s land and named after their mother.
The “conspiracy to deny us our inheritance destroyed my family, broke my heart and left me with scars that I have painfully struggled with and have not fully overcome even now, after all these years,” Diana, 68, said in a recent affidavit.
Walter Sakow, a 78-year-old fireplug of a man with a rumbling voice, said that his sisters’ behavior was “irrational, abnormal, crazy.” He said his father left only 30 or so properties and that his mother, as the executor of the estate, decided to let go of most of them because they were vacant lots with oversized debts. The little money the properties generated, he added, was “used for the benefit of my sisters and my mother.”
“They knew there was a will, right from the beginning,” Mr. Sakow said in an interview at his lawyer’s office. “There were no secrets. There were no hundred properties. Not one of the properties had any income. There was no money in the bank.”
The sisters sharply dispute their brother’s account, saying that he and their mother, who died in 1993, kept them in the dark, even as he took in at least $500,000 from the operation or sale of properties in the year after their father died.
At a hearing, Rose Sakow testified that she relied on her son to administer the properties, signing whatever deeds or checks he put in front her. The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that Mr. Sakow, not his mother, had effectively controlled the estate.
Evelyn, 74, said she learned decades later that the Bronx apartment house in which she had lived in the 1960s was built on her father’s land by her brother; her $140 monthly rent went to a corporation controlled by her brother.
“This is a case where a brother places his obsession with money and property over his sisters,” said Ely J. Rosenzveig, Evelyn’s rabbi and a lawyer who is assisting the sisters’ legal counsel, Scott J. Steiner.
Mr. Sakow’s credibility has come into question in other cases. In one property dispute involving a former partner, Mr. Sakow, a law school graduate who never got a license to practice, testified he had lied about his ownership of a building because he was afraid Evelyn and Diana would try to take it away from him.
The State Supreme Court judge in that case, Ira Gammerman, said he found Mr. Sakow to be “a totally incredible witness.” Even Mr. Sakow’s lawyer, Elliot Schnapp, said in court papers that Mr. Sakow “obviously was cynical about the legal system and clearly a person who, by his own admission, was not above lying.”
Mr. Sakow’s name appears on few, if any, property deeds; but many properties are in the names of his wife, his three grown children or others designated by him. His partnerships are based on oral agreements, so there are few written records. He and his wife, Marion, have acknowledged in court that they did not pay income taxes for 10 years and that they did not have bank accounts in their own names.
Today, Walter and Marion Sakow live in a small building she owns on East 29th Street in Manhattan, while their house in Kings Point, a wealthy suburb on the North Shore of Long Island, is being renovated.
Evelyn and Diana, who both live in New Rochelle, recall their father as a charming man who sang opera in their home, one of six adjoining houses he built in Pelham Parkway, a Bronx neighborhood of small brick houses and apartment buildings.
After their father died, their brother returned from the Army to help sort out his affairs. “We were told we were impoverished and my father died without a will,” Diana said. “I supported myself basically, from the time my father died.”
But, in fact, their father did write a single-page will leaving one-third of his estate to his wife, Rose, and equally dividing the remaining two-thirds among Walter, Evelyn and Diana. The will, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, instructed that a trust fund be established for his daughters until they turned 23. That never happened.
After discovering the will in 1983, Diana and Evelyn confronted their mother, who initially denied any knowledge of the will. But she later gave the girls the deed to her house and a 10 percent stake in Rose Gardens.
The sisters also went to Walter’s house in Kings Point to confront him. He called the police to have them removed, they said.
The case has been in Bronx Surrogate’s Court, before Judge Lee L. Holzman, almost ever since. The sisters filed suit claiming that Walter and their mother had fraudulently deprived them of their inheritance.
Walter said his mother was getting rid of most properties because of debts and tax liens. “I decided I would try and hold on to these properties and pay whatever was necessary to hold onto them,” Walter said. “That’s how a few of the properties came to be mine. They would’ve gone down the tubes if not for me.”
Walter said he borrowed money to salvage some of the properties, and the sisters do not dispute that. But they insist that he became a multimillionaire by borrowing against some parcels in the estate, selling or trading others and developing others by himself or with partners.
After a liability trial in 1990, Judge Holzman took four years to render a decision, finding that the sisters were entitled to nothing because the statute of limitations had expired, despite Walter having “freely dealt” in the properties and their mother’s failure to establish their trust.
The Appellate Division overturned Judge Holzman’s decision on the statute of limitations and ordered Walter to give a full accounting of the estate’s properties.
The courts eventually determined that the sisters had partial rights to nine remaining properties in the estate. Two Bronx properties were sold in 2005, with each sister getting about $500,000, much of which, they say, paid their legal fees. Last year, the court-appointed receiver for the properties gave them another $50,000 each.
“The deepest hurt came from my mother’s role in the conspiracy,” Diana said.
