“Because you’re our daughter and that comes first.”

Daughter, lost and found

 

We could see our Bais Yaakov educated teenage daughter slipping away from Orthodox Judaism. It was more like watching a freight train lumber along than a high-speed rail. It pained us and tore the family fabric. We yelled, we talked, we pleaded, we changed her school, but we were losing her. On the Passover eve, the fight was so intense I lost control and she threw chometz potato chips around. That was the crescendo.

Our family morphed from Modern Orthodox to Haredi-light. We kept the television, but sent the children to “black” yeshivas and girls’ schools. As adults, they now tell us they chafed at school rules and regulations, imposed to cloister them (and protect them) from the poisonous secular world. 

By mid-teens, our daughter “went out” Friday nights. She made new friends, alienated from their families. 

We needed therapy. My wife and I went, while our daughter clammed up, seething with resentment.

The therapist made it clear. We stood to lose her completely or we accept her lifestyle as it is. Maybe one day she will come back, so keep communicating. God knows we tried. We laid in wait one night, and when she crept into the house in the wee hours, we squirted her with water guns. The three of us roared with laughter. Eventually she moved out, supporting herself with two daytime waitressing jobs and later as a bartender.

There is an oeuvre of books, articles, interviews, Facebook rants, and documentaries detailing a genre of religious rebellion, ugsome personal attacks, excommunication and rejection. Even the minister’s daughter of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church recently left her cloistered community and is exposing its family secrets in the media.

Ex-pats from Hasidism and Orthodox Judaism recount their alienation from family, friends, and community. They are alone in a new world. They have few survival skills, because they got little secular education, no job training, and no one to moor them. The new world is frightening and lonely place. Some turn to drugs or commit suicide. Others have a mission to expose, retaliate, and condemn their rabbis, families and communities in the most dark and vile expressions.

A wistfully written new book by Chaya Deitsch, HERE AND THERE: LEAVING HASIDISM, KEEPING MY FAMILY (New York: Schocken Books 2015) is a refreshing change on the same theme, one to which we can relate. Hers was a Lubavitch family totally immersed in Jewish Law and commitment to the Rebbe. 

Chaya’s story gives insight into the emotional stress our daughter must have experienced, yearning for what the larger world has to offer while holding on for dear life to her parents, siblings, and friends still living in the old world. We made the choice, like Deitsch’s parents, to keep the front door open, and eventually we learn to accept what we cannot control.

Deitsch musters the courage, at the urging of her publisher, to tell her parents about her “ease in crossing over into sin” before her memoir is published. She sits with her parents back home again. You feel the nervous tension. Deitsch proclaims, “I’m no longer frum.” Momma says, “You think we didn’t know? That’s why I don’t call you at home on Friday before Shabbos. I don’t want to make you lie to me.” And from her father, “You chose a different life. Of course we knew about it.” Even I breathed a sigh of relief, with tears welling, having been there myself.

A Hasidic Rebbe once confided to my wife and me, when we sought solace and a blessing, with a deep sigh, he has a brother off the derech (the path of strict religious practices). The brother became Modern Orthodox. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing.

Chaya recounts the small awakenings, like how impressed as a youngster she was with her Modern Orthodox relatives seemingly so comfortable in their religious skins. Each transgression takes her deeper into the secular world: wearing pants (a very cute story about fit and style), having coffee in a non-kosher shop, forsaking the kosher cafeteria in college, first for breakfast and then for other meals.

Deitsch grew up a voracious reader and keen observer of the world outside her bubble. Her parents worked with her recognizing early that Chaya was different. They did not go nuts when she wanted to apply for college, but negotiated with her. I think it is why she is healthy, a survivor, and productive citizen. She loves her Manhattan life and visiting her family in the old neighborhood.

And so is our daughter. She has a successful career and wonderful friends living in a tony urban community. She began phoning us, coming for Friday night dinners, wedging her way back into trembling arms. In our house, she was respectful of our religious practices. Outside was her world. My pet-fearful wife agreed to watch the dog when our daughter worked. That way, our daughter had to stop by twice a day.

She once asked me why we let her back home when the parents of her friends tell them not to come around (they will negatively influence the other children and hurt marriage prospects)? I shuddered, but without hesitation said, “Because you’re our daughter and that comes first.”

Chaya is “one of a smother of aunts, with nieces and nephews to indulge.” She loves her brothers and sisters and they her. Our daughter too is close with her siblings, some Orthodox and others not at all, and they did as much to help her grow as her parents contributed.

This is a story about people trying to reconcile spiritual absoluteness with mundane daily life. I ran into her one day at the gym. She pulled me over introducing me to a woman working out on the treadmill in skimpy workout wear. My daughter said, “Dad, she was a Bais Yaakov girl too,” and they both laughed.

Dr. Harold Goldmeier
January 2016
harold.goldmeier@gmail.com

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/daughter-lost-and-found/

THE UOJ ANNUAL STATE OF THE JEWISH UNION ADDRESS!

THE UOJ CLASSICS - FIRST POSTED JANUARY 2007

Do any of you really stop and think what this gedolim thing is all about? Does anybody ever stop and think; when did our Mesorah stop? Are the proclamations now rendered by the group of stand-up comics known as the Moetzes Gedolei Torah (they all agree that they are gedolim), part of our Mesorah? Will our great grandchildren consider Pinchos Scheinberg's penetrating psak, Mesorah? Is it part of our Mesorah for hassidic rebbes to permit their followers, nay, encourage and urge their followers to destroy each other in the name of who is the rightful heir to the dynasty, actually a milchemet mitzvah or holy war? Can any human fathom the sanctioned destruction of their souls in the name of Judaism?

Can you believe that THOUSANDS of people are actually waiting for the Lubavitcher Rebbe to dust himself off and get on a white donkey for his announcement that he's Moshiach? Thousands of faxes to his tomb weekly are believed to be read and answered by him? ARE YOU NUTS?

There are NO gedolim, only people. Some people are very wise, some are not so wise, and some are downright evil and ignorant.

Somebody dies and a son takes over the family business, have we hatched a gadol?

Somebody else is a charismatic speaker with some Torah knowledge, have we a gadol?

Is not a gadol suppose to be a giant, a legend, a titan, an icon, a tzaddik, an extremely wise man, a baal machshava, so embedded with truth and Torah, that it becomes inseparable from their being? Torah and truth must be intertwined, inseparable, or there is no Torah! The Torah is truth; if it becomes distorted it is not Torah! These imposters that we have today are just that, phony fraudulent imposters and rabbi-impersonators. Gedolim? How many of you saw a real live gadol? Spent time with a gadol? Learned at the feet of a gadol? How many of you ever saw a human being so developed with their tziddkus that they would rather die than utter a sheker or intentionally hurt another human in any manner, by action or inaction?

How many of you ever saw a human that would actually bawl after hearing the pain of a fellow Jew that was a complete stranger to them? How many? Who among you can actually, really feel pain, unable to eat, lose weight, cry, when you find out another Jewish child was molested by a rebbe who was suppose to teach him Torah? How many? Look at yourselves! You go around with your daily business just wondering where you're going for Pesach and if the tea room will be open 24 hours!

