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Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Mother of all Kol Korehs!

MUSIC TO BE PLAYED WHILE READING THE MOTHER OF ALL KOL KOREHS!

by Anonymous Torah WikiLeaker Letz:

CLICK ON MEZUYEF KOL KOREH IMAGES TO ENLARGE:


Nevala Na’asesah B’Yisroel! V’cheyn Lo Yaaseh!











An abomination has been done in Israel!

A tzadik and talmud chochom and ba’al chessed, Rabbi Gershon Kranczer, has been reported to the police for raping his daughters, and has run away to Israel to escape going to jail. First and foremost our hearts are broken for this great man, a close friend of the Gedolei Yisroel, Reb Ahron Shechter and Reb Laizer Ginsberg, Shli’ta. All Jews must stand together in support for this righteous man, who is also the principal of Yeshiva Tehilla L'Dovid for special needs students. Rabbi Kranczer, Shli’ta has done so much good, and so much chesed that he makes even other tzaddikim of our generation like hakodosh Martin Grossman and the Spinka Rebbe pale in comparison. All Jews must come to the aid of this holy individual, who is now being persecuted because he is a Jew.

We strongly and vociferously condemn the actions of the daughters in reporting private behaviors to the authorities:

1. Firstly, it is not tznius to talk about these things, and the girls described disgusting acts in more graphic details than a “Chosson Shmooze” from Rabbi Gissinger in Lakewood, which is an act of nivul peh. Bnos Yisroel should allow themselves to be raped rather than to discuss such not tznius events. Even when we discuss so called “child molestation” we never describe the exact actions that are being done to children. And although the Novominsker Rebbe, Shli’ta said it is now time to sweep the problem out from under you carpet, this is not what he meant - what he meant was its high time you bought a new carpet! We have made it abundantly clear that blogs and the media are not acceptable places to discuss these problems. And besides, Reb Matisyahu Salamon still says that it should be swept under the newest carpet for the purpose of the dignity of the molester. Reb Avraham Chaim Levine said publicly on tape that we NEVER publicize the names of molesters! Certainly the girls did not mean to have the story public, but they should have known that going to the police would make it so, R”L.

2. Secondly, the actions of these girls have placed a needless risk of financial burden on the holy mossad that their father was running. Did they not know that as the administrator, his being forced to leave would hurt the yeshiva? Did they not know that yeshivas are the lifeblood of our community? Have they not heard the Novominkser Rebbe, Shli’ta state publicly that while we “feel bad” for the victims of abuse, the foremost concern of all Yidden must be the mosdos that we, the gedolim own and use to give shtellas to our children and son-in-laws?

3. Furthermore, the actions of the daughters are against Halacha, because many gedolim have ruled that to report allegations of abuse to the police is mesirah. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, Rabbi Malkiel Kotler and other gedolim have ruled against going to the police. Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Shlit’a, has stated publicly that such behavior “would not be tolerated” in our community. These girls are to be punished and no school should accept them, the same way as in Lakewood the boy who reported his rape to the police was not allowed in any school. Keep in mind that some of the so-called crimes they accuse their father and brothers of are acts that did not even include penetration, and therefore are not technically abuse according to Moron Harav Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg, Shli’ta.



4. Finally, the worst aveira these girls did was, of course, acting without consulting daas Torah. They arrogantly presumed to know what was better for them to “protect” themselves from the abuse. Only we, the rosh yeshivas, can divine what is best in all situations. Girls, boys, young men and women and parents have no right whatsoever to try to protect themselves from being raped without consulting daas Torah to find out what we have divined. The Novominkser Rebbe, Shli’ta said that parents should warn their children about abusers, but not chas v’chalila to do anything to stop abuse. He said clearly at the Fressers Convention - "The anus (Litvish for onus) is to be placed completely on the child to protect himself or herself, and they should be taught that they must always act al pi daas Torah, like their molesters".

We must reiterate in every language of warning that all allegations of rape, sodomy and child molestation should be reported ONLY to rabbis and a beis din. As Rabbi Shlomo Gottesman said publicly at the recent Agudah convention, the first person to go to is the school principal. He said that today in 2010 there would not be any cover ups. In fact the Yeshiva that Rabbi Kranczer ran, found out months before the police and did not cover it up. They had him resign, and then the girls were surely safe.

