Supreme Court rejects Safed rabbi’s appeal to reduce jail term for sex crimes
Justice says 7.5-year prison sentence for Ezra
Sheinberg is ‘too light for my taste,’ suggests he should have been
jailed for ‘no less than 10 years’
Rabbi
Ezra Sheinberg is brought for a court hearing at the Kiryat Shmona
Magistrate's Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the appeal of a
well-known rabbi and yeshiva head from the northern city of Safed for a
reduction of his 7.5-year sentence for committing a slew of sexual
crimes against eight women, including multiple counts of sexual assault.
Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, 49, was convicted last July in Nazareth
District Court as part of a plea deal over a series of crimes committed
against women who came to him for advice and counseling.
Rebuffing the appeal to cut his sentence on Thursday, two justices
also criticized the plea deal reached between prosecutors and Sheinberg,
opining that the community leader should have been dealt a harsher jail
sentence to match the severity of the crimes, the details of which
remain under a gag order.
“I will add, that because of the plea deal reached between the sides,
the petitioner has received a light sentence (too light for my taste,
as I will elaborate forthwith) and that without a plea bargain, it would
have been appropriate to place him behind bars for a longer period, no
less than 10 years,” wrote Justice Alex Stein.
Upon his sentencing in February, the specific charges of Sheinberg
were not publicized by the court. The criminal proceedings were under a
gag order preventing publication of any details of the incidents due to
the “egregious nature” of the crimes and to protect the privacy of the
victims. The details were again redacted from the Supreme Court decision
on Thursday, which cited the gag order.
The prosecution had initially demanded that the former head of the
Orot HaAri yeshiva receive a minimum of nine years in jail sentence
after his conviction. But the defense provided “significant proofs which
helped discredit some of the accusations,” according to a Justice
Ministry statement in February, prompting both sides to accept the plea
bargain after several charges of rape were dropped.
Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, suspected of sexual
abuse against several women, is seen at the courtroom of the Kiryat
Shmona Magistrates
A total of 14 women made allegations against Sheinberg to a special
investigation team and police suspect that many other victims were
afraid to come forward. The victims were all religious women who had
come to the rabbi for advice or help on various issues including health.
Sheinberg had been a popular kabbalist and respected figure in
Israel’s national-religious community and author of several books of
Torah ideas.
He was arrested on July 1, 2015, as he attempted to flee the country
as allegations against him emerged. He has been in prison since that
time.
According to prosecutors at the time,
Sheinberg used his position of prominence and reputation as a powerful
mystic to lure in and take advantage of women who came to him for
religious counsel and blessings for fertility when they struggled to
conceive.
They alleged that the victims shared a number of characteristics:
they were young religious women whose husbands, in most cases, were
Sheinberg’s students at the seminary.
Part of his modus operandi involved convincing the victims that only
he could provide a solution to their problems, through a treatment he
dubbed “relaxation.”
During those sessions, Sheinberg fraudulently obtained his victims’
consent to commit sexual acts, prosecutors said, adding that the
defendant used innocent young women who trusted him as a tool to satisfy
his sexual desires.
Some of the women had originally approached a rabbinic council with
the allegations. A team of local rabbis, led by Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel
Eliyahu, began investigating the accusations in mid-June 2015, and
later reported them to the police.
Sheinberg’s wife told Eliyahu that she knew her husband had sex with the women, but that the sex was part of their therapy.
Sheinberg has eight children and several grandchildren.
The Dalton School in Manhattan, which has been hit with a lawsuit over its handling of a sexual assault caseHelayne Seidman
New York City schools and private academies across the state
will be required to report allegations of sex abuse to public
authorities under a new law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday,
closing a massive loophole that left children vulnerable to predators.
The law followed a string of sex abuse scandals that have rocked some
state schools, including several of its prestigious private academies
in recent years.
“There is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of
our children,” Cuomo said in a statement. “With this bill, we are
closing a frightening gap in the law and taking action to ensure all
students in both public and private schools are protected from abuse. In
New York, we will continue to do everything in our power to combat
child abuse and keep our young people safe.”
Previously, the state reporting requirements only applied to public
schools outside of New York City. Now, city public and charter schools
and private and parochial schools across the state will be required to
notify law enforcement of sex abuse allegations.
School employees and administrators who fail to report will face a
Class A misdemeanor, up to a $500 fine and potential loss of their
professional license.
The city Department of Education was not available to immediately comment.
All told, the new law will expand protections for 1.5 million
children across the state and help prevent cases of abuse from failing
through the cracks.
Two top New York City prep schools, Horace Mann and the Dalton School, have been rocked by sex abuse allegations in recent years.
USA: Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Vaxxers Push Yeshivas To Admit Unvaccinated Students
Jews have been associated with the medical profession for more than
1,000 years. The “physician’s prayer,” which decorates the walls of
countless doctors of all faiths, is popularly believed to have been
written by Maimonides, a 12th-century rabbi. Five hundred years ago,
Jews comprised half the doctors in Europe and less than 1% of the population.
There’s even a joke about it: The first Jewish president is taking
the oath of office, when his mother turns to her neighbor. “You should
see my other son,” she says, “He’s a doctor.”
Yet a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Lakewood, New Jersey, is the
latest to take up the anti-immunization banner in the “vaccine wars.”
They are trying to form a “coalition” that
would force yeshivas in the area to accept students who have not been
vaccinated. The group sent out a mass email earlier this month, stating
its intention to “provide support of ‘strength in numbers’ to
pro-vaccine choice Lakewood families,” sparking a communal debate over
what Jewish law says on the subject.
“It’s a form of avodah zora [idol worship] to believe in
this anti-vaccine myth that all the doctors have this hidden agenda and
we’re getting payoffs,” said Rabbi Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious
diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital and a spokesperson for the
Infectious Disease Society of America. “It’s almost its own religion.”
Lakewood is a densely Jewish area, with the Orthodox community accounting for nearly all of the township’s exponential population growth, from
60,000 people in 2000 to more than 100,000 today. It is home to
hundreds of yeshivas and synagogues, many of which follow either Hasidic
or Lithuanian traditions of ultra-Orthodox Judaism.
The Vaccine Coalition’s email has state law behind it. It called on
local yeshivas to enroll students who have claimed a religious exemption
from mandatory vaccinations. Such religious exemptions are law in New
Jersey and 46 other states. The yeshivas, for their part, have vowed not to admit unvaccinated students.
The coalition did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Anti-vaccine sentiment has a relatively robust history in
some Orthodox corners. In 2013, the worst measles outbreak in the
United States in 17 years was determined to have spread through a few
ultra-Orthodox families. Every one of the 58 people diagnosed with measles during the outbreak was a member of Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Some ultra-Orthodox believe that
there is a connection between vaccines and autism, despite the fact
that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is none. In
the spring of 2014, an anti-vaccination glossy called P.E.A.C.H.
Magazine was distributed around ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in New York
and New Jersey, including in Lakewood. Its most recent issue, which
encourages readers to “decide for yourself,” appears to have been
published last fall. A representative for P.E.A.C.H. did not respond to
an emailed request for comment.
Glatt guessed that for some of the families, especially those who
have autistic children, the vaccine decision is mostly an emotional one.
He said that even the rabbis and parents who advocate resistance to
vaccines still come to him for referrals for cancer care and other
medical treatment.
While the vast majority of the ultra-Orthodox world accepts the
importance of vaccines, “anti-vaxxers” have always managed to find
backing from some rabbinic authority features. In 2014, Rabbi Shmuel
Kamenetsky, a major Orthodox rabbi who lives in Philadelphia, called
vaccines a “hoax.”
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky - Dean
It’s just big business,” Kamenetzky told the Baltimore Jewish Times.
