Newsweek Story on Alleged Hasidic Child Abuse Sparks Brooklyn Yeshiva Protest
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Hundreds of people are expected to attend a protest in Brooklyn on Sunday following a Newsweek exposé on the alleged sexual and physical abuse of students by rabbis at a Crown Heights school.
Survivors of sexual abuse and survivor advocacy groups will meet in front of Oholei Torah, a yeshiva on Eastern Parkway, at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to a press release. The protest is timed to take place during an annual fundraising gala for the boys’ yeshiva, attended by roughly 2,000 students.
Survivors of sexual abuse and survivor advocacy groups will meet in front of Oholei Torah, a yeshiva on Eastern Parkway, at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to a press release. The protest is timed to take place during an annual fundraising gala for the boys’ yeshiva, attended by roughly 2,000 students.
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“For too long, teachers and principals in this school have ignored
children being abused physically and sexually. There is evidence to
suggest that in most of these cases the school knew about these crimes
and chose not to act,” reads a statement on the Facebook page for the protest, which is being organized by Chaim Levin, whose story of abuse at Oholei Torah was chronicled in the Newsweek article.“Furthermore, three of the people mentioned in the Newsweek article, people who either abused children themselves or oversaw it, are still employed by the school,” the statement said.
5 comments:
It often happens when there is a difference of opinion in Crown Heights that things break down into riots. So expect a massive police presence.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-doctor-sentenced-to-over-3-years-in-insurance-fraud-case-1.1527814
Member of Engelmayer's temple, father of PR flack Juda Engelmayer of 5W (not 5E)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1612607325645550/
Lustig has oversaw many cover ups of abuse cases, including my own. Rabbi Lustig has instructed social workers who work at Oholei Torah to never ever call the police in cases of suspected abuse; Rabbi Lustig defended his decision to keep Yossel Reizes in school after finding out that he abused some of his own students; Rabbi Lustig doesn’t believe in cooperating with law enforcement in cases of abuse, because in his own words: “it’s against halacha”. Furthermore, the Newsweek article detailed a meeting between a parent and Rabbi Lustig after Rabbi Zalmanov beat up this parent’s son. Instead of taking the responsible and legally required actions, Rabbi Lustig expelled this boy from school for having the audacity to complain about his teacher physically assaulting him.
There is a pattern with this school that should be troubling to anyone who cares even a tiny drop about the safety of children. The school’s wrong choices at every step of the way have made it clear that they don’t care about the law, they don’t care about the safety of their students, and they certainly don’t care about the hundreds if not thousands of lives that were affected by this disgraceful cycle of abuse that has gone on for too long.
The minute that Rabbi Lustig became “unfired” at the beginning of this year, the school sealed it’s fate. I’m ready to bet that the Newsweek article wouldn’t have been the way it was had Rabbi Lustig not returned to the school. However, by bringing Rabbi Lustig back the school made a bold statement, they said that they do not care about their past actions and will continue acting in ways that are contrary to the law and to basic human decency.
This issue also extends to Rabbi Joseph Rosenfeld and the board of the school. As some know, there is litigation taking place between these two parties. This litigation is over money, not the safety of their students. It seems like Rabbi Rosenfeld is the single most powerful obstacle to change in the school, yet no one is ready to stand up to him even though it’s clear that Joseph Rosenfeld is probably the most evil villain in this whole story.
What’s troubling here also is that the board only decided to take real action once money came into play. For years and years, board members knew about some of these stories and yet they haven’t acted. It speaks volumes that they were ready to file a lawsuit when it comes to money matters but have remained completely silent while children have been abused in the school’s hallways.
The bottom line is this: the school is broken. It’s broken to the point where some would argue that it’s beyond repair, I don’t know if that’s true. What I do know is that it’s time for parents to stand up and say enough is enough. If every single parent decided to come to this protest instead of attending the school’s annual dinner, then maybe the school would realize that their grip of power over helpless parents is fading and that this behavior won’t be tolerated anymore.
Lastly, the media outlets of the Chabad community, namely CrownHeights.info and www.COLlive.com are also very much at fault right now. They have completely ignored the current litigation in the school and so far, they have ignored the Newsweek article too.
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/FCASeFiledDocsDetail?county_code=64P2VoCBjSa4lM3hRWscKw%3D%3D&txtIndexNo=71Ra%2FnxomY1vGOh45ON9dg%3D%3D&showMenu=no&isPreRji=N
Here is Oholei suing not just Rosenfeld but Citigroup too for giving him access to the bank accounts.
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=LOsG19YM7ko0OcYw_PLUS_bZQ3Q==&system=prod
Also mixed up in this case are Gavriel Stern, a feminist dayan who has previously collaborated with Mendel Epstein. And the gangster toyen Gershon Spiegel who it seems Chabad has not yet figured out that Spiegel is persona non grata by Litvishe & Chassidishe.
Kings Civil Supreme
Index Number: 024786/2007
Case Name: LIBEROW,SHIMON vs. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OHOLEI
Case Type: Other Torts Negligence
Track: Complex
RJI Filed: 11/16/2007
Date NOI Due: 05/15/2009
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date: 05/29/2009
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name: WAYNE P. SAITTA
Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
ALVIN M. BERNSTONE Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Atty. Status: Active
292 MADISON AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
212 532-1200
Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
GREENFIELD PUSATERI & RUHL Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Atty. Status: Active
626 RECKSON PLAZA 6TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 11556
516-522-2565
Kings County Civil Court
Index Number: CV-053981-11/KI
Case Name: PAY O MATIC CHECK CASHING CORP. vs. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OHOLEI TORAH OF BROOKLYN, INC.
Case Type: Civil
Classification: General
Filing Date: 07/29/2011
Disposition Date: 10/31/2011
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