Do you care? DO YOU CARE? Does anyone care?

I have met, learned by, spent considerable time with, and spoken to different generations of giants, I know what a gadol is; there are no more gedolim. What we have today are a pathetic group of ignorant, uneducated, unsophisticated, boorish, selfish, money driven, losers! From the U.S.A. to the "Holy Land" each person that is considered a gadol by the masses, falls into one of these categories, some fall into every category. I despise them; every single one of them for destroying "emunas chachomim", a little bit at a time. When you know the real thing, how can you live with these pitiful morons? When you experienced the awe of great Jews, when you are blessed with the ability to comprehend greatness, you can't accept in any way, what are posing today as rabbis. These people are giants/gedolim of utter destruction!

I am amused with the example that the Agudah sets as "achakolo b'chol yom sheyavo", "we await daily the arrival of Moshiach", while they book Madison Square Garden seven and one half years in advance for their version of "American Idol", called siyum hashas. Some emunah! Of course, they will tell you, that's in the event He does not come. I say BULL-CHOLENT! They have an agenda that does not include your welfare. Remember, Lipa Margulies led the gathering in saying tehillim, can you imagine that? Frankly, I would have rather have had Jimmy Carter lead the crowd with tehillim and the reading of his Jew-hate-filled book. With Carter, at least, there's no ambiguity as to who the enemy is.

Rabosai; we are in a generational war. We will win, no doubt. But it will take energy, participation, and fortitude. The Taliban-like rabbis and their supporters must be defeated. There is no room in our civilized society for "halacha" sanctioned evil. The Internet is as evil as a gun. You can use the Internet to protect yourself and your family with it, by learning, studying, researching, increasing your income, providing parnassah, and you can kill yourself with it, spiritually. Did you ever see a gun on trial? There is a person behind the gun/computer that must be educated and taught responsibile behavior with this great "weapon". You can fend off robbers in the middle of the night with a gun, or you can kill family members, Rachmana l'tzlan. Money can be used for good and evil, do you think these cavemen would consider meeting over a fire on the issue of banning money? Let's ban women while we're banning, women have caused men so much grief, pain, suffering and sin since Adam lost his tail bone:-). Especially now, they're wearing denim, now is the time!

THEY want to make these decisions for you, HA! They're in the Stone-Age. Who are they, the Nickelsburger Rebbe, the Dollarsburger Rebbe, the Drekburger Rebbe,the Carlos-bomber Rebbe, and the gang of terrorists that met on asareh b'Teves? What are their qualifications that they have rights to issue you 60 pages of fatwa manifesto directives on banning the use of the Internet? How do they earn a living? Off public assistance, that's how. This Internet issue is merely symbolic of the fear that they have. Too much information will ruin their business. Their ignorance and their inability to reconcile Torah and science makes them scared silly. You have the ability to access information that frightens them; they DO NOT want you to know anything other than what they tell you. This is not about porn sites, this is about their inability to control your thought process. Their death knell!

If you are convinced that rabbis and rebbes are no more closer to God than you are, they're out of business. If their brachas are worthless, why stand in line until the wee hours of the morning begging them to take your money? The more they take, the better they make you feel. JUST LIKE DRUGS! Do they care about you? Or are you only as good as your last check, or cash under the table to the gabbai-doorkeeper-zookeeper? What a freak show! What circus did they perform at before moving to Boro Park?

To paraphrase the verbiage of the great thinker, scientist/philosopher Carl Sagan; "their posturing, their imagined self-importance, their belief that they are somehow in a position of privilege in the universe, is unfathomable."

And these eternal words of wisdom of Sagan on the psychology of humans;(paraphrase) " the thought that you may have dedicated your life to a lie, that you may have accepted a conventional wisdom that no longer, if ever, corresponds to an external reality, is a very painful realization. A person will go to any lengths to prevent themselves from seeing that inadequate worldview that they dedicated their lives to."

My views and opinions may be the minority view for now in Orthodox Judaism, but since when does the majority view make it the correct view? Did not the majority of Jews in the time of Rabbi Akiva accept Bar-Kochba as the Messiah? Did not the vast majority of Jews in the time of Shabbtai Tzvi accept him as the Saviour of the Jews? Are not the followers of Jesus and Mohammed the majority religions of the world?

Very recently there was a psak from a world renown posek that would have adversely affected all commerce of Orthodox Jews. If not for one concerned Jew, the entire Orthodox world risked losing revenues perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars, because of the reckless conduct of this known posek.

Did Moshe Heinemann from Baltimore take the time and effort required to render a psak of this magnitude, that would have shut down all e-commerce sites of Orthodox Jews on Shabbos? Did he do the required verification by industry experts exactly how "virtual" transactions are transacted on weekends? Or did Moshe Heinemann stop off at his local bank and ask the bank teller about Saturday transactions, on his way to China to sign up a toy manufacturer with the Star K, in case an Orthodox child licked a Chinese produced toy? And when he did find out that he was dead wrong, how long did it take him to retract that idiot psak, as Yiddishe gelt was torched on fire?

It took him six very long months; he had to figure out how he was going to look politically and to ascertain that his business does not go up in smoke.

Did he care about your welfare?

Rabosai, have faith in yourselves. Grab yourself by the collar, pull yourself out of the doldrums you find yourself in. You've been duped, but it's not too late. Trust yourself to make appropriate decisions for yourself and your family, the Hats can not, will not, care not, and most certainly, should not!

Did one word of that 60 page fatwa include what to do with sexual predators posing as rebbes in our yeshivas? Is there one word about what to do with guys like Margulies, Belsky, Perlow, Fishman and the rest of these molester-enablers?

The state of our union is better than it was one year ago. We now know what all of these guys are about. Knowledge is extremely important and is power. We don't have the lame excuse anymore that we didn't know. We now know definitely that these are criminals in bed with each other. Are they going to make decisions for our welfare, or theirs?

The state of our union is now up to each and every individual that considers themselves a member of klal Yisroel. There's a huge hole in our "boat", if you don't fix it quickly, you and your children will drown. Fix the hole, or replace the boat for Heaven's sake, or perish!!

Let’s drop these artificial legal technicalities for sex assault, regardless of the age of the victim. Where there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecutors will be able to do their jobs and stop these perpetrators in their tracks....

Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations Reform 2015 Year in Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 

The movement to eliminate and revive expired statutes of limitations (SOLs) for child sex abuse made significant progress in 2015. It also inspired a new and related SOL reform movement for all rape victims, young and old, as the SOLs became a major factor in the dozens of out-of-statute allegations against Bill Cosby, as I discuss here. Finally, there is a decided trend in SOL reform that needs to be stemmed and reversed before our children will be safe: legislators’ willingness to let institutions off the hook.

The SOL reform movement is also increasingly global. There is a growing global movement to extend or eliminate the SOLs in many countries, and particularly in Australia, where the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has conducted searching inquiries into many arenas of abuse, from churches to schools to sports.

