Hannah in the tabernacle of Yehuda Meshi Zahav
It takes a village to raise a serial sex offender.
Following reports over the weekend, the founder of one of Israel’s most well-known public charities, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, stands accused of sexual predation against boys, girls and grown women spanning forty years, allegations which he denies. Public indignation has called for an investigation of his actions. But the investigation must not stop there. The reports claim that throughout this long period, many knew of his alleged abuses and that in his community of Meah Shearim it was an open secret. To rid ourselves of the scourge of sexual predation, we must identify the social elements that foster the silence and complicity that are its breeding ground.
As a child in the 1970s, I was groomed by convicted sex offender Stanley Rosenfeld, a teacher and principal in the elementary school I attended. I see the wreckage that he has wrought in the lives of some of my classmates and know that there but for the grace of God go I. Investigations into the communal dynamics that enabled him and others like him to commit atrocities across many years are revealing, and especially so for religiously conservative communities.
The silence in such communities is fostered by multiple factors. First, sexuality generally is a taboo subject, and so even when there are rumors of offense, these are swept under the rug. Second, there is fear that public exposure of the issue will stain the community, or particularly the institutions with which the offender is associated. Third, fear rises within insular communities suspicious of the state, that to bring an alleged offender to the authorities would constitute the treasonous act of moiser, of turning over a fellow Jew to the supposedly ruthless hands of the secular state. And finally, when the offender is a person of power, as is allegedly the case here, many remain silent for fear of retribution.
What is needed, instead, is a culture that acknowledges that these abuses take place. A culture that places the stigma on the offender rather than on the victim. A culture that speaks truth to power. A culture that lauds those that speak up as the defenders of the community, not as its traitors. What is needed in the haredi community is an adaptation of the culture of #metoo, if you will, a culture of #mir-oich.
Community reform is possible. Forum Takanah, established in 2003, provides the Religious Zionist community with a body to handle complaints of sexual harassment without the involvement of law enforcement and legal authorities. Sexual predators are found in every sector of society. But the bold and broad awareness today of sexual predation within the Religious Zionist community means that unchecked serial predation spanning decades, of the type perpetrated by convicted offender Mordecai Elon, seems now to be a thing of the past.
Hannah refused to pretend all was fine
Few of us are communal leaders who can set a new communal agenda. But all of us can learn an important lesson from the first figure in world literature who sought to challenge a culture of sexual predation: the biblical Hannah. Hannah, as she is portrayed in the opening chapter of First Samuel, is usually construed as a barren woman, tormented by her husband’s second, fertile wife while the entire family celebrates its annual pilgrimage to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Desperate, she flees to the Tabernacle and makes a quid pro quo with the Almighty: give me a son, and I’ll give him to you as a servant in your Tabernacle.
But this conventional reading overlooks a subtle nuance in the story. Scripture tells us that her husband Elkanah would bring the entire family on a pilgrimage to the Tabernacle, where “Hofni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, were ministering to the Lord.” The note is anomalous because, throughout that narrative of that story, these two never figure again. Why then are they mentioned?
Reading much further on in the story, we learn that these two enacted a reign of terror and corruption encompassing all aspects of the Tabernacle service. Women who sought entry into the Tabernacle needed to first provide them with sexual favors. Yet in spite of this, all of Israel dutifully complied; no one spoke out. All were fearful of the power of the two priests and the ticket to access to the Lord that they possessed.
When we read this shocking account, we realize the silence in which we as readers were complicit in chapter 1. Elkanah brings the family to Shiloh, and there is great merriment at the holy pilgrimage. All seems right; even holy. But the text tells us in a subtle way, that “Hofni and Phineas the sons of Eli were ministering to the Lord.” Later we discover just what that means. But we read chapter 1 through the silence of the lambs that allowed their malfeasance to reign free. All accept this as the norm –except for Hannah.
Hannah is put off by the taunting of her husband’s other wife, and by the fact that human dignity and sensitivity are trampled in the name of holy pilgrimage. But Hannah also deplores the wider web of corruption that all fail to see: “Hofni and Phineas ministering to the Lord.” She flees from the emotionally abusive pilgrimage feast to the Tabernacle. There she appeals to the Lord for a son – a son that she will raise with a different set of values, and who will infuse a new and reformed spirit in the Tabernacle service.
Hannah was apparently powerless to even call out the predation she saw. But she took the first step – she saw the truth for what it was and refused to be part of the charade that pretended that all was holy and fine.
