STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH THIS CLIP!
Dear Fellow Advocates,
I wish to publicly apologize for a wrong I did to Sheldon Silver last week by saying he aligned himself with Satmar in trying to kill the Markey bill. My information was unfortunately incorrect! And I say to Sheldon Silver “I am so very sorry and I humbly apologize for the wrong accusation”.
It turns out that Sheldon Silver is actually championing our cause, and he deserves our fullest support.
Please, fellow advocates, it is of utmost importance at this critical point in the battle for passage of the Markey bill to let Sheldon Silver and Marge Markey know of our support and I am personally begging you all to call : (emails are not effective; but calls get logged)
Sheldon Silver’s office: 212-312-1420 or 518-455-3791
Marge Markey’s office: 718-651-3185 or 518-455-4755
to let their staff know that each and every one of us thank these legislators for their work on our behalf and especially for Sheldon Silver’s support of the Markey bill. Besides needing our accolades, the legislators crucially need our calls to strengthen their position in their struggle to get the bill passed.
With many thanks and best regards,
Pearl Engelman,
Joel Engelman's Mother
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Revolution On The Streets Of New York!
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE:
Confronting Pedophilia: Two Views
The Markey Bill And Beyond: If The Rabbis Really Cared ...
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Lipner
Special To The Jewish Week
For years I was a proud, card-carrying member of Agudath Israel of America, a leading haredi communal organization; sadly, I have allowed my membership to lapse. But I, like many others, do not feel that I left the Agudah.
Rather the Agudah has left us.
The Agudah has come out in opposition to the Child Victims Act, known as the “Markey Bill” in the New York State Legislature (its lead sponsor is Queens Assemblywoman Marge Markey). The bill would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse recourse toward obtaining justice against their abusers by providing a one-year “window” in which to file a civil lawsuit at any age, and would extend the statute of limitations for pressing criminal charges from age 23 to 28.
Many survivors of child abuse have been waiting for years in shame, pain and agony, hoping that one day our religious leaders would hear their cries and address their plight. Survivors were just beginning to feel empowered and accepted after recent media attention and political and communal statements calling attention to their suffering.
Courageously, some survivors were able to speak out, and there were those who traveled to Albany last month to lobby for passage of the Markey bill. Orthodox Jews stood together with Catholics and Protestants, blacks and whites, to support survivors of child abuse and to ensure protection for children in the future. But we were deeply disappointed to learn, on the bus ride home, that the Agudah and Torah Umesorah, the National Association of Hebrew Day Schools, whom parents expect to promote child welfare and school safety, had come out against the bill.
One survivor of abuse from 29 years ago, a friend of mine, wondered aloud: “Does it take a situation where the children or grandchildren of the religious leadership are molested before they will finally start doing the right thing?”
The Agudah is concerned with yeshivas and other institutions becoming financially insolvent due to lawsuits, should Markey pass. But the only lawsuits that could possibly win are those against yeshivas that knowingly harbored molesters, not the vast majority of innocent institutions. Are we to believe that yeshivas that would enable the abuse of innocent Jewish children are, in the words of the Agudah and Torah Umersorah, the “lifeblood of our community?”
On the one hand, the Markey bill is not necessarily an absolute litmus test of whether the rabbis care or not about victims of sexual abuse. But the fact is that Agudah’s denunciation of the Child Victims Act marks the first time that the current gedolim (Torah sages) have acknowledged the problem of sexual abuse — and then only to focus on the institutions they are afraid will be financially hurt by it. As I have heard repeatedly from those who have suffered, this leads survivors of abuse to feel that the rabbis care more about the financial safety of their institutions than the physical, emotional and spiritual safety of the children.
Survivors of abuse wonder why the rabbis remained silent for so many years about this issue. Yated Neeman, the primary haredi newspaper, reported recently that the leading rabbis have been meeting to discuss the problem for at least five years. So why is it only now that they publicly admit that molestation exists in their community? And where is the apology to the victims for not protecting them all this time, for not believing them and for silencing their voices?
Why have these rabbinic leaders not openly endorsed the position paper of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children (www.jewishadvoctes.org), which calls for mandated reporting of suspicion of abuse by rabbis and teachers in yeshivas; mandated fingerprinting and background checks of all employees in yeshivas; mandated safety plans with full transparency and written instructions to parents; and mandated firing and punishment of employees for any sexual or physical abuse?
These actions should have begun already — voluntarily — even before legislation is enacted. It is a chilul Hashem (desecration of God’s name) that our yeshivas would need the government to legislate and enforce the fundamentals of our Torah. Enforcement of these values, which conform to halacha, would be easy enough for our leaders. Any school that does not provide for the safety of our children should be deemed as outside of Orthodoxy, as would be a school that sponsored a Tisha b’Av dance party or Yom Kippur banquet.
Surely if a school was found to be distributing treif lollipops it would soon be forced to shut its doors.
Why have the gedolim not yet signed a proclamation stating that both victims and witnesses of abuse must go to the police, as some rabbinic authorities have stated? Why have they fostered the misperception that it is forbidden to do so because of mesirah (the prohibition of reporting Jews to non-Jewish authorities)? Why do they not also clarify to the uninformed that sexual abuse is a sin and a crime whether there is sexual penetration or not — that it includes such mistreatment as fondling, coercing a child to touch an adult sexually, exhibitionism, voyeurism and even inappropriate sexual speech to a child?
If the rabbinic leaders are too afraid of damaging their own institutions to support the Markey bill, let them implement the above suggestions. That surely would go a long way toward reaching out to survivors and promoting healing and teshuva in our community.
Asher Lipner is vice president of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children and works as a therapist with survivors of abuse and their families.
*
Bill’s ‘Window’ Unfair, Yet More Must Be Done
Rabbi David Zwiebel
Special To The Jewish Week
As reported in these pages one week ago, a small group of protesters picketed this year’s annual dinner of Agudath Israel of America to show their displeasure with Agudath Israel’s opposition to the “Markey bill” — legislation pending in Albany that would, among other things, suspend for one year the statute of limitations in New York for any civil claims based on allegations of childhood sexual abuse.
The picketers handed out a one-page color flier bearing the logo of Agudath Israel, with the header “A message from Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President, Agudath Israel of America.” At the conclusion of the message appeared a photograph of said executive vice president — me — followed by the tagline: “Agudas Yisroel: Our children are our future.”
The purported message itself was quite an eye-opener. It described Agudath Israel’s opposition to the Markey bill as having been motivated by personal concern regarding potential legal claims the bill would allow to be brought against Agudath Israel itself and the yeshivot headed by the organization’s senior rabbinic leadership. It claimed, in classic first-person confessional prose, that “I have been ordered to work tirelessly with our partner in this holy mission, the Catholic Conference of New York State, to oppose this legislation. ... My job is to follow orders and I am obligated to obey ... or lose my job.”
As readers may have guessed, the message was fabricated. I never wrote it. It was materially false.
It was a cheap shmatte! (rag).
And yet, in a certain sense, it was a welcome contribution.
Sexual abuse of children is an unspeakably terrible thing. And, to our great pain and chagrin, we in the Orthodox Jewish community have discovered over recent years that it is also apparently a far more common thing than any of us had ever imagined. Whether, as some claim, the problem is even greater in Orthodox circles than in broader society, whether it is just as bad or whether it is less prevalent, the bottom line is by now clear and undeniable: significant numbers of children growing up in Orthodox homes and attending Orthodox institutions are victims of sexual abuse.
It is also by now clear and undeniable that the scars left by such abuse are often deep and permanent, affecting victims’ social and emotional development, undermining their religious identification and observance, even leading to acts of self-destruction.
Once we could say we didn’t know. Now we know. And part of the reason we know is that victims and their advocates — like those who picketed our dinner — have made their voices heard. As I told a Jewish Week reporter last week, these people have a special claim on our attention and conscience.
But their brash indictment of our organizations and rabbinic leaders is both misguided and offensive.
As it became apparent that the problem of childhood sexual abuse in Orthodox circles was a serious one — both in scope and in severity — responsible rabbinic leaders began to assess and address the situation. With little fanfare, away from the media limelight, the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva (senior yeshiva deans) of Torah Umesorah – The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, and the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) of Agudath Israel, convened many meetings to discuss the problem and develop meaningful responses. This led, six years ago, to the publication by Torah Umesorah (with a strong assist from the professionals at Ohel) of internal school guidelines for preventing and dealing with abuse, including reporting to civil authorities when appropriate. Workshops on the topic are a regular feature of Torah Umesorah conventions.
Agudath Israel, similarly, has developed guidelines for Jewish summer camps, as well as for its year-round extracurricular youth programs.
The organizations have encouraged schools and camps to urge their parent bodies to talk to their children about inappropriate touch. They have encouraged institutions to perform background checks on all prospective employees, including a criminal records check, and have supported laws authorizing non-public schools to screen prospective employees through a state fingerprint checking system.
On the rabbinic front, halachic responsa have been published addressing the question of reporting cases of suspected abuse to the secular authorities. Special Jewish courts have been established in several Orthodox communities across the country to deal with allegations of abuse.
But yes, despite all this — and despite recognizing that yet additional steps need to be considered — Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah oppose the Markey bill.
More precisely, we oppose one specific aspect of the Markey bill. As our organizations’ joint statement makes clear, we would not object to legislation designed to give victims greater recourse against their abusers. Our concern is with the bill’s potentially crippling real-world impact on Jewish schools, camps and synagogues — institutions that are the very lifeblood of our community — and their hard-pressed parent bodies and supporters who have no connection whatsoever to decades-old claims of abuse.
One can still maintain that, even so, it makes sense to suspend the statute of limitations for civil suits against institutions. Reasonable people can debate the issue. But opposition to the Markey bill’s “window” does not bespeak, as has been repeatedly and angrily charged by some of the bill’s proponents, lack of concern, God forbid, for victims.
No one at Agudath Israel or Torah Umesorah has ever insinuated that proponents of the bill don’t care about Jewish schools. We know that the bill’s proponents are well-meaning even if, in our view, they are not adequately weighing all the factors. We only wish they would extend to those of us who oppose the bill similar courtesy — or at least the courtesy of not disseminating fabricated “statements” designed to cast us and our community’s most revered rabbinic leaders in a poor light.
The picketers, though, are right. Our children are our future. They — and the schools that play such a central role in their Jewish development — are the most precious resources the Jewish community possesses. They deserve, both of them, our care and protection.
The Agudath Israel will give a free snuggie to any child that can prove that he was molested in a yeshiva, that's how much we really care -- and we'll throw in a free snuggie-slipper socks if you were molested twice! (*shipping & handling $100 - tax deductible checks to Novominsker Yeshiva*)
Rabbi David Zwiebel is executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America.
*
As usual, Steve gets it exactly right!
Zwiebel and the Agudah have been very consistent in the past 5-6 years in their approach to this problem. Despite what they want you to believe, they have come out against every piece of proposed legislation that would have given any sense of protection to our children.
They came out against mandatory reporting in 2005 when Zwiebel himself was quoted as saying that "this bill would take away the power of the rabbis to do their own investigating."
They opposed mandatory fingerprinting and background checks (although they now claim that they will not fight it). Now they are "vigorously opposed" to the Child Victims Act- the Markey bill. You would think that if they were having meetings for 5-6 years on the subject, that by now our children would be safer from child molesters.
Instead, they have handed the molesters one victory after another by continuing the coverups, the muzzling of the victims and the lack of any safety guidelines. This is how they have been "dealing" with the issue.
When he says that they "encouraged" institutions to do background checks, he knows very well that it is toothless and meaningless. None of the yeshivos will voluntarily fingerprint their employees and perform background checks. The RCA put out guidelines in 2003, 2005 and 2007 calling for mandatory reporting, fingerprinting, and background checks. They have also come out publicly in favor of the Markey bill? What has the Agudah done other than to thwart all of these efforts?
The Markey bill is the ONLY way that we are going to be able to expose these child molesters.
Those that were victimized and are past the SOL have no recourse at this point. What are they supposed to do, shout from the rooftops? If they go to Dov Hikind, he will only open a new file and keep the molester's name confidential. They can't go to the DA since it is past the SOL (even in new cases Hynes will make sure the perp is not prosecuted if he is well "connected"). If they try to convene a bais din, they will be laughed out of the community if not excommunicated entirely.
If they post on UOJ, they will be called liars, motzi shem ra, cowards, heretics, etc. The only recourse they have is to sue the molesters and those that wronged them in the past. Only those lawsuits that have credibility will see the light of day. In California, they were able to expose over three hundred sexual predators when they passed a similar bill.
We need to ignore these liars and hypocrites at the Agudah and work to pass this legislation in Albany immediately. We have no more time to waste bickering with these enablers.
R' Steve - Honorary Doctorate Of Truth - UOJ University!
Confronting Pedophilia: Two Views
The Markey Bill And Beyond: If The Rabbis Really Cared ...
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Lipner
Special To The Jewish Week
For years I was a proud, card-carrying member of Agudath Israel of America, a leading haredi communal organization; sadly, I have allowed my membership to lapse. But I, like many others, do not feel that I left the Agudah.
Rather the Agudah has left us.
The Agudah has come out in opposition to the Child Victims Act, known as the “Markey Bill” in the New York State Legislature (its lead sponsor is Queens Assemblywoman Marge Markey). The bill would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse recourse toward obtaining justice against their abusers by providing a one-year “window” in which to file a civil lawsuit at any age, and would extend the statute of limitations for pressing criminal charges from age 23 to 28.
Many survivors of child abuse have been waiting for years in shame, pain and agony, hoping that one day our religious leaders would hear their cries and address their plight. Survivors were just beginning to feel empowered and accepted after recent media attention and political and communal statements calling attention to their suffering.
Courageously, some survivors were able to speak out, and there were those who traveled to Albany last month to lobby for passage of the Markey bill. Orthodox Jews stood together with Catholics and Protestants, blacks and whites, to support survivors of child abuse and to ensure protection for children in the future. But we were deeply disappointed to learn, on the bus ride home, that the Agudah and Torah Umesorah, the National Association of Hebrew Day Schools, whom parents expect to promote child welfare and school safety, had come out against the bill.
One survivor of abuse from 29 years ago, a friend of mine, wondered aloud: “Does it take a situation where the children or grandchildren of the religious leadership are molested before they will finally start doing the right thing?”
The Agudah is concerned with yeshivas and other institutions becoming financially insolvent due to lawsuits, should Markey pass. But the only lawsuits that could possibly win are those against yeshivas that knowingly harbored molesters, not the vast majority of innocent institutions. Are we to believe that yeshivas that would enable the abuse of innocent Jewish children are, in the words of the Agudah and Torah Umersorah, the “lifeblood of our community?”
On the one hand, the Markey bill is not necessarily an absolute litmus test of whether the rabbis care or not about victims of sexual abuse. But the fact is that Agudah’s denunciation of the Child Victims Act marks the first time that the current gedolim (Torah sages) have acknowledged the problem of sexual abuse — and then only to focus on the institutions they are afraid will be financially hurt by it. As I have heard repeatedly from those who have suffered, this leads survivors of abuse to feel that the rabbis care more about the financial safety of their institutions than the physical, emotional and spiritual safety of the children.
Survivors of abuse wonder why the rabbis remained silent for so many years about this issue. Yated Neeman, the primary haredi newspaper, reported recently that the leading rabbis have been meeting to discuss the problem for at least five years. So why is it only now that they publicly admit that molestation exists in their community? And where is the apology to the victims for not protecting them all this time, for not believing them and for silencing their voices?
Why have these rabbinic leaders not openly endorsed the position paper of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children (www.jewishadvoctes.org), which calls for mandated reporting of suspicion of abuse by rabbis and teachers in yeshivas; mandated fingerprinting and background checks of all employees in yeshivas; mandated safety plans with full transparency and written instructions to parents; and mandated firing and punishment of employees for any sexual or physical abuse?
