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UOJ

I Don't Agree With Everything UOJ says!

An Interested Observer Comments

I have been following the postings and comments on this blog for some
time and I am surprised by the almost laughable objections to what UOJ
is doing. These same objectors, who may be very well meaning, would
cringe at the silliness of their claims, had they been made by the
pope and some archbishops about the abusive priests. If you have been
reading or commenting for a while, I suggest you carefully evaluate my
points. If you disagree with them, please try to find fault with the
points I make, and not vilify me just for supporting such a rasha.

There have been several recurring themes in the objections to UOJ. I
will address them one by one. Perhaps the most prevalent is that
because UOJ has said nasty things about so many holy people, he has no
credibility and it is in fact a mitzvah to bring him down. Another
popular objection is that this is simply not the correct forum to
address these claims. Those who make this objection usually compare
this case to Lanners and claim that it would be alright to name him if
he was found guilty, like Lanner was, but he hasn't been found guilty.
They throw in some peons to Megan's law, so that they seem credible,
but then say that until anyone is found guilty, it is wrong to act in
public.

A third theme is that UOJ has some vendetta against Lipa, and since we
can prove that he hates him, it must be that this is his way of
bringing him down. Additionally, we have seen some people who claim
that UOJ has posted on Shabbos and has a potty mouth, thereby
nullifying any credibility that any of his claims might have. Another
objection is that since no victims have posted their names, how do we
know that he isn't just shooting now and asking later? Finally, there
have been some peripheral criticisms, that all the commenters are
really UOJ, or that the lawyer likes to sue people. If I have missed
any major points, please let me know and I will address those as well.

As far as the first claim goes, that he says bad things about
tzadikim, I have a hard time defending him. As anyone intelligent
knows, not every godol is perfect, but they aren't all bad either. He
has, in some cases, unfortunately made a one strike and they are out
rule, as far as his respect for gedolim goes. Nevertheless, that has
nothing whatsoever to do with the actual statements he is making. The
claims about abuse have nothing to do with his personal views. They
are about facts that may or may not have happened. His qualification
system for rabbonim may be half-assed, but those were opinions, as he
makes clear. However, the claims about Kolko are based on fact. You
may not have the same facts at your disposal, but that doesn't change
the fact that this objection mixes up two distinct types of claims
that he has made.

The second critique is perhaps the most insidious, since it seems so
logical on the face of it. Who could argue with someone who also hates
molesters, but just wants them to have their day in court? However,
people need to look at history. Do you know why Lanner, whom most of
you now agree is a bad man, has been convicted in a court of law? It
is NOT because beis din found him guilty and people made claims in the
appropriate forums and a criminal investigation was then launched. It
IS because the Jewish Week ran stories about it BEFORE he was ever
investigated and found guilty. I was one of the many who got very
angry with Gary Rosenblatt for speaking motzi shem rah and making the
frum world look bad. Well, he was convinced, even though many others,
like myself, who didn't know what he knew and felt that his was the
wrong way to go about it. In the end, we were proven wrong. These
claims against Lanner were circulating for over 20 years, and nothing
happened until it was made public.

You have no idea what UOJ knows. (Unless you are Lipa)You have no
right to judge him and say that he can only name names after someone
is found guilty. The only reason why there WILL be a criminal
investigation and why pretty soon, Kolko will no longer be around
children, is because UOJ let the victims know that they weren't alone
and that they could do something about this rasha.

The third objection, that UOJ just hates Lipa, again says nothing
about the actual issues at hand. Without having investigated his
claims yourself, how can you say that you know for certain that his
hatred impeded his investigation of the molestations? In fact, at
some point in the future, we should say Hallel to hashem for his
hatred of Lipa, because without it, many of the victims would not have
come forward. Does he hate Lipa? Yes. Is that a proof that Kolko is
innocent? Absolutely not.

With regard to the claim that UOJ blogged on shabbos, we are once
again faced with obfuscation from the issues. Did he in fact? No one
knows. He may have posted from Israel, and there may have been a time
stamp issue, or, he may indeed have posted on shabbos. Well,
regardless of what actually happened, this is not a defense. It simply
does not address the claims. If there was a court case about this, and
one of the victims who testify, is no longer shomer shabbos, would
that nullify their credibility? (That happened in the Lanner case) It
wouldn't even nullify their credibility in beis din, unless there was
hasrah!

While it would certainly help out his credibility if someone, maybe
someone who is no longer frum, came forward in public, it is not
essential, nor is the lack of one, suggestive that the claims are
fraudulent. The frum world is very close knit, and its history is
littered with victims who were trod upon after coming forward with
allegations. We have seen the smear machine working their magic
against UOJ, trying to out him and threatening violence, why would any
victim in their right mind, want to come forward into such a ruckus?
The other peripheral claims just cloud the issue further, once again
ignoring the issues.

At the end of the day, there are only two sorts of people who can
speak knowledgably on this subject. Those who know for certain that
the allegations are true and those who know for certain that they are
false. To know they are true, we only need to rely on the first hand
accounts. To know they are false, one must have been watching Kolko at
every minute of every single day for the last 35 years. It seems to me
that UOJ knows for certain. If you don't know either way, then I
recommend that you keep your eyes wide open in the next few months.
One way or another, someone will have a lot of apologizing to do. I
suggest that UOJ announce that he will flog himself publicly if he is
wrong, then those who demand his apology might quit whining.

Interested Observer

My name is Jeffrey Herman and I am an attorney who represents victims of sexual abuse who were abused by Yudi Kolko

My name is Jeffrey Herman and I am an attorney who represents victims of sexual abuse. I am representing victims who claim they were abused by Yidi Kolko. I am currently investigating these claims. If anyone has information about this case, please contact me via email at jherman@hermanlaw.com or via telephone at (305) 931-2200.

Posted by Attorney Jeff Herman to Un-Orthodox Jews at 2/17/2006 11:28:55 AM


By Daniel Lyons

Child sexual abuse litigation will probably not generate anything like the settlements for, say, asbestos claims ($54 billion to date). But, like asbestos litigation, it has the potential to snowball, with profits from early settlements financing the recruiting of an ever-widening ring of plaintiffs. Among the cases in this gold rush:

* In Florida, a lawyer who has filed numerous suits against Miami's Catholic archdiocese filed a class suit on behalf of up to 100,000 Native Americans who allegedly were mentally, physically and sexually abused in government-run boarding schools. Attorney Jeffrey M. Herman says the suit, filed in April in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., asserts that damages could run as high as $25 billion. Canada faces a similar claim from up to 18,000 Native Americans and estimates it will spend $1.2 billion (U.S.) to settle it.


More than 500 cases are pending against the Boston archdiocese, with at least a thousand more claims against Catholic dioceses nationwide. Some lawyers estimate as many as 20,000 people were molested by Catholic clergy in the U.S. in recent decades. And for every Catholic victim, Schiltz estimates even more may have been harmed by clergy of other faiths. These cases, moreover, MacLeish says, will prompt more victims of nonclergy abuse to come forward as people feel less stigmatized.

The lawyers help make that possible. In Los Angeles Raymond Boucher has 220 clients and is trying to form a class action. His Web site boasts a list of priests who have been convicted or accused of sexual abuse and a "secure victim form" that lets visitors click their way to a confidential complaint. Boucher's office also provides space to a "victim advocate," who has been contacting hundreds of possible victims, though Boucher insists this is for outreach, not for recruiting.

In Minnesota, attorney Jeffrey Anderson, with more than 700 past clergy cases and 250 pending, aims to use the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), arguing bishops conspired in a coverup. He also is trying to sue the Vatican, complete with a complaint he had translated into Latin.

Some of these cases are likely to bankrupt some Catholic dioceses, but this legal assault seeks even deeper pockets: big insurers. Put aside the pious talk about protecting kids, and the racket boils down to this: Plaintiff lawyers are going after old insurance policies written decades ago under entirely different circumstances. Boucher says he has found two insurers with big exposure in Los Angeles. Pacific Indemnity, a subsidiary of Chubb Group, wrote policies from the early 1950s to 1967 and could be on the hook for several hundred million, Boucher says. Chubb says any effect won't be material. Allianz Insurance Co., a U.S. subsidiary of Munich-based Allianz Group, wrote policies from 1979 to 1986 and could be responsible for more than $20 billion, Boucher insists. Allianz calls this estimate "grossly off-base."


The Non-Announcement-Announcement

The deadline has passed, Yudi Kolko has not been put on leave.

Out of deference and respect to my friends who asked me to wait twenty four hours, because "they were certain that Margulies was in agreement to have a full hearing in front of prominent attorneys and rabbonim," I waited until 11 a.m. on Friday.

I was hell-bent certain that this was a trick; I tried to explain to my friends that Margulies was stalling for time, to regroup, and figure out a way to strike back and impede our efforts to rid Yudi Kolko from the presence of children. Ultimately, Margulies is more concerned about himself and his liability of harboring a vicious child molester willingly and knowingly for more than thirty years. He could care less about the safety of your children; for this he will lose his so called yeshiva. Nevertheless they pleaded with me to wait until Friday, I did.

I was right again, it was a trick!

I pulled the trigger; I did everything I said I would, and much, much more.

Jeffrey Herman Esq. is representing the victims. To the hundreds of victims of Margulies/Tora Temima/Kolko....you are invited to contact Mr. Herman and participate in the litigation. Mr. Herman's credentials speaks for themselves...he is an expert in this field, and has successfully battled and collected huge awards for his clients. He is afraid of nobody; no one is out of the reach of the law no matter what the color or style of clothing they cloak themselves in. He is a trailblazer in clergy sexual abuse matters.

As for myself, I choose to make no additional statements at this time, "yamim yagidu"!

A Concerned Parent Comments

UOJ,
I wanted to share a few of my feelings with you. I know you are very
determined, but the road is long, lonely and fraught with bumps, so it
is nice to have some support.

For a long time, I have been worried about the state of Orthodox
Judaism as it is currently constituted. I grew up with strong emunah,
and knowing that the Ari might have been dreaming, or that Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochi didn't write the Zohar or that Besht stories are made
up, does not interfere with my willingness to live as a frum Jew.
After all, I still have a lot of meaning in my life and I would like
nothing more than to raise my children in the same system.

It isn't the history of the frum velt that makes such a path
difficult, but the current direction of its adherents. Whenever there
is a public story about a frum guy stealing or going to jail, you
always hear people say that you shouldn't judge a religion by its
adherents, but by what it preaches. This is possible when there is a
minute minority who disregards its ethos and shame the religion.
However, once there is a disturbing proportion who do so, and even
scarier proportion that stand idly by while it happens, it is no
longer possible not to judge.

Frankly, I am scared. I am scared for my children that I won't have
the heart to instill in them the love of yidishkeit that I grew up
with. How can I instill a love when I must warn them and watch them at
every turn to make sure they are safe? How can I sing Hamalach Hagoel
to them as they fall asleep knowing the state of the frum society they
will grow up in? How can I send them to the best yeshivos that they
can get into or my money can buy when I know that they might not be
safe from deviant predators?

None of this however, is the worst part. The worst part is that I
don't have the guts to do anything. How can I stand up and make a
scene when I see what happens to those that do? You have done so and
look what it has brought you. People curse you out and call you every
name imaginable. They threaten your wife and children. They try to out
you and publicly report your name and phone number. They advocate
violence against you. These sick misguided souls compare you to the
Nazis yemach shemam.

Is this the frumkeit that I will bring my children into? Is this the
beautiful religion that my grandparents lived defiantly through
concentration camps for? Is this what we have cherished and protected
all these years? No. Absolutely not. This is a sick twisted upside
down world where the victims are considered the bad ones while the
agressors are protected.

I don't hate the frum velt. I don't hate all the gedolim. I don't
believe there was ever an intentional decision that determined this
direction of the frum world. I understand that we are in a new
generation and face challenges for which there is no historical
guidance. I understand that very well and as a result, I do not cast
blame. However, I hate those who refuse to see what is going on around
them. Intelligent people, who bury their heads so deep in the sand
that they can revile someone for shaming their religion by exposing
the dirty secrets yet have nothing but compassion for those who
perpetrate them.

We are in a crisis and the small glimmer of hope on the horizon is
that there will be more courageous people, like UOJ, who will stand up
and say, enough. Until then, my head will also be buried deep in the
sand. Buried to hide my embarrassment and shame that I am frum and
remain quiet in the face of this crisis.

UOJ-Chazak Ubaruck. I daven for you three times a day.

Sincerely,
Frum and Worried


You can publish this but please leave out the email address

Elliot B. Pasik Esq. Speaks To The Jewish Community

February 16, 2006

Dear Chaverim,

Because I am an attorney who has long been involved in advocating a program for protecting our children from sex abuse, I feel the need to publicly comment in the forum of this blog (unorthodoxjews.blogspot.com/) on the allegations being made against a rebbe at Yeshiva Torah Temimah.

Over the past several weeks, I have read various posts of alleged victim accounts which have given dates, places, type of sex abuse, and other factual detail.

In addition, the blog administrator ("UOJ"), a frum Jew and a musmach, has mailed thousands of letters to frum Jews in Flatbush and Borough Park. He has demanded that this rebbe's employment at the yeshiva be terminated.

I have also spoken to several adult individuals who confided in me their stories of childhood sex abuse committed against them by this man.

The allegations are serious, but there are solutions, and I will present them in this letter. In addition, concerned community members have been in contact with the yeshiva, and I hope and pray, b'ezras Hashem, that a resolution will be reached, along the lines to be outlined here.

For a fair amount of time, I have been advocating a two-part approach for eradicating the problem of child sex abuse in our yeshivas, day schools, camps, and other youth settings.

First, we need to perform fingerprint-based criminal background checks on all of our employees and volunteers, and in this way, we will avoid hiring convicted sex offenders, drug offenders, violent criminals, and other dangerous predators.

I have previously written in my letters to Torah U'Mesorah, Agudath Israel, the Rabbinic Council of America, the Orthodox Union, and the National Council of Young Israel that 42 out of 50 states now require their public schools to perform fingerprint based criminal background checks on their employees (including New York State); 10 states require their nonpublic schools to perform such checks (not New York). In addition, after too-numerous child sex abuse incidents, every major youth group in the U.S. is performing background checks: the Boy and Girl Scouts, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Little League of America, the American Youth Soccer Organization, Pop Warner Football, the Civil Air Patrol.

In the wake of the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has required employee and volunteer background checks for all Catholic schools and youth groups since April 2003, whether required by law or not.

Even private corporations whose employees do not have regular access to children are voluntarily performing criminal background checks. An August 26, 2004 Wall Street Journal article reported that 80% of America's 400 largest corporations are performing background checks on their employees. Wal Mart, the nation's largest employer, joined this group after two convicted sex offenders working in their South Carolina stores were alleged to have molested children on store premises.

All of these background checks have weeded out thousands of convicted sex offenders and other dangerous criminals who would otherwise constitute a grave danger to children.

How great is the danger? The U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education most recently addressed the school sexual abuse problem in a lengthy June 2004 report entitled, "Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature", authored by Hofstra University Prof. Charole Shakeshaft, a leading expert. This report informs us that nearly 10% of U.S. students are targets of contact and noncontact sexual misconduct during their K-12 years. Among the security recommendations are that all public and private schools perform fingerprint based criminal background checks. This report is available on the U.S. Department of Education website.

Another good resource for people who want to educate themselves about the problem is a book called, "Predators" (2004), authored by Dr. Anna Salter, a Harvard College, Harvard Medical School-educated psychiatrist, who presents a mountain of evidence that establishes the great danger that child sex abuse presents. Dr. Salter has also written the two leading textbooks in use in our country on the treatment of sex offenders. Dr. Salter proves through her evidence that sex offenders should never work near children. Pedophiles are actually never cured, and they are in need of lifetime therapy.

In addition, there is also a mounting body of medical evidence which proves what we already intuitively know: that childhood sex abuse has long-term consequences. Medical studies have established that people who have suffered childhood sex abuse are at a greater risk for depression, substance abuse, and suicide.

Our own community has not ignored the child sex abuse problem. In May 2003, for example, both Torah U'Mesorah and the RCA, at their respective conventions, addressed the issue. I have listened to the audiotapes. A psychologist prominent in our community for specializing in this problem spoke at each convention, and described an incident in a yeshiva where a janitor with a criminal record for sex abuse attacked our children. In addition, the psychologist stated that we have suffered an unconscionable number of suicides of children who have been sex abuse victims.

Hashem yerachim.

I have made some progress on achieving my goal of having every yeshiva and Hebrew day school in New York State perform fingerprint-based employee background checks. The New York State Senate is drafting a bill, which I hope to have in my hands shortly. State Assembly sponsors will then be needed, and hopefully the Governor will support the bill, and it will pass.

But background checks are only one part of the overall solution. What do we do about the vast majority of sex offenders who never see the inside of a courtroom? Most child sex abuse victims never report the crimes done to their bodies, and unfortunately, even when they do, they are often not believed. More unfortunate, even when they are believed, successful criminal prosecutions are difficult, particularly where there is an absence of physical evidence.

Clearly, our yeshivas and day schools need to unite to form our own internal disciplinary system and registry, which will record the names of those individuals, who after a hearing conducted under careful rabbinic auspices, are found guilty of either violence or sex abuse, and will then be forever barred from employment in our mosdos.

Such a disciplinary system and registry would be neither novel, nor difficult to establish. Every public educational system in our country has such a program in place, as does the Catholic Church. We Jews therefore have numerous models to follow, and we should quickly establish our own disciplinary system and registry. In fact, the registry concept was specifically discussed and spoken of very approvingly at the May 2003 Torah U'Mesorah Convention.

In addition, I approaced the Rabbinical Council of America, an organization of approximately 1,000 rabbis, and proposed and drafted for them a Resolution endorsing background checks, and a disciplinary system and registry for all of our 700 yeshivas and Hebrew day schools that teach 200,00 Jewish children in the United States, including 100,000 in New York State. The Resolution passed at their May 2005 Convention, you can read it on rabbis.org, and I credit this Resolution for the great progress I am making in the New York State Senate for achieving a law that will allow fingerprint based criminal background checks to be conducted in our schools.

Our yeshivas and day schools do need to be concerned about laws that protect our children, and performing background checks, and having an internal disciplinary system and registry, will accomplish that goal.

Some New York laws that come into play are: Education Law section 3204, which provides that a nonpublic school teacher must be "competent". It is highly questionable, to say the least, as to whether a teacher who is a child sex abuser is "competent".

New York State Education Law section 549(1) provides that "the state has a primary responsibility to ensure the health, welfare and safety of children attending both public and nonpublic schools."

New York State Penal Law section 2601.10 is entitled, "Endangering the Welfare of a Child", and provides that it is a misdemeanor for a person legally charged with the custody of a child to fail to exercise reasonable diligence in preventing such child from becoming "abused". Statutes like these have been used in prosecutions of cases against the Catholic Church.

New York State Social Service Law section 413 makes it a misdemeanor for a school official not to report sex abuse to the New York central registry of childhood sex abuse.

In addition, New York courts have, on multiple occasions, declared the duty that a school owes to a child, sometimes referred to by the ancient Latin phrase, "in loco parentis", in place of the parent. When a parent transfers physical custody of his child to a school, the school stands in place of the parent, and assumes the same duty. Thus, just as parent would never hire a sex offender as a babysitter, so too should a school never employ a sex offender as teacher. See, e.g., Pratt v. Robinson, 39 NY2d 554 (1976).

The Torah has much to say about this situation, which time and space do not allow here, but suffice it to say that the Torah commands, Lo sa'amod al dam ra'echa, Do not stand upon the blood of your brother. This is a positive mitzvah that requires one Jew to save the life of another. In addition, the Torah tells us, V'shmartem nafshosachem me'od, You will guard your lives exceedingly. The Torah also tells us, Tsedek, tsedek tirdof, l'maan tichyeh. Justice justice shall you pursue, in order that you may live.

Certainly, if the individual accused of sex abuse at Torah Temima declines to resign, or if the yeshiva declines to terminate his employment, an evidentiary-type hearing, in my opinion, should be held. The alleged victims should testify, the accused abuser can also testify, and a decision should then be rendered by the professional panel of judges - unbiased rabbis and lawyers from our community.

Barring resignation or termination, the hearing may be the solution to our current
problem. This hearing can be the first step taken towards establishing our own internal disciplinary system and registry. Gam zu l'tovah.

This process and verdict can also be a refuah for the alleged victims who have suffered in silence for so long, at cost to their physical and mental health. They are entitled to some small measure of justice.

The establishment of our own disciplinary system and registry can also be a first step in teshuvah and recovery for the accused individual.

In the future, cases like these need not be addressed through anonymous mass mailings, blogs, and public letters from a lawyer such as myself. Our own genuine justice system, which will itself act as a deterrent, can properly handle such problems.

Together with our own hishtadlus, may the ribono shel olam endow all of us with the kochus and chochma that we will need to resolve our current situation.

Very truly yours,

Elliot B. Pasik
Attorney at Law
145 West Olive Street
Long Beach, New York 11561
efpasik@aol.com

"It is time for Yidi Kolko to pay the price for what he did to me and to others".

I Am David


I have spent the past few days reading all of the comments that have been posted to this blog and would like to comment.

It was not easy for me to finally open up and put in writing and post on this blog some of the things that Yidi Kolko did to me so many years ago at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas of Flatbush and at camp Agudah.

Yes, I've been carrying it for all of these years and no matter how hard I tried to forget about it, it always seems to be there. Always there. And with every case of child abuse or molestation that gets publicized, it's always there. Even today, even when I'm happily married with 4 wonderful children.

I recommend that each one of you look at your sons, or brothers and ask: can they possibly be a victim of sexual molestation by a rebbe, a teacher, a camp counselor, etc?

And if he/they were, would he be strong enough to tell you about it?

And then the question I ask is: Would you at all believe him?

For you would ask: how could it be that such an outstanding rebbe, teacher, counselor, etc., who everyone loves and raves about, how could he do something like this?

And your immediate response would automatically be: No, my son, for some reason, isn't telling the truth, he must be lying...

As I said before, I've lived with this for a very long time and it is time for Yidi Kolko to pay the price for what he did to me and to others.

What this price is I'll let others decide.

They say that time has a way of healing - from my own experience, it doesn't ever go away.

In order to survive and remain normal, one must be strong... and always and continuously believe in Hashem.


Another TT Alumnus writes.............

I also learned in TT many years ago when it was on Church Ave and called Torah Vadas. I remember Kolko pulling down kids pants in front of the whole class and smacking their tush among other things. Come on this is a mechanach, the man is a monster. If your son came home and told you the rebbi pulled down his pants in front of the whole class what would you do?! Thinking back when I was in Bais Hamedresh there was a bocher who used to start up with other boys by fondling them, now he is a rebbi in some yeshiva does anyone think that monster was cured? Everyone who went through the yeshiva system should think back wasn't there always some boys who couldn't keep their hands to themselves? Why is it so unbelivable that Kolko is a molester, did anyone ever stop those kids? OUJ I for one am saying tehlimm for your hatzloche, personally I don't care why you are doing this just "alay vahatzliach"

Posted by another angry alunnus to Un-Orthodox Jews at 2/16/2006 07:07:35 PM


Posted By "I Know UOJ"

Torah Temimah parents, listen very carefully to me.

I am on the inside, and I know what I'm talking about it. Yidi Kolko is a serious child molestor, many times over. He has multiple victims. He victimized them over lengthy periods of time. The yeshiva, and the rabbis, did nothing.

But one does not even have to be "on the inside" to understand this. If you have a brain, which you all do, you would read all of the posts on this blog, and simply understand that the allegations are all true. Factual details have been given. There are multiple reports. The victims are frum Jews not likely to make up a preposterous story.

I have read the professional literature. A child molestor should never work near children. This is nothing to argue about. Pedophilia is incurable. The urge is always there. Therapy is always required, and the pedophile should never be allowed to work near children. This is nothing to argue about, no debate, no discussion, that's all there is to say. Any person who tells you otherwise, be that person a rosh yeshiva, rabbi, menahel, or otherwise, is either a fool, or has another agenda.

Do not listen to them.

You must demand over and over and over again that Yidi Kolko be removed from Torah Temimah, now and forever. Do not quibble whether he gets paid or not. Just get him out, and get him out now.

UOJ is not joking around. He has already made media contacts and is meeting with the FBI tomorrow. He can, just maybe, stop the story now, if you get Kolko out of the school. Or, at a minimum, you will make the school and yourselves look a little better in the media if Kolko is taken out of the school, now, immediately, and forever.

He swears that if Kolko is not removed immediately, he will expose Margulies for massive financial fraud, harboring a molester for thirty years, and defrauding the IRS out of millions, all criminal offenses. The board of directors have liabilty as well. Ignorance is no excuse.

UOJ has megabucks, he is out to make an example of these two criminals, HE WILL!!
He swears that Lipa Margulies will be removed from the school by you, the FBI, and the state board of education and the child protective services.

And if Kolko is not taken out of the school, there are other avenues. There are all kinds of government agencies that have a legitimate concern that child molesters should not be working in a school, and don't think that it matters that Yeshiva Torah Temimah is a private school, because the government regulates private schools too.

I implore all parents in the strongest terms possible. ACT NOW! TAKE CHARGE OF THIS SITUATION! GET KOLKO OUT NOW!

I am telling you, as one frum Jew to another, as G-d is watching over every word I write on this blog, that every word I've said is emes. This is pikuach nefesh for our children's bodies and souls, and this is not a matter that can be ignored. Lo sa'amod al dam ra'echa, Do not stand upon the blood of your brothers, is a positive commandment, and we are all required to obey this mitzvah to the fullest degree. Just stop whatever you're doing, organize yourselves, and demand from the yeshiva board that Kolko be terminated, now and forever.

Hashem yerachim.

Dear parents of Yeshiva Torah Temimah students

I bring my readers a copy of a letter sent to Lipa Margulies by the group I’m working with to rid Yeshiva Torah Temimah of Yidi Kolko the child molester. If Margulies refuses the offer we move to the second step in our campaign to protect children from Yidi Kolko the molester.

Dear parents of Yeshiva Torah Temimah students, if Margulies does not remove Yidi Kolko the molester, Yeshiva Torah Temimah is finished. Either convince this evil old man to change his ways or enroll your children elsewhere. You will want your children to be very far away from Yeshiva Torah Temima when our second step hits (no, we are NOT threatening violence.) Your children do not deserve the stigma that will attach to them if Margulies doesn’t do the right thing very soon.

The Letter:



Rabbi Leopold Margulies
609 Ocean Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11218

Rabbi Margulies:

This is to follow up on our earlier letters and telephone conversations.

To knowingly harbor a child molester is a crime. Despite your complicity in Yidi Kolko’s heinous atrocities and your continued refusal to remove this chronic child molester from our children’s classroom, we believe the greater good of our community is served by this matter being resolved without need for further action.

Accordingly, we are making the following offer. Our group and you will each deposit $100,000.00 [We suggest you fund your $100,000.00 contribution from the $1,900,000.00 you took from Yeshiva & Mesifta Torah Temimah on December 23, 2005.] with a mutually agreed upon major law firm. The law firm will have sole authority to spend the $200,000.00 investigating the charges of child molestation against Yidi Kolko and the charges against you of sheltering and covering up the child molesting. You will cooperate fully in this investigation. In the event Kolko and you are exonerated, we will reimburse your $100,000.00 and issue a public retraction and apology. In the event Kolko and you are found guilty, the report will be released to the public. For your causing countless families' lives destroyed, you must compensate them by setting up a five million dollar fund to be administered by Torah Umesorah.

As a condition of this offer, Yidi Kolko must be placed on immediate leave of absence.

You may announce your acceptance of our offer by contacting Rabbi Joshua Fishman of Torah Umesorah on or before February 16, 2006, 12:00 PM.

Please take heed and consider this proposal carefully for your business will not survive our next move. The progression of this campaign remains entirely up to you. We do not want to escalate this unfortunate situation to the next level. We are proud of our heritage and suffer greatly when scandal hits our community. Nonetheless, we will not sit idly by and allow you to devastate our children.

To paraphrase, it is not our purpose to destroy you or Yeshiva Torah Temimah, but only when child molesters have been extirpated from our schools and camps will there be hope for a decent life for our children.

CC: Rabbi Joshua Fishman
Rabbi Shmuel Bloom

Why Is This Child Molester Being Kept At Rasha Gamur - Lipa Margulies's Personal Piggy Bank - Torah Temima ?

I urge everyone to read the comments posted on the original address "Unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com"-Friday, September 23, 2005 .

Why Is This Child Molester Being Kept At Rasha Gamur-Margulies's personal Piggy Bank - Tora Temima?

I want you to ask yourself one honest question; do you really think David is making this experience up?

Posted By David

"I too was molested by Rabbi Yidi Kolko, both while a student in 7th and 8th grades in Yeshiva Torah V'daas and during those same summers whilst a camper in Camp Agudah.

I used to get rides to school in the mornings with Yidi whether in his old blue car or in his brand new brown car. At that time he lived on 56th Street between 14th & 15th Avenue, whilst I lived on 57th Street, between 15th and 16th Avenues. He was newly married at that time and his first child, a daughter, was also just born then.

Once we got to the Yeshiva on Ocean Parkway, which then was just off of Caton Road, he would park the car (either down the block from the Yeshiva, on the Ocean Parkway service road, or around the corner, I think it was East 5th Street, and ask me to come over and either sit beside him or sit on his lap. Sometimes he would move over to the passenger seat and would then sit me on his lap.

That's when he went fishing. He would insert his hands down the front of my pants and would begin to "search around" to say the least. At the same time he would pull me closer to himself, or would push himself forward againt myself, sometimes even pushing me into the stearing wheel, to the point that it hurt.

Unfortunately I didn't react or complain. The winters were cold and these rides saved on not having to walk all the way to 13th Avenue to wait for the bus (especially on Sunday mornings), you were able to leave your house later since you could always make the ride, and you saved a couple of cents, which was a lot in those days.

During one of those Sunday mornings whilst we were driving on Caton Avenue, whilst I was sitting in the front passenger seat - I almost always sat in the front passenger seat - we were involved in a terrible traffic accident where a car went through a red light and slammed into Yidi's car. B"H we all got out without a scratch.

In Camp Aguda it was the same, whether if he took me into the trees, or into his cabin, or even would take me out for a drive. FYI, during the summer of 1970 I had my bar mitzva in the camp.

I of course told my parents and tried on several times
to explain to them what I was going through, but they didn't want to believe me and my "stories", etc. My father at that time was a very well known and respected person in the Boro Park & Midwood communities and within the Yeshiva world. So I just shut up and let the molestation and perversion continue.

I also think that Yidi Kolko is a danger to the students, past and present in Yeshiva Tora Temimah and I feel that it is about time that the wall of silence be torn down.

Did I suffer as a result, probably. But I have made a life for myself and today am very happily married with 4 wonderful children".

--
Posted by David to UN-ORTHODOX JEW at 9/23/2005 01:49:51 AM

UOJ Comments

Everyone in the community is complicit with this criminal Margulies!
Lipa Margulies is an example of how a BIG crook gets away with murder (yes, murder of the soul of G-d knows how many children.) Margulies is the number one low-life in the Orthodox community and all of you know it.
He began his school with a major fraud and massive theft. His God is the almighty dollar.

He continues to harbor a child molester.

Every board member of this school or person of influence should hide themselves in shame! There is no wonder why the community is plagued with tragedies. You bring it on yourselves. Generations of Jewish people suffer because you really don't give a damn about anything that you feel doesn't effect you directly. I hope your kids and grandkids suffer the same fate as the above David, at the hands of a vicious child molester. You are all no better than the KING SCUMBAG of the Jewish community!

The above David's story is easily verifiable:

1-What was the name of Torah Temima around 1970?
2-Did Kolko have an "old blue car and a "new brown car" at that time?
3-Did Kolko live on 56th st, between 14th & 15th av. at that time?
4-Did he give any kids rides to school at that time?
5-Check the DMV records; was Kolko in a car accident on a Sunday and was the accident on Caton Av?
6-Did Kolko recently marry and have a baby girl around that time?

Check out these claims of David for yourself?

I am NOT going away until this DANGER is never in a position to hurt children again!

UOJ

SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS -THIS IS THE LAW FIRM THAT WAS INTERVIEWED ON FOX NEWS LAST NIGHT

Dear Brothers,

Mr. Jeffrey Herman was interviewed on Fox News last night.
I did NOT speak with him, why don't you call him and form your own opinion about your ability to prevail against Kolko/Margulies.
Go directly to an attorney who can help you.

Herman & Mermelstein, P.A.
18205 Biscayne Boulevard
Suite 2218
Miami, Florida 33160

Call Toll Free!!
1-800-686-9921

Tel / 305-931-2200
Fax / 305-931-0877

Email lawyers@hermanlaw.com
Web
www.hermanlaw.com

Herman & Mermelstein – Verdicts & Settlements
VICTIMS OF CLERGY ABUSE RECEIVE OVER $5,000,000. Attorney Jeff Herman obtained settlement for plaintiffs who were sexually abused as children by priests of the Archdiocese of Miami. Although the abuse took place decades ago, Mr. Herman was able to successfully avoid the statute of limitations and bring justice to his clients.

THREE VICTIMS RECEIVE $1,500,000 FROM DIOCESE OF ORLANDO AND DIOCESE OF ST. AUGUSTINE IN SEXUAL ABUSE CASE. The three victims were abused by priests in Orlando, Florida during the 1960s. Attorney Jeff Herman settled the case for $1.5 million before filing suit. The case was settled in 2005.

ATTORNEY JEFF HERMAN WON A $530,000 VERDICT FOR A MENTALLY DISABLED MAN WHO WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AT VICTORY VILLAS/VICTORY LIVING PROGRAM. The plaintiff was sexually assaulted by his roommates in the Victory Living Program. Attorney Jeff Herman argued that Victory Villas was liable because they had knowledge of the dangerous propensities of the roommate who assaulted the plaintiff. After a two-week trial, the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.

HANDICAPPED CHILDREN SEXUALLY ABUSED AT SCHOOL RECEIVE CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT. The children attended a school that provides education services to special needs children. The school hired a pedophile to work at the school. Attorney Jeff Herman represented multiple children. The cases were settled for a confidential amount.

BOY SEXUALLY ABUSED BY NURSING HOME CHAPLAIN RECEIVES $500,000. The boy was visiting his grandmother at the Villa Maria Nursing Center, which is operated by Catholic Health Services. On a visit, the chaplain of the nursing home took the boy into his room and sexually assaulted him. After filing suit, the case was settled.

THREE SISTERS SEXUALLY ABUSED BY CARPENTER AT CHURCH RECEIVE $540,000 IN DAMAGES. The family of the three girls volunteered to clean the church on the weekends when the girls were 7, 8, and 9 years old. A carpenter volunteering at the church, who was previously arrested for sexual assault, sexually abused the girls while they were working at the church. The little girls did not disclose the abuse at the church until they became adults. Attorney Jeff Herman filed suit and alleged that the pastor at the church knew or should have known that the girls were being abused, in as much as he witnessed the carpenter taking one of the girls into the church bathroom. After filing suit, the case was settled.


Jeff Herman and his legal team have reached many successful verdicts and settlements. This page lists some of our firm's greatest accomplishments.

18205 Biscayne Boulevard | Suite 2218 | Miami, Florida 33160

Posted By David

I too was molested by Rabbi Yidi Kolko, both while a student in 7th and 8th grades in Yeshiva Torah V'daas and during those same summers whilst a camper in Camp Agudah.

I used to get rides to school in the mornings with Yidi whether in his old blue car or in his brand new brown car. At that time he lived on 56th Street between 14th & 15th Avenue, whilst I lived on 57th Street, between 15th and 16th Avenues. He was newly married at that time and his first child, a daughter, was also just born then.

Once we got to the Yeshiva on Ocean Parkway, which then was just off of Caton Road, he would park the car (either down the block from the Yeshiva, on the Ocean Parkway service road, or around the corner, I think it was East 5th Street, and ask me to come over and either sit beside him or sit on his lap. Sometimes he would move over to the passenger seat and would then sit me on his lap.

That's when he went fishing. He would insert his hands down the front of my pants and would begin to "search around" to say the least. At the same time he would pull me closer to himself, or would push himself forward againt myself, sometimes even pushing me into the stearing wheel, to the point that it hurt.

Unfortunately I didn't react or complain. The winters were cold and these rides saved on not having to walk all the way to 13th Avenue to wait for the bus (especially on Sunday mornings), you were able to leave your house later since you could always make the ride, and you saved a couple of cents, which was a lot in those days.

During one of those Sunday mornings whilst we were driving on Caton Avenue, whilst I was sitting in the front passenger seat - I almost always sat in the front passenger seat - we were involved in a terrible traffic accident where a car went through a red light and slammed into Yidi's car. B"H we all got out without a scratch.

In Camp Aguda it was the same, whether if he took me into the trees, or into his cabin, or even would take me out for a drive. FYI, during the summer of 1970 I had my bar mitzva in the camp.

I of course told my parents and tried on several times
to explain to them what I was going through, but they didn't want to believe me and my "stories", etc. My father at that time was a very well known and respected person in the Boro Park & Midwood communities and within the Yeshiva world. So I just shut up and let the molestation and perversion continue.

I also think that Yidi Kolko is a danger to the students, past and present in Yeshiva Tora Temimah and I feel that it is about time that the wall of silence be torn down.

Did I suffer as a result, probably. But I have made a life for myself and today am very happily married with 4 wonderful children.

--
Posted by David to UN-ORTHODOX JEW at 9/23/2005 01:49:51 AM

A Heartfelt Letter To The Abuse Victims Of Kolko/Margulies/Tora Temima

Dearest Brothers,

I am not going to assume that I understand the life-long pain you are suffering being victims of sexual abuse. If the hurt you are presently feeling is because I have brought this issue to the front and center of the Orthodox world, kindly understand that I did it with the sole purpose of creating a new climate in our world; that of accountability.

The religious organizations as well as the yeshivas have failed miserably in protecting our youth from the merciless hands of abusers, be it sexual abuse or emotional. In matter of fact the Agudah for example, has ACTIVELY pursued a policy of protecting the molesters and their cohorts, by blocking every single piece of legislation that would have permitted the authorities to protect our children from the predators.They say "let the principals handle it," when the principals in many cases are involved in covering up the scandals to protect the "reputations" of their highly profitable fiefdoms.

There is nothing in it for me. I will remain anonymous; no fame, no glory, no plaques, no maftir, no money other than the money I intend to spend to publicize the issues that should be addressed by the organizations but are not. The mailing on Thursday is working it's way to your mailboxes; the post office and the mailing service are nice and friendly, but they insist on getting paid for their services. Bummer.

I would understand your hesitancy to come forward in a civil lawsuit against the above named people and entities; this is what I can offer to you as miniscule compensation for the suffering you have experienced.

I am in contact with the law firm who has collected in excess of two hundred million dollars from the various Catholic churches and archdioceses that were found guilty of harboring molesters.This is what they uncovered so far.

1- The combined assets of Kolko, Margulies, Tora Temima and it's entities have a net worth in excess of fifty million dollars.

2- "Leopold" Margulies started moving millions of dollars of assets around at the end of last year.

3- The law firm is VERY CERTAIN that if there are twenty bona fide witnesses,they can obtain a judgment against the above named entities, and wrestle away ALL the assets of the above named people and entities.

4- The juries have awarded damages, depending on the circumstances, from $500,000-$5,000,000, read five million dollars per victim.

5- In order for this firm to take this case the following has to happen:

a- I must give them a $100,000 retainer, which will be reimbursed to me after they collect on the judgment. This reimbursement would come from the "law firm's" proceeds, not from the victims'.

b- I am willing to do that out of my personal funds. I DO NOT want money from anyone!

c- The law firm's share would be one third of whatever they collect, the rest is going to be distributed in it's entirety to the victims.

d- They will NOT take the case until they have interviewed at the very least TWENTY victims, and are convinced of the credibility of the individuals.

e- I'm sure you are aware that everything you divulge to the attorneys would be protected under the attorney-client privilege.

The following must now happen in order for me to proceed. I must be contacted by e-mail by at the very least twenty five people that are willing to testify in court. ALL REPLIES WILL BE HELD IN THE STRICTEST CONFIDENCE.

The way I see it, each victim potentially would be able to collect anywhere from one to two million dollars, realistically. That is not to say that the judgment could not be greater than fifty million dollars; anything above fifty million, in my opinion, would not be collectible.

The alternative to actually taking money; you may wind up owning Yeshiva Tora Temima and it's entities, Margulies's house and Kolko's house, and you would now be in control of the yeshiva, to run it as you deem fit.

Please let me know. I am prepared to move quickly!

Hatzlacha v'kol tuv.

