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Saturday, November 19, 2011

On the Eve of the Annual Agudath Israel Convention

"Please believe me when I say that this is not a story about Penn State or some other corrupt organization. Characterizing what happened in State College, particularly the failures of so many adults to report the abuse, as the product of some morally bankrupt institution is a way of convincing ourselves that we are outsiders to these sinister forces. It is no different from calling Sandusky a “monster.” That is soothing, I realize. But it also lets us off the hook too easily, allowing us to avoid asking hard questions about what happens, or can happen, in our own backyards. The Penn State cover-up could have, and undoubtedly has, happened at many other institutions, including those you most care about. Don’t content yourself with demanding something of Penn State, or big-time college sports. While that might make you feel better, it won’t prevent the next tragedy."

The Cruel Lesson of Penn State

How what happened in State College forced me to confront my own abuse.
By Professor Mark P. McKenna
November 18, 2011

A student raised his hand in my torts class last week and asked whether Joe Paterno might be exposed to liability for failing to tell the police about Jerry Sandusky’s alleged sexual assault of a young boy in the Penn State locker room. It was a perfectly legitimate question—we had been studying tort law’s general reluctance to impose liability for omitting to act. And it didn’t come as a surprise—I have always encouraged students to bring current events to class, and the Penn State situation was nearly impossible to avoid last week. Still, I had prayed no one would ask about it because I was not sure I could make it through any sort of answer. As I’d feared, the question stopped me cold.

I have spent the better part of my life working to cover wounds from my own childhood abuse, about which I have never spoken publicly. In fact, I’ve hardly talked about it at all; I can count on two hands the number of people who know anything about it. Some of my siblings will learn of it from this article.

The cascade of emotions that washed over me as I stood before my torts class and tried to muster a coherent response would be impossible to describe here. After many years of hard work, and with a lot of help, I no longer think every single day about that terrible winter night. There are still plenty of reminders, to be sure, and there are some things that will never be normal for me. But most days, the wound is insulated by lots of scar tissue. Not this week, though. The story hit me at a bad time, during a year that was already very difficult. And the similarities were too hard to ignore.

The perpetrator at Penn State was a coach, as was mine. The abuse happened on the periphery of a major college football program, and I was a walk-on college football player when the weight of my childhood abuse became too much for me and I finally sought help. Most significantly, I have a son who is about as old as the boys Sandusky allegedly assaulted, and nearly the same age I was when I was victimized. He is so young.

I cried uncontrollably at least three separate times last week. This is part of what makes abuse so wretched—it strips you of control, not only of your body in those moments of abuse, but of your mind long after. Sometimes emotions just sneak up on you. And even when you know difficult conversations are going to arise and you try to steel yourself, sometimes there’s nothing you can do. The emotions come, and you can’t make them go away. Then you hate yourself for feeling so weak and exposed. You are sure everyone is looking at you, and you know that no one would look at you the same way if they knew your story. They’d see you as damaged goods. Or they’d pity you. It’s hard to know which is worse.

All this rushed through me when the student asked his question. I can never recall my classroom having been so quiet. Mercifully, no one followed up on my answer; perhaps they could sense my discomfort. So I moved on, knowing I had probably shortchanged the class with my half-answer.

But as the story has remained in the headlines and the uncomfortable conversations have continued, I haven’t been able to shake an overwhelming feeling that I failed Sandusky’s victims and, by extension, far too many other boys. Abuse thrives on silence. In some cases, as the Penn State situation makes clear, the silence of third parties gives perpetrators license. But victims’ silence also plays a huge role. This is true in the immediate aftermath of the abuse, where victims’ inability to speak out puts them (and others) at further risk. It’s also true much more generally. Several of my friends, for example, were shocked when Rick Reilly reported that, according to a 1998 study on child sexual abuse by Boston University Medical School, one in six boys in America will be abused by age 16. For girls, it's one in four by the age of 14. They were shocked, no doubt, because concrete examples of abuse are not as available to them as the statistics suggest. Most people don’t think they know any abuse victims.

But they do know victims. They just don’t realize it, because so many of us have been unable to reveal ourselves. This breeds a false sense of security, with too many adults believing abuse is someone else’s problem.

This reality that the silence of victims creates opportunities for evil is a particularly cruel one, especially when you know it to be true and still haven’t been able to reveal your own abuse. It is another reason abuse is so insidious. Perpetrators procure their victims’ silence by causing such deep shame that private torment seems tolerable by comparison. But it is precisely this silence that helps create the conditions for abuse. This is what has been on continuous replay in my head in the days since my torts class. I can’t shake the feeling that I failed those boys. I failed them by hiding. You cannot imagine how devastating that feeling has been.