The movement also hit the big screen with the release of the award-winning motion picture, Spotlight, which chronicles the Boston Globe journalists’ path to breaking the story of the Catholic hierarchy covering up priest abuse and illustrates how the SOLs blocked justice. It also educates the public on the dynamic of sex abuse cover up—it takes a connected set of adults to ignore the serial victimization of children while powerful men protect their positions of power. Like the Cosby revelations, Spotlight educates the public about the costs of abuse and the perils of blocking justice for the deserving.

The Good: Steps Forward in SOL Reform for Child Sex Abuse Victims

Following the trends of recent years, over a dozen states considered serious SOL reform in 2015, and a number of them made significant progress. As I discussed in my half-year review, here, Georgia took the most remarkable leap forward, while Pennsylvania and New York continue to be controlled by the viselike grip of the Catholic bishops, or, in other words, stalled. For a snapshot of all of the states in 2015, look here.

Other states continued to make incremental improvements as Florida eliminated its criminal SOL for 16- to 18-year-olds; Indiana extended its criminal SOL to age 31; and Utah eliminated the civil SOL against the perpetrator. While each of these reforms left much to do in each state, they were good developments for child protection and will identify hidden predators in the future.

In addition, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Utah) introduced a federal bill, S. 2397, to incentivize the states to eliminate their child sex abuse SOLs. It operates by increasing funding under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act if a state extends or eliminates unexpired civil or criminal SOLs. For the vast majority of victims in the worst states—Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, and New York—it is weak tea, as it leaves locked out millions of victims whose claims expired long before they could get to court, but it is still a good idea.

This is also a first step toward creating some consistency across the United States. Right now, whether a victim has a shot at justice depends on the law of the state in which the abuse occurred. Again, the victim is at a serious disadvantage due to factors beyond her or his control.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court released a landmark opinion upholding the constitutionality of reviving expired civil child sex abuse SOLs. The Connecticut Supreme Court had issued a similarly strong opinion upholding the retroactive SOL earlier in 2015. There is little question that this is the legal trend, and that the arguments against constitutionality simply don’t hold water, as I explained in an amicus brief on behalf of children’s groups in the Massachusetts case.

Minnesota worked through its second year under its three-year window, which will close on May 25, 2016. And Hawaii’s survivors had another year under the 2 + 2-year window, which opened in 2012 and expires in April 2016.

In both states, my concern continues to be that Catholic victims seem to have gotten the message that they need to step forward before they are shut out again, but many other victims from other arenas remain silent. That is especially true of female victims.

It is actually ironic that so many of the cases revealed by revival, or retroactive, civil SOLs have centered on male victims. Yet, girls are at greater risk of being abused, and there are decidedly more female victims. These are just facts. This means that we need better education and support for female child sex abuse victims at the time that SOLs are revived or eliminated. It is my view that we have heard from only the tip of the iceberg of claims by girls who were abused by coaches, teachers, family, and others.

A significant number of states currently have opportunities for justice for victims whose civil SOL expired, including Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. These states are doing the most to defrost the iceberg of information on hidden child predators. They are also proving that reviving expired SOLs for child sex abuse does not result in an avalanche of cases clogging the courts. Far from it. At the same time, hidden predators are being revealed to the benefit of parents and communities. The University of Georgia has taken justice one step further, as it has started the first child sex abuse clinic, which will assist survivors who might otherwise not be able to sue and publicly identify their perpetrator, because they don’t have significant damages or only seek injunctive relief.

The Bad and the Ugly: The Trend That Must Stop for Children to Be Safe and Hidden Predators to Be Identified: Protecting Institutions that Shield Pedophiles

There is a fact at the core of this movement: sex assault survivors are disabled from coming from forward by the power and threats of their perpetrators, wrapped up in humiliation and shame. That means they need time, and short SOLs benefit the defendants. There are frequently two types of defendants: individual perpetrators and the institutions whose failed or nonexistent policies aid and abet them. As the logic of SOL reform ineluctably has spread, it has become increasingly easier to make the case for revived or no SOLs against the perpetrators. Pedophiles do not have their own lobbies. That has opened the door to legislators’ willingness to eliminate and revive the SOLs against the individual perpetrator.

This development should not be underestimated, because even ten years ago many Americans believed that there are few perpetrators and that children frequently make up stories about abuse, and, therefore, the SOLs need to be short to protect adults. Both of these assumptions are false. There are many perpetrators, many victims, and children rarely concoct sex abuse stories and, therefore, eliminating and reviving SOLs against the perpetrator is a necessary step to real justice and child protection.

In contrast to the individual pedophiles, the institutions—who routinely put image and finances ahead of child safety—do have powerful lobbyists, and they deploy them to keep victims out of court. Child protection will not be achieved until all institutions are incentivized to protect children first and their reputations and finances second. That only happens one way in the United States: the legal system. If they are liable, they straighten up and fly right. If they are immune, they continue to muddle around with “winning” the public relations campaign at the expense of the child sex abuse victims they created and children in the future.

Insurance lobbyists often form legislative bonds with these child-endangering institutions because they like paying on the premiums they collect about as much as a newt needs kneecaps.

 Therefore, these powerful institutions, from the state Conferences of Catholic Bishops, to Agudath Israel, to the Chambers of Commerce (yes) to the teachers’ unions and the insurance lobbies in each state will cut a deal: revive expired SOLs against the perpetrators but not against us. 

That is why in Massachusetts, the state revived the civil SOL against perpetrators until the victim is age 53 but enacted a more crabbed revival against institutions (discovery plus seven years, which not accidentally protected the Catholic bishops in most cases) and in Georgia, the two-year window is open against the perpetrators and individual aiders and abettors but the “extension” against institutions was a measly new rule: discovery plus two years. In Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints managed to avoid all liability by only “permitting” the SOL to be reformed against the individual perpetrators.

The result in Georgia, where the SOL until 2015 was a pathetic 23 years of age, has been that institutions have been largely clueless about child protection.

Right now, a victim abused at any time can sue a perpetrator and those who aided and abetted the abuse, but cannot sue the institution responsible unless the abuse happened on or after July 1, 2015. When a church was named in a Georgia lawsuit this year the response read like a script written by the Catholic bishops from ten years ago. They have yet to figure out that victim-blaming and doubting undermines their credibility. Georgia legislators need to revisit the issue, because the institutions obviously have not been held to account and are demonstrating the need to make them accountable.

The culture of abuse in Georgia is ingrained after decades of ridiculously short SOLs, and only the courts can clear the way for the institutional reforms needed to make children safe. As of July 2017, the state returns to age 23 in all cases, and the doors of silence will slam once again on the victims unless state legislators return to the issue.

It’s really simple: child safety depends on legislators holding institutions—not just individual perpetrators—to account for child safety. As long as these institutions can keep their secrets, they will protect active pedophiles and demonize victims to protect their interests. The institutional lobbyists against SOL reform are the hidden predators’ best friend.

The Charges Against Bill Cosby Make the Case for SOL Reform Regardless of Age

The recent criminal charges against Bill Cosby have revived the national discussion about statutes of limitations in sex assault cases. He had slipped past over 50 women’s allegations due to expired criminal (and civil) SOLs, but finally a prosecutor took the side of the female victim against this entertainment titan, with less than 2 weeks to spare before the criminal SOL would have expired, as I discuss here. Justice has not been served for all but one of his victims, and what is the reasoning that protects him while endangering the next victim? It is the logic of male privilege and power. The same faulty logic that has kept children at risk for centuries.

