The Yated gears up for war on Jewish bloggers!

Guest post by poster "Tropper-Hersh-Kranczer"

The latest USA English Hamodia ALSO had the same ad as the Yated of January 14, 2011, denouncing the Internet by the Moetzes Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel of America:

On page C17 of January 12, 2011 HAMODIA, in Hebrew with English translation is the full page "Kol Koreh" ad against the Internet, signed by Rabbis Aron Shechter, Aron Feldman, Avroham Levin, Harari Raful, Dovid Feinstein, Aryeh Kotler, Shmuel Kaminetsky, Yaakov Perlow, Yitzchok Feigelstock, Simcha Ehrenfeld.

The ad was put in both the Yated and Hamodia to make sure that all sectors get the message, since Yated is geared for the "Litvish" crowd and the Hamodia is meant for the "Chasidish" crowd.

But here is the really BIG news, in case anyone has any remaining doubts that the new front, and it is a serious one, being opened up here is against the entire Internet, specifically the Jewish blogosphere, that does not take its orders from Agudah World Headquarters, go read the lead EDITORIAL in the same edition of the Yated that carries the anti-Internet ad from the Agudah rabbis, written by none other than the Yated's publisher and editor in chief Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz with the screaming headline on the USA English Yated Ne'eman, January 14, 2011, page 3, continued on page 48, that shouts out:

"Editor's View

IT'S TIME TO TAKE A STAND

by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz"

Go out and buy or get a copy, it's still around, and read it for yourself! It is an outrageous and provocative DECLARATION OF WAR against the Jewish blogosphere by Rabbi Lipschutz in turn now acting as a puppet for his bosses, a move so blind and reckless, that it's obvious he has been ordered to do so and it is in sync with the unfolding WAR ON THE JEWISH BLOGS that really started in all seriousness with the Hersh case when he included them in his legal (?) defenses/attacks, then with the recent attacks against the VIN news blog, the attack on Jewish blogger Harry Maryles by Matzav.com a puppet site of Yated, and now the reposting and repetition of old "bans" against the Internet in general in the Yated and Hamodia, and now the Yated owner driving home the message, in case anyone was in any doubt what the aim is here, in Rabbi Lipschutz own words based on contorted logic:

"...Liberal bloggers and journalists have for days been blaming Rush Limbaugh [for the shooting by a deranged man of a congresswoman in Tucson, Arizona]...A similar campaign to disparage frum Yidden in the religious Jewish media has been underway for some time...by anonymous BLOGGERS, and certain publications...these people, by virtue of their access to the public through a so-called "religious" BLOG, have the ability to promote their agenda...the purveyors of daily doses of scandal and morbidity are able to draw in a wide circle of unsuspecting readers...On these BLOGS, religious leaders are consistently vilified...they are portrayed as corrupt, willing tools of strongmen. The people who write, post and comment on the insiduous BLOGS are upset about the way frum Yidden help each other...those who take aim at our leadership...will be EXPOSED and SHUNNED".

Thank you Rabbi Lipschutz for clarifying what is going on and who is in your gun-sights. It proves that the simultaneous "kol koreh" is NOT really aimed at the problem of online porn, but on a much "bigger" (for you) problem, the bloggers you hate so much because they feel free to exercise their democratic right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech, indicating freedom of thought.

Thank you Rabbi Lipschutz for also clarifying that you have now openly aligned yourself with Michael Hersh whose attacks on freedom of speech are being fought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) (retained by UOJ on behalf of all Jewish bloggers) posted at "Hersh v. Cohen" http://www.eff.org/cases/hersh-v-cohen. Child-abuser Hersh has the full backing of Rabbi Aron Shechter, who you are now trying to cover for at all costs by creating more side-shows who is nervous after posts on a truly "religious blog" run by a Haredi rabbi in Jerusalem revealed that Hersh lawsuit:Case dismissed with prejudice against most defendants, January 4, 2011, and that what may be next in line about Hersh appeals dismissal of case - next step might be a countersuit involving Yeshiva Chaim Berlin! January 7, 2011, and not backing off that Hersh case: Everything was done under Rav Aaron Schechter, shlita's supervision January 9, 2011, on such a "religious blog" run by Rabbi Dr. Daniel Eidensohn who in turn seeks his guidance from Rav Moshe Sternbuch whose weekly Torah teachings you approvingly publish each week in your paper.

So what are you going to do? Start a WAR ON THE JEWISH BLOGGERS that will backfire because it will:

1. Irrevocably drag you and your paper the Yated and your OWN Matzav.com blog into a morass of legal and ethical questions revolving around the hot button issues of freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the freedom loving USA. Remember, you are not in Czarist Russia now.

2. Irrevocably tie you in and drag you down with the drawn out unpopular (except with Aron Schechter) case of Michael Hersh that already has the Electronic Frontier Foundation fighting on behalf of the bloggers and Jewish media: "July 14th, 2010 - EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters Privacy and Anonymity at Risk in New York Conspiracy Suit, that first Hersh/Shechter wanted to destroy and now joined by you through the Yated and your Matzav.com news blog. Is this the road you want to go down? The EFF will be more than happy to take you on!!!

3. Your WAR ON THE JEWISH BLOGS will get the attention of the general media and will certainly get the attention of the worldwide blogosphere on the world-wide-web, and the kind of things you are threatening like destroying anonymity and fighting bloggers rather than dealing and writing and responding to the legitimate issues they raise.

4. It will make you look so tyrannical and old fashioned that you may lose what little readership you have. At most your paper that reaches tens of thousands of your already-converted flocks, who don't have time for papers because the serious ones are learning daf yomi, struggling with parnosah, or in kollel or raising and supporting large families, will lose out as millions, perhaps even hundreds of millions of Jewish and non-Jewish readers online will be disgusted with your tactics and goals and zeal to do the wrong thing by covering up corruption and shutting up people who are seeking the redress they don't normally get.

5. By launching an all out WAR ON JEWISH BLOGS you will be compounding the problems by adding fuel to the flames and you will not be able to get away alleging that you are merely protecting the innocent from online pornography or the good name of the Gedolim, but you, and the people behind you, meaning the very Moetzes Council of Torah Sages that you are trying to "shield" will be seen for what it is once questions will be asked what all the fuss is about, and then you will have to answer why you remain silent about the Tropper-Hersh-Kranczer and other scandals, yet you attack those who do want to talk about it and seek realistic solutions. This will reveal not just how out of touch you are about the realities of technology, the Internet, the Information Age and modern communications, and stifling debate in a free society, but YOU will be responsible for creating a truly global chillul Hashem.

Unfortunately the omens are not good for you. The three mega chillul Hashem's of the Tropper-Hersh-Kranczer fiascos under the tutelage of Rabbi Aron Shechter, have not resulted in him pausing in his mad quest to destroy and stifle all murmurings he hates, but now with this WAR ON THE JEWISH BLOGGERS being twinned by you to that same battle that Hersh/Shechter have been waging against the same Jewish bloggers, will make you, the Yated, Matzav.com, partners to an even bigger chillul Hashem, r"l.

Kindly also note that Aron Shechter is already in automatic cherem (because he is a lo tzayis dino and being a mesarev ledin) after he refused to answer a hazmona to a din Torah from Rav Moshe Feinstein z"l and after rejecting three hazmonas from the Satmar CRC Bais Din over 30 years ago, see CRC Summons 7392, CRC Summons 7572, CRC Summons 7573.