What possible good could come out from going to the police?

We must continue to ignore that the principal may BE the molester, such as in the Gerrer Mesivta in Boro Park, where Rabbi Lazerovitz molested dozens of boys, and Satmar Yeshiva in Williamsburg where Rabbi Reichman was the principal for years and was also guilty of molesting many boys. We must ignore the fact that Reb Ahron Feldman, Shli’ta, Rosh Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, is currently continuing to cover up the sex crimes against bochurim of Moshe Eiseman, Shli’ta. Serial molester Rabbi Chaim Abrahamson in Monsey, has been dealt with by Yeshiva of Spring Valley, and Reb Shmuel Kaminetsky has agreed to allow it to be covered up just as all the rest of the cases he knows about. Rabbis Kotler and Salamon, correctly refuse to allow, chas v’shalom the parents of the little boys who allege that Rabbi Eli Gelbwachs physically assaulted their four year olds’ "JUNK" to go to the police, R”L, so that Gelbwachs is still free to work for Hatzala in Lakewood.

Despite the Novominsker’s speech, we must be more vigilant in stopping people from exposing these cover-ups, and making a chillul Hashem. The only way for us to be mekadesh shem Shamayim is for victims of abuse to keep quiet about it, and for anyone who knows about it to refrain from going to the police. In this zechus, may we all merit the Moshiach.

Donations to help the “pidyon shvuim” campaign for Rabbi Kranczer can be mailed to the Novominsker Rebbe (he takes all major credit and debit cards for your convenience) ((except the DiamondCard)) the Munkatcher Rebbe, Shli’ta or directly to attorney Ben Brafman, or attorney Nat Lewin who will I”YH be handling the appeal. The Yated Ne’eman and Hamodia will be reporting about Tehillim Asifas (gatherings) for this great tzadik.

Signing for the Kavod of Daas Torah:

Aharon Shechter, Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Shmuel Kaminetsky, Yaakov Perlow, Aharon Feldman, Avraham Chaim Levine, Dovid Feinstein, Mattisyahu Salamon, Reuvain Feinstein, Lipa Margulies, Yisroel Belsky, Moshe Eisemann, Avraham Mondrowitz, Yudi Kolko, Chaim Abrahamson, Sholom Tendler, Lipa Brenner, Yisroel Weingarten, Mattis Weinberg, Leib Tropper, Shmuel Zev Juravel, Ben-Zion Sobel, Avraham Lazerovitz, Tzvi Wainhaus, Lipa Templer, Mordechai Tendler, Boruch Mordechai Lebovitz, Shmuel Borger, Aaron Tendler, Avraham Reichman, Yosef Aharon Kolko, Emanuel Yegutkin, Yosef Ratzinger...

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Ban, Ban, TalisBan!





18 Av 5767 - August 2007..in the goyishe calender..feh... | Mordecai Plut - drektor-

Published Weakly Without Spellcheck

Shame Yisrael Toirah Nutworks

Z'NEWS BULLETIN

Psak Halochoh

ISSUED WITH MESIRAS NEFESH FROM UNDER OUR BEDS IN THE REB MEIER AL Z. HEIMERS MOSHAV ZEKANIM

BS"D, Av 5767

We were appalled and trembling to hear of the terrible breach in our camp in the form of concerts featuring singers and chazanim who sing before men and women in mixed company Rachmono litzlan and even with separate seating, mamash.

Previous gedolei Yisroel totally banned these events - even though there were none, but in their infinite wisdom they knew that there will be many - even where there is separate seating (they can't fool us - we know they sit together in the car). As such we hereby state our combined ignorant and idiot opinion, which is based on irrefutable daas Torah.

A. Attending these performances is totally prohibited, because we say so -- even though we forgot to take our pills for two years at least - could be more - we just don't remember.

B. The prohibition applies to the organizers and the audience, young and old, middle-aged, senile, people in wheelchairs, people who use cains and walkers, the hearing impaired, fagelech, men, women, children, shul candy-men and rebbeim-- regardless of their sexual preferences.


All the more so on the singers and chazanim, who are inducing the masses to sin, mamash - Rachmana litzlan.

C. Newspapers and advertising circulars should not help by advertising these forbidden events, the transgressors call performances. Even the Jewish Press should restrain itself, if at all possible.