These actions should have begun already — voluntarily — even before legislation is enacted. It is a chilul Hashem (desecration of God’s name) that our yeshivas would need the government to legislate and enforce the fundamentals of our Torah. Enforcement of these values, which conform to halacha, would be easy enough for our leaders. Any school that does not provide for the safety of our children should be deemed as outside of Orthodoxy, as would be a school that sponsored a Tisha b’Av dance party or Yom Kippur banquet.
Surely if a school was found to be distributing treif lollipops it would soon be forced to shut its doors.
Why have the gedolim not yet signed a proclamation stating that both victims and witnesses of abuse must go to the police, as some rabbinic authorities have stated? Why have they fostered the misperception that it is forbidden to do so because of mesirah (the prohibition of reporting Jews to non-Jewish authorities)? Why do they not also clarify to the uninformed that sexual abuse is a sin and a crime whether there is sexual penetration or not — that it includes such mistreatment as fondling, coercing a child to touch an adult sexually, exhibitionism, voyeurism and even inappropriate sexual speech to a child?
If the rabbinic leaders are too afraid of damaging their own institutions to support the Markey bill, let them implement the above suggestions. That surely would go a long way toward reaching out to survivors and promoting healing and teshuva in our community.
Asher Lipner is vice president of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children and works as a therapist with survivors of abuse and their families.
*
Bill’s ‘Window’ Unfair, Yet More Must Be Done
Rabbi David Zwiebel
Special To The Jewish Week
As reported in these pages one week ago, a small group of protesters picketed this year’s annual dinner of Agudath Israel of America to show their displeasure with Agudath Israel’s opposition to the “Markey bill” — legislation pending in Albany that would, among other things, suspend for one year the statute of limitations in New York for any civil claims based on allegations of childhood sexual abuse.
The picketers handed out a one-page color flier bearing the logo of Agudath Israel, with the header “A message from Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President, Agudath Israel of America.” At the conclusion of the message appeared a photograph of said executive vice president — me — followed by the tagline: “Agudas Yisroel: Our children are our future.”
The purported message itself was quite an eye-opener. It described Agudath Israel’s opposition to the Markey bill as having been motivated by personal concern regarding potential legal claims the bill would allow to be brought against Agudath Israel itself and the yeshivot headed by the organization’s senior rabbinic leadership. It claimed, in classic first-person confessional prose, that “I have been ordered to work tirelessly with our partner in this holy mission, the Catholic Conference of New York State, to oppose this legislation. ... My job is to follow orders and I am obligated to obey ... or lose my job.”
As readers may have guessed, the message was fabricated. I never wrote it. It was materially false.
It was a cheap shmatte! (rag).
And yet, in a certain sense, it was a welcome contribution.
Sexual abuse of children is an unspeakably terrible thing. And, to our great pain and chagrin, we in the Orthodox Jewish community have discovered over recent years that it is also apparently a far more common thing than any of us had ever imagined. Whether, as some claim, the problem is even greater in Orthodox circles than in broader society, whether it is just as bad or whether it is less prevalent, the bottom line is by now clear and undeniable: significant numbers of children growing up in Orthodox homes and attending Orthodox institutions are victims of sexual abuse.
It is also by now clear and undeniable that the scars left by such abuse are often deep and permanent, affecting victims’ social and emotional development, undermining their religious identification and observance, even leading to acts of self-destruction.
Once we could say we didn’t know. Now we know. And part of the reason we know is that victims and their advocates — like those who picketed our dinner — have made their voices heard. As I told a Jewish Week reporter last week, these people have a special claim on our attention and conscience.
But their brash indictment of our organizations and rabbinic leaders is both misguided and offensive.
As it became apparent that the problem of childhood sexual abuse in Orthodox circles was a serious one — both in scope and in severity — responsible rabbinic leaders began to assess and address the situation. With little fanfare, away from the media limelight, the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva (senior yeshiva deans) of Torah Umesorah – The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, and the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) of Agudath Israel, convened many meetings to discuss the problem and develop meaningful responses. This led, six years ago, to the publication by Torah Umesorah (with a strong assist from the professionals at Ohel) of internal school guidelines for preventing and dealing with abuse, including reporting to civil authorities when appropriate. Workshops on the topic are a regular feature of Torah Umesorah conventions.
Agudath Israel, similarly, has developed guidelines for Jewish summer camps, as well as for its year-round extracurricular youth programs.
The organizations have encouraged schools and camps to urge their parent bodies to talk to their children about inappropriate touch. They have encouraged institutions to perform background checks on all prospective employees, including a criminal records check, and have supported laws authorizing non-public schools to screen prospective employees through a state fingerprint checking system.
On the rabbinic front, halachic responsa have been published addressing the question of reporting cases of suspected abuse to the secular authorities. Special Jewish courts have been established in several Orthodox communities across the country to deal with allegations of abuse.
But yes, despite all this — and despite recognizing that yet additional steps need to be considered — Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah oppose the Markey bill.
More precisely, we oppose one specific aspect of the Markey bill. As our organizations’ joint statement makes clear, we would not object to legislation designed to give victims greater recourse against their abusers. Our concern is with the bill’s potentially crippling real-world impact on Jewish schools, camps and synagogues — institutions that are the very lifeblood of our community — and their hard-pressed parent bodies and supporters who have no connection whatsoever to decades-old claims of abuse.
One can still maintain that, even so, it makes sense to suspend the statute of limitations for civil suits against institutions. Reasonable people can debate the issue. But opposition to the Markey bill’s “window” does not bespeak, as has been repeatedly and angrily charged by some of the bill’s proponents, lack of concern, God forbid, for victims.
No one at Agudath Israel or Torah Umesorah has ever insinuated that proponents of the bill don’t care about Jewish schools. We know that the bill’s proponents are well-meaning even if, in our view, they are not adequately weighing all the factors. We only wish they would extend to those of us who oppose the bill similar courtesy — or at least the courtesy of not disseminating fabricated “statements” designed to cast us and our community’s most revered rabbinic leaders in a poor light.
The picketers, though, are right. Our children are our future. They — and the schools that play such a central role in their Jewish development — are the most precious resources the Jewish community possesses. They deserve, both of them, our care and protection.
The Agudath Israel will give a free snuggie to any child that can prove that he was molested in a yeshiva, that's how much we really care -- and we'll throw in a free snuggie-slipper socks if you were molested twice! (*shipping & handling $100 - tax deductible checks to Novominsker Yeshiva*)
Rabbi David Zwiebel is executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America.
*
As usual, Steve gets it exactly right!
Zwiebel and the Agudah have been very consistent in the past 5-6 years in their approach to this problem. Despite what they want you to believe, they have come out against every piece of proposed legislation that would have given any sense of protection to our children.
They came out against mandatory reporting in 2005 when Zwiebel himself was quoted as saying that "this bill would take away the power of the rabbis to do their own investigating."
They opposed mandatory fingerprinting and background checks (although they now claim that they will not fight it). Now they are "vigorously opposed" to the Child Victims Act- the Markey bill. You would think that if they were having meetings for 5-6 years on the subject, that by now our children would be safer from child molesters.
Instead, they have handed the molesters one victory after another by continuing the coverups, the muzzling of the victims and the lack of any safety guidelines. This is how they have been "dealing" with the issue.
When he says that they "encouraged" institutions to do background checks, he knows very well that it is toothless and meaningless. None of the yeshivos will voluntarily fingerprint their employees and perform background checks. The RCA put out guidelines in 2003, 2005 and 2007 calling for mandatory reporting, fingerprinting, and background checks. They have also come out publicly in favor of the Markey bill? What has the Agudah done other than to thwart all of these efforts?
The Markey bill is the ONLY way that we are going to be able to expose these child molesters.
Those that were victimized and are past the SOL have no recourse at this point. What are they supposed to do, shout from the rooftops? If they go to Dov Hikind, he will only open a new file and keep the molester's name confidential. They can't go to the DA since it is past the SOL (even in new cases Hynes will make sure the perp is not prosecuted if he is well "connected"). If they try to convene a bais din, they will be laughed out of the community if not excommunicated entirely.
If they post on UOJ, they will be called liars, motzi shem ra, cowards, heretics, etc. The only recourse they have is to sue the molesters and those that wronged them in the past. Only those lawsuits that have credibility will see the light of day. In California, they were able to expose over three hundred sexual predators when they passed a similar bill.
We need to ignore these liars and hypocrites at the Agudah and work to pass this legislation in Albany immediately. We have no more time to waste bickering with these enablers.
R' Steve - Honorary Doctorate Of Truth - UOJ University!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Funeral At The New York Hilton - May 17, 2009
When Yudi Kolko got arrested, believe it or not, I broke down with emotion. Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt bad for us Jews, especially Jewish children who have been tortured by the likes of him, Lipa Margulies, Yisroel Belsky and the entire Agudath Israel.
Children, whose only crime was being in a yeshiva or in an Orthodox Jewish summer camp like Camp Agudah. Children whose emotional well-being was crippled for life, and were cast aside like trash on the filthy streets of Brooklyn. Their families were threatened if they "spoke up", or if they sought redress at the local police station. "Whispers" of a "nebach" child would spread around the community like a flu-like virus, destined to destroy the families that were not "immunized" by money and protectsia.
And a great job these scumbags did indeed.
Families destroyed, children going off to worlds they hoped would ease their pain and shame. Suicides, drug overdoses, alcoholism....and anything that would distract them from their miseries; heaped upon these innocent souls by our rabbis, gedolim, community leaders, bastard organizations like the Agudath Israel, and shamefully what has become Torah Umesorah.
So when the dumb-ass ignoramus, Yaakov Perlow, got up to speak at the Agudath Israel dinner last Sunday, after I was informed of his opening lines, I again broke down with emotion -- for us!
Is this the best we've got? Is there no shame left among the Jews? Do we dare permit ourselves to have this charlatan "divine" his words on the Jewish community. In front of a roomful of obvious peasants, he spouts out his words of such idiocy, that the Heavens had to break down and weep.
Every person sitting in that room in the Hilton that did not walk out, is an accomplice to this madman's agenda. Trample on the truth when it suits you, at any expense.
My third grade rebbe was correct; two of the things that separate us from dogs are; humans have no loyalty, and dogs relieve their waste wherever they feel like it.
Children, whose only crime was being in a yeshiva or in an Orthodox Jewish summer camp like Camp Agudah. Children whose emotional well-being was crippled for life, and were cast aside like trash on the filthy streets of Brooklyn. Their families were threatened if they "spoke up", or if they sought redress at the local police station. "Whispers" of a "nebach" child would spread around the community like a flu-like virus, destined to destroy the families that were not "immunized" by money and protectsia.
And a great job these scumbags did indeed.
Families destroyed, children going off to worlds they hoped would ease their pain and shame. Suicides, drug overdoses, alcoholism....and anything that would distract them from their miseries; heaped upon these innocent souls by our rabbis, gedolim, community leaders, bastard organizations like the Agudath Israel, and shamefully what has become Torah Umesorah.
So when the dumb-ass ignoramus, Yaakov Perlow, got up to speak at the Agudath Israel dinner last Sunday, after I was informed of his opening lines, I again broke down with emotion -- for us!
Is this the best we've got? Is there no shame left among the Jews? Do we dare permit ourselves to have this charlatan "divine" his words on the Jewish community. In front of a roomful of obvious peasants, he spouts out his words of such idiocy, that the Heavens had to break down and weep.
Every person sitting in that room in the Hilton that did not walk out, is an accomplice to this madman's agenda. Trample on the truth when it suits you, at any expense.
My third grade rebbe was correct; two of the things that separate us from dogs are; humans have no loyalty, and dogs relieve their waste wherever they feel like it.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Libertywept.org - It's always been about the truth!
This post will stay at the top for one week; newer posts will appear just below this one!
You know, I've devoted a lot of time to the the tragic crime of child sex-abuse in the Jewish community, and focused on the criminal and corrupt leadership who chose, and still choose, to bury these crimes under some God-forsaken religious doctrine called "daas Torah" -- nonsense that they invented to keep the truth from emerging on very serious topics, and to protect their criminal activities!
Well, another cause has presented itself to me, one affecting not only the Jewish community, but the entire country and perhaps the well-being of civilization itself.
I know and love the above author Alvan Shane as a brother, I trust his judgment and intellect, and I am proud to present to the world his new book. He never wrote a book before, but he is outraged as to what's happening to our country.
His book just arrived, self-published, and you can buy it now. The book's focal point is the event that almost took our country down on September 11, 2001. But his embellishments and descriptions of what's been happening to America during the past dozen years or so, is an eye-opener. I don't know how he was able to squeeze so much information into a relatively small book. He uses an economy of words, says exactly what he thinks -- UOJ style!
I read a lot of books, too many that are a waste of my time. Some bestsellers keep me scratching my head, asking myself -- who can read this stupidity?
Al and I go back a long way. We discuss and debate many things. At times, we agree to disagree, and save it for another day. Even when he's "absolutely wrong", his opinions and intellect gives me reason to doubt, for a fleeting moment, whether I'm really the smartest guy I know. (UOJ sense of humor)
Enough already, he'll be angry at all the praise, especially from a man like me, who thinks almost everyone I meet is an idiot! (UOJ sense of humor)
You need to all read this book, hear his arguments, grasp his tremendously insightful concepts! You owe it to yourselves to read controversial, educated opinions. The book is written beautifully, you'll be glad you made this small purchase.
Go to:libertywept.org
The book retails at amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping, handling and packaging, but going to libertywept.org and putting in the promo code {XYK09UOJ}, you're able to purchase it for only $15.95 for a very limited time - free shipping and handling in the U.S.A. (plus tax in California only).
Most important, Al and his dear wife Barbara, created a non-profit organization called F.A.C.T., all proceeds from this book will go to this entity, to be used in an ongoing effort to investigate all suspect acts that are disguised as truths, by the U.S. government. Your purchase is tax-deductible. Now go order his book on-line at:libertywept.org
UOJ
You know, I've devoted a lot of time to the the tragic crime of child sex-abuse in the Jewish community, and focused on the criminal and corrupt leadership who chose, and still choose, to bury these crimes under some God-forsaken religious doctrine called "daas Torah" -- nonsense that they invented to keep the truth from emerging on very serious topics, and to protect their criminal activities!
Well, another cause has presented itself to me, one affecting not only the Jewish community, but the entire country and perhaps the well-being of civilization itself.
I know and love the above author Alvan Shane as a brother, I trust his judgment and intellect, and I am proud to present to the world his new book. He never wrote a book before, but he is outraged as to what's happening to our country.
His book just arrived, self-published, and you can buy it now. The book's focal point is the event that almost took our country down on September 11, 2001. But his embellishments and descriptions of what's been happening to America during the past dozen years or so, is an eye-opener. I don't know how he was able to squeeze so much information into a relatively small book. He uses an economy of words, says exactly what he thinks -- UOJ style!
I read a lot of books, too many that are a waste of my time. Some bestsellers keep me scratching my head, asking myself -- who can read this stupidity?
Al and I go back a long way. We discuss and debate many things. At times, we agree to disagree, and save it for another day. Even when he's "absolutely wrong", his opinions and intellect gives me reason to doubt, for a fleeting moment, whether I'm really the smartest guy I know. (UOJ sense of humor)
Enough already, he'll be angry at all the praise, especially from a man like me, who thinks almost everyone I meet is an idiot! (UOJ sense of humor)
You need to all read this book, hear his arguments, grasp his tremendously insightful concepts! You owe it to yourselves to read controversial, educated opinions. The book is written beautifully, you'll be glad you made this small purchase.
Go to:libertywept.org
The book retails at amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping, handling and packaging, but going to libertywept.org and putting in the promo code {XYK09UOJ}, you're able to purchase it for only $15.95 for a very limited time - free shipping and handling in the U.S.A. (plus tax in California only).
