Evidence given in the case -- which was not disputed by the school -- said Leifer targeted girls who struggled with issues at home and carried out abuse in closed rooms at the school, on school camps, and in her private home...

Australian sexual abuse victims bring campaign for justice to Israel

 

From left to right: sisters Elly Sapper, Nechama Meyer and Dassi Erlich with Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky in Jerusalem on October 27 2017
 

Australian PM is expected to demand Leifer's extradition during his meeting with Netanyahu

During his official visit to Israel this week, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will demand justice for three sisters whose alleged serial sexual abuser is living free in the city of Bnei Brak after successfully avoiding extradition by checking herself into psychiatric care on the day of her scheduled court appearances.

For the first time since launching a concerted public campaign last year, Australian woman Dassi Erlich and her two sisters are in Israel to heap pressure on officials to revive the stalled extradition process for former teacher Malka Leifer, wanted by police in the state of Victoria on 74 charges relating to sexual assault.

And Erlich has the growing anger of the Australian community -- Jewish and not -- behind her.
Leifer, an Israeli citizen, fled Australia on a midnight flight in 2008 after allegations surfaced that she had sexually abused more than eight teenage girls, both as students and teachers, at the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel School in Melbourne.

The extradition process has been moving at a snail's pace for years because court-appointed psychiatrists in Israel say she is too mentally ill to attend an extradition hearing, although she has not been admitted to ongoing care and was photographed this year in attending a raucous Lag B’Omer religious festival in the village of Meron.

The only conditions placed on Leifer by the Jerusalem District Court were that she surrender her passport and attend psychiatric appointments roughly once every four weeks for up to ten years. There are no limits on her contact with young girls, something the sisters say is deeply concerning.

 
Malka Leifer, a former principal wanted for extradition to Australia on sex abuse charges is pictured here in 2006
 

There is swelling outrage in Australia’s Jewish community and among survivors of sexual abuse over the case, enough that it has begun to taint Jerusalem’s ties with what is seen as one of the most Israel-friendly governments in the world, just as hundreds of Australians descend on the country for the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC campaign in Be'er Sheva.

A delegation of Australian lawmakers is attempting to get a meeting with Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked next week to hammer home their frustration over the legal process. Israeli prosecutors are understood to share their concerns.

Erlich met last month with Turnbull, who on Monday was asked what he will tell his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu about the case during a much-anticipated visit alongside a bevvy of senior Australian political figures and Jewish community leaders.

“What I'll say is that justice demands that she be brought back to Australia to answer the charges,” he told a press conference.

Last week, Dassi and her sisters, Elly Sapper and Nechama Meyer, took their battle to the Knesset, the Jewish Agency, and the state prosecutor in the hope of a breakthrough if they turn the screws on senior Israeli officials.

On Thursday the three women met with Jewish Agency chief Natan Sharansky in Jerusalem ahead of the board of governors meeting this week, which they described as “inspiring and encouraging”.

“He assured us he would raise this issue with the Israeli government, not only for justice but for the safety of Jewish children in Israel and was well on behalf of the Jewish diaspora,” the sisters told i24NEWS.

The meeting was arranged by Mark Leibler, chairman of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (approximate to the Australian version of AIPAC), who earlier this year met with Shaked to press home the Australian Jewish community’s anguish over the stalled legal process. He did not respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

The sit-down with Sharansky came after a session in the Knesset on Wednesday in which the sisters strategized with Israeli lawmakers.

Likud MK Sharren Haskel -- who lived in Australia for several years -- told i24NEWS that “it’s a very big issue for the Jewish community and an important issue for legislators in Australia,” adding that it was frequently brought up in her meetings with legislators during a recent visit to the country.

“I’ve been working in the past few months to make sure that the PMO, the foreign ministry, and the justice ministry are all aware of this situation and are turning the wheels quicker to make sure that this person will get a trial,” she said.

Influential Zionist Union member Meirav Michaeli, who has also met with Dassi on a trip to Australia earlier this year, said it was “inconceivable that a predator -- even though she’s a Jewish ultra-Orthodox woman -- should enjoy an immunity just because the people she allegedly victimized live abroad.”

 
Dassi Erlich (L) meets with Zionist Union lawmakers Michal Biran and Meirav Michaeli in the Knesset on Wednesday October 27, 2017.

 

Michaeli noted that she and Michal Biran, another MK who has taken a strong interest in the Leifer case, have initiated a discussion in the Knesset’s health committee to get "some answers as to the way she’s been playing the mental health issue: turning it on when there’s a hearing and turning it on when she can live her life.”

On Friday Leifer's lawyer, Yehuda Fried, described her condition as "chronic" and said that she is barely able to hold a conversation or leave her home. He added in an interview with Haaretz newspaper that the extradition "will never come."

Leifer’s alleged abuse against at least eight pupils -- victim advocates suspect there are more who are too afraid to come forward -- was described as “destructive and evil” by Victorian Supreme Court Justice Jack Rush QC in his decision to award Erlich $1.27 million Australian dollars (approximately $979,000 USD) in damages after a 2015 civil suit. It was the largest payout to a survivor of sexual abuse in the state’s history.

“Leifer used her position of control, power and authority within the school to manipulate the plaintiff’s sense of vulnerability,” the judge wrote, adding that the motivation was her own “sexual gratification.” Community members in Australia who tried to support victims at the time say they have been subject to threats and intimidation from people connected to the Leifers.

Evidence given in the case -- which was not disputed by the school -- said Leifer targeted girls who struggled with issues at home and carried out abuse in closed rooms at the school, on school camps, and in her private home.

According to the evidence, Leifer would tell the girls during the assaults that she was preparing them for marriage and showing them how to love.

The Adass Israel school is the heart of eastern Melbourne’s insular and strictly observant Adass community, within which mixing of unrelated men and women is tightly controlled, and interaction with the outside community limited.

Dassi lived an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle in Israel for two years in the period before making the decision to seek justice through the courts.