D. The singers and chazanim who appear before a mixed audience may not be invited to sing at any wedding or divorce, chap-a-nosh at the smorgasboard, mooch a free meal, take home the flowers, switch to a newer Borsalino at the coat-check room, steal a bencher, or take home a stranger's wife; nor can any event at which they participate be advertised, including tefillos and so-called kosher events, unsupervised fress Pesach events; in order to avoid lending a hand to these transgressors who we consider to be rishaim gemurim, like nothing ever before in klal Yisroel, ever, ever, aver, erva.

May Hashem Yisborach, in His great mercy and kindness, bring them to do teshuvah before Him - and us - by supporting Kupat H'air, and may we merit the eternal Redemption (not the phony Chabad kind), immediately - before the Kolko trial - azuz yimolei sechok peanuts...., vayihee b'yemai Achasvarush....

Signing for the sake of the sanctity, holiness and purity of our people, with trembling hands, spittle dripping out of our mouths, and with soiled diapers....

Yehuda Kolko

Lipa Margulies

Ephraim Shapiro

Shea Fishman

Moshe Eisemann

Matis Weinberg

Shalom Tendler

Mordecai Tendler

Aron Tendler

Sheftel Neuberger

Grepsel Hamburger

Avrohom Mondrowitz

Ephraim Bryks

Aron Twerski

Avi Shafran

Marvin Shick

Avrohom Leizerowitz

Heshy Nussbaum

Shlomo Mandel

Yehuda Nussbaum

Simcha Kaufman

Shmuel Kaminetzky

Yaakov Perlow

Yosef Sholom Eliashiv

Gershon Tannenbaum

Moshe Heinemann

Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman

Yaakov Aryeh Alter Chaya

Yissochor Dov Petzel A. Kleiner

Pinchos Nisht-Arein Gegangen

Hertz Frankel

Yitzchak Kaduri

Shmuel Halevi Wosner

Yisroel Hazmana Belsky

Mendel Haganiv Epstein

Moshe Hachazir Finkel

Dovid Ha'truckdriver Cohen

Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz

Moshe Chaim Kurva Ben Gil Arayus

Leibish Flynt

Chaim H. Hefner

Lipa Geldwerth

David(Ben Shmuel)Berkowitz

Lipa Brenner

Baruch Lanner

Chaim Pinchos Sheinberg

Bernard(Berish)Law

C. Yonah Mahoney

Tuvyah Ted Bundy

Tzvi Elimelech Zona

Nissim Karelitz

Dovid Twersky

Shmuel Auerbach

Sholom Klass

Yitzchok Sheiner

Marvin Hier

Israel Singer

Philip Berg

Moshe Sherer

Shabbsai Tzvi

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Orthodox Jews Begin to Reckon with Sexual Abuse!


http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/3258/orthodox_jews_begin_to_reckon_with_sexual_abuse

A manhunt has been underway this week for Brooklyn Rabbi Gershon Kranczer and his 21-year-old son Asher in connection with the sexual abuse of four of the rabbi’s female relatives. Two more of the rabbi’s sons, Yechezkel, 24, and a 15-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, have already turned themselves in to police.

The case is certainly odd. 58-year-old Rabbi Kranczer, of Midwood, has 14 children and the abuse, according to the New York City Police Department, has been limited to incidents within the rabbi’s family.

But the hunt for Kranczer comes at a time when federal agencies are taking a more proactive approach to prosecuting abuse in the Orthodox community. In Brooklyn last year, about 25 Orthodox men were arrested on sex abuse charges. This year in Lakewood, New Jersey, a predominantly Orthodox community, the local prosecutor has launched 29 sex crime investigations.

According to law enforcement officials in New Jersey and New York, more Orthodox abuse victims are coming forward than ever before. But perhaps more importantly, sexual abuse itself, once taboo, has become an increasingly talked about issue within the Orthodox world. Just a couple of months ago, two of the country’s largest and most influential Orthodox organizations, the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union, co-sponsored America’s first National Jewish Child Abuse Prevention Week.

There’s nothing to suggest that sexual abuse is any more or less prevalent in the Orthodox community than anywhere else; but there are a number of peculiarities to Orthodox Jewish life that have made the reporting of abuse less common than in society at large.