Think it over, is it worth it for you and your backers? Remember you will never be able to shut down the Internet and it is all-pervasive, as you well know. You can still pull back from the cliff.

RABBIS DECLARE CONVICTED DAUGHTER RAPIST - INNOCENT!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/03/11/2009-03-11_rabbi_israel_weingarten_found_guilty_of_.html

Rabbi Israel Weingarten found guilty of molesting daughter
BY John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, March 11th 2009, 9:21 PM

A Hasidic rabbi who defended himself against charges of molesting his daughter over a seven-year period was convicted on all counts Wednesday by a jury in Brooklyn Federal Court.

The victim, now 27, was escorted into the courtroom by U.S. marshals for the verdict, and sat in the front row opposite six siblings, ages 13 to 23, who support their father Israel Weingarten.

Showing no emotion after he was found guilty of transporting the victim to Belgium, Israel and New York to commit sex crimes against her, Weingarten complained to the judge that he did not have time to prepare for the trial.

Weingarten faces up to 50 years in prison when he's sentenced by Judge John Gleeson on April 3.

The victim dresses in modern clothes, wears makeup and has left the Satmar sect. She agreed to speak to reporters and was asked how she felt being cross-examined on the witness stand by her father.

"Like being molested again," she said. "He thought he still had power over me. I think it was cruel to do that to me."

"I wish he wasn't my father."

The victim was adamant about being in the courtroom for the verdict. "I've been waiting my whole life for this," she said. "I didn't think the day would come when there would be justice, and I had to see it with my own eyes."

The mother and a brother of the victim testified on her behalf, with the mother saying she caught the pair in bed once and the brother saying their father had brainwashed them. They were not in court Wednesday, but the other six of Weingarten's children lashed out at the victim, their mother and the government.

"My sister? I didn't look at her. She's not even human," said Yakev Weingarten, 18.

Another sibling, Chayeh, who testified that her mother molested the victim, said they will hire a lawyer to appeal the conviction.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell called the verdict "an important vindication for victims who have the courage not only to survive the ordeal of sexual abuse, but to come forward despite outside pressure."

jmarzulli@nydailynews.com

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:

May God Bless You Mr. President!

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/01/obamas-arizona-speech-transcript-video/69467/

President Obama's Arizona Speech: Transcript
By Garance Franke-Ruta
Jan 12 2011, 8:55 PM ET
As Prepared for Delivery.

To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.

There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.

As Scripture tells us:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders - representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation's capital. Gabby called it "Congress on Your Corner" - just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.

That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday - they too represented what is best in America.

Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.

George and Dorothy Morris - "Dot" to her friends - were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.

A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.

Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together - about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend again." When they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.

Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion - but his true passion was people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved - talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.

And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken - and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.

Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this - she knows we're here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.

And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby's office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61 year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt.

These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned - as it was on Saturday morning.

Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?

You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations - to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "when I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.

So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.

But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.

After all, that's what most of us do when we lose someone in our family - especially if the loss is unexpected. We're shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?

So sudden loss causes us to look backward - but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame - but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions - that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed - they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis - she's our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America's fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.

And in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.

So deserving of our love.

And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost. Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives - to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.

That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles."

If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.

Monday's Cholent!

Transcript of conversation that went on in scene pictured above: (The picture was in the NY Times)

Bishop Dolan: Hi, Reb Chaim Dovid. How is the molestation cover up going?

Rabbi Zweibel: Well, so far only one major lawsuit against Torah Temimah, Baruch Hashem. But people are starting to go to the police.

Dolan: Well, as long as we can make sure that the Markey Bill doesn't pass, the Statutes of Limitations should keep the molesters safe in New York. You know we have been paying a big price to protect the pedophile priests around the world. Over 3 billion dollars in settlements so far.

Zweibel: Why didn't you do something to stop this horrible scandalous situation?

Dolan: We tried. We sent the predators to therapy and switched them to new parishes.

Zweibel: You want to hear a good one? Some Jewish people are saying you should have actually gotten rid of the pedophiles!

Both of them share an intimate chuckle.

Dolan: Right, like we would ever admit that we have perverts in our church, and that we made mistakes. Don't they realize that our religion says the the Pope is infallible and therefore we can't really say we did anything wrong?

Zweibel: I know. I know. We have a doctrine called "Daas Torah". It is more recent, because traditionally Judaism gave respect to rabbis but never had a concept of Gedolim being perfect and knowing the answers to all issues. Around 1984, Reb Elya Svei and students of Rav Shach came up with this idea in order to consolidate political power. But you would not believe what we have to go through in order to maintain people believing in this hoax.

Dolan: I'm sure you have propaganda newspapers magazines and websites, no? What is it called, Yated Ne'eman?

Zweibel: Yes, and Hamodia, and Mishpacha magazine, and Yeshiva World News and Matzav.com, but now there are blogs like UOJ and Failed Messiah that expose all of our crimes and every attempt we make to convince the people that we actually give a damn about their children's safety.

Dolan: And Orthodox Jews read them?

Zweibel: Not so many, because the Moetzes Gedolim has enough respect that when they attacked the bloggers and the advocates for children's safety as presumptuous promoters of the idea that they know what's better for the Jewish people, most people fell for it. But there are many learned Orthodox Jews who are starting to publicize the true Torah perspective and show how we have hijacked the religion, which is making us look very bad. They now have this site called VIN that simply tells the stories of the child abuse.

Dolan: Sounds scandalous! What can you do?

Zweibel: We put a ban on the site, and that should show them who's boss. They have not discussed the issue of child abuse ONCE since the ban. It is holding strong.

Dolan: Wow you rabbis know what you are doing. If I were a molester (and I'm not saying I'm not) I wish I was an Orthodox rabbi so I would have you guys backing me and my religious right to molest. What about the legislation for safe schools?

Zweibel: Well, because of the JBAC, we had to go along with the idea of fingerprinting being mandatory, but we are not too worried about it actually happening. I mean if it did happen, that would be terrible. So many child abusers who are trained as teachers, would be out of a job, and their families out of a breadwinner. But as long as Shelly Silver is in power, the bill will never even come to a vote, yet alone actually pass. I mean, we were recently able to stop New Jersey from making Yeshivas safe from bullying. That would have been terrible.

Dolan: To tell you the truth, I wasn't quite sure why you were against the anti-bullying law.

Zweibel: No offense, but you have a "goyishe kup". Don't you see that if they can tell us not to bully then it could lead to forcing us to accept the homosexual lifestyle? I mean gay rabbis and teachers is one thing, but gay marriage??? Gay kock in yam!

Dolan: I hear you Dovidel. I never heard that "yam" thing before, some special yontiff food huh? Anyway... You know, the Pope actually had to make a couple of apologies. It was very precarious for a moment with the risk that people would see this as an admission that he acted immorally, because apologies usually mean that you did something wrong, and when that thing is allowing the rape and sodomy of innocent children it usually causes people to think you are a bad person. But Baruch Hashem, as you say, people are still falling for the pomp and circumstance of the Vatican, believing that the Pope is holy and that the Catholic Church is actually a spiritual enterprise.

