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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

"I hope they rampage through the streets of Borough Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Monsey, Kiryas Joel, New Square, Spring Valley, Lakewood..."

I remember the first time I boarded an airplane; the amazement and awe of taking off I can only describe as life-changing. That humans were able to create an aluminum capsule that flies people around the world, led me to believe that humans are capable of doing anything they put their minds to. I'm in awe of every take-off and landing today as if it were the first time I experienced it.

I'm also forever in awe of the negligible amount of people that are able to look at a difficult situation and "get it"! Not because they were forced to; but because their intelligence demanded of them to put themselves out there and shine light on issues that most dare not say. One such person is Shmarya Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com.

He has been a strong and leading voice in exposing the vilest creatures on this planet -- child-rapists -- and those that enable and harbor them. I asked and received his permission to post the essay below that he recently had on his blog. The link to this essay and his blog is at the end of the essay.

UOJ

A Note To Haredi Leaders (And Their Proxies) About Child Sex Abuse
Will you ever stop preening? Will you ever allow yourselves to understand and to care?


by Shmarya Rosenberg - Failedmessiah.com

Earlier today I spoke with a young adult survivor of child sex abuse.

This person was raped as a toddler and again a decade later, and was physically, emotionally and sexually abused both in between and afterward. This person has been homeless, was discarded by family, and never had the benefit of a healthy or loving family life.

Today this person was extremely depressed and suicidal.

In the hundreds of other calls between us over the past years, there have been other such calls – many of them.

This is what sexual abuse often is, what it does to a person, how it impacts their lives for years after the abuse stops.

The "good news" for haredi leadership is that this one isn't 100% yours.

This person wasn't raped by a rabbi.

This person was not born haredi – or Modern Orthodox or Conservative or Reform.

This person was born to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father and most of the abuse I mentioned above has nothing directly to do with the Jewish community in any form because the family did not identify as Jews – except that the victim of it is Jewish.

As a teenager, this person joined a haredi community. But as community leaders found out about the abuse – and about the therapy that would be necessary to heal from it – and as they found out about some of the behaviors – cutting, promiscuity, susceptibility to the promiscuity of others – this victim had and that are common to victims, they cut the victim off.

They did so because, as one of their rabbis told me then, they had an obligation to protect their kids from the bad influences and possible danger the victim could pose. And, after all, the damage done to this person hadn't been done by them. It wasn't their problem.

That some of their own members a few years older than the victim tried to use the victim for sex, that one of their own rabbis may have been inappropriate in his dealings with the teenage victim (or, perhaps, reached the border of that behavior, dallied there a bit but did not cross it), that the victim was now a part of their haredi community – none of that mattered.

It was in their eyes, more or less, all the victim's fault.

And so the victim was booted out.

I write this because I hope, perhaps against all hope, that you will allow yourselves to understand.

According to government statistics, the average pedophile has more than 100 victims in his molestation career.

One pedophile in Borough Park alone will damage more than 100 haredi kids. Ten pedophiles will damage more than 1100. The 89 pedophiles Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes claims to have dealt with in the past three years alone will damage more than 10,000.

While you run around beating your chests and screaming that "we're better than goyyim," those "less-than-the-goyyim" pedophiles are destroying your kids' lives – thousands of lives.

You tend to view all this through the scope of protecting your "holy" community from "anti-Semites" like me, from the "self-hating Jews," the little "Hitlers," who want to bring you down.

Instead of viewing hundreds of damaged kids who are in pain and who need professional help, you fret about what the goyyim think about you and what other Jews think about you.

To the small extent that you do deal with these victims, you almost always do so through the scope of kiruv.

In many cases, these victims are not behaving like you think a frum Jew should. They may no longer keep Shabbos or kosher. They could have tattoos or piercings. They could be abusing drugs. They could be having sex or even prostituting themselves.

So you try to find ways to bring these kids back to "frumkeit," instead of trying to get them the professional therapy and non-judgemental support they need to heal.

