Shhh: Ultra-Orthodox Jews Use Internet as Much as Other Israelis Do --- Ultra-Orthodox Jews go online to gossip, share views and let down their hair, but usually under fake names, a recent study shows....

Their rabbis don’t like it, but ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel surf the internet like mad, a recent study shows. Some use their home computers, but since Haredi schools prohibit internet connections in the households of their students – and most ultra-Orthodox families have children – the average Haredi accesses the web using a mobile device.

Of Israel’s population of nearly 8.5 million, 74 percent are Jews, 20.8 percent are Arab and 5.2 percent are “other.”

Haredim account for around 750,000 of Israel’s total Jewish population of 6.37 million. It’s the fastest-growing Jewish subgroup, increasing by about 5 percent a year, compared to 1.7 percent for the Jewish population as a whole.

While ultra-Orthodox Jews surf the internet a lot, they don’t do it openly, the study done at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev shows – and a lot of their attention span is given to hiding their own identity while trying to guess who other surfers from their community might be.

Internet had been broadly prohibited in the ultra-Orthodox world because of the potential for distraction from the holy life. But solutions like “kosher” smartphones were clearly unable to keep pace with innovation and the rabbis have all but given up on outright bans.

The upshot has been the proliferation of sites and content for the Haredi surfer, which is now acknowledged not only to exist, but to be very active. The Ben-Gurion University study, which set out to characterize the Haredi surfer, shows that Israel’s ultra-Orthodox are online as much as their less religiously observant peers.

However, when surfing and posting, the Haredi users almost always use a “nick” – short for nickname, really, a false identity, which is much less common in the general surfing population. That in turn has led to popular games in Haredi internet circles of trying to guess the identity of the person hiding behind a persona. (“Who’s behind that nick?”)

Behind their masks, ultra-Orthodox internet users consult with one another, gossip madly and discuss a vast range of topics touching on their community, their thoughts and anguishes, emotions and needs, politics, halakha (Jewish religious law) and their experiences with peers in the online Haredi world.

The internet for them is a place to be relatively free, to unleash themselves, doctoral student Sarit Okun found. The ultra-Orthodox surfers are also characterized by surfing at all hours, the study found.

Even if they use the internet on the sly, the secret of Haredi surfing is so out that major Israeli companies, like the Bezeq telecommunications company, are creating ads that target the Haredi market. (A Bezeq ad that can be seen on YouTube shows charmingly how a housing development for the ultra-Orthodox community would have been ruined by a virus on the hard drive where the data was saved, had the data not been backed up in the Bezeq data cloud, ta da.)

Observing the trend, last year Google Israel held the first conference of its kind for Haredi online advertisers, which it called “Friday night over cholent and digital.”

As for the Haredi users themselves, they may hide behind aliases but they are using the medium to talk about their own real lives and opinions in clear terms that wouldn’t be accepted in their nonvirtual environment, the Ben-Gurion University study found.

The conclusion is that the rabbis may have fought the internet revolution tooth and nail but it’s changing the way young ultra-Orthodox people live and opening them not only to new employment opportunities, but to new thoughts.

Ruth Schuster

Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.719022

Agudah director of public affairs and regular newspaper columnist Rabbi Avi Shafran declared, “We do not oppose extending or even eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for cases of abuse. Our concern is simply protecting the economic viability of Jewish schools. Yeshivas operate on shoestring budgets.”

What is the Difference Between a Sociopath, a Compulsive, a Pathological, a Chronic, and a Habitual Liar? No Difference At All  for Shafran! All Bunched Into One!

A Sociopath

A sociopath is typically defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. A sociopath is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused—it is done to get one’s way). Sociopaths have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. Sociopaths are often charming and charismatic, but they use their talented social skills in manipulative and self-centered ways.

Compulsive Liar

A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary. For the most part, compulsive liars are not overly manipulative and cunning (unlike sociopaths), rather they simply lie out of habit—an automatic response which is hard to break and one that takes its toll on a relationship (see how to cope with a compulsive liar).

The terms Pathological Liar, Habitual Liar and Chronic Liar are often used to refer to a Compulsive Liar

 

 

 

  “After decades of denial, cover ups and darkness across New York State, light is finally being shone on the scourge of child sexual abuse,” read the petition signed by scores of high-profile leaders. We are embarrassed that New York State ranks among the very worst in the US, on how the courts and criminal justice system treat survivors of child sex abuse. It is time for some religious leaders to stop playing games and get on board with the Child Victims Act,” said longtime bill advocate Mark Meyer Appel.

 

Gov Cuomo Silent on Markey Child Victims Act; Agudah Still Opposes Reformative Bill

The Markey Bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) seeks to eliminate time limits in criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse.

According to published reports in the New York Daily News, those who are not in the forefront of the movement to reform child sex abuse laws that in their current state provides legal protection for the adult predator and not the victim include Governor Cuomo, Senate GOP leader John Flanagan, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

During a recent huddle of the legislators in Albany, such matters as the state’s heroin problem, mayoral control of the schools and budgetary issues were discussed but there was nary a reference to reforming the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases.

New York’s archaic statute of limitations sharply limits the time victims have to bring charges against a molester. A victim must come forward within five years after the age of 18 to bring criminal or civil charges against their abuser or any agency or organization that should have reported the crime.

As was reported in the Daily News, New York City lags behind states like Georgia, Massachusetts, Florida and Utah, all of which in the past several years have passed bills that lengthened the time victims have to bring their cases to court.

Given the emotional and psychological devastation that victims of child sexual abuse endure they are often slow to come to grips with their past. Some are unable to do so until middle age or even later in life but certainly not before the age of 23. Furthermore, in our religious communities, by limiting the right to sue and prosecute to the age of 23 has created a situation where victims of abuse may have lost a chance for closure to come forward with charges regarding the abuse suffered.

For the last decade efforts to pass the Child Victims Act have failed four times. They had first passed the Assembly and eventually got stymied in the state Senate. Speaking to the Daily News, Carmen Durso, an attorney who initiated a successful campaign to reform the laws pertaining to statute of limitations in 2012 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts said, "I can't believe that New York has the worst statute of limitations. That's a national shame.”

According to a 2010 National Institutes of Health study, those championing reform have said that 80% of those who were abused as children wait until their adult years before discussing the matter publicly or filing charges against the abusers. The paper reported that in Massachusetts, a victim can file criminal charges as long as 27 years after their 16th birthday.