Zweibel: By the way, wasn't the current Pope in the Hitler Youth Movement as a teenager? Is he an anti-Semite?

Dolan: True, and that did get in the way of one of our plans for defending ourselves. We tried to blame the whole sex abuse scandal on the liberal Jewish media, but people called that anti-Semitism, so we were back to the drawing board.

Zweibel: People can be so cruel. Look at what they are doing to unborn children with abortions.....and then the way society wants to treat innocent child molesters.....Its truly an outrage.

Dolan: All I'm saying is lets lower the rate of abortions. And lets lower the rate of attacks on child molesters. The Church has always taught to turn the other cheek. We want the victims of abuse to do that. To turn the other cheek to their molesters (or as Cardinal Bernard Law used to say to his priests, "turn to other cheeks") and allow them to continue to fulfill their God given appetite for young kids.

Zweibel: We don't have that particular doctrine, but I could not agree with you more. We believe in Mesirah, that forbids turning dangerous criminals over to the authorities who could throw them in jail and deprive their families of a breadwinner. We also have a similar concept of "Pidyon Shvuim" getting Jewish criminals out of jail. We will go all out for Jewish criminals. We bring all segments of Orthodox society, Chassidish, Yeshivish, Modern (they are not really Orthodox according to Rav Svei and Rav Gifter, but we need their financial backing so we pretend sometimes) in order to show the federal government what we have shown the Brooklyn D.A.. That you can't just make a power grab from the rabbis. That if you arrest one Jew, whether innocent or guilty, it is as if you arrested all of us. This way the Feds will think twice.

Dolan: Brilliant. What do you think would happen if you let up on this campaign?

Zweibel: Think about it. If the government thought they could prosecute us at will, they would have to put a fence around Williamsburg, Borough Park and Lakewood for all the tax evasion, money laundering, fraud and corruption. Then they would start with the Rabbinic sex offenders and Orthodox child abusers. Don't ask. We Agudah rabbis ourselves are covering up for Mondrowitz, Eiseman, Shapiro, Juravel, Storch, Weinberg, Kolko, various Tendlers, Michael Hirsch, Nussbaum, Reichman, Abrahamson, Gelbwachs, Eisgrau, Bryks, Templer, Brenner, Borger, Reich, Levitt, Kolko, Jr., Tropper, and on and on. We're even helping a recent fugitive from justice, Kranczer who ran to Israel. We have our connections there hiding him.

Dolan: Makes you long for the good old days when no law enforcement agency would dare start up with religious leaders who are the real arbiters of morality. The days when a cover-up was a cover-up! And when wearing a collar or a beard and payos meant never having to say you were sorry. We clergy were able to dupe people into trusting us with their money, their minds and their children.

Zweibel: Oy. We need Moshiach.

Dolan: Amen, brother, amen. He'll be back soon!....And Dovidel my liebling, if you're not busy after this meeting, come on over to my office, I want to show you a very little thing.

Remembering R' Kamyan a"h

Those of us from old Williamsburgh , Torah Vodaath of South Third St., Bais Medrash Elyon probably would remember Kamyan. To most he was a vagabond, a survivor of the Camps that found his way to Torah Vodaath, a person who lost his mind - nebach, who always needed a shower and whose last meal was always on his beard.

Not to me.

When my family moved from Williamsburgh to the new neighborhood, they thought it would be a great idea for me to spend many Shabbosim at the home of Rav Yitzchak Karp zt"l and Rav Alexander Linchner zt"l. They shared a Brownstone right around the corner from the Mesifta. Of course we davened in the yeshiva on South Third St.

Rabbi Linchner sat in the absolute rear-est chair in the bais medrash and Rav Karp a few rows before him. So when I came for Shabbos, sometimes I would sit next to Rav Linchner and sometimes next to Rav Karp. By kriat haTorah, I would stand in close proximity to the bimah, watching with fascination the process that would go into deciding who would get an aliyah.

If my memory serves me right, R' Shmuel Dishon was gabbai for at least part of the years of my visits to Williamsburgh, beginning when I was about 8 years old, up until my bar-mitzvah.

I was 8 or 9 years of age when this distinguished looking visiting rav was given shishi. Years later, I learned his name was Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, who eventually became the Chief Rabbi of Belgium and a nephew of Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky ztvk"l, the Rosh Hayeshiva.

And the reason I even remember the incident, was because one hour before Mincha, he was going to address the bais medrash with his brilliance in Torah, "unsurpassed by anyone in America" with his ability to recite any blatt in the entire gemora with his photographic memory (Shas - or the entire Talmud Bavli) by the page number and within a few words of getting it right by the line.

The Rosh Yeshiva would almost always get the third aliyah, shlishi, and the sixth aliyah, shishi, for the most part, was reserved for visiting dignitaries.

Of course I went with my hosts to the highly anticipated drasha from this visiting "rare" talmud chochom, "one in the world"!

I used to stare at R' Kamyan when I visited, he would walk around the bais medrash mumbling to himself, totally disheveled, once I even remember he had no shoes. He would scour the trash cans for food, look underneath the tables for any signs of left over food, although the bais medrash was cleaned immaculately before Shabbos. Tears always welled up in my eyes, especially once I was told that RSFM ztvk"l, had obtained a student visa for him from Poland - after he literally saw his entire family shot to death in front of him as he was left for dead. Somehow he survived and lived in the YTV dormitory until he passed.

I was told he rarely had any lucid moments, but on that very rare occasion that he was lucid, he cited and recited Torah from all over Shas flawlessly.

So when the "distinguished" talmud chochom took the shtender from the omud to give his drasha, the bais medrash was - standing room only - you could hear a pin drop!

Now I was about 8 years old so please cut me some slack on the tiniest of details, but some 20 minutes into the drasha, Kamyan strolls into the bais medrash. He was mumbling to himself and looked like he was crying, but he was absolutely not disturbing anyone. This "distinguished" visitor looked over at him. Now Kamyan was never seen in public without a black hat and dark suit and a flowing beard, so it was not like some Puerto Rican walked in or something. Rabbi Kreiswirth seemed very agitated by this "intruder", but he continued as Kamyan walked the aisles.

Kamyan stops; he shouts "DAF YUD DALED AMUD ALEPH"! AGAIN AND AGAIN!

There was a commotion, people running over to Kamyan, trying to silence him as he keeps repeating himself! Now, I'm at the bimah, and this "distingushed" rav is now angry and shouts repeatedly "VER IS DER MISHUGENER?"

By now, Kamyan is silenced and escorted out of the bais medrash, and some minutes later Rabbi Kreiswirth continues until Mincha.

After we arrived home for Havdalah, the two rabbonim were explaining to their rebbetzins, my Shabbos hosts, the incident that had transpired at the yeshiva as I stood bewildered in the corner of the small kitchen.

R' Kamyan was right, Rabbi Kreiswirth was wrong when he had quoted a blatt by its page number in mesechta Zvachim.

SO I ASK?

VER IS DER MISHUGENER? UN VER IS DER BEHAIMA?

