Jewish Sexual Abuse Awareness Week kicked off today in Chicago. A project of New York based Jewish Board for Advocacy for Children, was sponsored locally by the Assocaited Talmud Torahs of Chicago, and the Chicago Board of Rabbis.
Rabbi Gedalyah Schwartz of the Rabbinic Council spoke about the horrific effects of sexual molestation on the psyche of the victims. He declared since victims may take the step of committing suicide as a result of the perverse actions done to them, it's a matter of 'pikuach nefesh', a Jewish term for guarding the soul.
Survivors of abuse Motty Weiss and Pinny Taub spoke next. They discussed the treatment by the Orthodox rabbinate and community after coming out about their being abused. Attendees were visibly moved by Mr. Taub's account.
Rabbi Mark Dratch, Dr. Vivian Skolnick, and Dr. Asher Lipner spoke about prevention and the importance of involving the police and prosecutors early in the process. The Illinois State Sex Crime Unit Head described law enforcement's involvement in the process and how every effort is made to reduce victim discomfort. Special attention was given to the protection of the family from intimidation or harrassment.
Following a suicide in lakewood, New Jersey - the molestation victim's house was burned down in an arson attack. Recently, a Lakewood, New Jersey rabbi was arrested for harassing the family of a sexual molestation victim who came forward with Rabbinic approval.
The highlight of the afternoon was Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik of Chicago who brought the house down with this line, "If your wife was raped, would you call a rabbi and ask him what to do? No, you would call the police. Why in the case of a child do people think they have to call the rabbi?
Enough of the rabbinic meetings, call the police first" he begged!
Attendance was estimated at 400. Organizers expressed disappointment that many rabbis boycotted this event. There will be a backlash against those rabbis and school principals who were not in attendance....
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
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EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
26 comments:
I think the highlight of the night was when Patricia Sudendorf, Esq., Chief, Sex Crimes Division, Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, Cook County State's Attorney's Office laid out the law and explained that in the State of Illinois not reporting when you suspect a child is at risk of harm or believed to have been abused is a Class A Felony, which could put the non-reporter in prison.
I also have to tell you that I believe the rabbis were quiet articulate, yet it was all a bunch of lip service. When we see action on their part, then we can start to believe what they are saying. The special beit din in Chicago appears to be nothing more then just a song and dance routine.
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/shmully_hecht/2010/10/gays_should_be_welcomed_by_our_religious_institutions.html
This is what Lubavitch has sunk to? Chabad shaliach Rabbi Shmully Hecht proclaims that OPEN gays are welcome at his center at Yale University.
was there a deliberate boycott?
uoj, its not nice to ask, but do you have a personal reason for your strong advocacy (which i commend) on behalf of molestation victims?
Free Lakewood, I think everyone should be a strong advocate for these victims and if you need a reason to be an advocate than I think you should reexamine your moral beliefs.
modern c is exactly right! But if I had to expand on UOJ's moral courage I remember it written that some of Kolko's victims cried to him. How could anyone with a conscience sleep after witnessing that?
On a similar note, Attorney Jeff Herman said it went from being a business to a personal mission when he looked in the victims' eyes and saw tremendous pain.
http://matzav.com/video-rubashkin-unity-song-released
This is the latest attempt to free Rubashkin. What Matzav won't tell you is that it took $30,000 to produce the video and that the concept of bringing together dozens of Jewish singers including a Black ger who sings shvartza rap music comes from the famous goyish singers getting together to raise money for Haiti.
The lyrics in the Rubashkin song are kind of radical like comparing the raid in Postville to Kayin killing Hevel.
Rav Avrohom Chaim Levin
Rav Shmuel Fuerst
Rav Zev Cohen
All three are members of the Special Bais Din for Child Sexual Abuse didn't show.
Rav Yehoshua Heschel Eichenstein (CCTC-Devon)
Rav Pinchos Eichenstein
Rav Zev Meisels
Rav Ephraim Kletenik
All of these rabbonim stayed away. They willingly boycotted the event. Rav Meisels and Kletenik disgracefully convinced their school's parent body to stay away too. What are they trying to hide?????
Decide for yourself whether or not this is a boycott.
Why is there a comment about Rubashkin in this post that is about abuse in the community?
While it is true that all criminal activity is criminal there is a distinct difference in the kind of crime. Sex crimes against children are vastly different and I do not think the previous post is relevant to the issue we are discussing except of course that both are criminal activities and both are condoned and covered up by some in the Frum community. But let's not insult victims of sex crimes by diverting attention to their issue. Let's proclaim our solidarity for them and let's take heed of what was said at the conference in Chicago. If all parents of day schools demanded that their children receive adequate preventative treatment that includes background checks of all staff and a comprehensive educational initiative that would help build the children's interpersonal and assertive skills so that they won't be an easy target (and that they will know boundaries and when to report) than the schools would provide a program of such.