When I told this to my friend, the psychologist to whom I disclosed my abuse in college and whose counsel I have relied on for the last 16 years, he told me all the reasons I couldn’t have expected more of myself. Intellectually, I know he is right. But this isn’t primarily about what I didn’t do long ago—it’s about what I wasn’t doing last week. So here it is: I am a victim of sexual abuse.

I say this now, at age 36, in the hopes it can make a small difference to those currently suffering in silence. You know them, I promise. They are your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers, and, painfully, your children. Be a safe place for these people. If you are one of them, I am sorry. Know you are not alone. You did nothing wrong, and you are lovable. It can get better.

I am also moved to say this publicly to counter two aspects of the public reaction to the Penn State situation, both of which reflect our collective attempt to distance ourselves from the reality of abuse. First, it is a mistake to characterize Jerry Sandusky as some kind of subhuman monster. The inclination to do so is entirely understandable, for his behavior was unequivocally monstrous. But to describe him as a monster shields us from the reality that human beings have the capacity for tremendous evil. This recognition is critically important. Predators do not look like monsters; they look like your neighborhood basketball coach or the guy running a children’s charity. They look like people you know, because they are. This is so important for parents to realize: If you allow yourself to think of these predators as “monsters,” you will convince yourself that they are rare, and you will not be as vigilant as you need to be. This recognition is also important for your kids, because if you teach them that they should be on the lookout for monsters, they will be confused by the inappropriate behavior of adults who don’t fit that profile.

This is particularly true with respect to adults who have parents’ implicit trust: friends, family members, and coaches. Sadly, the statistics tell us that most perpetrators are in this group. Focus on behavior—teach your kids that adults are never entitled to touch their bodies, and that no one is entitled to touch their bodies without their permission.

Second, many have painted this story as one fundamentally about Penn State or college athletics. At the Sports Law Blog, for example, Alan Milstein asked whether, were the perpetrator an assistant professor of biology and the witness a graduate student, there was “any doubt the perpetrator, if aware he had been seen, would immediately stop, the witness would intervene, the cops would be called, the professor would be put away, and the university and its president would not be implicated in the least?” In Milstein’s mind, there was no doubt: The big money in college football is the reason Jerry Sandusky’s abuse was not reported.

This is wrong. There is absolutely a doubt about what a graduate student would do in these circumstances. Graduate students are as highly dependent on faculty advisers for their futures as graduate assistant coaches (like Mike McQueary) are on their superiors. For the same reason, I have significant doubts about what an associate at a law firm (or a junior person at Goldman Sachs, or an intern in Congress) would do if he witnessed a sexual assault. Because this is not about a problem at some other institution; it’s a reflection of a universal human tendency to look out for oneself, and to preserve hierarchical institutions about which one cares and upon which one is dependent. It’s also a reflection of the nearly boundless capacity to ignore inconvenient facts and to make excuses for those within our own circle. Think about the Catholic Church. Predators flourished in parishes for years, not simply (and probably not even primarily) because higher-ups worried about financial exposure. They flourished because many otherwise good people could not bring themselves to believe or to act upon information that their priest was a rapist.

Please believe me when I say that this is not a story about Penn State or some other corrupt organization. Characterizing what happened in State College, particularly the failures of so many adults to report the abuse, as the product of some morally bankrupt institution is a way of convincing ourselves that we are outsiders to these sinister forces. It is no different from calling Sandusky a “monster.” That is soothing, I realize. But it also lets us off the hook too easily, allowing us to avoid asking hard questions about what happens, or can happen, in our own backyards. The Penn State cover-up could have, and undoubtedly has, happened at many other institutions, including those you most care about. Don’t content yourself with demanding something of Penn State, or big-time college sports. While that might make you feel better, it won’t prevent the next tragedy.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2011/11/penn_state_scandal_how_what_happened_in_state_college_forced_me_to_confront_my_own_abuse_.single.html

16 comments:

aguda equals archives mesirah said...

The only message that is suitable for each and every thug that makes up the Agudah that is necessary is saty home, give all the money you would spend at the convention of the agudas ha'reshoim to all the myriad victims of the aguda and then close down your filthy, f-cking organization, you bunch of mazeirim.

Sheyehai Chotai nischar said...

Check out the official itinerary

Dr. Bungalow Putz Neuhoff is addressing the women fresserettes at this year's the Agudah convention.

The message the Agudah is sending is that it pays to attack askanim like UOJ who protect children, especially if you were an employee of a scumbag like Margo.

Frankel's shul mizrach shvantz said...

Former Frankel's Shul mispalel David Schick who stole from keren yesomim and who massered on others to stay out of jail until he was caught stealing a 2nd time is being released from prison on Nov 30 2011

DAVID SCHICK 38713-054 51-White-M release:11-30-2011
NEW YORK CCM

He once gave the business ethics seminar at the Agudah convention

Why talking to Aguda and Charedim by citing Penn State will NOT work said...