“A mother is supposed to protect her child. The life my father wanted for us would have been very different.”
"I have said this many times and I say it again now. To say that they don’t care or in some way conspire against the welfare of the Jewish people is both ridiculous and an outrage."
*
The Agudath Israel is lobbying behind the scenes to defeat the Markey bill; they have impeded every single piece of legislation that would protect our children!
NEW YORK (AP) -- New York's attorney general has pressured Chase Bank into ending what he said was an ''illegal'' $10 monthly fee imposed on thousands of credit card accounts last November.
The bank has also agreed to give refunds totaling $4.4 million to about 184,000 customers.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had accused the bank of springing the fee on customers after first luring them in with promises of low interest rates.
He says banks can't promise one thing, then change the deal when times get tough.
Officials at parent company JPMorgan Chase & Co. did not immediately respond Monday to phone and e-mail messages.
Cumo says the settlement will save Chase customers $22 million over the next 12 months.
Maybe the solution in ending child molestation and getting the predators out is for The Manchurian Candidate to nationalize the yeshivas after he finishes with Detroit and then the Oil companies.
Just imagine: R' Perlow, Zwiebel, et al; being shown out the door by Eric Holder.
Rumor has it that Rabbi Reisman discussed this issue at his shiur: ************************************************************
The heimishe “mentchen” were so upset about a kashrus problem in Boro Park; they decided to fix the problem. Instead of calling the Rav Hamachshir written on the sign, these “mentchen” called for a pogrom. The adrenaline for a good riot was flowing in overdrive. The hatred for the owner by these “mentchen” knew no bounds. These brute, thuggish goons were there to “enforce” kashrus. By using their yedai esav, these zollelim v’sovim were out to make chopmeat out of the owner.
What was their motivation?
It has NOTHING to do with kashrus, their traif actions prove that conclusively. If it was kashrus, they would have followed protocol and saw the issue through the chain of command. It was a feeling of being cheated. These “mentchen” were upset to pay kosher prices for a CHEAPER traif version. They were ripped off, and showed their frustration. They acted like street thugs with a justification of “enforcing” kashrus.
While I do agree with you that looking backwards is unlikely to help much, I must disagree with your comments about this editorial.
It feels to me to be a grudging hat-tip to the issue, BECAUSE of that added piece:
Had he been interested in dealing with the issue rather than whitewashing past inaction, this comment is gratuitous. He (to me, anyway) gives the impression that the most important issue is that the "gedolim" didn't screw up, when they did. Let's face it, the sorry face of Orthodoxy today does have some roots in the gedolim's actions and inactions. When we have bans on Rabbi Slifkin and no comment on the criminal Pinter who advanced that ban, it says something. When we have "heimishe" sites like VIN that redact names of the correctly "heimishe" but not the "modernishe", it says something. When we have Rabbis flying to Postville without commenting on the admitted crimes, it makes a statement. The number of Frum convicts and ex-cons is not a joking matter.
It would obviously be simplistic and unfair to lay all our community ills at the doorstep of the badly overworked gedolim, but we also cannot whitewash things. Emes is the sign of Hashem and a basis for our religion, and that no Rav dares comment on how the "gedolim" banning Lipa included another much worse Lipa,is an outrage.
That he now says they will face up to this issue is to be applauded, and I have no personal issue with his writing since I realize that he is walking a tightrope, and a wrong word can sink his business and his personal life. Still and all, that statement rubs me very much the wrong way.
Having said all that, the acid test will be whether or not he names names and comments or advocates in the coming issues, or if he again lets the issue lie dormant while "the gedolim are dealing with it behind the scenes". We'll know really soon.
I hope for the sake of klal Yisroel that he passes.
They should worry about themselves first. One of them was mesarev a beis din and has one of the worst hashgochos around despite claiming to do all the chumros and the other one should get control over the mispalelim at "Young Israel of Madison" who do whatever the heck they want during davening.
The other Rabbi Reisman is too busy running the finest kashrus agency around. For an extra $5,000 we offer the Finkel Special. We'll give the hechsher, and stay the heck out of your place. It worked for ten years at Shevach.
Rosemont, IL - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is at it again. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) his most recent address to supporters was laced with anti-Semitic canards of dual loyalty and Jewish control of the U.S. government, while portraying the State of Israel as a satanic and militaristic force with diabolical ambitions.
After reviewing all of the available transcripts, videos and other materials from his address to the Nation of Islam's convention, the League released excerpts of Farrakhan's sweeping indictment of American Jews, and of Israelis, whom he portrayed as "liars, thieves and murderers."
An estimated audience of nearly 14,000 Nation of Islam supporters listened to Farrakhan's remarks. The speech was viewed by many more on the Internet. The comments came during in a portion of his speech dealing with the recent conflict in Gaza and other world events.
Excerpts from Farrakhan's speech include:
• Israelis are "Liars, thieves, murderers" who have "taken the position of God" and are out to "kill everybody."