Most important, Al and his dear wife Barbara, created a non-profit organization called F.A.C.T., all proceeds from this book will go to this entity, to be used in an ongoing effort to investigate all suspect acts that are disguised as truths, by the U.S. government. Your purchase is tax-deductible. Now go order his book on-line at:libertywept.org
UOJ
A group of fifty parents from ten schools in New York sent this letter to eight Senators.
Dear Honorable Senator,
Pastor Martin Niemoller, wrote the famous poem, First They Came. He described the apathy people had towards the plight of those afflicted during the Second World War. The point was to teach a stark lesson, if you sit idly by while your neighbor suffers, you will be left to fend for yourself with no one to protest when you are suffering.
For too long our children in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools have been victims of the insidious crime of sexual molestation. Those individuals and families who protested the abominable behaviors were blacklisted, threatened, and ridiculed. All attempts at working things through internal measures failed. The rabbis forbade any legal involvement to protect our children. Our children are on drugs and committing suicide as a result of the violations made against them.
We cannot remain apathetic to the plight of our children. The Markey/Duane bill opening a window through which the victims can achieve a small amount of justice, is the least we can do for our children. Orthodox Jewish schools which supervised their staff, took an interest in each student’s safety, and made school a place of security have nothing to lose. Those schools that willfully neglected their fiduciary trust of providing a safe and nurturing environment, don’t deserve the title Orthodox Jewish Day School and must be closed down.
Society is judged by its weakest link. Orthodox Jewry’s weakest link is the protection of our youth. We need your help passing laws to keep our children safe. Most of Orthodox Jewry (besides for Agudath Israel) fully supports this valuable piece of legislation.
Yours Truly,
Pastor Martin Niemoller, wrote the famous poem, First They Came. He described the apathy people had towards the plight of those afflicted during the Second World War. The point was to teach a stark lesson, if you sit idly by while your neighbor suffers, you will be left to fend for yourself with no one to protest when you are suffering.
For too long our children in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools have been victims of the insidious crime of sexual molestation. Those individuals and families who protested the abominable behaviors were blacklisted, threatened, and ridiculed. All attempts at working things through internal measures failed. The rabbis forbade any legal involvement to protect our children. Our children are on drugs and committing suicide as a result of the violations made against them.
We cannot remain apathetic to the plight of our children. The Markey/Duane bill opening a window through which the victims can achieve a small amount of justice, is the least we can do for our children. Orthodox Jewish schools which supervised their staff, took an interest in each student’s safety, and made school a place of security have nothing to lose. Those schools that willfully neglected their fiduciary trust of providing a safe and nurturing environment, don’t deserve the title Orthodox Jewish Day School and must be closed down.
Society is judged by its weakest link. Orthodox Jewry’s weakest link is the protection of our youth. We need your help passing laws to keep our children safe. Most of Orthodox Jewry (besides for Agudath Israel) fully supports this valuable piece of legislation.
Yours Truly,
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
OHEL TURNS 'EM LOOSE TO PREY ON CHILDREN!
For anyone who may have wondered whether Ohel Children's Home and Family Services might really be in the business of helping our community, read the Jewish Week article by Hella Winston on the shameful case of Stefan Colmer ("A Suspected Pedophile Eludes the System" - thejewishweek.com) to get a taste of the truth.
Read there how Colmer was treated in Ohel's offenders' program long before he allegedly abused kids from in and around the Mir Yeshiva.
Read how he pulled out of the program on his own -- my sources say because he was getting married and didn't want his wife to know the truth -- and went about his "business." And read how when Colmer did this, Ohel did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Ohel didn't monitor his actions.
Ohel didn't ask where he was spending his time.
Ohel didn't take any steps to ensure he wasn't around children.
Ohel didn't warn anyone at the Mir, or anywhere else, that it might be a problem to have Colmer inviting young boys, alone, to his home.
And Ohel didn't contact the REAL authorities.
This is the first time we've ever got to see the inside of that shadowy "offenders' program" Ohel ran for years, supposedly in close cooperation with the Brooklyn D.A. This is our first sample of the way the system worked. And how did it work?
According to the indictment, Colmer sexually abused AT LEAST TWO OTHER YOUNG BOYS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS AFTER OHEL CUT HIM LOOSE! -- that's how! WHILE OHEL SAT ON ITS HANDS AND STAYED SILENT. Actually, my sources say there were plenty of other boys, too. Unfortunately, they were talked out of coming forward to police.(Surprise!)
So here's what happened:
Ohel knew it had an offender. It let the offender walk away with no police report. And did nothing -- NOTHING! Not an act, not a word, not a hint! And now, according to the D.A.'s indictment, innocent lives have been shattered because of that inaction. Do you believe, after this, that the holy alliance of Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes and Ohel -- the same pair that gave us the Colmer case -- is going to protect our children as part of Kol Tzedek? And this, my friends, is just the beginning.
Michael Lesher (who is quoted in the new article) played a major role in bringing Colmer to justice. But Michael has a lot more to say about Hynes, Ohel and Ohel's rabbi, Dovid Cohen. The Colmer case doesn't stand alone! You can (and should) read all about it in Michael's two chapters in a new book, Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals (Brandeis University Press, 2009), edited by Amy Neustein. (The book is just out and can be bought or ordered from Barnes & Noble.) You can read there about other cases that "eluded the system." Or rather, exemplified the "system." Because the truth is, these people are not about solving the problem........ They're about covering it up!
Read there how Colmer was treated in Ohel's offenders' program long before he allegedly abused kids from in and around the Mir Yeshiva.
Read how he pulled out of the program on his own -- my sources say because he was getting married and didn't want his wife to know the truth -- and went about his "business." And read how when Colmer did this, Ohel did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Ohel didn't monitor his actions.
Ohel didn't ask where he was spending his time.
Ohel didn't take any steps to ensure he wasn't around children.
Ohel didn't warn anyone at the Mir, or anywhere else, that it might be a problem to have Colmer inviting young boys, alone, to his home.
And Ohel didn't contact the REAL authorities.
This is the first time we've ever got to see the inside of that shadowy "offenders' program" Ohel ran for years, supposedly in close cooperation with the Brooklyn D.A. This is our first sample of the way the system worked. And how did it work?
According to the indictment, Colmer sexually abused AT LEAST TWO OTHER YOUNG BOYS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS AFTER OHEL CUT HIM LOOSE! -- that's how! WHILE OHEL SAT ON ITS HANDS AND STAYED SILENT. Actually, my sources say there were plenty of other boys, too. Unfortunately, they were talked out of coming forward to police.(Surprise!)
So here's what happened:
Ohel knew it had an offender. It let the offender walk away with no police report. And did nothing -- NOTHING! Not an act, not a word, not a hint! And now, according to the D.A.'s indictment, innocent lives have been shattered because of that inaction. Do you believe, after this, that the holy alliance of Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes and Ohel -- the same pair that gave us the Colmer case -- is going to protect our children as part of Kol Tzedek? And this, my friends, is just the beginning.
Michael Lesher (who is quoted in the new article) played a major role in bringing Colmer to justice. But Michael has a lot more to say about Hynes, Ohel and Ohel's rabbi, Dovid Cohen. The Colmer case doesn't stand alone! You can (and should) read all about it in Michael's two chapters in a new book, Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals (Brandeis University Press, 2009), edited by Amy Neustein. (The book is just out and can be bought or ordered from Barnes & Noble.) You can read there about other cases that "eluded the system." Or rather, exemplified the "system." Because the truth is, these people are not about solving the problem........ They're about covering it up!
Monday, May 04, 2009
Tough Problems Require A Sustainable Solution!
The truth is, that it is more about the masses getting stronger, wiser, and angrier, then it is about taking the Agudah down. They are doing a better job taking themselves down than I could possibly take credit for.
And the only reason we're getting them to acknowledge the huge problem of child sex-abuse, is because of the Information Highway.
If there would still be the Yated and Hamodia only, even the Jewish Drek, there would be no acknowledgment at all.
So we're not fooled, at the least, I'm not.
I'm in a unique position to know what makes these guys tick, and be an outsider.
Whatever the motivations of Rabbi Horowitz are regarding the Markey Bill, the Insider that he really is, blindsided him. And I do not say that as necessarily a negative; he has a long and successful record of accomplishments and has made a dent in getting this problem out in the open.
What I am saying is; that he can't possibly understand that his aligning himself with the anti-Markey proponents, negates, in the eyes of sex-abuse survivors and their families, a genuine life-long hurt that does not go away with a Rebbe's bracha, or interpretation of some rosh yeshiva's "daas Torah."
So while I'm certain that he is a very sensitive and caring individual, by cozying- up with the anti-Markey people, he demonstrated, at least to me, that his "caring" is limited. And that's where the Insider that he is, hurt him in the eyes of the masses.
It is my perception of that "additional" lack of sensitivity to all the people in the past that were hurt so very badly, that has caused my discomfort with his decision to go anti-Markey! You can't write off ruined lives, suicides, crippled dreams and a complete lack of caring by leaders, with an article in The Jewish Press. The rabbis that were in a position to fix this chronic, tragic problem, knew, and did everything they could to intimidate the victims and empower the criminals.
UOJ
Click On Image To Enlarge:
And the only reason we're getting them to acknowledge the huge problem of child sex-abuse, is because of the Information Highway.
If there would still be the Yated and Hamodia only, even the Jewish Drek, there would be no acknowledgment at all.
So we're not fooled, at the least, I'm not.
I'm in a unique position to know what makes these guys tick, and be an outsider.
Whatever the motivations of Rabbi Horowitz are regarding the Markey Bill, the Insider that he really is, blindsided him. And I do not say that as necessarily a negative; he has a long and successful record of accomplishments and has made a dent in getting this problem out in the open.
What I am saying is; that he can't possibly understand that his aligning himself with the anti-Markey proponents, negates, in the eyes of sex-abuse survivors and their families, a genuine life-long hurt that does not go away with a Rebbe's bracha, or interpretation of some rosh yeshiva's "daas Torah."
So while I'm certain that he is a very sensitive and caring individual, by cozying- up with the anti-Markey people, he demonstrated, at least to me, that his "caring" is limited. And that's where the Insider that he is, hurt him in the eyes of the masses.
It is my perception of that "additional" lack of sensitivity to all the people in the past that were hurt so very badly, that has caused my discomfort with his decision to go anti-Markey! You can't write off ruined lives, suicides, crippled dreams and a complete lack of caring by leaders, with an article in The Jewish Press. The rabbis that were in a position to fix this chronic, tragic problem, knew, and did everything they could to intimidate the victims and empower the criminals.
UOJ
Click On Image To Enlarge:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Jewish Board Of Advocates Statement
Thanks Steve.
THE JBAC RESPONDS:
In response to the Agudah’s unfortunate position:
We can clearly see without a shadow of a doubt the fear running through the veins of the executive membership of the AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA AND TORAH UMESORAH - THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HEBREW DAY SCHOOLS. WE had an amazing lobby day in Albany, and we can state without a shadow of a doubt that we had a very positive reception and response.
It was truly history in the making, a day that one could only hope for and yet with the help of the Almighty has finally come to fruition. We were a diverse group of ALL religions, ALL backgrounds, All organizations, ALL groups, ALL stories, ALL there for the same reason and the same cause standing in unison behind Assemblywoman Margaret Markey and Senator Thomas Duane for one full hour at a press conference, and then breaking up into individual groups for the rest of the day walking through the Assembly and the Capital speaking to OUR state representatives face to face; human beings one to another speaking truth and honesty crossing ALL barriers of race, religion, bias, bigotry, class, finance, etc. Chasidim and misnagdim stood side by side with gentiles male and female, children, parents and grandparents; clergy and laymen. The playing field was leveled. We were all there for the same cause, either as victims, family of victims or advocates for victims and children.
We relayed certain information that they were previously unaware of and quite shocked to learn such as the non-public school system has no laws governing them as far as child safety is concerned. No mandatory finger-printing and background checks of staff, no teacher licensing, no mandatory reporting system on abuse or molestation. As the well known joke (unfortunate not funny) goes “if you’re a pedophile YOUR safe in our system”. Mrs. Engelman made a point of informing our legislatures that every male teacher that is charged with teaching Torah or religious subjects is referred to as Rabbi and it does not mean that they have studied in rabbinical seminary nor has received rabbinical ordination. So just because they bear the title it does not mean they deserve the title nor the respect and honor that goes with it.
It was truly a Kidush Hashem standing on the same platform with Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg and Rabbi Gershon Tanenbaum, the Director of the Igud Harabonim of America, author of the “My Machberes” column for the Jewish Press, along with the other Rabbonim he brought with him. Rabbi Tanenbaum’s words were inspirational to the crowd especially the victims. Joel Engelman was the first speaker after Assemblywoman Margaret Markey and Senator Thomas Duane who clearly presented their reasons behind this bill. Joel spoke about how he was victimized at the tender age of 8 years old by Rabbi Avrhohom Reichman of the United Talmudical Academy, who as he spoke is still in front of a classroom of young children, basically a field of young and vulnerable prey and still no one has taken any type of precaution to protect the children by removing him or separating him from his evil and illegal inclinations. There were at least 5 other chassidishe men standing behind the speakers who had similar stories, and another 5 who were frum and not chassidishe. There were others in the audience who were no longer Frum but used to be. This of course in addition to victims from non-Jewish backgrounds. Obviously not everyone was brave enough to stand behind the speakers to be photographed for all to see. Kudos to all for stepping forward whether in front of the cameras or behind.
Note to the Agudah that is called bravery and Kidush Hashem, they are willing to come forward to “SAVE” the lives of other Yiddish neshomas. And WE all stood there for a full hour while everyone had a turn Jew and catholic, priest, nun, alter boy, and gemarah kup who was stripped of their faith by those who should have been encouraging and promoting their unique and individual connection and relationship with their maker.
And of course our own Frum Assemblyman Dov Hikind stood side by side with us and with the authors of the bills for all to see that he stands firm in his conviction of co-sponsoring this bill and supporting the passage of same. Why else would he stand there with all of us for the press conference and the photo opportunity? What message is he sending to you the Agudath Israel of America when he stands with the victims that he took testimony from, that he cried with, that he understood their betrayal because YOU did nothing to help them and aid them; you did nothing to protect them, to believe them, to stop their abusers from continuing their reign of terror and destroying other young children.
Marci Hamilton took the floor. Marci Hamilton is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair of Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a widely-regarded scholar in constitutional law. She is an expert on and advocate for the U.S. Constitution's required separation of church and state. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University in 1979 then earned a Masters degree at Pennsylvania State University and a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. She served as a law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Marci was very eloquent and very carefully vacated any misconceptions that the YOU the Agudah and others seem to use as a smoke screen for your positions. To paraphrase: the Markey bill is following the guidelines set forth in the open window legislation of the California and Delaware bills where no civil litigations were allowed to move forward without a “certificate of merit” from a qualified mental professional. This would absolutely disqualify your contention of “capricious litigation”. Furthermore, the “open window” bill produces extremely low numbers of false claims we repeat “proven false” claims but revealed a record breaking additional 360 previously unknown pedophiles that those states have now registered and citizens are now aware of and can protect themselves from.
There is a statistical study which revealed that every repeat offender known as a serial pedophile will in his/her lifetime commit 400 acts of abuse also appropriately referred to as violence in their lifespan. YOU, the Agudah are smart enough to run those numbers for yourselves but we can help you with that, an additional 360 x 400, that is 144,000 acts of violence against children that may be averted in the states of California and Delaware. Don’t you want to claim that you can do that for our children as well? And yet with the great Jewish population in the state of California we did not hear of even one Jewish institution that was forced to close or forced into bankruptcy due to this one year open window of opportunity. Would you care to explain that? Is it because no one sued them or because they had less Frum Jewish pedophiles than we do here? Either way it doesn’t show much cause for your position.
