Agudath Israel to UOJ: Welcome Back!

http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=2387




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 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 busdrivers can wear yarmulkes 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-though kashrus which has inexplicably led to America's most religious neighborhood to eat traif meat for half a decade.

Blogs are bad. Blogs are bad. Yeah, let's stick it to that UnOrthodox fellow. 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 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, compasison, 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, 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!

posted by Still Wonderin'

http://stillwonderin.blogspot.com/2006/12/agudah-to-uoj-welcome-back.html#links

"Like the Catholic Church, Orthodox Jews have beliefs that create a separate world from which child sex abuse victims cannot escape".

http://writ. news.findlaw. com/hamilton/ 20100429. html


"The recent scandals (and convictions) involving Rabbi Yehuda Kolko and Rabbi Baruch Lebovits were a result of the victims bravely coming forward even despite community pressure, and they are surely an indication that the tide has been turning".

How Other Religious Organizations Echo the Roman Catholic Church's Rule Against Scandal, A Precept that Entrenches and Perpetuates Cycles of Child Sex Abuse: Orthodox Judaism, Part Two in a Two-Part Series
By MARCI A. HAMILTON

Thursday, April 29, 2010

This is Part Two in a two-part series of columns on religions, other than the Catholic Church, that possess precepts that have the effect of leaving clergy child sex abuse unpunished. Part One can be found here. – Ed.

In the past two weeks, there have been yet more revelations about the Catholic Church's mishandling of child sex abuse, with, for example, European bishops forced to resign. In my last column, I described, based on church documents and case law, some of the pitfalls in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' approach to child sex abuse within the organization. In this column, I will address the struggles of institutions within the Orthodox Jewish community on these issues.

Like Other Faiths, Orthodox Judaism Is Wary of Secular Authority – But There Are Exceptions

Like the Catholic Church, Orthodox Jews have certain beliefs that tend to create a separate world from which child sex abuse victims cannot escape. The key question with respect to every religious organization that is dealing with hidden, ongoing, or persistent child sex abuse is this one: What will it take to liberate the victims? External pressures from sources such as the media and the legal system can make a difference, but it may also take some re-examination and soul-searching with respect to some of the institution's religiously motivated practices. The Orthodox Jews are making steady and promising progress in this arena. The ultra-Orthodox Jews, unfortunately, are not.

The Jewish law of "Chilul HaShem," which means literally "a desecration of God's name," warns believers not to bring shame on the community. This is the closest analogue in the Jewish tradition to the Catholic rule against scandal. And, there is the Jewish law against "mesira," or informing on another Jew to the authorities. Roughly translated, according to Rabbi Yosef Blau of Yeshiva University (my home institution) , it means "Don't go to secular authorities," and thus can be used as a reason not to report child sex abuse to police or civil authorities. The law against arka'ot, or proceeding in secular courts, also has presented barriers.

As with all important Jewish concepts, the meaning of each these precepts lies in particular interpretations. According to Rabbi Blau, the prohibition against mesira, though widely honored, may not be relevant in democratic societies. The purpose of the law was to protect Jews from tyrannical governments, such as Nazi Germany's. Thus, the prohibition was created to protect Jews from the government. The same reasoning does not apply in a legitimate democracy.

Moreover, there are exceptions to mesira – for instance, when circumstances are such that the religion's internal mechanisms cannot deal with an internal problem. And a perfect example, according to Blau, is child sex abuse. But observant Jews may not be willing to act in contravention of a law like the prohibition against mesira without first consulting a rabbi on whether the exception actually holds in the particular case, which can delay, if not forestall, reporting.

Yet, the Rabbinical Council of America at its Convention this week issued a resolution that would seem to open the door to reporting abuse:

•[The RCA] reaffirms its unqualified condemnation of all forms of child abuse.
•It reaffirms its halakhic position that the prohibitions of mesirah and arka'ot do not apply in cases of abuse.
•It will regularly issue on its website and to the media appropriate statements of condemnation when public attention is drawn to a case in which Jews are either victims or perpetrators of abuse.
•It will regularly evaluate the competence of its members in understanding and responding to issues of child abuse and initiate training and continuing educational opportunities for all of its members in this area every year.
•The members of the RCA address the issues of child abuse in their communities in at least one sermon, lecture or article within the next twelve months, and that contact information for local abuse services be displayed in a public place in all synagogues, schools, and Jewish community institutions serviced by its members.

Other Aspects of Jewish Law May Also Make It More Difficult for Child Sex Abuse Victims to Find Justice

Unfortunately, the prohibition against mesira is not the only precept of Jewish law that has made it difficult for child sex abuse victims to get help. There is also the prohibition of "lashon hara," which means "evil tongue," and forbids speaking badly of others. It creates an impediment to survivors even telling members of their own communities about the abuse, let alone the civil authorities. Some supporters of adults who have been accused of abuse also have invoked lashon hara to prohibit others from telling outsiders.

There are also cultural elements at play. "Shidduch" means "finding a spouse," and in some circles, the drive to find a marriage partner is a very powerful force. For the most part, religious Jews enter into arranged marriages in which one's lineage and family reputation determine desirability on the marriage market. Making a good match, or "Shidduch," is of paramount importance within these communities. The stigma of being a victim of abuse can deter marriage partners. Therefore, there is strong incentive for the entire family to stay mum about the issue, and for the victim himself, or herself, never to mention it.

In addition, there has been strong communal pressure in Orthodox communities to keep the problem internal. This element has decreased in the Orthodox community, which is divided among diverse synagogues and congregations, but it remains a force in the ultra-Orthodox community, as I will discuss below.

Finally, there has been the problem of denial. Of course, we see denial in many child sex abuse situations, whether the context is religious or secular. The difference here is that, in the Jewish community, denial regarding clergy child sex abuse has been worsened by the belief that one should keep the halakh (Jewish law), which plays an important role in creating a self-identity for the Jewish communities. Living an observant life is transformative. An Orthodox Jew believes he or she will become a better person by keeping the laws, and that belief can translate, for some, into a decision generally to ignore modern studies or media on any issue, because the modern information could have the capacity to call into question their entire lifestyle. When the issue is child abuse, the consequences of that belief can be tragic.

In sum, within Orthodox Judaism, some adhere to a set of internal rules the effect of which is to prevent child sex abuse victims from speaking about their abuse, getting help, or filing criminal charges against perpetrators. Fortunately, however, secular law has provided some of the pressure that is needed to establish a pathway out for the victims. The recent scandals (and convictions) involving Rabbi Yehuda Kolko and Rabbi Baruch Lebovits were a result of the victims bravely coming forward even despite community pressure, and they are surely an indication that the tide has been turning.

Orthodox Jews Should Be Praised for Openly Debating What Should Be Done About Clergy Child Sex Abuse – and Acknowledging that It Occurs.

Moreover, there has been a healthy and open debate among Orthodox Jews regarding what to do about this very serious problem. The Flatbush Shomrim announced this last week that child sex abusers should be prosecuted, and advised fellow Jews to report sex abuse directly to the authorities. Ben Hirsch, the President of Survivors for Justice – the first organization of its kind in the Jewish community – praised this move in an op-ed for the Jewish Star.

As with the Catholic survivors' movement, Hirsch explained that secrecy has been in the leaders' interest, not the children's:

"[O]ne does not have to be a cynic to conclude that the rabbinic establishment has a vested interest in keeping reports of abuse within the community. For leaders who could be facing criminal and civil liability, invoking concepts like mesira and chilul Hashem to stop people from reporting is little more than a form of self-protection. Self-protection that, as the past 40 years have shown, has come at the expense of the protection of our community's children."

