The Slippery-Slope Has Just Gotten Slippier!

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/06/22/single-sex-dorms-spark-legal-controversy-in-d-c/?mod=djemlawblog_t

Single-Sex Dorms Spark Legal Controversy in D.C

By Patrick G. Lee

Will the sexes stand (and sleep) united or divided in the dorm rooms of the Catholic University of America?

A judge may be called upon to decide that question.

The D.C. university plans to eliminate coed housing for its incoming freshman class, in the hopes that it will help reduce binge drinking and discourage casual hook-ups, university president John Garvey announced in this WSJ opinion piece.

Garvey wrote that he plans to convert the entire campus to single-sex housing over the next few years.

But a legal squabble may be brewing. John Banzhaf, a professor at George Washington University Law School, says he intends to sue Catholic University over the same-sex plan, Inside Higher Ed reports.

Banzhaf told the Law Blog that his argument rests on the District of Columbia’s Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, commercial spaces, housing and employment based on any number of factors, including sex, race, religion and marital status. Reinstating single-sex dorms would constitute gender discrimination, Banzhaf maintains.

The only exception allowed under the act is for “business necessities,” which means the Catholic University must demonstrate that it can operate the school and remain in business only by instituting a single-sex dorm policy, Banzhaf said. Given that the university has been offering coed housing for decades, it is unlikely the exception will apply in this case, he said.

The university issued a prepared statement in response to a Law Blog request for comment, saying it had not yet received or reviewed any legal documents regarding Banzhaf’s intent to sue and that it was “confident that the law does not require men and women be housed together in residence halls.”

If the university insists on upholding the new policy, Banzhaf told the Law Blog, he will pursue legal action against both the University and Garvey as an individual.

A Recent Read - Out of Character

"...The process of correcting mistakes can be more liberating than the mistakes themselves are crushing, even though at the time we often feel the reverse is true.

The ability to adapt to the reality requires a sense of security with one self, an inner confidence that the cost of failure is a cost we are able to bear. It takes real people, real courage, no self-delusion --- without it - we fail again."

And I say, again, (y)our leaders are spineless, gutless, deluded and despicable charlatans, that have destroyed the very essence of the meaning of who and what is a Jew!

UOJ

Rottenberg.verified Complaint against Skver Rebbe and Shaul Spitzer

Rabbinic Judaism Inc. - A Portable God for the World’s First Multinational Business!

http://unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2005/12/rabbinic-judaism-inc.html

Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - The UOJ Archives - Click On Above Link to View The Comments Posted in 2005

Are You Better Off Today Than You Were 6 Years Ago?

Sources:

Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews (Phoenix Grant, 1987)
Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion (Pluto Press, 1994)
Dan Cohn-Sherbok, The Crucified Jew (Harper Collins,1992)
Henry Hart Milman, The History of the Jews (Everyman, 1939)
Josephus, The Jewish War (Penguin, 1959)
Leslie Houlden (Ed.), Judaism & Christianity (Routledge, 1988)
Karen Armstrong, A History of Jerusalem (Harper Collins, 1999))
Jonathan N. Tubb, Canaanites (British Museum Press, 1998)
Norman Cantor, The Sacred Chain - A History of the Jews (Harper Collins, 1994)

The Way of The Rabbi

Whatever daughter religions might spin off from old Judaism, the parent religion itself had inevitably to refashion itself for the new era. After the disaster of 135 AD, a number of Jews retreated into asceticism, banning meat and wine altogether, since sacrifice in the temple was no longer possible. Others lost themselves in mysticism, attempting to reach the ‘celestial throne’ via their imagination, the forerunners of the later ‘Kabala’.

But for all their suffering, most Jews were not ready to bastardise their traditional creed by infusing it with the dying godman mythology. The vacuum was filled by ‘Rabbinic Judaism’, the inheritor of the Pharisee tradition.

"The rabbis, a smallish group (perhaps a hundred or so in the whole Roman empire) of religious specialists descended from the Pharisees, gradually enhanced their status and developed a specifically Jewish way of arguing, which marked them off quite dramatically from both Christians and Romans." (Keith Hopkins, A World Full of Gods, p234)

In Palestine itself, where the Jews were now a minority, what remained of traditional Judaism turned inward. No longer could its priests use the ‘temple magic’ once used to summon divine favour, no longer could Judaism be proselytised.

The Rabbis became ‘clericalised’ – obsessed with cultic ‘rules’ as a practical substitute for the lost temple. They peopled the air itself with beneficent and malign spirits. A Jewish ‘code to live by’ - the Mitzvoth (the forerunner of ‘monastic rules’) detailed no fewer than 613 rules, governing every pious moment from waking to sleeping, to keep the Jew on the right side of an all-seeing God.

‘His rising from his bed, his manner of putting on the different articles of dress, the disposition of his fringed tallith, his phylacteries on his head and arms, his ablutions, his meals, even the calls of nature were subjected to scrupulous rules – both reminding him that he was of a peculiar race, and perpetually reducing him to ask the advice of the Wise Men, which alone could set at rest the trembling and scrupulous conscience.’ (Milman, History of the Jews, p165)

Within a few generations Judaism would be codified anew, into a portable (albeit confining) religion which could accompany and – fatally – identify this pseudo-race in their wanderings in the centuries ahead. By the close of the fifth century, the total population of Jews would be half of what it was at the beginning of the ‘Christian era’.(See, Cantor, ibid)

The Jewish people – dispersed but bonded by an exclusive faith, uniquely among ‘peoples’ – established enclaves in every major city from India to Spain, from Arabia to Britain. Capitalising upon this network of ‘safe havens’, and with a filial presence in every major resource, from African ivory to Germanic slaves, the Jews threw themselves into the commerce of the ancient world.

Jewish merchants traversed with impunity the hostile frontiers between Rome and Persia, sailed the sea lanes from the chilly rivers of Germany to the balmy seas off the Horn of Africa. The Jews became dealers in amber and fur, gold and silver, slave-traders and money-lenders.