Unfortunately, when the words "college" or "university" are used it causes an automatic shut-down in the Charedi and Aguda-type brainwashed mind.

A lifetime of anti-college and anti-university and anti-academic education and thinking, especially from the rabbinic heads and the rabbinic staff who man all the Aguda-type and Charedi institutions is conditioned to react to any mention of the word "college" or "university" with a mental blockage and shutdown, a type of "blockade" of the outside world -- EVEN if the message from that world is important.

So trying to use the sex-abuse events at Penn State as a springboard to get through to the Charedi mind is sadly an exercise in futility because even if they were forced to read this blog, the internal filters and censors that have been implanted into them would just say "this message is not for us because it's about a college and what do you expect from a college it is just a place of impurity and sin" rather than learning anything they would just scorn the message even though they have the same problems in their midst.

This is no different to the way brainwashed communists and ideologues would respond to ANY message broadcast by unauthorized sources. They would just say it is the words of "degenerates who deserve to suffer because they have refused to see the light of brand XYZ ideology or belief" sort of like "anything that comes from infidels and heretics cannot be trusted even if it 100% true and would help us" the "true-believers" always subscribe to the attitude of "ignorance is bliss" when it comes to facing the immoral and destructive cancers in their own communities.

That's why it's so hard to get through to them and often is no better than hitting one's head against a brick wall.

The Mir Yeshiva in Israel is BROKE said...

It is fascinating to note that the main American Haredi press, such as the Yated, Hamodia, Mishpacha while writing up lots of stuff about the greatness of the recently deceased Chicago-born and bred rosh yeshiva of the Mir, Rav Noson Tzvi (Natie) Finkel of the Mir Yeshiva of a sudden heart attack NONE of them mentioned a very important fact that the yeshiva is now officially BROKE, big time.

Naturally, it was a blog, albeit an Aguda-type one, the YWN (Yeshiva World News) that reported this astounding and horrific situation:

"Mir’s Staggering Debt $10 – $20 Million: Save The Mir Fund Formed

(Thursday, November 10th, 2011)

It took less than 48 hours following the petira of Mir Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L before the matter of Mir’s staggering debt surfaced. There are conflicting reports, citing the debt somewhere between $10 – 20 million, but even if one opts to adopt the lesser number, the sum is reason for grave concern – a figure that threatens the very existence of the world’s largest Torah institution.

The global financial crisis of recent years hit many mosdos very hard, and Mir is no exception. The philanthropist from abroad who paid the monthly electric bill suffered his own losses and was unable to continue with this commitment. Another philanthropist who donated $5 million annually also informed the late rosh yeshiva that he can no longer make good on this pledge due to bleak financial realities.

According to a Chadrei Chareidim report, ‘rumors’ stated that rabbonim and Yungerleit have not received their salaries and stipends for the past six months and the debt in the bank and with gemachim is nothing less than staggering. Rav Finkel zt”l began making regular trips abroad in the hope of raising the badly-needed funds just to remain afloat, but even this no longer yielded sufficient results and the yeshiva’s debt continued to grow.

Chadrei reports that on Wednesday, 12 Cheshvan, a number of prominent philanthropists arrived at the homes of HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita and HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita, addressing the reality that plagues the Torah community today, a growing debt with no relief in sight. They apparently signed monthly commitments to the yeshiva towards relieving some of the strain. They also expressed a willingness to work towards raising the funds needed to eradicate Mir’s debt. A Save the Mir keren (fund) was established.

Kikar Shabbat reports the Gedolei Yisrael Shlita signed letters instructing philanthropists to assist Mir’s dire situation. The two Gedolei Torah also signed a monthly commitment.

Since the rosh yeshiva’s petira, the directorate of the Mir has met and measures are being taken to begin addressing the debt, actions which they hope will lead to generating badly-needed funds. It was decided to send four representatives around to different yeshivos to ask avreichim to assist by committing monthly contributions and to enlist the assistance of those capable of helping, seeking monthly commitments of 300 NIS a person.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)"

TEN POINT PLAN to save the Mir Yeshiva in Israel said...

Following the revelation in YWN "Mir’s Staggering Debt $10 – $20 Million: Save The Mir Fund Formed" that the Mir Yeshiva in Israel is broke, and that it must have contributed to the heart attack of it's head Rav Noson Tzvi (Natie) Finkel Z"L, here is a suggested "Ten Pint Plan" toi save the Mir:

1. Decide if you are an "American/Chutz La'aretz" or an "Israeli/Eretz Yisroel" institution at heart. You can't have it both ways. If you are an "Israeli" institution then you cannot expect Americans to support you as if you were another "Lakewood yeshiva" because is under pressure, and if you are an American institution you must focus all your energies on raising money in America, forget about talking with Israeli rabbonim who are more broke than you and have no clue about how to run a huge campus with over 6000 talmidim.