Hirsch then likened the Jewish situation to that of the Catholics:

"[T]he cover-ups have resulted in hundreds of victims whose abuse could have been prevented. Dealing with reports of sexual abuse internally covers-up the crime, usually with catastrophic results when the pedophile strikes again–something we are hearing about daily in reports about the Catholic Church and frighteningly in our own community as well.

The Torah teaches us to avoid offering counsel in situations where we may be a nogea b'dovor (an interested party). This applies equally to rabbis, whom the Torah nowhere exempts from this rule. As such, because of their inherent conflicts of interest in this issue, I respectfully suggest that rabbis be precluded from being involved in this issue except in very limited ways–namely, encouraging people publicly and in private to go directly to the authorities and supporting them practically, emotionally and socially in that process."

Hirsch offers persuasive arguments, and remarkable conclusions, that bode well for child sex abuse victims in the Orthodox Jewish community.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the ultra-Orthodox, or Chasidic, Jewish community, which as of now is far from being able to aid the victims within the community. A recent announcement in New Square reiterated the principle that abuse should not be reported to the authorities, although it did at least establish a path for reporting the abuse to an internal committee.

As we know from the other universes within which child sex abuse has been a problem, keeping the issue internal is never the best – or even a good, or acceptable – path for the victims. In addition, there is another impediment to justice in this community: Rabbi Blau noted that Chasidic community members defer to the Jewish Laws of Tzniut, which command modesty in both dress and speech and in turn forestall discussion regarding private body parts and improper touch. Victims therefore may lack even the basic vocabulary to report the abuse. And the community is so closed off that communal pressure to keep the issue secret is extraordinary, with few, if any, openings for outside forces such as police, prosecutors, or the media to bring the victims some relief.

Still, there are glimmers of hope from within even the ultra-Orthodox community. Rabbi Shalom Yosef Elyashiv has ruled that the Jewish law not only does not bar reporting, but rather "one should report (an abuser) to the secular government authorities [police, etc.]; and in this there is benefit to society . . ." Thus, the exception to the law against reporting is actually quite strong. That means the barriers to reporting in the ultra-Orthodox universe are more cultural than legal.

Of all of the religious organizations facing these issues, the Orthodox Jews appear to be moving most quickly to the position that the child victim's needs must trump the organization's preferences, even when it means re-examining common interpretations of certain religious prohibitions. For that, the community deserves praise.


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Marci Hamilton, a FindLaw columnist, is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008). A review of Justice Denied appeared on this site on June 25, 2008. Her previous book is God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), now available in paperback. Her email is hamilton02@aol. com.

What To Do When Leaders Go Bad?

Yagoda Commons
215 Lexington Ave. (at 33rd St.)
Yeshiva University, Beren Campus

Refreshments will be served - ["The Day The RCA Became Agudah"]
Free and open to the public with valid picture ID
ASL INTERPRETED
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE

RSVP: ethics@yu.edu or (212) 960-0826

This panel will examine corruption as a failure of public integrity, and will include both Halakhic and secular perspectives. Issues to be discussed include political corruption in Israel and the United States and misconduct by community and religious leaders as well as those in politics and government. Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethics at YU, Social Justice Society, YU College Democrats, YU College Republicans, and Political Science Society

"Change You Can Count On!"

MAZEL TOV! - REAL CHANGE YOU CAN COUNT ON!


April 27, 2010 -- Whereas we have become increasingly aware of incidents of the sexual and physical abuse of children in our community; and

Whereas, there have been a number of high profile cases in which Orthodox rabbis have been indicted or convicted for child abuse or child endangerment; and

Whereas the lives and futures of many of these victims and their families are harmed in significant ways: suicide, post traumatic stress syndrome, inability to form healthy relationships, inability to develop healthy intimate relationships, etc.; and

Whereas many victims of abuse in our community still remain silent and do not come forward to accuse perpetrators or seek help for fear of stigma, personal and familial consequences, or perceived halakhic concerns; and

Whereas the Rabbinical Council of America has resolved through past resolutions its condemnation of abuse and its censure of abusers, and has affirmed, under the guidance and direction of its poskim (Rabbinic decisors,) that the prohibitions of mesirah (reporting crimes to the civil authorities) and arka’ot (adjudication in civil courts) do not apply in cases of abuse and in fact, it is halakhically obligatory to make such reports; and

Whereas reiterating this long held position can serve to provide pastoral and halakhic leadership, support, direction and affirmation to abuse survivors and their families and advocates.

Therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America resolves that

• It reaffirms its unqualified condemnation of all forms of child abuse.

• It reaffirms its halakhic position that the prohibitions of mesirah and arka’ot do not apply in cases of abuse.

• It will regularly issue on its website and to the media appropriate statements of condemnation when public attention is drawn to a case in which Jews are either victims or perpetrators of abuse.

• It will regularly evaluate the competence of its members in understanding and responding to issues of child abuse and initiate training and continuing educational opportunities for all of its members in this area every year.

• The members of the RCA address the issues of child abuse in their communities in at least one sermon, lecture or article within the next twelve months, and that contact information for local abuse services be displayed in a public place in all synagogues, schools, and Jewish community institutions serviced by its members.

Gevald!

Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Versus Lipa Margulies!

.... During the tenure and under the direction of the Rosh Hayeshiva - Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky ztvk"l:

*

Rabbi Malkiel Kotler & Lipa Margulies




Lipa Margulies left the employ of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath's office in 1956, where he had access to Torah Vodaath's donor list and all its proprietary information. He took the Yeshiva's name, raised money for his own enterprise under the guise of YTV; and it took R' Yaakov Kaminetzky 10 years to finally get Margulies to agree to come to Bais Din. The deed to 150 Ocean Parkway (Margulies' original child rape address) was held in Trust until Bais Din would render its ruling or "if the parties came to an agreement".

The agreement under R' Yaakov's stewardship of YTV, was that Lipa Margulies and all his "entities", would be subject to an audit by an agreed upon accounting firm, to ascertain that no money raised by Margulies, came from YTV's donor pool (as Margulies claimed).

It took another 11 years for this matter to be "resolved", all the while Margulies was still calling his "Hot KOLKO Club", "Yeshiva Torah Vodaath of Flatbush".

... And the Jewish community would do nothing about it, and trusted this miscreant with providing a "Jewish education" to its children, as well as securing their emotional and physical safety!

How, and under what circumstances was this matter resolved? Stay tuned for Part Two!

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND PRINT!

KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES A 32-YEAR SENTENCE FOR BOROUGH PARK RABBI!

 


KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES A 32-YEAR SENTENCE FOR BOROUGH PARK RABBI CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ABUSING A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY!

Brooklyn, April 12, 2010 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the sentencing of Baruch Lebovits, to 10-and-two-thirds to 32 years in prison for sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy on eight occasions in 2004 and 2005.

On March 8, Lebovits was convicted of eight counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree, a Class-E Felony. Today he was sentenced to the maximum sentence on each count, one-and-a-third to four years, to run consecutively, for a total of 10-and-two-thirds to 32 years.

The victim knew Lebovits as a rabbi and prominent businessman in the Borough Park community, where they both lived.

Lebovits is also charged in two other cases of sexual assaults on minors. Those cases are pending.