But they were also dealers in superstition as well as produce:

‘The empire swarmed with Jewish wonder-workers, mathematicians, astrologers, or whatever other name or office they assumed or received from their trembling hearers.’ (Millman, History of the Jews, p158)

Levies on their new wealth paid for a programme of synagogue building, and in turn, the synagogues strengthened the bonds of the Jewish communities. Rarely assimilating into their host cultures, convinced they were especially favoured by the deity (and thus strengthened in their faith), the heady mix of piety and mercantilism rewarded the Jews with an unparalleled financial success – and an unequalled and universal opprobrium.

The Agudath Israel Defense - The Child Rapists Are Us - Innocent by Association!

*אנחנו זונות - היינו למכור את האמהות שלנו בשקל*

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/opinion/31iht-edcohen31.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globaleua212

......."The response has been a gathering French outrage. I interviewed Strauss-Kahn long ago. He struck me as charming and very smart. Most impressive to me was that he seemed determined to modernize French socialism, a process too long delayed with the result that the French Socialist Party is a European dinosaur.

None of this, however, has anything to do with whether he attempted rape and forcibly imprisoned a 32-year-old chambermaid. Nor, of course, does his distinguished stewardship of the International Monetary Fund. The talent of Strauss-Kahn, 62, is not the issue.

Yet his French cohorts — men just as charming and smart as Strauss-Kahn — have made it their business to say, in essence, that he could not have done what he is accused of doing because he is one of us. He is, in effect, innocent by association"......

Oh, s’il vous please!

....."Perhaps Lévy’s defense was the most extraordinary, for its cavalier dismissal of the African woman at the heart of the drama when African victims have been a focus of his various campaigns, but even more so for its language on Strauss-Kahn: “Charming, seductive, yes, certainly; a friend to women and, first of all, to his own woman, naturally; but this brutal and violent individual, this wild animal, this primate, obviously no, it’s absurd.”

And here we are. There are plenty of facts, incidents and complaints — never fully investigated by the French press — to suggest that the serious charges against Strauss-Kahn are not “absurd” and that a young African woman’s voice raised against violent abuse by the powerful should have its day in court.

Bin Laden is dead. The Jews went to work. Suite 2806 is just a number".

Facts count!

[Blogger] Conspiracy theories are the refuge of the disempowered!

....And So It Will Be!

Sex Scandals in Religion & Their Coverups!

***THE WALL OF SILENCE***

http://www.earthbook.tv/religion/channelhome/channelvideos/149/

CLICK ABOVE LINK:

RABBI DANIEL EIDENSOHN SPEAKS:

I listened in dismay to R' Shlomo Gottesman's presentation of halachic issues of child abuse. He picked a very narrow perspective in answering the question of whether halacha allows going to the police to report abuse. The presentation involved snippets from the collection of teshuvos found in volume 15 of Yeshurun. He concluded that it was in fact permitted to go to the police but only if a rabbi had established that there was some - deliberately vague - level of evidence called raglayim ledavar and that this was for tikun olam (improvement to society). It was asserted that both these conditions could only be determined by a rabbi. In other words one risked being guilty of mesira (informing) and thus lose olam habah if reporting was done directly without first consulting a rabbi. Thus the focus of his presentation was on preserving rabbinic authority in abuse cases when the rabbi is not capable of dealing with it and the police need to be involved.

He also claimed that requiring a rabbi to decide whether abuse could be reported did not violate mandated reporting laws. . He did not say how this is possible but just asked the audience to trust him that it was possible to reconcile the mandated reporting requirement to report abuse and the requirement to allow a rabbi to decide whether abuse is to be reported. It is astounding that he so glibly stated this since he is a very competent lawyer and presumably knows that this is very problematic and that he is unlikely to find any judge or secular social agency to agree with him. He also claimed that there was no need to utilize the concept of rodef (self-protection) since a rabbi could decide on calling the police by tikun olam alone. That is strange since the concept of rodef is a significant factor even in the teshuvos of the gedolim that he was citing. Why would the gedolim utilize this concept if it wasn't necessary?

So what was really wrong with what he said? The fact is that by entirely focusing on the assertion that permission must first be gotten from a rabbi before contacting the police - he avoided dealing with the complexity of the issue of abuse as it happens in the Orthodox community. He obviously felt this was not of general interest but as he put it, this is what an individual needs to speak privately with a rabbi because each case is different.

Unfortunately he squandered an important opportunity. What he should have done was to ask a different question. Not under what conditions is calling the police mesira - but the real question is what does the Orthodox community need to do to protect the children? He failed to note that there are clearly times when a rabbi does not need to be consulted and that furthermore there are clearly times when a rabbi who says not to report should be ignored. He failed to address the more important issue of whether going to the police without community involvement and with pressure on parents not to file a complaint is really protecting the children. He failed to address the fear of reporting because of shidduchim and the danger that a child will be kicked out of school if he/she is found to have been abused. He failed to note that the Aguda has insisted that the financial well being of its institutions are more important than the welfare of the children. That cover ups to protect reputations of rabbis come before the sanity and safety of our children.

But perhaps his biggest failure was to address the betrayal of the abuse victims by the rabbis and community and the severe psychological and religious damage this betrayal causes. It is commonly observed by those who work with off the derech children that most of these children have been abused.

So yes - there is a legitimate halachic problem of how to deal with mesira - but in reality the issue of abuse is not primarily about how to preserve rabbinic authority - but how to protect our children.

Rabbi Hershel Schechter's Orthodox Jew!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1388060/Ivanka-Trump-pregnant-pin-poses-bunny-outfit.html

Hershel Schechter/RCA - What Religion Did You Convert Trump To? - Mushchasim That You Are - הסוטים של היהדות!

