“Which is more important, the sun or the moon?” a citizen of Chelm asked the rabbi.
“What a silly question!” snapped the
cleric. “The moon, of course! It shines at night when we really need it.
But who needs the sun to shine when it is already broad daylight?”
The melamed of Chelm was speaking with his wife.
“If I were Rothschild, I’d be richer than he.”
“How can that be?” asked the wife. “You would both have the same amount of money.”
“True,” he agreed, “but I’d do a little teaching on the side.”
French police arrest 16 teachers at well-known Orthodox school for allegedly abusing students
The entrance to the Yeshivat Beth Yossef in Bussières, France
(JTA)
— Police in France raided a well-known Orthodox Jewish school,
arresting 16 teachers for alleged child abuse and placing dozens of
underage students provisionally under the state’s custody.
The raid Monday on Beth Yossef, a prestigious boarding school-style
yeshiva near Paris attended by many students from Israel and the United
States, was the largest-scale operation in recent history against a
Jewish school in France, and the first time that the entire faculty of
such an institution was arrested.
At least 42 underage students from the yeshiva in the Paris suburb of Bussières (Seine-et-Marne) were placed at an undisclosed child welfare facility, Le Figaro reported.
The state has assumed custody of the children provisionally for five
days, during which attempts will be made to reunite them with their
families abroad, the report said.
The status of any child whose legal guardian will not be located at
the end of those five days will be determined by a family court, the
report said.
The Prosecutor’s office of Meaux, a municipality east of Paris, said
in a statement that the raid was over “sequestration, confiscation of
IDs, unsuitable living conditions, maltreatment, denial of access to
education and other services without the possibility of allowing
[students] to return to their families.”
Attempts by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to reach staff of Beth
Yossef, which was founded in 1948, were not immediately successful. An
accountant working for the institution said he had not been able to
contact his employers since the arrest. Reports in the French media
about the arrests did not include the reaction of the institution to the
allegations.
Meyer Habib,
a lawmaker in the French National Assembly and a former vice president
of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, told JTA that
he does not have information about the conditions at Beth Yossef, and
can therefore “not assess at this point the merit of the allegations.”
According to Habib, who has been following the affair, “there are all
kinds of claims circulating: On the one hand, that things that
shouldn’t happen did happen at Beth Yossef. And on the other hand, that
this is a case of students settling scores with teachers.”
What is known, he said, “is that the children are well, they are
together in one place, they are getting kosher food and their legal
guardians are being contacted.” Habib also said that “it is sad that
this happened at such a reputable institution.”
The raid at Beth Yossef occurred amid a crackdown against unlicensed schools in France that began in 2020.
The move, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron, was widely
understood to be aimed at curbing the activities of informal Muslim
schools as part of a broader push against radical Islam. Many French
Jews have supported the crackdown.
Asked whether the raid at Beth Yossef could be collateral damage in
the crackdown on Muslim counterparts amid fears of radicalization, Habib
said: “It’s a good question. It’s a question we will be asking in the
coming days.”
A task force set up to lead the crackdown on unlicensed schools — the
Inter-ministerial Taskforce of Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian
Movements — has also flagged the school, the report said.
Among other issues, European officials have objected to the segregation of male and female students
and the instruction of the theory of evolution by natural selection in
Orthodox schools. The tension has resulted in inspections, loss of
public funding and citations for noncompliant and partially-compliant
institutions. Arrests, however, have been extremely rare.
Keeping school children safe from sexual predators
The
books of Chaim Walder that used to take pride of place have been binned
by readers and recalled by publishers around the world
I helped set up Nahamu,
a Jewish human rights lobbying group to raise awareness of harms in the
charedi community. One of the harms we lobby on is the lack of
reporting of abuse, including child sex abuse, to the police. In the
aftermath of the Chaim Walder
saga, I had hoped that the tide might be turning, and that there would
be an awakening that the only way to keep children safe would be to
ensure that all incidents are reported (on a timely basis) to the
police, with communal support for victims and their families.
I was
therefore alarmed to read Eli Spitzer’s blog
where he instead advocates a two-prong approach; for schools to teach
children about predators, and for abuse to be reported to a Beis Din.
(On a similar basis to the Tzefat Beit Din
that took testimony from the Walder victims, such that if they find
that the abuse happened, they can then warn the community about the
predator.)