• "When the people of Gaza were being slaughtered, the pro-Israeli lobby sent messages to the House and the Senate of words that they wanted them to use, gave them the language, and now you have bipartisan support. And there's not a vote that the pro-Israeli lobby wants that doesn't get bipartisan support. Why? Because the Israeli lobby controls the government of the United States of America."
• "You cannot deny the pro-Israeli lobby and get reelected. Ask Cynthia McKinney. Ask David Hilliard. Ask our mayor in Oakland, California. Ask Percy, the former Senator. Ask Jimmy Carter. You can't criticize, you can't say nothin' because if you do, you're branded as an anti-Semite."
• "Why, U.S. Congress, will you not speak? It is because you fear a lobby that has money and influence that will turn you out of your seat? So you're terrorized. That's why you don't act for the American people that sent you to Congress. You are not their representative. You are the representative of the money and interests that have bought your soul."
At one point during his address, Farrakhan implied that the validity of Holocaust records should be open to debate:
• "… you can't even engage in constructive argument over the veracity of the figures of the Holocaust. We know something happened, sure, but you can't talk about [it]. In certain cities in Europe they arrest you and put you in prison for denying such."
"Louis Farrakhan is at it again," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "After his near-silence on Jews over the last several years, we thought Minister Farrakhan had put his long history of anti-Semitism and racism behind him, or at least had held his views in check. Apparently, that was wishful thinking. Once again he is clearly comfortable with putting his bigotry on display, unfettered and unhidden for his supporters and the world to see."
I just showed the following editorial from the Yated to Rav Sternbuch. His response was,
"WHY ISN'T THERE ANY MENTION ABOUT STOPPING THE PERPETRATORS? WHY ISN'T THERE A CONDEMNATION OF THOSE WHO OMMITTED THE CRIMES AGAINST THESE CHILDREN? WHY ARE THE AFRAID TO CONDEMN THE PERPETRATORS?"
Why are you guys knocking the Young Israel, I mean Agudah of Madison?
It's just great. Instead of walking all the way to Young Israel of Bedford Bay, we just roll out of bed into Reisman's shul any time we want. Not that we always go to shul but it's just business as usual. We shmooz through the whole davening while trying not to choke on the gum we are chewing and our kids run rampant. They can make as much noise as they want, even during Megilas Esther. Then after kiddush we change into sweatpants and walk the dog.
hi this is a quote from the awarenescenter website on a diffrent story from years ago!!!
But Blau of YU said there are more witnesses who are not speaking publicly about what happened at Kerem.
Also in question is how the original allegations were handled. Blau said that there is a letter signed by Weinberg and Rabbi Elya Svei, a leading rabbinic figure from Philadelphia, stating that Weinberg would not be involved in education.
"That is absolutely categorically insane," Weinberg said. "I would love for somebody to produce this document
anyways it seems rabbi svei did care to protect students from molesters
I knew it! It's all those modern orthodox losers still living in Flatbush who are the only ones reading UOJ. I guess Reisman's shul must be the last holdout!
I figured Jacobson and those guys from London's shul were up to no good when they hijacked the board and got the shul to move out to Ave S.
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Every parent has to protect his / her own children. Do not rely on rabbis or 'mechanchim.' Rely on your gut instincts. Teach your children what is inappropriate, and make sure they are comfortable telling you everything.
ReplyDeletePelcovitz:
ReplyDeleteDr. Pelcovitz makes a point. ‘People are so quick to judge our Rabbanim for not exposing every alleged predator.
Do you realize how tough the Rabbi’s job is? They are the ones who see the entire situation, the bigger picture and have to weigh all the variables. The alleged perpetrator may have a wife, children and other close family for whom exposure can be devastating. They need to be absolutely certain before doing anything. We are talking about true dinei nefashos.’
Lipschutz:
I am all too aware that it is fashionable in certain circles to blame this all on our rabbinic leadership. These people have yet to explain why our rabbonim, who devote their lives to serving people, would want to hurt anyone. The days when being a rov or rosh yeshiva meant strictly paskening shailos or teaching Torah are long gone. Rabbonim routinely spend an overwhelming portion of their time dealing with every type of personal problem imaginable. I don’t have to elaborate on this now, but suffice it to say that it defies logic to accuse our most choshuve leaders, who exhibit much mesiras nefesh, of coldhearted indifference. As I said, the problem was a lack of understanding.
*
Pelcovitz's above comments are inaccurate and misleading, and Lipschutz's is sheker v'chazuv!
The cover-ups were malicious and intentional! If we do not recognize this sad truth, we will never properly address this tragedy!
Shua Finkelsteins shiloshim is today.
ReplyDeleteR' UOJ to prevent future victims can you investigate who his molestor aka murderer was?
