Former Team USA gymnasts describe doctor’s alleged sexual abuse
Attorney suing USA Gymnastics for failing to protect
female athletes believes every Olympic team since 1996 has had members
abused by Dr. Lawrence Nassar
The
following is a script from “USA Gymnastics,” which aired on Feb. 19,
2017. Dr. Jon LaPook is the correspondent. Andy Court and Sarah
Fitzpatrick, producers. Deborah Rubin, associate producer.
The
U.S. women’s gymnastics team – for all its success over the past few
decades – has become embroiled in a dark and disturbing scandal
concerning sexual abuse. Last year, the Indianapolis Star investigated
cases in which male coaches, members of the national governing
organization USA Gymnastics,
were accused of sexually abusing female gymnasts. That report prompted
young women to come forward with accounts of abuse they had suffered
within the U.S. gymnastics system for many years as young girls and
competitive gymnasts. These new accusations concern not a coach, but a
prominent doctor who’d been working with U.S. Olympic and national teams
and other athletes for three decades.
Former Team USA gymnasts, from left: Jamie Dantzscher, Jessica Howard and Jeanette Antolin
CBS News
More
than 60 women have filed complaints so far, and some believe that
number may reach into the hundreds. Now, for the first time, three former members of U.S. national teams,
one an Olympic medalist, describe – in what you should be warned is
disturbing detail –the treatment they received from Dr. Lawrence Nassar –
a man they trusted and felt so comfortable with, they called him,
“Larry.”
Jeanette Antolin: All the girls liked Larry.
Jamie Dantzscher: He was, like, my buddy. He was on my side.
Dr. Lawrence Nassar
Jessica Howard: He was so sure of himself. And as a young girl, you’re confused. You don’t know what’s going on.
Jessica Howard was the U.S. national champion in rhythmic gymnastics from 1999 to 2001.
Jeanette Antolin competed with the U.S. national team from 1995 to 2000.
She helped UCLA win three national championships.
Jamie Dantzscher won a bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics and was recently inducted into UCLA’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
They
were teenagers, in a sport where injuries are common, and the
professional they turned to for help staying in competition was this man
-- seen here in instructional videos he posted on his web site.
Lawrence Nassar, an osteopathic physician, was one of the most famous
doctors in the world of gymnastics. As a trainer and doctor he worked
with Olympic and national womens’ artistic gymnastics teams for more
than two decades. That’s him right after Kerri Strug’s famous ankle
injury in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
And that’s him today.
Since December, he’s been held without bail in Michigan, where he worked
at Michigan State University’s sports medicine clinic. He’s charged
with possession of child pornography and criminal sexual conduct
involving the daughter of a family friend. Investigators were able to
make the case against him because gymnasts went public after years of
silence. The police and FBI are now investigating dozens of other cases
involving Nassar – some decades old, others within the last two years.
Jamie Dantzscher
CBS News
Jamie Dantzscher says she started seeing Dr. Nassar around 1995, after she became a member of the U.S. junior national team.
Jamie Dantzscher: I started having really bad lower back pain on my right side on my back. So I went to him for my back pain.
Jon LaPook: What specifically would he do?
Jamie
Dantzscher: He would put his fingers inside of me and move my leg
around. He would tell me I was going to feel a pop. And that that would
put my hips back and help my back pain.
Jon LaPook: How old were you then when he first did that procedure?
Jamie Dantzscher: I was either 13 or 14.
Jessica Howard
CBS News
Jessica
Howard: I was 15 years old and I had a hip problem. A very severe hip
problem. And USA Gymnastics suggested that I go to the Karolyi Ranch to
work with their doctor.
The Karolyi ranch outside Houston, Texas,
is a mecca for elite gymnasts who have given up any semblance of normal
childhood to pursue their Olympic dreams. Run by the legendary coaches
Bela and Martha Karolyi, it’s where members of the U.S. national team
for artistic gymnastics come roughly once a month for several days of
intensive training. The girls stayed in cabins on the property, and Dr.
Nassar would be there to provide medical treatment.
Jessica
Howard: He started massaging me. And-- he had asked me not to wear any
underwear. And then he just continued to go into more and more intimate
places.
Jon LaPook: And when that happened, what, what was going through your head?
Jessica
Howard: I remember thinking something was off but I didn’t feel like I
was able to say anything because he was, you know, this very
high-profile doctor. And I was very lucky to be at the ranch working
with him.
Jon LaPook: Did any of the other girls in your cabin talk to you about Dr. Nassar?
Jeanette Antolin
CBS News
Jessica Howard: Yes. The girls would say yeah he touches you funny.
Jeanette
Antolin: I remember being uncomfortable because of the area. But-- in
my mind, I was like, “If this helps, I’ll do anything.”
Jon LaPook: Did you ever complain to anybody about it?
Jeanette Antolin: No.
Jon LaPook: Why not?
Jeanette Antolin: It was treatment. You don’t complain about treatment.
Dr.
Nassar has pled not guilty to the charges against him in Michigan. In a
statement from his lawyers, he has defended his treatment as
legitimate. There is a rare therapy for back and hip pain where
specialists massage areas inside the vagina. But for a minor, it’s
expected such a procedure should involve a chaperone and use of a glove.
Jon LaPook: Did he use a glove?
