“The level of suicide and physical and emotional damage among the victims of violence is unbearable. They, unlike those who hurt them, have no power or standing. They are the ones who are taken advantage of and always brought down. They cry in the dark, alone, out of sight. The victims die in secret. They have no name or face or identity,”

Exposé leads to suicide, but media won’t play blame game

 

Pundits have a lot to say about Boaz Arad's death in the wake of a report detailing his sexual misconduct, and it's almost all in defense of the real victims and the fourth estate

Gymnasts say that Larry Nassar is far from a “one-man problem.” Here are the stories of three coaches accused of sexually abusing young gymnasts for years.

Health, Happiness & Love by email --- Not Kupat Ha'Ir or Yad L'achim.... Watch The Video If You Are Strong In Your Faith Only... (I Would Have Edited Out Certain Portions)

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A Greater Miracle

 

"My stomach hurts," Michoel complained. His mother looked at him in concern. Michoel was not the type of kid who complained about aches and pains all the time, but this was the third time in the past day and a half that she was hearing about his stomach ache. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.

Donate and merit a yeshua

A Greater Miracle

"My stomach hurts," Michoel complained.

His mother looked at him in concern. Michoel was not the type of kid who complained about aches and pains all the time, but this was the third time in the past day and a half that she was hearing about his stomach ache.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked.

Michoel pointed to his right side.

"Should I massage you there?" she asked, taking a step toward him.

"Nooo," six-year-old Michoel protested. "It hurts if you touch. It hurts really badly." His face told the same story.

"When did the pain get that bad?" his mother asked, seriously worried now.

"It keeps getting a little worse than before," he replied. "And if I cough, it hurts unbearably."

"I think we're heading to the hospital," his mother informed him, all her plans changing instantaneously. "Pain on the right side of the stomach that keeps getting worse, and hurts most of all when you cough… I don't like the sound of it. Not at all."

"What do you think is the matter?" Michoel asked in alarm.

She explained to him about appendicitis and the fear that the appendix could burst, beginning to pack a bag as she spoke. She called her husband and asked him to come to the hospital directly after kollel.

They arrived at the hospital, where, after a preliminary examination, they were scheduled for emergency surgery.

"The inflammation is quite severe," said the emergency-room doctor. "We're afraid of the appendix bursting; you know we want to avoid that at all costs." Michoel and his parents sat down to wait for an OR to free up.

"The room just became available," the nurse told them a short while later. "They're cleaning it up and you're next." Michoel's parents whispered chapters of Tehillim and Michoel tried to daven as well. Just as the orderly was about to take him to the operating room, a nurse came hurrying down the corridor.

"Don't take him," she told the orderly. "They just brought in someone who's hovering between life and death. The appendix will have to wait an hour."

Michoel was in pain and very nervous, and his parents were tense, too.

"We've got to do something," his mother said quietly. "Our child is in urgent need of surgery; we can't just wait for the hospital to get its act together. A burst appendix is life-threatening, too."

"What do you suggest?" her husband asked, lines of worry etched into his face.

"A contribution to Kupat Ha'ir," she said. They agreed on a sum and contributed.

The nurse came to tell them that the emergency surgery was taking longer than expected, and that another emergency was lined up immediately thereafter. Since it would be nearly morning by the time that surgery was over, they were best off waiting for the morning shift to begin, as the staff would certainly be more alert and refreshed than the night shift.

"I thought Kupat Ha'ir worked more quickly and efficiently," Michoel's mother said sadly. In the meantime, Michoel fell asleep.

Morning arrived and the surgeon examined Michoel. I don't think it's his appendix at all," he said, palpating Michoel's abdomen.

More tests were taken. "He has a virus in his digestive system," was the new diagnosis. Give him acetaminophen for a day or two. He'll feel better tomorrow and forget the whole thing by the end of the week."

They left the hospital with shining faces. How close Michoel had come to being operated on – for nothing!

"And to think I was complaining about Kupat Ha'ir," Michoel's mother said, shaking her head. "It didn't even occur to us to daven that he not undergo surgery. It seemed so clear to us that this was what he needed. But when you contribute to Kupat Ha'ir, sometimes you get a greater miracle than you even dreamed of asking for!"