Kamenetsky also suggested that if the diseases that vaccines prevented
were a problem, kids would already be sick because school janitors “are
mostly Mexican and are unvaccinated.”
But according to Rabbi Asher Bush, a teacher and rabbi at
Congregation Ahavat Yisrael in Rockland County, New York, this is one
instance where the Torah is fairly clear: Jews must act according to
accepted medical fact. There are no conflicting sources in the Talmud,
he said, that would suggest otherwise.
“This isn’t going to the Carvel and having chocolate or vanilla,”
Bush said. “But if you read what they write, that’s how they frame it.”
Major Lakewood institutions have called out the Vaccine Coalition for
being a fringe group.
The Lakewood Vaad, an interorganizational board of rabbis, released a
joint statement in support of vaccines, according to the Asbury Park
Press.
“The overwhelming response is that it is irresponsible,” said Rabbi
Moshe Z. Weisberg, a member of the Vaad. Weisberg sits on the committee
of a group of 120 private Jewish schools in Lakewood Township. He told
the Asbury Park Press that the schools do not accept unvaccinated children “as a matter of policy.”
Bush, echoing the sentiments of other rabbinic and medical experts
interviewed for this story, said he was flummoxed by the response of
this fringe part of the Orthodox world.
“These are very rulebook Orthodox people,” he said. “They don’t
believe in personal autonomy, and all of a sudden they’re declaring
their belief that this is a valid choice.”
Some have argued that not only are anti-vaccine Jews misusing the
Torah — they are actively going against it. Glatt said that for Orthodox
Jews’ to use the religious exemption for vaccinations constituted sheker, or fraudulent behavior outlawed by Jewish law. In a column published
by Yeshiva World News, Rabbi Yair Hoffman, an expert in Jewish law,
listed the possible commandements that anti-vaccine Jews were violating:
saving another’s life; “not standing idly by” the blood of your
neighbor; treating your neighbor as yourself.
Ironically, ultra-Orthodox Jews may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases than other communities are. A study published in 2012 in
the New England Journal of Medicine found that Orthodox Jews made up
97% of victims of mumps outbreaks in New York City and a few surrounding
counties in 2009–2010. Nearly three-fourths of the teenage victims were
men. The researchers concluded that yeshivas were the main site of infection for the teenage boys, and pointed to the characteristic chevrutah, or “friendship,” learning style enshrined in yeshivas of all Jewish denominations. In chevrutah learning,
two students sit across from each other, poring over books, loudly
dissecting and arguing over the text. Over the course of a day-long
session, which can last up to 15 hours, students may change partners
multiple times. Researchers also noted that when a mumps outbreak
occurred in Jerusalem in 2009, yeshiva boys were disproportionately
affected.
“We’re the people of the book,” Glatt said. “We have to listen to what the book says.”
“What about the people who clean and sweep in the school?” argued
Kamenetzky. “They are mostly Mexican and are unvaccinated. If there was a
problem, the children would already have gotten sick.”“I see
vaccinations as the problem. It’s a hoax. Even the Salk vaccine [against
polio] is a hoax. It is just big business.”
Unvaccinated Children Banned From Brooklyn Yeshivos During Measles Outbreak
Unvaccinated children will not be permitted to attend Brooklyn
yeshivos starting Friday, following a measles outbreak affecting the
Orthodox Jewish community.
The outbreak appears to have begun in Israel, and spread to American
Jewish communities via people returning from visits to Israel. In New
York City, the outbreak has been most heavily concentrated in
Williamsburg and Boro Park; cases have also been confirmed in
Midwood/Marine Park. Rockland County in upstate New York has had dozens
of cases, and Lakewood, New Jersey, has had over a dozen.
Children generally must be vaccinated in order to attend school, but
may receive an exemption for religious or medical reasons. Following the
outbreak in Brooklyn, the New York City Health Department initially
said that no unvaccinated children would be allowed to attend schools in
which a measles case was reported.
But on Thursday, the Health Department announced that any
unvaccinated child will be prohibited from attending a yeshivah – from
pre-kindergarten through 12th grade – in the Brooklyn zip codes 11204,
11205, 11206, 11211, 11218, 11219, 11220, 11230, 11249. The ban will be
effective until the outbreak is declared over.
One dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is required for
children attending day care and pre-kindergarten; two doses are required
for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The requirement is
also fulfilled if student presents results of blood work showing
immunity to measles.
Students who contract measles must stay home from school until the fifth day after the rash onset.
Yeshivos are responsible for enforcing the immunization requirements
and banning students who do not comply. Failure to comply may result in
the yeshivah receiving Commissioners Orders and fines.
New allegations against convicted rabbinic sex offender Moti Elon
According to the report, a month ago, a man confessed to two
leading rabbis – Haim Druckman and Shmuel Eliyahu – that Elon had
sexually assaulted him during a series of meetings.
New allegations have surfaced against prominent
national-religious rabbi Moti Elon, who was convicted in 2013 on two
counts of indecent assault by force against a minor. Elon, the former
head of Yeshivat Hakotel, was sentenced to community service and did not
serve time in prison.
The new allegations were first reported on the investigative news
show Uvda. According to the report, a month ago, a man confessed to two
leading rabbis – Haim Druckman and Shmuel Eliyahu – that Elon had
sexually assaulted him during a series of meetings he had held with the
rabbi. The man told the rabbis that the assault allegedly took place
over a period of time and during a number of private meetings.
In August 2013, Elon was convicted on two counts of indecent
assault by force against a minor but never served any jail time for the
crime. He was instead given a six-month commuted sentence which he
served in community service, was also put on probation for three years,
and ordered to pay the complainant NIS 10,000.
Elon denied the allegations, never admitted to his crime and never
apologized to his victim, but did not appeal the conviction in the
Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
The complainant first met with the Takana Forum, a group Torah
scholars, educators, law professionals, and therapists which works to
prevent sexual abuse. The forum transferred the case to Druckman and
Eliyahu who initially offered the man to file a police complaint but he
reportedly preferred to have the rabbis handle the complaint.
On Monday, Elon reportedly met with the rabbis and confessed to the
allegations against him. He also reportedly apologized “to anyone hurt”
by him. Elon apparently also agreed to demands by the rabbis not to
meet privately with students, not to teach publicly and to close a
yeshiva he had opened a few years ago, despite his earlier conviction.
Druckman’s involvement in the new affair is particularly surprising
considering that he was one of Elon’s most ardent defenders even after
the rabbi was convicted by a Jerusalem court. In 2013, Druckman told
Arutz Sheva that Elon’s conviction was a mistake and that he “fully
believed the rabbi,” who he would allow to continue giving lessons at
the Or Etzion yeshiva where Druckman serves as dean.
Druckman, an Israel Prize laureate, said that he believed the court
was mistaken in convicting Elon and that there were no witnesses to the
incidents in question other than the rabbi and the plaintiff.
“I don’t believe there is anything in his Torah lessons that is not
kosher, there is no reason not to learn from him or listen to Torah
lessons from him,” the rabbi said.
(THIS IDIOT BELONGS ON THE AGUDATH ISRAEL'S COUNCIL OF TORAH SAGES - PM)
Why would anyone argue against vaccination? Why are people not
following the medical experts as halacha requires? The spurious
arguments brought forth are ludicrous, ridiculous and shameful.
Vaccines cause autism
False. Outright sheker. The main fixation of anti-vaxxers groups is
the old, totally discredited canard linking vaccination to autism. The
author of the paper, Mr. Wakefield (oh yes, he used to be Dr. Wakefield)
lost his medical license because of his repudiated, FABRICATED study.
All of his co-authors retracted his paper linking autism to
vaccinations, in part because he falsified data. Did you know that Mr.
