Just when I thought I heard it all.....

New AI app lets users ‘text with’ Yoshka Pundrick and other (fictional in most cases) biblical figures 

 

The app replicates an instant messaging platform, allowing users to chat with ChatGPT impersonations of biblical figures, including the apostles, the prophets, Ruth, Job, Lot and more.

 

A "Text with Jesus" app promotional banner. 

(RNS) — If you ever wondered how Jonah felt while he was trapped inside the whale’s stomach for three days, why Solomon had so many wives or why Judas betrayed Jesus, a new app called Text with Jesus is your chance to ask for yourself.

Launched in July, Text with Jesus is the latest creation from Cat Loaf software, an app-development company in Los Angeles. The app replicates an instant messaging platform, with biblical figures impersonated by the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT.

Characters available on the app include the Holy Family, the apostles, the prophets, Ruth, Job and Abraham’s nephew, Lot.

“We stir the AI and tell it: You are Jesus, or you are Moses, or whoever, and knowing what you already have in your database, you respond to the questions based on their characters,” said Stéphane Peter, the app’s developer and the company’s CEO.

Peter, who founded Cat Loaf software in 2011, has built numerous more static applications with historical figures — Text from the Founding Fathers, Text from Oscar Wilde, and more recently, Text from Jesus — in which users received quotes from the person in question, but couldn’t interact.

When ChatGPT was released last year, the 46-year-old developer, who came to the United States from France, wondered how to use AI to upgrade the Text from Jesus app. In February, he started digging into OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research laboratory that launched ChatGPT, and created a proper chat from a simple devotional app.

“Instead of just getting a daily Bible verse, now you get a chance through this app to chat with Jesus or anybody else in the Bible,” he said.  

There are few limits to what users can ask the app’s characters. Whether the topic is personal relationship advice or complex theological matters, they formulate elaborate responses, incorporating at least one Bible verse.  

Asked how he defined a good Christian, the app’s Jesus replied that such a person will “profess faith in me, but also follow my teachings and embody them in your life,” and quotes a passage in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus teaches that the greatest commandments are, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Many people in the Bible, Mary Magdalene among them, are only accessible in the app’s premium version, which costs $2.99 a month. In a conversation with Magdalene, the devoted follower of Jesus mentions how having seven demons “was an incredibly tormenting experience. …”

“Chat with Satan” can be activated if the user chooses. The character signs all his texts with a “smiling face with horns” emoji.

Peter, who said he didn’t work with any theological advisers on this project, explained that he trained the AI to “try to stick to the biblical tradition as hard as possible.”

 

Screenshot of the “Text with Jesus” app on a tablet

But Peter did invite church leaders to try Text with Jesus once he had a beta version. Some pastors complained that some responses lacked Bible chapter and verse citations, or about the strange uptight tone in which Jesus talked, but on the final version, Peter said, he received “pretty good feedback” from the professionals.

“I updated it so it can speak more like a regular person and ensured it didn’t forget that it’s supposed to get stuff from the Bible. It’s a constant trick to find the right balance,” he said.

In case users were tempted to reveal sensitive information about themselves to the app’s Jesus, all information is stored temporarily, just long enough for the AI program to keep track of the conversation. The server does not keep any identifying information about users, Peter said.

On X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, the launching of the app stirred reactions ranging from amusement to accusations of blasphemy and heresy. “That’s a hard NO for me,” tweeted one user.

Peter anticipated the app would draw blowback but called it “another way to explore Scripture.”

Asked about the criticisms about Jesus’ oddly mild responses on some touchy issues, Peter acknowledged that Text with Jesus’ characters tend to avoid taking offensive stances, instead taking an inclusive and tolerant line.

On same-sex marriage, the app says it is “up to each individual to seek guidance from their own faith tradition and personal convictions” and encourages users to “prioritize love and respect for all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” signing the text with a rainbow and red heart emojis.

About feminism, Jesus emphasized the importance of “empowering women and breaking societal barriers that limited their opportunities.”

https://religionnews.com/2023/08/07/new-ai-app-lets-users-text-with-jesus-and-other-biblical-figures/

But it is in the area of child sex abuse when the effects of the halo effect really become clear and dangerous. In the not too distant past, a number of high profile members of our community have been accused of and/or arrested for crimes of a sexual nature against children.

Eliminating The Halo Effect For Sex Abusers

 

A PIG WITH A HAT IS STILL A PIG!

Photo Credit: 123rf.com

You’re at the jewelry store to buy a pair of earrings as a present for someone you love. But you aren’t sure if you should buy the pair you’re looking at. You’re not sure if it is their style. You’re also not sure if the price is a good price. Across the counter, the salesperson is telling you how they’re beautiful and how the price is a great deal.

You decide to leave the store, not heeding the calls of the salesperson to buy. After all, they are the salesperson, they aren’t a neutral party.

---

---

People can be very quick to realize when they’re doing business with someone who has a bias. However, these same people often fail to recognize that they themselves have their own biases. This is known as the blind bias spot.

I have written about numerous cognitive biases in the past, but for the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on a bias that many have, this is called The Halo Effect / The Horns Effect.

The halo effect is the belief that if something is good at one thing, it would also be good at other things.