Ivanka Trump lights up Baltimore, Submitted by peek on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:38am.

http://www.citypeek.com/baltimore/blog-entry/ivanka-trump-lights-baltimore-call-duty-teen-gift-idea-centro-gem



(Ivanka Trump and Maggie Cordish at Tatu Asian Grill, Baltimore’s newest hot spot adjacent to Power Plant Live!)

Ivanka Trump was recently a guest at TATU ASIAN RESTAURANT in Baltimore's POWER PLANT LIVE. Restaurant. TATU has quickly become one of Baltimore's newest hot spots to see and be seen. Whether for a cocktail pre or post dinner or a concert or a 3 hour meal, TATU is a great choice. Wonderful location, valet parking (just next to Ruth's Chris on Water Street. CITYPEEK calls TATU- "a hot, sexy, sushi bordello!"

And you NEVER KNOW WHO you will see.

TATU Baltimore,
614 Water Street
Power Plant Live
Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: (410) 244-7385
Types: Asian Fusion, Bar Scene, Dancing-Nightclub, Neighborhood favorite, Notable Wine List, Romantic
Hours: 5PM - 12AM
Days Closed: Monday

TATU Baltimore, an explosive celebration of Asian cuisine featuring three of the most popular styles of cooking from the Orient and bringing them together on a powerful stage set. The menu is separated into three distinct categories: Chinois Pan Asian, the artful combination of Asian ingredients with French technique; Hunan and Szechwan Chinese, traditional Chinese classics and Japanese Sushi. TATU showcases a plush sake lounge, private tatami rooms and a full sushi bar, all captured in an intoxicating 1930’s Deco Shanghai setting in Baltimore's Power Plant Live.

Agudath Israel to UOJ: Welcome Back! *Five Years Later*

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

Wednesday, December 06, 2006 - The UOJ Classics!
Agudah to UOJ: Welcome Back

It appears that the Agudah, with their pathetic grasping at straws of controversy to appear relevant, has resurrected UOJ -- the Patron Saint of Children Who are Sexually Abused by Religious Figures and Those Who Harbor Them. UOJ, after being 'outed' this spring by some self-appointed thugs who believe themselves to be defenders of Torah and Gedolim, slipped into the background with a farewell post just before Rosh Hashanah. Sadly, it appeared as though UOJ would relegated to asterisk status in Jewish history, despite his valiant and timely attacks on a viciously apathetic status quo that preferred the spiritual murder of Jewish children over decisive action.

And all was quiet as Rosh Yeshivas, executive directors, and some yeshivishe egomaniacs in the sleepy slum of Waterbury, CT. rejoiced at the miraculous bullet dodging they had just witnessed. Evidently, the 'humiliation' weapon -- a thin reference to ruined shidduchim and tainted yichus -- had succeeded in preserving the perversity of ultra-orthodox apathy.

But something was afoot. Deep within the bowels of 42 Broadway, across some shiny overpriced conference table, the Wizards of Was realized that their destiny lay in murdering the mandate bearer: blogs. Ironically, if they would actually read the blogs instead of dismissing them as the tools of Satan, they would have been able to resurrect themselves and actively contribute to the betterment and solidification of American Orthodoxy. Instead, they took the short way out.

"Let's bash blogs," the Daas Torahniks declared. "We must create a new enemy, now that the Nazis are gone, Jewish busdrivers can wear yarmulkes to work without fear, we've given up on "at-risk" kids (poorly trained mentors are the answer....right?), and we've selected our guest of honor for this year's dinner..." The obvious answer was blogs.

The dispensers of Daas Torah, concerned with the impact blogs were having on their destructive hegemony and possible ramifications that would have on future fundraising seconded the motion. "Blogs are bad," they bellowed. "We must rid our homes and neighborhoods of blogs." Then they returned to worrying about why the frummest girls schools produce graduates who ignore tznius, despite 14 years of subversive inculcation, and how to close the Pandora's box of frummer-than-though kashrus which has inexplicably led to America's most religious neighborhood to eat traif meat for half a decade.

Blogs are bad. Blogs are bad. Yeah, let's stick it to that UnOrthodox fellow. Who is he anyway to blame us for child molestation? We TOLD people that separate seating weddings would solve everything. And as long as they don't listen in the Five Towns, we can't be held responsible for what happens to little boys in Brooklyn."

So the convention program, with a half dozen cutsie teaser ads were drafted and everyone was happy. "Blogs are bad!," said the Agudah big shots. "When we're done with them, we'll be able to ridicule molestation victims with impunity in the Jewish Week." The Daas Torah dispensers cried, "Blogs are Bad. And now, we can get back to banning intangible objects, like books and sheitels, which we can burn, and actual people whom we can besmirch, excommunicate and threaten. It was so much easier in the old days."

But they didn't count on themselves making the same mistake as they have made time and time again: life moves fast. People forget. They are busy. If things go away, they are forgotten. It's the same reason why sexual molestation victims fade away. If people forget, their pain is buried, for they themselves to choke on, alone. But when old news gets dredged up. When books that appear objectionable are given attention, or banned, they take on a life of their own. When forgotten blogs are given main stage forums at major fundraising events....they return to life.

And so, UOJ, in all his glory has been vindicated and resurrected, unlike the Agudah, which is as pathetic and irrelevant as it has been for the past decade, UOJ has attracted a well written,logical counterpart:

http://rabbimatisyahusalomon.blogspot.com

which features a several thousand word letter detailing the vast and grievous gaps in communal leadership and compassion by our so-called gedolim.

The progeny of UOJ also provides an lucid timeline of events that led up to UOJ and more importantly the serious lack of judgment, compasison, and leadership of the dispensers of Daas Torah. And, incidentally, offers a nod to the one straight shooter of our generation, Rabbi Avigdor Miller, who told certain askanim, to, so to speak -- damn the torpedoes and blow this mother sky high. (I paraphrased a bit).

So, to the chagrin of every frummie on the dark hatted side of the color spectrum, UOJ is back. Ironically, the very intention of the Agudah, to declare their moral victory over bloggers and reclaim their relevance has instead tossed the moral imperative to bloggers such as UOJ. Blogs are more relevant and necessary than ever before.