In my view: Banning bans

by Dr. Michael Salamon

Last week we were informed that we can no longer visit Vosizneias.com whose tag line is “The Voice of the Orthodox Jewish Community” and is a website devoted to bringing news, albeit in a somewhat sanitized version, to the ultra-Orthodox community. This widely advertised ban which was approved and signed by over 30 Rabbis was collective and directed at all of us. All good Jews were instructed to stop reading this news site. Some investigative news sources tied this specific ban directly to a news article which appeared on the site that linked members of the community to illegal activities that resulted in a criminal investigation. Therefore, because of legitimate news reports that certain individuals wish to keep buried the wide readership who get their news from this source are now being told that this news service is a non-kosher resource.

Then just a few days later we were notified that we may not listen to radio, even Haredi radio stations, by another group of Rabbis who endorsed this ban. This prohibition is a larger problem then the prior bans we have heard against selected musicians and music stations that may have played secular music or music played on guitars. This ban is against listening to the radio, any radio, at all. It seems to me that these latest two sanctions are, at least for me, a new way of viewing the philosophy of bans in their entirety. I do not mean because the prohibitions impact me directly, at best their impact is very secondary. I mean that many of the people who use Vosizneias and listen to appropriate Jewish radio programs are caught in a conflict between what they are led to believe is reasonable and fair and part of normative religious practice and what they are now told is illegitimate to do if they are to be a member of the tribe.

To read the entire "Banning Bans" click on the link below:

http://www.thejewishstar.com/stories/In-my-view-Banning-bans,2138?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=ban&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=

Yu Know I Feel Allchrright!

VOLUME UP!

I Got Nothing!

The Mother of all Kol Korehs!

MUSIC TO BE PLAYED WHILE READING THE MOTHER OF ALL KOL KOREHS!

by Anonymous Torah WikiLeaker Letz:

CLICK ON MEZUYEF KOL KOREH IMAGES TO ENLARGE:


Nevala Na’asesah B’Yisroel! V’cheyn Lo Yaaseh!











An abomination has been done in Israel!

A tzadik and talmud chochom and ba’al chessed, Rabbi Gershon Kranczer, has been reported to the police for raping his daughters, and has run away to Israel to escape going to jail. First and foremost our hearts are broken for this great man, a close friend of the Gedolei Yisroel, Reb Ahron Shechter and Reb Laizer Ginsberg, Shli’ta. All Jews must stand together in support for this righteous man, who is also the principal of Yeshiva Tehilla L'Dovid for special needs students. Rabbi Kranczer, Shli’ta has done so much good, and so much chesed that he makes even other tzaddikim of our generation like hakodosh Martin Grossman and the Spinka Rebbe pale in comparison. All Jews must come to the aid of this holy individual, who is now being persecuted because he is a Jew.

We strongly and vociferously condemn the actions of the daughters in reporting private behaviors to the authorities:

1. Firstly, it is not tznius to talk about these things, and the girls described disgusting acts in more graphic details than a “Chosson Shmooze” from Rabbi Gissinger in Lakewood, which is an act of nivul peh. Bnos Yisroel should allow themselves to be raped rather than to discuss such not tznius events. Even when we discuss so called “child molestation” we never describe the exact actions that are being done to children. And although the Novominsker Rebbe, Shli’ta said it is now time to sweep the problem out from under you carpet, this is not what he meant - what he meant was its high time you bought a new carpet! We have made it abundantly clear that blogs and the media are not acceptable places to discuss these problems. And besides, Reb Matisyahu Salamon still says that it should be swept under the newest carpet for the purpose of the dignity of the molester. Reb Avraham Chaim Levine said publicly on tape that we NEVER publicize the names of molesters! Certainly the girls did not mean to have the story public, but they should have known that going to the police would make it so, R”L.

2. Secondly, the actions of these girls have placed a needless risk of financial burden on the holy mossad that their father was running. Did they not know that as the administrator, his being forced to leave would hurt the yeshiva? Did they not know that yeshivas are the lifeblood of our community? Have they not heard the Novominkser Rebbe, Shli’ta state publicly that while we “feel bad” for the victims of abuse, the foremost concern of all Yidden must be the mosdos that we, the gedolim own and use to give shtellas to our children and son-in-laws?

3. Furthermore, the actions of the daughters are against Halacha, because many gedolim have ruled that to report allegations of abuse to the police is mesirah. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, Rabbi Malkiel Kotler and other gedolim have ruled against going to the police. Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Shlit’a, has stated publicly that such behavior “would not be tolerated” in our community. These girls are to be punished and no school should accept them, the same way as in Lakewood the boy who reported his rape to the police was not allowed in any school. Keep in mind that some of the so-called crimes they accuse their father and brothers of are acts that did not even include penetration, and therefore are not technically abuse according to Moron Harav Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg, Shli’ta.



4. Finally, the worst aveira these girls did was, of course, acting without consulting daas Torah. They arrogantly presumed to know what was better for them to “protect” themselves from the abuse. Only we, the rosh yeshivas, can divine what is best in all situations. Girls, boys, young men and women and parents have no right whatsoever to try to protect themselves from being raped without consulting daas Torah to find out what we have divined. The Novominkser Rebbe, Shli’ta said that parents should warn their children about abusers, but not chas v’chalila to do anything to stop abuse. He said clearly at the Fressers Convention - "The anus (Litvish for onus) is to be placed completely on the child to protect himself or herself, and they should be taught that they must always act al pi daas Torah, like their molesters".

We must reiterate in every language of warning that all allegations of rape, sodomy and child molestation should be reported ONLY to rabbis and a beis din. As Rabbi Shlomo Gottesman said publicly at the recent Agudah convention, the first person to go to is the school principal. He said that today in 2010 there would not be any cover ups. In fact the Yeshiva that Rabbi Kranczer ran, found out months before the police and did not cover it up. They had him resign, and then the girls were surely safe.

What possible good could come out from going to the police?

We must continue to ignore that the principal may BE the molester, such as in the Gerrer Mesivta in Boro Park, where Rabbi Lazerovitz molested dozens of boys, and Satmar Yeshiva in Williamsburg where Rabbi Reichman was the principal for years and was also guilty of molesting many boys. We must ignore the fact that Reb Ahron Feldman, Shli’ta, Rosh Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, is currently continuing to cover up the sex crimes against bochurim of Moshe Eiseman, Shli’ta. Serial molester Rabbi Chaim Abrahamson in Monsey, has been dealt with by Yeshiva of Spring Valley, and Reb Shmuel Kaminetsky has agreed to allow it to be covered up just as all the rest of the cases he knows about. Rabbis Kotler and Salamon, correctly refuse to allow, chas v’shalom the parents of the little boys who allege that Rabbi Eli Gelbwachs physically assaulted their four year olds’ "JUNK" to go to the police, R”L, so that Gelbwachs is still free to work for Hatzala in Lakewood.

Despite the Novominsker’s speech, we must be more vigilant in stopping people from exposing these cover-ups, and making a chillul Hashem. The only way for us to be mekadesh shem Shamayim is for victims of abuse to keep quiet about it, and for anyone who knows about it to refrain from going to the police. In this zechus, may we all merit the Moshiach.

Donations to help the “pidyon shvuim” campaign for Rabbi Kranczer can be mailed to the Novominsker Rebbe (he takes all major credit and debit cards for your convenience) ((except the DiamondCard)) the Munkatcher Rebbe, Shli’ta or directly to attorney Ben Brafman, or attorney Nat Lewin who will I”YH be handling the appeal. The Yated Ne’eman and Hamodia will be reporting about Tehillim Asifas (gatherings) for this great tzadik.

