People thought him strange!
He had these weird ideas...like every Jewish child must be granted a Jewish education...free if necessary. Every major city in the world, starting with the United States...should have a Hebrew school staffed with educated, qualified, religious, career teachers.
Every Jewish child should be educated according to his/her abilities; set up separate parallel classes for the brightest...and classes for the beautiful children that did not necessarily like learning, that would rather play ball. He actually understood that. He forced his best students out of the bais medrash during the lunch hour and on to the playground. Exercise was important for everyone.
Children that came from "modern" homes were not permitted to change their dress - to "hasidic" garb. Tzizis...were to be neatly kept in their pants pockets, and peyos were to be combed around the ear - if you came to the yeshiva with them -- if not -- you needed to keep and respect the dress code of your parents. You had to be immaculate in your appearance.
This was some strange guy!
Girls had to be formally educated - both in limudei kodesh - Hebrew studies - and secular studies. He fought tooth and nail against the fanatics that wanted to keep girls at home - learning to cook and clean and some home-study. (Urged them to learn that from their mothers' - at their leisure.)
He despised religious fanatics!
Boys had to excel - according to their abilities - both in their Hebrew and secular studies. If you failed in mathematics, history or English - you risked being penalized. (knass - or money sanctions...or even expulsion)
Where did this strange dude come from?
He was brought to tears, everyday, at least three times...at v'Yerushalayim ircha b'rachamim tashuv...v'sihkon b'socha k'asher dibarta....He cried real tears when his students were in pain, emotional or otherwise. It affected his ulcers drastically when people suffered; all Jewish pain was personal. He understood pain - if any one ever did. He understood "responsibility." He understood dedication to the klal...and every living, breathing moment was on fire...with that commitment.
He never had a personal savings bank account...it was a failure in bitachon. Hashem provides, and will always.... if you do your part - with serious hishtadlut ! When Mr. Irving Bunim put down the down payment ($5G) for his house in Monsey - New York, this rabbi made certain it was in the name of the yeshiva (against the express wishes of the benefactor), and that fair market value rent - was deducted from his meager paycheck.
He borrowed money for students that he felt needed to leave the yeshiva...and helped them to start businesses with personal loans. He encouraged others to get jobs. He encouraged many to go to college - in to the professions - and only the few totally dedicated boys were to stay in learning - full time - for more than a very brief period of time. This was a man who understood the stark realities of life...and what it meant not to make a living; and the broad - forever - wide-reaching ramifications on the entire family's well-being if there was no food in the ice-box.
This was a wild & crazzzzy guy!
Where are those rabbis? What happened to us? How did we drift so far apart from Torah values - that we don't know right from wrong, legal from illegal, sane from insanity, truth from blatant falsehoods, real from unreal, rational from irrational, and seemingly profane from seriously profane?............
We sold away our traditions for money, kavod, power, a few minutes in the spotlight; and whored ourselves for every single secular - anti-Torah value that we once died for!
Authentic Orthodox Judaism is pronounced dead...and I blame the prostitutes!
*****************************************************
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
Monday, January 14, 2008
Court rules alleged U.S. pedophile Mondrowitz must stay in custody
Last update - 15:00 14/01/2008
Court rules alleged U.S. pedophile Mondrowitz must stay in custody
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Gur Hasid, Avrohom Mondrowitz
The Jerusalem District Court ruled on Monday that Avrohom Mondrowitz, an ultra-Orthodox man who fled the United States for Israel two decades ago to avoid sexual abuse charges, must remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.
The United States seeks the extradition of Mondrowitz, 60, a member of the Gur Hasidic sect, and the court ruling stemmed from the suspicion he may attempt to escape Israel before his extradition.
Mondrowitz was arrested in Jerusalem in November of last year for allegedly abusing dozens of children at his unlicensed psychology clinic at his Brooklyn, New York home during the 1980s. He fled to Israel in 1985 as police were investigating charges against him.
Two months ago, the United States resubmitted an extradition request first made in 1985, months after Mondrowitz fled Brooklyn for Israel, said Justice Ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen.
The renewed U.S. request came after Israel and the United States amended their extradition treaty to include all crimes whose punishment is more than one year imprisonment, according to Israel's State Prosecutor's Office. Before the change that took effect last January, the extradition treaty between Israel and the United States did not include sodomy.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
The First Documented Sexual Abuse Case At Ner Israel - (NIRC) - Baltimore!
The UOJ Archives. (Originally published by The Awareness Ctr. - Credit was given on the original republishing of his story...subsequently I verified Mr. Fishman's story.)
There was much more, however, he did not explicitly give me permission to write about it, therefore I will not.
The sole purpose of me posting this is to demonstrate that molestation of children by people in authority is not a new phenomena; how it took Israel fifty years to tell his story, and that the very graphic details of his molestation were absolutely burned into his memory for his entire life. He was continually physically molested by NTL until he left the yeshiva.
Sexual molestation generally begins by encouraging children to openly discuss their private personal behavior,(grooming)... talking about their innermost normal thoughts, converting them into sins and horrible guilt. Once the victim's secrets are exposed, the predator uses that information to threaten the victim with exposure, and now can perpetrate their crime with little fear of being exposed. In just about every case of sexual abuse that I'm aware of, the abusers' MO are practically identical.
Israel Fishman wanted his story told. He passed away a few years ago.
UOJ
**************************************
by Israel Fishman
Please note the following is graphic. The article below tells of the experiences of an incest survivor that occurred over 50 years ago.
The following took place in 1953. I am not quite 15 years old and the youngest student at the Ner Israel Rabbinical Academy in Baltimore Maryland, which was then located at 4411 Garrison Boulevard.
When I arrived a few months earlier I had been the second youngest student, but the boy who was then the youngest was caught in flagrant delicto with another boy and was tossed out. The boy's father, a rabbi from Richmond, Virginia was the mashgiakh (kosher supervisor) for the large FFV Baking Company there. He must have come in to stay for that particular Sabbath, as traveling on that day is strictly forbidden.
So on that sacred day he approached the head of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Jacob L. Ruderman, who was sitting at the front of the large bais medrash (study hall) pleading with him to give his son a second chance. In front of all the students and teachers, Rabbi Ruderman screamed at the boy's father that he could not talk with him because the matter was absolutely closed, and that the boy must leave immediately. Meanwhile I am living in constant fear that either somebody in the yeshiva will find out all my dark secrets, or that God will surely punish me most severely for my unmentionable, abominable sins.
All the time, however I can't stop thinking of the beautifully gorgeous, angelic looking, red-haired and freckled boy, Hochberg from Hartford, and what might have been. I still shudder when I recall the recent Friday night when a whole bunch of fellow students came to visit me in my dorm room when I was sick. It was a Friday night there were no lights on in the room and all sat or stood around in total darkness. Hochberg, though, sat on my bed, and put his hand under the blanket and groped me. I was so scared, because I was worried that it was an entrapment, and I remained absolutely soft. This is the yeshiva environment in which the following event is taking place.
I have just shut the lights leaving my room for the study hall's evening session. It is a weekday and therefore we have study sessions every evening. Before I actually leave the room I feel somebody's hand on my shoulder who gently but firmly leads me back into my room. The lights remain turned off. His name is NTL. He is an older bokhur, that is, one of the senior students who took responsibility for the moral training of the younger students on a one-to-one basis.
He leads me to the bed where he sits very closely besides me and holds me very tightly around the waist. He is stronger and more powerful than I am. He is also an older bokhur that you have to respect and listen to. I was immobile and frozen.
He tells me that he could tell from the lines under my eyes that I was masturbating (which I already knew was a grave sin, that is the masturbation and not the lines under the eyes per se!), Before long I am confessing to him all the other evil things that I had been doing, including the sex that I had had for many years with my older brother, Calmin. I tell him that it had gone on for nearly six years and had only ended when we separated a few months earlier, with him going to seminary in Cleveland and I, as I said earlier, coming to Baltimore. I feel so relieved in unburdening myself to someone who is so interested in me.
Through the whole long evening (and it feels that it it a very long evening) I am so scared and afraid, feeling that I dare not make a single move, let alone excuse myself to take a pee, which is getting more and more urgent.
I continue to remain in NTL's close embrace, although by now we are standing against a closet door with one of my hands squeezed against the doorknob. By now I don't know what is hurting more, my hand against the doorknob, or having to pee so urgently. But still I dare not move. I am trapped.
NTL makes me promise that I will never, ever, urinate standing up (because doing that I would be touching myself and that might very well lead to masturbation). I must also immediately train myself to sleep only on my side, and not on my belly or back (in order to avoid having a nocturnal emission, which, of course, is also sinful). I am to tell him every time that I transgressed, even if it was just a matter of having a wet dream. Finally, he tells me that I am so indebted to him for what he is doing for me that, even if I had a million dollars, I would have to give it all to him.
I have no awareness of how long I am with NTL; only that my hand is hurting and that I need to pee so badly. I am so afraid of him and I am so overwhelmed by this evening. No one has ever talked to me at such length and especially helping me to overcome my sinful desires.
I have no idea or comprehension where this evening's experience and my relationship with NTL will undeniably and inescapably take me, and what tragic and painful consequences I will have to endure down the road. But all that is in the future (or at least four or so months away.)
There was much more, however, he did not explicitly give me permission to write about it, therefore I will not.
The sole purpose of me posting this is to demonstrate that molestation of children by people in authority is not a new phenomena; how it took Israel fifty years to tell his story, and that the very graphic details of his molestation were absolutely burned into his memory for his entire life. He was continually physically molested by NTL until he left the yeshiva.
Sexual molestation generally begins by encouraging children to openly discuss their private personal behavior,(grooming)... talking about their innermost normal thoughts, converting them into sins and horrible guilt. Once the victim's secrets are exposed, the predator uses that information to threaten the victim with exposure, and now can perpetrate their crime with little fear of being exposed. In just about every case of sexual abuse that I'm aware of, the abusers' MO are practically identical.
Israel Fishman wanted his story told. He passed away a few years ago.
UOJ
**************************************
by Israel Fishman
Please note the following is graphic. The article below tells of the experiences of an incest survivor that occurred over 50 years ago.
The following took place in 1953. I am not quite 15 years old and the youngest student at the Ner Israel Rabbinical Academy in Baltimore Maryland, which was then located at 4411 Garrison Boulevard.
When I arrived a few months earlier I had been the second youngest student, but the boy who was then the youngest was caught in flagrant delicto with another boy and was tossed out. The boy's father, a rabbi from Richmond, Virginia was the mashgiakh (kosher supervisor) for the large FFV Baking Company there. He must have come in to stay for that particular Sabbath, as traveling on that day is strictly forbidden.
So on that sacred day he approached the head of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Jacob L. Ruderman, who was sitting at the front of the large bais medrash (study hall) pleading with him to give his son a second chance. In front of all the students and teachers, Rabbi Ruderman screamed at the boy's father that he could not talk with him because the matter was absolutely closed, and that the boy must leave immediately. Meanwhile I am living in constant fear that either somebody in the yeshiva will find out all my dark secrets, or that God will surely punish me most severely for my unmentionable, abominable sins.
All the time, however I can't stop thinking of the beautifully gorgeous, angelic looking, red-haired and freckled boy, Hochberg from Hartford, and what might have been. I still shudder when I recall the recent Friday night when a whole bunch of fellow students came to visit me in my dorm room when I was sick. It was a Friday night there were no lights on in the room and all sat or stood around in total darkness. Hochberg, though, sat on my bed, and put his hand under the blanket and groped me. I was so scared, because I was worried that it was an entrapment, and I remained absolutely soft. This is the yeshiva environment in which the following event is taking place.
I have just shut the lights leaving my room for the study hall's evening session. It is a weekday and therefore we have study sessions every evening. Before I actually leave the room I feel somebody's hand on my shoulder who gently but firmly leads me back into my room. The lights remain turned off. His name is NTL. He is an older bokhur, that is, one of the senior students who took responsibility for the moral training of the younger students on a one-to-one basis.
He leads me to the bed where he sits very closely besides me and holds me very tightly around the waist. He is stronger and more powerful than I am. He is also an older bokhur that you have to respect and listen to. I was immobile and frozen.
He tells me that he could tell from the lines under my eyes that I was masturbating (which I already knew was a grave sin, that is the masturbation and not the lines under the eyes per se!), Before long I am confessing to him all the other evil things that I had been doing, including the sex that I had had for many years with my older brother, Calmin. I tell him that it had gone on for nearly six years and had only ended when we separated a few months earlier, with him going to seminary in Cleveland and I, as I said earlier, coming to Baltimore. I feel so relieved in unburdening myself to someone who is so interested in me.
Through the whole long evening (and it feels that it it a very long evening) I am so scared and afraid, feeling that I dare not make a single move, let alone excuse myself to take a pee, which is getting more and more urgent.
I continue to remain in NTL's close embrace, although by now we are standing against a closet door with one of my hands squeezed against the doorknob. By now I don't know what is hurting more, my hand against the doorknob, or having to pee so urgently. But still I dare not move. I am trapped.
NTL makes me promise that I will never, ever, urinate standing up (because doing that I would be touching myself and that might very well lead to masturbation). I must also immediately train myself to sleep only on my side, and not on my belly or back (in order to avoid having a nocturnal emission, which, of course, is also sinful). I am to tell him every time that I transgressed, even if it was just a matter of having a wet dream. Finally, he tells me that I am so indebted to him for what he is doing for me that, even if I had a million dollars, I would have to give it all to him.
I have no awareness of how long I am with NTL; only that my hand is hurting and that I need to pee so badly. I am so afraid of him and I am so overwhelmed by this evening. No one has ever talked to me at such length and especially helping me to overcome my sinful desires.
I have no idea or comprehension where this evening's experience and my relationship with NTL will undeniably and inescapably take me, and what tragic and painful consequences I will have to endure down the road. But all that is in the future (or at least four or so months away.)