As much as this may shock you, the world does not revolve around you. This isn't about you. It isn't about making you feel better because you convinced one or two of these kids to keep Shabbos or kosher again.

It's about the real psychological needs of these victims and getting them the best professional therapy available so that they can heal, and doing so in a way the recognizes that years of your misbehavior and years of trying shove these kids under the rug have done damage that cannot be healthfully undone by a little kiruv.

If some victims decide as they heal to become haredi again, fine. The free and un-pressured choice should always be theirs. If others do not, that also has to be fine.

But what you're doing now is "saving" a small number of victims while you fail the much larger number of victims who cannot or who will not return to your version of Orthodoxy.

You're helping victims for your own reasons and on your own terms to benefit yourselves, rather than helping all the victims in the ways they really need help, and to benefit them – not to benefit you.

You have been profoundly selfish for many years and you're being profoundly selfish now.

And that has to stop.

I've spent dozens of sleepless nights helping kids who you failed.

And I know activists you vilify who have done the same and even more.

You might have noticed that things are now getting worse.

State budgets that fund therapy for victims, always inadequate, have been or are about to be cut even more than they have previously been cut. It can take a month or more for a victim to get a therapy appointment – if that victim can find a therapist who takes Medicaid or other government insurance programs which are at best woefully underfunded.

The strain on common resources – shelter, food, clothing – is strained even more because the economy has been so bad for so long.

So your refusal to do the right thing is even worse now than it was two or three years ago.

You fear many things.

You fear a change in the law that would make it easier for victims to file civil suits against your yeshivas and rabbis for the enabling of child sex abuse and for covering it up.

You fear the shame that could come when what you did and the number of lives your selfishness has cost becomes public.

And you fear what for you may be the most important thing – that when your childish, selfish behavior and your misdeeds are made public, when there are court cases and real publicity and real transparency, your followers will abandon you.

Make no mistake – I hope they do.

In fact, I hope they rampage through the streets of Borough Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Monsey, Kiryas Joel, New Square, Spring Valley, Lakewood and other haredi enclaves and run you all out of town on a rail.

You all deserve it.

You're the sorriest excuses for leadership that I've ever seen.

If you had any guts, if you really were the ethical and moral people you claim to be instead of the preening poseurs you really are, you'd resign immediately and go live in a life of seclusion in a forest somewhere. Or, at least, you'd resign, stop calling yourselves rabbis, and get real jobs painting houses or shoveling snow.

But you're probably not at the guts and truth stage of your development yet, and chances are, you never will be.

Despite your claims to the contrary, my disgust for you is not comparable or equal to antisemitism, Nazism, or some type of self-hating pathology.

My disgust for you is comes from your own actions, from the Kol Koreh's banning "wrong" color women's stockings and finding heresy at every turn, while at the same time you let thousands of kids suffer rape and abuse, and then refused to help them unless their victimhood fit your narrow view – and you often would not help them even then.

You could simply announce that you were wrong, that your policies and your actions and inaction cost lives. You could apologize to all the victims and their families publicly and in person, and to your community, and to those of us you have repeatedly tried to smear to protect your Wizard of Oz-like leadership.

You could give a nonprofit non-haredi social service agency that you do not control a large grant to fund therapy for the haredi child sex abuse victims you helped make, and you could allow those victims to heal in peace.

You'd have to grow up to do this. You'd have to become the men you have never been.

You could do it.

But it would take courage that you certainly lack and it would cost money hat you don't want to spend on "non-Torah" things like this.

After all, in your minds a Satmar rebbe driving around in a new $80,000 SUV, to cite a very recent example, is far more important for kavod haTorah, honoring the Torah, than helping some kid with tattoos and body piercings who "isn't from such a good family anyway" and who never really was a "Torah scholar" or a "hasid" or whatever labels you use to exclude people you can't be bothered with.