Jamie Dantzscher: No.
Jon LaPook: And how many times did you have this kind of a procedure?
Former Team USA gymnasts speak with Dr. Jon LaPook, CBS News’ chief medical correspondent
CBS News
Jamie Dantzscher: I mean, it happened all the way to the Olympics in Sydney, till I was 18.
Jon LaPook: From the time you were around 13 or so until 18?
Jamie Dantzscher: Yes.
Jon LaPook: And it was just-- in your mind, normal medical treatment?
[Jamie makes expression]
John Manly: You’ve got a 52-year-old man placing his hand in the vagina of nine-year-olds ungloved for no good reason. Wrong.
California
attorney John Manly represents the women we interviewed and more than
40 others – one as young as 9 years-old, and most under 18 at the time
they say they were abused.
Jon LaPook: How many women do you think he did that to?
John
Manly: We know there are at least 60 that have come forward. But my
best estimate is it’s in the hundreds and possibly more.
Jon
LaPook: Are you saying that members of the last two Olympic teams from
Rio and from London were affected by Dr. Nassar? That they were abused
by him?
John Manly: I believe what-- at the end of the day there
are members of every single Olympic team since 1996 he did this to.
That’s what we’re gonna end up with.
Jon LaPook: What makes you so sure about that?
John
Manly: Because this is somebody who is a serial predator. But the story
here is that no one was watching to protect these girls. And they put
medals and money first.
By “they,” Manly means USA Gymnastics and
the Karolyis. He’s not arguing they knew anything about sexual abuse.
Many years went by before the women we interviewed complained to anyone
in authority. But part of the reason for that, Manly argues, was a
high-pressure, emotionally abusive environment at the ranch, which he
says made it easy for Nassar to win the girls’ trust.
Jamie Dantzscher: I mean, the-- like, yelling and screaming, that was, like, normal.
Jon LaPook: Really?
Jamie Dantzscher: Yeah.
Jon LaPook: What kind of abusive things were said to you?
Jamie Dantzscher: It was never good enough. “You’re not good enough.”
Jeanette Antolin: the pressure that they put on you to-- be perfection for them, it was very overwhelming and stressful.
John Manly: it was an environment of fear. And he stepped in and became the good guy. And—
Jon LaPook: Dr. Nassar did?
John
Manly: Dr. Nassar did. And he gave ‘em candy. He gave ‘em
encouragement. He acted like he cared about them. No one else there gave
that impression.
Jon LaPook: What were these girls so afraid of?
John
Manly: Not being able to fulfill their dream. I mean you’ve given up
your childhood and you’ve given up your adolescence to represent your
country. And the Karolyis and the selection team who are there have
control on who goes. So your fate is in their hands. You must do what
they say.
On behalf of the women, attorney Manly is suing the
Karolyis and USA Gymnastics for failing to protect their athletes. USA
Gymnastics president Steve Penny declined to speak with us on camera
about Dr. Nassar. In a statement, the organization said it is “appalled
that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner.” USA
Gymnastics “first learned of an athlete’s concern about Dr. Nassar in
June 2015,” the statement said. Five weeks later, after an internal
review, it “reported him to the FBI and relieved him of any further
assignments.” USA Gymnastics told us it has long had a policy that
adult staff should “avoid being alone with a minor.”
Jon LaPook: How often were you alone with him?
Jeanette Antolin: Most of the time.
Jon LaPook: Just in the treatment area, or also in your bedroom?
Jeanette Antolin: In our cabins. They were like cabins. Yeah.
Jon LaPook: That’s like your bedroom.
Jeanette Antolin: Yeah. Uh-huh (affirm).
Jon LaPook: Yeah. And did the Karolyis know that Dr. Nassar was alone with you for these treatments?
Jamie Dantzscher: Yeah.
Jon LaPook: How-- how do you know that?
Jamie
Dantzscher: Well, they had to know. I mean, there-- there was no one
else sent with him. And that’s the thing, too, to think, like-- what--
they-- in-- in the bed? Why would you-- like, the treatment was in the
bed, in my bed that I slept on at the ranch.
Bela and Martha
Karolyi declined to give us an interview, but in a statement they said
they “were never aware” that Nassar was performing this procedure or was
“visiting athletes in their rooms without supervision.” They also deny
that there was an emotionally abusive environment at the ranch.
Long
before Dr. Nassar’s arrest late last year, USA Gymnastics was facing
criticism over its handling of sexual abuse complaints about coaches at
its member gyms throughout the country. According to an investigation
published by the IndyStar in August,
USA Gymnastics received a complaint that one of its coaches, William
McCabe, should be locked up “before someone is raped,” but did not
report it to the authorities at the time. It was only after the mother
of a gymnast called the FBI seven years later that McCabe was sentenced
to 30 years in prison for sexually exploiting gymnasts. Marvin Sharp was
named USA Gymnastics women’s coach of the year in 2010, but was the
subject of a sexual abuse complaint the following year.
USA
Gymnastics didn’t report Sharp to the police until four years later when
another complaint came in. Sharp killed himself in jail while facing
molestation and child pornography charges.
Dianne Feinstein: An association has a responsibility, or should have a responsibility. And that is to take care of its members.
Jon LaPook: And do you think USA Gymnastics has done that?
Dianne Feinstein: No.