It is quite clear that when you speak of the “fundamental interest of our community” you speak of the “financial” interest of our community because basically that is ALL you are concerned with. No not actually you are also concerned with losing face for your organization and the Rabbinical members who themselves are “nogeah b’davar” because they are personally involved or because they are involved in the cover-up, either way a conflict of interest; absolutely not capable of making a proper or unbiased decision in this case. As you say “Our rabbinic and lay leaderships are acutely aware of the emotional trauma and damage caused by the perpetrators of such abuse.” They are aware, because they have always been aware and have chosen to do nothing, again, they are nogeah b’dovor and therefore not qualified to make an unbiased decision in this case. They should be respectfully exempt from this decision for obvious reasons and only those who have never been touched by this issue should be allowed to have a say in it.
Why is it that when Reb Elyashiv offers a psak everyone listens as if it came from Har Sinai itself, but in this case when his psak clearly states that perpetrators should be handed over to the authorities his words are ignored like poison? Had he followed his psak with “and their wives’ sheitels should be burnt”, maybe, maybe at least there would have been a bon fire. A valid question would be, did the executive members of the Agudah discuss this issue with the Gedolim of Eretz Yisroel and get some guidance from them before coming to this conclusion? Was Reb Elyashiv consulted?
Now lets look at your financial concern.
I am surprised that you do not have faith in the myriads of religious CPA’s and Attorneys who we are quite sure are already hard at work (just in case) closing old corporations and opening new ones to hide any assets that Yeshivas and other institutions have. In the event that, which is highly unlikely, anyone would actually go so far as to sue and receive an award from same, there would never be any money, any building, any asset left in the name of the institution that would have been in business at the time of the event. Come on, we are all Yiddish Kep here, we know how the game is played. It is an insult to the intelligence of the K’lal that you think we are fooled by this smoke screen. And WE also know that YOU know that 95% of all victims are not interested in monetary compensation. All they are interested in is putting their abusers out of business and making sure they never ever have access to innocent children again.
So what really is your motivation behind this?
We know, you are still protecting the pedophiles and their protectors. YOU still don’t want to come clean. You still wish to honor them and not disgrace them by allowing their names to become public. You are still more concerned with their reputation than with allowing the victims of their crimes to have the opportunity to start healing and finding some closure to their misery.
SHAME ON YOU!
If you recall back in the 1960’s Emile Zola coined the phrase J’ACCUSE against the French government in reference to the Dreyfus case. I am going to say those words to you here and now.
J’ACCUSE
For putting the honor of the Jewish religious pedophiles first and foremost before the welfare of their victims. “the burden of litigation expense or legal liability for ancient claims would fall squarely on an entirely innocent group - the current parent body”. That is a complete and utter fallacy and you are trying to misguide the public because they have total faith and trust in you as we once did. The current financial body should hire representation to absolutely REFUSE to defend the institution and the pedophiles they harbor. THEY should demand the immediate dismissal of said pedophile and any administrator who was connected to the case and absolutely forbid any tuition funds or any other funds to be used in defense of either. As stated before, the corporation at the time of abuse would no longer be current if the CPA’s and attorneys are doing their jobs for cases that happened way in the past. Cases that happened in the past 10-12 years would be covered under their insurance policies which have sexual abuse riders. So again, YOU the Agudah are trying to SCARE and frighten the Olam to fall into line behind you.
J’ACCUSE
“Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah have taken a number of concrete steps to help ensure that Jewish schools, extra-curricular youth programs and summer camps implement policies and procedures designed to protect children against such abuse. Our organizations have also supported legislative efforts to furnish such protection, including the recently enacted legislation in New York authorizing nonpublic schools to screen all prospective employees through the state's fingerprint checking system. ”
What exactly have you done and how has it helped? Yes you have supported the legislation with lip service, but what have you done to implement it, basically nothing.
J’ACCUSE
YOU who have implemented TAKANOS not suggestions, on how many guests one can invite to their own Simcha, limiting the parnasah a caterer makes, how many musicians a person can hire for their own simcha, limiting the parnasah a musician makes, but did nothing to implement the fingerprinting and background checks in all Yeshivos! YOU did not make that mandatory! You just supported the bill and allowed for those who wanted to comply. Where were the TAKANOS to prevent child abuse and molestation of our precious children?
J’ACCUSE
YOU could have saved thousands, upon thousands of young innocent neshomas but you didn’t.
J’ACCUSE
For the good things that the Agudath Israel has done for K’lal Yisroel you have neglected on a tremendously large scale the biggest responsibility any Jewish organization of such magnitude has and that is to protect our innocent neshomas!
You have a great big chelek in the pain and suffering of thousands of yiddishe kinderlach and their families for tearing their lives apart and for pushing and shoving them off the derech.
And now instead of showing them and all the children, the future of K’lal Yisroel that YOU stand for honesty and integrity, exactly what we teach and expect from our children YOU want to absolve ALL the guilty parties of their responsibility and accountability? Is this the hypocrisy that you choose to continue to role model for our children?
YOU had and still have an opportunity of teshuva and of helping to allow the healing to begin but you refuse to step up to the plate.
WE can’t force you to do the right thing; we can only ask you to. But whether you do or don’t, the bill will go forth and it will pass because every day it gains support, and with each day’s gain, those who approve and support the bill continue to garner more and more support, and it is growing like a wildfire because it is the right thing to do. Hashem will help us uncover the truth and reveal the identities of all the dangerous individuals who hide amongst us, who are not ashamed to defile our youth within the walls of mekomos kedoshim like yeshivas, mikvaot and shuls. The health and welfare of our children far outweighs the financial concerns of institutions real or imagined.
These institutions know how to protect themselves but children don’t and that is why WE have to find ways to help them, as Margaret Markey, Thomas Duane, and the fine states of California and Delaware have. So with you or without you WE know right from wrong, WE understand good from evil, WE know the good guys from the bad guys, WE know who to honor and respect and who to turn away from. Hashem has given us strict guidelines in the Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach. Those who cross those lines, do not deserve the honor and respect you insist on bestowing upon them. Anyone with an ounce of seichel Hashem has given them will see through your smoke screen and contact their Legislative representatives to throw their support behind this bill.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Sherree Belsky Director Kids Count Foundation (For Reference: Sherree Belsky – Maiden name Gottesman -second Generation Holocaust survivor – Auschwitz death camps; Belsky (Bielski – Bielski Brothers- Jewish partisans saved 1,200 Jews in the Russian and polish forests in the Holocaust)
Rabbi Dr. Asher Lipner Ph.D Vice President Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Elie Hiller Jewish Educator West Orange, NJ
Mrs. Pearl Engelman Mother of Joel Engelman Brooklyn, N.Y.
*
The RCA Statement On The Markey Bill
March 20, 2009
Dear Ms. Markey:
The Rabbinical Council of America represents more than 1,000 modern and centrist orthodox rabbis. We are the rabbinic arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
We support Bill No. A.02596, sponsored by you, which would extend the civil and criminal statutes of limitations for sex abuse victims.
Child sex abuse is a horrendous crime. Victims often bear the scars for entire lifetimes. They are at higher risk for clinical depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
Many victims are overcome by feelings of confusion, shame, and embarrassment. As children and teens, they are psychologically and emotionally unable to deal with the court system. Only later, as adults, and often with therapy, do they feel comfortable in working with the judicial system. Unfortunately, arbitrary statutes of limitations stand in their way.
Jewish law and tradition recognize the need for our justice system to protect the most vulnerable among us. Lowering the statute of limitations bar for child sex abuse victims would serve that purpose. Sexual predators are often recidivists and need to be incarcerated, and classified as convicted sex offenders, in order to assure public safety. Sex abuse victims deserve to be fairly compensated for their grievous injuries. Your bill will assure these laudatory goals.
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Basil Herring
Executive Vice-President
THE JBAC RESPONDS:
In response to the Agudah’s unfortunate position:
We can clearly see without a shadow of a doubt the fear running through the veins of the executive membership of the AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA AND TORAH UMESORAH - THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HEBREW DAY SCHOOLS. WE had an amazing lobby day in Albany, and we can state without a shadow of a doubt that we had a very positive reception and response.
It was truly history in the making, a day that one could only hope for and yet with the help of the Almighty has finally come to fruition. We were a diverse group of ALL religions, ALL backgrounds, All organizations, ALL groups, ALL stories, ALL there for the same reason and the same cause standing in unison behind Assemblywoman Margaret Markey and Senator Thomas Duane for one full hour at a press conference, and then breaking up into individual groups for the rest of the day walking through the Assembly and the Capital speaking to OUR state representatives face to face; human beings one to another speaking truth and honesty crossing ALL barriers of race, religion, bias, bigotry, class, finance, etc. Chasidim and misnagdim stood side by side with gentiles male and female, children, parents and grandparents; clergy and laymen. The playing field was leveled. We were all there for the same cause, either as victims, family of victims or advocates for victims and children.
We relayed certain information that they were previously unaware of and quite shocked to learn such as the non-public school system has no laws governing them as far as child safety is concerned. No mandatory finger-printing and background checks of staff, no teacher licensing, no mandatory reporting system on abuse or molestation. As the well known joke (unfortunate not funny) goes “if you’re a pedophile YOUR safe in our system”. Mrs. Engelman made a point of informing our legislatures that every male teacher that is charged with teaching Torah or religious subjects is referred to as Rabbi and it does not mean that they have studied in rabbinical seminary nor has received rabbinical ordination. So just because they bear the title it does not mean they deserve the title nor the respect and honor that goes with it.
It was truly a Kidush Hashem standing on the same platform with Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg and Rabbi Gershon Tanenbaum, the Director of the Igud Harabonim of America, author of the “My Machberes” column for the Jewish Press, along with the other Rabbonim he brought with him. Rabbi Tanenbaum’s words were inspirational to the crowd especially the victims. Joel Engelman was the first speaker after Assemblywoman Margaret Markey and Senator Thomas Duane who clearly presented their reasons behind this bill. Joel spoke about how he was victimized at the tender age of 8 years old by Rabbi Avrhohom Reichman of the United Talmudical Academy, who as he spoke is still in front of a classroom of young children, basically a field of young and vulnerable prey and still no one has taken any type of precaution to protect the children by removing him or separating him from his evil and illegal inclinations. There were at least 5 other chassidishe men standing behind the speakers who had similar stories, and another 5 who were frum and not chassidishe. There were others in the audience who were no longer Frum but used to be. This of course in addition to victims from non-Jewish backgrounds. Obviously not everyone was brave enough to stand behind the speakers to be photographed for all to see. Kudos to all for stepping forward whether in front of the cameras or behind.
Note to the Agudah that is called bravery and Kidush Hashem, they are willing to come forward to “SAVE” the lives of other Yiddish neshomas. And WE all stood there for a full hour while everyone had a turn Jew and catholic, priest, nun, alter boy, and gemarah kup who was stripped of their faith by those who should have been encouraging and promoting their unique and individual connection and relationship with their maker.
And of course our own Frum Assemblyman Dov Hikind stood side by side with us and with the authors of the bills for all to see that he stands firm in his conviction of co-sponsoring this bill and supporting the passage of same. Why else would he stand there with all of us for the press conference and the photo opportunity? What message is he sending to you the Agudath Israel of America when he stands with the victims that he took testimony from, that he cried with, that he understood their betrayal because YOU did nothing to help them and aid them; you did nothing to protect them, to believe them, to stop their abusers from continuing their reign of terror and destroying other young children.
Marci Hamilton took the floor. Marci Hamilton is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair of Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a widely-regarded scholar in constitutional law. She is an expert on and advocate for the U.S. Constitution's required separation of church and state. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University in 1979 then earned a Masters degree at Pennsylvania State University and a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. She served as a law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Marci was very eloquent and very carefully vacated any misconceptions that the YOU the Agudah and others seem to use as a smoke screen for your positions. To paraphrase: the Markey bill is following the guidelines set forth in the open window legislation of the California and Delaware bills where no civil litigations were allowed to move forward without a “certificate of merit” from a qualified mental professional. This would absolutely disqualify your contention of “capricious litigation”. Furthermore, the “open window” bill produces extremely low numbers of false claims we repeat “proven false” claims but revealed a record breaking additional 360 previously unknown pedophiles that those states have now registered and citizens are now aware of and can protect themselves from.
There is a statistical study which revealed that every repeat offender known as a serial pedophile will in his/her lifetime commit 400 acts of abuse also appropriately referred to as violence in their lifespan. YOU, the Agudah are smart enough to run those numbers for yourselves but we can help you with that, an additional 360 x 400, that is 144,000 acts of violence against children that may be averted in the states of California and Delaware. Don’t you want to claim that you can do that for our children as well? And yet with the great Jewish population in the state of California we did not hear of even one Jewish institution that was forced to close or forced into bankruptcy due to this one year open window of opportunity. Would you care to explain that? Is it because no one sued them or because they had less Frum Jewish pedophiles than we do here? Either way it doesn’t show much cause for your position.
It is quite clear that when you speak of the “fundamental interest of our community” you speak of the “financial” interest of our community because basically that is ALL you are concerned with. No not actually you are also concerned with losing face for your organization and the Rabbinical members who themselves are “nogeah b’davar” because they are personally involved or because they are involved in the cover-up, either way a conflict of interest; absolutely not capable of making a proper or unbiased decision in this case. As you say “Our rabbinic and lay leaderships are acutely aware of the emotional trauma and damage caused by the perpetrators of such abuse.” They are aware, because they have always been aware and have chosen to do nothing, again, they are nogeah b’dovor and therefore not qualified to make an unbiased decision in this case. They should be respectfully exempt from this decision for obvious reasons and only those who have never been touched by this issue should be allowed to have a say in it.
Why is it that when Reb Elyashiv offers a psak everyone listens as if it came from Har Sinai itself, but in this case when his psak clearly states that perpetrators should be handed over to the authorities his words are ignored like poison? Had he followed his psak with “and their wives’ sheitels should be burnt”, maybe, maybe at least there would have been a bon fire. A valid question would be, did the executive members of the Agudah discuss this issue with the Gedolim of Eretz Yisroel and get some guidance from them before coming to this conclusion? Was Reb Elyashiv consulted?
Now lets look at your financial concern.
I am surprised that you do not have faith in the myriads of religious CPA’s and Attorneys who we are quite sure are already hard at work (just in case) closing old corporations and opening new ones to hide any assets that Yeshivas and other institutions have. In the event that, which is highly unlikely, anyone would actually go so far as to sue and receive an award from same, there would never be any money, any building, any asset left in the name of the institution that would have been in business at the time of the event. Come on, we are all Yiddish Kep here, we know how the game is played. It is an insult to the intelligence of the K’lal that you think we are fooled by this smoke screen. And WE also know that YOU know that 95% of all victims are not interested in monetary compensation. All they are interested in is putting their abusers out of business and making sure they never ever have access to innocent children again.
So what really is your motivation behind this?
We know, you are still protecting the pedophiles and their protectors. YOU still don’t want to come clean. You still wish to honor them and not disgrace them by allowing their names to become public. You are still more concerned with their reputation than with allowing the victims of their crimes to have the opportunity to start healing and finding some closure to their misery.
SHAME ON YOU!
If you recall back in the 1960’s Emile Zola coined the phrase J’ACCUSE against the French government in reference to the Dreyfus case. I am going to say those words to you here and now.
J’ACCUSE
For putting the honor of the Jewish religious pedophiles first and foremost before the welfare of their victims. “the burden of litigation expense or legal liability for ancient claims would fall squarely on an entirely innocent group - the current parent body”. That is a complete and utter fallacy and you are trying to misguide the public because they have total faith and trust in you as we once did. The current financial body should hire representation to absolutely REFUSE to defend the institution and the pedophiles they harbor. THEY should demand the immediate dismissal of said pedophile and any administrator who was connected to the case and absolutely forbid any tuition funds or any other funds to be used in defense of either. As stated before, the corporation at the time of abuse would no longer be current if the CPA’s and attorneys are doing their jobs for cases that happened way in the past. Cases that happened in the past 10-12 years would be covered under their insurance policies which have sexual abuse riders. So again, YOU the Agudah are trying to SCARE and frighten the Olam to fall into line behind you.