Keeping your family businesses – the supposedly nonprofit yeshivas you all run – profitable and their rosh yeshivas – you and your sons and brothers-in-law – comfortable and employed is the most important thing, you think, because you "own" them and because they make you a lot of money and because the Torah they profess to teach is "more important than anything else" – including telling the truth about your years of covering up for pedophiles and spending real money to help the victims you created by doing that.

Except the Torah you claim to teach disagrees.

It views saving human life as more important than Torah study – especially when those lives are in danger in significant part because of your personal failings as leaders.

How many victims must there be before you stop posturing and start helping?

You have made yourselves and the Torah you claim to represent hated by many, including me, and you did so out of your own selfishness and greed.

Will you ever grow up?

Will you?

Or do we have to bury more kids from "not so good families" and watch more victims lead shattered lives while you cluck knowingly and murmur that these victims "aren't frum anyway" and they "brought it on themselves" or their parents "brought it on" by wearing the wrong colored socks or a too stylish pair of glasses?

You all deserve every type of shaming and embarrassment that can be heaped on you.

Yet all any of us want is for you to stop your coverups and your lies, stop your infantile behavior and start helping the victims you helped create.

It isn't too much to ask.

It really isn't.

But if history is any guide, and it almost always is, this request will be too much for you to understand and too much for you to act on.

You could, of course, prove history wrong.

Or you could wait for the day when you find yourselves facing charges that include obstruction of justice and some other things I'm sure you've thought of.

A wise attorney knowing what I believe to be your current situation would tell you to make amends as quickly as possible, to do the right thing and not the selfish thing, and to hope that doing so stands in good stead when your day in court comes. It's the same advice Sholom Rubashkin was given. He ignored it until it was too late.

Time, I believe, is finally running out on you and on those politicians who have done your bidding.

Penn State, Syracuse, and a DA's bizarre refusal to account for the 89 haredi pedophiles he claims to have dealt with these past three years and the bizarre and probably illegal deal he made with you regarding them have, I think, seen to that.

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn and they are turning now, faster than before.

As you are so fond of saying when what you want to say can't be said, hamayvin yavin.

Take that as you wish.

And of course, consider its source very, very carefully.

READ MORE:
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2011/12/a-note-to-haredi-leaders-about-child-sex-abuse-123.html

17 comments:

The road to war with Iran 18 said...

Israel National News:

"US Will not Let Iran Make Nuclear Bomb, Says Panetta

Iran is a year or less from “N-Day," but the United States will stop it – no matter what, says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
12/20/201

Iran is a year or less from “N-Day,” but the United States will stop it – no matter what, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS Monday night.

His comments were far stronger than those of President Barack Obama, who has said that Iran must not reach nuclear capability but has not categorically stated that his administration will prevent it.

Concerning the “military option,” Panetta told interviewer Scott Pelley, “There are no options off the table.”

Asked if the Ahmadinejad regime can produce a nuclear weapon by the end of 2012, Panetta answered, “It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel.”

Pelley suggested, “So that they can develop a weapon even more quickly,” and Panetta answered, “On a faster track.”

“The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon,” according to the Secretary of Defense. “That's a red line for us and that's a red line, [and] obviously, for the Israelis. If we have to do it, we will deal with it.

“If they [Iran] proceed and we get intelligence that they are proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it.

His estimated timetable of Iran’s pace towards being able to manufacture a nuclear weapon is in line with other estimates, but it may take an additonal year until it can develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

Its nuclear development has been slowed by several explosions and computer viruses that have been widely attributed to Israel."

Yehudah Fine the Times Square Rabbi 1 said...

About 30 years ago a young dynamic activist by the name of Yehudah Fine came to Brooklyn and started to help frum and non-frum Jewish runaway youth. He became known as the "Times Square Rabbi"!

Yehudah was a baal teshuva from California. His dynamism and success rate with helping Jewish runaways, many sexually abused kids got the attention of many people and rabbis. He was praised by Rav Pam and his spent time in the Chaim Berlin Yeshiva in Brooklyn.

In the beginning they helped him, but as time passed, he was pushed aside and betrayed.