Senator
Dianne Feinstein is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee. She’s met with the women we interviewed and other gymnasts
and is now working on legislation to correct what she sees as a problem
in the reporting of sexual abuse complaints.
Dianne Feinstein: If
an amateur athletic association, like USA Gymnastics, receives a
complaint, an allegation, they must report it right away to local police
and the United States attorney.
Jon LaPook: So this wouldn’t apply just to gymnastics. It would apply to all Olympic sports that have a national governing body?
Dianne Feinstein: All amateur athletic organizations. That’s right.
It’s been nearly two decades since the women we interviewed competed at the highest level of their sport.
Today,
they say they’re still grappling with the psychological impact of their
competitive careers.
Jeanette Antolin told us it was only last year,
after speaking with other gymnasts, that she realized Dr. Nassar hadn’t
been helping her with her back pain after all.
Jeanette Antolin:
It was like-- almost like a light bulb went off. Like, “Oh my gosh.
Like-- are you kidding me? Like-- I trusted this man.” And just knowing
how vulnerable I was as a kid, to even not even think that something
like that would be inappropriate, just ruined me.
Beginning with King David and throughout our Literature we’re advised
not to sit in the “council of the wicked,” nor to share the same room
with a company of scoffers…or else we’re asking for trouble. But that is
precisely where an Orthodox Jewish reporter found himself during
President Trump’s press conference of a few days ago.
Jake Turx, a respected journalist, asked a
simple question that concerns many of us – what’s to be done about the
wave of anti-Semitism now sweeping our country most prominently on
campus?
Too bad the wording and the timing were all wrong.
By
the time Turx got his turn, Trump had already answered 30 hostile
questions and was in no mood for one more. Trump, only half listening,
took it as another personal attack. All he heard were the words
“anti-Semitism” and he bristled. He shrugged off the reporter and told
him to “sit down.”
Trump’s accusers would rather not mention that Trump snapped at every reporter during the session.
No
one here was at fault, neither Trump nor the reporter whose only
mistake was to be sharing the same room with a collection of
malcontents.
Turx was different in all the right ways. But
for Trump, it’s all the same mob. He can no longer tell journalists
apart. Who can blame him for failing to distinguish the good from the
bad when each day he gets blasted from all sides? Even Fox News is starting to sound like CNN.
They want his head on a platter and they, the Left, won’t stop with him.
His wife, our First Lady, can’t leave the house without being scorned.
Over here on the Upper East Side a group of uber Progressive Liberal moms
won’t let their kids go skating in a specific rink because it’s named
for Trump. The same Progressives who preach Sensitivity, Tolerance and
Diversity remove their kids from any school that’s attended by any Trump
son or grandchild.
No I’m not kidding and neither is Trump
who must be wondering if he made the right move at running for
president. He had not bargained for this deal.
As for Trump
and the press (and this goes for his spokesman Sean Spicer as well) it
must be lonely being the only Republican in the room.
The
rest of them are all Democrats who snoozed for Obama but have suddenly
come awake for Trump. They have no questions. Only accusations.
They
are a confederacy of hecklers and I noticed something strange when the
camera went wide across the room during last week’s press conference.
There
were no adults to be found. These are all kids. A few years ago they
were learning their ABC’s from Sesame Street. They’re all 22 years old.
No wonder they know nothing but think they know everything.
So
we should not be amazed to find propaganda instead of news and
corruption instead of information from this “White House Press Corps.”
The
only adult in the room was indeed Jake Turx. He was the only reporter
who meant well so naturally they used him to further savage our
President.
Jake Turx became the story.
Do we need to mention The New York Times?
Well okay – so here’s what that paper ran on its front pages: “A Jewish
reporter got to ask Trump a question. It didn’t go well.” Yes, the Times, all of sudden so concerned for the Jews. Then this, from the Daily Kos: “Trump puts his inner Klansman on full display against Jake Turx.”
Really? Yes. Really. Yes, that’s what it’s like out there in American medialand.
It was never about Jake Turx. It was about the company he keeps, the same company of slanderers that is tainting us all.
New
York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes a
regular column for Arutz Sheva. New from the novelist: “News Anchor
Sweetheart,” a novelist’s version of Fox News and Megyn Kelly. Engelhard
is the author of the international bestseller “Indecent Proposal.” For
books like his award-winning memoir “Escape from Mount Moriah,” he is
the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com
Donald Trump Should Buy a Suit From This Holocaust
Survivor
Martin Greenfield
Test Your Suit For Shatnez To Prove Your Love of the Jews - 10% Discount If You Have Jewish Mishpocho.DISCOUNT CODE "FAKE ZAIDE"
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Although less than 3% of
clothing sold in the US is actually made here, Greenfield Clothiers has
thrived for decades in the heart of Brooklyn; it is the last unionized
men’s clothing factory in all of New York City.
When I asked Martin Greenfield why he wouldn’t move his manufacturing
operation to China, where production would be a fraction of the cost,
he responded, “I would never even consider [it], because of all the
American jobs we’ve created here.”
His son, Tod, the co-owner of Greenfield Clothiers, echoed that
sentiment. “We operate on an ethical level, thinking about what’s good
for our customers, employees and the local neighborhood,” he said.