Considering Eli’s position as a head of a school, I find his
stance both dangerous and naïve. Similarly, a recent email circulated by
ChinuchUK puts the focus on providing important evidence
of good practice (i.e. compliance and how to pass an Ofsted report)
rather than on implementing the good practice in lines with government
guidance needed to create safer schools.
Dealing with Eli’s second prong first.
The only reason that the Tzefat Beit Din was able to conclude Chaim
Walder had been a long-term abuser was because so many victims came
forward, reporting a consistent pattern over many years. Furthermore, by
that point many victims had already spoken to Ha’aretz,
which had published a well-researched expose, without which many
victims would not have known to come forward.
A further problem with
having a Beis Din investigate abuse includes the fact that the Dayanim
simply do not have the skills or knowledge of all the various
professionals involved in a criminal proceeding; police, doctors, judge,
jury, psychologist, therapist, social workers, ISVAs (Independent
Sexual Violence Advisors) and others. Another concern, when (unlike the
Chaim Walder incident) the allegation is not in the public domain, is
that the Beis Din could have a vested interest, to not believe the
victims (often women and children, i.e., not halachic witnesses), thus
letting the accused (often an adult man) continue in his current role
and molest more children.
Even if the Beis Din concludes that there was
abuse, they have no means to punish a perpetrator (unlike a criminal
court which can imprison someone who commits a crime). Additionally,
their remit to broadcast any abuse they find may not be international,
such that the perpetrator could continue in a similar role in a school
in an overseas community.
In most cases there aren’t dozens of victims queuing up to report
similar offences. With a lone incident the Beis Din are likely to
dismiss the case due to lack of evidence. Which brings me to my concern
with his second prong, the education of children. The problem (see Migdal Emunah statement on IICSA p56) with a workshop in school telling children that “their private parts are private – say no – tell an adult”,
is that the onus of protecting children has been put by the adults onto
the children themselves. This might make the adults feel better, but
self-protection becomes an additional burden on the children concerned.
This is a big problem in a community that does not encourage reporting
abuse to the police and has not taken other steps to keep its children
safe. With a high likelihood of predators in circulation in the charedi
community due lack of police reporting, many charedi children will
encounter a predator. This sets the children up to feel an additional
layer of shame and victim blaming if they do not manage to say no or
tell an adult in time.
Context is everything. Of course, in line with recent government guidance “Keeping children safe in education 2021” parents should be having conversations with their children from early childhood about not keeping secrets, encouraging transparency and around body autonomy.
However, for good reason, it’s no longer best practise for prevention education (known as ‘stranger danger’) to be provided in schools.
Jewish schools must find better ways to keep their pupils safe; and this includes reporting of all incidents to the police. We are awaiting the conclusions of IICSA, and we hope that there will be mandatory police reporting for all teachers in all schools.
What We Can Learn From How the 1918 Pandemic Ended
Most
histories of the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed at least 50
million people worldwide say it ended in the summer of 1919 when a third
wave of the respiratory contagion finally subsided.
Yet
the virus continued to kill. A variant that emerged in 1920 was lethal
enough that it should have counted as a fourth wave.
In some cities,
among them Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Kansas City, Mo., deaths
exceeded even those in the second wave, responsible for most of the
pandemic’s deaths in the United States. This occurred despite the fact
that the U.S. population had plenty of natural immunity from the
influenza virus after two years of several waves of infection and after
viral lethality in the third wave had already decreased.
Nearly
all cities in the United States imposed restrictions during the
pandemic’s virulent second wave, which peaked in the fall of 1918. That
winter, some cities reimposed controls when a third, though less deadly
wave struck. But virtually no city responded in 1920. People were weary
of influenza, and so were public officials. Newspapers were filled with
frightening news about the virus, but no one cared. People at the time
ignored this fourth wave; so did historians. The virus mutated into
ordinary seasonal influenza in 1921, but the world had moved on well
before.
We should not repeat that mistake.
True,
right now we have every reason for optimism. First, Omicron cases are
declining in parts of the country. Second, nearly the entire U.S.
population will soon have been either infected or vaccinated,
strengthening their immune systems against the virus as we know it now.
