...But for those familiar with the Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox community’s repeated failure to report sexual abuse, seeing Rabbi Samuel Waldman arrested for the alleged possession of child pornography is no shocker.

The Brooklyn Rabbi and His Child Porn Collection

Samuel Waldman, one of the main alleged child porn purveyors named in ‘Operation Caireen,’ is only the latest in a series of scandals buffeting Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox community.

Among the 71 people charged in Wednesday’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement child porn ring bust, there are more than a handful of surprising offenders, including a Little League coach and a former Westchester police chief. But for those familiar with the Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox community’s repeated failure to report sexual abuse, seeing Rabbi Samuel Waldman arrested for the alleged possession of child pornography is no shocker.

It was Waldman’s own disturbing collection of child pornography, law enforcement officials say, that helped lead them to uncover dozens of other purveyors in “Operation Caireen.” 

His was one of two initial investigations—the other was of Brian Fanelli, a one-time Mount Pleasant police chief—that eventually led to Wednesday’s announcement of 71 arrests. 

On March 5, Waldman, 52, was charged with the transportation and distribution of child pornography. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Waldman shared multiple child pornography files on publicly available peer-to-peer networks out of his home in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. 

These files, the complaint alleges, included a video of girls “between the ages of approximately four and eleven years of age” performing oral sex and being anally and vaginally penetrated by older men, and a clip of a naked prepubescent boy “being masturbated by another unknown person until the child ejaculates.”

At the time, Waldman was a teacher at the all-girls Beth Jacobs Teachers Seminary in Brooklyn. While the school declined to disclose any information about the ages of students to The Daily Beast, the National Center for Education Statistics says Beth Jacobs offers ninth- through 12th-grade education. Waldman was ordered not to engage in any employment with access to children; when asked if he was still teaching at the school, a woman who answered the phone at the school hung up.

The Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox community has been plagued with sexual molestation charges in recent years, many of them stemming back decades. It has a history of harboring and protecting alleged molesters while shaming and intimidating those who attempt to come forward with allegations of abuse.

In 2012, when an ultra-Orthodox family decided to sue Yeshiva Torah Temimah, the school where their son allegedly was molested by a teacher, they were pressured to drop their lawsuit. A prominent Brooklyn rabbi and Yaakov Applegrad, an administrator at the Flatbush seminary, “compared the parents to Nazis for attempting to ‘bankrupt’ the yeshiva,” The Jewish Week reported.

The teacher Applegrad was defending, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, allegedly sexually abused his students for more than three decades. In 2008, he was accused of molesting two first-graders but pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to three years’ probation. According to a New York magazine investigation, Kolko’s abuse went as far back as the 1970s.

Sexual abuse often goes unpunished in the ultra-Orthodox community because victims are shamed into silence or blatantly pressured, as in the Kolko case, never to reveal information to the secular world.

In 2012, Rabbi David Zweibel, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, a powerful ultra-Orthodox group, instructed members of the community not to report abuse to police until they consulted with their rabbis first. “We’re not going to compromise our essence and our integrity because we are nervous about a relationship that may be damaged with a government leader,” he said.

Even if the claims are pursued within the community, justice is imperfect , to say the least. According to a letter from Rabbi Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg posted on the blog FailedMessiah, Kolko was investigated on sexual abuse charges by a council of rabbis in 1985 and found innocent. “Because Kolko did not penetrate his victims, there was no actual abuse,” said the lead rabbi, according to witnesses to the ruling.

Unsurprisingly, Waldman received public support from the ultra-Orthodox community after his March 5 arrest. “I’m certain he’ll be acquitted of everything. He’s a nice, honorable, respectable person,” a neighbor told PIX 11. When told federal officials had traced child porn to the IP address on Waldman’s computer, the neighbor said: “I’m even surprised he has a computer.”

Whether Waldman will find the same level of support now that he is linked to an even bigger and more disturbing child pornography bust remains to be seen.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/21/brooklyn-rabbi-busted-again-for-child-porn.html

Two more babies stricken with herpes after ritual ultra-orthodox Jewish oral blood sucking circumcision in New York City

Since 2000 --- 13 known cases of herpes have been contracted from the religious practice

• Two deaths and two babies suffering brain damage have resulted
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• Department of health warns there being no safe way to perform the ritual that dates back more than 5,000 years
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Two more infants have been infected with a deadly herpes virus in the last three months after undergoing a controversial religious oral circumcision in New York City.