The organization Meshi Zahav headed gained renown for performing the holy task of gathering the shattered limbs of the victims of suicide bombings. It is known by its acronym Zaka, which stands for zihui korbanot ason, Identifying the Victims of Tragedy. It is now the community’s responsibility to identify those who were allegedly victimized, to provide their shattered souls a place of dignity, to ensure that the silence of complicity reigns no longer in our village.
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charges must be investigated to the fullest
AFP — Before previous Israeli elections, Aharon considered voting against the party that speaks for his ultra-Orthodox community, but after entering the vote booth he remained loyal — until now
The 34-year-old, requesting his last name withheld, told AFP that at the Mar 23 polls he'll not support UTJ-Agudah, a political voice of ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews
The decisive blow was the party’s mishandling of the pandemic
“They failed big time,” he said of Agudah, with 7 seats in Israel’s Knesset parliament
Secular Israeli-ultra-Orthodox / Haredi tension has roiled throughout the pandemic
Some top rabbis refused to close religious schools as 100,000s of secular kids stayed home & street-packing Haredi funerals ignored gathering restrictions
The public's infuriated & blames Haredi defiance for extended lockdowns
But beyond secular-Haredi hostilities, experts say the pandemic ignited internal Haredi debate if its conduct during the crisis is justified
Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, editor of Haredi journal Tzarich Iyun, told AFP that to some Haredim, this year's hostilities brought predictable reaction: belief they're witch hunt victims by secular Israel & its media
He said others are reflective, question how a society seeing itself morally upright turns villain in the pandemic, rule breakers who “failed the trial of COVID”
“Something clearly went wrong” Pfeffer said
“Does it stand to reason we hold mass funerals for covid deceased with no objections? If we're such an upright, moral Torah society, surely we can deal with it as well as the rest, if not better”
The rabbi notes Haredim “know very well how to deal with people they disagree with,” yet for Haredi lockdown scofflaws, internal discipline mechanisms were dormant
Aharon, married father of 3, is in a small Haredi community where political disloyalty means friction
Despite past flirting with non-Haredi-think, he remained lockstep in the insular community
“All my family & friends are Haredi, so I decided to go along,” he told AFP
When the pandemic hit, Aharon expected Agudah to stress safety, even if closing yeshiva schools & ritual bath mikvot
“I expected them to be immediate, loud & clear. They were grey, in Hebrew the color to say you do nothing"
When some influential rabbis insisted yeshivot open despite the raging virus & Agudah failed to push back, Aharon said it proves Agudah wraps politics in religiosity, above community welfare
“You can’t lead if tiny people influence you with tiny wills. There's a big picture”
Pfeffer says Agudah “speaks in 2 tongues” on the pandemic — try to sound responsible backing lockdowns, while not offending rabbis who decide their political fate
To Benjamin Brown, expert on Haredim at Hebrew U, Agudah sees its base “growing much more skeptical”
It may be on the margins but “the margins grow larger & larger” Brown said
Agudah didn't respond to questions
Pnina Pfeuffer is, by her own admission, an outlier to Haredim
The divorced 42-year-old mother of 2 is a feminist who promotes progressivism
For her, Agudah’s ability to lead during the pandemic was undermined from the outset by “pre-existing conditions”
The community doesn't see the party as its leader, rather as a “community service” subservient to certain rabbis
She said the problem, as the pandemic highlights, is Haredim went “from very small to very large minority,” Haredi families producing 40% of Israeli babies
High unemployment, poverty, no secular education & now, intransigence in a health crisis, are Haredi realities impacting Israel, she said
"The pandemic's the wake-up call & they must decide what to do” she said
I wonder if I know the pimp?
Fresh allegations of sexual abuse against ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav surfaced yesterday, the latest in a string of accusations by at least half a dozen victims that include charges of rape & other sex crimes.
A bombshell report by Haaretz last week that touched off a firestorm of accusations against Meshi-Zahav has been followed by near-daily revelations of malfeasance & concealment.
New victims spoke with Haaretz after the initial report, including a 40-year-old woman who said she was assaulted in 2014, at age 33, when she turned to Meshi-Zahav for help. The case is significant as it's within the statue of limitations, though the woman hasn't gone to police.
The ZAKA founder, prominent in the Haredi community, touched the woman’s chest against her will in his office, she said.
He continued groping her, despite her protestations, with the door open & without any fear of being caught, she told Haaretz. Previous reports said Meshi-Zahav’s misdeeds were widely known in some parts of the Haredi community & ZAKA officials may've also been aware.
The woman, only identified by 1st initial, L, said she fled the building in tears & wasn’t able to tell anyone of the incident for years. She believes if she stayed in the room she would've been raped.