Signing for the Kavod of Daas Torah:

Aharon Shechter, Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Shmuel Kaminetsky, Yaakov Perlow, Aharon Feldman, Avraham Chaim Levine, Dovid Feinstein, Mattisyahu Salamon, Reuvain Feinstein, Lipa Margulies, Yisroel Belsky, Moshe Eisemann, Avraham Mondrowitz, Yudi Kolko, Chaim Abrahamson, Sholom Tendler, Lipa Brenner, Yisroel Weingarten, Mattis Weinberg, Leib Tropper, Shmuel Zev Juravel, Ben-Zion Sobel, Avraham Lazerovitz, Tzvi Wainhaus, Lipa Templer, Mordechai Tendler, Boruch Mordechai Lebovitz, Shmuel Borger, Aaron Tendler, Avraham Reichman, Yosef Aharon Kolko, Emanuel Yegutkin, Yosef Ratzinger...

To My Gentile Friends - No Wonder Your Guy Was So Ticked Off At Us! Happy Holiday!

Ban, Ban, TalisBan!

18 Av 5767 - August 2007..in the goyishe calender..feh... | Mordecai Plut - drektor-

Published Weakly Without Spellcheck

Shame Yisrael Toirah Nutworks

Z'NEWS BULLETIN

Psak Halochoh

ISSUED WITH MESIRAS NEFESH FROM UNDER OUR BEDS IN THE REB MEIER AL Z. HEIMERS MOSHAV ZEKANIM

BS"D, Av 5767

We were appalled and trembling to hear of the terrible breach in our camp in the form of concerts featuring singers and chazanim who sing before men and women in mixed company Rachmono litzlan and even with separate seating, mamash.

Previous gedolei Yisroel totally banned these events - even though there were none, but in their infinite wisdom they knew that there will be many - even where there is separate seating (they can't fool us - we know they sit together in the car). As such we hereby state our combined ignorant and idiot opinion, which is based on irrefutable daas Torah.

A. Attending these performances is totally prohibited, because we say so -- even though we forgot to take our pills for two years at least - could be more - we just don't remember.

B. The prohibition applies to the organizers and the audience, young and old, middle-aged, senile, people in wheelchairs, people who use cains and walkers, the hearing impaired, fagelech, men, women, children, shul candy-men and rebbeim-- regardless of their sexual preferences.


All the more so on the singers and chazanim, who are inducing the masses to sin, mamash - Rachmana litzlan.

C. Newspapers and advertising circulars should not help by advertising these forbidden events, the transgressors call performances. Even the Jewish Press should restrain itself, if at all possible.

D. The singers and chazanim who appear before a mixed audience may not be invited to sing at any wedding or divorce, chap-a-nosh at the smorgasboard, mooch a free meal, take home the flowers, switch to a newer Borsalino at the coat-check room, steal a bencher, or take home a stranger's wife; nor can any event at which they participate be advertised, including tefillos and so-called kosher events, unsupervised fress Pesach events; in order to avoid lending a hand to these transgressors who we consider to be rishaim gemurim, like nothing ever before in klal Yisroel, ever, ever, aver, erva.

May Hashem Yisborach, in His great mercy and kindness, bring them to do teshuvah before Him - and us - by supporting Kupat H'air, and may we merit the eternal Redemption (not the phony Chabad kind), immediately - before the Kolko trial - azuz yimolei sechok peanuts...., vayihee b'yemai Achasvarush....

Signing for the sake of the sanctity, holiness and purity of our people, with trembling hands, spittle dripping out of our mouths, and with soiled diapers....

Yehuda Kolko

Lipa Margulies

Ephraim Shapiro

Shea Fishman

Moshe Eisemann

Matis Weinberg

Shalom Tendler

Mordecai Tendler

Aron Tendler

Sheftel Neuberger

Grepsel Hamburger

Avrohom Mondrowitz

Ephraim Bryks

Aron Twerski

Avi Shafran

Marvin Shick

Avrohom Leizerowitz

Heshy Nussbaum

Shlomo Mandel

Yehuda Nussbaum

Simcha Kaufman

Shmuel Kaminetzky

Yaakov Perlow

Yosef Sholom Eliashiv

Gershon Tannenbaum

Moshe Heinemann

Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman

Yaakov Aryeh Alter Chaya

Yissochor Dov Petzel A. Kleiner

Pinchos Nisht-Arein Gegangen

Hertz Frankel

Yitzchak Kaduri

Shmuel Halevi Wosner

Yisroel Hazmana Belsky

Mendel Haganiv Epstein

Moshe Hachazir Finkel

Dovid Ha'truckdriver Cohen

Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz

Moshe Chaim Kurva Ben Gil Arayus

Leibish Flynt

Chaim H. Hefner

Lipa Geldwerth

David(Ben Shmuel)Berkowitz

Lipa Brenner

Baruch Lanner

Chaim Pinchos Sheinberg

Bernard(Berish)Law

C. Yonah Mahoney

Tuvyah Ted Bundy

Tzvi Elimelech Zona

Nissim Karelitz

Dovid Twersky

Shmuel Auerbach

Sholom Klass

Yitzchok Sheiner

Marvin Hier

Israel Singer

Philip Berg

Moshe Sherer

Shabbsai Tzvi

You’re watching Taliban Ban. See the Web's top videos on AOL Video

"STANDING SILENT!" CHILD SEX-ABUSE IN JEWISH BALTIMORE!

CLICK ON LINK BELOW!

http://www.ajff.org/film/standing-silent

Orthodox Jews Begin to Reckon with Sexual Abuse!

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/3258/orthodox_jews_begin_to_reckon_with_sexual_abuse

A manhunt has been underway this week for Brooklyn Rabbi Gershon Kranczer and his 21-year-old son Asher in connection with the sexual abuse of four of the rabbi’s female relatives. Two more of the rabbi’s sons, Yechezkel, 24, and a 15-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, have already turned themselves in to police.

The case is certainly odd. 58-year-old Rabbi Kranczer, of Midwood, has 14 children and the abuse, according to the New York City Police Department, has been limited to incidents within the rabbi’s family.

But the hunt for Kranczer comes at a time when federal agencies are taking a more proactive approach to prosecuting abuse in the Orthodox community. In Brooklyn last year, about 25 Orthodox men were arrested on sex abuse charges. This year in Lakewood, New Jersey, a predominantly Orthodox community, the local prosecutor has launched 29 sex crime investigations.

According to law enforcement officials in New Jersey and New York, more Orthodox abuse victims are coming forward than ever before. But perhaps more importantly, sexual abuse itself, once taboo, has become an increasingly talked about issue within the Orthodox world. Just a couple of months ago, two of the country’s largest and most influential Orthodox organizations, the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union, co-sponsored America’s first National Jewish Child Abuse Prevention Week.

There’s nothing to suggest that sexual abuse is any more or less prevalent in the Orthodox community than anywhere else; but there are a number of peculiarities to Orthodox Jewish life that have made the reporting of abuse less common than in society at large.