This emphasis on home-made, top-notch quality must work, as their
client list boasts a number of high-profile celebrities and politicians
including Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Shaquille O’Neal and Jimmy Fallon, as
well as past presidents such as Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, and Barack
Obama. As Martin likes to say, “I dress both sides of the aisle.” Frank
Sinatra and Michael Jackson were also customers.
And the Greenfields give back to the community in other ways. Tod
shared with me how his father worked with St. Nick’s Alliance in the
1980s to create Evergreen,
a membership organization that champions economic development in North
Brooklyn, and works with 10,000 local businesses there. The group’s
website states, “These businesses, which employ over 15,000 residents,
depend on Evergreen for free, quick and reliable assistance with tax
credits, incentives, financing, real estate and relocation assistance,
energy and green issues, workforce needs, and advocacy.”
When I asked Martin what motivated him to work so arduously on behalf
of keeping jobs in America, he responded emphatically, “Whenever I
speak to young people about working in America, I tell them that here
you only need to set your mind to something [and you will succeed]. I
started out as a floor-boy, working at this factory and when I bought it
a few years later, my father-in-law told me I would fail due to
President Carter’s interest rates. I told him, ‘I will succeed.’ I
picked six people and started from scratch, and I’m where I am today for
one reason only: we worked hard to be the best.”
A president for all Americans
In his inaugural speech, President Trump stated, “We share one heart,
one home and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is
an oath of allegiance to all Americans.”
Yet this past election was one of the most divisive that I can
remember, with many friendships being threatened and even families torn
apart. I am continuously engaging in healthy debate with my friends and
family members over the policies of the new administration, but I
believe that our conversations, social media posts and attitudes
must show respect for one another.
This ideal is so perfectly expressed and embodied by Martin
Greenfield, who was a victim of persecution and discrimination, yet
never forgot what it meant to treat a fellow human being with dignity
and respect.
As a teenager in Nazi Germany, the wife of the mayor of Weimar caught
Martin eating rotten, left-over food from a rabbit cage, and reported
him to the Nazis, who almost beat him to death.
Vowing revenge, he returned with a machine gun after the war, and
caught the woman standing outside her home, holding her baby. Upon
seeing the baby, Martin broke down crying and ran away. As he writes in his memoir, “That
was the moment I became human again. All the old teachings came rushing
back. I had been raised to believe that life was a precious gift from
God.”
When I asked Tod what he learned from his father, he remarked, “I
remember Dad used to call the union when he needed new employees, and he
would ask if they could send veterans over. He felt such gratitude for
the American soldiers who liberated him from the concentration camp and
wanted to give back to them. One time, they sent an African-American
veteran to his office. The company had never had an African-American
work there before, and it caused a local outcry.”
Tod’s brother, Jay, another co-owner at Greenfield Clothiers, added,
“Remember this was in the 1940s, around the same time Jackie Robinson
was breaking the baseball color line. It was unheard of.” Martin refused
to buckle under the pressure, and kept the African-American veteran
gainfully employed.
If President Trump were to wear a suit crafted by a man who treats
everyone with such dignity and equality, Trump would send a message that
he is a president for all Americans — and that he will show that same
respect for others.
Martin Greenfield represents exactly what our people can — and have —
achieved in America. As Martin told me, “I’m the proudest American
you’ll ever meet. There’s no place like it, and when I speak to young
people, I tell them that I am an immigrant [from Czechoslovakia] and I
love it here.”
As Jay Greenfield told me, “There is no greater honor as an American
suit-maker than to dress the president of the United States!”
In conclusion, permit me to disclose that I am unashamedly biased, and proudly wear a Martin Greenfield suit.
Every time I feel the fabric, I picture Martin’s constant smile. I
think of how his incredible life story has taught me to never forget the
ability of the human race to sink to the darkest recesses of evil, but
also to rise again and to thrive. I think of how we are all “created in
the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) and are truly “one Nation under God,
indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
The parents of a four-year-old
boy suffering from muscular dystrophy were arrested Saturday on
suspicion of physically and sexually abusing the child.
Police
were alerted to the child’s condition by the medical staff at the Safra
Children’s Hospital in the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, near
Tel Aviv.
According to the hospital, doctors began to
suspect the child was being harmed by those close to him, including
during his hospital stays. They contacted the police, who placed a
hidden camera in the boy’s hospital room last week.
According to initial police and hospital
reports, the camera recorded the mother allegedly attempting to poison
the boy and the father allegedly sexually assaulting him.
The child, from Modiin Illit, had already
exhibited multiple and apparently unconnected symptoms that came and
went without explanation, Prof. Asher Barzilai, head of the pediatric
hospital, told reporters on Saturday. The boy was hospitalized in the
intensive care unit at one point, and was classified in serious
condition, according to the hospital.
“A child arrives in a complicated and serious
state and you don’t succeed in reaching a diagnosis even with the best
doctors,” Barzilai said. “There’s no disease [that would fit the child’s
symptoms]. The [medical] team was aware from the start that something
wasn’t right, it didn’t make sense. You start to put together the signs
and you realize – this doesn’t happen [on its own].
“You have to understand that the decision to
pass a case on to social workers and the police can destroy a family,”
Barzilai said. The doctors only took the step when they were “certain”
the child was being harmed intentionally.