Wakefield received money from lawyers to provide false evidence that
there was such a link? Meanwhile, the CDC and others have published
multiple papers totally disproving any connection between vaccines and
autism, yet this spurious claim is still robustly argued by
anti-vaxxers.
It is a big money maker for doctors
Yet another silly conspiracy theory. Doctors and pharmaceutical
companies profit greatly from vaccination – causing them to throw away
their own personal ethics and advocate vaccination so they can make a
buck. What absurdity.
A superb article on the business of vaccination in the major
publication The Atlantic, totally rips this misinformation to shreds. The Atlantic states
that the [financial] argument is historically unfounded.
Not only do
pediatricians and doctors often lose money on vaccine administration, it
wasn’t too long ago that the vaccine industry was struggling with slim
profit margins and shortages.
Another major business publication, The Economist writes: “For
decades vaccines were a neglected corner of the drug business, with old
technology, little investment and abysmal profit margins. Many firms
sold their vaccine divisions to concentrate on more profitable drugs.”
In fact, vaccines were so unprofitable that some companies stopped
making them altogether. In 1967, there were 26 vaccine manufactures.
That number dropped to 17 by 1980. Ten years ago, the financial
incentives to produce vaccines were so weak that there was growing
concern that pharmaceutical companies were abandoning the vaccine
business for selling more-profitable daily drug treatments. Wyeth (since
acquired by Pfizer) reported they stopped making the flu vaccine
because the margins were so low.
There are some new vaccines such as those for prevention of certain
infections (such as HPV and shingles) and/or for the prevention
potentially of cancer, that might be more financially lucrative. Great.
Don’t take these vaccinations if pharmaceutical profiteering bothers
you. What does that have to do with measles?
Conflict of Interest
Speaking of money – why was there no mention of the conflict of
interest regarding the sole person quoted as an authoritative voice
against vaccines? Mr. JB Handley (yes, this Mr. “expert” has no advanced
medical degree) recently published a book and is on the PR circuit
selling his book. He is making a lot of money off his anti-vaxxer
position. Full disclosure: I (and every other doctor I know) have never
received even one cent from “big pharma” for recommending or providing
vaccines.
Furthermore, Mr. Handley was a leading proponent that the mercury in
the thimerosal preservative was the primary cause of the so-called
“autism epidemic.” However, after the removal of thimerosal in 2002 from
childhood vaccines, autism rates did not decline, so Handley suddenly
changed his position and claimed
that autism was due to “an overload of heavy metals, live viruses, and
bacteria,” … “the tripling of vaccines given to children in the last 15
years (mercury, aluminum and live viruses); maternal toxic load and
prenatal vaccines; heavy metals like mercury in our air, water, and
food; and the overuse of antibiotics.” Show me the scientific papers
that support this fake news. Show me even one published paper in a bona
fide scientific mainstream journal that supports his vaccination
viewpoint. There are none, but that does not stop him from hawking his
book and making money off vaccines.
By the way, the increase we have seen in the diagnosis of autism has
been prevalent only well after the basic childhood vaccinations were
introduced. How can you account for the two decades with no increase in
autism if autism is due to vaccinations?
There are too many vaccines being recommended
Boruch Hashem, we have been given the ability to prevent illnesses
that previously caused great pain and suffering, and, yes, even death.
However, not all vaccines are equally important, and if a parent chooses
to not vaccinate against an illness that will harm no one other than
their own child, that is their right. So don’t take those vaccinations.
What has that got to do with measles?
Unfortunately, the final point discussed was the most distressing. It
was essentially stated that there is a big question whether we are
doing “more good than damage” by following the advice of the medical
professionals.
Halachically, are you suggesting that people should not
follow their physician’s advice? When did our religion become the avodah zara
of Christian Science? Such thinking, which was also attributed to
Rebbitzen Temi Kamenetsky and others in recent days, is astounding if
indeed true. We are halachically obligated to protect ourselves, not
blindly rely on miracles to protect us, and we certainly are forbidden
to cause others harm.
Nebuch, there are many very sick patients, successful bone marrow
transplant patients, as well as underage babies and children, and
others, who medically cannot take vaccinations. They must rely upon herd
immunity to protect their lives. Allowing schools to refuse entry to
people capable of transmitting serious diseases is a matter of hatzalas
nefashos – it is most definitely not a medical or halachic dilemma.
Larry, you are a fine person who does much on behalf of klal yisroel. Yet, you acknowledged to me that you are not an expert
in this area and do not have the knowledge to counter my arguments.
Please encourage your readership to listen to the experts. Please do not
give non-experts a forum and opportunity to spread their ignorance.
This is not a debate – there are not two sides to this issue. We must
trust in the system set forth by chazal which is to listen to the
experts for medical advice. I hope you retract your
op-ed article and remove it from eternal online survival. May the
miracle of Chanukah, holding on to our mesorah, win the day again.
Rabbi Aaron E. Glatt, MD: Board Certified in Internal Medicine
and Infectious Diseases; Chairman, Medicine, and Chief of Infectious
Diseases / Hospital Epidemiologist at South Nassau Communities Hospital;
full Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai; a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of
America and author of 200+ scientific journal articles, book chapters
and presentations. He is also a local Rav who gives daily halacha
shiurim, and lectures on numerous medical and halachic issues.
It was with great regret that I read the lead article written by my
friend, editor Larry Gordon, in last week’s 5 Towns Jewish Times. The
title, “Medical Dilemmas,” implies there is a medical dilemma regarding vaccinations. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Dr. Aaron Glatt
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a preventable measles outbreak
in our communities, one of many in recent years. I was truly saddened,
but more importantly, afraid for our children, by the suggestion that
there are “two sides” to this story. There are not. I feel compelled to
reiterate some of the comments I made in an article published in this
paper just a few weeks back. I unfortunately do not have the time to
fully address each of the major points of misinformation that you (and
others) stated, but I will address what I can in the piece below.
There is no medical dilemma. Regarding vaccination against the major vaccine-preventable childhood illnesses, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization,
the Infectious Diseases Society of America, all 50 State Departments of
Health in the United States, the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society,
the American College of Physicians,
plus every other major professional infection organization in the
world, opine unanimously. Bar none. There is no expert organization that
disagrees.
The evidence is overwhelming that vaccination is the only way to
control these preventable fatal diseases. Chasdei Hashem – no one dies
anymore of smallpox; polio is almost wiped out – solely, and only
because of very successful vaccination programs. Why should anyone in
5779 die from measles? The article stated – without quoting any source –
the ludicrous statement that it is beneficial to get childhood
illnesses (which rachmana leztlan are potentially fatal)
because it strengthens the immune system and prevents people from
getting cancer later in life. This is totally unfounded and there is not
a single valid study that supports such madness.
Because measles has spread in our communities, schools have been
closed and unvaccinated children have been barred entry into their
yeshivas. Think of the bitul Torah. Think of the unbelievable chilul Hashem
when papers and media identify it is Orthodox Jews not vaccinating and
putting others at risk. So many Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues have
questioned me about this: does Jewish law truly forbid vaccination? At
this time of Chanukah, when Jewish education was forbidden, we should be
especially concerned about attacks on our holy mesorah.
Unfortunately, these attacks are different: they are coming from
within, not from without. It was stated that HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky and
HaRav Malkiel Kotler came out against vaccination, implying it is
halachically forbidden. That is incorrect. There is no poseik ever who
has forbidden modern day vaccinations. NONE. Further, a basic journalist
faux pas was committed by trivializing the vaccination side, stating
“other rabbonim are in favor of the practice”. Who are these “other
rabbonim”? They represent the vast majority of poskim of great renown.
Almost all cases of measles today are directly related to
unvaccinated people spreading their illness to others. There is
absolutely no one who disagrees with the psak that a parent is required
to remove one’s child to safety when a danger is present. To allow a
child with potential illness into school is a matter of pikuach nefashos.
