The Shit has it the fan! The enablers are out of control. The apologists who excuse those enablers, and even the abusers themselves, are mentally ill excrements. They certainly shouldn't be in positions of power and authority over any children. People who are in denial about the sexual abuse travesty and sweeping under the rug by the Rabbinical establishments for so many years are plainly STUPID. There's no other way to say it. The imbeciles who excuse this based on a manipulation of the Torah, by stating that "Loshon Harah" is forbidden (therfore don't believe that the child was molested - STUPID! ) are gormandizers and rippers of children. I believe there is a Roto Rooter guy who can help...http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2007/01/uoj-is-roto-rooter-guy.html
You buy a house in a good neighborhood and your toilet keeps backing up. Not every day, but just enough for you to realize that your sewer system is a problem. But you're busy, raising a family, making a parnassah, and all the other activities that occupy your time 110%.
So your sewer problem is there, any fool would realize that if your toilet keeps dumping zevel in your living room every few months, you have a sewer problem. In order for you to deal with the problem you must take a real hard look at the root cause of the damaged system. Then you come to realize that the whole neighborhood has shit backing up into their bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms as well.
Click on the link above for the rest of it....
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Wow!
  | /yidvid.blogspot.com At a chasuna a few years ago...jewish rabbi torah rosh hayeshiva yeshiva frum Gedolah Ateres Mordechai orthodox hasidic mir detroit |
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 | Satmar's with Grand Rabbi of Satmar at NY State Piers, Dec. 01, 2007. Kuf Alef Kislev(5768)...Satmar Grand Rabbi Kuf Alef |
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 | Rabbi Doug visits with Jerry Sadoff, Rabbi Ephraim Twerski, Rabbi Moshe Yosef Unger, Ariel Lerner, Dovid Feder, and others at the Chicagoland Shmurah Matzoh Factory (more) | |
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 | Rabbi Steinsaltz suggests that though doctors and family members typically have no special right over the body of their patients and family members, in certain situations they, as (more) |
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 | "Rabbi Meir Kahane in debate with a Congressman Pete McCloskey...911 nwo iraq-war |
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 | the State of Israel and the recent Israeli police brutality against the anti Zionist community...jews rabbi rabbis neturei israel jerusalem karta palestine torah police zionist haredim |
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 | satmar rebbe exlains the danger of shaving off your beard, and putting on perfume......satmar jewish |
 | Menorah Lighting - Chanukah 2007 -Rabbi & Mrs. Bleich -Senator Scott Brown -State Rep. Jason Bedrick -Ross Zilber Many Thanks to all those who (more) | |
Matisyahu Salomon - a Gadol in this generation!
 | and Building Dedication of Congregation Adas Yeshurun with guest speaker Rabbi Matiusyahu Salomon on "TAPED WITH... RABBI DOUG" . for more info. see tvrabbi (more) |
 | Rabbi Steinsaltz discusses whether cloned humans or other forms of beings with artificial intelligence would be viewed legally as human beings. He relates the discussion to the question regarding (more) | |
 | Rabbi Steinsaltz notes that the concepts of artificial insemination and surrogate motherhood can be found in Jewish literature dating back 18-20 centuries ago. He discusses some of (more) | |
 | Rabbi Steinsaltz states that murder of a treifah (someone who is expected to die within 12 months) is technically viewed as manslaughter and not true murder, for (more) |
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102 comments:
This letter came on Shabbos.
Yeshiva and Mesivta
of Brooklyn
(Torah
Avoda
Gmilus Chasodim)
Administrative Office
1470 Ocean Parkway,
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 376-3775 Fax: (718) 376-4280
Rabbi Shloime Mandel
(Rosh Hayeshiva)
Emerich Willinger
(Vice President)
***
Kollel
*
Boys Division
*
Girls Division
Dear,
Quite some time has passed since we stood before the heavenly judgment of the Yomim Noiroim. We hope that our prayers and good deeds were accepted. We hope that in this world we would be able to elevate our children and ourselves to the higher levels of success that every Jewish soul desires to reach.
This year Yeshiva and Mesivta of Brooklyn celebrates its 100th Anniversary of "chinuch" in America. We at the Yeshiva, and you, as parents, invest enormous amounts of time, effort and money for the sake of the success of our children.
Our records indicate that your financial obligation to our Yeshiva was not fulfilled yet. Please do not hesitate to call my office to let me know if we may resolve this outstanding issue in any creative way, which would be mutually acceptable. We are sure that this will satisfy the Almighty and will tremendously benefit our Yeshiva, which planted seeds of Kedusha and knowledge of Torah in the heart and mind of your child.
If you would like me to send someone to your home to pick up the payment, I would be glad to arrange it.
If you need any clarification, please call my office at 718-376-3775.
With Torah greetings,
Rabbi Yehuda Tunkel
Executive
Administrator
Return This Portion with your payment
(A Century of Torah Chinuch)
---------------------------------
Please disregard this invoice if the payment was already made.
YOB owes hundreds of people their lives back. How do they ever repay their victims of abuse whose lives were stolen away from them by the menuveldicka rabbonim who also claim to uphold Torah Values?
If you prove that Yudi Kolko, Avrohm Mondrowitz, Stefan Colmer,Yehuda Nussbaum, Avrumi Lazerowitz, Moshe Eisman and others that are Orthodox Jews - molested at least 400 young boys - then we can speak. Until then - I HAVE NO COMMENT!
---
Norwegian Police: 'Pocket Man' Arrested in Sex Abuse of Hundreds of Boys
Friday , January 11, 2008
AP
OSLO, Norway —
One of the longest, highest-profile manhunts in Norwegian history may have succeeded Friday when police arrested a suspect they call "The Pocket Man" in the sexual abuse of 300 to 400 young boys over three decades.
Police said the suspect, identified only as a 55-year-old businessman from the western city of Bergen, was linked to five of the assaults through his DNA and that they expected to prove more cases.
"The Pocket Man has finally be captured," Arne Joergen Olafsen, chief of police in the southeastern Norway town of Ski, at a news conference. "This is a relief for many, including the police."
The Lommemannen — or "The Pocket Man" — name stems from the man cutting off the bottoms of his pants pockets so they would be open. He then traveled the country, and induced young boys, all between age six and 12, to reach into a pocket on the pretense of helping him find an object.
According to Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang, he sometimes filed his pockets with sticky tape hoping the boys' hands would become stuck.
In 2000, police began publishing appeals for tips, police artist drawings of possible suspects and grainy photos taken from surveillance cameras. The national crime police established a special "Pocket Man" Internet site providing and seeking information about what they said were 300-400 assaults.
At the news conference, police said a breakthrough in case came as a tip from a retired Bergen police officer, but gave no more details.
Norwegian news media described the suspect, whose name was withheld, as a wealthy, divorced father of grown children.
Police said they now believe the assaults started in 1976 and 1977. The suspect traveled through southern and western Norway, and varied the sites at which he abused the boys, including at swimming pools, public toilets and even at road intersections.
Olafsen said that geographic randomness meant each assault was reported to a different police station. It was not until the search was coordinated nationally that police saw the scope of the serial assault.
Police were seeking a court order Monday to hold the man for four weeks pending investigation and possible indictment. If convicted, the maximum sentence would normally be 15 years in prison, although that could be extended to 21 years if a court deems the abuse especially grave.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2008/01/11/4766997-sun.html
Man, 40, pleads guilty to years of sexual abuse
By JANE SIMS, SUN MEDIA
When Canadian border guards pulled over a man and his stepdaughter at Sarnia 13 months ago, they had no way of knowing a terrible secret.
There was a clue when officials found a BB gun resembling a handgun shoved down the front of the man's pants.
They searched the car and found sex toys, a video camera and a tripod. Officials were suspicious, but released them.
The border guards didn't know that hours before, the man had used duct tape to tie his stepdaughter to a bed in a Port Huron hotel room and sexually assaulted her.
The details of that assault and years of sexual abuse of the woman and her younger sister came to light after the man was arrested two weeks after the Port Huron trip for brutally assaulting a London woman in a random attack.
Yesterday, the 40-year-old man, who can't be named to protect the identities of the two women, kept his head turned away from his stepdaughters.
He pleaded guilty to six charges -- two for sexual interference with a person under the age of 14, two of sexual assault for the years of abuse and one of sexual assault and forcible confinement for the Port Huron incident.
"I can't think of any more serious allegations," said Ontario Court Justice Ted McGrath, after hearing the shocking facts read by assistant Crown attorney Karen Bellehumeur.
He asked for time to consider a joint submission from the Crown and defence lawyer Antin Jaremchuk for a sentence of 10 years on top of five years the man is already serving for the London attack.
Bellehumeur said the man picked up the 21-year-old stepdaughter at work on Dec. 11, 2006, for a Michigan shopping trip.
They shopped, then checked into the hotel where the woman fell asleep.
She woke up to find herself being duct-taped to the bedposts. Her stepfather then duct-taped her mouth shut and blindfolded her.
Before having sex with her, he put a thong on her and took photos.
The woman decided not to fight after she saw what she thought was a handgun on the nightstand when the blindfold slipped off her eyes, Bellehumeur said.
The man fell asleep. The next morning, the woman was still tied to the bed and he had sex with her again.
The man said nothing about the attack but later suggested they could be "sex buddies" and he would pay her rent.
On the way home, they were stopped at the border, searched, then released.
Two weeks later, the man attacked a woman in London and was arrested at home with the rape kit found in the trunk.
He was released on bail Jan. 3, then, after a bail review on Jan. 8, sent back to custody.
A week later, the stepdaughter told London police what happened in Port Huron. Then both women disclosed years of sexual abuse.
The man was charged in August.
Bellehumeur said the man began to abuse his stepdaughters in 1996, when he would often steal into their bedroom wearing only underwear and sexually touch the older girl, then 11.