Police opened a case into Meshi-Zahav last week & received at least one formal complaint, but not within the statute of limitations. L’s case is recent enough to be chargeable, but she's too afraid of Meshi-Zahav to file a formal complaint, she said.
Haaretz yesterday described several other offenses by Meshi-Zahav that came to light following the initial investigation.
One victim was 8 in 1981, when he said Meshi-Zahav had him sit on his lap in a sexual manner.
Another man who was 14 in 1997, said Meshi-Zahav undressed & licked him.
In a 3rd new alleged incident, a woman said Meshi-Zahav masturbated several times while watching her from his car when she was 12 in 1994.
The witnesses describe widespread awareness of Meshi-Zahav deviance & fear of speaking out. One said, “Everyone knew. I don’t understand why it’s blowing up now.”
Haaretz also obtained a recording in which Meshi-Zahav appears to be organizing a group sex event.
In the recording, Meshi-Zahav speaks to a pimp in prostitution & asks him to organize several people for group sex with a woman he knows.
“Listen, she’s sick, she wants a gang bang,” Meshi-Zahav says in the recording. “She wants 5 guys who'll turn her into a slut, a slave.”
A lawyer told Haaretz the call was “an inappropriate discussion between friends without any meaning to it.” The report said the planned gathering did in fact take place.
The Times of Israel yesterday uncovered that Meshi-Zahav also has a history of financial malfeasance.
According to court filings, Meshi Zahav set up a private for-profit company, also called ZAKA, which for years raised millions of dollars in the charity’s name. Reports say he & his family kept some of the money, using it as a slush fund.
https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/drug-trafficking-money-laundering-ran-through-tibor-s-kosher-meats-us-attorney-says/article_d0049020-867f-11eb-b8d7-b3ddd61e7540.html
UTJ-Agudah party leader Moshe Gafni said last night his party “will weigh” options if Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu doesn't secure a majority coalition after Tuesday’s election
Gafni says there's “no meaning” to a loyalty pledge he signed to Bibi last month, but still supports Bibi & hopes for his victory
Agudah's key in Bibi’s bloc of right-wing & religious parties, to prevent secular coalitions
Final polls show Bibi on the cusp of bare majority 61 seats on Tues, if he has support of Naftali Bennett’s Yamina faction, which hasn't ruled out joining Bibi
In a Channel 12 interview, pressed what he'll do if Bibi fails to secure 61 seats, Gafni said, “We’ll weigh what to do before 5th elections. I hope such a disaster won’t happen”
Gafni allied with Bibi’s Likud for it's traditional voters, not because it's right-wing
“Being on the right doesn’t play a part. I’m with Bibi for many years because the traditional public's with Likud. If somewhere else, I also go somewhere else”
Last month, Gafni didn't rule out a coalition with opposition leader Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid & wouldn't commit recommending Bibi leads the next govt. “After the election we’ll see the options” he said
Later in Feb, however, Agudah & Shas signed loyalty to Bibi agreeing they won't join a govt led by any party other than Likud
Last night, Gafni brushed aside the pledge
“Our signing loyalty with Bibi has no meaning” he said
Gafni told Channel 13 that Lapid shifted his approach to Haredim
“Lapid changed his language, terminology, approach. I don’t know why”
He said if Lapid changed policies, they can partner, but if Lapid maintains parts of his platform anathema to Haredim it's impossible
He told 13 if Bibi doesn’t secure 61 seats, “Interview me again. We’ll talk”
Haredim long reviled Lapid & his Yesh Atid, which touts secularism & opposes Haredi control on power levers. However, Gafni signals he may be less opposed to Lapid than before
Haredim also resolutely oppose secular Avigdor Liberman of right-wing Yisrael Beytenu
Asked last month if Lapid's a potential ally, Gafni demurred. “Who knows? We’ll see. If his platform changes we’ll discuss it”
Gafni, also Knesset Finance chair, took leadership of UTJ-Agudah from Yaakov Litzman in a deal between them
Gafni was interviewed by Channel 12 “Meet the Press” anchor Rina Matsliah, as were most party leaders
Left-wing Labor head Merav Michaeli refused to rule out sitting with Haredim, after the head of ultra-left Meretz asked why she's willing to be with Haredim
“We don’t boycott any community” Michaeli said
Michaeli also won't commit recommending Lapid, saying Labor backs whoever's able to put together a majority vs Bibi
Lapid’s Yesh Atid's expected to be 2nd-largest with 18 seats, after Likud’s 32 seats
Besides Lapid, Bibi faces challenges on the right by Bennett & Gideon Saar’s New Hope
Saar ruled out joining Bibi, while Bennett hasn't; both say they won't be led by Lapid
Islamist Ra’am, polling at 4 seats, also hasn't committed to a coalition
Polls consistently show no clear path to majority for either pro- or anti- Bibi blocs
The election — 4th in 2 years — was called after power-sharing of Likud & Blue + White failed to agree on a budget. The election, like the previous 3, is seen as a referendum on Bibi, given his corruption trial & his handling the pandemic
Aryeh Deri could learn a thing or two from The Godfather
One can take the idea of art setting an example for life too far, but one thing arts are very good at is setting out broad moral principles – just don't get lost in messy, melodramatic details. So what springs to mind regarding the impending Israeli election? Some cast Bibi Netanyahu as MacBeth, hewing around with sword unsheathed, hobbling enemies, ever unhinged, ever immoral – it's a metaphor, remember, nobody suggests Bibi, in all his untrustworthiness, literally killed rivals. He has, however, single-handedly maimed budgets & slain the coalition he promised to uphold. Which brings us to Aryeh Deri of Shas & another great literary work, The Godfather.