UOJ


This is the letter. On yellow paper with a postmark dated February 2, 2006. UOJ, a man of his word!

CHILD MOLESTER ALERT

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS

There is a chronic child molester in our midst. He is not in hiding nor is he being kept away from our children. Shockingly, he is a Rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima located at 507 & 555 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York.

Rabbi Lipa Margulies knows of this Rebbe’s history of sexually molesting children. Rabbi Lipa Margulies refuses to remove this predator from his yeshiva. Specifically, Rabbi Lipa Margulies has been informed; repeatedly and from sources independent of each other; that Rabbi Yidi Kolko has sexually molested countless children during his long career around children.

Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp Agudah. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Yeshiva Karlin Stolin. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp MaNaVu. Rabbi Yidi Kolko spends his life around our children. It bears repeating that Rabbi Yidi Kolko is currently a Rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima.

We have a problem. This is not to say that our wonderful community has more child molesters than other communities. We may even have substantially fewer. The problem is in our propensity to ignore the covering up of these horrendous incidents. Child molesters must be exposed and removed from our midst. Our children must not be subjected to molesters while in school. Rabbi Lipa Margulies must stop his unconscionable employment of this molester and his covering up of this threat. Rabbi Yidi Kolko must resign his position immediately. We can not rest until our children are safe from this scourge.

This mailing should not have been necessary. Both Rabbi Yidi Kolko and Rabbi Lipa Margulies were given advance copies of this letter and advised if Rabbi Yidi Kolko left Yeshiva Torah Temima immediately, this mailing would be stopped. Rabbi Yidi Kolko responded: “the matter has been taken care of” coupled with an offer to meet with his victims in person, one at a time. Rabbi Lipa Margulies responded: “I don’t think he is still a threat and I am responsible for the children” followed by “Anyone who doesn’t like it, doesn’t have to send their children to my yeshiva.” In short, neither of these Mechanchim deny the facts; they simply refuse to do the right thing.

We are writing to ask you to speak out and help bring an end to this nightmare. Please call Rabbi Yidi Kolko at 1-718-252-6642 and ask him to resign his position immediately. Please call Rabbi Lipa Margulies at 1-718-438-1900 and ask him to dismiss Rabbi Yidi Kolko immediately. Child molesters must be kept away from our children. Our children deserve no less.

Publish this comment.

Reject this comment.

Moderate comments for this blog.

Posted by Anonymous to Un-Orthodox Jews at 2/06/2006 07:21:57 PM

The First Of The TEN Makos Is Going To Strike Your Mailbox In A Few Days

Makah # 2-If this letter doesn't get Kolko away from our children, we are going to cooperate with the secular print media.

Makah # 3-If that doesn't get Kolko away from our children, we will cooperate with the local TV stations.

Makah # 4-If that doesn't get Kolko away from our children we will cooperate with national TV.

Makah # 5-If that doesn't get Kolko away from our children we are going to the Brooklyn DA.

Makah # 6- the NYS Attorney General.

Makah # 7-the Feds.

Makah # 8, 9, 10............TBD!

WARNING-ATTENTION ALL FRUM JEWS!

Mr. Margulies:

As I see it you have 24 hours to make a decision which may determine the fate of your life's work.

Door number 1: fire the chronic child molester Kolko and you get to die with your business somewhat intact.

Door number 2: assume you can threaten and buy your way out of this looming disaster and you leave this world in absolute and utter disgrace.

I'm here to inform you that if Kolko is not out of Torah Temima today, you will be facing your Waterloo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki all rolled into one nice neat package. No more dinners, no more $50,000.00 club members and no more board members to take advantage of.

Don't be stupid, you have too much to lose. We have allowed you to build up a big business in our community.We should have ousted you years ago; you are HUMAN TINAF!

All we ask is that you not subject our children to a molester. Do the right thing. Get rid of this child molester today.

You never had to deal with a force as powerful as this; WE WILL CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS UNTIL OUR GOAL IS MET, NO BUYING YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS SCANDAL!

The letter below is being mailed TONIGHT to thousands of Orthodox Jewish households in Boro Park, Kensington and Flatbush. I am asking my readers to please copy the letter from this post and e-mail it to as many people as possible. Together, we can put a stop to this depravity.

WARNING-ATTENTION ALL OF JUDAISM

There is a chronic child molester in our midst. He is not in hiding nor is he being kept away from our children. Shockingly, he is a rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima located at 507 & 555 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York.

Rabbi Lipa Margulies knows of this rebbe’s history of sexually molesting children. Rabbi Lipa Margulies refuses to remove this predator from his yeshiva. Specifically, Rabbi Lipa Margulies has been informed, repeatedly and from sources independent of each other, that Rabbi Yidi Kolko has sexually molested countless children during his long career around children.

Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp Agudah. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Yeshiva Karlin Stolin. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp MaNaVu. Rabbi Yidi Kolko spends his life around our children. It bears repeating that Rabbi Yidi Kolko is currently a rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima.

We have a problem. This is not to say that our wonderful community has more child molesters than other communities. We may even have substantially fewer. The problem is in our propensity to ignore the covering up of these horrendous incidents. Child molesters must be exposed and removed from our midst. Our children must not be subjected to molesters while in school. Rabbi Lipa Margulies must stop his unconscionable employment of this molester and his covering up of this threat. Rabbi Yidi Kolko must resign his position immediately. We can not rest until our children are safe from this scourge.

This mailing should not have been necessary. Both Rabbi Yidi Kolko and Rabbi Lipa Margulies were given advance copies of this letter and advised if Rabbi Yidi Kolko left Yeshiva Torah Temima immediately, this mailing would be stopped. Rabbi Yidi Kolko responded: “the matter has been taken care of” coupled with an offer to meet with his victims in person, one at a time. Rabbi Lipa Margulies responded: “I don’t think he is still a threat and I am responsible for the children” followed by “Anyone who doesn’t like it, doesn’t have to send their children to my yeshiva.” In short, neither of these mechanchim deny the facts, they simply refuse to do the right thing.

We are writing to ask you to speak out and help bring an end to this nightmare. Please call Rabbi Yidi Kolko at 1-718-252-6642 and ask him to resign his position immediately. Please call Rabbi Lipa Margulies at 1-718-438-1900 and ask him to dismiss Rabbi Yidi Kolko immediately. Child molesters must be kept away from our children. Our children deserve no less.

Mr. Margulies, read this news flash very seriously.

Attorney: Spokane Church Offers Settlement
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS-Associated Press/AP Online02/01/2006 5:43 PM


SPOKANE, Wash. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which filed for bankruptcy after being barraged with sex-abuse lawsuits, has offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 people who say they were molested by priests.

Bishop William Skylstad publicly apologized Wednesday to the victims "for the terrible wrongs inflicted on you in the past." He urged Catholics to accept the proposed settlement, which will require money from individual parishes.

"To those of you who say this settlement will be a burden, I would say that this scandal is a burden we can no longer afford not to resolve," said Skylstad, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Plaintiffs' lawyer James Stang said a committee representing alleged victims voted Tuesday night to recommend that the offer be accepted.

Under the proposed settlement, the diocese agreed not to describe the plaintiffs as "alleged victims" anymore and to give them the opportunity to address parishes and write about their experiences in the diocesan newspaper. Skylstad also would go to each parish where abuse occurred to identify the offending clergymen, Stang said.

Skylstad also agreed to support the abolition of statutes of limitations on sex crimes, write letters to abused individuals and their families and add two members of a victims group to a board that reviews clergy sex abuse complaints, Stang said.

Some of those who would benefit financially from the offer said the diocese's other concessions were more important.

"Civil litigation was the only way to hold them accountable," abuse victim Mike Corrigan said at a news conference Wednesday. "Most of us would rather they went to jail than get money out of them."

Stang said the offer must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and by the victims individually within 120 days.

The settlement would cover all those who have already sued the diocese. There is no provision for anyone who might bring a claim in the future.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, citing claims by abuse victims totaling about $77 million against assets of about $11 million.

Two other U.S. dioceses - Tucson, Ariz., and Portland, Ore. - have filed for bankruptcy because of sex abuse claims. A $22.2 million settlement was reached last summer in Tucson, while a federal judge in Portland ruled last month that trials involving as many as 100 plaintiffs could move forward.

Lipa Margulies- This Letter Is Going To Be Mailed To The Entire Frum Community In Ten Days!

I added a new thread to this post at the end of the letter being sent out about the Margulies/Kolko affair; on the lifetime effect molestation has on children!

The following were sent an advance copy of the Kolko/Margulies mailing going out to our community this week.

Yated Ne’eman
Jewish Press
Jewish Observer
Torah Umesorah
Ohel

Will they react? Will they move to purge our community of this rodeph? Or, will they wait for the secular media and the government to act before they do anything?



WARNING !!!!!! ATTENTION ALL PARENTS

There is a chronic child molester in our midst. No, he is not
in hiding nor is he being kept away from our children.
Shockingly, he is a Rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima.
Rabbi Lipa Margolies knows of this Rebbe’s history of
sexually molesting children.
Rabbi Lipa Margolies refuses to remove this predator from his yeshiva.
Specifically, Rabbi Lipa Margolies has been repeatedly informed, from sources
independent of each other, that Rabbi Yidi Kolko has sexually molested
countless children during his long career around children.

Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp Agudah. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Yeshiva Karlin Stolin. Rabbi Yidi Kolko sexually molested children in Camp MaNaVu. Rabbi Yidi Kolko spends his life around our children. It bears repeating that Rabbi Yidi Kolko is a Rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temima.

We have a problem. This is not to say that our wonderful community has a
greater percentage of child molesters than other communities. We may even
have substantially less. Our problem is in our unwillingness to deal with this
horrendous problem. Child molesters must be removed from our midst. Our
children must not be subjected to them. Rabbi Lipa Margolies must stop his
unconscionable covering up of this problem and Rabbi Yidi Kolko must resign his position immediately.

We will not rest until our children are safe from this
scourge.The next move is going to be the mass media. You think your a Knocker?, not to the newspapers and the TV media.

We are writing to ask that you speak out and help bring an end to this problem.
Child molesters must be kept away from our children.
Our children deserve no less.

Concerned people please express your outrage, call Lipa Margulies at 718-438-1900 and Yudi Kolko at 718-252-6642

Lipa Margulies- You have ten days to remove Kolko from the school, or this letter goes out to the entire Frum Community! You Are Warned!!!

A study by Professor Rachel Lev-Wiesel

All the horrible abuses inflicted on the Jews in the Holocaust, did not do as much permanent damage as them being sexually molested.There can be no t'shuva for this great crime against children. The victims are tormented for the rest of their lives.

UOJ

According to new study, sexual abuse traumas have greater effect on survivors than any other experienced during Holocaust years. 'Abuse still causes incessant thoughts, nightmares,' researcher says.

A new study conducted at the Haifa University reveals that Holocaust survivors who suffered sexual abuse during World War II were much more traumatized by molestation than by any other of the horrifying experiences they went through during that period.

The study, the first ever to focus on the subject, is set to be presented next Sunday in the framework of a conference to mark the international Holocaust Memorial Day at the university.

Prof. Rachel Lev-Wiesel, who conducted the research, said that although the survivors experienced other traumatic events during the holocaust, including the loss of parents, physical abuse and hunger, the memory of sexual abuse remained etched in their minds more than anything else.
"This abuse still causes incessant thoughts on the subject and nightmares," Lev-Wiesel said.

'Survivors told stories with clarity, precision'

The study consists of interviews with 22 men and women in Israel and the United States, who were willing to share with the researcher stories about the abuse they underwent during the war.

Lev-Wiesel said that some people who offered to take part in the study were rejected, because she believed they would not be able to cope with the burden of memories and the self-exposure involved with the interview.

The average age of the interviewees stood at 68 years, and Lev-Wiesel said all have told their story with clarity and precision, in contradiction to how people usually speak of a traumatic event.

This is proof, Lev-Wiesel said, that the survivors retell the story in their heads over and over again, reliving the past daily.

All the survivors interviewed for the study have spent the war years on the run from the Nazis, some at hiding in the houses of Christians, others moving from place to place with the partisans, an easy prey for menacing adults along the way.

According to Prof. Lev-Wiesel, this fact does not eliminate the possibility similar incidents took place at ghettos as well.

Abuser usually close to victim

In some of the cases revealed in the study, the abuse was carried out by relatives or other Jews, which alleviated the trauma and embarrassment among survivors.

In one of the cases the abuser was a man who helped smuggle children from one place to another, in another it was a father who sexually abused his daughter, and in several other incidents – mothers who molested their sons.

Prof. Lev-Wiesel stressed that situations of stress and war do not create pedophiles, but that they enable such people to operate more freely.

Kaduri Passes And Moshiach Is Still In Hiding

Jan. 28, 2006 21:08 Updated Jan. 28, 2006 22:38
Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, leading kabbalist, dies
By JPOST.COM STAFF


Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, one of the best-known rabbis in Israel, and the leading Sephardic kabbalist of his time, died Saturday night at Jerusalem's Bikur Holim Hospital.

Rabbi Kadouri had been hospitalized in Jerusalem's Bikur Holim Hospital for the past two weeks, initially due to a severe lung infection. The rabbi was initially sedated and respirated, but his condition had stabilized until a fungus was discovered in his bloodstream last week.

Zaka reported his funeral will begin Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Jerusalem's Bokharim neighborhood, with the procession beginning at the Rehov David yeshiva which the rabbi led.

When Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri was 16 years old Rabbi Yosef Haim, known as the Ben Ish Chaim, the most important Sephardi rabbi of the 19th century, blessed Kadouri with a long life. Apparently the blessing worked.

Nobody knows precisely how old Kadouri was as the time of his death. Estimates range between 106 and 113.

Kadouri arrived in Israel from Bagdad, Iraq at the age of 17 and studied under several legendary kabbalists, including Rabbi Yehuda Pedaya, author of Beit Lechem Yehuda and Rabbi Efraim Cohen, head of a group of kabbalists who studied at Porat Yosef Yeshiva. Other rabbis include Rabbi Ezra Atia, head of Porat Yosef, Rabbi Mansour Ben-Shimon, and Rabbi Salman Eliyahu, father of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.

Kadouri later studied at Rabbi Yehuda Hadaya's Yeshivat Beit El in Jerusalem's Makor Baruch neighborhood. Rabbi Shmuel Darzi, one of Kadouri's
last students/study partners passed away in January. Darzi was in his eighties.

Kadouri s close circle of friends and family say he was one of the few known living kabbalists who use 'practical kabbalah', a type of Jewish magic aimed at affecting a change in the world.

They say Kadouri learned from the great kabbalists of previous generations the practice of writing amulets which heal, enhance fertility, and bring
success.

Also, according to his son David, Kadouri was involved in the removal of at least 20 Dybbuks, lost souls that stray into the hapless bodies of living people to torment them.

However, according to sources close to the ancient mystic, even Kadouri never dabbled in the most dangerous types of Kabbalah that included forcing oaths on demons and evil spirits.

Kabbalists believe that it is possible, in
theory, to use holy names to trap demons and harness their powers. But the father of modern Kabbalah, the type learned in all the Kabbalah Yeshivot of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria Askneazi [the Ari], forbid the use of practical Kabbalah that involves forcing oaths on demons and evil spirits.

More rational schools of Judaism are skeptical about Kadouri's powers. For instance, haredi Lithuanian yeshiva heads and halachic authorities were conspicuously absent from the list of hospital visitors and rabbis who called to pray for Kadouri.

In contrast, in certain Sephardi circles Kadouri is considered a miracle worker. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of testimonials by Kadouri's faithful
back up this claim to supernatural power. But even in the Sephardi yeshiva world rabbis such as Ovadia Yosef belittled Kadouri s ability to work
miracles.

Nevertheless, few doubted Kadouri's righteousness. For most of his life Kadouri was unknown to the general public. He led a modest life of study and
prayer. He worked as a bookbinder.

Kadouri s became known as a supernatural mystic began during and after the Yom Kippur War. Families of soldiers missing in action came to Kadouri to ask him to use his powers to determine whether their loved ones were dead or alive.


Kadouri s popularity reached an all-time high in the 1996 elections when the centenarian kabbalist s amulets helped Shas achieve an amazing electoral success.


At the time Shas was at an electoral low point. It's long stint with Labor, which led to the Oslo Accords, had repelled Shas's predominantly rightwing constituency. The haredi Ashkenazi rabbinic establishment had blackballed the Sephardi party for bucking Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach, the undisputed spiritual leader of Lithuanian haredi Judaism. Polls were forecasting that Shas would drop from six to four mandates.

The idea to use Kadouri s spiritual prowess to help Shas win the elections belonged to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. Deri told the haredi weekly Bekehila that God showed him the light when he joined the annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage to the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav at Uman, Ukraine.

Shas managed to distribute 100,000 amulets before Chairman of the elections committee Theodore Or prohibited their use. Soon after Ofir Pines-Paz drafted a bill ratified by the Knesset that anchored Or's prohibition in legislation. But the amulets did the trick: Shas mustered 10 mandates.

In the 2003 elections Kadouri's grandson Yossi, who had demanded, and been refused, a realistic spot on the Shas list, attempted to use his grandfather to rekindle the electoral success of 1996 with his own political party called Ahavat Yisrael. But the party failed to gain the minimum votes needed to enter the Knesset.

Kadouri's son David claims his father passed on to him the secrets of amulet-writing. However, others claim that Kadouri's metaphysical powers cannot be inherited.

"He is the last of a lost generation," said one source close to the Kadouri family.

UOJ Comments

I hope he is the last of his generation. People love being made fools of and there's more than enough people willing to oblige.
Kaduri's divulging his dream of meeting the Moshiach is scandalous. Anyone can make up stuff and get it right part of the time. Enough already with these phony kabbalists and Moshiach greeters.

I found a whole bunch of people looking for Moshiach as well! Why can't we all JUST GET ALONG and go looking for this guy together?

'Hot line' set up to usher in Shiite messiah
By Scott Peterson
The Christian Science Monitor
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.08.2006
advertisementQOM, Iran — Have a quick question about when the Mahdi is coming to save mankind, according to Shiite Muslim adherents? Need to know the signs?
Just call the new messiah "hot line." Or log on to Bright Future News Agency to get the latest religious readout — all part of the effort by freshly rejuvenated true believers in Iran to spread their message of the imminent return of the Mahdi, the 12th imam who is expected to return to impose justice and spread peace.
"People are anxious to know when and how will he rise; what they must do to receive this worldwide salvation," says Ali Lari, a cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran's religious center of Qom.
"The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more specific," he adds. "There is a saying: 'When the students are ready, the teacher will come.' "
Paving the way is a renewed commitment to "Mahdaviat" beliefs by the ultraconservative government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lives so modestly that declared assets include only a 30-year-old car, an even older house and an empty bank account.
These ideologues see the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and efforts to rekindle its revolutionary ideals as critical to paving the way for the Mahdi's return.
That return — which they believe will happen soon — will prompt a global battle between good and evil (not unlike biblical "Armageddon" interpretations), and herald an era of justice, peace and the ultimate triumph of Shiite Islam.
The Bright Future Institute is preparing the ground, a leaflet explains, by developing the "true culture" of waiting for the Mahdi, "reject(ing) wrong ideas and preparing scientific answers to respond (to) superstitions," while working to "accomplish an ideal society which Imam Mahdi wants."
While he waits, Morteza Rabaninejad sits at a computer with a telephone and headset, answering five calls and 10 letters a day.
Started in 2004, the institute is the eighth of its kind in Iran to study and even speed the Mahdi's return. But it is the largest and most influential, with 160 staff, a growing reach in local schools, children's and teen magazines, and unlimited ambition to spread the word.
The blend of modern technology and ancient prophecy echoes efforts of U.S. evangelicals who use 45 categories — from liberalism to natural disasters — to predict the "end time," when holy people will experience rapture and go to heaven. For them, the Rapture Index is at 151; anything higher than 145 means "fasten your seat belts," because of what they deem a high level of prophetic activity.
Critics in Iran and outside dismiss end-of-timers as unscientific, traditional followers of myths. To counter those critics, the institute's news agency began churning out reports in Arabic three months ago.
"There is a gap between us and the popular media," says editor-in-chief Sayed Ali Pourtabatabaie. "We started the idea of a messiah news agency of the Mahdi (because) we thought we needed a news agency to publish his news."

This is really important for anyone who ever committed sexual sins


Kabbalists hold prayers to rectify sexual sins
By MATTHEW WAGNER



Kabbalists and their followers in dozens of Kabbalah yeshivot across the country this week began a six-week regimen of special prayers and fasting, known as Tikkun Shovavim or Tikkun Habrit, to rectify the spiritual damage caused by sex-related transgressions and, more specifically, nocturnal emissions.

"These six weeks are particularly propitious for the expiation of these sins and for raising up sparks of holiness trapped as a result of these transgressions," said Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri of Yeshivat Shalom in Jerusalem.
Batzri explained that the six weeks of prayers and fasting coincide with the six weekly public Torah readings in synagogues of the first half of Exodus. These readings tell the story of the Jewish nation's bondage in Egypt and conclude with the revelation on Sinai and the giving of the Torah. Shovavim is an acronym for the names of these six weekly portions.

"Just as the children of Israel went down into Egypt, a place of impurity and defilement, to raise up holy sparks, so too can we rectify what we have damaged in the spiritual world and raise up holy sparks," Batzri said.
Every day during these six weeks select kabbalists, such as Rabbi David Batzri and Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, fast and pray. However, mass prayers are normally said on Mondays and Thursdays. These prayers, which include special kabbalistic intentions or "kavanot," last for several hours.
Batzri said that evil demons from "the other side" use nocturnal emissions to create more demons.

"Most of our troubles are caused by these demons," said Batzri. "They hurt us, they hurt our children, they cause poverty." Batzri said that the special prayer, which includes the reading of portions of the Zohar, fasting and repentance can destroy these demons.

At Yeshivat Nahar Shalom, headed by Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, in addition to the prayers said for rectifying the damage from nocturnal emissions, prayers are also recited for other sexual transgressions such as having relations with a married women, homosexual intercourse, and having relations with a gentile woman.

"Even if someone never did one of these sins, he might have done it in a past life," said Dror, one of Shmueli's aides, expressing the kabbalistic belief in reincarnation.

Sephardi Jews are more likely to take part in Tikkun Shovavim prayers, although there are a few Ashkenazi yeshivot for the learning of Kabbalah, including Sha'ar Hashamayim and Anshei Ma'amad, both in Jerusalem. Many hassidic sects also take part in the special prayers.

Orthodox Senator Joe Lieberman Calls For Special Session Of Congress To Replace George Washington As The Father Of Our Country With The Tendler Boys

Special To UOJ

Senator Joseph Lieberman was urged by Rabbi Milton Balkany to replace George Washington as the "father of our country", with the Tendler brothers.
At an urgent meeting last week at the home of Uncle Milty, Pesach Lerner from the Young Israel suggested that the Tendler brothers "slept here & slept there", covering both coasts, whereas the first president only spent his time on the East Coast.

The Orthodox senator understood the importance of such a change. He contacted Newt Gingrich and Dick Morris to assist him in getting this legislation through the Senate. Assisting Gingrich and Morris in the "down & dirty," is Ms. Paula Jones from Arkansas.

George Tsuris has set up a new organization called "MoveonJewishwomen.mit/organ", and Michael Moore offered to produce a film called "105 degrees fahrenheit in the rabbinate".

UOJ is pleased to see the positive impact Orthodox rabbis are playing in the United States government.

Forget about silly legislation like tuition tax credits or vouchers; or really stupid legislation like registering sex offenders so the yeshivas would not hire them.
We have really important stuff to do with our political clout.

Mordecai Tendler's Brother Aron Tendler Forced To Resign His Position As Rabbi Or The Shul Was Going To Fire Him

Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 22:52:16 EST
From: vickipolin@aol.com
Subject: Case of Rabbi Aron Tendler (Los Angeles, CA)

Case of Rabbi Aron Tendler (Los Angeles, CA)

Many of you may or may not know that over the last several years there
have been serious allegations of professional sexual misconduct
(with minors) made that Rabbi Aron Tendler of North Hollywood, CA.
Earlier tonight I was informed that Rabbi Aron Tendler was offered the opportunity to resign from his position as rabbi at Shaarey Zedek Congregation, instead of being fired. He chose to resign.
If you or anyone you know has been abused by Rabbi Aron Tendler, and
need resources please do not hesitate to contact The Awareness Center, Inc.
or your local rape crisis center.

The Awareness Center, Inc.
443-857-5560

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Aron Tendler, Brother of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler

He served as teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal at the (girls)
Yeshiva University of Los Angeles High School.
Rabbi Aron Tendler was replaced as principal of the girls YULA circa
1990 after reports that he molested teenage girls. The principal of secular
studies at YULA at the time, Dr. Bruce Powell, was adament that Aron had to go.
Instead of calling him "Rav Aron," his students was at YULA, behind
his back, called him "Rub Aron."

Rabbi Aron Tendler has told people, including women he was intimate
with, that he was molested as a boy.

"We were at an all-girls school," says a former student. "Our hormones
were going nuts. And Aron Tendler was there. He was flirty. He had two or
three buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, walking up and down the hallway. He
provoked it. Kids bored in school were flirting with him. I can't say he touched
people unwillingly. I think they did it and then afterwards asked, ohmigod,
what happened?"He wasn't someone who was going to force himself him on you. Years
laterthe girls woke up later and said, this was wrong.
"Before he'd have an affair, he'd discuss the halacha [Jewish law]
aboutwasting sperm.

"Whenever it gets down to it, Aron gets afraid and removes himself. I
heard he removed himself from the RCC. I'm surprised he isn't resigning from
Sharei Tzedek. He has to be crazy to want this all to go public.
"He was very careful in the girls that he picked. He always picked
girls who came from troubled homes, so that if we went public, he could say that
we're crazy.

"I don't judge anyone, but when you stand on a podium and portray
yourself as better than everyone else, and you say that we're crazy, that's the
issue I have. He's living a double life. He's been cheating on his wife for 20
years."When you're in the Jewish world and you look at Aron Tendler, you
might think he's sexy, but when you're in the outside secular world, and you
look at him again, it's like night and day.

"Aron told one of the girls that he had had an affair while his wife
Esther was pregnant and she miscarried, and he always felt it was punishment
for cheating on her.

"He told me stories about a woman in Beverly Hills and when her
husband was away, he would go over to her house and they would just lie in bed
naked together. He was all into the halacha against spilling your seed.
"He shouldn't be running a shul. If two adults want to have an affair,
then have an affair. It's morally incorrect but not worth tattling about.

"[For several years after highschool], I couldn't be at an event where
he didn't approach me. There could be 500 people in the room. He would
make it straight to me and ask me if I wanted to go outside and talk. I
thought, aren't people wondering what we're talking about?
I realized he was telling people I had problems and I needed to talk to him. But really, he was flirting with me. "When he'd walk away, he'd be standing with some single guy and they'd be looking back at me and laughing. I remember saying to him once, 'Were you talking against me?' I was so naive. I thought, he's not going to talk lashon hara [evil speech]. He's a rabbi. I must be imagining it.

"Then [fellow student and friend] would tell me things he would tell
her about me, and he would tell me things about her, so finally I realized
he was talking against me. When I'd bring this up to him, he'd say, 'You know
I love you.'

"SSS was much more damaged by him than me. She confronted him
recently. He said to her, 'I'd talk to you about it but I'm still sick.' He admits
it."If I was him, I'd say, 'I need help.' Play the victim. Just stop
telling people that we're crazy and lying. That just forces people to tell
their stories.

"The Sharei Tzedek board was told two years ago these stories and all
they did was blame the women.

"A letter was written to his wife Esther two years ago with
everybody's story in it. Esther got it and almost had a heart attack.
"The wife had to know that what was in the letter was true because it
was filled with intimate details about their marriage that he had told all
of us.

Even a girl who stayed in their house and the situation she had with
him."

There's been a lukewarm investigation of Rabbi Aron Tendler by the RCC
(Rabbinical Council of California) for charges that he sexually
molesting under-age teenage girls, many of whom were under his rabbinic authority (either at YULA, NCSY or elsewhere). The stories about his behavior have gone on
for years. Every major Orthodox rabbi knows about the complaints against Rabbi
Aron Tendler, including Rabbi Best, Rabbi Nahum Sauer, Rabbi Fassman, Rabbi
Avraham Union, yet Rabbi Aron Tendler maintains his pulpit.

Now women in their 30s (and some younger) who say they were molested
by rabbi Tendler in their teens are coming forward.
No civil lawsuit has been filed against Aron Tendler in this matter
(due to its nature, the women who say that Rabbi Aron Tendler molested them
don't want to go public as most of them have familes of their own, and communities
tend to rally around their leaders and stigmatize those who accuse the
leaders of sexual misconduct).

Aron is popular with his peers who are loathe to discipline him. Aron
is a "nice guy." He's "humble."

UOJ comments

The offer of resignation is something every school or shul should do to avoid a prolonged ugly battle.
Aron had the decency to resign, something his brother should have done a long time ago.
My heart goes out to Rabbi Moshe Tendler and his family.

Aron Tendler's letter of resignation

"It is with mixed emotions that I write you today to let you know of my decision that, after 22 wonderful years, I have decided to step down as rabbi of Shaarey Zedek," Tendler wrote in a letter to the 400-member families of the Orthodox synagogue.

"This has been a decision I have contemplated for some time, and after great soul searching and deliberation and with the full support of Esther and the family, I decided that it was time to explore other opportunities and embark on a new aspect of my personal and professional life."

Tendler wrote that he intends to stay in the community but wants to spend more time with his family and pursuing writing, teaching and other projects.

"On occasion, I would like to sleep for more than four hours. Selfishly put, I want more time, and if not now when?" he wrote. Tendler will stay on through the High Holidays and help the search committee in its quest to find a new rabbi.

"Rabbi Tendler turned innumerable lives around, and it will be a great loss for us," Brad Turell, Shaarey Zedek’s communications director, told The Journal. "He’s very talented and we wish him the best."

Journalist Needs YOUR Help!

Hello:

My name is Jennifer and I am a freelance reporter based in New York City. Over the past few years I have become increasingly aware about the issue of sexual abuse within the ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic worlds. I would very much like to write a story about this topic that would aim to show how the authorities are failing to protect children and that would explore various solutions to this problem. In order to write this story, I need to speak with men and women who experienced the travesty of sexual abuse and have an interest in speaking out.

If you wish, your anonymity would be protected in any future article but I would need to meet with you in person.

If you have an interest in speaking with me, you can reach me by e-mail or phone at:

P.S by begreatfull: I removed the email and phone number from this article, since I dont want to be responsible for her getting harrasing phone calls, but if you wish to contact her by email or phone please e-mail me at Begreatfull@gmail.com I will provide the info.

Many thanks for your help.

Sincerely,
Jennifer

Wiesenthal director boycotts Holocaust event, because they can't make money honoring truly religious Jews

Wiesenthal director boycotts Holocaust event
By JONATHAN SCHNEIDER

UOJ Comments at the end of this article

An event dedicated to lauding the wartime achievements of both Jewish and gentile rescuers was boycotted Tuesday evening by Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, because of his displeasure that Holocaust historian Prof. David Kranzler from New York had been invited to speak.( Nonsense-UOJ)

Zuroff, who recently launched a worldwide campaign called Last Chance, aimed at catching lesser known Nazi war criminals, rescinded his original agreement to participate in the privately sponsored International Rescuer Day 2006 due to a fundamental disagreement with Kranzler's largely positive analysis of the Orthodox leadership's actions at that time, which Zuroff claims is "both nonobjective and hagiographical."

Zuroff said his main concern was that Kranzler had contributed to the portrayal of groups such as the Va'ad Hatzala (an Orthodox rescue committee established in 1939) in an overly biased light, though he did admit that his decision to cancel was also personal.

"Kranzler accused me of purposely falsifying research in order to increase sales of my own book on this topic," he said. "I therefore cannot endorse any initiative that acknowledges or rewards him.">(He did falsify just about everything-UOJ)

In response, Kranzler asserted that the harsh criticism meted out to Zuroff's book in an essay he wrote for the Orthodox Union magazine Jewish Action was completely justified, further insisting, "I challenge anybody to evaluate my own work, which is based on primary evidence and many original manuscripts."(Zuroff never could or did challenge Kranzler-UOJ)

Larry Pfeffer, founder of the Jerusalem Working Group, which hosted the event at the Beit Belgia building in the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University, said he was, "disappointed at Zuroff's cancellation." He pointed out that January 17 had been specifically chosen for the event because it was also the date of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg's capture by the Soviets in 1945.

But Pfeffer noted that the major purpose of the event was to enlighten the public about the actions of true Jewish heroes such as Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandel and Recha Sternbuch, and to push for wider credence to their achievements.


( Zuroff says to himself, I can't make money off "truly" religious Jews, so why waste my time. Besides Marvin the Jewish midget in L.A. said it would hurt the feeling of the Jews in Hollywood whose asses he kisses on a daily basis-UOJ)

Dr Robert Rozett, director of the Yad Vashem libraries, said that due to the large number of Jews who assisted their kin in the Holocaust, it was almost impossible to honor them all. He added that "not everything that happened in the Holocaust should be dealt with by giving an award.( unless it's people with mega-bucks-UOJ)

Rather, it is far more important that children learn about the widespread help that people offered each other in this time of crisis.(Did you ever hear of such a crock of s***?"-UOJ)

The theme of the evening was "beacons in the dark" and the occasion included a talk given by Louise de Dardel (Raoul Wallenberg's niece), an exhibition by artist Hannah Omer and the performance of new songs by David Ben Reuven.

UOJ comments

The Wiesenthal Center distances itself from events that do not promote their agenda.
Their agenda is the Holocaust that "sells", Jews with beards don't sell, even though the individual responsible for saving the most Jews during the war was Rabbi Weissmandel.

Has anyone seen a photo of Rabbi Weissmandel in the Weisenthal Center? Marvin the midget Hier would rather focus on over the top stories of Weisenthal, rather than an ehrliche Yid who saved hundreds of thousands Jews.

So Midgetel Marvin tells Zuroff not to go to this event; and of course Zuroff wants to be employed at the new two hundred million dollar museum in Jerusalem, so he listens.

Marvin's million dollar salary from the Holocaust is really not enough for this ignoramus, dyed hair huckster, Hollywood hunchback; dismissal of a truly ehrliche yid's accomplishments that overshadows everything and anything Weisenthal ever did, is.

UOJ BLOG THREATENED BY HACKER

I want to give my readers a heads up. If we get hacked again, click on "profile view" for the new address, or e-mail me at a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com to get our new address.
These guys will run out of money, before I stop blogging.

Hey hacker, F*** You!


Dear UOJ,

I'm the one who sabatoged your last web-blog domain.

I'm almost finished wrapping up my program ;) for this newer address. Writing a few scripts, and sourcing at the moment...have to get paid first.. before anything is finalized with this newer address....

I'm actually enjoying this (this is all true).

I just would like for you to know that I have no personal agenda with you. In actuality I could care less about your positions or reportings on this blog.

I am a computer programmer and technician by proffession (I work for a major IT company)and a comp. geek as a passion.

I was reffered to my new customer through a mutual associate. This new customer is the guy with the axe to grind. He is the one who is paying me to make your blogging life a living hell, so that you wil ultimately go under or have to incorporate new urls again and again to keep yourself afloat (another way of killing your readership...)

I'm sorry pal I'm just trying to earn a living...hey I aint even Jewish...

Figured I'd get a kick outa writing this to you and your remaining few readers.

Whether you do or don't believe the veracity of my claims is entirely up to you.

Watch your back :))

--
Posted by WebMaster K to Un-Orthodox Jews at 1/19/2006 05:33:13 PM
DeleteReplyForwardSpamMove...

"Rabbi" Singer Does Not Like This Song

Lawsuit Increases Scrutiny of World Jewish Congress
By NATHANIEL POPPER
January 20, 2006

While the World Jewish Congress continues to be under investigation by the New York attorney general, a separate lawsuit in Israel is bringing further scrutiny on two top figures close to the organization.

Israel Singer, chairman of the WJC, and Zvi Barak, a consultant to the organization, are coming under fire in a lawsuit filed by Vera Keller, the widow of a former WJC supporter. Keller's late husband, Leslie, set up a foundation in 2000 that is now run by Barak and Singer's son, Elie, and also an Israeli relative of Keller whose role in the case is unclear.

The case is being pursued by Vera Keller's grandnephew, Menachem Kahn, who has her power of attorney. The complaint alleges that since Leslie Keller died in early 2003, the $1 million foundation has given out grants with no accountability to Vera Keller and her family.

Kahn's affidavit also says that Israel Singer attempted to wrest control of Keller's will in the months before Keller died.

The lawyer representing the foundation's trustees, Elad Mann, said the case "has no standing on the procedural grounds or on its merits. It will be dismissed in a short time."

Calls to Israel Singer were directed to the secretary general of the WJC, Stephen Herbits. Herbits said that the WJC had no role in the case. However, Herbits has compiled a report on it, which says that the allegations involved "are scurrilous and completely false."

Singer and Barak, a Tel Aviv attorney whose offices are the mailing address for the foundation, are also at the center of a dispute over transfers to and from the WJC's Geneva bank account.

That dispute arose after Singer transferred $1.2 million from a Geneva bank account to a custodial account controlled by Barak in London. Barak had no official role in the WJC at the time, but he has since become a consultant to the organization. The case in Israel involves criticism of Barak and Singer from persons outside the circle of critics who have been hammering at the WJC over the Geneva controversy.

Some of the charges in the Keller case involve Singer. Two of Keller's grandnephews state in their affidavits that Singer tried to convince Keller to sign a will that would have made Singer the executor of Keller's will, along with another associate of Keller, David Moskovits.

One of the grandnephews, Kahn, told the Forward that a few weeks after Leslie Keller died, in March 2003, Moskovits and Singer came to Vera Keller's house and presented the will naming them as executors as a done deal — a deal from which Kahn says they later backed away.

Singer's son, Elie, told the Forward: "This is false and the suggestion is preposterous. These outrageous accusations do not merit a response."

Kahn's version is also refuted in an affidavit written by Moskovits. He states that Keller became good friends with Singer in his last 15 years, and it was Keller who asked Singer to sign the will and become his executor. According to Moskovits, Singer turned down the request multiple times.

Moskovits states that the lawsuit was brought by "a few of Keller's relatives who seem to have misrepresented the intentions of Mr. Keller... because it seems they think they could benefit financially from doing so."

A lawyer for Vera Keller said the lawsuit came about only after the foundation trustees refused to release basic financial information about the foundation to Vera Keller — particularly information about where the foundation's grants were going.

"We came into this extremely innocently, thinking we would ask for information and get it," said a lawyer in the office of Menachem Harutz, which is representing the Kellers. "We had no idea how complicated everything would be."

The foundation did present financial documents for 2003 and 2004 in its response to the lawsuit. Most of the grants in 2003 — after Leslie Keller died — went to Jewish research projects. But the first grant after Keller's death, for $5,000, went to the WJC office in Buenos Aires.

The foundation was created in 2000, with the goal of aiding "study and research of the Jewish heritage."

When the foundation was created, Israel Singer was listed as a trustee along with two WJC employees. When those two left the WJC in 2003 and 2004 Barak and Elie Singer were chosen to replace them at the foundation.

The grandnephews have asked the court to allow the family to appoint new trustees who will carry out Leslie Keller's original wishes. The case is scheduled to open February 8 in Jerusalem district court.

Thieves breed thieves, like sex abusers breed molesters.
UOJ

The Black Hat Made Me Do It

Unkosher in Washington
By ELIYAHU STERN

The New York Times and ABC News just could not understand why Jack Abramoff, a master of public relations, would walk out of a courtroom - where he pleaded guilty to three felony accounts - wearing a Mafioso-styled black fedora. Whose sympathy exactly was he after? While the Times could not understand the bizarre spectacle, Jews recognized Abramoff's headgear all too well as a sign of Orthodox piety.It is far from ironic that Abramoff would be wearing such a hat to court.

From start to finish his lobbyist carrier and his cover-ups have been cloaked in religious garb.

Perhaps the best example of Abramoff religious antics comes from a story reported in The New York Times Magazine in 2005. Abramoff was nominated for membership in the Cosmos Club, an exclusive Washington insiders' organization.

Abramoff was flattered by the nomination, but knowing all too well just how newly cool he was in Washington circles, he feared the club would realize the emperor had no clothes. He needed some serious moral and intellectual credibility quickly. So he reportedly called his "rebbe" and long-time supporter Rabbi Daniel Lapin, head of the right-wing organization Toward Tradition, and asked him if he could patch together some award in his honor - "something like Scholar of Talmudic Studies," Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Lapin. While Lapin was at it, Abramoff asked him if he could make it appear "that I received these in years past." Lapin assured him it was no problem.

