Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The ultra-Orthodox self-segregate from Israeli society, but the Walder affair is revealing major cracks in the 'wall of holiness.' A day of reckoning is coming

 


שר התורה רוצה את העניבה שלי? תגיד כבר משהו משמעותי--- The Sar HaTorah wants my necktie? Say something significant already!
 
Black Ties Matter - That's It!
עניבות שחורות חשובות--זֶה הַכֹּל.

The Haredi leadership: Crime and its punishment 


 
'We believe victims' fliers placed on billboards of a Haredi neighborhood on December 31, 2021. (Courtesy)
'We believe victims' fliers placed on billboards of a Haredi neighborhood on December 31, 2021. 
 
 

The Chaim Walder affair is not “just” a shocking case of a prominent public figure, a Haredi educator, whose shame, hypocrisy, and wickedness were exposed — there are many such cases, in all sectors. Nor is it “just” a reminder of the extent of the life shattering phenomenon of sex offenses in the Haredi sector — these are, unfortunately, common everywhere. The affair has the real potential to effect fundamental change in the fabric of Haredi society.

The Haredi sector’s remarkable growth since the founding of the state is the result of a successful strategy adopted by its leaders. First, self-segregation from Israeli society on all levels of life and fortification behind “walls of holiness.” Second, providing an alternative to civic leadership through the glorification of a rabbinical leadership whose authority derives, ostensibly, from a heavenly source.

The meticulous self-segregation and stringent adherence to leadership directives that boast da’at Torah (infallible religious authority) have been a force multiplier vis-à-vis Israeli society. They have enabled the Haredim, against all odds, to preserve their unique identity, and, at the same time, become a major factor in Israeli society. But nothing lasts forever. The Haredi strategy, with its two components, is rapidly losing its power.

Self-segregation is made possible through control over the shaping of communal consciousness. In recent years, however, dictators of the hashkafa tehora or “pure view” in the community’s synagogues and yeshivot, in its sectoral press and street-posted broadsides, have encountered a formidable adversary — the Internet. This is a modern Tree of Knowledge, available to everyone. Haredim can choose whether to bite into the apple (or the device of a competing company). 

It turns out that they are gulping with gusto: about two-thirds of them are connected to the Internet. A mighty digital battering ram is striking the walls and undermining their stability.

And then comes the Chaim Walder affair, which puts the second component of the Haredi strategy — the leadership — to the test: The paragon of Haredi education, a figure known and admired by the entire community, turns out to be a sexual predator. The blood of his many victims is boiling. This was not an unconventional Haredi like Yehuda Meshi Zahav, the disgraced founder and chairman of ZAKA who was similarly accused of rape and sexual assault within the Haredi community, but rather a role model for the community — a decades-long spokesman for the “pure view” in the Lithuanian Haredi newspaper Yated Ne’eman. The crisis is huge. How will the leadership respond?

Some of the leadership looked this religious and moral evil in the eye, and averted its gaze. Yated Ne’eman has used the honorific acronym “zt”l” (his righteous memory should be a blessing) in regard to this man with blood on his hands. One of the most revered Lithuanian rabbis accuses those who revealed Walder’s wrongdoing of murder. This outrageous inversion of the truth is a sin that will bring its own punishment.

The sin is easy to identify: the Haredi leaders who are abandoning Walder’s victims are violating an explicit prohibition: lo ta’amod al dam re’echa — “Do not stand idly by while your brother’s blood is at stake.” The Torah sets a standard for the moral conduct of religious leadership in the case of the egla arufa — the decapitated calf. It says that if the corpse of a murdered person is found in a public area and it is not known who the killer is, the local leadership — the “elders” of the nearest city — are responsible for conducting an atonement ritual and declaring “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.” The Sages ask: “Would it ever enter our minds that the elders of the Beit Din (tribunal) were murderers?” However, because the crime took place “on their watch,” they are required to perform an educational and moral act of purification. Such measures are called for all the more in the Walder affair when the criminal’s identity is known and when he himself is regarded as a leader of that community.

And now for the punishment: the Haredi public recognizes the sin. The fraudulent crime of some of the Haredi leadership, having surrendered to their fears, is clear to its adherents. Brave glimmers of this recognition can be seen everywhere – Mishpacha Magazine and Radio Kol Chai are especially worthy examples.

Rabbi Saadia Gaon (in the 10th century), explaining the responsibility placed on the elders of the nearby city, states that “just as it is proper to castigate one for doing what he ought not have done, so should he be castigated for neglecting to do what should have been done.” The elders described in the Bible neglected their duty to safeguard the murder victim. Today’s elders are neglecting their duty to protect the victims.

The Haredi public is shaken; many understand, and strongly support, what is written here. It may be that, alongside the suicide of Chaim Walder, we are witnessing the “suicide” of some of the Haredi leadership. 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-haredi-leadership-crime-and-its-punishment/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2022-01-05&utm_medium=email

 



29 comments:

  1. The Haters in Fresserville are going to go ape from the necktie picture!

    I can just see them grumbling something like, oh yeah so the oissvorf went to R' Chaim in a fancy Italian necktie that he probably didn't check for shaatnez.