The horns effect is the reverse. If something isn’t good at one thing, it is believed that it will not be good at the other thing.

Here is an example of the halo effect: There is a pizza store near your home and you find their pizza to be delicious. This store now adds homemade frozen yogurt to their menu. You have no idea whether it is good or not, but given that you find the other items on their menu to be extremely tasty, you believe that their frozen yogurt will also be tasty.

The horns effect is the following case: The bagel store whose food you dislike starts selling soft serve ice cream. You decide to get your ice cream elsewhere because, after all, if they can’t get a bagel right, why should you think they can get ice cream right?

Pizza isn’t frozen yogurt.

Baking bagels and making soft serve ice cream are two very different skills.

Yet we allow our experience with one to impact our decision when it comes to the other.

Welcome to the halo effect.

The halo effect also distorts how we view people. People who are dressed nicely or more put together will be viewed more positively than those who aren’t.

But it is in the area of child sex abuse when the effects of the halo effect really become clear and dangerous.

In the not too distant past, a number of high profile members of our community have been accused of and/or arrested for crimes of a sexual nature against children.

The cries from the community are always the same.

“But he does so much chesed!”

“Someone who leads such an organization must be a tzaddik! A tzaddik doesn’t do that!”

“What about all those important messages to kids in his books?”

“Do you know how many honors he has received?”

That’s the halo effect.

The chesed done over many years doesn’t mean a crime wasn’t committed.

Running a non-profit organization doesn’t mean that a crime wasn’t committed.

Teaching important lessons to kids doesn’t mean that a crime wasn’t committed.

Receiving honors doesn’t mean that a crime wasn’t committed.

When we allow the halo effect to corrupt our thought processing, we are telling the abusers: “If you show me that you’re a nice person, I’ll believe you and protect you when the truth comes out about you being an abuser.”

The halo effect is a giant welcome mat in front of our communities.

It welcomes abusers, protects them while silencing and shaming their victims.

When we both individually and communally start recognizing the lack of connection between a person’s good traits and the possibility that they’re doing bad things, that’s when we are able to defeat the halo effect.

So instead of a mat welcoming abusers, there is a giant sign for them that reads: “Do Not Enter.”

I feel the need to add the following:

The pasuk in Parshas Shemini says: ”The pig, because its hooves are split…” What does it mean because its hooves are split? That is a sign of kosher, not a sign of being non-kosher!

Says R’ Moshe Shternbuch quoting the Kli Yakar: Because the pig goes around bragging and proving that it is kosher due to it’s foot, don’t say that it is treif in spite of its acceptable foot; rather the acceptable foot is also a sign of it being treif!

The same is true when we hear of these famous and “chashuv” people who commit acts of abuse.

They didn’t abuse in spite of all the good that they did, the good that they did was part of their abuse!

It was part of the grooming and manipulation.

The pig shows its feet to be accepted where it doesn’t belong, no different than these abusers.

https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/eliminating-the-halo-effect-for-abusers/2023/08/04/

Another Moshiach Moronic Crackpot - The Frum Sites Put This Garbage Up Because Why? You Guessed It If You Have an IQ of 50!

"Lawyer Is A Jew" - tweeting out a vague picture of a visible minority that has been subject to rising hate crimes in NYC to your 31 million followers is just not acceptable!

 

Rapper Cardi B tweets, then deletes, picture of Orthodox Jews after legal triumph

 

Cardi B, seen here performing onstage during 2023 HOT 107.9's Birthday Bash in Atlanta in June 2023, tweeted a picture of Orthodox Jews after her Jewish lawyers announced victory in a legal case.

 

(JTA) — Soon after Cardi B learned that police in Las Vegas would not charge her in connection with an incident at a recent concert, she turned to Wikipedia.

The rapper tweeted a picture that illustrates the digital encyclopedia’s entry for “Jewish religious clothing.” The picture shows two Hasidic Orthodox Jewish men walking in Borough Park, Brooklyn. One wears a fur hat called a streimel as well as a tallit, a prayer shawl, over his clothes; the other has long peyos, the sidelocks worn by some Orthodox men.

“Remember … ” she wrote.

Fans immediately connected the post to a lyric in her 2018 song “Bickenheld,’ in which she sings, “Lawyer is a Jew, he gon’ chew up all the charges.” Jewish lawyers are a sustained theme in rap music, and Cardi B’s legal team on the Las Vegas incident included multiple Jewish attorneys.

But even as some interpreted the tweet as praise for her Jewish lawyers, others decried it as offensive because Cardi B appeared to attribute her attorneys’ success to their Jewish identity, not their skills. (The men in the picture are not Cardi B’s attorneys.)

“Appreciate you @iamcardib, but tweeting out a vague picture of a visible minority that has been subject to rising hate crimes in NYC to your 31 million followers is just not acceptable,” tweeted David Bashevkin, a prominent Orthodox voice on social media. “When hate is an option don’t leave anyone guessing what you meant.”

Amid a social media backlash, the tweet was removed without comment. “Lawyer is a Jew” continued trending on X, the platform that was until recently called Twitter, for some time.