Sometimes he would turn to the younger girl, but the older girl would pull him away and tell him to abuse her to protect her nine-year-old sister.
The younger stepdaughter told of various sex acts she was forced into by the man.
Bellehumeur read the victim impact statement of the older stepdaughter who wrote she is too scared to leave her house, and can't eat or sleep.
"I no longer have a life because of what you did to me," she wrote.
The younger stepdaughter read her statement to the court.
"You made me feel lower than dirt," she said to the man and described flashbacks, paranoia with strangers and depression.
McGrath ordered the case return to court for sentencing on Jan. 17.
KANAB — A Bureau of Land Management official facing numerous child sex abuse charges made a brief appearance in court Friday.
Rex Lee Smart, 60, appeared before a judge in 6th District Court where he was formally charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, six counts of forcible sex abuse, one count of rape, two counts of kidnapping, all first-degree felonies; and two counts of forcible sex abuse.
According to court records, Smart was ordered to appear in court again on Feb. 8 for a motion hearing. A judge is expected to decide if there's enough evidence to make him stand trial after a preliminary hearing scheduled for March.
Smart is the head of the BLM's field office in Kanab. He has been on administrative leave, federal officials said.
Jesuits Settle Indian Sex Abuse Suit
By JOHN K. WILEY – Jan 3, 2008
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — An order of Roman Catholic priests announced a $5 million settlement Thursday with 16 people who said they were sexually abused while attending a boarding school on an American Indian reservation.
The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuit Order of priests, will pay $4.8 million in cash to the abuse victims and raise another $200,000 for the homeless in the area, the Jesuits and lawyers for the accusers said.
The Jesuits operated St. Mary's Mission and School near Omak for more than 60 years until turning it over to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in 1973. The tribes now operate the school as the Paschal Sherman Indian School.
The 15 women and one man claimed they were sexually abused by a school superior and a Jesuit worker in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The accusers were elementary school pupils at the time and are now in their 40s and 50s.
"I am profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering of these people, and for the violation of trust which they have felt," the Very Rev. John D. Whitney, head of the Oregon Province, said in a news release.
"It was at the invitation of the native communities that Jesuits first came to the Northwest, and we hold that as a sacred calling," Whitney said. "We are deeply apologetic for the ways in which we have not fully realized the grace of this invitation."
The Oregon Province covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. It also agreed in November to pay $50 million to more than 100 Alaska Natives who allege sexual abuse.
The accused abusers are still alive and living under supervision in Jesuit residences.
John Allison, a lawyer for the accusers, said the settlement was reached after several days of mediation and included talks involving Whitney and several claimants.
"We are very pleased that this settlement was reached without the long and grueling battle in the courts we've seen in too many other cases," Allison in a news release issued jointly with Whitney.
Some of the claims became public during bankruptcy proceedings involving the Spokane Catholic Diocese in 2006, Allison said. The settlement announced Thursday is separate from the $48 million settlement reached last year with about 150 people who were abused by clergy in the Spokane diocese.
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. ~William Shakespeare
Character is higher than intellect. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice. ~Confucius
Rabbinical Students Tackle Workers Rights, Domestic Violence and Immigration
by: Rachel Cyrulnik | Jan 11 2008
Workers’ rights and immigration do not typically top the list of foremost issues in the Jewish community. This is why this fall, three rabbinical students from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Aaron Finkelstein, Mike Schultz, and Shmully Yanklowitz, founded Uri L’Tzedek, a network that enables Jews to learn about and take action on social justice issues. “[We address] social justice issues that our community chooses to ignore,” Finkelstein explained.
The organization is founded on the notion that social justices issues are very much present within the gamut of biblical and rabbinic texts. “We feel that it is imperative to create a discourse that uses learning and halachah as a lens through which we can think about and understand these issues,” Finkelstein said. “Ultimately, we hope to fuse Talmud Torah with protesting injustice in a way that is absent in the Modern Orthodox community today.”
Since its inception a few months ago, the organization, which means “Awaken to Justice,” has hosted three Beit Midrash programs at Mount Sinai Jewish Center in Washington Heights. While the organization welcomes Jews from all religious and demographic backgrounds, so far the sessions have attracted young, Orthodox singles from the Upper West Side and Washington Heights. These graduate students and professionals study rabbinic texts and then reflect upon modern-day implications..
If anyone can send me a picture of R' Yosef Rosenbloom from Shaarei Yosher - It would be much appreciated.
Scam Artists or Victims? The Hasidic Defendants of New Square
Lawrence Auster
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001
Note: the following article was written in June 1997, shortly after federal indictments were issued against six members of the Hasidic community of New Square, N.Y., two of whom became fugitives from justice and four of whom were convicted and jailed, then pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office.
"Why wouldn't they let us settle this case?" the Skverer Rebbe, David Twersky, says to me in his gentle, anguished voice. "Why do they torture us?"
To the embattled Hasidim of New Square, a village of 6,000 Orthodox Jews in Rockland County, N.Y., the recent federal indictments against members of their community for misuse of government education money represent a cruel double standard.
Several point to the mild treatment accorded Stanford University in a well-publicized scandal in the early 1990s. When it was discovered that Stanford had spent $231 million in federal research grants for such items as first-class trips to Turkey, depreciation on the university's luxury yacht, and cedar closets for President Donald Kennedy's mansion, no one was indicted. Stanford simply had to repay some of the money it had stolen, and Kennedy had to return to teaching.
Yet for similar misappropriations of federal funds – and on a far smaller scale – the federal authorities have unleashed all their formidable weapons against New Square, subjecting it to aggressive and intrusive investigation for four years (which has already cost the village $5 million in legal expenses and fines), refusing to accept a settlement offer that included repayment of funds and community service, and charging six of its leading residents as criminals. (Two of the six defendants did not appear at their arraignment on June 4 and are now fugitives from justice.)
Issued by United States Attorney Mary Jo White, the indictments allege, among other things, the fraudulent misuse over a 10-year period of $10 million in federal Pell grants that were earmarked for financially needy post-secondary students. The defendants are accused of transmitting the funds through bogus schools of independent study in which no real study took place, in which students did not meet regularly with their mentors as required, and where very few degrees were awarded, even to students who had been registered in the programs for years.
The residents of New Square (named after the Ukrainian city of Skver, where their sect originated) insist that nothing improper was done. "Without going into the question of whether or not they were obeying the letter of the law, the spirit of the law was always being complied with," declares Rabbi Mayer Schiller, an unofficial spokesman for the group, who lives in nearby Monsey. The purpose of the law was to support education, says Schiller, and that's exactly what the money was used for, even if the studies were not conducted in the formal manner required by the Pell Grant Program.
Moreover, the Skveras are adamant in their claim that the funds were not used to enrich anyone – "Nobody here owns a yacht," one resident said to me sardonically – but only to support needy Talmud students in a community whose sole reason for existence is mastery of Talmudic law. "The entire community's only leisure-time activity is study," Schiller told me. "Even men who have regular jobs spend two or three hours studying Talmud every evening."
As a visit to the modest village of New Square indicated, it is a vocation that begins in childhood. At the K-9 boys' school, neatly dressed 6-year-olds sat at tables with the Hebrew Bible open before them, loudly chanting the verses in Yiddish in response to their teacher's calls.
In another classroom the teacher kept an array of little plastic cups on his desk, one for each boy, into which he dropped a candy as a reward for correct answers. "We bribe them," the principal, Rabbi Chaim Tambor, said affectionately.
In every class that I visited (by age 13 the boys already wear the adult Hasidic garb of long black coat and wide hat), I was struck by the degree of the boys' attentiveness and involvement. Not one seemed bored, restless or disobedient. The contrast with a typical American public school of today could not have been more striking.
At about age 15 the students begin studying Talmud informally among themselves, a practice that continues in the kollel, the school for married men (everyone in the Hasidic community is married between the ages of 19 and 21). In a pleasant, high-ceilinged study room in the kollel, young men in pairs sat across from each other reciting and discussing.
The Hasidim's total absorption in the life of the mind has some well-marked distinctions and boundaries, within and without the community. While Talmudic learning is a sacrament and religious obligation for males, it is not required for females, although girls study the practical application of the Talmudic code in high school and continue such studies informally in later years. As a mark of their different spiritual status, women are not even obligated to attend Shabbos services.
Moreover, knowledge of the outside world is minimal in this Yiddish-speaking community. Not only do the schools teach nothing of American history and civilization, but many U.S.-born Hasidim speak English as though it were a foreign language, with thick accents, incorrect grammar and limited vocabulary – a linguistic separateness that seems to have been deliberately pursued so as to avoid any contaminating contact with contemporary America.
This cultural apartheid from the modern world, combined with the religious demand to spend as much time as possible in Talmud study, explains the Hasids' chronic dependence on government. As many as 150 of the 600 married men at New Square are full-time students, and many of those who work have only part-time jobs. With an average of 10 children per family ("Be fruitful and multiply" being their other sacred obligation besides Talmud study), the people of New Square consume large amounts of public assistance in the form of Section 8 housing subsidies, Food Stamps and Medicaid.
It appears, then, that New Square's alleged illegal use of public funds is but a logical extension of its systematic legal use of such funds.
Which raises a troubling question: Why should American taxpayers finance a community that keeps itself culturally isolated from the rest of society, and that is unable or unwilling to support its own Malthusian population growth? To the Hasidim, the answer is obvious. Not only do they save the state as much as $15 million every year by educating their own children, but, as New Squarer Dave Braun said to me: "We contribute to America more than other comminutes by producing law-abiding citizens. How many rapes and murders and family abuse cases have there been here in the last 40 years? None. There is never any crime here, unless someone from the outside comes in."