    Let's call Shafran tomorrow that we have a portrait of R' Chaim to donate for the Fresser Boardroom!

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibvPthGk5w3lQrfsCC0xblkFbeWn9wj4AFvZ8zFzL5eyDb0hpn9OREUEunjx58UcmtjIo53jDbAI4i49erxcF-4V-nz-T9KRQO9CMQesaGGVB1HhO7gixFA_Cw5Q9kYhGcAIimormFalqLjp9HNLZq44SFgoGFmr0sncj4zu5S03ZAPYXtsT8d9bnlaw=s1600

    Hard to believe that the Fressers sent their town crier Dovid Nojovitz, that even though he didn't name him, they are repudiating R' Gershon & anyone else who the diabolical askonim manage to maipulate!

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  3. "After being criticized for visiting Walder’s family, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau called for victims of sexual abuse to come forward."

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  4. If I had a dollar for every time someone wrote an article with the theme "The Chareidi world is about to change!" I wouldn't have to work for a living. And that's because the Chareidi world doesn't change.
    The Chareidi leadership is patient. Another scandal somewhere else will break and the newspapers will temporarily forget about that. Their Rosh Yeshivahs and teachers will hammer down on the students about "loshon horo" and how any deviation from the standard gets you ostracized. And in a few months all this will have been forgotten and nothing will change.

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  5. The Many Saints of Agudah Fresserville11:20 AM, January 07, 2022

    The pleasant surprise that Nojovitz got anti-Walder marching orders in direct repudiation of minhag Agudah & the manipulation of R' Gershon, is due to the recent slew of new Moetzes appointments that include some real gedolim for a change.

    But the Fresser baal habatim 'Old Boys Club' must be going nuts at this lapse from the usual insanity. They are going to fight very hard that it not happen again. They will employ all kinds of dirty tricks going forward to ignore & override R' Yeruchim Olshin, R' Shlomo Miller & the like.

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  6. I warned Nojo that IT'S NOT THE RIGHT CLIMATE to deal with Walder, but he's not listening to me!

    The truth is obviously on my side. Hours after Nojo was given the illogical instructions to badmouth Walder, a major snowstorm blew in to the area & all the yeshivos are closed today! HA! I'm vindicated, I don't even have to hide under my bed!

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  7. UOJ accused of kefira for saying Fressers should want to live11:47 AM, January 07, 2022

    Wow is that fancy shmancy necktie picture ever going to provide mileage for loads of laughs among UOJ supporters!

    Shkoyach! We needed it!

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  8. Bentzion Schiffenbauer11:52 AM, January 07, 2022

    Walder is innocent!

    Can someone help us out here? Fishman gave Margo a list of so called Walder "victims", but he's not sure what to do with it. Does anyone know where this list can be put to good use to teach these rejects a lesson?

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  9. I bet those bums Ben Hirsch & Eli Greenwald had their grubba hands in destroying poor Walder!

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  10. Nisht tze gloiben that I already have to retire the special edition Walder jersey I just produced. It's just not financially viable to market them now, especially when R' Shmuel expects me to provide them for free to Philly talmidim!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Walder & Kolko will be fine when they cool off aish Gehennem for Shabbos

    http://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2006/02/case-of-rabbi-yehuda-kolko.html

    Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty To Molestation Charges
    Brooklyn Yeshiva Denies Any Knowledge Of Incidents

    By John Slattery
    CBS News - December 8, 2006

    In addition to Friday's charges, the rabbi faces multi-million dollar civil suits filed by three other alleged victims, who are now adults.

    "Unfortunately, I anticipated there were going to be many more victims," said attorney Jeffrey Herman, who is representing the alleged victims.

    Kolko was charged with four counts of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

    "My client will be fine when he gets home for Shabbos," said Scott Tulman, Kolko's attorney.

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  12. UOJ, don't give him your tie, tell him to get a job.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the photo. It shows who the real goldol is. Yes, Shraga Feivel, that's you, the great leader of our generation. Not only you are taller but higher in every respect!

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  14. Is not is funny that Moshe Meiselman also jumped in? And another Moshe, this time Hauer, joined too. Both have been friends and protectors of yet another Moshe, now Eisemann. What's going on with die welt?

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  15. Meiselman revealed the next step of their plan. Trying to quietly push Walder into obscurity didn't work. Trying to turn him into a saint while making his victims the true aggressors didn't work. Meiselman has initiated the "No tru Chareidi" argument. After all, Walder did time in the army so that must be where he went bad.

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  16. We're witnessing a cottage industry of the new stupid being developed every day by every abuse maven.

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  17. There is a subset of corrupt rabbonim who go along with the Fressers protecting molesters but at the same time warn everyone to stay away from the Agudah misnomer division known as Chayim Aruchim as they have some Liberal netiyos in killing alter mentchen & invalids.

    Vos episs pedophiles killing little kids is "ok" to them when Socialist Health officials killing alter mentchen is not ok?