Third, although Omicron is extraordinarily good at infecting the upper respiratory tract, which makes it so transmissible,
it seems less able to infect the lungs than earlier variants so it is
less virulent. It is entirely possible and perhaps even likely that,
spurred by a better immune response, the virus will continue to decrease
in lethality;indeed, there
is a theory that the 1889-92 influenza pandemic was actually caused by a
coronavirus called OC43, which today causes the common cold.
All
of which makes overconfidence, indifference or weariness, after two
years of battling the virus — and one another — a danger now.
Signs
of weariness — or misguided hope — are everywhere. Although more than
70 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated, progress has
stagnated, and as of Jan. 27, only 44 percent
had received boosters, which provide vital protection against severe
illness. Although most of us, especially parents, want schools to stay
open, parents have gotten only about 20 percent of children ages 5 to 11 fully vaccinated. As in 1920, people are tired of taking precautions.
This
is ceding control to the virus. The result has been that even though
Omicron appears to be less virulent, the seven-day average for daily
Covid-19 deaths in the United States has now surpassed the Delta peak in
late September.
Worse, the virus may
not be finished with us. Although there’s a reasonable likelihood that
future variants will be less dangerous, mutations are random. The only
thing certain is that future variants, if they are to be successful,
will elude immune protection. They could become more dangerous.
That
was the case not only in 1920 with the last gasp of the 1918 virus, but
also in the 1957, 1968 and 2009 influenza pandemics. In 1960 in the
United States, after much of the population had achieved protection from
infection and a vaccine, a variant caused peak mortality to exceed the
pandemic levels in 1957 and 1958. In the 1968 outbreak, a variant in
Europe caused more deaths the second year, even though, once again, a
vaccine was available and many people had been infected.
In the 2009 pandemic, variants also emerged that caused breakthrough infections; one study in Britain
found “greater burden of severe illness in the year after the pandemic”
but “much less public interest in influenza.” Researchers blamed the
government’s approach for that. In the first year, the public health
response was “highly assertive,” chiefly in providing information; there
were no lockdowns. In the second year, they found, “the approach was
laissez-faire.” As a result, “a large number of deaths, critical care
and hospital admissions occurred, many of these in otherwise healthy
people of working age.”
Such
precedents should make us wary. Vaccines, the new antiviral drug
Paxlovid and others could end the pandemic, once billions of doses
become widely available globally and if the virus does not develop
resistance. But the end is not going to arrive anytime soon. The
immediate future still depends on the virus and how we wield our current
arsenal: vaccines, masks, ventilation, the antiviral drug remdesivir
and steroids and the one monoclonal treatment that still works
against Omicron, social distancing and avoiding crowds. As a society,
we have largely abandoned the public health measures on that list. As
individuals, we can still act.
The crackpot of Camelot (and other kids of famous Jews)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Sam from Philadelphia might be nuts but such people are less lonely than they used to be
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of Bobby Kennedy, is a conspiracy
theorist and an anti-vaxxer. He’s also an environmentalist lawyer,
progressive talk-show host, and near-embodiment of horseshoe theory, having become something of a pin-up for Covid-era cranks.
According to Scientific American,
this scion of Camelot has, since 2005, “promoted anti-vaccine
propaganda completely unconnected to reality.” According to the Center
for Countering Digital Hate, his Children’s Health Defense organization claims
“unvaccinated children are healthier than vaccinated children” and
condemns the parents of vaccinated children for “enrolling their kids in
experimental Covid vaccine trials.”
On Sunday, Kennedy Jr. spoke at an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Washington, DC, telling
the crowd, “Even in Hitler’s Germany you could cross the Alps into
Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.” Expanding
on his theme that Americans would soon face greater difficulty in
escaping tyranny than did those persecuted by the Third Reich, he went
on to say: “Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make
it so none of us can run and none of us can hide. Within five years, we
are going to see 450,000 low orbit satellites — Bill Gates has his
65,000 satellites alone — [which] will be able to look at every square
inch of the planet 24 hours a day.”
In living memory, it was de rigueur for lofty newspapers and
even loftier historians to portray the Kennedys as America’s liberal
aristocracy, non-rhotic royalty born to rule by dint of their cheekbones
and their ideals. At least the boosters of yesteryear had Jack and
Bobby to work with, even if Teddy’s vehicular adventures posed some
difficulties. Today, no amount of journalistic fawning or hagiographic
history can maintain the myth that this clan are anything grander than
the Cape Cod Kardashians.