Thanks for all your important work.
sorry, but i don't think i will be able to see the whole film, 2 minutes of preview and my stomach is turning. i can watch the most gory slasher films, and know it isn't real, this is just looking pure evil in the eye, and people were really destroyed by these monsters.
ReplyDeleteI know who molested Shua Finkelstein - I am waiting to speak to the Finkelstein family. Without their cooperation, there's little I can do.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Shloshim are over, perhaps they will contact me directly or through liasons.
By Doron Levin and Jeff Green
ReplyDeleteMarch 29 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner will step down after more than eight years running the largest U.S. automaker, people familiar with the situation said.
The people, who asked not to be named because the announcement hasn’t been made, didn’t give a reason why Wagoner, 56, is leaving the job. Wagoner said March 19 that he didn’t plan to resign.
The departure of Wagoner comes as President Barack Obama prepares an address tomorrow morning on his plans for the future of the U.S. auto industry. GM is surviving on $13.4 billion in U.S. loans and is asking for as much as $16.6 billion in additional aid to survive.
Wagoner, who has been lampooned in Saturday Night Live skits and vilified for his central role in the auto-industry collapse, said March 19 that he hadn’t been asked by the government or his own board to resign and his plan is to finish the restructuring.
“I do it because it’s important and I feel like I have a responsibility to do it,” Wagoner said.
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor David Paterson agreed with legislative leaders on a budget plan that calls for higher income taxes on households with adjusted income exceeding $300,000, according to a person familiar with negotiations.
ReplyDeletehttp://revach.net/article.php?id=3489
ReplyDeleteRivevos Ephraim: Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky Paid Taxes On Mishloach Manos!
There is a chiyuv to give Ma'aser from your income. If you receive an expensive Mishloach Manos do you need to give Ma'aser from it? This was the question asked to Rav Ephraim Greenblatt (Rivevos Ephraim 6:389).
He answered that he saw in a Sefer Uvacharta BaChaim that Rav Chaim Kreiswirth said in hesped for Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky that Rav Yaakov would report as income and pay taxes on mishloach manos that he received. If so then similarly one should give ma'aser. He concludes by saying that nevertheless the matter needs further research.
Titein Emes L'Yaakov!
Important Note: We try to convey the Tshuva to the best of our ability. We admit that our understanding may not be accurate. One should learn the tshuva to verify the accuracy of our interpretation. Please also understand that this Tshuva may not be the final word on this topic. One should consult a Rav before drawing any conclusions.
This article has not been reviewed by the posek of the AskRevach section, Rav Peretz Moncharsh.
http://www.shalomnewyork.com/business/boymelgreen-capital-seeks-bondholder-help-as-default-looms/
ReplyDeleteBoymelgreen Capital seeks bondholder help as default looms
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The yield for the Series A Bond is over 1,000%.
Avi Shauly
19 Mar 09 13:50
Shaya Boymelgreen’s Israel real estate arm Boymelgreen Capital Ltd. (TASE:BMGN) apparently cannot meet its commitments to its bondholders, and may be facing insolvency. At the end of April, Boymelgreen Capital must pay 16.7% of the principle plus a 6.7% coupon interest payment on a NIS 180 million bond issue.
“Major changes are looming for customers that covet the higher kosher standard of Cholov Yisroel dairy, KosherToday has learned. A new brand, Machmirim, has already made its debut with milk and is expected to roll out many additional products, including yogurt. It is already being sold at lower prices than the existing products, such as Golden Flow and Ahava. The troubled Ahava Dairies was acquired by Toobro LLC, owned by Menachem and Schneur Bistritzky. The former owner had filed for bankruptcy protection, and the state agriculture department recently shut down the Ogdensburg operation because of contamination of the cheese products there. The Bistritskys are expected to pump new life into the Cholov Yisroel dairy, launching many new products and significantly upgrading the quality of existing products. The clear winner of all this activity will be the kosher consumer.”
ReplyDeleteEnd
So let's see. Some Lubavs buy the only Chabad certified dairy, the corrupt milchdika equivalent of Rubashkin, and it's being touted by Menachem Lubinsky.
Sounds pretty suspicious to me, especially since the stuff is so cheap.
One in Four Pregnancies in Israel End in Abortion
ReplyDelete“The Central Bureau of Statistics recently released data that showed there were 117,000 Jewish births in Israel in 2008.
The number of abortions in Israel for the same year is estimated to be over 40,000. Thus in 2008, of the approximately 160,000 pregnancies in Israel, 120,000 led to births and 40,000 (one in four) ended in abortion.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090330/tv_nm/us_oreilly
ReplyDeleteTHE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT'S THE ANGRIEST YOU'VE BEEN ON THE AIR?
O'Reilly: There was an attorney for people who oppose Jessica's Law (to punish sex offenders) that really got me. If you can't protect little kids, we should just pack it up as a country.
And if we can't protect our little kids, we should just pack it up as a religious community!