This was reiterated recently by HaRav Moshe Sternbuch in a very
strongly worded teshuva to the very same Rav Malkiel Kotler of Lakewood
that you quoted. This position was strongly seconded by HaRav Elya
Brudny at the recent Agudah convention. Both poskim hold that parents
should get their children vaccinated and that yeshivas should not allow
unvaccinated children in class, based upon the overwhelming medical
evidence supporting this halachic opinion.
The Mir in Eretz Yisroel paskened that all their 6,000 or so talmidim
must get vaccinated. Indeed, HaRav Elyashiv zt”l, a world accepted
gadol hador, viewed normal childhood vaccinations as an obligatory part
of parental obligations. HaRav Asher Weiss, current poseik for Shaare
Zedek Hospital, a premier Orthodox-run hospital in Eretz Yisroel, says
it is a mitzvah and chiyuv to get vaccinated, and he further
states that yeshivas have the right, and even obligation, to protect
other students, and should not allow unvaccinated children into school.
This is also the written psak of HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein, as well as
the psak of HaRav Elyashiv, who ruled that parents have the right to
have unvaccinated children excluded from class so as not to cause
unnecessary risks for their children. Many other gedolei Yisroel,
including HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, HaRav Yehoshua Newirth,
zt”l, and yibadeil bein chayim lechayim, HaRav J. David Bleich, HaRav
Reuven Feinstein, HaRav Hershel Schachter and HaRav Mordechai Willig,
shlita, have all ruled that there is no basis in halacha to suggest that
vaccinations should be avoided. All strongly urge and support
appropriate universal vaccination against the major childhood
potentially fatal illness that are preventable.
Indeed, it is sheker (dishonest) to officially avow that
Jewish law forbids vaccination – which is the only way in some states to
avoid mandatory state vaccination laws by providing such a false
attestation about our religion.
The thing that bothers me the most however, is that well-healed
anti-vaxxers are now suing yeshivas that follow the psak of these
gedolom. Can you think of a more horrible situation? What is the heter to go to a secular court before going to a Beis Din? What is the heter
to make our underfunded impoverished yeshivas spend huge sums of money
defending their halachic right to bar such students? Shame, shame on
such people. You are forcing yeshivas to waste highly limited resources
to defend the rights of all the other children to a safe classroom
environment, instead of using those funds intensifying Torah study.
Worse – most Yeshivas do not have the funds or ability to fight and are
forced to capitulate to this extortion. What halachic right do you have
to impose your unscientific minority opinion on all of Klal Yisroel?
Continued tomorrow: The false arguments against vaccinations
Rabbi Aaron E. Glatt, MD, is board certified in Internal Medicine
and Infectious Diseases; Chairman, Medicine, and Chief of Infectious
Diseases / Hospital Epidemiologist at South Nassau Communities Hospital
and a local rav who gives daily halacha shiurim and lectures on numerous
medical and halachic issues.
OFF TO MEXICO CITY ON SATURDAY - DECEMBER 1, 2018 - AND NOT WEARING THE CHABAD HOUSE OUTFIT WITH THE HAT!
MEXICO CITY, Dec 1 (Reuters) -
Veteran leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office as Mexican
president on Saturday, vowing to see off a "rapacious" elite in a
country struggling with corruption, chronic poverty and gang violence on
the doorstep of the United States.
Backed by a
gigantic Mexican flag, the 65-year-old took the oath of office in the
lower house of Congress, pledging to bring about a "radical" rebirth of
Mexico to overturn what he called a disastrous legacy of decades of
"neo-liberal" governments.
Ivanka Trump opts for elegance in figure-hugging cream outfit on trip to Mexico City
IVANKA
TRUMP is often admired for her style, and yesterday, the advisor to -
and daughter of - the US President Donald Trump stepped out in a
sophisticated cream two-piece at the Mexican Congress, Mexico City, as
she attended the investiture of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrado.
In a hundred years, perhaps they will have passed away, and their
grandchildren or great-grandchildren will find that no one
Jewish-observant will marry them. Indeed, communal rejection will not
take that long, and their own children will learn soon enough that no
one in the normative Orthodox community will marry them. Yes, the “Open
Orthodox” will marry them. And so will the Reform. But the Reform
also will marry outright self-identifying non-Jews. I cannot begin to describe how many people have come to my colleagues
and me — just in the past decade — presenting as Jewish in the purest of
innocence, when it turned out they simply are not. This one’s mother
converted thirty years ago with a Conservative rabbi who immersed her in
his backyard swimming pool, and that one was adopted at babyhood but
never underwent any conversion, even a null one. Yet both were reared to
believe they were Jewish. This happens all the time. Remember: 71% of
all non-Orthodox Jews marrying in America are marrying non-Jews.
Yesterday, Rebbetzin Temi Kamenetsky (wife of Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky) led a conference call of frum antivax loonies with the purpose of giving them chizuk to stay strong against reality. Below is a surreptitious recording of the call.
Rebbetzin Kamenetsky said such crazy, evil $%@# that I could not resist
transcribing it. Merck is Amalek! Pharmaceutical companies are run by
organized crime and killed a doctor who invented a cure for cancer! Herd
immunity isn't real!
Here's what I transcribed:
--------------------------------
B: Thank you so much for joining us. There's a large group of women
here, and we wanted a, are in desperate need of chizuk in this difficult
time. Many of us have children that are out of school, many of us have
children that may be sent out of school, and we're trying to wrap our
heads around what's going on here from a hashkafic perspective, or,
like, what Hashem wants from us.
Rebbetzin Kamenetsky: Did you
ever hear of Amalek? Hashem told to get rid of them because they're not
good. They tried to destroy b'nei yisroel. And they're still trying.
Merck is a German company, and they produce MMR. Worldwide a lot of
terrible things have been happening. Autism is all over the world.
[...]
I know personally two babies who died, they were three months old.
Right after, two and a half weeks after the shots. But the doctors don't
believe it. They're taught, they don't know that they're taught by
professors who are apikorsim or representatives of the medical, of the
pharmaceutical companies.
[...]
This is a test min hashamayim.
As everything is a test. We're told al tivtichi b'nedivim b'ben adam
sheain lo teshuah. He could be the greatest person, the [unintelligible]
the doctors, the lawyers, the Indian chiefs. But you can't trust
anyone, any human being. And it says bitchu baShem, we are told we must
trust Hashem. These are called "childhood diseases." [unintelligible]
Why did He do that? Because everyone admits that it strengthens the
immune system, and that's why Hashem gives it to the children. When they
get older and get it, they're very, very sick. And some don't get it at
all. I read that measles, they're using measles to fight cancer. They
realize those who had measles naturally have a much better immune
system.
And we just have to daven to Hashem. The only thing we
could do is daven, and daven, and daven. It's before moshiach's time,
this is part of chevlei moshiach, unfortunately. We're being forced to
choose between school or vaccinations. So we could just tell everybody,
I'd rather trust Hashem than the doctors. It's mamesh a gezeira, it's a
gezeima min hashamiyim. We're being tested. Hashem should have
rachmanus, we must daven for rachmanus and at the same time for the
geula.
Because we can still change [unintelligible] r"l. When you feel
the pain in your heart your davening is much stronger. So instead of
davening for the schools only, we should ask Hashem to have rachmanus
not only on his children, these are Hashem's children, we can't take a
chance to harm them, they belong to Hashem. [unintelligible] should take
over, He should remove the gezeira from us, and we should all trust
Hashem for everything. That's what Hashem wants. If we trust him, he
takes over. And we need him to take over. Hashem should have rachmanus
on klal yisroel. We should be zocheh to the geulah, now, we need it
desperately. Now are there any questions?
A: Yes, thank you so much. I don't know, am I being heard?