Yehudah had a dream to build a special facility to house the kids who came to him. He understood their searching souls and broken hearts. He had started out as a cult exit-counselor and was himself endowed with lots of charisma. Yehudah's home was packed with lots of people and Jewish youngsters sought him out for help and guidance.

But Yehudah's dreams did not materialize in Brooklyn in his days, he was a prophet before his times. It has taken a long time and many decades for the causes that Yehudah fought for to win painful recognition!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Sex crimes untouched by Arizona sheriff

Arizona sheriff should resign for ignoring more than 400 sex crimes.

Dear UOJ,

While an Arizona Sheriff named Joe Arpaio declared war on undocumented workers in his county (Maricopa, which includes Phoenix), he failed to investigate more than 400 sex crimes, including some that involved young children.

This isn't the first time Sheriff Arpaio has brought shame to his office -- something John Dougherty knows all too well. John was a journalist at the Phoenix New Times for 13 years, where he investigated Arpaio's department extensively. John reported on abuses of power, civil rights violations, and millions of dollars in wasted money under Arpaio. Yet when John heard about the Sheriff's failure to investigate even sex crimes involving children, he knew he had to do more.

John wants Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign, but he knows that Arpaio won't go quietly. John needs other Arizona officials to say Joe should go to turn up the pressure on Arpaio to resign.

John started a petition on Change.org that asks the 5 members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to call for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign. Can you add your name to John's petition to turn up the heat on Sheriff Arpaio?

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's directive to prioritize traffic stops and military-style raids to find undocumented workers has had chilling results. While people who committed no crimes are arrested, real felons put Phoenix-area residents in danger.

According to the New York Times, one woman repeatedly asked Sheriff Arpaio's department to "investigate the molestation of her three daughters." Arpaio's office wouldn't budge, and an alleged child molester walks free in Maricopa County as a result.

The US Department of Justice agrees that Arpaio's office is out of control. In an explosive report issued this week, the government said Sheriff Joe Arpaio has repeatedly broken the law and violated thousands of people's civil rights. And just this weekend, Arpaio's office allegedly left a Gulf War veteran brain dead after repeatedly shooting him with a Taser while in custody.

John Dougherty, the reporter who started a petition on Change.org, thinks that momentum is building to force out Sheriff Arpaio. It's key that pressure comes from the local level, and the best bet to make that happen is with the Maricopa Board of Supervisors. While they can't fire Arpaio, it would be much-needed fuel on the fire burning under the sheriff if they come out and say Arpaio should resign. And your signature could make the difference.

Join 3,300 other people who have signed John's petition and demand that local officials call on Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign for ignoring sex crimes.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Jackie and the Change.org team

Dr. Bungalow Putz Neuhoff said...

I'm in a jam here. If I say I am against surveys of any kind, I would no longer be able to justify my existence!

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111213/NEWS02/111213025/UVM-suspends-fraternity-after-survey-asks-members-who-they-want-rape?fb_ref=artactivity

A survey that asked fraternity members at the University of Vermont about their preferred rape victim, allegedly circulated by members of Sigma Phi Epsilon, has resulted in the fraternity’s suspension and a visit from its national headquarters, according to university officials.

The matter has been forwarded to campus police

Archie Bunker said...

I don't have time right now to investigate but has UOJ looked at all the facts closely surrounding Joe Arpaio? I am very suspicious if it might be fabricated because Obama and Holder are bent on getting rid of him as his tough line against criminals is anathema to the Liberal elite.

Archie Bunker said...

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2011/12/9_arrests_in_staten_island_inc.html

This is so typical but any mention of it on Failed Shmarya's website will get you banished.

In a Black neighborhood in Staten Island, a teenage girl was being bullied at her high school, to the point where her mother was forced to keep her at home for 5 days and counting. It still didn't help. A "large group" numbering about FIFTY FIVE brandishing knives and guns descended on the house like mayseh Sdom lishbor hadeles. When NYPD responded, the mob rioted and sent multiple cops to the hospital.