The latest cases bring the count to 13 infants since 2000, two of which suffered brain damage and two died from the virus which can rapidly spread throughout its body.

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish practice of metzitzah b'peh requires a practitioner to orally suck the baby's penis to 'cleanse' the open wound following its circumcision, making them susceptible to the virus.

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Contraction: The ultra-Orthodox practice of metzitzah b'peh requires a practitioner to orally suck the baby's penis to 'cleanse' the open wound following its circumcision, making them susceptible to the virus (file photo)

The department of health says one of the latest infants to contract the virus developed a fever and a lesion on its scrotum, seven days after the procedure. The boy later tested positive for HSV-1. That virus differs from HSV-2, the genital herpes, which is contracted during sexual intercourse.

'A herpes infection in a newborn baby has the risk of leading to severe illness and death,' Jay Varma, deputy commissioner for disease control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told ABC News.

'The reason is that the baby doesn't have the same fully developed immune system as an adult. Instead of staying in the genital area, it extends throughout different organs in the body,' he explained.

He said it's too soon to tell whether the boys will suffer permanent effects.

The identify of the rabbi who performed the circumcision is being withheld by the boys' parents, preventing the health department to step in, they said.

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Dangers: Since 2000 - 13 known cases of herpes have resulted from the practice, two of which suffered brain damage and two others died

The religious practice that dates back to more than 5,000 years defies warning by the city's department of health which says there is no safe way to perform the oral suction on an open wound.

More modern Jewish practices use a sterile aspiration device to clean the wound or a pipette opposed to the oral sucking.

But some rabbis stand grounded behind the practice, calling it a religious freedom while noting its long history.

In September the department voted to require parents to sign forms consenting to the risks of the practice after the death of two children who contracted the virus through the practice.

The parents of those newly infected boys are said to have not signed those forms.

According to Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of the Orthodox Jewish organization Agudath Israel of America, two-thirds of boys born in New York City's Hasidic communities are circumcised in the oral suction matter.

The health department claims they've had complaints in past by parents who say they weren't made aware that the oral practice would be performed on their child.

Read more:

• Herpes Strikes Infants Again After Ritual Circumcision

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304793/Two-babies-stricken-HERPES-ritual-oral-blood-sucking-circumcision-New-York-City.html#ixzz32NehIuje 

Did They Call The Cops Or A Rabbi?

Pleasant Plains man 

accused of stealing

 $50K in checks 

from Yeshiva of Staten Island

Yeshiva of Staten Island is located in Pleasant Plains. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

STATEN ISLAND, N.J. -- A Staten Island man cashed more than $50,000 worth of checks stole from the Yeshiva of Staten Island over a five-month period, police allege.

Back in 2011, two checkbooks were lifted from a drawer inside an office in the Pleasant Plains school, according to a law enforcement source.

That led to 16 separate checks, all from a Staten Island account belonging to the Yeshiva's Manhattan affiliate, Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, cashed between August and December of that year, all at a Pay-O-Matic in Brooklyn, according to court papers.

Police identified a person wanted for questioning in the theft -- Yehuda Rubin, 31, of Hallister Street in Pleasant Plains, authorities said.

On Thursday, after a routine car stop led to Rubin's arrest on drug charges, police brought him in for questioning, linked him to the theft and hit him with multiple felony charges.

A law enforcement source familiar with the case said Rubin was a student at the Yeshiva back in 2001, but the head rabbi there didn't recognize him from surveillance footage. A family with the same last name had a recent affiliation with the Yeshiva, though, the source said, and court papers show he lives just a few blocks away.

Rabbi David Ceder, the Yeshiva's head of security, said he had no knowledge of the case.

The criminal complaint against Rubin alleges that Rubin started with smaller amounts, cashing checks for $1,800 or $2,400 in August and September of 2011. By that October, though, the amounts started to grow, and between Oct. 12 and Dec. 14, 2011, he cashed seven checks for $4,000 each, court records show.

He'd cash many of the checks late at night, and, in a few instances, at 2:55 a.m. or 4:34 a.m., and each time, he'd use the Pay-O-Matic at 1813 Kings Highway, police allege.

Rubin referred to the allegations as a "misunderstanding" when questioned by police, the law enforcement source said.

When police arrested him on Thursday, on the 100 block on Pleasant Plains Avenue, not far from his home, he had in his possession marijuana, the painkiller oxycodone, the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam (marketed as Xanax), and amphetamine dextromephetamine (marketed as Adderall), court papers allege.