Monday, January 07, 2008
BORUCH DAYAN HA'EMES! - MOREINU RAV SHMUEL BERENBAUM ZT"L - הרב רבי רפאל שמואל ברנבוים זצוק'’ל
Mir Yeshiva Release On Yeshiva World:.......Photograph of funeral - The Associated Press.
אוי לספינה שאבדה קברניטה
נפלה עטרת ראשינו פאר הדור ותפארתו
הי גאון הי חסיד
עמוד התורה והחסד
זקן ראש הישיבות משרידי הדור הישן
מורינו ורבינו מרן
הגאון האדיר רשכבה”ג
הרב רבי רפאל שמואל ברנבוים זצוק'’ל
ראש הישיבה דישיבת מיר
הלוי’ה יתקיים בבית מדרשו
1791 OCEAN PARKWAY
ביום ב’ בשעה 8:45 בבקר
ישיבת מיר
The levaya will be leaving the Yeshiva at 11 A.M.
to JFK, EL AL Cargo, Bldg. 23
וכל בית ישראל יבכו את השרפה אשר שרף ד’
Sunday, January 06, 2008
"UOJ - Please Listen. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully....."
Saturday, July 01, 2006 - The UOJ Archives
"UOJ - Please Listen. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully....."
A Sophisticated Reader Writes And UOJ Responds.
________
I'd like to comment on the many opinions being offered whether the good that UOJ has accomplished is being "offset" by the bad.
UOJ - please listen. I can tell from some of your recent comments that you really care. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully. You have been very successful in changing our culture to some degree over the last months. Suddenly, a topic that was never spoken about is on the tips of our tongues. Yeshivas are wary of you. The organizations are on the lookout. The climate is right for change.
As you successfully point out the hypocrisy and evil in our midst, you and many other commenters should make a strong effort to:
1. Use appropriate language instead of the lexicon now used.
2. Attack only those that truly deserve to be attacked - the abusers of power and the molesters. The potshots taken at rabbonim, rabbayim, or even laymen that we have seen on this blog is not appropriate and needs to be curtailed.
3. Stop ridiculing anyone (including this commenter) who calls for a more civil discourse. I believe that most of us are parents. We would be the first to instruct our children that two wrongs do not make a right. We can't justify the feeling of gossip, frivolity and laxity that this blog is identified with on the basis that we are taking up a higher cause - especially when we can accomplish the same thing without resorting to these tactics.
Let's fight the issue of molestation in a strong, take-no-prisoners type of way, but keep foul language, off color, and insulting remarks out of the dialogue. I believe that - as you call for a higher level of Judaism - a yearning for the holy religion that it once was - it is a critical error to allow and foster this type of dialogue which decreases individual holiness. As a group, the effect is contagious and more devastating.
UOJ, I respectfully ask you and your readers to think before you respond with knee jerk reactions. Please consider my words which are heartfelt.
I must specifically comment on Rav Elchonon Wasserman. Despite your strong feelings about the decision that Rav Elchonon made, going after him so harshly has left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Now, you have said that we should not read your blog if we don't like your opinions.
You are missing the point which is that we like what you are doing. You are important to us. We would like to visit your blog which is the only vehicle where we can have an open discussion about abuse. However, we respect certain boundaries that you have crossed. It is very simple for you to tell us to leave the blog, but you would lose many interested and loyal supporters. Please reconsider your adamant position on certain Gedolim that you have severely criticized.
Regarding R' Elchanan, perhaps your point could have been that people aren't perfect and that you believe that his advice was wrong and that even Rav Elchonon may have realized this. You could extend that further with the Art Scroll type biographies where Gedolim are superhuman and explain why you believe that is dangerous. But the manner that you attacked him, conveys a message that G-D forbid - R' Elchanan is in the same category as a Margulies. This is unequivocally wrong. As mentioned, the blog should criticize and publicize the real abusers - not Gedolim or laymen that make mistakes or are imperfect in one way or another.
To the readers:
It is time to get involved. Following the blog and making clever comments is not very difficult. Meanwhile, UOJ is fighting a one man battle. Are you ready to advocate for the independent board that UOJ has spoken about? Would you dare challenge your Yeshiva if an issue of abuse came up? It is easy to feel comfortable on this blog with UOJ as your super hero. It is convenient to wait for UOJ to "take down" the next molester, but where are the parents? You need to get involved in real life. I believe that UOJ has been saying that of late, but I haven't seen any responses. I'd like to see readers respond by name - no more hiding behind anonymous - and offer to support a parent advocacy group.
Let's continuously examine and reexamine our motives. It is easy to insult those who critique this blog, it is much more difficult to absorb good advice even if it is coming from those that you disagree with.
Let's clean up this blog so that it can be a place that we would be proud to take our children to visit. Let's support UOJ by becoming involved parents. Let's move forward by continuing with the positive aspects of this blog while filtering out the negative aspects that we know in our heart of hearts has no place in our very important dialogue.*****
UOJ RESPONDS:
The pain that all thinking people feel as well as the outrage, is expressed by myself and thousands of readers of this blog. Going through an overwhelming amount of comments and e-mails per week, I am able to put up only a fraction of the comments and read only some of the e-mails. The one time I took off comment moderation as a test, there were 1030 comments until I started moderating again. Unprecedented in Blog history; Jewish or otherwise.
You do make some excellent points and your sincerity has captured my attention.
I am guilty...guilty of letting it take years for me to transform my generally mild-mannered personality, (until I'm yanked around) into the "wild-man" UOJ. I'm watching this Jim Jones-like behavior for years while trying gently to make a difference by attending board meetings, writing essays under pseudonyms, donating large sums of money anonmyously; all with the proper intent to get a system in the yeshivas and Rabbanut that is guided by the beauty of our Torah. Not a system governed by individual needs, not beautiful edifices, not ostentatious dinners and conventions...simply a system run by yirei Hashem with no other interest than the needs of the klal first, foremost, and only!
Instead, we have a system that is corrupt from the mail-room person up to the decision-makers, and everyone in between. How did we get here? Where did this disease of abuse of power and utter corruption come from? Are we students of our holy Torah or are we just a bunch of people dressed in dark clothing, hats, wigs, and tzitzis? (some fools wear more than one pair at a time)
The answer my friends, is the pass we gave to our rabbis that are no more than mortal humans. They have the same temptations that all of us have, and many of them, not all, fall victim to their humanity. They steal, they cheat, they are corrupt. You know why? There is no system of checks and balances that all humanity requires. They are - the rabbis/gedolim...who is going to keep them in check?
We have erred. We have turned our rabbis into gods..they are not, not at all. They are influenced and corrupted by money and power just as we are. We are scrutinized by our peers, they get a pass.
Therefore the trembling anger I have displayed towards R' Elchonon Wasserman. He was a Torah giant; but he was not God, just a mere human, fallible just like any other human. Was he brilliant in Torah? Absolutely! Therefore what exactly? A student wants to escape Nazi Germany...and he writes him back to stay put? Pikuach nefesh replaces a personal theory or opinion that "Y.U.",- R' Yitzckok Elchonon in those days, is more dangerous to his talmidim than Hitler? Rabbi Gedalya Schorr and Mike Tress obtain hundreds of visas for his talmidim and he tells them, NO THANKS!?
I was sitting at the hospital bed several years ago of a true "tzaddik gamur"; he was nebach at the end of his life. He was at one of the meetings where his family hosted a reception to honor R' Elchonon in the late 1930's. I was holding his frail, trembling hand as he described to me what transpired after that meeting. The host and the hostess threw themselves at the feet of R' Elchonon in the living room, sobbing and begging uncontrollably...pleading with him NOT to go back to Europe, and to bring his talmidim to the United States.
R' Elchonon was trance-like...he wouldn't budge. "HE KNEW WHAT HASHEM WANTED!" He in fact played God...thousands died against the wishes of Hashem, who commanded us to violate Yom Kippur, Shabbos, Kashrut...do everything one must do to save a single life! For everyone's information, what ArtScroll will NOT tell you, is that Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, the present Rosh Hayeshiva of Kaminetz in Israel, was a talmid of Y.U. at that time. Not too shabby a black hatter I might comment. He was right up there on the infamous list of people banning Noson Slifkin's works.
So my passion is, in my opinion, well-founded, rooted in common sense and Torah inspired fact. No chassidic rebbe or any rabbi has godly powers, they are mere mortals. Remember we are Jews - not Christians; there are NO intermediaries in our religion. WE have a direct line to God, not one bit less than a person who is wearing eighty pairs of tzitzis, fur hats, round hats, square hats, velvet ones, silk jackets, white Kabbalah coats or any of the cult-like dress that we have succumbed to - like children lost in a store full of toys and costumes.
We have let the pied-pipers flute us into a generation of meaningless rituals and chumras that are nothing more than the works of dangerous and foolish power grabbers.
Some rabbis do this intentionally, and some are led to this madness - by a circle of their leidegayers; people who are human parasites...eating off the flesh of the naive and trusting. When I met with R' Shteinman, to find out that he knew nothing of a virus called herpes, only for him to categorize the New York Dept.of Health as goyim out to destroy Judaism, I knew this gedolim thing has to go!
When R' Shmuel Kaminetzky responded in the Kolko matter, that we MUST assume Kolko did t'shuva - if a recent victim, that was not victimized in the last few months, did NOT come forward, I knew that it was a mitzva to come out with the heavy artillery; lawsuits, secular media, private investigators, the D.A....and anything else I can think of to bring to light the cesspool of leaders that we have selected to guide us through difficult times. When Aaron Twerski disgraces the very essence of our intellect by calling Lipa Margulies an honorable man...there is no stopping me!
So I am upset to the point of being a " crazy person" and every other adjective my detractors can think of. But my accounting will be given to Hashem, not some earthly human; and whenever that day comes, I will go proudly and absolutely unafraid, knowing full well my intentions were pure; no money, plaques, chicken dinners, or any other human reward. I do not want to sully any reward I may or may not get from my Creator.
There will be more...much, much more; this Thursday I will go public with the next yeshiva cover-up and their in-house molester (Ner Israel). I will not stop until we have an abuse-free yeshiva system, that includes their enablers, and a corrupt-free rabbinic leadership.
I will let God judge me and my language; after all, I am human and certainly have shortcomings. I'm willing to take that chance.
Posted by "UOJ" - "The Un-Orthodox Jew" at Saturday, July 01, 2006
"UOJ - Please Listen. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully....."
A Sophisticated Reader Writes And UOJ Responds.
________
I'd like to comment on the many opinions being offered whether the good that UOJ has accomplished is being "offset" by the bad.
UOJ - please listen. I can tell from some of your recent comments that you really care. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully. You have been very successful in changing our culture to some degree over the last months. Suddenly, a topic that was never spoken about is on the tips of our tongues. Yeshivas are wary of you. The organizations are on the lookout. The climate is right for change.
As you successfully point out the hypocrisy and evil in our midst, you and many other commenters should make a strong effort to:
1. Use appropriate language instead of the lexicon now used.
2. Attack only those that truly deserve to be attacked - the abusers of power and the molesters. The potshots taken at rabbonim, rabbayim, or even laymen that we have seen on this blog is not appropriate and needs to be curtailed.
3. Stop ridiculing anyone (including this commenter) who calls for a more civil discourse. I believe that most of us are parents. We would be the first to instruct our children that two wrongs do not make a right. We can't justify the feeling of gossip, frivolity and laxity that this blog is identified with on the basis that we are taking up a higher cause - especially when we can accomplish the same thing without resorting to these tactics.
Let's fight the issue of molestation in a strong, take-no-prisoners type of way, but keep foul language, off color, and insulting remarks out of the dialogue. I believe that - as you call for a higher level of Judaism - a yearning for the holy religion that it once was - it is a critical error to allow and foster this type of dialogue which decreases individual holiness. As a group, the effect is contagious and more devastating.
UOJ, I respectfully ask you and your readers to think before you respond with knee jerk reactions. Please consider my words which are heartfelt.
I must specifically comment on Rav Elchonon Wasserman. Despite your strong feelings about the decision that Rav Elchonon made, going after him so harshly has left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Now, you have said that we should not read your blog if we don't like your opinions.
You are missing the point which is that we like what you are doing. You are important to us. We would like to visit your blog which is the only vehicle where we can have an open discussion about abuse. However, we respect certain boundaries that you have crossed. It is very simple for you to tell us to leave the blog, but you would lose many interested and loyal supporters. Please reconsider your adamant position on certain Gedolim that you have severely criticized.
Regarding R' Elchanan, perhaps your point could have been that people aren't perfect and that you believe that his advice was wrong and that even Rav Elchonon may have realized this. You could extend that further with the Art Scroll type biographies where Gedolim are superhuman and explain why you believe that is dangerous. But the manner that you attacked him, conveys a message that G-D forbid - R' Elchanan is in the same category as a Margulies. This is unequivocally wrong. As mentioned, the blog should criticize and publicize the real abusers - not Gedolim or laymen that make mistakes or are imperfect in one way or another.
To the readers:
It is time to get involved. Following the blog and making clever comments is not very difficult. Meanwhile, UOJ is fighting a one man battle. Are you ready to advocate for the independent board that UOJ has spoken about? Would you dare challenge your Yeshiva if an issue of abuse came up? It is easy to feel comfortable on this blog with UOJ as your super hero. It is convenient to wait for UOJ to "take down" the next molester, but where are the parents? You need to get involved in real life. I believe that UOJ has been saying that of late, but I haven't seen any responses. I'd like to see readers respond by name - no more hiding behind anonymous - and offer to support a parent advocacy group.
Let's continuously examine and reexamine our motives. It is easy to insult those who critique this blog, it is much more difficult to absorb good advice even if it is coming from those that you disagree with.