The case was prosecuted by Miss Gregory, First Deputy Bureau Chief in the Sex Crimes Bureau. Rhonnie Jaus is Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau.

http://frumfollies.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/speech-by-father-of-lebovits-victim-to-sentencing-judge/

Speech By Father of Lebovits Victim to Sentencing Judge

by Yerachmiel Lopin on 04/12/2010

Below is the prepared text that the father of the victim shared with me yesterday and delivered to the judge in Brooklyn a few minutes ago. I will announce sentencing as soon it happens. The text has has been edited to remove names and other identifying information.

"I would like to thank the judge, The Honorable Patricia M. Di Mango, for giving me the opportunity to speak at the sentencing of Baruch Mordechai Lebovits.

King David wrote: ”I thank G-d with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright” (Psalms 111:1). There is no more righteous place than where justice is done and executed. The prophet Isaiah said, “Zion should be redeemed through justice. I would like to thank the Honorable Justice Di Mango for conducting the trial with truth and dignity. I have to admit that I had my doubts about the outcome, but I know that if you have truth on your side justice will prevail. As Shakespeare said: “The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is”.

I want to thank Ms. Gregory and her staff and the DA’s office for endless hard work and sleepless nights to bring this case to trial regardless of the dark clouds, She directed those clouds at Mr. Lebovits so the sun should shine again on my son. It is said that in every dark place there is a spark of light that is called hope.

I thank Detective Steve for his tireless work and the fact the he was always available to us 24/7. I also want to thank Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg and the father of another victim. Without you I would not be here today. You were like Pinchus in the Bible.

I want to thank my wonderful parents and family who stood fast in the biggest crises facing them in and out of the community for giving our son emotional support, a hug, a laughter and sometimes, a tear. You kids are all standing tall as victory marches on and history was made.

It is said that you leave the best for the last. And so my beloved son, my heart is always with you. We are one soul in two bodies bonded forever. I am very proud of you as are all your friends, family and all those who took part in this case. You had the courage to bring to the authorities that evil man, who is a rabbi and a prominent businessman with many connections to top leaders in the community. You refused to be bribed to drop the case. You were subjected to mud slinging and character assassination in front of the entire community as you testified in the witness chair. But you persevered because you had one thing on your side and that is the truth.

The holy book The Zohar states that “Truth stands on its own feet and lies do not stand.” And so the jury gave it’s verdict siding with the truth.

My son, with your courage to come forward you made history, helping to put away this evil man. You made the community safer for other children. Martin Luther King Jr. said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.”

I want to look this evil a man in his eyes.

What this man did is not some tale or script in a horror movie. It is a real horror story of a man who lived in our community, was trusted by the children and the people. He went on to ruin so many innocent lives just to serve his own selfish sick pleasures. I ask you Mordechai Lebovits, where is your soul? After you had your sick fun you discarded these innocent children like trash. You wished to see them completely destroyed so they would not be able to testify against you. You never showed or had any remorse.

You tried to destroy our son and his testimony by bringing in a rabbi, Berel Ashkenazi, who himself is a alleged child molester, to testify on your behalf. But you just dug a deeper hole for yourself. As King David wrote “He who dug a pit has fallen into the ditch which he made. (Psalms 7:16).

But you cannot escape from the hands of G-D. Our son pulled himself out of the pit that you dug for him. He will go on with his life and G-D will give him strength and success while you will rot in a pit. .

Now, let me turn my attention and address the Lebovits family, friends and the so-called rabbis. You are not innocent either. You share the same guilt that Mordechai Lebovits does. You are just as guilty as he is because you all knew who he was, what he was doing and how he was destroying so many innocent children for years. You all came to support him while smirking and laughing at our son as he bravely testified.

Our great Sages said that the one who sees someone committing evil and is silent is just as guilty as the evil perpetrator and gets the same punishment from G-D as the evildoer. There were rabbis who called me form Israel and asked me not to prosecute him and just let him off the hook for his family’s sake. I told them that there is nothing in the Bible or the Talmud that tells us that justice should not be served for the sake of the family of the criminal. I ask those who pleaded mercy for this man, did Mordechai Lebovits ever have mercy on the children he molested? Did he ever ask for their forgiveness for ruining their lives?

I would like to give you a summary of a quote from the Chief Rabbi Strenbuch of the ultra-Orthodox Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem (II:627). “It is not only allowed to bring the criminal to the authorities but it is a command to hand over such a person to the authorities. By handing him to the authorities you will eliminate desecration of G-D. There is no greater desecration of G-D than allowing a criminal like this to escape justice.”

I have a message for all those children molested by this or any other evil man and to their families. It took a long time for this man to be brought to justice, but as a Russian poet once wrote “Justice is like a train that always arrives late”. It is better late than never. Don’t be afraid to bring a perpetrator to justice.

In conclusion, I would like to ask the Honorable Justice Patricia M. Di Mango to impose the maximum sentence for the crimes committed by Mordechai Lebovits as he inflicted maximum suffering on his innocent victims with no remorse.

Thank you very much Justice Di Mango. May G-D bless you and G-D bless America!"

"How can we maintain that faith when our leaders are unworthy of it?”

A UOJ Issru Chag original riddle - What's the difference between a Catholic "leader" and priest - and a present ultra-orthodox Jewish "leader" and rabbi?

Catholic leaders wear red clothing and black underwear - current ultra-orthodox Jewish leaders wear black clothing and red underwear - Catholic priests wear white collars on their black shirts, current ultra-orthodox Jewish rabbis have black collars on their white shirts!




Op-Ed Columnist
The Church’s Judas Moment
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: April 6, 2010
WASHINGTON

I’m a Catholic woman who makes a living being adversarial. We have a pope who has instructed Catholic women not to be adversarial.

It’s a conundrum.

I’ve been wondering, given the vitriolic reaction of the New York archbishop to my column defending nuns and the dismissive reaction of the Vatican to my column denouncing the church’s response to the pedophilia scandal, if they are able to take a woman’s voice seriously. Some, like Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, seem to think women are trying to undermine the church because of abortion and women’s ordination.

I thought they might respond better to a male Dowd.

My brother Kevin is conservative and devout — his hobby is collecting crèches — and has raised three good Catholic sons. When I asked him to share his thoughts on the scandal, I learned, shockingly, that we agreed on some things. He wrote the following:

“In pedophilia, the church has unleashed upon itself a plague that threatens its very future, and yet it remains in a curious state of denial. The church I grew up in was black and white, no grays. That’s why my father, an Irish immigrant, liked it so much. The chaplain of the Police and Fire departments told me once ‘Your father was a fierce Catholic, very fierce.’

My brothers and I were sleepily at his side for the monthly 8 a.m. Holy Name Mass and the guarding of the Eucharist in the middle of the night during the 40-hour ritual at Easter. Once during a record snowstorm in 1958, we were marched single-file to church for Mass only to find out the priests next door couldn’t get out of the rectory.

The priest was always a revered figure, the embodiment of Christ changing water into wine. (Older parishioners took it literally.) The altar boys would drink the dregs.

When I was in the 7th grade, one of the new priests took four of us to the drive-in restaurant and suggested a game of ‘pink belly’ on the way back; we pulled up a boy’s shirt and slapped his belly until it was pink. When the new priest joined in, it seemed like more groping than slapping. But we thought it was inadvertent. And my parents never would have believed a priest did anything inappropriate anyway. A boy in my class told me much later that the same priest climbed into bed with him in 1958 at a rectory sleepover, but my friend threw him to the floor. The priest protested he was sleepwalking. Three days later, the archbishop sent the priest to a rehab place in New Mexico; he ended up as a Notre Dame professor.