"It feels so weird to be here for this reason, I never imagined coming to Israel for this," she said. "Never in my wild dreams did I imagine coming here for this. It feels so strange that we are here doing this but the level of campaigning had become so big that we feel it was necessary that we come here.”

“When I lived here I was living here as a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) religious woman, still living a very sheltered life, I never imagined that this is where I would end up.”

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/israel/158737-171027-sexual-abuse-victims-bring-campaign-for-justice-to-israel?utm_source=SIM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter_20171102_en&utm_content=&utm_term=

Pini Landau was a 20-year-old Gerrer Hasid who lived in a yeshiva dormitory in Arad, in which many things that the average western person — secular or religious — finds normal are forbidden. One of these things is a smart phone...

Vicious Child Abuse By Another Name!

The Ger Cult

Hormone suppressants for yeshiva students with smartphones?

 

Recently, Amnon Levi, the host of Panim Amitiyot (True Faces), did a segment on a young man named Pini Landau, who recently left the Gerrer Hasidim. The segment was called “Castration among Hasidim” (sirus be-hasidut). The story is as simple as it is problematic. Pini Landau was a 20-year-old Gerrer Hasid who lived in a yeshiva dormitory in Arad, in which many things that the average western person — secular or religious — finds normal are forbidden. One of these things is a smart phone. 

According to Pini’s explanation, the assumption is that if a young man has internet access, it is guaranteed that he will use it to watch pornography. Pini had previously been caught with a cellphone, so he was considered a repeat offender. Thus, he was presented with a choice, either to be kicked out of the yeshiva or take medication that would make him stop behaving wickedly. 

Pini was already taking a number of medications: Methylphenidate (for ADHD), Risperidone (an antipsychotic) and Sertraline (an antidepressant), so the idea of taking medication wasn’t particularly frightening to him, and he agreed. The medication that they wanted him to take was Decapeptyl SR (triptorelin), which is a Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH–A). What that means in simple English is that it is a hormone suppressor. In women, it suppresses estrogen, in men, testosterone.

Hormone Suppressants

The drug has many medical uses for people with different needs. It is used by women going through in vitro fertilization to help control ovulation. It is used to treat prostate cancer (prostate tumors feed on testosterone). It is used to block puberty in children with precocious (=early) puberty and in children with gender-dysphoria (to give them time to mature and think about what they really want). Male-to-female transsexuals take the drug to suppress masculine traits.

It is also given to sex offenders; without testosterone, sexual desire in men plummets to virtually non-existent, so in some states and countries, rapists or pedophiles are offered reduced sentences in exchange for an agreement to take the drug.

In addition to suppressing sexual desire in men, it also brings about a number of body adjustments that give the man female secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts. This is only one of the many unfortunate side effects of the drug, others include osteoporosis, severe weight gain especially in the abdominal area (in medical terms, “increased visceral adiposity”), impaired glucose tolerance, abnormal amounts of lipids in the blood (dyslipidemia), and emotional disturbances. It is counter-indicated for people with depression, and in general, anyone taking the medication has to be seen regularly by a doctor to monitor the side effects and make sure the patient is healthy and safe.

All of the above information is easily found on the internet, to which Pini had no access once they took his smart phone. It is also something that should have been explained to him by his doctor.

A Doctor’s Role

The doctor to whom the yeshiva referred Pini is a psychiatrist in the Haredi community named Michael Bontzel, an American immigrant who has been the physician of choice for the Gerrer community for ten years. Before sitting in his office, Pini was coached by the yeshiva’s powers that be about what to say.

He could not go into a doctor’s office and say that he wanted to take hormone suppressant medication because he bought a smart phone. What could the doctor write in his notes to defend such a thing? So Pini needed to say something along the lines of, “I am haunted by desires that are hurting my quality of life. I just want these thoughts to go away.”

On the face of it, such a request sounds “reasonable.” Perhaps the young man has obsessive tendencies that are torturing him or desires that could lead him to put others in harm’s way. But the doctor could also wonder about the more likely alternative, that this could be a rehearsed and curated cover story that the boy was being forced to recite to get the drugs his teachers and administrators wanted him to take.

What the Doctor Should Have Said

The decision to give a 20-year-old boy a GnRH–A is serious,[1] and the fact that this doctor was so familiar with the Ger community means that he must know the kind of pressures that can be brought to bear on such a boy to stop him from “sinning.”

In my view, he needed to have a candid and private conversation with Pini, and say the following:

Young man, it is, of course, your right to ask for this medication but first we need to clear the air. As this drug will entirely suppress your sexual drive and has painful side effects, including the possible growth of breasts, the loss of bone material, and extreme weight gain, we need to be sure that this treatment is what you need.

The drug is generally used on sex-offenders, people whose desires urge them to do terrible things. Is this what you are going through? Because here is what I am worried about: You are a single, ostensibly celibate twenty-year-old man. Any normal man in your situation has sexual fantasies. Many masturbate or have sexual partners, some even watch pornography or visit prostitutes.

It may be that these behaviors are religiously prohibited in our world, but they are not abnormal, psychologically speaking. And it is very questionable for me as a doctor to prescribe medication that isn’t medically indicated.

Do you want to tell me a little more about what you are going through? Are you really sure that suppressing your sex drive entirely and risking all those side effects is really what you want?

Perhaps at that point, Pini would have told him that he his yeshiva was forcing him to ask for the drug because he bought a smart phone. Perhaps Pini would have withdrawn his request at this point and said that this was too high a price to pay to stay in yeshiva. But the doctor did not give this speech; he merely prescribed the meds and Pini took them and suffered.

Willful Blindness and Legal Cover

The doctor seems to have been willfully blind to the situation. When Pini confronted him in the segment and asked him how he could have prescribed him those meds, the doctor’s response was to repeat in a mantra-like form, “you were twenty years old and legally responsible for your own actions.” Yes, this is likely true in a narrow legal sense, but this sounds more like legal cover than a real response.

In Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, the main character named Pip needs to speak to his lawyer Mr. Jaggers about his (Jaggers’) client named Abel Magwitch, who had been exiled to Australia but was now illegally back in England.