The savages were only contained after a massive police response including air support from helicopters and a FDNY truck turning fire hoses on them.

These are the people by the way who Shmarya made a bizarre appeal on their behalf this week that Oorah did not do enough giving out warm coats in the Newark area, that they had better scrounge around for some hats and gloves too.

And does anyone know if Shmarya is having trouble lately paying his too damn high rent? Becuase he also demanded this week that Federal and State govts start laying out rent payments for people in addition to unemployment payments, welfare payments and food stamps.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

__________________________________
News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal


A group of hackers in China breached the computer defenses of America's top business-lobbying group and gained access to everything stored on its systems, including information about its three million members, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The break-in at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the boldest known infiltrations in what has become a regular confrontation between U.S. companies and Chinese hackers. The complex operation, which involved at least 300 Internet addresses, was discovered and quietly shut down in May 2010.

It is possible the hackers had access to the network for more than a year before the breach was uncovered.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577110541568535300.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

18th Ave said...

Hey, speaking of Shmarya, I can't believe that JJ Goldberg is paying the loser to write for the Forward now. I bring this up because Shmarya wrote a very bad article full of lies making it sound there was always nothing but violence by Yidden. He talks about Ger and says they are known as Gerrorists by the "Haredi street". Didn't UOJ make up that funny name and the bum Shmarya does not give you credit? Ich mein I am a heimishe guy and I never heard this shprach until UOJ said it a few years ago. Shmarya goes crazy whenever someone doesn't credit him.

Fannie and Freddie sued by AG of California said...

Bloomberg.com:

"Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Sued by California Attorney General

By Joel Rosenblatt and Karen Gullo - Dec 21, 2011

Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac were accused in a lawsuit by California Attorney General Kamala Harris of hindering her probe into mortgage lending and foreclosure practices.

Harris wants to know if drug dealing and prostitution occur in foreclosed homes owned by the companies, whether taxes are being paid on those houses, and whether military families have been illegally evicted by loan servicers, according to the two lawsuits filed yesterday in state court in San Francisco.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise which issues almost half of all mortgage-backed securities, and Freddie Mac, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company, haven’t responded to those and other questions Harris sent Nov. 15, according to the complaints.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) are “frustrating the Attorney General’s efforts to investigate and combat crime, blight and other threats to the health and safety of Californians,” according to the complaints.

768,000 Mortgages

From January 2007 through June of this year, more than 768,000 mortgages have been foreclosed in California, with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae together owning more than 60 percent of mortgages in the state, according to the complaints.

California has withdrawn from settlement negotiations in which state attorneys general across the U.S. have been trying to reach an agreement with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Ally Financial Inc. The states seek to resolve their probe into foreclosure practices of the five biggest mortgage servicers.

The investigation, which had involved attorneys general from all 50 states, began more than a year ago after disclosures that faulty documents were being used to seize homes. Harris said a proposed settlement was “inadequate” and would allow too few California homeowners to stay in their homes.

Michael Cosgrove, a spokesman for Freddie Mac, declined to comment on the California lawsuit.

Keosha Burns, a spokeswoman at Fannie Mae, referred questions about the lawsuit to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of mortgage financiers. FHFA spokeswoman Stefanie Johnson declined to comment on the complaint.

The case is California v. Federal National Mortgage Association, CPF-11-511771, and California v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., CPF-11-511772, California Superior Court (San Francisco)."

Battered Billionaires said...

CNBC.com:

"Investors Lose Faith in Stocks As Billions Pour Out of Funds

20 Dec 2011

By: John Melloy
Executive Producer, Fast Money & Halftime

Investors appeared to have lost faith in stocks this year.

Just over a week ago, equity mutual funds globally had the second-biggest one-day outflow of money in 2011, capping four straight weeks of net redemptions, according to data from EPFR Global.

Worldwide, investors have yanked $34 billion out of equity funds this year and put $75 billion into bonds.