The story only touches the surface of the disturbing symbiotic relationship between Abramoff and his rabbis. Abramoff founded the Eshkol Academy, an Orthodox Jewish school in Maryland. David Lapin, Daniel's brother, served as the dean. According to e-mails revealed during US Senate hearings into the Abramoff-Ralph Reed Indian gambling scandal, Lapin was reportedly paid $20,000 a month through Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation. The Eshkol Academy closed in 2004 after questions were raised in the press about Abramoff's financial dealings with Indian tribes. In 2004, 13 former Eshkol employees sued the academy for back salary and claimed that the Capital Athletic Foundation "was used to launder funds from the tribes to Eshkol."

FEDERAL TAX records show that various Indian tribes donated more than $1 million to the foundation.

Behind every corner of this investigation there is another right-wing rabbi or "observant Jew" ready to "kasher" Abramoff's actions. If it wasn't one of the Lapins, it was every evangelical's favorite Jew, David Klinghoffer, a writer who, along with Michael Medved, was part of Lapin's group American Alliance of Jews and Christians, which was geared towards promoting morality in American public life.

Yet with all his "moral" fiber behind him, Klinghoffer as late as May 13, 2005, was still defending Abramoff in The Forward. In the article, Klinghoffer praised the lobbyist in Robin Hood terms, castigating his readers and telling them, "I'd like to see Abramoff left alone in large part because, instead of spending the millions of dollars he raked in on Ferraris and yachts, he lavishly spent it on causes that I think are good and important: an Orthodox high school he founded in the Washington DC area, headed by a rabbi whose taped lectures I have long listened to with admiration."

Using biblical metaphors and justifying Abramoff's actions as "mundane," Klinghoffer asked his readers to sympathize with poor Abramoff. "His humiliation is nearly complete," wrote Klinghoffer, "yet who among us would not be humiliated if a decade's worth of our e-mail were leaked by Senate investigators to be dissected by journalists eager to carve us up like a Thanksgiving roast?"

In an article that recently appeared on beliefnet.com, Klinghoffer justified his words by arguing that Judaism required him to give Abramoff "the benefit of the doubt." Furthermore, he exclaimed that, as an Orthodox Jew, he was in no way embarrassed by Abramoff's actions.

I do not think Klinghoffer gave Bill Clinton the benefit of the doubt. Klinghoffer seems to have fallen into a far more dangerous trap.

That is, being lenient when it comes to crimes committed between human beings and being stringent when it comes to ritual laws between God and man. If Abramoff's kosher restaurant had substituted pork for beef, he would not be justifying him.

I am sorry, but no matter how much you keep kosher and castigate Americans about sexual morality, if you support corrupt power and act unethically to other human beings, you are a failure as a Jew.

Abramoff's hat signals the extreme lack of self-reflection in his religious life. Before the Bible says anything about black hats, abortion or kosher restaurants for Washington insiders, it says "Do not steal." What can be more Jewish than that?

Hypocritical moralizing treats the public as fools and does a disservice to all those who take Judaism seriously. Being a frum Jew entails being an example for humanity. It means that we hold ourselves to a higher level of ethical correctness. If using an Orthodox yeshiva to launder ill-begotten money does not embarrass us, then what does?

Hey Lip-Shits, so much for the Shevet Levi uniform.
UOJ

Hacked by Haredim: Un-Orthodox Jew Gets His for Criticizing Black Hats

January 17th, 2006 by David Kelsey, Republished From Jewshool

While most of the fight against fundamentalism in the Jewish world is focused against the Activist, or Zionist, Jewish fundamentalists (including on this blog), it is important to remember that the quiescent fundamentalists are also a powerful and ever-growing force within the Jewish world. And they don’t like public dissent very much, particularly from their own.

Un-Orthodox Jew is an anonymous blogger who challenges the convictions of the black hatters, but unlike critics of the Haredi world such as Godol Hodor, Dov Bear, or Failed Messiah, (whose site was also hacked), UOJ writes in a style accessible to readers even if they are not particularly sophisticated or educated outside of their insular world. He writes in a style that even a Touro College undergraduate can understand. He also republishes articles of interest to this world which would never appear in their fundamentalist, rabbinically monitored newspapers, inserting his own, usually sardonic, commentary. Full Disclosure: I have guest posted on the UOJ blog on occasion, in order to address problems in the Ba’al Tshuvah institutional world.

UOJ generally restricts his topics to those which will most displease his black hat readership (but embolden the disgruntled), and frequently focuses on issues such as fiscal impropriety, fraud, the lack of a work ethic, nepotism, corruption, increasing and misguided halachic stringency, cruelty, physical abuse of women, the socio-economic costs of discouraging secular studies, the flagrant denial of the transmission of herpes through the ritual practice of metziza, and perhaps most disturbing to his most religious readers, he has consistently attempted to argue against the belief that Rabbinical leaders are (or ever were) infallible.

He is not very popular in black hat circles, but he is well-known, and was widely read.

So his site was hacked. The information on the site was not defaced or destroyed, ostensibly to make it appear that he simply hasn’t blogged lately, nor call attention to their sabotage. UOJ emailed Jewschool that, “My IT guy told me this was a professional job, not some kids. He used to be a senior V.P. at IBM and he can’t fix it. I better watch my ass; they’re out to get me.”

UOJ claims, and even many of his detractors appear to believe, that he is relatively high ranking in the left-wing black hat community, and UOJ has insisted he will continue to blog even if hacked again.

“The only ax I have to grind is to make our Judaism a ‘bit’ cleaner. I’m under no illusion of scraping ALL the shit off my shoes.”

He has begun a new site, which merely added an “s” to “unorthodoxjew,” and has republished all previous content from the old site there.

One Sick Jew

Yigal Amir seeks artificial insemination approval
by Vered Luvitch

Yigal Amir, who assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, submitted a petition to the Tel Aviv District Court, requesting that his partner, Larissa Trimbobler, be allowed to be artificially inseminated.

The petition was submitted by Amir's lawyers, Ari Shamai and Oron Schwartz, who said that while they didn't identify in any way with Amir's crime, they "are loyal to the defense of human rights," and claim that the attempt to prevent Amir from having children is a fundamental violation of human rights.

Yigal Amir and his partner Larissa Trimbobler file petition to High Court of Justice demanding the Interior Ministry recognize their marital status. Four months ago Jerusalem Rabbinical court rules couple husband and wife under Jewish law

The lawyers argue in the petition that their case is based "on the cultural question. Israeli culture, which claims to be based on humanism, is sacrificing human rights."
The lawyers also said that their "petition is a decisive test for the image and culture of Israeli society – a society is indeed judged on its treatment of the weak, and especially on its treatment of those it despises."

Lawyers added that the petition was based on the premise that "Amir's act was heinous, and anti-social like every murder," but that "a democratic society was obligated to intellectual integrity and bravery and is obligated to refrain from using fundamentally anti-democratic means, including against those who committed the ultimate anti-democratic act against society."

The petition stated that Amir's request for artificial insemination of his partner rules out the claim that security factors were relevant to the case, which prevented him from exercising his right to private life in the past. "He should therefore be given the right to bring children to the world," the petition said.

The lawyers added that "journalistic simplicity and emotions" should be left outside of the courtroom walls.

Lip-Shits All Over Himself

The Yated's editorial, in part.

During the past year the New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, has engaged in an effort to undermine a sacred component of Mitzvas Milah. He and his department recently stepped up their activities in this regard and issued directives and advisories aimed at planting fear in the hearts and minds of parents who are about to bring their child into the holiest covenant in Judaism.

The threat is not only against metzitzah b’peh. It is a slanderous and offensive diktat that undermines not only a specific element of Bris Milah, but assaults the entire concept of Bris Milah itself.

He claims to be “educating.” What he is actually doing is far more sinister.
Frieden clearly has overstepped his bounds. He was asked to back down from his assault on the privacy and sanctity of religious choice. But he does not relent. Last week he openly mocked a group of distinguished Rabbonim whom he called to an urgent meeting, by suggesting that they relinquish their religious authority to the Catholic Church.

An insult of this sort from a government official is reminiscent of the slurs once aimed at the Jewish community by foreign anti-Semitic governments of the past.
Indeed the lights of the nairos have glowed, but their flame must continue to illuminate the darkness. We pride ourselves on the amazing accomplishments Jews have reached throughout political and socio-economic levels. But the fact that shomrei Shabbos senators, mayors, doctors and lawyers abound in this country is not enough to guarantee that our freedom to practice our religion with all its sacred minhagim and particulars, will be upheld.

When the attack appears to equate our practices with those of tribal cults that are unsanitary and dangerous, a spear is being hurled at the heart and soul of a nation that is no stranger to hostile campaigns of this nature.

At stake is nothing less than the right to religious freedom, a lynchpin of the Constitution that we should never take for granted.

We must insist on the liberty to continue the practice of our tradition with every nuance and detail of the beautiful customs that are an integral part of the written law. It is our mesorah. It is our heritage. And our heritage is as sacred as our Torah.(You are an ignorant liar, perverter of our Torah, and an unbelievable asshole- I just thought I'd stick that in-UOJ)

Everyone concerned with these imperatives must let his voice be heard. Because when the dictates of bureaucracy begin to govern our spirituality, then our religious integrity has been compromised and walls of our tower have been breached. “ Ufortzu chomos Migdalai.” It is not long before the oil is defiled and the menorah hauled away.

Perhaps a commissioner will next mandate the use of electric menorahs because of his “concern” for our safety.

We get so comfortable here that we forget at times the message of the agalos; we lose sight of our mission and our goal. We forget that we are on a dangerous and treacherous path in golus, one that requires constant vigilance.
We need reminders so that our spirits can be lifted and we can return home. Let the image of the flames of the Chanukah menorah burn brightly in our memory so that we remember that at the end of the day, victory belongs not to those who boast of numbers, status or militarily might, but to those who battle for what is right and true.

Just as in the times of the Yevonim whose determination to uproot us from the Torah was miraculously defeated, so too, in our times, modern-day warriors who fight for the inviolate purity of Torah will be rewarded from Above with the consecration of the Beis Hamikdosh, speedily and in our day.


Jewish pornography at it's worst
UOJ

Rabbinical sage Yitzhak Kadouri hospitalized in critical condition - Did Anyone See Moshiach?

Ynet News

Leading Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri has been hospitalized in an intensive care unit at a Jerusalem hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

Hospital officials said Rabbi Kaduri is in serious condition

The rabbi was released from hospital last Thursday after recovering from pneumoni, but doctors said Sunday the Kabbalist, who is more than 100-years-old, became ill again. His son David accompanied the popular rabbi to hospital and remains by his side.

“We join his family in wishing him a speedy recovery,” family friends said Sunday.

Kaduri started out as a modest bookbinder, and has become one of the best knownKabbalists in the country.

He was born in Iraq, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 17. He studied in a Jerusalem Yeshiva, and was a student of Jerusalem Kabbalists who worked in the capital at the start of the previous century, including Rabbi Salman Eliyahu, father of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.

Many members of the public possess a gold or silver amulets made for them by Kaduri, who is considered an expert on making amulets.

In recent months, Kaduri's name was tied to a blessing to opponents of the disengagement from Gaza, but his son later said his father believes "Gaza belongs to Palestinian." Kaduri himself surprised many followers when he offered his support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout in April.

"If we give them a small thing and there will peace with them, we can leave Gush Katif. We can trust Sharon, he is okay. It can cede territories in Gaza," the Rabbi told an ultra-Orthodox newspaper.

He added: "I have no faith in the Arabs but we must have a little quiet. Sharon's government isn't so bad."

Recently, rumors have circulated in the ultra-Orthodox world that that the messiah has revealed himself to Rabbi Kaduri in dreams, and was assurred by Moshiach that he was going to live to greet him.

Agudath Israel Permits "Dialogue" With Catholics Only To Protect Sexual Predators, All Other Interfaith Dialogue Is Prohibited!

Religious Groups Stall Reform Law
by DOUGLAS MONTERO
The New York Post - August 1, 2001, Wednesday

A strongly backed bill that would make it a crime if educators fail to
report an accusation of school sex abuse to the police is being stymied
by two of the city's most powerful religious organizations, City Hall
sources told The Post.

Bill No. 933, inspired by several mishandled complaints in public
schools, would require cops to investigate allegations of sex abuse
involving private schools run by churches and temples as well as public
schools.

The law could set the stage for a battle between church and state
because both Catholic and Jewish schools deal with sex-abuse allegations
against clerics internally, experts said.

City Hall sources admit they were surprised by the religious groups'
11th-hour request to postpone the vote in the City Council's Education
Committee on June 4.

"They [religious schools] claim they were unaware that the provisions
of the law applied to both public and private schools," one source said.

Council staffers are quietly negotiating with a coalition of religious
groups hoping to tailor the bill to fit everyone's demands - a delicate
process during an election season.

When told the law covers "co-curricular and extra-curricular
activities" such as prayer groups or kids helping out in religious ceremonies,
New York Archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling seemed surprised.

"I'm not sure the law covers that," Zwilling said, who refused to say
if the church supported the bill.

Zwilling insisted the bill applies to clerics working only in schools,
but a second City Hall source said it reaches into "all of the
properties on school grounds."

Zwilling referred questions to Rabbi David Zwiebel, of the Agudath
Israel of America, a Jewish advocacy network that's spearheading talks with
council.

Zwiebel argues the bill is too broad in its definition of abuse, and
thinks it will strip school principals of their "professional discretion"
to resolve disciplinary problems internally.

The failure to let principals "exercise professional judgment and
discretion in dealing with actual or threatened criminal conduct is a
serious flaw," he wrote in a five-page June 28 letter to Council Speaker
Peter Vallone and committee members.

Zwilling and Zwiebel deny allegations they want to kill the bill to
protect accused clerics.

Zwiebel said the law could create "tensions" between church and state.

The committee is scheduled to have a hearing on the matter in the fall.

"The new legal mandate is not embraced by everyone because it is
designed to change the usual way of doing business for the protection of
children," a mayoral administration source said.

"Because of the delay, the window for getting this in place by
September is closed - and that's a terrible shame."


All Rabbis Back Law To Report Child Abuse Except Ultra-Urthodox Agudath Israel
By Rachel Donadio
The Forward (NY)
March 29,2002

With the exception of a major ultra-Orthodox organization, rabbinical
groups of all denominations say they support proposed legislation in New
York State that would require clergy to report allegations of child
abuse.

The proposal, which would broaden the state's Social Services Law to
make clergy of all religions criminally liable if they do not report
instances of child abuse, was advanced last week by Manhattan District
Attorney Robert Morgenthau in the wake of growing allegations of
molestation within the Catholic Church. This week, the Democrat-controlled
State Assembly proposed similar legislation, and a version passed in the
Republican-controlled State Senate.

Most rabbinical groups said they were not concerned that the
legislation would violate confidentiality between clergy and congregants.

"I think that full disclosure to the authorities would be not only
acceptable, I think it's imperative," said Rabbi Paul Menitoff, executive
vice president of the Reform movement's Central Council of American
Rabbis. "Ethical violations, whether they're violations of the criminal
code or not, need to be dealt with very openly, fairly and directly by
each denomination. Anything short of that is not keeping faith with our
people."

The ultra-Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America, however, said it
was wary of the legislation, which would require clergy to "report to
authorities whenever they have reasonable cause to believe a child has
been abused," according to a March 19 statement by Morgenthau.

David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Aguda, said he feared that
the proposal could infringe on "religious freedom."(CAN ANYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL HE"S TALKING ABOUT?-FREEDOM OF WHAT?-UOJ)

"There ought to be some exemption for situations involving
confidentiality," Zwiebel said. "To protect the Catholic confessional-type
situation, and more specifically in our community, to protect those situations
where a member of the community does want to confide in his rabbi and
get guidance and counseling without fear of having the whole fury of the
secular legal system descend on him."

Last summer, Aguda and the Catholic Archdiocese of New York joined
forces to oppose a proposed bill in the City Council that would have required all schools, including parochial schools, to file a police report
about any criminal act committed by students or staff. Zwiebel said he was concerned that secular law would "not necessarily" respect religious concerns, such as the concept of mesira, a category of rabbinic canon law concerning when a Jew may inform on another to the secular government. He said that rabbis should evaluate issues "on a case-by-case" basis.

However, Zwiebel said, "if a person is perceived as an imminent danger
to children or others, rabbis would say, `let's not handle this
internally, let's bring it to outside authorities.'"

Looking more favorably on the legislation was the Orthodox Union,
representing Modern Orthodox synagogues. "In principal we'd be supportive,"
said Harvey Blitz, president of O.U. "We believe that clergy have a
responsibility to protect the safety of people from being victims."

"We were told by our Halachic authorities that we should without any
type of delay report these instances to the police," said Steven Dworkin,
the head of the Rabbinical Council of America, a Modern Orthodox
rabbinical body, referring to religious law.

Two years ago O.U. faced its own abuse scandal when several top
officials stepped down following claims that they ignored 30 years of abuse
complaints against the director of its national youth group, Rabbi Baruch
Lanner.

Blitz was unfazed by the thought that under the proposed legislation,
O.U. clergy would have been criminally liable for ignoring allegations
of abuse. "Maybe they would have reported it," Blitz said.

"We've tried very hard to change the culture at the O.U. in light of
what happened" and make children feel "more comfortable" reporting abuse
and leaders "more sensitive" to allegations, Blitz said.

Rabbi Joel Myers, president of Conservative Movement's Rabbinical
Assembly, also said he supported the proposal.

Myers said clergy confidentiality was not as "cut and dry" as some
would make it out to be. "Every rabbi knows not everything is confidential
or ought to be," he said. "Many clergy will say, `I'll be glad to
listen but I won't be able to tell you if it's confidential until you tell
me what the issue is.'"

The church scandal "may have nothing to do with confidentiality," Myers
said. "Confidentiality becomes a nice sounding word, but that's not the
issue. The issue is how bishops supervise priests."

"It is clear that social pressures on the clergy are such that
transferring the obligation to enforce justice onto the legal system is a
helpful step," said Rabbi David Teutsch, president of the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College.


The New York Post
March 26, 2002, Tuesday
IT'S NOT JUST CATHOLICS WHO HAVE TO WORRY
By Douglas Montero

THE panic has begun.

Religious organizations went into a frenzy yesterday after learning
state legislators introduced two bills that would require them to call
authorities whenever one their clerics is accused of molesting a kid.

But, it's far from just a Catholic problem.

"Sex abuse suppression in the Orthodox Jewish clergy is much worse than
the Catholics because it's such an insular community and they can get
away with it," according to Amy Neustein, who says she was ostracized by
her community after she began advocating for Jewish women and kids.
She called the problem of child molestation by the clergy and the
invariable coverup in her community a "cancer."

An official at the Agudath Israel of America - an Orthodox Jewish
advocacy group that helped exorcise a similar City Council bill last year -
seemed skeptical the bills would do much good.

"There may be a situation where there might be a conflict between the
law and what a rabbi feels is religiously appropriate," said David
Zwiebel, its vice president for government affairs.

"Rabbis might react differently. Some will comply with the law and
others will choose not to comply with the law."

Bishop Steven Bouman, who heads the city's Lutheran Church, insisted he
"absolutely" supports the bills. "I believe the primary responsibility
of church officials and the church is to the people we serve -
especially the most vulnerable," he said.

But when asked to describe his church's sex-abuse policy, he said he
had to check his facts. He called back an hour later and referred
questions to the church's lawyers.

Religious leaders are nervous.

The days of conducting their own internal, and possibly biased,
investigations before calling cops may be over soon.

It's appropriate that the sex-reporting bills were introduced during
the start of Holy Week.

"It's Lent, and Christ is giving the Church a big cross to bear - one
that it has earned," said Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic
League.

But he said his church has plenty of company.

"I've always felt the Catholic Church doesn't have a monopoly on this
issue," he said.


UOJ COMMENTS:

The protection of the criminal predators by the Agudah has been ongoing and covert for years.
They are the ONLY Jewish organization actively blocking any legislative agenda that would protect our children in yeshivas. Their natural ally is of course the Catholics
who have paid out billions of dollars in claims to their victims. Perhaps civil litigation can be brought against the organizations and their extensive real estate holdings? If Lipa Margulies was in danger of losing his entire block of real estate on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, perhaps he would feel differently about protecting Yudi Kolko.

Various different catholic organizations were forced into bankruptcy because of the many civil judgements that were obtained against them.
This requires the victims and their families to come forward and assist us in our efforts to nail these criminals.
They obviously could not give a hoot about their reputations; let's hit them in their pockets and anywhere else that it hurts.

Warning: Trouble On The Way

by Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg, Dean, Torah Academy, Minnesota

I was recently in a school where I was presented with one of the challenges that every principal dreads. Two children from one family came to school with significant red marks on their cheeks. The teachers, after speaking to the children and trying to learn the cause of the red cheeks, were concerned with the possibility of abuse. They presented their concerns to the principal and I was asked to help determine what was happening.
While there are some legal considerations as to what a school must report to the authorities, those reports should not take place until a complete assessment has been completed. There are countless stories in which reports were made for no good reason and the families suffered miserably. These situations are very tricky as there is no room for error. If the child was abused, action must be taken immediately, but if the child was not abused, action should not be taken.
I first called the father and asked him if he had any idea as to the cause of the redness on his children’s cheeks. He responded with total puzzlement. The mother did have a response, however, and said that it was the result of the children being kissed by her that morning before they left for school. To be frank, you would have also had a difficult time accepting that version.
To make a long story short, the red marks were the result of a kiss from the mother with too much of a lipstick stain. Some warm water and soap took care of it perfectly and we were all able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I begin with this somewhat humorous story as an introduction to the topic of warning signals. Growing up in today’s world is often frightening for children. In many cases, the burden of childhood is too much for a child to carry without active assistance from parents or other adults in their lives. Some children have the tools to let adults know that they need help and/or that there is trouble. However, many of the problems children experience go unreported as they suffer in silence. We, the adults in their lives, cannot say that we cannot help because they are not telling us what the problem is. It is our responsibility to seek out the problems and help them even (or especially) when they can’t express it on their own.
As adults, our real challenge is to learn about the children’s problems and observe and detect the warning signs that children express. Even a child who is not comfortable expressing a problem, will exhibit many warning signs. It is our responsibility to detect these signals and respond to them effectively.
A parent once shared with me that his child was very happy and had no real problems. The following is the conversation that I had with the parent.
Me: Is your child happy?
Parent: Yankella is a very happy child and has no real issues.
Me: How do you know that?
Parent: Yankella told me that he was happy and that there was nothing bothering him.
Me: What made him share that with you?
Parent: I asked him if he was happy and he said yes and I then asked him if there was anything that was bothering him and he said no.
Me: When did you have that conversation with Yankella?
Parent: I don’t remember exacty,y but it was about two years ago.
Your reaction to the above exchange should be both laughter and sadness. Asking a child if anything is bothering him and hearing no is like asking a child after a day in school what he learned and he says nothing. It is sad that a parent would reach a conclusion as a result of a simple question and answer without any further inquiry for two years.
I wish there would be a tool that could measure happiness in children and detect problems. That would make our job so easy. Still and all, there are important warning signals to look for:
• A change in grades or study habits can be a sign of trouble. Most adults assume that there is a connection between the signal and the cause, meaning that if the child is suddenly getting poor grades or loses interest in school, it must be a learning problem or something that is happening at school. That is a false and dangerous assumption. A conflict with a sibling or some phobia can translate into a change in grades or study habits, even though they may have no connection.
• One of the easiest signals that tell us of trouble is distraction. Your child may become easily distracted while doing homework or can even appear to be in another world at dinnertime. These distractions are usually signals of problems when they occur suddenly and abruptly.
• The child who begins seeking only perfection and the best grade in the class is showing signs of a newly-formed stress. This is one example of a sudden change, but, in reality, any sudden change should be a sign of concern.
• The child who was always enthusiastic about schoolwork and suddenly exhibits an attitude of I don’t care is a child who is crying out for help. The child who has suddenly become restless and jumps from one activity to another is another example of a child reaching out for assistance.
• A large number or the total lack of friends can be very telling about what your child is experiencing. I am referring to a sudden change as it relates to friends. This change can be the type of friend your child is suddenly spending time with or the sudden increase or decrease in the number of friends. Some children tend to be friends with children who are either older or younger than they are. However, if that has become a sudden behavior change, regard it as a warning sign. Obviously, if a child is suddenly spending a lot of time with an adult, it requires some investigation.
• Sudden mood changes and dress style changes are also signs to investigate. Many of these changes are normal and a part of growing up. It requires great siyata diShmaya to detect what is part of growing up and what is out of the ordinary. The adolescent child who suddenly acts in a rebellious manner is not necessarily a warning sign. It can just be part of that child’s development and growth. In this case, if the parent makes it into a big deal, it will develop that way.
• Some of the more obvious signs of trouble are sudden weight gain or loss, problems with sleep (too much or too little), sudden major changes in personality, fascination with death and signs of any substance use.
Believe it or not, some (few) children go through childhood with few problems. They achieve high test grades, their teachers love them and they love their teachers, they have many friends, etc. I am sure that you have met a few of these children over the years, but only a few. For the overwhelming majority of children, there will be many potholes. Some of the challenges will be resolved on their own, while others will require much help and support from parents.
Before we can address solving our children’s problems, we must be able to detect them. Finally, our tefillos for success with our children should include asking Hashem to make apparent to us our children’s calls and that we should be receptive to the signals.

Victims Of Sexual Abuse Please Contact Me Right Away

The day of reckoning has come. We are going to expose the sexual molesters posing as rabbis, and their protectors, in a way that never has been done before.

Please contact me by e-mail, a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com, immediately.

In particular, victims of Yudi Kolko and his accomplice in this heinous crime, Lipa Margulies, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!!!! PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF KLAL YISROEL, COME FORWARD!

Agudath Israel Aggressively & Actively Blocking Legislation That Would Protect Our Children

June 28, 2001

M E M O R A N D U M

TO:
Honorable Peter F. Vallone
Honorable Priscilla A. Wooten
Honorable Members of the New York City Council Education Committee

FROM:
David Zwiebel
Executive Vice President for Government and Public Affairs

cc:
Honorable Rudolph W. Giuliani

Members of the Committee of Nonpublic School Officials of New York City

SUBJECT: Intro. No. 933-A

This memo is a follow-up to my memo of June 14 to Peter Vallone and
Priscilla Wooten, in which I requested that the City Council postpone any
action on the captioned legislation until Agudath Israel and other
representatives of New York City's nonpublic school community had an
opportunity to study and comment on the bill.
I am grateful that the City Council acceded to our request; and I take this opportunity now to share with you our concerns about this legislation, as well as to offer what I hope will be seen as a constructive suggestion.

Section 3 of the bill would add a new Section 10-124 to the New York
City Administrative Code, requiring any employee of any public or private
school who "witnesses or has reasonable cause to believe that a crime
involving the health or safety of a child has occurred or has been
threatened in an educational setting" to immediately report such information
to the Police Department and to the school principal.
After those reports are made, the principal is obligated to "promptly notify the parent or legal guardian of a child about whom a report has been made" unless
the Police Department determines that such notification would impede a
criminal investigation. Failure to comply with these requirements would
be classified as a criminal misdemeanor.

This proposal is apparently a response to several incidents in public
school settings that might have been avoided had the police been brought
into the picture at an earlier stage. Without in any way denigrating
the seriousness of those few incidents, or the need to find ways to try
to avoid such incidents in the future, we question whether the approach
embodied in the proposed legislation is the most appropriate means of
achieving that purpose.

Based on the input we have received from the Jewish school principals with whom we have discussed this issue, we are concerned that any legislation that strips principals of their professional discretion to handle sensitive situations in the manner they deem most appropriate would do more harm than good.

It is important to recognize that even under existing law, schools
cannot simply ignore situations that threaten the health or safety of
students. A school's common law duty to care for its students imposes upon
principals and other responsible school authorities the obligation to
take reasonable steps to deal with harmful or dangerous conduct. Those
steps may include, under certain circumstances, notifying the police
about actual or threatened criminal activity. At the same time, principals
and other school authorities have a great deal of professional
discretion in how to deal with individual situations. So long as they do not
abuse that discretion by acting negligently or otherwise abrogating their
duty to care, they are free to deal with situations in ways that they
understand to be in the best interests of the child or children under
their care.

Thus, for example, under existing law, if a student is caught smoking
marijuana, a principal may decide to deal with the problem by referring
the child to a drug counselor. Or, if a student is acting in a
physically threatening manner toward one of his peers, the principal may decide
that the problem can best be addressed through a phone call to the
aggressive child's parents. Or, if a model teacher who has a longstanding
unblemished record is provoked into lashing out at a troublemaking
student, the principal may decide to address the incident by having a
heart-to-heart chat with the teacher and student. Or, in any of these cases
or others like them, the principal may decide that the matter is best
dealt with through the school's internal disciplinary system, or by
suspending or expelling the offending party, or by calling in the police.
The existing law recognizes that one size does not necessarily fit all
situations, and that knowledgeable school authorities are the ones best
equipped to serve as gatekeepers in determining whether any given
situation merits the extreme step of bringing in the police.

Under the proposed new legislation, however, all such school-based
discretion and professional judgment would be removed. School employees who
witness or have reasonable cause to believe that a crime involving the
health or safety of a child has been threatened or actually committed
would have to call the police immediately – no matter what the magnitude
of the crime, no matter who or how old the perpetrator, no matter what
the surrounding circumstances, no matter what the school principal and
student guidance counselor may consider most appropriate. The bill
would thus operate in blunderbuss fashion and effectuate a sea change in
the way principals and other key school employees deal with problems that
may arise in their school settings.

The Jewish school principals with whom we consulted were unanimous in
their opinion that this change would be a change for the worse, not for
the better. Their experience has been that most cases are best-handled
internally, without police intervention. They are especially troubled
by the prospect of having to call in the police for student-on-student
conduct. They point out that personal trust is the most critical tool a
principal has in effectively dealing with problems that may arise in a
school setting – personal trust between the school administration and
its staff, between the school administration and its students, between
the school administration and its parent body – and that bringing in the
police as soon as a crime is committed or even suspected is likely to
destroy that foundation of personal trust, thereby making it exceedingly
difficult to deal effectively with many of the problems that are far
better addressed by school personnel at the school site.

It is thus our view that the bill's failure to allow for principals to
exercise professional judgment and discretion in dealing with actual or
threatened criminal conduct is a serious flaw. This is especially so
with respect to nonpublic schools, where there has been little if any
evidence that the existing system does not adequately protect children,
and where any such inadequacy can easily be addressed simply through
parents' decisions to remove their children from the school.

There are several ways in which this legislation might be improved:
limiting the mandatory reporting provision to adult-on-child crime;
limiting the types of crimes that have to be reported to felonies that
pose a clear and present danger to children; excluding nonpublic schools
from the ambit of legislation that is ultimately a response to a
perceived problem in the public schools.

Most fundamentally, and in addition to these possible improvements, our
recommendation would be that the bill be revised to simply codify and
amplify the existing common law standard. Thus, the bill could continue
to require school employees immediately to report to their principals
crimes or threatened crimes affecting the health or safety of students,
as the current version of the proposed legislation does; and then
establish the principal's legal duty to take reasonable and appropriate
steps to deal with the harmful or dangerous conduct. The bill might spell
out what some of those steps might be, including immediate contact with
the Police Department if the nature of the situation is such that
reasonable care would demand such contact; but the bottom line
responsibility for exercising professional judgment in dealing with any given
situation would rest four-square on the principal's shoulders. Negligent or
reckless failure to discharge that responsibility would represent an
abrogation of a school's duty to care for its children, and could be basis for
liability.

Such an approach, we believe, would largely accomplish what the bill's
proponents seek to accomplish, while at the same time preserving the
critical element of professional discretion that has by and large served
schools and students well.

Many thanks for your consideration of our views.

D.Z.



UOJ Comments

I thank JWB for submitting this Agudath Israel Internal Memo.
They are effectively attempting to block legislation that would allow the police to be brought in when criminal conduct is uncovered.
If a crime was committed at the Agudah, would they call the Novominsker Rebbe or would they call the police?

Dovid Zweibel, why protect the principals when they are the worst offenders?
Where is the oversight from criminal behavior that the principal's perpetrate?
Is covering up a crime better or worse than committing the crime? We know molesters have been kept on yeshiva's payroll long after the molester was discovered.

Chaim Dovid you are a disgrace to our community!

We Were Getting Too Close For Comfort-Unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com Is Now Plural-Unorthodoxjews.blogspot.com

Fellow Un-Orthodox Jews.

The perverts and the perverters of our Torah are feeling the heat; our original web address was hacked.

Please e-mail & contact everyone you know who has been reading us, of our new address.

This should embolden all of us to continue in our important work.

Jewish Organizations That Are Covering Up Sexual Abuse In Our Schools - YOU ARE WARNED!

I urge anyone who has been a victim,or anyone that has any information at all about abusers and their protectors, to kindly contact Mr. Pasik.


How do any of you who supposedly are working for Klal Yisroel live with yourselves? You at Tora U'mesorah...., if this happened to your child, would you not have set the world on fire to CHANGE the system? Is this child not yours?- UOJ

Comments from two people that were molested.


1-"Regarding people in power abusing woman ,children and the like: At the age of 11 on Yom kippur afternoon I was physically assaulted by a respected member of a " out of town" community -Im not getting into the details but it wasnt pretty- etc. there were actually 2 aydim and drawing of blood no hasroah but definately bordering a chayev misah offense ( yom kippur,drawing blood) to make a long story short I was an 11 yr old wild kid- even my parents werent 100% backing me up- It was that farfetched of a story and this a well respected guy- no waves etc- On the way to his house the next day I took an icepick-my father pulled up to see this, calmed me down etc and that was it I made up my mind that when Im 17-18 big and strong etc like the " older boys" then i was gonna kill him!- Fast track to 17 I still remembered and i was still pissed. I spoke to the rav who knew of this guy and apparently i was noty the only one etc.In his own words " In Europe the askanim would take these kinds of people out of the shul on R'H or Y'K when all the talleisim were over peoples head -take them to the river and DROWN them!!"At this pt I was not too religious and involved with a little shadiness and my comment to the rav was well - screw dina dimalchusa- Im gonna take him to a dark alley etc! his response- " If we were in Europe I would go with you to that dark alley" BUT were not etc etc...Take him to B'D instead- and sue him monetarily for emotional damages this way win or lose - the word gets out! Ok- Before I decided to take it public I had a talk w/ his son - a sweet lo yutzlach who begged me due to shidduchim Please not to go public telling me-" My father is an ANIMAL" - You dont even know the begining of how me and my brothers suffered - never my mother for if so i would have killed him myself!!! With this in mind I decided on a simpler course of action with the sons blessing! 5:30 in the morning on the way to give his daf yomi shiur said rabbi was confronted -alone on a deserted street with jackboots and a .44..................

I did not kill the man.He tried to run and there was a confrontation-I still remember him asking me not to use nivul peh- that was the least of his problem -I directed him to a close by wooded area - got him on his knees- I asked him if he knew vidui baal peh.. He started to beg for his life< to interject- a cpl years before this my father did actually confront him asking him to ask me for mechila-he refused and told my father the following-" If a malach wasnt watching over me that afternoon -I wouldve killed your son!" my father refused to speak with him ever again! Why he didnt do more is another issue altogether>I realized that what happened to me was not gonna change-causing him pain or not,my primary concern at that time was to prevent him from doing things like that again.To that end I calmly explained to him that I would be watching him -If it happened again there will be no questions -and if he so much should lay a hand on anybody again there would be no malach there to save him.No Beis din .No more lies. Din.Dayan.Executioner all rolled into one- He understood very clearly this was not a joke -This was about 6-7 years ago .To my knowledge he has "reformed" He has not (and i keep tabs) bothered anyone since.I see him occasionaly in shul when I go back home- Ill ask him if hes behaving himself.He just quietly nods.Would I actually carry throgh if he would...??? I hope that that is a bridge I dont ever have to cross. The rabbi who was originally consulted in my case as well as many others that he had known about told me directly-" He has a din of a Rodeph" by doing these things hes killing kids neshomas..etc.There is however a dina dimalchusa issue which is why he recommended beis din. In Closing There are many ways to go in situations like these.I personally knew kids who violently confronted rabbis who had molested them etc. and ended up in jail.Clearly that is not a viable option. In my scenario while probably not being the most mature response -I was 17 - It seems to have worked .It seems a threat of imminent death can do wonders for self control.
UOJ and others - How should the COUNTLESS kids who have been abused in one form or another over the years- many still wandering the streets of flatbush,BP, Willy etc. confront the pain?? These are not yechidim- There are A LOT of these kids out there"!!

Friday, September 23, 2005
Why Is This Child Molester Being Kept At Rasha Gamur-Margulies's personal Piggy Bank - Tora Temima

2-Posted By David

"I too was molested by Rabbi Yidi Kolko, both while a student in 7th and 8th grades in Yeshiva Torah V'daas and during those same summers whilst a camper in Camp Agudah.

I used to get rides to school in the mornings with Yidi whether in his old blue car or in his brand new brown car. At that time he lived on 56th Street between 14th & 15th Avenue, whilst I lived on 57th Street, between 15th and 16th Avenues. He was newly married at that time and his first child, a daughter, was also just born then.

Once we got to the Yeshiva on Ocean Parkway, which then was just off of Caton Road, he would park the car (either down the block from the Yeshiva, on the Ocean Parkway service road, or around the corner, I think it was East 5th Street, and ask me to come over and either sit beside him or sit on his lap. Sometimes he would move over to the passenger seat and would then sit me on his lap.

That's when he went fishing. He would insert his hands down the front of my pants and would begin to "search around" to say the least. At the same time he would pull me closer to himself, or would push himself forward againt myself, sometimes even pushing me into the stearing wheel, to the point that it hurt.

Unfortunately I didn't react or complain. The winters were cold and these rides saved on not having to walk all the way to 13th Avenue to wait for the bus (especially on Sunday mornings), you were able to leave your house later since you could always make the ride, and you saved a couple of cents, which was a lot in those days.

During one of those Sunday mornings whilst we were driving on Caton Avenue, whilst I was sitting in the front passenger seat - I almost always sat in the front passenger seat - we were involved in a terrible traffic accident where a car went through a red light and slammed into Yidi's car. B"H we all got out without a scratch.

In Camp Aguda it was the same, whether if he took me into the trees, or into his cabin, or even would take me out for a drive. FYI, during the summer of 1970 I had my bar mitzva in the camp.

I of course told my parents and tried on several times
to explain to them what I was going through, but they didn't want to believe me and my "stories", etc. My father at that time was a very well known and respected person in the Boro Park & Midwood communities and within the Yeshiva world. So I just shut up and let the molestation and perversion continue.

I also think that Yidi Kolko is a danger to the students, past and present in Yeshiva Tora Temimah and I feel that it is about time that the wall of silence be torn down.

Did I suffer as a result, probably. But I have made a life for myself and today am very happily married with 4 wonderful children".

--
Posted by David to UN-ORTHODOX JEW at 9/23/2005 01:49:51 AM

UOJ Comments

Everyone in the community is complicit with this criminal Margulies!
Lipa Margulies is an example of how a BIG crook gets away with murder (yes, murder of the soul of G-d knows how many children),while the little guy gets trampled on.
Margulies is the # 1 low-life in the Orthodox community.
He began his school with a major fraud and massive theft.He is a first class thief and a phony minuvel.His God is the almighty dollar.I know him well, HE DOES NOT HAVE A RELIGIOUS BONE IN HIS BODY!

He continues to harbor a child molester.

Every board member of this school or person of influence should hide themselves in shame!There is no wonder why the community is plagued with tragedies.You bring it on yourselves. Generations of Jewish people suffer because you really don't give a damn about anything that you feel doesn't effect you directly.I hope your kids and grandkids suffer the same fate as the above David, at the hands of a vicious child molester.You are all no better than the KING SCUMBAG of the Jewish community!

UOJ


I am not ashamed to admit that I cried myself to sleep the night that I read this post. My wife kept waking me up in middle of the night because I was screaming in my sleep.

UOJ


Comments By Elliot B. Pasik, Esq.
Long Beach, New York
efpasik@aol.com

Somebody asked me yesterday about the statute of limitations, and I addressed myself to that issue in secular court. However, in halacha, there is no statute of limitations - it doesn't exist. Indeed, at "common law", much of which is based on Torah, there is no limitation period for bringing lawsuits. That's why we call them "statutes" of limitations - these statutes of limitations are in derogation of common law.