“I think the subject of abuse is probably the same in any religious community,” says Michael Salomon, a Long Island psychiatrist, who has just finished working on an as-yet-unpublished book about sexual abuse in the Orthodox world.

“Different religions use different justifications for not reporting,” he says. “But it comes down to the theory that religious issues should be handled within the religious community, even though the powers that be within the community do not have the power to investigate and to prosecute.”

For many years, Orthodox rabbis have dissuaded victims and their families from going to the secular authorities with their claims of abuse. But as the Catholic Church has discovered at great cost, suppressing abuse allegations only makes the issue more damaging to the religious institution when it is finally exposed.

At the recent sentencing of an Orthodox abuser in Brooklyn, the mother of one victim, who did not wish to be named, told me: “They can’t keep it quiet any more. There are too many people screaming about it.”

Going to Secular Authorities can have Terrible Consequences

In fact, there are many similarities between the way in which the Catholic Church and the Orthodox community have dealt with abuse. Both are closed, conservative communities. Both have a hierarchy and an infrastructure built around the idea that they are responsible for policing themselves. And both are deeply suspicious of the outside world and its values. Catholic and Orthodox officials even joined forces last year to block a bill in the New York State legislature that would have temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on abuse claims.

But the similarities end there. The Orthodox movement is much smaller than the Catholic Church and doesn’t have an overarching figure like the Pope to make decisions. In the Pope’s place are countless rabbinic leaders and authorities who wield enormous influence over their followers.

Mark Dratch, a modern Orthodox rabbi and former vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, says the influence of rabbinic opinion over everyday life—known as da’as torah—has increased considerably during the past few decades.

“There is a growing authoritarianism in the Orthodox community today,” says Rabbi Dratch. “There is a hierarchy and a deference to rabbinic opinion and these two forces play off each other.”

This means that the success of initiatives to hunt down abusers in the Orthodox community ultimately rests with the rabbis. And if the recent case of Yosef Kolko, a 36-year-old Orthodox schoolteacher, is any guide, the Orthodox world still has a long way to go. Kolko, of New Jersey, pleaded not guilty earlier this year to charges that he sexually abused a boy at a Jewish summer camp. Rather than supporting the alleged victim, the community rallied to Kolko’s defense.

Historically, abuse victims and their families have often been urged—and then bribed or threatened—not to go to the police. Jewish customs and concepts, such as mesirah (not informing on a fellow Jew to the secular authorities), chilul hashem (the desecration of God’s name) and lashon hara (spreading gossip) are invoked to coerce people into keeping quiet. Going to a secular court without a rabbi’s permission can be interpreted as violating Jewish law. Simply speaking out can have terrible consequences.

Last year, Yehoshua Finkelstein, a 20-year-old abuse victim from the Orthodox enclave of Lakewood, New Jersey, died of an overdose in an apparent suicide. After his death, Shua’s parents discovered a letter he had written criticizing the Jewish community for not facing up to the problem of sexual abuse. They published the letter online, reigniting the debate over abuse. Shortly afterwards, their house was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

The boy who now claims to have been abused by Yosef Kolko also comes from Lakewood. After the boy’s father—himself a rabbi—went to the police, a flier was distributed naming the father and accusing him of making “a mockery of the Torah” and of committing a chilul hashem.

A friend of Kolko’s, Shaul Luban, sent a text message to members of the community urging them to pressure the father not to testify. Luban has since been charged with witness tampering and faces up to five years in prison. Meanwhile, nine leading Lakewood rabbis issued a proclamation telling followers that if they suspect a case of abuse they must go to a religious court, known as a beth din, before alerting the secular authorities.

Protecting Children vs. Religious Concerns

The Orthodox community’s reliance upon beth dins is one of the central stumbling blocks to combating sexual abuse. Typically comprised of three rabbis, they rule on family and business disputes such as divorce, inheritance, and contractual disagreements. Small Jewish communities usually have a single beth din while larger communities, like those found in New York and New Jersey, may have many. These include beth dins that specialize in sexual abuse, though they are few; Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, says there are probably no more than two or three in the country.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, beth din rabbis are often reluctant to speak about their work. Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union, says that a beth din that investigates sexual abuse is usually comprised of rabbis with some knowledge or experience of abuse cases. They may also enlist the services of a consultant, such as a mental health professional or an attorney.