How far we have come since Rav Matisyahu Salomon spoke about child sex abuse a few short years ago at an Agudah convention. He gave very short shrift to the issue then - emphasizing that sometimes - sweeping things like that under the rug is the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI am not here to criticize Rabbi Salomon’s remarks. There is room to interpret his words in a positive light. But neither can I fully understand rabbinic leaders past reticence to speak out forcefully on the subject. In my view that reticence has contributed to prolonging the problem - even if was done with the best of intentions. Obviously that turned out to be a bad move. Too many people have suffered because of it.
But I am not here to talk about past mistakes. I am here to praise a latecomer. And I for one am willing to give him a good seat at the table.
Yated Ne’eman editor Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz is a man I do not often agree with. But he has done something remarkable in his latest editorial. He is now on board with those of us who want to see the scourge of child sexual abuse eradicated. What is important is not his past reticence - but his current stand. He has joined in the call to see our young people protected. And he does not mince words.
What is even more encouraging is that the Yated does not ‘speak’ without consulting rabbinic authorities – especially on sensitive issues like this. Rabbi Lipshutz acknowledges doing exactly that. Not only did he get their blessing, he was encouraged to use his own words.
Much of what he says has been said by others - including me. This may be a turning point in the way we deal with sex abusers in the future. With the exception of a few Charedi heroes like Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz and Dr. Ben Zion Twerski - I do not recall anyone in the Charedi world being as frank and bold in their language. Here are some excerpts from that editorial (available in full at VIN):
The sad fact is that children in our community are being abused by perpetrators who prey upon their innocence and our silence… There is no real debate about the catastrophic effects of abuse.
The innocence and purity of children is destroyed for life. The victims remain hurt, shamed and scarred. They suffer in silence, afraid to reveal their secret to anyone. They are hounded by feelings of guilt and embarrassment and live lives of tortured pain. The overwhelming majority of survivors suffer in silence, unless they are lucky enough to endure agonizing, arduous, expensive therapy.
However, even a lifetime of therapy doesn’t ensure that the victim can ever be fully healthy again. Not every young victim’s psyche can be healed. Victims are much more likely to go off the derech, become addicted to drugs and lead a life of abusing themselves and others.
Let us be clear: For too long, we weren’t tuned in to these innocent victims’ stories and their pain. For too long, we weren’t sufficiently aware that this problem existed and thus were able to ignore the quiet pleas, the sad eyes, the pained lives, and the personalities withdrawn. We didn’t recognize the warning signs and thus largely ignored the phenomenon. Equally clear, this inattention was not a function of some high level conspiracy to harm people or cover up for criminals or abet nefarious activities. It was simply a function of a lack of education about a complex and highly sophisticated problem. It was a result of our leadership simply being unaware of the depths that such sordid people could sink to, and the extreme skill perpetrators exhibit in covering their tracks. And yes, it was undeniably a gezeirah, which, as so often is the case, claims innocent holy souls…
Truly amazing. I could have written those words myself.
There is one section of his editorial that I would like to address and that is the following:
I am all too aware that it is fashionable in certain circles to blame this all on our rabbinic leadership. These people have yet to explain why our rabbonim, who devote their lives to serving people, would want to hurt anyone. … suffice it to say that it defies logic to accuse our most choshuve leaders, who exhibit much mesiras nefesh, of coldhearted indifference.
I cannot speak for others, but I for one never said that rabbinic leaders were out to hurt anyone. On the contrary - but for a few obvious exceptions I think it is fair to say as Rabbi Lipshutz does: Rabbinic leaders - of all stripes - are Moser Nefesh for the welfare of Klal Yisroel. They have indeed dedicated their lives to that end. That is one of the attributes of being a true leader.
I have said this many times and I say it again now. To say that they don’t care or in some way conspire against the welfare of the Jewish people is both ridiculous and an outrage.
These rabbinic leaders are generally men of great wisdom who work very hard. They always mean well. At the same time I also believe that some of their decisions were made in error - even while they truly believed they were acting in the best interests of the Jewish world. And in the area of child sex abuse - that ended up doing harm to victims and prolonging the danger of abuse.
Hopefully this signals an over-all change in attitude - which will lead to more effective efforts to end abuse. We will have to wait and see. But in the meantime I welcome Rabbi Lipshutz’s late entry into battle against abuse. I would hope that people of all stripes who share these concerns welcome him too.
Ely J. Rosenzveig is the rov of Anshei Sholom in downtown New Rochelle and of counsel at Littman Krooks LLP.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/nyregion/30sisters.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print
March 30, 2009
Family Feud Over Estate Nears an End After 25 Years
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
For nearly 30 years, Evelyn and Diana Sakow believed that their father, a small-time real estate broker and developer from the Bronx, had died broke and without a will in 1956. They worked their way through college, becoming public school teachers.