Thus, where there are credible allegations of sex abuse against any Jew, you can bring an action in Beis Din, and the "statute of limitations" defense will not be available. And there are some trustworthy, credible batei din which exist today.

In secular court, one can, in the caption of the case, identify oneself as John or Jane Doe, and also move for relief that the file be sealed, not open to the public, where the issues may be exceptionally sensitive. I've done this. If I had a case in Beis Din like this this, I would certainly ask for the same procedure, where my client wanted it.

If a client harmed by a Jew against whom there are credible allegations of sex abuse does not have the ability to pay, certainly, I would offer some level of pro bono legal services. I certainly would not charge for an inital conference. The client would also, clearly, need as to'ayn.

Additionally, by no means should a lawsuit be ruled out, based on the failure of the organized orthodox world to enact reasonable security measures to protect the 100,000 Jewish children attending yeshivas and day schools in NYS, and the 200,000 nationwide. Not to have background checks, and a disciplinary system/registry, is simply unconscionable. As far as the background checks are concerned, in New York it is absolutely clear that the legislative route is currently the way to go. But what about the internal disciplinary system/registry - to compel the yeshiva/day school world to do this, court may be the only way to go.

Certainly, nonprofits can and have been successfully sued in the past, under a variety of legal theories. I recall a case against the Jewish National Fund, based on allegations that they were publicly seeking donations on the representation that they would support projects on the other side of the Green Line, but in fact, they were not doing that.

If you're thinking of a lawsuit against a Jewish organization based on the sex abuse problem, you can be sure I've given that some thought. The OU is primarily an organization that services synagogues, promotes religious programs to youth (NCSY), advocates legal and social positions before the Government, and obviously, is in the kashrus business. It has very little to do with yeshiva and day schools. NCYI is similar to the OU.

Torah U'mesorah is a different story. They are an umbrella group for 700 yeshivas and day schools in the United States, educating 200,000 plus Jewish children. Certainly, their individual schools, and arguably, by extension, Torah Umesorah itself, owe a "special" or "heightened" duty of care to all of the children attending those schools to provide adequate security. Those words are in quotes, because they appear in court decisions.

Some courts refer to this duty as, "in loco parentis" - an ancient Latin phrase that means, in place of the parent. When a parent, under legal compulsion, transfers physical custody of his or her child to a school, that school stands in the place of the parent, and assumes the same duty of care that a parent has toward the child. Just as a parent would not hire a convicted sex offender as a babysitter, a school should not hire a sex offender as a janitor, kitchen worker, teacher, or rebbe.

Just from publicly held lectures, I know of two cases where convicted sex offenders did assault children in our mosdos.

We also simply don't know whether there are, in fact, convicted sex offenders working in yeshivas - because nobody checks. And nobody tells us. Why? Because there's no parents organization. No oversight. No lawyers looking over somebody's shoulder, with the children's interests at stake.

To convince anybody of the extent of the problem, go onto the website of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, click onto sex offender registry, and there you will find the lowest of the low - thousands of convicted Level 3 sex offenders - those adjudicated to be at the highest risk for repeating (Level 2 is moderate, and Level 1 is low risk, and they don't get onto the public website). You can search by county, zip code or name. And if you search by zip code, type in the zip codes for Borough Park, Rockland County, and Albany, click onto the Jewish names, and then staring you in the face will be Jewish men with beards and yarmulkes - Level 3 sex offenders. And there are other jurisdictions in this country where you can do the same thing. Then consider that any of these men can apply for a job in a yeshiva or day school, not get background-checked, and get the job. I printed some of these web site photos up, and in a discussion I had with a Rosh Yeshiva on this issue, he was very attentive, and supportive, but he wasn't really moved until he saw the photos. It is astonishing.

Ah, what about UNconvicted sex offenders. That is point 2 of my two point proposal. The vast majority of sex offenders don't get arrested and convicted. This is why we need an internal mechanism, possibly under the umbrella of Torah U'mesorah, or a parents organization, for internally disciplining any yeshiva/day school employee who is violent or commits a sexual assault. The New York City Department of Education has such a system and so too does every other public school system. We have 100,000 yeshiva/day school students in New York State. We need our own system, and we don't have one. At the two May 2003 Torah Umesora and RCA Conventions, several speakers told of incidents in which rabbi-molesters move from one yeshiva to another, after credible accusations are made. We have to stop this, by developoing an internal disciplinary system, and registry. The frum organizations have not done this, so we the parents must step in.

This is exactly what the May 2005 Resolution says, which I proposed and drafted - and was totally overlooked by the Jewish media. Its on rabbis.org. First, we need background checks, and next, we need a disciplinary system and registry.

Quite frankly, this is not complicated stuff. We just have to do it. But the RCA is primarily a synagogue rabbi organization, so they can't do it, and Torah Umesorah, an educational umbrella group of 700 yeshivas, which would seem like the right address for this, has failed to act. And even if they did belatedly act, what role do the parents play? Me? You? Where is the oversight?

In my opinion, the legislative route, as I've described, is preferable to a lawsuit, but if the legislative route fails - perhaps because there may be opposition from some quarters - certainly, then, all options should be considered. Public education departments get sued all the time for these kinds of things, and certainly, we all know what has happened in terms of lawsuits against the Catholic Church. We must remember that these are our children we're talking about, not the school's not the rabbi's, our children.

All of this clearly, clearly, clearly, needs an organization, despite the comments from the sole dissenter, Anon 5:05. None of us, not me, not UOJ, not anybody, can work alone.

I would also certainly cooperate with any newspaper interested in any aspect of this story.

Anon: 5:05. I see no useful purpose in continuing a dialogue with you, because it seems like you've got your mind made up, despite my saying that there are numerous aspects and nuances to this whole story which can't be told on a Blog. There is information out there which you are simply unaware of, and which can only be related in a b'kavodik organizational setting, where there is some reasonable level of confidentiality amongst the people involved, and where there is a thoughtful, intelligent exchange of ideas among activitist people. That's why I keep repeating that a parents group is necesssary. Practically every school in America, public and private, has a parents' organizations, except - did I say this before? - the Jews.

We need oversight, we need ideas, we need activism, we need each other - one more time, these are our children we're talking about.

I'm glad to hear that UOJ has gone to the Forward, and I would certainly cooperate with any journalist interested in this story.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 12:40 AM

Previous Posts From Un-Orthodoxjew.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Prominent Frum Lawyer Active On The Sex Abuse Problem In Our Community

Readers,
I am in communication with Mr. Pasik Esq., he is spending his own resources trying to institute various laws and programs to protect our children and vulnerable adults from sex abuse. I have done my due dilligence on this gentleman; he has an impeccable reputation in the legal as well as the Jewish community. I am urging members of our community to assist him in this noble and much needed effort.


I'm a lawyer, and I've been active in trying to do something about the problem of sex abuse in our community. In person, on the telephone, and by numerous letters and e-mails with all of the major frum organizations, I've been trying to accomplish two things:

1. Criminal background checks of all employees and volunteers working in yeshivas/day schools;

2. Torah U'mesorah having an internal registry of people who are unfit to work in our mosdos, because of a history of violence or sex abuse.

In May 2003, Torah U'Mesorah had a seminar on the problem of sex abuse, and some of the speakers said that the concept of a registry has been endorsed, but nothing has yet been done.

I got a boost in May 2005, when the RCA at its Convention passed a Resolution that I proposed and drafted, which endorses my two proposals. You can read it on their website, rabbis.org.

At this point, I've written letters to the Governor, and leaders of the Assembly and State Senate, asking for a new statute (law) that would require criminal background checks in all nonpublic schools, i.e., yeshivas, day schools. As I state in my letter, 42 out of 50 states require their public schools to perform background checks; 10 states require their nonpublic schools to do background checks; without compulsion of law, many nonpublic schools and volunteer youth groups are doing background checks, e.g., all Catholic schools, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Little League of America, etc. Only we Jews aren't doing this.

Public support for my proposal would help, and if you, or someone you know, or any other serious person reading this blog would like to invite me to speak somewhere, I am available.

Finally, I hope to form an association of yeshiva/day school parents and friends that will push this proposal, and also explore other, new ways to make our schools a better and safe place for our children. Again, all interested persons can contact me at my e-mail address below. I do have some specific ideas in my mind. I particularly need somebody with computer skills to set up a website, which will include some of my letters on this issue; and I also need lawyers who can set up a nonprofit corporation, eligible for tax deductions.

Kol tuv.

Elliot B. Pasik, Esq.
Long Beach, New York
efpasik@aol.com

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 12:55 PM | 96 comments

Monday, January 02, 2006
The Wrong Message From The Gun For Hire Charedi Stooge

by Jonathan Rosenblum

Though the economic crisis of the chareidi community in Israel is much discussed subject, that discussion typically focuses on the threat to our yeshivos or trumpeting the percentage of children under the poverty line to demonstrate the failure of the government's social and economic program. Much less frequently discussed is the impact of poverty on our homes and families.

I know of no authoritative statistics on the number of gittin in the chareidi community, but each one of us is privy to plenty of anecdotal evidence of the rise in divorce, in particular among young couples. Prior to the Gaza withdrawal, the black humor in at least one community with a high concentration of younger couples went: "Yehudi aino m'garesh Yehudi, aval Yehudi megaresh Yehudiah -- A Jew does not expel another Jew, but a Jew does divorce a Jewess."

Economic factors are rarely the only factors behind divorce. But no one would deny that economic pressures are adding new stresses to marriage, and that many marriages are not standing up to the strain. As Chazal say, "Arguments are not found in a man's home, except as a consequece of [a lack of] grain" (Bava Metziah 59b).

One of the leaders of the generation recently asked a respected talmid chacham to undertake a kollel in a community with many young couples. He couched his request not in terms of limud HaTorah, but rather in terms of "pikuach nefesh". The gadol told him that he personally knew of 12 cases of gittin in that community in which economic pressures were a major factor.

In many of these cases, the problems begin soon after the wedding, when the husband is unable to secure a place in Kollel. The areas to which young couples are attracted by virtue of relatively lower housing costs, are also furthest removed from major population centers and good jobs. As a consequence, many young married women find themselves with little, or no, work.

Even if the husband in such a situation spends most of the day in a beis hamedrash --by no means an easy matter, if one is not a member of a kollel -- the young couple inevitably find themselves too much in one another's company. Too frequently, each feels that their spouse has somehow failed him or her, either by failing to secure a place in kollel or to find a job, and as the pressures caused by a lack of incoming income mount so do the mutual recriminations.

The economic pressures on young couples are only one aspect of the problem. Unfortunately, those pressures do not abate with time and the growth of the family. A rosh yeshiva of a yeshiva ketana recently told me that even families in which both parents work, are often unable to pay full tuition, especially if they have already married off one or two children and are heavily in debt. By that time, of course, the marriage is on a much sounder basis than for young couples but daily, grinding pressure takes its toll on the ability of even the finest people to deal with the challenges that all married couples face.

NOT UNRELATED TO THE STRESS ON MARRIAGES from a lack of money even for basic necessities is the adverse impact on children.

We would like to think that the simplicity with which we live conveys to our children a message of mesirus nefesh for Torah. And that is no doubt true in many cases.

But where there is constant discussion in the house of a lack of money or squabbling between parents over monetary matters, the children may end up receiving a message far different than that which the parents intended to convey. The message for many children in such a situation is that money is the solution to all problems and that Torah learning is the cause. And that may be true even where the parents mesirus nefesh is in fact extraordinary and a reflection of both parents' sincere desire to sacrifice for the husband's growth in Torah learning.

Someone close to one of the leaders of the generation once told me of a young boy just a few years after bar mitzvah, who came into the gadol's house and demonstratively threw down his kippah. The gadol asked him to explain his dramatic act. The boy's reply: "Everything is no, no, no. We can't afford that because Tatte learns Torah. Even when all I want is a cheap candy, the answer is still, "No, because Tatte learns." That teenager viewed Torah study as a source of deprivation, rather than of the greatest imaginable joy, with predictable consequences for his future learning and mitzvah observance.

During his years as a rav in Tzitevian, Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky was very poor. His salary was collected from the members of the town in the smallest possible coins. Reb Yaakov and his Rebbetzin possessed only one pair of galoshes between them, and he had only one shirt to wear. Yet whenever the children asked for something, Reb Yaakov was careful not to tell them that he could not afford the item in question. Instead he always explained why the item in question was not really necessary.

Better that the children should see him as a tightwad, Reb Yaakov felt, than that they should feel that their father was unable to provide for them. Not only do too many of our children lack the security of feeling that their parents are able to supply their basic needs, but they feel that they too are destined for a life of even deeper poverty.

In the end the hidden costs of rampant poverty on the quality of our marriages and our children may turn out to be even greater than the more obvious consequences of poverty.


UOJ Comments

Jonathan,

Now I know you have lost it completely. Are you suggesting that the opening of new kollelim is a matter of life and death?? Do We need MORE kollelim and more young men breeding poverty?

How confused have you become? How many kids are you willing or able to support in kollel?

Assuming the average Charedi family has only five kids and each kid has five kids, add their spouses into the equation and in no time there are 30 people added to the welfare roles.

What kind of advice is this from a Yale graduate? Either you have become a dishonest broker for the Fundies, or you have gone off the deep end.

Then you end the article with an imaginary Art Scroll story, pathetic!

Shame on you!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 9:25 PM | 134 comments

Saturday, December 31, 2005
An Open Letter To Rabbis Moshe Tendler And Dovid Feinstein

Rabbonim,

This is the open letter I published July 20, a mere five months ago, urging Mordecai to settle this issue with the RCA. Please read it very carefully. I will direct a new letter to you at the end of the July letter to Mordecai.

(I urge readers to go back to July 20, click on the comments, and see how wrong you were for blasting me. I'm talking particularly to a few "bigshot" bloggers who have as much brains as the amoeba and apes they came from).



Wednesday, July 20, 2005
An Open Letter To Mordecai Tendler

I have no idea whether you are guilty or innocent of the many charges against you.

I do assume innocence,although the latest developments with the RCA causes me to pause.

I do not have a horse in this race.
I do not have a kugel in this oven.
I do not have a black hat on this head.

So for starters you need to know I hope you are innocent.

I did not say I hope you are" found "innocent,because the only thing you can be" found" is guilty.
You know what the score is. Either you are guilty or innocent,there is no gray area.
I do know what this fight with the RCA represents, and that makes me a nogaih b'dovor, because whatever the outcome of this matter, all streams of Orthodox Jewry will be affected.

Trying to avoid the well known cliche, I have come up with my own.

WHERE THERE IS CHOLENT,THERE IS HEARTBURN!

The above is a general rule that I learned throughout my own trials and tribulations that life offers. I sense that there is something here that does not quite meet the proverbial eye.
You have waited way too long to come out swinging. These rumors have been swirling around for years.

Why pick a fight with an adversary that you can not beat? You can NOT beat them!
They will destroy whatever is left of your reputation.
I am not saying you should not be defending yourself, but this Israeli bais din gimmick sounds and feels like camouflage and subterfuge.

I know Rabbi Shmuel Fried extremely well. He is the toain or attorney for the RCA.
A few things you must know about this guy.
HE IS THE SMARTEST AND SHREWDEST TOAIN ALIVE TODAY.
We speak often on business issues, especially when it comes to real estate.
He is unbeatable when his client is right, and never takes a case unless he is sure they are.

HE WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN ON THIS INTERCONTINENTAL BATTLE UNLESS HE IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT HE CAN WIN!


I know of your Toain Mittleman,he is out of his league.

Mordecai Tendler,

You are getting very bad advice.
Your ego will destroy you and your family.

This is my advice to you.

Give it up!

Have your respective representatives meet in private.

Let both sides come up with a pareve statement that is ambiguous.
Fried is a big mentsch,he will encourage a respectable settlement.

Mordecai,
You are in way over your head.
Your father and all your uncles will not be able to help you.
Fried will absolutely crush you!

SETTLE,SETTLE,SETTLE!

You are still the rabbi of your shul, if you proceed with this nonsense you will lose your job.
You will join Moshe Londinski from Seattle in no man's land.

I hope you don't one day have to look at this blog, wishing that you should have listened to this anonymous blogger.

The problem is people do not listen to free advice, so send a check in my name to your local Tomchei Shabbos.

GIVE IT UP!

SAVE YOUR FAMILY FROM MORE GRIEF!SETTLE BEFORE YOUR LIFE WILL BECOME UNBEARABLE.posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 12:05 AM | 36 comments



Rabbi Moshe Tendler And Rabbi Dovid Feinstein,

You are both New York boys, so no need for warm and fuzzy language.

You messed up big-time.

Instead of sitting down with Shmuel Fried and settling this matter, you let Mordecai and your egos get in the way of reality.
I warned Mordecai that Fried was going to CRUSH him. The legal action brought by Ms. Marmelstein has Fried's fingerprints all over it. He destroyed your son without himself or the RCA going to court.

Who do you think is behind this lawsuit. Who's idea was this and who encouraged her to proceed like this out of the blue??? Who do you think is advising her?

SHMUEL FRIED!!!!

You gotta be crazy to fight with Fried. He's doing this thirty some odd years and is a genius. Your family and all the good that it once represented will be turned into fertilizer.

And Fried has just begun, He will hit you from every direction imaginable.
He will pull witnesses out of his shtreimel that you never knew existed.
Mordecai will be facing criminal charges as well by the time Fried gets done with him. He has more tactics and strategies than Shlomo Hamelech had wives and concubines.

Proceed at the peril of "you" being accomplices in destroying your own family.

Sit down with Fried and settle, he can help you with the Marmelstein lawsuit, and pull the plug on his other tactics that will hit you in the head.
Pay no attention to Mordecai, he lost it years ago and needs serious help. You should force him to resign his job at KNH before he destroys that kehilla and whatever is left of your family's reputation.

Mordecai is lying to you; SETTLE WITH FRIED, SETTLE WITH THE RCA, SETTLE WITH MARMELSTEIN, GET THIS BEHIND YOU BEFORE THIS KILLS THE BOTH OF YOU.

I'm publising the Marmelstein lawsuit for shock value only. Perhaps Mordecai hid it from you. Read it carefully, PEOPLE DO NOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP. There is more coming, it will be relentless. SETTLE, SETTLE, SETTLE.

I wish you well,
UOJ


Case Against Rabbi Mordecai Tendler - Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York

Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York
Filed: December 20, 2005
Index No: 05117629
Plaintiff designates New York County as the place of trial
Summons
The basis of venue is plaintiff's residence
Plaintiff resides at:
(Address removed)
County of New York

Survivors Adina Marmelstein, Plaintiff,
-against-
Kehillat New Hempstead: The Rav Aron Jofen Community Synagogue, and
Mordecai Tendler, Defendant

To the above named Defendants:
You are hearby summoned to answer the compliant in this action and to serve a copy of our answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff's Attorney(s) within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service for within 30 days after the service is complete in this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); and in case of failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint.

Dated: New York, New York
December 20, 2005

Yours, etc., Kramer and Dunleavy, LLP
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Lenore Kramer, Esq.
A Member of the Firm
350 Braodway, Suite 1100
New York, New York 10013
(212) 226-6662


Defendants Addresses:
Kehillat New Hempstead: The Rav Aron Jofen
720 Union Road
New Hempstead, New York 10977

Mordecai Tendler
653 Union Road
Spring Valley, New York 10977
________________________
Page 2

Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York

Verified Complaint
Filed December 20, 2005
Index No: 05117629

Survivors Name Adina Marmelstein, Plaintiff,
-against-
Kehillat New Hempstead: The Rav Aron Jofen Community Synagogue, and
Mordecai Tendler, Defendants.

Plaintiff, by her attorneys, KRAMMER & DUNLEAVY, LLP., complaining of the defendants, respectfully alleges, upon information and belief, as follows:

1. That at all times hereinafter mentioned, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE, was and still is a domestic not-for-profit corporation duly organized and existing pursuant to the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York.

2. That at all times hereinafter mentioned, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE held itself open to members of the public as a place of worship, guidance and sanctuary.

3. Defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was and still is the founder and leader of defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.
_________________
Page 3

4. Upon information and belief, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was and still is an employee of defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.

5. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER had a reputation as a scholar, educator and community leader within the Orthodox community.

6. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER held himself out to the public and to the plaintiff as a counselor and advisor with an expertise in women's issues.

7. That the plaintiff (SURVIVORS NAME REMOVED) first became acquainted with defendant MORDECAI TENDLER and his work on behalf of women in 1994.

8. That beginning in 1994, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) consulted by telephone with the defendant MORDECAI TENDLER on various personal issues.

9. That beginning in 1995, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER began to actively recruit plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) to join his congregation at defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.

10. That in September, 1996, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) began attending services at defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.
_______________
Page 4

11. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER took on the role of counselor and advisor to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) and did counsel and advise her with respect to her personal, legal and financial problems.

12. At all relevant times, a relationship of confidence and trust existed between the plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) and the defendant MORDECAI TENDLER.

13. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER represented to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that she was his "favorite" and his "closest."

14. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER represented to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that he would "be there" for all of her needs.

15. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER represented to the plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that he would assist her in finding a prospective husband so that she would be able to marry and have children, as she wished.

16. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER represented himself as an advisor, a father figure and a god to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED).

17. Beginning in November, 2001, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER began a sexual relationship with plaintiff (NAMED REMOVED).
________________
Page 5
18. That from November 2001 through May, 2005, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER had an ongoing sexual relationship with plaintiff (NAME REMOVED).

19. That prior to and throughout the duration of the aforsaid sexual relationship, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER advised plaintiff (NAME REMOVED)
that she was "close to the possiblity of finding a husband" and that she would never find a husband in her current state.

20. That prior to and throughout the duration of the aforesaid sexual relationship, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER advised plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) to permit him to have sexual intercourse with her so that her "life would open up and men would come" to her.

21. That prior to and throughout the duration of the afordsaid sexual relationship, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER advised plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that "Everything was closed" to her and that she should let him "open up her to the world."

22. At all relevant times, defendant "MORDECAI TENDLER advised plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that, if she had sexual intercourse with him, "doors would open," she would be "open up to meeting men" and she "would get married and have children."

23. That from November 2001 through May, 2005, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER had sexual relations with plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) at
________________
Page 6
various locations, including in his rabbinical study at defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.

24. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER told plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that he "was as close to God as anyone could get."

25. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER told plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that he "talks to God all the time."

26. At all relevant times, defendant "MORDECAI TENDLER told plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that he "was the Messiah."

27. That plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was induced to engage in this physical relationship with defendant MORDECAI TENDLER as part of a course of sexual therapy which he represented would lead to her achieving her goals of marriage and children.

28. At all relevant times, defendant (MORDECAI TENDLER warned plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that, if she told anyone about the sexual therapy, he "would have her placed in a straight jacket," "have her put in the penitentiary" and/or "have her thrown in jail."

29. At all relevant times, defendant "MORDECAI TENDLER warned plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that, if she told anyone about the sexual therapy, he "would have her banned from the shul (synagogue)" and "would turn the community against her."
________________
Page 7

30. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER advised plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) that engaging in sexual relations with him, was her "only hope" to open her up to become receptive to men.

31. At all relevant times, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) believed the words, advice and threats of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER.

32. That once plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) submitted to his course of sexual therapy, rather than assisting her to reach her goals of marriage and children, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER physically and emotionally abused plaintiff for his own sexual pleasure and gratification.


AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION FOR FRAUD

33. Plaintiff repeats and reiterates each and every allegation contained in paragraphs 1 though 32 inclusive, with the same force and effect as in specifically set forth herein at length.

34. That the aforesaid representations made by defendant MORDECAI TENDLER to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) were false and reckless.

35. That at the time he made the aforesaid representations, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER knew them to be false and reckless.

36. That defendant MORDECAI TENDLER made the aforesaid representations with the express intent to deceive plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) and induce her into a sexual relationship with him.
________________
Page 8
37. That in knowingly making the aforesaid false and reckless representations to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED), defendant MORDECAI TENDLER took unfair advantage of his position as her counselor and advisor.

38. Plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) relied on the false and reckless misrepresentation of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER and engaged in sexual relations with him.

39. That had plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) known that the course of sexual therapy advised by defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was solely for his personal pleasure and gratification, she would not have engaged in sexual relations with him.

40. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was physically violated, had her reputation impugned, was ostracized from her synagogue and has lost her standing in the community.

41. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) has been injured and damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all the lower Courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction over this action.

AS AND FOR THE SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION FOR BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY

42. Plaintiff repeats and reiterates each and every allegation contained in paragraphs 1 through 41 inclusive, with the same force wand effect as if specifically set forth herein at length.
________________
Page 9

43. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER occupied a position as fiduciary to the plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) as her counselor, advisor and therapist and owed her a relationship of trust and confidence.

44. That as a result of the foregoing, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER breached his fiduciary duty to plaintiff (NAME REMOVED).

45. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was physically violated, had her reputation impugned, was ostracized from her synagogue and lost her standing in the community.

46. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was caused to and has suffered and sustained severe and serious personal injuries, severe and serious conscious pain and suffering, severe and serious mental distress and anguish and attendant economic losses.

47. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) has been injured and damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all lower Courts that would other wise have jurisdiction over this action.

AS AND FOR THE THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

48. Plaintiff repeats and reiterates each and every allegation contained in paragraph 1 through 47 inclusive, with the same force and effect as if specifically set forth herein at length.

________________
Page 10

49. Defendant MORDECAI TENDLER encouraged his congregates at defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE, to harass, threaten and intimidate plaintiff (NAME REMOVED).

50. The congregates at defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE did harass, threaten and intimidate plaintiff (NAME REMOVED).

51. Defendant MORDECAI TENDLER engaged in a concerted scheme to embarrass, humiliate and diminish plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) in the orthodox community so as to injure her reputation and destroy her credibility.

52. Defendant MORDECAI TENDLER knew, or should have known, that his actions towards plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) in falsely inducing her into a sexual relationship, in physically violating and abusing her, in causing her to be harassed, threatened, intimidated and ostracized from the community and in intentionally injuring her reputation and standing in the community would result in serious emotional distress, pain and suffering to her.

53. In doing the actions hereinabove alleged, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER acted with willful, wanton, reckless, intentional and deliberate disregard for the likelihood that plaintiff would suffer severe emotional distress, pain and suffering as a direct and proximate result of his actions.

________________
Page 11
54. The aforementioned wrongful conduct of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was extreme and outrageous and went beyond all bounds of civility and decency.

55. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was caused to suffer severe mental and emotional distress, pain and suffering.

56. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) has been injured and damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all lower Courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction over this action.

AS AND FOR A FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

57. Plaintiff repeats and reiterate each and every allegation contained in paragraphs 1 through 56 inclusive, with the same force and effect as if specifically set forth herein at length.

58. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was aware that plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) trusted him, relied on him and placed her confidence in him.

58. At all relevant times, defendant MORDECAI TENDLER knew or should have known that his actions would cause her severe mental and emotional distress, pain and suffering.
________________
Page 12
59. That as a result of defendant's actions, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was caused to suffer severe mental and emotional distress, pain and suffering.

60. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) has been injured and damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all lower Courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction over this action.

AS AND FOR A FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENT RETENTION

61. Plaintiff repeats and reiterates each and every allegation contained in paragraphs 1 through 60 inclusive, with the same force and effect as if specifically set forth herein at length.

62. At all relevant times, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE was aware of the aforesaid conduct and actions of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER.

63. At all relevant times, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE knew or should have known of propensity of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER for the aforesaid conduct.

64. At all relevant times, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE knew or should
________________
Page 13

have known that defendant MORDECAI TENDLER used his rabbinical study at the synagogue to conduct his sexual therapy sessions with congregation members.

65. At all relevant times, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE knew of facts that would lead a predent party to investigate the use by defendant MORDECAI TENDLER of his rabbinical study at the synagogue.

66. At all relevant times, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE had notice of prior allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by defendant MORDECAI TENDLER.

67. That in spite of the aforesaid notice of prior allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by defendant MORDECAI TENDLER, defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE took no steps to warn or protect plaintiff and other female congregants, to adequately supervise defendant, to remove defendant from his position of authority or to make an appropriate investigation.

68. That defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE, was grossly negligent as follows: in failing to properly and adequately supervise the activities of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER; in failing to use reasonable care to correct the conduct of defendant MORDECAI TENDLER; in failing to remove defendant MORDECAI TENDLER was an employee; in failing to conduct an adequate and appropriate investigation; in
________________
Page 14
failing to warn congregants of in failing to take the steps necessary to have prevented the fraud and assault on plaintiff; and, in further failing to exercise that degree of due care as a reasonable party under the same or similar circumstances.

69. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was physically violated, had her reputation impugned, was ostracized from her synagogue and lost her standing in the community.

70. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) was caused to and has suffered and sustained severe and serious personal injuries, severe and serious conscious pain and suffering, severe and serious mental distress and anguish and attendant economic losses.

71. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) is entitled to recover punitive damages from and against defendant KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE.

72. That as a result of the foregoing, plaintiff (NAME REMOVED) has been injured and damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all lower Courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction over this action.

WHEREFORE, plaintiff demands judgment against defendants KEHILLAT NEW HEMPSTEAD: THE RAV ARON JOFEN COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE and MORDECAI TENDLER for both compensatory and punitive damages in the sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of all lower Courts that would.
________________
Page 15
otherwise have jurisdiction over this action and is within the jurisdiction of this Court

Dated: New York, New York
December 20, 2005


Yours, etc.,
KRAMER & DUNLEAVY, L.L.P.
By Lenore Kramer
A Member of the Firm
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Office and Post Office Address
350 Broadway - Suite 1100
New York, New York 10013
(212) 226-6662
________________
Page 16
VERIFICATION

STATE OF NEW YORK )
:ss
COUNTY OF NEW YORK)

I, the undersigned, an attorney admitted to practice in the Courts of New York State, state that I am a member of the firm of KRAMER & DUNLEAVY, L.L.P. attorneys for the plaintiff in the within action; I have read the foregoing verified complain and know the contents thereof; the same is true to my own knowledge, except as to the matters therein stated to be alleged on information and belief, and as to those matters I believe it to be true. The reason this verification is made by me and not by plaintiff, is because the plaintiff is not now within the County where deponent maintains her offices.

The grounds of my belief as to all matters not stated upon my own knowledge are as follows:

Conversations with plaintiff and a review of the file maintained at my office on this matter.

I affirm that the foregoing statements are true, under the penalties of perjury.

Dated: New York, New York
December 20, 2005

Lenore Kramer

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:07 PM | 109 comments

Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Famous Author Looking For Participants From New Jersey

Dear Readers,

I received this e-mail from Hella Winston, the author of the Unchosen. I read her book, no surprises, but a very interesting read.
I am in communication with the author; she assures me that she has no other agenda other than to report the various experiences of people who are struggling with, or who have left Orthodox Judaism.The identities of the people will not be revealed.
She kindly requests that you e-mail me at: a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com; I will forward them on to her.

Hello! I am writing to introduce myself, and to ask whether anyone
who posts here is from New Jersey. The reason I ask is that there is
a reporter from a New Jersey (Jewish) paper who is planning to write
a story pegged to my book, Unchosen, about the issues it raises. He
would like to speak with people who grew up strictly Orthodox
(chassidish or litvish) in New Jersey, or who live there currently.

He is interested in people's intellectual and emotional struggles,
as well as how they are treated by the larger the "community" if they
go public with their doubts and questions,leave altogether, etc.
One of the issues I have discussed with him is the way in which people
who openly question, or who "go off,"often get labeled as mentally ill, narcissistic, unable to control their lust, losers, etc.

But I don't think my thoughts are nearly as compelling
as hearing from people who have actually lived this experience.
If anyone here feels that they would like to be interviewed
for this article (the reporter has assured anonymity), I will put you in
touch with the reporter. (The Newark Star Ledger is also planning a
similar piece and is also looking for participants as well, but I
believe that will happen later in the month).

Thanks so much and I apologize in advance if anyone here feels that this post was in any way an intrusion into your privacy.

Hella Winston

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 8:05 PM | 51 comments

Another Chag, Another Scandal -Kashruth & Money Don't Mix Well With Oil

by N. Katzin

Two weeks ago Taaman CEO Chaim Shalom told the following telltale fact: If olive oil is priced below NIS 20 per bottle it might be fake. One week later Taaman olive oil could be found on grocery store shelves for NIS 11.75. So what is the smart consumer to conclude? This anecdote typifies the state of the olive oil market in the chareidi sector during the Chanukah season. It seems the rumor mongers who started disseminating stories about supposedly fake olive oil did not imagine how high up the rumors would spiral.

The wild competition in the lucrative oil market reached its peak recently when competing dealers sent samples of each other's products to the Israeli Standards Institute for lab testing, only to find not a single brand met the institute's standards. What are we to make of these findings? Have commonly sold olive oils really been uncovered as fake? What does the kashrus seal on the bottle indicate?

The first rumors in circulation spoke of revelations that products labeled olive oil were actually not made from olives according to the Standards Institute. These vague rumors from unnamed sources effectively indicted all of the dealers selling low-priced oils. The rumors were accompanied by supposed telltale signs of fake olive oil.

Chaim Shalom of Taaman, whose oil was sold at a relatively high price, explained that the primary identification mark of fake olive oil is the price. "Every bottle sold today under NIS 20 is suspect since the oils in Spain itself are currently priced at approximately NIS 17 per bottle," he said. The same rumors suggested the chareidi consumer could also spot fake olive oil according to the shape of the bottle. These rumors were accompanied by praise for the quality of Taaman olive oil, which should be a sufficient tip- off for even the innocent reader to realize this is not exactly objective advice.

The rumors alerted the managers of chareidi grocery store chains who were astonished to discover an attempt had been made to set high price levels by disseminating vague rumors about low-priced products. They insisted olive oil sold for NIS 15-19 — and even less — was genuine.

The claims of false olive oil were reminiscent of the walnut oil affair on Erev Pesach 5765, when major shortages in olive oil jacked up prices significantly. At the time Yated Ne'eman revealed that the exclusive importer, Taaman, was accused of taking advantage of the situation to rake in large profits at the public's expense. The company's CEO denied the claims.

Discovered Fake Last Chanukah

Where did the rumors really originate? Apparently from a combination of factors.

The only bona fide fake was a product labeled "Yerushalayim Semen Zayit Katit," which HaRav Machpud's Yoreh De'ah organization announced was no longer under their kashrus supervision. But this was actually old news, for a simple test revealed it was fake even before last Chanukah.

Last year the standards institute issue a press release saying two brands of olive oil, Yerushalayim and Romis, had been found to be diluted with soy oil although they were packaged as fine pressed olive oil. Both brands were marketed for eating, not for lighting purposes, whereas the recent rumors referred to candlelighting oil.

Another brand, Menora, also lost its kashrus certification. Contrary to rumors Chug Chasam Sofer of Bnei Brak did not remove its kashrus certification because the product was not genuine olive oil.

"We discovered the oil was purchased by a party that bought the oil in barrels, bottled it and sold it to two dealers who marketed it," a Chasam Sofer spokesman told Yated Ne'eman. "We learned the bottled oil was sent to a certified lab for tests and was found to be 100 percent pure, clean olive oil. But because the oil was not under our supervision at the time of packaging we removed our kashrus certification and announced that Menora olive oil was not under our responsibility."

"Anyone who reads the wording of the announcement carefully can see this was stated very clearly, not that fake [olive oil] had been discovered but that the oil was packaged without supervision and therefore we do not take responsibility for it. The decision was made several days before we made a public announcement and certainly before the rumors about fake [olive oil] began to circulate."

The Kashrus Seal and the Reliability of the Oil

The products the rumors refer to were marketed under mehadrin kashrus. What does the kashrus seal indicate? Does the hechsher apply only to the kashrus of the product or does it include supervision over the reliability of the claims by the manufacturer or dealer?

According to the Badatz Eida Chareidis its kashrus "includes supervision to ensure the oil is 100 percent pure olive oil as the label indicates. We are very careful to avoid misleading the public in this matter, which is important in and of itself."

Through its representatives in Eretz Yisroel, Dayan Osher Yaakov Westheim's kashrus organization also confirms the olive oil under its supervision is 100 percent pure. They say Maagal Hashana Olive Oil was under their supervision "from the start of the production process to the finish, all along the way through the marketing of the product. In the middle samples were sent to certified labs and it was found to be clean olive oil."

Dr. Eliyohu Licht, a chareidi chemist and an established authority in the area of kashrus, refused to comment on any brand of olive oil, but remarked, "Every chemist checks the samples brought to him at the lab and the certification applies to these samples and not all of the products. The chemist certainly does not oversee or grant a hechsher for the products.

"I would also like to state regarding quotes that had me saying one brand of candlelighting olive oil or another is edible and the label `Semen Zayis Lema'or' is affixed because of import customs, etc.—if the manufacturer does not take responsibility the olive oil is edible nobody else will take responsibility for determining the oil is edible."


Pure Olive Oil — But Does Not Meet Standards

Dr. Eliyohu Licht explains in greater detail what tests are conducted on olive oil.

The first test is to check the fatty acid, which provides an indication of its source. Every type of oil has a different composition, which allows us to identify whether it is olive oil or a different type of oil, i.e. whether the olive oil was diluted with a different type of oil. If the additives are a substantial percentage they can be discovered at this stage.

Two other tests relate to quality: Acidity testing: olive oil contains free acids. The standard institute ascribes different terms to olive oil according to a ranking of acidity. Extra virgin cold pressed olive oil has an acidity level of up to 1 percent. Virgin olive oil has an acidity level of up to 2 percent. Regular olive oil has up to 3.3 percent.

Beyond 3.3 percent acidity, according to the standards this is inedible olive oil. Dr. Licht notes, "The public should be made aware that even if the standard sets an upper limit of 3.3 percent still this does not mean that in actuality the oil cannot be consumed. The limit is hard to determine. In any event olive oil above 3.3 percent acidity is not fake. It is pure, clean olive oil, but it is not of high enough quality in the eyes of the Standards Institute. By the way, acidity level is advancing and rising all the time [as part of the normal aging process of olive oil]."

Another test is peroxide value: oil that comes in contact with air oxidizes and goes bad over time. The standard institute has determined that within one year of bottling the peroxide level should not exceed 8. It definitely can happen that when the bottle was filled the oil has a value of 2-3 and at the end of the year it is hovering around the 8- mark.

This leads us to an interesting conclusion: olive oil should not be stored, certainly not for more than a year, for its quality diminishes over time.
( In other words, throw out the oil so you have to buy F*** NEW kosher oil next year at a higher price, GET IT??? - Who makes this shit up? UOJ)

Another test is solvent residue. Olive oil can be 100 percent clean, but pose a health hazard. Using a chemical process oil can be extracted from olive dregs after the pressing. Although the oil is clean and has a low acidity level, its quality is poor and it may contain chemical residue.

Note: This article addresses consumer, not halachic issues surrounding olive oil (except for the sidebar).

The closer Chanukah came the stiffer the competition became. Dealers sent samples of competing brands to private labs for testing and reveled in the findings: none met the standards for olive oil. But their exultant claims competing brands were "fake," were based on a lack of knowledge and understanding, for the standards institute does not have a separate set of criteria for candlelighting oil.


Did a shyster infiltrate the group of dealers involved in the import and marketing of candlelighting oil and deceive the public by diluting olive oil? This claim goes unsupported. It goes without saying that the chareidi consumer should not buy olive oil blindly but should choose the product based on the trustworthiness of the importer, manufacturer and seller, and of course "mehudar" kashrus.

Ho-Hum just another day in the world of bullshit hashgachas.
UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:33 PM | 20 comments

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Rabbinic Judaism Inc.


A Portable God for the World’s First Multinational Business


Sources:
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews (Phoenix Grant, 1987)
Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion (Pluto Press, 1994)
Dan Cohn-Sherbok, The Crucified Jew (Harper Collins,1992)
Henry Hart Milman, The History of the Jews (Everyman, 1939)
Josephus, The Jewish War (Penguin, 1959)
Leslie Houlden (Ed.), Judaism & Christianity (Routledge, 1988)
Karen Armstrong, A History of Jerusalem (Harper Collins, 1999))
Jonathan N. Tubb, Canaanites (British Museum Press, 1998)
Norman Cantor, The Sacred Chain - A History of the Jews (Harper Collins, 1994)

Whatever daughter religions might spin off from old Judaism, the parent religion itself had inevitably to refashion itself for the new era. After the disaster of 135 AD, a number of Jews retreated into asceticism, banning meat and wine altogether, since sacrifice in the temple was no longer possible. Others lost themselves in mysticism, attempting to reach the ‘celestial throne’ via their imagination, the forerunners of the later ‘Kabala’.