It shouldn’t need saying that the situation in the United States does
not exist in the same moral universe as that of Germany under the
Nazis. It shouldn’t need saying that, actually, you couldn’t hide in an
attic like Anne Frank because the Franks were eventually discovered and
Anne died in Bergen-Belsen. (It also shouldn’t need saying that the
Franks didn’t hide in an attic “in Hitler’s Germany,” but in Amsterdam,
to where they had fled Hitler’s Germany.)
Whether you object to vaccine or mask mandates on libertarian grounds
or you believe the virus, vaccines and health measures are part of a
nefarious conspiracy, it’s important to remember these three things: 1)
it’s not the 1930s, 2) you’re not living in terror of the Gestapo, and
3) nothing you believe is happening, not even in your most fevered
imaginings, is remotely comparable to the systematic campaign to
exterminate the European Jewry.
Attempts to link Covid management measures and those overseeing them
to the Shoah and its perpetrators are becoming more frequent on the
right, including from Republican lawmakers and Fox News hosts. The hijacking of the Yellow Star symbol is now routine
at protests. The criss-crossing of anti-vaccine-mandate and
anti-lockdown sentiments with far-right conspiracy theories about
one-world government, planned crises and the 2020 presidential election
has exposed more people to the latter and, for some, imagined
confluences lend credence to content they might previously have
recognized as extremist or racist.
Many conspiracy theories are or eventually become about the Jews but
some are wholly separate from antisemitism. What social media has done
is to unleash a great syncretic moment for conspiracism, allowing for
previously discrete strands to merge, whether in their logic or simply
in their mood music of paranoia. It matters less whether the Jews are
the “Them” you have in mind because there are now so many ill-defined
“Thems” that the more they interact, the greater the likelihood they’ll
lead back to the Jews in the end.
Yet the same social media that makes this possible also makes it
possible to be better informed in real time than any previous generation
about the scale of global antisemitism. It is, or in theory should be,
easier to know that 60 percent of religious hate crimes in the United States are against Jews; that Canadian Jews, who make up 1 percent of the country’s population, are on the receiving end of 15 percent of its hate crimes; that antisemitism accounts
for one in four religious hate crimes in Sweden, where Jews make up 0.1
percent of the population. It should be easier than ever to know about Colleyville and Monsey, Oxford Street and the north London convoy, Har Nof and the Hypercacher.
Education is the oft-heard solution to antisemitism, yet as social
media has made it possible to be better educated about the persecution
of Jews, it has also made possible a radicalization that leads people to
claim the mantle of this persecution for themselves and to diminish,
distort and demean the memory of the ultimate symbol of antisemitism in
the process. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be a crackpot but crackpots are
becoming less lonely by the day.
Jay Goldberg, left, and Barry Singer at a press
conference in 2019. They are among 38 former students in a lawsuit
alleging sexual abuse at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys in
Manhattan.
Appeals Court Rules 33 Men Suing Orthodox Jewish Day School Under Child Victims Act Can't Proceed Anonymously
The 33 unnamed plaintiffs
"only submitted a short attorney affirmation, which merely repeated the
relief requested in the order to show cause and made a single vague
statement that plaintiffs might suffer further mental harm should their
identities be revealed," the panel wrote. But the panel dismissed the
motion without prejudice.
A state appeals court has reversed the trial court and ruled that 33
former students of an Orthodox Jewish high school for boys, who have
sued the school under New York’s Child Victims Act alleging they
suffered years of rampant and sometimes sadistic sexual abuse, may not
proceed in anonymity using John Doe labels rather than real names.
But the Appellate Division, First Department court has given the
plaintiffs in the 2019-filed suit another chance to show why their
motion to remain anonymous should be granted by the lower court. The
First Department denied the motion “without prejudice to a new motion or
motions supported by proper papers,” after it found the 33 anonymous
plaintiffs had “failed to submit sufficient evidence to support the
relief requested.”