As for UOJ, he sounds more mature, and as always -- is dead on correct about the travesty that has been perpetrated over 40 years of inaction, intimidation, and malicious ineptitude.

Welcome back UOJ. Klal Yisroel needs you!

posted by Still Wonderin'

Records Release to Be Considered in Decades-Old Sex Abuse Case

http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/index.jsp
Records Release to Be Considered in Decades-Old Sex Abuse Case
by Joel Stashenko

New York Law Journal
May 10, 2011

ALBANY - The state's highest court has agreed to consider the release of records in a decades-old sex abuse case that an attorney claims will disclose political favoritism by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes toward leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community.

Michael Lesher contends that the request for disclosure of records he has long sought will indicate that Mr. Hynes and others in his office were never serious about prosecuting molestation charges that emerged in the mid-1980s against Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz.

Mr. Lesher, who represents alleged victims of the rabbi, said yesterday that the Court of Appeal's determination could shed light on why Mr. Mondrowitz was not prosecuted more aggressively in Brooklyn before he fled to Israel in 1985.

"I am not sure what we would find to tell the truth," Mr. Lesher said. "But this case has been characterized by such a long history of cover-up by leaders of the Jewish Orthodox communities and political leaders connected with the case that it has required an extraordinary effort even up to this point to figure out what has actually happened."

Mr. Lesher represents a half-dozen clients who contend they were sexually abused by Mr. Mondrowitz. Mr. Mondrowitz was indicted in 1985 for sodomy, sexual abuse and other counts in New York.

Mr. Lesher's suit contends that the Brooklyn District Attorney's office declined to aggressively seek Mr. Mondrowitz's extradition to the United States.

Mr. Hynes announced in 2007 that he would seek extradition of Mr. Mondrowitz. But he later said that a new treaty signed that year between Israel and the United States seemed to preclude the release of the information being sought by Mr. Lesher.

According to Jewish Week, the Israeli court in January 2010 declined to confirm a lower court ruling to affirm Mr. Mondrowitz's extradition.

Jerry Schmetterer, director of public information for Mr. Hynes' office, told the newspaper, "We are disappointed by the decision. We are working with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Israel Ministry of Justice to see that remedies are available."

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice David B. Vaughn had originally granted Mr. Lesher access to the materials under the state's Freedom of Information law. But an Appellate Division, Second Department, panel ruled unanimously in Lesher v. Hynes, 80 AD3d 611 (2011), that it agreed with the district attorney that the release of the documents could interfere with an investigation that was still on-going.

This was sufficient to "exempt the documents from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law," the unanimous panel held in an unsigned opinion by Justices Joseph Covello, Daniel D. Angiolillo, Thomas A. Dickerson and Ariel E. Belen (NYLJ, Jan. 19).

However, Mr. Lesher argued that the Israeli Supreme Court has essentially precluded the possibility that Mr. Mondrowitz could be prosecuted in the United States. Therefore, he suggested there would not be any ongoing investigation.

Nevertheless, Mr. Lesher said he wants to press the case in New York as a means of discovering if Brooklyn prosecutors properly pursued Mr. Mondrowitz as a pedophile.

The Court of Appeals' decision to hear the case was made without comment. The Court almost never hears appeals of unanimous decisions below.

The judges are likely to hear oral arguments in October or November, once the appeals and counter-appeals papers have been filed.

Mr. Lesher, an attorney in Passaic, N.J., said he considers himself a writer first who has disclosed child abuse cases in New York previously. But he filed the papers in the FOIL case and said he expects to argue it before the Court of Appeals.

Mr. Lesher is registered to practice in New York and New Jersey, he said.

Mr. Schmetterer declined yesterday to comment on the Court of Appeals' decision to hear the case, citing the pending nature of the action.

He said the office attempted through the U.S. State Department to extradite Mr. Mondrowitz and was blocked by Israel's high court, which ruled that the charges Mr. Mondrowitz faced in the United States were not extraditable offenses. After two years of incarceration as the case was being adjudicated, Mr. Mondrowitz has been released and is free in Israel, Mr. Schmetterer said yesterday.

Should Mr. Mondrowitz attempt to re-enter the United States, Mr. Schmetterer said he would be arrested and prosecuted.

"We are prepared to arrest him after he gets off an airplane," Mr. Schmetterer said. "He's under indictment here on five charges."

State Police charged Sullivan County man with sexually abusing boy!

http://strausnews.com/articles/2011/04/29/photo_news/news/8.txt


Monroe - State Police at Monroe have charged a 52-year-old Kiamesha Lake man with driving a 14-year-old boy to the America’s Best Value Inn located in the Town of Woodbury and having sexual contact with the child.

An investigator said the case began after the mother of the boy came to the State Police barracks in Monroe to report the incident. Police said the investigation showed that Joseph Gelbman, 52, of 191 Gibber Road in the Sullivan County community of Kiamesha Lake, had been at the motel on April 14 with the youngster.

Gelbman was arrested April 21 and charged with third-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors.

He was arraigned before Town of Woodbury Justice David V. Hasin and released on $1,500 bail.

Victims of domestic violence, sex assaults will share in Passover Seder holy dinner in Brooklyn!

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2011/04/17/2011-04-17_victims_of_domestic_violence_sex_assaults_will_share_in_passover_seder_holy_dinn.html#ixzz1JnUGRLBf


BY Simone Weichselbaum
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, April 17th 2011

The Passover spirit of freedom has a whole new meaning for crime victims putting together a special Seder where they will share stories about abuse, during the holy dinner.

Survivors of domestic violence, sex assaults and child abuse will pack into the B'nai Israel of Linden Heights synagogue on Ninth Ave. in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn Monday and Tuesday night.

Passover honors the Israelite slaves' escape from Egypt with a 15-step meal called a Seder where stories of bondage are mixed in with the matzo.