Rebbetzin: Yes, you're being heard clearly.
A: Um, is this conference being recorded?
B: Uh, I don't think so.
Rebbetzin: I hope not.
A: The Rov spoke already?
B: No, Rebbetzin Kamenetsky spoke to us.
A: Beautiful, thank you so much, it was really, really special to hear.
Rebbetzin Kamenetsky: You're welcome. You should trust Hashem. He's
going to give you nachas from all your children. Because you're doing,
you trust Hashem and you're not vaccinating because there's nothing
wrong with Hashem yisboroch. In other words, you're not allowed to trust
in adam; we were warned by Dovid HaMelech: don't trust any adam, no
matter who he is.
That's the point.
A: I just want to share a
little. I had, baruch Hashem, my children all had the measles. And my
daughter was expecting any day, and we were all in literally a lachatz
because we didn't want her to get it. And it's amazing the way, when you
trust in Hashem, He comes through always. Sometimes you see, sometimes
you don't. But boruch Hashem I want to just publicly make a, thank
Hashem. Everybody had the measles. All of my children had it, my
son-in-law had it, and my daughter's baby had it, and baruch Hashem she
did not have it. She and her baby were saved. It's baruch Hashem three
weeks after she had her baby, and her baby is turning three weeks now
and everybody's been out of the measles. [crosstalk] And it was just
such a hashgacha. So it's just like when you let Hashem into life, He
takes care of you.
Rebbetzin: Of course.
A: I'm like
always amazed, people that immunize and they're so afraid of still,
like, when my children had the measles, the neighbors were all so afraid
that they couldn't even stand -- not the children when they had it,
when somebody had it in the house, only one person -- they wouldn't play
with any of the kids because they were afraid that their children would
get it. But their children were immunized, so why were they afraid? I
guess they were afraid for the one percent. Then I'm saying, where does
Hashem come into the picture then?
Rebbetzin: Not only that,
[sputters] herd immunity is a false thing that they're spreading.
Because you can only have herd immunity if everyone has measles
naturally. Not with vaccination, there's no such thing as herd immunity.
They're even using v'nishmartem meod es nafshoseichem to say that this
is hishtadlus, take the vaccination [laughs]. It's sheker, it has to do
with money. Because they make, Amalekim make billions a year, it's
coming up to trillions, and they spend millions to bribe the
politicians. [unintelligible] A baal teshuva from Russia said this is
just what the communists do. That's what they do [laughs]. Democracy is
not what Hashem provided. Because politicians can be bribed. So Hashem
should bless all of you to have nachas from the children, healthy
children, [unintelligible]
B: Amen. Any other questions?
A: I don't know if I'm still on, but I just wanted to add one more
thing. That, umm, it's interesting, we should remember that the
pharmaceutical is the ones that are sponsoring the colleges. Just like
we have big nadvonim that sponsor the yeshivas, l'havdil they are
sponsoring the colleges and they are the ones that have the say on the
curriculum. So they are providing the doctors, you know, what they want
them to believe.
Rebbetzin: I'm so glad you brought that up.
Because I read a review, a book is out, proving that organized crime is
in the pharmaceutical business. And they actually kill doctors that,
umm. Not only that, but there was a doctor Bradstreet (?) that was
coming out with a cure for cancer and they shot him with a bullethole in
the liver (?) [unintelligible] [laughs]. So we're up to the greatest
kinds of evil. Hashem wants our tears. He wants to bring moshiach.
There's another truth, that the source of this trouble that we have
now, is from the sitra achra, which is the [unintelligible] of course,
but because it brings sina between adam lachaveiro. Sinas chinam. That's
what destroyed the beis hamikdash. How do you call another Jew a
rotzeach? Is it a Jew that's being? [long, unintelligible]
A: Amen, Can I ask another question?
Rebbetzin: Yes, go ahead.
[...]
C: Can you hear me? I just wanted to say something about the measles,
this fear, it reminds me of the tochacha where Hashem says we'll be
running away and no one will be chasing us. Just for general
information, the measles is not dangerous for a pregnant woman. They
make it sound like it is, there's no evidence. There was a study done in
New York City when measles was going around, they compared pregnant
women who got the measles with pregnant women who did not get the
measles. And the only thing they found was that some of the women who
had the measles had their babies early. And therefore low birth weight
babies. There were no birth defects, and the miscarriage rate was not
higher in the women who got the measles. People who say just the
opposite, and they say birth defects, they're probably thinking of the
German measles and not just regular measles. So it's not anything to be
afraid of.
A: As a matter of fact, I don't know if I'm still on,
but if I am, after the baby was born, we went to see a doctor and we had
to find a natural doctor, somebody who was a little more open-minded.
And we boruch Hashem found one, I'm going to just say her name here
because she was such a special shliach. Her name is Sandra Sadler. We
live in Monsey, so she's in Haverstraw. It could take a little while to
get there, but it was worth the trip. And it was cute the way she would
tell my daughter that is she would have gotten the measles before, that
would have been great. Because then she would have given over the
antibodies to the baby. So she was totally not, like, frantic or
anything. She would get a lot of heat that the Dept of Health was
knocking on our door and whatever. They wanted to catch my daughter and
put her into the hospital and isolate her, and not let her be with her
baby, and not let her nurse her baby. And they were going to put the
baby on formula right away, and everything else. And boruch Hashemno
boruch Hashem, it was very exciting, we were all, the house was full.
Everybody had the measles, everyone was in their beds.
And when I saw
two [unintelligible], I said oif-geknockte hoishanos, when they came to
the door, like these two scrawny old ladies that didn't have better what
to do, with green masks on their faces I knew it was the Health Dept.
And we called everybody to the window and we had a nice show. And of
course we didn't open the door. And boruch Hashem it was a break in the
monotony of measles.
But then when I met this doctor it was just a
breath of fresh air when she told me that it would have been better for
her to have the measles before. It wouldn't have been a problem at all.
She was, like, totally not concerned and she is a great pediatrician.
Rebbetzin: I want to add to that. I just found out now that my
daughter, she was already married and was pregnant, and she got the
measles. Because unfortunately they stopped people from getting it when
they're young. So she got it when was pregnant in Eretz Yisroel. She
said she felt so sick she thought she was dying r"l. But she gave birth
to a very beautiful baby boy, he's learning now in Lakewood. The child
was not harmed at all. He was not harmed at all. Don't believe what
doctors say, because a lot of the time what they say is what they're
taught. Has to do with money. So trust only Hashem. We're told, Hashem
told us just trust Me, not adam. And if you go that way you're safe. He
takes care.
B: A lot of people are asking me I think a very good
question. And maybe it's a little bit of a chutzpa to ask, but people
want to know, they feel like there's a lot of rabbonim and a lot of
respectable rabbonim that are saying that we have to do it. And they're
feeling like why are the rabbonim that are against this whole thing, why
are they not saying anything. Like, where are they?
Rebbetzin:
They can't, they can't. If you've ever tried to convince somebody who
vaccinates (?) to listen to the other side, they wouldn't hear. They
would not hear. [unintelligible] They can't start a machlokes
[unintelligible]
C: Someone says very nicely that we shouldn't
stoop down to the level of people who are calling us names. We shouldn't
be masser on them, and we shouldn't say negative things about them. We
have to be above all that. Very, very difficult. And what the rebbetzin
said about [unintelligible]. We have an offer out to someone in
[unintelligible] was offered to debate with any doctor or any person
about whether vaccines are good or not good. He's willing to pay a few
thousand dollars to get a doctor who is willing to talk about why, try
to convince us to vaccinate and he's gotten no takers. Because they
can't talk, they can't talk, they can't talk because they don't have
what to say. They know they don't have what to say. So therefore they
just laugh at it.