That led to misdemeanor drug possession charges, while the checks led to multiple counts of second, third- and fourth degree grand larceny, and third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property charges, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovan's office.

He was arraigned Friday in Stapleton Criminal Court, where his bail was set at $35,000. He's slated to return to court Wednesday.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/05/pleasant_plains_man_accused_of.html

New Jersey Passes Jessica's Law Today - Mandatory 25 Year Minimum 1st offense for sex crimes against children~!

In February 2005, a nine year old Florida girl named Jessica Lunsford was raped and murdered. The accused offender lived across the street from Jessica and had a history of crimes against children. He was required to register as a sex offender under Florida law but failed to keep his registration information current, as required. This case prompted Florida House Bill 1877 later that year, which increased punishment and monitoring of child sex offenders.

  Two major components of the bill include a mandatory 25 years to life prison sentence for first time offenders convicted of sex crimes against children and the use of global positioning satellites (GPS) or electronic devices to track the location of sex offenders following release.

Several states have since passed similar versions of the original Jessica's Law although the title of acts may vary by state.

At least 25 states have enacted mandatory 25 year minimum sentences for first time child sex crime offenders; at least 39 states have enacted GPS or electronic monitoring provisions specific to sex
offenders; and at least 23 states have enacted both GPS or electronic monitoring and 25 year minimums, identified below by an asterisk next to the state name. Some states have not yet enacted
these Jessica's Law components but may have comparable or related provisions; that information is also included below.

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/WorkGroups/sexoffenders/NCSLs_Jessicas_Law_Summary.pdf

Rabbinical Tyranny and Freedom of Thought

The primary concern of Judaism is the art of living.

To accomplish this, it is committed to a strong sense of tradition and a determination to realize certain optimal goals. It is this that has made Judaism unique, standing out among the community of religions. This direct path--from a historical past to a messianic future, from the mysterious revelation at Mount Sinai to the categorical demand for justice for the orphan, widow and stranger--has saved Judaism from death by fire and ice, from freezing in awe of a rigid tradition, and from evaporating into a utopian reverie.

What we Jews have always looked for in the Torah is not just a way of living, nor is it the discovery of truth alone, but rather everything. And this is scarcely an exaggeration. Our love for the Torah was not just molded by particular teachings, but by our conviction that really everything can be found within its pages. God is no doubt central to Judaism, but because we never lost our intimate awareness of the multifarious colors of the Torah and its tradition, no dogma could ever gain authority. Even after Maimonides attempted, under the influence of Islamic theology, to lay down definite formulations of Jewish belief, Judaism refused to accept them as sacrosanct and did not allow such attempts to come between it and the inexhaustible Torah text. It is for this reason that tension between religion and the quest for truth is almost unknown in Judaism.

 No sacrifice of the intellect is demanded.

One look into the Talmud proves this point beyond doubt. The flow of thoughts and opposing ideas are abundant, as are the formulation and rejection of opinions and insights. The interaction between legality, prose, narrative, illusion and hard reality is astonishing and earns the Talmud its reputation as the richest ever literary creation. Not even Greek philosophy was able to produce such a symphony of ideas in which the waves of the human intellect interweave with those of divinity, moving forward and backward. There is an absolute lack of systematization and it is clear that any such attempt was nipped in the bud. From a modern point of view, one might argue that the search for truth in the Torah was not directed toward proportional truth because such a notion was lacking by definition.

The most persistent intellectual energy and analytic efforts were devoted to the continual contrivance of beautiful and profound interpretation to discover the totality of life.

Since the Torah was considered God-given, it might have been logical that fundamentalism would ultimately triumph and lead to conflict with science and other disciplines. But this inference is founded on a major misconception. Precisely because the text is seen as the word of God, its essential ambiguity was granted implicitly, and every verse by definition has many levels of interpretation, both poetic and legal. There is even the compatibility of playfulness with seriousness, since the former is a most important component of human existence as created by God.

The attempt to streamline and straightjacket the Jewish Tradition and create a final Jewish theology--which took place long after the Talmud was completed, and in our days has nearly become an article of faith--is a major mistake and a complete misreading of its very character.