J’ACCUSE
“Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah have taken a number of concrete steps to help ensure that Jewish schools, extra-curricular youth programs and summer camps implement policies and procedures designed to protect children against such abuse. Our organizations have also supported legislative efforts to furnish such protection, including the recently enacted legislation in New York authorizing nonpublic schools to screen all prospective employees through the state's fingerprint checking system. ”
What exactly have you done and how has it helped? Yes you have supported the legislation with lip service, but what have you done to implement it, basically nothing.
J’ACCUSE
YOU who have implemented TAKANOS not suggestions, on how many guests one can invite to their own Simcha, limiting the parnasah a caterer makes, how many musicians a person can hire for their own simcha, limiting the parnasah a musician makes, but did nothing to implement the fingerprinting and background checks in all Yeshivos! YOU did not make that mandatory! You just supported the bill and allowed for those who wanted to comply. Where were the TAKANOS to prevent child abuse and molestation of our precious children?
J’ACCUSE
YOU could have saved thousands, upon thousands of young innocent neshomas but you didn’t.
J’ACCUSE
For the good things that the Agudath Israel has done for K’lal Yisroel you have neglected on a tremendously large scale the biggest responsibility any Jewish organization of such magnitude has and that is to protect our innocent neshomas!
You have a great big chelek in the pain and suffering of thousands of yiddishe kinderlach and their families for tearing their lives apart and for pushing and shoving them off the derech.
And now instead of showing them and all the children, the future of K’lal Yisroel that YOU stand for honesty and integrity, exactly what we teach and expect from our children YOU want to absolve ALL the guilty parties of their responsibility and accountability? Is this the hypocrisy that you choose to continue to role model for our children?
YOU had and still have an opportunity of teshuva and of helping to allow the healing to begin but you refuse to step up to the plate.
WE can’t force you to do the right thing; we can only ask you to. But whether you do or don’t, the bill will go forth and it will pass because every day it gains support, and with each day’s gain, those who approve and support the bill continue to garner more and more support, and it is growing like a wildfire because it is the right thing to do. Hashem will help us uncover the truth and reveal the identities of all the dangerous individuals who hide amongst us, who are not ashamed to defile our youth within the walls of mekomos kedoshim like yeshivas, mikvaot and shuls. The health and welfare of our children far outweighs the financial concerns of institutions real or imagined.
These institutions know how to protect themselves but children don’t and that is why WE have to find ways to help them, as Margaret Markey, Thomas Duane, and the fine states of California and Delaware have. So with you or without you WE know right from wrong, WE understand good from evil, WE know the good guys from the bad guys, WE know who to honor and respect and who to turn away from. Hashem has given us strict guidelines in the Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach. Those who cross those lines, do not deserve the honor and respect you insist on bestowing upon them. Anyone with an ounce of seichel Hashem has given them will see through your smoke screen and contact their Legislative representatives to throw their support behind this bill.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Sherree Belsky Director Kids Count Foundation (For Reference: Sherree Belsky – Maiden name Gottesman -second Generation Holocaust survivor – Auschwitz death camps; Belsky (Bielski – Bielski Brothers- Jewish partisans saved 1,200 Jews in the Russian and polish forests in the Holocaust)
Rabbi Dr. Asher Lipner Ph.D Vice President Jewish Board of Advocates for Children
Elie Hiller Jewish Educator West Orange, NJ
Mrs. Pearl Engelman Mother of Joel Engelman Brooklyn, N.Y.
*
The RCA Statement On The Markey Bill
March 20, 2009
Dear Ms. Markey:
The Rabbinical Council of America represents more than 1,000 modern and centrist orthodox rabbis. We are the rabbinic arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
We support Bill No. A.02596, sponsored by you, which would extend the civil and criminal statutes of limitations for sex abuse victims.
Child sex abuse is a horrendous crime. Victims often bear the scars for entire lifetimes. They are at higher risk for clinical depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
Many victims are overcome by feelings of confusion, shame, and embarrassment. As children and teens, they are psychologically and emotionally unable to deal with the court system. Only later, as adults, and often with therapy, do they feel comfortable in working with the judicial system. Unfortunately, arbitrary statutes of limitations stand in their way.
Jewish law and tradition recognize the need for our justice system to protect the most vulnerable among us. Lowering the statute of limitations bar for child sex abuse victims would serve that purpose. Sexual predators are often recidivists and need to be incarcerated, and classified as convicted sex offenders, in order to assure public safety. Sex abuse victims deserve to be fairly compensated for their grievous injuries. Your bill will assure these laudatory goals.
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Basil Herring
Executive Vice-President
Monday, April 27, 2009
Dear Hashem,
A victim of abuse writes....
Dear Hashem,
I’m at the end of my strength in Emunah.
As a victim of abuse, I was told by YOUR guardians of YOUR Torah that it’s Asur to inform the authorities. Instead of caring about my feelings, pain and soul, they played with me more. YOUR rabbis, called me a liar, threatened my safety, threatened my education, tried to ruin my father’s salary, and more all to protect YOUR honor. YOU watched and did nothing.
Now, YOUR Agudah anointed rabbis have decided to prevent YOUR other children from being protected, all because of fear for their real estate.
Hashem, YOU know what YOU had in mind when YOU wrote YOUR Torah. YOU have been silent too long, and allowed these Agudah anointed rabbis to twist it for their sick pleasure. Help from the authorities was blocked by YOUR people, increasing statute of limitations are being blocked by them too, YOUR bais dins are a corrupt kickback scheme going to the highest bidder. YOU know that my pain is still under YOUR statute of limitations. Please make it up to me already.
Only YOU know how to correct a broken system, only YOU know how to turn a victim into a winner, and a Rodef into one running for his life. It’s time to wake up YOUR Agudah anointed rabbis, and the mentally stunted richies who installed these corrupt evildoers as YOUR messengers to destroy our lives. It’s time for YOU to do justice. Let YOUR Torah be followed, not the malicious lies the Agudah rabbis spread about YOUR Torah.
I don’t want to be pushy, I’ll allow until Pesach Sheni for these imposters to step aside and close shop and pass the torch to those not afraid to follow YOUR Torah. But, then please, please, please turn things over. My only hope for Justice is YOU.
Please don’t let me down.
*
Anonymous writes:
You know, personal experience goes a long way, here, and quite frankly and with all due respect to the "great sages" of our generation, these head in the sand beards - and I am speaking from personal experience - take their egos way beyond their capabilities. Many yeshivos seek out so-called "daas toireh" and these alleged leaders - who know nothing about many of the chidren and cases they are speaking - pasken shailos on these children with the same regard as answering some hausfrau who dropped a chicken wing in the milchig sink how to kasher it.
DISGRACEFUL!
You heard it here folks. Boruch Dayan Emes. DAAS TORAH IS DEAD.
That the Agudah could oppose this bill, Zwiebel should wake up and realize that the nice guy I met 20 years ago sold out. This guy is a disgrace to the race. The CA and DE legislation make it crystal clear that not only do these so called ancient cases never make it - but HUNDREDS of pervs get caught. I wouldn't be surprised if these guys know who they are protecting and refuse to out them. SICK.
The Agudah is meakeiv the geulah with this nazi-like stance. Protect the superior race of yeshivos. That's what they say. Protect our moisdois. HAH! Protect the Almighty Dollar is their truth. These guys shuckle fine and good, but when it comes to a dollar they'll sell all the victims of rape and torture that the Kolkos and Mondrowitzs destroyed.
The Agudah is a sham. Sherer is rolling in his grave.
All we ask is that the children be put first. And the Agudah says no.
Well, let them call me for money again. And when I tell the shik yingle who calls that the Agudah protects rapists from prosecution, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll take me off their call list.
*
Published With Permission
Dear UOJ,
FYI, I sent a letter to Shafran and the other goons. Below is their response. I feel like the last post of yours to Hashem could have been written by me. I am at my wits end. When these guys get up there, they will have a lot to answer for.
Gentlemen,
I was quite surprised to see your statement that you are against the
latest bill making its way to passage in NYS. I was surprised because
usually when something is a done deal, you're usually smart enough not to
come out against it. In addition, your claims that it will bankrupt
institutions are faulty.
When a window like this opened up in California,
no such thing happened. All this just points to is that
you are merely covering up, yet again. It is inconceivable
that we have an organization that is actually against protecting children.
And please don't tell me that Agudah is for it.
It took years for the Agudah to reverse itself visa vis the fingerprinting legislation. I am terribly upset about this.
Please tell me that it was a miscommunication, or that it was solely some sort of crazy PR move. If this actually is the policy of the Agudah and its Moetzes, then the frum Jewish community is in lots of trouble.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bernie Madoff's biggest fan and admirer responds
Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXX,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the joint Agudath Israel-Torah
Umesorah statement regarding proposed new laws amending the existing
statutes of limitation regarding child sexual abuse claims.
Regarding important issues like this, our stances are formulated
by our rabbinic leadership. You may feel that the members of the
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah
are misguided here, but I hope you will permit us to remain true to our principles, the principles of Klal Yisroel since Sinai, that the einei ha’eida exist to guide us, not the other way around.
There are a number of errors in your short note. We did not “reverse” any
position on the legislation permitting nonpublic schools to fingerprint
employees for the purpose of ensuring they have no criminal records; nor
are we “covering up”, or have we ever done so, for anyone.
Our position is not, chas visholom, “against protecting children.” As the
statement notes, we do not oppose even an expansion of the statute of
limitations to bring civil or criminal claims against perpetrators. But
our Gedolim feel we cannot support laws that would encourage ancient
claims against yeshivas that could destroy institutions that are the
lifeblood of Klal Yisroel.
It is clear indeed that you are “terribly upset” about our position on the
issue. I think what you are really terribly upset about is the issue
itself, the reprehensible crime of child abuse. That is something well
worth being upset about, as we are too, I assure you. But being upset
must not permit us to make decisions that, while they might be
well-intentioned, have not been well thought-out.
May we see the day soon when all children are safe from abuse of every sort.
Rabbi Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
*
The decisions of the rabbis have been "well thought-out" --- and have been for the last 50 years!
UOJ
Dear Hashem,
I’m at the end of my strength in Emunah.
As a victim of abuse, I was told by YOUR guardians of YOUR Torah that it’s Asur to inform the authorities. Instead of caring about my feelings, pain and soul, they played with me more. YOUR rabbis, called me a liar, threatened my safety, threatened my education, tried to ruin my father’s salary, and more all to protect YOUR honor. YOU watched and did nothing.
Now, YOUR Agudah anointed rabbis have decided to prevent YOUR other children from being protected, all because of fear for their real estate.
Hashem, YOU know what YOU had in mind when YOU wrote YOUR Torah. YOU have been silent too long, and allowed these Agudah anointed rabbis to twist it for their sick pleasure. Help from the authorities was blocked by YOUR people, increasing statute of limitations are being blocked by them too, YOUR bais dins are a corrupt kickback scheme going to the highest bidder. YOU know that my pain is still under YOUR statute of limitations. Please make it up to me already.
Only YOU know how to correct a broken system, only YOU know how to turn a victim into a winner, and a Rodef into one running for his life. It’s time to wake up YOUR Agudah anointed rabbis, and the mentally stunted richies who installed these corrupt evildoers as YOUR messengers to destroy our lives. It’s time for YOU to do justice. Let YOUR Torah be followed, not the malicious lies the Agudah rabbis spread about YOUR Torah.
I don’t want to be pushy, I’ll allow until Pesach Sheni for these imposters to step aside and close shop and pass the torch to those not afraid to follow YOUR Torah. But, then please, please, please turn things over. My only hope for Justice is YOU.
Please don’t let me down.
*
Anonymous writes:
You know, personal experience goes a long way, here, and quite frankly and with all due respect to the "great sages" of our generation, these head in the sand beards - and I am speaking from personal experience - take their egos way beyond their capabilities. Many yeshivos seek out so-called "daas toireh" and these alleged leaders - who know nothing about many of the chidren and cases they are speaking - pasken shailos on these children with the same regard as answering some hausfrau who dropped a chicken wing in the milchig sink how to kasher it.
DISGRACEFUL!
You heard it here folks. Boruch Dayan Emes. DAAS TORAH IS DEAD.
That the Agudah could oppose this bill, Zwiebel should wake up and realize that the nice guy I met 20 years ago sold out. This guy is a disgrace to the race. The CA and DE legislation make it crystal clear that not only do these so called ancient cases never make it - but HUNDREDS of pervs get caught. I wouldn't be surprised if these guys know who they are protecting and refuse to out them. SICK.
The Agudah is meakeiv the geulah with this nazi-like stance. Protect the superior race of yeshivos. That's what they say. Protect our moisdois. HAH! Protect the Almighty Dollar is their truth. These guys shuckle fine and good, but when it comes to a dollar they'll sell all the victims of rape and torture that the Kolkos and Mondrowitzs destroyed.
The Agudah is a sham. Sherer is rolling in his grave.
All we ask is that the children be put first. And the Agudah says no.
Well, let them call me for money again. And when I tell the shik yingle who calls that the Agudah protects rapists from prosecution, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll take me off their call list.
*
Published With Permission
Dear UOJ,
FYI, I sent a letter to Shafran and the other goons. Below is their response. I feel like the last post of yours to Hashem could have been written by me. I am at my wits end. When these guys get up there, they will have a lot to answer for.
Gentlemen,
I was quite surprised to see your statement that you are against the
latest bill making its way to passage in NYS. I was surprised because
usually when something is a done deal, you're usually smart enough not to
come out against it. In addition, your claims that it will bankrupt
institutions are faulty.
When a window like this opened up in California,
no such thing happened. All this just points to is that
you are merely covering up, yet again. It is inconceivable
that we have an organization that is actually against protecting children.
And please don't tell me that Agudah is for it.
It took years for the Agudah to reverse itself visa vis the fingerprinting legislation. I am terribly upset about this.
Please tell me that it was a miscommunication, or that it was solely some sort of crazy PR move. If this actually is the policy of the Agudah and its Moetzes, then the frum Jewish community is in lots of trouble.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bernie Madoff's biggest fan and admirer responds
Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXX,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the joint Agudath Israel-Torah
Umesorah statement regarding proposed new laws amending the existing
statutes of limitation regarding child sexual abuse claims.
Regarding important issues like this, our stances are formulated
by our rabbinic leadership. You may feel that the members of the
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah
are misguided here, but I hope you will permit us to remain true to our principles, the principles of Klal Yisroel since Sinai, that the einei ha’eida exist to guide us, not the other way around.
There are a number of errors in your short note. We did not “reverse” any
position on the legislation permitting nonpublic schools to fingerprint
employees for the purpose of ensuring they have no criminal records; nor
are we “covering up”, or have we ever done so, for anyone.
Our position is not, chas visholom, “against protecting children.” As the
statement notes, we do not oppose even an expansion of the statute of
limitations to bring civil or criminal claims against perpetrators. But
our Gedolim feel we cannot support laws that would encourage ancient
claims against yeshivas that could destroy institutions that are the
lifeblood of Klal Yisroel.
It is clear indeed that you are “terribly upset” about our position on the
issue. I think what you are really terribly upset about is the issue
itself, the reprehensible crime of child abuse. That is something well
worth being upset about, as we are too, I assure you. But being upset
must not permit us to make decisions that, while they might be
well-intentioned, have not been well thought-out.
May we see the day soon when all children are safe from abuse of every sort.
Rabbi Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
*
The decisions of the rabbis have been "well thought-out" --- and have been for the last 50 years!
UOJ
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Gedolim/Rabbis Of The Agudath Israel & Torah Umesorah Have Decided To Keep The Criminal Cover-Up Going Strong!