Let's clean up this blog so that it can be a place that we would be proud to take our children to visit. Let's support UOJ by becoming involved parents. Let's move forward by continuing with the positive aspects of this blog while filtering out the negative aspects that we know in our heart of hearts has no place in our very important dialogue.*****
UOJ RESPONDS:
The pain that all thinking people feel as well as the outrage, is expressed by myself and thousands of readers of this blog. Going through an overwhelming amount of comments and e-mails per week, I am able to put up only a fraction of the comments and read only some of the e-mails. The one time I took off comment moderation as a test, there were 1030 comments until I started moderating again. Unprecedented in Blog history; Jewish or otherwise.
You do make some excellent points and your sincerity has captured my attention.
I am guilty...guilty of letting it take years for me to transform my generally mild-mannered personality, (until I'm yanked around) into the "wild-man" UOJ. I'm watching this Jim Jones-like behavior for years while trying gently to make a difference by attending board meetings, writing essays under pseudonyms, donating large sums of money anonmyously; all with the proper intent to get a system in the yeshivas and Rabbanut that is guided by the beauty of our Torah. Not a system governed by individual needs, not beautiful edifices, not ostentatious dinners and conventions...simply a system run by yirei Hashem with no other interest than the needs of the klal first, foremost, and only!
Instead, we have a system that is corrupt from the mail-room person up to the decision-makers, and everyone in between. How did we get here? Where did this disease of abuse of power and utter corruption come from? Are we students of our holy Torah or are we just a bunch of people dressed in dark clothing, hats, wigs, and tzitzis? (some fools wear more than one pair at a time)
The answer my friends, is the pass we gave to our rabbis that are no more than mortal humans. They have the same temptations that all of us have, and many of them, not all, fall victim to their humanity. They steal, they cheat, they are corrupt. You know why? There is no system of checks and balances that all humanity requires. They are - the rabbis/gedolim...who is going to keep them in check?
We have erred. We have turned our rabbis into gods..they are not, not at all. They are influenced and corrupted by money and power just as we are. We are scrutinized by our peers, they get a pass.
Therefore the trembling anger I have displayed towards R' Elchonon Wasserman. He was a Torah giant; but he was not God, just a mere human, fallible just like any other human. Was he brilliant in Torah? Absolutely! Therefore what exactly? A student wants to escape Nazi Germany...and he writes him back to stay put? Pikuach nefesh replaces a personal theory or opinion that "Y.U.",- R' Yitzckok Elchonon in those days, is more dangerous to his talmidim than Hitler? Rabbi Gedalya Schorr and Mike Tress obtain hundreds of visas for his talmidim and he tells them, NO THANKS!?
I was sitting at the hospital bed several years ago of a true "tzaddik gamur"; he was nebach at the end of his life. He was at one of the meetings where his family hosted a reception to honor R' Elchonon in the late 1930's. I was holding his frail, trembling hand as he described to me what transpired after that meeting. The host and the hostess threw themselves at the feet of R' Elchonon in the living room, sobbing and begging uncontrollably...pleading with him NOT to go back to Europe, and to bring his talmidim to the United States.
R' Elchonon was trance-like...he wouldn't budge. "HE KNEW WHAT HASHEM WANTED!" He in fact played God...thousands died against the wishes of Hashem, who commanded us to violate Yom Kippur, Shabbos, Kashrut...do everything one must do to save a single life! For everyone's information, what ArtScroll will NOT tell you, is that Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, the present Rosh Hayeshiva of Kaminetz in Israel, was a talmid of Y.U. at that time. Not too shabby a black hatter I might comment. He was right up there on the infamous list of people banning Noson Slifkin's works.
So my passion is, in my opinion, well-founded, rooted in common sense and Torah inspired fact. No chassidic rebbe or any rabbi has godly powers, they are mere mortals. Remember we are Jews - not Christians; there are NO intermediaries in our religion. WE have a direct line to God, not one bit less than a person who is wearing eighty pairs of tzitzis, fur hats, round hats, square hats, velvet ones, silk jackets, white Kabbalah coats or any of the cult-like dress that we have succumbed to - like children lost in a store full of toys and costumes.
We have let the pied-pipers flute us into a generation of meaningless rituals and chumras that are nothing more than the works of dangerous and foolish power grabbers.
Some rabbis do this intentionally, and some are led to this madness - by a circle of their leidegayers; people who are human parasites...eating off the flesh of the naive and trusting. When I met with R' Shteinman, to find out that he knew nothing of a virus called herpes, only for him to categorize the New York Dept.of Health as goyim out to destroy Judaism, I knew this gedolim thing has to go!
When R' Shmuel Kaminetzky responded in the Kolko matter, that we MUST assume Kolko did t'shuva - if a recent victim, that was not victimized in the last few months, did NOT come forward, I knew that it was a mitzva to come out with the heavy artillery; lawsuits, secular media, private investigators, the D.A....and anything else I can think of to bring to light the cesspool of leaders that we have selected to guide us through difficult times. When Aaron Twerski disgraces the very essence of our intellect by calling Lipa Margulies an honorable man...there is no stopping me!
So I am upset to the point of being a " crazy person" and every other adjective my detractors can think of. But my accounting will be given to Hashem, not some earthly human; and whenever that day comes, I will go proudly and absolutely unafraid, knowing full well my intentions were pure; no money, plaques, chicken dinners, or any other human reward. I do not want to sully any reward I may or may not get from my Creator.
There will be more...much, much more; this Thursday I will go public with the next yeshiva cover-up and their in-house molester (Ner Israel). I will not stop until we have an abuse-free yeshiva system, that includes their enablers, and a corrupt-free rabbinic leadership.
I will let God judge me and my language; after all, I am human and certainly have shortcomings. I'm willing to take that chance.
Posted by "UOJ" - "The Un-Orthodox Jew" at Saturday, July 01, 2006
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
RUBASHKIN DROPPED BY THE KAJ!
From Our Resident Kashrus Expert, R' Steve:
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:
*************************************************************
"I ACCUSE"!
From The UOJ Archives:
"I accuse our Orthodoxy for sleeping the sleep of Choni Ha’maagil who slept seventy years. Orthodoxy sleeps, how much longer?"
The following article appeared many years ago (1923) in "Dos Yiddish Licht", founded by the saintly Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l for the purpose of strengthening the observance of mitzvos, and to arouse the public concerning kashrut of foods, which at that time was very neglected, and sadly is not any better in our day and age.
The author was the great gaon and tzaddik, the "Shlucha D'Rachmona" of his generation, the "architect" of Torah values in America, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l, the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Torah U'Mesorah.
(Translated from the Yiddish)
And if I say: "I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name" then there is in my heart a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I weary myself to hold it in, but cannot (Ver. 20:29)
I use the above prophetic words as a preface to my article concerning kashrus, because this article will not bring honor to me. On the contrary, I will be attacked with ridicule from all sides. But what can I do? A fire is burning within me, and within a thousand Jews like me... A fire, which cannot be extinguished.
The kashrus question has recently been discussed in the Yiddish press, but only one side of the question, viz. concerning the unscrupulous butchers who sell treifos without a hechsher or with a false one. The press has remained silent, however, concerning the second side of the question, about the treifos being sold under rabbinical supervision and under rabbinical signs in butcher shops.
The press is silent about this problem, perhaps because of the honor of the rabbis, or, perhaps, because of other reasons. The honor of the rabbis is dear to me too. But, the honor of the Torah which is lying in the garbage, and the honor of the truth, which is trodden under foot, are dearer to me. Where there is chillul Hashem we do not impart honor to a rabbi, I, therefore come forward with an accusation.
I accuse - many rabbis, who grant hechsherim, who knowingly or otherwise, or out of neglect, permit non-kosher meat to be sold under their stamp of approval both wholesale and retail; the seller is an unscrupulous person with Torah sanction.
I accuse - many rabbis, who although they themselves have no part in the hechsherim, nevertheless, know about them and still remain silent. There is a sort of mutual reciprocal agreement to keep quiet about each other's false hechserim. Perhaps it is because they wish to avoid chillul Hashem. They forget, however, that where there is chillul Hashem we do not impart honor to a rabbi.
I accuse - the very great rabbis, the leaders of our people, because of internal strife. These disputes are not for the sake of Heaven; if one says that something is prohibited the other must say it is permissible, if one says something is contaminated the other must say it is pure. It is impossible to bring order to the chaotic kashrus situation, especially the chicken and meat markets.
I accuse - the rabbis because of whose negligence; the laws of chalav akum have virtually been forgotten. I know that there various heterim for this, but they apply only when it is impossible to get chalav Yisrael. In our situation, however, with a little effort, order could be brought to this chaos, and "if one can be good, why should he be bad?"
I accuse - our Orthodoxy, for sleeping the sleep of Choni Ha'maagil, who slept seventy years. They are completely unaware of what is happening around them and how our strongest ramparts are being smashed by our internal foes. They are unaware that all our holy traditions are being trampled underfoot, that our three thousand year old heritage has all but completely disappeared. Yet, Orthodoxy sleeps, but how much longer?
Do you know that all of the fortresses of Judaism, which have heretofore protected us from destruction, the only one left is kashrus, that other mitzvos are observed very laxly even in Orthodox homes? And now kashrus too is being smashed, yet we sleep, but how much longer?
Don't you see what has become of your youth? Don't you know that Jewish children have become tramps, gamblers, gangsters, candidates for the electric chair, and all kinds of "ISTS", only because they have been raised on neveilos and treifos, yet you sleep, but how much longer?
Don't you know that going to the mikvah every day to purify yourself will be to no avail? Not even all the waters in the world can help, not with sheretz tamei (a carcass of a creeping thing) in your hand, but inside of you! And when you daven every morning and evening, or when you learn your daily shiur, don't you know that the breath that emanates from your mouth is the breath of sin because it reeks of neveilos and treifos!? Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
When you wash your hands for bread, or when you make Kiddush on Shabbos, and your table is bedecked with all sorts of delicacies, and you say with each bite, in honor of the Shabbos, you are angering Hashem when you break bread. Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
I know that you will reply, "Jacob is small and poor" But look what Jacob's brother on East Broadway has accomplished, how he erected a fortress through the poor laborers, a fortress against Judaism, because he has united forces. Yet you sleep and do nothing, but how much longer?
Gentlemen! Do a little soul searching and see how far you have strayed; remember that our parents have sacrificed their lives for kiddush Hashem; they allowed themselves to be burned in order to uphold our holy Torah, whereas you are not required to make any sacrifices; with but a handful you can save the situation. Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
Fellow Jews, have you no fear for the great and terrible Day of Judgment? In that day you will no longer be able to come up with excuses or with a shrug of the shoulder.
And I ask you "how much longer?" And I say, "you sleepers, awaken from your slumber!"
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:
*************************************************************
"I ACCUSE"!
From The UOJ Archives:
"I accuse our Orthodoxy for sleeping the sleep of Choni Ha’maagil who slept seventy years. Orthodoxy sleeps, how much longer?"
The following article appeared many years ago (1923) in "Dos Yiddish Licht", founded by the saintly Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l for the purpose of strengthening the observance of mitzvos, and to arouse the public concerning kashrut of foods, which at that time was very neglected, and sadly is not any better in our day and age.
The author was the great gaon and tzaddik, the "Shlucha D'Rachmona" of his generation, the "architect" of Torah values in America, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l, the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Torah U'Mesorah.
(Translated from the Yiddish)
And if I say: "I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name" then there is in my heart a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I weary myself to hold it in, but cannot (Ver. 20:29)
I use the above prophetic words as a preface to my article concerning kashrus, because this article will not bring honor to me. On the contrary, I will be attacked with ridicule from all sides. But what can I do? A fire is burning within me, and within a thousand Jews like me... A fire, which cannot be extinguished.
The kashrus question has recently been discussed in the Yiddish press, but only one side of the question, viz. concerning the unscrupulous butchers who sell treifos without a hechsher or with a false one. The press has remained silent, however, concerning the second side of the question, about the treifos being sold under rabbinical supervision and under rabbinical signs in butcher shops.
The press is silent about this problem, perhaps because of the honor of the rabbis, or, perhaps, because of other reasons. The honor of the rabbis is dear to me too. But, the honor of the Torah which is lying in the garbage, and the honor of the truth, which is trodden under foot, are dearer to me. Where there is chillul Hashem we do not impart honor to a rabbi, I, therefore come forward with an accusation.
I accuse - many rabbis, who grant hechsherim, who knowingly or otherwise, or out of neglect, permit non-kosher meat to be sold under their stamp of approval both wholesale and retail; the seller is an unscrupulous person with Torah sanction.
I accuse - many rabbis, who although they themselves have no part in the hechsherim, nevertheless, know about them and still remain silent. There is a sort of mutual reciprocal agreement to keep quiet about each other's false hechserim. Perhaps it is because they wish to avoid chillul Hashem. They forget, however, that where there is chillul Hashem we do not impart honor to a rabbi.
I accuse - the very great rabbis, the leaders of our people, because of internal strife. These disputes are not for the sake of Heaven; if one says that something is prohibited the other must say it is permissible, if one says something is contaminated the other must say it is pure. It is impossible to bring order to the chaotic kashrus situation, especially the chicken and meat markets.
I accuse - the rabbis because of whose negligence; the laws of chalav akum have virtually been forgotten. I know that there various heterim for this, but they apply only when it is impossible to get chalav Yisrael. In our situation, however, with a little effort, order could be brought to this chaos, and "if one can be good, why should he be bad?"
I accuse - our Orthodoxy, for sleeping the sleep of Choni Ha'maagil, who slept seventy years. They are completely unaware of what is happening around them and how our strongest ramparts are being smashed by our internal foes. They are unaware that all our holy traditions are being trampled underfoot, that our three thousand year old heritage has all but completely disappeared. Yet, Orthodoxy sleeps, but how much longer?