The Thievery & Unashamed Endless Scams Are Destroying The Intellect & the Vulnerable Minds of the Needy! When Will This Disgusting Money-Bleeding Robbery End? Don't Give These Ganovim A Dime!

PROTEST WITH YOUR DOLLARS - STOP BUYING THE TRASH CALLED AMI MAGAZINE! DON'T TAKE THIS GARBAGE INTO YOUR HOME!

 

ALL THE SCAMS THAT'S NOT FIT TO PRINT

More than a million people in Canada and the United States were captivated enough to mail money in exchange for various psychic services. Some people, though, eventually began to question whether they were truly corresponding with a legendary psychic and felt they had been cheated. In 2020, after being pursued by law enforcement for years, Runner was arrested in Spain and extradited to the US on eighteen counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, for orchestrating one of the biggest mail-order scams in North American history. + “It is a crime when you lie to them about their beliefs and take their money.” +

READ:

https://thewalrus.ca/the-greatest-scam-ever-written/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 

Rashbam on Deuteronomy 13:4:1

כי מנסה ה' וגו' - נתן כח בכשפים לדעת הנולדות לנסות ולזכות ישראל, שהתרה בהם: לא יהיה בך מעונן ומנחש ומכשף וגו' עד תמים תהיה עם ה' אלהיך - ואם לא יאמינו בעבודת גילולים, זו היא זכותן.

Sefer HaChinukh 510:4

וְנוֹהֵג אִסּוּר זֶה בְּכָל מָקוֹם וּבְכָל זְמַן בִּזְכָרִים וּנְקֵבוֹת, וְהָעוֹבֵר עַל זֶה וְעָשָׂה עַצְמוֹ קוֹסֵם עַל דֶּרֶךְ אֶחָד מִכָּל הָעִנְיָנִים שֶׁזָּכַרְנוּ אוֹ בְּעִנְיָן אַחֵר וְיַגִּיד לִבְנֵי אָדָם הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁיִּרְאֶה בִּקְסָמָיו, חַיָּב מַלְקוּת, וְהוּא שֶׁעָשָׂה שׁוּם מַעֲשֶׂה בַּדָּבָר, שֶׁאֵין לוֹקִין עָלָיו מִבְּלִי מַעֲשֶׂה. אֲבָל הַשּׁוֹאֵל מִן הַקּוֹסֵם אֵינֶנּוּ בְּחִיּוּב מַלְקוּת, וְאָמְנָם הוּא מְגֻנֶּה מְאֹד כָּל הַקּוֹבֵעַ מַחְשְׁבוֹתָיו וּמוֹצִיא עִתָּיו בַּהֲבָלִים אֵלֶּה…

Sefer HaChinukh 511:2

דִּינֵי הַמִּצְוָה. בִּמְקוֹמוֹת בַּתַּלְמוּד בְּפִזּוּר, וְהָעִקָּר בְּפֶרֶק שְׁבִיעִי מִסַּנְהֶדְרִין. וְכָל שֶׁהוּא דַּיָּן עַל זֶה צָרִיךְ לָדַעַת חָכְמַת הַכִּשּׁוּף, כְּדֵי שֶׁיֵּדַע לְהַבְחִין בַּמַּעֲשֶׂה הַנַּעֲשֶׂה אִם הוּא מִין מִמִּינֵי הַכִּשּׁוּף אוֹ אוּלַי הוּא מִן הַדְּבָרִים הַנַּעֲשִׂים בְּכֹחַ הַטֶּבַע וּבַצְּדָדִין הַמֻּתָּרִין, וּכְעִנְיָן שֶׁאָמְרוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (שבת סז, א) כָּל שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם רְפוּאָה אֵין בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם דַּרְכֵי הָאֱמוֹרִי, וּכְבָר דִּבַּרְתִּי עַל זֶה שָׁם בְּלָאו דִּמְכַשֵּׁפָה כְּפִי כֹּחִי…

Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 11:16

וּדְבָרִים הָאֵלּוּ כֻּלָּן דִּבְרֵי שֶׁקֶר וְכָזָב הֵן וְהֵם שֶׁהִטְעוּ בָּהֶן עוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים הַקַּדְמוֹנִים לְגוֹיֵי הָאֲרָצוֹת כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּנְהֲגוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶן. וְאֵין רָאוּי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהֵם חֲכָמִים מְחֻכָּמִים לְהִמָּשֵׁךְ בַּהֲבָלִים אֵלּוּ וְלֹא לְהַעֲלוֹת עַל לֵב שֶׁיֵּשׁ תּוֹעֶלֶת בָּהֶן. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר כג כג) "כִּי לֹא נַחַשׁ בְּיַעֲקֹב וְלֹא קֶסֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל". וְנֶאֱמַר (דברים יח יד) "כִּי הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה יוֹרֵשׁ אוֹתָם אֶל מְעֹנְנִים וְאֶל קֹסְמִים יִשְׁמָעוּ וְאַתָּה לֹא כֵן" וְגוֹ'. כָּל הַמַּאֲמִין בִּדְבָרִים הָאֵלּוּ וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן וּמְחַשֵּׁב בְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁהֵן אֱמֶת וּדְבַר חָכְמָה אֲבָל הַתּוֹרָה אֲסָרָתַן אֵינָן אֶלָּא מִן הַסְּכָלִים וּמְחֻסְּרֵי הַדַּעַת וּבִכְלַל הַנָּשִׁים וְהַקְּטַנִּים שֶׁאֵין דַּעְתָּן שְׁלֵמָה. אֲבָל בַּעֲלֵי הַחָכְמָה וּתְמִימֵי הַדַּעַת יֵדְעוּ בִּרְאָיוֹת בְּרוּרוֹת שֶׁכָּל אֵלּוּ 

הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁאָסְרָה תּוֹרָה אֵינָם דִּבְרֵי חָכְמָה אֶלָּא תֹּהוּ וְהֶבֶל שֶׁנִּמְשְׁכוּ בָּהֶן חַסְרֵי הַדַּעַת וְנָטְשׁוּ כָּל דַּרְכֵי הָאֱמֶת בִּגְלָלָן…

TU B'AV TOGETHER - A GLOBAL DAY FOR SHIDDUCHIM
It's worth the 23 seconds it takes to learn about TU B'AV TOGETHER

Yad L'Achim's annual Tu B'Av Together is taking place THIS week Tue (8/1) & Wed (8/2) with LIVE MUSIC & TEFILLAH EVENTS! (see flyer below) or at TuBavTogether.com
 

On Wednesday, August 2nd beginning at 10:00am EST, is Tu B'Av Together, 

There will be a minyan of talmidei chachamim in Amuka,
davening for all who submit their names for tefillah (free to submit names!) through Yad L'Achim.

Tefillah can be for shidduchim, or any other personal requests - 
(Yad L'Achim received over 100 emails with people sharing simchas since last year's Tu B'Av Together tefillah!)

TO SUBMIT NAMES FOR FREE, CLICK HERE - VISIT
TuBavTogether.com
(or call 1-718-690-2944)

 

Over 500,000+ Jews from across the world (U2), will be davening together on Tu B’Av (8/12 @10am) for SHIDDUCHIM, reciting 8 perakim of Tehillim
 

📖 To download the Tehillim to be said on Tu B'Av Together CLICK HERE

There will be 2 Live Events with Rabbonim & Musical performances to watch online at www.TuBavTogether.com.

 

TUESDAY 8/1 @ 7:30 pm EST: FREE LIVE MUSIC EVENT & INSPIRATION WITH RABBONIM AND MUSICAL PERFOMANCES

WEDNESDAY 8/2 @ 10:00 am EST: LIVE TEFILLAH EVENT WITH LEADING RABBANIM -- SAY TEHILLIM TOGETHER WITH KLAL YISRAEL!

WATCH LIVE AT TUBAVTOGETHER.COM

At the same time as Klal Yisrael davens, each in their part of the world, there will be a minyan of Talmidei Chachamim in Amuka, davening for all who submit their names for tefillah (it’s free) through Yad L’Achim.

SUBMIT NAMES NOW! Don't wait till the last second and maybe forget!

Visit TuBavTogether.com (or call 1-718-690-2944 we are here to help!)

 

To receive inspiring videos via Whatsapp👉Join the TU B'AV TOGETHER WhatsApp updates group! (free daily prizes including AIRPODS & Amazon Gift Cards).

 

Tu B'Av Together is a Yad L'Achim initiative founded in 2015. Shidduchim is a topic that truly brings the entire spectrum of Klal Yisroel together. Tu B'Av Together, a day for tefillah - for shidduchim - is recognizing the need to daven for this momentus need of the Jewish people. We have been zoche to have millions of Yidden involved in tefillah, and with every year, one Jewish tefillah at a time, we'll bring shidduchim closer to those yearning.

 

To share this special Tu B'Av Together program and free tefillah via WhatsApp, click here.

 

Yad L'Achim - Pidyon Shvuyim

4018 18 Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218

Ami Magazine · 1575 50th street · Brooklyn · New York · 11219

Toras Hashem - Live at Madison Square Garden New York City

You see, this man was supposed to be my father. Instead, he chose to abuse me. I called the police in NY, they told me I had to file a complaint with local police in Israel (where I currently live). So I did. They promptly told me that I didn't have enough hard evidence for the case to go forward.

 

 

Dr. Hyman Shwarzberg

 by Mazal Shwarzberg

Mazal Shwarzberg

 

tdooesnSrpc18h2h1lg548ufg89a3f6048uuif19hillm22i490uahl4hfl5  ·

The man you see in this photo is Dr. Hyman Shwarzberg. He lives in Crown Heights, is close to 70 years old, and as you can guess by our shared last name - we are genetically related. 

 

You see, this man was supposed to be my father. Instead, he chose to abuse me. 

 

The abuse was so bad, my brain completely blocked it out. I grew up thinking he was a neutral person who was on the spectrum (I never did quite get the idea that he was good). 

 

At some point, I grew up and learned that after a certain age, people are rarely if ever neutral. 

 

At 23, I had a horrific flashback to the abuse. I went back to NY for a few reasons, one of which was to see him with my own eyes. What I saw made my stomach turn. 