Organizer Annie Kay, 33, spent the past month preparing to feed 500 victims and their families, explaining that the horror of living through a crime is no different than the nightmare of being a slave. "They need a family. The rabbis want to keep it so it looks like crimes in our community don't happen," said Kay, a Hasidic Jew who changed her name after launching the Coalition Against Legal Abuse in New York back in February.

The Jewish law of mesira prohibits a Jew from snitching to cops on another Jew but some rabbis give a pass depending on the crime. Still, if a victim comes forward in one of the city's insular Orthodox Jewish communities, families are usually shunned at schools, synagogues and work.

A Borough Park woman named Chaya, 22, said her dad used to beat her with metal coat hangers when she was a kid. "I have a feeling for people hurt by abuse," said Chaya, who spent the week peeling potatoes in preparation for the two big meals. "I want to help others have a comfortable life."

So far, 386 cooked chickens are sitting in fridges along with 14 pounds of coleslaw and 50 pounds of gefilte fish. "It doesn't matter how many people will come. We will feed everybody," said Kay. "We want more people to feel empowered to speak out."

sweichselbaum@nydailynews.com

Sexual Abuse - " Just a Game"-" Tawdry Tales"- " I Didn't Notice Abuse at RJJ!"

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2065579,00.html?xid=rss-world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

The Belgian Catholic Church must have felt it hit a nadir last year when it had to face harrowing revelations of rampant child sex abuse among its priesthood. However, the church's reputation is now at a new low, thanks to the ill-judged comments of the disgraced former Bishop of Bruges, who in April 2010 admitted to abusing his nephew. Belgians have been left in open-mouthed disbelief after the airing of a TV interview with Roger Vangheluwe in which he glossed over his history of abusing children.

Speaking on Belgian television on Thursday evening, April 14, Vangheluwe, 74, said he had in fact abused a second nephew as well. That would have been shocking enough: last year, when Vangheluwe initially owned up to the abuse — and stepped down as bishop — the move unleashed a flood of revelations by other victims of abuse in the church.

But it was no tearful confession that Belgians witnessed on Thursday. Looking relaxed and sometimes smiling, Vangheluwe described the sexual abuse as no more than "a little piece of intimacy." While he claimed to recognize that he had done wrong and said he often went to confession about it, Vangheluwe played down his actions. "I had the strong impression that my nephew didn't mind at all. On the contrary. It was not brutal sex. I never used bodily, physical violence," he said. The abuse of his first nephew, in the 1970s and '80s, he said, "started as, I would call it, a game." At the time, the boy was just 5, and the abuse would last 13 years. The abuse of the second nephew, he said, was "merely over a year." Despite this, Vangheluwe insisted, "I don't have the impression at all that I am a pedophile." Following the interview, the first nephew said through his lawyer that he did not want to comment; the identity of the second nephew is not yet known.

The interview drew almost immediate rebuke. Prime Minister Yves Leterme said Vangheluwe's remarks "go beyond the boundary of what is acceptable" and called on the Catholic Church to "assume its responsibilities." Vice Prime Minister Laurette Onkelinx said the interview was "disgusting," adding that Vangheluwe "showed a complete disdain for his victims." Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck urged the Vatican to punish the former bishop. "It is a slap in the face of his victims and all victims," he said. And Carina Van Cauter, vice chair of the parliamentary committee investigating sexual abuse, said Vangheluwe "tried to turn his victims into culprits. He throws salt in their wounds."

The church also responded fiercely, with bishops lining up to condemn Vangheluwe. The Bishop of Ghent, Luc Van Looy, said he was "ashamed, shocked, upset and angry. By trivializing the abuse, Vangheluwe is deepening the indescribable suffering of victims." Josef De Kesel, Vangheluwe's successor as Bishop of Bruges, said, "It's unbelievable, and so damaging for all involved — firstly the victims, but also us, our credibility."

Victims groups reacted with weary disgust. "I was angry but not surprised," says Linda Opdebeeck, president of the support group Human Rights in the Church. "[Vangheluwe] is just like the monk who abused me 30 years ago and never accepted any responsibility. Vangheluwe will never recognize what he did, never understand the gravity of his actions, even though it was legal rape."

Gabriel Ringlet, a priest and influential Catholic figure in Belgium, says that while Vangheluwe's interview was repulsive, it also risks undermining the wider campaign against child abuse. "If we focus too much on him, we might forget the bigger problems," says Ringlet, who has urged the church to issue an unequivocal apology, punish the pedophiles and compensate victims. "The pedophilia is linked to the church's authority. When the priest suggests his abuse is part of his holy function, it is difficult for a child or parishioner to denounce him."

Despite his admission, Vangheluwe does not face criminal prosecution, because the abuses occurred decades ago, beyond Belgium's statute of limitations for sex abuse. The Vatican had sent the former bishop to an abbey in the Loire valley in France weeks ago for "spiritual and psychological treatment" in the wake of last year's abuse admission. It's not known whether the church knew of his second victim. Vangheluwe could be stripped of his priesthood, but that was also an option following his first abuse confession — and it still hasn't happened.

Nor has there been much progress in Belgium over the past year when it comes to abuse by clergy. As the scandal has escalated, the head of the Belgian Church, Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, has been reluctant to take firm action beyond a vague expression of regret. Léonard, an archconservative who frequently conducts mass in Latin, is widely seen as being out of touch with his flock. Two weeks ago, he was targeted by custard-pie-throwing activists angry over his description of AIDS as a kind of "intrinsic justice" punishing gays.

Dirk Jacobs, a sociology professor at Brussels Free University, says the Vatican must act forcefully now if it wants to salvage some of its credibility and moral authority in Belgium and abroad. "But it might still be seen as too little, too late," Jacobs says. "The image we have is of the church as an institution of power, foremost worried about its reputation, disconnected from the real world and with a twisted view of sexuality." However, there is little indication that the Vatican is ready for an image overhaul. And one year after he resigned in disgrace, Roger Vangheluwe appears — like the Vatican — to be in denial about the problem.