But for all their suffering, most Jews were not ready to bastardise their traditional creed by infusing it with the dying godman mythology. The vacuum was filled by ‘Rabbinic Judaism’, the inheritor of the Pharisee tradition.

"The rabbis, a smallish group (perhaps a hundred or so in the whole Roman empire) of religious specialists descended from the Pharisees, gradually enhanced their status and developed a specifically Jewish way of arguing, which marked them off quite dramatically from both Christians and Romans." (Keith Hopkins, A World Full of Gods, p234)

In Palestine itself, where the Jews were now a minority, what remained of traditional Judaism turned inward. No longer could its priests use the ‘temple magic’ once used to summon divine favour, no longer could Judaism be proselytised.

The Rabbis became ‘clericalised’ – obsessed with cultic ‘rules’ as a practical substitute for the lost temple. They peopled the air itself with beneficent and malign spirits. A Jewish ‘code to live by’ - the Mitzvoth (the forerunner of ‘monastic rules’) detailed no fewer than 613 rules, governing every pious moment from waking to sleeping, to keep the Jew on the right side of an all-seeing God.

‘His rising from his bed, his manner of putting on the different articles of dress, the disposition of his fringed tallith, his phylacteries on his head and arms, his ablutions, his meals, even the calls of nature were subjected to scrupulous rules – both reminding him that he was of a peculiar race, and perpetually reducing him to ask the advice of the Wise Men, which alone could set at rest the trembling and scrupulous conscience.’ (Milman, History of the Jews, p165)

Within a few generations Judaism would be codified anew, into a portable (albeit confining) religion which could accompany and – fatally – identify this pseudo-race in their wanderings in the centuries ahead. By the close of the fifth century, the total population of Jews would be half of what it was at the beginning of the ‘Christian era’.(See, Cantor, ibid)

The Jewish people – dispersed but bonded by an exclusive faith, uniquely among ‘peoples’ – established enclaves in every major city from India to Spain, from Arabia to Britain. Capitalising upon this network of ‘safe havens’, and with a filial presence in every major resource, from African ivory to Germanic slaves, the Jews threw themselves into the commerce of the ancient world.

Jewish merchants traversed with impunity the hostile frontiers between Rome and Persia, sailed the sea lanes from the chilly rivers of Germany to the balmy seas off the Horn of Africa. The Jews became dealers in amber and fur, gold and silver, slave-traders and money-lenders.

But they were also dealers in superstition as well as produce:

‘The empire swarmed with Jewish wonder-workers, mathematicians, astrologers, or whatever other name or office they assumed or received from their trembling hearers.’
(MiIlman, History of the Jews, p158)

Levies on their new wealth paid for a programme of synagogue building, and in turn, the synagogues strengthened the bonds of the Jewish communities. Rarely assimilating into their host cultures, convinced they were especially favoured by the deity (and thus strengthened in their faith), the heady mix of piety and mercantilism rewarded the Jews with an unparalleled financial success – and an unequalled and universal opprobrium.


UOJ Comments

Sound familiar?

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 9:31 PM | 38 comments

Saturday, December 24, 2005
Kollel Meant For The Select Few, Not For Parasites Whose Sole Talents Are Baby Making - Says The "Ballsy"Rebbe

By Yair Ettinger

"Israel is not a state of parasites," shouted Labor's candidate for prime minister, Amir Peretz, at a businessmen's club last week.

He said he was confident he could "reach agreements with leading rabbis that productive work, which provides a living and dignity, is not contradictory to Torah studies."

But the leading rabbis and ultra-Orthodox public are not waiting for Peretz. The issue of men going to work (ultra-Orthodox women have always worked outside the home) instead of remaining in the halls of study has risen to the top of the ultra-Orthodox agenda.

The growing poverty in this community as a result of the slashing of state allowances without any let up in the birth rate, the Tal Law enabling more flexibility in going to work and social changes in the ultra-Orthodox communities have created a new reality. More men are seeking jobs, even in areas once closed to them.

Colleges and ultra-Orthodox centers for vocational training, which were first set up in the `90s, are now thriving. No less important is the renewal of an ancient ideological argument about making a living and the proper proportion between Torah study and work.

The Belzer rebbe, Rabbi Issachar Dov Rokeach, gives his annual "political speech" at the end of Simhat Torah. His last speech to thousands of followers in Jerusalem's world Belzer center is still making waves two months later in both the hasidic and Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox communities, in Israel and overseas. The speech was partially devoted to going out to work.

"Long-term students in yeshivas who are talented and have the economic means, are fortunate," he began. "But students who after a year see their studies are not going well, whether because of their skills or their economic situation, must learn a profession that earns a living. I'm not talking about getting rich but earning a living, so that one does not fall into debt... One can prepare for this in the yeshiva and devote a few hours a week in the evening to studying a profession."

The Belzer rebbe has always been considered a maverick who goes against the mainstream, whether in his own court or vis-a-vis other rabbis. This is not the first time he has urged his hasids to go to work. But this year he encouraged acquiring a profession in an institution.

People in his court say he is determined to fight to change the situation that forces his hasids to live in poverty. But the main novelty in the situation is that Agudat Yisrael's newspaper Hamodia published his address on its front page.

"The rebbe has advocated going to work for years, as have other rebbes. But the important thing is that this is exactly opposite of what the secular people want - to have the haredis leave the yeshives and stop studying Torah - his message is that they can go to work and continue to study and preserve a Jewish life style," says a senior Belzer source.

This week, on the Kolel (religious education institution for married men) floor in the Belzer center a note was posted on the bulletin board: "Students are invited to a course in real estate, which will open in the next few days."


UOJ Comments

Well, we at UOJ have been ranting and predicting that the day will come when the leidegeirs ( people with nothing constructive to do) will be forced to go to wwwwwork,a difficult word to utter for many.

The State has basically told the Charedim," F.U.", we had enough of your B.S., we can get elected by buying off a few key Charedim in positions close to the decision makers of the religious parties.
The "Ballsy" Rebbe realizing " game over", takes a pre-emptive strike to garner support from the State and from the baalei batim who had enough of their kids' parasitic behavior.(Make no mistake, he will be handsomely rewarded by the Government).

The day is not that far away when this model will be used here in the U.S..The Kotlers, and their compatriots will fight this with all their might. If this concept were to take hold in the U.S.A.," their" Monopoly game with "our" real money will come to a screeching halt.

I view their change in venue for their yearly dinner to a buffet in Brooklyn, as the first sign that their baalei batim are telling them, "hey guys, bring your "five ring circus" to us, we're tired of you telling us to waste a complete evening on your version of how to buy real estate with no money down".

Change is difficult and slow. The "Ballsy" Rebbe has made this move for selfish reasons, he would rather use all the money he can garner for his new shuls, schools and personal agenda. He, as well had enough of seeing his coffers being bled dry by assholes who would rather roam the streets of Tel-Aviv, than be in the bais medrash.

Atlantic City casinoes and houses of ill-repute may soon have to look for new clientele; clients that are clean-shaven, clean clothed, and clean conscienced.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:10 PM | 116 comments

Thursday, December 22, 2005
Kosher Electricity-What's Next?

Gedolei Yisroel Call for Reinforced Efforts to Use Kosher Electricity on Shabbos

by A. Cohen

Gedolei Yisroel including Maran HaRav Eliashiv, shlita, signed a letter of encouragement for the askonim who are making marked progress toward plans to install a Shabbos generator for the entire city of Modi'in Illit.

The letter was written by HaRav Eliashiv and his signature appears along with those of HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, HaRav Nissim Karelitz, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and HaRav Shmuel Auerbach. "It is a great mitzvah," read the letters, "to assist the activists who committed themselves to this important matter of strengthening Shabbos observance by supplying the city of Modi'in Illit with electricity on Shabbos generated without chilul Shabbos, which is an act of kiddush Sheim Shomayim."

The gedolei Yisroel who signed the letter attach great importance to kosher electricity in every place with a large concentration of chareidi residents. "It is well known how [strongly] Maran HaChazon Ish zt"l [opposed] the use of electricity generated through chilul Shabbos Kodesh. And it is kovod Shabbos for the botei knesses and streets as well to be illuminated by electricity kosher for Shabbos."

The letters ends, "And may all of those helping toward this effort be blessed with the blessings of Shabbos, which is the source of all blessing. As is stated in the Talmud Yerushalmi, `"Bircas Hashem hi sa'ashir" refers to Shabbos' (Brochos, Chap. 2, Hal. 7), "and may the merit of the tzaddik [the Chazon Ish] protect all of those assisting in this matter to be blessed with all of the blessings written in the Torah."

The letter was written at the end of Tishrei following progress in setting up the electrical plant in Modi'in Illit. Recently the plan took another major step forward when City Council Head Rabbi Yaakov Guterman met with top officials including Electricity Authority Chairman David Assos, Electric Corporation's CEO Dr. Yaakov Ratzon and the assistant directors in charge of planning the generator project. At the meeting the two sides signed an agreement on the construction of the plant.

Electric Corporation heads said they were pleased over the letter by maranan verabonon, which was presented during the course of the meeting. They pledged to work to have the Shabbos power plant in operation as soon as possible.

The Modi'in Illit project is expected to serve as an example for other places with large chareidi populations.

UOJ Comments

The Charedis' coffers are dead broke.
The organizations are corrupt from top to toe, stealing, yes stealing from the government and fraudulently raising money for people and causes that are non-existent. Who is dreaming this shit up?

Do people stay up at night thinking what other chumras we can slap on to our followers? Boasting that R' Elyashiv signed his name to this "important" cause, tells us how OUT of touch he is with the reality around him.
He is suppose to pasken for us in America, when he is clueless as to what is going on in his own backyard???

Kosher electricity is on it's way to Monsey, Boro Park and Flatbush while we are probably eating non-kosher food. I'm certain that's what the Chazon Ish had in mind.
Any more window dressing coming? Any more cover-ups of the real problems, by changing the subject?
This is sickening!

Chaval!!!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 3:06 PM | 65 comments

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
A History Of Kashrus Scandal In America

By Joseph Adler

When the great Jewish migration from Eastern Europe to the United States began in the late 1880s there were about two hundred major congregations in the country, of which only about a dozen were Orthodox. Indeed, for most of the nineteenth century no Orthodox rabbi of repute had established himself in the United States. Organized Judaism remained foremost a virtual monopoly of the Reform movement, which the German-Jewish immigrants of earlier decades had brought with them to America.

Orthodox congregational life in the two decades preceding the advent of the twentieth century was at best chaotic, and lacked real leadership. Congregations created by the Orthodox immigrants were constantly springing up, only in many instances to be torn apart by factionalism within a short time. In most cases the services at these little synagogues established by the first groups of Eastern European Jewish immigrants were conducted by the most learned members of each congregation; often their learning was quite minimal. Plagued by a lack of qualified rabbis, ignorant of the problems poised by life in a secularized environment, Orthodox leadership was slow to grasp the fact that Old-World religious authoritarianism could not easily be transferred wholesale to the New-World. In the new environment with its congregational polity and voluntaristic character, the automatic leadership of the rabbinate was not accepted without question.

This situation was a far cry from Eastern Europe where the rabbi had served as a communal rather than a congregational official. With State approbation, legal matters among Jews had been left to Jewish law, and the rabbis adjudicated that law. In short, a rabbi had been envisaged not as a pastor but as a jurisconsult. In America, however, the State pre-empted virtually all matters of law. Thus, for example, a rabbi could not grant divorces, could not decide matters of inheritance and adoption, could not so much as perform marriage ceremonies without State approval.

Adding to the Orthodox rabbi's diminished power and prestige in America during this period of mass immigration, was the competition he encountered from non-ordained self-styled "reverends." Indifferent to Jewish, or even American law, many of these charlatans presided over dubious practices. They conducted questionable marriage ceremonies, and granted illicit divorces, and most profitably of all, competed in the single area of Jewish life that offered authentic rabbis a certain economic security — namely, the supervision of "kashrut" (the Jewish dietary code), especially those laws relating to ritual meat slaughter.

Scandals relating to "kashrut" were already an old story in Eastern European Jewish life, but nowhere did they flourish as extensively as in the United States, a nation lacking an officially recognized Jewish communal authority. Agonizing over this state of affairs an attempt had been made as early as 1879 to organize the Orthodox congregations of New York. The effort, however, proved abortive. Some years later, in 1886, a group of eighteen Orthodox consregations managed to successfully band together under the name Association of American Orthodox Rabbis. They agreed to import a rabbi from Europe who would be given the title "chief rabbi," and be responsible for rulings on matters of ritual and belief; raising the spiritual level of the faithful; and bringing order to the preparation and sale of kosher products.

Accordingly, the Association of American Orthodox Rabbis corresponded with the leading rabbis in Europe, and eventually settled on the choice of Jacob Joseph, a highly respected rabbinic scholar of unimpeachable piety. Rabbi Joseph had been born in Kovno (Lithuania) in 1848, and as a youth studied at the famous "yeshivah" (talmudic academy) at Volozhin under Hirsch Leib Berlin and Israel Salanter. His aptness as a student had won him the title "harif" (sharp-witted), and after ordination he served as a rabbi in various Jewish communities of the Russian Empire. Joseph's piety and scholarship was soon recognized and he was rewarded with the prominent post of "maggid" (preacher) of the great Jewish community of Vilna (Lithuania).

The Association committed itself to pay Rabbi Joseph the munificent salary of $2,500 per year, and bestowed upon him the title "chief rabbi." In July of 1888 stevedores at the port of Hoboken (New Jersey) were treated to the spectacle of some ten thousand bearded Orthodox Jews awaiting Joseph's arrival. The Lithuanian rabbi was greeted appropriately with cheers, pious chanting, and prayers of welcome.

However, from the outset the appointment of Rabbi Joseph by the Association created a furor among certain Jewish circles. Many Orthodox congregations who did not partake in the selection refused to recognize Rabbi Joseph's leadership. Reform Jewry, on the other hand, remained indifferent or hostile to the entire idea of a "chief rabbi." Jacob Joseph's appointment was particularly resented by the Anglo-Jewish press, then dominated by German Jews. Thus, the New York correspondent of Isaac Mayor Wise's American Israelite, even before Rabbi Joseph's arrival in America, expressed bemusement that a man who spoke neither German nor English, and whose vernacular was an unintelligible jargon (Yiddish) had been chosen as a fitting representative of Orthodox Judaism to the world at large. The Jewish Messenger in its editorials cautioned Rabbi Joseph to appreciate that in marriages and divorces the courts of the State must be sought for redress, and not a rabbinical court that the "chief rabbi" was known to favor.

From the start Rabbi Joseph realized that his major mandate was less to cope with marriages and divorces than to bring order to the system of "kashrut," notably the kosher meat business. It was a lucrative business and notorious for its strong-arm methods, chicanery, and squabbles. The butchers and "shochatim" (ritual slaughterers), as well as some rabbis had repeatedly been locked in disputes over the income from "kashrut": fist fights were not uncommon and disregard for Jewish law and Board of Health ordinances were rampant. Exploiting the vacuum of both secular and rabbinical authority, Jewish abattoir owners and retail butchers alike resolved the matter by engaging their own rabbis, or pseudo-rabbis to validate the ritual purity of their products. With this seal of "kashrut" the entrepreneur kept his foothold in the Jewish market and justified the higher prices derived from its religious value. The system lent itself to corruption, and it has been estimated that during this period possibly half the kosher meat sold to the Jewish public was non-kosher. Until the arrival of Rabbi Jacob Joseph in New York no one had dared tamper with the highly lucrative arrangement of the abattoirs and butchers.

To facilitate Joseph's task the Association of American Orthodox Rabbis proposed a penny tax upon poultry. Every bird slaughtered in the abattoirs would be under the strict rabbinical control and supervision of Rabbi Joseph's staff, and stamped accordingly with a lead seal. It was anticipated that the penny tax and the congregational dues paid to the Association would be sufficient to cover the salaries of Rabbi Joseph and his inspectors. Instead of easing Joseph's job the lead seal became a weight which dragged the "chief rabbi" to depths of indignity and eventually led to his downfall.

To many housewives the tax smacked of price gouging. For Jewish radicals, and for most of the Yiddish press, the tax was reminiscent of the infamous "karobka," the hated levy imposed by the czarist Russian government on kosher meat. An equally bitter protest came from the ranks of the butchers and slaughterers who were convinced that inspection best which inspected least. They expressed their discontent by forming their own association with the aim of resisting outsiders from gaining control over their industry. In addition, some rabbis threatened with the loss of their income from the abattoirs and butchers, and resentful of the exalted state and salary conferred on the "chief rabbi" joined in the agitation against Joseph and the penny tax.

Opposition to the Association and to Rabbi Jacob Joseph also came from a number of Galician and Hungarian congregations who were unwilling to submit to an authority dominated by "Litwaks" (Lithuanian Jews). Instead, they decided to look for a "chief rabbi" of their own, and in 1892 settled on Rabbi Joshua Segal as their choice. What followed was a squalid competition between the two "chief rabbis", and their partisans over the supervision of "kashrut." In 1893 still another rabbi entered the fray. His name was Hayim Vidrowitz of Moscow. He managed to gather to his side a few followers from a number of Hassidic "shtiblakh" (prayer rooms), and hung out a sign reading "Chief Rabbi in America." Asked who had given him this title, Rabbi Vidrowitz replied, "the sign painter."

Rabbi Joseph, despite a small and appreciative following could not overcome the centrifugal forces in the New York Jewish community. Reduced to shame and parody his influence gradually declined. The Association of American Orthodox Rabbis soon began to renege on payments of Joseph's salary, and for all practical purposes became a mere paper organization. Eventually, the Association dissolved in an atmosphere replete with acrimony.

Rabbi Joseph left without a source of income was forced to move his family to a squalid Lower East Side tenement flat. There disillusioned and ill he suffered a series of paralyzing strokes and in 1902 at the age of fifty-four he passed away. The Yiddish newspaper Forward in an editorial on his death stressed that Rabbi Joseph had been a sacrificial offering to business-Judaism.

Even in death Jacob Joseph was not to be spared further indignities. Perhaps guilt ridden at their treatment of this gentle scholar, a crowd estimated at between fifty and one hundred thousand lined the route of Joseph's funeral cortege (July 30, 1902). As the funeral procession coiled its way through the Lower East Side enroute to the Grand Street ferry it stopped at synagogue after synagogue. Finally, turning into Grand Street the procession reached the factory of R. Hoe & Company, makers of printing presses. The Hoe establishment was a massive building occupying a solid city block. Some one thousand employees worked there, nearly all of them Irish. Animosity of the Irish toward the Jews at this time was a fact of life in New York City. Much of this hostility had its origins in Catholic religious attitudes; distrust of Jewish political radicalism; and Jewish economic competition in the marketplace. In an earlier period of American history this hostility of the Irish immigrants toward other groups whom they feared or saw as competitors had resulted in the infamous Civil War draft riots directed against the blacks of New York City.

During Rabbi Joseph's funeral as the hearse passed directly in front of the R. Hoe plant the employees on the second floor of the building began emptying buckets of water on the tightly packed mourners, then hurling bottles, screws, and blocks of wood. Enraged, a number of Jews ran into the building entrance, shouting in Yiddish, and attempting to get at the missile throwers. At that point the factory superintendent blasted the Jewish interlopers with a powerful stream of water from a fire hose, and then turned the water on the mourners in the street.

After some forty minutes the violence ebbed, and the funeral procession began to move again. Belatedly then, some two hundred policemen arrived on the scene. Led by an inspector named Kevin Cross, who allegedly ordered his men to club their brains out, the police ignoring the Irish factory workers suddenly waded into the crowd of Jewish mourners. Shouting anti-Jewish epithets, swinging their clubs vigorously the police drove the Jews back from the R. Hoe building. Heads and arms were broken, and bodies relentlessly beaten as the police joined by R. Hoe employees continued to pursue the fleeing Jews. By the time the assault had ended a half hour later over three hundred Jews required medical attention. Adding insult to injury scores of Jews were arrested and fined whereas only one R. Hoe emoloyee was detained.

This disgraceful episode which in many ways reminds one of the recent Crown Heights riots shocked the Jews of the Lower East Side. At no previous point in the life of the community had there been so free a display of Jewish anger. The Forward observed that nobody ever talked about inequality in America. Indeed, everyone tried to hide it, not only the Gentiles, but the elite of American Jewry. Continuing on, the newspaper noted that the behavior of the police, and still more the attitude of the American press, clearly proved that there was little sympathy for Jews. At this moment of shame the Forward editors bitterly commented not one English newspaper, not one Christian voice, was raised in protest.

Protest meetings followed, resolutions were passed, and Jewish delegations besieged City Hall demanding justice. Mayor Seth Low, who not long before had been elected on a reform ticket appointed an investigative commission. The ensuing hearings and commission report confirmed a widespread pattern of police anti-Semitism. Mayor Low then launched an extensive house cleaning of the police force. However within three years the reformist program abruptly ended. Unseating the mayor in the next election Tammany Hall would control City Hall for the next thirty years, and police reform was low on its list of priorities. However, not all Irish Tammany municipal sachems sanctioned the attack on the Jews during Rabbi Joseph's funeral. John Ahearn the Tammany chief eager to win Jewish support for his organization ordered his followers to break every window in the R. Hoe factory as a sign of his displeasure.

In retrospect Rabbi Jacob Joseph was a victim of changing times and a New-World setting. An Old-World rabbi, his outlook could no longer evoke credence among a rising generation of immigrant children, and an older generation eager to escape through congregational independence the bonds that had formerly tied them to a European style hierarchy.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 8:05 PM | 5 comments

Rabbi Urinates In Aisle, Diverts Brooklyn Flight

Associated Press-name changed to slam the asshole.


-- FBI investigators said Lipa Margulies was the unruly passenger who caused a United Airlines flight to be diverted to Ocean Parkway instead of Lakewood.

Authorities said he lit a cigarette, argued with a flight attendant, then urinated and made a kaka in the plane's aisle.

Margulies was taken off flight 1502 over the weekend and questioned by police, a spokeswoman said.

The man was "acting extremely inappropriately," the airlines said. "When you want to run a safe airline, we don't tolerate that type of activity on our aircraft."

Flight attendants noticed that Margulies appeared drunk not long after the plane left Miami. Margulies later lit a cigarette, started singing "oi es iz gut tzu zine a Yid", and allegedly began to argue with a flight attendant who asked him to put it out, she said. He said something about being so happy because he fleeced some old people out of their life savings.

He obeyed, but when the flight attendant walked away, he allegedly stood up, urinated, and took a crap on the person in row 9c.

People familiar with the alter kaker/pisher, say he can't help himself, he has been urinating and shitting on people all his life.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 1:41 AM | 9 comments

Sunday, December 18, 2005
Why The OU-Yisroel Belsky & Star K-Moshe Heinneman Are Blasting The Shit Out Of Each Other

Kosher craze sweeping U.S.

Major food manufacturers, grocery chains compete for 9 billion dollar kosher market; analysts say market for kosher products growing at 15 percent per year

Associated Press

UOJ comments at the end of this article

When U.S. supermarket giant Albertsons hired Yaakov Yarmove more than three years ago, the company found a point man to navigate what might seem like an unlikely market for a grocery chain with stores in places like Cheyenne, Wyo., and Evanston, Ill.: kosher food.

Albertsons, one of America's largest grocery chains, has since dramatically expanded kosher aisles at hundreds of its supermarkets across the country.

The company has also launched more than two dozen kosher destination stores that include everything from bakeries to delis.

"There's a kosher awakening," said Yarmove, an observant Jew who is Albertson's corporate kosher, marketing and operations manager.

"Kosher was perceived as scary and foreign. Now it's perceived as chic. I think everybody is realizing that there is an opportunity," he added.

Bringing matzah to church

The Idaho-based Albertsons is just one of many companies around the country competing to get a lucrative slice of an approximately USD9 billion kosher industry that is growing at a rate of 15 percent a year.

Experts say the boom is being fueled by several factors, including vegetarians and younger customers looking for healthier and safer food – the same demographic that has helped the organic market take off. Plenty of these customers are not Jewish.

"When I take the matzahs to the church, they love it," said Ursula Torres, of Manhattan, who was buying 100 percent wheat matzos recently at Streit's, a Jewish landmark on New York's Lower East Side.

Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst with Mintel International Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm, recently completed a nationwide study in April that produced some surprising results about the kosher craze.


She found 55 percent of the people who buy kosher products believed the food was better for them – almost double the number in a similar study Mogelonsky conducted in 2003.

"They trust the kosher symbol like they'd trust the Good Housekeeping seal," she said.

Part of the trust, Mogelonsky said, is derived from how the animals are raised. There is a popularly-held myth that Jewish law forbids the use of antibiotics, additives, hormones or feeding animal byproducts to animals raised for kosher slaughter. But Jewish law has no such regulations.

Jewish for 'good food'
Manischewitz, one of the best-known kosher food companies in the world, is developing an advertising campaign that says their name is "Jewish for good food."

Hebrew National, a division of ConAgra Foods, has always touted that famous tagline found on its packages: "We answer to a higher authority." But over the summer, the company decided to move the "Finest Kosher Quality" seal to a more prominent spot on certain product packaging.

Lou Nieto, president of packaged meats at ConAgra, said two things are driving the double-digit growth at Hebrew National, which recently opened a new state-of-the-art kosher facility in Michigan.

"First and foremost is taste but number two is that it's 100 percent kosher beef – nothing artificial," said Nieto, who oversees the Hebrew National brand.

He added that sales were being bolstered by non-Jewish customers, who devour the company's popular hot dogs at hundreds of venues across the United Stat

To meet demand, the industry has undergone radical changes, recognizing that kosher food is more than matzo, gefilte fish and borscht.

The transformation was on display last month in New York at Kosherfest 2005, a convention that drew more than 6,100 retail and foodservice buyers, manufacturers and distributors from 36 countries.

"Anything that can be made kosher, is being made kosher," said Menachem Lubinsky, who founded Kosherfest. "Even the Chinese are going kosher."

Kosher dumpling wrappers – no problem. Asian sesame ginger noodle and Thai chili sauce? They got it. Italian kosher. It's in abundance. Penne rigate, lasagna, angel hair, and all enriched with soy protein. There is also a kosher energy drink called "Kabbalah."

And it seemed like almost everyone was selling humous, creating a war of the chick pea. If any one food is leading the kosher charge, it might be humous.

One of the biggest humous makers is Sabra Go Mediterranean, produced by Blue & White Food Products in New York.

"Today, all the hippies buy this stuff," said Nissim Ohana, who distributes Sabra products and has been selling kosher food for 20 years in the United States. "Humous has become a very hot item.

At Streit's, the venerable New York company is adapting to the changing environment, producing Mediterranean, Spelt and five-grain matzos, along with spreads like sundried tomato morsels.

"Chains carry it," said Alan Adler, director of operations at Streit's, which has been making matzos since 1925. "Our products are on the shelf year round. We are having trouble baking enough matzos."

In two decades, Ohana, an Israeli, has seen the number of Brooklyn stores purchasing his kosher food rise from 16 to more than 200.

"Five years ago, it wouldn't have sold," said Frank Widdi of Met Foodmarkets in Brooklyn. Widdi, a Palestinian, now has two separate refrigerators with humous, including one for Sabra which he gets from Ohana.

A Palestinian selling kosher humous?

"Business is business," Ohana says.



Rabbis Rule Romaine Lettuce Off Limits to Kosher Consumers

Kosher Today-New York

A cross-section of Orthodox rabbis ruled last week that “it is forbidden” to eat romaine lettuce and several other packaged vegetables, including Spring Mix and Baby Spinach, because of insect infestation. The 30 rabbis, however, noted that “this prohibition does not apply to iceberg lettuce, cabbage or greenhouse vegetables provided they are under a reliable, expert hashgacha.” According to several rabbis reached by Kosher Today, a key target of the edict published in many Jewish newspapers was Fresh Express, whose certifying rabbis have since withdrawn their certification. A spokesman for the Orthodox Union said that while the US grown romaine lettuce was off limits, it approved the romaine lettuce grown in hothouses by Alei Katif, which after having being evicted from the Gaza Strip was said to have resumed production in Israel’s Negev Desert. The letter by the rabbis singled out pre-washed romaine lettuce, romaine hearts, romaine mixes (European, Italian, Greener Selection) and Fresh Leafy Salads (such as Spring Mix and Baby Spinach).

The letter noted: “It is unfortunately our duty to inform you that insect infestation was found in most packages, regardless of the company or the supervising authority…Caterers, restaurants and stores that offer these products are guilty of offering food that is forbidden by Torah law.”

UOJ comments

The OU lead by Yisroel Belsky was on the attack. The Star-K, Moshe Heinneman's organization was permitting it.
As we can see from the numbers, "Kosher" is a multi-billion dollar business.

Moshe Heinneman was relying on a p'sak "he said" was told to him by Rabbi Aron Kotler z"l. UOJ called the Kotler & Schwartzman families and none of them knew of this psak by RAK, which would permit eating lettuce that normally had bug infestation in excess of ten percent of the time checked; providing that a particular batch of lettuce was checked and found bug free.
In other words, Heinnemann claims RAK told him you can go by a particular batch; if there is less than ten percent of bugs found, you may eat them.
The OU and gang, say you go by the type of vegetable, if generally there are bugs, you must clean them all or throw them out.

I called Heinneman and asked him the following.

1-When did RAK tell you about this p'sak?
2-How old were you at the time of the p'sak?
3-Why would you have asked this shaila, if the shaila of bugs in Romaine lettuce was on no one's radar screen in the early sixties?( thinking he had asked him in the sixties)

Moshe Heinneman is 67 years old, RAK was niftar in 1962. Assuming Heinneman asked him the shaila that "no one knows about" in 1962, that would put Heinneman at 24 years old. The problem is Heinneman said he asked RAK this shaila the year he came to Lakewood, when he was 18 years old. Counting backwards, this would be circa 1956.
Who in the world was thinking about bugs in lettuce in 1956?????
The whole bug "epidemic" is maybe ten years old!!!

The OU is losing market share to Heinneman, they seem way to eager to do him in.
Heinneman's p'sak from RAK sounds really questionable to me at best, and a friggin lie at worst.
When money is involved everything is possible.

Tell me what you think!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 11:32 PM | 35 comments

Saturday, December 17, 2005
Brain Damage & Death An Outcome Of Fanaticism-Legal Action To Be Filed Against Mohelim And Rabbis Endorsing This Process

City Urges Halt To Ritual Practice

Unprecedented open letter says controversial circumcision technique is dangerous; haredim say they won’t heed warning.

Debra Nussbaum Cohen and Larry Cohler-Esses - UOJ loses his mind at the end of this article.


In the face of a religious court’s failure to conclude its investigation of a mohel who health officials say transmitted herpes to three babies, New York City’s health commissioner issued an unprecedented public warning Tuesday that a controversial circumcision procedure is endangering the lives of Jewish infants.

“There exists no reasonable doubt that metzitzah b’peh can and has caused neonatal herpes infection,” Dr. Thomas Frieden wrote in “An Open Letter to the Jewish Community” about a procedure routinely practiced by mohels in some sectors of the Orthodox community. “The Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b’peh.”

But some community leaders in sectors of the Orthodox community where the practice is common indicated they would continue to insist on the procedure as a requirement of religious law.

The letter — the Health Department’s first official warning against the procedure — follows an apparent breakdown in an agreement the department had with a Jewish religious court in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In September, the city withdrew a lawsuit against a mohel the department concluded had transmitted the disease to three babies on whom he had performed the procedure, including one who died as a result and one who suffered brain damage. It also withdrew a court order barring him from continuing to use the technique.

In exchange, Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer voluntarily agreed temporarily to stop performing metzitzah b’peh. Rabbi Fischer and his attorney dispute that the rabbi was the source of the infection. And a Jewish religious court took up the case for final resolution. But according to Frieden, the religious court, or bet din, failed to meet the Dec. 1 deadline.

“They’ve since communicated to us that it’s a complicated situation and they’re not sure when they can come back,” Frieden told The Jewish Week. “So rather than let that continue indefinitely, we felt it was important to make clear to the public our own conclusion and position.”

Rabbi David Niederman, liaison for the Williamsburg bet din, said he was “shocked” at Frieden’s reaction to the delay.

“We have set the date, and it might be a little bit later,” he said. “However, I believe that the lines of communication are open, so it’s only a phone call to ask ... when would the report be issued. We did not break down the agreement.”

The rabbinical court, he said, “is making a very thorough and broad investigation. They will not leave one stone unturned.”

But whatever the court’s ultimate conclusions about Rabbi Fischer, it will not impact the practice of metzitzah b’peh in the haredi community, said Rabbi Niederman.

“We are convinced that it’s not dangerous,” he said. “Had it been dangerous we would not be performing it, and you know that Hashem [God] would not give something to us that is dangerous.”

In metzitzah b’peh, a mohel orally sucks blood from the site of the genital cut he makes during the circumcision procedure. Not all haredi groups mandate the practice, and the Modern Orthodox-oriented Rabbinical Council of America recommends using a sterile tube and gloves to avoid direct oral-genital contact.

But several haredi sects insist Jewish religious law requires the practice. City officials said mohels from these sects may also apply the procedure outside their communities.

Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox umbrella group, estimates that metzitzah b’peh is performed more than 2,000 times a year in the New York City.

Two New Herpes Cases

In his Open Letter, Frieden reviews seven cases of herpes that have occurred locally, including two this year that the letter discloses publicly for the first time.

Health Department investigators have concluded all were transmitted by mohels performing metzitzah b’peh.

According to Frieden, in one of the two new cases, the infant shows evidence of severe brain damage. The case came to the Health Department’s attention in October.

Frieden said in neither case have the families been willing to identify the mohel who performed the circumcision.

“We are continuing to try to gain their cooperation,” he said.

In legal documents filed several months ago the department stated that herpes, which generally causes just blisters and cold sores in healthy older children and adults, is fatal as much as 30 percent of the time in newborns.

Frieden’s warning against the procedure comes more than a year after a cluster of three neonatal herpes cases were attributed to Rabbi Fischer.

Furthermore, The Jewish Week has learned, the warning comes a full five years after two senior pediatricians at Long Island Jewish Medical Center warned the city that metzitzah b’peh was putting the lives of Jewish infants at risk.

Dr. Philip Lanzkowsky, chief of staff of Schneider Children’s Hospital at Long Island Jewish hospital, said he and a colleague reached out to city health officials and members of Brooklyn’s haredi community about the danger in 2000. The physicians acted after determining that two cases of neonatal herpes brought to Schneider Hospital had been caused by metzitzah b’peh.

“I went to Brooklyn myself and met with rabbis and a representative of the Health Department,” said Lanzkowsky.

He said he acted without publicity at the time, explaining, “One of the things we didn’t want to happen was adverse publicity in the general media that might affect [ritual circumcision] in general. We wanted to deal with it in the local Jewish community.”

There is little doubt the city was aware of Lanzkowsky’s warning. In his open letter, Frieden cites Lanzkowsky’s investigation of the two cases, published in the March 2000 edition of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal.

Asked why he thought the city was acting now, Lanzkowsky said, “Obviously they [the community] didn’t heed the first warning.” But after the death of a child last year, “I think the Department of Health, which carries a responsibility here, could not sit quiet.”

Last year the city began to investigate the suspected link to one local mohel of three herpes cases in 2003 and 2004. As it probed the link, some sectors of the Orthodox community lobbied city officials heavily not to interfere with the practice. That effort included a meeting in August between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and prominent members of the Satmar chasidic community based in Brooklyn and Rockland County as Bloomberg was gearing up for re-election.

“We’re going to do a study to make sure that everybody is safe, and at the same time it is not the government’s business to tell people how to practice their religion,” Bloomberg said one day after the meeting.

‘They Haven’t Banned It’

Frieden issued his statement in two parts: the open letter and a flier titled “Before the Bris: How to Protect Your Infant Against Herpes Virus Infection Caused by Metzitzah B’peh.”

The latter is a one-page “fact sheet” the city intends to distribute directly to new parents at hospitals frequently used by Jewish mothers to give birth, circumventing religious authorities who maintain that metzitzah b’peh is an essential element of brit milah, or ritual circumcision.

The fact sheet introduces options that Jewish parents could have for the ritual circumcision of their new sons — information they might not receive from within sectors of the community insisting on metzitzah b’peh. The fact sheet and letter are also on the Health Department’s Web site, www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/std/std-bris.shtml.

The flier begins with the statement “circumcision has health benefits,” but goes on to explain how herpes is contracted from mohels who employ metzitzah b’peh and encourages parents to “consider other options.”

It takes aim squarely at arguments offered by some fervently Orthodox community leaders in the last few months claiming the practice is safe.

“There is no proven way to reduce the risk of metzitzah b’peh,” the flier says. “Although a mohel may use oral rinses or sip wine before metzitzah b’peh, there is no evidence that these actions reduce the spread of herpes. A mohel who takes antiviral medication may reduce the risk of spreading herpes virus during metzitzah b’peh, but there is no evidence that taking medication eliminates this risk.”

Other members of the haredi community joined Rabbi Niederman in expressing concern over the Health Department’s action.

David Zwiebel, an attorney and executive vice president of Agudath Israel, an organization that represents haredi interests, said he would have preferred the statement not be issued.

But at least “they have been true to their commitment that they would not regulate the procedure,” he said of Health Department officials. “They haven’t banned it and haven’t required some sort of informed consent, which was an idea on the table at an earlier stage.”

Zwiebel was concerned that the department’s action could harm the haredi community’s public image and serve as a “foundation on which other jurisdictions might choose to regulate the practice, or even New York City might do that at some future date.”

Haredi communities often view government agencies as interlopers meddling dangerously with their internal religious affairs. In this case the Health Department’s statement may prompt some to ask questions of their rabbis, Zwiebel said.

“The most likely reaction is that there will be a general message from many of these rabbonim to their communities whether or not — and probably not — the statement from the commissioner could impact their halachic practice,” he said.

Rabbi Levi Heber is a mohel based in Crown Heights, from the Lubavitch community, where metzitzah b’peh is considered a spiritually integral part of the brit milah ritual.

“The concept of non-Jewish authorities trying to influence certain behaviors should not be accepted by anyone,” said Rabbi Heber. “You never know where it could lead.”

Since the potential health risks of metzitzah b’peh hit the headlines, many clients have brought up concerns about it, Rabbi Heber said. “It’s something that’s been brewing.”

But parents “are sincerely interested in finding out the facts, and with a little bit of explanation they agree to it,” he said.

Rabbi Heber said he has never refrained from metzitzah b’peh because of a parental objection, but has had parents say “ ‘do what you have to do, but I’m not going to be there’ ” to see it.

Rabbi Niederman stressed the huge number of metzitzah b’peh procedures performed with no apparent ill effects.

“There have been seven cases, allegedly over a span of 15 years,” he said. “In Williamsburg alone we have close to 57,000 people. The overwhelming majority is very young, so you’re talking about 120,000 brises of metzitzah b’peh. You tell me, is it safer to give a flu shot or to do metzitzah b’peh?'

But Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a dean at Yeshiva University’s rabbinic school and a professor of biology there, as well as an expert in Jewish medical ethics with a doctorate in microbiology, has long opposed metzitzah b’peh as halachically unnecessary and medically dangerous.

In an interview this week, he said that indications of brain damage in one of the boys whose case is being cited by the Health Department should make people aware of the dangers, besides death, of herpes contracted through metzitzah b’peh.

“I’m convinced that many children have been infected and not diagnosed, and years later they are in special education in the schools and no one knows why,” Rabbi Tendler said.

Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, chief of the infectious disease department at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, and an internationally renowned expert in sexually transmitted diseases, agrees.

“Because neonatal herpes has a large variety of presentations, it’s quite likely that cases prior to this recent increased awareness were undiagnosed,” he said. “And because neonatal herpes causes encephalitis, the long-term effects of that infection will be lifelong, including neurological impairment.”

Public health policy experts, including Zenilman, say Frieden’s statement is unusually pointed.

“As these things go this is pretty strong,” said Zenilman.

The only reason the city Health Department didn’t impose an outright ban on metzitzah b’peh, he said, is because it would be nearly impossible to enforce, with most ritual circumcisions taking place in private homes and in synagogues.

Dr. John Santelli, a pediatrician and chair of the department of population and family health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said “it’s difficult when there’s a potential clash between religious values and medical information, but it’s really important that parents know, and for the commissioner to take the position that this is a dangerous practice.”

Health departments have learned from dealing with HIV-AIDS that “in public health you have to start with education, with a community and its leaders,” Santelli said. While the health commissioner has broad latitude protecting public health, in some cases amounting to police authority, officials “rarely take draconian measures because it alienates the people you want to work with.”