Despite a gag order that prevents publication
of any new details of the investigation, including the identity of the
parents, police said Saturday that the parents are suspected of a long
list of crimes, including conspiracy to commit a crime, sexual abuse,
sexual assault, physical abuse, and causing serious harm to a helpless
individual.
Police arrested the parents on Saturday morning, and custody of the child has been transferred to social services.
On Saturday night, the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court extended the father’s remand by four days and the mother’s by three.
Any
rabbi with any integrity at all would consider this scenario happening
all throughout the "Modern Orthodox" world. " Wow....I can date a shiksa for
years, then find a rabbi to convert her if my parents want her to, eat
non-kosher, violate the Shabbos repeatedly, still call myself Orthodox
if my father has money, and not one rabbi stands up and says this is a
fraud not to be emulated" Shameful!
*
Menachem Genack, Under The Microscope
From The Jewish Week: The original link to the article is below.
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, may be the most famous, and most-scrutinized, Orthodox Jew in the United States today.
Since
the president’s inauguration two weeks ago, Kushner — graduate of a
prominent Modern Orthodox day school in New Jersey, grandson of
Holocaust survivors, active supporter of the Chabad-Lubavitch chasidic
movement, a senior adviser to Trump who may become involved in Middle
East peace negotiations — has come under fire in some Orthodox circles.
The charges: Kushner rode with his wife Ivanka in a car to Friday night
post-inaugural events in Washington (with rabbinic dispensation LOL, it is
said, because of security concerns) , attended an ecumenical prayer
service in a D.C. church and apparently remained silent after the
president issued a controversial statement last week about International
Holocaust Remembrance Day that omitted any mention of Jews being the
primary target of the Nazis.
The statement “was
written with the help of someone who is both Jewish and the descendent
of Holocaust survivors,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
Many assumed he was alluding to Kushner, though press reports say it was
written by Boris Epshteyn, a Russian Jewish immigrant serving as
special assistant in the administration after working on the Trump
campaign.
Still, Kushner’s
critics have indulged in a chorus of so-called “frum-shaming,” keeping a
watchful eye on him, eager to call out any perceived violation of
Jewish law.
Kushner has
emerged as one of his father-in-law’s closest confidantes and fiercest
defenders, asserting that Trump is neither an anti-Semite nor a racist.
At 36, the publicity-shy scion of the wealthy Kushner real estate family is the subject of numerous media reports.
A “quiet
millionaire with Donald Trump’s ear,” reported BBC. “Something of a
mollifying influence upon his mercurial boss,” wrote Vanity Fair.
“Someone who ‘enjoys a Rasputin-like power’ with Trump,” according to
Cosmopolitan.
Now a (prominent?) Orthodox rabbi is coming to Kushner’s defense — ironically, one with close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Rabbi Menachem
Genack, administrator of the Orthodox Union’s kashrut division, calls
Kushner “a genuine Modern Orthodox Jew … serious about his Judaism.”
KUSHNER IN CHURCH
KUSHNER AT KABBALAT SHABBAT PARTY
KUSHNER IN CHURCH ON SHABBAT
The rabbi of
Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, N.J. and author of the 2013
“Letters to President Clinton: Biblical Lessons of Faith and Leadership”
(Sterling Ethos), was openly critical of Trump during the campaign,
saying he lacked a “sense of morality.” But having known the Kushner
family for three decades and worked “on many projects” with Charles
Kushner, Jared’s father, the rabbi said Jared “listens, he absorbs
information … he’s very even-tempered … the opposite of his
father-in-law.”
In a letter to The
Jewish Week, the rabbi described how Jared every year sends a $500
check before Passover to one of his former day school teachers “as a
gesture of appreciation for what [he] felt he gained,” Rabbi Genack
said.
In a similar vein,
a recent JTA article described Jared Kushner’s generosity and spirit of
cooperation at Harvard Chabad during his student days at the Ivy League
school and in his post-graduation life.
“It was most apparent in the
first impression what kind of mensch this young man was,” JTA quotes
Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi as saying. “When he saw importance in a
project, he committed himself to it.”
Rabbi Genack
compared the criticism of Kushner on halachic grounds to the carping
about Joseph Lieberman, also an Orthodox Jew, during the former
senator’s race for vice president with Al Gore in 2000. Lieberman was
accused of “hydrating” on a fast day during the campaign.
The rabbi said
such criticism is “ridiculous,” and that it is unfair for people in the
public eye to be held to unreasonable standards.
Kushner’s
visibility as an Orthodox Jew “sends a good message to the Jewish
community,” Rabbi Genack said. “I think we should just take pride.” * KUSHNER CELEBRATING BIRTHDAY ON SHELLFISH:
THE OU STATEMENT ON A DIFFERENT ISSUE (IN PART) - THE HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY:
"A movement that has voluntarily parted paths with normative
Orthodoxy and Halakha in so many ways has no right to complain when the
Orthodox establishment rejects its radical innovations. It is a classic
case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Halakha is predicated upon following the directives and guidance of the generation’s foremost rabbinic authorities. Vigilante Judaism – and that’s exactly what is being promoted by those attacking the OU’s ruling –
is inconsistent with the deference to the generation’s most
distinguished Torah experts that forms the basis of all stripes
of authentic Orthodoxy.