 

My family was less than welcoming. When I first got back to NY, I didn't say anything to them about my flashback. It was clear they wouldn't believe me, or even worse - they'd attack me for coming forward. 

 

I blocked the memories one last time. Told myself that the next time they came up, I would never block them again. I wasn't ready to deal with the repercussions of facing and owning the truth. 

 

During the months I blocked everything, I lived in the same house as him. My body compensated for my mind's denial. I felt physically ill any time I was around him. 

 

Eight months later, the truth finally flooded back in. As one would expect, my emotional state suffered and I started spending most of my time indoors. 

 

I slept in the basement - in a bedroom directly underneath my sister's bedroom. One Thursday in early January, at 5 o'clock in the morning, I heard heavy footsteps in her bedroom. She was a minor. 

 

I grabbed the nearest weapon - a hammer - and went upstairs. I was absolutely terrified. I knew what I'd see when I opened that door, and was afraid I would lose it and G-d forbid injure my sister. So I walked to the bedroom hallway, made enough noise to be heard and went back downstairs. I heard her bedroom door open and close as I went back downstairs. 

 

Today, I recognize this moment as a moment of profound cowardice in my life. If I had had the courage to walk into that room, I could have saved many vulnerable people a whole lot of suffering. 

 

I have done many things to try to remove him from the presence of vulnerable people.

 

 I called CPS. 

 

They opened an investigation that lasted a few months, but didn't find enough evidence to do something. 

 

I called the police in NY, they told me I had to file a complaint with local police in Israel (where I currently live). So I did. They promptly told me that I didn't have enough hard evidence for the case to go forward. 

 

I warned my family multiple times back then, and once in the interim. One of my siblings threatened to call the police on me, and I haven't been invited to any family affairs since. 

 

Personal experience has taught me that denial is strong and cowardice even stronger. 

 

It is written in Kohelet Rabba, "one who is merciful to the cruel will end up being cruel to the merciful".

 

I have spent a long time regarding myself as a victim. Wondering why no one did anything to protect me when I was a child. 

 

Feeling so profoundly sorry for myself, I didn't recognize that I had joined in the vicious cycle of cruelty. 

 

My family chose to protect him, to have mercy on him. That made his cruelty theirs. And I chose to have mercy on my family, which passed the cruelty right along to me. 

 

You see, they had cut me off but not completely. And I was too scared to take a scalpel to these relationships. The truth was, they weren't relationships - only the illusions of them. I was afraid nonetheless; still living the lie. 

 

Two and a half years ago, my niece was born. This past year, she got a new brother. 

 

These are little children who cannot protect themselves. They have no voice, and the people entrusted with protecting them are in a state of denial that I am in no position to judge them for. 

 

However, I can no longer remain silent. 

 

I have no hard evidence regarding the crimes he's committed - yet. 

 

Please reach out to me if you or someone you know has been harmed by this man. 

 

And please, share this post. 

 

This is not my attempt to hold him accountable - I think only G-d can do that. 

 

This is me doing something I should have mustered up the courage to do years ago. 

 

Protecting the vulnerable who cannot protect themselves. 

 

I no longer want to swim in a sea of sorry excuses regarding why I don't do something about this. 

 

We sometimes wonder how the people living next door to Auschwitz just went about their lives. 

 

I don't wonder anymore. This personal holocaust has been going on for years now with my knowledge - and while I've done my best to do the right thing until now - my best has manifested as patent cruelty in the life of someone completely helpless. 

 

And I know it's that it's my own learned helplessness that has allowed me to wallow in self-pity and cowardice. While a sick and dangerous person has had free reign to sew seeds of destruction that incinerate and desecrate lives. 

 

Enough is enough. 

 

Please don't be silent. Please don't watch the billowing smoke of human corpses rise up from your neighbor's chimney and be silent. 

 

I can't judge you if you are silent, I myself spent long enough muted for weakness and fear. 

 

We always pay the price for our cowardice. 

 

We also reap the benefits of our bravery.

 

Courage is as contagious as fear is.

 

And please, share this post. 

עַל־אֵ֣לֶּה | אֲנִ֣י בֽוֹכִיָּ֗ה ------ For the 34-year-old, who cannot ignore her husband’s late-night excursions to their daughter’s room, but wonders who will believe her, to whom she can turn?

 

  For these I weep 

 

I shed tears of pain for all that should never have befallen our daughters, Jewish marriage, Jewish leadership, or the Torah itself

For the 18-year-old, ecstatic to start the Jewish home she was raised to build, who wonders at the erratic behavior of the man before her, and thinks, Surely, if something were wrong, someone would have said something.

For the 20-year-old, now a mother of two, wondering what happened to her “Torah scholar” who spends more time on the internet than in the beis medrash, the study hall where he is supposed to be learning Torah.

For the 22-year-old mother of three, who asks again for permission for birth control because parenting alone, due to a mentally ill husband, is taking its toll.

For the 24-year-old, who finally leaves in the middle of the night with her babies, her bruises, and the bag on her back, only to return the next week because “shalom bayis” — peace in the home — is her job and maybe if she tried harder, if she smiled more, if she had dinner on the table, he wouldn’t hit her again.