One of the Jewish groups that have consistently opposed the Child Victims Act is the Agudath Israel of America which represents haredi Orthodox schools and synagogues. According to a JTA report, the group says the bill would open up institutions to “ancient claims and capricious litigation,” as they had written in a 2009 statement it issued with the haredi schools network Torah Umesorah.

Speaking to the JTA, Agudah director of public affairs and regular newspaper columnist Rabbi Avi Shafran declared, “We do not oppose extending or even eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for cases of abuse. Our concern is simply protecting the economic viability of Jewish schools. Yeshivas operate on shoestring budgets.”

Proponents of reform in the statute of limitations have implied that institutions that oppose the reform measures are doing so in order to protect the reputation of the school or facility they represent rather than focusing on the mental and emotional well being of the victim. They also assert that their priority is ensuring that they won’t be sued so that they can remain financially solvent.

JTA also reported that Marci Hamilton, a professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law and an organizer of SOL Reform said, “They are most interested in keeping the civil lawsuits from happening because that is where all of the secrets and cover-ups come out. It is about image and power.”

She added that criminal cases focus narrowly on the perpetrator’s actions rather than institutions that may have protected him.

“Only through a civil case can you document an institution’s negligence and the way it failed children. The problem is that they won’t fix their internal procedures unless there are civil claims, because they don’t have to,” Hamilton said.

Speaking to Newsweek magazine for a recent article on the subject of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community, Rabbi Shafran said “I think there is little doubt that the extent and seriousness of abuse in society at large was underappreciated for decades until relatively recently Unfortunately, the Orthodox community was likewise unaware of the degree and severity of the problem in its own midst. That, though, has changed.”

Rabbi Shafran has been at the center of controversy on this issue for a number of years as several years ago, a public outcry was heard over an article on child sexual abuse that he had penned in 2012.

According to a response to the article which ostensibly attacked other writers who charged the Orthodox community with intentionally covering up child sex abuse cases, Rabbi Eidensohn on the Daas Torah blog wrote:

“In his article, Rabbi Shafran seems to feel that there is a conspiracy to assert that child abuse is a more serious problem in the Orthodox community than in the rest of the world. In particular he focuses on two writers who have dealt with the topic of abuse in the Orthodox community - Robert Kolker of NY Magazine and Hella Winston of the Jewish Week.

Furthermore he claims that it can't be because of the positive Torah values and fear of G-d. That is a defense which can be rejected by anyone who has followed cases such as Mondrowitz or Weingarten. These cases weren't exceptions but unfortunately follow a fairly common patter of denial and cover ups.”

Catholic schools have also piped up in terms of stating their opposition to the reformation of the statute of limitations. Speaking to the New York Daily News, Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York State Conference of Catholic Bishops said, “We still oppose the concept of a retroactive window for old abuse cases because of the difficulty in defending such old cases.”

He add that the “statute of limitations exist in the law to try to protect due process and serve justice. Over time, witnesses die, evidence is lost and memories fade. He said that they support a rival bill in New York that would raise the current age of statute of limitations by five years, to 28 years old.

http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14477%3Agov-cuomo-silent-on-markey-child-victims-act-agudah-still-opposes-reformative-bill&catid=112%3Anew-york&Itemid=295

What good are your schools and yeshivas if the children who get raped and sexually abused there leave Judaism in disgust, as many victims already have? Is this what you're proud of and have dedicated your lives to? Do you think that God really wants you to protect a bunch of bricks at the expense of destroying Jewish kids' souls?

Agudath Israel and New York's Child Victim's Act

For the 5^th time in a decade, Agudath Israel rabbis led by the “Gedolim” are lobbying with the great moral leaders of our time, the Catholic Church, to try to defeat New York's Child Victim's Act. The Child Victim's Act would eliminate the insanely short statute of limitations for child sex crimes and allow New York's child sex predators to be prosecuted.

You can already see why Agudath Israel and the Catholic Church would be alarmed.

The outrageousness of their combined efforts is sickening. It is incredible to me that Agudah rabbis have little in common with Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist or even liberal Orthodox Jews, but they have lots in common with the Catholic Church.

To better understand Agudah, it's important to examine who in the Catholic Church Agudah has decided to cozy up to. Cardinal Timothy Dolan (the guy wearing the cross - it's hard to tell these guys apart by their moral positions on child sexual abuse) used to be the head of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

It has been estimated that the Milwaukee Diocese has had at least 8,000 child sex abuse victims who were preyed-upon by 100 priests. It was revealed that pedophile priests in Dolan's Diocese were paid off to quietly leave the Diocese. No police, no warnings to parents, no therapy for the kids and most importantly to the Church, no money for its thousands of victims.

But the Church didn't get away with it. The Milwaukee Diocese eventually went bankrupt due to huge settlement payments to the victims. It was later revealed that Dolan asked for and received Vatican approval to move $57 million dollars out of the Diocese bank account before victims could be paid.

Now that you know who the guy wearing the cross is sitting next to Rabbi Dovid Zweibel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel, we can better examine Agudath Israel's shameful explanations as to why they need to spend so much time and energy fighting to kill the Child Victim's Act.

---

“Our concern is simply protecting the economic viability of Jewish schools. Yeshivas operate on shoestring budgets.” Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel of America's director of public affairs

JTA - May 2, 2016

“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.”

Joint statement of Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah, April 21, 2009

---

When I read these two statements, it appears that what Agudah is saying is that protecting Jewish schools and yeshivas are far more important than passing legislation that will protect the children who attend them.

Otherwise, the statements should have read:

“We will stop at nothing to protect our children from harm and sexual abuse. Even if that means that Jewish schools and yeshivas who for decades enabled abusers and ignored our children's cries for help will have to pay for their negligence.”

Do you see the difference?

---

The second statement is also signed by Torah Umesorah.

This is truly scary.

Torah Umesorah has 760 Orthodox schools in its network educating 250,000 children across the U.S. If you have a child or grandchild, niece or nephew in an Orthodox school in the U.S., they are probably in a Torah Umesorah school.

Think about this – if you are a parent paying tuition to one of these schools, your money is funding a lobbying effort to keep in place laws that allow Orthodox men to sexually abuse Jewish children and never face prosecution. Did you know that this is what your child's school is doing with your money? Are you O.K. with that?

You might want to have a chat with your school's principal and ask them to stop spending your tuition money to endanger your child's welfare.

The second statement from Agudath Israel and Torah Umesorah justifies their lobbying efforts because they don't want to expose their schools to “ancient claims and capricious litigation”.

The phrase “ancient claims” implies that there is some kind of statute of limitations on criminal child sexual abuse in Torah law, by which victims lose their rights after an arbitrary number of years have passed since they were molested.