“The commissioner is now throwing the ball back to the Orthodox community and saying ‘how are you going to respond to this?’ ” Santelli said. “I hope we don’t have another tragedy.”


UOJ comments and loses his mind about the vile behavior of the Charedi fools.

I picked up the TOILET PAPER OF RECORD in the Jewish community and saw a full page ad about an "Urgent Kashrus Notification".This notice begins with "we have "HEARD" allegations that", and goes on to describe the transgressions of Torah law by eating Romaine Lettuce........, and any restaraunt offering this assortment of foods is "GUILTY OF OFFERING FOOD THAT IS FORBIDDEN BY TORAH LAW".

This ad was signed by; born, bred and educated in America "respected poskim", such as Yisroel Belsky, Shlomo Miller,and Yisroel Reisman. There are another twenty five clowns and mental midgets that signed this ad.

Yet these SAME three guys either visited city hall in protest or have signed endorsements for the unrestricted continuation of the metziza b'peh circumcision ritual under the guise of a "TORAH mandated practice"

The above article speaks for itself. Children have been infected by mohelim performing this practice.
They have either gotten ill, died or have been BRAIN DAMAGED by contracting herpes through this practice.
It does not make a difference if according to Niederman these kids are anyway "only a few" and therefore "BOTUL B'SHISHIM OR BOTUL B"ROV".THIS PRACTICE WILL CONTINUE!

What's wrong with you Belsky & Co? Don't you realize that the illnesses,death and brain damage caused by this "NOT" TORAH MANDATED WEENIE SUCKING, is not immediate?

The repercussions of this barbaric and age old practice which began because of the ignorance of our ancestors on the medical consequences, will be killing our children and damaging our grandchildren for generations.

Chances are that most of you will be dead and not see the tragedies caused by your criminal behavior of endorsing practices that lead to death and illness.
Shame on you for not standing up for what's right.You know better.
Even if there is a chashash (chance) that a child would be harmed you have an obligation to at the very least SUSPEND the practice.

Are all the doctors anti-semites and out to get us????

Can it not be possible that the increasing number of children needing "special education" can be related to a virus that was caused by the herpes infection?

Well, I guess you've got lettuce on your mind, and you can't prohibit lettuce and prohibit metziza at the same time.

I will hold you all responsible for any child's death or illness from today on forward. Any child that gets ill or dies, I will be setting up a fund to file a civil lawsuit against all of you, and urge the D.A. to file criminal charges against you and all your cohorts for MURDER.

I'll see you in court.

Anyone having information of any mohel doing metziza, or knowing of any child getting ill or worse, e-mail me at a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com.
All replies will be held in the strictest confidence.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:03 PM | 211 comments

Wednesday, December 14, 2005
There Is Nothing Dumber Than A Rabbi With A Little Knowledge

December 14, 2005
Torah: Tookie’s Execution Was A Miscarriage of Justice
Filed by Yitzchok Adlerstein @ 1:50 pm
Tookie should not have been executed.

He may have been a bad man, but he was done in by bad law.

Tookie should not have been executed by the State of California, because his conviction was based on evidence that runs afoul of decency and the laws of the Torah itself. He may have deserved to die, and there may even be poetic justice in that it was injustice that took the life of an unjust man. But his conviction was also a breach of the law – the expectations of our Torah.

Tookie was not executed because he may have contributed, directly and otherwise, to the deaths of hundreds of people. He was convicted for the deaths of four people. The jury convicted him on nothing stronger than the testimony of convicted felons, some of the worst slime known to man. Regarding three of the victims, the testimony was not even about the murder, but about Tookie bragging in jail about his having committed the murders. As I understand it, halacha is quite clear about where the evidential bar must be set in Noachide law. The single witness (to the deed, not to an incident of jailhouse braggadocio) must be observant of the Seven Noachide laws. So says the Chazon Ish. (Avodas Kochavim 69:3 s.v veha.). In Bava Kama (10:15 s.v. v’nireh d’im), he modifies this considerably, taking into account that most of the non-Jewish world is far from perfect regarding a number of the seven laws. The minimum he sets, however, is observance of laws that the majority of people do adhere to: strictures about theft and murder. Those whose testimony doomed Tookie struck out on both counts.

I reject the notion that capital punishment is inherently barbaric and inhumane. The most vocal opponents of the death penalty as completely unjustifiable are the heads of the EU. It is hard to find a more convincing argument in support of court-mandated executions.

I reject the notion that a condemned prisoner can “redeem” himself in any manner or form. The death penalty, once accepted by a given society, is a statement that there are some crimes that simply revoke a person’s license to live. It takes into account the fact that humans can and do change, and rejects that as sufficient to continue existence in the company of civilized humanity. The champions of redemption were most prominently avatars of the entertainment industry. It is hard to find a more convincing argument to reject it, than that is endorsed by the single group least endowed with education, intelligence, stability, or morality. (I specific exclude Mike Farrell, whom I know, respect, and profoundly disagree with.)

Tookie went to his execution maintaining his innocence. I am not ready to smugly declare him wrong. I don’t doubt that he was fully capable of those murders. So were his accusers; so were thousands of Crips, and thousands of Bloods, and thousands of other Angelenos.

In our rush to differ with those who claim that the death penalty is never justified (and heterodox rabbis who never lose an opportunity to proclaim to the world that Judaism stands for the polar opposite position of what the Torah says), we ought not be guilty of what we charge our opponents of doing: ignoring the Torah. The Torah does allow for taking life. It also sets standards of evidence. The evidence is there (as far as I see it) that these standards were not met.

We should not be cheering for something the Torah does not endorse.

UOJ Comments

I read this with disbelief.Since when is the American judicial system suppose to be congruous with the Torah's standard of bearing witness. Where in the world are you going to find a witness in every or any criminal case that keeps the seven Noachide laws? I'm not going to waste my time debating with a shmuck.

I've heard from many people that you're an ass-hole, they were dead wrong, you're the ass itself!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 11:30 PM | 20 comments

Rabbi Kaduri Taken To Hospital -UOJ Predicts He'll Be Dead Soon, And There Will Be No Moshiach Revelation

Leading Kabbalist, over 100 years-old, said to be suffering from severe flu
Meital Yasur Beit-Or


Earlier, Rabbi Kaduri was taken to the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem after suffering from weakness. He underwent a series of medical tests, before receiving treatment.

Friends of the rabbi say he has been suffering from severe flu. "We and his family are praying for his welfare," said a friend. Rabbi Kaduri is over 100 years-old.

Kaduri started out as a modest bookbinder, and has become one of the best known Kabbalists in the country.

He was born in Iraq, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 17. He studied in a Jerusalem Yeshiva, and was a student of Jerusalem Kabbalists who worked in the capital at the start of the previous century, including Rabbi Eliyahu, father of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.

Kaduri is considered a world Kabbalah expert.

Many members of the public possess a gold or silver mascot made for them by Kaduri. He has publicly backed the Shas party, and the humble Rabbi was introduced to the party by Aryeh Deri.

In recent months, Kaduri offered a blessing to opponents of the disengagement from Gaza, but surprised many followers when he offered his support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout in April.

"If we give them a small thing and there will peace with them, we can leave Gush Katif. We can trust Sharon, he is okay. It is allowed to give up on territories in Gaza," the Rabbi told an ultra-Orthodox newspaper.

He added: "I have no faith in the Arabs but we must have a little quiet. Sharon's government isn't so bad.

Recently, rumors have circulated in the ultra-Orthodox world that that the messiah has revealed himself to Rabbi Kaduri in dreams.


UOJ Comments

I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, these guys are frauds.He will be dead soon, and Moshiach will be nowhere to be found.
The damage these guys do to a public starving for some hope for something better than what exists, is mind shattering.
How can any sane person believe in this hocus-pocus? How many times are we going to be duped into believing something that was created by charlatans and dreamers?

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:50 PM | 10 comments

Monday, December 12, 2005
Lawsuit Over Yudi Kolko, the Tora T'mima Rebbe's Nipple Fetish Resolved

Lawsuit Over Yudi Kolko, the Tora T'mima rebbe's Nipple Fetish Resolved
By The Associated Press-Edited and amended by UOJ


(AP) - Two former board members who refused to bare their breasts to a 250-pound (120-kilogram), love-language speaking rabbi named Kolko, have settled a lawsuit against the Rebbes Molester Foundation.

Avrohom Greenfield and Yaakov Applegrad claimed they were fired after they refused to expose their bosoms to the rebbe, and after reporting sanitary problems at Kolko's home in Flatbush, an upscale town in Brooklyn, New York.

The pair claimed they were threatened that if they “did not indulge Kolko's nipple fetish, their employment with the Rebbes Molester Foundation would suffer,” the lawsuit alleged.

Greenfield and Applegrad claimed that Lipa "Gelt whore" Margulies, the molester's longtime caretaker and president of the "Genaive Lifetime Foundation", pressured them to expose their breasts as a way to bond with the 60-year-old pig, and to avoid getting Kolko angry enough to blackmail Margulies.

“On one such occasion,” the lawsuit said, “Applegrad said, 'Kolko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples.”

The plaintiffs never undressed, said their attorney,"honest"Abe Konstam, from Monsey. The foundation has denied the allegations.

Lawyers for both sides refused to disclose terms of the settlement, but Deep Nose claims that one of the elements of the settlement bans Kolko from going to the mikve for life.

A second similar lawsuit filed by another employee is pending.

The Rebbes molester Foundation was founded in 1976 to promote the preservation and study of perverted rebbes in black suits and hats. It's best known for Kolko, who has mastered a variety of more than 1,000 ways to seduce innocent kids.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 11:23 PM | 84 comments

WJC Probe Explores Possible ‘Slush Fund’ For Israel Singer, Bronfman's Gofer

Spitzer investigation uncovers e-mail suggesting Singer had personal account from Bronfman.

Gary Rosenblatt

Attorney General Elliott Spitzer’s investigation of the World Jewish Congress has focused of late on statements attributed to Israel Singer suggesting that the chairman of the group’s governing board had a personal $2 million “slush fund” provided to him each year by Edgar Bronfman, the WJC president.

The subject came to light recently through an e-mail written Jan. 9, 2002 by Larry Cohler-Esses, then an investigative reporter with The Daily News, to Singer, who was then secretary general, the top professional post at the WJC.

At the time Singer had offered Cohler-Esses the position of head of the North American section of the WJC, the international defense agency currently under scrutiny for alleged financial improprieties.

In the e-mail, Cohler-Esses summarized his prior meetings and conversations with Singer, and asked him a series of questions.

One of the questions: “Are there any skeletons in WJC’s closet of which I should be aware before I take this position?”

Apologizing for any possible perceived “impudence” in the nature of the questions, Cohler-Esses wrote: “As we discussed on Friday, WJC officials publicly describe their annual budget as approximately $5.5 million, but its 1999 IRS tax report lists a budget of $11.1 million on income of almost $12 million. Of this, $8.1 million is listed as going to program services; about $741,000 to administration and management; and $2.2 million to fundraising.

“When we spoke on Monday, you mentioned that Edgar [Bronfman] has established a ‘slush fund’ of about $2 million for use at your personal discretion. If you subtract this sum and the amount devoted to fundraising, that leaves about $6.9 million, or still an extra $1.4 million.”

Cohler-Esses then asked if Singer’s “personal discretion fund” explained “some of the extra money,” where the rest of the money went, and if Singer was certain the funds were handled and reported legally.

The correspondence was shared with The Jewish Week recently, but not by Cohler-Esses, who was a Jewish Week staff writer from 1993 to 2000. He was hired by The Daily News in 2000 and left the paper earlier this year. He is now editor at large at The Jewish Week.

Cohler-Esses’ copy of the correspondence was subpoenaed by the Attorney General’s Office, and he was questioned about it and his relationship with Singer for more than 90 minutes on Sept. 30. Cohler-Esses appeared before Gerald Rosenberg, head of the charities bureau, and Carolyn Ellis, chief investigator.

Cohler-Esses said he affirmed the contents of his communique, a copy of which the Attorney General’s Office already had, as accurate. He said the questioning by the investigators was “very focused,” and that they were “keenly interested” in his references to the possible discrepancy in the WJC’s tax report and the mention of the “slush fund.”

“They wanted to know what I thought Rabbi Singer meant by that term when he used it,” Cohler-Esses said, “and I told them his use of the term concerned me and I wasn’t sure whether he used it facetiously, jokingly or subconsciously.”

Cohler-Esses said he subsequently turned down the WJC job offer.

Singer, through spokesman Hank Sheinkopf (Mordecai Tendler's spokesperson), told The Jewish Week he denied receiving a letter and said there was no such fund. Singer acknowledged that he had met with Cohler-Esses about the position at the WJC, but Sheinkopf said that “no such letter exists in the WJC files, nor did Singer receive such a letter.”

Sheinkopf added that the Attorney General’s Office “has inquired about this document, and we have responded appropriately.” He would not elaborate.

Sheinkopf said “no inquiry was initiated by the IRS [Internal Revenue Service], and there was no such [slush] fund.”

Darren Dopp, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, would not comment on the specifics of the investigation, which began early this year, but said it was “moving toward conclusion.” Dopp said he expected the probe would be completed next month or, at the latest, by the end of December.

In June, sources close to the investigation said it would demand reforms in the WJC’s financial control and board oversight, for which critics of the group have called, though criminal prosecution is seen as unlikely.

The controversy over the WJC began in 2004, precipitated by the discovery of a Swiss bank account that raised questions about accountability at the venerable organization.

In recent years the WJC has been known for its success in gaining hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution funds from Swiss banks for Holocaust survivors.

The most outspoken critic of WJC practices, Isi Leibler, was ousted as senior vice president of the WJC earlier this year. Bronfman, who had pledged to step down as president after 24 years, decided to run again and was re-elected, and Stephen Herbits, a close business aide of Bronfman’s, was elected secretary general.

UOJ comments

Anytime you see Hank Sheinkopf opening his LYING FOR HIRE mouth, and secret Swiss
bank Accounts, well you know the rest of the story.......

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:08 PM | 4 comments

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Say It Aint So Young Israel, Please Say It Aint So!

Spitzer's Office: We Found 'Significant' Problems At Young Israel
By NATHANIEL POPPER


The office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was riven by an investigation of an Orthodox synagogue organization, but the one thing all members of the attorney general's office agree on is that the office found "significant" problems at the synagogue organization that have not previously been disclosed publicly.

Spitzer's office began looking at the organization, the National Council of Young Israel, in 1999, when the council made a routine application to the attorney general for a new mortgage. The mortgage was for a nursing home operated by the National Council in a suburb of New York City. The inquiry, routine in the case of a refinancing application by a non-profit, soon uncovered a $6.5 million liability that the nursing home had to the New York department of health.

The investigation was passed to the attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which, prior to 2002, identified some $215,000 in illegal loans made to the organization's former president, Chaim Kaminetsky, who was also the administrator of the nursing home. Those loans, which contravened state charity law according to the attorney general's office, were paid back, some before the investigation and some afterward. In addition to the loans, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit identified close to $5,000 in payments on behalf of Kaminetsky's relatives.

The attorney general's office also identified $130,000 in payments that went to the National Council's executive vice president, Pesach Lerner, and were not backed up with contemporaneous documentation. The National Council provided explanations to the attorney general's office for many of these payments, including $50,000 that was described as a loan to Lerner, and $25,000 described as an adjustment for sick days, according to the attorney general's office. In the end, $20,000 was not accounted for and the attorney general's office decided to hand the case over to state and federal tax authorities.

Spitzer also said that the National Council had governance problems that his office worked to correct.

A lawyer for the National Council declined to respond to specific allegations. In declining to respond, the attorney cited an earlier article written by the Forward that contained a factual error, corrected a week later, about the sale of the National Council's headquarters building in Manhattan.

"We are surprised by your new convoluted inquiries which appear to have been suggested by those with various axes to grind," wrote Kenneth Fisher, a lawyer for the National Council.

"We are proud of the work done by our professional staff, rabbis, lay board and volunteers, including the planned sales of some of our real estate interests which were approved by Attorney General Spitzer's office after extensive review of our operations and procedures, and which will enable us to continue our services to our more than 150 member congregations for many years to come."

Multiple messages left at Chaim Kaminetsky's home and office, seeking comment, were not returned. Kaminetsky left( was asked to Leave) the National Council and works today as the president of the Highland Care Center, a nursing home in Jamaica, N.Y.

Only one element of the attorney general's investigations of the National Council has previously been made public. In 2002, the National Council needed the attorney general's approval when it decided to sell its Manhattan headquarters, which also housed a member synagogue, the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue. The synagogue sued to block the sale. Some members of the attorney general's office were also opposed to allowing the sale.

The dispute was settled in August 2005, when a member of the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue agreed to buy the building and allow the synagogue to remain. As a condition for the attorney general's approval of the sale, the National Council agreed in court documents to use $4 million from the proceeds to set up a trust that cannot be dissolved until the nursing home Medicaid liability is repaid to the state.

The liability had been accrued after the nursing home was granted not-for-profit tax status in the 1980s. Medicaid payments are calculated, in part, based on tax payments, and as a result the exemption should have lowered the nursing home's reimbursement rate. According to a letter from the National Council's lawyers, the organization was told in the 1980s that the department of health would lower its reimbursement rate, but the department never did so.

The attorney general's office says that after the liability was uncovered, the state department of health began recouping the money by withholding a set amount from Medicaid payments to the National Council's nursing home. To date, the attorney general's office said that $1.5 million of the liability has been recovered.

Some members of the National Council's governing bodies have said that even after the attorney general's involvement with the National Council, governance problems have continued at the organization. A lawsuit regarding the governance of the National Council was filed earlier this year by a member of the National Council's delegate's assembly — the organization's top governing board below the board of directors. The suit, filed by Ira Sturm, whose father is a former executive vice president of the National Council, said the National Council leadership had violated the organization's constitution by not allowing for proper oversight.

The National Council's constitution mandates that the delegates assembly meet at least three times a year, approve the budget once a year and elect a president every two years. According to Sturm's lawsuit, none of these conditions have been fulfilled since the current president took over in 2000. Sturm, who belongs to a Young Israel synagogue in Woodmere, N.Y., withdrew the lawsuit earlier this year and declined to comment on it. But another member of the delegates assembly — from the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue — said that the points Sturm made about the delegates assembly were still true.

"They really should be held to a higher standard," said Victor Bellino, who was president of the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue from 2000 until earlier this year, and a member of the delegates assembly during that time.

Bellino, whose synagogue will become independent of the National Council under the deal worked out in the sale of the Manhattan property, said, "I'm glad we're getting away from them."


UOJ Comments

Chaim Kaminetzky, has a long list of questionable financial dealings going back to the 1970's.

Why the Young Israel organization has kept him on is anyone's guess.

He is the same Chaim Kaminetzky that runs the Pesach program in California, and about one thousand people trust him with a reliable "kosher for Pesach" program.
When one has questionable financial dealings, and " borrows" money from a national organization and has not yet been able to "clarify" the accounting entries, CAN WE RELY ON SUCH A PERSON FOR KASHRUTH?

I THINK NOT!!!!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 9:24 PM | 22 comments

Saturday, December 10, 2005
The "Bigger" The Rabbi, The Bigger The Filthy Rotten Thief

Buy a rabbi

By Haaretz Editorial

UOJ comments at the end of this shameful article


This weekend's Haaretz magazine exposes a major corruption scandal that could be called the "Latvia 2 affair." Hundreds of policemen, army officers and noncommissioned officers are suspected of having received fictitious certification as rabbis from important yeshivas. This gave them salary increases of up to NIS 2,000 a month, equivalent to the increase granted to those with academic degrees. For the yeshivas, it was worthwhile due to the tuition they collected for the few hours of study each week. But the treasury annually suffered millions of shekels of damages.

This scam, which has been going on for three years already, involved senior members of the rabbinic establishment: former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, former Sephardi chief rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, and members of the Chief Rabbinate Council, including Haifa Chief Rabbi She'ar Yeshuv Hacohen, Be'er Sheva Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri, and Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu.


Employers ought to encourage their workers to pursue an education in their line of business and reward them with pay increases. But in recent years, Israel has witnessed a growing phenomenon of "pseudo-education" solely for the purpose of salary increases, which turns the issue of professional education into a laughingstock and is liable to injure those who truly deserve such raises.

The Latvia affair involved people who obtained academic degrees without studying at all. Sources involved in the investigation in the current affair reported that some of those certified as rabbis were not even familiar with basic Jewish concepts. Particularly grave was the fact that policemen, including senior police officers, behaved as if the law did not apply to them.

The religious world attaches great importance to the term hillul hashem (desecration of God's name), meaning acts that are not only undesirable and even forbidden, but that sow contempt for religion. The rabbinic certification affair is a desecration of God's name on a grand scale. The Chief Rabbinate is striving to preserve its monopoly over the rabbinic establishment and prevent state recognition of Reform and Conservative rabbis. Therefore, one would have expected Chief Rabbinate Council members to demonstrate greater responsibility when certifying people as rabbis, instead of cutting off the branch on which they are sitting.

The investigation, which is being conducted by the Justice Ministry's Department for Investigating Policemen, the National Fraud Squad, and the Military Police, has been under way for three years already. Such a drawn-out process is liable to create the impression that the police have no interest in completing a probe involving the force itself.

Claims made by Chief Rabbinate officials that the police pressed to have the certificates issued to policemen quickly must be investigated. The police's deputy chief rabbi, Chief Superintendent Aharon Gotsdiner, has resigned, but the public deserves to know whether the police's chief rabbi, Ya'akov Gross, also was involved in the affair. The policemen involved in the affair are complaining about the lengthy investigation, saying it has impeded their promotions. Therefore, it is necessary to complete the probe and bring this affair to an end expeditiously.



There is absolutely no doubt that the above named "chief rabbis" knew exactly what their underlings were doing, and approved of their behavior.
This is more than just stealing, lying, forgery, cheating and fraud, this is a pure and unadulterated desecration of the process that leads one to become a LEADER of the Jewish nation.

How low can people go? At least with prostitutes they make no claim to ethical behavior. These rabbis are worse than the pimps and prostitutes that frequent the streets of Tel-Aviv. MUCH WORSE.

My anger is so deep, I find it difficult to express myself properly.Is this what Judaism has come down to; EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE? Even S'micha from the Rabbanut?

We know who the gangsters of New York and New Jersey are, we either choose to participate in their fraud or we don't.The chief rabbis of Israel are suppose to represent world Judaism with their morals and ethics.

I say the Israeli government should suspend ALL funding to the Charedi institutions and offer a reward for the information leading to the masterminds of this theft and all theft and fraud within the Charedi organizations.

UOJ


By Esti Ahronovitz and Shahar Ilan

Last Update: 11/12/2005 12:14

M.'s turn came this past August. Like 580 other policemen around the country, he knew that in the end, the Police Investigation (PI) personnel - from the unit that investigates suspected wrongdoing within the police force - would get to him, too. M., who is with the Afula police, got entangled in what the police are calling "Latvia Affair 2" (referring to the dubious degrees awarded by the local branch of the University of Latvia to senior officials?). Again there are dubious titles that translate into hefty salary boosts, but this time it's not just a matter of an academic degree. This time the police under investigation received the title of rabbi. They have become rabbicops.

"Someone on the force decided that policemen should be a little more intelligent," M. said this week. "We were sent to study Judaism and get a degree that would increase our salary by NIS 2,000 a month, gross. People went. I was one of three or four groups that studied in a beit midrash [religious school] in Beit She'an - I don't even remember what it was called. Tuition was NIS 15,000, and we had classes twice a week. We studied for two years. We did three or four external exams. In some cases our teachers were soldiers. We were supposed to study for 24 months, but after 20 months you could already get the salary hike. The diplomas were sent from National Headquarters and we received the extra pay four months before the end of the studies. My diploma says that I was ordained as a rabbi for salary purposes only."

Senior police sources confirmed this week that three parallel investigations are under way. One, by the National Unit for Fraud Investigations, is dealing with the institutions that issued the rabbinical titles; a second, by PI, is investigating the 700 or so police graduates of these studies; and the third, being conducted by Military Police Investigations, is concerned with 600 personnel from the career army, on similar suspicions. PI has so far questioned 400 of the approximately 700 rabbicops; according to sources involved in the investigation, it will continue for many more months.

The investigations have led to dozens of rabbis and religious teachers, including some of Israel's preeminent rabbis. Those who have been questioned and have given testimony included Rabbi Yitzhak Ohana, former director of the unit for examinations and ordination in the Chief Rabbinate and now the bureau chief of Rabbi Yisrael Lau, the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv; Yaacov Gross, the chief rabbi of the Israel Police, and his deputy Aharon Gottesdiener, who took early pension in the wake of the investigation; Meir Rosenthal, from the staff of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger; Yosef Eliahu, the son of former chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, from the Darkei Hora'ah educational institution; Rabbi She'ar Yishuv Hacohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa and head of the Ariel network of institutions; Rabbi Benayahu Bruner, head of the Safed hesder yeshiva (combining religious studies with military service); and individuals close to the chief rabbi of Be?er Sheva, Rabbi Yehuda Deri, who organized study groups in his school, Kol Yehuda, in return for payment.

Bring money, get diploma
The case of the rabbicops was discovered by chance. In 2002, a Border Policeman was facing a disciplinary hearing on domestic violence charges. A senior officer in the disciplinary unit at police National Headquarters who went over the Border Policeman's file noticed something odd: the man's salary slip stated that he was getting an increment because he had a degree. And not just any degree, either, but a rabbinical degree. The senior officer, not understanding how a secular person could be a rabbi, sent a memo about the matter to Avi Werzberger, who was then a senior member of PI. Commander Werzberger began to look into the affair. He discovered that 580 such rabbis were listed in the Israel Police, most of them secular.

At first it sounded like a joke. The PI personnel could hardly believe their findings: hundreds of policemen, the majority holding junior posts as patrolmen, warehouse staff and even mess hall workers, many of whom did not even have 10 years of schooling, were ordained rabbis. They were serving in the north and south of the country and in Jerusalem. Werzberger ordered an intensive investigation, which is now being conducted by his successor, Commander Alex Or.

PI discovered that between 2000 and 2002, about 600 Israel Police personnel had registered to study Judaism. The studies were held in a number of institutions for fees ranging from NIS 10,000 to NIS 15,000, which each person paid out of his own pocket. At the conclusion of the studies, the policemen received a diploma signed by Rabbi Yitzhak Ohana, then a senior official in the Chief Rabbinate, stating, "Rabbi [name] studied for five years in high yeshivas and passed examinations as required. By the directive of [Sephardi] Chief Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi Doron, shalita [may he live long and happily], the above rabbi is eligible for a diploma as the possessor of high Torah education." The document adds, "This diploma does not constitute qualification for serving in the
rabbinate in practice."

When PI personnel asked how it was possible to squeeze the five years of study cited on the diploma into two years, they were told that the policemen had studied for 35 hours a week, which was the equivalent of five years of study. In practice, the rabbis who were questioned and the policemen themselves did not hide the fact that none of them had attended so many weekly classes. "At most," says a source who is involved in the investigation, "they studied four hours a week, eight hours a week, and in some cases not even that much."

Sources close to the investigation said this week that not only were most of the rabbicops secular, they also showed great ignorance about the subjects that were taught. Asked basic questions about the content of the subjects they studied, they replied that they could not remember. Some of them could not identify photographs of the city rabbis who were supposed to have examined them orally.

The police believe that the various colleges and other institutions involved raked in hundreds of thousands of shekels from the studies by the policemen and the soldiers. To illustrate, the annual revenues of the yeshiva run by Rabbi Bruner, in Safed, plummeted by NIS 179,000 in 2003. The audit issued on behalf of the Registrar of Associations states that according to the yeshiva's director general, the shortfall is due to the fact that "in 2002 the association gave a course for members of the security forces. That course was not given in 2003." This represents almost a quarter of the yeshiva's revenues from tuition for that year. Bruner and members of the yeshiva's administrative staff were questioned in the case. According to informed sources, about 80 policemen from the north and 40 career army personnel studied at the yeshiva. ("I was not involved in that program," Rabbi Bruner said this week. "We taught policemen Torah subjects in our center and they received ordination not from us, but from the Chief Rabbinate.")

The investigators have receipts for the tuition fee paid by the policemen - who covered the expense through the extra monthly salary, which also goes toward their pension. By a rough estimate, this amounts to millions of shekels from the state coffers. "It was pure commerce," a senior police officer sums up. "You brought money, and after two years you got a diploma and everyone was happy."

Sources in the State Prosecutor's Office take a grave view of the affair. Two meetings were held there in the past year, with the attendance of the ranking personnel in the department and in PI, to "formulate strategy." "It was decided to deprive the policemen of the money and the benefits, because not one of them actually studied," says a prosecution source who is involved in the investigation. "In contrast to the Latvia affair, which was extremely complicated, things in this case were straightforward. Either you attended the 35 hours of classes or you didn't. And they didn't. In practice, not one of the policemen was able to show that he did the 35 weekly hours. And anyway, these are secular people. What kind of rabbis?"

Sources in the state prosecution note that they are now preparing for a situation in which policemen who will not receive the extra salary and other rights for the studies will turn to the High Court of Justice.

Everyone wanted a slice
The whole affair started back in 1998 and was marked by struggles and intrigues among some of Israel?s leading rabbis. "This is a story
involving high emotions within the rabbinate," says Rabbi Ohana. Underlying it is the old rivalry between Shas party spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef - Rabbi Bakshi Doron is from his camp - and former chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, who is considered the spiritual leader of the national-religious right in Israel.

According to Ohana, "The story started when Rabbi Bakshi Doron authorized a course for a group from the yeshiva of Rabbi David Yosef." A source in the Chief Rabbinate relates that "Yosef came with a proposal that there were policemen who wanted to take courses, that this would advance their career." Sources in Shas say that Yosef's course was coordinated with the public security minister at the time, Avigdor Kahalani, and with a few senior police personnel.

However, Rabbi Eliahu's institutions soon realized the potential and sought authorization to give their own courses. Rabbi Bakshi Doron and Rabbi Eliahu sparred over these courses - even the attorney general at the time, Elyakim Rubinstein, intervened in Eliahu's favor - and in the end the Chief Rabbinate Council authorized it, sources say.

The impression is that there was great eagerness to be involved in this. What is the interest in regard to policemen and career soldiers?
Ohana: "They made money from it. They had schools. They made money. What are you talking about?"

According to a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, the initial demand was for the students to pass exams of the Chief Rabbinate even for the partial title. However, "afterward they started to bypass that." The legal adviser of the Chief Rabbinate at the time, attorney Menachem Yanovsky, says that there were "allegations that some of the students were secular and that the courses had become money machines."

Even though the problematic nature of the courses was clear to the Chief Rabbinate - or maybe precisely because of that - its officials are quick to impute responsibility to the Israel Police. "Who came up with the idea for the courses?" Ohana asks, and replies, "The police - the initiative came from them. Period. The police are feigning innocence here. They came to Rabbi Bakshi Doron in 1998 and said, 'Let's set up a school to train students.' The p-o-l-i-c-e. Rabbi Bakshi Doron tried to stop the plan but they pressured him and pressured him. It was imposed on the rabbinate. That is what happened. That was a time of peace, when the police had a surplus budget. Not like today, when there is a shortfall. They looked for a way to give the police a bonus. And from that, all this Latvia and all these bad troubles began. Those ills all began from that."

So what you are saying is that the police started it and now is investigating itself?
"Without a doubt, without a doubt. Incidentally, the police are investigating because PI coerced them. You have to understand - top people in the police were involved in this in one way or another, in the studies, in the schools, in the lectures .... Why did the police authorize it? Does a policeman in rabbinical studies become a better policeman? There are police documents: 'Please hurry, please speed things up.' They expected that the policemen would complete the studies within a year. They wanted everything done fast, fast - for them to complete the studies and get the titles within a year."

Why did you sign diplomas stating that they studied for five years? They studied for two years, and only a few hours a week.
"That is not the point. It's not that. That is less important. They brought documents that they would complete the studies and some of them did study for five years. That did not interest the police. It did not interest them whether they studied for a minute or an hour. It didn't interest the army, either, and there are documents about that. Everyone is now telling you half-stories, because the police are already fiddling with this for years. It is transferred from one [investigative] team to another and they are looking for where the mistake was made and where the flaw is. Everyone is now looking for others to blame. Every six months they wake up and call you and ask, 'Why was it like this? And why was it like that? And who said what?' And they go around splitting the hairs of hairs."

What did you tell the interrogators?
"I gave them the details. Why it was so and why it was like that, who did what. Because it was all documented, you know. What am I, after all? I am an official who received orders. There are hundreds of people who were involved in one way or another, and millions of witnesses. It is not something that was done in secret. After all, who was all the paperwork about the rabbinical training sent to? To the police. Let's not make people out to be all that stupid."

Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi Doron, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi: "I was against authorizing these courses. There was a majority in favor in the Chief Rabbinate Council. A committee that the council appointed set criteria according to which only a person who had been a chief rabbi could give the courses."

Oded Wiener, director general of the Chief Rabbinate: "The Chief Rabbinate holds ordination examinations for the rabbinate which are known for their quality and strictness. Anyone who does not pass them cannot serve as a rabbi." The members of the security forces, of course, did not pass the rabbinate examinations. Even though Wiener has held his post since 2000, he maintains that the events under investigation occurred before he became director general.

Ask the Chief Rabbinate
One of the best-known bodies whose staff was questioned in the rabbicops case is Darkei Hora'ah, under the aegis of Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, a former Sephardi chief rabbi. Among those questioned was his son, Rabbi Yosef Eliahu, who is in charge of the rabbinical courses of the institution and serves the head of its kolel (yeshiva for married men).

Also questioned was Rabbi Meir Rosenthal, who is described as the organization person of the institution's rabbinical training courses and is now the bureau chief of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Metzger. Rosenthal said this week that he will not comment until the investigation is concluded and emphasized that the investigation is dealing with a period before Rabbi Metzger became chief rabbi.

"The investigation has been proceeding lethargically for three years and so far has not produced anything incriminating against my clients," says attorney Zion Amir on behalf of Darkei Hora'ah. "My clients have undergone a serious and uncalled-for perversion of justice." He added, "The Darkei Hora'ah institutions held a study program that was approved by the authoritative bodies. My clients cooperated in the investigation, responded to questions and did all they were asked in order to help advance it." According to Amir, the fact that the investigation has been leaked to the newspaper has about it "the smell of a political investigation that was born against the background of the forthcoming elections."

The investigation that led to Darkei Hora'ah started in a religious school in Beit She'an where Rabbi Meir Ruyemi taught about 100 policemen. "We taught for two years according to the authorizations," Ruyemi said this week. "We are being bothered for no reason. And we also took token payments."

Did the policemen really come to study with you?
"They studied for two years. I teach in Darkei Hora'ah, I am a branch of Rabbi Eliahu's Darkei Hora'ah. All the responsible individuals are in Jerusalem. In Rabbi Eliahu's kolel. Talk to Rosenthal."

What kind of diploma did the policemen get?
"It is a diploma of two years of study. In the Chief Rabbinate it is compatible with the title of rabbi, but without ordination. The person will not be able to be a rabbi or a mashgiah [supervisor of kosher food] tomorrow. They studied for a salary increment.

"The police asked why we did not teach for five years, like in law school. They asked me why the Rabbinate wrote that they studied five years and we stated that we taught for only two years. I told them, 'Why are you asking me? Go to the Rabbinate.' Our directive was to teach the policemen for two years, and the army, too. The Rabbinate told us that the diploma is as though compatible with a rabbi who completed five years. As though."

Counting hours in the synagogue
Another well-known religious network whose staff was questioned is Ariel - Centers for Torah and Judaism. Its head is Rabbi Hacohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa, who was visited in his office by PI personnel to take testimony. The deputy rabbi of the police, Chief Superintendent Aharon Gottesdiener, was also connected with the Ariel institutions.

Gottesdiener was arrested in March 2003 on suspicion of bribe-taking; namely, that while he was a rabbi in the police Northern District he taught at Ariel and urged policemen to study at the institution. His son received a scholarship at the time, and police sources say that his daughter also worked there. Gottesdiener took early retirement from the police a year ago. People close to him said this week that when the investigation began, he realized that his career had come to an end. He was given the option of suspension until the investigation ended, or retirement; he chose the latter.

One of his confidants said this week the rabbi had shown the investigators that the students in the college studied 35 hours a week, as required. "He brought directives of the Rabbinate showing that the studies include hours of self-learning in the synagogue and he showed that the students also counted hours of learning on their own in the synagogue - exactly according to the Rabbinate directives."

Gottesdiener himself chose not to comment for this article. His lawyer, Shuki Stein, said that he will be pleased to respond to the allegations after the police investigation concludes.

Gottesdiener's boss, Aharon Gross, the police chief rabbi, has also been questioned several times by PI. It was Gross who by his signature authorized the salary increment for the policemen "rabbis." He was the one who forwarded to the payroll unit the document on which he signed that the person in question was entitled to a quasi-academic rank and to the commensurate salary. A source involved in the investigation describes Gross as the person who shut his eyes in this story.

The police spokesman stated in connection with Rabbi Gross' interrogation: "In regard to Rabbi Gross, the investigation is still ongoing in PI. No material was ever received by the police concerning Gross which would make it necessary to consider disciplinary measures against him."

Rabbi She'ar Yishuv Hacohen, who heads the Ariel network, also gave testimony. "There were no cases in which people received a degree without studying and passing a test," he said this week. Hacohen says he opened the courses in order "to help the members of the security forces." For the institutions, he says, "There was more outlay than income. We charged a low price." All the students, he says, arrived at the recommendation of an army or police chaplain and were required to participate in three classes week, and the school was strict about attendance. Some, he said, finished after one year, but it took most of them two years. All the graduates, Rabbi Cohen says, were examined by three rabbis, of whom two were chief rabbis of cities. To reach the five years cited in the diploma, he says, ?previous years of study were added on. In general we accepted people who had studied in a yeshiva or taken a course of a local rabbi."

The chief rabbi refused to sign
Yet another well-known figure in the case is Rabbi Yehuda Deri, the chief rabbi of Be'er Sheva and a brother of former Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. PI personnel visited his school, Kol Yehuda, where dozens of army and police personnel studied. Their studies were coordinated by Rabbi Ofer Ohana, who was questioned half a year ago. That investigation was launched by PI, but the material was also made available to the Military Police, as most of the students involved were from the army.

"I set up a network of Torah studies throughout the city," Rabbi Deri said this week. "Within that framework I was approached by Rabbi Ofer Ohana, who told me, 'Your honor, there is a serious group in the city who would like us to arrange Torah lessons for them so they can learn what is permitted and what is forbidden.' These are studies for which it would be appropriate to receive a diploma. I told him, 'If we have good enrollment, why not?' In the first course we had about 60 guys from the army. They studied for three years, twice a week. Serious studies, with exams. In regard to payment, I told Ohana that with me they will not pay. Anyone who wants can donate a token amount directly to the yeshiva. Maybe a third donated. After that we started more courses."

Rabbi Deri says he has not been questioned, though Rabbi Ofer Ohana was summoned for questioning six months ago. "He brought them all the personal files of the students. It seems to me that they came away with a positive impression," Rabbi Deri says.

"We said all the time that the studies are not for a degree, but purely for Judaism studies" Ofer Ohana explains. "We said we are not a college and we do not issue diplomas. We give Torah lessons. With us it is known that studies are solely for the sake of Torah."

However Boaz Tairi, who teaches in the beit midrash, has a somewhat different account. "I taught there," he says. "The class I taught was the last one that was able to get in, most of them policemen and a few soldiers. They came because they knew that until a certain date it was still possible to study Judaism for a degree. After that the army and the police no longer recognized the studies. I taught every Monday and Thursday, each lesson four hours, in the evenings. A course like that
lasted three years."

What kind of diploma did they get in the end?
"All told they received the subject of 'prohibited and permitted' and a 'yoreh yoreh' diploma after being examined and succeeding in the studies. There is a concept that a person who studies halakha [Jewish religious law] and afterward is tested on it and succeeds can teach in that subject, and that is called 'yoreh yoreh.' They were tested and succeeded."

Haaretz is in possession of a diploma that was given to a senior NCO in the Israel Defense Forces which is signed by Yitzhak Ohana and lists Rabbi Yehuda Deri as one of the examiners.

A senior IDF officer said this week that the Military Rabbinate has conveyed to the Military Police all the files of those who received a rabbinical degree for salary purposes. According to the IDF, the Military Police can investigate only those who received degrees but not the institutions that trained the rabbi-NCOs. "On that subject we are dependent on the civilian police."