For the 26-year-old mother of four, who tells her story over and over again to anyone who will listen, but stops when a therapist from the community suggests she take antidepressants if she isn’t happy in her marriage.

For the 28-year-old, who refuses her husband’s demand that she be intimate with his friend — while he watches.

For the 30-year-old, who discovers her husband visits prostitutes because she needs treatment for an STD.

For the 32-year-old, forced to lie beneath him yet again, though Halacha forbids them to be together at that time.

For the 34-year-old, who cannot ignore her husband’s late-night excursions to their daughter’s room, but wonders who will believe her, to whom she can turn? 

For the 36-year-old, who is told not to shame the family when she tells them she needs a divorce.

For the 38-year-old, who can no longer live this way and leaves, his snarled, “You’ll get a get when you’re old and wrinkled and no one will ever want you again” ringing in her ears.

For the 40-year-old, working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet, while he refuses to pay child support, yet remains an welcome guest at shabbat meals.

For the 42-year-old, whose rabbi told her that physical abuse isn’t a reason for divorce and asked why she hadn’t tried other sexual positions to make him happy.

For the 44-year-old who keeps calm while she hears the list of what he wants in exchange for her divorce (delivered by a rabbi): give up her demand for back unpaid child support; give up her right to half of value of the house; drop all charges of abuse; close the restraining order; and pay $150,000 for his shame of her seeking a divorce.

For the 46-year-old, who trembles in fear as her daughter walks down the aisle having refused to sign a halachic prenup because “Your story isn’t mine.”

For the 48-year-old, whose children are ashamed of their mother’s pursuit of a get, still after all these years.

For the 50-year-old, who never experienced real love and affection from her spouse.

For the 52-year-old, who endures community members comments that her suffering may be a tikkun — to make up for something wrong she had done in the past.

For the 54-year-old, who is chained in marriage because she refused his extortion, but he received a heter meah rabbanim, a permit signed by 100 rabbis that allows him to marry another (because her refusal got her labeled a “moredet” — a rebellious woman).

For the 56-year-old, past her child-bearing years, so lonely that she begins to date, and is shamed for seeking love.

For the 58-year-old, who turns to the religious women on Instagram to help her plead her case, baring her pain in the hope that the shame will move him — and the community — into action, since nothing else has.

For the 60-year-old being sued by her husband for libel for daring to tell her story on the internet.

For the 62-year-old, who still fields calls urging her to pay him off and buy her freedom.

For the 64-year-old whose emunas chachamim (faith in the rabbis) is as dead as her marriage.

For the 68-year-old, who watches in trepidation as her granddaughter begins to date, wondering how to protect her in a world where a Jewish woman’s dignity doesn’t matter.

For the 70-year-old, who dies an agunah, bearing his name, trapped in marriage forever.

עַל־אֵ֣לֶּה | אֲנִ֣י בֽוֹכִיָּ֗ה

For these I weep

The above is an amalgamation of  real women’s stories. 

—https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-she-sits-alone-for-these-i-weep/

RARE OPPORTUNITY TO GET SCAMMED & THIEVED OUT OF YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY - IN BROAD DAYLIGHT - ON TISHA B'AV!

 

 

IMAGINE A PERSONAL PHONE CALL WITH REBBETZIN KOLODETSKY! (VERY HARD FOR MY IMAGINATION TO GRASP THAT -- UOJ)

CLICK HERE

 

RARE OPPORTUNITY!!!

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 $180 - Rav Chaim's daughter will daven for you by Candle lighting

 $1000 - Speak with the Rebbetzin over the phone, and receive her blessings

 $1800 - The Rebbetzin herself will call you right before Candle Lighting

The daughter of Rav Chaim Kanievski ztz"l, Rebbetzin Laya Kolodetsky, will daven for you at her holy father's kever, and during candle lighting in Friday!

Exceedingly rare opportunity! Speak to the Rebbetzin. You can have the immeasurable opportunity to speak personally [over the phone] with the Rebbetzin, and she will storm the heavens for all your personal requests. See below for details.

Saving a family from total collapse It's all about a righteous family, of which the father is truly immersed in Torah study and was an extremely close disciple of Rav Chaim Kanievski ztz"l. "My father ztz"l, says Rebbetzin Kolodetsky, "loved and cherished him as a child of his own!" The family, counting 16 people, was never well to do, but as the children were getting married off one after another, the debts started piling up and the many expenses have given no respite to the distinguished father.  During a supposed glorious time, a dreadful episode occurred This past month, while he was celebrating the Vort of his 9th daughter, he suddenly fell ill. Instead of greeting his guests with a shining face, he himself was greeted by concerning doctors who were fearing of the worst. The doctors' unequivocal warnings have changed his life. "The pressure is ruining you." "Your heart will not be able to withstand it." He understands the significance, is aware of the danger. But he has no choice. He must marry off his daughter.   His heart cannot bear the burden Rebbetzin Kolodetsky is very close with the family. She took upon herself to save this family from a devastating and tragic outcome. This is a true matter of PIKUACH NEFESH! Therefore she is doing something she's never done before. We must help her to save a righteous family from collapse. We must step up and assist the Rebbetzin in marrying of this Kallah, and paying off some debts. IT'S OUR OBLIGATION!!!