News flash to Rabbis Zweibel, Shafran and all the “gedolim” of Agudath Israel – JUDAISM DOESN'T HAVE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS!

---

Rabbis - on what halachic basis do you assert that child sex abuse claims should ever be dismissed in the victim's lifetime? Either the victim has proof and evidence of the crime or the claim gets thrown out. That's how justice works.

What you're doing is ignoring Torah law and denying justice to Orthodox victims in order to protect your precious schools and jobs.

What good are your schools and yeshivas if the children who get raped and sexually abused there leave Judaism in disgust, as many victims already have? Is this what you're proud of and have dedicated your lives to? Do you think that God really wants you to protect a bunch of bricks at the expense of destroying Jewish kids' souls?

Eric Aiken is an advocate for Orthodox victims of child sexual abuse and the owner of http://www.protectjewishkids.com

"These people are the same people you would see being a preacher at a church, being a school teacher, anything," said Zach. "Everybody that you see could have something under their skin that they know is wrong, no one has found out, and that scares the crap out of me. Don't trust anyone."

Video vigilante Zach Sweers has become a Youtube star by shooting his own undercover sting operations on alleged child predators.

Busting accused child sex predators is usually the job of law enforcement. But the man behind this camera is no cop -- Zach Sweers, 23, is a self-styled vigilante.

Web designer by day, predator poacher by night, Zach casts his net by putting ads on Craigslist, posing as a 15-year-old girl, then posts the citizen sex stings on his website, AnxietyWar.com.
Zach chats with the slimeballs, lures them in and arranges a rendezvous.

Here he is reading from a chat where he says he pretended to be a 15-year-old girl flirting with Zachary Snoeyink:

"The girl has said 'Hey, I've never tried vaginal sex,' and he says, 'You know you are not legal age right? I don't have an issue with it. I'm just letting you know. Maybe I could get a room for an hour or two.'"

A meeting is set. Snoeyink waits for the teen in a fast-food-chain parking lot. He doesn't know it, but the hunter is about to become the prey.

"I know your name. I know where you live. I know everything about you," Zach says to Snoeyink in the parking lot. "I know you have a gun. Don't do anything stupid. I'm armed too. OK? What are you doing?"

"To be honest with you, I was going to talk her out of it," Snoeyink says.

"Oh yeah? Really? Do you think the chat log says that?" says Zach.

"I would never in a hundred million years do something like that," Snoeyink says.

The 29-year-old Snoeyink insists he's innocent and says all he wanted do was counsel the inexperienced teenage girl about sex.

After getting caught, Snoeyink drives off. But he can't slink away for long. Zach brings police the exchange he captured with special glasses embedded with a camera.

"They look like these, of course there is a little processor in there and stuff," said Zach. "It's like a little computer. There's like a little circle in here. When I'm confronting people and stuff, it's weird, they don't know I'm filming them. Some of them don't. Some of them see it."

Snoeyink is just one of seven accused sex predators charged with a felony of accosting a child for immoral purposes.

"Some people think that I'm insane, that I'm mentally off. That's not the case," Zach said.

Zach started doing undercover work because he was curious about how many alleged sex predators lived in the area.

Men like 68-year-old Dan Barnes, who Crime Watch Daily affiliate WXMI reports that according to court records lives close to an elementary school.

"He wanted to pay the girl for sex. He was looking for a 'sugar baby,'" said Zach.

Gramps thinks he's about to meet a real-life "Lolita" while waiting in that same parking lot.

"You wanted to have sex with this girl, underage girl," says Zach.

"I know, I know. It was a bad mistake," the man says.

"So why did you do it? This was premeditated," Zach says.

"'Cause I'm a dumbass," the man says.

For Zach, confrontations like this now make him suspicious of everyone.

"These people are the same people you would see being a preacher at a church, being a school teacher, anything," said Zach. "Everybody that you see could have something under their skin that they know is wrong, no one has found out, and that scares the crap out of me. Don't trust anyone."

And there are plenty to mistrust, people like former football coach Jered Andrus. Zach says the 37-year-old thinks he's going to get some action from a young girl in his truck. But this story has no happy ending.

When confronted, the creep flips his story, giving what appears to be the "standard saintly alibi," saying all he wanted to do was protect the young girl.

In another sting, Zach is shaving, doing his best to morph into a seventh-grader. He's about to bust a burly 24-year-old.

"I've been talking to this guy who thinks he is going to meet a 13-year-old boy for sex. And that kid is actually me," says Zach. "I use an old photo of myself from 2005.

"And when I asked him 'Where are you going to take me?' He said 'Maybe back to my house or something like that.'"

The guy waits in a park. Zach plays his part to a tee, even affecting a high-pitched voice.
"Where do you want to go? I have to know," he asks.

"I don't know. We can walk in the woods or something," the man says.

After trudging into the woods, Zach finally reveals his identity, his voice now back to normal.

"I have to tell you that the person in the photo was me in 2005. It's 2016 now. What do you have to say for yourself?" says Zach.

"I'm only here to offer advice if you need it," the man says.

"Advice? You said you'd be willing to have oral sex here," says Zach.

Thanks to Zach's footage the alleged online sex predator is arrested.

And now 19-year-old Aaron Russell, the youngest of the seven people prosecuted in the citizen sting, is facing a judge, pleading guilty to attempted accosting of a minor for immoral purposes.

With thousands of followers, many are calling Zach a hero. But the 23-year-old says he's not in it for the attention. He's running his undercover operation to empower kids to speak up and to keep predators from carrying out their sick fantasies.

The work he is doing is not without controversy.

Grand Rapids Police Sergeant Terry Dixon says citizen stings are never a good idea.

"We cannot and we don't encourage this type of activity," said Sgt. Dixon.

Some cops don't support his efforts.

"This is a very dangerous practice and we don't condone it," said Dixon.

But Zach has no intention of stopping his citizen busts, even if running his undercover operation is draining. He says there's relief when the bad guys are caught.

 

"This is deep stuff, guys," says Zach. "I don't enjoy doing this. I enjoy catching the predators, but catching them is just so minute compared to talking. I talk to them for weeks, months sometimes, and so when I finally get to catch them, it's like finally it's going to be over with."


If convicted, Zach's targets could face up to four years in prison.

http://crimewatchdaily.com/2016/05/04/citizen-sting-michigan-man-targets-online-child-sex-predators/?adid=crimewatch_eme_22583_2016-05-10-story2_text

It has been recently reported in Newsweek and NY Daily News that Agudath Israel has teamed up with the Catholic Church, an institution infamous for covering up child sexual abuse, to aggressively lobby against the passage of the Markey Bill on numerous occasions over the last decade....

