Walder was accused of sexual assault, but upon his death he was upgraded by some Charedi leaders to the status of a martyr. The attempt to rehabilitate him will be another self-inflicted blow to the rabbis’ authority!
by Anshel Pfeffer
There’s a long list of issues that the ultra-Orthodox media is forbidden to report on. At the top of the list is anything to do with sex. For example, when U.S. President Bill Clinton faced impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky affair, Yated Ne’eman, the daily newspaper of the Haredi “Lithuanian” stream, reported that Clinton was in danger of losing his job for lying.
Consensual or coerced, sex is a completely taboo subject. Cases of rape will never be reported. At most, in very rare cases, there will be an oblique reference to “immoral behavior.”
Another subject on the list of unmentionable topics is suicide
The allegations of sexual assault against the renowned Haredi author and educator Chaim Walder, which were first reported seven weeks ago in Haaretz, created a unique dilemma for Yated Ne’eman. Among his many titles, Walder was also a veteran columnist for the paper.
A columnist at Yated Ne’eman is not just a mere pundit. The paper was founded in 1985 by the senior Lithuanian rabbis because the other main Haredi daily, Ha’modia, wasn’t ideologically pure enough – it covered the activities of the Chabad Hassidic sect, which some of the Lithuanians regarded as tainted messianic heresy. Yated writers are first and foremost mouthpieces of hashkafa – literally, the perspective, the ultra-Orthodox view of the world. Every word the paper publishes is vetted and often censored by the “spiritual committee,” a group of rabbis appointed by more senior rabbis who have a veto power over the editors.
When Ha’aretz’s investigation on Walder appeared the rabbis were divided between those who insisted they ignore the allegations printed in a secular newspaper against their favored son. Other rabbis who had been contacted by Walder’s victims pressed for his immediate dismissal. The latter group won that week, and Walder was forced to announce he was taking a leave of absence.
In the paper that had been his professional home for over two decades, though, there was no announcement. His regular column simply didn’t appear that Friday. Just as in George Orwell’s "1984," Walder, the man whose writing had been endorsed by the most senior rabbis, had become an “unperson" overnight.
And then six weeks later, as more and more victims had come forward, Walder suddenly become a person once again. On Monday morning, he shot himself in Segula Cemetery, next to the grave of his son who had died from cancer in 2019 at the age of 28. This was no longer an event that could be hidden from Yated’s readers, but neither could it be reported straightforwardly.
From Yated’s pure pages the previous month was back on them on Tuesday morning, with a sanitized version of his life story spread over two columns. Suddenly the disappeared man was “the righteous departed of blessed memory… a man of education and good deeds.” The absence of his column on previous Fridays was now explained as “recently he requested to temporarily stop writing.” His suicide was described as being “suddenly taken away at his prime.”
In most cemeteries run by the ultra-Orthodox Hevra Kadisha (burial society), suicides are usually buried in obscure corners “beyond the fence,” but Walder’s body was buried inside. In death, he had been readmitted as an honorable member of the community.
Thousands attended his nighttime funeral, and some of the most prominent residents of Bnei Brak eulogized at the graveside, including Mayor Abraham Rubinstein and Rabbi Natan Zuchovsky, chairman of Yated’s spiritual committee.
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, who along with Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky is regarded the most senior of the Lithuanian stream's leaders, signed off on Walder’s rehabilitation. He also issued guidance for the teachers in ultra-Orthodox schools to speak with their young students the next morning about Walder’s death, stressing the prohibition of Halbanat Panim – public shaming.
Walder may have been accused of dozens of cases of sexual assault, but upon his death he was upgraded to the status of a martyr – the only victim in his case. There was no other way to shape the narrative, since sexual assault is not a matter than can be talked about in Haredi schools and therefore doesn’t exist on the ultra-Orthodox ethical spectrum. On the other hand, the Talmudic injunction that “It is preferable for an individual to throw himself into a burning furnace rather than publicly mortify his companion” is widely taught, and that was to be the prism through which Walder’s life, and now death, was to be taught.
The criminals are now the Ha’aretz journalists who reported on Walder’s deeds, and the few rabbis and Haredi activists who were willing to listen to his victims. Those victims, vulnerable women and children, are now the unpersons who must disappear.
Rabbi Yehoshua Eichenstein, a Yeshiva dean in Bnei Brak, wrote in the guidance to Haredi teachers that “those who libeled [Walder] and published the libels everywhere, until he was ashamed to show his face outside, made him sick to his soul so much that he killed himself. Explain to the children in a clear way that this is called murder.”