Donate and merit a yeshua

 

 https://www.kupat.org/Salvations/75/a-greater-miracle

Jeff Bezos adds billions to his fortune as Amazon reports profit surge - This Post is about Determination and Vision, Not Money!

 Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, added another couple of billion to his fortune on Thursday as Amazon, the company he founded, announced it had made close to $2bn in profits in the three months running up to Christmas.

 READ MORE:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/01/amazon-earnings-exceed-expectations-while-apple-alphabet-google-falter

It is with great difficulty that I inform you that Dr. Ari Sclar is no longer an employee of Ramaz.

January 22, 2018 6 Shevat 5778 Dear Ramaz Upper School Faculty, Parents, Students, and Recent Alumni, It is with great difficulty that I inform you that Dr. Ari Sclar is no longer an employee of Ramaz. We understand that you may have questions about Dr. Sclar's departure, but because this is an ongoing investigation, we can only say that it is due to a serious violation of Ramaz's standards of conduct.  Dr. Jon Jucovy, Chair of the History Department, will be supervising the grading of Dr. Sclar's final exams and the calculation of semester grades. Dr. Jay Stone, a veteran member of the history department who retired last year, will begin to teach Dr. Sclar's second semester junior history classes starting on Thursday and until further notice.  As this is a sensitive matter, we ask that you please respect the privacy of Dr. Sclar and not contact him. We will share relevant information, as appropriate. As we previously communicated, if anyone has any information regarding a violation of Ramaz's standards of conduct, please contact the law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. You can reach out to Helen Cantwell at hcantwell@debevoise.com or 212-909-6312, or Andrew Ceresney at aceresney@debevoise.com or 212-909-6947.    Sincerely, Shlomo Stochel Head of Upper School  Ramaz School

SAR is committed to our students- past and present. Beyond the reported incident, we encourage anyone who has information regarding any abuse, past or current, to report to either of us or to T&M through the contact channels listed below.

Important Message from SAR

SAR is more than a school - we are a community. We pride ourselves on the combination of excellence in education, love of Israel and commitment to mitzvot which have been transmitted to generations of students. We strive to instill in our students the midah of kol yisrael arevim ze laze, and take seriously this commitment to watch out for each other. 

It is our commitment to these principles that makes this letter so difficult. There has been significant media attention recently highlighting sexual abuse at private schools. Much of the abuse that has been brought to the forefront by the press took place many years ago and has only been uncovered recently. Sadly, it has come to our attention that SAR students may have been subject to sexual abuse at the hands of a former teacher/administrator in the 1970s. 

A recent email from a former student reported abuse that was perpetrated by Stanley Rosenfeld, a former SAR Academy teacher and administrator. Rosenfeld was the Assistant Principal for General Studies at SAR Academy in the 1970s. In 2001, many years after Rosenfeld left SAR Academy, he pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree child molestation with no known connection to SAR.

As painful as this is for our school community, the pain for any of the victims of abuse is far greater. We are committed to being supportive to any victims of abuse, to understanding the abuse they suffered and the harm it has caused them, and to learning from our past experiences and using them to inform our present practices to protect our community. 

In order to ensure that we can properly understand the scope of abuse and support the victims of abuse, SAR has hired T&M Protection Resources to conduct an external investigation of claims of sexual abuse. T&M is an investigative firm, comprised of former prosecutors with extensive experience investigating allegations of sexual misconduct. In order for T&M to conduct this investigation, we are encouraging all members of our community to please report any information regarding abuse that may have been perpetrated by Stanley Rosenfeld. Reports may be made directly to either of us or to T&M. Contact information is listed below. 

SAR is committed to our students- past and present. Beyond the reported incident, we encourage anyone who has information regarding any abuse, past or current, to report to either of us or to T&M through the contact channels listed below.

We expect that the investigation by T&M will take at least several months and we want you to know that while the privacy of survivors is central to this process, we do intend to communicate our findings at the conclusion of the investigation. 