Agudath Israel: Stop Blocking Passage of Child Victims Act

 

 

 

To the Rabbinic Yeshiva Owners of Agudath Israel:

We  join in writing to you regarding the Child Victims Act and to express our grave concerns for child safety given Agudath Israel's past and current dangerous actions.

The Child Victims Act, also known as the Markey Bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) seeks to eliminate time limits in criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse.
New York's archaic statute of limitations sharply limits the time victims have to bring charges against a molester. A victim must come forward within five years after the age of 18 to bring criminal or civil charges against their abuser or any agency or organization that should have reported the crime.

Given the emotional and psychological devastation that victims of child sexual abuse endure they are often slow to come to grips with their past. Some are unable to do so until middle age or even later in life but certainly not before the age of 23. Furthermore, in our religious communities, this critical age (18-23) is a time when young people are seeking a suitable spouse (shiduchim) creating an especially vulnerable situation where victims of abuse may be reticent to come forward with charges regarding the abuse suffered. Thusly, New York's current statute of limitations supported by Agudath Israel protects predators and those who shield them, while often denying justice to their victims.

The passage of the Child Victims Act is not only essential for the healing of past victims; it is crucial in ensuring the safety of other children. Many studies indicate that sex offenders will victimize on average over 100 individuals over the course of their lives. This bill intends to suppress this frightening statistic and prevent further harm from being perpetrated towards new victims.

It has been recently reported in Newsweek and NY Daily News that Agudath Israel has teamed up with the Catholic Church, an institution infamous for covering up child sexual abuse, to aggressively lobby against the passage of the Markey Bill on numerous occasions over the last decade.

Furthermore, this April the NY Daily News reported that Agudath Israel is currently opposed to any civil or criminal changes in the law in NY, fearing a flood of lawsuits. A sexual abuse insurance policy can be purchased by institutions to aid against any lawsuits that may arise. However, it ought to be of prime importance to support the victims rather than the perpetrators of heinous crimes.

Currently, the Child Victims Act being considered is comprised of two separate bills - one eliminating statute of limitations for criminal cases and one addressing civil cases. We urge you to support passage of the Markey Bill in its entirety or at least the passage of the criminal bill. If these steps require moral courage not yet gained, at the very least cease from lobbying against this Act that can prevent child sexual abuse and save countless precious lives.

In closing, in line with the Torah's commandment in Leviticus 19:16, admonishing Jews to “not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is being shed,” we respectfully urge you to do all in your power to deter abusers and prevent harm from being perpetrated towards our children.

Thank you,


 SIGN THE PETITION AND EMAIL IT TO YOUR FRIENDS: EXPOSE THE CRIMINALS FOR WHAT THEY ARE!
https://www.change.org/p/rabbi-david-zwiebel-agudath-israel-stop-blocking-passage-of-child-victims-act?recruiter=7640571&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_facebook_responsive&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-custom_msg&fb_ref=Default

In Honor of my Mother - Today and Every Day Forever

As you may be aware, for the 5th time in a decade, the New York legislature will consider eliminating their disgraceful statute of limitations for child sex crimes. This would allow child rapists and sex predators to be prosecuted for their monstrous crimes against children. The first 4 times this legislation was brought up, the bill was defeated by the "holy" clergy of the Catholic Church and Agudath Israel of America.

 

AN  OPEN LETTER TO RABBI MARK DRATCH --- Where is the RCA action to protect children?

Dear Rabbi Dratch,

I write this letter to you out of great concern for what I perceive to be a lack of any meaningful action on the part of the RCA to protect Orthodox children from the plague of sexual abuse. The RCA is the largest Orthodox rabbinical organization in the world with over 1,000 members in 18 countries. It has close ties to Yeshiva University, the Orthodox Union, the Beis Din of America, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Conference of European Rabbis.

With the RCA's enormous power and influence comes a concomitant responsibility to protect Orthodox children and support the survivors of sexual abuse in ways that have never been done before.

I tried to address this issue with you when I drafted an email that was sent to you in November of 2015. In it, I asked you to consider doing 3 specific things to protect Orthodox kids. Unfortunately, you would not commit to doing any of them.

1) Implement and enforce the 4 separate sets of child protection resolutions that the RCA has adopted over the last 23 years.

I am not aware of a single rabbi or Orthodox institution that has implemented these important child safety procedures.

The RCA doesn’t even have a list of its own child protection rules on its website. It took me half a day of reviewing every RCA resolution for the last 50 years just to find these 4 sets of child protection resolutions.

How is an RCA rabbi who wants to protect children from sexual abuse supposed to have any guidance on this topic when the RCA doesn’t even publish a guideline for its members?

     2) Endorse my website which publicizes the names of hundreds of Orthodox child molesters.

Three years ago, the RCA called for using a sex offender registry to identify child sex predators. To date, as far as I am aware, the RCA has not done anything to establish such a registry. You told me that exposing convicted child molesters is a “no-brainer”, yet the RCA will not publish such a database nor will they endorse mine.

Require all RCA rabbis to publicly pledge to ban anyone convicted of a child sex crime from attending their synagogues.

It is beyond comprehension that rabbis allow known and convicted child molesters to frequent synagogues and attend Jewish communal activities where children are present. There can no longer be any tolerance for such reckless and irresponsible behavior from our religious leaders.
These are serious issues that I believe that the RCA is not adequately addressing.

Moreover, the RCA has adopted the following important resolutions which I believe are largely ignored by many RCA members and Orthodox institutions, especially Yeshiva University:

“Schools, synagogues and youth organizations to adopt policies which mandate the dismissal of abusive teachers and child care workers from their positions, and the notification of future potential employers of the circumstances of their dismissal.”

Excerpt from the RCA resolution (6-1-1993) titled “Physical and sexual abuse of children.”

Incredibly, 23 years after this child protection resolution was adopted by the largest Orthodox rabbinical organization in the world, there is still not:

A single rabbi or Orthodox institution that I am aware of that will publicize the names of known Orthodox child molesters and rapists even though hundreds of these child sex predators’ identities are a matter of public record.

A system in place to notify future potential employers of the identity of known Orthodox child molesters and rapists.