Let’s drop these artificial legal technicalities for sex assault, regardless of the age of the victim.

Where there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecutors will be able to do their jobs and stop these perpetrators in their tracks. And in the civil arena, the costs of the abuse, which are steep, can be shifted from the victims to those who caused the abuse. That’s called justice.

Marci A. Hamilton is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, and the author of God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty and Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. She also runs two active websites covering her areas of expertise, the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, www.RFRAperils.com, and statutes of limitations for child sex abuse, www.sol-reform.com. Professor Hamilton blogs at Hamilton and Griffin on Rights. Her email address is hamilton02@aol.com.

https://verdict.justia.com/2016/01/07/sex-abuse-statute-of-limitations-reform-2015-year-in-review

The Criminal "Orthodox" Jew That Got Away - And Started The Financial Crisis in 1999, That Brought The American & Global Economy To Its Knees...!

The "Man" That Got Away & Nothing Has Changed!

 

 

AN IMPORTANT MOVIE:

 

Subprime prosecutors hunt small game.

By Bethany McLean

Roland E. Arnall

Last week in Cleveland, nine former employees of a former subprime lender named Argent Mortgage Co. were indicted for their roles in making nearly $13 million of fraudulent residential mortgage loans. The Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which brought the charges (it operates under authority from the Ohio attorney general) alleged, among other things, that managers at Argent coached brokers on how to falsify loan documents—say, by lying about the borrower's income—so that the borrower would appear to meet the company's standards. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said that this was the first time in Ohio, and one of the few instances nationwide, that a mortgage fraud investigation led to criminal charges against the employees of a subprime lender. (Other cases have involved independent operators.)

Bethany McLean writes a weekly business column for Slate and is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. She is the author (with Joe Nocera) of All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis and (with Peter Elkind) "The Smartest Guys In The Room."

In a way, this is great news:  At least some of those who are to blame for the crime spree that was subprime lending are paying the price. But it's also an example of what's wrong with the fallout from the financial crisis.  Those who are paying the price are the smallest of the small fry, while those who benefitted the most remain untouched. And in the case of Argent, it'll stay that way.

You may not have heard of Argent, and there's a reason for that.  Argent's founder was a man named Roland Arnall, and Roland Arnall always stayed in the shadows. But he was the father of subprime lending.  Within the industry, Argent was very well-known indeed.

Back in the late 1980s, Arnall founded a thrift called Long Beach Mortgage, which was at the vanguard of making mortgages to people with less than pristine credit.  By the end of the 1990s, Long Beach had been sold to Washington Mutual, and many of the people who worked there had gone on to help build other major players on the subprime lending scene, such as New Century. After the sale of Long Beach, Arnall founded another lender called Ameriquest, which by 2004 was the nation's largest subprime lender. ("Proud sponsor of the American dream" was the company's tag line.) Argent was a lesser-known division of Arnall's empire.

 Unlike Ameriquest, whose loan officers made mortgages directly, Argent was a so-called "wholesale" lender, meaning that it bought loans from mortgage brokers. (By 2001, 50 percent of mortgages were being made through independent brokers, who sold to wholesalers like Argent.) But Arnall's name was never on the door of any of his companies, and none of them sold shares to the public.  You never read about Roland Arnall in a glossy magazine; he was very private.

Early on, Argent began pushing subprime loans in Cleveland. Indeed, a lawsuit filed by the city of Cleveland in 2008 against a number of subprime lenders and Wall Street firms alleged that Argent accounted for more than one-quarter of all the subprime loans made in Cleveland from 2002 to 2006.  (The lawsuit was later dismissed.) "When Argent showed up, they immediately jumped out because of the volume of their activity," Tom Bier, a housing expert at Cleveland State University, who has been analyzing county records for 25 years, told me.  "They went after the weakest fish." According to Bier's analysis, by April 2007, 25 percent of the loans that Argent made in Cleveland had resulted in foreclosures.   So it was that Cleveland, where home prices never rose high enough to mask the problems with the mortgages, became a bellwether of the problems to come.

Within the industry, Arnall's companies developed a reputation for the hard sell, and for making any loan at any price. As in most of the industry, everyone was compensated based on loan volume, so in the branches, all that mattered was selling as many loans as possible, by any means necessary.  

"Push, push, push," one former loan officer told me. Managers were brutal to those who weren't closing loans, and it was an open secret that there were ways to get around the company's supposed controls.
 

The business made Roland Arnall a very wealthy man.  In 2002, Roland and his second wife, Dawn, bought Engelbert Humperdinck's $30 million, 10-acre compound in Holmby Hills, Calif. Two years later, they bought the second-most-expensive home in America, a 650-acre ranch in Aspen, Colo., with a 15,000 square-foot house  that had been owned by Peter Guber, for which Arnall paid $46 million. By 2004, Roland Arnall made the Forbes 400 list with a net worth of $2 billion; in 2005, he was No. 73, with a net worth of $3 billion.

In the summer of 2004, a group of state attorneys general began investigating Ameriquest. (The AGs had limited power over Argent because it didn't make its loans directly to consumers.) On Jan. 23, 2006, the AGs announced that Ameriquest had agreed to pay $325 million to settle allegations from 49 states that it had engaged in extensive consumer abuse. (Ameriquest didn't do business in Virginia because it requires extensive financial disclosure by the main shareholder of any company doing business there, something Arnall refused to provide.) But neither the news of the investigation nor a scathing expose of Ameriquest that ran in the Los Angeles Times in early 2005 had deterred President George W. Bush from nominating Arnall, who along with Dawn had raised more than $12 million for GOP causes and candidates between 2004 and 2008, according to the Times, to be the ambassador to the Netherlands. A month after the settlement was announced, Arnall was confirmed. Press reports at the time said that the payment "cleared the way" for Arnall's confirmation.

In 2007, what was left of Arnall's companies was sold to Citigroup.  The following spring, Arnall died abruptly: He had been suffering from esophageal cancer that had metastasized. Later that year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency put together a document called "Worst Ten in the Worst Ten." It listed the 10 worst lenders in the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest rates of foreclosure. (The survey was based on the level of foreclosures for subprime and Alt A loans originated from 2005 to 2007.) Argent made the top 10 in all 10 cities and was No. 1 in Cleveland and Detroit. Long Beach Mortgage, which also featured prominently on the list, played a big role in the demise of Washington Mutual. Arnall's death at 68, while untimely and a terrible blow to those who loved him, enabled him to complete his life with his reputation relatively unscratched.

So here we are in 2011. Roland Arnall is, of course, beyond the reach of the law.  While the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force wants to follow the old prosecutor's mandate of "start at the bottom"—get the junior people to rat out more senior people, and so on— it's not clear that they'll be able to reach any higher into Argent. Indeed, the indictment says that fraud was committed "without the knowledge of Argent." After all, prosecutors can't say that Argent encouraged the behavior without also going after someone more senior at Argent.