Do you know that all of the fortresses of Judaism, which have heretofore protected us from destruction, the only one left is kashrus, that other mitzvos are observed very laxly even in Orthodox homes? And now kashrus too is being smashed, yet we sleep, but how much longer?
Don't you see what has become of your youth? Don't you know that Jewish children have become tramps, gamblers, gangsters, candidates for the electric chair, and all kinds of "ISTS", only because they have been raised on neveilos and treifos, yet you sleep, but how much longer?
Don't you know that going to the mikvah every day to purify yourself will be to no avail? Not even all the waters in the world can help, not with sheretz tamei (a carcass of a creeping thing) in your hand, but inside of you! And when you daven every morning and evening, or when you learn your daily shiur, don't you know that the breath that emanates from your mouth is the breath of sin because it reeks of neveilos and treifos!? Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
When you wash your hands for bread, or when you make Kiddush on Shabbos, and your table is bedecked with all sorts of delicacies, and you say with each bite, in honor of the Shabbos, you are angering Hashem when you break bread. Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
I know that you will reply, "Jacob is small and poor" But look what Jacob's brother on East Broadway has accomplished, how he erected a fortress through the poor laborers, a fortress against Judaism, because he has united forces. Yet you sleep and do nothing, but how much longer?
Gentlemen! Do a little soul searching and see how far you have strayed; remember that our parents have sacrificed their lives for kiddush Hashem; they allowed themselves to be burned in order to uphold our holy Torah, whereas you are not required to make any sacrifices; with but a handful you can save the situation. Yet you sleep, but how much longer?
Fellow Jews, have you no fear for the great and terrible Day of Judgment? In that day you will no longer be able to come up with excuses or with a shrug of the shoulder.
And I ask you "how much longer?" And I say, "you sleepers, awaken from your slumber!"
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Monday, December 17, 2007
SELF-PORTRAIT
The Wise Words Of Albert Einstein From "Self-Portrait":
"Of what is significant in one's own existence one is hardly aware, and it certainly should not bother the other fellow. What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?
The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn any respect and love for it.
Arrows of hate have been shot at me too; but they never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever.
I live in that solitude which, is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity".
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Agudah to UOJ: Welcome Back - Again!
Mondrowitz Hearing Continued.....
**************************************
אתמול התקיים הדיון במעצר עד תום ההליכים של מונדרוביץ בפני כבוד השופט רביד
בבית המשפט המחוזי בירושלים.
השופט שמע את טיעוני הצדדים ודחה את המשך הדיון כדי לאפשר לבא כוחו של
מונדרוביץ להציג ערבים שיהיו מקובלים על בית המשפט. פרקליטות המדינה (המחלקה
הבינלאומית) התנגדנה לכל חלופת מעצר. מונדרוביץ עדיין במעצר עד מתן החלטה
אחרת.
מצ"ב פרוטוקול הדיון.
בברכה,
מירב חביב
ע. דובר משרד המשפטים
טל: 0506-216665
****************************************************
On the one year anniversary of one of my favorites, from Still Wonderin', and just happens to coincide with the new "idiot" article, by idiots and for idiots, in The Jewish Observer!
The Jewish Observer is Jewish pornography, it should not be found in any Jewish home! It is poisonous and harmful to you and your family's intellectual health and well-being, and is an absolute distortion of Torah values - as our Chazal intended for the Jewish nation! The greatest Orthodox Jewish minds of our generation have disengaged themselves from this pathetic Agudath Israel organization, and it's demented world-view. Boycott this offensive magazine and this taliban-like organization, that will destroy you and your family with their outrageous lies ,distortions and mind-numbing ideologies!
They - and their policies - are the cancerous disease in the Jewish world today, not - the people reporting the ugly news and criminal behavior that is planned right on their premises. From protecting rabbi-child-rapists - and the criminal rabbis that enable and harbor them, to disguising evidence of disease -- infecting babies at their bris - by herpes-laden mouths of rabbis that perform circumcisions -- to consorting with the Catholic Church to attempt to prevent police inteference in private schools to protect our children from these rabid sub-human sex maniacs and their criminal clergy enablers! They deserve the contempt and scorn heaped on them, and more - than I know how to do! What they are attempting to conceal is their failed policies and horrendous criminal actions that have brought authentic Orthodox Judaism to it's knees! This is NOT the Judaism that our grandfathers died for! No self-respecting Jew should be part of this fraud!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Agudah to UOJ: Welcome Back
It appears that the Agudah, with their pathetic grasping at straws of controversy to appear relevant, has resurrected UOJ -- the Patron Saint of children -- who are sexually abused by religious figures and those who harbor them. UOJ, after being 'outed' this spring by some self-appointed thugs who believe themselves to be defenders of Torah and Gedolim, slipped into the background - by choice, with a farewell post just before Rosh Hashanah. Sadly, it appeared as though UOJ would relegated to asterisk status in Jewish history, despite his valiant and timely attacks on a viciously apathetic status quo that preferred the spiritual murder of Jewish children over decisive action.
And all was quiet as rosh yeshivas, executive directors, and some yeshivishe egomaniacs in the sleepy slum of Waterbury, CT - rejoiced at the miraculous bullet dodging they had just witnessed. Evidently, the 'humiliation' weapon -- a thin reference to ruined shidduchim and tainted yichus -- had succeeded in preserving the perversity of ultra-orthodox apathy.
But something was afoot. Deep within the bowels of 42 Broadway, across some shiny overpriced conference table, the "Wizards of Was" realized that their destiny lay in murdering the mandate bearer: blogs. Ironically, if they would actually read the blogs instead of dismissing them as the tools of Satan, they would have been able to resurrect themselves and actively contribute to the betterment and solidification of American Orthodoxy. Instead, they took the short way out.
"Let's bash blogs," the Daas Torahniks declared. "We must create a new enemy, now that the Nazis are gone, Jewish bus drivers can wear yarmulkas to work without fear, we've given up on "at-risk" kids (poorly trained mentors are the answer....right?), and we've selected our guest of honor for this year's dinner..." The obvious answer was blogs.
The dispensers of Daas Torah, concerned with the impact blogs were having on their destructive hegemony and possible ramifications that would have on future fundraising seconded the motion. "Blogs are bad," they bellowed. "We must rid our homes and neighborhoods of blogs." Then they returned to worrying about why the frummest girls schools produce graduates who ignore tznius, despite 14 years of subversive inculcation, and how to close the Pandora's box of frummer-than-thou- kashrus which has inexplicably led to America's most religious neighborhood to eat traife meat for half a decade.
Blogs are bad! Blogs are bad! Yeah, let's stick it to that UnOrthodox fellow - UOJ!
Who is he anyway to blame us for child molestation? We TOLD people that separate seating weddings would solve everything. And as long as they don't listen in the Five Towns, we can't be held responsible for what happens to little boys in Brooklyn."
So the convention program, with a half dozen cutsie teaser ads were drafted and everyone was happy. "Blogs are bad!," said the Agudah big shots. "When we're done with them, we'll be able to ridicule molestation victims with impunity in the Jewish Week." The Daas Torah dispensers cried, "Blogs are bad!. And now, we can get back to banning intangible objects, like books and sheitels, which we can burn, and actual people whom we can besmirch, excommunicate and threaten. It was so much easier in the good old days."
But they didn't count on themselves making the same mistake as they have made time and time again; life moves fast. People forget. They are busy. If things go away, they are forgotten. It's the same reason why sexual molestation victims fade away. If people forget, their pain is buried, for they themselves to choke on, alone. But when old news gets dredged up. When books that appear objectionable are given attention, or banned, they take on a life of their own. When forgotten blogs are given main stage forums at major fundraising events....they return to life.
And so, UOJ, in all his glory has been vindicated and resurrected, unlike the Agudah, which is as pathetic and irrelevant as it has been for the past decade, UOJ has attracted a well-written, logical counterpart:
http://rabbimatisyahusalomon.blogspot.com
which features a several thousand word letter detailing the vast and grievous gaps in communal leadership and compassion by our so-called gedolim.
The progeny of UOJ also provides an lucid timeline of events that led up to UOJ and more importantly the serious lack of judgment, comprising, and leadership of the dispensers of Daas Torah. And, incidentally, offers a nod to the one straight shooter of our generation, Rabbi Avigdor Miller, who told certain askanim, to, so to speak -- damn the torpedoes and blow this mother sky high. (I paraphrased a bit).
So, to the chagrin of every frummie on the dark hatted side of the color spectrum, UOJ is back. Ironically, the very intention of the Agudah, to declare their moral victory over bloggers and reclaim their relevance has instead tossed the moral imperative to bloggers such as UOJ. Blogs are more relevant and necessary than ever before.
As for UOJ, he sounds more mature (excuse meeee!), and as always -- is dead on correct about the travesty that has been perpetrated over 40 years of inaction, intimidation, and malicious ineptitude.
Welcome back UOJ. Klal Yisroel needs you!
**************************************
אתמול התקיים הדיון במעצר עד תום ההליכים של מונדרוביץ בפני כבוד השופט רביד
בבית המשפט המחוזי בירושלים.
השופט שמע את טיעוני הצדדים ודחה את המשך הדיון כדי לאפשר לבא כוחו של
מונדרוביץ להציג ערבים שיהיו מקובלים על בית המשפט. פרקליטות המדינה (המחלקה
הבינלאומית) התנגדנה לכל חלופת מעצר. מונדרוביץ עדיין במעצר עד מתן החלטה
אחרת.
מצ"ב פרוטוקול הדיון.
בברכה,
מירב חביב
ע. דובר משרד המשפטים
טל: 0506-216665
****************************************************
On the one year anniversary of one of my favorites, from Still Wonderin', and just happens to coincide with the new "idiot" article, by idiots and for idiots, in The Jewish Observer!
The Jewish Observer is Jewish pornography, it should not be found in any Jewish home! It is poisonous and harmful to you and your family's intellectual health and well-being, and is an absolute distortion of Torah values - as our Chazal intended for the Jewish nation! The greatest Orthodox Jewish minds of our generation have disengaged themselves from this pathetic Agudath Israel organization, and it's demented world-view. Boycott this offensive magazine and this taliban-like organization, that will destroy you and your family with their outrageous lies ,distortions and mind-numbing ideologies!
They - and their policies - are the cancerous disease in the Jewish world today, not - the people reporting the ugly news and criminal behavior that is planned right on their premises. From protecting rabbi-child-rapists - and the criminal rabbis that enable and harbor them, to disguising evidence of disease -- infecting babies at their bris - by herpes-laden mouths of rabbis that perform circumcisions -- to consorting with the Catholic Church to attempt to prevent police inteference in private schools to protect our children from these rabid sub-human sex maniacs and their criminal clergy enablers! They deserve the contempt and scorn heaped on them, and more - than I know how to do! What they are attempting to conceal is their failed policies and horrendous criminal actions that have brought authentic Orthodox Judaism to it's knees! This is NOT the Judaism that our grandfathers died for! No self-respecting Jew should be part of this fraud!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Agudah to UOJ: Welcome Back
It appears that the Agudah, with their pathetic grasping at straws of controversy to appear relevant, has resurrected UOJ -- the Patron Saint of children -- who are sexually abused by religious figures and those who harbor them. UOJ, after being 'outed' this spring by some self-appointed thugs who believe themselves to be defenders of Torah and Gedolim, slipped into the background - by choice, with a farewell post just before Rosh Hashanah. Sadly, it appeared as though UOJ would relegated to asterisk status in Jewish history, despite his valiant and timely attacks on a viciously apathetic status quo that preferred the spiritual murder of Jewish children over decisive action.
And all was quiet as rosh yeshivas, executive directors, and some yeshivishe egomaniacs in the sleepy slum of Waterbury, CT - rejoiced at the miraculous bullet dodging they had just witnessed. Evidently, the 'humiliation' weapon -- a thin reference to ruined shidduchim and tainted yichus -- had succeeded in preserving the perversity of ultra-orthodox apathy.
But something was afoot. Deep within the bowels of 42 Broadway, across some shiny overpriced conference table, the "Wizards of Was" realized that their destiny lay in murdering the mandate bearer: blogs. Ironically, if they would actually read the blogs instead of dismissing them as the tools of Satan, they would have been able to resurrect themselves and actively contribute to the betterment and solidification of American Orthodoxy. Instead, they took the short way out.
"Let's bash blogs," the Daas Torahniks declared. "We must create a new enemy, now that the Nazis are gone, Jewish bus drivers can wear yarmulkas to work without fear, we've given up on "at-risk" kids (poorly trained mentors are the answer....right?), and we've selected our guest of honor for this year's dinner..." The obvious answer was blogs.
The dispensers of Daas Torah, concerned with the impact blogs were having on their destructive hegemony and possible ramifications that would have on future fundraising seconded the motion. "Blogs are bad," they bellowed. "We must rid our homes and neighborhoods of blogs." Then they returned to worrying about why the frummest girls schools produce graduates who ignore tznius, despite 14 years of subversive inculcation, and how to close the Pandora's box of frummer-than-thou- kashrus which has inexplicably led to America's most religious neighborhood to eat traife meat for half a decade.
Blogs are bad! Blogs are bad! Yeah, let's stick it to that UnOrthodox fellow - UOJ!
Who is he anyway to blame us for child molestation? We TOLD people that separate seating weddings would solve everything. And as long as they don't listen in the Five Towns, we can't be held responsible for what happens to little boys in Brooklyn."
So the convention program, with a half dozen cutsie teaser ads were drafted and everyone was happy. "Blogs are bad!," said the Agudah big shots. "When we're done with them, we'll be able to ridicule molestation victims with impunity in the Jewish Week." The Daas Torah dispensers cried, "Blogs are bad!. And now, we can get back to banning intangible objects, like books and sheitels, which we can burn, and actual people whom we can besmirch, excommunicate and threaten. It was so much easier in the good old days."