2. Fire 98% of your kollel and let them go to work this should save you a lot of money. If they have families they must support themselves. You are not obligated to support all the hungry of Israel.

3. Create an elite kollel of about 100 most outstanding scholars, not more, who are the best and most promising and will be the great Torah leaders of the future. Move 10% out every year and replace them with new blood.

4. Stop the nepotism. Any and all family members of the Finkel, Shmuelevits and other "insider" families who are mooching off the system must be removed unless they are absolutely required to run the yeshiva.

5. Use your many American fundraising offices and fundraisers you have set up to raise money. If they can't do this, fire them and hire those who can.

6. Talmidim from abroad who can afford to pay full tuition and boarding must pay top dollar. Give scholarships to the genuinely needy and good students. The Modern Orthodox institutions and Haredi girls seminaries for Americans in Israel charge up to $10,000 per year. If you have 4000 Americans and multiply that by $10,000 annual tuition you have $40,000,000 that should be more than enough to pay for salaries and running expenses. Even if you cut it down by half, $20,000,000 is still a lot of money.

7. Stop buying buildings. You have bought enough in the last 20 years.

8. Open your books to neutral auditors so that anyone can see where all the money has gone and is going to. Transparancy is a must! This will encourage more philanthropists to give.

9. Open a vocational school as a transition to the outside world to help those yungerleit who want to earn a parnosa learn basic skills. Neve Yerushalayim in Israel has done this for American girls. Aguda in America has accounting, book-keeping, computer and other programs in America and since you cater to so many Americans you can offer the services Aguda has done for a long time. This does not lead people to go to college, but it helps making a living to support a large family and it's better than always shnoring.

10. Keep up the non-political and friendly ways of your recent rosh yeshiva who epitomized Ahavas Yisroel. He was very wise to ban attendance of demonstrations that disrupt life and keep up the wonderful young staff that knows how to connect with American frum youngsters.

Martin Elly Kleinman wants your prostate 3 said...

[Mr. Martin (aka Elly) Kleinman is the guy who has been spending tens of millions on various Aguda-type causes. Of course those who get the money never stop to think let alone ask where and how he made all that money. Just as well because it's not a pretty story. Almost all of Kleinman's money comes from very shady and ruthless deals he engineered to get Medicais and Medicare contracts from his front companies with misnomers like "Americare" that should rather be called "Ameri-neglect" or "Ameri-heist". With all the money he makes, Kleinamn has now been appointed the American Aguda's lead organizer for the upcoming siyum of the Talmud. He has been splashing millions on this project that will pump up his already huge over-sized ego, but hey, why doesn't he give the money away to the struggling Mir in Israel instead of bringing people to a Roman style amphitheater to witness how "great? he is? More about his sordid money-making ways when he and his companies were sued for cutting out the prostates of mentally disabled men who didn't need it, a typical dirty trick he is not ashamed of]:

LEAGLE.com:

"The parties characterize these payments in very different ways. Noting that several doctors also paid for space rental at the Leben Home, but actually saw patients in Americare's offices, plaintiffs contend that doctors, as well as the Americare Defendants, effectively paid for access to the Leben Home residents, whom they could provide with services that were charged to Medicare and Medicaid. Defendants cite an appraisal of the office space and argue they were paying fair market value for their leased office space inside Leben Home.

At the time plaintiffs underwent the prostate surgeries that are the subject of this litigation, Diane Ahearn was employed by ACSS in the Leben Home. Her exact job title and the nature of her duties is the subject of dispute among the parties. Ms. Ahearn testified that she was hired as an in-house coordinator to coordinate the activities of the health aides working in the Leben Home, even though ACSS was the corporation which provided nursing care services. She stated that her responsibilities included scheduling of home health aides, finding replacement workers when aides called in sick or were on vacation, acting as a liaison between the Leben Home and the home health aides, coordinating paperwork, and acting as a liaison

[385 F.Supp.2d 174 ]

between nurses and doctors administering care to Leben Home residents."

Why Rav Noson Tzvi Finkel had a heart attack 1 said...

This opens the discussion about how the financial crisis could be seen and handled from an ISRAELI/Eretz Yisroel point of view. Note that MK Eichler represents the Belzer Rebbe in the Knesset and he probably has his eye on how Belz would benefit from this as well since the Belzer Rebbe does not object to getting money from any source unlike the Satmar, Briskers, Eidah (Belz broke away from them years ago) and Neturei Karta who object to taking money from the "treife medina" [i.e. Israel], but at least he is raising an important subject:

Yeshiva World News (YWN):

"MK Eichler Tells Knesset: Mir Rosh Yeshiva Had Heart Attack Because We Didn’t Concern Ourselves With The Budget

(Thursday, November 10th, 2011)

When MK (Yahadut HaTorah) Rav Yisrael Eichler got up to speak in Tuesday’s (11 Cheshvan) Knesset plenum session, he decided to use his time to share some thoughts with parliamentarians regarding the late Mir Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav HaGaon Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L.