Since 2000, the chief army chaplain, Brigadier General Yisrael Weiss, has refused to sign the diplomas of the graduates of the rabbinate courses. According to IDF sources, when he took over as chief chaplain he stated that he would refuse to sign, because "a rabbi is someone who serves as a rabbi and not an NCO in a workshop or in the personnel administration. They are not rabbis." It was decided in 2000, at Rabbi Weiss' initiative, that rabbinical studies would be recognized only for those who serve as army chaplains. But the implementation of this decision ran into snags. Many of those who took the courses had study authorizations from the army and the degree could not be denied to them. As a result, the decision was not implemented until March 2001.

The army set tough criteria for recognizing the rabbinical studies, insisting on three authorizations: a study authorization from the personnel unit, an authorization from the institution and a certificate from the Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Weiss still refused to sign, even for those who met the criteria, and the head of the Personnel Directorate appointed another officer to sign in his place.

Today, according to an IDF source, the phenomenon of rabbinical studies for salary purposes "no longer exists." Nevertheless, and despite the
investigation, those who were recognized are continuing to receive the salary increment.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office stated in response: "The Military Police is conducting an investigation into the matter of the rabbinical titles. When it is concluded, the findings will be transferred to the Military Advocate General?s Office."

We were wronged
The rabbicops affair is deeply embarrassing to the Israel Police. The rabbicops themselves are especially angry. They and their colleagues say that it was clear to everyone from the outset that the studies were solely for the purpose of a salary increment. The view in PI is that the policemen involved will face only disciplinary proceedings, but in the meantime their promotion has been frozen, they are being investigated and the significant hike in their monthly pay is liable to be slashed.
"I think we have been wronged," says a policeman who works in the mess hall of a station in the north and obtained a rabbinical degree. "Our whole class in the course was interrogated."

"We are talking about hundreds of policemen who studied and now are suspected of committing a criminal offense," says the chief of a police station in the north, whose men are under investigation. "I do not say that they are guilty, heaven forbid. PI says that the policemen knew they were doing something wrong, that they knew it wasn't really a degree. My policemen are now coming to me and saying, 'No way: we were told to go twice a week for two years and that it is worth a degree.' Someone did not tell them the truth about these studies."

"Suddenly, after two years, they came to everyone who studied with the allegation that we should have studied for five years and not two," M., from the Afula station, relates. "I was summoned to an interrogation and questioned for 45 minutes. They showed me documents connected to the college in Haifa. I didn't know what they wanted from me. If I had known, I would not have invested so much money and time. During the interrogation I struck up a conversation with the interrogator. I told him, 'I am a cop and you are a cop. You know how much effort we put into the studies. You know how much a cop makes. A rookie policeman gets NIS 4,000. So what's the deal?'"

A., from the Beit She'an station, adds, "A few months ago I was summoned to a PI interrogation. Another 10 from the station were questioned with me. I can tell you one thing: whoever went to study got an authorization from the police saying it was all right. Everyone knew what it was all about, that it is a rabbinical title only for salary purposes. I have no authority when it comes to kosher food or marrying people. None of us really thought of becoming a rabbi. They came and told me that I should have studied five years for the degree. 'What five years,' I told them, ' could have studied medicine in five years.'"

The Justice Ministry response: "The investigation is now being conducted and we are unable to provide details."

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:40 PM | 53 comments

Thursday, December 08, 2005
Penguin of the Week Award

By David Kelsey

A UOJ Exclusive!

In conjunction with the Elders of this site, I have begun a “Penguin of the Week” Award to illuminate ignorant and destructive behavior committed by select leaders, activists, sages, and writers within the Ultra-Orthodox community.

The winner may receive the remains of a three day old shabbes leftover Gefilte fish loaf. The loaf may not be picked up before Wednesday, and a nominal donation of $1 must be “given” to the Un-Orthodox Jew blog. Unfortunately, UOJ is NOT currently able to accept food stamps, so many of our winners will not be able to receive their award. Once again, the voluntary but still mandatory $1 must be payed in cash.

Without further ado, let us go to this week’s “winner.”

And the winner is … The Orthodox Jew Blog!

Congratulations Orthodox Jew Blog!

Created “to answer the guys at the unorthodoxjew blog,” the Orthodox Jew blog bravely rebukes aspects of the Jewish community for not being frum enough, such as this eloquent apologetic from November 18th.
“Lets make this clear when we do mitzvahs we are mesaken the world that's not why we them that's not our ultimate goal.”
I said bravely, because like many in the Ultra-Orthodox world, they have accepted this mandate to fight in English without knowing English (or any single language fluently, for that matter), or bothering with those period things that the Jewish secularists use to end sentences with, attempting to emulate the goyim. Why should they? It’s Avodah Zorah or something. We all make spelling mistakes, but these guys have no shame. You know why? Because it’s l’shame Shemyaim.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that everyone, absolutely everyone, should contrast the ideas and writing abilities of UOJ blog to the OJ blog. This is as worthy an ultra-Orthodox resistor to our ideas as the Ultra-Orthodox community will produce in their worthy fight against the evil cabal of allies against the frumme yid. This evil alliance of Soneh Yisroels includes but is not limited to: The UOJ Blog, Dinosaurs, Information, the Internet, the NY Health Department, and the impure drinkers of unfiltered water.

Keep up the good fight, boys.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:06 PM | 13 comments

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Judaism And All Kinds Of Shit For Sale - Come One, Come All, To Our Holiday Sale

From An Aish Hatorah Advertisement.

Eternal Kaddish Service $540.00* tax-deductible donation

During the first year, Aish HaTorah will recite Kaddish 3 times a day until the first Yahrzeit.

On the first yahrtzeit (and all subsequent years), Kaddish will be recited, Mishnayot will be learned, and a yahrtzeit candle will be lit.

A yahrtzeit reminder letter will be sent annually to those specified on the Kaddish Request Form..

[Mishnayot forms the basis of the Talmud. The word Mishnah is comprised of the same letters as Neshama -- soul. Tradition teaches that study of Mishnayot on the Yahrtzeit brings great merit to the deceased, connecting the soul to the foundations of Jewish history, and strengthening the eternal spiritual bond with God.]

In appreciation for your generosity, please accept our gift of "Remember My Soul: A Path of Reflection, Inspiration and Personal Growth" by Lori Palatnik. This book provides the comforting voice of wisdom at life's most painful moment, offering everything you need to know about mourning and coping with loss in Jewish tradition. Included is a 30-day guided exercise that both comforts the mourner, and according to Jewish mystical tradition, provides spiritual elevation for the soul of the departed.

Yahrzeit Service (after the first year) $360.00* (tax-deductible donation)

On each Yahrzeit, Kaddish will be recited three times.

Mishnayot will be learned.

A Yahrzeit candle will be lit.

A Yahrtzeit reminder letter will be sent to those specified on theKaddish Request Form. .
Mishnah Study and Talmud

Mishnah – one tractate
Mishnah – entire 63 tractates(524 chapters)
Talmud – one tractate
Talmud – entire 5,422 pages
$100
$500
$250
$2,000


*Payment Schedule

Donations may be paid in full or in monthly installments by credit card.

Please click here to fill out the Kaddish Request Form in order to begin Kaddish immediately.

As soon as we receive the name of the departed, we will start Kaddish. Upon receipt of payment, the name will be permanently instituted in our records.


This stinks to the heavens. Getting a donation is one thing, "selling" these services is disgusting.
Just another example of Judaism going into the commercial toilet.

UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:30 PM | 31 comments

Monday, December 05, 2005
Will Yeshivas Avrohom Fruchthandler DBA Yeshiva Chaim Berlin Remove The Thief Englander Name Off The Yehiva K'tana Building ?

Millennium Partners to pay $121.4 million By Michael Gormley, The Associated Press

Millennium Partners will pay $121.4 million in "ill-gotten revenues," its founder Israel Englander will pay $30 million in civil penalties, and two management companies will pay $26.6 million under an agreement in a New York and federal investigation into market timing, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Thursday.

That is the first major settlement involving a hedge fund for Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission. They have been investigating similar market-timing schemes in mutual funds that benefit insiders at the expense of individual investors.


"Millennium developed multiple schemes that cost mutual fund investors tens of millions of dollars," Spitzer said. "Restitution will be made to investors who were harmed."


The complaint accused Millennium of taking ill-gotten profits of more than $100 million from 1999 to 2003, much of it from transactions structured to avoid mutual fund defenses to block market timing or to conceal Millennium's role.


"Today's action demonstrates the commission's commitment to prosecute vigorously all the wrongdoers involved in fraudulent market-timing practices, not just mutual fund managers and broker-dealers, but also the hedge funds and other entities that profited so handsomely from the fraud," said SEC Enforcement Division Director Linda Chatman Thomsen.


Market timing of mutual funds, which involves rapid in-and-out trades, is not illegal but is prohibited by many funds because it can put ordinary shareholders at a disadvantage by diluting the value of their shares. Many of the cases brought by Spitzer and the SEC have targeted mutual fund companies that allowed favored clients such as hedge funds to engage in market timing.


"Millennium is pleased to have reached a comprehensive resolution of the investigations regarding mutual fund trading in years prior to 2004," Millennium spokesman Thomas Daly said. "We agreed to these civil settlements, in which we neither admitted nor denied the various allegations, as a business decision in order to put this matter behind us and to allow us to concentrate on our investments. Today, we have stronger financials and stronger controls, including the supervision of the former general counsel of the SEC, than ever."


Millennium has $5.4 billion under management, 20% more than in 2003.


Millennium was also accused of using false addresses and renting post office boxes to avoid detection by mutual funds, Spitzer said. Employees also posed as long-term investors, allowing the company access to "subaccounts" that kept Millennium's identity secret.


Spitzer claims the company was able to camouflage as much as $19 billion in market-timing activity.


Terence Feeney, Millennium's chief operating officer, will pay $2 million, and its general counsel, Fred Stone, will pay $25,000 in penalties. Both will be banned from mutual fund trading for three years.



Israel Englander has been in trouble with the law for the last thirty years.
Avrohom Fruchthandler is in bed with this guy, and certainly is aware that the yeshiva has received money from "ill- gotten revenues."
Avrohom, do you have the balls to remove the name from your building, where kids come to learn Torah and it's values? Or money is money regardless of the source?
Tell me Avrumy, are you going to send the message to our children that as long as you give money to your yeshiva, it's ok to steal and cheat?
We're watching, you have a chance to do the right thing.
MR. FRUCHTHANDLER, TAKE DOWN THIS THIEF'S NAME FROM THE YESHIVA BUILDING TODAY!

UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 8:31 PM | 115 comments

Saturday, December 03, 2005
UOJ's Theory Of Evolution - Chassidim Direct Descendants Of ( Beaver) Animals -They Can't Let Go Of Their (Fur) Hats

By The Chairman Of The Board - R' Gross

The “Talibaner” Rebbe
Rabbi Mordechai Hager, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey( The Guys Who Wear Their Fur Hats Backwards)

One only needs to look at the Chassidim to make a pretty accurate assumption as to the character of their leadership.

Having been raised in a purely litvishe environment, with rather oppressive institutions of “education” and prayer, I naievely assumed that Chassidim, as a general rule, were a bit more accepting of those outside their circles - more so than their litvishe counterparts. After all, they seemed “pretty cool.” Heimishe davening, various Chesed organizations, jovial expressions of love for their creator, friendly shteiblach… I apparently was wrong; as the generations progress (or rather, regress) new expressions of ugly fundamentalism rears its head…

Several months ago, “Chaim,” an acquaintance of mine, stopped off in Vizhnitz on Route 306 in Monsey, for a late Shacharis. Moments after arriving, a young man approached Chaim and asked him why he wasn’t wearing a hat. Stunned and unsure of the man’s motives, he just ignored him.

When he later related the story to me I brushed it aside insisting that it was just an isolated incident and either the man was joking or he wasn’t “100%.” In fact I found it very hard to believe that in such a Heimishe environment, someone wouldn’t go out of the way to make him – an obvious outsider - feel comfortable by offering him a siddur or a place to sit.

A few weeks later, Chaim returned to Vizhnitz forgetting about the incident. While donning his Tallit and Tefillin he was shocked to see a sign posted on a wall stating the institution’s requirement that all congregants must wear a hat and jacket! The story doesn’t end there.

A group of recent Baalei Teshuvas, attended Vizhnitz one morning for Shacharis. They were dressed casually but neatly and were obvious BTs. Moments after arriving, they were asked to leave – that’s right they were asked to leave -immediately and their efforts to protest were futile as a small mob of threatening Chasidim surrounded them. That very day, one of the men thrown out of Vizhnitz ceased being observant.

In yet another incident, a man went into Vizhnitz for Maariv and after permission from one of the Gabboim approached the Amud in an attempt to lead the Maariv service. This man was a “Chiyuv” and therefore he had reason to do so.

When the man started Maariv it was obvious to all that he had a speech impediment (the speech impediment resulted from a slight hearing impairment.) After several minutes, the davening was interrupted and the man was asked to step away from the Amud. He refused and in an instant he was physically removed from the premises. The man was in tears.

How long will we allow these pieces of garbage to claim Judaism as their own? Is it not enough that they live in a welfare society, depending on OUR tax dollars and handouts for their corrupt Mosdos and gauche displays of personal excess? Is it not enough that we (those of us who work) suffer the embarrassing results of a public display of Chasidishe animalism, when confronted by our non-observant co-workers interested in knowing why there were fistfights in Willamsburg on Yom Tov? They don’t believe us when we say that “those people are not really Jewish.” How stupid can the Chassidim be? Don’t they realize that it’s all about money and real estate – at their expense? And NO, your Rebbe doesn’t have any Ruach HaKodesh and is a mere mortal like the rest of us (and probably an Am Ha’aretz too!

I say: Be as crooked as you want but remove the beard and payos and stop humiliating the rest of us!!!





Religion is not to be "object" driven. The "hat" has become a symbol to the Charedim, as the "cross" is to Madonna.
The parallels are so very similar. As long as the symbol is displayed openly, ALL the important elements of religion and appropriate behavior become irrelevant.

We see the Puerto Ricans and the Shvartzes driving around with "Jesus" bobbing around on their rear view mirrors, especially noticeable on their getaway cars as they race away from the convenience store or bank they just robbed.

UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:00 PM | 30 comments

Thursday, December 01, 2005
Rosh Yeshivas Get Together To Discuss New Ways To Squeeze Americans

Roshei Yeshivos Meet to Discuss Housing Crisis Among Young Couples in Israel

by Betzalel Kahn

A number of roshei yeshivos took part in a special meeting to discuss the housing crisis among bnei Torah. The roshei yeshivos discussed the possibilities currently available to avreichim and the difficulty in bearing the costs of marrying off children.

The heads of Binyan Sholem, founded by Degel HaTorah of Jerusalem, presented an overview of various projects currently marketed to bnei Torah in chareidi towns and elsewhere.

The roshei yeshivos shared accounts of painful cases of young couples seeking advice on how to alleviate the burden on parents trying to purchase apartments for their children. The shortage of work for kollel wives was also raised on the agenda in light of the increased cost of living as well as cuts in government funding and allowances in recent years.

A decision was reached to start a committee comprised of HaRav Boruch Shmuel HaKohen Deutsch, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Kol Torah, HaRav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Hevron, HaRav Yigal Rosen, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Yisroel, HaRav Yehoshua Ehrenberg, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chadera, HaRav Gavriel Yosef Levy, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Be'er HaTorah, and HaRav Nachman Leibovitz, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir.

HaRav Moshe Frank and Rav Menachem Blumental of Binyan Sholem spoke about the new project slated for construction in Yeruchom. HaRav Tzvi Friedland, who has led the Torah community in Yeruchom for decades, also addressed the rabbonim.

As an initial step the roshei yeshivos decided to start a unique kollel in Yeruchom immediately after Chanukah based on the precept of "Yehuda sholach lefonov."

The roshei yeshivos said only top avreichim from the Torah and yeshiva world would be selected for the kollel, which will offer excellent terms to allow them to labor and settle in "the tent of Torah" without having to worry about housing or income. The kollel will even offer periodic shiurim on a regular basis given by prominent roshei yeshivos making an extra effort to raise the banner of Torah in Yeruchom as part of the plan to help solve the housing crisis among bnei Torah.

During the meeting the rabbonim discussed the possibility of setting up a major foundation through the generosity of "yirei Shomayim contributors" from "abroad" to assist avreichim to purchase homes in the least expensive housing project available, the one in Yeruchom.

According to Binyan Sholem the roshei yeshivos will soon begin locating avreichim who will be carefully screened for the kollel in Yeruchom, calling this a first step in expanding the Torah community in the town and turning it into a large center for ruchniyus.

The Negev Region is currently slated for an impressive development boom. The government is allocating extensive resources to make the South flourish. By Chanukah, Israel Railways will reach the nearby town of Dimona and Highway 6 will reach as far as Beit Kama, bringing the Central Region much closer.

Development plans include the construction of software houses and high-tech companies, which will employ kollel wives at high salaries, tourism infrastructures including a hotel and convention hall, upgrading the artificial lake, widening roads, etc.

Following its successful bid for the construction franchise in the new part of Yeruchom, Binyan Sholem heads have decided to expand registration for the Naot Ha'irusim project.




They're coming for the YIREI SHOMAYIM CONTRIBUTORS; meaning if you don't give it up, you're just an American Shaigetz

UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 10:42 AM | 50 comments

Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Second shelter for abused Haredi women opened in central Israel

By Ruth Sinai

A shelter for abused women from the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) sector was inaugurated on Wednesday in a city in central Israel. The shelter began operating several months ago, and it can host up to 50 people. Eight women and their children are currently staying there.

The shelter, second of its kind, is being funded by the International Fellowship for Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the Welfare Ministry and private donors.

The Bat Melech fund, a body designated to treat abused women in the Haredi sector, operates the shelter on behalf of the Welfare Ministry along with another establishment for the protection of abused Haredi women. The shelters offer women protection, mental and social assistance and legal counseling.

According to Welfare Ministry figures, 1,388 women sought protection in shelters in 2004, but only half of them were placed in shelters. Currently there are 1,064 children residing in shelters, a third of them under the age of three.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:35 PM | 13 comments

Monday, November 28, 2005
Girls Seminaries In Israel - A Scam By The Scum

Received this e-mail from a reader

Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:42:24 -0800
From: "Oyba Zoy"
To: a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com

Hi,
I've read your blog a few times, some of the things you have written about have really hit home. I want to share a seminary story with you. I don't know the name of the seminary, but I'm trying to find out.

A girl from my community got accepted to a real frummy place. Although her parents have very little money and a bunch of kids, if they want their daughter to get a shidduch with a learner, they have no choice but to send her to a $15,000 a year seminary. Right?

Anyway, she gets to Israel, and the first thing that happens is the head "Rabbi" takes away her passport and tells her that if she wants to leave the country, her parents better send the rest of the money immediately. Apparently. her parents could not pay the $15,000 in one shot, and thought they could pay the rest out over the course of the year. Sounds reasonable right? Wrong!

The girls father had a fit, spoke to the local rabbonim, and decided to borrow or do whatever he had to do to send the rest of the money asap. They sent the money, the girl got her passport, and she had a wonderful year in seminary learning that she's going have to work the rest of her life to support someone in kollel, or work he decides that if he wants to make some real money he had better open up a seminary and hold girls hostage. Pretty sickening isn't it?

Have a great shabbos.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 8:58 PM | 16 comments

Was The UOJ Blog Responsible For Alan Stadtmauer's Resignation From Yeshiva Of Flatbush?

Intelligencer-New York Magazine
Saturday the Rabbi Came Out
Or was the former head of Flatbush’s Orthodox Yeshiva inadvertently outed before he was ready?
By Shana Liebman

UOJ Comments at the end of this article


This past summer, Rabbi Alan Stadtmauer resigned abruptly as principal of the prestigious Orthodox Yeshiva of Flatbush. Officially, the reason was that he wanted to pursue another career, though the school didn’t mention the real reason he believed he couldn’t continue his current one: Stadtmauer, 42, was just coming to grips with his homosexuality, which is anathema to Orthodox teachings. So he quit.

“We don’t know of any other heads of yeshiva anywhere in the world who have come out. It is a first,” says Sandi DuBowski, whose documentary Trembling Before G-d is about the struggle to be gay and Orthodox.

Actually, it’s not clear that Stadtmauer, who’d taught at the school for ten years, intended to come out—at least not yet. In September, after the rabbi resigned, a student politely e-mailed him to ask about rumors that he was gay. Stadtmauer replied, “I appreciate your understanding about my coming out . . . ” But one close confidant of Stadtmauer’s, Rabbi Steve Greenberg (author of Wrestling With God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition), says that when Stadtmauer told the student he could share the e-mail “if your friends were wondering the same things,” he was thinking “maybe three or four friends. He didn’t want this information out like this. He told me this twice.”

Instead, the e-mail circulated widely; The Forward even covered it. And many former students felt betrayed, not because he’d been hiding his sexuality but because he implied that he was giving up, at least provisionally, on Orthodoxy: His e-mail stated, “I still believe in the Value and Truth of Torah, even if I don’t feel bound by Halacha,” the rabbinic laws. “And I may yet return to it.”

“What shocked me personally,” says alum Steven Zeitchik, a writer for Variety, “was not the gay part . . . but the fact that he left Jewish education.” Zeitchik says he still feels confused by Stadtmauer’s decision, “because the things he hid were so integral to what I was talking to him about, so elemental to how we live our lives in terms of faith.”

According to modern Orthodoxy’s interpretation of rabbinic law, homosexuality is a grave sin, so it wasn’t surprising that the response on certain blogs was more unforgiving. “I knew since day one he was a faggot,” one alum wrote on unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com. “He deserves the punishment of the worst tortures possible.”

School officials sent a letter to parents stating that Stadtmauer had recently told them he was gay but that “he had never previously discussed these issues with members of the faculty or with students.” It added, “There have been no allegations of inappropriate behavior during his tenure at the Yeshiva.”

Greenberg’s hoping all this will at least get people in the community talking about something they don’t like to even acknowledge. Flatbush grad David Cameo knows many Orthodox Jews “who officially admit it, yet decide to walk the ‘straight’ path. Some actually still choose to have a wife and
kids . . . Some remain celibate.”

Greenberg said Stadtmauer never spoke to him about his sex life, and his e-mail made no reference to his celibacy (except to say, “Given how alone I have been all my life, I just couldn’t see fighting an uphill battle just to remain lonely in the Orthodox community”). Stadtmauer isn’t making any public statements for now. Shortly after the e-mail got out, the rabbi left New York for a three-month hiatus—on the other side of the world. He spent Yom Kippur not in Brooklyn but in Bangkok.


UOJ COMMENTS

I do not know Alan Staudtmauer, and he may be a wonderful person, but my position is really clear.
Any person who WILLINGLY violates a " forbidden" precept of the Torah, should not be in a leadership position.
A rabbi in an Orthodox shul should not keep his job if he WILLFULLY violated the Shabbos, or willfully ate non-kosher food.

I feel, at the very least, that Stadtmauer falls into the category of WILLFULLY violating a behavior that the Torah forbids.
I am familiar with all the arguments, claiming that he can't help himself regarding his sexual orientation........

Firstly, I do not buy into that.
Secondly, even if that would be the case, a homosexual has no right being in a leadership position in an Orthodox School.
The same goes for rabbis, rosh yeshivas, and rebbes, if they willfully and knowingly participate, directly or by proxy in any "genaive" (fraud) from anyone or any entity, they should be forced to resign their positions or thrown out on their fat behinds, regardless of the color or length of their clothing.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 3:33 PM | 102 comments

Saturday, November 26, 2005
Naked Man Dies In Jump From Boro Park Office Building

A UOJ Exclusive In Conjunction With The Washington Post


A naked man darted from a car into a Boro Park office building at lunchtime yesterday and then jumped to his death from the top floor, officials said.

The man double-parked in the 4800 block of 13th Av. about noon, bolted from his still-running gray 1980 Chevrolet, dashed past a crowd on the street and ran into the lobby of an office building, witnesses said.

Police were still trying to identify the man yesterday and to determine why he jumped. Witnesses also were trying to sort out what happened. The man had no apparent connection to the building, according to people who work there.

"He didn't even have shoes on," said Zalman Teitelbaum , who was working as a temporary security guard at the building until the Satmar mess gets straightened out. Sitting behind the security desk, Teitelbaum first saw the man from the waist up and thought "maybe he was a rather strange jogger. But then I stood up and saw the rest of him, and realized he was very Jewish."

The man told Teitelbaum that he was "desperate and broke," asked him for 50 cents to make a phone call and then spoke incoherently, mumbling something about not being able to support his son in-law in kollel, Teitelbaum said.

Then the man ran to an elevator. Minutes later, he emerged from a stairwell on the top floor. The fire alarm had been set off, presumably by the man, and the office doors on that floor were open as people began to file out, witnesses said.

The man pushed his way into one of the offices, where he said "excuse me" several times while charging toward a window, witnesses said. He smashed the glass and jumped through the window, falling onto a parapet between two buildings. Some local workers and shoppers saw him fall.

Boro Park firefighters and emergency medical service personnel arrived at the scene, and police quickly cordoned off the block. Women with baby carriages were visibly upset that they could not continue shopping. One woman with a hat on top of her wig lamented, "he could have waited until the stores closed."

Workers in the top floor office said they had not seen the man before and did not believe that he had ties to the offices there. They didn't hear anything he said other than "excuse me, I need money to support my son in-law in the Lakewood kollel" a witness said.

Before it became apparent what was taking place, the city's parking enforcers reacted to the abandoned car, which had badly torn seats, New Jersey plates and no sign of clothing inside other than a beat up Borsalino and a jacket with a shatnes label. They slapped a flyer on the windshield inviting people to attend a parlor meeting for the Lakewood Yeshiva.

The police met with "all" the various Bobover Rebbes and was told that the man had seven married daughters and was acting strange as of late. Recently the man was seen in shul naked except for a towel on his shoulder, screaming why they moved the mikve.

These acts of desperation have become rather common in the Orthodox Jewish community, since fathers with daughters are expected to support their sons in-law whether they have the ability or not.

Many social workers in the community have noticed a dangerous increase in mental disorders particularly by men over fifty.

We interviewed eight young men who were in the local pizza parlor, all of them noticably obese. We asked them about their reaction to the increase in mental and emotional disorders in men over fifty, particularly by the men with daughters.

We had similar reactions by all eight young men. One fellow said it was "not my fault that the poor shmuck doesn't know how to make enough money to support thirty people. Summer camps, expensive houses, cars, jewelry, Pesach in Cancun, and tuitions are a father in -law's obligation, even if he has to work three jobs, or steal from his employer". They're just a bunch of whining lazy bastards".

Another young fellow said" I am sick and tired of hearing these bullshit stories from fathers in-law. If they produce the kids, they MUST support them, period, no excuses. This fellow who was not more than twenty years old, was wearing a gold Rolex. I complimented him on his watch; he turned angry and said" he told the shadchan that I would get two Rolexes, one for daily use and one for Yom-Tov, and the SOB finked out on me; what a piece of shit father in-law I wound up with. If I would have known that, I never would have married his meeskite (extremely ugly) daughter." He said he had to leave, and drove off in a brand new Cadillac Escalade.

The reaction by the others were similar, ranging from anger to dismay about the lack of appreciation and gratefulness to God exhibited by their fathers in-law. They all felt that they could have married anyone in the world, and if their father in-law ever decided to stop giving them "serious" money they would return their daughters to them in a heartbeat, blackmail the family in order for him to give a Get, and get a father in-law who really understands what a catch they are.

Particularly interesting was how they all agreed that they never intended to ever get a job, regardless of how many fathers in-law jumped off buildings. They saw it as a dirty trick and didn't believe the guy was really dead." I find it very interesting that these shameless fathers in-law would go to any lengths to avoid their obligations to us", said the fellow who was the most obese, weighing about three hundred pounds and was not more than five foot three inches tall.

Calls to the rabbis of the Lakewood Kollel were answered by a taped recorded message.
"If you are attempting to join our prestigous institution,the only requirement is that you must be proficient in filling out lengthy government aid forms. These forms are available in all languages and can be filled out at any Lexus dealer in Boro Park or Flatbush; or available on the internet by the shgatzim uremasim (low-lifes) who have internet access.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:39 PM | 97 comments

Tuesday, November 22, 2005
It's "Shver" To Be A "Shver"- The Tale Of The Scumbag Son In-Law

TRUE STORY:WELCOME BACK R' GROSS
Just returned from a very important assignment in HUD country.


”Schnorrer,” has been married four years and has 3 children in diapers. (In fact, several weeks after he was first allowed to touch his tired wife, after a C-section produced child #2 , she was already pregnant with the third.)

Desperate to marry his aging 21 year old daughter, four years ago, Schnorrers’s shver (father in law) agreed to support Schnorrer in the amount of $1000 per month as long as he was in kollel. It was understood that Schnorrer will go out to work after a few years. Schnorrer is quite capable of working; he is rather quick with numbers as you will soon see.

So what is the problem? Recently, Schnorrer, having a head for figures, made a quick calculation on his way to a 10 AM shacharis, You see, he is facing a dilemma, whether or not he has to work. That calculation went as follows:

Background:

A recent job prospect offered a generous starting salary of $30,000 ( remember, absolutely no education or experience!) after several weeks of Cope training (Don’t praise the Agudah just yet, but if you must then take a few moments to do just that…)

OPTION 1

+++Shver pays him $1000 per month ($12k/annually)

+++Schnorrer schnors $700/month from mother, a professional, who was coerced into paying his Lakewood tuition she paid for him as a bochur, directly to him now (which is no longer due to the Yeshiva because of his newly attained matrimonial status, rendering him scot-free from tuition. Another instance of singles being discriminated against by the thugs who run our religion)

+ ++ Hundreds of dollars per month in the form of government handouts ranging from rent to groceries, most of which he will lose once gainfully employed.

OPTION 2

+++Go to work and earn the same amount of money.

“Why work?” he said. I’m better off not working and getting (I nearly slapped him) the same amount of money. Besides both my shver and mother are getting tremendous mitzvos for supporting me while I learn!”


This is not a unique situation. Schnorrer is not alone! Yungerleit that never held jobs and collect money in the form of WIC, HUD, etc.... are purchasing homes under their shver's name and "renting" it to themselves and having the govt pay their rent! PURE THEFT. Others invest in Lakewood real estate to become slum lords. They rent houses to families of Mexicans, polluting the very demographic they have created.
Oh, that’s right it’s the “treife newspapers” and Internet that are to blame for all the tragedies. Go ahead and justify it! “It’s “hefker” anyway, the shvartzes do it so why can’t we?” So you’re comparing yourselves to these lower forms of humanity – that’s one step in the right direction!

When will it stop? This type of “economy” cannot sustain itself. It is impossible! A generation of schnorrers is trying to breed another generation of even bigger schnorrers (these new schnorrers won’t have working parents with money.) There will be a spiritual rebellion. Many Lakewood kids are messed up already! The ones who have zero interest in learning have even less of an interest in attaining a secular education that might enable them to live a decent life. These idiots aren’t going into any decent business either (except for the occasional “mortgage guy“.)

So get ready to sit back and observe the community that will implode and self-destruct in 10-15 years (if even that long) when the well runs dry and the kids have “had it.” Prepare to watch. And laugh. Don’t say we haven't warned you!

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 10:32 PM | 93 comments

Monday, November 21, 2005
Rabbi Naftoli Herman Neuberger Z"L - The Hesped Without The "Help" Of Moshe Sherer

M. Plaut
Shema Yisroel Network
UOJ comments at the end.

On motzei Shabbos parshas Lech Lecho a hesped for Rabbi Neuberger zt"l was held in the Friedman Beis Medrash of Yeshivas Mir.

The first speaker was HaRav Yitzchok Ezrachi. He asked why in general does a son have to say Kaddish? He answered that it is to fill the void in Kiddush Hashem that was left in the passing of his father. He noted that for someone like R' Naftoli Neuberger, who was responsible for so much Kiddush Hashem in the world, everyone has to pitch in to fill the void in Kiddush Hashem that he left behind.

The next speaker was HaRav Aharon Feldman, rosh yeshivas Ner Israel in Baltimore. He said that R' Naftoli ben R Meir was a father to widows, orphans, and to entire American communities. He said that his efforts in Iran had nothing to do with the yeshiva; all his prodigious efforts were entirely out of selfless concern about the future of Iranian Jewry which he saw had no Jewish leaders. His involvement began under the Shah, and continued under the Islamic regime that overthrew the Shah. At one point when Jews had to leave illegally through Afghanistan he had to answer the phone on Shabbos because of the dangers involved.

At a time when other yeshivas "struggled" to absorb a "handful" of Iranians, Ner Israel took in 100.

Many had serious reservations, but R' Naftoli insisted that it would be a success. And it was. Virtually the entire connection the Iranian community today in the US has to Torah is due to graduates of Ner Israel. Even today there are 70 Iranians in Ner Israel.

HaRav Feldman said that in one town there was a machlokes that could have destroyed the Yiddishkeit of the entire city. R' Naftoli flew in and spoke to the rov of the town at the airport for 20 minutes and outlined a course of action to defuse the entire affair. The rov took the advice and R' Naftoli's advice proved effective.

HaRav Aviezer Piltz, the rosh yeshiva of Tifrach, said that he had met Rabbi Neuberger some 40 years previously. He said that he had created a true Torah malchus. In contrast to the power structures of most of the world which are characterized by their riches and ostentation, a Torah malchus is typified by the statement of the Bas Kol: "Kol ho'olom kulo nizon bishvil Chanino beni, veChanino beni dai lo bekav charuvim mei'erev Shabbos le'erev Shabbos — The entire world is sustained through the merits of my son Chanino, but my son Chanino has enough with a few pounds of carobs a week" (Taanis 24b). The builders are totally uninterested in personal advancement.

He noted that Torah institutions are not built up in the same way that other institutions are built. The adonim of the Mishkon, the foundation upon which the Mishkon stood, were made from pure silver — not iron and steel such as is used in the foundations of conventional structures. Visaditich besapirim (Yeshayohu 54:11) — the foundations are precious stones. Middos and tzidkus are the proper foundations for Torah buildings.

If we see hatzlochoh in a yeshiva, especially in the America of half-a-century ago, said HaRav Piltz, it cannot be only because of its gadlus in Torah. It must also have been properly founded upon foundations of gold and silver and precious stones.

When Dovid Hamelech finished Tehillim he said, "Is there a creature that says better shiros and tishbochos than I?"

A frog came and challenged him, saying that it says greater shiros and tishbochos than Dovid Hamelech. This, HaRav Piltz explained, means all of the creatures who by their very existence are a praise of the Creator, even without saying anything: Ein omer, ve'ein devorim. Bli nishmo kolom. Nonetheless, Bechol ho'oretz yotzo kavom . . . Tehillim 19:4-5). And not only that, said the frog, I do a great mitzvoh since there is a creature in the ocean that has no food and I let him eat me.

The lesson of the frog is that such mitzvos are greater than the shiros of the frog that are in turn greater than the shiros of Dovid Hamelech.

Rav Yosef Kalman Neuberger, grandson of the niftar, said that achrayus was burning inside of his grandfather. It was a word that was always on his lips.

He said that once someone called him and said that he had a medical problem with his daughter. As soon as his grandfather got off the phone he went into action. He called doctors and asked them about the disease and about treatment. He bought a book about the disease and read it through. He called in his granddaughters to ask them about the disease. In short he threw himself into finding a way to help this man and his daughter as if it were his own daughter.

He noted that it mentions Noach three times at the beginning of parshas Noach. Chazal say that this is because he lived in three different worlds: before the Flood, the Flood itself and after the Flood. Noach brought the quality of life that he had seen in the world before the Flood, when the creation was close to its Creator, through to the world after the Flood. In a similar way, Rabbi Neuberger took the lessons and approach that he had learned from HaRav Leizer Yudel Finkel while he was at Mir yeshiva in Poland, and brought them through to America.



Mr. Plaut is a hard line Right Winger, yet he was able to publish a hesped WITHOUT "Hollywood" Sherer.

Take note that Ner Yisroel took in 100 Iranians, while "ALL THE OTHER YESHIVAS COMBINED, STRUGGLED TO TAKE IN A HANDFUL!"

Alzheimers Elya Svei, Smiling Shmuel The Fool & Gangster Lipa Margulies did not feel that the Iranians were good for their image.(and of course there was no money in it)

Hatzolos Nifashos was not "cool" then, later, of course, they took in a few token Arabs, upon pressure by the klal.
UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 11:37 PM | 15 comments

Reform "Leader" Weighs In On Hitler, Gays & Charedim

Reform leader slams religious right-wing
By ASSOCIATED PRESS


The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person."

"What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" Yoffie told a friendly audience of about 5,000 in his keynote address during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.

Yoffie used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage violates Scripture, but he said that did not justify denying legal protections to same-sex partners and their children.

"We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933 one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations," Yoffie said. "Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."

The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in North America with an estimated membership of 1.5 million people. Of the three major streams of US Judaism - Orthodox and Conservative are the others - it is the only one that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same-gender couples.

Yoffie's lengthy speech first addressed several other issues, and his criticism of conservative religious activists came in the middle. The audience was largely sedate until Yoffie reached that topic and responded with repeated, enthusiastic applause.

Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly in his speech, using the term "religious right" instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, including within the Jewish community.

Yoffie said the activists have little understanding of the liberal religious community, which he insisted also grounds its beliefs in biblical teaching. "We study religious texts day and night, but we have no direct lines to heaven and we aren't always sure that we know God's will," he said. "We bring a measure of humility to our religious belief."

Yoffie said liberals and conservatives share some concerns, such as the potential damage to children from violent or highly sexual TV shows and other popular media. But he said, overall, conservatives too narrowly define family values, making a "frozen embryo in a fertility clinic" more important than a child, and ignoring poverty and other social ills.

"When they cloak themselves in religion and forget mercy, it strikes us as blasphemy," Yoffie said, urging a renewal of religious tolerance in the United States. "We need beware the zealots who want to make their religion the religion of everyone else."

One attendee, Judy Weinman of Troy, New York, said she thought Yoffie was "right on target."

"He reminded us of where we have things in common and where we're different," she said.

Yoffie also urged lawmakers to model themselves on presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, who famously told a Houston clergy group on the campaign trail in 1960 that a president should not make policy based on his religion.

On other topics, Yoffie asked Reform synagogues to do more to hold onto members, who often leave after their children go to college. He also said the Reform movement, which is among the most accepting of non-Jewish spouses, should make a greater effort to invite the spouses to convert to Judaism.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:11 PM | 17 comments

The Missing Yemenite Children - Words Of The Lubavitcher Rebbe

The Missing Yemenite Children
Words of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shneerson - The Lubavitcher Rebbe

As expected, different people reacted to this issue of stolen Jewish infants in the Land of Israel. One such reaction came from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menechem Mendel Shneerson, in his book, "Hitvaaduyot", written around 1987-88.

To quote from his writings:
"On the matter of the kidnapping of children from their parents in order to educate them not in the way of the Torah.

"It is well known what happened thirty to forty years ago during the Aliyah [immigration] of children from Yemen and Teheran [Teheran, the capital of Iran. It seems that he, too, was unaware of the many different communities from which the children were stolen] to the Holy Land.

"Small children, who came with their parents to the Holy Land, were suddenly taken away from their parents, who were given strange and unfounded reasons for this, such as the need for medical treatment, and that their children were in bad shape. These explanations continued, until the parents were told that their children had died . . . . And all this for the simple reason that they (the authorities) did not want them to be educated by their parents, who kept Torah and Mitzvot (commandments), but wanted to educate them as they wished, in a way totally devoid of any connection with their Jewish heritage! For this purpose - children were stolen from their parents!!"

What Rabbi Shneerson wrote then was based on the fact that when many religious Jewish men and women immigrated to Israel, there were people in authority that thought that religion was not what the country needed in its first days. Certain actions were taken by these authorities, such as shaving the beards of new immigrants and cutting off their side curls. Not to mention all the Torah Scrolls, Holy Books, and many other possessions taken from the Jewish immigrants back then. Although this explanation is accepted by some, others do not accept this as a possible reason for the kidnapping of children, since so many of these children were sold abroad for profit.

Rabbi Schneerson continues:
"And who was at the time one of those in charge - a Jew who puts on Tefilin (phylacteries) [Another Religious Jewish custom] and prays three times a day, and who in his private life, observes Torah and Mitzvot.

And nevertheless, not only did he not prevent this from happening, he cooperated, and was even amongst those who were in charge of the people who committed this terrible crime!"

Here, Rabbi Shneerson was referring to Rabbi Dr. Issachar Dov Bernard Bergman. When people started an outcry, as to how this could possibly have happened, for it is an act that is the complete opposite of all that is just and right, and the complete opposite of humane behavior, they were told: 'We saved them from death and gave them a new life, therefore it is as though these children belong to us . . . .'