In Mario Puzo’s classic saga of American mafiosos, he takes an interesting discursion to tell us of the Bocchicchio family. Single-minded Sicilians who settle in NY, the Bocchicchios assume one purpose, invaluable to bring warring mafia dons to the negotiating table. “The Bocchicchios have very strong family bonds,” writes Puzo, “& as such they take Sicilian vendetta to extremes, fanatical even by Mafia standards. If one of their own's wronged, the whole clan stops at nothing to take revenge & they never forgot a wrong. The offender's constantly under attack by relentless Bocchicchios who can’t be bought, are undeterred by threats / armed guards, who search the ends of the earth, are suicidal nonstop until the perp's dead. It's this vengeful nature that's their greatest source of income, renting out a hostage service to more powerful families.”
Get that? To show good faith, a Mafia Don hires a member of this clan to be a negotiation hostage & they sit with the Don’s opponents, while the sides hash it out. If the Don double-crosses the other side, they kill the hostage on the agreed understanding the Bocchicchios hold the Don responsible & take revenge.
Again. A metaphor. I don't advocate bloody vendettas as a remotest part of politics. But remember the broad moral principles I mentioned? Deri very publicly stood as guarantor for the agreement between Bibi & Gantz, who control equal Knesset seats. Shas was, still's vital in Bibi’s bloc, so when its leader, Deri, avows he personally makes sure of no funny business & to honor promises, both sides, presumably, take it seriously.
Yet as Bibi continuously refused to pass a budget as agreed, the only loophole by which the govt falls & torpedoes the PM rotation with Gantz, he clearly calculated Deri does nothing. Which is what happened.
While not exonerating Bibi from blame richly deserved – he broke his promise to millions of Israelis – where's Deri in all this? What's the penalty Bibi faced for breaking his word, effectively telling children of his country that promises don't need be kept, morality's outdated? There's no penalty. Deri, so far kept shtum. He too broke his word for all to see.
Imagine if we're in Puzo-land with Bocchicchios as guarantors to the agreement? It doesn't bear thinking! Or the other way: imagine Deri as political equivalent of Bocchicchios, determined to honor his position. What could he realistically do? What can he still do?
He can resign to admit failure. More potent, he can withdraw from Bibi’s bloc & not return for next parliament. It'd be equivalent of dreadful certain Bocchicchio revenge on he who breaks agreements. And aptly enough, perhaps redeem Deri’s own transgressions, as Minister of Interior whose imprisonment for taking bribes was followed by return to the same office he so abuses.
Deri can still go in opposition or at least not sit in a govt headed by he who had him betray his word. Focus on broad brushstrokes & art has a lot to teach. Will politicians take note? I’m looking at one in particular & so will history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Inverne is a playwright, author & classical music consultant. He was editor of Gramophone Magazine & performing arts correspondent for Time Magazine.
Is there any more room under that carpet?
Israel's state prosecution announced today it closed the criminal case into the former head of the Israel Bar Association, suspected of advocating the judicial appointment of a woman with whom he was romantically involved.
Neither Effi Naveh nor Etti Craif, a judge on Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court, will be charged.
Naveh, who resigned as head of the bar association after his arrest in 2019, was one of 9 members of the powerful Judicial Appointments Committee, which decides on placement & promotions for judges in Israel’s 3-tiered judicial system. The position gave him outsize influence helping lawyers advance their careers — a role he exploited for adulterous sex.
The case was closed, however, after prosecutors assessed chances of conviction as low. The Tel Aviv DA’s Office previously announced it would charge both Naveh & Craif with bribery.