The moment Pip mentions to Jaggers that he spoke with Magwitch, Jaggers replies that he (Pip) must mean that he corresponded with Magwitch “of New South Wales” Australia, not that he spoke with him, since Magwitch isn’t in England (returning to England after exile being a death penalty offense).

Throughout the conversation, every time Jaggers mentions Magwitch, he adds the phrase “of New South Wales.” He is doing this because he knows full well that Magwitch is in England; Jaggers is overcompensating to cover himself.

To me, Dr. Bontzel’s “you were a legal adult” sounds an awful lot like Magwitch’s “of New South Wales.”

Stopping Medical Abuse of Yeshiva Bachurs

Looking to the future, it is clear that we have a problem in the world of Gerrer Hasidim and perhaps even in more yeshivot. Young men are being medicated as a crutch to help these authority figures control their behavior. According to the segment, Pini’s case is just one example of a pervasive phenomenon that has likely been foisted on hundreds of young men in Pini’s situation for years, maybe even decades.

If it wasn’t obvious to doctors that the vast majority of yeshiva bachurs asking for hormone suppressants are examples of spurious use, forced on these boys by the undue persuasive power of the authority figures in that world, it should be now. And thus, as a society, it is incumbent upon us to stop this “medical abuse,” and doctors need to be extra cautious about yeshiva bachurs showing up asking for hormone suppressants.

No yeshiva should be allowed to pressure young men to medicate themselves as a way of ensuring that these boys comply with the community’s strict religious norms. This is abusive behavior and should be identified as such in our statutes. Moreover, we need to ask ourselves if doctors who are colluding with this behavior, whether for ideological reasons or financial gain, should be allowed to continue practicing medicine here.

—

[1] On one point, I have a serious quibble with Amnon Levi’s presentation. When he was interviewing Dr. Tzahi ben Tziyon, the doctor explained how the drug works by suppressing testosterone. Dr. Ben Tziyon explained that it was called “chemical castration” once because both procedures shut down testosterone production. Never did he imply that the effects are permanent, like castration. Yet, Amnon Levi kept responding by saying that “so they are essentially castrating him.” I feel that he was being willfully obtuse in order to use a sensationalist term “castration” that brings up the horrible image of permanent loss of libido, impotence, and even sterilization. As Pini complains of loss of libido even eight months after taking the drug, this could be a possible side effect. 

Nevertheless, permanent or even long term loss of libido is certainly not the medical function of the drug or a normal effect of it. And yet, the title of the segment is “Castration among Hasidim.” I worry that the Ger community and its doctors will grab hold of this unfortunate description and call “witch hunt.” It is never good to turn a horrible behavior into a monstrous behavior for rhetorical reasons. It is distracting, and as the Rabbis say “if you grab too much you get nothing” (תפשת מרובה לא תפשת).

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hormone-suppressants-for-yeshiva-students-with-smartphones/


Rabbi's Little Helper

Forget 'Big Brother': Psychiatric drugs are frequently administered within the Haredi community at leaders' requests, in order to bring members in line with norms, say sources. 

This is not a reality show. It's a true story that's been going on for years. No one denies it, neither the psychiatrists nor their patients: Psychiatric drugs are being given to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, men, seminary girls and married women at the request of rabbis, yeshiva "supervisors" and marriage counselors. The furor that erupted recently after a psychiatrist prescribed pills to participants on the TV reality show "Big Brother" - apparently to help the production and not the patients - convinced some Haredi patients to come forward with prescriptions and documents attesting to a far broader practice.

Haaretz spoke to psychiatrists and others knowledgeable about psychiatric treatment in the Haredi community, and collected testimonies from half-a-dozen patients and their families. 
About half of them are Haredi and the others have left the community. Each told a different story, mentioning the names of senior psychiatrists, rabbis and community functionaries.
Psychiatric drugs are rife in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, sources say,

Psychiatric drugs are rife in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, sources say.

READ IT ALL:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/rabbi-s-little-helper-1.422985

Isaak Goldschmidt, 49, abused boys and girls, aged eight to 14 years old, for 11 years between 2003 and 2014.

Jewish man jailed for eight years over child sex assaults

 

A female victim also told police officers he had beaten her with “various weapons” including a walking stick and a belt

Isaak Goldschmidt was jailed for more than eight years 

 

A Manchester Jewish man has been jailed for a series of “sickening” sexual and physical assaults against children.

Isaak Goldschmidt, from Castlefield Avenue, in Salford, was sentenced to eight years and three months in jail at Manchester Crown Court today.

Goldschmidt, 49, abused boys and girls, aged eight to 14 years old, for 11 years between 2003 and 2014.

A female victim also told police officers he had beaten her with “various weapons” including a walking stick and a belt.

Goldschmidt was convicted of three counts of sexual assault of a boy; four counts of sexual assault of a girl; three counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16; four counts of causing or inciting a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity; three counts of causing or inciting a girl under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity; and one count of child cruelty.

He admitted each count.

An investigation was launched in March last year after police received information that Goldschmidt had sexually and physically assaulted two young people over a number of years.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Clitherow of Greater Manchester Police’s Salford borough, said: “The persistence Goldschmidt has shown in carrying out his crimes, undiscovered for a number of years, is truly sickening.

“It is only down to the courageous decisions the victims in this case have made that we have been able to remove him from society and do everything we can to protect and support them.

“I’d like today’s result to send a message to those who are victims of abuse that it does not matter when or where abuse happened or by whom.

“We treat every report with the utmost severity to ensure the right people are behind bars and their victims are freed from the shackles of their crimes.”

Det Ch Insp Clitherow told the JC that the police had received a “flurry of information” after the investigation and conviction of Todros Grynhaus, a member of Salford’s Charedi community who was jailed for more than 13 years in 2015 for molesting two teenage girls.

David Glausiusz was jailed for 22 years in April 2017 for sexual abuse and beatings against children as young as seven, while another man, Daniel Golomb, 44, will appear at Manchester Crown Court after denying 12 counts of indecent assault on an underage boy.