Vatican II made me wince. The church declared casual Friday. All the once-rigid rules left to the whim of the flock. The Mass was said in English (rendering useless my carefully learned Latin prayers). Holy days of obligation were optional. There were laypeople on the heretofore sacred ground of the altar — performing the sacraments and worse, handling the Host. The powerful symbolism of the priest turning the Host into the body of Christ cracked like an egg.

In his book, ‘Goodbye! Good Men,’ author Michael Rose writes that the liberalized rules set up a takeover of seminaries by homosexuals.

Vatican II liberalized rules but left the most outdated one: celibacy. That vow was put in place originally because the church did not want heirs making claims on money and land. But it ended up shrinking the priest pool and producing the wrong kind of candidates — drawing men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.

The church is dying from a thousand cuts. Its cover-up has cost a fortune and been a betrayal worthy of Judas. The money spent came from social programs, Catholic schools and the poor. This should be a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance. I asked a friend of mine recently what he would do if his child was molested after the church knew. ‘I would probably kill someone,’ he replied.

We must reassess. Married priests and laypeople giving the sacraments are not going to destroy the church. Based on what we have seen the last 10 years, they would be a bargain. It is time to go back to the disciplines that the church was founded on and remind our seminaries and universities what they are. (Georgetown University agreeing to cover religious symbols on stage to get President Obama to speak was not exactly fierce.)

The storm within the church strikes at what every Catholic fears most. We take our religion on faith.

How can we maintain that faith when our leaders are unworthy of it?”


***********************

Vatican blasts anti-Catholic 'hate' campaign

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer Frances D'emilio, Tuesday - April 6, 2010

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican heatedly defended Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, claiming accusations that he helped cover up the actions of pedophile priests are part of an anti-Catholic "hate" campaign targeting the pope for his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

Vatican Radio broadcast comments by two senior cardinals explaining "the motive for these attacks" on the pope and the Vatican newspaper chipped in with spirited comments from another top cardinal.

"The pope defends life and the family, based on marriage between a man and a woman, in a world in which powerful lobbies would like to impose a completely different" agenda, Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, head of the disciplinary commission for Holy See officials, said on the radio.

Herranz didn't identify the lobbies but "defense of life" is Vatican shorthand for anti-abortion efforts.

Also arguing that Benedict's promotion of conservative family models had provoked the so-called attacks was the Vatican's dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano.

"By now, it's a cultural contrast," Sodano told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. "The pope embodies moral truths that aren't accepted, and so, the shortcomings and errors of priests are used as weapons against the church."

Also rallying to Benedict's side was Italian Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, who heads the Vatican City State's governing apparatus.

The pope "has done all that he could have" against sex abuse by clergy of minors, Lajolo said on Vatican radio, decrying what he described as a campaign of "hatred against the Catholic church."

Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based minister in the United Church of Christ who is faith work director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, described the cardinals' comments as "diversionary counterattacks" that are an affront both to the victims of clergy abuse and to gays and lesbians.

"It makes me heartsick," she said.

Sex abuse allegations, as well as accusations of cover-ups by diocesan bishops and Vatican officials, have swept across Europe in recent weeks. Benedict has been criticized for not halting the actions of abusive priests when he was a Vatican cardinal and earlier while he was the archbishop of Munich in his native Germany.

The mainland European scandals — in Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland — are erupting after decades of abuse cases in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and other areas.

In Germany, nearly 2,700 people called the church's sexual abuse hot line in the first three days it was operating, a Catholic church spokesman said Tuesday.A team of psychologists and other experts have spoken with 394 people so far, ranging from several minutes up to an hour, Trier Diocese spokesman Stephan Kronenburg said.

"Most callers reported cases of sexual abuse," he told The Associated Press.

Benedict has ignored victims' demands that he accept responsibility for what they say is his own personal and institutional responsibility for failing to swiftly kick abusive priests out of the priesthood, or at least keep them away from children.

But he has been protected by a vanguard of senior Vatican prelates who are fending off what they contend is an orchestrated attempt to attack the leader of the world's more than 1 billion Catholics.

The Vatican No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, rebuffed questions about the pontiff's silence on the topic, indicating that Benedict was standing firm.

"He's a strong pope," he told reporters after arriving Tuesday in Chile. The Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as calling Benedict a "great prophet of the Third Millennium."

Bertone, now the Holy See's secretary of state but formerly Benedict's deputy when the future pope, then-called Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the Vatican's morals office, has himself been swept up in the scandals.

During a May 1998 meeting at the Vatican, Bertone told Wisconsin bishops to halt a church trial against an ailing priest who was accused of sexually abusing 200 deaf children, according to a Vatican transcript. The priest died soon afterward.

"It's not true, it's not true! We have documented the opposite," ANSA quoted Bertone as saying in Chile. "Let's not talk about this topic now, because otherwise we'll be here all day verifying precisely the action taken by me and by his eminence."

On Easter, the most important day in the Catholic faith, the Vatican broke with tradition and began its service in St. Peter's Square with a ringing defense of Benedict delivered by Cardinal Sodano.

The Vatican newspaper quoted Sodano on Tuesday as saying the church is "certainly" suffering because of pedophile priests but he asserted that "Benedict XVI has apologized several times."

"But it's not Christ's fault if Judas betrayed" him, Sodano said. "It's not a bishop's fault if one of his priests is stained by grave wrongdoing. And certainly the pontiff is not responsible."

"Behind the unjust attacks on the pope are visions of the family and of life that run contrary to the Gospel," Sodano said. "Now the accusation of pedophile is being brandished against the church."

He noted that past popes have also been criticized, including the "offensive against Pius XII for his conduct during the last World War as well as that against Paul VI" for his encyclical against birth control, the cardinal said.

Pius has been accused by Jewish groups and some scholars as not having done enough to save Jews from the Holocaust, although the Vatican contends he used behind-the-scene diplomacy to help them. Benedict has hailed Pius as a "great" pontiff, who is being considered for possible beatification.

Vatican Radio, presenting listeners with some of the most vehement counterattacks yet, depicted the church as a victim.

"There are those who fear the media campaign of anti-Catholic hatred can degenerate," Vatican Radio said.

It noted anti-Catholic graffiti on walls of a church outside Viterbo, a town near Rome, and reminded listeners that a bishop was attacked by a man during Easter Mass in Muenster, Germany. The bishop fought back with an incense bowl.

The radio likened the recent campaign to the persecution suffered by early Christian martyrs. "The crowds, incited by the slanders of the powerful, would lynch the Christians," the radio said.

In Munich, meanwhile, an independent lawyer hired by the Catholic church wrapped up his investigation of abuse allegations at the southern Ettal monastery.

"The investigation clearly shows a system of abuse that lasted for decades," Thomas Pfister told The Associated Press.

There were some cases of sexual abuse at Ettal but most victims who came forward were physically abused and most cases took place before 1990, Pfister said in a telephone interview.

The lawyer declined to elaborate as his final report will be published next week.

Al Aleh Ani Bocheyah! (For These I Cry!)

"...I accuse the very great rabbis, the leaders of our people, because of internal strife..."

February 16, 1923 - Rosh Chodesh Adar 5683 Edition

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE-PLEASE PRINT AND DISTRIBUTE IN YOUR SHULS!




The following article appeared eighty seven years ago, February 16, 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 true Torah values in America, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l, the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Torah U'Mesorah.

(Translated from the Yiddish above)

"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" (Jeremiah. 20:9)

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!

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

One Lying Gentile + One Lying Jew = 2 Criminals!

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer DUBLIN March 20,2010

– Pope Benedict XVI addresses Ireland on Saturday in a letter apologizing for the sex abuse scandal here — a message being watched closely by Catholics from Boston to Berlin to see if it also acknowledges decades of Vatican-approved cover-ups.