They lived quiet, uneventful lives — until 1983. That’s when Diana said she uncovered a secret while taking a night course in real estate: Not only had her father, Max, owned as many as 100 properties in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan at the time of his death, but he had left a handwritten will leaving the sisters a portion of his estate.
The revelation turned into a betrayal of biblical proportions, after the two sisters learned that their older brother, Walter, with the acquiescence of their mother, had built a real estate empire using their father’s legacy, court records and interviews show.
The sisters’ struggle to obtain their inheritance became a grueling, 25-year odyssey in Bronx Surrogate’s Court that is only now coming to an end after numerous delays, setbacks and appeals, as well as a disastrous trial in 2003 in which Evelyn, who wears hearing aids in both ears, represented the sisters in court because they could not afford a lawyer.
The courts ultimately voided most of their claims on technical grounds, but awarded each sister one-third rights to nine properties; two were sold under a court-appointed receiver, and the proceeds were shared by the three siblings.
Now in the final stages of the case, the battle continues over what to do with the remaining seven properties, which had an estimated value of $11.3 million in 2007. Walter is pushing for a quick sale. But in a depressed real estate market, the sisters fear there will be no interest at an auction, allowing their brother to buy them back for pennies on the dollar.
The sisters have asked the courts to divide the properties among the three siblings; the sisters especially want Rose Gardens, a 62-unit apartment house off Pelham Parkway in the Bronx that was built on their father’s land and named after their mother.
The “conspiracy to deny us our inheritance destroyed my family, broke my heart and left me with scars that I have painfully struggled with and have not fully overcome even now, after all these years,” Diana, 68, said in a recent affidavit.
Walter Sakow, a 78-year-old fireplug of a man with a rumbling voice, said that his sisters’ behavior was “irrational, abnormal, crazy.” He said his father left only 30 or so properties and that his mother, as the executor of the estate, decided to let go of most of them because they were vacant lots with oversized debts. The little money the properties generated, he added, was “used for the benefit of my sisters and my mother.”
“They knew there was a will, right from the beginning,” Mr. Sakow said in an interview at his lawyer’s office. “There were no secrets. There were no hundred properties. Not one of the properties had any income. There was no money in the bank.”
The sisters sharply dispute their brother’s account, saying that he and their mother, who died in 1993, kept them in the dark, even as he took in at least $500,000 from the operation or sale of properties in the year after their father died.
At a hearing, Rose Sakow testified that she relied on her son to administer the properties, signing whatever deeds or checks he put in front her. The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that Mr. Sakow, not his mother, had effectively controlled the estate.
Evelyn, 74, said she learned decades later that the Bronx apartment house in which she had lived in the 1960s was built on her father’s land by her brother; her $140 monthly rent went to a corporation controlled by her brother.
“This is a case where a brother places his obsession with money and property over his sisters,” said Ely J. Rosenzveig, Evelyn’s rabbi and a lawyer who is assisting the sisters’ legal counsel, Scott J. Steiner.
Mr. Sakow’s credibility has come into question in other cases. In one property dispute involving a former partner, Mr. Sakow, a law school graduate who never got a license to practice, testified he had lied about his ownership of a building because he was afraid Evelyn and Diana would try to take it away from him.
The State Supreme Court judge in that case, Ira Gammerman, said he found Mr. Sakow to be “a totally incredible witness.” Even Mr. Sakow’s lawyer, Elliot Schnapp, said in court papers that Mr. Sakow “obviously was cynical about the legal system and clearly a person who, by his own admission, was not above lying.”
Mr. Sakow’s name appears on few, if any, property deeds; but many properties are in the names of his wife, his three grown children or others designated by him. His partnerships are based on oral agreements, so there are few written records. He and his wife, Marion, have acknowledged in court that they did not pay income taxes for 10 years and that they did not have bank accounts in their own names.
Today, Walter and Marion Sakow live in a small building she owns on East 29th Street in Manhattan, while their house in Kings Point, a wealthy suburb on the North Shore of Long Island, is being renovated.
Evelyn and Diana, who both live in New Rochelle, recall their father as a charming man who sang opera in their home, one of six adjoining houses he built in Pelham Parkway, a Bronx neighborhood of small brick houses and apartment buildings.
After their father died, their brother returned from the Army to help sort out his affairs. “We were told we were impoverished and my father died without a will,” Diana said. “I supported myself basically, from the time my father died.”
But, in fact, their father did write a single-page will leaving one-third of his estate to his wife, Rose, and equally dividing the remaining two-thirds among Walter, Evelyn and Diana. The will, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, instructed that a trust fund be established for his daughters until they turned 23. That never happened.
After discovering the will in 1983, Diana and Evelyn confronted their mother, who initially denied any knowledge of the will. But she later gave the girls the deed to her house and a 10 percent stake in Rose Gardens.
The sisters also went to Walter’s house in Kings Point to confront him. He called the police to have them removed, they said.