B: Right. So I know a doctor who [gets cut off]
Rebbetzin: I just want to say something here that's very important. You
must listen carefully. This is a bigger test than you think. Because
we're not allowed to look at another Jew, and certainly not allowed to
call him anything, because there are all Hashem's children. So we're
being tested. We should use the middah of rachmanos and not try to get
back at them. The middah of rachmanos. They don't know.
[unintelligible] two babies that died that I know personally. So we're
not, this is Hashem is testing us here. Don't say, don't argue, don't
say anything. Use your middah of rachmanos. It's a rachmanos. They don't
know. And in America [laughs] people are so brainwashed they think the
doctors are like gods. So we have to have rachmanos. This is what Hashem
wants. He uses rachmanos and we use [unintelligible]. You're right, you
can't say anything, and you can't debate because [gets cut off]
C: Maybe it's a good idea for people who want to ask a rov, they should
ask, like, everything that you ask, if you want the yoreh deah question
you ask somebody who is very, you know, learned on that. Rabbonim are
also, they have their specialties that they, you know, learnt through
very thoroughly. So when you ask such a question you might want to ask a
rov that has done a lot of research and really did both sides and, you
know, he's probably the most qualified to answer such a question.
Rebbetzin: Right. What you're saying is very important. And you know
what? [long, unintelligible] So what should they do? They should not
pasken.
You do your own research. But people want to know that
there's a [unintelligible]. We have to be dan lekaf zechus all bnei
yisroel. We say before, on yom kippur, on the night of yom kippur, ki
bchol h'am beshgagah. Forgive us, Hashem, the whole nation is doing it
beshgagah. I don't know how you say it in English.
A: Accidentaly.
B: By mistake.
C: Not knowingly.
Rebbetzin: Not on purpose, not on purpose. But be very careful, don't
make sinas chinam [unintelligible]. You have to say I'm trusting Hashem
and not the doctors. That's the only answer you can give. Just give that
answer: I'm trusting Hashem, I don't trust the doctors. They can't
fault you for that. I mean what can they say? You must trust the
doctors? Is it my hishtadlus? [unintelligible] So the answer is that the
Chazon Ish [unintelligible] says it, but a lot of other gedolim. They
say the greatest hishtadlus is tefilla. I never thought it was
hishtadlus but tefilla is hishtadlus, and it's the greatest hishtadlus a
person can do. Just keep that in mind.
B: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Rebbetzin: All have nachas from your children and Hashem should have nachas from all of us.
B: Amen. I wanna just, before we hang up, I wanna just give over the
conversation when I initially, when I called Reb Shmuel, I just want to
tell you, I'm sure everybody could ask their own shailos. But he gave me
tremendous chizuk, because I said to Reb Shmuel: am I supposed to be
prepared to have my children out of school? He said, yes. I said, well
I'm afraid. And he said, what are you afraid of? That your kids are
going to turn the house upside-down? I said, no that's not what I'm
afraid of. I'm afraid of that they won't get into schools, and they
won't get into camps, and they won't be able to get shidduchim, and
nobody is going to want to play with them, and they won't have any
friends. It's a crazy world now. And he said, Reb Shmuel said, it is a
crazy world, but the world is going to be normal one day. And I said,
did the rosh yeshiva just say that the world is going to be normal one
day? And he said, yes.
To me that was very [laughs], that made me
feel much better. It should give everybody a lot of chizuk. Hard to
imagine. Very, very hard to imagine, but [gets cut off]
Rebbetzin: I know, but moshiach is just around the corner. And we have
to daven we should be zocheh. Take care and Hashem should have nachas
from all the children.
What drives survivors of abuse to give up hope, and why there still is hope.
Our community was recently shocked by the news of Motty Borger’s suicide caused by emotional problems stemming from surviving sexual abuse. Dr. Benzion Twerski, Ph.D. published a response to the tragedy in which he takes the opportunity to sound a call to survivors of abuse to please reach out and get professional help.
As someone who has survived rabbinic sexual abuse, and who has been both a consumer and a professional provider of psychotherapy, I can vouch that it is certainly a good idea to find a therapist who specializes in sexual trauma, who can offer understanding and support. However, as a communal response this approach dangerously oversimplifies the issue of what Dr. David Pelcovitz has called the “unconscionable number of suicides in our community caused by sexual abuse.” Allow me to explain.
Suicide is driven largely by a deep sense of hopelessness, in which an individual feels things will never get better. I have treated and am treating many survivors who experience different levels of suicidality, from ideation and planning, to actual attempts, R”L. They have all expressed a feeling of hopelessness that can overwhelm them at times. While I personally have never considered taking my life, I can fully relate to the profound sense of hopelessness felt by survivors trying to heal in our community.
You see, the first step of psychotherapy focusing on trauma is making sure that the patient is in a safe place, not being re-victimized during the course of the treatment. You cannot effectively heal a shell-shocked soldier still on the battlefield, or a Holocaust survivor still in a concentration camp, or a battered woman who is still in an abusive marriage, or a child abuse victim who is still being molested by a rebby.
As long as our community continues to be an unsafe place for children and others seeking to avoid sexual assault, there is an inherent limitation on what “professionals” can accomplish. To imply that “lack of therapy” is the cause of survivors becoming suicidal, is like saying that the cause of headaches is a deficiency of aspirin in the blood stream. Furthermore, putting the onus for their healing squarely on the shoulders of the survivors is an example of the “blaming the victim” approach that our community seems to love to engage in. It is just like when mental health agencies “specializing” in abuse prevention educate parents to tell their children the difference between “good touch and bad touch”, but they neglect to give parents instructions on how to rid their children’s environment of molesters (i.e. report all allegations to the authorities, and do not send your children to a camp or school that does not have good safety policies or that covers up abuse).
In order for us to really give the survivors safety and hope, we as a community must take serious action to stop the abuse. Until that happens, we cannot “call on the survivors to seek professional help” and then wash our hands and say “Yadeynu Lo Shafchu Es Hadam Hazeh – Our hands have not spilled this blood.” It is enough to make you want to kill yourself.
Whenever there is an arrest of a prominent community figure, Jewish or otherwise, many victims come forward to go for therapy for the first time. Why? Because until the publicity of an arrest, they live in fear that nobody will believe them about their abuser. In our community this fear is justified. Consider the frum therapist a chronically suicidal patient of mine, first went to. When she told him that she had been sexually abused by a prominent rabbi, the therapist refused to believe her because “rabbis don’t act that way.” Even when he accepted her account (because she found another rabbi to believe her story) the therapist still did not want it publicized due to potential “Chillul Hashem.”
There are simply not enough outlets for survivors to be heard and validated in our community. One survivor became suicidal after his letter to the editor of a frum paper describing the anguish of sexual abuse was rejected. A patient of mine who unsuccessfully attempted suicide told me that he felt killing himself was the only way to get heard in our community. I wonder if Motty Borger may have felt the same way.
And what of the prominent community organizations recently exposed as having covered up for abusers under the pretext of the molesters’ rights to confidentiality? This is not any way to get survivors to feel safe and trusting that therapists are truly their advocates. No, survivors have good reason to be wary of sharing their secrets with anyone in our community. They know that their stories are not wanted and will be denied. A teenage Chassidish patient of mine, who went innocently for help to “The Rebbe” of his community was turned away and became profoundly and dangerously suicidal, because “Why should I live if nobody believes me?” Did somebody disbelieve Motty Borger?
Well meaning friends and family of the victim often stand in the way of healing as well. Sometimes they are concerned more for the victim’s own reputation, since the stigma of being a survivor is so debilitating in our community. Other times loved ones, in the ultimate act of betrayal, have more compassion and concern for the molester and his family’s reputation or the reputation of the institution that harbored him, than for the victim. One of the bravest people I know had several psychiatric hospitalizations after her family refused to take her side against a family member who molested her for years. She had multiple therapists from our community during this time but has only found healing by going outside of the community for help. However, she continues to struggle with trying to find a shidduch with shadchanim who still consider her “damaged goods”.