  And in truth, it's unlikely that anyone senior at Argent specifically encouraged the individual acts of fraud. Rather, the executives at Arnall's companies created a culture in which the junior people were rewarded for getting the loans made by any means possible while everyone else looked the other way. And there's no statute under which executives can be prosecuted for creating a culture in which criminality is encouraged.  Even had Arnall lived, prosecutors probably would have had a hard time making a legal case against him. 

Argent and Arnall may be an extreme version of what's happened in the wake of the crisis, but similar scenarios have been played out everywhere. A young salesman at Goldman Sachs, Fabrice Tourre, is the only individual who is facing charges from Goldman's notorious Abacus transaction. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with JPMorgan over the sale of securities tied to the housing market.  A man named Edward Steffelin, who headed the team at the outside firm that managed the portfolio of securities, was also charged.  Is it really Tourre and Steffelin alone who created the structure of these transactions and the culture in which such deals were routinely done, and who benefitted the most from it?  Give me a break!

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/06/the_man_that_got_away.single.html

 'The Big Short' Blows Away Bogus Argument That Poor People Caused The Financial Crisis

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-big-short-movie_565c795fe4b072e9d1c27163

"Just consider how many ignorant people think vaccines can be delayed or ignored.... "

Mark Zuckerberg, in Five Words, Reminds Us of the Importance of Vaccines

January 9, 2016 by Hemant Mehta 22 Comments

 

It’s so easy to dislike someone with Mark Zuckerberg‘s wealth or influence, but hats off to the guy. Not only did he pledge to give away the bulk of his fortune, he made sure to tell the world that his newborn daughter’s getting vaccinated:
He says it so casually. And he should, since getting vaccinated shouldn’t be an issue, but he has to know that he’s stepping into a minefield.

Just consider how many ignorant people think vaccines can be delayed or ignored. Think about how even the neurosurgeon running for President couldn’t be honest about the efficacy and importance of vaccinations. Realize the effect certain celebrities have had in spreading misinformation about vaccines.

It may not seem like a huge deal, but Zuckerberg isn’t just telling people about a doctor’s visit. He’s making a statement. Those five words carry a lot of weight. It’s good to see someone like him on the side of sound science, not afraid to advocate for it even in subtle ways.

The inevitable role technology will continue to play in our lives and exploring how to both protect against its dangers and fully utilize its benefits. A denial of reality will only lead to misguided responses, outdated strategies and squandered opportunities, as we continue to fight yesterday’s battles without addressing today’s urgent needs. The power of technology is not in gizmos and gadgets, but in the fundamental restructuring of social patterns and the opportunities it provides for us to serve our community in vastly more effective ways....

 

Dr. Yitzchak Schechter

Breathing Life into the Golem of Technology

 

It is both obvious and an understatement to say that technology permeates every aspect of our lives. It is equally clear to me that in order for our community to continue its development, creativity, growth and the deepening of our religious and communal life we need not only to be conscious of technology but to embrace it in all its forms. While this may sound contrary to the reigning religious oeuvre of today, it is far from it. We all fly in airplanes, get medical procedures, use the telephone, use timers for electricity, drive cars and benefit from technology despite the great fears and potential prohibitions that were first cast on these emerging technologies. This is already playing out the same way with the Internet and new technologies we use for our work, household management and even learning.

This next wave of technology is no different; our job is to somehow arrive at the new normal and adjust to that equilibrium. Since technology is here to stay, we must attempt to understand the role it now plays in our lives – including its effect on our psychological functioning and on our families and relationships – and the change it has brought to our communities and to our society. The future religious stability and growth of our community is dependent upon our acknowledging the inevitable role of technology and exploring how to both protect against its dangers and fully utilize its benefits. A denial of reality will only lead to misguided responses, outdated strategies and squandered opportunities, as we continue to fight yesterday’s battles without addressing today’s urgent needs. Similarly, as often happens with topics that appear too big to address, the impulse is to avoid or deny the issue completely, with a net effect of reduced parental, educational and clinical involvement. This result has already been observed in some of the “digital life” research conducted by the Institute for Applied Research and Community Collaboration (ARCC, a group under my direction), which found that children report less adult guidance about their use of technology and social media than expected, even in communities that place great value on internet safety.

This article explores how individuals, families and communities can safely and effectively embrace technology as a powerful and positive tool that can be effectively employed with creativity and vision for the benefit of both individuals and the community. I write this at the intersection of my role as a psychologist and director of a large behavioral health clinic, serving yeshivas, parents, rabbonim and the community, and as the founding director of ARCC, a research organization dedicated to understanding the experience of the frum community and using technology and science to inform and provide actionable guidance to its community stakeholders.

A New Era

It is far from hollow rhetoric to say that we stand at the threshold, or, perhaps just inside the doorway, of a new era, in which technology has created a new metzius (reality). It must be emphasized that the power of technology is not in gizmos and gadgets. It is in the fundamental restructuring of social patterns it has brought about and the opportunities it provides to be mechadesh (innovate) in powerful new ways, potentially revolutionizing our approach to what can be accomplished – both in learning about the true needs of the klal and in developing strategies to meet those needs....

Changes in technology and society are happening at an increasingly fast clip. Our community must take note of the impact of these changes on even the most basic of concerns as how to guide our children in preparing to earn a livelihood. Technology has caused the elimination of not only jobs, but even of entire industries. Skill sets once integral are replaced by others, and training for the contemporary needs of the workforce must continually be studied. Is the community’s educational system adjusting to the challenges of the future workforce?

In considering the many dimensions of the great opportunities and challenges we face with technology, there is one principle we must keep in mind if our children are going to benefit from any wisdom we might hope to acquire and transmit: Are we leading by example? Here, perhaps more than any other area, children are entirely dependent on the messages they receive and behaviors they observe in the adults in their lives if they are to find their own way in managing the unyielding demands of the various devices around them. If their parents are not managing well, with strength and direction, how will they fare and with which strength will they cope? “Do as I say, not as I do” is a failed message in any context, but experience indicates it is even worse when it comes to technology. In fact, in our study of technology in yeshiva students, we found that parents are far and away the largest single source of information and guidance regarding the Internet and technology, yet only a small percentage of students report their parents speaking to them directly, or providing any guidelines, about technology and its use.

WORTH READING IN ITS ENTIRETY:

For the entire issue, visit www.klalperspectives.org.

“Sexual abuse in education is the clergy-abuse crisis of this decade, if not this century, and you’re going to see more and more of it”...

Anne Scott, at the Cambridge. Mass., office of her lawyer, Eric MacLeish. Ms. Scott said she had been sexually molested and raped while a student at St. George’s School in Rhode Island. Credit Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe

 40 Alumni Assert Sexual Abuse at a Rhode Island Prep School - The scope of the scandal at St. George’s School in Rhode Island expands with reports covering three decades.

BOSTON — The scope of a sexual abuse scandal at St. George’s School in Rhode Island widened substantially on Tuesday as lawyers reported that at least 40 former students had made credible reports of sexual abuse, and in some cases rape, by seven former staff members and four students over three decades.

At the same time, a spokesman for the school, which had made public its own investigation late last month, now characterized that investigation as “preliminary” and said that it would soon name who would be carrying the investigation forward. “The work remains ongoing,” the school said in a statement.