While for practical reasons there is a need to put halachic living into pragmatic context, which requires conformity in action, this should never be the goal when focusing on Judaism's beliefs. It is the task of the rabbis to do everything in their power to rescue Judaism from dogmatism. While it can't be denied that Judaism incorporates certain definite beliefs, they were always kept to a minimum and were constantly a source of fierce debate. Most important, one must remember that such dogmas never led to conclusions of reductio ad absurdum. Freedom in doctrine and conformity in action was the overall policy to which the Talmudic rabbis were committed, even when convinced of certain fundamental truths. This is evident when one studies the relationship between the biblical text and the Oral Torah: minimum words and maximum interpretation.

It is detrimental to Jewish Tradition to transform words into fixed clusters of thought and store up definite theories. The idea is not to become the owner of masses of information entrusted firmly to one's memory and carefully transmitted into notes. Once one does so, one becomes scared and disturbed by new ideas, since the new puts into question the fixed information that one has stored in one's mind. As such, ideas that cannot easily be pinned down are frightening, like everything else that grows and is flexible.

Instead of being passive receptacles of words and ideas, the ideal is to hear and, most important, to receive and respond in an active, productive way. It should stimulate a thinking process, which ultimately leads to the transformation of the student.

To halacha-ize and legalize Jewish thought is to miss the whole message of the Talmudic way of thinking. Doing so will undermine the Halacha since it will kill its underlying spirit. There is little doubt that due to the pan-halachic attitudes that we now experience in certain rabbinical circles, we see negative symptoms in the form of Halacha becoming suffocated and often rejected by intelligent, broad-minded people. A plant may continue to stay alive, even in apparent health, after its roots have been cut, but its days are numbered.

If the rabbinical censorship that we have lately encountered concerning certain books and ideas on Orthodox Judaism were to be applied to the Talmudic text, it would mean that the best part of this great compendium on Jewish thought and law would be censored and burned.

Freedom of thought must be guaranteed if we want the Jewish Tradition to have a future.

 This applies in particular to teaching and writing. A man or woman who holds a teaching post should not be forced to repress his or her opinions for the sake of upholding popular, simplistic notions or even more sophisticated ones. As long as his or her opinions are rooted in the authentic Jewish Tradition and expressed with the awe of Heaven, they must be encouraged, no matter how much they are disliked by some rabbinic authorities.

Uniformity in the opinions expressed by teachers should not be sought, and if possible, should even be avoided since diversity of opinion among preceptors is essential to any sound education. No religious Jewish student can pass as educated if he has heard only one side of the debates that divided the earlier and later sages. One of the most important skills to teach is the power of weighing arguments, and this is the foundation of all Talmudic debate. To prevent the teacher from doing so or to deny him the opportunity to bring this to the attention of his students is misplaced rabbinic tyranny, which has no place in the Jewish Tradition.

It is the Christianization of Judaism by rabbis.

As soon as censorship is imposed on the opinions voiced by teachers, Jewish education ceases to serve its purpose and, instead of producing a nation of men, runs the risk of creating a herd of fanatical bigots.

Today's Talmudists must realize that they can easily become imprisoned by their own knowledge and drowned by it. They may have tremendous Talmudic expertise, but they have perhaps forgotten that one needs to know more than just all the intricacies of text. One needs to hear the distinctiveness of its content, the spirit it breathes, and the many often opposing ideological foundations on which it stands. To know the Talmud is to know more than its sum total.

Techniques for dealing with people whose opinions are disliked have been well perfected, especially when the condemners are men of power.

 In the case of those more experienced, public hostility is stirred by means of misrepresentation and character assassination. Since most teachers do not care to expose themselves to these risks, they will avoid giving public expression to their less-mainstream-Orthodox opinions. This is a most dangerous state of affairs and must be stopped. These methods are used to quash genuine and important knowledge and to deny people insight. But above all, it allows obscurantism to triumph.

 Everything must be done to allow and encourage these teachers, who are in love with Judaism as few people are, and who are creative thinkers, to say what they have on their minds without fear, and to build a great future for Judaism. It is the obligation of the religious community to create an environment where these thinkers can flourish without unpleasant repercussions.

Certain religious leaders, including rabbis, may believe that these tactics of repression and character assassination work. They should know, however, that they may be able to burn books, but the ideas expressed in them will not die. In fact, the more they condemn these books the more they will be read by intelligent students. No man or force can put thoughts in a concentration camp. Trying to do so is similar to somebody who is so afraid of being murdered, that he decides to commit suicide.

Kaplan Doesn't Happen In A Vacuum!