Another “trigger” for symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder such as suicide, is seeing that we allow institutions that have knowingly employed molesters to thrive and expand, while those who speak up for the survivors are vilified and shamed. The sad truth, recently acknowledged in a Yated Ne’eman editorial, is that our community allows molesters to remain in positions of honor and access to children. One man I knew who eventually took his own life, was tortured by the fact that his molester (an older bochur in yeshiva) had become a respected rabbi with all of the trust of the parents in his shul. Another survivor of both sexual abuse and of a suicide attempt was quoted that every time he sees his rapist getting another position teaching children, he feels raped again. The fact that this survivor has reached out to leading rabbis for a meeting and was turned down, has only added to his terrible feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, bringing back suicidal thoughts. Virtually all survivors I know feel that the intensity of the pain of being silenced by their community is worse than that of the sexual abuse itself.
Many survivors feel that their healing is hopeless within our community, which is why so many are abandoning Orthodox Judaism. I myself was once told by a non-frum therapist, who understood the problems of our community, that in order to maintain even a degree of sanity in my own life after being molested by my rebbe as a teenager, I had to choose between either abandoning my community or trying to change it.
Making matters much scarier is the fact that when a molester is apprehended, the entire community comes to his defense and attacks the victim. One survivor I know who did press charges against his molester is clinically depressed (a condition that can sometimes lead to suicide), not because of the abuse, but because the entire community is backing his molester despite incontrovertible evidence of the abuser’s guilt. In Lakewood, a Rabbi was arrested for sexual abuse, and there is a communal campaign to put pressure on the parents of the victim to drop the charges. A Boro Park mother of several children who were molested was told by her children’s Cheder that if she pressed charges against the molester who was “connected, to a Rebbe” her children would be thrown out “on the street.” A Bobover family was literally chased out of the community for daring to report their child’s abuse to the police. The same has happened in Baltimore.
One very frum person I know, who is a survivor of sexual abuse, was hospitalized due to suicide risk. This occurred shortly after we participated in a lobbying trip to Albany for the Child Victims Act (the Markey Bill.) On the way home we heard that the Agudah and Torah Umesorah rabbis had come out in opposition to the bill because they are more worried about lawsuits against yeshivas, news that left all of us struggling with “yiush.”
Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the hopelessness that survivors feel, is the way that they have totally given up hope that their leaders can ever be convinced to change. Whereas a few short months ago, the Agudah dinner was protested by survivors who wanted validation, their recent convention drew no such outcry. There was a large group that considered an elaborate “Hafganah” on Thursday night to catch the attention of the powers that be, but in the end despaired of it even touching their hardened hearts. Shockingly, an Agudah insider and apologist told me that the establishment did not even attempt to address solutions to the problem of child abuse at the conference because they themselves have given up on solving it. Talk about hopelessness! Irresponsibly neglecting to talk about the issue of abuse is, on many levels, communal suicide. Sadly, it seems as if it is our leaders who are the ones in need of professional help.
Before I began to publicize the name of my own molester, I was told by a Rov that although it is in principle a Chiyuv to reveal his identity, in our community I should keep quiet, because speaking up is “like committing suicide.” Can you imagine what message this would give to a survivor who is already contemplating suicide like Motty Borger? Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless, hopeless…
Why I feel that there really is hope
Chanukah is fast approaching. If ever there was a season for hope, this is it. The miraculous story of victory against all odds, with G-d’s help, must inspire survivors in need of salvation. While we all know of the Jewish people’s war against the Greeks, we need to remember that the true existential threat came from inside; from a civil war between the Jewish elitist establishment who had lost their way due to the false gods of greed, lust and power, and a few sincere caring Jews who rallied behind the cry of “Mee LaHashem Aylai! - Whoever is for G-d, come with me!”
Our community has been blessed with some very special individuals, many of whom are survivors of abuse themselves, who have taken up the cause of change. To return Torah Judaism to the way it is supposed to be, where caring for others, especially the most vulnerable, comes before financial considerations, image-consciousness, the reputation of perpetrators’ families, and any other consideration. Let us count our blessings:
We have leaders like UOJ. With vision, courage and passion, he has shown us what can be and what needs to be done. He reconnects us with the integrity and true Jewish values of his illustrious grandfather Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l, who was also an American pioneer.
We have The Awareness Center, run by Vicki Polin, the one and only place a Jewish parent can go to find out who are the dangers to their children in our community. A friend of mine, for example gets a call from an “Askan” in Lakewood warning to watch his kids because a molester has moved into the neighborhood. Appallingly, the caller refused to give the name of the molester. Even the government’s “Megan’s Law” sex-offender registry cannot always keep us informed. Recently, convicted serial molester “Rabbi” Baruch Lanner deviously managed to get his name removed from the list, with nary a peep of protest from his former employers and protectors, the OU and NCSY, but The Awareness Center is on top of it, as always.
We have survivors of abuse Joel Engelman, Mark Weiss, David Framowitz, Baruch Sandhaus and Joseph D’angello, the cofounders of Survivors for Justice (along with President Ben Hirsh) who have helped advertise the need for and the method of how victims can utilize law enforcement, and have lobbied so strongly for the Child Victims Act, to extend the time molesters can be brought to justice. If only Motty Borger had been acquainted with these heroes…
We have courageous Rabbanim like Rabbi Yosef Blau, who publicizes from first-hand knowledge the inadequacy of a Beys Din system to solve abuse problems. He was joined by the RCA and the Iggud Harabbanim, in backing the “Markey Bill,” calling on our community to “bite the bullet” of lawsuits against yeshivas or camps. And most importantly, he gives spiritual support and solace to literally hundreds of Jewish survivors of abuse world wide. If only Motty Borger had known Reb Yosef Blau…
We have Assemblyman Dov Hikind who has fearlessly sounded the alarm on his radio show about sexual abuse, and has compassionately reached out to listen to the stories of hundreds of survivors. Dov has fought hard and succeeded in accruing considerable government funds for education of the community and to provide support to survivors.
Recently, we had for the first time in a black-hat community, Rabbi Yitzchak Eisenman and his shul in Passaic inviting survivors of abuse to tell their stories. 300 people were in attendance, on Erev Yom Kippur, and there was much healing in that room. For the survivors, it was worth a hundred therapy sessions. Too bad we didn’t know to invite Motty Borger…
We have Reb Nochum Rosenberg courageously fighting the powers that be with superhuman “mesiras nefesh”. He is fast becoming the “new establishment,” in the Chassidish community, as more and more survivors in pain, with no one else to turn to, find their way to his compassionate assistance.
The Jewish Board of Advocacy for Children (President Elliot Pasik) has for the past year been reaching out (as we all should) to Frum or no longer Frum, Chasidish, Litvish, Sephardic, Modern Orthodox, male or female who have been victimized by rape, incest, rabbinic abuse or any sexual abuse. We offer them emotional support, legal and mental health guidance and “J-BACking” in telling their stories to the public. We successfully lobbied for a law allowing fingerprinting and background checks in yeshivas, and continue to fight for legislating these and other crucial safety steps such as mandated reporting for Jewish and all private schools. Survivor support groups and a retreat for survivors are in the works.