Another example:

“The RCA will regularly issue on its website and to the media appropriate statements of condemnation when public attention is drawn to a case in which Jews are either victims or perpetrators of abuse.”
RCA resolution 4-27-10

I have on my website close to 250 publicly disclosed arrests and/or convictions of Orthodox Jews and rabbis for child sex crimes. They have been variously convicted of raping, sodomizing, beating, starving, burning, abusing and drugging Orthodox children in Jewish communities throughout the world. The RCA has only commented on 3 of these cases and those cases are from Orthodox factions that have little to do with the RCA community.

On its website, the RCA does not condemn by name the rabbis who cover up and protect Orthodox child rapists and molesters. There is no public warning to parents, employers, schools, yeshivas, summer camps and synagogues about the hundreds of Orthodox child sex predators who live in their communities.

Throw abusive rabbis out of the rabbinate!

Rabbi Dratch, 10 years ago you ran jsafe.org (now defunct), in which you were a staunch advocate for the protection of Jewish children from sexual abuse. You wrote dozens of meticulously-sourced, scholarly articles arguing for instituting many reforms needed to protect Jewish children from sexual abuse.

On July 24, 2006 you call for defrocking and excommunicating abusive rabbis.

You begin your article by writing:
“There are rabbis who should not be rabbis.”

Later you write:

“The Code of Jewish Law goes a step further and records that a scholar, who is rumored to be involved in heresy or immoral behavior, such that he causes a desecration of God’s Name, is to be excommunicated. Such a person certainly is no longer considered a rabbi.”

However, there are at least 150 rabbis who are known to have committed either sex crimes against children or to have violated the wives of their congregants, yet they have not been excommunicated and they still retain the honorable title of rabbi.

Even the Catholic Church, with its deplorable many decades-long history of protecting pedophile priests, nevertheless is willing to defrock them. In a recent 10-year period, the Catholic Church has defrocked nearly 900 pedophile priests and censured another 2,500 of them.

Rabbi Barry Freundel is the former head of the RCA's conversion committee. He is currently serving a 6 ½ year jail sentence after being caught over the course of several years secretly video-recording 150 women undressing as they entered the mikva.

I can't think of a rabbi who has traumatized more women, caused more of them to refuse to go to the mikva or to abandon Judaism than Freundel. Yet as far as I know, he has not been excommunicated and is still a rabbi.

Why?

The Child Victim's Act

As you may be aware, for the 5th time in a decade, the New York legislature will consider eliminating their disgraceful statute of limitations for child sex crimes. This would allow child rapists and sex predators to be prosecuted for their monstrous crimes against children. The first 4 times this legislation was brought up, the bill was defeated by the holy clergy of the Catholic Church and Agudath Israel of America.

Rabbi Dratch, where exactly do you and the RCA stand on this issue? We need to hear from you loudly and publicly if you support the Catholic Church's relentless efforts to prevent child molesters from being prosecuted or if you stand with defenseless Jewish children instead.

Will you urge your 1,000-member rabbis to sign the Change.org petition to stop Agudath Israel from trying to defeat the Child Victim's Act yet again? Will you urge your members to email the petition to all of their congregants and sign it? Will you lobby New York legislators to pass the Child Victim's Act?

Or will you and the RCA do nothing and remain silent?

To prevent the incessant child sexual abuse in Orthodox communities worldwide, we need leaders who lead. We need action. We need rabbis who will stop at nothing to protect our vulnerable children.

What we don't need any more is the abandonment and silencing of abuse survivors, the protection of molesters, the denial that we have a problem, the toothless resolutions or the righteous-sounding press releases.

To quote the last line of your essay titled “Few Are Guilty, but All Are Responsible: The Obligations to Help Survivors of Abuse” of January 10, 2007:

“The time for foolishness is over.  All are responsible.”

Yes they are, Rabbi Dratch.

Eric Aiken is an advocate for Orthodox victims of child sexual abuse www.protectjewishkids.com


My name is Eric Aiken. I was raised, and remain, a fully observant Orthodox Jew. “The List” is the most comprehensive compilation in the world of individuals involved in Orthodox Jewish communities who are alleged to have been either arrested for, or convicted of, child sex crimes. (Please read the Disclaimer page before reading “The List” page.)

Goals

Among my goals in creating this database is that it be used as a resource for parents and employers to protect children, prevent abuse and deter cover-ups. I believe that this database will help save the lives of Jewish children who are deliberately targeted by Orthodox child sex predators for rape and sexual abuse. 

********************** 

KIRYAS JOEL - A second video has surfaced showing alleged child sex abuse at a yeshiva in Kiryas Joel.

Anti-abuse activists leaked the surveillance tape. It shows a man who police describe as the principal of United Talmudical Academy with a young boy between his legs. Some believe that the video shows the man appearing to kiss the boy and give him candy at the end of their encounter.

On Monday, another video surfaced that allegedly shows the same man holding and caressing an elementary school boy between his legs for 15 minutes.

While police have begun a joint sex-abuse investigation, residents within the extremely religious and private Hasidic community are coming to the principal's defense.

Joseph Waldman says the rabbi-principal seen on tape is well-known and respected within the ultra-Orthodox community for having what he calls a "fatherly" approach with kids.

"This person is such a loving person that instead of taking out a belt and beating up a child, he'd rather give an extra kiss or an extra show of love," he said.

Child psychologist Dr. Stephanie O'Leary said Wednesday that extreme physical contact in schools is as inappropriate as corporal punishment, and said adults in a position of power need to use caution and pay attention to the child's physical and verbal cues, especially while alone.

School officials have not returned calls from News 12. There is no word on whether the principal is still teaching kids.

WARNING: GRAPHIC AND VERY DISTURBING VIDEO!
http://hudsonvalley.news12.com/news/second-video-surfaces-showing-alleged-abuse-at-united-talmudical-academy-in-kiryas-joel-1.11761876

“Early on in my rabbinate, I sat in a room of survivors who shared stories of abuse, and heard how rabbis and Jewish institutions had failed these survivors over and over again,” he told me. “I feel like it has to change. Religious institutions should be places of healing, places of hope and protection for people — not the other way around.”

“It can take a lifetime to learn how to speak up to Jewish authority,” Kabakov told me as she drove home from Albany. “It can silence people. It silenced me.” ....

 Will New Jewish Effort Force New York To Change Sex Abuse Laws at Last?

Sara Kabakov had never done this before. Never driven three hours from her home in Ithaca, N.Y., to the state capitol in Albany nearly 200 miles away, never tried to enter the mosh pit of lobbying lawmakers, never thought of herself as a political activist.

But there she was yesterday at the capitol, seeking an audience with her state senator, meeting with other legislators, learning from other advocates, all in service of persuading them to protect victims of child sexual abuse.