Rabbi Edelstein wrote that “The message is clear. Those who published are murderers.” At the funeral, Haredi lawyer Dubi Weinroth accused Ha’aretz journalist Aaron Rabinowitz (without mentioning his name) of being “a little vicious reporter. You sucked his blood. You murdered him as far as I’m concerned. You and your group.”
Not all the Haredi media has been on Walder’s side this week. A handful of independent ultra-Orthodox websites, mainly English-language ones based in the United States (Walder’s children books were translated into English, and he was a household name in the American Haredi community as well) stood up for his victims. And then of course there’s social media, where many young Haredi men and women have been openly discussing the case – and ignoring the rabbinical constraints – since the revelations first appeared in Ha’aretz.
This is one of the most striking features of the Walder case which will have far-reaching implications for the future of ultra-Orthodox society. An entire generation of young Haredi men and women are online, despite their rabbis’ injunctions against using the internet or owning smartphones. The guidance of what can and cannot be said may be enforceable when it comes to the pages of Yated Ne’eman, but only nonagenarians like Edelstein can still delude themselves that they can control the flow of information within their community.
The concept of infallible da’at Torah, the Rabbis’ knowledge of Torah, which has been central to the insularity and cohesiveness of Haredi ideology that evolved in the past two centuries, has already dramatically eroded in the digital age. The attempt to posthumously rehabilitate Walder and ignore his victims is already failing, and will almost certainly be yet another self-inflicted blow to the rabbis’ authority.
28 comments:
This does not surprise me at all. UNFORTUNATELY.
Having been involved in the cover up of pedophiles here in Jerusalem, a few facts became obvious
Haradi society does not want to deal with this issue, EVEN when their own children are involved. It is too dirty, too messy, they run from it,.
Which means it will backlash big time, like now.
The Rabbinim oh God have mercy on our souls, the Rabbinim.
Horrible just horrible how they will not deal with this issue.
The biggest scandals in Israel
First it was Nachlaot ten years ago, the country heard about it..
Then it was Malka Leifer, Australia made a big big noise
Then it was Meshe Zahav the country went into total shock
Now it is Walder EARTHQUAKE. The Haradi community is now slowly actually waking up that something is wrong.
See a pattern here. Everytime scandals are covered up in the Haradi Community, Hashem sends a bigger scandal to shock the sheeple into life.
Rinse, repeat, rinse repeat.
MORE SCANDALS ON THE WAY, MORE SUICIDES OF VICTIMS.
The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Friday the 27th of Teves 5782 and December 31, 2021
cw*
*yemach shemo-may his name be obliterated
In Memory of Shifra Yocheved Horowitz Zecher Tzadekes L'Brocha
Shifra was a victim of the vicious, pernicious, and malicious monster whose name I shall not utter.
Ms. Horowitz committed suicide this week as a result of the crippling abuse she suffered at the hands of cw.
Where were the throngs at her levaya?
I will no longer give this evil, demonic maniac the "honor" of upper-case letters; rather, he is lower-cased to cw.
And In Honor of The True Heroes- The BRAVE VICTIMS who came forward and as Shimshon did years before them, they showed gevura in the face of the multitudes who were against them.
Ultimately, they brought down the predator forever and prevented more boys, girls, women (and who knows who else) from being abused, humiliated, and destroyed.
We honor these victims of terror.
They are our heroes
We thank Hashem that cw can no longer continue his reign of terror against our people.
May the name of the evil rot
In this article, I will convey universally accepted Torah principles and present a true Torah approach to the disastrous debacle of cw.
Part One- What's in a name?
Some of you may be surprised and shocked by my usage of the term: yimach shemo. Let me explain.
Although usually the phrase is used concerning known enemies of the Jew, there is precedence to use it here.
We follow in the ways of the great giants who lived before us and who instructed us in proper Torah conduct.
If we would not have proof from the Chofetz Chaim himself, the man who personified proper speech, and if we would not have Rav Shach himself authenticating this anecdote, we would not be permitted to add such an epithet to a Jew.
We read in the wonderful sefer "Rav Shach on Chumash" (author: Rabbi Asher Bergman, son-in-law of Rav Shach (2004) page 248. ArtScroll / Mesorah. ISBN 9781578193615):
"Rav Shach used to point out that the revered Chofetz Chaim took great care never to speak ill of a Jew, whomever he might be. There was one exception— the leader of the Maskilim in Vilna, Adam HaKohen, to whose name the Chofetz Chaim would add Yemach Shemo (may his name be erased). And why? Because when the Chofetz Chaim studied in Vilna in his youth, he became well known as a very bright young man who held great promise as a future Torah giant. Adam HaKohen himself came to him and tried to convince him to abandon his studies."