Lawyers for the victims said that the abuse took place from 1974 through 2004. Four of the seven former staff members are still alive, and in at least two cases appear to be working in settings with young people. None have been charged criminally.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage 

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  Rhode Island Prep School Expresses ‘Sorrow and Shame’ Over Sexual AbuseDEC. 24, 2015

Together, the school’s report, which said that staff members sexually abused 26 students in the 1970s and’80s, and the lawyers’ reports of some 40 total victims, paint a picture of unchecked sexual misconduct at the elite prep school in Middletown.

“The magnitude and scope of this is already approaching the largest private school sexual abuse case that we’ve seen, which was at Horace Mann, where 62 victims came forward,” said Eric MacLeish, a lawyer who, with Carmen L. Durso, is representing some of the victims. The accusations at the Horace Mann School came to light in 2012.

Capt. Matthew Moynihan of the Rhode Island State Police confirmed an investigation into accusations forwarded by the school and by the lawyers, and said the police were encouraging anyone to come forward who was either a victim or a witness. The school is an Episcopal boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12.

The lawyers and three of the victims said at a news conference here that the school’s report presented a sanitized version of sexual abuse at the school, which they likened to that of the Roman Catholic Church; although some of those accused of the abuse were fired, the school has acknowledged that it did not report suspects to the authorities or alert their subsequent employers.

“Sexual abuse in education is the clergy-abuse crisis of this decade, if not this century, and you’re going to see more and more of it,” Mr. Durso said.

He and Mr. MacLeish predicted that more victims would come forward, but said that just as the clergy abuse scandal unfolded over many years, some victims may take a long time reacting to events that were disturbing and in some cases life-changing.

Mr. Durso said the Massachusetts legislature was considering what is commonly called a “pass the trash” bill. It refers to schools passing on problematic teachers to new schools without reporting problems, including those that might put others in jeopardy. The bill would make it a crime to fail to report a complaint of sexual misconduct in public and private schools.

There is no evidence of continuing sexual misconduct at St. George’s, the lawyers said, but some of the victims are calling for Eric Peterson, the head of school, to resign. They say he did not take seriously the complaints from some alumni who came forward.

One of the victims, Harry Groome, 52, a 1982 graduate who said he was raped by another student in front of other students, said at the news conference that he wanted Mr. Peterson to resign because he had been unresponsive to complaints.

“Eric Peterson has been covering this up since 2004, my issue as well as others,” Mr. Groome said.

In a statement, the school indicated that Mr. Peterson would not resign and said that he had supported a “vigorous investigation of alleged sexual abuse” and had demonstrated compassion and empathy to those who had come forward.

In a separate statement, the school apologized for the harm done, adding that “the way in which the school addressed these incidents has served to compound this harm.”

The school’s report identified only one of the accused by name. He was Al Gibbs, an athletic trainer, who was fired in 1980 after multiple reports of sexual molestation and at least one rape.

The school’s report referred to two others as “employee perpetrator #2” and “employee perpetrator #3.”

But on Tuesday, Mr. MacLeish, matching victims’ accounts with the school’s report, identified them as the Rev. Dr. Howard White, a former assistant chaplain, who left the school in 1974 after reports of sexual contact with at least three boys, and Franklin Coleman, a former choir director fired in 1988 after accusations of sexually molesting several boys.

Mr. MacLeish said it was important to identify them because he believes they still had access to minors. The names were given to the state police, and neither has been charged.

The school’s investigation said that Tony Zane, then the head of school, confronted Mr. White, whom it called “employee perpetrator #2, and that he “admitted to the misconduct” and abruptly left in 1974.

Another student, William MacNamara, told the lawyers that Mr. White had repeatedly molested and raped him.

Reached on Tuesday at his home in Bedford, Pa., Mr. White said: “I don’t have any response. It’s news to me.” Asked if he was fired because of accusations of sexual misconduct, he said, “That isn’t really true.”

Asked again if he had faced accusations of sexual improprieties, he said, “I’m not saying anything.”

The school’s investigation of Mr. Coleman, whom it called “employee perpetrator #3,” said he was fired after reportedly engaging in sexual misconduct with at least three students, including groping them.

Mr. Coleman was met Tuesday by a reporter in Newark as he left his home. He repeatedly answered “no comment” when asked about the accusations. Asked if he had abused students at the school or if he denied the accusations, he said, “No comment.”

Asked specifically about accusations made by a former student, Hawk Cramer, he said, “Talk to my lawyer.” He did not provide the lawyer’s name.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/us/40-alumni-assert-sexual-abuse-at-a-rhode-island-prep-school.html?emc=edit_tnt_20160105&nlid=32999454&tntemail0=y

The Religious Man To Whom The Rules Don’t Apply......

How To Spot A Spiritual Sexual Predator

By Chaya Kurtz • January 4, 2016 • Essay

 

Specifically one who is dressed in the garb of a guru, religious leader, or activist: A guide for Jewish women (and other women too).

 

The talk of the town last week was about a New York Times profile of an (accused) rapist/serial womanizer/wife-abuser ex-rabbi who essentially got kicked out of the Jewish world and has successfully resurrected himself as a new-age guru. His name is Marc Gafni, and I actually know/know-people-who-know women whom he messed with. I heard about him years ago at a Shabbos table — some people who had left his sphere of influence were discussing his move to Boulder and said, “I don’t know why he keeps trying to work in the Jewish world. He should go to the new age — they don’t care about sexual propriety.” Apparently he had the same idea.

It surprises me not an iota that a sexual predator would become a prominent new-age guru. The guru-student relationship is fertile land for sexual misbehavior to flourish in. There are too many guru sexual predators to list, but I’ll highlight a few who were exposed relatively recently: John Friend of Anusara Yoga, Bikram Choudury of Bikram Yoga, Eido Shimano Roshi of New York Zen Studies Society, Joshu Sasaki Roshi of Rinzai-ji, Swami Shankarananda of Shiva School Of Meditation And Yoga, and Doug Phillips of Vision Forum.

They’re not just gurus. There are also mystics, sensitive new age guys, extremely “spiritual” people who are actually lowlifes, and activists/idealists who are in it for the booty. There are certain things they do; certain men they are. Look out for:

The Spiritual Man Who Thinks You’re Special: You are a light in the darkness to him. He is your teacher, and he sees soooooo much brilliance and potential in you. You are what he needs, and he is what you need — spiritually, of course. Or he wants to personally help you. You, more than anyone, are worth his precious spiritual energy and time.

The Spiritual Man Who Wants To See You Outside Of Class: Why would a charismatic, “enlightened” man want to see you outside of class? Why would he invite you into his home, into his inner-circle, into his family, or to his most exclusive retreats? Because he wants to do something inappropriate and he’s getting you used to being alone with him.

The Man Who Wants To Spiritually Connect With You — Through Your Body: This guy can take any scripture of any spiritual tradition and twist it to convincingly to mean that spiritual connection is best experienced through sexual connection. Selling teenagers into prostitution? Having multiple wives and mistresses? He’s got scripture to back it up.