We are fully committed to the safety of our students and to continuing to implement best practices in these areas. As our students, parents and staff are aware, in recent years, SAR has implemented policies and training regarding sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Our commitment to our current students and the protections we have implemented does not minimize the commitment to understanding and addressing a painful past. 

We thank you for your assistance in this effort and in being responsible for the well-being of all of those in our community.

Rabbi Binyamin Krauss
Principal, SAR Academy

Rabbi Tully Harcsztark

Principal, SAR High School

Contact information:

T&M Protection Resources

email: SAR@tmprotection.com

phone:(646) 445-7705

Rabbi Binyamin Krauss

email: kraussb@saracademy.org

phone: (718)-548-1717 ext. 1207

Rabbi Tully Harcsztark

email: harcsn@sarhighschool.org

 phone: (718)-548-2727 ext. 1501

Grooming. Such a chilling word. Such an apt one. Abusers introduce themselves as instructors and allies. They can lift your score. They can improve your grades. They can provide the guidance that you lack or the fun that you’re missing. Bit by bit, they ask for bigger chunks of your time and suggest increasingly private encounters. The pace of the journey varies, but not its arc or its destination.

Larry Nassar Is a Familiar Monster

When Judge Rosemarie Aquilina handed down her sentence on Larry Nassar last week, she spoke to and of him as a kind of monster we rarely see. She was wrong.

I know this because I remember Penn State, where an assistant football coach named Jerry Sandusky worked his way through boy after boy across year after year.

I know this because I haven’t forgotten what happened in the Boy Scouts of America decades ago.

And I know this from the extensive time that I once spent studying and even interviewing men who, like Nassar, were serial child molesters, except that none of them had the lofty title — “Dr.” — that he did.

No, they had loftier ones.

The honorific “Rev.” came before their written names. People addressed them as “Father.” They were Roman Catholic priests.

In researching and publishing a book about them, I learned a great deal about child sexual abuse — enough to recognize that as horrifying as Nassar’s violation of young female athletes was, he and his crime spree weren’t anomalous. They snugly fit a pattern. And taking full and proper note of that is the best way — the only way — to protect children from the other Nassars out there.

In Nassar’s case there were two primary institutions, U.S.A. Gymnastics and Michigan State University. Both behaved unconscionably. In the cases of the scores of priests whom I investigated, it was the Roman Catholic Church: its individual congregations, its dioceses, all the way up to the Vatican. The Boy Scouts organization was deemed so irresponsible that in 2010, a jury ordered it to pay $18.5 million to a former scout who had been abused in the 1980s. Athletic officials at Penn State, including the legendary head football coach Joe Paterno, disregarded warnings about Sandusky. In the short term, taking action is infinitely more uncomfortable and harder than simply wishing it all away.

It’s interesting that Sandusky’s name wasn’t more prevalent over the past week, as the attention to Nassar’s story and the efforts to wring some meaning from it intensified. The parallels are striking and instructive. Although Sandusky’s victims were boys, he, like Nassar, constructed his professional life so that he had steady access to children and appeared to be an altruist in their midst. He started a foster home, which evolved into a nonprofit group for troubled youth so large and well regarded that it received one of President George H. W. Bush’s “Points of Light” awards.

“Children constantly surrounded Sandusky, so much so that they became part of his persona,” Joe Posnanski wrote in his book “Paterno.” That same description applies to Nassar. It also applies to many of the abusive priests who went undetected and unpunished before the Catholic Church finally owned up to its failures and instituted necessary reforms.

Nassar had girls stretched out and pliant on his examining table. Sandusky roughhoused, wrestled and showered with boys in the name of sports. Nassar’s victims and their parents were awestruck by his ties to Olympic athletes, his floor passes to elite competitions, the mementos on his office walls. Sandusky’s victims were dazzled by his position smack in the middle of all of those football stars and all of that football glory.

In an article about Sandusky in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell observed that he “built a sophisticated, multimillion-dollar, fully integrated grooming operation, outsourcing to child-care professionals the task of locating vulnerable children.” Change “child-care professionals” to gymnastics coaches and Gladwell could have been analyzing Nassar.