Parents, it us up to you to take action to insure your child's safety. It is up to you to demand it. If you fail to do so you are not only putting your kids at risk but also your neighbors.
Predators who are under the radar, it is up to you to seek help and medical intervention. You will not stop your behavior because you are unable to. You need medical help and supervision so that you don't hurt others or yourself. You can set an example for others who are like yourself in need of intervention. Don't wait until the Law Enforcement gets you. By that time you will have destroyed too many people. You may want to get caught, many criminals do, don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Get help.
For the enablers, you are worse than the predators. They perhaps are so sick and perverted that according to some scientists it is believed that they can not stop their addictive ways. But you guys have a greater capacity of choice and when you choose to allow this to continue you do so not out of impulse, not because of a sexual deviancy or illness, but out of sheer callousness.
Of course it's easy to figure out why many of those rabbis didn't show like if they are on the Moetzes or related to the Novominsker or related to the renegade RCA rabbi who even though he is president of the RCA makes a public statement that contradicts the RCA's own policy on pedophiles and had to be repudiated by other RCA rabbis.
Tyra Banks & Warner Brothers are in hot water after flying in a 15 year old girl without her parent's knowledge to interview her on national tv about how men have had sex with her since she was 9. The morons let her stay in a hotel room by herself when she admits she is always hooking up with men from the internet & phone chat lines. They are already being sued for $3 million but what about criminal charges of child endangerment? The segment was also nothing but sensationalist crap that probably appealed to no one except pedophiles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Meyer
As the CEO of Warner Bros I just wanted to let you know that my company refuses comment on the Tyra Banks scandal even though the police were looking for the girl as a missing person case. It must be stuff like this that led the American Jewish Committee to give me a humanitarian award.
I'm also on the board of directors at Human Rights Watch but child sex abuse victims are not on the Left wing agenda.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/foreclosure_lawyer_under_scrutiny_lived_the_american_dream_owns_a_bugatti
Foreclosure Lawyer Under Scrutiny Lived the American Dream, Owns a Bugatti, Yacht and Mansions
"Anonymous said...
I think the highlight of the night was..."
It is clear that anonymous who found fault with the Rabbis at the session was not even there. First, (s)he misrepresented what Patricia Sudendorf spoke about. Next, (s)he got the day of the conference wrong becasue it was during the daytime. Also, the Rabbis that spoke have been actively involoved for a long time in fighting against molestation in our community, and their words were not merelip service. Only someone who is blond or stupid or doesn't want to see could be unaware of the activities and fighting that these Rabbis have beeen engaged in to protect the youngsters of our community. They have bucked the trend and beeen severely creticised for going against the establishment in the Chicago community who claim to fight the molestors, but really have done more to protect them.
With one exception, all of the Rabbis who spoke at the conference are opposed to the "special bais din" who just do a song and dance instead of protect kids.
The one exception, Rabbi Schwartz, who is a member of that bais din, made clear in his speech that he feels that in cases of molestation, the molestors should be reported to the authorities immediately - withouy any need to contact Rabbinic personnel first. He made it very clear that he agreed with the Position of Rabbi Soloveichik who said to call the police first.
Its obvious that anonymiss was not present and only has an agenda based on jealousy. Maybe anonymiss should put the kids first. As anonymiss says, lip service is very easy and one can easily lie when misrepresenting themselves on the internet.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2010/10/when-is-something-fraud.html
The nerve of those Sorotzkins asking Yudel Shain to publicize against me for being the Moish Finkel of Cleveland with treifenna chickens and running other money making scams since then.
Why did it take the OU months to finally speak up against Avi Weiss's latest meshugass?
Friday, October 15, 2010
(JTA) -- The Orthodox Union issued a statement saying women may not lead Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services if men are present.
Anonymous got a few things wrong. She never said it was a felony, rather a misdemeanor that carries a potential jail sentence of 364 days.
Second, the Rabbis did not do a sing song at all. For them to definitively state that reporting the offense is obligatory and that it is a matter of life and death is not a sing song.
Also, Rabbi Dratch did inform the audience of actions and plans he has for effecting change in the schools.
I am not sure what anonymous wanted the Rabbis to say. I don't think they could have done a better job.