For Immediate Release: April 21, 2009
For Further Information
Contact: Rabbi Avi Shafran
212 797-9000 ext. #303
Agudath Israel of America and Torah Umesorah – The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, upon consultation with their respective rabbinic leaderships, respectfully submit this statement regarding legislative proposals to amend existing statutes of limitations for civil claims, including claims against schools and other communal institutions, based on allegations of child sexual abuse. We do so only after much serious thought, after weighing all relevant arguments and for the sole purpose of protecting the most fundamental interests of our community.
Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah fully acknowledge the horror of child sexual abuse and the devastating long-term scars it all too often creates. Our rabbinic and lay leaderships are acutely aware of the emotional trauma and damage caused by the perpetrators of such abuse. Our hearts go out to their victims, and we share in their pain. We realize that for too long many victims have suffered alone. We are committed as a community to do whatever we can to root out perpetrators of child abuse from our schools and other communal institutions, and to help victims on the road to healing and recovery.
Indeed, in recent years, as awareness has increased and sensitivity has been heightened regarding the incidence of sexual abuse and its severity, both in the broader society around us and in our community specifically, Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah have taken a number of concrete steps to help ensure that Jewish schools, extra-curricular youth programs and summer camps implement policies and procedures designed to protect children against such abuse. Our organizations have also supported legislative efforts to furnish such protection, including the recently enacted legislation in New York authorizing nonpublic schools to screen all prospective employees through the state’s fingerprint checking system.
With respect to the proposed amendments to existing statutes of limitations, Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah fully understand that the trauma of abuse is often so great that young adults may not be emotionally prepared to file claims against their abusers within the traditional limitations period. Strict adherence to the existing statutes of limitations could thus operate to preclude certain legitimate claims and protect perpetrators of abuse. Our organizations would therefore have no objection to legislation designed to give victims of abuse greater recourse against perpetrators. Nor would we object to extending statutes of limitations for criminal proceedings against perpetrators.
What Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah must object to, however, is legislation that could literally destroy schools, houses of worship that sponsor youth programs, summer camps and other institutions that are the very lifeblood of our community.
To take perhaps the most problematic example of such legislation, bills have been introduced in New York and other states that would create a one year window during which any civil claim based upon child sexual abuse could be brought, even against schools and other communal institutions, regardless of how long ago the incident is alleged to have taken place. One could envision a scenario in which a senior citizen might choose to bring a claim against a school for an incident that allegedly occurred over half-a-century ago when the claimant was a child. The fact that the alleged perpetrator may have passed on, or that the administration of the school may have changed several times since the alleged abuse, or that the school no longer has any records or insurance policies dating back to the time the abuse allegedly occurred, or even any records of the individual ever having attended the school, would be of no moment whatsoever under the proposed bill. The current school administration, entirely ignorant of what may or may not have occurred so many years ago, would be forced to defend the school in a court of law, incur the high expenses of legal fees and diversion of human resources, and face potentially crippling financial liability.
It is important to recognize that Jewish schools are independent entities supported wholly by parental tuition and fundraising. Therefore, the burden of litigation expense or legal liability for ancient claims would fall squarely on an entirely innocent group – the current parent body. Needless to say, in today’s perilous financial climate, as many parents are unable to meet even their basic tuition obligations and schools struggle to remain fiscally viable, this burden would be extremely difficult to bear, and could ultimately lead to school closures.
Stated simply, legislation that would do away with the statute of limitations completely, even if only for a one-year period, could subject schools and other vital institutions to ancient claims and capricious litigation, and place their very existence in severe jeopardy.
Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah most vigorously oppose any such legislation.
We must continue to seek out ways to protect our precious children and help eradicate molestation and other forms of abuse. We must also redouble our efforts to help those who have suffered the horrors of child abuse obtain the healing they so desperately need. However, we dare not bring down our most vital communal institutions in the process.
For Further Information
Contact: Rabbi Avi Shafran
212 797-9000 ext. #303
Agudath Israel of America and Torah Umesorah – The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, upon consultation with their respective rabbinic leaderships, respectfully submit this statement regarding legislative proposals to amend existing statutes of limitations for civil claims, including claims against schools and other communal institutions, based on allegations of child sexual abuse. We do so only after much serious thought, after weighing all relevant arguments and for the sole purpose of protecting the most fundamental interests of our community.
Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah fully acknowledge the horror of child sexual abuse and the devastating long-term scars it all too often creates. Our rabbinic and lay leaderships are acutely aware of the emotional trauma and damage caused by the perpetrators of such abuse. Our hearts go out to their victims, and we share in their pain. We realize that for too long many victims have suffered alone. We are committed as a community to do whatever we can to root out perpetrators of child abuse from our schools and other communal institutions, and to help victims on the road to healing and recovery.
Indeed, in recent years, as awareness has increased and sensitivity has been heightened regarding the incidence of sexual abuse and its severity, both in the broader society around us and in our community specifically, Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah have taken a number of concrete steps to help ensure that Jewish schools, extra-curricular youth programs and summer camps implement policies and procedures designed to protect children against such abuse. Our organizations have also supported legislative efforts to furnish such protection, including the recently enacted legislation in New York authorizing nonpublic schools to screen all prospective employees through the state’s fingerprint checking system.
With respect to the proposed amendments to existing statutes of limitations, Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah fully understand that the trauma of abuse is often so great that young adults may not be emotionally prepared to file claims against their abusers within the traditional limitations period. Strict adherence to the existing statutes of limitations could thus operate to preclude certain legitimate claims and protect perpetrators of abuse. Our organizations would therefore have no objection to legislation designed to give victims of abuse greater recourse against perpetrators. Nor would we object to extending statutes of limitations for criminal proceedings against perpetrators.
What Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah must object to, however, is legislation that could literally destroy schools, houses of worship that sponsor youth programs, summer camps and other institutions that are the very lifeblood of our community.
To take perhaps the most problematic example of such legislation, bills have been introduced in New York and other states that would create a one year window during which any civil claim based upon child sexual abuse could be brought, even against schools and other communal institutions, regardless of how long ago the incident is alleged to have taken place. One could envision a scenario in which a senior citizen might choose to bring a claim against a school for an incident that allegedly occurred over half-a-century ago when the claimant was a child. The fact that the alleged perpetrator may have passed on, or that the administration of the school may have changed several times since the alleged abuse, or that the school no longer has any records or insurance policies dating back to the time the abuse allegedly occurred, or even any records of the individual ever having attended the school, would be of no moment whatsoever under the proposed bill. The current school administration, entirely ignorant of what may or may not have occurred so many years ago, would be forced to defend the school in a court of law, incur the high expenses of legal fees and diversion of human resources, and face potentially crippling financial liability.
It is important to recognize that Jewish schools are independent entities supported wholly by parental tuition and fundraising. Therefore, the burden of litigation expense or legal liability for ancient claims would fall squarely on an entirely innocent group – the current parent body. Needless to say, in today’s perilous financial climate, as many parents are unable to meet even their basic tuition obligations and schools struggle to remain fiscally viable, this burden would be extremely difficult to bear, and could ultimately lead to school closures.
Stated simply, legislation that would do away with the statute of limitations completely, even if only for a one-year period, could subject schools and other vital institutions to ancient claims and capricious litigation, and place their very existence in severe jeopardy.
Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah most vigorously oppose any such legislation.
We must continue to seek out ways to protect our precious children and help eradicate molestation and other forms of abuse. We must also redouble our efforts to help those who have suffered the horrors of child abuse obtain the healing they so desperately need. However, we dare not bring down our most vital communal institutions in the process.
Friday, April 17, 2009
This coming Tuesday - April 21st, 2009 - we can make a difference!
NY State has the most lenient laws against sexual predators for kids. This coming Tuesday April 21st, 2009 - we can make a difference!
Right now, the laws actually protect the predators of our children. The predators walk free to do it again and again, and can't be prosecuted in many cases because the statute of limitations has run out.
This coming Tuesday April 21st, 2009, child advocacy groups from all over New York are coming together to lobby for Assemblywoman's "Markey Child Victims Act" in Albany. The political system will take us seriously if we come out and show our support of the bill. That's how it works. Our strength is in numbers. You can make a real difference in helping the Markey Bill to pass, every person counts.
Am Echad urges you to stand up for our children and come with us to Albany! If you don't care enough to fight for the well-being of your children, who will? The Agudath Israel's cavorting with the Catholic Church to block this bill must be prevented at all costs! If this bill does not pass, the vicious sexual predator(s) that may be in your child's school, will forever be swept under the Agudah's rug!
SurvivorsForJustice.org has graciously arranged for free bus transportation from Manhattan and Brooklyn and will provide you with a glatt kosher lunch, no charge. (What true Jew can say NO to free?) We will be leaving early Tuesday morning and coming back approx 4 pm. We look forward to spending the day with you, meeting assemblymen and high ranking politicians together, and providing an educational experience for you on many important issues.
Please email Mark Appel at MARKMAPPEL@AOL.COM or call him at 212-873-3938 for bus departure locations and information.
We can't sit by as our children are wronged. We must act.
This cause is endorsed by Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Alan Schwartz, RCA Rabbinical Council of America and other leading rabbis.
Right now, the laws actually protect the predators of our children. The predators walk free to do it again and again, and can't be prosecuted in many cases because the statute of limitations has run out.
This coming Tuesday April 21st, 2009, child advocacy groups from all over New York are coming together to lobby for Assemblywoman's "Markey Child Victims Act" in Albany. The political system will take us seriously if we come out and show our support of the bill. That's how it works. Our strength is in numbers. You can make a real difference in helping the Markey Bill to pass, every person counts.
Am Echad urges you to stand up for our children and come with us to Albany! If you don't care enough to fight for the well-being of your children, who will? The Agudath Israel's cavorting with the Catholic Church to block this bill must be prevented at all costs! If this bill does not pass, the vicious sexual predator(s) that may be in your child's school, will forever be swept under the Agudah's rug!
SurvivorsForJustice.org has graciously arranged for free bus transportation from Manhattan and Brooklyn and will provide you with a glatt kosher lunch, no charge. (What true Jew can say NO to free?) We will be leaving early Tuesday morning and coming back approx 4 pm. We look forward to spending the day with you, meeting assemblymen and high ranking politicians together, and providing an educational experience for you on many important issues.
Please email Mark Appel at MARKMAPPEL@AOL.COM or call him at 212-873-3938 for bus departure locations and information.
We can't sit by as our children are wronged. We must act.
This cause is endorsed by Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Alan Schwartz, RCA Rabbinical Council of America and other leading rabbis.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Bungalow Putz Part Deux & The "Brooklyn 19" DA Orchestra Conducted By Charlie Hynes - Playing At A Yeshiva Basement Near You!
SPONSORED BY THE AGUDATH ISRAEL & OHEL FAMILY SERVICES - MASTER OF CEREMONIES MARVIN SCHICK! LIMITED ENGAGEMENT THIS CHOL HAMOED --- BROOKLYN 19 ORCHESTRA FIRST TIME PLAYING TOGETHER ON STAGE! --- TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL TORAH TRUE YESHIVAS!
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WITH CAMEO APPEARANCES BY SHALOM, MORDECAI AND ARON TENDLER ---THE TENDLER TRINITY OF HUMAN GARBAGE!
Mah Nishtana:
The Four Kashyas of Our Kinderlach, Some of Whom Are No Longer at the Seder
Why is the sexual abuse of children treated differently than all other communal issues?
1) In all other areas of halacha, we enforce the highest level of tznius and morality, but in this area of halacha - we ignore the rape of children.
2) In all other areas of kashrus, we demand the highest level of reliability, certification and supervision, but in the sanctity of children's own bodies - we demand none.
3) On all other matters, we follow the psak of Rav Eliyashiv, but when Rav Eliyashiv gives a psak urging victims of sexual abuse to report their abusers to the police - we ignore him.
4) In all other areas of a child's life, we fight and demand for their rights, (we lobby for bussing, for textbooks, for school lunch programs...) but when it comes to the sexual abuse of children - we lobby to protect our children’s abusers.
Tatty Answers:
You see my child...
The answer to all the four questions is:
Call 911
We can't sit and expect Agudah to solve all the problems.
You see my child....
Our gedolim are too busy for you. They are busy banning concerts, banning books, having photo-ops all over the country, ripping microphones out of singers hands, and defending Bernie Madoff.
You see my child...
Agudah made a convention a few years ago, and declared that all non Moetzes rabbis could not be classified as a "gadol". Therefore Rabbi Yosef Karo who wrote the Shulchan Aruch is irrelevant by these great "scholars". Rav Elyashiv is a moderner in their eyes.
You see my child...
There are so many children who don't have a Seder anymore because of them being sexually abused in yeshivas and elsewhere. So many teens are dead from drug overdoses and alcohol abuse, caused by drowning out the pain. Yet the Agudah could care less about them. Only their supporters and those who toe the line are important.
My dear child...
Follow the law.
Use the police to uphold the law.
Convince others to to the same.
Then...
Shfoch Chamoscha El Agudah Asher Lo Yeda'Ucha. People who distort the Torah like them.
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WITH CAMEO APPEARANCES BY SHALOM, MORDECAI AND ARON TENDLER ---THE TENDLER TRINITY OF HUMAN GARBAGE!
Mah Nishtana:
The Four Kashyas of Our Kinderlach, Some of Whom Are No Longer at the Seder
Why is the sexual abuse of children treated differently than all other communal issues?
1) In all other areas of halacha, we enforce the highest level of tznius and morality, but in this area of halacha - we ignore the rape of children.
2) In all other areas of kashrus, we demand the highest level of reliability, certification and supervision, but in the sanctity of children's own bodies - we demand none.
3) On all other matters, we follow the psak of Rav Eliyashiv, but when Rav Eliyashiv gives a psak urging victims of sexual abuse to report their abusers to the police - we ignore him.
4) In all other areas of a child's life, we fight and demand for their rights, (we lobby for bussing, for textbooks, for school lunch programs...) but when it comes to the sexual abuse of children - we lobby to protect our children’s abusers.
Tatty Answers:
You see my child...
The answer to all the four questions is:
Call 911
We can't sit and expect Agudah to solve all the problems.
You see my child....
Our gedolim are too busy for you. They are busy banning concerts, banning books, having photo-ops all over the country, ripping microphones out of singers hands, and defending Bernie Madoff.
You see my child...
Agudah made a convention a few years ago, and declared that all non Moetzes rabbis could not be classified as a "gadol". Therefore Rabbi Yosef Karo who wrote the Shulchan Aruch is irrelevant by these great "scholars". Rav Elyashiv is a moderner in their eyes.
You see my child...
There are so many children who don't have a Seder anymore because of them being sexually abused in yeshivas and elsewhere. So many teens are dead from drug overdoses and alcohol abuse, caused by drowning out the pain. Yet the Agudah could care less about them. Only their supporters and those who toe the line are important.
My dear child...
Follow the law.
Use the police to uphold the law.
Convince others to to the same.
Then...
Shfoch Chamoscha El Agudah Asher Lo Yeda'Ucha. People who distort the Torah like them.
Friday, April 03, 2009
The Mindset Of A Very Ill Man - Avi Shafran - and the Organization He Works For - Spokesperson For The Agudath Israel Of America
This is NOT a parody - All public statements are pre-authorized by the rabbis at the Agudath Israel.
New York - Something tells me I won’t make any new friends (and might even lose some old ones) if I confess to harboring some admiration for Bernard Madoff.
And to make things worse, I can’t muster much for Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed a full commercial airliner in the Hudson River back in January.
Let me try to explain. Please.
Mr. Madoff committed a serious economic crime on an unprecedented scale for such wrongdoing, and in the process ruined the financial futures of numerous people and institutions, including charitable ones, worldwide. There can be no denying that.