The OU has followed traditional and halakhically required protocol
when dealing with challenges and innovations to Torah practice, by
consulting with a world-renowned team of halakhic authorities, and
committing to following the decision that would be rendered.
This is what Torah Judaism is all about." *
As Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky zt"l expressed to me when I asked him if the OU can be trusted on Kashruth; Without hesitation he responded: "Yes, on salt"!
Jared Kushner &
Ivanka Trump In Church on Friday and Shabbos! Trump's Conversion Farce
Must Be Repudiated, Rebuked & Delegitimized by Every Orthodox Rabbi!
Kabbalat Shabbos With Jared & Ivanka! Israel & The Jewish
People Have Every Reason To Be Concerned About Kushner's Total Rejection
of Core Jewish Values (מומר להכעיס) , and In Essence, Contemptuous
Conduct.
According to the signed and sworn police report which was the basis of his indictment: The People of the State of New York County of Kings v Moshe Friedman:
…Between September 01, 2013 … and June 06, 2014 … at … [a yeshiva in Boro Park], the defendant … on multiple incidents per month …
Did strike the informant’s hand with defendant’s hand when informant’s hand was injured and treated with a cast
Did place defendant’s hand on the informant’s exposed buttocks
Did grab the informant’s penis,
Did insert the defendant’s finger into the informant’s anus
Did insert a banana into the informant’s anus
Did put the defendant’s mouth on the informant’s buttocks
Did place the informant’s penis inside the defendant’s mouth
Did bite the informant’s penis with defendant’s mouth
Did tie a string around the informant’s penis
Did shove a rag into the informant’s mouth
Did tie the informant’s lips shut with string
Did display a gun to the informant and state to the informant in sum
and substance, “you’d better not tell your parents, or I’ll kill you
and your family.”
Just
last week a New York State licensed teacher, an admitted and convicted
child molester, received what is being referred to as a sweetheart
sentence for his crimes. This 31-year-old charedi man sodomized a
6-year-old, bit his penis and among other threats put a gun to his head
and warned that he would kill him and his family if he told anyone what
happened. Yet this perpetrator received a sentence of probation from the
court. No jail time for him. And he did not even have to register as a
sex offender, something that under other circumstances would have at a
minimum occurred.
It
is not unreasonable to suggest that the district attorney prosecuting
this case was willing to make this deal, allowing a misdemeanor plea,
despite the fact that the perpetrator was originally charged with
first-degree felony sexual acts against a minor because there may have
been no other option. It is reasonable to assume that either one of two
scenarios played out prior to sentencing: either the parents of the
6-year-old molested boy did not want the child to testify, or the
community put significant pressure on the family to not testify against
the perpetrator.
This is not mere conjecture; it is
based upon the history of avoidance of reporting to the authorities
within this particular segment of the Orthodox community. Many cases
have not even made it to a courtroom for these reasons and the result is
that sexual predators have been able avoid any prosecution. Despite a
law requiring anyone who provides health care or teaches children to
report any reasonable suspicion of abuse to the authorities, reporting
in this community rarely happens.
This case was
resolved the same week that the first Kol v’Oz conference was held. As
reported in The Jewish Week (“This Is Something We Can’t Ignore,” Feb.
10), Kol v’Oz is an organization whose mandate is to bring together
international professionals from across the Jewish world to prevent
child sexual abuse in the worldwide Jewish community.
I was among the presenters and
attendees at this important gathering and had the opportunity to ask
some questions of religious leaders who presented their perspectives on
the problem, suggested interventions and their rationale for the best
way to react to protect children.
In virtually all
cases we discussed it was clear that a state law exists that more or
less indicates that those caring for children who suspect child abuse
must report it. This is true in Israel, where everyone is considered a
mandated reporter. In the State of New York, the State Department of
Education issued a clear ruling that even in private schools, anyone who
works with children must report suspected abuse. This ruling by the
department has no room for delaying or discussing a suspicion with
anyone but the properly trained authorities. This makes a great deal of
sense as it is only those professionals who know how to conduct a proper
investigation who should do so. Further, any delay allows a perpetrator
time to continue to offend, threaten those who he or she has already
abused and make excuses for previous offenses.
There are those in
the Jewish world, perhaps now a minority view, who argue that prior to
reporting to the authorities, a rabbi should be consulted. When asked at
the Kol v’Oz conference about this view, one rabbi would not take a
position against it. My follow-up question to him was about licensed
professionals who by law are mandated to report their suspicions
immediately. Were these professionals, I asked, also supposed to ask a
rabbi first or were they required to follow the law and report
immediately?
The response I
received was disconcerting. The rabbi started out by saying that he
would not answer the question. He went on to suggest that the law was
open to interpretation and a case could be made that a report may not
have to be made instantly. I had several follow-up questions that I
could not ask and they bother me still: Who assumes the responsibility
of protecting the child during the delay, and if the state chooses to
prosecute the professional for not reporting as required, will the
Jewish community pay the legal fees?
I am not an
attorney so I have only a limited understanding and even less of a
stomach for the implications of the phrase “open to interpretation.”
What I do know is that there should be no variability for interpretation
of the best interests of a child. As long as we find ways to obstruct
or subvert reasonable legal tools that help to remove abusers and move
to more aggressively protect children, perpetrators will be able to
continue getting away with their abuses — and even when caught may not
receive an appropriate sentence for their perverted crimes.