Nissan Kaplan

Nissan Kaplan, a rabbi at the prestigious Mir Yeshivah, whose classes draw upwards of 200 students, said in a recent discourse on the weekly Torah portion that he not only advocates killing ministers, but also that he educates his children in this spirit.

He told students that his five-year-old son said: “Daddy, we don't have a sword in the house, I'm looking... maybe a hammer is also good? I was very happy, I gave him a kiss... I was so proud of my son, he's looking for a sword to kill all these government ministers.”

His logic was that because the government plans to draft the strictly-Orthodox to the army, its ministers are the modern equivalent of Haman, who tried to kill the Jews in the Purim story. They are also representatives of “Amalek”, the ancient foe of the Jews whose elimination is prescribed by the Bible. He claimed to be invoking proclamations of the Aharon Leib Shteinman, one of the best-respected Charedi rabbis today, in this assertion.

Here is the relevant quote from Kaplan: (Compliments of Shmarya)

"…On Shabbos I spoke to my kids, and I said that Rav Steinman spoke that lemayseh [in actuality], we have today Haman and Amalek, all this [Israeli] government, and really the way is to take knives and to kill them, just as with the Yevanim [Greeks at the time of Hanukkah more than 2,000 years ago]. This is what Rav Steinman said. You have to take a sword and to kill them. So why are we not doing it? Because, he said, I don't know yet who is the [suitable replacement] general who could run the war. But if I would know who's the general, we'd go out with knives. This is what Rav Steinman said. There's a war against religion... I explained this to my kids... then, in the middle of the meal, my kid, five years old, says, "Aba, we don't have a sword in the house, I'm looking... maybe a hammer is also good?" I was very happy, I gave him a kiss... I was so proud of my son, he's looking for a sword to kill all these government ministers..."

Jonathan Rosenblum in his own vile & shameful words - March 2014:

..."He (Yair Lapid - Israeli Member of Parliament - Finance Minister) might be compared to Yasir Arafat, who told President Clinton at Camp David that signing a peace agreement would effectively seal his death warrant. That plea attested to Arafat's failure to educate his Palestinian supporters to the necessity of major concessions if they hoped to gain a state, including renunciation of the so-called "right of return." Instead he spent his time post-Oslo whipping the Palestinian population into a frenzy of hate -- much as Lapid has whipped up hatred of the chareidi population -- and was thus in no position to respond to Ehud Barak's dangerously generous offer of Palestinian statehood...."

Jacob Perlow

JACOB PERLOW IN HIS OWN PATHETICALLY IGNORANT WORDS - MARCH 2014

 "THE SECULARS WANT TO CRIMINALIZE LIMUD HATORAH!"

 CLICK: http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2014/03/perlow-seculars-want-to-criminalize.html

MUST WATCH VIDEO:

Multi-Million dollar civil suits filed against Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum & Yeshiva Eitz Chaim

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The Awareness Center, Inc.

Vicki PolinSkokie Sexual Abuse Examiner

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HESHY NUSSBAUM

The Awareness Center, Inc

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•                                                                                                                        Toronto, Canada –– Three separate multi-million dollar, civil suit have been filed against the Eitz Chaim Schools and convicted sex offender, Rabbi                                                                                                                                           

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 Toronto, Canada –– Three separate multi-million dollar, civil suit have been filed against the Eitz Chaim Schools and convicted sex offender, Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum.  

 In Canada there is no statute of limitations on sex crimes against children, both criminally or civilly. Back in 2012, several adult men came forward filing police reports against Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum, stating he sexually assaulted them as teenagers. Earlier this year, Heshi Nussbaum pled guilty to the sex charges relating to his abusing 6 boys under his care. All three civil suit have been filed by attorney Simona T. Jellinek.

As policy the names of the victimized by sex crimes are protected and in this article will be referred to as “Survivor A”, “Survivor B” and “Survivor C.”

“Survivor A”, is an adult male who is now forty-six, states that when he was thirteen-years-old, he was sexually assaulted by Heshi Nussbaum, who was the survivors teacher at the time while he was a student at the Eitz Chaim Schools. The allegedly were made aware of the crime, yet failed to report the both the neglect and abuse of its students.

Back in 1982, the survivor was on a school trip to Maple Lake lodge, which was organized by Eitz Chaim. Rabbi Nussbaum, who recently became a convicted sex offender, supervised the trip. In the official issued statement submitted to the court, the survivors states that he was subjected to heinous sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Heshi Nussbaum.