Yet I can’t quite bring myself to join the large, loud chorus of those who have condemned him to – to take Ralph Blumenthal’s judgment in The New York Times Magazine – the Pit, the deepest circle of Dante’s Inferno. Others have devised and publicly proclaimed creative and exquisite tortures of their own for the disgraced businessman – Woody Allen fantasized Madoff being attacked by clients reincarnated as lobsters, and Elie Wiesel wished the investor confined to a solitary cell and forced to watch his victims on a screen bewail their changed fortunes. The fury of the bilked has yielded opprobrium and loathing that isn’t visited on mass murderers.
I think the revulsion may say more about the revolted – and our money-obsessed and vengeance-obsessed society – than it does about Madoff. His crime, after all, was really remarkable only for its longevity and its scope. The Torah teaches that stealing is a sin, but it doesn’t differentiate between misappropriating a million dollars and pilfering a dime. And as to the sheer number of people defrauded by the thief of the moment, well, anyone who cheats on his federal income tax is defrauding 300 million of his fellow citizens. Few though, in such cases, invoke Dante.
What is more, Madoff likely began his crime spree in the hope of rewarding, not swindling, investors, and by the time it became clear he wouldn’t be able to do that, he was already deeply entangled – and daily becoming more entangled – in the web he wove.
None of that, though, is to belittle the great pain Mr. Madoff caused, and is certainly no cause for affording the iniquitous investment broker respect. No, what I admire about him has to do with his owning up to his crime.
Think about it. The man knew for years that his scheme would eventually come apart and that prosecution loomed, yet he took no steps to flee, huge bribe in hand, to some country lacking extradition treaties. Idi Amin, we might recall, died of old age in luxury. Madoff’s millions, moreover, could have easily bought him a new face and identity papers; he could spent his senior years tanned and well-fed among the sunbirds of Miami Beach.
Instead, though, he chose to essentially turn himself in and admit guilt. He apologized to his victims, acknowledging that he had “deeply hurt many, many people,” and adding, “I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done.”
No one can know if those words reflect the feelings in his heart, but I don’t claim any right to doubt that they do. And facing one’s sins and regretting them is the essence of teshuvah – which we are all enjoined to do for our personal aveiros, however small or large.
No such sublimity of spirit, though, was in evidence in any of the public acts or words of Mr. Sullenberger. He saved 155 lives, no doubt about it, and is certainly owed the hakoras hatov of those he saved, and of their families and friends. And he executed tremendous skill.
But no moral choice was involved in his act. He was on the plane too, after all; his own life depended on undertaking his feat no less than the lives of others. He did what anyone in terrible circumstances would do: try to stay alive. He was fortunate (as were his passengers) that he possessed the talents requisite to the task, but that’s a tribute to his training, and to the One Who instilled such astounding abilities in His creations (and Whose help the captain was not quoted as acknowledging). Basketball players are highly skilled, too – and heroes, in fact, to some. But I have never managed to understand that latter fact.
Sully has reportedly inked a $3 million book deal with HarperCollins, and is also planning a second book of inspirational poems; Bernie, likely for the rest of his life, will languish in jail.
That may make societal sense, but personally, I’m still unmoved by the pilot, and, at least somewhat, inspired by the penitent.
New York - Something tells me I won’t make any new friends (and might even lose some old ones) if I confess to harboring some admiration for Bernard Madoff.
And to make things worse, I can’t muster much for Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed a full commercial airliner in the Hudson River back in January.
Let me try to explain. Please.
Mr. Madoff committed a serious economic crime on an unprecedented scale for such wrongdoing, and in the process ruined the financial futures of numerous people and institutions, including charitable ones, worldwide. There can be no denying that.
Yet I can’t quite bring myself to join the large, loud chorus of those who have condemned him to – to take Ralph Blumenthal’s judgment in The New York Times Magazine – the Pit, the deepest circle of Dante’s Inferno. Others have devised and publicly proclaimed creative and exquisite tortures of their own for the disgraced businessman – Woody Allen fantasized Madoff being attacked by clients reincarnated as lobsters, and Elie Wiesel wished the investor confined to a solitary cell and forced to watch his victims on a screen bewail their changed fortunes. The fury of the bilked has yielded opprobrium and loathing that isn’t visited on mass murderers.
I think the revulsion may say more about the revolted – and our money-obsessed and vengeance-obsessed society – than it does about Madoff. His crime, after all, was really remarkable only for its longevity and its scope. The Torah teaches that stealing is a sin, but it doesn’t differentiate between misappropriating a million dollars and pilfering a dime. And as to the sheer number of people defrauded by the thief of the moment, well, anyone who cheats on his federal income tax is defrauding 300 million of his fellow citizens. Few though, in such cases, invoke Dante.
What is more, Madoff likely began his crime spree in the hope of rewarding, not swindling, investors, and by the time it became clear he wouldn’t be able to do that, he was already deeply entangled – and daily becoming more entangled – in the web he wove.
None of that, though, is to belittle the great pain Mr. Madoff caused, and is certainly no cause for affording the iniquitous investment broker respect. No, what I admire about him has to do with his owning up to his crime.
Think about it. The man knew for years that his scheme would eventually come apart and that prosecution loomed, yet he took no steps to flee, huge bribe in hand, to some country lacking extradition treaties. Idi Amin, we might recall, died of old age in luxury. Madoff’s millions, moreover, could have easily bought him a new face and identity papers; he could spent his senior years tanned and well-fed among the sunbirds of Miami Beach.
Instead, though, he chose to essentially turn himself in and admit guilt. He apologized to his victims, acknowledging that he had “deeply hurt many, many people,” and adding, “I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done.”
No one can know if those words reflect the feelings in his heart, but I don’t claim any right to doubt that they do. And facing one’s sins and regretting them is the essence of teshuvah – which we are all enjoined to do for our personal aveiros, however small or large.
No such sublimity of spirit, though, was in evidence in any of the public acts or words of Mr. Sullenberger. He saved 155 lives, no doubt about it, and is certainly owed the hakoras hatov of those he saved, and of their families and friends. And he executed tremendous skill.
But no moral choice was involved in his act. He was on the plane too, after all; his own life depended on undertaking his feat no less than the lives of others. He did what anyone in terrible circumstances would do: try to stay alive. He was fortunate (as were his passengers) that he possessed the talents requisite to the task, but that’s a tribute to his training, and to the One Who instilled such astounding abilities in His creations (and Whose help the captain was not quoted as acknowledging). Basketball players are highly skilled, too – and heroes, in fact, to some. But I have never managed to understand that latter fact.
Sully has reportedly inked a $3 million book deal with HarperCollins, and is also planning a second book of inspirational poems; Bernie, likely for the rest of his life, will languish in jail.
That may make societal sense, but personally, I’m still unmoved by the pilot, and, at least somewhat, inspired by the penitent.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
This is a day that will live in infamy for all children of New York State!
by survivor of abuse
"The Lopez Bill" made it this time by a vote of 18 - 1. This is a day that will live in infamy for all children of New York State.
As for Dov Hikind...how could you Dov? We backed you. We believed in you. We gave you time. We gave you a chance. We even looked the other way when you backed out of your promise to help Joel Engleman get rid of Reichman and save innocent Satmar kids. We should have listened to Pearl Engelman about you.
And you sell us out to the Agudah, Satmar and the Catholic Church? You deny those of us who were abused as children the right to sue our abusers? You won't do anything to stop them? You won't do anything to help us? But at least allow us to defend ourselves. It is like the Nazis not allowing Jews to have guns. You have taken away the one potential way that innocent children can get justice for what has been perpetrated on them by your friends, Dov. Why?
Shame on you. You are neither a "frum" Jew nor a caring person. You are "nuch" a politician, and we will not forget what you have done.
Shame on you and your whole family. Shame, shame shame. How can you look any Jewish child in the face now? Knowing that for the sake of "getting along with Satmar and Agudah and the Catholic Church" you took away the only weapon given to a victim of abuse by the United States government? You took away their chance to have their day in court! The victims of Mondrowitz and Kolko and all the rest will never forget and never forgive.
"The Lopez Bill" made it this time by a vote of 18 - 1. This is a day that will live in infamy for all children of New York State.
As for Dov Hikind...how could you Dov? We backed you. We believed in you. We gave you time. We gave you a chance. We even looked the other way when you backed out of your promise to help Joel Engleman get rid of Reichman and save innocent Satmar kids. We should have listened to Pearl Engelman about you.
And you sell us out to the Agudah, Satmar and the Catholic Church? You deny those of us who were abused as children the right to sue our abusers? You won't do anything to stop them? You won't do anything to help us? But at least allow us to defend ourselves. It is like the Nazis not allowing Jews to have guns. You have taken away the one potential way that innocent children can get justice for what has been perpetrated on them by your friends, Dov. Why?
Shame on you. You are neither a "frum" Jew nor a caring person. You are "nuch" a politician, and we will not forget what you have done.
Shame on you and your whole family. Shame, shame shame. How can you look any Jewish child in the face now? Knowing that for the sake of "getting along with Satmar and Agudah and the Catholic Church" you took away the only weapon given to a victim of abuse by the United States government? You took away their chance to have their day in court! The victims of Mondrowitz and Kolko and all the rest will never forget and never forgive.
Monday, March 30, 2009
URGENT MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY!
PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE AT ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ’S ATTEMPT TO SNEAK HIS PREVIOUSLY DEFEATED BILL NUMBER A.05708A THROUGH THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE.
OUR COMMUNITY IS IN SHOCK OVER SEXUAL ABUSE CASES NOW BEING MADE PUBLIC ON AN ALMOST DAILY BASIS. UNFORTUNATELY LAWS CURRENTLY ON THE BOOKS PROTECT CHILD MOLESTERS.
THANKFULLY, ASSEMBLYWOMAN MARGARET MARKEY HAS SPONSORED ASSEMBLY BILL NUMBER A2596. THE “CHILD VICTIMS’ ACT OF NEW YORK” WHICH OPENS UP A “WINDOW” TO ALLOW VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE TO EXPOSE THEIR ATTACKERS AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE. THE MARKEY BILL PASSED A CRUCIAL VOTE IN THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE ON MARCH 17, 2009. MARKEY’S BILL WILL BE UP FOR A VOTE BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY IN THE COMING WEEKS AND HAS THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY. IT IS EXPECTED TO PASS.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND A FEW ORTHODOX JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE GEDOLIM AT THE AGUDATH ISRAEL WHO HAVE BEEN PROTECTING PEDOPHILES FOR MANY DECADES, ARE DESPERATELY TRYING TO PREVENT THE PASSAGE OF MARKEY’S BILL. THEY HAVE PERSUADED ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ TO SPONSOR A COMPETING BILL, THE “LOPEZ BILL,” WHICH PROTECTS PEDOPHILES AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN.
ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ’S BILL A.05708A IS BEING VOTED ON IN THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE, TODAY, ON MARCH 31, 2009 AT 11:00. VITO LOPEZ’S BILL PROTECTS PEDOPHILES AND MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO PASS
PLEASE CALL AND E-MAIL ALL OF THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND TELL THEM THAT YOU ARE AN ORTHODOX JEW WHO OPPOSES ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ’S BILL A.05708A AND THAT THEY MUST DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO BLOCK THE LOPEZ BILL NUMBER A.05708A AND MAKE SURE IT IS NOT PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE.
15 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TODAY WILL HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT CHILD TOMORROW.
THE TIME TO ACT IS EARLY THIS MORNING. YOUR VOICE COUNTS MORE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE. EVERY SINGLE CALL AND E-MAIL COUNTS. PLEASE CALL AND E-MAIL AND ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME.
OUR COMMUNITY IS IN SHOCK OVER SEXUAL ABUSE CASES NOW BEING MADE PUBLIC ON AN ALMOST DAILY BASIS. UNFORTUNATELY LAWS CURRENTLY ON THE BOOKS PROTECT CHILD MOLESTERS.
THANKFULLY, ASSEMBLYWOMAN MARGARET MARKEY HAS SPONSORED ASSEMBLY BILL NUMBER A2596. THE “CHILD VICTIMS’ ACT OF NEW YORK” WHICH OPENS UP A “WINDOW” TO ALLOW VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE TO EXPOSE THEIR ATTACKERS AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE. THE MARKEY BILL PASSED A CRUCIAL VOTE IN THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE ON MARCH 17, 2009. MARKEY’S BILL WILL BE UP FOR A VOTE BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY IN THE COMING WEEKS AND HAS THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY. IT IS EXPECTED TO PASS.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND A FEW ORTHODOX JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE GEDOLIM AT THE AGUDATH ISRAEL WHO HAVE BEEN PROTECTING PEDOPHILES FOR MANY DECADES, ARE DESPERATELY TRYING TO PREVENT THE PASSAGE OF MARKEY’S BILL. THEY HAVE PERSUADED ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ TO SPONSOR A COMPETING BILL, THE “LOPEZ BILL,” WHICH PROTECTS PEDOPHILES AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN.
ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ’S BILL A.05708A IS BEING VOTED ON IN THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE, TODAY, ON MARCH 31, 2009 AT 11:00. VITO LOPEZ’S BILL PROTECTS PEDOPHILES AND MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO PASS
PLEASE CALL AND E-MAIL ALL OF THE ASSEMBLY CODES COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND TELL THEM THAT YOU ARE AN ORTHODOX JEW WHO OPPOSES ASSEMBLYMAN VITO LOPEZ’S BILL A.05708A AND THAT THEY MUST DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO BLOCK THE LOPEZ BILL NUMBER A.05708A AND MAKE SURE IT IS NOT PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE.
15 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TODAY WILL HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT CHILD TOMORROW.
THE TIME TO ACT IS EARLY THIS MORNING. YOUR VOICE COUNTS MORE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE. EVERY SINGLE CALL AND E-MAIL COUNTS. PLEASE CALL AND E-MAIL AND ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
"Deliver Us From Evil" - Agudath Israel & The Catholic Church!
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Available at Amazon.com
Written and Directed by Amy Berg
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Welcome Step In The Right Direction!
Lifting the Veil of Silence
By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz - Editor Yated Ne'eman
There is an issue that has been on my mind for several years. It is an extremely sensitive topic and I tried writing about it many times but couldn’t find the right words with which to express what I wanted to say in a way that would be beneficial and adhere to standards of derech eretz and fairness.
I have discussed my predicament with many gedolim and they all encouraged me to write about it here in the Yated and said that Hashem would help me find the proper voice.
The sad fact is that children in our community are being abused by perpetrators who prey upon their innocence and our silence. We don’t have a count of how many people are hurt, but it is much larger than we realized, even a short time ago. There is no real debate about the catastrophic effects of abuse.
The innocence and purity of children is destroyed for life. The victims remain hurt, shamed and scarred. They suffer in silence, afraid to reveal their secret to anyone. They are hounded by feelings of guilt and embarrassment and live lives of tortured pain. The overwhelming majority of survivors suffer in silence, unless they are lucky enough to endure agonizing, arduous, expensive therapy. However, even a lifetime of therapy doesn’t ensure that the victim can ever be fully healthy again. Not every young victim’s psyche can be healed. Victims are much more likely to go off the derech, become addicted to drugs and lead a life of abusing themselves and others.
Let us be clear: For too long, we weren’t tuned in to these innocent victims’ stories and their pain. For too long, we weren’t sufficiently aware that this problem existed and thus were able to ignore the quiet pleas, the sad eyes, the pained lives, and the personalities withdrawn. We didn’t recognize the warning signs and thus largely ignored the phenomenon. Equally clear, this inattention was not a function of some high level conspiracy to harm people or cover up for criminals or abet nefarious activities. It was simply a function of a lack of education about a complex and highly sophisticated problem. It was a result of our leadership simply being unaware of the depths that such sordid people could sink to, and the extreme skill perpetrators exhibit in covering their tracks. And yes, it was undeniably a gezeirah, which, as so often is the case, claims innocent holy souls - bikroyvai Ekodeish.