The case has been in Bronx Surrogate’s Court, before Judge Lee L. Holzman, almost ever since. The sisters filed suit claiming that Walter and their mother had fraudulently deprived them of their inheritance.
Walter said his mother was getting rid of most properties because of debts and tax liens. “I decided I would try and hold on to these properties and pay whatever was necessary to hold onto them,” Walter said. “That’s how a few of the properties came to be mine. They would’ve gone down the tubes if not for me.”
Walter said he borrowed money to salvage some of the properties, and the sisters do not dispute that. But they insist that he became a multimillionaire by borrowing against some parcels in the estate, selling or trading others and developing others by himself or with partners.
After a liability trial in 1990, Judge Holzman took four years to render a decision, finding that the sisters were entitled to nothing because the statute of limitations had expired, despite Walter having “freely dealt” in the properties and their mother’s failure to establish their trust.
The Appellate Division overturned Judge Holzman’s decision on the statute of limitations and ordered Walter to give a full accounting of the estate’s properties.
The courts eventually determined that the sisters had partial rights to nine remaining properties in the estate. Two Bronx properties were sold in 2005, with each sister getting about $500,000, much of which, they say, paid their legal fees. Last year, the court-appointed receiver for the properties gave them another $50,000 each.
“The deepest hurt came from my mother’s role in the conspiracy,” Diana said.
“A mother is supposed to protect her child. The life my father wanted for us would have been very different.”
"I have said this many times and I say it again now. To say that they don’t care or in some way conspire against the welfare of the Jewish people is both ridiculous and an outrage."
ReplyDelete*
The Agudath Israel is lobbying behind the scenes to defeat the Markey bill; they have impeded every single piece of legislation that would protect our children!
You are delusional!
Filed at 1:04 p.m. ET
ReplyDeleteNEW YORK (AP) -- New York's attorney general has pressured Chase Bank into ending what he said was an ''illegal'' $10 monthly fee imposed on thousands of credit card accounts last November.
The bank has also agreed to give refunds totaling $4.4 million to about 184,000 customers.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had accused the bank of springing the fee on customers after first luring them in with promises of low interest rates.
He says banks can't promise one thing, then change the deal when times get tough.
Officials at parent company JPMorgan Chase & Co. did not immediately respond Monday to phone and e-mail messages.
Cumo says the settlement will save Chase customers $22 million over the next 12 months.
Maybe the solution in ending child molestation and getting the predators out is for The Manchurian Candidate to nationalize the yeshivas after he finishes with Detroit and then the Oil companies.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine: R' Perlow, Zwiebel, et al; being shown out the door by Eric Holder.
The Bim-Bam Identity.
Rumor has it that Rabbi Reisman discussed this issue at his shiur:
ReplyDelete************************************************************
The heimishe “mentchen” were so upset about a kashrus problem in Boro Park; they decided to fix the problem. Instead of calling the Rav Hamachshir written on the sign, these “mentchen” called for a pogrom. The adrenaline for a good riot was flowing in overdrive. The hatred for the owner by these “mentchen” knew no bounds. These brute, thuggish goons were there to “enforce” kashrus. By using their yedai esav, these zollelim v’sovim were out to make chopmeat out of the owner.
What was their motivation?
It has NOTHING to do with kashrus, their traif actions prove that conclusively. If it was kashrus, they would have followed protocol and saw the issue through the chain of command. It was a feeling of being cheated. These “mentchen” were upset to pay kosher prices for a CHEAPER traif version. They were ripped off, and showed their frustration. They acted like street thugs with a justification of “enforcing” kashrus.
We are Hashem’s chosen people.
Ha! Ha! What a joke!
While I do agree with you that looking backwards is unlikely to help much, I must disagree with your comments about this editorial.
ReplyDeleteIt feels to me to be a grudging hat-tip to the issue, BECAUSE of that added piece:
Had he been interested in dealing with the issue rather than whitewashing past inaction, this comment is gratuitous. He (to me, anyway) gives the impression that the most important issue is that the "gedolim" didn't screw up, when they did. Let's face it, the sorry face of Orthodoxy today does have some roots in the gedolim's actions and inactions. When we have bans on Rabbi Slifkin and no comment on the criminal Pinter who advanced that ban, it says something. When we have "heimishe" sites like VIN that redact names of the correctly "heimishe" but not the "modernishe", it says something. When we have Rabbis flying to Postville without commenting on the admitted crimes, it makes a statement. The number of Frum convicts and ex-cons is not a joking matter.
It would obviously be simplistic and unfair to lay all our community ills at the doorstep of the badly overworked gedolim, but we also cannot whitewash things. Emes is the sign of Hashem and a basis for our religion, and that no Rav dares comment on how the "gedolim" banning Lipa included another much worse Lipa,is an outrage.
That he now says they will face up to this issue is to be applauded, and I have no personal issue with his writing since I realize that he is walking a tightrope, and a wrong word can sink his business and his personal life. Still and all, that statement rubs me very much the wrong way.