“Today, I attended a funeral of a great man, one who has 5,000 students, a Torah giant, but he fell due to the awesome burden of keeping his yeshiva afloat. Such actions, his mesirus nefesh must also compel us to introspection, a ‘chesbon nefesh’” stated Eichler.

“I am not aware of another university president in the world, most certainly not here in Israel that carried the financial burden of 5,000 students on his shoulders. Just Monday night during a shiur he was delivering in Bnei Brak the rav stated ‘I simply cannot do it anymore. For over the last five months I have not received the stipends for those engulfed in Torah learning, learning day and night, I can’t do it anymore. The next morning, he had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest, and he was under 70-years-old”

Eichler continued his address, explaining “He was ill, with Parkinson’s and muscular dystrophy, and his body trembled and shook in such a way it was very difficult to watch him walk. Nevertheless he never gave up; not his shiurim and not traveling distances to his students and people abroad in an effort to solicit donations for the yeshiva, Mir Yeshiva. I recall as a youth it was a very small yeshiva, perhaps 100 students, and today, there are 7,000. A large number of them, those who come to study from abroad to learn Torah remain in Israel, settling down here. Despite this, from the state’s budgetary perspective, it has reached a point that the yeshiva is no longer capable of maintaining itself."

Why Rav Noson Tzvi Finkel had a heart attack 2 said...

"MK Eichler Tells Knesset: Mir Rosh Yeshiva Had Heart Attack Because We Didn’t Concern Ourselves With The Budget

“And today, since the financial decrees of 2003, these ‘passport students’ if you will, only received 60% of the allocated budget. When students come to Israel aligned with important projects such as Birthright, or others, traveling around the country for 10 days towards saving them from assimilation in the Diaspora, we are all in agreement that huge sums of monies must be allocated. But when students arrive to learn Torah; and they are serious and many remain and live here, and their children are born and educated here, then there is no agreement and we do not want to fund this. Take the yeshiva itself, the budget for a yeshiva student – Rav Gafne can elaborate better than I, I believe a student receives four times the allocation than a yeshiva student.

“What is going on here? A rosh yeshiva is not permitted to sit and learn and disseminate Torah, one like HaGaon HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L, but he is compelled to continue trembling with Parkinson’s and travel from place to place, a schnorrer in the hope of successfully covering the yeshiva’s debt.

“We are compelled towards chesbon nefesh. He will be remembered for eternity, his outstanding merits will undoubtedly protect him and all of Am Yisrael. But for us, legislators, we are compelled to do a chesbon nefesh. Why did a rosh yeshiva of the caliber of this man have to toil just to try covering the overhead of the yeshiva because he knew the budget allocation was simply insufficient? Nevertheless, his merits will protect all of Am Yisrael”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)"

2 years since Leib Tropper sex scandal 13 said...

FRUMSATIRE.net:

"Rabbi Leib Tropper – finally a frum scandal involving sex

by Heshy Fried on December 20, 2009

For all of you who don’t keep up on your daily frum community gossip columns Rabbi Leib Tropper is involved in the latest scandal to hit the frum world. Unlike the countless other scandals involving so called “frum” people, this one is actually exciting, as you guessed it involves money, you cannot have a frum scandal without money but this time it involves Sex, that’s right folks, a scandal involving sex, bribery and fraud – what could be better?

Apparently Leib Tropper who was the president of the group EJF –Eternal Jewish Family, forced a woman whom he was overseeing her conversion to do sexual favors for him. I know it sounds crazy, and when I heard that it was posted on Failed Messiah, I figured it must be some sort of tirade against orthodoxy, but it isn’t, this time there is actual proof and it doesn’t help his case that he resigned his position as the story broke.

Now normally I don’t talk much about scandals, the kidney thing wasn’t that funny and the Madoff thing was money and even Rubashkin was kind of boring in my mind, but having sex with your Rabbi is kind of funny, especially when you’re doing it in order to convert.

How did she get tapes? Will these be like the Paris Hilton Tapes? Those texas girls are kind of hot.

I have read up on the investigation, facts and allegations – and the following information was posted on the Dov Bear Blog, which to me is one of the easiest to read, comment on and sort through because it just lays it all out for ya.

Absolute facts:

– In 2006 Leib Tropper revoked a woman’s conversion because of a breach of strict halachic tznius rules.
– In October 2009 Leib Tropper was sued by a billionaire Israeli for allegedly misappropriating 1 million dollars.
– In mid-December 2009 Leib Tropper resigned from his leadership role at EJF
– Pashkvelin in Israel, this month, denounced Leib Tropper as a Zimri playing like a Pinchas."