The church is only beginning to come to terms with decades of child abuse in its parishes and schools. The scandals first emerged in Canada and Australia in the 1980s, followed by Ireland in the 1990s, the United States this decade and, in recent months, Benedict's German homeland.

Victims' rights activists say that to begin mending the church's battered image, Benedict's message — his first pastoral letter on child abuse in the church — must break his silence on the role of the Catholic hierarchy in shielding pedophile clergy from prosecution.

That includes abuses committed decades ago under the pope's watch, when he was Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, as well as the pontiff's role in hushing up the scandals.

As leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger was responsible for a 2001 Vatican edict that instructed bishops to report all cases of child abuse to Vatican authorities under strict secrecy; it made no mention of reporting crimes to police.

"Is it not time for Pope Benedict XVI himself to acknowledge his share of responsibility?" said the Rev. Hans Kung, a Swiss priest and dissident Catholic theologian.

"Honesty demands that Joseph Ratzinger himself, the man who for decades has been principally responsible for the worldwide cover-up, at last pronounce his own mea culpa," Kung said.

Benedict, who served as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, has yet to speak about the hundreds of abuse cases emerging since January in Germany.

These include the Rev. Peter Hullermann, who was already suspected of abusing boys in the western German city of Essen when Ratzinger approved his transfer to Munich for treatment in 1980.

There, Hullermann was allowed contact with children almost immediately after his therapy began. He was again accused of molesting boys and was convicted in 1986 of sexual abuse. He was suspended this week for ignoring a 2008 church order not to work with youths.

Dirk Taenzler, director of the Federation for German Catholic Youth, said his members were appalled by the revelations of abuse in church-run schools and choirs — and wondered why the pope had yet to address his fellow Germans.

"Everyone is suffering from the church's bad image," Taenzler said. "It is an issue in every congregation and everyone is trying to cope."

Benedict's successor in Munich, Archbishop Reinhard Marx, said the pope's letter to Ireland "will of course affect us. The pope always speaks for everyone. It is not ... for specific groups or countries. That word will also be important for us."

Marx said the pope should not be expected to take responsibility for abuses committed by individual priests. "We expect the pope to take a stand on everything every time, but we are responsible for what happens here," he said.

In the United States, where several dioceses have been driven to bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits, activists called on the pope to be candid about his own failings — and for bishops to be held accountable.

"So far the church hierarchy has been very short on accountability. They've had to be pushed to come clean about their responsibility for anything," said Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group that lobbies for reform within the church. "He needs to call for any bishops involved in the Irish crisis to resign. But unfortunately we're not expecting that."

Ray Flynn, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said the pope has been slow to speak publicly about the church's abuse crisis because he lacks media savvy, not because he wants to stonewall critics or doesn't care about victims. "He is a very quiet, unassuming, non-pretentious man," Flynn said.

"He's got to be transparent, forthcoming, right out front and point the finger where the blame is," he added. "I think the truth will set you free, and that's what people want."

No country has been harder hit by the child-abuse scandals than Ireland, a nation of 4 million that has paid out more than $1 billion to some 13,000 victims. Victims' advocates say they are tired of hearing church apologies that contain no acknowledgment of how bishops under Vatican direction let child molesters operate with impunity.

"What we probably will get — I hope I'm wrong — are a lot of expressions of regret and sorrow and apology about the horrors of child abuse in the past. I've heard that so often now," said Marie Collins, one of Ireland's most prominent campaigners for victims' rights.

"I want to hear apologies for the actions of the church hierarchy."

Collins, 63, was repeatedly raped by a Dublin priest, Paul McGennis, while in a children's hospital in 1960. Irish bishops knew at the time about McGennis' pedophilia — even confiscating his collection of nude photos of children — but didn't bar him from the priesthood until 1997, shortly before his conviction for abusing Collins and another girl.

Such cover-ups have undermined much of the Irish hierarchy including its leader, Cardinal Sean Brady.

On St. Patrick's Day, Brady apologized for his failure to tell police about evidence he gathered in 1975 from two altar boys molested by the Rev. Brendan Smyth. Smyth kept abusing children until he was finally convicted in 1994. The scandal triggered the collapse of the Irish government.

Three Irish government-ordered investigations from 2005 to 2009 documented the abuse of thousands of Irish children by priests in their parishes and by nuns and brothers in boarding schools and orphanages. Irish bishops did not report a single case to police until 1996 after victims began to sue the church.

Some church scholars say Benedict has sought to encourage a church crackdown on abusers and are hopeful that Saturday's message might offer a fresh start for the church worldwide.

"If we do take serious and proper steps, the house can be cleaned and the church will improve for it," said the Rev. John Wauck, a commentator on Vatican affairs.

"I think that's something to look forward to with hope. I imagine the letter will be quite hopeful and forward-looking," Wauck said.

"I will be attacked with ridicule from all sides. What can I do? A fire is burning within me, and within a thousand Jews like me!"

The UOJ Archives - August 5, 2006

"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." .... Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l, the "architect" of Torah in America, written in 1923.

" Lishmoa lillmod u'llelamed, lishmor v'laasos u'lkayem es kol divrei talmud torahsecha b'ahaava".... from the Ahava Raba in our daily tefillos.

Lillmod k'dei l'lamed...We learn our holy Torah to be able to pass it on to our children for the generations. We learn the holy Torah, kdei likayim, in order to fulfill "all" of the learning of your (our) Torah with love!

Judaism is a religion of practice; Hashem did not gift us with the Torah to study for knowledge sake and then to discard the practices that separate us from the other nations of the world. We are to serve God so we can be better people for it.

The Torah is a prescription medicine for life, it was meant to be a cure-all for the illnesses that all humans suffer from. It was not meant to be a tool to hurt people, it was not meant to be used and abused to make money for our personal gain at the expense of the weak and the downtrodden. It was certainly not meant to punish the innocent with harm that will endure for a lifetime.

Rabbonnus was meant for the morally and ethically superior people in the mold of Moshe and Aaron; to lead us away from our temptations and human frailties. It was not meant for people to capitalize on it to create institutions from public funds to enrich their personal fiefdoms.

As Moshe and Aaron "suffered" for being great; Moshe not being permitted to enter Eretz Yisroel and Aaron losing his two sons to a fiery death, we demand accountability and moral purity from our "leaders." Our leaders are NOT to be given a pass when their mistakes cause great harm to the masses. They, by their positions, are to pay a very dear price for their foibles. So much more so when their sins are either intentional or out of ignorance!

Yes, there's a fire in me that I can not extinguish, nor will I. We are hemorrhaging internally. The bleeding is getting worse as we continue to ignore the patient...all of Am Yisroel! Our "doctors" are out to lunch and causing death and destruction to the people destined to be a light unto the world. They are mocking God by pretending to take care of the patients entrusted to them; but instead are injecting them with a spiritual poison.

Why have we not learned? How many more fake Messiahs do we need to learn that we have been taken by the Moshiach hucksters who have seen him in a dream or a vision?

Why have we not learned that the people that predict the date of his arrival are cruel opportunists using religion as a form of crowd control to the ignorant?

Why have we not learned from the utter failure of a particular Movement to bring authentic Judaism to the masses, and instead turned their organization into one big global soup kitchen?

Why have we not yet learned that "kollel" is for the mitzuyonim, the best and the brightest, and l'maan Hashem let's force the others to get up early and go to bed late learning Torah...but must earn a parnassah for their family?

When Rav Bick z"l cried out "the yeshivas are producing inferior humans", the Torah world went into a feeding frenzy; "what can you expect from a person who was a product of Y.U."?