Rabbi Nussbaum sexually assaulted the survivor approximately two days after the child arrived at the lodge. The assault involved fondling and oral sex. According to the report Rabbi Nussbaum used his position as a teacher and a member of the clergy to secure the trust of his intended victims.

On October 24, 2012 “Survivor A” finally found the courage to report Heshi Nussbaum to the police. Subsequently Nussbaum plead guilty to the assault on this survivor along with five other boys.

“Survivor B”, was only twelve-years-old when he was sexually assaulted by Nussbaum back in 1972 at Camp Eitan. Nussbaum was acting as a guardian, chaperone and teacher, at an event sponsored by the Eitz Chaim School system.

In 1975, while touring Jerusalem with the Toronto Boy’s Choir, Nussbaum attempted to assault “Survivor B”, once again. The report states that Nussbaum attempted to enter the survivors bed, but the survivor curled up into a fetal position and pretended to sleep. Because Nussbaum did not get the reaction he hoped for, he left. On August, 2012, “Survivor B” reported the assault to the police

In 1973, “Survivor C” was between 12 -13 years old when he was sexually assaulted by Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum. “Survivor C” attended Eitz Chaim from Kindergarten through 9th grade. Nussbaum was the survivors fourth grade teacher, until the child changed schools. “Survivor C” and his classmates were accompanied by Rabbi Nussbaum on a field trip to Montreal. While sleeping on a cot, the child was awakened by Nussbaum who was sexually assaulting him. Nussbaum had his hands down the child’s pants and was fondling him.

In 1974, Nussbaum had an overnighter with several students who were interested in attending the rabbi’s summer camp. During that overnighter, “Survivor C” was instructed to share a bed with Nussbaum. along with two other boys. Once again Nussbaum started to fondle him. The child left the room and never returned.

On August 31, 2012, Nussbaum was arrested and charged with the assault on “Survivor C”.

It is believed that there are several other survivors of Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum that never reported the sex crimes to the police. If you or anyone else was assaulted by Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum, please contact the Toronto Police Department at: 416-808-3205.

http://www.examiner.com/article/multi-million-dollar-civil-suits-filed-against-rabbi-heshi-nussbaum-etiz-chaim

"In light of the many recent events revealing that our community also is affected by sex-abuse, it is time that we stop putting our faith into the rabbonim and rather put our faith into actual experts on these matters"

by Benny Forer 

Dear Jewish Press,

In light of the publication of two recent articles in your newspaper[1], I find myself writing this letter. As an introduction, I am, and have been, a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County for the past seven years. During this time, I have handled or been involved with 10,000 – 15,000 cases, including many sex-crimes related cases. I have interviewed and counseled thousands of victims and witnesses, including various victims of sexual abuse. I am also a member of the frum community having studied in a variety of yeshivas ranging from Litvish, Bobov and Chabad and I have obtained smicha.

As a person whose profession dictates seeking justice, I have found myself constantly at crossroads with many in the charedi community, including some of their leaders and rabbis. Many rabbis and members of our community have limited knowledge or understanding of various halachic issues pertaining to criminality and particularly sex-abuse, resulting in a primitive perspective of these issues.

Further, due to the authoritarian structure in place for most of the various communities, we blindly follow our leadership, regardless of the negative example they have set pertaining to this specific area.

Many rabbonim, including William Handler, propose respect, honor, credit and total power be given to individuals who A) possess limited skill, knowledge or ability to handle these matters; and B) have engaged in cover-ups, resulting in innumerable harms to our communities. 

Nevertheless, he continues to desire that the community trust such people. 

We have created a society where the learned become rabbis and leaders, regardless of acumen, intuition or sensitivity. Our system of governance is authoritarianism with too much power and credit being given to our “rabbonim.”

I certainly prescribe giving power and adhering to halachic rulings pertaining to areas of expertise, including kashrus, Shabbos and various areas of Choshen Mishpat. Notwithstanding our rabbonim’s expertise in these areas, they have virtually no expertise in the areas of sex-abuse.