Grooming. Such a chilling word. Such an apt one. Abusers introduce themselves as instructors and allies. They can lift your score. They can improve your grades. They can provide the guidance that you lack or the fun that you’re missing. Bit by bit, they ask for bigger chunks of your time and suggest increasingly private encounters. The pace of the journey varies, but not its arc or its destination.

And they concoct justifications for what they’re doing, trying to persuade their victims of its righteousness as they simultaneously persuade themselves. Nassar’s so-called medical treatments exemplified this, as did the actions of many priests. I recall one who told a boy that the touching was part of his confession and his purification. I recall another who told a girl that she’d been assigned the task of helping him, a professed celibate, to better understand human sexuality so that he could minister more effectively to his flock.

Many abusive priests invoked the permission of God. Nassar cited the demands of science.

An overwhelming majority of adults who treat, teach, coach and counsel children are nothing like these men. To distrust all of them would be a terrible mistake and grievous disservice, both to them and to the kids who stand to benefit mightily from their attention.

But to find easy reassurance in the station that an adult possesses, the privileges that he bestows and the cause that he serves would be a greater mistake still.

The reckoning last week in that Michigan courtroom — where survivors of Nassar’s abuse emerged from silence and isolation to confront him and the world with the damage that he had done — wasn’t like anything I’d previously witnessed. But Nassar? There were similar monsters before him. And there will be similar monsters after.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/larry-nassar-monster.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Yeshiva & Mesifta Chaim Berlin

If there is anyone that would care to share their stories with me dating back some 30-35 years to the present time, please contact me: a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com

Your confidentiality is guaranteed!

 

A Question of Jewish Law for Moetzes Agudath Israel of America - גאונים יציבים מאוד--- very stable geniuses ---זייער סטאַביל געניוסעס - nagyon stabil géniuszok--- May a Person With a Beard Lie To Save His Own Life, Even if he took this Photo Without a Yarmulke - Pikuach Nefesh? Get Back To Me! Where are Pinchos Scheinberg & Yisroel Belsky When You Need Them?

The World Famous Panel of Experts on Child Sex Abuse & Just About Everything Else

 They all made it to the Moetzes on the first try!

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!

Man Charged with Molesting Girls: "I Am a 9-Year-Old Trapped in a Man’s Body"

Cook County Sheriff's Office

 

A 38-year-old Chicago man accused of molesting three pre-teen girls told police he is a boy trapped in a man’s body, according to court documents.

Joseph Roman was charged with a long list of sexual molestation charges after three girls between the ages of six and eight came forward alleging they were assaulted during a three-year period.

During a January 24 hearing, Roman reportedly admitted to some of the charges and told the court he felt he was “a nine-year-old trapped in an adult’s body,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Prosecutors said the attacks began in 2015 after a family moved into a home with the suspect, and they continued until 2017. Roman reportedly began assaulting the first child while the others were asleep. The child was six when the assaults allegedly started.

Roman is also accused of molesting an eight-year-old while her family also stayed with the suspect.

During the ten-week period the family stayed in Roman’s home, prosecutors say the suspect repeatedly abused the girl while other members of the family were out of the home. The child’s mother worked nights, and Roman was tasked with minding the children, according to investigators.

Finally, prosecutors allege that Roman assaulted a third child while she slept in his home visiting the other children. This six-year-old girl’s family confronted Roman about the allegations, and the police were called.

Roman reportedly turned in a video confession to the court and was charged with a Class X felony.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/01/26/man-charged-molesting-girls-9-year-old-trapped-mans-body/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_content=links&utm_campaign=20180126

 

Hatikvah, played on restored violins owned by Jews during the Holocaust

Krawatsky & Kolko - "Special K" - The Similarities ---- Keep Lying & Lying... Lying & Lying... Lying & Lying... Lying & Lying... Lying & Lying...

"The question reverberates: What did they know and when did they know it?   Because protecting children is the responsibility of all of us. That’s why communal institutions need governance, clear guidelines, follow-through, transparency and process, not just proclamations. Saying “trust us” is no longer enough, if it ever was. But it’s never too late to do the right thing, starting with acknowledging past mistakes, apologizing publicly and being responsible, accountable — no longer complicit. " Gary Rosenblatt

Community Day School Doubles Down, Claiming ‘Not Privy’ To Investigation Of Former Staff Rabbi

 

Beth Tfiloh board stands by its handling of abuse allegations, though it fires accused rabbi; second teacher let go.