Why have we not yet learned that we must reconcile science and Torah; When science contradicts Torah, Torah wins. But if we can reconcile the new scientific findings WITH the Torah, if we don't, the intelligent b'nei Torah among us will question the validity of the entire Torah?

Why have we not learned that the chitzonyus, the exterior, the l'vush, the clothing, is absolutely meaningless if our hearts are not pure. We can not clothe ourselves one way, when our actions are in total contradiction to the way we appear.

Why have we not learned that we were m'kabel the Torah at Sinai, which includes the Neviim and the K'suvim...all the rest that came later was NOT incorporated in our Torah. The feel-good writings of the various people are not Torah, they are theories of individuals, albeit many individuals. Z'miros does not take the place of learning. D'veykus and Tzimtzum are not theories that were given to us at Sinai. Being m'dabek to a human is Christianity and is not part of Judaism. To idolize a person is to violate the basic precepts of the Torah. "Tzimtzum" is in direct contradiction to the way the Torah describes the sheshes y'mei breishis.

And NO, I do not believe for one second that metziza b'peh is an integral part of the milah. The vast majority of frum Jews would never permit their child to be subjected to that distortion of the emes. No, I do not believe for one second that Avraham Avinu performed metziza b'peh on himself - as per Rabbi Yisroel Reisman! Some people who know better made a horrible judgment call when they decided to become the spokesmen for Satmar and that entire group of illiterates and peasants. Children are getting ill and dying and we're playing politics. Shame on you!

There is no common folk. All Jews are very special. For people that find it difficult perhaps to study Torah the conventional way; there is Art Scroll, Torah Tapes, Daf Yomi on the Internet....etc. Singing songs does not constitute learning Torah although it feels good. We have suffered throughout time from charismatic leaders who caused much pain and destruction to our people. When their views conform to the Torah it becomes acceptable, not the other way around.

Let's not forget that a few short years ago Rabbi Aaron Kotler zt"l would not permit a shtreimel in the Bais Midrash of Lakewood. Let us not forget that Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l would not permit his talmidim to wear their arba kanfos (tzitzis) over their shirts. What do you think he would say if a bochur walked into the yeshiva bedecked in 80 pairs of tzitzis?

As far as R' Elchonon's actions; the concept that talmidei chachomim are infallible has let us down time and time again. R' Michoel Ber Weissmandel zt"l was writing letters to the U.S.A. about the horrors going on in Europe as R' Elchonon kept going back, time and time again after his fundraising trips to America. He clearly knew what was at stake, and chose death over life for himself and his talmidim. He was photographed in the U.S.A. in the summer of 1939 (see The ArtScroll), when there were no questions in any person's mind about Hitler's plans for the Jews, and he chose death for himself and his talmidim.

So I can not sit idly by as this fire is consuming me, but I will not let it destroy me...." V'heenei boer b'aish, v'hasneh aneinu ukal". I see the Establishment yawning as the sex abuse issue goes un-addressed in a meaningful way. Yudi Kolko is still employed by Lipa Margulies and the Establishment is singing z'miros. Since I have now secured the attention of the media, I will conduct my own Jewish global warming experiments, and will keep turning up the heat until the "climate is right" to fix the ills that are destroying us. There will be another informative article in the secular media on Monday.

Wake up from your slumber dear Yiden; I am pleading with you!

Why have we not learned yet that there are people who really care about Yiddishkeit, and genuinely love klal Yisroel even when there's no "profit" to be made?

I'm here to stay! If you don't like it, add another hechsher (third) to Empire chicken!

Will the real "scandal" please stand up!

 

The Ferd Hypocrites at Agudah:

Purim Teireh from the Moetzes

By Tropper is Troubled (again)

Oh so true: Will the real "scandal" please stand up!

True up-to-date scenario: There has been a great scandal brewing for the last two years at least! A very suspicious Orthodox rabbi has been up to no good. Agudath Israel of America have been very wary of him, not quite sure how to deal with his charisma, independence, popularity and influence. He is changing the rules of the game in Orthodox Judaism by creating new standards. He heads a controversial yeshiva in the New York area. He is helping favored and favorite women by manipulating Halacha to meet his ends and needs. He was warned many times in the past to stop his suspicious activities but he has big financial backing and lots of chutzpa, so he just carried on as he saw fit. He was finally outed and revealed in public to help a woman in his congregation gain a milestone in her life by going against the norms of Orthodox Judaism. He granted her favors and gave her a job. She obliged by doing his bidding. She thinks he is a great rabbi and he thinks she can service his most important needs.

Who is this man? Hey, that’s easy, it’s Leib Tropper right? Nope! You mean it’s not that Tropper guy loved to bits by rabbis and women alike who wanted to create new vistas in Orthodox Judaism and then got caught literally with his pants down when he was recorded on audio and video having explicit hot ‘n heavy phone and hotel sex with a woman that worked for him in exchange for helping her get a coveted Orthodox conversion to join the Jewish people, it was him, right? Nope! Hey wait, isn’t it Tropper that the Agudath Israel of America rabbis is finally condemning as an outcast and danger to Orthodoxy, right? Nope! They’re finally seeing the red light of this Tropper red district rabbi who was condemned by half the world’s Orthodox rabbis already, was booted off his multi-million religious organizations and out of his communty, and we’re just waiting for the Agudath Israel of America rabbis to think deeper and come out with a unanimous public condemnation of the lowlife? Nope! So it has to be Leib Tropper that they are condemning because he’s brought only shame and disgrace and a vile global media watched chillul Hashem scandal upon the Orthodox world that has rocked the foundations of Orthodox conversions all over the world and faith in the wisdom of all the rabbis who supported him, and now, finally, the Agudath Israel of America are vomiting out and purging the sickening Tropper drek in their bowels to cleanse themselves and prove that they were men of justice, vision, morality and upholders of Torah values, right? Nope! Hey, so what’s going on???

Dream on silly!!!

Last week Agudath Israel of America released a statement from its vaunted “Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah” condemning, no not Tropper the menuval shebemenuvalim -- the vilest of the vile, but look at this, they’re attacking Modern Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale because he had the audacity to “ordain” a woman in his congregation raising her from the self-designated neologisms of “Maharat” to “Rabbah” none of which is at all clear. Now Avi Weiss, together with his Modern Orthodox Young Turks colleagues Saul Berman (he’s been teaching women Talmud his entire life), Shlomo Riskin (who educates female “Toanot” in Israel) and Ephraim Buchwald (who cavorts with hundreds Reform and Conservative female rabbis and temples day in and day out as they co-sponsor his NJOP programs) who in various ways have launched a variety of plans to “save the Jews” from assimilation and oblivion by seeking out and implementing “equality” and “egalitarianism” of all sorts yet still sticking within Modern Orthodoxy wherever they can find it. No one says that these guys are tzadikim necessarily or that they represent the role models that Charedim in the Yeshivishe or Chasidisha world should follow.

Avi Weiss does his own thing at his Yeshiva Chovevei Torah (YCT) and God bless him, he is a fine man trying to cope with some of the most serious challenges of modernity and the struggles that the Modern Orthodox face in THEIR world, of having to cope with life among Reform and Conservative Jews and that kind of competing left-wing religious ideology. Avi Weiss is competing not with the right wing Charedim but with left wingers to the left of him and he pushes the notion that women should be recognized as “leaders” in Modern Orthodox communities. Don’t go to a Modern Orthodox synagogue if you don’t agree with or like this. Just like you should not go to a Chabad shull if you feel that they are pushing “the Rebbe is Moshiach” line too much! Etc. To each his/her own. In America there is freedom of religion, so far!