But they didn't count on themselves making the same mistake as they have made time and time again; life moves fast. People forget. They are busy. If things go away, they are forgotten. It's the same reason why sexual molestation victims fade away. If people forget, their pain is buried, for they themselves to choke on, alone. But when old news gets dredged up. When books that appear objectionable are given attention, or banned, they take on a life of their own. When forgotten blogs are given main stage forums at major fundraising events....they return to life.
And so, UOJ, in all his glory has been vindicated and resurrected, unlike the Agudah, which is as pathetic and irrelevant as it has been for the past decade, UOJ has attracted a well-written, logical counterpart:
http://rabbimatisyahusalomon.blogspot.com
which features a several thousand word letter detailing the vast and grievous gaps in communal leadership and compassion by our so-called gedolim.
The progeny of UOJ also provides an lucid timeline of events that led up to UOJ and more importantly the serious lack of judgment, comprising, and leadership of the dispensers of Daas Torah. And, incidentally, offers a nod to the one straight shooter of our generation, Rabbi Avigdor Miller, who told certain askanim, to, so to speak -- damn the torpedoes and blow this mother sky high. (I paraphrased a bit).
So, to the chagrin of every frummie on the dark hatted side of the color spectrum, UOJ is back. Ironically, the very intention of the Agudah, to declare their moral victory over bloggers and reclaim their relevance has instead tossed the moral imperative to bloggers such as UOJ. Blogs are more relevant and necessary than ever before.
As for UOJ, he sounds more mature (excuse meeee!), and as always -- is dead on correct about the travesty that has been perpetrated over 40 years of inaction, intimidation, and malicious ineptitude.
Welcome back UOJ. Klal Yisroel needs you!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The New Cancer!
Ch. 10 to air sting that netted several pedophiles on Sunday
By Asaf Carmel
Tags: Israel, pedophiles
Channel 10 will air Sunday a sting operation it organized that led to the arrest of several men suspected of trying to seduce underage girls online.
Over the past week, a team of Channel 10 journalists headed by Dov Gilhar took part in chat room conversations, presenting themselves as 13-year-old girls, and invited the suspects to a rented house in Tel Aviv that was wired with hidden cameras.
Journalists were exposed to blatant sexual passes by men between the ages of 24 and 62," a Channel 10 official said on Thursday. "Offenders offered to have sex with the 'girls,' sent hardcore pornographic images and recorded themselves performing illicit acts on Webcams."
According to the indictments later filed against the suspects, Channel 10 journalists were told not to initiate any conversations with suspects, but only to respond to their approaches via ICQ and Messenger. In addition, they were told to agree to meet the suspects only if they suggested it first.
When the suspects arrived at the house, they were confronted by Gilhar, who asked for their response to allegations that they tried to seduce underage girls and then showed them the pornographic material they had sent. Suspects were arrested by police waiting outside as they left.
"We decided to launch a hard-hitting journalistic campaign against the sickening epidemic that is affecting every household and endangering every child that sits in his room and surfs the Web," Gilad Adin, the director general of Channel 10 News, said. "The upfront behavior and lack of scruples by the adult men shocked us time and again, day in and day out, as we were working on the expose."
Channel 10's sting operation's concept is very similar to the one employed by U.S. television news show, Dateline NBC. Of the 200 people tried in U.S. courts using evidence gathered during the sting, more than 120 have already been found guilty, the network claims.
Channel 10's Adin added, "We hope our expose and fast and determined action by the police and the State Prosecution will scare anyone from sitting down in front of the computer and try to lure out girls and ruin their childhood."
Friday, November 30, 2007
Haaretz - In English & Press Release From The Ministry of Justice!
********************************************
....."Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanour".....Sigmund Freud; The Future Of An Illusion.
'I planned to murder Mondrowitz'
By Aviva Lori
Tags: pedophile, Haaretz
"I wanted to murder him. Or to kidnap him and beat him to within an inch of his life and then dump him somewhere. Or to drag him to the American embassy and then send him back to the United States." The speaker is T., who says he is one of the victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, the alleged pedophile from Brooklyn who styles himself a rabbi and psychologist, and whose misdeeds were described recently in these pages ("In the basement, behind a closed door," Haaretz Magazine, November 16). T. says that last year he paid someone who came to Israel to come up with an operative plan to assault Mondrowitz. "I sent someone to Israel. An American guy who came on one of the educational programs for American Jews, someone who is not afraid of anything. He did not work alone. He has connections with a few guys in Israel, who were going to do the actual deed."
Then why didn't it happen?
T.: "Mondrowitz was very careful and never went into the street alone. He knows that someone will finish him off one day. Someone who will decide that he doesn't care if he spends the next 50 years in jail. The person I sent on the mission is still in Israel. He sat for four months, preparing a plan - how and where. We found out everything about him, where he lives and how he behaves, but it is very hard to get close to him without anyone seeing, so after four months the guy said he was giving it up."
Would you really send someone to assassinate him?
"If it could be done without being caught, I would definitely do it. I don't want to, but all I know is this: If the law didn't manage to bring him to justice after so many years, the feeling is that no one cares. He isn't just some crook who robbed a store. He destroyed people's lives. I am still going to therapy twice a month. I have problems. I don't trust anyone, don't believe anyone, I am a very suspicious person. I talk to my children about it every week, and it's very hard to tell children not to be friendly with people. In our synagogue there was someone who went over to children and hugged them. Most people thought he was just being sociable, but I went over to him in the middle of the synagogue and gave him a real beating. I said to everyone, 'I am not going to wait around until he does it to one of my kids.'"
T., now 38 and living in New York, was almost 13 when he first met Mondrowitz. Since then he has been haunted by nightmares. "My life today does not exactly follow some 'golden way,'" he says in the Hebrew he learned during his stay in Israel. "I have no doubt that it started there, in that disastrous meeting with Mondrowitz. For some reason, I never told anyone the whole truth."
T.'s parents, Holocaust survivors, settled in Brooklyn's Williamsburg section. After his bar mitzvah he was to enter the Bais Yisroel yeshiva run by the Gur (Gerer) Hasidic sect in Borough Park, Brooklyn. To prepare him for yeshiva life, his parents sent him to a summer camp run by the Gur Hasidim in the Catskills, where he met Mondrowitz for the first time. "He would show up in his car, an Oldsmobile that was as heavy as a Merkava tank. That summer he started to buy me things. He asked me what I liked. I still have a set of books he bought me. He would take me to a pizzeria. I asked him if that was all right, if I was allowed to leave the camp, and he said, 'Yes, of course, I will get you permission.'"
T. doesn't recall Mondrowitz trying to touch him at camp. But he still remembers vividly what he later saw in the yeshiva. To mark the anniversary of the death of the Admor of Gur (the sect's founder), the students made a torch from wax candles, which they cooked in a large pot in the yeshiva's basement kitchen.
"I went down to the dining room, where the kitchen was," T. relates. "It was a bit dark and no one was there, but suddenly I heard noises. I looked around and then I saw them. A boy from the yeshiva, my age or maybe a year older, was leaning on a table. Mondrowitz was on top of him and both of them had their pants down. I was flabbergasted. It was like a nightmare.
"I ran upstairs, into the classroom, and told the teacher what I saw. Straightaway he went out of the classroom with me, and in the corridor he saw the boy and Mondrowitz coming up the stairs. So he saw that I wasn't talking nonsense." (Years later, T. says, "I found out that the boy never did well in life, that he was mentally ill.") The teacher then took T. to the principal and told him what happened. "I remember the principal shouted at me in Yiddish that I was a boy with a filthy mind. We went back to the classroom as though nothing had happened. At around 4 o'clock, Mondrowitz came and said he wanted to take me to his office, that he had to talk to me. He was an authority figure and I couldn't object. I went to his car, and he stopped at a store on 16th Avenue, took me into the store with him and said that the tzitzit [ritual undergarment worn by Orthodox Jewish males] I was wearing was not Hasidic enough and that I needed a more expensive one, made of wool. My father was poor and bought me a simple tzitzit. Mondrowitz then bought me a Coke and for the first time took me to his home, where he started to explain to me that every person needs a different form of therapy and that some children need to have a good feeling. As he was talking, he stuck one hand into my pants and the other into his pants. If I remember well, his wife was home. I went into shock. He asked me if I felt good. I said no, but he kept on and then he said I was too young, that one day I would find out what was really good for me."
The next day, T. told his teacher what had happened at Mondrowitz's home. The teacher promised to deal with it. "The following day, my father got a letter from the yeshiva saying that I was unsuitable and they should look for a different institution for me."
Before the age of 14, T. was sent to a Gur yeshiva in Israel, but was soon expelled, without any explanation. Maybe because he told his friends what he had seen in Brooklyn: "I discovered that there were six kids in the yeshiva whom Mondrowitz had treated."
After that T. stayed with his sister and with another relative, trying to get accepted to other yeshivas, but to no avail.
T. became a street urchin. He slept in the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, sold pictures that he drew, and lived a hand-to-mouth existence. "The Jerusalem bus station was my home. Sometimes I went into a synagogue to sleep. At the age of 21 I was married. I worked for a solar-heating company, rented a place in Ramat Gan and forsook religion.? After 10 years in Israel, T. was divorced. He returned to the United States, found religion again - "I don't believe in religious people, I believe in God" - remarried and raised a new family.
Road to extradition
Avrohom Mondrowitz, 60, a Gur Hasid, was indicted in the United States on charges of sexual abuse, including sodomy, against hundreds of children, mainly Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), in his neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn, in the early 1980s. The investigation began in 1984, following an anonymous phone call to Patricia Kehoe, a detective in the Brooklyn police sex crimes unit, about Mondrowitz's behavior. But by the time an arrest warrant was issued, Mondrowitz had disappeared. He and his family settled in Jerusalem. He was indicted in 1985, and Israel was asked to extradite him. This was not possible, because at the time the extradition agreement between the two countries did not define sodomy as a felony that mandated extradition. Mondrowitz lived comfortably in his Jerusalem home in the colorful Nahlaot neighborhood, teaching (until he was fired this year), praying three times a day in a local synagogue and, in his leisure time, apparently collecting and watching pedophilic movies and selling fake academic degrees from various universities to all comers.
Last May, local police raided Mondrowitz's home and found four pedophilic films. Two months ago, he was detained and questioned, but released under restrictive conditions. In September, the United States renewed its extradition request after the agreement with Israel was amended at the beginning of this year, so that sodomy is now an extraditable offense. But nothing happened. The police said they were in the midst of an investigation; the Justice Ministry refused to divulge information about its intentions. Mondrowitz continued with his regular routine.
Two weeks ago, on Friday, the day after the article's publication (on Thursday, in the Hebrew version of the Haaretz Magazine), Mondrowitz was arrested for the purpose of extradition. Three days later, he was brought before the vice president of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Judge Shimon Fineberg, who extended his remand by a week and wrote that the findings of the investigation "create a reasonable suspicion that [Mondrowitz] is still an active or potential pedophile. The fact that he does not have a police record of sexual abuse in Israel does not render the danger void. It is well known that with offenses such as these, particularly in the Haredi sector, to which the respondent belongs, the victims and their families often do not file complaints with the police owing to their desire to try to solve the problems without involving the police, in order to avert shame in the family. By this I do not find that the respondent committed offenses in Israel, but neither do I find the opposite."
The news of Mondrowitz's arrest was widely reported - more than 70 items appeared all over the world: in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Pravda, The New York Daily News, the news agencies and, of course, in the Jewish press. The reports prompted more people who said they were Mondrowitz's victims to come forward.
One of them is B., the mother of M., an apparent Mondrowitz victim, who committed suicide last year. B. had long agonized over whether to go public. The latest round of reports gave her the impetus she needed. "Before this I didn't know that he had molested so many pure, innocent children," she says.
An Orthodox Jew, B. believes that God took her son in order to alleviate his unbearable pain, which, she says, was inflicted on him after a year of intensive "treatment" by Mondrowitz. Of B.'s three sons, she says two were victimized by Mondrowitz. They were sent to him for therapy when she and her husband were going through a divorce. M. was then nine and a half; G., his brother, was 11.
G., now 38, also takes part in the conversation. He says he was lucky: "He didn't really manage to hurt me, because I ran away. This was in 1981. My parents had just been divorced, and my mother sent me and my younger brother to him for professional help. I remember him as a very impressive person. He smoked a pipe and had a convertible sports car, which attracted a lot of attention. He was cool, you know. The first time I came to him he sat me on his knees and started to kiss me on the lips and fondle me in all kinds of places. I jumped up in a fright and escaped. He told me that if I told anyone, he would hurt me."
In what way?
G.: "I don't know, but he had a terrible look in his eyes and I was really scared."
Did you understand that what he did was wrong?
"I knew that I had a teacher in school who did [bad] things to me, so I knew it was wrong."
G. did not show up for the next session with Mondrowitz. He walked around the building for an hour, but did not go in. Two weeks later, he informed his mother that he would not go again. "We had a big fight. She wanted to know why. I only told her that I didn't like him. She was deeply involved in the divorce and didn?t press the issue."
His younger brother, M., continued to see Mondrowitz. It was not until 10 years later that he disclosed that the man had abused and raped him.
In 1988, during a visit to Jerusalem, G. and his brother saw Mondrowitz at the Western Wall. "I ran to him and started to hit him," G. recalls. "My brother restrained me and separated us. I shouted that this man is an animal who has to be arrested, but in the meantime he ran off."
G. has the names of eight additional people who say they were victims, who contacted him after the article appeared. They decided to urge the U.S. authorities to pressure Israel to extradite Mondrowitz.
"[My brother] M. married but wasn't able to have sexual relations with his wife," G. says. "He got divorced and became a homosexual."