“I think the subject of abuse is probably the same in any religious community,” says Michael Salomon, a Long Island psychiatrist, who has just finished working on an as-yet-unpublished book about sexual abuse in the Orthodox world.

“Different religions use different justifications for not reporting,” he says. “But it comes down to the theory that religious issues should be handled within the religious community, even though the powers that be within the community do not have the power to investigate and to prosecute.”

For many years, Orthodox rabbis have dissuaded victims and their families from going to the secular authorities with their claims of abuse. But as the Catholic Church has discovered at great cost, suppressing abuse allegations only makes the issue more damaging to the religious institution when it is finally exposed.

At the recent sentencing of an Orthodox abuser in Brooklyn, the mother of one victim, who did not wish to be named, told me: “They can’t keep it quiet any more. There are too many people screaming about it.”

Going to Secular Authorities can have Terrible Consequences

In fact, there are many similarities between the way in which the Catholic Church and the Orthodox community have dealt with abuse. Both are closed, conservative communities. Both have a hierarchy and an infrastructure built around the idea that they are responsible for policing themselves. And both are deeply suspicious of the outside world and its values. Catholic and Orthodox officials even joined forces last year to block a bill in the New York State legislature that would have temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on abuse claims.

But the similarities end there. The Orthodox movement is much smaller than the Catholic Church and doesn’t have an overarching figure like the Pope to make decisions. In the Pope’s place are countless rabbinic leaders and authorities who wield enormous influence over their followers.

Mark Dratch, a modern Orthodox rabbi and former vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, says the influence of rabbinic opinion over everyday life—known as da’as torah—has increased considerably during the past few decades.

“There is a growing authoritarianism in the Orthodox community today,” says Rabbi Dratch. “There is a hierarchy and a deference to rabbinic opinion and these two forces play off each other.”

This means that the success of initiatives to hunt down abusers in the Orthodox community ultimately rests with the rabbis. And if the recent case of Yosef Kolko, a 36-year-old Orthodox schoolteacher, is any guide, the Orthodox world still has a long way to go. Kolko, of New Jersey, pleaded not guilty earlier this year to charges that he sexually abused a boy at a Jewish summer camp. Rather than supporting the alleged victim, the community rallied to Kolko’s defense.

Historically, abuse victims and their families have often been urged—and then bribed or threatened—not to go to the police. Jewish customs and concepts, such as mesirah (not informing on a fellow Jew to the secular authorities), chilul hashem (the desecration of God’s name) and lashon hara (spreading gossip) are invoked to coerce people into keeping quiet. Going to a secular court without a rabbi’s permission can be interpreted as violating Jewish law. Simply speaking out can have terrible consequences.

Last year, Yehoshua Finkelstein, a 20-year-old abuse victim from the Orthodox enclave of Lakewood, New Jersey, died of an overdose in an apparent suicide. After his death, Shua’s parents discovered a letter he had written criticizing the Jewish community for not facing up to the problem of sexual abuse. They published the letter online, reigniting the debate over abuse. Shortly afterwards, their house was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

The boy who now claims to have been abused by Yosef Kolko also comes from Lakewood. After the boy’s father—himself a rabbi—went to the police, a flier was distributed naming the father and accusing him of making “a mockery of the Torah” and of committing a chilul hashem.

A friend of Kolko’s, Shaul Luban, sent a text message to members of the community urging them to pressure the father not to testify. Luban has since been charged with witness tampering and faces up to five years in prison. Meanwhile, nine leading Lakewood rabbis issued a proclamation telling followers that if they suspect a case of abuse they must go to a religious court, known as a beth din, before alerting the secular authorities.

Protecting Children vs. Religious Concerns

The Orthodox community’s reliance upon beth dins is one of the central stumbling blocks to combating sexual abuse. Typically comprised of three rabbis, they rule on family and business disputes such as divorce, inheritance, and contractual disagreements. Small Jewish communities usually have a single beth din while larger communities, like those found in New York and New Jersey, may have many. These include beth dins that specialize in sexual abuse, though they are few; Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, says there are probably no more than two or three in the country.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, beth din rabbis are often reluctant to speak about their work. Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union, says that a beth din that investigates sexual abuse is usually comprised of rabbis with some knowledge or experience of abuse cases. They may also enlist the services of a consultant, such as a mental health professional or an attorney.

Says Rabbi Weinreb. “It’s very difficult to assess an accusation of sexual abuse. It’s a basic rule in the whole field, especially when children are involved, that it’s hard to know how much credence to give to what they say.”

“However, there are experts in the field who know how to conduct these kinds of investigations and any beth din worth its salt will make sure they have some expert working with them so they can evaluate the situation.”

Rabbi Weinreb says that the Orthodox Union does not have an official policy on reporting sexual abuse. Instead, it directs people to the Rabbinical Council of America, which adopted a resolution earlier this year stating that informing the secular authorities does not violate Jewish law.

Nevertheless, as long as some community leaders insist that the beth din must be informed first, it will remain a route that many religious families take. And only if the beth din deems the allegation to be true will the family be permitted to go to the authorities.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford, who brought the case against Yosef Kolko, is concerned that such actions limit a prosecutor’s ability to secure a conviction. “By having a diversion to a different type of tribunal, no matter how well intentioned the people involved are, it ultimately makes the job of getting a criminal conviction more difficult,” she says.

Furthermore, such practices may be illegal. Reporting laws related to sexual abuse differ by state. But there are few, if any, conditions under which an adult is not bound to report child sexual abuse to the authorities. In New Jersey, any adult with reasonable suspicion of child abuse must report their suspicion to the authorities, says Ford.

However, Ford admits that sexual abuse is a delicate issue and she is under no illusions that victims of all faiths often approach religious leaders for moral and spiritual guidance before going to the authorities.

“This is a type of crime in which people reflect on what the ramifications are to the victim and to their family,” she said.

“But when we are faced with the potential of repetitive and compulsive offenders, who are not amenable to treatment and who may, in fact, be a serial abuser, it’s in the interest of the state to bring to justice and remove these people from the community so they do not assault again.”

“When it comes to abuse, there’s an overriding state interest in protecting children and I think that has to trump religious concerns.”

Let's Build Another Museum - Send Your Checks To Midget Marvin!

From: Simon Wiesenthal Center World Headquarters Sent: Mon, Dec 6, 2010

Subject: Rabbi Hier, "They say there never was a Chanukah"

“It happened in those times and again in our time!”
They say there never was a Chanukah

December 6, 2010

2,200 years ago, the Maccabees fought off an attempt from the Greeks to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish people. But you and I know that the battle to deny Israel’s right to exist is still going on in our time and you can help us do something about it.

Only last week, a senior Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information official had the audacity to say, “The Jews have no historical or religious ties to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. There is no archeological evidence that the Temple Mount was built during the period of King Solomon….”

This lie was contradicted by their own Supreme Muslim Council, the highest Muslim religious authority in Jerusalem which, from 1924 to 1953 published their own official guide to Jerusalem which described the Dome of the Rock as follows, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot according to the universal belief, on which [quoting Hebrew Scripture] ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord.”

We must respond to this continuous campaign to delegitimize Israel by the Palestinian leadership. Only two weeks ago, UNESCO joined in in this campaign by calling Rachel’s Tomb a “mosque,” attempting to steal from the Jewish people one of its most sacred religious sites.