"And not only did they behave with the children as a man would behave with his "Canaanite servant" [In other words, a slave] who "belonged" to him, but even worse. They treated the children as an object that was their own private posession, that could, if they so wished, be burnt - where in this matter, the burning was of the children's soul and not of their body, Heaven forbid. [What Rabbi Shneerson says here conflicts with reports of children that know they have been sold in this fashion, when they were children. In these reports, most of the people report that they were raised with love and care, as if they were the real children of their adopting parents].

"During that period, hundreds of small children disappeared without a trace, and until this very day, the parents do not know what was the fate of their children, and where they are today."

Rabbi Shneerson mentions hundreds of children, although the number of such occurrences is now known to be in the thousands.

"Today, after thirty to forty years, it is still possible to trace these children, for the same offices that dealt with the children then have exact lists that contain the names of all the children, where they were sent to, etc. The trouble is that noone wants to give out the lists of the names of the children!"

As for the lists of the children's names, not everyone accepts the idea that there are lists of the names of the original families of the children, as so many of them were said to be stolen without the kidnappers even caring who the original parents were. Why should they? It is also commonly believed that, considering all the forged and "confused" documents, there are no real documents. Also, there are those who believe that real documents did exist until Ami Chovav, the investigator mentioned in Part Six, "took care" of the records, as Chovav worked in the national archives, following his investigation. He was quoted in "Haaretz" as saying:

"After the Shalgi committee, all the material was in a mess. The committee finished its job, but none of the documents were catalogued in order, in the archives. The main archive manager asked me to organize all the material, of both investigation committees, in order for the archives. So I sat in the archives, and organized the material, until the order was given to hand the material over to the current (Cohen) committee".

Of course, there are also those who believe that the documents do exist, some say in a certain safe, in Jerusalem. An article in the "Makor Rishon" newspaper, written by Journalist Pini Ben-Or, describes these suspicions.

To quote the article:
"In these days, when in many countries in the world adoption of children occurs, and adoption certificates are issued, there was no way found in Israel to try and help find children that have disappeared. Even the adopted people themselves are faced with many difficulties in finding their biological parents. Today, the belief is getting stronger that thousands of children disappeared, and were stolen from their parents in the first years of the existence of the State of Israel. 'Makor Rishon', which is following the stolen children issue, has checked on the other possibility. The best kept secret in the country - the safe of Mr. George Klein.

"George Klein is the manager of the archives, belonging to the Ministry of Interior, where appear the records of all the people that are removed from the population records: People who have died, been adopted, left the country, and so on.

"From one investigation protocol of George Klein, from the 16th of September, 1997, it is seen that, in his archives, there is a safe where all the adoption records, ever since the British Mandate in Israel, are kept.

"In his questioning in front of the committee for investigating the disappearance of these children, George Klein said that only he has access to the safe, which is located in a safety room. He received the adoption orders, as well as the original personal file of the adopted child, from the bureau of the Ministry of Interior. The material is placed in the safe, and the child receives a new birth certificate, where the names of the adopting parents are found.

According to Klein, he writes the original I.D. number of the child, in the adoption book.

"After writing the details, Klein has the information updated. The original birth certificate, along with the adoption certificate, are placed in an envelope, that is filed in the safe, in the safety room.

Anyone looking in the adoption book only sees the new details of the adopted person, but adding up the new details and what is written in the envelopes that contain the old details - will reveal who the adopted person is.

"The biggest secret is in the hands and safe of George Klein. Maybe there, an answer to the issue of the missing children can be found."

Since that article was written, it has been rumored that the safe has been moved, although not everyone believes that. Again, it is commonly believed that records of which children went where do not even exist. Although, it is possible that details of a certain number of the missing children can be found there.

To return to the writings of Rabbi Shneerson:
"And the even greater trouble is - that noone gets up to speak of it!

"Lately, a few people have woken up and begun to ask for the lists of the children but unfortunately, this was but 'the sound of the tune of defeat', and nothing came of it.

"And not only this, but as always, there are those who immediately make a 'mockery' out of everything, and they made a mockery out of this request too! . . . . And we know that one should not talk with scoffers, and even not sit in their company, as king David said at the beginning of the Book of Psalms - 'Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked . . . . Nor sat in the seat of the scornful.' (Psalms 1:1) Our sages have already told us that a 'Cult of Scoffers' is one of the four cults that 'do not receive the Divine Presence'.

"However, this claim also has no place in the discussion. For, although it might be very hard work, nevertheless, in no situation is one allowed to despair of a Jew, and noone can take the responsibility to say that, as far as so and so is concerned, nothing can be done to bring him closer to Torah and Judaism."

Here again, it is evident that Rabbi Shneerson believed that these children were stolen to keep them away from Judaism, and Torah.

"And, in any case, as long as not everything possible is being done to correct the situation - it is as though the crime is continuously being committed! Obviously in this matter, doing Teshuvah (repentance) will not help - for Teshuvah is between man and his Master - and so above all, what must be done is to correct the injustice and the crime that was committed against both the children and their parents!

"After all this, if anyone thinks that they (the authorities), regret their past deeds, and certainly will not repeat them, God forbid, 'Trouble shall not rise up the second time' (as said in Nachum, 1:9), they are making a bitter mistake.

"Not only do they not show any remorse, and are not even trying to return the situation to its rightful state, but on the contrary - until this very day, they are repeating what they did (to the children stolen back then) with the children of Teheran [Iranian Jewish immigrants], and in a more acute way, and no one is standing up to be heard, and let the world know. And especially those who are meant to represent, so to speak, the demands of the Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism - even they are sitting quietly and doing nothing at all!

"It is the holy obligation of anyone who has it in his powers to do whatever they can to prevent and to stop the stealing of children that is currently happening, and in addition, to try and correct what was done in the past.

"And those who cannot do anything, as far as this matter is concerned, should increase their activities in the field of education.

In other words, try and ensure that all Jewish children receive a Jewish education that is in the spirit of the Torah, and no effort should be spared (just as no effort is spared by those opposing the matter), for one is talking about Pikuach Nefashot (the saving of endangered lives)!

"To what can this be compared? To a man who sees a house burning - he surely will not spare any effort to try and save the people who are in the house. Not only that, but even if he is unsure if there is anyone in the house, he will knock on the blinds and the windows, etc., to check if there is anyone in the house, who can be saved. And the moral of the example is an endangered spiritual life.

"Remember: 'And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death' (Exodus, 21:16).

And his death, according to the Halachah [Jewish law, as set by the Rabbis . . . although there are many laws in Halachah, such as this, that are not enforced in these days], is by strangulation."

This is what the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menacham Mendel Shneerson, has written about the issue of the stolen children. Apparently, Rabbi Shneerson, as well, knew what went on. According to him and others, such things are still happening, although, as many say, on a much smaller scale.

Yechiel A. Mann,
Eshhar, Israel.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 2:59 PM | 4 comments

Sunday, November 20, 2005
The Lawsuit Against Satmar That You Have Not Heard About

A UOJ exclusive
I literally received hundreds of e-mail asking me to republish this post. Enjoy!!

A Williamsburg man who had a panic attack when he found he was glued to a toilet seat in a Satmar restroom, has sued the two Rebbes for negligence, saying the Rebbes were too busy fighting to help him get his tuchis off the toilet.

Retired shamash and old Rebbes' left handed ass wiper, Moshe Chaim Penislover, 67, said on Thursday he was stuck in the stall with his pants down for about 20 minutes and that being only two years after the "incident" where the Rebbe shit on his head, he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, which has triggered diabetes and heart complications.

"I have these nightmares every night where I am locked in this dark room, with no windows, no doors, no fresh air, no route for escape and the Rebbe pissing all over me. I wake up in these cold sweats, feeling like drek, and soaked to the bone" the Shamash said.

Spokesmen for Satmar could not immediately be reached for comment, they were all in jail.

The Shamash said in a lawsuit filed last week in Villiamsboog, Brooklyn, near Hevesh Strit, that he thought he was having a heart attack when he realized his tuchis, one ball, and legs, were stuck to the toilet seat in the Satmar restroom that doubles up as a boxing ring, drug money laundry, and a shul.

He explained his plight to a Satmar gangster who came into the restroom but other mamzerim thought it was a hoax so he had to wait until someone else came in, to again summon help.They went back to eating herring and onions, the lawsuit complains.

The ex-Shamash is claiming unspecified damages for help with medical and psychiatric bills, for humiliation and for the diabetes he said he has developed as a result of the stress.

The Mohel, Yitzchok Fisher, was called to examine him and see if his "yatzmach" was effected by all this trauma. Fisher gave him the usual quick suck (actually not that quick), and assurred the cheering crowd that the "yatzmach" was an oldy but a goody.

"Satmar not only ignored my plight, they refused to help a Jewish asshole in distress," he said. The Shamash said he suspected the glue had been placed there as a prank by the two Rebbes seen earlier masturbating in the restroom, and now out on bail.As is well known, Rebbes are forbidden to work for a living, and have much free time "in" their hands. (pun intended)

UOJ has attempted to interview the Shamash, but was told he was locked in the New Square restroom with Hillary Clinton seeking to have his ass pardoned.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 8:40 PM | 31 comments

Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Homosexual Slippery Slope Keeps Rolling Downhill - Another "Tragedy" In Our Midst But Now Called "Intolerance"By The Heterosexuals

Community of Intolerance
By Jay Michaelson
The Forward

The resignation last week of Rabbi David Kaye from the educational program Panim, after revelations that he had solicited a 13-year-old boy online for sex, elicited the usual expressions of shock from the Jewish community. Of course, we all should be outraged when such immoral conduct is brought to light, but those who follow the Jewish world know that Kaye is hardly the first rabbi to have engaged in it in recent years.

In 2001, for example, Rabbi Jerrold Levy was sentenced to 78 months in prison for sex crimes involving teenage boys. Indeed, a 2000 photo now circulating on the Internet features Kaye, Levy, and Israel Kestenbaum — three rabbis, one from each major denomination, who were all later found to have solicited minors for sex online. And for every one case that makes the news, those of us who work in the Jewish community hear a dozen stories: the whispers about this teacher, that rabbi, and the scandal the school tried to sweep under the rug.

Rabbinic offenders have seduced both boys and girls, but one cannot help but notice that a disproportionate number of them have targeted males. There are no reliable statistics for rabbinic sexual abuse, but government studies show that in the general population, one-third of child sex abuse victims are male, even though only 3-5% of adult men identify as homosexual. Indeed, approximately 16% of boys are sexually abused before the age of 16.

What is going on? Are there suddenly more closeted gay rabbis than there were a decade ago? Or are we, like the Catholic community, merely bringing to light what has been a dark secret for many years?

It does not appear that the problem in the Jewish world is of the same magnitude as that in the Catholic one. Perhaps, as some theorize, this is because the rabbinate, with its expectation of marriage, is less attractive to closeted gay men than the celibate priesthood. Then again, we cannot know how much abuse took place when rabbinic authority was impossible to challenge, and when incidents were quietly buried. Perhaps our scandal is just beginning.

Generally, cases like that of Kaye — who has been praised, in recent days, as a decent man and a good father to his two daughters — elicit responses like "he needs help." Surely he does; how could a well-known rabbi risk everything by sending a naked photo of himself, with his face fully visible, to someone he didn't know? Merely that Kaye's judgment was so clouded bespeaks the severity of his desperation.

Yet the question we must ask ourselves is: Where did that desperation come from? Healthy people, gay or straight, do not molest 13-year-olds. Only deeply disturbed people do — and those are precisely the sorts of people created by the deception and repression of the "closet." Moreover, according to the American Medical Association, 98% of men who sexually abuse boys report that they are heterosexual. Are these really all sick, straight men? Or are they actually, in the words Kaye used when seducing his target online, "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the closet"?

Unquestionably, predators like Kaye are the ones responsible for their conduct, but they do not operate in a vacuum.

The Jewish community bears responsibility as well, for the way we perpetuate the circumstances that cause them to hate themselves, distort their sexuality into something dangerous — and, if statistics are accurate, kill themselves at the rate of 4,000 each year in the United States alone. We create "the closet," through our intolerant actions and inactions, our cruel and selective reading of Jewish law, and our endlessly proclaiming the unacceptability of a sexual orientation which is either genetically determined, or fixed so early in childhood as to be an unchangeable part of one's being. In short, we create the very monsters about whom we later profess shock.

Nor are we doing so based on religious authority. Only a minority of non-Orthodox rabbis still believe that the narrow prohibitions of Leviticus 18 extend to all the sexual behavior of gay men (and women). Yet many Jews who are quite lax about their Sabbath observance and routinely look the other way regarding intermarriage become religious fundamentalists when it comes to homosexuality. Consider your reaction to a Sabbath-breaker on the one hand — who merits the death penalty under rabbinic law — and a religious gay Jew on the other. Around whom are you more comfortable? Whom do you fully accept, and whom do you merely tolerate? And is your choice really based on religion? Or, for that matter, on reason?

The "closet" is entirely the wrong metaphor for the kind of repression which leads to acts like Kaye's. I should know — I was in the closet for 15 years, and it is a much more odious, terrible phenomenon than merely hiding in a wardrobe while you do what you oughtn't. Imagine lying to everyone you know, all the time. Imagine feeling that your heart, your way to love and relationship and sexual expression, is actually distorted, evil and broken. And imagine believing that, because of something you cannot change, God hates you.

Of course, under such circumstances, and in a world that has made clear it would reject you if it knew the truth, you would hide your sexuality — perhaps, as I did, even from yourself. Of course you would do everything you could to somehow "make yourself straight": maybe marriage, maybe seeking spiritual solace to fill an emotional gap, maybe even the thoroughly discredited, and completely ineffective, forms of "reparative therapy" being peddled within the religious community and inflicted on innocent young people every day. And of course, you would fail, because sexuality cannot be changed.

And then, without any appropriate means of expression, your sexual urges would find inappropriate ones. Personally, I never engaged in activity such as Rabbi Kaye's, and never once violated the trust of anyone, of any age. But I was hardly a healthy adult when I was in the closet. I met men for sex, not relationship. I lied about my age, my name, my background. And I rarely went on a second "date."

Today, I am happily partnered to a future rabbi, and am blessed to be in a loving, long-term relationship.

That's what "coming out" does — it enables gay people to be as healthy and loving as everyone else. But as the director of a gay and lesbian Jewish organization, I receive emails every week from men and women still struggling in the closet, from all across the ideological spectrum. Charedi adults, modern Orthodox kids, women and men — I've met them all, and while none, to my knowledge, has become a predator like Kaye, all are trapped in the same web of deception, repression and desperation. Many are like powder kegs, ready to explode. Really, what do we expect will happen to someone who fights his innermost being all his life, never has a proper outlet for his sexual expression, and lies to everyone he knows?

And then there are those open secrets. The influential rabbi who was forced into 'reparative therapy' after being accused of sexual harassment by a young male student. The youth director with a past. "Everyone" knows about these secrets, yet no one does anything — even though those of us who have been in the closet know just how dangerous it is. Indeed, one of the most important public voices on the issue of Judaism and homosexuality himself has a "record" of homosexual misconduct, both on his own part and among other members of his family. Yet we pretend that none of this matters, or that we don't know what we know, or that rabbis and communal leaders are impartial about demons they themselves are battling.

Each person is responsible for his or her own conduct.

But as long as we create the conditions that make misconduct all but inevitable, the right response to the scandal of Kaye is not "he needs help" — it's "we need help."

We need to stop demonizing what is natural, healthy and good, using selective piety to mask our fear.

We need to stop believing that what God made can be unmade through coercion or brainwashing. We need to acknowledge that the closeted-rabbi-who-everyone-knows-about may not be worthy of our trust. And we need to see that what causes scandals is not homosexuality, but its repression. Until we do these things, our exclusion and repression will continue to lead to their tragic, seemingly inexorable, results.


Jay Michaelson is director of Nehirim: A Spiritual Initiative for GLBT Jews.

What is so pathetic about the above writer is that he is attempting to sell the Gay agenda as NATURAL, and that WE, the heterosexuals ,are to blame for the behavior of the predators.I'm sorry, I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore.
Hey, you are one sick perverted, messed up SOB!!!!
UOJ

The Pink City
Yediot Achronot

Local tourism officials plan on turning Tel Aviv into the gay capital of the world; Israel Hotel Association official: Tel Aviv and gay people are a perfect fit
Danny Sadeh

Tel Aviv is known throughout the world as “The White City” due to the many Bauhaus-style structures that adorn its streets, but the city may soon be called “The Pink City,” as tourism industry heads are planning on transforming the city into the gay capital of the world, Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
“Tel Aviv and gay people are a perfect fit,” an Israel Hotel Association (IHA) official said.

The idea was born when IHA Director-General Eli Ziv visited London recently to participate in the 2005 World Travel Market exhibition.
During the exhibition Ziv met with representatives of the homo-lesbian travel industry, and discovered an audience that would travel just about anywhere for a good party, even to the Middle East.

“The gay community has amazing consumer power, and Tel Aviv has a lot to offer to this community,” Ziv explained.
“We have the beach, sun, culture and nightclubs. To our knowledge, gays are capable of hopping on a plane and traveling to the other side of the world just to participate in parties and events that are related to the gay community.”

The IHA in Tel Aviv, along with a local gay rights group, turned to European travel agents who focus on the gay community and requested they prepare vacation packages to Tel Aviv. “We are drafting plans to encourage gay tourism from Germany, England and Holland,” Ziv added. “We plan on approaching travel agents who are aware of the gay community’s needs, launch a special website for gays and advertise Tel Aviv in gay European websites as well.
Jerusalem is scheduled to host the 2006 World Pride Parade , but Ziv is already working to have it moved to Tel Aviv.
“This event could mark the grand opening for homosexual events in the city,” he said. “We need the boost."

Meanwhile, Tourism Ministry Director-General Eli Cohen said he would offer any financial assistance necessary to turn Tel Aviv into the gay capital of the world, and he is not alone: TUI, Europe’s largest tourism conglomerate, has recently decided to offer charter flights to Tel Aviv. Israeli tourism officials said they believe the decision would facilitate the travel of thousands of gays to the country. “It will be helpful to our initiative if they increase the number of flights to Tel Aviv,’ Ziv said.


Our values, and our civilization is slipping away before our eyes.
God help us, please.
UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 7:20 PM | 37 comments

Thursday, November 17, 2005
A Bigger Bastard.....Part Two-The Yemenite Children Were Sold And Kidnapped For Profit

Were the Children Sold?
by Yechiel A. Mann
Eshhar, Israel

The shocking testimony of Rabbi Avidor Ha`Cohen may show that Children from Israel were likely "exported" to the United States for adoption and sold for about $5,000 each. Herein an outstanding excerpt from The NY Times, alleging about corruption in the Israeli National Religious party, Mafdal.


On April 25th, 1996, Rabbi Avidor Ha`Cohen, testified in front of
the Cohen Committee that investigated the disappearance of the
Jewish children.

His story began with a meeting that he had in 1963 with a
New-York couple, American father and Israeli mother. They raised a
young girl, who was about ten years old then. It did not seem to
Rabbi Avidor that this child was theirs. She had beautiful, large,
dark eyes, also dark skin, quite unlike her "parents". This couple
later told Rabbi Ha`Cohen they had adopted her and that she was
likely Yemenite. Moreover, other families in New York had adopted
children from Israel.

Consequently Rabbi Ha`Cohen found out the identity of the person
who organized these adoptions. It bothered him that these children
had immigrated to Israel, but were later brought to the United
States and likely sold for adoption.

When Rabbi Ha`Cohen reached this point in his testimony, he was
asked by Hon. Judge Yehuda Cohen about the number of children
adopted in this manner. Ha`Cohen answered that he had not known
it back then. Merely he had been told, they were bringing children.
Only when he returned to Israel, he began looking into this matter,
in more detail.

Avidor further reported that he had spoken to Deborah Eliner and
others of the immigration section of the Jewish Agency. He
discovered that the Israeli institutes that dealt with adoption
did not know anything of this matter. This made him even more
curious as to what was being done. He was holding names of some
children.

Avidor then sent a memo to Minister Haim Shapira, because he was
part of the "Mizrachi", a Jewish organization devoted to
Religious Zionism, and Rabbi Dr. Yissachar Dov Bernard Bergman,
the man behind the adoption of the children in the United States.
Rabbi Bergman was one of the main people running the "Mizrachi"
organization.

Avidor found it unconscionable that an
organization devoted to Religious Zionism was working to take
Jewish children away from their homeland for profit.

Avidor never received an answer from Minister Shapira. He then decided
to call him on the phone. Shapira answered that there was much
gossip about Bergman, but he is, all in all, a good Jew. Avidor
still felt something was terribly wrong, since the adoption
institutes here in Israel didn't know a thing about Israeli
children being adopted in the United States.

He then tried getting various journalists interested in this
story and a large amount of source material was given by him to
almost every important journalist working for every newspaper in
the Israeli mainstream press and this material was in their
possession for many months. Avidor only got responses saying
that there was no public interest in these cases.

He did not give up. He continued trying to get information to
the public but nothing was published until he spoke to one
journalist, Shalom Cohen, and told him of the information he held
and how important it was to bring it to the attention of the
public. The final agreement was that the information would be
published with the names of the families indicated by initials
only.

Avidor testified that, at that point, he found out that the
cases were not uniquely connected to the Yemenite community, that
there were other Jewish children from many other countries being
abducted and sold for adoption in this fashion. The entire
matter was then published and received almost no reaction in the
Israeli media. The treatment this issue was getting really
bothered Rabbi Avidor.

It was then that he discovered that many social circles, mainly
Ashkenazi religious zionists, had a tendency to believe that
instead of growing up in a poor family with many children, it is
better for a child to grow up with a family that has more
financial stability. Rabbi Avidor also says that there are still
various religious social groups that believe this and thus
justify the crimes that were committed against the children and
their families. This is one of the "moral explanations" referred
to in a previous article in this series. Rabbi Avidor was
shocked to see religious Jews using these explanations.

The individuals who dealt with adoption here in Israel said
they do not know of such things happening and so had no written
records of these adoptions. In such a case, Rabbi Avidor claims,
there can arise a terrible problem of marriages within the family
including incest.

Rabbi Avidor learned then that it cost five thousand American
dollars to adopt a child from Israel at that time.

It is also crucial to mention that Rabbi Dr. Bergman died a few
years ago while in jail for a different crime - his fraud and
abuse in New York nursing homes that he ran. This was an issue
covered thoroughly in the United States and Israel. The New-York
Times reports:

"Bernard Bergman, the central figure in investigations into
possible fraud and abuse in New York nursing homes, has decided
to abandon his public defense of his business dealings. In
refusing to testify at televised Senate hearings last week, he
invoked his constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment. His
lawyer has argued that to testify would be prejudicial if
inquiries by Federal and state prosecutors result in criminal
proceedings against Mr. Bergman. A Federal grand jury is known to
be looking into his affairs. And a state grand jury, assisted by
Special State Prosecutor Charles J. Hynes, has also been
impaneled to study alleged improprieties in the state's nursing
homes. This is not the first time Mr. Bergman has been prominent
in such inquiries. At a state hearing on nursing homes last week,
Civil Court Judge Louis I. Kaplan, who in 1960 issued a report on
city nursing-home abuses, testified that Mr. Bergman was then,
too, the major figure in the industry under investigation. He
said he presented evidence of criminal fraud in the industry to
former Mayor Wagner. No prosecutions followed and Mr. Wagner says
he doesn't recall what happened to the so-called Kaplan report.
The first indictments in the investigations of the industry have
been handed up. The owner of a Smithtown, L.I., nursing home and
an accountant were accused of swindling Medicaid out of more than
$500,000 by charging personal and improper business expenses to
the program. In Connecticut, which is also investigating its
nursing homes, a state official said at General Assembly hearings
that top state officials had financial interests in nursing homes
and used their influence to get favorable treatment for them".

It appears that the entire issue of Rabbi Dr. Issachar Dov
Bernard Bergman, and the nursing homes in New-York were a big issue
in the United States back then, and the New-York times spent much
work on getting articles about it written. Bergman was a main
figure in the Orthodox religious community in the States,as well as
President of the United States branch of the "Mizrachi" movement.
He was closely connected to the Israeli religious nationalist party
(known as the "Mafdal"), which was directly linked to the
"Mizrachi" movement.

In the early seventies the New-York Times began their investigation
into the issue of Bergman's nursing homes. They reported that the
Federal Government would grant a specified amount of money for every
elderly person in a nursing home, that Bergman, his relatives and
friends were taking huge amounts of money from these funds while the
elderly people suffered. For those of you who may remember, shortly
afterwards, many other newspapers and other media then joined the
investigation. There were those that called it "The Jewish
Watergate" and others who claimed it was simply anti-semitic
journalism. It is a pity that there were those in the Israeli
government who agreed with the latter statement. As reported by
The New-York Times:

"TEL AVIV, Dec. 29-Interior Minister Yosef Burg
dismissed today as irrelevant a request by
Representative Edward I. Koch, Democrat of New
York, that Israel refuse citizenship to Bernard
Bergman pending the outcome of a United States
Senate hearing next month on nursing homes. Mr.
Bergman is among 35 persons affiliated with
nursing homes in New York State for whom subpoenas
have been issued by Senator Frank E. Moss,
Democrat of Utah and chairman of a subcommittee of
the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

The Senate group, which issued the writes Dec. 20,
announced at that time that it was joining the
investigation of alleged large-scale fraud among
New York nursing homes that is being conducted by
the State Temporary Commission on Living Costs.
The Israeli Minister, who represents the National
Religious party in the Cabinet here, has affiliation
with Mr. Bergman through the party's parent
organization, the Orthodox world Mizrachi movement.
Mr. Bergman is the dominant figure in the Mizrachi
Religious Zionists of America. But this affiliation,
Dr. Burg emphasized, is very loose, "The Israeli
movement is absolutely independent," he said.

Mr. Bergman and his wife arrived in Jerusalem at
the end of last month, apparently after learning
that he was about to be subpoenaed to testify
about fraud involving Medicaid funds. The
Bergmans, who entered Israel as tourists, have no
resident status here, though they own a luxury
apartment in Jerusalem. They left Jerusalem in
the middle of this month and are reported to be
living with relatives in Vienna. A Bergman
relative there has said that the couple would be
back in New York, before January 7.

The press here has reported that the couple left
after having been cautioned that they would not be
protected from extradition, should the United
States request it. Dr. Burg, reached in Jerusalem
by phone, said of the request by Representative
Koch that he would make a statement in Parliament
in response to a similar request, submitted in the
form of a parliamentary question, by Shulamit Aloni.

Mrs. Aloni is a member of the opposition Civil
Rights Movement. But the question of Mr. Bergman's
citizenship, Dr. Burg said, does not arise at this
time. "No request whatsoever about this case has
come to me," he said. Mr. Koch had cabled Dr. Burg
from Washington on Friday to urge that Mr. Bergman
"not be permitted to exercise the right of return"
pending the outcome of the Senate committee inquiry.

Under Israel's Law of Return, a Jew can claim
citizenship and a right to live here. Mr. Bergman,
an ordained but non practicing rabbi, holds the
prestigious title of member of the presidium of
the World Mizrahi Movement. He was elected in
January, 1973, together with Tibor Rosenbaum, who
is involved in a multimillion- dollar banking
scandal in Europe, and Rabbi Avigdor Zipperstein
of Jerusalem. Rabbi Zipperstein resigned a few
months ago. Mr. Bergman and Dr. Rosenbaum had
been sponsored in the election by the Minister of
Religious Affairs, Yitzhak Raphael, a controversial
figure in Israel.

Mrs. Aloni said in an interview today that she had
submitted her parliamentary question about Mr.
Bergman to draw attention to her charges of
corruption in the National Religious party.
Support for Representative Koch's plea came today
from the newspaper Ma`ariv in an editorial.
'If Rabbi Bergman is innocent, if his actions as
director of a chain of old-age homes in New York
were without blemish, if he can disprove the
charges against him, let him do so before the
competent authorities,' the paper said.
'If he wishes, he can then come to settle in Israel
and will be welcomed like any Jew who decides to
come to Israel.'".
(End of quote from The NY Times.)

At one point, there was a public hearing in New York. In this
hearing, workers from Bergman's nursing homes testified about
elderly people dying of hunger, of ill ones dying of thirst, of
tired elderly people lying in their own vomit without receiving
any sort of medical care, and many others who suffered cuts and
injuries that were neglected and uncared for.

"I looked at my father, and saw he was about to die",

one witness told the committee formed to investigate the matter.
She quickly took her father to the hospital, where he died of
dehydration and infection. His entire body was covered with
bruises. A qualified nurse told the investigators how the
authorities twisted and changed her findings, after she reported
to the city health authorities about the horrifying conditions in
the home, as reported in Ha`aretz, on the 5th of September, 1997.

Ha`aretz also reported that the testimonies of the workers and
the relatives often sounded in the committee like "terrible scenes
from a sadistic horror film".

It was then discovered that Bergman's nursing homes received 1.2
million dollars from "Medicaid" for treatment of people who never
existed. It was even said, back then, that elderly people with no
family who passed away in the homes were secretly kept for long
periods of time in refrigeration, unburied, while Bergman
continued to receive money for their care.

Some of the newspapers even alleged that Bergman's homes served as a cover for the
Mafia's financial activities and when they continued to
investigate, they discovered the crimes Bergman's father committed
when he smuggled heroin inside Jewish Holy Books.

One day, in a mail office in France, a few Talmud books were accidentally
dropped from one of the mail bags, and a stream of heroin poured
out. Bergman used this incident to beg that he not be accused for
his father's crimes, cried, and made comparisons between himself
and the holy men of Judaism, but at the end was found guilty by a
jury, Ha`aretz reported.

The best way to sum up most of Bergman's life is to quote part
of a news article from the New York Times, titled "Many Roads
Lead to Bergman", by Lee Dembart:

"...In his public posture, Mr. Bergman combined a
talent for fund-raising, a friendship with
politicians and a zest for self-promotion to make
himself a respected leader in Orthodox Jewish
circles. In his business posture, Mr. Bergman used
many of those same contacts to help him turn a
$25,000 inheritance into a net worth he has
certified at $24-million, though he insists he
owns but two nursing homes...".

To back up the claims, the article also mentions that

"In 1960, the City Investigation Commissioner,
Louis I. Kaplan, linked him to a total of 18
homes, and he was estimated to be worth
$10-million", and later on in the article "When
Medicaid started in the mid-1960s, the bonanza
began. By 1973, Mr. Bergman's accountant, Samuel
Dachowitz, certified to a bank that Mr. Bergman
was worth $24-million".

The irony is that Rabbi Bergman used his "friendship with
politicians" to ensure for himself wonderful living conditions
when he was imprisoned. The one who was not imprisoned was the
person that Rabbi Avidor Ha`Cohen met, with the adopted Yemenite
child, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, Rabbi Tuch, who was also found to
be involved in bringing Jewish children from Israel to the United
States. It was a well-known fact within the Jewish community in
the United States that if a family wanted a child they could go
to either Bergman or Tuch and simply pay the necessary fee.

The nursing home Mafia Consisted of The Bergman, Weiss-Spinka Rebbe, Braunstein and Teitelbaum-Kirhauser Rebbe families.

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 11:23 AM | 28 comments

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
A Bigger Bastard Than I Thought

I am dedicating this post to my dear reader, Ron.


By Yigal Mashiach

As controversy rages over the fate of the Yemenite babies who went missing in the 1950s, Yigal Mashiach asks why the investigating committee has ignored the startling case of Rabbi Bernard Bergman.

In the early 1970s, as Watergate wound down, America warmed up to its next monstrous scandal. Bernard Bergman, a "prominent" figure in the Orthodox community, was investigated, tried and convicted for swindling the government in a fraud involving a series of nursing homes he owned. Bergman was pocketing millions of dollars in Medicare checks, leaving residents of the homes to suffer from inadequate medical and nursing care. Witnesses told the court about patients who had died from starvation, dehydration and infected bedsores.

It seems that Rabbi Bergman's crimes may not have ended there. He may have been a key culprit in the scandal that continues to consume Israel: the fate of Yemenite children who were separated from their parents in the early years of the state.

Shimshon Giat, head of the Organization of Yemenite Jews in America, has some personal knowledge of the subject. He says that while visiting Israel a couple of years ago, he was approached by Yossi Yossipov, a lawyer who serves as chief investigator for the state committee appointed to look into the issue of the missing children. Yossipov asked Giat for his help; he had received some unverified information claiming that at one time Bernard Bergman had "imported" Yemenite children from Israel. Yossipov heard that the children had been sold to adoptive parents.

"Yossipov suspected that while wiretapping Bergman during the nursing home investigation, investigators might have come across material relating to his involvement in bringing Yemenite children to the U.S.," Giat recounts. "He implored me to use my connections to find out who headed the Bergman investigation 20 years ago, and arrange a meeting with him."

Giat willingly acceded to the request. Upon his return to the United States, he discovered that the investigator on the Bergman case was now a district attorney in New York City. Giat spoke with the man, who agreed to meet Yossipov to discuss the findings of the investigation., Giat called Yossipov in Israel to schedule a meeting, but Yossipov responded that he would not be able to visit the U.S., offering no further explanation. "That first refusal was peculiar," says Giat. "If the material in the hands of the D.A. could shed some light on the suspicion that Bergman did in fact bring children to the United States, how could the investigator not immediately jump on a plane to get a look at the material? Even if it turns out there is no worthwhile evidence, the chance is certainly worth the investment.", I asked Giat if he knew how Yossipov first heard of Bergman's possible involvement.

"Apparently there was a rabbi named Avigdor," he said.

Giat was wrong. The rabbi who tipped off Yossipov was not Avigdor. It was Shmuel Avidor Hacohen, who had a huge flock of avid fans in the 1980s, thanks to his televised Friday evening talks on the weekly portion of the Torah. Avidor Hacohen, who was the rabbi of Kfar Shmaryahu, confirms that he mentioned Bernard Bergman's name in a conversation with Yossipov about 18 months ago. He told Yossipov that during a visit to the United States over 30 years ago, he had heard people in the Orthodox community openly talking about how Rabbi Bergman was responsible for bringing Yemenite children to America. After checking his passport, Rabbi Avidor Cohen was able to pinpoint the year: it was 1963.

Even then, as editor of the religious magazine Face to Face, Avidor Hacohen was already a well-known figure. Dining in a New York restaurant, he was introduced to an ultra-Orthodox Jew named Tatz. Tatz was with his daughter, who had strong Yemenite facial features. This took place long before any accusations had been raised about the disappearance of hundreds of children, and Avidor Hacohen innocently inquired about the very visible difference between father and daughter. The girl was adopted, he was told; she was a Yemenite who had been brought from Israel. He was also told that there was a macher who could set people up with children. The name Bernard Bergman was mentioned. Avidor Hacohen found out that Tatz himself was also involved in bringing over Yemenite children from Israel.

"This information was completely out in the open," Hacohen says. "We talked about it candidly, in meetings at homes and synagogues. They did not see it as anything awful. Quite the contrary. They regarded the adoptions as humanitarian deeds.

There were families who couldn't have children of their own, so they would go to Bergman and he would set it up."

It sounds quite sensational, I comment. Rabbi Avidor Hacohen laughs. "They didn't make a big deal out of it. It wasn't a secret. Back then I didn't think about children being stolen. What did amaze me was that Israeli children were being allowed to emigrate to America. They replied that it was a matter of saving lives. Anyone looking for a child to adopt went to Bergman or to Tatz."

But was the community blind to the fact that Bergman was a con-man?

"Bergman acted like he was a king," Hacohen says. He had a chauffeur with a cap who would open the door for him. They knew he wasn't lily white. It is strange, but among the haredim, I learned a long time ago, nothing is considered strange. They accepted him. They did not reject him until he went to jail."

When he arrived back in Israel in 1963, Avidor Hacohen tried to interest his journalist friends in the story. For whatever reason, the newspaper correspondents were not biting. Finally he approached his friend Shalom Cohen, who immediately recognized the importance of the subject and published an article in Olam Ha-zeh ("This World"), a muckraking journal that has since ceased publication. The article caused a great sensation, but the writer had not published any names of the concerned parties, and did not back up his sensationalist allegations with any documentation.

Last January, Yossipov, the state committee's investigator, called Shimshon Giat in New York and once again asked him to set up an appointment with the District Attorney who had been in charge of the Bergman investigation back in the 1970s. Once again the D.A. expressed his willingness to share what he knew. He promised Giat that not only would he show Yossipov all the material from the investigation, but he would also summon the other members of the investigation team to the same meeting.

The meeting was set for 11:00 A.M. in the D.A.'s office. Yossipov had flown to New York together with his wife. After a few days in the city, Giat relates, Yossipov canceled the meeting with the D.A., once again without providing any reason. "Yossipov knew that the D.A. was prepared to lend as much help to the investigation as he could," stresses Giat. "I invited Yossipov and his wife for dinner at my home. I thought he might tell me his reasons for canceling the meeting. Yossipov didn't breathe a word about it. If Bergman and his associates were indeed responsible for bringing in Yemenite children for adoption, then the state investigation had blown a prime opportunity to get its hands on some solid evidence."

Giat's information regarding the canceled appointment was confirmed by the office of the District Attorney in New York.

"All I was trying to find out was whether there was material or not," counters Yossipov. "Bergman was being followed for several years, and when you wiretap a phone you also pick up other things."

But if there was a chance to expose Bergman's involvement in the case, why did Yossipov cancel the first meeting?

"I didn't initiate the first meeting," he says. "I didn't even ask him (Giat) to arrange it. It was a spontaneous act on his part, not long after the committee began its work." But Yossipov admits that "the second time, I was the one who asked for it."

So what happened? Why was the meeting called off?

"I didn't call it off," Yossipov insists. "I told him that given the circumstances, the meeting could not take place. It was a week or ten days before the meeting."

While Giat maintains that Yossipov canceled immediately prior to the planned meeting, Yossipov sticks with his story: "It was at least a week beforehand. It was during a private visit I made. I asked Giat to apologize for me ten times over."

Yossipov maintains that he was in New York vacationing with his wife, and suddenly had second thoughts about pursuing business while he was there. "Why not let the Israeli police handle it?" he asks. "They have a representative in New York."

Asked if any application had been made to the Israel Police representative to look into the matter, Yossipov replied: "I was told that there was. I don't know what the result was."

Pressed as to how the committee investigator could not be aware of the results of his own investigation, Yossipov shrugs.

"I don't know," says the chief investigator.


This is the family of the Spinka gangsters.
UOJ

posted by Un-Orthodox Jew | 6:01 PM | 27 comments

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The Fraud at Beth Din & Their Bias Against Women

By Craig Horowitz
New York Magazine

Chayie Sieger accused her husband of adultery and battery. Then, after a rabbinical court ruled against her, she accused the rabbis of taking bribes. Is she unstable, as her opponents allege? Or is something rotten in Borough Park?

Chayie Sieger never intended to become a rebel. In fact, for most of her life she was the ultimate conformist, someone who followed the rules and didn't make waves. She was the last person anyone who knew her could imagine doing something to rock the world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. But that is exactly what she has done.

Sieger, 50, is a pleasant, soft-spoken Hasidic woman who has lived her entire life within a six-block area of Borough Park. She wears a brown wig, dresses in stylish but modest clothing, and dutifully observes all the laws and customs of her religion. She never questions the role of women in the Bobover Hasidic sect, and will even happily argue on behalf of such anachronistic practices as arranged marriage.

For seven and a half years, however, Sieger has been locked in a divorce battle so ugly, so mean-spirited, and so entangled in Jewish law and observance that it has achieved the status of urban legend in Orthodox communities from New York to Jerusalem. She's an accidental activist, who made a decision to fight only when she believed she had no other choice.

Sieger's close-quarter domestic skirmishing has escalated into a legal war that raises disturbing questions about the rights of Orthodox women, the integrity of the rabbinic courts, known as the betei din, and the ethics of a number of ultra-Orthodox rabbis, who stand accused by Sieger of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to issue her husband the religious divorce ruling he wanted.

It has also raised some questions about New York's civil courts, where her case has crawled through the system, its progress stymied by dozens of motions, appeals, judicial turnover, and endless continuances—a Hasidic version of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce.

Her children don't speak to her. She's a pariah in her community, with many of her former friends agreeing with a lawyer representing the rabbis that she's "the Tawana Brawley of the Orthodox community." And her husband, though still not legally divorced from Sieger, married another woman in a religious ceremony in Florida.

For years, Sieger lived what seemed to be a typical existence in Brooklyn's community of 50,000 Bobover Hasids. Daily life centered on the family and Jewi