The Spiritual Man Who Pierces You With His Eyes: His gaze is unbelievably powerful. When he looks at you, you swear he can see right to your soul. Why do they always pierce you with their eyes? It’s a move of control and dominance. I once had a creepy swami try to pierce me with his eyes, and I left his ashram within 10 minutes.

The Spiritual Man Who Wants To Touch You: Eyes on you turns into hands on you. He’s so spiritual that he wants to heal you hands-on. Or he invites you in for a private session only to reach up your shirt. Since he thinks he’s G-d, he feels entitled to your body. Question what he’s doing and he’ll back it up with scripture, or explain to you that it’s part of the teacher-student relationship.

The Spiritual Man Whose Love And Non-Attachment Are Superior To Everyone Else’s: He challenges you to be strong enough to handle his love. He’s not sure if you have what it takes to be loved by him, and he wants you to prove it. And/or he is a master of non-attachment. He wants to prove how good he is at not getting attached by getting intimate with you and not giving a crap. He convinces you that you are weak because you have human feelings, and he is strong and enlightened because he is a master of non-attachment. He’s not a womanizer — he’s just really good at not getting attached!

The Humble Man Who Talks About Himself — A Lot: I’ve met way too many of these guys. All conversations lead back to him. He is so humble that he doesn’t even have his own possessions or home — instead, he’s going to mooch off of you and other women. Counter something he says, and he’s going to throw the humble card at you: If you don’t agree with him (or you don’t flatter him), you’re arrogant. Since he is so humble, you are assaulting him by disagreeing with him.

The Very, Very Sensitive New Age Guy: This man has feelings. His feelings are very strong. You must never hurt his feelings, though he is free to hurt yours. He is a master of using psycho-babble and “non-violent communication”. You make him feel a certain way — he is never responsible for controlling his own feelings.

The Religious Man To Whom The Rules Don’t Apply: He sure knows all the rules. He can recite them backward and forward, in multiple languages (Sanskrit! Hebrew! Hindi!). He is fastidious in tiny details that inconvenience other people (his special way of washing his hands! his special diet!), but when it comes to, you know, like, not raping people, the rules don’t apply to him. His spiritual position entitles him to exploit you however he wants to!

The Crusader For Justice Who Makes You Feel Dumb: This man knows everything about justice. He knows the key to world peace. He quotes Marx, Mandela, and Maimonides in the same sentence. He knows Angela Davis personally. If there was a big protest, he was not only there but he was on the front lines fighting the cops and he has a scar on his inner thigh that he wants to show you to prove it. This man is committed to The Cause above all. So lofty is his goal that he doesn’t need to be nice to regular people like you. He can be nasty, denigrating, rude — all in the name of The Cause. Call him out on it and you’re siding with the oppressor.

The Married Man Who Tells His Marital Problems To You: This spiritual master has a spiritual advisor — a very famous guru — but even that guru can’t empathize with his marital problems. Thank the goddess that you can, though. It turns out that in every way that his wife lacks, you are just brimming over. Why can’t his wife be more like you, he asks you.

The Enlightened Man Who Tells You All About How Men & Women Are Supposed To Relate To Each Other/How Women Should Be: This guy is an expert on gender. He knows every religious or spiritual reason why women should be subservient to men. He presents his “knowledge” as absolute truth. If you don’t relate to him on his terms, he’ll educate you on how to be a better woman. He’s on a special mission to teach very young women (even girls) how to be women.

The Clergy Man/Guru Who Wants Your Money: He can convince almost anyone (and especially women) to financially support his “mission”. If it’s not by promising salvation if you give him money, it’s by inviting you to very, very expensive retreats. Want private healing sessions or lessons in spiritual practice? One way or another, you’ll pay for them.

Anybody Who Ideologically Justifies Polyamory: If he’s really “progressive”, this man can quote The Ethical Slut. And since his predecessors in his spiritual lineage had multiple wives, certainly he should have them. While he is free to enjoy his spiritually-sanctioned dalliances, you’re in big trouble if he even thinks you’re cheating on him. After all, it’s Tantra! Or it’s Christianity! Or Abraham had more than one wife! He has so much spiritual mojo that he is simply gifting it to all the women he’s intimate with. How dare you refuse his gift!?

The Healer Who Has A Special Treatment Just For You: This man has identified that something is wrong with you. There is something wrong with you that only he has identified because he is so enlightened. It is critical that he, and only he, heal you. What? Having sex with him is part of the treatment? How surprising!

A final word: These creepy guys are out there in droves, and almost everyone who is involved in religion and/or spirituality will meet one at some point. Nobody who is on a high spiritual level will pressure you for sex. Period. People who are genuine spiritual teachers or activists will speak to you respectfully. Full stop. There is a big difference between being wowed by the intelligent way a man speaks and being treated respectfully by that man. Trust your gut. If you feel uncomfortable, get out.

http://hevria.com/chaya/how-to-spot-a-sexual-preditor/

BUYER BEWARE:

EXCLUSIVE: Rabbi Mendel Morosow, a Crown Heights Lubavitcher, speaks to COLlive about his "intuitive powers" used by thousands - including rabbis and mashpiim, and why he kept them secret for years.

Rabbi Mendel Morosow, Uses Powers to Heal

R' Mendel, how did you discover this "intuitive" or "empathic" healing powers?
For many years, my wife and I had no children. We went to all kinds of doctors, including highly recommended experts on alternative medicine. A homeopath noticed I could sense the effects of the remedies he was suggesting, and asked whether I could sense details about him and his family. With great reluctance, I described what came to mind, and he said I was right on target.

How did you feel about it?
I was the biggest skeptic! I come from a rational, intellectual background. But I began to see it was true; I really could discern things about people, feel the root of their problems and how they might be helped.

Did you notice this ability before?
Actually, throughout my life, I seemed to pick up on people's moods or feel their aches and pains, without realizing what it was. I didn't realize it was the states of other people that I was experiencing. I thought it was me.

That must have been strange...
It was indeed confusing. I understood various situations intuitively, but learned not to talk about it, because others laughed at me: How could a youngster know things that required real life experience? So I learned to keep my mouth shut.

When did you start actually developing this talent, instead of hiding it?
That homeopath asked for my help in order to get a better reading of some of his clients. Sometimes he asked me to use my energy to "deliver" a remedy to them.

How does this work in practice?
When I "tune in" to people, I sense things about them. I might see an image, or actual words run through my mind. Sometimes I just "know" something – I have no idea from where. For instance, I may see a place or object, or feel some emotion.

What sort of problems can you help?
I've helped with all sorts of problems: health, emotional issues, shalom bayis, chinuch, parnassa and business decisions, and many shidduchim issues. Of course, if it's a serious health issue, I tell them to visit a doctor, as well.

When you get a call, how do you approach the issue?
My approach is two-fold: First, I ask the person to describe his or her problem in brief. Then I "tune in" to see what might be causing it. Even if it's a health issue, sometimes it has a psychological or emotional basis.

Can't you tell automatically what the problem is?
I could, in theory, but people may have several issues, and it's best when they tell me which one to focus on. Also, using intuition requires mental energy, which I would rather save for addressing the problem itself.

What comes next?
After identifying the source of a problem, I get a sense of how to fix it.