The opinion
from the five First Department justices heavily detailed recent case
law addressing the question of the state legislature’s intent, when it
passed The Child Victims Act of 2019, regarding whether plaintiffs suing
their alleged past abusers may remain anonymous when doing so. Then the
panel tersely-but-directly explained that in the pending lawsuit lodged
by 38 men against The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy—Yeshiva
University High School for Boys in Manhattan, that the 33 men proceeding
anonymously had simply not put forward sufficient evidence showing why
they should be able to avoid disclosing their names.
“Several New York courts have addressed the legislature’s intent in
enacting the CVA [Child Victims Act] with respect to the use of
pseudonyms and concluded that the legislature ‘left it up to each
alleged victim to determine whether to seek anonymity’ . . . [and] ‘left
it to the courts to assess each individual case,’” the appellate panel
wrote, citing Doe v Amherst Cent. Sch. Dist., 196 AD3d 9.
“In determining whether to grant a plaintiff’s request to proceed
anonymously, the motion court must ‘use its discretion in balancing
plaintiff’s privacy interest against the presumption in favor of open
trials and against any potential prejudice to defendant,’” the panel
further wrote, quoting Anonymous v Lerner, 124 AD3d 487.
The panel added that ”a plaintiff seeking permission to proceed
anonymously by employing a pseudonym must provide facts specific to the
plaintiff that will allow the motion court to exercise its discretion in
an informed manner.”
But in the case alleging negligent hiring and negligent retention of
school employees who allegedly abused the plaintiffs in various ways
during the 1970s and 1980s, the 33 unnamed plaintiffs “only submitted a
short attorney affirmation, which merely repeated the relief requested
in the order to show cause and made a single vague statement that
plaintiffs might suffer further mental harm should their identities be
revealed,” the panel wrote.
The “plaintiffs failed to provide any specific evidence as to why
each unnamed plaintiff should be entitled to proceed anonymously,” the
justices added.
The Child Victims Act, which became effective Aug. 14, 2019, extended
the statute of limitations to prosecute sexual abuse against children,
giving a one-year window for victims to pursue their claims. (The window
was later extended for a second year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Under the Act, for example, victims up to age 55 who experienced abuse
when they were younger than 18 could bring civil suits during the window
of time. Previously the age had been up to age 23.
In the men’s 120-page complaint, they allege that a former school
principal and a former faculty member abused then-boys at the school
repeatedly in the 1970s and ’80s, and that the school was negligent in
never reporting the abuse to the authorities and in failing to take
proper action with regard to what occurred.
According to the complaint, a former assistant, associate and then
head principal “specifically targeted vulnerable boys” for both sexual
and physical abuse, “prey[ing] upon children of Holocaust survivors” and
then “implor[ing] these children to not add to their parents’ suffering
by telling them about his assaults.”
Moreover, the school official allegedly “used his power as a YUHS
administrator to try and keep his victims from reporting his sexual
assaults” by, for example, “threaten[ing] to accuse his victims of
cheating, to lower their grades, or otherwise harm their scholastic
futures.”
“Numerous students nevertheless found the courage to report [the
former principal's] sexual abuse to YU and YUHS administrators, but
their complaints always fell on deaf ears,” the complaint says.
The former faculty member allegedly was “vicious and sadistic in his
abuse.” For example, in 1980 he allegedly “sprayed a young boy’s genital
area with Chloraseptic and then violently shoved a toothbrush (with
toothpaste)” into the boy. But after the boy and his father reported the
act to the school’s vice president, the faculty member was allowed to
remain on faculty and law enforcement was never notified about the
alleged sodomy, the lawsuit alleges.
Kevin Mulhearn, an attorney in Orangeburg, New York, represents the
38 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
Karen Bitar, a Seyfarth Shaw partner in Manhattan, represented the
defendants in the appeal, according to the First Department decision.
The defendants include the Yeshiva University High School for Boys,
members of the school’s board of trustees, and two school officials.
Bitar also could not be reached.
Education director in Haredi city named as suspect in child sex abuse case
Mordechai Be’eri accused of molesting several
boys when he was a teacher in Modiin Illit settlement some 13 years ago;
court extends his detention
Mordechai Be’eri, director of the education department in the
municipality of the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad, was arrested last week
over child sex abuse he allegedly committed against his students some 13
years ago, officials said Sunday.
The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court permitted the publication of
Beeri’s identity, amid suspicions that he abused boys aged under 14 in
an institute in the settlement of Modiin Illit, where he was a teacher.