Because of what Mondrowitz did?
"Obviously. Two weeks before his death, he told my father: 'I am not sure that even if Mondrowitz is brought to trial it will ease my suffering and reduce the pain.' We knew that something was not right with him - he did not behave normally. He became sentimental in his relations with people.
He had a problem with religion: He didn't understand how someone could teach religion and do things like that. He couldn't abide the hypocrisy. He used drugs and sank into even more pain. The drugs helped him cope. One day last year he took pills and didn't wake up again. He died in his sleep."
M. was 35 at the time of his death. His mother cannot forgive herself for having sent him to Mondrowitz.
"He was so popular, everyone recommended him," B. relates. "I heard him on his radio program and was impressed by the advice he gave. I was sure that I was helping my children. You don't expect a rabbi to do things like that. Now it turns out he was not a rabbi at all, that everything he told about himself was untrue. That man persuaded me to leave my children alone with him. That way, he said, he could help them more. But one day M. broke down and told me everything. I couldn't believe it. I was in shock. I hugged him and we both sat down and cried and cried without end. I told him, 'Don't ever dare look at that man again, ever. I will see to it that he pays for what he did.' But by the time I figured out what to do, he had already escaped to Israel."
Did you feel that something was amiss with M.?
B.: "I am sure that if I had felt that, I would have done something, but [Mondrowitz] hypnotized him. Afterward I found out that he would convince the children that each of them was unique and special, and that he loved them more than anything in the world, even more than their parents did. He would fill their head with all kinds of crazy things that influence children of that age. He would buy them things and seduce them."
B. says she does not understand why the other rabbis kept silent and did nothing. "It is very hard for me to understand why they protected him. Now I understand that there were too many rabbis who did the same thing. It destroyed the children; even those who remained alive are not really living. It is hard for me to believe that he didn't do it to children in Israel, too, because it's a sickness. Why didn't the police arrest him long ago? Never in my life have I had such a strong urge to kill someone as with this man. The only way to deal with him is by cutting off you know what, and do it very slowly. Let it hurt him, let him suffer like the gentle and pure children whose lives he destroyed. That is the pain I want him to feel." *******
Press Release - Received From The Minister Of Justice:
On November 16, 2007, Abraham Mondrowitz was arrested by the Israel Police, at the direction of the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney. Mondrowitz was indicted in the United States on five counts of Sodomy in the First Degree, eight counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
Yesterday, the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney filed a petition to Jerusalem's District Court requesting that Mondrowitz be declared extraditable to the United States. In light of the gravity of the crimes for which Mondrowitz has been charged and the concern that he may attempt to flee from Israel and poses a danger to the public, the Department of International Affairs requested that Mondrowitz remain under arrest until the court decides whether or not he is extraditable.
On September 5, 2007, the United States authorities requested that Israeli authorities extradite Mondrowitz for the crimes listed above. After a thorough review of the extradition request, Israeli authorities decided to commence extradition proceedings against Mondrowitz in Israel.
According to the Request for Extradition, an indictment was issued against Mondrowitz in 1985 in New York for the commission of serious sex offenses against five minors between January 1, 1980 and September 15, 1984. The victims were all male, ages nine to fifteen at the time of the commission of the offenses against them.
Mondrowitz fled from the United States to Israel in 1984. The United States authorities sought his arrest at the time; however, Mondrowitz's extradition was only possible after January 2007, when the Protocol amending the Israel United States Extradition Treaty went into effect. Prior to the amending Protocol, the above-mentioned offenses were not extraditable crimes.
Mondrowitz's extradition case is being handled by the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney (prosecutors Nili Gesser and Marlene Mazel-Herskowitz) and in cooperation with the Israeli Police's Interpol Department.
Sincerely,
Merav Haviv Assistant to the spokesman - Ministry Of Justice
....."Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanour".....Sigmund Freud; The Future Of An Illusion.
'I planned to murder Mondrowitz'
By Aviva Lori
Tags: pedophile, Haaretz
"I wanted to murder him. Or to kidnap him and beat him to within an inch of his life and then dump him somewhere. Or to drag him to the American embassy and then send him back to the United States." The speaker is T., who says he is one of the victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, the alleged pedophile from Brooklyn who styles himself a rabbi and psychologist, and whose misdeeds were described recently in these pages ("In the basement, behind a closed door," Haaretz Magazine, November 16). T. says that last year he paid someone who came to Israel to come up with an operative plan to assault Mondrowitz. "I sent someone to Israel. An American guy who came on one of the educational programs for American Jews, someone who is not afraid of anything. He did not work alone. He has connections with a few guys in Israel, who were going to do the actual deed."
Then why didn't it happen?
T.: "Mondrowitz was very careful and never went into the street alone. He knows that someone will finish him off one day. Someone who will decide that he doesn't care if he spends the next 50 years in jail. The person I sent on the mission is still in Israel. He sat for four months, preparing a plan - how and where. We found out everything about him, where he lives and how he behaves, but it is very hard to get close to him without anyone seeing, so after four months the guy said he was giving it up."
Would you really send someone to assassinate him?
"If it could be done without being caught, I would definitely do it. I don't want to, but all I know is this: If the law didn't manage to bring him to justice after so many years, the feeling is that no one cares. He isn't just some crook who robbed a store. He destroyed people's lives. I am still going to therapy twice a month. I have problems. I don't trust anyone, don't believe anyone, I am a very suspicious person. I talk to my children about it every week, and it's very hard to tell children not to be friendly with people. In our synagogue there was someone who went over to children and hugged them. Most people thought he was just being sociable, but I went over to him in the middle of the synagogue and gave him a real beating. I said to everyone, 'I am not going to wait around until he does it to one of my kids.'"
T., now 38 and living in New York, was almost 13 when he first met Mondrowitz. Since then he has been haunted by nightmares. "My life today does not exactly follow some 'golden way,'" he says in the Hebrew he learned during his stay in Israel. "I have no doubt that it started there, in that disastrous meeting with Mondrowitz. For some reason, I never told anyone the whole truth."
T.'s parents, Holocaust survivors, settled in Brooklyn's Williamsburg section. After his bar mitzvah he was to enter the Bais Yisroel yeshiva run by the Gur (Gerer) Hasidic sect in Borough Park, Brooklyn. To prepare him for yeshiva life, his parents sent him to a summer camp run by the Gur Hasidim in the Catskills, where he met Mondrowitz for the first time. "He would show up in his car, an Oldsmobile that was as heavy as a Merkava tank. That summer he started to buy me things. He asked me what I liked. I still have a set of books he bought me. He would take me to a pizzeria. I asked him if that was all right, if I was allowed to leave the camp, and he said, 'Yes, of course, I will get you permission.'"
T. doesn't recall Mondrowitz trying to touch him at camp. But he still remembers vividly what he later saw in the yeshiva. To mark the anniversary of the death of the Admor of Gur (the sect's founder), the students made a torch from wax candles, which they cooked in a large pot in the yeshiva's basement kitchen.
"I went down to the dining room, where the kitchen was," T. relates. "It was a bit dark and no one was there, but suddenly I heard noises. I looked around and then I saw them. A boy from the yeshiva, my age or maybe a year older, was leaning on a table. Mondrowitz was on top of him and both of them had their pants down. I was flabbergasted. It was like a nightmare.
"I ran upstairs, into the classroom, and told the teacher what I saw. Straightaway he went out of the classroom with me, and in the corridor he saw the boy and Mondrowitz coming up the stairs. So he saw that I wasn't talking nonsense." (Years later, T. says, "I found out that the boy never did well in life, that he was mentally ill.") The teacher then took T. to the principal and told him what happened. "I remember the principal shouted at me in Yiddish that I was a boy with a filthy mind. We went back to the classroom as though nothing had happened. At around 4 o'clock, Mondrowitz came and said he wanted to take me to his office, that he had to talk to me. He was an authority figure and I couldn't object. I went to his car, and he stopped at a store on 16th Avenue, took me into the store with him and said that the tzitzit [ritual undergarment worn by Orthodox Jewish males] I was wearing was not Hasidic enough and that I needed a more expensive one, made of wool. My father was poor and bought me a simple tzitzit. Mondrowitz then bought me a Coke and for the first time took me to his home, where he started to explain to me that every person needs a different form of therapy and that some children need to have a good feeling. As he was talking, he stuck one hand into my pants and the other into his pants. If I remember well, his wife was home. I went into shock. He asked me if I felt good. I said no, but he kept on and then he said I was too young, that one day I would find out what was really good for me."
The next day, T. told his teacher what had happened at Mondrowitz's home. The teacher promised to deal with it. "The following day, my father got a letter from the yeshiva saying that I was unsuitable and they should look for a different institution for me."
Before the age of 14, T. was sent to a Gur yeshiva in Israel, but was soon expelled, without any explanation. Maybe because he told his friends what he had seen in Brooklyn: "I discovered that there were six kids in the yeshiva whom Mondrowitz had treated."
After that T. stayed with his sister and with another relative, trying to get accepted to other yeshivas, but to no avail.
T. became a street urchin. He slept in the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, sold pictures that he drew, and lived a hand-to-mouth existence. "The Jerusalem bus station was my home. Sometimes I went into a synagogue to sleep. At the age of 21 I was married. I worked for a solar-heating company, rented a place in Ramat Gan and forsook religion.? After 10 years in Israel, T. was divorced. He returned to the United States, found religion again - "I don't believe in religious people, I believe in God" - remarried and raised a new family.
Road to extradition
Avrohom Mondrowitz, 60, a Gur Hasid, was indicted in the United States on charges of sexual abuse, including sodomy, against hundreds of children, mainly Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), in his neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn, in the early 1980s. The investigation began in 1984, following an anonymous phone call to Patricia Kehoe, a detective in the Brooklyn police sex crimes unit, about Mondrowitz's behavior. But by the time an arrest warrant was issued, Mondrowitz had disappeared. He and his family settled in Jerusalem. He was indicted in 1985, and Israel was asked to extradite him. This was not possible, because at the time the extradition agreement between the two countries did not define sodomy as a felony that mandated extradition. Mondrowitz lived comfortably in his Jerusalem home in the colorful Nahlaot neighborhood, teaching (until he was fired this year), praying three times a day in a local synagogue and, in his leisure time, apparently collecting and watching pedophilic movies and selling fake academic degrees from various universities to all comers.
Last May, local police raided Mondrowitz's home and found four pedophilic films. Two months ago, he was detained and questioned, but released under restrictive conditions. In September, the United States renewed its extradition request after the agreement with Israel was amended at the beginning of this year, so that sodomy is now an extraditable offense. But nothing happened. The police said they were in the midst of an investigation; the Justice Ministry refused to divulge information about its intentions. Mondrowitz continued with his regular routine.
Two weeks ago, on Friday, the day after the article's publication (on Thursday, in the Hebrew version of the Haaretz Magazine), Mondrowitz was arrested for the purpose of extradition. Three days later, he was brought before the vice president of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Judge Shimon Fineberg, who extended his remand by a week and wrote that the findings of the investigation "create a reasonable suspicion that [Mondrowitz] is still an active or potential pedophile. The fact that he does not have a police record of sexual abuse in Israel does not render the danger void. It is well known that with offenses such as these, particularly in the Haredi sector, to which the respondent belongs, the victims and their families often do not file complaints with the police owing to their desire to try to solve the problems without involving the police, in order to avert shame in the family. By this I do not find that the respondent committed offenses in Israel, but neither do I find the opposite."
The news of Mondrowitz's arrest was widely reported - more than 70 items appeared all over the world: in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Pravda, The New York Daily News, the news agencies and, of course, in the Jewish press. The reports prompted more people who said they were Mondrowitz's victims to come forward.
One of them is B., the mother of M., an apparent Mondrowitz victim, who committed suicide last year. B. had long agonized over whether to go public. The latest round of reports gave her the impetus she needed. "Before this I didn't know that he had molested so many pure, innocent children," she says.
An Orthodox Jew, B. believes that God took her son in order to alleviate his unbearable pain, which, she says, was inflicted on him after a year of intensive "treatment" by Mondrowitz. Of B.'s three sons, she says two were victimized by Mondrowitz. They were sent to him for therapy when she and her husband were going through a divorce. M. was then nine and a half; G., his brother, was 11.
G., now 38, also takes part in the conversation. He says he was lucky: "He didn't really manage to hurt me, because I ran away. This was in 1981. My parents had just been divorced, and my mother sent me and my younger brother to him for professional help. I remember him as a very impressive person. He smoked a pipe and had a convertible sports car, which attracted a lot of attention. He was cool, you know. The first time I came to him he sat me on his knees and started to kiss me on the lips and fondle me in all kinds of places. I jumped up in a fright and escaped. He told me that if I told anyone, he would hurt me."
In what way?
G.: "I don't know, but he had a terrible look in his eyes and I was really scared."
Did you understand that what he did was wrong?
"I knew that I had a teacher in school who did [bad] things to me, so I knew it was wrong."
G. did not show up for the next session with Mondrowitz. He walked around the building for an hour, but did not go in. Two weeks later, he informed his mother that he would not go again. "We had a big fight. She wanted to know why. I only told her that I didn't like him. She was deeply involved in the divorce and didn?t press the issue."
His younger brother, M., continued to see Mondrowitz. It was not until 10 years later that he disclosed that the man had abused and raped him.
In 1988, during a visit to Jerusalem, G. and his brother saw Mondrowitz at the Western Wall. "I ran to him and started to hit him," G. recalls. "My brother restrained me and separated us. I shouted that this man is an animal who has to be arrested, but in the meantime he ran off."
G. has the names of eight additional people who say they were victims, who contacted him after the article appeared. They decided to urge the U.S. authorities to pressure Israel to extradite Mondrowitz.
