CALL THE POLICE IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY - "Depriving a child of necessary care that either caused serious harm or created a substantial risk of serious harm...."

New Jersey State Vaccine Requirements

Posted Date: February 23, 2018

https://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements/newjersey.aspx

New Jersey Minimum Immunization Requirements for Kindergarten

-Grade 12 Attendance

N.J.A.C. 8:57

-4 Immunization of Pupils in School

http://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/documents/k12-parents.pdf

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New Jersey

Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect

To better understand this issue and to view it across States, download the PDF (849 KB) of this publication.

Individual Responsibility to Report

Citation: Ann. Sat. § 9:6-8.10 Any person who has reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect shall report the same to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency by telephone or otherwise.

Content of Reports

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.10 The report, where possible, shall contain:

• The names and addresses of the child and the child's parent, guardian, or other person having custody
• The child's age, if known
• The nature and possible extent of injuries, including any evidence of prior injury
• Any other information that might be helpful with respect to the child abuse and the identity of the perpetrator

Reporting Suspicious Deaths

Citation: This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Reporting Substance-Exposed Infants

Citation: This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Agency Receiving the Reports

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.12 The division shall maintain, at all times, an emergency telephone service for the receipt of calls involving a report, complaint, or allegation of child abuse or neglect.

Initial Screening Decisions

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.11; Admin. Code Tit. 3A, §§ 10-2.1; 10-2.3 Upon receipt of a report, the division shall immediately take such action as shall be necessary to ensure the safety of the child and to that end may request and shall receive appropriate assistance from local and state law enforcement officials. The division shall initiate an investigation within 24 hours of receipt of the report, unless a delay is authorized based upon the request of a law enforcement official. The division also shall, within 72 hours, forward a report of such matter to the child abuse registry.

In regulation: The central registry shall deem a call to be a report if it contains at least one allegation that, if true, would constitute a child being an abused or neglected child, as defined by law.

Child Protective Services (CPS) shall start the investigation of a report no later than the end of the work day or within 24 hours of the central registry determining the timeframe. Each report that meets one or more of the following criteria shall be investigated no later than the end of the work day of receipt:

• Law enforcement personnel request an immediate response.
• An immediate response will prevent the loss of evidence.
• A child has died due to abuse or neglect and a sibling remains under the care of a parent or guardian.
• A child is born drug-exposed.
• A child under age 6 is alone at the time of the report.
• A child requires medical attention at the time of the report.
• A child is being seriously physically abused at the time of the report.

Agency Conducting the Assessment/Investigation

Citation: Admin. Code Tit. 3A, §§ 10-2.1; 10-5.4; 10-5.5 CPS shall investigate each new report, regardless of whether or not the alleged child victim and his or her family are known to the department. CPS shall investigate each report alleging abuse or neglect on a military installation, to the extent permitted by the base commander.

Each child protective investigator shall request assistance from and make every effort to coordinate investigative activities with local law enforcement when conducting an investigation and whenever:

• The child protective investigator needs personal protection.
• The nature of the report suggests it.
• There is an immediately life-threatening situation.
• Violence is occurring or is immediately threatened.

Each child protective investigator shall, when conducting a child protection investigation of a report in which law enforcement, a regional diagnostic and treatment center, a child advocacy center, medical and psychological personnel, or a multidisciplinary team is involved, participate in the coordination of the following activities:

• Interviewing the alleged child victim and the alleged perpetrator
• Accessing appropriate investigative medical and psychological services
• Making timely and appropriate linkages to treatment

Each child protective investigator shall make information developed during the investigation available on a timely basis to any party identified above and involved in the case, within the limits of the law.

Assessment/Investigation Procedures

Citation: Admin. Code Tit. 3A, § 10-3.1 In conducting an investigation of a report containing any allegation, the child protective investigator shall:

• Complete a safety assessment
• Interview, in person and individually:
  • The caregiver and each adult in the home
  • In cases that had been open within the previous 2 years, the worker who is the most knowledgeable about the family
  • Each other child residing in the home of the alleged child victim
  • The reporter and each other person identified as having knowledge of the incident or as having made an assessment of physical harm
  • The alleged perpetrator
• Read and review each available prior investigation relevant to the report
• Complete a child abuse record check of each household member and each other individual regularly frequenting or living in the alleged child victim's home
• Conduct a criminal history record check to identify a paramour's record of criminal history, when the report involves a paramour
• Complete a risk assessment
• Observe the environment in which the alleged abuse or neglect occurred or that poses a threat to the child
• Obtain a medical assessment of the injury

In completing an investigation, the investigator shall:

• Assess the strengths and needs of the caregiver and the alleged child victim
• Confirm child care arrangements reported by the caregiver, when appropriate
• Interview:
  • At least two collateral contacts, including school personnel, child care providers, witnesses, and community professionals who have first-hand knowledge of the alleged abuse or neglect
  • Each person residing at the address of occurrence and each witness offered by the alleged perpetrator
  • Each investigative law enforcement officer working on the report
  • Each primary response law enforcement personnel called to the scene of the alleged abuse or neglect
  • Each physician and advanced practice nurse directly involved with the treatment of the child

Timeframes for Completing Investigations

Citation: Admin. Code Tit. 3A, § 10-7.3 The child protective investigator shall make the finding for each report within 60 days of the report being received at the central registry, except for good cause approved by the office manager. The officer manager may grant extensions in increments of 30 days if the child protective investigator is continuing efforts to confirm credible information.