In the U.S., stock funds, including both exchange-traded funds [cnbc explains] and mutual funds, squeaked out a miniscule $4 billion net inflow this year, while fixed income-focused managers collected a monster $86 billion, according to EPFR.

Burned by two bubbles in the last decade and facing the second global financial crisis in three years, investors simply don’t have the risk appetite for stocks.

Investors tried to embrace equities in the first part of the year, but began to pull money out during the summer as the debt ceiling debate domestically flared up and fears of a Greek bailout grew.

“Test of the October lows is underway,” wrote Mary Ann Bartels, technical research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a note to clients Monday. “Santa is not coming. Last week the S&P 500 [.SPX 1241.30 35.95 (+2.98%)] fell below its 50-day moving average, which is the new level to watch: 1228.”

Ironically, a huge rally on Wall Street Tuesday erased all of last week’s loss in a single day as strong housing data rallied financial stocks. It also snapped back above the 50-day moving average. If the rally holds, it would mean investors pulled the most money out of stocks since August at exactly the wrong time.

Still, it’s been a year of stomach-churning volatility so traders aren’t exactly counting on a follow through into the end of the year. The S&P 500 is down about 1 percent for 2011 and traders expect any rally to be sold until the end of the year, keeping the benchmark in the red.

The outflows are making “an impact felt on the market,” said Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group. “The Nasdaq-100 has only had three days this month where the close was higher than the open and the S&P 500 opened right near its highs of the day every day last week.”

And it’s not just bond funds seeing the love from risk-averse investors. Money market funds [cnbc explains] brought in $3.2 billion globally last week, extending their longest weekly inflow streak since a 12-week run during the financial crisis at the end of 2008, according to EPFR, a research firm that tracks fund flow data.

Investors continue to reject stocks and their growing dividend payouts for low-yielding Treasuries and T-Bills. The 10-Year Treasury [US10YT=XX 1.937 0.001 (+0%)], hovering around 1.9 percent, hit a 2 ½ month low this week. On Tuesday, the yield on the 1-month Treasury bill turned negative. Meaning, investors are paying the U.S. government for the privilege of borrowing their money.

“The direction of yields on Treasurys is confirming a risk-off trade is underway,” wrote Bank of America’s Bartels. “We have projected 10-year Treasury yields down to 1.50 percent and for 30-year T’s to break the lows of 2.5 percent toward 2.1 percent. Bonds are still favored over stocks.” "

Vos vet zein mit der kinder? said...

A prominent Philadelphia sportswriter abruptly retired Tuesday as three women and one man accused him of sexually molesting them when they were children in the 1970s, according to an investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The sportswriter, Bill Conlin, 77, a member of the news media wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News for more than four decades, abused the children when they were from ages 7 to 12, they told The Inquirer in graphic detail in an article posted on the paper’s Web site.

Moetzes Resign! said...

Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger — crass embodiment of Albany piggishness for 17 years — was hit with nine to 11 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to corruption schemes that netted him upward of $1 million.

Shmarya groupie said...

Shmarya has uncovered a huge conspiracy by the mainstream media to cover up about orthodox inbreeding. It's good to see a newspaper finally accede to Shmarya's demands to mention it. I think I know why there are covering it up. They don't want to admit that Shmarya is so sharp that he figures out everything that they can't! It's not easy for Shmarya that only me and a dozen other hardcore supporters are the only ones on Earth who KNOW he's the only one who's right about everything! Hang in there, big guy! They can repossess your computer and even your underwear but they can't extinguish the fight in you!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/levi-aron-lawyer-pursues-insanity-defense-slaying-leiby-kletzky-article-1.994899

An attorney for accused child killer Levi Aron continued to push for an insanity defense Wednesday, describing his client as a diagnosed schizophrenic who suffered a head injury in his youth.

Lawyer Howard Greenberg went as far as to claim that inbreeding in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn — where the alleged murderer and his 8-year-old victim were from — could have contributed to a mental deficiency.