It is a refrain heard over and over from the Skveras, who tend to speak of the larger society exclusively in terms of its moral decadence – crime, rampant sexual disorder, the degraded pop culture, and so on. While one can hardly dismiss these criticisms (though at times they verge on caricature), the problem is that the Hasids do not seem to see any positive values in the larger American society; nor, one surmises, can they contribute any positive values to that society because they are so radically separated from it.
All they offer to America is the absence of negative values, i.e., the absence of libertine and destructive behaviors, which in their minds distinguishes them from the debased mainstream culture and from other minority groups who, like the Hasidim, rely heavily on the dole but who, unlike the Hasidim, are immersed in illegitimacy and crime.
Ironically, then, this most rigidly conservative of all groups fits right into the politics of multiculturalism – the wondrous system we have created in which groups that are alien or hostile to America's mainstream culture are awarded the right to be officially recognized and financially subsidized by that culture.
The Hasidim, of course, have nothing to do with the leftist multicultural agenda to transform American identity. Nevertheless, they are quintessential clients of the multicultural welfare state, because it is their cultural differences from the rest of society – namely, their religious duty to study Talmud as much as possible and to have as many children as possible – that create their economic dependence on society.
Apart from the current allegations of fraud, the government seems to have had no problem with the Hasids' permanent reliance on public assistance. Why should it, given its relativist assumptions? After all, this is a government that (in addition to more conventional subsidies such as transportation or medical research) has massively subsidized illegitimacy and the resulting culture of crime and poverty; a government that funds Hispanic community colleges whose graduates can't write English; a government that pays for heart surgery for convicted illegal immigrant drug dealers; and a government that teaches public-school children to "respect" sodomy and places sexually perverse advertisements on publicly owned buses. In that context, who could possibly object to the earmarking of a few million dollars to help maintain a small community devoted to studying the Torah and living a righteous life?
Where the New Square defendants ran afoul of this system was in cooking the books. It's one thing to avail yourself of the welfare state's limitless compassion for the disadvantaged or the culturally different; it's another to engage in fraud. In addition to the misappropriation of education grants, two of the defendants are charged with fraudulently diverting more than $200,000 in Section 8 housing subsidies to their own bank accounts, and one is accused of making federally backed small business loans to local businesses with which the officers and directors of the lending entity were affiliated (though once again everyone I spoke to insists that none of the defendants used this money to enrich himself, but only to support needy Talmud students).
Enmeshed in a vast system of government largesse that virtually begs diverse groups to take government money on their own terms, a system based on the rejection of any common moral or cultural standards, should the New Square defendants be thrown in prison for failing to realize that multicultural America has one remaining standard that it still, though intermittently, enforces – the letter of the law? And that transferring federal education grants to non-existent students and diverting federal rental subsidies to non-existent tenants were serious crimes?
According to the relativist axioms under which our society now operates, the defendants' alleged behavior ought to be seen as a manifestation of their unique culture, bred of thousands of years of scraping by in a hostile world. Opportunistic improvisation, not bureaucratic propriety, is the traditional Jewish way. Is it not a bit unreasonable, then, to expect that this small, unassimilated community, whose affairs were run by just a few men, would not have had some overlap of personnel between the local corporation licensed to make federally backed loans to small businesses, and the small businesses receiving those loans? To the American mind such an arrangement is unethical and fraudulent; to the Hasidic mind it is normal and routine.
With their alien demeanor and pre-modern way of life, the Hasidim may be the ultimate test of multicultural America's commitment to welcome and empower groups that have nothing in common with America as a historic nation. In my own view, it would have been far better if the multicultural welfare state – with its inherent potential for abuse, dependency and ethnic conflict – had never been erected in the first place. But since we have erected it, it hardly seems fair to single out the Hasidim for harsh treatment.
The question cries out for an answer: If it was not criminal for mighty Stanford to stretch the meaning of federally supported "research" to include wedding parties for its president and luxury trips up the Nile, why is it criminal for tiny New Square to stretch the meaning of federally supported "education" to include its members' lifelong commitment to the study of Jewish law?
Lawrence Auster can be reached at lawrence.auster@att.net.
Link for this article:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/1/31/174956.shtml
http://hasidicnews.com/news26.shtml
Sep 22 2000
The "Tash" Tax scam
By Lynne Robson, CBC News, Montreal
Kiryat Tosh, Montreal (HN) - Hundreds of people and businesses in Quebec are under suspicion as part of a huge tax scam. It involves a charity connected to the ultra-orthodox Jewish community "Tash". And it involves 60 million dollars worth of phony tax receipts.
It's a tight knit tight-lipped community. And no one wants to talk about the huge tax fraud scandal whirling around this neighbourhood. Leaders of this Tash Hasidic community created a charity to raise money for new homes. In fact it was a scam to cheat the government. And it was a secret until Joseph Goodstep blew the whistle. He owns a large construction company in Montreal. He invited a rabbi to his office to describe the charity tax deal, then he tape-recorded the conversation.
This is how the plan was described: if a man gave for example 100 thousand dollars, the charity would give him 80 thousand dollars back. That would leave the charity with 20 thousand dollars. But the organization issued tax receipts for the entire amount. So the entire amount could be claimed on provincial and federal tax returns -- a maximum tax savings for the donor of 53 thousand dollars. Goodstep told Canadian tax officials. That triggered a two year investigation.
Some experts suggested that not only they pay a penalty, such as fines and jail but they be banned from carrying on this type of activity under another front organization.
That's not what happened here. The Hasidic charity was stripped of its right to issue tax receipts. But the community leaders faced no criminal charges. The case however is not closed for donors to the scheme. Revenue officials say hundreds of people here and in Montreal will be investigated and may face big fines.
http://www.allbusiness.com/middle-east/israel/395393-1.html
Hasidic New Yorker Arrested for Fraud.
Publication: Israel Faxx
Date: Tuesday, February 23 1999
You are viewing page 1
By IsraelWire
A member of a New York Hasidic Jewish community who has been charged with defrauding federal and state grant, loan and subsidy programs of tens of millions of dollars has been arrested in Israel.
Chaim Berger, who was indicted by a New York City federal grand jury in 1997, was arrested Thursday by Israeli police in response to a formal request submitted by
the Department of Justice, which is seeking his extradition. Berger is being held in Israel without bail pending a further hearing Feb. 24.
Berger and six others are charged in a 64-count indictment accusing them of defrauding the federal and state governments to benefit themselves and other residents of the village of New Square in Rockland County, northwest of New York City (just one-quarter mile from this editor's former house, and the current home of Rita and Jay Klyde). New Square is a community of about 6,000 people, most of whom are Hasidim.
The indictment charges that in one scheme, a Jewish school, or yeshiva, in Brooklyn was financed almost entirely by federal Pell grants awarded by the Department of Education to ineligible or nonexistent students. The defendants also allegedly looted state student aid programs, as well as Small Business Administration and federal housing programs.
It's not just spinka chasidim. It's not just chasidim. It's all kinds of Jews who make this world a good place or a bad place. There is righteous and there is evil in all sects, ethnicities, and religions of society. As Jews though, don't we have more of a moral obligation and responsibility to uphold humanitarian law and derech amedina more than all the other nations? Did we not say naashe and then venishmah at har sinai?
Shouldn't gedolim be issuing "a call to action" on the terrible sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse - Which has been rampant for many decades and still counting?
Shouldn't they at the very least be speaking against these enablers who continue to get a free pass from criminal prosecution all these years?
In essence the Rabbonim and Gedolim find the following to be of much greater signifigance!
1) A psak against the evil internet
2) A psak against indian wigs.
3) A decree to drink filtered water only
4) A psak against going to concerts that have mixed seating
5) a psak on following "simcha" guidelines
6) coming up with shabbos toothpaste and toothbrush
7) approving the "kosher" lamp
8) selling combination locks for yayin nesech purposes
The list goes on and on. Where's the love and protection for sexually abused victims who were victimized by their rabbis - and who were enabled by the yeshiva administration to continue their abusing unabated and unchecked for decades?
May 29, 1997
6 Indicted in Fraud Over Use of Grants For Hasidic Groups
By BENJAMIN WEISER
Five members of a Hasidic community in Rockland County and a man from Brooklyn were indicted yesterday on charges that they systematically defrauded the Federal and state governments of tens of millions of dollars in student loans, business assistance and housing subsidies.
In one scheme, according to Federal prosecutors, a seminary in Brooklyn was financed almost entirely by Federal Pell grants awarded to ineligible or nonexistent students. The defendants also looted state student aid programs, Small Business Administration programs and the Federal Section 8 housing program, prosecutors said.
The plans, the authorities said, were used to enrich the defendants but also to benefit the community institutions of New Square, the Rockland County village, along with the local yeshiva.
In a broad indictment unsealed in Manhattan, the United States Attorney's office depicted a vast scheme by which the six men and others enrolled thousands of New Square and Brooklyn residents in post-secondary education programs in Jewish seminaries and Rockland County Community College to obtain money fraudulently through Federal Pell grants, which are awarded to needy post-secondary students.
The indictment said that most of the students were not eligible for the grants, did not get their degrees and, in some cases, enrolled after recruiters promised them hundreds of dollars a year. Prosecutors said that one Brooklyn seminary program fraudulently got $10.3 million in Pell grants ''on behalf of its purported students.''
The Government's investigation has been no secret in the tightly knit community of about 6,000 in New Square, which consists almost entirely of Hasidim. News of the indictment drew sharp criticism there yesterday. A statement by village representatives contended that the United States Attorney in Manhattan, Mary Jo White, had a ''vendetta'' against New Square residents, and that Federal agents had earlier scared small children there by serving subpoenas at 6 A.M. ''in a manner remindful of the Holocaust that many in this community endured decades ago.''