She was moved to do this by a simple act of bravery: Last January, Kabakov shared her own story of sexual abuse at the hands of Marc Gafni, the former rabbi and spiritual guru. “I am the woman Gafni molested when she was 13 years old,” she wrote in an exclusive essay for the Forward . “This is the first time I am telling my story in my own name.”

Gafni was a Yeshiva University rabbinical student five or six years her senior, who regularly molested her at night in her bed when he would stay at the Kabakov family home for Shabbat. The abuse continued for months; the pain and confusion lasted for many years, exacerbated by the refusal of an array of Jewish leaders to take Kabakov’s story seriously. By the time she was able to fully address what happened, she was 38 years old.

And in New York State, that was 15 years too late.

Courtesy of Sara Kabakov
Working Together: Sara Kabakov with Rep. Margaret Markey, the champion of the Child Victims Act.

That’s because New York has one of the most cruel, reactionary laws in the nation, ranking right down there with Mississippi, Michigan and Alabama as states that advocates say are the worst for victims and the best for predators. Victims of sexual abuse in New York have only until the age of 23 to bring either criminal charges or file a civil lawsuit against their alleged abusers, one of the shortest windows in the country.

While other states have reformed their laws — Georgia did so last year — legislators in Albany have rebuffed repeated attempts by the indefatigable Queens assemblywoman Margaret Markey. Since 2006, she has championed the Child Victims Act , which in its current iteration eliminates the civil statute of limitations in the future and creates a one-year window when older abuse victims can bring their claims. A companion bill would eliminate the SOL in criminal cases in the future.

The measures have passed the state House and have been left to die in the state Senate, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stayed uncharacteristically silent.

Sensing a growing national disgust with this kind of harmful politics, Markey and State senator Brad Hoylman from Manhattan, both Demcorats, organized a two-day lobbying blitz continuing today. The lawmakers and their supporters are veritable Davids battling the Goliath of the Catholic Church on this, and the church’s compatriot in blocking real reform, Agudath Israel of America, which represents ultra-Orthodox Jews.

‘I Was 13 When Marc Gafni’s Abuse Began’

Sara Kabakov

 

But rabbis and other Jewish leaders are beginning to fight back. Just last week, Rabbi Ari Hart of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was the first to sign a petition he organized with the group Kol v’Oz supporting the Child Victims Act; now there are 161 names below his, representing all denominations.

Hart was in Albany yesterday, too. He considers this advocacy part of his rabbinate — not only because of his pastoral obligation to hear and heal the pain of fellow Jews, but out of the shameful recognition that too many Jewish leaders have denied the seriousness of child abuse for too long.

“Early on in my rabbinate, I sat in a room of survivors who shared stories of abuse, and heard how rabbis and Jewish institutions had failed these survivors over and over again,” he told me. “I feel like it has to change. Religious institutions should be places of healing, places of hope and protection for people — not the other way around.”

This urge to protect institutions from allegations of abuse that may have happened long ago is rooted in ignorance and fear. There’s no need for either anymore. We know from research and countless human examples that it may take an abuse victim decades to be able to even verbalize the experience, especially when the abuser was a person held in high esteem, like a rabbi or teacher.

“It can take a lifetime to learn how to speak up to Jewish authority,” Kabakov told me as she drove home from Albany. “It can silence people. It silenced me.”

Orthodox Advocates Push for Sex Abuse Reform in New York

Debra Nussbaum Cohen May 3, 2016

 

Besides ignorance, there is fear that opening a window to claims from the past will unleash a torrent of frivolous lawsuits that will bankrupt churches, yeshivas and other institutions. But none of that has happened in the states where the SOL has been reformed or eliminated.

And then there’s a deeper fear that Kabakov names, one that especially afflicts Jews and other minorities — fear of bringing shame onto one’s own. “That’s probably one of the biggest barriers to changing the paradigm of silence,” she said. “Everyone is afraid of persecution, of stigma, and we don’t want to add to it.”

We simply have to get over it, if for no other reason than suppression of abuse inevitably leads to more harm and more communal shame. The Jewish advocates in Albany yesterday, along with their coalition partners from other faiths, are not disrespecting their communities and traditions by lobbying on behalf of child victims. They are acting out of love made desperate by denial and suffering.

Do the right thing, New York. Allow the victims their voices. Let their stories be heard.

Tagged as:

• New York
• Sexual abuse

Read more: http://forward.com/opinion/339951/will-new-jewish-effort-force-new-york-to-change-sex-abuse-laws-at-last/#ixzz47hWR0P2K

The suit names Greer and the two schools he founded and runs — the Gan School, a mixed-gender elementary school; and the Yeshiva of New Haven, a boarding high school for boys — as defendants.

by Paul Bass | May 3, 2016 

(18) Comments | Post a Comment | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Legal Writes, Religion, Edgewood

Rabbi Greer

A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Rabbi Daniel Greer —  who revived a declining neighborhood and has publicly crusaded against gay rights, prostitution, and coed university dorms   —  of repeatedly raping and molesting students at his yeshiva at Elm and Norton streets.

 

Greer, through his attorney, denied the allegations.

An attorney for Eliyahu Mirlis, the alleged victim, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The suit names Greer and the two schools he founded and runs   —  the Gan School, a mixed-gender elementary school; and the Yeshiva of New Haven, a boarding high school for boys   —  as defendants.

The case has already started fraying a tight-knit religious family community centered around the yeshiva, in the former Roger Sherman School building at 765 Elm St. Through a series of corporations, Greer and his family bought, renovated, and have since rented out some four dozen multi-family homes on surrounding blocks, many of them notable for their eight-foot-high stockade fences. Passionate minyanim, or prayer services, occur daily in the morning and evening on the second floor of the school, which has doubled as a small neighborhood synagogue. Enrollment at the yeshiva dwindled to close to zero in recent months as word about the allegations spread through the Orthodox Jewish community. Officials resigned from the boards of the schools and the real estate corporations.

The yeshiva building at 765 Elm.

The fates of both the two schools and the portfolio of around 125 apartments in the neighborhood remain unclear in the wake of the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Mirlis attended the yeshiva and lived in Greer-owned housing from 2001 to 2005.
Greer, who is 75 today and was in his 60s at the time, “repeatedly and continuously sexually abused, exploited, and assaulted” Mirlis during his sophomore through senior years, when he was 15 to 17 years old, according to the complaint. It describes the abuse as “acts of sex ... including forced fellatio, anal sex, fondling and masturbation.”