Classification of Reports

Citation: Admin. Code Tit. 3A, §§ 10-7.3; 10-7.4 For each allegation of abuse or neglect, the department shall make a finding on whether an allegation is substantiated, established, not established, or unfounded, as follows:

• An allegation shall be 'substantiated' if the preponderance of evidence indicates that a child is abused or neglected and the investigation indicates the existence of any of the circumstances listed below.
• An allegation shall be 'established' if the preponderance of evidence indicates that a child is an abused or neglected child, but the act or acts committed or omitted do not warrant a finding of substantiated as defined above.
• An allegation shall be 'not established' if there is no preponderance of evidence that a child is an abused or neglected child, but evidence indicates that the child was harmed or was placed at risk of harm.
• An allegation shall be 'unfounded' if there is no preponderance of evidence indicating that a child is an abused or neglected child, and the evidence indicates that a child was not harmed or placed at risk of harm.

The existence of any one or more of the following circumstances shall require a finding of substantiated when the investigation indicates:

• The death or near death of a child as a result of abuse or neglect
• Subjection of a child to sexual activity or exposure to inappropriate sexual activity or materials
• The infliction of injury or creation of a condition requiring a child to be hospitalized or to receive significant medical attention
• Repeated instances of physical abuse committed by the perpetrator against any child
• Failure to take reasonable action to protect a child from sexual abuse or repeated instances of physical abuse under circumstances where the parent or guardian knew or should have known that such abuse was occurring
• Depriving a child of necessary care that either caused serious harm or created a substantial risk of serious harm.

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Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

• Children’s Bureau
• Administration for Children and Families
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state/?CWIGFunctionsaction=statestatutes:main.getResults

To Vax Or Not To Vax? There Is No Question!

In May 2016, Grossman flew to South Africa to offer assistance to Rabbi Eliezer Berland, an ostracized leader in the Bratslav Hasidic sect who was later convicted of sexual asault. He Has a Long History of Very Questionable & Troubling Behavior When It Comes To Sexual Predators...

Malka Leifer - Adorned With Non-Tiffany Bracelets

Leifer Demeaned By Wearing Not Your Typical Bracelets For Jewish Women - Grossman Said Initially That Was Punishment Enough!

 BRACELETS FOR JEWS

Prominent rabbi withdraws support for alleged Australian child molester

 

Yitzchak Dovid Grossman expresses regret that his offer of a home to a suspect awaiting extradition called into question his mission to help at-risk youth

Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman 

A prominent Israeli rabbi on Monday withdrew his support for an ultra-Orthodox woman accused of 74 charges of sex abuse, including rape, while she taught at a Jewish school in Australia, just a week after he had recommended to the court that she be place under house arrest under his supervision.

“I am very sensitive to the pain and plight of children and adults who are abused,” said Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman in a statement explaining his decision to “completely withdraw” his involvement in the case.

“It is regretful that the current turmoil has in any way called into question that mission and dedication,” he wrote.

Last month, the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s court ruled that it would delay consideration of whether to extradite the suspect to Australia until a psychiatrist could review her case. Her name is gagged in Israel by court order because she has not been accused of committing a crime in the country.

An Australian woman wanted in her home country for child sex abuse crimes is seen at the Jerusalem District Court on February 14, 2018

During a hearing last week, Grossman served as a character witness for the defendant in the Jerusalem District Court, saying that “for her to be in custody is a humiliation.”

He offered to host her under house arrest at his home, adding that if she left the house “for even a second, we will take her straight to the police immediately,” according to the Brisbane Times.

The judge agreed to release her to Grossman’s custody in the town of Migdal Ha’emek, prompting harsh criticism from an activist who wants to see her extradited to Australia and held to account.

The decision was overturned days later by the Supreme Court, which ordered her kept in police custody.

Grossman was criticized for attempting to shield the suspect. On Monday, critics commended his decision to withdraw his offer, but slammed him for failing to offer an apology as well.

“Once he takes full and unequivocal responsibility for what he has done, we expect him to undergo an education process regarding the issue of child sexual abuse, so that he will be better placed to address such cases in the future,” victims rights advocate Manny Waks said in a statement.

Dassi Erlich, who has accused the woman of abusing her when she was a pupil, issued an angry statement after last week’s court decision was announced.

The woman “has been released on bail based on some random rabbi’s testimony that he will supervise her,” Erlich charged on Facebook. “If Rabbi Grossman can have a voice, someone who is not a part of this case at all, where is our voice?!”

Grossman received the Israel Prize in 2004 and the Presidential Medal of Distinction in 2013 for having rehabilitated tens of thousands of disadvantaged children through his educational work, which began in 1972. He was twice offered the position of chief rabbi of Israel, but declined in order to focus on his position as head of a yeshiva in Migdal Haemek.

“In these difficult and highly charged situations, I have had to find a balance between my life’s goals for Migdal Ohr and the needs of Israeli society,” he wrote in his Monday statement, referencing the organization he runs for at-risk youth.

Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman seen during a mass prayer at the Western Wall

While often lauded for his philanthropic work, this was not the first time Grossman sought to assist an accused sex offender.

In May 2016, he flew to South Africa to offer assistance to Rabbi Eliezer Berland, an ostracized leader in the Bratslav Hasidic sect who was later convicted of sexual assault.

The suspect in the current case is accused of sexually abusing children while she was a teacher and principal at a Melbourne school, Adass Israel.

She fled to Israel in 2008, days before allegations of sexual abuse against her surfaced.

She was arrested last month on suspicion of obstructing court proceedings and attempting to hide evidence of a case, according to a joint Justice Ministry and police statement. She had been living in the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel.

Israeli police have said she is feigning mental illness to avoid extradition to Australia.

Her lawyer, Yehuda Fried, said last week that the court ruled she should be dealt with “in the realm of mental illness.” Fried said that likely meant a years-long process before her extradition can be reconsidered.

But Israel’s Court Administration later said that the court will convene again on March 28 after a psychiatric evaluation has been carried out, indicating an extradition decision could be made sooner.
She was arrested following an undercover investigation at Interpol’s request and is suspected of obstructing Israeli court proceedings by attempting to hide evidence.