Dr. Michael J. Salamon is
a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the author of
numerous articles and books, most recently “Abuse in the Jewish
Community” (Urim Publications).
Yona Metzger - One of the 5 corruption charges is selling phony conversions to Judaism for $360,000
We can be no less vigilant in the religious world, painful as it may be. And it certainly is painful.. Corruption must be weeded out – without exception. As
embarrassing as it is for our nation when some of Israel’s political
elite spend time in jail, it’s also an overt message for us, and the
rest of the world: we have no favorites when it comes to
transgressions; we show our "greatest" to their individual jail cells.
So now Israel’s chief rabbi is joining an ex-president and an
ex-prime minister and some assorted members of Knesset on the list of
jailbirds with a history. But somehow a rabbi of distinction is even
harder to stomach. I read your column with great interest and I was
wondering whether this shakes your faith?
Shaken to the core
Ashkelon
Pam Peled:
This is a no-brainer. We know that power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Of course some prime ministers and rabbis will
walk the primrose way to trouble. They shouldn’t; we’d like our moral
guardians to be upright and good.But give a guy authority to say who
is a Jew, and what restaurant is kosher; that’s heady power, involving
lots of cash. Stories of kashrut police pocketing bribes are rampant;
it’s naïve to believe the rot wouldn’t rise to the top.
None of
this is new. Didn’t Nadab and Abihu, at Judaism’s dawn, bring “strange
fire” to the Temple and get consumed by God? Rashi proposes that the
boys were drunk; why were the high priest’s sons inebriated so soon
after walking in the sacred space of Mount Sinai? Were they high on
power, perhaps?
This phenomenon is by no means unique to the Jews. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
is peopled with 14th-century summoners and pardoners who are
lecherous, money- loving and lewd. They prey on widows and orphans and
the weak; the Church fuels their corruption. Ron Hubbard (founder of
the Church of Scientology) died very rich; Pope Clement VII’s reasons
for kicking Henry VIII out of his church are cloudy.
Religion
does great good: it provides community, rhythm and lasagnas that plop
on doorsteps in troubled times. Shabbat is never lonely with community kiddushim;
life-events are mapped out and embracing. But at the risk of becoming a
cliché myself, I say again: Religion does not make for better people.
It only makes you wait longer between meat and milk.
Tzippi Sha-ked:
I expected Pam to say: “People are people. The only difference between
religious and secular Jews is that the former wait longer between meat
and milk.”
Yes, people are people indeed, and – no surprise –
religious figures are also affected by the culture in which they live.
Torah is an antidote to disturbing societal norms; it should inspire
good behavior, or at least mitigate bad. (Maybe this rabbi would have
transgressed more without Torah?)
Life is a daily temptress
pinching our free will, challenging our choices, and forcing us to
write our own moral scripts. That some key players in the frum world
succumb to all manner of temptation casts an ugly shadow on our
community. Corruption must be weeded out – without exception. As
embarrassing as it is for our nation when some of Israel’s political
elite spend time in jail, it’s also an overt message for us, and the
rest of the world: we have no favorites when it comes to
transgressions; we show our greatest to their individual cells.
We can be no less vigilant in the religious world, painful as it may be. And it certainly is painful.
But it has no connection with my faith in God.
Danit Shemesh: There’s an old parable. The “wise men” of Chelm decided that
they had enough of worrying. So they appointed Shlomke to be the
professional worrier; he was good at that. When they tried to sleep
that night, they found that they were still worried. They came knocking
on Shlomke’s door accusing him of neglecting his job. To this he
responded, ‘Well? You set me up with money, housing, schooling – how can
I worry?’
In the face of ongoing deep disappointment, the fact
that we still appoint leaders is testament to our reliance on societal
order and appropriate behavior. We lean into hierarchy by trusting our
leaders to be worthy of the trust we place in them. But leaders can’t
live our lives for us or be good for us. We can’t wait on the sidelines
to see that a political rav is perfect before we activate our faith.
In this era of darkness, each of us must work hard to discern between
right and wrong. We’re all responsible for our own personhood. Faith is
a major component of being righteous; it’s the supreme “checks and
balances” against which we must measure ourselves.
Our faith is
not fickle; it does not waver in the face of human frailty. We believe
in Torah as the divine connecting agent to Hashem [God] – the ultimate,
right way to live. That does not sway with sociopolitical winds or the
aberration of others.
However, hillul hashem [desecration of God’s name] is the most serious of sins. It is the wayward leader’s problem, not ours.
The charges involve five main cases. In the first, Metzger allegedly
took bribes from rich foreigners seeking to convert to Judaism or
determine their religious status. The alleged go-between was Rabbi
Gabriel Cohen, head of the Los Angeles rabbinic court. Cohen allegedly
gave Metzger half of each bribe. In one case, from 2011, Metzger
referred to Cohen a Russian businessman who had immigrated to Israel and
wanted his two children converted. After the conversion, Metzger and
Cohen allegedly split evenly between them the $360,000 the man paid.