By Hannah Dreyfus 

 

In the wake of a Jewish Week investigation that raised questions, in part, about how a Modern Orthodox day school in Baltimore handled allegations of child sexual abuse against one of its veteran teachers, the board of the school seemed to double down this week in asserting that it had acted properly.

The board of trustees of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School stated that it had at all times employed “best practices” in dealing with the teacher, Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky, and had been unaware of key information regarding his case.

Though the board said no misconduct on the part of the rabbi was found related to Beth Tfiloh during his 15 years at the school, he was nonetheless terminated immediately.

Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky. Via rabbishmuelkrawatsky.blogspot.com

In a series of statements issued by the leadership of the school since the article was published last week, Zipora Schorr, the director of education of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, first appeared to support the rabbi, a Judaic studies teacher in the middle school. She wrote on Jan. 17 that the case — based on allegations of abuse against three boys at Camp Shoresh, a Jewish day camp in western Maryland, in the summer of 2015 — was “resolved” by the authorities in February 2016, after which Rabbi Krawatsky was reinstated in his Beth Tfiloh post. He had been placed on leave in the interim. (In an interview with The Jewish Week several weeks ago, Schorr said she believed in the rabbi’s “complete innocence,” though she did not explain why.)

Rabbi Krawatsky did not respond to requests for comment, but his attorney said the rabbi continues to proclaim his complete innocence and denies that any misconduct took place.

(The Jewish Week article last week noted that an initial determination by Frederick County Child Protective Services of a preponderance of evidence of abuse against the rabbi in the case of two of the boys was, on legal appeal, downgraded to not a preponderance of evidence of abuse. But the CPS determination remains on record and was not “resolved.”)

On Jan. 18, Schorr issued another statement saying that “as a result of the allegations detailed” in The Jewish Week article, Rabbi Krawatsky has been “terminated” and would “not be on the premises and will not have any contact with our students.”

On Monday night, the school’s board of trustees issued a detailed statement affirming that “this matter has from its inception been handled professionally, sensitively and with the utmost concern for the safety of our children.”

It asserted that “there is much in the article that is incorrect and subject to question,” though it did not offer details.

The board noted that there have been no indications of misconduct by Rabbi Krawatsky at Beth Tfiloh in his 15 years teaching at the school, but it was decided that “the explosive nature of [The Jewish Week’s] allegations and the associated publicity made it impossible for Rabbi Krawatsky to effectively carry out his educational duties at Beth Tfiloh.” It authorized his “immediate termination and prohibition from returning” to the school’s campus, adding that the decision “should not be viewed as a determination as to the truth of the media account.”

Beth Tfiloh school where Rabbi Krawatsky used to be employed.

Beth Tfiloh officials assert the school “was not privy” to a police investigation that took place after the summer of 2015. But the police report of the investigation, a public document, states that on Sept. 2, 2015, the police investigator and Child Protection Protective Services (CPS) caseworker made an “unscheduled visit” to the Beth Tfiloh day school to interview Rabbi Krawatsky. Maj. Tim Clarke, spokesman for the Frederick County Sheriff’s office, confirmed to The Jewish Week that the visit took place.

Upon arriving at the school, the report states the investigators were met by middle school principal Rabbi Yehuda Oratz and “welcomed and provided a private room where they could meet with and interview Mr. Krawatsky.”

Further, as reported here last week, though Schorr initially denied knowledge that Rabbi Krawatsky was twice “indicated” by CPS for child sexual abuse — the term used for a finding that there was a preponderance of evidence to suggest sexual abuse — when confronted with email documentation that the Board of Education made her aware of the first indication, Schorr subsequently confirmed in an email: “I was informed of the indication via email on Sept. 25, 2015 from Frederick County Child Protective Services unit.”

Schorr subsequently confirmed in an email: “I was informed of the indication via email on Sept. 25, 2015 from Frederick County Child Protective Services unit.”