A wider investigation into abuse in the Manchester Jewish community, Operation Parachute, was opened in the wake of Grynhaus’ trial.

Information can be reported to Greater Manchester Police on 101, or alternatively people can refer themselves to St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre on 0161 276 6515, whether or not victims wish make a police report.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jewish-man-jailed-for-eight-years-over-child-sex-assaults-1.446949

For The First Time Ever, An Entire Edition Of A Torah Publication Devoted Entirely To The Issue Of Child Sex Abuse In The Orthodox Jewish Community...

Magazine Cover Photoshopped - Courtesy a UOJ  Groupie

Standing idly by: when leaders enable sexual abuse by Dr. Erica Brown....and other important reads.

 

 READ AND DOWNLOAD ENTIRE ISSUE FOR FREE:
http://www.pdf-archive.com/2017/10/30/tradition/tradition.pdf

Forever The Fighter To Protect Children Globally!

launch web version / view online Webinar: The Payments Industry’s Role in Protecting Children Sign up for the webinar here! Thursday, November 2 • 3pm ET FREE for ETA Members & $99 for Non-Members The criminal enterprises that seek to make a profit from selling child sexual abuse images must do so by abusing the payments system. This workshop will help companies avoid being involved unknowingly in criminal activity, protecting the company and helping to prevent child sexual abuse. The goal of the session is to assist companies in the payments industry with evaluating their procedures for detecting commercial child pornographers and preventing commercial child pornographers from obtaining access to services. This includes methods that companies can use in their application underwriting and transaction verification process. Presenters: Catherine J. Cummings Senior Director, The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children Deana Rich President, Deana Rich Consulting QUESTIONS Please contact Jessica Mosley, Director of Education & Professional Development at jmosley@electran.org. SPONSORSHIPS Looking to reach the most influential payments executives? Contact Del Baker Robertson, VP, Strategic Partnerships at dbaker@electran.org. ABOUT ETA The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 500 payments and technology companies. ETA members make commerce possible by processing more than $5 trillion in purchases in the US and deploying payments innovations to merchants and consumers. 2017 ETA The Electronic Transactions Association. All rights reserved. 1620 L Street NW, Suite 1020, Washington, DC  |  202.828.2635  |  800.695.5509  |  www.electran.org This message was intended for bankcard@diamondcard.net.   Click here to unsubscribe.   View this e-mail online. Canadian? Give us consent to keep receiving our emails.

Charges of sex acts with minors, indecent assault and sodomy were filed against Chaim Shragai, 66, at the Jerusalem District Court, prosecutors said in a statement...

Jerusalem man indicted for assaulting 3 brothers in mikveh

 

Prosecutors say suspect systematically preyed on victims, all minors, on numerous occasions over past two years

A mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath, in a Jerusalem neighborhood

The Jerusalem prosecution said Sunday it filed an indictment against a Jerusalem man on suspicion that he sexually assaulted three brothers over a period of two years when they bathed at a ritual bathhouse.

Charges of sex acts with minors, indecent assault and sodomy were filed against Chaim Shragai, 66, at the Jerusalem District Court, prosecutors said in a statement.

According to the indictment, Shragai assaulted his victims, now aged 13-16, on numerous occasions when they individually visited a mikveh, a bathhouse where patrons immerse themselves naked in a small pool.

Court papers said Shragai, an acquaintance of the victims’ father, forced himself on the plaintiffs and contacted them by phone to encourage them to visit the bathhouse. He would also give them money after committing the acts.

Authorities say Shragai would approach the teenagers while they were using the mikva, and blocked their exit if they tried to escape.

When the teens refused to submit to his demands, Shragai would threaten to leave the victims locked inside the facility, and warned that he would tell the victims’ parents that they were guilty of various offenses. In some instances, Shragai showed his victims pornographic material, then threatened to tell their parents.

After each incident, Shragai would pay the victim a small sum, usually several shekels.

The prosecution has requested that Shragai be denied bail and be held in custody until the end of his trial.

On one occasion when one of the brothers tried to escape his clutches, Shragai allegedly blocked the exit and threatened to tell his parents about previous encounters they had and to lock him in mikveh.

The prosecutor asked that he be held until the end of the legal proceedings.

• sexual assault
• mikveh
• indecent assault
• sexual relations with a minor
•  

https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-man-indicted-for-assaulting-3-brothers-in-mikveh/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=b7019c9035-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-b7019c9035-55186525

We have erred. We have turned our rabbis into Gods..they are not, not at all. They are influenced and corrupted by money and power just as we are. We are scrutinized by our peers, they get a pass....

 

Saturday Evening, July 01, 2006 - From The UOJ Archives

"UOJ - Please Listen. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully....."

A Sophisticated Reader Writes And UOJ Responds.

I'd like to comment on the many opinions being offered whether the good that UOJ has accomplished is being "offset" by the bad.

UOJ - please listen. I can tell from some of your recent comments that you really care. The abuse of power, molestation, and cover-up that you know about does not allow you to rest peacefully. You have been very successful in changing our culture to some degree over the last months. Suddenly, a topic that was never spoken about is on the tips of our tongues. Yeshivas are wary of you. The organizations are on the lookout. The climate is right for change.

As you successfully point out the hypocrisy and evil in our midst, you and many other commenters should make a strong effort to:

1. Use appropriate language instead of the lexicon now used.

2. Attack only those that truly deserve to be attacked - the abusers of power and the molesters. The potshots taken at rabbonim, rabbayim, or even laymen that we have seen on this blog is not appropriate and needs to be curtailed.

3. Stop ridiculing anyone (including this commenter) who calls for a more civil discourse. I believe that most of us are parents. We would be the first to instruct our children that two wrongs do not make a right. We can't justify the feeling of gossip, frivolity and laxity that this blog is identified with on the basis that we are taking up a higher cause - especially when we can accomplish the same thing without resorting to these tactics.