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  18. Agudah Kovod Zucher11:11 PM, January 09, 2022

    "The Haters in Fresserville are going to go ape"

    Hey! I just saw UOJ blinding the Sar Hatorah with that flashy tie!

    OOOOH OOOH OOOH!

    ReplyDelete
  19. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy3rYIEfrH6wZNyUj6LGUVGfAbUhYmJaKoTVgOVUFqEcOfE0SeftCa-5zSwHrY70qw-JuwOFwX6OaqJWLOmaBpX04pdeHZVI2hcMXFcDrtK-SBhV_b1k26lCJjkBS771uO5WiGJDAh4-U5gmHjvy5aizyx5Tyjvu_zVFWKuJUU8UslGWoZNA__bJ51UA=s1024

    Rav Shernbuch further conveyed orally that obituaries on Walder published in the Charedi press constitute a CHILLUL HASHEM as were hespedim given. Walder is a מאבד עצמו לדעת & should not have been given them.

    5 Shvat 5782

    In regard to the question of the masses whether it's permitted to hold on to the books of Chaim Walder, I respond:

    Whoever wishes his sons & daughters be raised in the path of Torah & fear of Heaven, should not retain any of his books, neither in his home nor in his possessions. For the ruach of the author is contained in his books & one may not read them.

    And that which some are publicizing that one should explain to children that it's permitted to hold onto his books, Chas v’Shalom to say such a thing, as Rabbis & Dayanim ruled it's forbidden to read his books & it's a Mitzvah to listen to the words of Chachomim.

    !אשריכם ישראל שמחנכים בניהם ובנותיהם בקדושה ובטהרה

    Moshe Shternbuch

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  20. To Anonymous 4:42, that's a cheap shot and completely unfounded. I don't know anything about R' Moshe Meiselman vis a vis Eisemann, but R' Moshe Hauer has never been in a position to affect what does or doesn't happen to Eisemann, so to call him a "protector" of Eisemann is ridiculous.

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  21. I know about both Meiselman and Hauer. They indeed protected Eisemann and also privately spoke very warm about him. On the contrary, your own silly remarks are "ridiculous" because Hauer was appointed over the bet din that was reviewing Eisemann's case and they did absolutely nothing to stop the criminal. That was a decade ago, so you want us to "forget" that, right, rabbi Hauer? Or is you name Meiselman, whom Eisemann would call every two weeks to discuss his "books"?

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  22. Funny thing. "Tipesh" means someone stupid in Hebrew. "Tipish" is typical in Yiddish. So Stupid becomes the norm.

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  23. Yedidia Stern is president of the Jewish People Policy Institute and a professor of law at Bar-Ilan University, who was previously a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. He is the author of this article. He complains about the grave sexual perfidies in Chareidiland. He said:

    “One of the most revered Lithuanian rabbis accuses those who revealed Walder’s wrongdoing of murder. This outrageous inversion of the truth is a sin that will bring its own punishment.”

    Why does Mr. Stern not identify this Lithuanian Rabbi? If his inversion of the truth is so horrific, the refusal to name this person is another reflection of Ultra-Orthodox/Chareidi misdeeds. Until all the miserable Daas Torah Gedolim are rebuked by name, these outrages will never end.

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  24. Yedidia Stern was referring to Ponivizher rosh yeshiva Rav Gershon Edelstein, but Stern was in error! Brisker rosh yeshiva Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik announced a week ago that the Israeli Yated deceitfully put those pro-Walder lies in Rav Edelstein's mouth. Rav Edelstein was sick to his to stomach when he found out what the Yated did & asked that the Yated be repudiated.

    Rav Soloveitchik added that everyone should boycott the Yated as if it is non-Jewish wine for kiddush. And he said that not only is Walder a rasha & heretic of incredible magnitude but the poskim who said to toss the book ruled incorrectly as the halacha requires burning them.

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  25. Among the many abusive outrages anchored in Orthodox legalisms, agunah halacha stands out. This is a prominent feature of the falsity of Orthodox halacha. What logical reason might exist that denies a woman the right to initiate divorce proceedings against her husband? There is none. It is as false as the Doctrine Of Divine Right Of Kings and equally ruinous. If Orthodox Halacha is the epitome of God’s justice, it is the logical consequence to abandon Orthodoxy altogether.

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  26. https://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2007/04/future-of-american-orthodoxy.html


    Even among the younger and supposedly more committed Orthodox (born 1950-1970), according to the survey, Orthodoxy retained only 42 percent of those born into its fold.

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  27. There are certain bad behaviors & deficiencies allowing for a woman to initiate a divorce. The real problem is that the militant feminist movement tries too often to misapply the exceptions.

    There is no such thing as a type of halacha & legalisms being exclusive to Orthodox. There is one halacha for everyone. Sounds like someone has problems with halacha that extend beyond (often fake) agunahs.

    Coming from a more constructive angle in the very next comment is UOJ who laments how many go OTD & works to stop the 2-legged animals who are the causes.

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  28. I put up a post a while back directly from rav in EY who wrote - "half the gittin in EY are both by men and women extortionists"

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