A court previously stopped extradition proceedings after determining she was not fit to stand trial.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=21519732#editor/target=post;postID=7233734840729075250

Victims are silenced; sexual predators are protected; and high-ranking members of the community do everything they can to prevent news of the incident from getting out for fear it will reflect badly on the entire community....

Extradite Leifer 

 

After years of foot dragging, it has become clear that the Israeli legal system is unable to process Leifer’s case fairly.

By JPost Editorial

Malka Leifer, a former Australian school principal who is wanted in Australia on suspicion of sexually abusing students, walks in the corridor of the Jerusalem District Court accompanied by Israeli Prison Service guards, in Jerusalem February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun. (photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun) 

The details of the Malka Leifer sexual abuse case are frighteningly familiar. They follow a pattern common to sexual abuse cases in faith communities, whether Jewish or not.

Victims are silenced; sexual predators are protected; and high-ranking members of the community do everything they can to prevent news of the incident from getting out for fear it will reflect badly on the entire community.

Defending the good name of the community justifies covering up the child abuse of rabbis, priests or mullahs.

Allowing crimes to go unpunished and ignoring the suffering of victims – often helpless children – is, in the eyes of the faithful, a small price to pay to prevent the entire community from being disgraced.

Leifer, former principal of the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel School in Melbourne, is wanted in Australia on 74 counts of sexual assault against Jewish girls aged 14 to 15.

Until 2008 when Australian law enforcers sought to arrest her, Leifer was shielded by the haredi community in Melbourne from allegations that emerged of her destructive behavior. Victims and their families were intimidated to remain silent or face ostracism by the community.

These families, which have internalized the norms of the ultra-Orthodox community, were wary of being labeled a moser, a derogatory term for a Jew who turns to the gentile law enforcement authorities for help against a fellow Jew. Further weakening the position of the families was the knowledge that a young woman who exposes herself as a victim of sexual abuse would have a difficult time finding a husband within the insular ultra-Orthodox community.

Meanwhile, Leifer was allowed to continue to cause pain and trauma to girls.

When the community could protect Leifer no longer and law enforcement authorities were on the verge of arresting her, Leifer and her family were smuggled out of Australia to Israel by staff members at Adass Israel. She found refuge in the haredi community of Immanuel in Samaria, just north of Ariel.

In 2015, the Melbourne Supreme Court awarded $1 million in damages to a former student of Leifer. Justice Jack Rush said the actions taken by staff at the Adass Israel School to protect Leifer and help her flee Australia were “deplorable and disgraceful.”

Hadassah Ehrlich, one of three sisters sexually abused by Leifer, told the court that at the time of the abuse, which started in 2002, she was too fearful to complain because of the power Leifer wielded in the ultra-Orthodox community. “She was seen as the head of the school and the whole community looked up to her and basically idolized her,” Ehrlich said. “She was seen as someone who was holier than holy.”

Compounding the atrocity is that the State of Israel is also complicit in obstructing justice. Leifer continues to be sheltered in Israel, not just by the ultra-Orthodox community but by the State of Israel, which has refrained thus far from extraditing her to Australia.

In June 2016 – eight years after first arriving in Israel – an Israeli court stopped the extradition process after a psychiatric assessment found she was not fit to stand trial.

But a police undercover investigation concluded last month revealed signs she was feigning mental illness to avoid extradition. Leifer was jailed. The court has asked for a new psychiatric evaluation but, inexplicably, has yet to receive one.

In another outrageous twist to the story, however, Leifer was released to house arrest after the intervention of Migdal Ha’emek Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Dovid Grossman, who testified on her behalf and claimed that Leifer was unfit to remain in custody. The Jerusalem District Court agreed to release Leifer to house arrest provided Grossman vouch for her adherence to court orders.

After years of foot dragging, it has become clear that the Israeli legal system is unable to process Leifer’s case fairly.

She must be extradited to Australia where her psychiatric status can be objectively assessed. 

 

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Extradite-Leifer-544617

 

Trust any of these imbeciles at your own peril...and that of your community!

The Vaccine Choice Coalition

Thank you for joining The Vaccine Choice Coalition, a coalition of parents who believe that vaccines should be a choice in frum Jewish communities. Your participation enables us to join together and b'ezras Hashem help the many pro vaccine-choice families amongst us. By joining the coalition you agree to have your name and personal information added to our private database. Your information will never be released or revealed to a third party without your permission. If the coalition should find it necessary to release your name in the course of assisting its members you may receive an email requesting your permission.

 

The Vaccine Choice Coalition is endorsed and backed by HaRav Malkiel Kotler shlit"a, HaRav Elya Ber Wachtfogel shlit"a and HaRav Shmuel Meir Katz shlit"a. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact us at 732-806-7739


http://www.vaccinecoalition.org/

FOR SHAME DOVID GROSSMAN! - Rabbi Grossman, who has never previously been associated with the case, argued to the Judge Ram Winograd that it was a "humiliation" for Ms Leifer to remain in custody and it would be bad for her mental health....

Malka Leifer: Judge says former Melbourne principal accused of child abuse can be freed from detention in Israel

By Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill

Updated about 5 hours ago

 

 

Photo: Malka Leifer is wanted in Australia on 74 charges of child sex abuse. (ABC News: Sophie McNeill)

 

Related Story: Israeli court told alleged sex offender is fit to stand trial in Australia

Related Story: Alleged Melbourne sex offender 'who faked mental illness' re-arrested in Israel

There were angry scenes outside a Jeru Sign in salem court after an Israeli judge ruled former Melbourne principal Malka Leifer could be freed from police custody to home detention.