Let's fight the issue of molestation in a strong, take-no-prisoners type of way, but keep foul language, off color, and insulting remarks out of the dialogue. I believe that as you call for a higher level of Judaism - a yearning for the holy religion that it once was - it is a critical error to allow and foster this type of dialogue which decreases individual holiness. As a group, the effect is contagious and more devastating.

UOJ, I respectfully ask you and your readers to think before you respond with knee jerk reactions. Please consider my words which are heartfelt.

I must specifically comment on Rav Elchonon Wasserman. Despite your strong feelings about the decision that Rav Elchonon made, going after him so harshly has left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Now, you have said that we should not read your blog if we don't like your opinions. You are missing the point which is that we like what you are doing. You are important to us. We would like to visit your blog which is the only vehicle where we can have an open discussion about abuse. However, we respect certain boundaries that you have crossed. It is very simple for you to tell us to leave the blog, but you would lose many interested and loyal supporters. Please reconsider your adamant position on certain Gedolim that you have severely criticized.

Regarding R' Elchanan, perhaps your point could have been that people aren't perfect and that you believe that his advice was wrong and that even Rav Elchonon may have realized this. You could extend that further with the Art Scroll type biographies where Gedolim are superhuman and explain why you believe that is dangerous. But the manner that you attacked him, conveys a message that G-D forbids R' Elchanan is in the same category as a Margulies. This is unequivocally wrong. As mentioned, the blog should criticize and publicize the real abusers - not Gedolim or laymen that make mistakes or are imperfect in one way or another.

To the readers:

It is time to get involved. Following the blog and making clever comments is not very difficult. Meanwhile, UOJ is fighting a one man battle. Are you ready to advocate for the independent board that UOJ has spoken about? Would you dare challenge your Yeshiva if an issue of abuse came up? It is easy to feel comfortable on this blog with UOJ as your super hero. It is convenient to wait for UOJ to "take down" the next molester, but where are the parents? You need to get involved in real life. I believe that UOJ has been saying that of late, but I haven't seen any responses. I'd like to see readers respond by name - no more hiding behind anonymous - and offer to support a parent advocacy group.

Let's continuously examine and reexamine our motives. It is easy to insult those who critique this blog, it is much more difficult to absorb good advice even if it is coming from those that you disagree with.

Let's clean up this blog so that it can be a place that we would be proud to take our children to visit. Let's support UOJ by becoming involved parents. Let's move forward by continuing with the positive aspects of this blog while filtering out the negative aspects that we know in our heart of hearts has no place in our very important dialogue.

UOJ RESPONDS:

The pain that all thinking people feel as well as the outrage, is expressed by myself and thousands of readers of this blog. Going through literally thousands of comments and e-mails per week, I am able to put up only a fraction of the comments and read only some of the e-mails. The one time I took off comment moderation as a test, there were 1030 comments until I started moderating again. Unprecedented in Blog history; Jewish or otherwise.

You do make some excellent points and your sincerity has captured the attention of my non-UOJ persona.

I am guilty...guilty of letting it take years for me to transform my mild mannered personality into the "wild-man" UOJ. I'm watching this Jim Jones like behavior for years while trying gently to make a difference by attending board meetings, writing essays, donating large sums of money, all with the proper intent to get a system in the yeshivas and Rabbanut that is guided by the beauty of our Torah. Not a system governed by individual needs, not beautiful edifices, not ostentatious dinners and conventions...simply a system run by yirei Hashem with no other interest than the needs of the klal first, foremost and only!

Instead, we have a system that is corrupt from the mail-room person up to the decision-makers, and everyone in between. How did we get here? Where did this disease of abuse of power and utter corruption come from? Are we students of our holy Torah or are we just a bunch of people dressed in dark clothing, hats, wigs, and tzitzis? (some fools wear more than one pair at a time)

The answer my friends, is the pass we gave to our rabbis that are no more than mortal humans. They have the same temptations that all of us have, and many of them, not all, fall victim to their humanity. They steal, they cheat, they are corrupt. You know why? There is no system of checks and balances that all humanity requires. They are the rabbis/gedolim...who is going to keep them in check?

We have erred. We have turned our rabbis into Gods..they are not, not at all. They are influenced and corrupted by money and power just as we are. We are scrutinized by our peers, they get a pass.

Therefore the trembling anger I have displayed towards R' Elchonon Wasserman. He was a Torah giant; but he was not God, just a mere human, fallible just like any other human. Was he brilliant in Torah? Absolutely! Therefore what exactly? A student wants to escape Nazi Germany...and he writes him back to stay put? Pikuach nefesh replaces a personal theory or opinion that "Y.U.", R' Yitzckok Elchonon in those days, is more dangerous to his talmidim than Hitler?  Hundreds of visas for his talmidim were obtained for them to come to Torah Vodaath and he says, NO THANKS!?

I was sitting at the hospital bed several years ago of a true "tzaddik gamur"; he was nebach at the end of his life. He was at one of the meetings where his family hosted a reception to honor R' Elchonon in the late 1930's. I was holding his frail, trembling hand as he described to me what transpired after that meeting. The host and the hostess threw themselves at the feet of R' Elchonon in the living room, sobbing and begging uncontrollably...pleading with him NOT to go back to Europe, and to bring his talmidim to the United States.

R' Elchonon was trance-like...he wouldn't budge. "HE KNEW WHAT HASHEM WANTED!" He in fact played God...thousands died against the wishes of Hashem, which commanded us to violate Yom Kippur, Shabbos, Kashrut...do everything one must do to save a single life! For everyone's information, what Art Scroll will NOT tell you, is that Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, the present Rosh Hayeshiva of Kaminetz in Israel, was a talmid of Y.U. at that time. Not too shabby a black hatter I might comment. He was right up there on the infamous list of fools banning Noson Slifkin's works.

So my passion is, in my opinion, well-founded, rooted in common sense and Torah inspired fact. No Chassidic rebbe or any rabbi has Godly powers, they are mere mortals. Remember we are Jews NOT Christians; there are NO intermediaries in our religion. WE have a direct line to God, not one bit less than a person who is wearing eighty pairs of tzitzis, fur hats, round hats, square hats, velvet ones, silk jackets, white Kabbalah coats or any of the cult-like dress that we have succumbed to like children lost in a store full of toys and costumes.