"It's a very simple case: Levi Aron is either evil or he's crazy," Greenberg told reporters in Brooklyn Supreme Court after a brief hearing.

"He suffered a severe head injury as a young man. There's a history of schizophrenia," the lawyer said. "There's inbreeding in that community."

He asserted that relatives sometimes marry and procreate in tight-knit Jewish groups, risking genetic defects.

"That's an aspect of his familial history," Greenberg said of Aron, without elaborating.

The head trauma occurred when his client fell off a bike about the age of 10, he added.

Aron, 35, is charged with snatching little Leiby Kletzky off the street last July, holding him captive for more than a day and then smothering him after becoming aware of the massive search for the child. Aron then allegedly dismembered the boy’s body and kept the feet in his freezer.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Borough Park and has been in touch with Leiby's family, called the lawyer "a pathetic figure."

"It's an insult to the community. It's degrading," he said of the inbreeding remark. "None of this is relevant. It has nothing to do with this situation and is only meant to distract us from the reality of the horrible act."

Prosecutors are likely to rebut the defense's sensational arguments by relying on extensive confessions Aron made to police indicating he knew his actions were wrong. They can also summon psychiatrists to bolster their stance.

Toronto said...

Subject: An Important Message From Rabbi Pliner

Monday, December 19, 2011

Dear Parents,

It has come to our attention that there is a man who was raised in the Toronto Torah community and who may look like a current member of our community who has recently tried to lure teenagers from our neighborhoods and our schools into inappropriate relationships and situations.

It is our responsibility to alert our parent body of the situation as we know it now. If and when more information becomes available about him we will bring it to your attention.

We understand that community members and Rabbonim are working with the police to address this situation in its entirety i.e. to remove the potential danger from our midst.

In response to this information, all three branches of Eitz Chaim are taking the following two steps:

1. To reinforce compliance of all safety and security protocols that is in place, by staff and children.

2. We have spoken to all students in Grades 5-8 about being alert and careful to demonstrate self protective behaviours when approached by adults.

Self protective behaviours include:

1. Your body belongs to you
2. How to say no
3. There are no secrets from your parents, especially when someone says, "Do not tell your parents".

Please follow up at home and reinforce this important information. May Hashem watch over us and guard us from all danger.

Rabbi I. Pliner

Expat Canadian said...

Who is the Toronto pedophile?

Heshy Nussbaum was a rebbe many years ago in Eitz Chaim. Is was that kind of funny stuff that got him the boot.

Nussbaum is gay.

The fact that there is currently a problem at all 3 Eitz Chaim campuses means this pedophile is after both boys and girls.

Staten Island said...

It might be worthwhile for UOJ to check this out.

Mrs. Eva Rubin was a teacher at Shulamis girls in Brooklyn and Yeshiva Merkaz on S.I.. She was murdered by her long time husband Arthur Rubin at home in the Willowbrook section. They were arguing over how much spending she could have when he strangled her to death on erev Pesach.

http://media.silive.com/northshore/photo/9480973-large.jpg

This is a picture of Arthur.

Rubin called the rov of Young Israel of Staten Island Rabbi Yaakov Lehrfield. He came down to the house and called Hatzolah. There were bruises and marks around Eva's neck but they did not call the police for 75 minutes. Rubin then drove off and tried to commit suicide by slitting his own wrists and stabbing himself in the chest. He survived the wounds.

Rubin was the official photographer of both the Young Israel & Hatzolah.

After the 75 minutes, Hatzolah was afraid to call the cops themselves so they called Misaskim who had Port Authority Police chaplain Rabbi Jack Mayer call someone high up in the NYPD.

Oy lerasha v'oy l'shchaino said...

Maybe Rubin also called his neighbor Avi L. Shafran.

When Rubin escaped, he first drove all the way to Home Depot in Monticello and bought some rat poison. He immediately drove all the way back to Staten Is. but chickened out from ingesting it and decided to knife himself instead.