Rabbi Mayer Schiller, who said he was a spokesman for the residents, said he was certain that the accusations would be proven false. ''They have imposed a reign of terror on this entire community,'' he said, referring to the Federal prosecutors.''
Ms. White responded by citing an earlier phase of the investigation when, in 1995, a Federal judge held the Yeshiva of New Square in contempt of court for failing to obey a grand jury subpoena for its bank records and other documents, which led to a $1 million fine paid by the yeshiva.
''Given the repeated efforts to obstruct the grand jury's investigation,'' she said, ''the response and accusations of unfair treatment are disheartening, but not surprising.''
The indictment was vague about just how the money was put to use, and just how much ended up back in the community.
Rabbi Schiller said that New Square was founded in 1957 by four Holocaust survivors, including Chaim Berger, one of the defendants named in yesterday's indictment.
The indictment said Mr. Berger had been a member of the village's board of trustees and the board of the Yeshiva of New Square, and was chairman of the board of the Brooklyn seminary, Toldos Yakov Yosef, where many of the New Square and Brooklyn students receiving Pell grants were enrolled.
The indictment asserted that Mr. Berger and two other administrators of the seminary, Kalmen Stern and David Goldstein, created a false picture of the seminary's programs to qualify for Federal aid. The indictment said they falsified resumes, minutes of the board meetings and reviews of student progress to get Federal money.
The seminary was financed ''almost exclusively'' by Pell grants awarded to the school on behalf of its ''alleged'' students from 1987 to 1992, the indictment said. But in reality, it added, the school enrolled students who did not meet the requirements, were not seeking a degree and did not take tests or even take part in any actual program of study.
The indictment said that in the early 1980's, Mr. Berger and others helped create an ''independent studies program'' for New Square students at Rockland County Community College. From 1982 to 1988, thousands of students were enrolled, and most got Pell grants and state tuition aid. The indictment said that many of these students were also not eligible for aid, and in some cases, did not even know they were enrolled.
''Some New Square and Brooklyn residents were enrolled in as many as five different educational institutions, and received Pell grants for as many as 10 or more years, without ever receiving any degree or any certificate reflecting that they had completed a program of study,'' the indictment said.
Besides Mr. Berger and Mr. Stern, the indictment charged three other New Square residents: Jacob Elbaum; Mr. Berger's son, Benjamin, and Avrum D. Friesel, who Rabbi Schiller said is the son of New Square's mayor. Mr. Goldstein, the sixth defendant, lives in Brooklyn.
None of the six defendants could be reached by telephone yesterday, and the identities of their lawyers, if any, could not be learned. Gerald Shargel, a lawyer for the Yeshiva of New Square, said he could not comment on the specifics of the case.
Jerusalem rabbis indicted for racist incitement
Dan Izenberg , THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 13, 2008
The state has filed an indictment against two Jerusalem rabbis on charges of racist incitement regarding anti-Arab statements they made during a rally protesting the establishing of a bilingual school for Jews and Arabs in the capital's Patt neighborhood.
The defendants are Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri, head of the Hashalom Kabbalist yeshiva, and his son David. They are liable to a prison term of up to five years if convicted.
The event in question took place on January 9, 2006 during a rally a the community center against the establishment of the school. About 200 people came to hear several rabbis speak against the plan.
One of them, Yitzhak Batzri, said, "The Arabs are donkeys and beasts. They are inferior. What do they want? To take our women. They say we are racist. In reality, they are the wicked and cruel ones. They are imbued with the filth of the snake. There are pure and impure, and they are impure. You residents of Patt must not give in."
David Batzri told the audience, "The establishment of this school is an act of abomination and impurity. One can't mix impure and pure. Of course we must stay apart from all the nations. You must stand in the breach and prevent this. It is forbidden to mix darkness with light. The nation of Israel is pure. The Arabs are a nation of donkeys. They are an affliction, a demon, a pestilence.
"Why, one may ask, did God not create them to walk on all fours, since they are donkeys? The reason is that they must build and clean, but must always understand that they are donkeys. There is no room for them in our schools."
"In the acts they committed as described above, the defendants published something meant to incite to racism," the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office wrote in the indictment, which was filed in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.
Attorney Einat Horowitz, who represents The Israel Religious Action Center, which filed the original complaint against Yitzhak and David Batzri and several other rabbis, including Beersheba Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri, said she was pleased with the decision.
"In the past few years we have been witness to a worrisome increase in racist expressions by rabbis and Jewish religious leaders, who make distorted use of Jewish tradition," she said in a statement. "This phenomenon obliges the law enforcement authorities to make use of all legal tools at their disposal to eradicate it. The prosecution's decision, although belated, is a step in the right direction and we hope that it is the harbinger of an increasing severity in the law enforcement policy against racist manifestations."
Rabbis to Call Day of Fasting if Young Girls are not Freed
6 Shevat 5768, 13 January 08 07:00
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) It's already 16 days, and seven girls are still being held in prison with no opportunity to speak with their parents. Their crime: Refusing to identify themselves.
If they are not released by Friday afternoon, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and other leading rabbis say they will call a public fast on Monday.
The girls were arrested over two weeks ago at Givat Ha'Or, a new would-be civilian outpost just outside Beit El in southern Samaria, north of Jerusalem. Though they would likely have been released with relatively minor restrictions, sources close to the case say the justice system is waging war against them because they refuse to identify themselves or otherwise cooperate with Israel's judicial system.
No Cooperation with Anti-Jewish Government
Pro-bono lawyers from the Honenu legal rights association who have met with them say the girls refuse to lend a hand to a legal system that works to unlawfully keep Jews out of the Land of Israel.
Large groups of their friends and teachers have come to the protest outside the Jerusalem Magistrates Court every few days when the 9th- and 10th-grade girls are brought to court for an extension of their custody.
Official Letters of Protest
Dr. Yitzchak Kadman, Director of Israel's National Child Welfare Council, sent a sharp letter to the Jerusalem District Attorney's office, protesting the continued incarceration under abusive conditions of the seven. Kadman mentioned the fact that the girls have been deprived of food and bathroom privileges for hours at a time, and are not allowed to have school books brought in.
The girls' parents have also published an open letter, calling for the release of their daughters "even if they don't identify themselves."
Yet another letter of protest was sent by the head of the Beit El Educational Department, Menachem Lev, to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, complaining of the educationally injurious results of the conditions of the girls' incarceration.
The Honenu organization declared its appreciation of Dr. Kadman's stance on the side of the girls: "The State of Israel seems to be convinced that Jews who work to settle throughout the Land of Israel are more likely to be criminals than others. We are happy that Dr. Kadman has woken up to his obligation to help even children of settlers."
Professor Hillel Weiss, representing the modern forum of Rabbis calling itself the Sanhedrin, was allowed to visit the girls on Thursday in his capacity as a lawyer, and later released the following announcement: "At the end of my visit with the girls, one of them asked me to publicize, in the name of all of them, that their modesty had been hurt in jail. The Jewish public will not forget and will not forgive how the Jewish regime has harassed girls considered minors by its own laws."
"If the girls are not released by Friday," Weiss continued, "a public fast day will be called on Monday by the Sanhedrin's Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and other leading rabbis, to express the fault of the nation and its leaders, as well as the atonement that is essential in light of the trampling of the honor and modesty of Jewish girls."
Supporters call on the public to send letters of protest to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Knesset Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Shelly Yechimovitch.
On another blog there is somebody who comments on the bad language and tone and how it turns him off. He goes on to state he is a survivor of sexual abuse of the worst kind. He basically uses bad language to lash out at the blogger when his whole premise is to refrain from doing so lest one wants to be cursed. He goes on to quote all sorts of pesukim. While I feel empathy for the horrible things he endured, I can't help but come to a realization that his excuse making for the enablers is a grave mistake on his part.
While he seems to cherish his precious life of Torah - many people who were abused because of the enablers don't want to, or can't bring themselves to trust in another Rabbi - let alone the Torah the enablers have falsified for their own protection. What this abused soul whose biggest complaint is the bashing of enablers fails to comprehend, is the reason so many people and abuse victims are so so hurt by all of this, is precisely because of the RABBIS. When they did turn to Rabbonim for help they were told not to go to the police. They were also told to keep quiet and not tell others about it. In many instances the victim and their families were threatened and ridiculed for reporting such abuse in the first place.
I think this guy fails to comprehend this very aspect. If we would be able to turn to the Rabbis for help that would have been done. But how in the world could the victims trust in them - never mind anybody else?
An open letter to Rabbi Solomon was posted and dare I say that Rabbi solomon has yet to address the many fact and points made in that letter.
As someone who claims to feel the victims pain because he has experienced it too; why can't he grasp this? By excusing and cutting slack to enablers; his own complaints are hard to accept.
Last but not least, someone who enables abuse it could be argued, is worse then the abuser themselves. And such a person must be humiliated and ridiculed as it says it the holy torah "You shall not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds.”
By James Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:57 PM PST, January 13, 2008
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- President Bush today called Iran "the world's leading state sponsor of terror" and sought to shore up opposition to the government in Tehran throughout the Middle East.
But even as he criticized Iranian leaders, saying they were seeking to repress their own citizens and cow neighboring countries, Bush appealed to U.S. allies in the region to open up their own political and economic systems to greater democracy...
January 13th, 2008 4:30 PM Eastern
Obama Calls Clinton Allegations “Ludicrous”
by Bonney Kapp
Senator Barack Obama told reporters on a conference call today that Hillary Clinton’s accusations that his campaign was trying to “deliberately” mislead the public about her comments on Martin Luther King, Jr. were “ludicrous.”The conference call was set up to showcase new endorser, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), but when the call was opened to questions, Obama was asked by a reporter about Clinton’s comments on Meet the Press this morning, during which she spoke further about the Obama camp’s attempt to distort her comments.