We have let the Pied-Pipers flute us into a generation of meaningless rituals and chumras that are nothing more than the works of dangerous and foolish power grabbers.
Some rabbis do this intentionally, and some are led to this madness by a circle of their leidegayers; people who are human parasites..eating off the flesh of the naive and trusting. When I met with R' Shteinman, to find out that he knew nothing of a virus called herpes, only for him to categorize the New York Dept.of Health as Goyim out to destroy Judaism, I knew this gedolim thing has to go.

When R' Shmuel Kaminetzky responded in the Kolko matter, that we MUST assume Kolko did t'shuva if a recent victim, that was not victimized in the last few months, did NOT come forward, I knew that it was a mitzva to come out with the heavy artillery; lawsuits, secular media, private investigators, the D.A....and anything else I can think of to bring to light the cesspool of leaders that we have selected to guide us through difficult times. When Aaron Twerski disgraces the very essence of our intellect by calling Lipa Margulies an honorable man...there is no stopping me!

So I am upset to the point of being a " crazy person" and every other adjective my detractors can think of. But my accounting will be given to Hashem, not some earthly human; and whenever that day comes, I will go proudly, knowing full well my intentions were pure; no money, plaques, chicken dinners, or any other human reward. I do not want to sully any reward I may or may not get from my Creator.

There will be more...much, much more; this Thursday I will go public with the next yeshiva cover-up and their in-house molester. I will not stop until we have an abuse-free yeshiva system and that includes their enablers.

I will let God judge me and my language; after all, I am human and have shortcomings. I'm willing to take that chance.

READ THE COMMENTS:

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2006/07/uoj-please-listen-abuse-of-power.html

Posted by Paul Mendlowitz at Saturday, July 01, 2006

Twelve years ago, I was blessed to become a Los Angeles County District Attorney. At the time, I did not fully comprehend why I was placed in that position, but subsequently, it became clear: People began telling me about the abuse they suffered and the revictimization that occurred when they were not believed; when they were silenced; when they were intimidated; when they turned to narcotics.

We Will Miss You Benny! 

Benny Forer

· Los Angeles, CA · 

For several years, I have fought the scourge of child sexual abuse within the Orthodox Jewish Community. I engaged in this battle because all over my world, children were being deeply harmed, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It was my duty.

Twelve years ago, I was blessed to become a Los Angeles County District Attorney. At the time, I did not fully comprehend why I was placed in that position, but subsequently, it became clear: People began telling me about the abuse they suffered and the revictimization that occurred when they were not believed; when they were silenced; when they were intimidated; when they turned to narcotics.

I then discovered that my friend Daniel was murdered by sexual abuse and I knew I had to speak up.

I knew I had to become a voice for the voiceless, a pillar for the vulnerable.

I also knew that I had a particular profession and training that gave me phenomenal insight into these issues and thus an ability to help solve some of it.

Over the years, I have spoken to hundreds, if not thousands of victims – from hearing them tell their stories to explaining the complexity of the legal system, to giving basic insightful advice, to encouraging them and assisting them in making police reports.

The horrors I heard affected me personally. The stories were so devastating, that there were many nights that I could not eat or sleep. On so many occasions, people reached out to talk at all hours of the day and night. There were many occasions where people came to my house and sat with me discussing their issues for hours. People visited me at all hours, at home, coffee shops and at work. 

In one incident, I came home from work to find a young man sitting on my front yard. He needed to talk to me. I still had my workbag over my shoulder when I sat down on the lawn and conversed with him. My wonderful wife saw and understood what I was doing, so she didn’t interrupt. We sat there for hours. At close to 12 am, I was still in a full suit, workbag still on my shoulder. This wasn't unusual. This wasn't out of the norm.
 
These were devastating stories.

(Contrary to some assertions), I didn’t do this out of ego, or personal benefit. I am beyond blessed to have two amazing jobs and an unbelievable and supportive family. I am not lacking in my life.

I made “friends” with many people I normally would have nothing in common with. At times, I had to ally with people I would disagree with on every single other issue. The collective goal being much greater than my like or dislike for someone or their perspectives. There were many I didn’t like. But children were being abused, and that was much greater than me.

I once got a call from a shul in another country. A rabbi that had a past questionable history of coverups was coming to speak to their shul about CSA. They asked me if it was appropriate. I asked them if he was going to tell the community that abuse is a problem and that reporting to the police is not against halacha. The community affirmed this. So, I encouraged them to get him to speak. When questioned about this stance, I responded, we need every single voice on this issue; not just the pristine and perfect, but also the filthy ones. Every voice is a voice.

I never took a single penny from anyone to assist them or their organizations. I turned down monetary opportunities when presented. I turned down many many speaking and travel opportunities, despite being offered them. Because it was not and never was about me.

I gave myself over on many occasions, interrupting my work or family so that I could assist another. Thousands of my personal hours were given over toward assisting and attempting to achieve some semblance of justice. I literally never had an uninterrupted vacation during the past 6 years.

Some people felt it was their right to demand my time. And, I gave it graciously. I always tried to be available and kind and appropriate to every person that needed my help. Sometimes, I was swamped at work, in a trial, or grading exams, or preparing for a class. I, nevertheless, volunteered my time as much as I was capable of giving and then some. Demands on my time were unceasing and relentless, and I gave what I could and when I could.

I also never got so much as a thank you card from anyone I helped.

I got hatred from dissenters who disagreed with any number of things. A convicted child molester’s family called my job attempting to harm me. In a twist of ironies, a rabbi that once wrote an op-ed denouncing clerical mandated reporting, called my supervisor complaining and misrepresenting in an effort to harm me.

I was on the receiving end of more than enough hateful glares. So was my family. My children were also affected.

Many known child molesters roaming the community receive/d better treatment.

I gained nothing from this battle, except the knowledge that I have participated in saving lives. And, I did save lives. I prevent a number of people from becoming another Daniel.