After all, Stern College and all Modern Orthodox day schools teach Talmud, Meforshim, Halacha in depth to females. Rav J.B. Soloveitchik ZT”L endorsed this when he gave one of the first Talmud classes to girls at Stern College . He and his wife guided the flagship Maimonides Day School in Boston based on such Modern Orthodox enlightened educational notions and policies for girls as well. If you’re Satmar or from Lakewood , don’t apply. In case you didn’t know, the Modern Orthodox in America also have mixed dancing at their social events, they have low mechitzas, they don’t drink chalav yisrael only and are not makpid on yoshen, they have co-ed Jewish day schools all the way through high school, they all attend colleges when they graduate they become professionals like doctors, accountants, lawyers, IT professionals, investment bankers, etc, and most are Religious Zionists and if not they are very pro-Israel. They dress very modern, go to the movies, have TVs, computers, Internet and the whole nine yards of technology in their homes, most of the married women don’t cover their hair, girls wear pants, boys have longish hair, they wear knitted kippot, and they support both liberalism and Liberalism. What makes them Orthodox is that they keep Shabbat and Chagim including Yom Ha’atzmaut, kashrut, all the mitzvot as their rabbis teach it and study the Torah, Talmud and Shulchan Aruch etc. They have an ideology they call “Torah Umada” that is their cup of tea. They have their institutions like YU, YCT, in America Har Etzion, Kerem BeYavne, and Bar Ilan in Israel and many others. They ordain their own rabbis and have a vast communal and social network that does not need or rely on its Charedi counterparts for anything.

So why would ANY Agudah rabbi DREAM that ANYTHING he would say, even if he broadcast it on national radio 24/7 would make ANY difference to the world of Modern Orthodoxy of which Avi Weiss is a leading light at this time?

And even let’s assume that from the Agudah’s point of view that Avi Weiss is 101% wrong in deluding himself that he can “ordain” women to be called anything he will make up, but what CREDIBILITY do any Agudath Israel of America rabbis have when they have utterly and totally failed to put THEIR OWN HOUSE in order first and take care of their own internal problems and rot, starting with the most recent catastrophe in their midst the appalling Leib Tropper sex scandal that they have chosen to IGNORE in the good ol’ “tradition” of the proverbial ostrich head in the sand “sha shveig” – “see no evil, talk no evil, hear no evil” – even when that evil is eating up all their credibility capital and causing the plague of crap to fall all over their house of ill repute from the horrendous sex scandals released by the Tropper chillul Hashem radiation bomb!

Here is the full text of Agudah’s “condemnation” of, no NOT Tropper, but of Avi Weiss, by its full ruling council. Printed once in the HAMODIA (Community. Pg. C8 March 3, 2010) and YATED NE’EMAN (March 5, 2010. Pgs. 53, 58). Judge for yourself the absurdity of what’s going on and how it’s so easy for them to attack Avi Weiss and not utter a squeak to condemn Tropper the menuval shebemenuvalim:

“Statement of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America / Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah Rules on Rabbi Avi Weiss

The following statement was released this past week by the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisroel of America :

10 Adar 5770

Rabbi Avi Weiss has conferred “semikha” upon a woman, has made her an Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale where she carries out certain traditional rabbinical functions, and has now given her the title of “Rabbah” (formerly “Maharat”). He has stated that the change in title is designed to “make it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice.” These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and mesoras Hatorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox.

[Signed:] Rabbis Ehrenfeld (chasidishe wimp, window dressing on this Judenrat), Feigelstock (stroke disabled, hence Schechter’s favorite), D. Feinstein (covers from bro Reuv), Feldman (Shechter’s lackey), Raful (Schechter’s puppet), Kamenetsky (currently broke), Kotler (bigamist; 1st wife won’t let him go, so he weds a 2nd one, with Schechter’s help), Levin (is this the best the Mid-West can do?), Perlow (Shechter’s shadow and yes man) (and last but not least) Aaron Schechter (chief orchestrator and manipulator of this massive distraction and many others like it to cover for his own and Tropper’s rotten tuches! Phe!)

So this is the biggest scandal of them all:

What a hypocritical and stupid bunch of pusillanimous so-called “leaders” the so-called "Agudists" are (they only bring shame upon the name of their illustrious forbearers) who don’t have the simple guts to deal with the rotten Tropper monster under their noses that they DO have control over and condemn and cast him out like the piece of hellish drek that he is, and instead they (meaning the sly foxy Schechter, distracting everyone from the real Tropper rot) pick on a distant target way off in the Modern Orthodox world that neither cares nor does what the phonies baloney big mouths at Agudah spout as hot air and blowing into the wind.

Shame on you Agudath Israel of America for being such public hypocrites. You do not deserve to be the “leaders” of Klal Yisroel! Resign! Let us hope and pray that Moshiach comes soon and dumps all of you into the garbage cans of history, the sooner the better!

UOJ IS THE ROTO ROOTER GUY!

The Post That Captured The Blogosphere! The UOJ Archives August 18, 2006

You buy a house in a good neighborhood and your toilet keeps backing up. Not every day, but just enough for you to realize that your sewer system is a problem. But you're busy, raising a family, making a parnassah, and all the other activities that occupy your time 110%.

So your sewer problem is there, any fool would realize that if your toilet keeps dumping zevel in your living room every few months, you have a sewer problem. In order for you to deal with the problem you must take a real hard look at the root cause of the damaged system. Then you come to realize that the whole neighborhood has shit backing up into their bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms as well.

You call a meeting with your neighbors and decide to buy thicker carpets and have the zevel piped in under the carpet so you don't have to have the crap hit you in the face. You make many melave malkes, conventions and dinners and take the stench with you...because ultimately the stench is you! But now you're in a room where every one smells like shit and you think it's perfume or so they tell you. You now go out and buy knee boots...hoping the charra will not dirty your suit or legs. At the dais of these dinners, you begin to believe that they caused the stench by stuffing your sewers with their bull"shit", so if you called a plumber, they will profit from your sewer problem, because they own the plumbing company.

They continue to stuff up your sewer system with newsletters and proclamations, and their propaganda slowly convinces you that really you don't have a sewer problem at all. It's imagined.....and let's blame the sewer company for selling you inferior pipes.

"It's the Goyim stupid"......or people that act like Goyim. And you know what? The plumbers that brought you the news that you have a problem at all, are shgatzim. They use nivel peh, are m'challel Shabbos, they fix sewers on Shabbos...what qualifies them to tell you that your sewer is broken?

Never listen to a plumber who uses nivel peh; call your posek, he'll tell you what looks like shit, smells like shit, and has destroyed your lives with these toxic fumes that have penetrated your being, is really nothing more than a tradition that all of us inherited from our ancestors.

What to do? All your life you are living in this community, but now this big bad plumber has uncovered for all the world to see, that there really is a huge sewer problem.

SHIT EVERYWHERE!

The Roto Rooter guy insists that the sewer is irreparable; only a total removal of the sewer "system" will remove the problem that has destroyed your home.

It must be replaced with brand new pipes and must be installed by reputable plumbers. He apologizes for his frustration and his use of "over the top" language, but has learned from experience that good people don't pay much attention to soft-spoken plumbers."

"Imagine" he says, " If I came to your home in a suit and tie, and spoke the King's English, would you really believe that I'm a plumber?" "Would you really believe that its me, and me alone, that can tear out your broken sewer and replace it with a brand new working system that is able to flush out the drek before it becomes a problem? I will install a warning system...we'll call it a black hat alert, the shit detector will sound a siren way in advance, way before your sewer begins to crumble."