Obama responded incredulously, “This is fascinating to me. I mean, I think what we saw this morning is why the American people are tired of Washington politicians and the games they play. But Senator Clinton made an unfortunate remark, an ill-advised remark, about King and Lyndon Johnson. I didn’t make the statement. I haven’t remarked on it and she, I think, offended some folks who felt that somehow diminished King’s role in bringing about the Civil Rights Act. She is free to explain that, but the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous. I have to point out that instead of telling the American people about her positive vision for America, Senator Clinton spent an hour talking about me and my record in a way that was flat out wrong.”
Obama Press Secretary, Bill Burton also sent out an email to reporters that said the criticism of Clinton’s remarks actually came from her own supporters and Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC), which you can read after the jump...
Don't believe the web of lies coming out of the mouth of this gentile!
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www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-rabbi_bd13jan13,1,3707952.story
chicagotribune.com
For rabbi, God isn't in the details
Jewish leader helps non-believers find tradition, acceptance
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune religion reporter
January 13, 2008
When Rabbi Adam Chalom stands before the Sabbath flames and sings the Hebrew blessing to welcome Shabbat, there is no mention of God.
Chalom believes there are no prophets. He preaches that only hard work yields miracles. And until science unlocks life's mysteries, his most honest answer to why people are here and where they go when they die is, "I don't know."
God has nothing to do with it.
At 32, the north suburban rabbi is the new face of the world's youngest and most provocative Jewish movement, Humanistic Judaism. These Jews celebrate the faith's historic culture, but revere compassion and generosity instead of God.
Chalom steps up to carry the movement at a turbulent time, when American society is increasingly polarized about God, and Humanistic Jews are still mourning Rabbi Sherwin Wine, the larger-than-life personality who founded the iconoclastic movement in 1963. Wine died last year in a car crash.
Chalom argues, and surveys support him, that a majority of American Jews embrace the humanists' emphasis on culture and ethics, independent of God. Many Jews buy tickets for High Holiday services and utter prayers to a supreme power they don't believe exists, he contends. Others simply abandon Jewish traditions.
For these Jews, Chalom says, the humanistic movement offers an authentic alternative, allowing them to celebrate rites of passage without compromising their beliefs.
"Honestly, we're keeping people Jewish," Chalom said.
Once a splinter movement, and still comparatively small, Humanistic Judaism is now recognized by many as the fifth American Jewish denomination, after Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist. The Society for Humanistic Judaism claims 10,000 members in 30 congregations.
But some Jews believe removing God from the equation leaves an inadequate portrayal of what Judaism is all about -- a covenant between God and the Jewish people. The Union for Reform Judaism is notably more liberal than the Conservative and Orthodox branches, but in 1994 it barred those who do not declare a belief in God.
Other Jewish scholars concede God is often not critical to a sense of Jewish identity, yet question the demand for a separate secular movement.
Born into the movement, Chalom's parents raised him at Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit, the first Humanistic congregation.
Wine, ordained a Reform rabbi, rewrote English and Hebrew liturgies to replace all references to God with odes to the ideals of humanity. Yom Kippur encouraged introspection; Passover celebrated freedom.
"Growing up ... the idea of prayer and miracles realizing your wishes in any other way than you doing it just wasn't covered," Chalom said. "It really is an identity that speaks to everyday life experience and responds to our life in the natural world."
Chalom grappled with tolerance more than he wrestled with the existence of God. His undergraduate years at Yale University fueled a passion to reach Jews on the margins.
He earned a master's and PhD and trained at the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, which Wine established in 1985 as a seminary for humanistic rabbis. As the new dean of the Michigan-based institute, Chalom said he hopes to earn accreditation for the school.
Humanistic Judaism has faced its own growing pains in Illinois. When Congregation Beth Or, the state's first synagogue to embrace the movement, returned to its Reform roots, a handful of members formed a new congregation, Kol Hadash, in July 2001. Beth Or Rabbi Emeritus Daniel Friedman served there until the congregation hired Chalom.
Today 132 families, many from Deerfield, form the congregation.
Friedman says Chalom is likely the only person who could step into Wine's shoes.
"He was born into the Humanistic movement," Friedman said. "He's not fighting against anything. There's no undertone of rejection."
The Chicago Board of Rabbis has not admitted Chalom as a member because he did not graduate from an accredited seminary. But he is invited to observe at most meetings.
Chalom contends that the integrity and emotional resonance of Jewish traditions are what appeal most to American Jews. According to the American Jewish Identity Survey of 2001 by the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, about half of the 5.3 million Jews in the United States identify themselves as "secular" or "somewhat secular."
Critics say those numbers don't necessarily support a demand for Humanistic Judaism.
"If you look at Jewish newspapers or magazines or listen in on conversations in synagogues God is not a hot topic," said Steven Cohen, a sociologist of American Jewry at Hebrew Union College. "People have been able to maintain strong Jewish passions without a strong engagement with God."
But for Victoria Ratnaswamy, entering a synagogue did not feel right if she did not believe in God. Jewish but not raised in a practicing household, Ratnaswamy was intrigued by Kol Hadash, where she heard the rabbi welcomed interfaith couples and their children.
"It's a community where I feel comfortable being myself," she said. David Hirsch said he is grateful to have a rabbi who could help him explain death to his 9-year-old son when the boy lost a classmate. . The boy took comfort in knowing where his friend had gone -- instead of pointing to heaven, he pointed to his heart.
"The idea of natural immortality is as compelling as any other," Hirsch said. "It's about people. It's about legacy and memory."
Bonnie Cousens, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, has faith Chalom will take the movement forward.
"For many of our members Humanistic Judaism was something they discovered, often after leaving another branch of Judaism," she said. "For them, it's very much a discovery. But for Adam it's home."
- - -
Background
*Founded in 1963 by the late Rabbi Sherwin Wine, an ordained Reform rabbi.
*Number of congregations: 30.
*Number of members: 10,000.
*Rabbis ordained by the movement: 8.
* Differences in blessings:
Humanistic Sabbath blessing: Blessed is the light in the world. Blessed is the light in people. Blessed is the light of Shabbat.
Traditional Jewish Sabbath blessing: Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat.
Humanistic Hanukkah blessing: Precious is the light in the world and in all people, which has kept us in life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this happy season.
Traditional Jewish Hanukkah blessing: Praised are You, Our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has given us life and sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.
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mbrachear@tribune.com
THE SEEKER: In search of truths and Truth
Can those who do not believe in God still call themselves Jewish, Muslim or Christian? Read Manya A. Brachear's blog at chicagotribune.com/seeker
Olmert threat deepens Chabad rift
Published: 01/13/2008
A Chabad rabbi's threat against Ehud Olmert is deepening the rift between messianist and non-messianst Lubavitchers.
According to the Forward, Chabad's Israeli leadership appears ready to publicly distance itself from a messianic element within the movement, an about-face from the many years of efforts to downplay divisions in the fervently Orthodox movement, as required by a Brooklyn-based rabbinical court.
Rabbi Dov Wolpe, a popular leader of the messianic wing of Chabad, which believes that the late Lubavitcher rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the messiah, said Jan. 2 that if Israel were properly run, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would be “hanged from the gallows” along with Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. His remarks were broadcast on Israeli television news.
"This is not Lubavitch," Moni Ender, a Chabad spokesman in Israel, told the Forward. "Rabbi Wolpe is talking by himself. We have nothing to do with him. He makes dirt for Chabad.”
Some U.S. Chabad leaders also had strong words for Wolpe. His statements did not appear in mainstream Chabad communications.
Incitement to violence by rabbis has become the ultimate taboo in Israel, since such rabbinical injunctions were blamed for Yitzhak Rabin’s 1995 assassination.
Chabad is the only major Chasidic group whose members serve in the Israeli army; its rabbis are also regarded as informal chaplains. It is the threat to this activity that could force Chabad to declare the messianists separate from the movement, Ender told the Forward.
Nefesh B'Nefesh: 'Most Profitable Non-Profit Business I've Seen'
by Sarah Morrison
(IsraelNN.com) Tony Gelbart's desire to help his fellow Jew is pure and honest. Gelbart, co- founder of the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, has overseen the return of over 13,000 Jews to their homeland over the past six years.
"I can't take the credit for this," Gelbart told IsraelNationalRadio last week. "It all started when the assistant rabbi of my Boca Raton synagogue [Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of NBN along with Gelbart] came to my house one Shabbat. I always wanted to learn a little bit with him because he was so young and energetic. When he came, I said, 'Good Shabbos Rabbi! Welcome! You came by to learn a little!' But then, Rabbi Fass said, 'Can we take a Shabbat walk?' He proceeded to tell me that his young cousin, who was 14 at the time, had been murdered by a Palestinian terrorist at a bus stop. He felt it was important for him to move to Israel as a result, and for more people to move to Israel to fight the injustice. I said, 'I'm glad you want to make Aliyah and you are saddened about your cousin, but how can I help?' He proceeded to tell me about some ideas he had to pursue his dream. We talked about the issues of Aliyah. It took 24 hours to start something, and that's how it all began."
Since then, Gelbart..
Parents be extremely careful of who you allow to be alone with your children.
http://www.pressrepublican.com/evening/local_story_013165445.html
Local man facing felony sex-abuse charge
By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG
Staff Writer
— PLATTSBURGH — A local man returned to Plattsburgh City Court Friday, accused of forcibly touching a 15-year-old girl.
According to Plattsburgh City Court records, Dennis Cook Jr. allegedly violated the teen while he was hanging out at her family’s apartment in late October.
The victim contacted police a few weeks after the alleged incident, and Cook was later taken into custody on a felony charge of first-degree sex abuse and the misdemeanor offense of endangering the welfare of a child.