I stayed in my lane – I knew what my strong suits were and where I was unknowledgeable or unable to help. I kept politics separate. I kept my personal life separate.

My goal was to get the Right to move more toward the center. To remove the stigma of abuse, to protect the communities, to give victims voices, to achieve justice.

When I first began working on these issues, the opposition was harsh. Mesirah was a thing. Teshuva was another. We were opposed by everyone on every issue. Victims were screwed up or liars. 

Abusers were amazing people. Slowly the truth began to pervade and our community naturally changed. They didn’t thank us for our efforts; they believed that they’ve always believed this way. 

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

At some point, I gave over too much without reserving much for myself.

We have come an incredibly long way. We have achieved justice for many. We have succeeded in areas that many thought would fail. We have protected tens of thousands of children. We have changed a generation’s outlook and perspective on this issue.

There is still a long way to go and there always will be. I am hopeful that the next generation of advocates continues in our holy mission.

Those closest to me know that I have always bemoaned the fact that one advocacy area severely lacking was in the legal field. Not enough attorneys were engaged. In fact, outside of the mental-health industry, very few professionals were involved or put themselves on the line for this issue. I am hopeful that some will step up.

But it is time for me to move on.

https://www.facebook.com/benny.forer.3/posts/709846302550675

Standing idly by: when leaders enable sexual abuse by Dr. Erica Brown

Summer 2017 Issue 50.2 FREE access Editor's note: What is the opposite of weakness? Guest editor introduction by Rabbi Yitzchak Blau Institutional abuse in the Jewish community by Shira M.   Berkovits Sexual abuse in the orthodox Jewish community: an analysis of the roots of the failure to effectively respond to the crisis Rabbi Yosef Blau Discussing and reporting abuse – a halakhic perspective Rabbi David Brofsky Standing idly by: when leaders enable sexual abuse by Dr. Erica Brown What to do with abusive rabbis: halakhic considerations by Rabbi Mark Dratch “And your camp shall be holy” – the case of the Takana forum Professor Yedidya Stern Survey of recent halakhic periodical literature: cadaveric dental implants by J. David Bleich

http://www.traditiononline.org/pdfs/50.2/0078-0092.pdf

 

CLICK ON ALL OF THE ABOVE LINKS!

 

 

Click Here to order the hard copy of Tradition issue 50.2

Justice Rush awarded a record damages payout of $1.2 million to Ms Erlich against the Adass Israel School and the award included exemplary damages....

Malka Leifer: Ultra-orthodox Jewish community Adass Israel investigated over accused principal's escape

 Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer at a religious festival in northern Israel.

 

 

Related Story: Alleged abuse victims angry as photos surface of wanted former principal in Israel

Related Story: Student says alleged paedophile Malka Leifer 'manipulated all of us'

Related Story: Australian principal accused of 74 child sex charges walks free

Victoria Police has confirmed it is investigating members of Melbourne's ultra-orthodox Jewish community, Adass Israel, after community leaders allegedly assisted a school principal to escape to Israel in the dead of night when they became aware she had been accused of abusing girls in her care.

Key points:

• Malka Leifer accused of molesting girls at the school where she was principal
• Police investigating the Adass Israel community leaders who helped her leave the country
• Alleged victim, Dassi Erlich, travelling to Israel to lobby for Leifer's extradition
• Malcolm Turnbull says he will raise it when he visits Israel next week

Malka Leifer fled to Israel in March 2008 after a psychologist made it known to leaders of the Adass Israel congregation that Dassi Erlich, a former pupil at the community's girl school, had made complaints of sexual assault — including rape — against Ms Leifer.

She is one of at least eight, possibly 15, alleged victims.

Seventy-four charges have been laid against Ms Leifer by Victoria Police.

Ms Erlich, 30, spoke to 7.30 ahead of arriving in Israel today with her sisters, also Ms Leifer complainants, to lobby Israel to allow Ms Leifer to leave the ultra-orthodox community she is being housed in and be extradited to Australia.

"I want to achieve justice, I want to achieve a growing awareness about this case," Ms Erlich told 7.30.

 

  Photo: Dassi Erlich, with her daughter, claims Malka Leifer abused her while she was at the Adass Israel school. (Supplied: Dassi Erlich)

"I want to ensure as well that there's awareness in Israel about this case, because Malka Leifer's living in a community, around people that are as naive and as ignorant of these issues as I was, when I was growing up."

Israeli courts have deemed Ms Leifer mentally unfit for extradition and Ms Erlich is campaigning for the decision to be reversed ahead of Ms Leifer's next psychiatric panel hearing in January.

'Justice demands she be brought back': Malcolm Turnbull

 

 

Photo: Dassi Erlich meets with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. (Supplied)

 

Ms Erlich and her lawyer, Nick Mazzeo, confirmed they had been informed by Victoria Police detectives that members of the Adass Israel community were being investigated for their role in facilitating Ms Leifer's escape to Israel.

"In light of Justice [Jack] Rush's decision, and the evidence that came out, I understand that Victoria Police are looking into whether to charge board members for assisting Leifer to leave the country," Mr Mazzeo said.

In his judgment on Ms Erlich's civil case against the Adass Israel school in 2015, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Jack Rush said: "It is apparent that the persons involved were determined to get Leifer out of the country within a matter of hours of the decision to remove her from her position at the school".

"In such circumstances, the failure of the board to report the allegations to police prior to arranging Leifer's urgent departure is deplorable."

Ms Erlich is being supported in her campaign by former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu, who attended a meeting with her and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

"The Prime Minister's been on this case for some time," Mr Baillieu told 7.30.

"[We are] all very keen to see Malka Leifer returned as she should be.

"I think there are a lot of people in Israel who want that to happen, there's enormous support in the Jewish community here in Victoria for that to happen as well."

Mr Turnbull said he would raise the matter with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they meet next week.

"What I'll say is that justice demands that she be brought back to Australia to answer the charges," he said.