The anatomy a sex-abuse case takes is very complex (and the following is a general statement regarding composition such a case takes): When a victim and/or legal guardian and/or mandated reporter initially make a claim, they are interviewed by a police officer. This officer may or may not have experience with sex-abuse. Subsequently, a detective trained in sex-abuse reviews the statement and conducts his own interview of the relevant parties. The detective may also conduct further investigative work to determine the veracity of the claims, including checking into various objective statements. Once the detective determines that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case forward, he will provide it to his supervisor for secondary review. If all parties approve, the detective will then present the case to a District Attorney. The DA is typically also a trained expert in sex abuse. He will review the case and determine whether there is sufficient evidence to file a case.

An important tangent: A DA is not allowed to file a case unless they reasonably believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. I.e., they cannot willy-nilly file a case just to see how it turns out. It is a violation of prosecutorial ethics, which can and does result in disbarment. Furthermore, despite continuous claims by rabbonim and members of the community, of abuse of this power, no one has illustrated any case revealing a bias and a motive for a deputy or assistant DA in filing a case. (Regardless of criticism of Charles Hynes, his office has thousands of cases, and it is not likely that he reviews the cases that do not receive media attention. In Los Angeles, the DA is never involved in cases, including the thousands of sex-crimes cases, unless it is one of major high profile).

If the reviewing DA determines that the case possesses sufficient evidence (the DA may have sent the detective for further investigation numerous times before making this decision), a sex-crimes DA is assigned to the case. This DA is required to personally interview the relevant parties to determine the veracity of their claims. If the DA concludes that there is sufficient evidence, and that the parties are being truthful, the DA will file the case. Next, the case is thoroughly vetted by the system. Either a grand-jury is convened or a preliminary hearing is conducted. This ensures that an innocent person is not wrongly accused. Rarely, but on occasion, a case is dismissed in its entirety due to various issues (victim/witness refusal or unavailability, loss or destruction of evidence, other evidence pertaining to guilt or innocence is produced, or a person is actually innocent). Consequently, there are numerous safeguards in place to ensure an innocent person is not wrongfully accused.

Importantly, all the players in these scenarios are trained professionals. Mr. Handler’s accusations that they are pseudo-professionals, notwithstanding. All have gone through a variety of lengthy and complex training in order to achieve their status and understanding. A typical sex-crimes DA has attended both university and law school, a DA training course, experienced multiple low level crimes for 1-5 years, managed over 1,000 cases, conducted numerous trials, and received both formal and informal training relating to sex-crimes. Additionally, sex-crimes DA’s are continuously required to attend various trainings to assist in effective prosecution. No DA office simply throws some inexperienced individual into the fray of sex-abuse and tells them to figure it out. Contrast that with the deafening lack of training by our rabbonim.

Mr. Handler’s frantic and hysterical portrayal of governmental systems is designed to undercut the truth and portray a cruel, malicious and vindictive organization. His purpose is to legitimize predators. His purpose is not to protect victims. He writes these accusations despite numerous rabbonim and battei dinnim ruling that a victim should go to the police (and agreeing that rabbonim lack the training and power to make decisions in this area). He writes despite numerous Torah sources, both modern and ancient, that dictate reporting to the police and maintaining a civilized society.

This brings me to the article written by Yori Yanover.[2] In an appalling article, Yanover attempts to claim that it’s quite likely the victims are lying regarding an accused predator. Mr. Yanover has no training in any of these matters; rather, he relies on his own perceived common-sense. His proof that the victim claims are likely false is based on a chilling documentary known as “Capturing the Friedmans” – a single case from 25 years ago, that was the result of improper investigative techniques. Amazingly, he is unaware of incredible strides taken in training and interviewing techniques, particularly in sex-abuse scenarios. He is not an expert on sex-abuse, criminal justice, suggestive interviewing, or any other matter pertaining to the case. The entirety of his expertise is that he taught 1st and 2nd grade for a total of two years.

Finally, both authors attempt to falsely portray that the system is out to get Jews and religious Jews in particular. 

This sort of hysteria is counter-productive and ill-conceived. It further puts our communities in an incredibly negative light. Ultimately, it is a transparent attempt to protect the predators and the rabbonim who sheltered them.

In light of the many recent events revealing that our community also is affected by sex-abuse, it is time that we stop putting our faith into the rabbonim and rather put our faith into actual experts on these matters.

Sincerely,
Benny Forer

[1] http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/molestation-cases-must-be-handled-by-gdolim-not-by-experts/2013/05/26/

[2] http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/jewish-teacher-charged-with-molestation-and-fired-on-dubious-grounds/2013/05/13/0/ – The Jewish Press has since removed this article, however, they failed to apologize or issue any sanction for the editor of this article.

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