A young ultra-Orthodox man recently filed a police complaint, saying
he was 12 when Be’eri, now 70, molested him. Since police opened the
investigation, they have uncovered several more allegations of abuse,
the Ynet news site reported.
Police on Sunday called on other people who may have been abused to come forward and press charges.
Be’eri, originally ordered held by the court last Wednesday, had his remand extended by several more days.
“We are pleased that the police have apprehended the suspect. Every
abuser should know that they can face justice, even many years later,”
said a statement from Magen, an organization that aids victims of sexual
abuse and is assisting the alleged victim.
The arrest comes as Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community is being shaken
by sexual abuse allegations against several leading figures.
In December, prominent children’s author and rabbi Chaim Walder died by suicide after
the Haaretz newspaper published a series of stories accusing him of
sexually assaulting nearly two dozen people, including children —
allegations he had denied.
The Walder story has been hailed as a potential turning point in the approach to sexual abuse cases within the insular community.
'Scientologists believe the Holocaust was planned and carried out by psychiatrists' - They also believe --- Scientology forbids members from contacting police to report a crime
committed by a member. It instructs members that reporting such
incidents is considered a "high crime" and subjects the reporting member
to punishment. Scientology utilizes so-called "Fair Game" tactics to
"attack, harass, embarrass, humiliate, destroy, and/or injure
individuals who Defendants declare to be an enemy of Scientology, known
in Scientology as a 'Suppressive Person' …."
From Bixler v. Superior Court, decided Wednesday by the California Court of Appeal (Justices Laurence Rubin, Carl Moor, and Lamar Baker):
Petitioners … are former members of the Church of
Scientology who reported to the police that another Church member
[Daniel Masterson] had raped them. They allege that, in retaliation for
their reports, the Church encouraged its members to engage in a vicious
campaign of harassment against them.{[T]hey state no cause of action
against Masterson for sexual assault. Instead, they allege causes of
action against all defendants for stalking, physical invasion of
privacy, constructive invasion of privacy, [and] intentional infliction
of emotional distress ….}
After petitioners brought suit in superior court against the Church
and related entities and persons, some of those defendants moved to
compel arbitration, relying on agreements that provided all disputes
with the Church would be resolved according to the Church's own "Ethics,
Justice and Binding Religious Arbitration system." That system was
created to decide matters "in accordance with Scientology principles of
justice and fairness." …
The contract on its face apparently applied to all litigation against the Church:
My freely given consent to be bound exclusively by the
discipline, faith, internal organization, and ecclesiastical rule,
custom, and law of the Scientology religion … in all my dealings of any
nature with the Church, and in all my dealings of any nature with any
other Scientology church or organization which espouses, presents,
propagates or practices the Scientology religion means that I am forever
abandoning, surrendering, waiving, and relinquishing my right to sue,
or otherwise seek legal recourse with respect to any dispute, claim or
controversy against the Church, all other Scientology churches, all
other organizations which espouse, present, propagate or practice the
Scientology religion, and all persons employed by any such entity both
in their personal and any official or representational capacities,
regardless of the nature of the dispute, claim or controversy.
But the court concluded that, as a matter of California law, the
arbitration agreement couldn't be enforced after the parties left the
Church:
Individuals have a First Amendment right to leave a
religion. We hold that once petitioners had terminated their affiliation
with the Church, they were not bound to its dispute resolution
procedures to resolve the claims at issue here, which are based on
alleged tortious conduct occurring after their separation from the
Church and do not implicate resolution of ecclesiastical issues….
According to plaintiffs, Scientology forbids members from
contacting police to report a crime committed by a member. It instructs
members that reporting such incidents is considered a "high crime" and
subjects the reporting member to punishment.
Scientology utilizes
so-called "Fair Game" tactics to "attack, harass, embarrass, humiliate,
destroy, and/or injure individuals who Defendants declare to be an enemy
of Scientology, known in Scientology as a 'Suppressive Person' …."
Masterson is a television actor; Scientology granted him special
treatment when he achieved "celebrity status." To that end, Scientology
worked to prevent plaintiffs from reporting Masterson's crimes and, once
they did, declared plaintiffs Suppressive Persons. Scientology then
mobilized an aggressive Fair Game campaign against them.
According to plaintiffs' complaint, Scientology's directives are that
Suppressive Persons are to be silenced by whatever means necessary.