2 years since Leib Tropper sex scandal 14 said...

"Rabbi Leib Tropper – finally a frum scandal involving sex

Facts Supported by strong circumstantial evidence:

– A woman who identifies herself as Shannon Orand, recorded a number of conversations between herself and a man who sounds like Leib Tropper and has intimate information about Leib Tropper’s associates and family.
– In the audio recording, Tropper speaks of a sexual relationship with the woman as well as setting her up for phone sex and actual sex acts with men identified only as “Amir” and the “Satmar guy.”
– Money is passing hands, although it is not clear if the funds were used as a quid pro quo for sex.

Information provided by Shmarya at FailedMessiah after a conversation with the woman (whom he does not identify):

– The audio was leaked and was not supposed to end up in the hands of bloggers and mainstream media.
– One of Shmarya’s sources for the audio was the billionaire Israeli.
– There were other women that were part of the sexual activities.
– The woman claims that Tropper was using her for sex and in return he was going to provide her with a conversion.

Investigative Reporting:

– The woman on the audio is from Texas. There is a Shannon Orand listed in Houston Texas. Her address is near the frum neighborhood.
– Ms. Orand claims on her Myspace page that she was raised Catholic and is now Jewish. This implies she has already converted.
– Ms. Orand has not logged into her Myspace account since August 2009.
– Ms. Orand had a Facebook account (which is still visible in google results if you click “cached”) it has been since deleted.

Pure Speculation / Food For Thought:

– If Ms. Orand had already converted why was she converting again? Was it a set-up? Or was she really converting (again)?
– A man with the means of the slighted billionaire Israeli could very well have orchestrated the demise of his nemesis by playing to Tropper’s weaknesses with an elaborate set-up.
– By recording conversations in which the woman admits to sexual activity with a married man and potential sexual activity with others, we can infer that there was a huge interest on her part to expose Tropper and indict herself.
– The things Tropper did would still be inexcusable but they shed new light on his predicament.
– Don’t mess with billionaires.

Sources:

Wikipedia, Google, Whitepages.com, FailedMessiah, my sechel and sparse free time.

Dov Bear has also informed us that this story is going to a biggie in the New York Times – now what do I have to do to make it big. Oh and as expected Vos Iz Neias and Yeshiva World News have not made one mention of this – even though they beat the Rubashkin thing like a dead horse – is it possible that they have an aversion to Rabbis and sex – although they do seem to be touting the nude bike lane protest news quite a bit these days."

Martin Elly Kleinman and Aguda have lots money to burn said...

These Aguda guys are acting like the Louis XVI crowd in France on the eve of the French Revolution. People, including many Orthodox job seekers out of work, and are out on the streets with nothing to their names, but Elly Kleinman and Aguda are acting as if they can burn money without a care in the world. The Aguda's Rosh Yeshivas, Hasidic Rebbes, and assorted CEOs, CFOs, executives and their myriads of assistants live in luxury while America goes down in flames. Why does anyone need a sports stadium to celebrate a siyum in any case? Why can't there be gatherings in the shulls and places where they learned? This makes a mockery of Torah values and implies Yiddishkeit is like a Roman sport in stadiums, all that's missing are the lions and innocent victims they ate. Take your babyish ideas some place else Kleinman you are disgrace to the Jews!!!:

Matzav.com:

"Rain Date for Siyum Hashas at MetLife Stadium is in the Contract

Monday November 7, 2011

Following Matzav.com’s report this past week regarding the signing of a contract at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, for the 12th Siyum Hashas of Daf Yomi to be held at the stadium on Wednesday August 1, 2012, this summer, we were inundated with emails asking what arrangements would be made if the weather forecast for the day of the Siyum Hashas called for rain, as the stadium does not have a roof.

Matzav.com reached out to the organizers of the Siyum Hashas for clarification. We were told by a member of the organizing committee that the contract, which was signed by representatives of Agudas Yisroel of America and MetLife stadium CEO Mark Lamping, states clearly that the following day, Thursday, August 2, has been reserved as a rain date in case inclement weather is forecast for Wednesday.

“Obviously, if a sudden, unexpected rainstorm occurs during the Siyum Hashas, without prior warning, the attendees will grin and bear it,” a second askan told Matzav.com. “But any expected inclement forecast will have the Siyum held the next day at the same venue.”

As reported here on Matzav.com last week, with 92,000 seats, the recently constructed MetLife stadium is by far the largest single venue ever to host the national Torah gathering.