'She molested and raped me'

 

Photo: Dassi Erlich when she was an Adass Israel school student. (Supplied: Dassi Erlich)

 

Adass Israel is a highly secretive community of about 200 families, where boys and girls are strictly segregated from the age of three.

Ms Erlich said that made her extremely vulnerable and naive, so while her abuse commenced at the age of 15, she was, in reality, far more immature than the average teenager.

"We had no connection … even to the wider Jewish community, let alone to the wider Australian community," she said.

"I think I left school with year seven maths and year seven English.

"The word 'sex' was never, ever mentioned. We were covered, basically from our necks down to our feet. We had to stay covered the whole time.

We didn't talk about our bodies at all, we didn't discuss anything to do with our sexual identity."

Ms Erlich said Ms Leifer took advantage of that, and also the fact she had come from a dysfunctional family, grooming her with the appearance of being a loving mother figure.
"She approached me with the intention of someone of, you know, a person of support. Someone that could help out with what was going on at home. Someone that could listen and care," Ms Erlich said.

"And over time she molested and then raped me."

Justice Rush awarded a record damages payout of $1.2 million to Ms Erlich against the Adass Israel School and the award included exemplary damages.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-23/police-investigate-adass-jewish-community-on-abuse-principal/9071604?pfmredir=sm

Child abusers are consummately skilled in identifying vulnerable kids and knowing exactly what to say and do to accomplish their goals. Little is left to chance. They use their positions of power to cajole, knowing, for example, that praise and hints of special treatment are necessary in order to begin the process of initiating control...

Harvey Weinstein's alleged pattern of harassment echoes that of child sexual abusers

Photos of alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, during a protest by the Survivors 

Network of those Abused by Priests in Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 2006. 

There are many striking aspects to the breathtaking fall of Harvey Weinstein — the volume of women who have come forward, the number of years his alleged behavior remained an open secret, the sheer brazenness of that alleged behavior and, now, the ripple effects it is having well beyond Hollywood.


But as an attorney who has represented scores of victims of child sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual harassment across the country, here’s what I find most remarkable: The similarities between the pattern of harassment that Weinstein allegedly engaged in, and the patterns of abuse that emerge in an entirely different context — namely, the sexual abuse of children in trusted institutions.

Although the specifics are different, the psychological and behavioral dynamics at play among the perpetrators and victims are virtually identical. The way in which Weinstein allegedly wielded power and relied on institutional silence echoes the manner in which Catholic priests were able to perpetrate grievous wrongs against generations of children.

Child abusers are consummately skilled in identifying vulnerable kids and knowing exactly what to say and do to accomplish their goals. Little is left to chance. They use their positions of power to cajole, knowing, for example, that praise and hints of special treatment are necessary in order to begin the process of initiating control.

With the obvious difference that Weinstein’s alleged victims weren’t children, he reportedly employed similarly manipulative tactics to achieve his ends, promising movie roles and attempting to normalize such propositions by rattling off the names of other actresses who had purportedly complied.

Some child molesters engage in overtly violent assaults, but it is far more common for the abuser to begin with seemingly innocent touches — the stroke of a knee, a rub of the shoulder, the casual tussle of the hair — before moving on to more invasive physical acts. Predators perfect their modus operandi through the exploitation of multiple victims, learning along the way how to break down a child’s boundaries and resistance.

Although Weinstein allegedly used more of a shock-and-awe approach — the unbelted robe at the business meeting — he, too, appears to have homed in on a certain kind of victim and fine-tuned the process by which he allegedly lured them into rooms, enlisting the help of what a female executive at his company called a “honeypot” of assistants and others to lend such meetings legitimacy.

Fifteen years ago, the dirty secrets of the Roman Catholic Church exploded in big cities and small towns across the country. Since then, we have learned that the church is far from the only place where child molesters turn up. Almost no type of major institution serving children has escaped this shame: Public schools, including the Los Angeles Unified School District; private schools, including the Marlborough School in L.A. and elite New England boarding schools, such as Choate Rosemary Hall, Phillips Exeter and St. Paul’s School; the Boy Scouts of America and the Boys and Girls Club; USA Swimming and USA Gymnastics. The list goes on and on.

The perpetrators in these settings do not rely merely on the silence of their victims. They can also count on the inaction and complicity of others around them, including co-workers and superiors, for whom the avoidance of scandal and institutional humiliation is a strong motivator to look the other way. Tragically, this only strengthens the abuser’s sense of omnipotence and reinforces the victim’s fear and isolation.

While there is no doubt that child victims of sexual abuse are in an infinitely more vulnerable and powerless position than adults subjected to sexual harassment and assault, it is equally true that, with the exception of very young children, both groups of victims react in remarkably similar ways to their treatment and exploitation.

In the vast majority of these situations, victims do not react by physically or verbally resisting the offender, reporting the offender or even fleeing at first touch. Rather, victims become psychologically and emotionally paralyzed, overwhelmed by a combination of fear, self-blame, embarrassment and confusion. They become gripped by an emotional maelstrom in which unanswerable and destructively self-critical questions play over and over again in their minds, often for years on end: Why me? How could I let this happen?

As time goes by, without treatment, these feelings corrode the victim’s self-esteem and dignity, and remaining silent becomes their default coping strategy. The perpetrators not only rely on such silence, they deliberately act to engender it.

It is widely believed by those of us who spend our careers working with victims of sexual abuse that most take their secrets to their graves. When survivors do gather the strength to come forward, it is typically only after someone else has publicly accused the same person, and even then only a minority speak out.

The majority of victims will never get any justice. Except in a handful of states, the statutes of limitations for sexual abuse, assault and harassment are draconian. For sexual abuse and assault, the time limits are generally just a precious few years. These fleeting windows of time do not take into account irrefutable evidence about the long-term effects of sexual abuse and trauma. We need to reexamine these laws even as we dismantle the institutional and corporate environments in which abuse and harassment are allowed to persist.

Paul Mones is an attorney in Los Angeles who represents victims of sexual abuse and assault.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mones-harvey-weinstein-sexual-assault-20171022-story.html