"[My brother] M. married but wasn't able to have sexual relations with his wife," G. says. "He got divorced and became a homosexual."
Because of what Mondrowitz did?
"Obviously. Two weeks before his death, he told my father: 'I am not sure that even if Mondrowitz is brought to trial it will ease my suffering and reduce the pain.' We knew that something was not right with him - he did not behave normally. He became sentimental in his relations with people.
He had a problem with religion: He didn't understand how someone could teach religion and do things like that. He couldn't abide the hypocrisy. He used drugs and sank into even more pain. The drugs helped him cope. One day last year he took pills and didn't wake up again. He died in his sleep."
M. was 35 at the time of his death. His mother cannot forgive herself for having sent him to Mondrowitz.
"He was so popular, everyone recommended him," B. relates. "I heard him on his radio program and was impressed by the advice he gave. I was sure that I was helping my children. You don't expect a rabbi to do things like that. Now it turns out he was not a rabbi at all, that everything he told about himself was untrue. That man persuaded me to leave my children alone with him. That way, he said, he could help them more. But one day M. broke down and told me everything. I couldn't believe it. I was in shock. I hugged him and we both sat down and cried and cried without end. I told him, 'Don't ever dare look at that man again, ever. I will see to it that he pays for what he did.' But by the time I figured out what to do, he had already escaped to Israel."
Did you feel that something was amiss with M.?
B.: "I am sure that if I had felt that, I would have done something, but [Mondrowitz] hypnotized him. Afterward I found out that he would convince the children that each of them was unique and special, and that he loved them more than anything in the world, even more than their parents did. He would fill their head with all kinds of crazy things that influence children of that age. He would buy them things and seduce them."
B. says she does not understand why the other rabbis kept silent and did nothing. "It is very hard for me to understand why they protected him. Now I understand that there were too many rabbis who did the same thing. It destroyed the children; even those who remained alive are not really living. It is hard for me to believe that he didn't do it to children in Israel, too, because it's a sickness. Why didn't the police arrest him long ago? Never in my life have I had such a strong urge to kill someone as with this man. The only way to deal with him is by cutting off you know what, and do it very slowly. Let it hurt him, let him suffer like the gentle and pure children whose lives he destroyed. That is the pain I want him to feel." *******
Press Release - Received From The Minister Of Justice:
On November 16, 2007, Abraham Mondrowitz was arrested by the Israel Police, at the direction of the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney. Mondrowitz was indicted in the United States on five counts of Sodomy in the First Degree, eight counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
Yesterday, the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney filed a petition to Jerusalem's District Court requesting that Mondrowitz be declared extraditable to the United States. In light of the gravity of the crimes for which Mondrowitz has been charged and the concern that he may attempt to flee from Israel and poses a danger to the public, the Department of International Affairs requested that Mondrowitz remain under arrest until the court decides whether or not he is extraditable.
On September 5, 2007, the United States authorities requested that Israeli authorities extradite Mondrowitz for the crimes listed above. After a thorough review of the extradition request, Israeli authorities decided to commence extradition proceedings against Mondrowitz in Israel.
According to the Request for Extradition, an indictment was issued against Mondrowitz in 1985 in New York for the commission of serious sex offenses against five minors between January 1, 1980 and September 15, 1984. The victims were all male, ages nine to fifteen at the time of the commission of the offenses against them.
Mondrowitz fled from the United States to Israel in 1984. The United States authorities sought his arrest at the time; however, Mondrowitz's extradition was only possible after January 2007, when the Protocol amending the Israel United States Extradition Treaty went into effect. Prior to the amending Protocol, the above-mentioned offenses were not extraditable crimes.
Mondrowitz's extradition case is being handled by the Department of International Affairs of the Office of the State Attorney (prosecutors Nili Gesser and Marlene Mazel-Herskowitz) and in cooperation with the Israeli Police's Interpol Department.
Sincerely,
Merav Haviv Assistant to the spokesman - Ministry Of Justice
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Criminals - Gedolim - At The Agudath Israel Could NOT Care Less About You Or Your Children!
A father's plea for help - from the UOJ archives
At the outset, please forgive me for making the assumption that I have something meaningful to offer the survivors of sexual abuse, which I am not, or to the chachomim of this city, also which I am not. I am not an accredited professional. I am however, a father of an innocent child to whom these acts have been committed and, as such, I feel I may have a relevant contribution.
I have learned to see victims of abuse as people that have gone through an individual holocaust. Each victim having been through an event or chain of events that has forever changed not only the victim, but also reaches out to affect families, relatives, schools, communities ,and even into the next generation. The price we pay has nothing to do with the thousands of dollars spent in therapy for so many different issues both related to the assault(s) and their outgrowth (family disunity, Yidden off the derech, drug abuse, promiscuity, and poor school performance), but the toll it is taking on Klal Yisroel's future.
We must choose to understand the nature and scope of the dilemma and plan a clear path forward. As in all matters of Torah, the motivation must be the search for emes. Those who seek to accuse, blame, seek their pound of flesh, desire kavod or satisfy gaivah need not, no-must not be a part of the problem solving and the development of relevant answers for the needs of our community.
We must admit to ourselves what currently exists in our community in order to appropriately respond to those who perpetrate abuse and those who have suffered from it, as up until now the response has been inadequate and inappropriate.
I believe we must understand what the abuse is and is not. Sexual abuse is not an act of inappropriate or misplaced sexual desire. It is an act perpetrated by one in need to control and overpower another individual. Many times this is accomplished by manipulation and at other times by brute strength. Ultimately the result is the same. The victim is left feeling totally powerless in their world, afraid and intimidated by the prospect of a recurrence, guilt ridden, and feeling totally alone while being unable to share what has happened to them with those who care and love them.
It is a criminal act and not one between consenting individuals, even if somehow the perpetrator has manipulated the victim into thinking that the act was desired by the victim. It is the debasing of another human being to satisfy the lust for power and control ;it expresses itself as a sexual act. It robs innocence, it robs self esteem, it robs confidence, it robs one of closeness to G-d, it robs one of families, it robs ones ability to express love and intimacy in appropriate ways, it robs youth, it clouds judgment, it is spiritually, physically, and emotionally painful. It is extremely rare to find a perpetrator that acts only once. It is extremely rare to find a person who has been victimized who is not aware every day of their life of the continuing effects the abuse has had.
Who are the perpetrators? They are almost always males. When this is perpetrated by individuals outside of our community, we try to understand and make it understood that within the world at large, unfortunately, there are goyim such as these. It isn't easy, but the door is left open to understand the events within a Torah context, utilizing daas Torah to help us understand the machla and refuah. The most pressing issue we must cope with is what happens if the perpetrator is from within our own community? Brothers, fathers, cousins, uncles, friends, rabbeim, baalei battim, people we know and would otherwise respect, yeshiva trained or poshuta Yidden. Neighbors, business associates, baalei tsedakah, black hat or kipah srugah. They are here. They who have committed these atrocities are among us.
What are we to say to our beloved when the trust instilled in us of our own community is violated? So many have been robbed of the single most important asset we can use to interpret and understand and reach out to those in need of help.
Many of the accused seem to be protected, their crime hidden from public awareness. Some leave town, only to perpetrate again within another community. There is denial on the part of many that those accused are guilty. When the victim is a child or the accusation comes years after the crime, the testimony is often suspect. Often times, we can only reach the conclusion that there was a victim, something happened, but the details become an issue of debate due to an inability to substantiate the facts.
We must decide how to handle the confirmed perpetrator. It is important to remember that a crime has been committed by a person with a sickness. If I was prone to seizures and drove a car and damaged someone, G-d forbid, I would not expect my rov to get me out of the legal obligations I would have, nor would I expect him to remain quiet if I wanted to transport children in my car at a later time. It would be expected that I would notify people that I was unable to do certain things due to my condition and I would be expected not to put myself in another situation where the safety and well being of another person would be compromised. A person with a cancer can only hope that with G-ds help, he will live his 120 years in remission, but with the realization that once discovered, the disease is forever at risk of re-emerging.
We must come to terms with those who carry within themselves the depths of understanding and knowledge of Torah, yet, have turned their bodies from holy vessels to impure receptacles by an action(s) that seems to refute their outward appearance of being yiray Shomayim. Just as Moshe Rabeinu was not reprimanded for breaking the luchos instead of bringing them into the midst of the unfit Bnai Yisroel at the time of the golden calf, it is understandable to feel that the perpetrators are not worthy of the gifts of Torah they hold and the kavod due them as holy vessels. However, today we lack the Leviim ;those tzadikim who are so pure that they are worthy and able to rid us of the unholy and tainted.
Perpetrators must come clean. They must first admit to themselves, then to their victims and the community at large, what they have done. This is always the first step. It must be public because the victim must have the validation that they were victimized. They have been abused and too often feel responsible and ashamed. When the abuser confesses, enough of the victims self doubt can be removed to allow the door to recovery to begin. We can deal honestly with the abuser and not allow him to be in situations that may cause him to stumble. We can watch, counsel, teach, and guide a person who understands and accepts his failings. We can take this Yid's shortcoming and use them to enhance our community. How many times has the government taken ex-criminals and put them to work preventing the same criminal behavior in others? They speak, they teach, they make aware. They have insight we lack. This is how they can do tshuva. Of course they may NEVER be around children again!
Who are the victims? They are our children, siblings, parents, extended families, friends, neighbors, our kehilas, and our community. We all suffer. The energy expended in the fallout of the effects of abuse is without end. Victims often suffer in silence for years due to fear, shame, and/or guilt. They may repress their horror or be emotionally unable to confront their reality, doubting their own credibility. This is a personal holocaust. Who is going to believe such a thing could happen? How is anyone else going to understand the pain?
The victims often feel it is easier to live in pain than to be forthcoming and be written off as a crank, a liar, a crazy person. Their pain and suffering exhibits itself in ways seemingly unrelated to the abuse. Many become problems academically and behaviorally at school. Their interactions with loved ones may deteriorate. They may not trust. Not just strangers, but even those closest to them. They may carry and exhibit irrational anger. They feel betrayed by their loved ones and others who have the responsibility and obligation to protect them from harm. We often lose them as b'nai mitzvas. We often lose them as members of our families and communities. We lose them to drugs and promiscuity. We may even lose them to be perpetrators themselves, having learned from the criminal behavior of their abuser how, through a warped and sickened perspective, to gain some control into their own out of control lives. The cycle continues. We all suffer.
We must feel it is as much an obligation to educate, inform and warn our children parents, neighbors, and congregations of the threats to our physical and spiritual safety as it is for all other types of criminal activity, whether Torah based or secular statutes.
We understand from Shlomo Hamelech that there is nothing new under the sun. It is our obligation to delve into Torah and find ways to help. The answers are there. We must find the needed refuah for the victims, the perpetrators, and our community. We must not give up on nor lose those we love and those who need our love.
The Agudah's response to the allegations of sexual abuse in their summer camp is way too little and too late. Where were you for forty agonizing years? We, who believe in the Divine involvement in every single act that occurs on Earth and all the galaxies, have to believe that the fire that destroyed the main building at Camp Agudah, the exact day that the Agudah's pathetic counter to the New York Magazine article on sexual abuse among the Orthodox Jewish community was published, was Hashem saying to Klal Yisroel "enough is enough."
May we all be zoche to be closer to Hashem through our efforts.
Posted by The Un-Orthodox Jew - "UOJ" at Saturday, June 24, 2006
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
TEAM UOJ - AT WORK - MONDROWITZ PHOTOS!
I Urge all readers of the blog to take the time, immediately, and whenever possible, to contact Sol Werdiger and let him know the message we want him to convey to the Gerer Rebbe: that we are not going to tolerate any more coverups and whitewashings for Mondrowitz; that this man must face justice for abominable crimes; that anyone who aids or protects a criminal is morally as culpable as the criminal himself; and that we will be sure to expose anyone guilty of coverup just as we are succeeding in exposing the story of Mondrowitz. They might mention Pirkei Avoth, 4:5: "Whoever is mi'chalel Hashem in secret will be chastised publicly."
DO IT NOW. Time is of the essence. We may never have such a good chance to ensure that this worst of cases may finally see some justice.
Contact info for Sol Werdiger:
SWERDIGER@OUTERSTUFF.COM
Outer Stuff Ltd.
1370 Broadway 15th Fl
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-594-9700
Fax: 212-695-6396
I think this man should hear as much as possible from as many people as possible who are tired of the coverup of Mondrowitz.
Mondrowitz is being held until NOVEMBER 27 (which is his 60th birthday, by the way) when there will be another hearing to determine whether he is to remain incarcerated or released with an electronic tracking device. His lawyer, David Ofek, argued today that the court will have to determine whether he can be held because of the "statute of limitations."
We have to be disciplined and focused in our response. So, for right now... let's hit Werdiger. Hard, and repeatedly. I want him to be so stunned in the next few days he'll be asking the rebbe to do something, anything to get him out of trouble.
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TRANSLATION OF JUSTICE SHIMON FEINBERG’S DECISION
CASE No. 011944/07
HONORABLE JUSTICE SHIMON FEINBERG
THE STATE OF ISRAEL,
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GOVERNMENT
VS.
AVROHOM MONDROWITZ,
RESPONDENT
APPEARING BEFORE THE COURT:
For the Plaintiff: Nili Gesser, Esq. and Marilyn Mazal-Hershkovitz Esq.
For the Defendant: David Ofek, Esq. and Tzivia Golovik Esq.
DECISION
1. In the matter of the request to extend the detention of the Respondents pursuant to Article 7 of the Extradition Law of 1954 (“Extradition Law”).