Ms Leifer is wanted by Victorian police on 74 charges of child sexual abuse, including rape.

The former principal of the Addas ultra orthodox girls school in Melbourne has been in custody since February 12 after Israeli police rearrested the 54-year-old, accusing her of faking mental illness for the past three years in order to avoid extradition to Australia.

The court was delayed by nearly an hour to wait for the arrival of senior Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman.

 

Photo: Senior Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman says he will monitor the former principal in case she leaves house arrest. (ABC News: Sophie McNeill)

 

Rabbi Grossman, who has never previously been associated with the case, argued to the Judge Ram Winograd that it was a "humiliation" for Ms Leifer to remain in custody and it would be bad for her mental health. 

He told the court his two assistants would monitor the former principal and that they would "call police immediately" if she left the address of the house arrest.

Rabbi Grossman told the Judge he "knows what jails are like" and he wants to supervise Ms Leifer to "save her life".

The Rabbi is well known for his charity work in Israel and is a recipient of the 2004 Israel Prize, generally regarded as the state's highest cultural honour.

Judge Winograd set bail for Ms Leifer at $37,000 and ordered that she will be released on March 9 at 10:00am.

Victims not happy with release

 

Outside the court, supporters of Ms Leifer's alleged victims yelled questions at Rabbi Grossman, demanding to know why he had chosen to support her case.

 

Photo: Former Melbourne resident Adam Segal confronted Rabbi Grossman in the hallway. (ABC News: Sophie McNeill)

 

"What about her alleged victims?" former Melbourne resident Adam Segal yelled in the hallway at the Rabbi.

"If you want to help, put her on a plane."

Ms Leifer's alleged victims say they are outraged at the court's decisions.

"How dare a rabbi come in and support her and talk about her humiliation? And her mental state?
What about us?" former Addas student Dassi Erlich said.

"Today's ruling is an outrageous travesty of justice. We are utterly appalled.

"An official sign-off on the psychiatrists report was requested three times by the court. The report remains unsigned. What is the reason for this absolute failure of procedure?"

 

  Photo: Dassi Erlich, who says she was abused by Ms Leifer, was outraged by the court's decision. (Facebook: Dassi Erlich)

 

Ms Erlich said she and her sister have "tried not to be angry with Israel" but they are outraged by how the court allowed the Rabbi to present his opinion.

"This sounded like a third-world courtroom," she told the ABC.

"Why is his voice given precedence over all these other voices?

"Why has this random rabbi has does nothing to do with this case been listened to?

"What parallel dimension are we working on here? A judicial system that shows more concern for the humiliation of the defendant over the humiliation of its victims?"

Israeli state attorney Matan Atikva told the ABC he would appeal the ruling to the Israeli Supreme Court.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/malka-leifer-freed-from-detention-under-house-arrest/9525310

3 Jews 10 Opinions!

Mandelblit Endorses Reform Right to Separate Administrator at Kosel

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

 Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit issued a legal opinion on Monday that could reignite controversy over the claims of the Reform and Conservative movements to the Kosel.

In a submission to the High Court, Mandelblit said that the heterodox groups not only have a right to the prayer area designated for them at the southern end of the Kosel, but are also entitled to an administrator for it who is not subordinate to the chief rabbinate, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Torah community has fought tenaciously against any official recognition of the non-Orthodox groups, and are expected to oppose the attorney general’s recommendation as well.

Rabbi Pesach Lerner, chairman of the Coalition of Jewish Values, told Hamodia on Monday night that he was opposed to the opinion for two reasons:

“I find at least two serious irregularities in this decision. First, it was Avichai Mandelblit, who as Cabinet Secretary instituted the plan to have this pluralistic section at the Western Wall. For him to now decide on its fate, as Israel Attorney General, is a serious conflict of interest.

“Second, the tradition and custom of the entire Western Wall is Orthodox and under the auspices of the Chief Rabbis. For him to create new traditions at the site is not the authority of the government.
“I pray that this decision will be challenged by all that hold Jewish tradition important,” Rabbi Lerner concluded.

Spokeswoman for the Orthodox group Women for the Wall, Leah Aharoni, told Hamodia on Monday night that “Appointing a government official in charge of protecting non-halachic prayer rights at the Kotel gives the heterodox movements just the kind of recognition they are trying to establish for themselves in Israel. It would set precedent for establishing the Reform as a ‘parallel track’ to traditional Judaism, a travesty we must prevent at all cost.”

As for the part of Mandelblit’s statement which referred to the status of the southern part of the Kosel in question, she said:

“Ever since 1967 rabbinic consensus has been that Robinson’s Arch is an integral part of the Kotel and that the kedusha of the Kotel extends to this part of the wall as well.”

Regarding administration of the non-Orthodox site, Mandelblit said that the regulations of the Law for Protecting the Holy Sites could not be implemented at Robinson’s Arch by someone opposed to non-Orthodox prayer since the “customs of the site” are for egalitarian prayer and prayer services of Women of the Wall.

“Therefore… a government agent who does not represent the chief rabbinate should be appointed as an ‘administrator’ of the southern prayer plaza,” he wrote, adding that it should be an “appropriate” government official.

Leaders of the Reform and Conservative groups in Israel welcomed the attorney general’s opinion.

http://hamodia.com/2018/03/05/mandelblit-endorses-reform-right-separate-administrator-kosel/

My Cousin Michael...(His Mom, Aunt Freida, was Reb Shraga Feivel's Sister)

https://www.amazon.com/Am-My-Bodys-Keeper-Science/dp/9655242668

 In this day and age it is nearly impossible to stay 100% healthy and fit. Between long hours sitting in an office chair, balancing a family, and accomplishing everything else on your to-do list, it's no wonder that health has become a relative term. To combat this, Michael Kaufman shows you how to extend your life by living healthy and fit. Am I My Body's Keeper contains no magic life-extending elixir, nor a secret map to help you discover the fountain of youth. Am I My Body's Keeper provides a simple guide to changing your lifestyle, from the sedentary one characterizing most of society to an active one emphasizing physical activity and healthy eating. The simple lifestyle changes advocated by this book will give you vim and vigor, health and fitness during those additional years of life you will be gaining. Based upon the timeless teachings of the Jewish sages as well as scientific research, Am I My Body's Keeper is a guide for good, healthy living. It is for young and old, men and women—for everyone who wishes to be healthy and fit and to live a long life.