Says Rabbi Weinreb. “It’s very difficult to assess an accusation of sexual abuse. It’s a basic rule in the whole field, especially when children are involved, that it’s hard to know how much credence to give to what they say.”

“However, there are experts in the field who know how to conduct these kinds of investigations and any beth din worth its salt will make sure they have some expert working with them so they can evaluate the situation.”

Rabbi Weinreb says that the Orthodox Union does not have an official policy on reporting sexual abuse. Instead, it directs people to the Rabbinical Council of America, which adopted a resolution earlier this year stating that informing the secular authorities does not violate Jewish law.

Nevertheless, as long as some community leaders insist that the beth din must be informed first, it will remain a route that many religious families take. And only if the beth din deems the allegation to be true will the family be permitted to go to the authorities.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford, who brought the case against Yosef Kolko, is concerned that such actions limit a prosecutor’s ability to secure a conviction. “By having a diversion to a different type of tribunal, no matter how well intentioned the people involved are, it ultimately makes the job of getting a criminal conviction more difficult,” she says.

Furthermore, such practices may be illegal. Reporting laws related to sexual abuse differ by state. But there are few, if any, conditions under which an adult is not bound to report child sexual abuse to the authorities. In New Jersey, any adult with reasonable suspicion of child abuse must report their suspicion to the authorities, says Ford.

However, Ford admits that sexual abuse is a delicate issue and she is under no illusions that victims of all faiths often approach religious leaders for moral and spiritual guidance before going to the authorities.

“This is a type of crime in which people reflect on what the ramifications are to the victim and to their family,” she said.

“But when we are faced with the potential of repetitive and compulsive offenders, who are not amenable to treatment and who may, in fact, be a serial abuser, it’s in the interest of the state to bring to justice and remove these people from the community so they do not assault again.”

“When it comes to abuse, there’s an overriding state interest in protecting children and I think that has to trump religious concerns.”

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Let's Build Another Museum - Send Your Checks To Midget Marvin!



From: Simon Wiesenthal Center World Headquarters Sent: Mon, Dec 6, 2010

Subject: Rabbi Hier, "They say there never was a Chanukah"

“It happened in those times and again in our time!”
They say there never was a Chanukah

December 6, 2010

2,200 years ago, the Maccabees fought off an attempt from the Greeks to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish people. But you and I know that the battle to deny Israel’s right to exist is still going on in our time and you can help us do something about it.

Only last week, a senior Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information official had the audacity to say, “The Jews have no historical or religious ties to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. There is no archeological evidence that the Temple Mount was built during the period of King Solomon….”

This lie was contradicted by their own Supreme Muslim Council, the highest Muslim religious authority in Jerusalem which, from 1924 to 1953 published their own official guide to Jerusalem which described the Dome of the Rock as follows, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot according to the universal belief, on which [quoting Hebrew Scripture] ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord.”

We must respond to this continuous campaign to delegitimize Israel by the Palestinian leadership. Only two weeks ago, UNESCO joined in in this campaign by calling Rachel’s Tomb a “mosque,” attempting to steal from the Jewish people one of its most sacred religious sites.

Remember the words of the Chanukah prayer, “It happened in those times and again in our time!!”

With your help, we will be successful in standing up to these revisionists as our ancestors did 2,200 years ago on the first Chanukah. Please email this Chanukah message to your family and friends.

Rabbi Marvin Hier
Dean and Founder
Simon Wiesenthal Center

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Former Yeshiva Principal Sought on Abuse Charges!

 

M.E.D.I.A. A.D.V.I.S.O.R.Y

Dec 5, 2010, 7:00 pm: For Immediate Release

Press conference:
To show Jewish community support for prosecution of sex offenders and avert any possible plea bargain without prison time for notorious sex offender, Meir Dascalowitz. Dascalowitz is scheduled to appear in Kings County Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 8, 9:00 am. He is charged with 200 felony counts of criminal sexual activity with a child under 15 years of age.