According to court records, the 26-year-old Plattsburgh man told authorities he was playing cards and drinking beer at the girl’s house when he and a few other people, including the victim, began watching TV.
“I was drunk,” he said in a voluntary statement to Plattsburgh City Police after his arrest in early January.
He said the teen later went into her bedroom, where he followed her, and the pair began talking and hanging out.
Cook, who was an acquaintance of the girl’s mother, said the teen rested her legs on his lap and he began rubbing them.
Court documents indicate the contact later progressed beneath the victim’s pants.
The teen told police she then said no and pushed Cook away. He maintained nothing was said but admitted that her demeanor changed.
“I noticed a weird look on her face. I asked if she was mad at me, and she shook her head yes,” he said, adding that he repeatedly apologized for his actions and then left the apartment.
Cook, who says he has not had contact with the teen since the alleged abuse, was later released from custody.
In City Court on Friday, his case was adjourned until Jan. 16.
He is being represented by attorney David Gervais.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
Man Accused Of Sex Abuse; Wife Charged With Assault
January 13, 2008
A child molestation accusation led one woman to slit her husband's throat, and both of them are facing charges.
Portland police arrested Michelle McClain in December and charged her with aggravated assault.
Her husband, Joe McClain was arrested on Friday on suspicion of sodomy and sexual abuse of a child.
Relatives said he molested a now 10-year-old girl for two years and that his alleged victim kept quiet because McClain threatened to kill her family.
Michelle McClain's mother, Denis Wells, said every time the abuse was reported, the girl would deny the allegations to social workers because she was afraid of being taken away from her family.
Wells said her daughter snapped when she found child pornography on her husband's computer and slit her husband's throat.
It was about this time that the girl opened up about the accusations to social workers, said Wells.
Curtis McClain is being held on a $1.75 million bond and is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Michelle McClain's bond is set at $750,000.
At least the Church is taking steps forward. The Rabbinic world is taking steps backwards.
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Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson in new book about sexual abuse
2008-01-11
Stephanie Innes
Catholic dioceses in 23 states, including Arizona, are discussed in the new book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, which will be released at a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 15 in Washington D.C.
The 675-page book chronicles the sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States and abroad.
Dioceses in Arizona, as well as 22 other states will be discussed in the book. Those other states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
The book’s author is Leon J. Podles, Ph.D., who worked for 20 years as a federal investigator. He spent more than 10 years researching and writing the book.
Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer who has developed procedures for dealing with cases of sex abuse, will speak at the press conference announcing the book’s release. Doyle has called the scope of the cover-up in Tucson on par with Boston.
Like many other experts on the crisis, Doyle says Tucson was a dumping ground of sorts for abusers during the 1970s and 80s. The diocese has since made a $14 million settlement payment to victims of sexual abuse by clergy, as well as filed for and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – a move that resulted in another settlement pool for victims of $22 million.
The book was published by Crossland Press, a division of the Crossland Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.
The abuse crisis has been a media mainstay since 2002 and some in the Catholic Church are tiring of the coverage, saying it’s time to move on.
But Podles said in a prepared statement that “attacking sexual abuse is not attacking the Catholic Church but is seeking to hold it to its own standards of justice and mercy and love.”
Some Facts
It is estimated that at least two out of every ten girls and one out of every ten boys are sexually abused by the end of their 13th year. To protect all children, we first need to learn the facts.
Did you know that most children who are sexually abused, are abused by a family member or close friend? Did you know that "stranger danger," by comparison, is quite rare?
Your Opportunity To Save Children
If you are an ordinary person in an ordinary family, you have the most power of anybody to save the children around you. Every time you tell your sister or your husband or your friend a fact about what causes child molestation, every time you tell them what we can do now to stop it, you build a stronger safety net for every child.
To begin learning the facts, start with the CMRPI Prevention Plan. This plan was developed from the findings of the Child Molestation Prevention Study by Gene G. Abel, M.D. and Nora Harlow.
Child sexual abuse is scary, but you don't have to feel powerless. This website is dedicated to showing you the specific steps you can take to protect your children and all of the children in your community.
http://www.apa.org/releases/sexabuse/effects.html
Understanding Child Sexual Abuse
Education, Prevention, and Recovery
What are the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse?
Children and adolescents who have been sexually abused can suffer a range of psychological and behavioral problems, from mild to severe, in both the short and long term. These problems typically include depression, anxiety, guilt, fear, sexual dysfunction, withdrawal, and acting out. Depending on the severity of the incident, victims of sexual abuse may also develop fear and anxiety regarding the opposite sex or sexual issues and may display inappropriate sexual behavior. However, the strongest indication that a child has been sexually abused is inappropriate sexual knowledge, sexual interest, and sexual acting out by that child.
The initial or short-term effects of abuse usually occur within 2 years of the termination of the abuse. These effects vary depending upon the circumstances of the abuse and the child's developmental stage but may include regressive behaviors (such as a return to thumb-sucking or bed-wetting), sleep disturbances, eating problems, behavior and/or performance problems at school, and nonparticipation in school and social activities.
But the negative effects of child sexual abuse can affect the victim for many years and into adulthood. Adults who were sexually abused as children commonly experience depression. Additionally, high levels of anxiety in these adults can result in self-destructive behaviors, such as alcoholism or drug abuse, anxiety attacks, situation-specific anxiety disorders, and insomnia. Many victims also encounter problems in their adult relationships and in their adult sexual functioning.
Revictimization is also a common phenomenon among people abused as children. Research has shown that child sexual abuse victims are more likely to be the victims of rape or to be involved in physically abusive relationships as adults are.
In short, the ill effects of child sexual abuse are wide ranging. There is no one set of symptoms or outcomes that victims experience. Some children even report little or no psychological distress from the abuse, but these children may be either afraid to express their true emotions or may be denying their feelings as a coping mechanism. Other children may have what is called "sleeper effects." They may experience no harm in the short run, but suffer serious problems later in life.
I watched the video clip of Matisyahu Salomon invoking the word "children" repeatedly. This guy is an enabler of child molestation and child abuse. Here are some other words the "gadol" used when addressing the crowd on the occasion of a newly written Sefer Torah:
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"hushmor nafshecha meod"
choshech, aruchel, fire, unon, kol shofer chazak meod, chokos ubrukim, har sinai, Torah, Torah, Torah, min hashomyim, aish. The fire to show us the holines of spirituality of torah. give over torah, yiras shomayim. To do for our children to teach them that torah is very speacial. Torah is fire, ruchniyos. the children should understand this is our life. The simcha of the torah.
children should go in your footsteps. kovod hatorah. children should feel the respect you have. Do everything in the bais hamedrash. bais hashem.
Sounds like my kind of guy. My new friend is Mohammed from Pakistan. A child molester who was a fugitive on the run until the long arms caught up to him.
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Runaway child molester jailed
By Suzanne McTaggart
A DEWSBURY man who fled the country after he sexually assaulted two young girls at his flat has been jailed.
Mohammed Naeem, 32, who lived in the Flatts area, initially denied the offences against a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old in autumn, 2006.
But before his trial could begin in April, last year, Naeem fled to Canada.
When he was eventually tried in October, he pleaded guilty to the sexual assaults, which happened after he groomed the children by buying them sweets, gifts and letting them use his computer.
He was given 13-and-a-half months yesterday for each of the assaults and six months for breaching bail conditions, the sentences to run concurrently.
Judge Jenny Kershaw, QC, told him: "You set out to gain the trust of these children and their families.
"Having succeeded to the extent that they were allowed into your home without any adult company, you carried out the offences.
"A clearer possible attempt to evade justice can hardly be described. These two small girls and their families had to live for over a year in the shadow of a forthcoming trial."
Leeds Crown Court heard Naeem, originally from Pakistan, befriended the two families and sp
ent time with the girls alone at his flat, where he allegedly took photos of them using his mobile phone.
He asked both girls for "a kiss and a cuddle" and when one of the girls refused, he told her he wouldn't stay friends with her. He touched their breasts over their clothing on several occasions.
Judge Kershaw added: "It was perfectly clear from the account given by the 10-year-old that you persisted over a considerable period of time despite her protests.
"A little girl should not have been in a position of having to stand up for herself in that way."
Abraham Veghese, mitigating, said a stillborn child and a marriage breakdown had a severe impact on Naeem's life.
Naeem, who does not know where his wife is living, was an "educated" man who "deserved one last chance."
I blame all of you for doing this to me. If you take a look at my picture you will notice the facial expression on my face says it all!
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Court rules alleged U.S. pedophile Mondrowitz must stay in custody
By Haaretz Service
The Jerusalem District Court ruled on Monday that Avrohom Mondrowitz, an ultra-Orthodox man who fled the United States for Israel two decades ago to avoid sexual abuse charges, must remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.
The United States seeks the extradition of Mondrowitz, 60, a member of the Gur Hasidic sect, and the court ruling stemmed from the suspicion he may attempt to escape Israel before his extradition.
Mondrowitz was arrested in Jerusalem in November of last year for allegedly abusing dozens of children at his unlicensed psychology clinic at his Brooklyn, New York home during the 1980s. He fled to Israel in 1985 as police were investigating charges against him.
Two months ago, the United States resubmitted an extradition request first made in 1985, months after Mondrowitz fled Brooklyn for Israel, said Justice Ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen.
The renewed U.S. request came after Israel and the United States amended their extradition treaty to include all crimes whose punishment is more than one year imprisonment, according to Israel's State Prosecutor's Office. Before the change that took effect last January, the extradition treaty between Israel and the United States did not include sodomy.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe. A section of Lubavitch Hassidim conceive of Schneerson in Messianic terms. Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar will be asked to decide this weighty theological question and in the process pass judgment on thousands of members of the messianic stream within Chabad Hassidism who believe that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the messiah.