As we mentioned last week, at the contract-signing, special guest speaker Rabbi Nosson Scherman, general editor at ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, noted that the ultimate purpose of everything in the world - including the MetLife Stadium - is to create kevod Shomayim. He illustrated his point by recounting a conversation with Thomas M. Steinberg, president of Tisch Family Interests and one of the guests at the signing event. For 12 long years, he was involved in the planning, design and construction of the new stadium, Mr. Steinberg told Rabbi Scherman, and it is only now that he understands why: so that tens of thousands of Yidden would have a place to gather for an unprecedented demonstration of kavod haTorah.

Siyum Hashas chairman Elly Kleinman, who was introduced by well-known askan Shmuel Yosef Rieder, observed how the size of each succeeding Siyum inspired thousands more around the world to join the Daf Yomi movement.

Chaired by Agudath Israel executive vice president for finance and administration Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin, who, together with a committee of dedicated baalei batim, is overseeing the Siyum preparations, the evening’s program also included remarks by community leader Shlomo Werdiger and a tour of the stadium facilities organized by Rabbi Yosef Golding."

Buffett buying into IBM is not funny to Holocaust survivors said...

While Warren Buffet buying into IBM may be "funny" to some, see "Buffett's IBM Stake is Funny (Zacks.com: By: Kevin Cook
November 16, 2011) Warren Buffett's $10 billion investment in International Business Machines (IBM - Analyst Report) this past quarter brings a smile to my face for many reasons...IBM's "smart grid" energy efficiency technology has as its primary clients the city and state governments of dozens of European and Asian countries. These are contracts that don't easily go away even due to financial crisis...in 2010 was that IBM had embedded itself in the infrastructure of municipal energy delivery and control. Talk about a business fortress with a moat around it!"

BUT for many people what IBM had invested in, such as Nazi Germany, is NO laughing matter:

"CNN:

A Swiss court allows Gypsies' Holocaust lawsuit to proceed

July 08, 2004

In late June, a Swiss appeals court decided that a group of five Gypsies could sue IBM in Switzerland. Previously, a lower court had dismissed the case on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction -- deeming IBM's Geneva office only an "antenna," and not its European headquarters. But the appeals court held that jurisdiction was proper.

The Gypsies allege that IBM had a role in facilitating the Holocaust. Specifically, they allege that IBM helped the Nazis commit mass murder, by providing them with punch card machines and computer technology that resulted in the coding, tracking and killing of Gypsies.

To find that jurisdiction was proper, the Swiss court had to find a connection to Switzerland. It did so -- pointing out that "IBM's complicity through material or intellectual assistance to the criminal acts of the Nazis during World War II via its Geneva office cannot be ruled out," and "a significant body of evidence indicat[es] that the Geneva office could have been aware that it was assisting these acts."

While the case has yet to be proven, the court's decision is an important step in extending human rights litigation beyond the borders of the United States. This is one of the few times (if not the first) that an action relating to alleged human rights violations by a private corporation during the World War II is being brought outside of the United States.

The Geneva case is the first Holocaust-related action against IBM in Europe. The case is significant for this reason, and also because it is one of the few efforts in recent memory to provide reparations directly to the Gypsy community -- in specific recognition of its suffering due to the Holocaust.

A Gypsy organization and an American best seller

In December 2000, the Gypsy International Recognition and Compensation Action association (GIRCA) was founded in Switzerland. GIRCA's mission is to seek reparations for the Gypsy community for the death of hundreds of thousands of Gypsies by the Nazis during the World War II.

In 2001, U.S. author Edwin Black published his best selling book, IBM and the Holocaust. In the book, Black claimed that IBM punch-card machines enabled the Nazis to make their killing operations more efficient. For example, Black said the punch-card machines were used to codify information about people sent to concentration camps. The number 12 designated a Gypsy inmate, while Jews were indicated by the number 8. The code D4 meant a prisoner had been killed."

Just say NO to the Kardashian and Kleinman machasheifas said...

Finally some seichel is appearing among the people, if only someone at the upcoming Aguda copnvention would read this as a speech !!!!!!!!!!:

ZAP2IT.com:

"Kardashian boycott? Petition asks E! to cut Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and the rest

By Liz Kelly Nelson

November 15, 2011

It isn't exactly clear what Cyndy Snider does want from E! [Aguda]. What is clear is what she -- along with more than 11,000 others -- doesn't want: Kim Kardashian [Elly Kleinman] and her family taking up valuable time on the cable network anymore.

In a petition posted to GoPetition.com on Nov. 2, Snider asks that concerned parties join her in pushing for the end of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians [Kleinmans]," the reality show that chronicles the lives of sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney [Elly, Brochie and Yossi] along with mom Kris Jenner [Jack Perlow], stepdad Bruce Jenner [sam Kaminetsky] and half-sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner [Malkiel and Aron Kotler].