Remember the words of the Chanukah prayer, “It happened in those times and again in our time!!”

With your help, we will be successful in standing up to these revisionists as our ancestors did 2,200 years ago on the first Chanukah. Please email this Chanukah message to your family and friends.

Rabbi Marvin Hier
Dean and Founder
Simon Wiesenthal Center

Former Yeshiva Principal Sought on Abuse Charges!

 

M.E.D.I.A. A.D.V.I.S.O.R.Y

Dec 5, 2010, 7:00 pm: For Immediate Release

Press conference:
To show Jewish community support for prosecution of sex offenders and avert any possible plea bargain without prison time for notorious sex offender, Meir Dascalowitz. Dascalowitz is scheduled to appear in Kings County Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 8, 9:00 am. He is charged with 200 felony counts of criminal sexual activity with a child under 15 years of age.

When: Monday, Dec. 6, 3:00 pm

Where: in front of the Kings County Office of the District Attorney: 350 Jay St. Brooklyn, NY 11201

Speakers:
Dr. Asher Lipner, Executive Vice President, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Joel Engelman, Co-Founder Jewish Survivors Network
Mrs. Pearl Engelman, Mother of a victim of sexual abuse
And others TBA

Endorsers:
JSafe: The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse-Free Environment
Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg (Advocate for Victims of Sex Abuse and blogger of Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg’s Hotline);
The Voice of Justice
Jewish Parents for Safe Yeshivos


BACKGROUND:
On May 11, 2010 Meir Dascalowitz (pictured above), a hasidic Jew who lived in Williamsburg was arrested by the New York City Police for molesting a boy under 15 every month for over a half a year in a ritual bath in Williamsburg. According to the NYS database, webcrims, he was booked on the basis of 200! felony charges of criminal sexual activity with a minor under 15 years of age (PL 130.45 01). There were additional misdemeanor charges. (Kings County Supreme Court: case # 04054-2010). When Dascalowitz was arrested he voluntarily confessed to assaulting many boys. The DA is also aware of corroborating medical evidence.



The victim’s parents have cooperated with the police in Brooklyn’s Sex Crimes Unit and the Office of the Kings County District Attorney in seeking justice to protect their own child and other children from this monstrous predator. Dascalowitz’s enablers and supporters have conducted a campaign of harassment to force the parents to drop their case. The parents of the victim have been steadfast. They have endured being thrown out of their synagogue; a scurrilous campaign of innuendo, and other acts of attempted witness intimidation, which are being investigated by the DA’s Office.

Ultra Orthodox Jews are no longer willing to cover up sex abuse in their communities. The victim’s parents are part of a trend in the orthodox world to cooperate more closely with the criminal justice system in flushing out these monsters.

Around Dec 1, 2010 the parents of the victim had a phone conversation with the DA’s office; they informed the parents that the DA was contemplating entering a plea bargain. The terms of this proposed plea bargain might include probation WITHOUT ANY JAIL TIME. It is not even clear if the gravity of the charges were to be reflected in the guilty plea and whether Dascalowitz would be classified as a registered sex offender, and thereafter placed on the public Megan's Law sex offender registry. The parents rightfully consider this potential plea bargain a miscarriage of justice, a hindrance to their son’s recovery from his abuse, a slap in the face of their steadfast persistence in pursuing this case, and an act that would endanger children in Williamsburg. A plea bargain is not necessary. The evidence is strong. Dascalowitz has confessed, and there is physical evidence in addition to the victim’s accounts.

We respectfully urge the Kings County District Attorney to reject the possibility of such a plea bargain. If such a plea bargain is offered by the DA, we respectfully ask the presiding judge, the Honorable Danny K Chun, to refuse to accept it. Through separate communications we are urging concerned citizens of all faiths to communicate with the District Attorney’s office to persuade him to reverse the position communicated by his office.

For Media Information and to schedule interviews, Contact: Joel Engelman 347-415-3799
************************************************************

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/nyregion/04family.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Former Yeshiva Principal Sought on Abuse Charges
By KAREEM FAHIM and AL BAKER
Published: December 3, 2010 - THE NEW YORK TIMES

A former Brooklyn yeshiva principal and three of his sons sexually abused four of the principal’s other children, molesting one of the victims over 15 years, the authorities said Friday.

The police are still looking for the man, Rabbi Gershon Kranczer, 58, and one of his sons, Asher Kranczer, 21, who they believe fled to Israel earlier this week. Another son, Yechezkel Kranczer, 24, turned himself in to the police on Thursday and has been charged with 70 counts of sexual abuse and 2 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The third son, a 15-year-old whose name was withheld by the authorities, was brought in for questioning on Wednesday, made statements implicating himself in the abuse and was arrested, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

The authorities believe the abuse occurred in a three-story house in Midwood, Brooklyn, that Rabbi Kranczer shared with his wife and 12 of his 14 children. Neighbors said the family had lived in the house for more than 20 years. A law enforcement official said the house had a large kitchen and several bunk beds.

Mr. Browne said the situation came to light after one of the children, who works as a teacher’s aide at a yeshiva, told a colleague about the abuse on Monday. The colleague contacted the authorities, Mr. Browne said.

He said that Rabbi Kranczer and his son Asher flew from Kennedy International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday, possibly because they had learned the authorities were investigating. Law enforcement officials said that Rabbi Kranczer and Asher, who is legally blind, were driven to the airport by Rabbi Kranczer’s wife, whom the police did not identify by name.

Yechezkel Kranczer married recently and had moved out of the home, the authorities said.

The authorities said no one in the family had prior criminal records.

On Friday afternoon, a teenage child emerged from the house carrying a duffle bag, walked past crates of household items on the porch and disappeared down the street without commenting.

Neighbors painted a picture of a family struggling financially, and said two of the children had learning disabilities. But they said that they were shocked at the accusations and that the children seemed outwardly happy. “Impossible,” said one, Sol Borger, 60, who lives across the street. “I don’t believe it.”

Mr. Borger said he and Rabbi Kranczer attended the same synagogue and had gone to each other’s weddings. “The kindest, most helpful people you’d ever want to meet,” he said. “I’d sooner believe Mayor Bloomberg did it.” Mr. Borger said “children’s services” visited the house years ago, but he believed nothing came of any accusations.

A spokeswoman for the Administration for Children’s Services would not comment on any visits to the home because of the investigation. She said the agency was in the process of taking some of the children from the house and was “working to ensure the safety of all the children.”

There were conflicting accounts of the school that Rabbi Kranczer ran until three months ago, when the police say he resigned from his post for unknown reasons. State records indicate he was the principal of a school with a few dozen students called the Mesorah School. The records give the address as the rabbi’s house. But neighbors said the school, for disabled children, was called Yeshiva Tehila L’Dovid and was a few blocks away from the house. On the porch of the Kranczer home, a mailed copy of the Flatbush Jewish Journal was addressed to Yeshiva Tehila L’Dovid.

The police said they were not aware of any victims outside the family.