If the Chofetz Chaim was insistent on referring to a man who "just" attempted to convince him to abandon his studies with the epithet yemach shemo, notwithstanding this person was unsuccessful; then certainly, the Chofetz Chaim would insist on using the phrase yemach shemo when referring to a person who was successful in causing many Jews to abandon and question their Jewish faith.
Therefore, the term yemach shemo is unfortunately appropriate here.
The evil of cw will live in infamy as long as the legacy of his heinous actions affects his victims
There are heroes, and there are villains.
The villains are well known: cw and anyone who covered for him.
Who are the heroes?
The heroes are the victims who had the almost insurmountable challenge of coming forward and testifying, thereby eradicating forever the festering venomous virus known as cw.
The freakish pedophilic foe would have continued in his destructive ways, leaving a multitude of emotionally crippled Jews in his wake if not for the heroic bravery of the victims.
These victims stood straight and tall before the Tzaddikim Rav Silman and Rav Eliyahu despite their emotional pain.
They painfully retold the holocaustic horror they endured at the hands of this psychopath.
They are the ones we honor.
They are our role models.
They are the ones who need our support and our validation.
Another reason to utilize this epithet to describe cw is to emphasize the truth and dispel the claims of those attempting to distort the truth.
The repulsive usage of the epithet -Zecher Tzadik L'Vrocha- "the remembrance of the righteous should be for a blessing"- shockingly and appallingly appended to cw by (formerly respected) Jewish newspapers, is a corruption of the truth in the highest degree.
Indeed, it smacks of an Orwellian mindset by the newspaper's writers.
The sages have taught us, "Believe that there is wisdom among the nations of the world."
Here is an example of such wisdom which describes to a tee the mindset of such newspaper writers:
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
(1984; George Orwell)
Therefore, according to this way of thinking- the future is guaranteed by spinning a present false narrative.
If someone can be classified as a Tzaddik today, you have ensured his inclusion into the pantheon of acceptable transmitters of authentic Judaism forever.
In this Orwellian narrative, all members of The Party are good.
There are no molesters among the righteous.
There is nothing to fix, for nothing is broken.
Such an approach is not only untruthful; it is an insult of the highest degree to the victims of cw and facilitates and indeed encourages the cws' of the world to keep molesting, safe in the knowledge that they will never be taken to task.
Shockingly, they will be elevated to the status of Tzaddik.
Such thinking is not only Orwellian; it is heresy.
However, in the Orwellian world in which some choose to live, "The heresy of heresies is common sense." (1984; George Orwell)
Therefore, yimach shemo is needed, not just because of its applicability, but also and just as importantly as a counter-weight to the un-truths being disseminated.
Part Two - Why go public?
Some people have asked me why everything had to go so public?
Once again, we look for guidance from the true Torah leaders of past generations.
Let us turn to Rav Shlomo Kluger's and his granddaughter Sasha Mindel Hertzberg née Kluger.
Rav Shlomo Kluger (1785-1869) was a world-renowned Talmid Chochom.
Rav Kluger was famous for being the Rav and Dayan in the Galician town of Brody in Poland for over 50 years.
Rav Shlomo Kluger is one of the great Rabbinic stars in the heavenly firmament of the Torah world.
The Beis HaLevi- Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik learned with Rav Shlomo Kluger as a young man.
He authored over 160 works. Some of which have yet to be published.
In 1854 he published a work titled "Nidrei Zerizin."
The Sefer contains novella on the tractate Nedarim.
What is unique about this sefer is to whom it is dedicated.
Rav Brody dedicated the work to his granddaughter, Sasha Mindel.
On the title page of the book, Rav Kluger writes, "I am publishing this word as a memorial and for the sake of the soul of my dear and wise granddaughter, Sasha Mindel, who died at an early age. She was the daughter of my son Rav Chaim Yehuda, and she passed away on Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shimini on the 24th day of Nissan in the year 1854."
What was so special about his granddaughter that he dedicated the sefer to her?
The Tragedy of Sasha Mindel
The Sefer contains an introduction explaining why Rav Kluger dedicates the Sefer to his granddaughter Sasha Mindel.
Rav Shlomo Kluger explains that he was very close to his granddaughter, Sasha Mindel, who grew up in his house.
He wrote how he was personally involved in her shidduch and was convinced she was marrying into a beautiful Torah family after making the proper inquiries from trusted friends.
Alas, it was not to be.
Rav Brody records unabashedly and graphically the evilness of the family into which Sasha Mindel found herself.
He writes explicitly how he was lied to concerning the family's respectability and refers to Sasha Mindel's husband and family as "Anoshim Ra-im Me'od" – "very evil people."