"And you know what? It's FREE! I'll do it at no charge. You see I love the people that live in this neighborhood, I JUST HATE THE SMELL! This used to be a beautiful neighborhood, until the drek peddlers moved in.

Your choice my friends, go Roto Rooter, or suffer with the farshtoonkena drek that represents the toxic smell that is destroying your neighborhood.

Go Roto Rooter at no charge, or choose the likes of the mushchasim that are called Fraud Yisroel Belsky, Lipa Margulies, Pinchos Scheinberg, Simcha Kaufman and last but certainly not least, Yudi Kolko....

A Reader Writes.....

Dear UOJ:

Hi. I'd like to thank you for creating this most important and essential blog.

I read in an earlier blog about Shimon Grama being an accused child molester, but I haven't seen him mentioned since. I have been directly effected by him as, I imagine, many, many other children have. Is there some way to post something on your blog about him and perhaps call out to others who have suffered abuse from this horrible man?

Here is the blog post I am referring to and the link to the particular blog:

Agudah watcher said...

Chaim Dovid Zweibel reads UOJ before he washes nagle vasser. He understands the power of this one family and the fear that a lawsuit is coming with Mr. Pasik or without. The head of the Pirchei, Shimon Grama, is an accused child molester, was kicked out of yeshivas and summer camps and interfaces daily with hundreds of teens. Go figure. Is there an honest man in any frum organization?

This is the link:

http://unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-address-unorthodoxjewsblogspotcom_04.html

I thank you for any help you can provide.

A HISTORIC DECLARATION!

Reuvein Feinstein - a man is what he does and who he allies himself with; therefore you are a menuvel b'rishus ha'Torah for your affiliation with Leib Tropper and EJF!

When Jewish historians will tell the sordid tale of EJF, it will be the story of Reuvein Feinstein and the myriad of ignorant, peasant rabbis that bought into this scam; they will be the real villains, more than the low-life Leib Tropper. Tropper will be a footnote, as Avi Shafran will be for his purveying of lies and deceit, when the real story of the Agudath Israel rabbis will be told.

But if not for Feinstein trading on the good name of his father, Rav Moshe z"tl; Reuvein Feinstein would be shoveling shit from the Staten Island Ferry to the shores of Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

He has said nothing of significance that will survive his death, he has written nothing that will be remembered for its wisdom -- he will be remembered for his attempt to destroy the very foundation of "Who Is A Jew" -- by accepting a $3 million dollar payoff to "sanctify proselytizing gentiles", no different than Rabbi Alexander Schindler of the Reform movement.

Alexander Schindler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Alexander Schindler (1925-2000) was a rabbi and the leading figure of American Reform Judaism during the 1970s and 1980s.

Born in Germany, he came to America with his family at age 12. He was one of the last European-born leaders of American Reform Jewry.

He served as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (since renamed the Union for Reform Judaism) from 1973 to 1996.

His best-known, and most-controversial, pronouncements were his call for Jews to accept Patrilineal Descent (recognizing as Jewish children of Jewish fathers) and "outreach" to non-Jews. He intended this to include general proselytizing to non-Jews, but in practice this applied to non-Jews married to Jews.

He served as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations".

RABBI ALEXANDER SCHINDLER DEAD
By CHARLES W. BELL - DAILY NEWS - RELIGION EDITOR

Thursday, November 16th 2000, 2:15AM

Rabbi Alexander Schindler, a longtime Reform leader who encouraged women to become rabbis and non-Jews to convert, died yesterday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 75.

The cause of death was listed as heart failure.

He retired four years ago as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which represents about 850 Reform synagogues in North America, after 23 sometimes tumultuous years.

Schindler was a major figure in late 20th century Judaism, and a bold one - he once suggested, "only half in jest," moving the Jewish Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

He broke with centuries-old tradition in the late 1970s, when he developed an outreach program to woo nonobservant Jews and non-Jews seeking a religious identity.

Schindler argued that instead of excluding Jews who had married outside the faith, synagogues should welcome their non-Jewish spouses. This, he said, would preserve Jewish traditions and rites that otherwise might become lost to assimilation.

He also broke with an ages-old tradition of defining Jews only as children of Jewish mothers. Schindler successfully campaigned to include Jewish fathers. This since has become the standard for many American Jews.

He once distributed tens of thousands of special cards to students and others, giving them free membership in synagogues and even Sabbath meals with Jewish families.

Born in Munich, Schindler fled with his family in the early 1930s. He became a U.S. citizen in 1943, and the next year joined the U.S. Army as a ski trooper. He took part in three European campaigns and was wounded in action.

When he returned home, he decided to become a rabbi. He was ordained in 1953 and quickly moved up the ranks of the Reform movement hierarchy.

At the time of his death, Schindler was president of the international Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and a vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

An Israeli forest of 500,000 trees is named for him.

He is survived by Rhea Schindler, his wife of 44 years, five children - one daughter, Judith, is a rabbi - and nine grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Temple Israel in Westport.*

Charedi/Ultra-Orthodox Judaism frowned on the BT/Baal Teshuva movement until sometime in the late 1980's - when they saw Noach Weinberg cashing in on his ATM machine with no limits -- They frowned on the Russian Jews until Rabbi Meir Kahane made it fashionable -- and the US government contributed millions of dollars to emancipate as many people as possible from behind the Iron Curtain. And now these ignorant peasant thieves jumped on the Giyur/Conversion bandwagon when Tropper pick pocketed Tom Kaplan for millions of dollars and passed out that money freely to any rabbi with a black hat or a turban that showers once a week whether they need to or not.

Feinstein was the knowing facilitator of this scam, he knew too well that his father's family name name on this document would make it easy for Tropper to do the legwork and bring others on board without even questioning the motives for holding intermarriage weekends. Worse, once someone attended a free weekend, they easily were able to get their children into a Chabad school - with full Jew status - conversion and circumcision or hatafat dam brit down the road, maybe! And what person with a drop of Jewish blood (all descendants of Avraham Avinu) would turn down a free weekend at a luxury hotel?

Rabbi Elyashiv and all the other Alzheimer senior rabbis from Israel were fed the scam via their feeding tube, through the ilk of Nochum Eisenstein and other like parasites - in most cases these rabbis have a difficult time even imagining that they are still alive, never mind that a fraud of this magnitude could even be dreamt up; yeah, intermarriage is a very bad thing, good idea Tropper/Feinstein, let's save the Jews from this plague.

But nobody asked guys like me; we knew Tropper, he's been banging any naive BT or other unsuspecting vulnerable women for years now; the Tendlers did it for free, Tropper collected a fee.

And let me not forget the other smiling Agudath Israel rabbi; the guy up to his eyeballs with Solomon Dwek; the IRS had a caravan of FBI agents pull up to the Philadelphia Yeshiva last August, hauling off truckloads of records. How much was Shmuel Kaminetzky paid to "lecture" at the EJF conferences? None of Tom Kaplan's tax returns reflect a payment to Kaminetzky or the Philadelphia Yeshiva as did the $3 million dollars to Feinstein's Staten Island swamp. We know that Tropper's Horizons/Kol Yaakov returns reflect a $3 million dollar slush fund; did Kaminetzky lecture for free?

EVERY RABBI LISTED BELOW IS FOREVER PART OF THIS SCAM - IGNORANCE IS NEVER AN EXCUSE - THEY CAN NEVER BE TRUSTED FOR ANYTHING - EVER!

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