We have the incredibly successful online support group allusshefellech.proboards.com, run by an amazing young woman, “Little Sheep”, where over 50 frum female survivors, young and old, get together anonymously, supervised by a therapist, to give each other chizuk and to learn from each other’s experiences. If only Motty Borger had known of the parallel group for men, AY-YNhorah.proboards.com, just getting off the ground…
We have strong supporters Mark Appel, Sherree Belsky, Pearl Engelman, Michael Lesher, Dr. Michael Salomon, Maury Kelman, Pinny Taub, Debbie Fox and Aleynu, Basya Litman and the SOVRI helpline, Rabbi Marc Dratch and JSAFE, Elaine Witman and the Shofar Coalition, Mitch Morrison, Eli Greenwald, Elie Hiller, Michael Brecher, Rabbi Zev Smason, Yerachmiel Lopin, Beth Kaplan and Sacred Lives, and many, many more, too many to list here, ken yirbu. These include the 240 proud signatories of last year’s JBAC “Yom Kippur resolution,” which can be viewed at www.jewishadvocates.org (at the end of the Position Paper).
We have Failed Messiah, and other bloggers like Frumfollies, who have informed us of the cover-ups, and who give survivors a place to vent their feelings and find others who know first hand the dark truths of our community.
We are few (me’atim), but the revolution is growing. Like in the Chanukah victory, we will need to battle those of the powers that be in our community who choose to pursue power, image and financial security for their institutions, making the mistake decried by all of our Neviim - neglecting the most vulnerable and the most in need of protection and support.
But Chanukah teaches us that a little bit of light can push off a lot of darkness. A small group of people banding together with courage and faith can merit Hashem’s miraculous salvation for themselves, for all the Motty Borgers still among us, and for all of Klal Yisroel. We must continue to unite against tyranny and to reach out to survivors to tell them we want to hear their stories, that we believe them and that we care and we want to give them back their hope. “Even if a sharp sword is placed on your neck, never give up on Hashem showing mercy.” (Gemorah, Brachos) With G-d’s help there is still hope. There is always hope.
One of my all-time favorites from a good friend - The UOJ Classics!
Dear UOJ:
"......With reference to your recent correspondent: beware the well-meaning critic who "only " wants you to curb your language. Language is the key to humanity itself, so show me a censor and I'll show you a prison guard -- however well-intentioned. I do not advocate -- I do not practice -- indiscriminate brutality in language any more than in deed. In fact, I see plenty of writing on blogs that makes me worry for the future of civilized discourse. But NOT because of the language involved, nor because it attacks a sacred cow here, an overrated human icon there. Talk radio is infinitely worse than blogs; have the rabbis banned THAT? Au contraire: brutality aimed at "liberals" is still groovy.
Avigdor Miller could be as coarse in scorning his opponents as anything I've read on Jewish newsgroups -- has anyone lately pointed this out? There's the Jewish Observer, which indulged personal attacks against the author of Holy Days (who deserved better) and lately ran an obscene rant that condemned as sinners all people who write unpleasant truths about powerful rabbis, a piece so destructive of logic and decency that the author apparently never noticed the irony of condemning slander while committing it himself -- wholesale. Has this been condemned?
We are all fallible, and in controversy we inevitably irritate or disappoint at least some of our readers. Sometimes with reason. But it is a great mistake to be guided by a wish not to offend. Let the "gentle" critic who "only" wants you to tone down your rhetoric, or your graphic allusions, or your offensive imagery, or your subject matter, or your this or your that, assert in no uncertain terms -- if he dares -- that something he objects to in your work is, in fact, wrong, bad, untrue. If he can make that claim, and convince you of its correctness, well and good.
Otherwise: he is a temptation to be politely but firmly set aside. The man who wants to tell the truth but not offend the respectable is like someone who wants to scale a wall without using his hands. You can't do it. You want to do serious work -- well, some people aren't going to like it. They tell you they like your buildings but find the shadows they cast a little excessive? "Sorry, lady, but the shadow comes with the building. I'm sure you can find a spot without either one, if that's your choice." You can't write anything without tripping over somebody's sensitivities. So why worry about it?
Once you're offending -- OFFEND.
I don't mean blowharding. But OFFEND. If you're not offending someone, you're saying nothing... which of course is why so many rabbis, idolized by the "civil" crowd, are rising through the ranks by repeating the same sermons again and again, telling us nothing -- but giving no offense.
As for the claim -- the civilians are never without it -- that the same goals can be accomplished with different language -- well, if that's really so, why haven't they done it? I say the objection to the tools used is only valid true when the tools are truly the wrong ones... in which case, you won't be getting any results. Otherwise the methods are inseparable from the goals. Which is why Mozart had to use so many notes (in spite of fashion), Beethoven had to use bold dissonances, Ibsen had to refer to adultery and venereal disease. Even Lenny Bruce was told once that he could be a great comic without the "filth" (whatever that meant)... have you ever tried paraphrasing one of his great routines on sexual frailties -- minus the four-letter words? Having tried it once, would you ever want to again?
I do not believe the straitjacketing of language in Orthodox communities is a coincidence. I think it is a matter of deliberate strategy.
As Orwell pointed out, curbing language curbs thought: if there is no vocabulary to explain why Big Brother is evil, then the idea itself becomes impossible to hold. In our communities things are much the same. "Elchanan Wasserman was a religious tyrant who sacrificed thousands of people to his rigid piety" is no easier for the average Orthodox Jew to articulate than "Big Brother is ungood" would have been in Oceania. Breaking this barrier is not incidental to the kind of cause you're engaged in -- on the contrary, it is a fundamental part of it.
The Agudah crowd instinctively knows that the moment people can say "Reb Moshe sometimes misrepresented Talmudic sources to advance a personal ideology" or "Avigdor Miller emotionally manipulated ba'alei t'shuvah," etc., etc., they will begin to think for themselves and will never again be under Agudah's control. So, of course, they condemn such "language" as coarseness, as gossip, as slander, as slights to sages, whatever... rather than addressing themselves to the ONLY thing that matters, the truth or falsity of the statements in question.
Isn't it a commonplace that we can never learn from anyone's greatness until we can separate it from his frailties? Is Abraham Lincoln less inspiring a figure when we know about the messes in his personal life and his rough-and-tumble political background? Human beings emulate other human beings -- if you want to know what happens when people, instead of learning from fallible models, become the apes of God, look at R. Elchanan. I think he would have been a greater man if he had seen HIS heroes as human. He didn't: and just look at the results.
I may misquote him here, but Thomas Hardy, frequently under attack for his subject matter in his lifetime -- now accepted without question as one of the great novelists and poets of the early modern period -- had the right idea when he wrote in his journal: "Never explain. Never retract. Get it done and let them howl." It's taken me, a shy, diffident type, a long time to learn this, but no approach but Hardy's EVER works.
The moment you start trying to appease one critic, another pipes up; take something back, everything starts to collapse; cast around for consensus -- none will appear. If you want to be loved, don't write, or at least don't write honestly; there were vastly more popular writers than Hardy back in the 1890s. They wrote what the public liked and turned out bestsellers. Not one of them is ever mentioned today.
Don't be fooled by the number of hits on your blog -- most are curiosity seekers; the really popular speakers are the Frands, the Krohns, the Salomons, the Kotlers, etc., who never tell their audiences a word they don't want to hear. Our community will embalm them, and 75 years from now they will be exactly what they are now -- just as they are already the inarticulate corpses they will be then.
If a few words from your blogs survive, you at least will have a chance to live forever... not because of your "language," nor in spite of it, but because you wrote a few words that were true, right, clear, pure and necessary . . . and good Lord, what else can any of us hope for? It's a rare enough accomplishment as it is, while using every sensibility God gave us and every word he lent us for the purpose. Start censoring yourself, even for "good" reasons, and you don't have a chance.
Don't be taken in. Never explain. Never retract. Get it done and let them howl."
A total of 14 women made allegations against Sheinberg to a special
investigation team and police suspect that many other victims were
afraid to come forward. The victims were all religious women who had
come to the rabbi for advice or help on various issues including health.