 

Healthy in Body and Spirit

Michael Kaufman's potentially lifesaving new work


In the gym that I frequent too infrequently, there hangs a New Yorker–style cartoon depicting a doctor speaking to an overweight, middle-aged man sitting on the examination table. The caption reads: "What fits your busy schedule better — exercising one hour a day, or being dead 24 hours a day?"

Michael Kaufman makes a similar point at the outset of his potentially lifesaving new work, Am I My Body's Keeper? Torah, Science, Diet and Fitness — for Life. "Since a prerequisite for living a Torah life is obviously 'living,' the Jew must be keenly aware of the very first duty to be healthy, for otherwise no mitzvos can be observed and no Torah learned."

In his haskamah to Kaufman's work, Rabbi Yosef Fleischman, rosh kollel of one of the largest Choshen Mishpat kollels in the world, notes a striking paradox. No religion puts such an emphasis on the sanctity of life and the preciousness of every moment as Judaism. "One would think therefore that religious Jews would live a life-promoting lifestyle. However, many religious Jews engage in practices that are harmful to their health. It would seem that... many are sadly unaware of the facts, and they are paying for their ignorance."

Anyone who has ever stood in the checkout line on an Erev Shabbos in a religious neighborhood can readily confirm Rabbi Fleischman's observation. Entire shopping carts are filled with the most caloric, least nutritious nosh and sugary soft drinks. And we will not even discuss the preservative-laden cold cuts that are staples at so many Shabbos tables and kiddushim.

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, the Jerusalem Post's excellent health columnist, writes in a review of Am I My Body's Keeper that "chareidi Jews and to a lesser extent modern Orthodox are at higher risk of heart attacks, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic maladies than the secular population." (Happily, that does not mean we live less long. Chareidim in Israel live, on average, three years longer. Other factors such as social networks, a sense of meaning in our lives, and a large familial support system compensate for the dietary deficits.)

Kaufman is hardly the first Jew to advocate strongly for a healthy lifestyle. The Rambam was the great champion of preventive medicine. "A physician's ability to prevent illness is greater proof of his skill than his ability to cure a sick person," he writes. The Rambam had few of the modern physician's diagnostic or curative tools at his disposal. But the basics of preventive medicine have remained largely unchanged: a healthy diet and regular vigorous exercise remain the keys.

If one follows his rules of diet, exercise and sufficient sleep, the Rambam assures us, we will enjoy good health and freedom from disease until we become old and die. And he warns those who learn diligently the entire day that they too must not neglect the necessity of physical exercise involving the entire body and all the limbs.

In our times, the Chofetz Chaim was careful to prevent bochurim in Radin from overexertion in learning. "The entire Torah," he writes, "is dependent upon the mitzvah of taking care of your body."

HISTORICALLY, Jewish and Christian attitudes to the necessity of preserving the health of the body differed radically, as Kaufman details in one of the book's most fascinating chapters. Torah places a high value on personal hygiene, as well as on the cleanliness of the surrounding environment. Bathhouses were central public facilities in every Jewish community. The stench of garbage or human refuse constituted halachic bars to davening.

Paul, the organizational founder of the Church, ridiculed Jews for their punctilious concern with personal cleanliness. "The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly... and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions [of cleanliness] that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches."

Meanwhile medieval European cities were running cesspools of garbage and refuse, human and animal, everywhere. Moreover, a disdain for the body was taken as a sign of saintliness. Kaufman writes of many Christian "saints" whose saintliness consisted primarily in never bathing and giving off a stench so vile that no one could approach them. During the Spanish Inquisition one of the signs used to ferret out insincere converts to Christianity was their continued affinity for personal hygiene.
Jews remained far less susceptible to the recurrent plagues that affected the medieval Christian world because of their efforts to keep their surroundings clean and the frequent washing of their hands. That Jewish communities were relatively less hard-hit by the bubonic plague was one of the key pieces of evidence cited by Christians that Jews were poisoning the wells.

BESIDES THE FASCINATING halachic and historical material he brings, Kaufman does a superb job of summarizing the current state of scientific evidence concerning diet and exercise in a concise and compelling fashion. (He avoids taking sides where the evidence is conflicting, such as the ongoing debate over the pros and cons of coffee.)

Some of his information will be familiar to those who attempt to keep abreast of the relevant literature, such as his list of the ten healthiest foods: apples, almonds, broccoli, blueberries, oily fish (salmon, sardines), leafy green vegetables, sweet potatoes, wheat germ, avocadoes and oatmeal. Even that list, however, may be news to many readers.

But Am I My Body's Keeper is laced with many genuine surprises. An entire chapter is devoted to the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. As the current saying goes, "Sitting is the new smoking." And most of us spend many hours of our day sitting, whether it is learning in kollel or in front of a computer screen.

Some of the first hints of the dangers of lack of regular movement came from NASA studies of the first astronauts. NASA scientists found that just three orbits around the earth at zero gravity left John Glenn considerably aged. Even regular exercise is not sufficient to overcome the effects of too much sitting, as proved by the study of astronauts, who were in superb physical condition.