When: Monday, Dec. 6, 3:00 pm


Where: in front of the Kings County Office of the District Attorney: 350 Jay St. Brooklyn, NY 11201

Speakers:
Dr. Asher Lipner, Executive Vice President, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Joel Engelman, Co-Founder Jewish Survivors Network
Mrs. Pearl Engelman, Mother of a victim of sexual abuse
And others TBA

Endorsers:
JSafe: The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse-Free Environment
Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg (Advocate for Victims of Sex Abuse and blogger of Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg’s Hotline);
The Voice of Justice
Jewish Parents for Safe Yeshivos


BACKGROUND:
On May 11, 2010 Meir Dascalowitz (pictured above), a hasidic Jew who lived in Williamsburg was arrested by the New York City Police for molesting a boy under 15 every month for over a half a year in a ritual bath in Williamsburg. According to the NYS database, webcrims, he was booked on the basis of 200! felony charges of criminal sexual activity with a minor under 15 years of age (PL 130.45 01). There were additional misdemeanor charges. (Kings County Supreme Court: case # 04054-2010). When Dascalowitz was arrested he voluntarily confessed to assaulting many boys. The DA is also aware of corroborating medical evidence.



The victim’s parents have cooperated with the police in Brooklyn’s Sex Crimes Unit and the Office of the Kings County District Attorney in seeking justice to protect their own child and other children from this monstrous predator. Dascalowitz’s enablers and supporters have conducted a campaign of harassment to force the parents to drop their case. The parents of the victim have been steadfast. They have endured being thrown out of their synagogue; a scurrilous campaign of innuendo, and other acts of attempted witness intimidation, which are being investigated by the DA’s Office.

Ultra Orthodox Jews are no longer willing to cover up sex abuse in their communities. The victim’s parents are part of a trend in the orthodox world to cooperate more closely with the criminal justice system in flushing out these monsters.

Around Dec 1, 2010 the parents of the victim had a phone conversation with the DA’s office; they informed the parents that the DA was contemplating entering a plea bargain. The terms of this proposed plea bargain might include probation WITHOUT ANY JAIL TIME. It is not even clear if the gravity of the charges were to be reflected in the guilty plea and whether Dascalowitz would be classified as a registered sex offender, and thereafter placed on the public Megan's Law sex offender registry. The parents rightfully consider this potential plea bargain a miscarriage of justice, a hindrance to their son’s recovery from his abuse, a slap in the face of their steadfast persistence in pursuing this case, and an act that would endanger children in Williamsburg. A plea bargain is not necessary. The evidence is strong. Dascalowitz has confessed, and there is physical evidence in addition to the victim’s accounts.

We respectfully urge the Kings County District Attorney to reject the possibility of such a plea bargain. If such a plea bargain is offered by the DA, we respectfully ask the presiding judge, the Honorable Danny K Chun, to refuse to accept it. Through separate communications we are urging concerned citizens of all faiths to communicate with the District Attorney’s office to persuade him to reverse the position communicated by his office.

For Media Information and to schedule interviews, Contact: Joel Engelman 347-415-3799
************************************************************

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/nyregion/04family.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Former Yeshiva Principal Sought on Abuse Charges
By KAREEM FAHIM and AL BAKER
Published: December 3, 2010 - THE NEW YORK TIMES

A former Brooklyn yeshiva principal and three of his sons sexually abused four of the principal’s other children, molesting one of the victims over 15 years, the authorities said Friday.

The police are still looking for the man, Rabbi Gershon Kranczer, 58, and one of his sons, Asher Kranczer, 21, who they believe fled to Israel earlier this week. Another son, Yechezkel Kranczer, 24, turned himself in to the police on Thursday and has been charged with 70 counts of sexual abuse and 2 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The third son, a 15-year-old whose name was withheld by the authorities, was brought in for questioning on Wednesday, made statements implicating himself in the abuse and was arrested, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

The authorities believe the abuse occurred in a three-story house in Midwood, Brooklyn, that Rabbi Kranczer shared with his wife and 12 of his 14 children. Neighbors said the family had lived in the house for more than 20 years. A law enforcement official said the house had a large kitchen and several bunk beds.

Mr. Browne said the situation came to light after one of the children, who works as a teacher’s aide at a yeshiva, told a colleague about the abuse on Monday. The colleague contacted the authorities, Mr. Browne said.

He said that Rabbi Kranczer and his son Asher flew from Kennedy International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday, possibly because they had learned the authorities were investigating. Law enforcement officials said that Rabbi Kranczer and Asher, who is legally blind, were driven to the airport by Rabbi Kranczer’s wife, whom the police did not identify by name.

Yechezkel Kranczer married recently and had moved out of the home, the authorities said.