“Rabbi Greer frequently gave Eli alcohol at the time he raped and assaulted his child victim,” the complaint charges.

“Rabbi Greer showed Eli pornographic films. Rabbi Greer anally raped, sodomized and in other ways sexually assaulted, abused and molested Eli dozens and dozens of times, with each incident lasting on average from one to four hours, and sometimes all night.

“Rabbi Greer raped, sodomized and sexually assaulted, abused and molested Eli on school property, in the bedroom of the Rabbi’s private residence, at motels in Branford, Connecticut and Paoli and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on land in Hamden, Connecticut, and at rental properties in New Haven owned and managed by Yeshiva of New Haven, Inc., The Gan School, Inc., and other non-stock Connecticut corporations of which Rabbi Greer was the President, Director and Treasurer, including properties located at 777 Elm Street, 203, 209 and 211 Norton Street, 139 West Park Avenue, 439 Edgewood Avenue, and 193 Maple Street.”

The school’s “senior officials” “knew and/or should have known that the Rabbi was raping, sodomizing and sexually assaulting, abusing and molesting the minor boy; and they did nothing to stop it,” the complaint charges. “At all relevant times, administrators and officials of The School failed to safeguard the keys to the rental properties, providing Rabbi Greer with multiple places where he could rape and assault his child victim at his leisure without fear of being discovered or stopped.” The complaint specifically cites an unnamed assistant principal as having had knowledge of the abuse but not taking action.

The suit further charges that “during the years prior to his sexual molestation of Eli, Greer sexually abused, molested and exploited at least one other minor boy in the care and custody of The School.”
State law — Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17-38a — required school officials to notify authorities about suspicions about child abuse taking place, the complaint continues.

“The School employed a pedophile, and allowed that pedophile free reign to gratify his perverse sexual desires by molesting a young vulnerable boy in The School’s care and custody,” the state alleges.

The suit claims that the abuse has left Mirlis with “severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, pain and anguish, anxiety, panic, sexual dysfunction, PTSD, depression, hyper-vigilance, shame, and low self-esteem” that have “permanently damaged” his “educational and career prospects.” The suit does not specify an amount sought for damages beyond Mirlis, who is 28 years old and lives in New Jersey, is represented in the suit by attorney Antonio Ponvert III of the Bridgeport firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder.

Rabbi Greer, who has maintained a confident position of innocence amid the allegations, referred a request for comment for this article to his attorney, William Ward.

Ward denied the accusations on Greer’s behalf in a conversation late Tuesday morning with the Independent.

“It only takes a moment to make allegations with despicable indifference to the consequences of the damage they would cause to my client, his family, and his reputation that he spent a lifetime building in his community. This is a difficult time for my client and his family. But I would remind the public to ask for evidence before rushing to judgment, as my client is now burdened with the task of proving something did not happen 14 years ago, as alleged by Mr. Mirlis,” Ward said.

“Ask yourself why Mr. Mirlis would wait 14 years. Ask yourself why Mr. Mirlis, well into his adulthood, repeatedly honored the man he now accuses. Ask yourself why Mr. Mirlis, an Orthodox Jew, would not seek redress form a rabbinical arbitration court. Ask yourself why Mr. Mirlis’s first stop was his lawyer’s office to seek money. And finally ask yourself why his attorney would issue a press release.”

Attorney Ponvert responded that victims of childhood sexual abuse often take years to come to grips with what happened to them and come forward with allegations, and in the meantime may maintain contact with their abusers. He said his client felt his best chance for justice lay in the civil courts.

“The waiting, first of all, is a well-known consequence of the infliction of childhood sexual abuse. If children were able to understand what was happening to them when they were being groomed and manipulated by an adult for that adult’s sexual gratification—if the children understood that at the time most of these would be reported when they happened. That doesn’t usually happen, because adults who sexually molest children tend to be very persuasive, very calculated, and very adept at choosing vulnerable victims who do not have the ability to get out of the relationship,” Ponvert said.

He said that one reason Mirlis “waited 14 years was because of the power that this man held over him. This your rabbi. This is the principal of your school. This is a 60-year-old man who is showing affection to you you’re not getting anywhere else in the world. He’s chosen you. You now have this person who has chosen you for this special relationship which he is telling you every day that it occurs is healthy and good. The time lag between that and the reporting is evidence of how good a molester and manipulator that Greer is.”

Police Will Look Into Case

The statute of limitations to file a federal suit is 30 years from the time of the alleged incident. The same is true for the state of Connecticut to pursue criminal charges, under the Connecticut General Statutes section 54-193a.

Ponvert said Mirlis has not sought to pursue criminal charges. But if the police or state’s attorney decide to pursue an investigation, “obviously my client will fully cooperate,” Ponvert said.

Upon the announcement of this information, the department will be reaching out to the plaintiff’s attorney,” Police Chief Dean Esserman told the Independent Tuesday.

Ponvert said his client chose a lawsuit rather than a criminal complaint to pursue his complaint because “he has the ability to attempt to control getting justice in the civil arena.”

The assistant principal named in the lawsuit did not return calls for this story. He has retained a local attorney, who, according to a secretary, is out of the country and unavailable. The assistant stepped down from his job in 2015.

Neighborhood Builder

Since Daniel Greer returned to New Haven in the 1970s, he has fought to create and preserve his visions of both urban neighborhoods and sexual morality.

 

Greer first came to New Haven to attend Yale Law School, where he roomed with future California governor and presidential candidate Jerry Brown. He then moved to New York City, where he served as an official (deputy commissioner for ports and terminals) for Mayor John Lindsay. He also led a successful campaign to force the United States to pressure the Soviet Union into allowing Jewish “refuseniks” to emigrate here and start new, freer lives.

Back in New Haven, he set out to create a walkable, safe enclave in the Edgewood neighborhood where he and his wife could create an Orthodox school for their children and other Jewish children.

His success in stabilizing a declining neighborhood has inspired clergy from other faiths to try the same approach in other parts of town plagued by absentee slumlords.

From the start, Greer understood the need for political and community ties to succeed with his mission. He cultivated corporate donors, some of whom could contribute to his group’s not-for-profit real-estate efforts through the state Neighborhood Assistance Act. The annual yeshiva community dinner has honored leaders in the broader community and drawn political leaders from throughout the state.

He served on city boards and commissions. He played an important role as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners in hearings that exposed massive illegal NHPD wiretapping of government dissidents and political opponents. He later served on the Redevelopment Authority board as well.