“This case is like no other in my experience,” Judge Berman said Monday, adding that Mr. Hadden’s actions were “lewd, serious, unchecked, out of control.” Not Long Enough - But Nailed The Momzer!

 

Doctor Who Abused Women Sentenced to 20 Years Imprisonment

 

Robert A. Hadden, a gynecologist, was convicted of luring women across state lines to appointments in Manhattan where he abused them.

 

Robert Hadden was previously convicted of state charges that he abused 19 patients, but faced no prison time

A former Manhattan gynecologist was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on Tuesday after being convicted of inducing four patients to cross state lines for examinations during which he sexually assaulted them.

The sentencing of the former doctor, Robert A. Hadden, 64, came after two days of hearings this week. The judge, Richard M. Berman, ordered Mr. Hadden to serve 20 years, the statutory maximum, concurrently on each of the four charges on which he was convicted in January. His incarceration would be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

The federal charges stemmed from assaults against four patients who traveled from and through New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania for gynecological and obstetrics appointments.

The length of the sentence for Mr. Hadden, who has not worked as a doctor since 2012, “is appropriate given the seriousness of the offenses, the need for punishment and deterrence,” Judge Berman said.

The sentencing hearing, which began on Monday, was extended so the judge could evaluate a raft of objections from Mr. Hadden’s lawyers, which he addressed on Tuesday.

“This case is like no other in my experience,” Judge Berman said Monday, adding that Mr. Hadden’s actions were “lewd, serious, unchecked, out of control.”

On Monday, Mr. Hadden — wearing the brown undershirt and tan scrubs of a federal detention center — blew a kiss to his wife, son and other supporters seated in the front row as he walked into the courtroom. He fidgeted throughout the nearly five-hour hearing as the judge meticulously went over the trial’s transcripts — dissecting witness testimony and an evaluation of Mr. Hadden’s mental health history.

Dozens of victims, their relatives and supporters packed the seats, anxiously awaiting the judge’s official sentencing.

The hearing in the Southern District of New York was the latest chapter in the decades-long saga. Prosecutors have said that Mr. Hadden abused dozens of his patients during medical exams starting in the early 1990s.

Mr. Hadden was first arrested in 2012 when a patient called the police after an exam and said he touched her sexually. But about seven years ago, the Manhattan district attorney’s office, then under Cyrus R. Vance Jr., struck a plea deal with Mr. Hadden, who had been accused of sexually abusing 19 patients. The deal allowed him to avoid prison time.

Mr. Hadden instead gave up his medical license and pleaded guilty to a single felony count of a criminal sexual act in the third degree, and one misdemeanor count of forcible touching.

The decision brought scrutiny for former prosecutors amid a nationwide reckoning with cases of sexual assault and the legal system’s handling of them.

In 2019, about one month after Evelyn Yang, the wife of the former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, told CNN in an interview that she was one of Mr. Hadden’s victims, the Manhattan district attorney’s office declared it had opened an investigation into new abuse allegations against him.

After an investigation, the office determined that any possible criminal charges were past the statute of limitation, according to a spokeswoman with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday.

Federal charges were announced against Mr. Hadden in September 2020.

At a hearing last month, several women spoke about how the assaults had affected them in the decades since.

“The system has taken over a decade to bring justice to this horrible crime,” said Laurie Kanyok, whose report to the police in 2012 led to Mr. Hadden’s arrest.

“I have spoken one too many times in court, and implore you to make this the last time,” she told Judge Berman.

Mr. Hadden’s former employers, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, have also been sued by victims in recent years. The hospitals have reached at least two separate settlements with 226 former patients for a total of about $236 million.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/nyregion/manhattan-gynecologist-sexual-abuse-hadden.html

Who Needs An Army When We Have Bench Kvetchers? We'll Use Cholent & Herring To Defend Ourselves From Our Enemies! Every YUTZ on The Bench Should Be Exempt From Any Kind Of Service --- So Much For Yiddishe Sechel!

 

UTJ proposes Basic Law to equate Torah studies with IDF service

 

The first clause of the bill, called Basic Law: Torah Study, says, "Torah study is a supreme value in the heritage of the Jewish people."

UTJ leader and Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf is seen at a Knesset committee meeting in Jerusalem

 

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party (UTJ) proposed on Tuesday a Basic Law aimed at anchoring in law the exemption from IDF military service for students in religious academies (yeshivot).The first clause of the bill, called Basic Law: Torah Study, says, "Torah study is a supreme value in the heritage of the Jewish people."

 

 

 

 

The second clause says, "The State of Israel as a Jewish state views the encouragement of Torah study and Torah students with utmost important, and regarding their rights and duties, those who dedicate themselves to studying Torah for an extended period should be viewed as having served a significant service to the State of Israel and the Jewish people."

All of UTJ's seven Knesset members put themselves down as the bill's sponsors.

The bill's purpose is to prevent a future Supreme Court ruling to strike down a new haredi conscription bill on constitutional grounds.