Reports: Ex-chief rabbi to be jailed for 3.5 years
Settler Rabbi Moshe Patron, suspected of sex offenses and harassing female victims of Beit El
NRG article removed under judicial gag order
חשיפה: הרב משה פטרון מהתנחלות בית אל חשוד במעשים מגונים והטרדות מיניות
In yet another example of Israel as a state which abuses privacy in
order to protect sex offenders, an Israeli judge gagged reporting on a
case in which an Israeli settler rabbi allegedly traveled to a woman’s
home in the Beit El settlement, stood outside and masturbated.
Afterward, he attempted to break into her home.
The story was
originally reported in Sheldon Adelson’s NRG (the same article has not
yet been removed from this site).
The article mentioned that the rabbi had weeks earlier attempted twice
to attack the same victim. During that instance he arrived masked and
wearing gloves. After attempting to call her numerous times using a
masked phone number, he attempted to break into the home. After this
failed, he left the premises. It wasn’t clear whether this was the same
victim or a different woman.
In the most recent attack, he again called her repeatedly and then
arrived at her home masked. After performing the sex act and attempting
to break into the home, he was captured and handed over to police.
They suspect that he has engaged in similar behavior in the past
(involving different victims).
A court ordered the report removed (i.e. censored) in order to protect the so-called privacy of the accused. His name is Rabbi Moshe Patron.
He too lives in Beit El and is a father of six children. He was one
of the founders of the local yeshiva, Bnai Akiva Mateh Binyamin which
has removed his name from its website (cached original webpage and current version).
Up until two years ago, he also taught in the women’s college at the
Bar Ilan University. The school’s website has wiped any trace of him
off the site including his biography and photograph.
Some Beit El residents are publicly demanding that he leave the
community. Other women remain unconvinced of his guilt and stand by him
as a member of a “good family.” He has been released from police
custody after his arrest on February 6th.
Any
rabbi with any integrity at all would consider this scenario happening
all through the Modern Orthodox world. " Wow....I can date a shiksa for
years, then find a rabbi to convert her if my parents want her to, eat
non-kosher, violate the Shabbos repeatedly, still call myself Orthodox
if my father has money, and not one rabbi stands up and says this is a
fraud not to be emulated" Shameful!
They deplane exactly at 5:51 P.M. EST (3:31 MST) 10:55 minutes into the video.
Filmed by Fox Phoenix MST (2 hours behind EST). -VIDEO DISPLAYS MST TIME. (MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME)
From Palm Beach International Airport, 1000 James L Turnage Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33415
To Mar-a-Lago Club, 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480
21.6 mi. About 27 minutes
Rabbi Menachem
Genack, administrator of the Orthodox Union’s kashrut division, calls
Kushner “a genuine Modern Orthodox Jew … serious about his Judaism.”
RABBI HERSHEL SCHACHTER, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE RCA CONVERTED TRUMP TO JUDAISM
Palm Beach International Airport
To: Mar-a-Lago Club, 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480
Relevant Halachas to the newest Chabad Family in Washington D.C.
12. Even if one does not need to be concerned about food when traveling on Erev Shabbos,
one must make sure at the onset not to put himself in a situation where
he will be arriving a short time before sunset. Such planning can often
lead to the desecration of Shabbos through carrying, going out of techumShabbos, and other violations. One should not be influenced with the arguments of the yeitzer hara that “the day is long and the roads are good12.”
13. One should be careful not to leave on a trip on Erev Shabbos after mid-day13.
A plane or ship arriving late on Friday
20. When an airplane arrives late on Friday, after Shabbos has started, and the airport is located outside of the techum Shabbos limitations of the city, the traveler is permitted to exit the airplane, but he must remain at the airport for the duration of Shabbos. He is permitted to walk around anywhere in the terminal.
If however the airport is located within the city limits, the traveler would be permitted to walk to his destination during Shabbos.
The above ruling also applies to a situation in which the traveler
has boarded the airplane early enough to arrive at his destination
before Shabbos, but due to unexpected delays the airplane does not take off until after Shabbos
had started. Since the doors have been already closed (and the plane
was on the runway awaiting takeoff clearance) the staff does not allow
him to leave the airplane and he was forced to fly and land on Shabbos.
If he has valuable items with him which are not permitted to be handled on Shabbos (muktzah),
but which cannot be left at the airport, he is permitted to keep them
and walk around with them in the airport. However, he would not be
permitted to keep them with him if he is going to leave the airport.
Modern Orthodoxy’s failings transcend Jared Kushner
In practice, it appears righteousness and
accountability are not basic tenets of Orthodox or even Modern Orthodox
culture. Whether or not the right-leaning OU — which also grievously
enabled and elevated serial abuser Baruch Lanner
as a dynamo for Jewish continuity — qualifies as part of the Modern
Orthodox community, little has been done to avert subsequent or future
abuses. As the executive who was supposed to reform that organization was being pushed out, one of the OU’s leaders unapologetically declared, “The post-Lanner era is over.” Or, as Kushner’s father-in-law would say, it was time “to move on.”
As an example of Modern Orthodoxy’s pervasive
and permissive environment, it happens that Frisch itself had for years
employed and touted Lanner as a teacher and administrator.
Given his unexceptional high school record, Kushner’s acceptance by Harvard
highlights another iron-clad reality: the power of money, in Jewish as
well as secular American life. With the understandable need to recruit
and retain major donors to underwrite our economically unsustainable
network of institutions, especially yeshivas and day schools,
compromises are both inevitable and ubiquitous.....