If anon thought the Rabbis failed he should tell us how. But to assume that they are all talk and no action is not fair. They stated a psak and I believe if they witnessed a molestation they would act in accordance with their directives.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/fbi_informant_admits_scheming.html
FBI informant admits profiting off people on their deathbeds
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/accused+fraud+allegedly+sent+funds+Hasidic+group/3655944/story.html
A Toronto family doctor who repaid $3.5-million he allegedly defrauded from the province's health system in return for a plea deal on fraud and money-laundering charges last year was sending proceeds of his alleged fraud to the Montreal wing of Chabad Lubavitch, the Orthodox Jewish group, according to documents filed with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
No evidence has been presented about whether Chabad Lubavitch knew anything about the source of the money, or what was done with it.
The college's allegations are the first time the Hasidic sect has been publicly identified as the business that was searched in November 2007, as part of the fraud investigation of Dr. Lorne Wayne Sokol, leading to the added money laundering charge.
That investigation, by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and Ontario Provincial Police, looked into Dr. Sokol's billings for pain treatments.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/torah_torah_torah_CLIwleex4sh3GLLt1GDVYN
Hopefully this bilbul he inspired in Satmar will dampen their alliance to protect pedophiles.
http://www.rentistoodamnhigh.org/
Please help empower this political party all over the country so that rich people will be forced to pay for a decent apartment for Shmarya to live in rent-free.
You know the nigun, the rent is 2 damn high!
The litmus test for Rabbi Schwartz is how many molesters he has actually reported to the authorities. Additionally whether he did it in a timely matter. Finally, what has been the quality of his handling of cases brought to the beis din.
Yerachmiel Lopin October 19, 2010 at 5:02pm
Re: Brooklyn, NY - Rabbi Levin: Before Agudah Accuses Me, Let them Check Their Own Record [audio] --
Actually I modeled Rabbi Besdin on my grandparents, sochrim with absolute integrity. Truly erlich yiden. One of my grandfathers survived the holocaust. During that time he held belongings of others. When they came back he returned every last object and every last cent. This in spite of the fact that he could have used that money to buy visa's out of europe, insulin for his niece, and food for his family while he was hungry. My other grandfather was in business on his own from after bar mitzvah until he was a zaken bah biyomim. He was never sued civilly or in din torah and never initiated as suit against anyone else. He was widely known for middos and absolute honesty (and was very successful in business).
I have heard very good things about the Skulener Rebbe, but I did not have him in mind in creating Rabbi Besdin. In a small way I had R. Michoel Ber Weissmandl in mind (in addition to his role in the story). He hated hypocrisy whether it came from gevirim or rabbonim. I know some of the stories which are not part of the hagiography. He would mock rabbonim with uber-pretenses to frumkeit, on kashrus and on other things.
In truth, the Rabbi Besdin story is truly fiction as far as I am consciously aware. I started from a conscious premise that while the MO world had the likes of Rabbi Yosef Blau to publicly say the necessary things about molesting, there was no such figure in the chareidi world. So I invented one. I think and hope that if it resonated for leaders it was because the story captures the as yet unfullfilled ideal for a rabbinic leader. Alas the more I look around the less likely I think it is that such a character will emerge when it comes to internal problems.
Yes, Levin is bold and contrarian, but it is easy to be bold about attacking things outside the community. My question is always: why prohibit friers and goyim from legalizing and legitimizing consensual adult mishkav zachor but look the other way when heimishe yiden rape heimishe bochurim. That is an absurd hierarchy of priorities. How can the continued rapes of yeshiva bochurim be less of a priority. If Levin really had spine and wasn't just showboating, he would be mounting the barricades on this issue. But if he did that he would move from being a tolerated if somewhat marginal comical figure to discovering what it is like to be treated like Nuchem Rosenberg. I am not saying Nuchem is always right. But he is being put through hell because he has made frum pedophilia his target and he pursues it relentlessly.
Yerachmeil,
I don't know his track record and I would agree he must "walk the walk".
To my knowledge, there is no evidence that he has failed to do so.
Why doesn't Shmarya first use all the money he raised and never used for the Rubashkin road show?
Modern C,
My point is that Levin is a showboater. He is a drama queen. So let him do all his shtick in advocating for an end to molesting in the frum world. If he is concerned about legalizing gay marriage why not also go in front of Agudah headquarters about the Markey Bill like he went in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral to withdraw his endorsement for Paladino/Explodino.
Levin is not a behind the scenes fixer. He is a media bomb! Fine!: ailu v'ailu are the ways doing needed tikkun. But why does he suddenly get shy when it comes to mishkav zachor by rebbies with bochurim and kinder. Either he is an apikores who thinks it is not a sin if it not done by a goy or he is a craven coward who does not have the intestinal fortitude to take on the heimish establishment, or he is willfully ignorant. Any of those conclusions disqualify him for stature as a leader or spokesperson.
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