Having said all that, the acid test will be whether or not he names names and comments or advocates in the coming issues, or if he again lets the issue lie dormant while "the gedolim are dealing with it behind the scenes". We'll know really soon.
I hope for the sake of klal Yisroel that he passes.
They should worry about themselves first. One of them was mesarev a beis din and has one of the worst hashgochos around despite claiming to do all the chumros and the other one should get control over the mispalelim at "Young Israel of Madison" who do whatever the heck they want during davening.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Reisman from Brooklyn.
ReplyDeleteThe other Rabbi Reisman is too busy running the finest kashrus agency around. For an extra $5,000 we offer the Finkel Special. We'll give the hechsher, and stay the heck out of your place. It worked for ten years at Shevach.
Just ring me up.
Rosemont, IL - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is at it again. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) his most recent address to supporters was laced with anti-Semitic canards of dual loyalty and Jewish control of the U.S. government, while portraying the State of Israel as a satanic and militaristic force with diabolical ambitions.
ReplyDeleteAfter reviewing all of the available transcripts, videos and other materials from his address to the Nation of Islam's convention, the League released excerpts of Farrakhan's sweeping indictment of American Jews, and of Israelis, whom he portrayed as "liars, thieves and murderers."
An estimated audience of nearly 14,000 Nation of Islam supporters listened to Farrakhan's remarks. The speech was viewed by many more on the Internet. The comments came during in a portion of his speech dealing with the recent conflict in Gaza and other world events.
Excerpts from Farrakhan's speech include:
• Israelis are "Liars, thieves, murderers" who have "taken the position of God" and are out to "kill everybody."
• "When the people of Gaza were being slaughtered, the pro-Israeli lobby sent messages to the House and the Senate of words that they wanted them to use, gave them the language, and now you have bipartisan support. And there's not a vote that the pro-Israeli lobby wants that doesn't get bipartisan support. Why? Because the Israeli lobby controls the government of the United States of America."
• "You cannot deny the pro-Israeli lobby and get reelected. Ask Cynthia McKinney. Ask David Hilliard. Ask our mayor in Oakland, California. Ask Percy, the former Senator. Ask Jimmy Carter. You can't criticize, you can't say nothin' because if you do, you're branded as an anti-Semite."
• "Why, U.S. Congress, will you not speak? It is because you fear a lobby that has money and influence that will turn you out of your seat? So you're terrorized. That's why you don't act for the American people that sent you to Congress. You are not their representative. You are the representative of the money and interests that have bought your soul."
At one point during his address, Farrakhan implied that the validity of Holocaust records should be open to debate:
• "… you can't even engage in constructive argument over the veracity of the figures of the Holocaust. We know something happened, sure, but you can't talk about [it]. In certain cities in Europe they arrest you and put you in prison for denying such."
"Louis Farrakhan is at it again," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "After his near-silence on Jews over the last several years, we thought Minister Farrakhan had put his long history of anti-Semitism and racism behind him, or at least had held his views in check. Apparently, that was wishful thinking. Once again he is clearly comfortable with putting his bigotry on display, unfettered and unhidden for his supporters and the world to see."
I just showed the following editorial from the Yated to Rav Sternbuch. His response was,
ReplyDelete"WHY ISN'T THERE ANY MENTION ABOUT STOPPING THE PERPETRATORS? WHY ISN'T THERE A CONDEMNATION OF THOSE WHO OMMITTED THE CRIMES AGAINST THESE CHILDREN? WHY ARE THE AFRAID TO CONDEMN THE PERPETRATORS?"
Why are you guys knocking the Young Israel, I mean Agudah of Madison?
ReplyDeleteIt's just great. Instead of walking all the way to Young Israel of Bedford Bay, we just roll out of bed into Reisman's shul any time we want. Not that we always go to shul but it's just business as usual. We shmooz through the whole davening while trying not to choke on the gum we are chewing and our kids run rampant. They can make as much noise as they want, even during Megilas Esther. Then after kiddush we change into sweatpants and walk the dog.
hi this is a quote from the awarenescenter website on a diffrent story from years ago!!!
ReplyDeleteBut Blau of YU said there are more witnesses who are not speaking publicly about what happened at Kerem.
Also in question is how the original allegations were handled. Blau said that there is a letter signed by Weinberg and Rabbi Elya Svei, a leading rabbinic figure from Philadelphia, stating that Weinberg would not be involved in education.
"That is absolutely categorically insane," Weinberg said. "I would love for somebody to produce this document
anyways it seems rabbi svei did care to protect students from molesters
I knew it! It's all those modern orthodox losers still living in Flatbush who are the only ones reading UOJ. I guess Reisman's shul must be the last holdout!
ReplyDeleteI figured Jacobson and those guys from London's shul were up to no good when they hijacked the board and got the shul to move out to Ave S.