"We are respectfully requesting that your network [moisad] find other shows to Air," reads the petition addressed to "E! [Aguda] Online [Yated]." "Keeping up with the Kardashians [Kleinmans] is just not viewing that we the public, would like to see from your network [moisad]. Enough is enough."

"We feel that these shows [conventions] are mostly staged and place an emphasis on vanity, greed, promiscuity, vulgarity and over-the-top conspicuous consumption," said Snider in a statement to Yahoo! [UOJ], "While some may have begun watching the spectacle as mindless entertainment or as a sort of 'reality satire,' it is a sad truth that many young people are looking up to this family and are modeling their appearance and behavior after them [nebech lo aleinu]."

Despite the 11,000-plus supporters, though, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians [Kleinmans]" remains one of E!'s [Aguda's] highest-rated shows. In fact, the special "Kim's [Yossi's] Fairytale Wedding [Chasuna from hell]: A Kardashian Event [Kleinman Sotah]" drew 10.5 million viewers. Nevermind that Kardashian [Kleinman] and husband Kris Humphries are now estranged.

On Tuesday (Nov. 15), the movement's "Boycott the Kardashians [Kleinmans]" Facebook page posted this message: "I think it's safe to say we are in the process of going viral!"

What do you think? Are the Kardashians [Kleinmans] the heralds of the decline of Western [Torah] civilization? [you betcha !]"

America's new poor said...

CBS News.com:

"November 20, 2011

America's new poor

(CBS News) While most of us are already looking forward to our Thanksgiving feast, one in six Americans isn't sure where their next meal will come from. And as Mark Strassmann tells us . . . we're finding the hungry in some unexpected places:

[Photo caption: The Place, Forsyth County, Ga.,'s biggest non-profit center for social services, is serving meals to what its director calls the new poor."]

In Forsyth County's rolling subdivisions near Atlanta, Easy Street seems to run forever. What recession? The average household here earns $88,000 - the highest in Georgia, 13th highest in America.

But for more families here, prosperity is a pretense. The job's lost, the savings are gone, and the big house is either in foreclosure or on its way. And just keeping food on the table is a struggle.

So Forsyth's newly-needy file into local food banks.

Yesterday's GIVERS have become today's TAKERS.

"People lost their jobs and went from great incomes to no incomes," said Sandy Beaver, Sandy Beaver leads The Place, Forsyth County's biggest non-profit center for social services. She calls those who visit The Place "the new poor."

The Place's main mission: Feed the hungry.

"Who are the new poor in this county?" asked Strassmann.

"The new poor could be you, me, your neighbor, your church member, somebody who has been affected by the economy," she said. "Many of our people who have come for assistance used to be our donors. And they'll say, 'I never thought I'd have to do this, never in my wildest dreams.'"

"People who two, three four years ago, the hunger would have been unimaginable?" asked Strassmann.

People like these married retirees in their 70s, too embarrassed to appear on camera. They said they could not feed themselves snow without help.

They retired comfortably in their early 50s. But now, after bad investments, a ruined portfolio, and costly medical issues, they qualify for food stamps - and could lose the house.

"Taking the food was really tough," the woman said. "The hard part was, we used to give it, and now I'm taking it back, you know?" she said, crying.

Nearly 15 percent of Americans are now receiving food stamps, a record level, and a jump of about two-thirds since 2007.

One in SIX Americans - 49 million people - say they have trouble putting food on the table.

At Forsyth County's Lambert High, eight percent of kids now get free lunch, double the number three years ago.

Gladys Sasso-Alvarez directs the district's help for needy students: "Sometimes they feel embarrassed that they are getting free breakfast and lunch. They think no one will know about it. But it was something deep inside of them, you know - they feel it is an embarrassment to eat for free."

America's new poor said...

"America's new poor

Forsyth and its neighboring counties have also seen a spike in another group of the new needy: People like Raymond and Alexa Price.

He's a retired soldier, a combat vet who came home from Afghanistan last year with severe PTSD.

"All I want is a job. I don't really want anybody's handouts," Raymond Price said.

She's nine months pregnant. Neither can work. They also support her 16-year-old son, all on government benefits of $1,600 a month.

"The freezer's really bare," said Alexa Price. "We just - we do what we can. We do what we can, to try to make it stretch and last."

The Prices came last week for a box of non-perishables handed out by Atlanta Falcon football players. They were volunteering for Operation Homefront, a group that helps feed military families

Any day now, the Prices will have the joy of a baby daughter - and the stress of one more mouth to feed.

In Forsyth yesterday, cars lined up for donated Thanksgiving food.

It's one more sign this Thanksgiving week that hard times have come to Easy Street.

"There's still people losing jobs every day," said Sandy Beaver. "There's still people losing homes every day. And I always wonder, where do they do? When they lose a home, where do they go? 'Cause we don't always see them after that." "