She stated that Rabbi Krawatsky was immediately suspended at that time.

He was reinstated after the “indication” was downgraded, following a legal appeal, to “unsubstantiated,” a term used for noting there was not a preponderance of evidence of sexual abuse.

In a Jan. 5, 2016 letter from Chris Rolle, the defense attorney who represented Rabbi Krawatsky in the appeal, Rolle called Schorr as a witness for a Jan. 13 appeal hearing. Schorr could not be reached for comment as to whether or not she was subpoenaed. (The case was settled prior to adjudication or appellate review.)

The board letter states that, “In the absence of any credible evidence from an objective source that he engaged in any inappropriate conduct, Beth Tfiloh had no basis to take any employment action against Rabbi Krawatsky.”

But the “indications,” at least one of which Schorr acknowledged in her email, are from CPS, a state agency.

[According to the Maryland Department of Human Resources, an “indicated” finding is accessible to any agency or institution that wishes to vet employees. A CPS Background Clearance Request form posted on the department’s website authorizes CPS to release “indications” of child sexual abuse.]

‘In the absence of any credible evidence from an objective source that he engaged in any inappropriate conduct, Beth Tfiloh had no basis to take any employment action against Rabbi Krawatsky.’

-Beth Tfiloh Board

The school’s legal and communications representative, Amy Rotenberg, told The Jewish Week that neither the school board nor administration would provide further comment with regard to these claims. The board continues to affirm its full “support” of Schorr’s “careful and thoughtful decision-making in the interest of our school community and the children.”

Further, the board letter states that Beth Tfiloh is advised by the Baltimore Child Abuse Center regarding procedures and “best practices” to ensure “the safety of our children.”

The Jewish Week spoke with Drew Fidler, Beth Tfiloh’s primary contact at the Baltimore Child Abuse Center, in December 2017. (Schorr provided Fidler’s name when asked for the school’s correspondent at the Abuse Center.)

Fidler, who confirmed that she began working with Beth Tfiloh in June 2017, stated to The Jewish Week that an “unsubstantiated” ruling does not indicate an alleged abuser’s innocence. She stated she would not recommend a school rehire a person with a CPS “unsubstantiated” determination on his or her record without further investigation.

The board acknowledged receiving a March 22, 2016 letter from state authorities stating sexual abuse was “unsubstantiated” in the case of Rabbi Krawatsky. He was reinstated to his position teaching children with no further investigation.

(In Maryland, the third potential outcome of a CPS investigation is “ruled out,” meaning that based on the available information, child maltreatment did not occur. As previously reported, this determination was not reached in the cases involving Rabbi Krawatsky.)

Fidler, who confirmed that she began working with Beth Tfiloh in June 2017, stated to The Jewish Week that an “unsubstantiated” ruling does not indicate an alleged abuser’s innocence.

If a school does choose to rehire a person with an “unsubstantiated” claim on his or her record, Fidler recommended that special restrictions and guidelines be enforced to inform and protect students. She said that “best practices” would also include publicizing these restrictions and guidelines.

(Fidler’s professional recommendations are corroborated by the several experts consulted for The Jewish Week’s original report.)

The board letter states, and Ms. Schorr confirmed to The Jewish Week over the phone in December, that Rabbi Krawatsky was reinstated to his position with no personalized guidelines or restrictions.

Rotenberg, the Beth Tfiloh representative, declined to specify any factual inaccuracies in the Jewish Week’s initial report. She stated only that the online headline of The Jewish Week’s initial report, “Did Baltimore’s Orthodox Community Turn a Blind Eye to Child Sexual Abuse?” was “false and defamatory.” She requested that The Jewish Week retract the headline.

In a separate statement from the board on Monday, “in the interest of transparency and full disclosure,” Beth Tfiloh reported that Dr. Jonathan Lasson, a psychologist hired as a Judaics and neuroscience teacher in the high school “in the middle of the 2016-17 school year,” was no longer working at the school, as of Monday. The board said it was “disappointed to have learned” from a blog post that Lasson was placed on probation by the Maryland Board of Examiners and Psychologists. (Lasson did not respond to request for comment.)