בור שופכין הוא שבור והוא לא יוכל לתקון - The Cesspool is Broken and it can't be Fixed!

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2006/08/uoj-is-roto-rooter-guy.html

In the spirit of the upcoming Passover holiday, I felt the need to write a new song with original UOJ lyrics. Now, I realize being the Roto Rooter Guy ( click above link - newcomers), this is not good for business! But, who cares? Everything seems broken, especially the spirit of humankind! So, I wrote the above lyrics as the title to my new holiday song; after searching the Psalms (Tehillim) and finding nothing there quite hit the nail on the head befitting the times we live in, as the above title.

As if we did not have enough with the Leib Tropper Conversion scandals, now comes information along to me that none other than Rabbi Shlomo Miller from Toronto, Canada was responsible for converting to Judaism, the notorious "alleged" con-man, Sandy Craig Hutchens/Moshe Alexander, who was a criminal since he was 15 years old, convicted of many different crimes, and who is now 51. Rabbi Shlomo Miller "converted" him in 2005. Hutchens converted to Orthodox Judaism, according to sources, strictly to prey on the non-suspecting Orthodox Jews and their money, who relied on Miller for his "wise man" status throughout the Orthodox Jewish community worldwide.

Instead of dealing with this issue boldly and head-on, Miller issues the following Kol-Koreh!

CLICK TO ENLARGE:



די סעספּול איז איבערגעבליבענע און עס קאַן ניט זייַן פאַרפעסטיקט Dayeinu!

SUFFERING IN SILENCE WINS EMMY FOR BEST RELIGION NEWS STORY

At the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards this week, reporter Tara Rosenblum was awarded an Emmy for her piece, Suffering in Silence. This television report tells the story of former Kiryas Joel resident, Shlomo Weiss, who was sexually abused by his father from early childhood to age 16.

Community rabbis covered up the abuse and protected his father.

We applaud Shlomo for having the courage to go public with his experience of abuse. When SFJ approached Shlomo and asked him if he would be willing to tell his story on television he didn't hesitate. "I have to protect my family and community," was his immediate response.

As a teenager, Shlomo tried to protect himself; he reported the abuse to his teachers in Nitra Yeshiva and also to the most prominent rabbis in his community.

Instead of bringing the complaint to law enforcement, they sent Shlomo out of the country to keep him quiet.

In sharp contrast, Shlomo's father was allowed to continue driving a school bus in Kiryas Joel and to this day has unrestricted access to children.

Shlomo's message to the community is that the only way we can put a stop to the ongoing cover-up of child sexual abuse and the community's protection of offenders is to report abuse directly to law enforcement.

Thank you, Shlomo, for your selfless courage. You've undoubtedly saved lives by telling your story.

Thank you, Tara, for patiently working with us and producing such a powerful report. Children everywhere are safer as a result of your work.

For additional information please visit our website:www.sfjny.org.
Contact us:info@sfjny.org.

Yeshivas Should Not Exist If They Violate The Basic Precepts Of The Torah!

The UOJ Archives - March 21, 2006

Dear UOJ,

You wrote: "Sheinberg knew what he was doing; to give him a pass is tantamount to permitting retzicha....

"Sheinberg is a rasha gamur for what he did ...."

Many Gedolim, even in response to the latest incarnation of the Kolko scandal, believe that it is their sacred duty to protect the Yeshiva system from any blemish. They fear that the eruption of such a scandal will cause the demise of the entire Yeshiva system. While I believe that this approach is Kineged Halacha and Daas Torah and extremely misguided, I would still not use the term term "rasha gamur".

I also agree that we are dealing here with Dinei Nefashos a fact that they appear not to apprehend. Nevertheless, a Dayan can make a mistake in Dinei Nefashos as well. There are many misconceptions about molestation that people from a certain generation just don't get or are unwilling to face.

You suggest "he knew what he was doing" that he fully understood the horrific ramifications of what he did, knew that what he was doing was against Halacha and did it anyway. I think the jury's still out on that. I would like to believe that he just doesn't appreciate the enormity of this matter or its correct Halachic implications.

For example, the one Gadol you suscribe to in previous posts was the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I think most people agree that the Meshichistin in Lubavitch have made a complete churban of both Judaism and Lubavitch. And the question arises did the Rebbe know and want this. I ask you if he was such as brilliant man didn't he realize that everybody in Lubavitch was saying he was Moshiach. Of course he knew. And yet you admire him.

The flaw in the aforementioned Gedolim's reasoning is that if the Yeshiva system can only survive by suppressing molestation, the whole system should be shut down. Not tommorow but today, immediately. The Netziv closed down Volozhin when the Government decreed they have to study Russian. Yeshivas only exist to do the will of Hashem. They cannot be predicated on violating basic precepts of the Torah. If truth, getting rid of these rotten apples will only serve to strenghten and purify the Yeshiva system tremendously. We don't need these menuvalim to thrive. The notion that we do is truly flawed.

Hasidic Man on Trial for Sexual Assault!

http://yubeacon.com/2011/03/news/chasidic-man-on-trial-for-sexual-assault/

by Simi Lampert

At 10:15 on Friday morning, Nechemya Weberman was seen before the judge in the Kings County Supreme Court for what promises to be a long trial involving his alleged rape and sexual assault of a 12 year old girl for three years as she was seeing him as a therapy patient. Weberman was arrested in connection with this on February 23rd and is currently out on $15,000 bail.

Weberman’s lawyer, a slick looking man in an expensive suit, turned down Judge Patricia Dimangos’ offer of five years imprisonment and maintained a pleading of not guilty. The court scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, May 11th for the next step in the proceedings. The trial itself has not been yet set. These proceedings can drag out for months or years, often wearing the victim and her supporters thin.