He continues to tearfully and painfully describe what happened just a few weeks after Sasha Mindel's wedding.
"After her husband (Yakov Hertzberg) and his family (her father-in-law- Yechiel Itzik Hertzberg) realized that my grandaughter is not choosing their ways of life nor acting as they act.
They began to abuse her until, after just a quarter of a year of marriage, she developed lung disease."
Rav Brody writes that no one told him about his granddaughter's abusive relationship, and if someone random had not informed him of the dire circumstances, he never would have known.
Once he found the truth, he spared no expense in extracting his granddaughter from this abusive household and brought her to live with him. Unfortunately, she was already too sick and died shortly after on the 24th day of Nissan in 1854.
After begging Hashem to exact divine judgment against these evildoers, he shockingly states, "Hashem should avenge my vengeance quickly."
To create a memorial to her soul, he decided to publish a Sefer in her memory.
He stipulates that if this Sefer ever merits future editions, this introduction never be excised from the text as "this is my primary intent (in writing this work) that it should be a memorial to her soul…."
That is the tragic story of Sasha Mindel bas Rav Chaim Yehuda.
She was a woman who suffered in silence from spousal abuse.
Rav Kluger was a Gadol B'Yisorel.
He knew the halachos of Loshon Hora better than us. Yet, he felt compelled to publicize his grandaughter's tragic plight and explicitly write the names of her husband and father-in-law.
We can only imagine the painful situation his granddaughter suffered through in silence.
Rav Kluger writes that none of this would have occurred if any of the people he inquired of and who knew the truth about the family (as he claims they did) had been open and honest with him.
Rav Kluger explains that his friends who repressed their knowledge of the abusive behavior of the family led to his granddaughter's death.
He writes, "May Hashem pay back these evil people and all else involved. They knew about this abusive, dysfunctional home, and they hid from me this information! May Hashem pay them back. "Hashem, be not be silent. Judge my judgment, do not be silent to my tears, stand up Hashem, and fight my battle. As the Torah says, "The murderer shall surely die".
As the Chofetz Chaim teaches us, Rav Shlomo Kluger reminded us that silence is the single greatest facilitator of continued abuse.
We cannot be silent when lives are at stake.
We do not have the luxury of changing history and corrupting the narrative.
Jewish lives are hanging in the balance.
Imagine how many people could have been saved if the rumors circulating about cw years ago had been disseminated to the public?
Imagine how much suffering could have been avoided?
Perhaps cw could even have gotten help?
Alas, it was not to be.
No one spoke out, and if they did, they were silenced.
Those who repressed the information and refused to tell others have blood on their hands.
Therefore we salute the true heroes of this horrific incident, the victims who dared to come forth.
And we censor those who pay tribute to the devil by attempting to create a delusional new reality where evil is good and good is evil.
I trembled as I read the account of the pained grandfather, the great Rav Shlomo Kluger, as he describes his granddaughter's suffering and ultimate death.
I can feel the loneliness of Sasha Mindel being trapped in an abusive marriage and the pain of her grandfather as he heard about her suffering.
How many women, children, and, yes, sometimes, men feel trapped in abusive situations?
A man of the stature of Rav Shlomo Kluger chose every word he wrote carefully and with precision.
Therefore, we dare never be silent when credible, continual, and multiple allegations of abuse are leveled against someone, irrespective of that person's position in public life.
Three-What to do?
1. Teach your children never to let anyone touch them, period.
2. Tell them to tell you everything and anything that went on in school. Please make sure you tell them repeatedly that you will NEVER be angry with them for informing you of what happened.
3. Find out the safeguards the school has regarding children.
4. Therapists can never have free reign with your children. The best system would be a two-way mirror as the child feels comfortable yet; the therapist is monitored.
5. If two-way mirrors are not feasible, doors must be somewhat ajar, and given the reality of our world, someone must have access to enter unannounced. This person can be a supervisor or another therapist.
6. Never let your child go in the car with anyone you have even the slightest suspicions.
7. Constantly be open with your child and watch for any changes in their mood or behavior.
8. Report all credible allegations to the appropriate law enforcement agency
9. Make sure your child feels unconditionally loved and secure in your house.
10. If you don't feel right about someone, you don't tell the world based on a "feeling"; however, you have the right the tell your child not to go to that house.
These are just basic and incomplete suggestions. They are a start.
However, only if molesters know they will be outed and there will be consequences can we prevent further horrific Chillul Hashem and prevent innocent people from being victimized.
We close with the unequivocal statement that I stand proudly with the victims and just as proudly distance myself from the perpetrators.