About two weeks ago a young FSU immigrant to Israel, who was eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return but was not considered Jewish according to halacha, appeared before a rabbinic court in Jerusalem to convert to Judaism.
He had become interested in Orthodox Judaism through Chabad and was learning in a Jerusalem yeshiva. He wore a hat, a suit and tzitzit and meticulously adhered to the commandments.
Prof. Binyamin Ish-Shalom, head of the Joint Institute for Jewish Studies, where the young man prepared for his conversion, said that the rabbinic court, impressed with the high level of adherence exhibited by the young man, was on the verge of converting him.
"Suddenly, one of the rabbinic judges asked him if he believed that the rebbe [Schneerson] was the messiah," recounted Ish-Shalom.
"He answered, 'Yes, that's what I've been taught,' or something like that. And that was it; at least one of the judges refused to convert him."
Ish-Shalom rejected the notion that believing Schneerson was the messiah constituted a form of forbidden worship.
However, a source in the State Conversion Authority said that at least two leading religious Zionist rabbis ruled that messianic Chabad was beyond the pale of normative Jewish belief.
"They [messianic Chabad Hassidim] attribute to him supernatural powers. That is not Judaism. It's something else."
Taking the extortion out of divorce, if the rabbi permits it
By Shahar Ilan
Tags: Rabbinate, Knesset
A true revolution is afoot in the Knesset. If approved, religious men will have less of an upper hand in divorce proceedings.
Under the proposal, the civil and rabbinical courts will be able to divide property between the couple before they divorce. As a result, the economic situation of women who are requesting a divorce and their children will improve considerably.
Approved by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday for its second and third readings, the law will end a significant part of extortion by men who refuse to give their wives a divorce..
As the breeze swept right past me while sitting on the Staten island ferry after a busy day of work at Agudah headquarters, 42 Broadway, I managed to sneak a peak at my neighbor sitting right next to me reading a newspaper, and what caught my attention is the word
Jew and Mosque in the same sentence. Those are two words that one shouldn't even say for a joke. So certainly, as we say in the Talmud - kal vochomer - For something of much greater magnitude of a sin such as actually setting foot into a mosque - that is outright going totally against the Torah!
Avi - but what about sex abuse in the Jewish community and the cover up by the Rabbinical authorities, isn't that also going against the holy Torah?
Why would I have comment on...?
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As national co-chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, an inter-faith organization dedicated to integrating spirituality and political change, I often speak at unusual events, but this time was different. Complete with television news cameras and NPR, a crowd of several hundred people created a standing-room only crowd as Muslims joined with Christians, Jews, and "spiritual-but-not-religious" NSPers to witness a historic event: the first time a Jew had been invited to speak at the Denver Mosque. I was amazed and quite pleased at the warm and enthusiastic reception I received.
The invitation had provoked a spirited controversy in the mosque. There were some who argued that the invitation proffered to NSP to host me at the mosque should be rescinded. They argued that both Tikkun and I have been strong advocates for the State of Israel, that we reject the notion of a general disinvestment in Israel (though we do support disinvestment in companies like Caterpillar which specifically build equipment to tear down Palestinian homes for the Israeli government), that we reject the call for a "One State Solution" and instead affirm the need for an immediate creation of two states living in peace and mutual cooperation, and that Tikkun still believes that Israel should be a Jewish state (in the sense of giving special priority to Jewish immigration to Israel, though we also have advocated that the Palestinian state should have the same priority for immigration needs of Palestinians).
The other side argued that the Mosque should not be afraid to hear a Jewish perspective, that Tikkun Magazine had been the major source for the renewal of an American Jewish Left in the 1980s and had been a major role in making criticism of Israeli policies toward Palestinians more legitimate inside the Jewish world, had been the major documenter in the US of Israeli human rights abuses, and had provided the only location among the Jewish world for Palestinians to tell their case to the Jewish people without censorship. Moreover, they argued, anyone reading Healing Israel/Palestine (my 2003 book) could see the obvious intent to write a balanced account of the struggle that lacked all the normal chauvinistic nationalist rhetoric that still predominates in major sections of the Jewish world and even in sectors of the Israeli and American "peace movement." Though these claims were responded to by others at the mosque who pointed out that all these points, while true, only created the platform for Rabbi Lerner to be "the most effective, because seemingly most balanced, supporter of the State of Israel that the Jewish people have in the U.S.", in the end it was the side who wished to invite me that prevailed.
The event began with a chanting in Arabic by the mosque's Imam of a section of the Koran that affirmed the need for openness to others outside the Muslim community and a reading of that same text in English, welcomes from the current and past presidents of the mosque, and then I was introduced to speak. My topic was NOT about Israel/Palestine but about the need for the U.S., to switch its approach to foreign policy from the paradigm of domination to the paradigm of generosity. It included a discussion of the current dynamics of fear and how that could be changed to a new prevalence of hope. And of course, a presentation of the Global Marshall Plan (see www.spiritualprogressives.org) as the most effective way to build mass support for immediate withdrawal from Iraq as well as the best contemporary example of what a paradigm of generosity would look like were we to implement it. After this talk, we took a half hour break so that the hundred or so Muslims in attendance could do their late afternoon prayers...
Wait a minute! One must not use the evil internet - even for dating!
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Matchmaking Online: Chabad Reps Give the Brides Away
LUBAVITCH HEADQUARTERS -- (January 14, 2008)
Rebecca Rosenthal
It’s 2008, and Jewish dating websites are booming. JDate, which requires no proof of Jewish heritage, leads the pack with a membership of 650,000. SawYouAtSinai has 25,000 members. Ohev Sholom a Washington, D.C., synagogue has gone so far as to give free SawYouAtSinai membership to singles, who participate in synagogue events. In this feature Lubavitch.com put on its best outfit and found out what it’s like to find a mate through Chabad’s shidduch – matchmaking websites.
(Lubavitch.com/LNS) No longer is the matchmaker the village busybody who knew families and their foibles.
Today’s Yenta is an algorithm whirring in a server miles away---
http://www.cjp.org/page.html?ArticleID=164926
Kollel Hopes to Help Warsaw Revival
Dinah Spritzer
(JTA) -- Seven decades after Warsaw's renowned yeshivas were wiped out by the Nazis, a new Talmud study kollel has opened in the city as part of ongoing attempts to return Jewish life to Poland.
It only has two students, but the group behind the kollel says it's merely a beginning.
Torah Mitzion, a 10-year-old, Jerusalem-based organization, has 34 “religious Zionist” kollels around the world and decided to launch its first in the former Eastern bloc.
Warsaw is perhaps an odd place for a kollel, a collective of scholars -- usually married men -- who spend their days learning Torah and studying Talmud. They are subsidized by the community.
Only about 5,000 Jews live in the Polish capital, and few are religiously observant.
“The idea is to bring Israel to communities with the hope that their identity will be strengthened,” said Michal Natan, an assistant to Torah Mitzion's executive director.
Aside from its size, the Warsaw kollel is a bit different than most run by the group in cities like Moscow or London. Rather than study full-time, the kollelniks in Warsaw receive a $350 monthly stipend to study four hours per day, five days a week. On weekends, they and the Israeli rabbi who directs the kollel visit other Jewish communities in Poland to conduct Shabbaton seminars and teach classes.
One of the two Warsaw scholars is Tomek Krakowski, 35, who returned six months ago to his native Poland from an Israeli yeshiva to become engaged to a Polish Jewish woman. He works part time for the Warsaw, Gdansk and Lodz Jewish communities while attending the kollel.
“It’s important that we finally have some kind of advanced Jewish education,” Krakowski said. “There are people here who are ready to go to the next level and study the Talmud, but because of family or job can't just move to Israel.”
Torah Mitzion kollel students typically include a fair share of Israelis, but Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, made sure the Warsaw kollel was geared toward Poles.
“It’s important to show that a local can learn at such a high level," Schudrich said.
Three students enrolled when the kollel program was launched in September; one has since moved to Israel.
Despite its minuscule enrollment, many others are studying occasionally with kollel director Rabbi Efraim Meisels in weekly classes and at his home on Friday nights.
“At first it was very strange being here, since everyone thinks there are no Jews left in Poland and that the community is destroyed,” Meisels told JTA.
But like many who Jews who visit Warsaw today, Meisels discovered a small, dedicated group of Jews who since the end of communism have been rediscovering their roots and taking up religious observances with the help of myriad international Jewish organizations. The Warsaw kollel is sponsored by Israel's Pincus Fund and the Safra Fund.
Along with leading weekly evening classes in Warsaw, Rabbi Meisels travels to Lodz every Tuesday for a four-hour class that draws 10 to 15 students every session. His latest lesson featured the finer points on how Jewish law regulates private and public carrying on Shabbat.
One of Meisels' Warsaw students is Yisroel Szpilman, a new father to twin girls and the director of the Warsaw Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street.
“Having a kollel is wonderful because we’re insufficiently educated,” said Szpilman, 36. “Don't forget that no one really was opening up about their Jewish identity here until the 1990s, and there are still plenty of people making that discovery.
“The other advantage is that we have one more religious family here in Warsaw. It's like a blessing from heaven, we have so few. The rabbi has people over for Shabbat each week so they can see how real Jews practice.”
For those who believe it might be preferable to send students from tiny Jewish communities in the former Eastern bloc to Israel rather than establishing kollels in the communities, Meisels says this is part of the process.
“This community is still working on development, and before people come to Israel you need to make them stronger and give them a sense of Jewish community where they are,” said Meisels, who plans to stay in Warsaw for at least two years. “It’s one step at a time.”
In my Yeshiva - students are too good to learn about the Holocaust!
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Students learn of the Holocaust
Charlotte Burrous
The Daily Record
They can trace their roots back 3,500 years.