Let me just give some hint as to how compelling the chapter on sedentary lifestyles is. When I first read the chapter in the manuscript over two years ago, I immediately undertook to follow Kaufman's example of standing for all of davening, except where there is a strong halachic preference for sitting. And when I reread the published book, I did so standing up the entire time. Now, all I have left to do is create the same shtender/work desk, at which Kaufman stands and does all his learning and writing.

(Incidentally, Am I My Body's Keeper is Kaufman's ninth book, including a seminal work on Feminism and Judaism, and his memoir In One Era and Out the Other which discusses the American Jewish community and the yeshivah world in the immediate postwar period.)

Ultimately, Am I My Body's Keeper is an extremely optimistic book. True, none of us gets to pick our genes. But twin studies show that lifestyle choices can be far more powerful than genetics in determining both the length and the quality of our lives. There is now evidence, for instance, that not only can exercise delay various aging processes, but that it can even reverse them. In 2007, a team at Columbia University observed something long thought impossible: The creation of new brain cells in an already mature brain among those who exercised regularly. And this process was taking place in the prefrontal cortex and temporal cortex, parts of the brain connected to thinking and memory, and which are particularly vulnerable to aging. And we are not talking about Olympic athletes.

Researchers found that healthy but sedentary adults in their sixties who started walking 40 minutes three times a week experienced a two percent annual growth in the hippocampus, which controls memory.

There is nothing, according to Kaufman's studies, that is not improved by exercise and a proper diet — health, mobility, cognition, and mood. With respect to the latter, exercise has been shown to be as effective as the leading medications for conditions related to depression.

But in addition to all the good things mentioned above, it must be noted that discipline is required to follow Kaufman's dietary and exercise prescriptions. And that discipline, in turn, has implications in all aspects of our lives, including our avodas Hashem.

Those working with struggling teenagers have long known that the gym is one of the best places to start. There teens learn discipline and gain self-esteem. Every time one lifts a weight one more time, despite the yetzer's call to stop, or surpasses a previous personal milestone, one experiences the feeling of having overcome oneself, which is at the root of self-esteem.

When Jordan Peterson, who went on to become a Harvard professor and today one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, speaks about turning his life around at 25, he always refers to steps right out of Am I My Body's Keeper: He stopped smoking two packs a day, gave up his heavy drinking, and started lifting weights, more than doubling the amount that he could bench press in a short period of time.

Certainly, Kaufman is his own best advertisement for his advice. Now in his 86th year, though he has finally given up running, he still stands ramrod straight. He rises at 5 a.m. each morning for the haneitz minyan at the nearby Ger beis medrash. A vigorous cardio workout on the elliptical machine is followed by learning an amud yomi, and then on to the gym to workout with weights. A brisk walk comes next, and three times a week swimming laps. Only then is he ready for breakfast, and the ten-hour workday at his shtenders/desk. On Shabbos he walks from the end of Geula to the haneitz minyan at the Kosel.

For having taken it upon himself to show us all the way to a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life, I wish Kaufman, "l'chayim."

http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/1931/healthy-in-body-and-spirit
 
 More on Dr. Michael Kaufman:

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/author/dr-michael-kaufman/

 

UOJ BLOG CELEBRATING BAR-MITZVAH YEAR --- 13 YEARS LATER & GOING STRONG...ARE YOUR CHILDREN SAFER TODAY THAN THEY WERE ON MARCH 06, 2005?

13 Years, 3 Hacked Web Addresses, hundreds of death threats...Millions of Dollars in Settlements for Abused Children.... Hundreds upon Hundreds of Very Bad Guys Exposed... 3000 Plus reports collected of  sexually abused Jewish children over a 45 year span, 100 Million Plus Page Views.......and I'm Just Getting Warmed Up.....!

Sunday, March 06, 2005

UN-ORTHODOX JEW

NEW ADDRESS - UNORTHODOXJEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM ADD"S" TO JEW

About Me

Name: Paul Mendlowitz

View my complete profile

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Orthodoxy.....ad nauseum

We have lost our minds....from our leaders (whatever that means) to the regular jew in the street.

Everything has got a label, from where we do not know.

Everything has big money involved, from kashrus to Daf Yomi gatherings.

Public lectures are given by people who are ignorant on the topics they are supposed to be experts on. (of course there is an entrance fee)

Offspring of yesterday's rabbi's are cashing on on their family name.

Ignoramuses are publishing books.

Most American yeshivas are run by below average wannabee rabbis,and in the most cases are family businesses.

Lay leaders are the guys with the biggest mouths and too much free time on their hands.

Give me one truly religious and honorable Jew, and I will give you one hundred thousand who do not have a clue.

More to come.......

http://unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2005/03/

Shoin! Agudath Israel of America Has The Next Master of Ceremonies For The Siyum HaShas!

...רק חזירים עם כסף

Robert Kraft’s much younger girlfriend secretly had a baby

Robert Kraft and Ricki Lander 

There was speculation about Patriots owner Bob Kraft after his much younger girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander secretly had a baby — but he’s confirmed that the child is not his.

Billionaire Kraft, who has four adult sons, and Lander, 38, have been dating for about five years. There were rumors they had broken up, but we’re told dancer, model and actress Lander was in fact pregnant and wanted to stay out of the public eye. She gave birth to the child last year, multiple sources exclusively confirmed to Page Six.

Kraft, via a spokesman, told us, “Last fall, Ricki Noel Lander became the proud mother of a beautiful, healthy baby. While Robert Kraft is not the biological father, he is thrilled with Ricki’s blessing of having a healthy child. With respect to her family’s privacy, we will not be commenting any further.”

Kraft and statuesque blonde Lander went public again as a couple following the birth. They were photographed together at the 2018 Super Bowl, as well as on the red carpet at the Grammys and the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. They are expected to step out at the Oscars on Sunday.