2. In 1985 the Respondent was issued an indictment in New York, United States on the charges of sodomy and other sexual assaults against five minors between the ages of nine through fifteen. The authorities of the United States issues an arrest warrant against him. However, before they were able to execute the warrant the Respondent fled to Israel. That year, the American authorities requested that the Israeli Government extradite the Respondent back to the United States. At that time the treaty between the two countries did not allow extradition for the crimes the Respondent was accused of. The State of Israel decided to remove him from the country. During that process, the Respondent appealed to the Israeli Supreme Justice Court and the State of Israel decided to abandon the proceedings of his removal. From that time on, the Respondent has been living with his family in Israel.
3. During the course of the past year the protocols of the extradition treaty were modified in a manner in which the crimes that the Respondent stands accused of by the courts of New York became extraditable crimes. In September 2007, the United States authorities requested the extradition of the Respondent from the State of Israel.
4. The Respondent was arrested on November 11, 2007 pursuant to Article 6 of the Extradition Treaty. The Requester now asks for an extension of the Respondent’s incarceration for an additional 12 days for the purpose of obtaining an updated extradition request to amend the request filed many years ago.
5. A hearing of the allegations was held before this Court on November 16, 2007. The Representative today introduced the following additional facts. In May of 2007, a search was conducted of the Respondent’s home where four films containing child pornography were discovered. The Requester also argued that the likelihood of the Respondents fleeing is high if he is not detained, because of his recent knowledge of the change in the Extradition Treaty which now allows his return to United States. The Requester further argues that the Respondent is a threat to the public as evidenced by the above material discovered in his home.
6. The Respondent argued that there are issues of statute of limitations and extensive period of time that has passed since the initial extradition request was made and denied. The Respondent requests that he be released in a manner which assures that the Respondent will reappear once the extradition proceedings commence, even suggesting that the Respondent be released to house arrest and monitored via an electronic monitoring bracelet.
7. The first question to consider is if the Respondent is a candidate for extradition based upon the revised extradition treaty? (See paragraph 6 of the extradition treaty.) We need to answer this request in a positive manner. The treaty between the two countries today states that these offenses are extraditable crimes. The Requester holds affidavits given on behalf of the victims/complainers against the Respondent about the crimes that the Respondent committed. All this evidence is the basis for the indictment against the Respondent, by the Unites States government.
8. Regarding the Respondents claim as to the statute of limitations and the large amount of time that has elapsed, Paragraph 2B (a) 6 of the extradition law, the upholding of the law is conditioned upon the time of the crime or its punishment not exceeding the statute of limitations according to Israeli law. According to paragraph 9 (a) 2 of the Israeli criminal code of 1982, a person cannot be prosecuted for a crime (except in death penalty or life in prison cases) if a period of ten years has past since the day the crime was committed. According to paragraph 9 (3) the statute of limitations commences either from the time of the last day of the investigation, or the day of the indictment or the last day of the proceeding in a court of law, whichever comes last. In our case, all of the proceedings as stated in paragraph 9 (3) above, occurred over ten years ago. The Representative of the government expressed that the statute of limitations might be an issue, however the courts in previous verdicts have recognized other cases where the statute of limitations was frozen where the accused has escaped before prosecution. Based upon paragraph 94-1 (3) of the criminal code, we can come to reject the claim against the statute of limitations.
(See criminal appeal 739-07 (supreme) Yonatan Efrat vs. Attorney General)
I have reviewed this case and concluded that there is a solid basis for the Requesters request regarding the statute of limitations; however this issue has some effect on my decision as to keeping the Respondent incarcerated as I will explain.
9. Another question that paragraph 6 of the extradition law raises is if there is a probable cause that an extradition request shall be filed? To that we answer in the affirmative, and the United States government has declared specifically that it will do so.
10. According to the previous decisions, in a hearing where the subject is in accordance with paragraph 7 to the extradition law, the court shall consider the regular arguments for keeping a person in custody, among them being the safety of the public, the concern of interfering with the investigation and primarily the fear of the accused fleeing, which is a permanent concern in a case of an extradition proceeding. In addition, the court shall consider the commitment that Israel has towards the requesting country – a commitment that is established in an international treaty that is the basis of the extradition law- to extradite the suspect and allow his extradition to the requesting country. This last consideration is a crucial one in a sense that at times it is justified to keep a person in custody even though general custody considerations state that he is to be released, because of the extra dimension that is as a result of Israel’s duty towards the requesting country. [Hon. Justice D. Banish (aka) see case #4422/03 Yitzchak Cohen vs. Attorney General.] These considerations are brought into account also during a proceeding of a requesting of incarceration prior to declaring a person extraditable [See case Jerusalem 11287/04 attorney General vs. Zev Rosenshtien.]
11. In our case, consideration for continued incarceration evolved from danger to the public and fear of the accused fleeing from justice. As to the consideration of danger to the public, findings of the investigation against the Respondent by the Israeli Police Department create a probable cause that the accused is still an active or potential pedophile. The fact that against the accused no criminal offenses have been brought does not negate the known danger of these offenses, especially in the ultra orthodox sector that the accused belongs to, because the victims and their families very often do not complain to the police because of the will of that sector to attempt to solve those problems internally without police involvement, to avoid humiliation to the family. I am not establishing that the accused has commenced any crimes in Israel, but I am not ruling that out either. The fear of fleeing from justice evolves from the revised treaty that allows the extradition of the accused to the United States, a situation that did not exist during the entire period of the accused’s stay in Israel. Additionally, one must bring into account the commitment of the State of Israel towards the requesting country that was established in an international treaty that is the basis of extradition law.
12. All of the above leads me to the conclusion to grant the Representatives request and to hereby order the continued incarceration of the accused. Nevertheless, due to the legality of the statute of limitation as I stated above, there is no room to rule out a potential alternative to incarceration as suggestion by the accused council.
13. Therefore, I hereby extend the incarceration of the accused as requested until November 27, 2007 at 12:00 PM. I am ordering a recommendation report of the Probational Service Office for consideration of a substitute for incarceration including house arrest with an electronic monitoring device. The report shall additionally consider the danger that the accused possesses. The report shall be submitted before the end of the term of incarceration. The report may be used by this court if an additional request for incarceration is filed according to paragraph 7A of the extradition law or if there is a request to declare the accused as extraditable.
14. The secretarial office shall send a copy of this decision to the probation service office.
Given today November 18, 2007 in the presence of all parties.
Shimon Feinberg, Judge
**********************
I came across this a while ago and finally found it again. This applies to all of us. May we all be blessed for it with continued success health and happiness. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.Indeed it's the only thing that ever has.
Mark Weiss - Survivor - Activist
Ex-Brooklyn rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz faces extradition to U.S. on kid-sex rap!
BY MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Monday, November 19th 2007, 4:00 AM
Avrohom Mondrowitz (this summer - left ---- In court - right )
JERUSALEM - A Jerusalem magistrate Sunday ordered a former Brooklyn rabbi accused of raping several boys 20 years ago to jail while American and Israeli officials finalize a U.S. request for his extradition.
Avrohom Mondrowitz, a father of seven, faces extradition to stand trial in New York to answer a 1985 indictment on four counts of sodomy and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree.
Mondrowitz, 60, once a popular child psychologist and youth counselor in Borough Park, allegedly sodomized the boys after befriending them or after taking them on trips to the movies and amusement parks.
The U.S. extradition request, resubmitted in September after a change in the treaty between the U.S. and Israel, was delayed after one of the five complainants withdrew from the case.
The U.S. Justice Department is expected to file an amended request this week.
Mondrowitz was arrested early Friday morning at his Jerusalem home and arraigned the same day.
Judge Shimon Feinberg, vice president of the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, found that Mondrowitz was a possible candidate for extradition and rejected defense arguments that the statute of limitations applied to the offenses, even though they were allegedly committed more than 20 years ago.
Feinberg granted a prosecution request to extend Mondrowitz's imprisonment until Nov. 27 after the prosecution told the court that an Israeli police raid on Mondrowitz's home in May had netted four pedophile movies.
Mondrowitz is due to appear in court again Nov. 27, when Feinberg will decide whether to extend his jailing until the end of the extradition proceedings, which could take several months.
Mondrowitz's wife, Raizel, declared his innocence.
"People can come up 25 years later and say all kinds of things about anybody. No one's had any complaints about him for the last 25 years. This is all old stuff," she said.
********************************
Rabbi Yosef Blau Comments!
The debate about whether the Haredi or modern Orthodox leadership has been more negligent in dealing with sexual abuse and which abuser is worse is at best a side show. Thr Mondrowitz case has raised serious questions about how the Orthodox rabbinate responded to the many accusations that emerged twenty plus years ago in Brooklyn.
Since almost no one has denied his guilt, minimally a public statement should be made expressing sympathy for his apparently many victims (my sources say that he sexually abused essentially all the boys that were sent to him)and support for his being extradited. It is also neccesary that there be a thorough investigation of the reports that various rabbis discouraged Jewish children from cooperating with the police and were complicit in his fleeing to Israel after being indicted. If these allegations are false then no one should be afraid of the facts being uncovered.
Yosef Blau
Steve....Kicks Shafran Where It Should Hurt If He Had Any.....
That is part of why the Torah-observant population is greatly underrepresented in the realms of societal ills like rape, AIDS, prostitution and marital infidelity that affect their less repressed neighbors.
WOW!! Don't we all feel so much better now!! Thank you Avi! UOJ, there is no need for this blog anymore. Tell Elliot Pasik that there is no need for all the fuss about background checks, fingerprinting, registry and mandatory reporting. After all, we are "underrepresented" when it comes to such things as child molestation! Tell all the victims of clergy sexual abuse that they really don't matter, you are "underrepresented".
How this moron continues to write such gibberish and gets away with it is beyond me. It's been a year and a half since that article he's referring to, and forty years since Kolko started his molestation career. Do we have anything in place from the Agudah or Torah Umesorah that will give our children one iota of protection? Why is it that public school children have this protection and our children have nothing? Will Avi L. Shafran or the Agudah ever address these questions head on, or will we continue to hear how wonderful the Orthodox world is, and that we are "underrepresented"? It's like the false prophets before the first Temple destruction, telling the people how wonderful they are.
Until there is a tremendous outcry from the community and a demand for change, we will continue hearing from these false prophets. If you care about your children and grandchildren, start putting pressure on the Agudah, Torah Umesorah and your local politicians. Mandatory background checks, fingerprinting, sex offender registry and mandatory reporting MUST BE ENACTED IN THE YESHIVA SYSTEM AT ONCE!!! I am sorry to say that we are underrepresented when it comes to people crying out for the children. Avi, you are wrong, we have more than our fill of perverts!!
Opinion - In child pornography, fight harder By Ernie Allen
Mon Nov 26, 3:00 AM ET
Alexandria, Va. - Millions of children around the world are being sexually abused and molested. Billions of dollars are changing hands as part of a growing crime wave of child pornography. This is anything but a victimless crime. Children – some as young as infants – are being barbarically assaulted for the sexual gratification of their abusers and those who view their photos.
While inroads have been made in the fight against child pornography, the problem remains severe. We have much more to do.
The Internet has become a child pornography superhighway, turning children into a commodity for sale or trade. Analysts at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have reviewed 9.6 million images and videos of child pornography on the Internet just since 2002. There are millions more such images in cyberspace that we have yet to find.
Law enforcement agencies are cracking down on this crime wave. In November, the chief operating officer of the National Children's Museum in Washington was arrested and charged with distributing child pornography over the Internet. Also this month, police across Europe announced they had arrested nearly 100 people linked to a network that allegedly produced and sold child pornography videos to 2,500 customers worldwide.
In 1998 Congress asked NCMEC to create a "9-1-1 for the Internet." We established CyberTipline (www.cybertipline.com), which has received more than 500,000 reports from the public and Internet service providers regarding child sexual exploitation. More than 460,000 of those reports involved child pornography.
What is child pornography? It goes far beyond nude pictures of children. It is the visual depiction – whether in still photos or video – of children being sexually assaulted. In some instances, rapes of children have been shown live over the Internet to paying customers. In 1982, the US Supreme Court held that child pornography is not protected speech but child abuse.
Some suggest that many people who view child pornography just "look at the pictures." But our work on these cases has led us to conclude that for most of those who view these images, sex with children becomes a compulsion and evolves into physical acts with real children.
When NCMEC analysts scour the Internet for child pornography, they determine whether website content is illegal, use search tools and techniques to identify and track down the distributors of child pornography, and then provide the information to the appropriate local, state, federal, or international law enforcement agency.
Law enforcement agencies and NCMEC have managed to identify almost 1,200 of the many children who appear in child pornography. We have found that 35 percent of the photos were taken by a parent, 15 percent by another family member, and 20 percent by someone close to the child or the family. We have provided more than 12,000 evidence reports to prosecutors and law enforcement officers to assist in prosecutions of those accused of these crimes.
Sadly, NCMEC has found that the children being used in these images are getting younger and younger, and the images are becoming more graphic and more violent. Of the children in pornographic photos and videos who have been identified, 58 percent had not yet reached puberty.
To stop the use of credit cards that fuel the child pornography industry, NCMEC created the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography. Today this coalition includes 90 percent of the US payments industry, with growing international involvement. The 30 companies in the coalition include MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Microsoft, America Online, Yahoo, Google, and many others.
Thanks to the participating companies and extraordinary leadership from federal, state, and local law enforcement, we have virtually eliminated the use of credit cards in child pornography transactions. Although credit card logos still appear on some sites, now when consumers attempt to use credit cards, they either become victims of identity theft or are redirected to another method of payment.
In too many places around the world, the possession of child pornography is handled as a relatively minor offense. In fact, in 136 countries it is not even a crime.
Children depend on adults to keep them safe. We need to do more to protect them from dangerous, cold-hearted predators who want to harm them for pleasure and profit. We need to recognize child pornography as a crime against humanity that must be attacked more forcefully and that deserves harsh punishment.
Ernie Allen is president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a nonprofit charitable organization based in Alexandria, Va.
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