The defendant is a 53 year old married, unlicensed therapist from the sequestered community of Williamsburg, New York, where almost everyone is Chasidic. The courtroom was filled with Hasidim, most of whom were there to support the victim. Weberman’s wife, son, and two sisters sat in the back corner, avoiding the glances of curious audience members.

“I didn’t know about it until last year,” said the victim’s mother, R, in a distraught voice. “By that point he had messed up some of my other kids too. We were seeing him as a family therapist.”

The victim is currently 16 years old and has been to another therapist since she left Weberman a year ago. It was this therapist who discovered the alleged actions of Weberman and informed her parents.

Weberman was ordered to stay away from the victim for the coming six weeks and to refrain from any contact with her.

“I take this sort of thing very seriously,” stated Dimango severely.

The defense attorney made one motion. The police department had searched Weberman’s house recently with a warrant to look for photographs pertaining to the case. The warrant had called for no opening of closets and drawers but apparently the police had ignored that clause. It was determined that any materials found under this warrant was not admissible to the court.

The prospect of a court case for a member of the Chasidic clan, especially a case as covering the taboo topic of sexual assault, is nearly unheard of and highly rare.

The progress of the community in recent years in accepting that this could happen and should be spoken about, has been colossal.

When asked whether the community was supportive of her case and her daughter’s situation, Rachel replied emphatically, “Yes!”

Online forums have been abuzz with this story ever since Weberman was first arrested. Some comments are by others claiming to be molested by this man, while others say such things as “a Hasidic holy rabbi would never commit this crime. You are all anti-Semitic!”

The fact that another hearing was taking place 11 floors below this case in the same building at the same time, involving another Chasid from Williamsburg who allegedly raped a young boy in a mikvah is a mark of just how far the community has come. The defendant in that case, Meir Dascalowitz, a 27 year old, has been out on bail for ten months now, claiming to need psychiatric evaluation for mental instability. His hearing was postponed yet again today, as his lawyer maintained that the psychiatrist who saw Dascalowitz was not fit to assess him as the therapist speaks only English and no Yiddish.

On March 8 a Grand Jury indictment was entered into the court record. Weberman was charged with 150 felonies all involving sexual crimes with a child, including one B felony in the first degree, 145 D felonies and 4 E felonies. Among other things he was specifically charged with the B felony in the 1st degree, of “a course of sexual conduct” with his victim when she was twelve where the act had to have been either oral, anal, or vaginal sex, or penetrating her vaginally or anally with a foreign object which caused injury. A defendant in a similar case was only convicted of eight D felonies and was sentenced to 10-32 years. In theory, Weberman’s sentence, if he is convicted on all charges, could top Bernie Madoff’s by several hundred years.

Before Weberman entered the courtroom this morning, a 30 year old former Chasid, now bedecked in jeans, chains, eye makeup, black nail polish, and long black hair went over to him. He held up a picture of a young boy.

“Do you remember molesting me?” He demanded. “Do you?”*

Five noted activists (among 50) who came to court to support the victims of sex-abuse:

l-R: Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg, Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, Mark M. Appel, Zvi Gluck, Dr. Asher Lipner

Photos - courtesy of:

Can't Happen To Your Kids? Are You Sure?

***German Kids Yes - Jewish Kids No? *** GOLEM - "Ged"OY"lim" - I'm Talkin' To You!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/europe/24briefs-Statute.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

World Briefing | EUROPE
Germany: Change to Abuse Statute - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 23, 2011

Under legislation approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, Germans who were sexually abused as children are expected to have as long as 30 years after they turn 21 to bring accusations in court. The previous statute of limitations on civil abuse cases was three years. Criminal cases have a statute of limitations of 3 to 30 years, depending on the charges. Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger praised the legislation as strengthening victims’ rights. Parliament is expected to pass the legislation this year.

"The Church is the Bear Stearns of Pedophilia!" (and you know what happened to Bear Stearns)

Jewish Pedophiles Go Unpunished in Hasidic Community!

None of the nearly $1 million set aside to tackle sex abuse in New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities has been spent, even as another program set up to help scrambles for cash.

The state has earmarked $950,000 since April 2009 to fund Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s plans to teach Hasidic Jews to speak up against child molestation.

But the money sits untouched as Hikind figures out the details of Shomrei Yeldainu – Hebrew for “Guardians of our Children” – the Daily News has learned.

“You have to develop something that is done correctly working with the rabbis and leaders,” said Hikind (D-Brooklyn).

The $950,000 was included in the 2009 state budget for the Office of Family and Children’s Services, said Matt Anderson, a budget spokesman for Gov. Paterson.

It’s the first time the state has funded a sex abuse program geared toward helping a specific ethnic group.

“Apparently, the Hasidim will only go to the Hasidim for help,” said Edward Borges, an FCS spokesman.

I’ve written and spoken before on the terrible situation in the NY Orthodox Jewish community that allows child rapists to go unchecked and unpunished. It has been said that if you want to be a pedophile, this is THE place to prey.

The reason the problem exists is to a large extent, summarized in the last sentence: they only go to their own for help. Naturally, when you have this kind of a cult mentality, “their own” are often supporters of the rapists, not the victims (as disgusting as that sounds).

If the money for helping victims is going untouched, then the undeniable conclusion is that it is not serving the purpose for which it is intended. What is the Jewish community doing to spread the word that here is help from OUTSIDE the group? I suspect the answer is NOTHING. This is a cult, and just like every other cult they abhor outsiders because outsiders make sense and provide justice, as opposed to the utter subservience dished out by the cult.

The problem is compounded by a fear of the government appearing antisemitic if they press into the problem. This must not be used as an excuse. Children are being hurt, and it is the government’s job to step in and protect the children. Use the money to fund publicity to the Jewish children, and provide a few undercover cops to root out the swine.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re a child rapist, you’re not all that worried about the invisible man-in-the-sky, so no kosher meals in prison unless you pay for it yourself! Okey Dokey?