The court order, a public document, details a complaint from a female patient of inappropriate behavior on Lasson’s part. It was signed and published on Oct. 3, 2017.

The school said it had employed a “background check per our usual protocol and screening of new hires and Dr. Lasson was clear.”

The Beth Tfiloh website welcomed Lasson on the staff Oct. 24, 2017.

http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/orthodox-day-school-doubles-down-claiming-not-privy-to-investigation-of-former-staff-rabbi/

Any doubts that monsters can be real were put to rest by the more than 150 brave women and girls who told a Michigan judge over seven days how Dr. Larry Nassar molested them in the guise of treating them. Some of the abuse, which went on for decades, started when they were as young as 6.

Sentencing Larry Nassar Is Only a Start - Adults who suspect a predator is on the prowl and do nothing are simply monsters in another form.

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Megan Halicek, right, after the sentencing. 

Any doubts that monsters can be real were put to rest by the more than 150 brave women and girls who told a Michigan judge over seven days how Dr. Larry Nassar molested them in the guise of treating them. Some of the abuse, which went on for decades, started when they were as young as 6. When Dr. Nassar committed his crimes, he was working as a doctor for the United States Olympic gymnastics team, for Michigan State University, for U.S.A. Gymnastics — the sport’s governing body — and elsewhere.

As agonizingly recounted during a sentencing hearing, several girls over the years turned to one authority or another for help, and received none. Adults who suspect a predator is on the prowl and do nothing are simply monsters in another form.

Photos used during victim impact statements in the trial of Larry Nassar. Clockwise from top left: Larissa Boyce, Whitney Mergens, Christine Harrison, Marta Stern, Lindsey Lemke, and Lyndsy Carr.

Dr. Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually molesting seven young athletes. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina guaranteed on Wednesday that he would never again be free, after sentencing him to 40 to 175 years in prison. 

But he is not the only one who deserves to be called to account. An investigation commissioned by U.S.A. Gymnastics and released last year found that its board repeatedly turned a blind eye to Dr. Nassar’s abuses. An investigative series by The Indianapolis Star found that the organization had covered up accusations of abuses by many coaches, not just Dr. Nassar. Three key board members, including the chairman, Paul Parilla, resigned on Monday.

That’s a start, but it’s not enough. The United States Olympic Committee said it is considering decertifying U.S.A. Gymnastics, but the Olympic committee was also slow to act in the Nassar case. What changes will it implement to ensure that such widespread harm to American athletes doesn’t happen under its watch again?

The resignation on Wednesday of Lou Anna Simon, the president of Michigan State, where Dr. Nassar’s medical practice was based, was overdue. Though Michigan State has denied covering up Dr. Nassar’s crimes, reporting by The Detroit News found that 14 university officials were told of Dr. Nassar’s sexual misconduct in the two decades before he was arrested, and that at least eight women had reported his actions. Michigan State continued to allow Dr. Nassar to see patients for 16 months while he was under criminal investigation after a 2014 allegation of sexual assault by a patient.

The athletic trainers, assistant coaches, university police officers and other school officials who let Dr. Nassar’s abuse go on should also step down. The N.C.A.A., which is investigating the matter, should consider sanctions against Michigan State, including banning it from postseason play for some period, as it did Penn State’s football program after the former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of molesting children over a period of 15 years.

In all these instances, including cases detailed by Harper’s Magazine in an article on competitive swimming, athletic glory, or the glow reflected onto those surrounding and enriching themselves from young athletes, blinded adults to their real responsibilities.

Protecting the image of the Olympic team, a gymnastics program and a university seems to have meant more to these adults than protecting children. In the end they protected nothing and no one and ruined their own reputations as well.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/opinion/larry-nassar-gymnastics-sentencing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180124&nlid=32999454&tntemail0=y

Related Coverage

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  Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon Resigns Amid Nassar Fallout JAN. 24, 2018

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  Larry Nassar Sentencing: ‘I Just Signed Your Death Warrant’ JAN. 24, 2018

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  More than 160 women say Larry Nassar sexually abused them. Here are his accusers in their own words. JAN. 24, 2018

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  Opinion Opinion

  U.S.A. Gymnastics Still Values Medals More Than Girls JAN. 23, 2018

We’ve gone from a culture that prized hard work, frugality and discretion as the central tenets of the American Dream to a culture that prized celebrity, bling and narcissism.”