Haredim protest in Jerusalem against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth into the army

The previous law, which expired at the end of June, was passed in 2014 and was amended in 2015. It set allotments of haredi draftees to the IDF per year and sanctioned yeshivot that did not meet these allotments. In addition, it gave haredi men who reach the age of 26 a final exemption from service.

In September 2017, the Supreme Court deemed the bill unconstitutional, since the exemption it gave was ruled to be too sweeping and thus violated the notion of equality. The court initially gave the Knesset a year to amend the bill, but this was delayed 15 times due to the recurring elections since then.

The haredi parties initially demanded an override clause in order to ensure that it will be able to override a similar Supreme Court ruling in the future. However, due to public criticism of such a move, the current proposal would make an override clause unnecessary, as the Supreme Court would no longer have the constitutional basis to strike down a future law.

 The Basic Law: Torah Study appeared in the coalition agreements between the Likud and UTJ, and was supposed to have passed along with the budget, which became law at the end of May. However, the Likud distanced itself on Tuesday from the proposal, which many Israelis view as fundamentally discriminatory.

"Basic Law: Torah Study is not on the table and will not be advanced," the Likud said in a statement.

Israeli government, opposition voice problems with Basic Law: Torah Study

A "senior official" in the haredi Sephardi party Shas, which is also part of the coalition, said that the party was "in shock" that the proposal was put forward without its knowledge or consent, which causes "enormous damage" to the "defense" of yeshiva students.  The official noted that just last week the coalition decided to convene a team of legal experts and party representatives in order to come up with a comprehensive government bill proposal.

"Unfortunately, whoever published this in the current timing, in the midst of a civil crisis and a severe schism in the nation, sabotaged the cause and led to severe incitement against yeshiva students."

The opposition voiced sharp criticism.

"The day after canceling the reasonableness standard, the most unhinged coalition in the state's history is beginning to celebrate at our expense," opposition leader MK Yair Lapid wrote on Facebook. The government of destruction, that does not cease shouting about [reservists] 'refusals' [to continue volunteering], proposes the 'draft-dodging and refusal to serve' bill and even dares call it 'Basic Law: Torah Study," Lapid said.

National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and chief of staff, wrote on Twitter that while Torah study has been "central in the lives of Jews over the generations," the bill would "empty" the notion of the Army of the People, and would cause "strategic damage to the future of the State of Israel."

"Instead of a country that has a government, we are becoming a government that has a country," Gantz added.

Israel's cabinet approved on June 25 a decision to pass a new haredi conscription bill by March 31, 2024, and to direct the IDF not to draft eligible haredi men until then – even though the previous law expired on June 30, and the state currently has no legal basis to continue not recruiting eligible haredi men.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this month in order to demand that the IDF begin processes to draft the haredi male population. However, the court accepted the state's argument that the law gives the IDF 12 months to draft conscripts whose exemption has run out, and therefore there was nothing unlawful about the decision not to immediately begin drafting eligible haredi men.

A central tenet of the legislation will be to lower the age of permanent exemption from the current age of 26 likely to the age of 22.

The government defined the legislation's purpose as being to regulate the integration of yeshiva students and graduates of haredi educational institutions into military service, national civil service, and into the workforce, with an emphasis on quality employment.

In order to offset the easing of the ability of haredim to avoid IDF service, the bill will also include a "significant" expansion of benefits for mandatory and reserve soldiers, in order to "express gratitude for their service and in order to reduce inequality in service."

The government will aim to publish an initial version of the bill before the beginning of the Knesset's winter session on October 15 and bring an updated version to the cabinet's approval by November 10.

In a statement, UTJ said the bill was drafted as part of coalition agreemenets regarding the draft of haredim into the Israeli military.

"The timing of the bill's drafting is purely coicendntial and the issue will be discussed as part of agreements between the coalition factions."

Gallant rejects haredi bill

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday rejected the Haredi bill to grant their community a blanket exemption from IDF service. 

He said, "serving in the IDF is the highest level civil obligation. Learning Torah is an important foundation to maintain our [Jewish] spark and I have respect for such studies."

'But at the same time, the defense minister stated, "it is important to remember: there is no place for comparing IDf service to learning Torah. Defending the State in the form of IDF service is the supreme obligation."

"We will make sure that whoever gives more, receives more," said Gallant.

Gallant was put in the awkward place of fighting with his coalition partners who are seeking a wide IDF exemption, just as he has been demanding that the rest of the mostly secular public, many of whom oppose the government's judicial overhaul, continue to not only do mandatory service, but also reserve service.

The defense minister was clearly angry with Justice Minister Yariv Levin for refusing any softening of the judicial overhaul on Monday, but ultimately voted in favor of the law in order to keep his role as defense minister.

When Gallant spoke out publicly against the judicial overhaul in March, he was temporarily fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though later Netanyahu rescinded the firing once Gallant made it clear he would support the prime minister on the issue going forward. 

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-752379?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israel+s+health+system+strikes+after+violent+night+of+judicial+reform+protests&utm_campaign=July+25%2C+2023&vgo_ee=Vx3XkYb%2Bn%2B3w5cLOHvJEjA02Avoqs9SQ5t8ykHDsOecOhQ%3D%3D%3AxQmwmLfwYBn%2FJfM7DIn7TTJ2ABW2tLzC