Sexual Abuse by Rabbis - Where is the Public Outcry?

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments:

Reporter Paul Vitello of the New York Times showed the shocking extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. He also details the cover-ups that have long been aided and abetted by law enforcement.

Where have all the church-and-state advocates been all these years when Orthodox rabbis were allowed by the D.A.’s office to settle these cases “internally”? Where have all the professional victims’ groups been in staging protests outside synagogues? Where have all the sue-happy lawyers been seeking to plunder the Orthodox? Where have all the comedians and late-night entertainers been in cracking jokes about rabbis raping kids?

It’s not just Orthodox Jews who have been given a pass: no group has gotten away easier than public school employees. Consider this. Because public school students have only 90 days to file suit, it is already too late to prosecute a teacher—in virtually every state—who molested a minor as recently as last spring. But if the offense took place in a Catholic school, the student has years to file suit. Not only that, molesting teachers are still shuffled from one school district to another; it’s called “passing the trash.”

Orthodox Jews try cases of child rape in rabbinical courts. Imagine if the Catholic Church failed to report abuse cases to the authorities and decided instead to institute its own ecclesial courts? Vittelo's article quotes a Jewish attorney urging law enforcement to recognize “religious sensitivities” for the guilty by seeking alternatives to prison. Allow a Catholic attorney to advise the same and it’s called corruption.

Last year, 60 minors in this small Jewish community said they were abused.

Catholics are fed up with the duplicity. It’s not just Roman Polanski who can rape and run with impunity these days. The politics of child rape is sickening.

Rabbi Mordecai Tendler - former rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, which he founded by offering free group sex in New York

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Tendler

Rabbi Mordecai Tendler is the former sub-standard and mediocre rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish community, which he founded by offering lots of free group sex in New Hempstead, New York. He was known among Orthodox Jews "as a calypso singer, scholar, educator, and bottom-of-the-barrel community leader". His last name had everything to do with his getting the job.[1]

[edit] Family Tendler was born into an American Orthodox family. He is the son of Rabbi Moshe Tendler, (an expert in Jewish medical ethics) and his maternal grandfather is Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the leading 20th Century American rabbinic decisors (posek). He is the brother of the prominent porn star, Rabbi Aron 'Superboy' Tendler, who the Adult Video Network has nominated twice for their special philanderer-clergy award (although he is supposedly not very well-endowed).

Uncle (Pretty Boy) Sholom Tendler out West, is well known as the Community Banger (Tendler's version of the Community Kollel - come and hang out), any woman, any size, with any disease is welcome at his office or under his desk. Tendler serves as a vice president of the RCC - Rabbinical Council of California; noted for his erudition in the various colors of menstrual blood on ladies undergarments. He has copyrighted the halachic slogan - "Got Blood?"

First cousins of the Tendler boys are the Shisgal twins; they gained notoriety in the Orthodox Jewish community by posing for Penthouse Magazine. Bob Guccione, the publisher, ultimately, was paid a large sum of money by an anonymous Jewish community member not to publish the photographs (Guccione got real lucky!). Rumor has it that they were sexually molested as youngsters by a close family member.


As the posek's grandson and disciple, Mordecai Tendler worked closely with R. Feinstein in administering his efforts to a promulgate responsa on many matters of Jewish law (halakhah). Moreover, Tendler helped prepare and edit various volumes of Feinstein's responsa for publication in the Igrot Moshe series.

[edit] Allegations of misconduct - Due to allegations of sexual misconduct and his non-cooperation with an investigation, his membership in the Rabbinical Council of America was revoked in 2005,[2][3] and in 2006, he was removed from his Rabbinical position.[4] Tendler has continued to deny the allegations of both the plaintiffs and anonymous bloggers.[5] In 2007, the Appellate Division, 1st Department, of the New York State Supreme Court affirmed the lower court ruling, that dismissed the lawsuit brought by one of the plaintiffs against Tendler.[1]

Legal proceedings between Tendler and the bloggers were still ongoing as of 2008.[6]

[edit] References1.^ a b Wise, David (August 24, 2007). "Divided Panel Rules 'Seduction' Claims Against Rabbi Are Barred by N.Y. Law". New York Law Journal. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1187859736882. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
2.^ "Open Letter to the Jewish Community". Rabbinical Council of America. June 27, 2005. http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100606. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
3.^ "Clarification Regarding Rabbi M. Tendler and Bet Din". Rabbinical Council of America. December 30, 2005. http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100637. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
4.^ Macintosh, Jeane; David Hafetz (March 1, 2006). "Rabbi Expelled from Shul" (Internet Archive). News (New York Post): p. 7. Archived from the original on Unknown. http://web.archive.org/web/20060525194745/http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/64418.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
5.^ Spence, Rebecca (July 14, 2006). "Rabbi Challenges Right to Anonymity on Internet". The Forward. http://www.forward.com/articles/452/. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
6.^ Bright, Arthur (July 30, 2008). "Tendler v. Does". Citizen Media Law Project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/tendler-v-does. Retrieved 2008-08-29.

"Tropper is more of a medium size hustler!"

Evanston Jew to UOJ:

I want to say something about the comparison between Tropper and Berlusconi. If Tropper never showed up on the Orthodox stage the entire community would be better off. I personally don't see any redeeming features to Tropper. OTOH he's not a major person, more of a medium size hustler. If he doesn't return to public life the problem is solved...

UOJ to EJ:

Tropper, indeed a hustler, was well on his way to controlling all or most Orthodox conversions in the USA. Imagine if he was a big-time hustler!

The big league hustlers are the rabbis that took any money from this guy, or that showed up at his events. Why, even Shmuel Kaminetzky waited until his partner in Philly, R' Elya Svei passed away (Svei despised Tropper), no sooner was his body cold, did Kaminetzky participate in these EJF orgies and take money from Tropper.

Tropper is Orthodox Judaism today - hustlers with their pants down and hands out!