Sundance film documents ‘wealth culture’ addiction spiraling out of control 

 

Lauren Greenfield interviewed bankers about desire to get rich

 

Former investment banker Florian Homm in ‘Generation Wealth’

The cost of addiction, whether through substance abuse, consumer spending or gambling fixes, has been well-documented.

But with her new movie “Generation Wealth”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Emmy-award-winning documentary film-maker and photographer Lauren Greenfield has chronicled a relatively unexplored addiction: “Wealth culture” addiction.

Greenfield is best known for her 2012 documentary, “The Queen of Versailles”, which colorfully depicted the doomed quest of billionaire David Siegel and his wife Jackie Siegel to build a 90,000 square-foot home in Orlando.

In “Generation Wealth,” Greenfield interviews a range of characters including German investment banker Florian Homm, who faced extradition to the U.S. on charges of investor fraud.

Greenfield also quizzes members of her own family about their attitudes to money and fame. In most cases, the discussion revolves around the great lengths to which people went to make more money and how it left them ultimately feeling unfulfilled.

“Wealth culture” addiction is a phenomenon that is growing and widespread, Greenfield told MarketWatch ahead of the movie’s premiere. “During the financial crisis, I was looking at wealth and the American dream and how it had gotten bigger and more supersized and, then when I started to look at all the stories I told about economics, popular culture, gender, the causes of the financial crash and the new rich in China and Russia, they told a bigger story that were connected in our culture.”

“They were individual data points that together they documented in a seismic shift about our values. We’ve gone from a culture that prized hard work, frugality and discretion as the central tenets of the American Dream to a culture that prized celebrity, bling and narcissism.”

But the movie, which has been bought for release next July, by Amazon Studios AMZN, +0.10%  is no Michael Moore-style polemic on the evils of money, instead preferring to dwell on what causes insatiable demand.

“In a way, it’s not about wealth but aspiration to wealth,” said. “At every level we want more. 

Whether it’s the currency of beauty, the currency of fame, the currency of branding.  ‘Fake it till you make it’ can be just as valuable as having money. So what I was looking at was wealth culture.”

She contends it’s a growing addiction: “Wealth culture is unhealthy and unsustainable for our community, relationships and well-being. The addiction of consumerism functions like other addictions so that can be very unhealthy.”

Part of the cure, for Greenfield, lies in switching off your TV set and catching up with the people next door. “A generation ago people used to compare themselves to their neighbors,” she said. “Now people spend more time with people they know from TV than their actual neighbors and aspire to this very unrealistic image, whether it’s through reality TV or social media, about what life is like.”

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sundance-film-documents-wealth-culture-addiction-spiralling-out-of-control-2018-01-20

According to the National Institute of Health, Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination.

Neil Diamond announces he is canceling tour, retiring after Parkinson's diagnosis

Musician Neil Diamond announced on Monday that he is retiring from touring and canceling his upcoming tour in Australia and New Zealand after learning that he has Parkinson's disease.

Diamond, 76, said he still plans on being an active writer and contributor to music, but added his touring days are over.

“It is with great reluctance and disappointment that I announce my retirement from concert touring. I have been so honored to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years,” said Diamond.

"My thanks goes out to my loyal and devoted audiences around the world," he added. "You will always have my appreciation for your support and encouragement. This ride has been ‘so good, so good, so good’ thanks to you.”

Diamond has produced dozens of albums over his nearly six-decade career. In addition to hits such as "Cherry, Cherry" and "America," Diamond is best known for performing "Sweet Caroline." The song, released in 1969, is still commonly played at stadiums and arenas worldwide.

Diamond has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards throughout his career. His only Grammy win came in 1973 for producing the soundtrack for the film "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

According to the National Institute of Health, Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination.



https://www.wkbw.com/news/national/neil-diamond-announces-he-is-canceling-tour-retiring-after-parkinson-s-diagnosis

https://www.medicinenet.com/parkinsons_disease/article.htm