Sources say that Kraft is “taking full care of Ricki and the baby,” and he has bought her a Los Angeles mansion and made some sizable financial investments on her behalf. Lander has been very open about her desire for a child, the sources added.

One of the sources said, “Bob is fully supporting the child. There is a lot of tiptoeing around the subject at the Patriots offices. Everyone is afraid to openly talk about it.” The source added that Kraft’s four sons are anticipating that the Kraft family trust could be changed to provide for the child. In 2013, the sons asked to modify the three-decades-old family trust to give them more control over assets. The Massachusetts Supreme Court approved the move. Kraft’s spokesman also declined to comment on the trust.

Lander is nearly 40 years Kraft’s junior and 16 years younger than his oldest son. But friends say she brought the NFL owner companionship and happiness after the death of his wife, Myra, in 2011, which he said had left him so lonely, he wasn’t sleeping or looking after himself.

https://pagesix.com/2018/02/28/robert-krafts-much-younger-girlfriend-secretly-had-a-baby/?utm_source=maropost&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pagesixdaily&utm_content=20180301&mpweb=755-6111359-719082780

Agudath Israel Leaders Historic Meeting On Child Rape In Their Community - "Transcript" Rabbi Perlow Chairman...

JP - Perlow - CDZ - Zweibel - AS - Aron Schechter - SK - Shmuel Kaminetzky - AF - Aron Feldman - MK - Malkiel Kotler - ASS - Avi Shafran


JP - Good Shabbos!
CDZ - Hmmm Rebbe, it's Sunday...
JP - I meant Shabbos for the Goyim.
AS- How come there's no strawberry cheesecake on the table here before Shavuos?
Gertzulin - Couldn't squeeze DeBlasio for the funds. We got gun licenses though...
SK- Where's Belsky?
CDZ - He's dead, why?
SK - I think there are bugs in the sponge cake.
CDZ - Belsky did bugs in water.
ASS - What should I write about this meeting?
CDZ - That it was a big success, and bloggers are not real Jews.
AS - They need a good beating at Jamaica - Tranquility Bay!
SK - Takeh, I agree with you Schechter on this one.
Yossi Frankel - The grapes are terrible. Tastes like the diluted drugs from my brother in law, Yankel Rabinowitz, the Dinover.
MK - We have better cantaloupe in Lakewood.
AF - Moshe Eisemann is not doing well, he has arthritis in his hands.
Dovid Feinstein - My brother Reuvein wants me to bring him any leftover honey cake.
JP - It's hard for me to sit, look at me, the Preparation H is not working well today.
CDZ - What's our official position on Trump, should we ask his daughter to give a Perek shiur at Camp Agudah this summer for the counselors?
JP - Call Hershel Schechter from a throw away cell phone, ask him if Ivanka is familiar with (his) Perek.
WERDIGER  - I asked my cousin Mordecha to be mechadesh a political pareve nigun so we can play both sides in the election - whoever wins, we can claim it was because of us.
Bim bom bim bom -- Orange sheitlach is a gute zach, blondeh kurvas iz a besser zach, varft avek yeden yar, kishen tuches nuch un nuch, orange sheitlach iz a gute zach.
ASS - Anyone here capable of staying awake on Shavuos night? What are they serving in your shuls? Why are all of you all falling asleep now, wait until Shavuos night?

JP - Avi Shafran, prune juice in my shul.
MK - The Real Estate Market in Lakewood is booming. We now own millions of dollars in property free and clear, thanks to Elly Kleinman and his new shiksa from Mexico. In exchange, no wall around  Lakewood, New Jersey will be built, we shmeared Greenblatt over at Trump's office. Part of this "beautiful" agreement is that Kleinman's new child and shiksa will not be deported. Daas Toirah and yashrus dictates that we change the name on the "Kleinman Building" to "The Kleinman/Gonzales Building", no?
JP - I say yes, ASS/Shafran, you need to come up with a piece for the Forward why this is solely to improve race relations in America. It would be good if he also had a shvartze kid...The Forward would love it. "The Kleinman/Gonzales/Obama" division of the Agudath Israel of America would be right here at 42 Broadway.
SK - This is something that Moshe Sherer would have milked the government for for many million$.
CDZ - What's that smell in here? Aron Schechter - are you full of it? Again?
JP -  Anyone here have pictures of their aineklach? . We want to talk about the children, right?
ASS - Give a look, they look like me.
SK - Baruch mishane habriyos.

MINCHA

Every Yeshiva - Boys & Girls - MUST HAVE VIDEO CAMERAS IN EVERY CLASSROOM - IN EVERY PUBLIC AREA - FOR SO MANY REASONS! Find Out If You Qualify For NY Safe Act Funding

• Prevent Vandalism: ...
• Protect Vehicles: ...
• Eliminate Unauthorized Intruders: ...
• Keep an Eye on Remote Entrances/Exits & Off Limit Areas: ...
• Watch Busy Corridors: ...
• Monitor Bathroom Entrance: ...
• Deter Sex Offenders. ...
• Prevent Bullying.

Running a school is a huge responsibility.

The larger the school, the more there is that can go wrong. Fortunately, surveillance technology can make your job a lot easier and your school a lot safer. Many schools have invested in surveillance technology and have reaped the benefits of having a more secured school.

So, what benefits can a surveillance system bring to schools?

School Security

Deter Crime & Reduce Break-ins: 

When security cameras a placed in plain sight they have been shown to reduce criminal activity in that area. No one wants to be recorded on camera committing a crime. In fact students will point out the cameras to other students which will make everyone aware that their activities are being recorded.  When students know they are being watched, they are usually on their best behavior.