The authorities said no one in the family had prior criminal records.

On Friday afternoon, a teenage child emerged from the house carrying a duffle bag, walked past crates of household items on the porch and disappeared down the street without commenting.

Neighbors painted a picture of a family struggling financially, and said two of the children had learning disabilities. But they said that they were shocked at the accusations and that the children seemed outwardly happy. “Impossible,” said one, Sol Borger, 60, who lives across the street. “I don’t believe it.”

Mr. Borger said he and Rabbi Kranczer attended the same synagogue and had gone to each other’s weddings. “The kindest, most helpful people you’d ever want to meet,” he said. “I’d sooner believe Mayor Bloomberg did it.” Mr. Borger said “children’s services” visited the house years ago, but he believed nothing came of any accusations.

A spokeswoman for the Administration for Children’s Services would not comment on any visits to the home because of the investigation. She said the agency was in the process of taking some of the children from the house and was “working to ensure the safety of all the children.”

There were conflicting accounts of the school that Rabbi Kranczer ran until three months ago, when the police say he resigned from his post for unknown reasons. State records indicate he was the principal of a school with a few dozen students called the Mesorah School. The records give the address as the rabbi’s house. But neighbors said the school, for disabled children, was called Yeshiva Tehila L’Dovid and was a few blocks away from the house. On the porch of the Kranczer home, a mailed copy of the Flatbush Jewish Journal was addressed to Yeshiva Tehila L’Dovid.

The police said they were not aware of any victims outside the family.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

IN HIS OWN WORDS, THE ROSH AGUDAH, RABBI YAAKOV PERLOW, NOVEMBER 24, 2010, AGUDATH ISRAEL CONVENTION



IN HIS OWN WORDS, THE ROSH AGUDAH, RABBI YAAKOV PERLOW, NOV 24, 2010, AGUDATH ISRAEL CONVENTION

...."Let me mention something else, another painful subject, which has arisen in our tzibbur, and its time that we recognize it, even in public (inaudible short Yiddish phrase). And sweep it out from under the carpet.

There's a need, an obligation, particularly on parents, to inform and teach children to be careful and alert and safeguard their bodies, their Yiddishe gufim, and not allow potential predators to abuse them.

I'm sorry that I have to bring this up in public.

But the olam doesn't know. Very few people outside the halls of Agudas Yisroel and Torah U'Mesorah know, that the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah U'Mesorah, together with the Moetzes Gedolei Torah of Agudas Yisroel have held many joint meetings and spent many hours discussing all the aspects of this sensitive topic that has crept out of the woodworks in recent years.

Yes, there are molesters out there, tragically enough, in the yeshivishe and in the Chassidishe community, and our children have to be attuned to the nishmar (inaudible) nafshosaychem.

And let me mention that several years ago the Moetzes of Agudas Yisroel approved a statement sent out by the Director of Camp Aguda to all camp directors about behavioral standards of staff and campers, plus a letter to be sent to parents before camp begins.

Torah U'Mesorah likewise issued guidelines and standards for mechanchim sent to all principals suggesting they also communicate on this subject with their parent body.

The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah discussed thoroughly all the legal questions, all the legal aspects of this tsurah.

We came out publicly against the Markey Bill, in order to protect the integrity of our mosdos haTorah. But it did acknowledge the tsar and anguish of the victims of molestation.

A short while ago, a committee of the Moetzes met with some of these victims, and was shaken to hear first hand of the long term ruinous affects and the deep pain of these people. I'd like to acknowledge here publicly how many of these individuals who suffered severe trauma and carried this tsar all these years have, nonetheless, b'ezras Hashem, succeeded in rebuilding their lives, have raised families in the Torah true tradition and they deserve the chizuk and encouragement of the community at large.

There's a lot more to say on this painful subject, but this is not the place".

IN MY OWN (UOJ) WORDS - WHAT PERLOW IS REALLY SAYING!

Oh yeah chevrah, by the way, we were caught with our pants down lying about everything to protect our fellow gangsters running their "pay for play" yeshivas. So...I'm sorry to bring this silly topic up, but the lawyers think its a good idea to cover our collective tuches, so I'll cry a little now, I'll do a head-fake, I'll add a crack or two to my voice, but do not be disturbed, it's a big show. The Viennese table is loaded with goodies (yummee) after I finish my brief 3 minute Purim shpiel, I do not want you for one second to let this really non-existent issue affect your weekend. The people that came forward are not really gezunt nebach, but they claim to be Yidden, who knows, maybe they're really goyim. Gedalya, check their yichus... ZEITS MOCHEL!FRESS ZICH UN A GUT YUR!

