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