As previously mentioned, all of cw's writings must be trashed immediately. However, public book burnings should not be done. They are counter-productive and present us as vengeful, and it reminds us of times in Jewish history when our books were burned. This is not a time for fun, it is a time to cry.
By doing so, you state unequivocally and categorically that you support the victims.
May Hashem dry up the tears of all those who suffered and continue to suffer.
With hope for a better tomorrow,
"If Not Now, Then When?"- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rabbi
Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ
It will become a article of faith.
To this day, if the topic of Shalom Rubashkin comes up, your worth as a Jew can be decided on your opinion. If you think he's a great tzadik who withstood horrible persecution even though he was totally innocent, well then you are a good Jew. And if you think he's a walking chilul haShem for his corruption and lies and that maybe he deserved a good chunk of that prison sentence, well you're an ignorant boor who hates God and Torah.
Walder will be the same. If you seem him as the true victim of the piece and remember him as a great tzadik who was destroyed by evil people then you are "one of us". Otherwise, you're just shmutz.
And for those of us on the outside, it will be the same but in reverse, just like it was with Rubashkin.
I'm kind of thinking this one crossed over the line in every way of ethics, morals, humanity, and judging by the emails I'm getting, the people on the fence are throwing in the towel.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/our-kids-need-protecting-not-our-community/
So far I haven't seen the Kaminetzkys say anything besides one stupid, meaningless blurb. And their puppets at Agudas Fressers & Yated have said absolutely nothing. Does anyone know if there are official instructions sent from TU to the elementaries?
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Short-Vort--cw2.html?soid=1126050274863&aid=H8uqE36-80w
source of above excerpt
Filthy: Interesting bamerkung!
"Filthy"
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Dirty_fedora_(Fallout_4)
For a second there I thought UOJ was trying to engage my Borsalino in dialog!
Between you & me, Margo called me in a rage because he thought UOJ was mocking his chulent-stained bekishe!
"Infallible" is not Charedi ideology. It is a Catholic invention applied to the Pope which has been imported into another foreign religion known as Agudah Fresserism. Technically speaking, it is also sometimes called Philly robotics.
I spoke to someone in the BMG Hanhala. The yeshiva's position is that there is takka a hechrach to state Walder is nebich a menuvol, we are finished with his books, we lament all the hurt he's caused, now let's move on.
The yeshiva cannot however control every shvantz in town who is playing wannabe rosh yeshiva & Bais Yaakov Menahel.
R' Malkiel has actually historically been disgusted by molesters. He came down very hard on Oratz & others in the 1990s. True, he is easily influenced by shvantzes like his brother for ulterior motives, but now that Aaron has been booted out by his derriere, it seems things are getting back to normal. Let's hope it stays that way.
Any anti-vaxxer is not a bar dass, Period!
Inside Info said...
I spoke to someone in the BMG Hanhala. The yeshiva's position is that there is takka a hechrach to state Walder is nebich a menuvol, we are finished with his books, we lament all the hurt he's caused, now let's move on.
***********
Where's the public statement?
I have been thinking about Walder case for a few days. It is so great to have you, Shraga Feivel, elaborate and elucidate the truth, you are great as always! One thing I would like to mention: Is it possible that the reason our establishment protects Walder is because such cancer has metastasized everywhere and if his legacy be abolished that could take down the system? If today his books are banned, who knows, Rashi's commentary may be removed tomorrow? Because someone who once climbed onto the position of respect and veneration can never fail?
I have been thinking about Walder case for a few days.
*
There is so much to be said about this case which sheds light on just about everything about life in general and of course the Jewish community Ponzi scheme.
Once the truth prevails about how the rabbis cover up lies, create untruths as true, find every possible reason to stick up for their own no matter what, the more the edifice of their made-up halacha crumbles!
I agree with you. One thing that I doubt, however, is that Judaism can still be saved at this point. In Europe before the wars, there was at least some tradition. Once uprooted and placed on other soil, many left the religion, while others flocked to self-proclaimed "leaders." These evil bosses invented their own version of Judaism that we have today. It is very fascist, I must admit. People who see the truth either leave that wicked religion or get silenced if remain within it. One cannot say that Rashi was sometimes wrong (he surely was): That's viewed as blasphemy. Until recently, Walder was also always right. If Walder was wrong, then Rashi could be wrong too, then Chazal might be mistaken also, then Hashem... OK, you get the idea. A few days ago I was trying to count decent Jews I knew. I did not even get a minyan...
Godols were right about Hamodia. Rabbi P. Lipschutz always had a column and advertising for MASK in his newspaper Yated Neeman. On the other hand, for Hamodia it was always everything hunky dory...Only when Amudim were created--then they sort off didn't neglect to mention that.
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