When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/opinion/24friedman.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

Op-Ed Columnist
U.S.G. and P.T.A. -- By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The New York Times

For me, the most frightening news in The Times on Sunday was not about North Korea’s stepping up its nuclear program, but an article about how American kids are stepping up their use of digital devices: “Allison Miller, 14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations at a time. She texts between classes, at the moment soccer practice ends, while being driven to and from school and, often, while studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report. “I’ll be reading a book for homework and I’ll get a text message and pause my reading and put down the book, pick up the phone to reply to the text message, and then 20 minutes later realize, ‘Oh, I forgot to do my homework.’ ”

I don’t want to pick on Miller. I highlight her words only because they’re integral to a much larger point: Our unemployment today is not only because of the financial crisis. There are some deeper problems. If we’re going to get more Americans back to work, we will need more stimulus from the U.S.G. — the U.S. government — from the top down. But we will also need more stimulus from the P.T.A.’s — the Parent Teacher Associations — from the bottom up.

The deeper problems fostering unemployment in America today can be summarized in three paragraphs:

Global competition is stiffer. Just think about two of our most elite colleges. When Harvard and Yale were all male, applicants had to compete only against a pool of white males to get in. But when Harvard and Yale admitted women and more minorities, white males had to step up their game. But when the cold war ended, globalization took hold. As Harvard and Yale started to admit more Chinese, Indians, Singaporeans, Poles and Vietnamese, both American men and women had to step up their games to get in. And as the education systems of China, India, Singapore, Poland and Vietnam continue to improve, and more of their cream rises to the top and more of their young people apply to Ivy League schools, it is only going to get more competitive for American men and women at every school.

Then, just as the world was getting flattened by globalization, technology went on a rampage — destroying more low-end jobs and creating more high-end jobs faster than ever. What computers, hand-held devices, wireless technology and robots do in aggregate is empower better-educated and higher-skilled workers to be more productive — so they can raise their incomes — while eliminating many lower-skilled service and factory jobs altogether. Now the best-educated workers, capable of doing the critical thinking that machines can’t do, get richer while the least-educated get pink slips. (We used to have a receptionist at our office. She was replaced by a micro-chip. We got voice mail.)

Finally, just when globalization and technology were making the value of higher education greater than ever, and the price for lacking it more punishing than ever, America started slipping behind its peers in high school graduation rates, college graduation and global test scores in math and critical thinking.

As Education Secretary Arne Duncan put it to me in an interview, 50 years ago if you dropped out, you could get a job in the stockyards or steel mill and still “own your own home and support your family.” Today, there are no such good jobs for high school dropouts. “They’re gone,” said Duncan. “That’s what we haven’t adjusted to.” When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.”

There are barely any jobs left for someone with only a high school diploma, and that’s only valuable today if it has truly prepared you to go on to higher education without remediation — the only ticket to a decent job.

Beyond the recession, this triple whammy is one of the main reasons that middle-class wages have been stagnating. To overcome that, we need to enlist both the U.S.G. and the P.T.A. We need teachers and principals who are paid better for better performance, but also valued for their long hours and dedication to students and learning. We need better parents ready to hold their kids to higher standards of academic achievement. We need better students who come to school ready to learn, not to text. And to support all of this, we need an all-society effort — from the White House to the classroom to the living room — to nurture a culture of achievement and excellence.

If you want to know who’s doing the parenting part right, start with immigrants, who know that learning is the way up. Last week, the 32 winners of Rhodes Scholarships for 2011 were announced — America’s top college grads. Here are half the names on that list: Mark Jia, Aakash Shah, Zujaja Tauqeer, Tracy Yang, William Zeng, Daniel Lage, Ye Jin Kang, Baltazar Zavala, Esther Uduehi, Prerna Nadathur, Priya Sury, Anna Alekeyeva, Fatima Sabar, Renugan Raidoo, Jennifer Lai, Varun Sivaram.

Do you see a pattern?