Greer and the Gan School’s members and supporters organized neighborhood campaigns and got out the vote for candidates in ward elections. Working with police and prosecutors, Greer and his allies successfully pressed for the shutdown of a brothel and publicly posted the names of johns arrested for patronizing street hookers, sweeping public prostitution from the neighborhood. After Greer’s son was assaulted during an uptick in crime, his organization formed an armed “defense patrol” along with the Guardian Angels. The patrol, though short-lived, made national news and forced the city to police the neighborhood better.

Most recently, Greer blasted city officials for ending a lease for a police substation at a Greer-owned building at Whalley and Norton, and for not taking action against commercial slumlords in the neighborhood.

Greer was also outspoken about sexual mores. He railed to a crowd against the evils of homosexuality and gay marriage at a rally at the state capitol. Gan members also testified in New Haven against a domestic partnership law.

Jew vs. Jew

When Greer’s daughter attended Yale, he led a legal fight in 1997 against co-ed dorms, which he depicted as dens of immorality. He didn’t prevail in court. But he embarrassed Yale with national news coverage of the “Yale 5” case, including a lengthy New York Times Magazine story that author Samuel Freedman expanded into a central part of his book Jew vs. Jew.

In recent weeks, Greer has threatened legal action against a local blogger, Lawrence Dressler, who has published accusations against Greer on his site.

Ward, Greer’s attorney, sent an April 18 cease-and-desist letter to Dressler, who used to pray at the yeshiva minyan and launched the blog after serving 20 months in prison on a mortgage fraud-related charge. The letter requested that Dressler publish a “retraction and apology” for what he’d written about Greer and the yeshiva, and refrain from making “any further false statements about Rabbi Greer and the Yeshiva of New Haven.” He also called the accusations “defamatory.”

“These statements have caused great distress to my client and have damaged the reputation of the Yeshiva and Rabbi Greer,” Ward wrote.

Joseph Merly, an attorney in the New Haven law firm headed by John R. Williams, responded on April 20 with a letter written on Dressler’s behalf. “Mr. Dressler has no intention of retracting any statements ...” the letter informed Ward. “The statements which Mr. Dressler made are completely true and accurate and as you know, truth is the best defense to a claim of defamation. In fact, Mr. Dressler intends to expand his efforts to bring forth victims of your clients and publishing their stories and to continue alerting the community to your clients’ crimes.”

Tags: Daniel Greer, child abuse, pedophilia, Yeshiva of New Haven, Eliyahu Mirlis, Antonio Ponvert III, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder

 

  READ: http://www.larrynoodles.com/new.html

 

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/daniel_greer_lawsuit/

It is also long past time that Jewish leaders came to grips with the fact that rather being a source of healing for victims of child sexual abuse, sometimes our religious institutions and leaders have been part of the problem. Too often, they have discouraged victims from going to the police. Too often, they have been enablers or even perpetrators of abuse...

Rabbi Ari Hart: Why Jewish leaders want abusers to pay

  Rabbi Ari Hart --- NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 

Fix the law

The famous joke goes: two Jews, three opinions. Yet last week, more than 100 Jewish leaders from across the religious and ideological divides came together, with one voice, to declare their support for statute of limitations reform for child abuse victims in New York State.

Why statute of limitations reform, and why are Jewish leaders lining up behind this bill? Because it’s our obligation as men and women of faith who purport to help people heal. And it is, I believe, our obligation as followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

After decades of denial, cover-ups and darkness, the light is finally shining on the scourge of child sexual abuse. Today, we better understand the high rate of its prevalence, the lasting and far-reaching damage caused by abusers, and the extreme difficulty survivors face in coming forward and seek justice. Tragically, New York State’s regressive laws prevent many victims from getting the justice they deserve and from stopping abusers from causing more harm.

While mental health experts have shown that it can take decades for a victim of child sexual abuse to overcome the fear, shame and trauma of abuse and come forward, our statutes allow someone to pursue criminal or civil justice only until the victim turns 23.

As a rabbi, I have met people in their 40s, 50s and 60s who are only now coming to grips with what happened to them as children, and only now able to come forward. New York law fails these victims by giving a victim only five years from the time they enter adulthood to act.

New York state has been ranked among the very worst, alongside Mississippi, Alabama and Michigan, for how the courts and criminal justice system treat survivors of child sex abuse.

We take this stand not only as New Yorkers and Americans, but as Jews.

Judaism is a religion as concerned with what happens in the courthouse with what happens in the synagogue. Fairness, justice and protecting the vulnerable are hallmarks of the Torah — calls made in our sacred texts over and over again.

In addition, Jewish law does not recognize the concept of a statute of limitations: If a wrong was committed, if someone has harmed, they always have the right to seek justice.

It is also long past time that Jewish leaders came to grips with the fact that rather being a source of healing for victims of child sexual abuse, sometimes our religious institutions and leaders have been part of the problem. Too often, they have discouraged victims from going to the police. Too often, they have been enablers or even perpetrators of abuse.

Shamefully, it has been religious groups that have played the most prominent role in blocking the passage of statute of limitations reform in New York State until now. Why? Enacting this legislation puts many institutions, religious and otherwise, at financial risk for actions that protected abusers, ignored abuse claims or directly perpetrated abuse in the past.

But if the passage of statute of limitations reform means that religious institutions will have to bear the burden of increased financial risk, that is a burden we must find a way to bear. Have victims with profound emotional scars, shattered faith and more not paid a price beyond any dollar amount?

We must ask ourselves: to which bottom line are we accountable? Those of profits, of those of the prophets?

The Torah teaches: Tzedek tzedek tirdof, justice justice you shall pursue. Though we cannot undo the pain that was done, often under our own auspices, faith leaders can stand with victims of child sexual abuse in their quest for justice. Faith leaders can fulfill our mandate to be relentless pursuers of justice by calling on Albany to pass the Child Victim’s Act.

Hart is an Orthodox rabbi.

VERY GRAPHIC VIDEO OF RABBI IN SATMAR COMMUNITY MOLESTING A CHILD: WARNING!!!

https://archive.org/details/VID20160501WA0003

 Video sparks allegations of child sex abuse in Kiryas Joel

Video sparks allegations of child sex abuse in Kiryas Joel

A disturbing new video has sparked allegations of child sex abuse allegedly from inside an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Orange County.

 http://hudsonvalley.news12.com/news/video-sparks-allegations-of-child-sex-abuse-in-kiryas-joel-1.11753538

 http://m.nydailynews.com/opinion/rabbi-ari-hart-jewish-leaders-abusers-pay-article-1.2619372