IN HIS OWN WORDS, THE ROSH AGUDAH, RABBI YAAKOV PERLOW, NOVEMBER 24, 2010, AGUDATH ISRAEL CONVENTION

Online Surveys & Market Research

IN HIS OWN WORDS, THE ROSH AGUDAH, RABBI YAAKOV PERLOW, NOV 24, 2010, AGUDATH ISRAEL CONVENTION

...."Let me mention something else, another painful subject, which has arisen in our tzibbur, and its time that we recognize it, even in public (inaudible short Yiddish phrase). And sweep it out from under the carpet.

There's a need, an obligation, particularly on parents, to inform and teach children to be careful and alert and safeguard their bodies, their Yiddishe gufim, and not allow potential predators to abuse them.

I'm sorry that I have to bring this up in public.

But the olam doesn't know. Very few people outside the halls of Agudas Yisroel and Torah U'Mesorah know, that the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah U'Mesorah, together with the Moetzes Gedolei Torah of Agudas Yisroel have held many joint meetings and spent many hours discussing all the aspects of this sensitive topic that has crept out of the woodworks in recent years.

Yes, there are molesters out there, tragically enough, in the yeshivishe and in the Chassidishe community, and our children have to be attuned to the nishmar (inaudible) nafshosaychem.

And let me mention that several years ago the Moetzes of Agudas Yisroel approved a statement sent out by the Director of Camp Aguda to all camp directors about behavioral standards of staff and campers, plus a letter to be sent to parents before camp begins.

Torah U'Mesorah likewise issued guidelines and standards for mechanchim sent to all principals suggesting they also communicate on this subject with their parent body.

The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah discussed thoroughly all the legal questions, all the legal aspects of this tsurah.

We came out publicly against the Markey Bill, in order to protect the integrity of our mosdos haTorah. But it did acknowledge the tsar and anguish of the victims of molestation.

A short while ago, a committee of the Moetzes met with some of these victims, and was shaken to hear first hand of the long term ruinous affects and the deep pain of these people. I'd like to acknowledge here publicly how many of these individuals who suffered severe trauma and carried this tsar all these years have, nonetheless, b'ezras Hashem, succeeded in rebuilding their lives, have raised families in the Torah true tradition and they deserve the chizuk and encouragement of the community at large.

There's a lot more to say on this painful subject, but this is not the place".

IN MY OWN (UOJ) WORDS - WHAT PERLOW IS REALLY SAYING!

Oh yeah chevrah, by the way, we were caught with our pants down lying about everything to protect our fellow gangsters running their "pay for play" yeshivas. So...I'm sorry to bring this silly topic up, but the lawyers think its a good idea to cover our collective tuches, so I'll cry a little now, I'll do a head-fake, I'll add a crack or two to my voice, but do not be disturbed, it's a big show. The Viennese table is loaded with goodies (yummee) after I finish my brief 3 minute Purim shpiel, I do not want you for one second to let this really non-existent issue affect your weekend. The people that came forward are not really gezunt nebach, but they claim to be Yidden, who knows, maybe they're really goyim. Gedalya, check their yichus... ZEITS MOCHEL!FRESS ZICH UN A GUT YUR!

When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/opinion/24friedman.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

Op-Ed Columnist
U.S.G. and P.T.A. -- By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The New York Times

For me, the most frightening news in The Times on Sunday was not about North Korea’s stepping up its nuclear program, but an article about how American kids are stepping up their use of digital devices: “Allison Miller, 14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations at a time. She texts between classes, at the moment soccer practice ends, while being driven to and from school and, often, while studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report. “I’ll be reading a book for homework and I’ll get a text message and pause my reading and put down the book, pick up the phone to reply to the text message, and then 20 minutes later realize, ‘Oh, I forgot to do my homework.’ ”

I don’t want to pick on Miller. I highlight her words only because they’re integral to a much larger point: Our unemployment today is not only because of the financial crisis. There are some deeper problems. If we’re going to get more Americans back to work, we will need more stimulus from the U.S.G. — the U.S. government — from the top down. But we will also need more stimulus from the P.T.A.’s — the Parent Teacher Associations — from the bottom up.

The deeper problems fostering unemployment in America today can be summarized in three paragraphs:

Global competition is stiffer. Just think about two of our most elite colleges. When Harvard and Yale were all male, applicants had to compete only against a pool of white males to get in. But when Harvard and Yale admitted women and more minorities, white males had to step up their game. But when the cold war ended, globalization took hold. As Harvard and Yale started to admit more Chinese, Indians, Singaporeans, Poles and Vietnamese, both American men and women had to step up their games to get in. And as the education systems of China, India, Singapore, Poland and Vietnam continue to improve, and more of their cream rises to the top and more of their young people apply to Ivy League schools, it is only going to get more competitive for American men and women at every school.

Then, just as the world was getting flattened by globalization, technology went on a rampage — destroying more low-end jobs and creating more high-end jobs faster than ever. What computers, hand-held devices, wireless technology and robots do in aggregate is empower better-educated and higher-skilled workers to be more productive — so they can raise their incomes — while eliminating many lower-skilled service and factory jobs altogether. Now the best-educated workers, capable of doing the critical thinking that machines can’t do, get richer while the least-educated get pink slips. (We used to have a receptionist at our office. She was replaced by a micro-chip. We got voice mail.)

Finally, just when globalization and technology were making the value of higher education greater than ever, and the price for lacking it more punishing than ever, America started slipping behind its peers in high school graduation rates, college graduation and global test scores in math and critical thinking.

As Education Secretary Arne Duncan put it to me in an interview, 50 years ago if you dropped out, you could get a job in the stockyards or steel mill and still “own your own home and support your family.” Today, there are no such good jobs for high school dropouts. “They’re gone,” said Duncan. “That’s what we haven’t adjusted to.” When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.”

There are barely any jobs left for someone with only a high school diploma, and that’s only valuable today if it has truly prepared you to go on to higher education without remediation — the only ticket to a decent job.

Beyond the recession, this triple whammy is one of the main reasons that middle-class wages have been stagnating. To overcome that, we need to enlist both the U.S.G. and the P.T.A. We need teachers and principals who are paid better for better performance, but also valued for their long hours and dedication to students and learning. We need better parents ready to hold their kids to higher standards of academic achievement. We need better students who come to school ready to learn, not to text. And to support all of this, we need an all-society effort — from the White House to the classroom to the living room — to nurture a culture of achievement and excellence.

If you want to know who’s doing the parenting part right, start with immigrants, who know that learning is the way up. Last week, the 32 winners of Rhodes Scholarships for 2011 were announced — America’s top college grads. Here are half the names on that list: Mark Jia, Aakash Shah, Zujaja Tauqeer, Tracy Yang, William Zeng, Daniel Lage, Ye Jin Kang, Baltazar Zavala, Esther Uduehi, Prerna Nadathur, Priya Sury, Anna Alekeyeva, Fatima Sabar, Renugan Raidoo, Jennifer Lai, Varun Sivaram.

Do you see a pattern?

Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik Addressing Sexual Child Molestation in the Orthodox Jewish Community!

Overheard at The Agudah Convention!

The Last Time I Was Here The Portions Were This Big!

Now I Have to Go Home And Tell My Mother I Lost Weight This Weekend!


You Know --- I Used To Be Really Happy Coming Here!

Do I Look Like I'm Scared of Mendel Epstein?


That Fat Slob Is Eyeing My Bagels!


Rabbi Perlow Asked Me To Give Over Divrei Chizuk!