I am all too aware that it is fashionable in certain circles to blame this all on our rabbinic leadership. These people have yet to explain why our rabbonim, who devote their lives to serving people, would want to hurt anyone. The days when being a rov or rosh yeshiva meant strictly paskening shailos or teaching Torah are long gone. Rabbonim routinely spend an overwhelming portion of their time dealing with every type of personal problem imaginable. I don’t have to elaborate on this now, but suffice it to say that it defies logic to accuse our most choshuve leaders, who exhibit much mesiras nefesh, of coldhearted indifference. As I said, the problem was a lack of understanding.
Those days are behind us. We understand our challenges now and we have to live up to them. There are many things we have to do to help prevent future cases. In fact, in recent years, much has been accomplished. It would probably surprise some of the critics to know that in the past five years, the Vaad Roshei Yeshivah of Torah Umesorah has devoted many meetings, encompassing scores of hours, to these issues. As one who regularly attends these meetings, I can tell you that no single subject has been discussed in greater length and depth, in excruciating detail, than preventing abuse. Many sophisticated guidelines and programs have been designed and disseminated in all our schools. Implementation has not been universal, but we have clearly begun to turn the tide in the school area. I will devote another article to detail some of these efforts. Today, I want to focus on the topic I began with - the innocent victims.
We almost never do anything for these victims. We look at them as small children. We don’t peer into their little hearts. We don’t follow up with them. We don’t do anything to assuage their piercing pain and harrowing hurt. Usually, we don’t know who the victims are, for their parents are petrified lest they be stigmatized for life.
They go through life distressed and tormented, and the fact that they think that we don’t care adds insult to injury and makes the wounds that much more difficult to heal. They think that if we would know what happened to them, we wouldn’t respond with compassion and love. They think that the world around them would turn a deaf ear to their cries and be uninterested in their stories.
So they go through life feeling isolated, betrayed and abandoned. It is about time that as a community we join together and shout out to them that we have been silent for too long. We have been oblivious for too long. And we are going to do something about it. This is what we say:
“We realize it wasn’t your fault. We realize you didn’t do anything wrong. We realize that you were singled out for punishment due to no fault of your own. We realize you were taken advantage of. We love you. We care about you. We are here for you. We will listen and we will hear. You are not alone.”
We have to get a message to the children who have been wronged that they don’t have to resort to drugs or worse to cleanse themselves and restore their self respect and self worth.
How do we get that message across? Neither by being quiet, nor by being shrill. First we strengthen those groups in our machane who are devoted to counseling and aiding victims. We tell the victims they are innocent; we feel their pain and are here to help them. We prove that by continuing to implement parent and community-wide education and prophylactic programs to prevent future horrors. Above all, we deliver the message by living lives of Torah - a Toras Chesed and Toras Emes - by being kind and compassionate to all. We do it by not embarrassing anyone and not jumping to conclusions about the reasons people act the way they do. We must conduct ourselves to all with true love and compassion. We should treat victims like brothers, without prejudice, never knowing what pain and hurt lies in their hearts, forcing them to act the way they do.
One thing is clear: silence is acquiescence. Silence permits the affliction to fester. We must be prepared to lift the veil off the more embarrassing goings-on in our communities so that we rid ourselves of evil and malice and the pain they cause. We will thus be preparing the world for the coming of Moshiach and the erasure of all tears.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Obstructing Justice?
By Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D.
In the United States any individual who works with children is required to report any and all suspected cases of abuse or neglect to the authorities. This reporting law was first formalized in the 1970’s. In many states the law also applies to those who work with adults. When reports are required they are made confidentially and are accomplished via a hotline call to a trained professional who will take the report and evaluate the best response. Responses can include involving the police, childcare services, other social services, or the report may be deemed not to rise to the level for an intervention.
Teachers, doctors, therapists and other childcare professionals are mandated to report what the law calls “any reasonable cause to suspect” abuse or neglect. If, as a mandated reporter, you are aware of such a case and do not report it you may lose your professional license and receive jail time. There are inconsistencies in how situations are handled by these agencies but it is never the responsibility of a mandated reporter to investigate a case nor to try and prevent further abuse. Professionals who work directly in human services are not the police nor are they officers of the courts. They do not have the resources to do the type of legal probing or intervention that the legal system is designed for. But, they do have the ability to see when there is abuse and do the correct legal thing despite any possible shortcomings that may occur after it is reported. And, virtually all shades of Religious poskim within the Orthodox world support the need for reporting cases of abuse to the proper legal authorities.
The Catholic Church has been accused over the last few decades of covering up cases of child abuse perpetrated by pedophile priests on young, mostly male, parishioners. The abusers were given free reign in some cases because people either did not believe that it could be true or were afraid of the repercussions if they did report. At this moment, the Church, as well as organizations within our own community, is fighting against extending the statute of limitations for reporting cases of child abuse. Clearly, these problems are not unique to those of the Catholic faith. Data reported from a variety of sources indicates that as many as one in 5 boys and girls are subjected to some form of sexual abuse in their childhood by teachers, family friends or relatives. And, yes, as we have seen, it does occur in all religious faiths. That is why I was so moved when I was invited to participate in a private conference in September of this past year that addressed sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. Attendees included mental health professionals, survivors, their families and even the New York State Assemblyman, Dov Hikind.
The tone set at the conference was a determined one. All would be done to stop this horrific scourge from continuing. No school or organization would be exempt from confrontation if it were necessary to do so. In October, Mr. Hikind stated that he would “collect a list of suspected child molesters and make that list available to the public.” It turns out that the Assemblyman has recently been subpoenaed. He has collected, by his own admission, over 1000 dossiers involving some 60 names of pedophiles and according to rumors, has not yet reported a single case to the authorities nor has he released a single name to the public. He has made a statement indicating that someone who admitted to him that he recently abused a young boy was referred to a top mental health professional for treatment. The subpoena came not from the authorities but from an attorney representing individuals who were themselves abused. There are interesting inconsistencies in this situation. It may be true that Mr. Hikind is not a mandated reporter, though several legal sources have been quoted as indicating that he might be. But, even if he is not, the treating specialist to whom this individual was referred is mandated to report. Additionally, it is also problematic that the Brooklyn D.A. has apparently not seriously looked into this very same issue though some news reports are suggesting that there are 10 cases currently under review by the D.A.
While Mr. Hikind’s approach is troubling to some perhaps there is a better explanation to this perplexing and painful drama. This approach that Mr. Hikind is employing may be a plan to allow the authorities, the trained legal and child welfare specialists, to find a way into this morass and finally do what is necessary to stop pedophilia. By going public, even in a limited fashion, abusers have been put on notice by Mr. Hikind and so have the authorities. It is a fact that the proper treatment for a child molester is not limited to psychotherapy and possibly medication but also includes constant supervision and monitoring. The proper legal authorities are the only ones who can enforce this requirement. Now that the situation has become so glaringly obvious, there can be no excuse for both the community and the authorities not to follow the proper legal and clinical protocols, unless, of course, there is a massive cover-up. It is time to accept the problem and work within the system not around the system. As Mr. Hikind has himself indicated, it is time to change the “Out of sight out of mind” mentality that allows abuse and molestation to continue.
This brings me to a related issue. There had been some debate regarding whether Halacha allows Mesira or the notification of secular authorities. It has taken some time but, as I have noted, virtually all of the Halachic decisors now agree that in cases of suspected childhood sexual abuse there is no excuse not to involve the police and courts. Also, despite a recent setback, the courts in the United States and Israel are working together on several cases to make sure that extradition is enforced when necessary. And, the recent conviction of an abuser in Federal court indicates that the community can work with the authorities. Interestingly, the application of these decisions to allow the notification of the authorities may have also led to a remarkable misuse of the law.
The Courthouse News Service of October 29, 2008 reported that a man is seeking five million dollars in damages for defamation against the rabbis at a suburban New York Yeshiva who wrongly accused him of pedophilia. According to the complaint, the rabbis allegedly slandered him because they did not approve of his lifestyle. Both the Police department and office of child welfare investigators found the complaints made about him by the rabbis to be baseless. One would hope that the rabbis would find it appropriate to file a complaint to the authorities in cases where there is evidence and the authorities perform their investigations diligently. All of this covering up has to be done away with. Mr. Hikind is performing an admirable task by taking up the issue and confronting it but without proper reporting and follow through with the legal authorities there can be no enforcement.
Dr. Salamon, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of the Adult Developmental Center in Hewlett, NY. He is the author of numerous articles and several psychological tests. His recent books include, The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures, published by Urim Publications and Every Pot Has a Cover: A Proven Guide to Finding, Keeping and Enhancing the Ideal Relationship, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
"I had no concept that this exists in the world"... Mrs. Friedman.
I urge everyone to see the entire documentary; the impact it had on me is indescribable !
UOJ
In the United States any individual who works with children is required to report any and all suspected cases of abuse or neglect to the authorities. This reporting law was first formalized in the 1970’s. In many states the law also applies to those who work with adults. When reports are required they are made confidentially and are accomplished via a hotline call to a trained professional who will take the report and evaluate the best response. Responses can include involving the police, childcare services, other social services, or the report may be deemed not to rise to the level for an intervention.
Teachers, doctors, therapists and other childcare professionals are mandated to report what the law calls “any reasonable cause to suspect” abuse or neglect. If, as a mandated reporter, you are aware of such a case and do not report it you may lose your professional license and receive jail time. There are inconsistencies in how situations are handled by these agencies but it is never the responsibility of a mandated reporter to investigate a case nor to try and prevent further abuse. Professionals who work directly in human services are not the police nor are they officers of the courts. They do not have the resources to do the type of legal probing or intervention that the legal system is designed for. But, they do have the ability to see when there is abuse and do the correct legal thing despite any possible shortcomings that may occur after it is reported. And, virtually all shades of Religious poskim within the Orthodox world support the need for reporting cases of abuse to the proper legal authorities.
The Catholic Church has been accused over the last few decades of covering up cases of child abuse perpetrated by pedophile priests on young, mostly male, parishioners. The abusers were given free reign in some cases because people either did not believe that it could be true or were afraid of the repercussions if they did report. At this moment, the Church, as well as organizations within our own community, is fighting against extending the statute of limitations for reporting cases of child abuse. Clearly, these problems are not unique to those of the Catholic faith. Data reported from a variety of sources indicates that as many as one in 5 boys and girls are subjected to some form of sexual abuse in their childhood by teachers, family friends or relatives. And, yes, as we have seen, it does occur in all religious faiths. That is why I was so moved when I was invited to participate in a private conference in September of this past year that addressed sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. Attendees included mental health professionals, survivors, their families and even the New York State Assemblyman, Dov Hikind.
The tone set at the conference was a determined one. All would be done to stop this horrific scourge from continuing. No school or organization would be exempt from confrontation if it were necessary to do so. In October, Mr. Hikind stated that he would “collect a list of suspected child molesters and make that list available to the public.” It turns out that the Assemblyman has recently been subpoenaed. He has collected, by his own admission, over 1000 dossiers involving some 60 names of pedophiles and according to rumors, has not yet reported a single case to the authorities nor has he released a single name to the public. He has made a statement indicating that someone who admitted to him that he recently abused a young boy was referred to a top mental health professional for treatment. The subpoena came not from the authorities but from an attorney representing individuals who were themselves abused. There are interesting inconsistencies in this situation. It may be true that Mr. Hikind is not a mandated reporter, though several legal sources have been quoted as indicating that he might be. But, even if he is not, the treating specialist to whom this individual was referred is mandated to report. Additionally, it is also problematic that the Brooklyn D.A. has apparently not seriously looked into this very same issue though some news reports are suggesting that there are 10 cases currently under review by the D.A.
While Mr. Hikind’s approach is troubling to some perhaps there is a better explanation to this perplexing and painful drama. This approach that Mr. Hikind is employing may be a plan to allow the authorities, the trained legal and child welfare specialists, to find a way into this morass and finally do what is necessary to stop pedophilia. By going public, even in a limited fashion, abusers have been put on notice by Mr. Hikind and so have the authorities. It is a fact that the proper treatment for a child molester is not limited to psychotherapy and possibly medication but also includes constant supervision and monitoring. The proper legal authorities are the only ones who can enforce this requirement. Now that the situation has become so glaringly obvious, there can be no excuse for both the community and the authorities not to follow the proper legal and clinical protocols, unless, of course, there is a massive cover-up. It is time to accept the problem and work within the system not around the system. As Mr. Hikind has himself indicated, it is time to change the “Out of sight out of mind” mentality that allows abuse and molestation to continue.
This brings me to a related issue. There had been some debate regarding whether Halacha allows Mesira or the notification of secular authorities. It has taken some time but, as I have noted, virtually all of the Halachic decisors now agree that in cases of suspected childhood sexual abuse there is no excuse not to involve the police and courts. Also, despite a recent setback, the courts in the United States and Israel are working together on several cases to make sure that extradition is enforced when necessary. And, the recent conviction of an abuser in Federal court indicates that the community can work with the authorities. Interestingly, the application of these decisions to allow the notification of the authorities may have also led to a remarkable misuse of the law.
The Courthouse News Service of October 29, 2008 reported that a man is seeking five million dollars in damages for defamation against the rabbis at a suburban New York Yeshiva who wrongly accused him of pedophilia. According to the complaint, the rabbis allegedly slandered him because they did not approve of his lifestyle. Both the Police department and office of child welfare investigators found the complaints made about him by the rabbis to be baseless. One would hope that the rabbis would find it appropriate to file a complaint to the authorities in cases where there is evidence and the authorities perform their investigations diligently. All of this covering up has to be done away with. Mr. Hikind is performing an admirable task by taking up the issue and confronting it but without proper reporting and follow through with the legal authorities there can be no enforcement.
Dr. Salamon, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of the Adult Developmental Center in Hewlett, NY. He is the author of numerous articles and several psychological tests. His recent books include, The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures, published by Urim Publications and Every Pot Has a Cover: A Proven Guide to Finding, Keeping and Enhancing the Ideal Relationship, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
"I had no concept that this exists in the world"... Mrs. Friedman.
I urge everyone to see the entire documentary; the impact it had on me is indescribable !
UOJ
Monday, March 23, 2009
Editorial
A Window for Justice
March 22, 2009
For decades, priests who preyed sexually on children did so with shocking ease and impunity. Their superiors acted as functional accomplices, shuttling abusive priests among parishes and buying or bullying victims into silence. Shame and guilt did the rest, burying abuses under a shroud of secrecy that often far outlasted the statute of limitations for prosecutions or lawsuits.
Those victims deserve a day in court. The New York Legislature should grant it to them, by passing a bill that would temporarily lift the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits involving the sexual abuse of children.
The bill would open a one-year window during which accusers would be allowed to sue in civil court, no matter how old the case. After a year, the statute of limitations would be restored, but an accuser would have up to 10 years after turning 18 to make a claim, instead of five. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions would not be changed.
Like similar measures in Delaware and California, the Child Victims Act seeks to balance the need for reasonable time limits for lawsuits against the unusual challenges in uncovering sexual crimes against children.
It can take decades before victims are ready to make the wrenching decision to tell their stories.
Add to that problem the particulars of the priest abuse scandal. It had its roots in the 1960s and 70s, but did not engulf the Catholic Church — which systematically covered up for the criminals in its clergy — until 2002, when its many victims were in their 30s or older.
The bill does not explicitly target any institution. Catholic and Orthodox Jewish officials are lobbying against it, arguing that it is unfair to allow decades-old accusations against old men who are ill equipped to defend themselves when evidence is lost or forgotten and witnesses are dead. They also, naturally, fear a wave of expensive settlements and damage awards like the one that struck the Los Angeles Archdiocese when the statute of limitations was lifted under a 2003 law.
Those fairness concerns are vastly outweighed by the need to dispense fairness to those who were powerless to seek it. Exposing abuse is also a matter of public safety. It is wrong to allow the institutional shame of the Catholic Church to remain hidden in church files and in the anguished hearts of victims. Their continued suffering and the prevention of future abuses are the strongest arguments for passage of the Child Victims Act.
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