Prevent Vandalism: 

Placing cameras on the interior and exterior of you school will help to prevent vandalism. In the event that an incident does occur, you will have recorded evidence so you can take the proper course of action.

Protect Vehicles: 

Keeping an eye on your schools’ parking lot will help to protect your staff’s vehicles.  There are times when an incident occurs and it is hard to tell who is at fault.  With the proper surveillance, you will know exactly what happened and who is at fault.

Eliminate Unauthorized Intruders:

Unfortunately, schools are targets for unscrupulous people. They tend to prey on students because they see them as easy targets.  The last thing you need is for one of these people to get into your school undetected.  With the proper security equipment, you can prevent unauthorized intruders.

Keep an Eye on Remote Entrances/Exits & Off Limit Areas:

Watching your entry and exit points are crucial for the proper security of your school. By having security cameras (with motion detection technology) in pre-selected areas, you will be instantly notified when movement is detected.  You will be able to instantly see through the camera that detected the motion to see what is going on. With our technology you can have access to your security system through your PC, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or any other internet connected device.  Best of all, every teacher, security guard, and any other authorized staff can have access as well.  In case of an emergency, everyone will know exactly what is going on.

Watch Busy Corridors: 

In crowded areas, things tend to happen simply because there more people.  Most of the times these incidents are minor and can be ignored. When a major incident happens,  you will have the information you need.

Monitor Bathroom Entrance:  

Many incidents take place in the bathrooms in schools that you may not become aware of until after the fact.  It is illegal to have any type of surveillance recording system in the bathrooms, but you can keep an eye on students as they enter and leave the rest rooms.  This will help you, if an incident occurs, to determine exactly who was there.  Also, our systems are capable of unlimited video data storage. This feature is invaluable when it comes to determining who was present for an incident that happened many months or even years ago.

School Safety

Deter Sex Offenders

By law in NY State, a sex offender cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school. By having highly visible surveillance cameras around your school, you greatly deter the presence of these criminals.

Prevent Bullying

Unfortunately, bullying is a part of life at all schools in one form or another.  When you have security cameras in plain sight, you greatly decrease the chances bullying on school grounds.  This helps to provide a safe environment for students to learn in.

Aide in Emergency Evacuation

In case of an emergency, surveillance cameras can show you where the trouble spots are so you can direct everyone in safe direction. By making sure all staff members have access to the security system’s alert feature, they will be notified when something goes wrong.

 Find Out If You Qualify For NY Safe Act Funding

There is grant money available for nonpublic schools through the NY Safe Act, if you are eligible. 

Just How Crazy Does It Get?

A Shabbos In The Life of Hershel Schachter's Convert...

WATCH VIDEO: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5429251/Ivanka-flashes-heart-Team-USA.html#v-4785651019990939479

 Updated: 08:05 EST, 24 February 2018 - Saturday

Today, the First Daughter was pictured, in a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, cheering and smiling as she watched snowboarders vying for medals at the men's Big Air competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

She was joined in the stands by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jung-sook, International Olympic Committee member and 1998 ice hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, as well as a rather gloomy looking White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The trio watched as Team USA's Kyle Mack landed himself an Olympic silver medal in the men's snowboard big air, with some impressive stunts and twisting leap called the ‘Bloody Dracula’. Gold went to Canada’s Sebastien Toutant and bronze to Britain’s Billy Morgan.

Ivanka, who will lead the U.S. delegation at the closing ceremony Sunday, was later seen posing for selfies and chatting with Kim Jung-suk.

Ivanka Trump flashes a heart for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, on 24 February

MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5429251/Ivanka-flashes-heart-Team-USA.html

Schachter Actively Participated and Signed Off On The Conversion of Trump - Trust Him With Nothing!

Hershel Schachter (born July 28, 1941) is a rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), Yeshiva University, in New York City,^[1] and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.^[2] A Talmudic scholar and a posek, he is also a halakhic advisor for the kashrut division of the Orthodox Union.^[3]

Schachter knew the psak from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein to be the prevailing law on Orthodox conversions --- He was bought and paid for by Charlie Kushner: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein states the very marriage of a gentile woman to a non observant Jew, is equivalent to an open declaration that she will not observe the precepts. This is so, because it is highly unlikely that the gentile member of such a union, will be more committed to Judaism than her remiss Jewish husband (certainly when they are living together prior to their marriage). Unlike mental or tacit negations, explains Rav Feinstein, open declarations do invalidate conversions. When such cases appear before a rabbinical court, its members actually become witnesses to an acceptance declaration that is not sincere. Therefore, it is no longer a tacit insincerity, but rather an obvious one. As such, they are forbidden to sanction the conversion. Regardless of what this Jewish court may declare, the conversion is invalid and the person is not deemed a member of the Jewish nation. In Iggros Moshe, Letters of Moshe (Yoreh De’ah, no. 157), he writes that “According to the Law, it is certain that one who converts for the sake of marriage, does not intend to keep the commandments, and is not a proselyte at all.”

Rabbi David Bleich on the Conversion Crisis - Considered by Most Jewish Scholars as a Posek of the Greatest Stature

The questions posed with regard to problematic contemporary conversions are threefold in nature:

Rabbi Bleich

  (1) Is it permissible for rabbinical courts to accept prospective candidates for conversion when it appears that application is made, not out of religious conviction, but as a matter of convenience, e.g., to facilitate marriage with a Jewish partner?

 (2) Is a conversion of convenience, i.e., one undertaken for marriage or other ulterior motive in which the petitioner obviously has no intention of abiding by the precepts of Judaism, a valid one?

 (3) Granting the validity and propriety of the conversion itself, is it permissible for the convert to enter into marriage with a Jewish spouse with whom the convert has consorted prior to conversion?

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ESSAY:
 
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2017/03/rabbi-david-bleich-on-conversion-crisis.html