According to prosecutors in 2019, Naveh worked numerous occasions to advance Craif’s appointment as a judge, despite conflict of interest owing to his relationship with her.
A letter of suspicions sent to the pair’s lawyers said after applying for a judicial position in 2013, Craif reached out to Naveh, then head of the bar association’s Tel Aviv district, owing to his ties on the Judicial Appointments Committee.
The two kept in touch by phone “& had intimate meetings at Craif’s house,” the letter said.
Prosecutors said Craif & Naveh stayed in contact until his appointment as bar association head in 2015, when, being aware of his romantic interest in her & ability to advance her, she “encouraged the intimate connection with him.”
“They even had an additional intimate meeting at her home at the height of the of her judicial appointment proceeding,” according to the letter.
As she developed the “intimate relationship” between them, prosecutors said Craif asked Naveh numerous times to work to advance her appointment, “in a way that bound things to each other.”
She was eventually appointed as a judge on Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court in 2016.
Lawyers for Naveh noted Craif’s appointment was supported by most of the selections committee & belittled the investigation as “born in sin.”
That comment was in reference to a civil suit Naveh filed in 2019 against Army Radio & its journalists who obtained his cellphone & extracted incriminating messages from the device relating to the sex scandal.
Naveh will also not be charged that he acted on behalf of another attorney & a legal specialist from the private sector, with whom police said he was having affairs.
Naveh was indicted in 2018 for smuggling a female out of the country for a trip abroad & then tried to slip her back unregistered through border control.
What a hypocrite & little whiney putz!
Naveh violates married women but investigating him for it is what's "born in sin"!
He sounds like the Pakki who after the 9/11 attacks was removed from an Amtrak train by a SWAT team. While they determined he was not an al Qaeda member, they caught him with counterfeit credit cards so they sent him to a detainment facility to await deportation. The loser had the chutzpah to kvetch to a reporter that he's "the real victim of 9/11". The Wall St Journal picked up the story which it titled "The world's smallest violin"
As fresh accusations of sexual abuse against ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav continue to emerge, one alleged victim charges that Haredi rabbis prevented the abused from going to police.
Speaking to Channel 12 in an interview broadcast Friday, the unknown man said high-profile rabbis continue even now to stop people from coming forward & filing charges.
A bombshell report by Haaretz last week that touched off a firestorm of accusations against Meshi-Zahav has been followed by near-daily revelations of malfeasance & concealment.
The man, who identified himself only by his 1st initial L, said knowledge of Meshi-Zahav’s activities was widely known.
“He'd come to the neighborhood with his new car & let all the kids ride in it in Mea Shearim. That's when he'd busy himself with them. It’s not hearsay — we saw & experienced it.”
“L” blames community rabbis for actively stopping reports from leaving the community & said they continue to do so now.
“It’s not that they sat idly by & didn't do anything — this week I was urgently summoned to a very important rabbi who told me: ‘A police report's a desecration of G-d’s name & does even more damage [than the abuse].’
“What could I do? I had tears in my eyes,” he said, adding he still has no intention of filing a police report because he'd be branded a “moyser,” an informer who betrays fellow Jews to secular authorities.
The insular Haredi community frequently tries to intimidate members who speak out about internal problems.
“I have a rabbi & I do what he tells me,” said L. “If they just declare we're not ‘moysrim,’ if they give us permission to go testify, just see what would happen.”
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-march-22-2021-the-edge-of-the-wedge-662732
Guilt built to the hilt
In “Turning a blind eye” (March 16). Zaka founder Yehuda Meshi Zahav has been judged guilty and sentenced by the correspondent with the intention of inculcating into the subconscious of the unsuspecting reader the certain guilt in the yet-untried case against this man.
This is not an isolated article but just another in a string of similar mind-bending pieces of journalism that, instead of straight reporting of news, actually set about to “make the news” itself. This is totally in line with The Jerusalem Post’s so-called “coverage” and the constant hammering away and pre-judging of the yet untried case against the prime minister.
In both cases, the reader is left in no doubt of the outcome and, meanwhile a man’s life is totally ruined.
Before passing judgment in sexual abuse accusation cases, one must bear in mind the absolute power that a woman holds in her hands to destroy a man by simply suggesting in the public media that he had behaved in an improper fashion toward her. Let us not forget the idiom “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.” Few men emerge unscathed from baseless accusations of sexual harassment.
Young men, beware! No more courting of a lady-friend – it may be used as “evidence” against you. What has this world come to?
LAURENCE BECKER
Jerusalem
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