Scientology instructs members "to damage the person's professional
reputation, file frivolous lawsuits, and harass and surveil 'the
enemy.'" Scientology's "policies and procedures encourage and/or
instruct followers to 'ruin [the individual] utterly.'" …
Just like written antenuptial agreements to raise children in a
particular faith are not enforceable against a parent who has left the
faith, Scientology's written arbitration agreements are not enforceable
against members who have left the faith, with respect to claims for
subsequent non-religious, tortious acts. To hold otherwise would bind
members irrevocably to a faith they have the constitutional right to
leave….
Scientology argues that petitioners simply agreed to be bound by
Scientology dispute resolution procedures no matter what. As Scientology
puts it, "An 'irrevocable' agreement to 'forever'
waive civil proceedings and submit to Scientology Ethics and Justice
Codes in 'any dispute' with Churches of Scientology is a condition for
participation in the religion." It argues that this agreement should be
enforced like any other agreement.
Scientology engaged in as retribution for reporting Masterson to police
after they left the Church. This harassment allegedly arose because of
petitioners' relationship with Masterson and their reporting
to police, not because of their prior affiliation with Scientology.
Active bystanding is key to protecting children from sexual abuse.
What is Active Bystanding? A “bystander” is a person who witnesses a
boundary violation or sees a situation in which to protect children. An
Active Bystander is someone who does something about it. Bystanders can
play a major role in keeping kids safe by acting when they see a child
who needs help. Intervening or taking preventative measures as a
bystander can mean the difference between a child being sexually abused
or being protected from abuse.
Go beyond theoretical knowledge and learn practical
skills for protecting children. In this training you will learn how to
be an active bystander in child sexual abuse prevention and response.
You will receive examples of boundary violations and inappropriate
behaviors, and how you can make spontaneous and planned interventions
that reinforce boundaries and protect children. This training builds on
the education provided in Stewards of Children®,
Darkness to Light’s evidence-based training on preventing, recognizing,
and reacting responsibly to child sexual abuse. It is highly
recommended that participants complete Stewards of Children® prior to taking the course.
Available both online or as an in-person session delivered by an
authorized Darkness to Light Facilitator.
WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES?
During the training, you will hear compelling stories from experts and survivors about being an active bystander. You will also:
learn what it means to be an active bystander.
learn what actions you can take as an active bystander.
receive examples of boundary violations and red flag behaviors.
learn how to make spontaneous and planned interventions.
WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES?
Darkness to Light is proud to offer this bystander training, which includes:
stories from featured survivors, experts, youth serving professionals, and parents.
a course worksheet designed to help reinforce key concepts and serve as a resource guide on bystander intervention.
interactive discussion about important issues in sexual abuse
prevention and how they affect communities and youth serving
organizations (facilitator-led only).
knowledge checks (online only).
Bystanders Protecting Children from Boundary Violations Sexual Abuse can be taken in-person or accessed online at any time. The training can also be purchased as a part of the StewardsPluspackage.
If you are with an organization that provided you with a unique
custom link, please ensure you register for a new account with the
link. Please select the organization you are with from the drop down
below. Use the custom link that populates to create your account.
Colleyville synagogue will host ‘healing service’ Monday night at Southlake church
Rabbi
Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel will lead the
service, which is open to the public, at White’s Chapel United Methodist
Church.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker will lead a healing service Monday night at White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake
Congregation Beth Israel, which was the site of a hostage situation over the weekend, will host a special service Monday night at a Southlake church, the synagogue announced on Facebook.
The “Healing Service” is scheduled for 7 p.m. at White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake. It will be open to the public and livestreamed on the congregation’s Facebook page.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker will lead the service, the congregation said, “to help all of us to begin to put this terrible event behind us and be thankful for a good result.”
We believe that
the Church (the capitalized C in Church represents the global and
universal Church in contrast with the local congregation) is the body of YUSHKA, that it is an extension of YUSHKA'S life and ministry in the
world today, and that its purpose and mission is to make disciples of YUSHKA PUNDRIK. We believe that the Church is ‘the communion of saints,’ a
community made up of all past, present, and future followers of YUSHKA, and that the Church is called to worship God and to support
those who participate in its life as they grow in faith.
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