And how do fix it? What do you do in actuality?
It can be any of a few options. It could be as simple as recommending a change in routine or advice that an outsider might think of commonsense. Often I feel something is wrong in the tefilin or mezuzos, so I advise getting them checked by an expert sofer. Or I focus energy on a problem to correct it.

A spiritual technique?
No. I don't feel that my intuition itself is ruchnius and never did any training or took any courses or studied "healing." Rather it's an ability to "pick up" and understand reality, like radio waves traveling to a cell phone – definitely something physical, not spiritual. Various themes discussed in Chassidus may make this easier to understand, but the actual ability is not necessarily spiritual.

Have you had Halachic concerns?
I have asked Rabbonim whether I may use this ability and talent. Those of them familiar with the concept told me I'm allowed to use it, especially in order to help people. However, I try to keep away from sensing the future, as that can get complicated from a Halachic point of view.

Do you have reservations about giving advice on what to do about serious matters?
Naturally, dealing with serious personal issues is a huge responsibility, and I can't honestly accept responsibility for people's life decisions. I can only ask leading questions, give suggestions and encouragement, and hope to point people in a good direction.

For example, a client once traveled overseas, where he checked out certain properties with an eye to investment. He called me – giving the places nicknames, because I don't need addresses – and I told him something bothered me about one property, which seemed to be on the border between neighborhoods. My client returned to check on it in the evening and discovered that, although it was in a good neighborhood, it was close to a bad one, and at night it became a noisy hangout, with music blasting and neighbors complaining the noise disturbed their sleep. When he told me about another place, I felt it to be full of sunshine, with young couples moving in, a neighborhood that was up and coming. He found that too to be true.

But wouldn't anyone with real estate buying experience have noticed all that?
Indeed, and many of my ideas turn out to be plain common sense. The difference is that for an expert in the field it's common sense, while with me it's pure intuition. Besides, that investor lived far from those places, so he wouldn't have time to check them thoroughly. He might have missed the clues, so he was glad he had asked me.

How many people have approached you for advice?
Over the 10 years I've been doing this, I've probably had thousands of cases, including thousands involving tefilin and mezuzos. I have helped many, many members of the worldwide Lubavitcher community, as anyone can ascertain by asking around. My clients have included prominent rabbonim from communities around the world and mashpiim. Rabbi Manis Friedman, for example, has referred people to me.

How much time do you spend with clients?
Usually it's up to the individual. Some need just a few minutes, especially if they get straight to the point and immediately follow my advice, in which case they soon see results. Others need more time, particularly if they don't immediately follow my advice, in which case they'll keep coming back. I also work over the phone, which adds a layer of privacy and helps people feel more at ease. After discussing the problem with them, I may continue thinking about them, sending them "energy" to help with the problem. At the beginning of Likutei Diburim, the Rebbe RaYYaTz explains that thinking about someone can help him.

What is your success rate?
Boruch Hashem, I have been blessed with abundant success. I've never taken the time to measure it in exact numbers, but great numbers of people feel they have been helped and their problems resolved. The fact that I get many referrals from previous clients is the best testimony.

Can you give examples of your success?
I have hundreds of stories, some of them really amazing.

A teenager once told me his ankle gave him constant severe pain, for which he needed an operation. From across the table, I focused energy on him for a few minutes, and he told me the pain was getting less and less, until it disappeared. When I met him a year later, he told me the pain had never returned, and he no longer needed any operation.

At a L'chaim [engagement party], I had a farbrengen with some bochurim. One mentioned that he suffered from gout, which caused him constant acute pain in his leg. For a few minutes, I focused energy on him and the pain disappeared. He was skeptical about it and didn't believe he would long remain free of pain. But when I met him again over a year later, he reported that, "strangely enough," the pain had never returned!

A few years ago, a man aged around 60 was limping painfully. He had had a knee-cap replacement, and needed another one on his other knee. I focused energy on his problem several times, at personal meetings and during phone conversations. Since then, his pain has disappeared and he hasn't needed a replacement for his other knee.

Give us an example about tefilin.
One man often experienced sudden blackouts, causing him to lose consciousness, fall down and get hurt. It wasn't epilepsy, said his doctors, but they didn't know what else it could be. As I spoke to him, an image of tefilin came into my mind, then the kesher of the shel rosh [knot of the head tefilin]. I asked whether he placed the kesher on the correct part of the head. He replied that he did, but added that, six years earlier – which happened to be when his problem started, of course – someone in shul, not a Rov or sofer but just a well-meaning person, had told him to change where he placed it. I advised him to check with an expert. As soon as he changed back to his original placement of the kesher, his blackouts stopped. That was the first time I advised resolving a problem by ensuring correct observance of tefilin or mezuzos.

So it was your mind's image of the kesher that helped resolve his problem?
 Yes. People may not realize that problems with tefilin and mezuzos involve more than just the written text.

For example, the Alter Rebbe (in his Shulchan Aruch and Siddur) points out a common problem: In the lower area of the tefilin shel rosh, glue is used to keep the parts of the bayis together. But often, while the tefilin are being formed and the glue is still wet, it can spread upwards between the four compartments, where it can render the tefilin non-kosher. In my experience, about 70% of tefilin have this problem, and most soferim aren't trained how to check for it and fix it.

Also, the batim of tefilin have to be perfectly square, but many are not, and not all soferim always check for this. Also a small scratch in the black paint of some parts of the retzuos [tefilin straps] can be very serious.

Another problem with tefilin and mezuzos is with the two tagin [short vertical lines attached to a letter] on top of every lamed letter. According to Halacha, the tag on the right should extend slightly higher than the left one. Kabala explains the underlying reason for this: The right tag represents chessed [kindness] and should therefore be higher than the left one, which represents gevura [severity or judgment], in order to ensure that the flow of Divine kindness overwhelms any possible "judgments."

A lot of soferim usually don't look for this problem unless specifically asked to do so, because it's time-consuming. But when it's not fixed, it can have a negative effect on the wearer and his loved ones. In fact, every detail of tefilin can affect not only the wearer but his wife, young sons and unmarried daughters.

Often I advise someone to recheck even several times for problems with tefilin and mezuzos, because, as in any other field, not all soferim are equally thorough.

Can you give an example of a case about shidduchim.
A certain girl was already beyond the usual age for shidduchim, yet nothing was moving for her. I asked if their home had a balcony. Yes, and their balcony had two sets of doors. I advised bringing a Rov to check whether the mezuzos were placed correctly. He found them to be on the wrong sides of the doors. They were changed, and the girl became engaged within a few months.

Placement of mezuzos can make a huge difference for shidduchim, health and other areas. When an expert is invited into homes to check on mezuza placement, he finds problems in over 90% of homes, in my experience.

What advice would you give people in general?
People often create their own problems through excessive worry and fear. My intuitive energy approach can help with that, but I also advise people to increase their emuna and bitochon in Hashem. When negativity is removed, healing takes place, parnassa flows, health blossoms, and relationships heal. As the Zohar says, "When someone is happy, it opens up all the Divine sources Above."

Thanks for speaking with us
It is my pleasure. I can be reached at TheHelpingRabbi.com

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