And for most of that time, they’ve been persecuted.
As a preview to the students presenting “Diary of Anne Frank,” Anshey HaShem Jewish congregation assistant rabbi John Wiedeman talked about his family, which was in Europe during World War II.
“It’s not easy being a Jew,” he said. “For thousands of years up to the time of Jesus and up to the present, there have been about 50 million Jews that have been slaughtered — just because we’re Jewish. That’s our only crime.”
During World War II, “some of my family hid their Jewishness and lived very well,” Wiedeman said. “One family died in Dachau and one family died in Ravensbrook.”
During the presentation, he displayed artifacts from his faith, including the menorah, the prayer shawl, which is known as “talis,” and a three-braided bread.
The prayer cloth “reminds the Jewish man he is the priest in his house and there’s a higher authority,” Wiedeman said.
The menorah is a seven-branched candelabrum, which is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people, and an eight-branched candelabrum is used in celebration of the Jewish Festival of Lights or Hanukkah.
“It’s a tradition,” Wiedeman said.
Along the way, his family converted to Christianity and became part of the Messianic Jewish faith.
“We’re more orthodox, but we recognize Jesus as the Messiah,” Wiedeman said. “I reintroduced myself to it in January 2001. I’ve studied under a rabbi in Lawton, Okla., and my rabbi here.”
Born in Denver, he was raised in Cañon City and attended the old Harrison School on Cherry. He left Cañon City in 1957 and returned to the area several years ago.
“It’s exciting to show some of our past as Jewish history,” Wiedeman said. “It’s been a seven-year journey that’s been exciting.”
Harrison School students will present “Dairy of Anne Frank” at 7 p.m. Jan. 25-26 at Harrison School. Tickets are $2 for students, $3 for adults and free for children under 5.
Let our children be themselves, he explains
By Lois K. Solomon
We obsess over them. We yell at them. We try to make them into mini-versions of ourselves.
We are screwing up our kids.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of 18 books and host of the TLC reality show, Shalom in the Home, has lots of criticism and even more advice for those who are fumbling their way through raising kids in the self-absorbed, celebrity-crazed America of 2008.
"I am amazed at how poor a job we are doing of raising the next generation," said Boteach, 41, an Orthodox father of eight from New Jersey. "We have ceased to be our children's heroes. They are so angry at us. All they hear is, 'I'm not good enough.'"
Boteach (pronounced Bo-TAY-ahk), who wears a yarmulke and scraggly beard, has become a national sensation with his empire of books, reality show, speaking engagements and soon-to-begin radio show on XM's Oprah and Friends-Ch. 156. He came to many people's attention in 2001, when he and Michael Jackson created a charity, Heal the Kids. Boteach said they are no longer friends.
Boteach spoke to about 75 parents at the West Palm Beach Marriott on Monday as part of the JCC Parenting Center Community Conference, sponsored by the Jewish Community Centers of the Greater Palm Beaches, which invited an assortment of speakers who specialize in relationship issues.
Boteach said children should be accepted simply because they exist, not because of the grades they get in school or their other talents. He recommended that parents never yell at children, or at each other, and that they spend "quantity time," not quality time, with them, always making family relationships the priority..
The Electric New Paper :
Is he the Kampung Baru molester?
A SECURITY guard has been arrested on suspicion of being the 'Kampung Baru molester'.
15 January 2008
A SECURITY guard has been arrested on suspicion of being the 'Kampung Baru molester'.
Acting on a tip-off, Kuala Lumpur police nabbed the suspect at Jalan Chow Kit on Saturday night.
China Press reported that the tip-off came after the police released a photofit of the suspect last week.
The 'Kampung Baru molester' is said to have abducted and molested at least five girls in the area before abandoning them.
The police have not ruled out the possibility that the molester could also be behind the murder of 8-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who was missing for about a month before being found dead on 17 Sep in Petaling Jaya.
They suspect there may be links between her case and that of 5-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, who went missing on Wednesday, and the case of the so-called 'Kampung Baru molester'.
Her abductor is believed to have ridden a black motorcycle. The suspect is believed to own a black Modenas Kriss.
Meanwhile, the molester is said to be a motorcyclist who convinces little girls to follow him on the pretext of looking for his missing cat.
After the suspect was arrested, he was taken to his workplace - an empty school building near Jalan Tun Razak - for investigations.
It is believed that Nurin was held there by her abductor.
VICTIMS GO TO IDENTIFY HIM
The police then arranged for the five victims to go to the scene at 3.40pm yesterday to identify the area as well as the suspect.
Several newspapers sent reporters and photographers to the scene but the police barred them from taking pictures of the girls.
Accompanied by their parents, the girls spent 10 minutes in the school compound.
All of them used newspapers and umbrellas to shield their faces from the media.
One girl was so confused by the media's presence that a policewoman carried her into the compound.
It is believed that one of the girls is Noor Fadihah, 6, who was abducted in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, last Monday and abandoned three hours later at Wangsa Maju which is about an hour away.
China Press understands that the security guard was arrested as he strongly resembles the suspect in the photofit and he also rides a black motorcycle.
The suspect is said to be a 32-year-old father of three young boys.
One of his colleagues told reporters that he had been on the job for over a year and that he sometimes took his son along.
The colleague said: 'While investigating Nurin's murder, the police learnt that the suspect rode a black Modenas Kriss motorcycle. My colleague was arrested as he owns the same type of motorcycle and he looks like the suspect in the photofit.'
Police still haven't located Sharlinie Mohd Nashar. But the latest development in her case is a 90cm-long doll left 90m from her home in Petaling Jaya.
Witnesses said the driver who left it there was in a black car and did not look like a resident in the area.
While it is not clear whether it is a lead or merely a case of mischief, the police have taken the doll away for investigations.
They have me on the run too!
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Convicted Child Molester is on the Run
Updated: Jan 14, 2008 06:21 PM
A child molester convicted in Pontotoc County is on the run. After being formally sentenced in December, the Oklahoma City woman failed to obey the judges' orders of reporting back to Pontotoc County Jail to serve her 10-year prison sentence. KTEN's Hailee Holliday reports.
After failing to obey the judges' orders, a bench warrant for Elizabeth McKinney has been issued. She is now entered into the National Crime Information Computer as a fugitive.
McKinney was arrested in October 2006 for lewd acts with a minor child under 12 and forcible sodomy. Last month, McKinney entered a blind plea and was formally sentenced to serve 10-years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
District Judge Tom Landrith then ordered her to appear at the Pontotoc County Jail on January 9th to serve her sentence, but she never showed and is now looking at more prison time.
Pontotoc County Undersheriff Joe Glover says, "By having the defendant run and not comply with the judge's order, she is subject to having additional charges filed on her and also being prosecuted federally is she does cross state lines for being a fugitive from justice."
A bulletin on McKinney has been sent to all Oklahoma law agencies.
Officials from the Pontotoc County Sheriff's Department urge anyone who has any information on McKinney to contact them immediately.
Hailee Holliday, KTEN News
http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=931&ThisGroup_ID=272&Type=Article&SID=98
What the Agudah Mobsters won't ever write!
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Issue 192 - The Monster Inside – Part One
Protecting our Children
by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz
Issue 192 - The Monster Inside – Part One
1/15/08
A classic comedy routine involves a ‘good guy’ being chased by a villain. The good guy finally finds a safe haven, enters, slams the door behind him, and mops his brow with a sign of relief. However, he soon discovers that somehow the villain snuck in behind him. Now, he is alone in a locked space with the ‘bad guy’ – and nowhere to escape.
Whenever I hear people discussing the need to build higher and higher walls around our homes and communities to protect our children from the very real spiritual danger of ‘Walmart’ that I discussed in a recent column, I find myself increasingly playing in my mind a tragic version of this scene. Why? Because it is my strong and growing feeling that the number one risk factor for our beloved children abandoning Yiddishkeit is child molestation/abuse.
This is not to say that a majority of kids who are ‘off the derech’ were abused. But of all the complex and varied educational, social and familial factors that endanger to our children, the most damaging by far, in my opinion, is abuse. The very real threat posed by the external influences from which we all strive (in various degrees) to protect our children – such as media, Internet, and ‘bad friends’ – are all firecrackers compared to the atom bomb of sexual abuse.
Abuse robs children of their safety and innocence. Its ravages follow them through their teens and into adulthood, often shredding their marriages and complicating their relationships. Children who were molested harbor a simmering rage at the adult world that could not provide them with what should be the most basic birthright of every child; a sense of security. This anger displays itself in many forms – cultural, familial and spiritual. What is most dangerous, however, is when the rage turns inward and the children begin to self destruct by using drugs, abusing alcohol, engaging in self-mutilation … even committing suicide.
A close friend of mine runs a shelter/group home for charedi runaway kids. I recently ran into him at a wedding and asked him what his thoughts were on the correlation between abuse and the off-the-derech phenomenon. His immediate response was, “Yankie, all I deal with is abuse [victims],” meaning that virtually all the teens in his program were molested.
Most frightening from a communal perspective is that it is difficult if not impossible to cure a serial molester, even one who goes, or is forced to go, for help. Furthermore, untreated abuse victims are far more likely to abuse others then are people in the general population. So what we have is analogous to the Midrashic frog in Egypt (Shmos 8:2; Rashi) that multiplied each time it was struck. Similarly, a molester typically harms dozens or even hundreds of kids – each in turn a prime candidate to molest others; on and on.
How bad is it? Very, very bad. To paraphrase Rudy Giuliani’s famous quote in his 9/11 press conference, the number of abuse victims in our community is more than any of us can bear. I do not keep records of people who call me, or speak to me in public settings, but I would estimate that in the past year months alone between fifty and one hundred abuse victims and/or their parents contacted me. It has gotten so bad that when parents who do not suspect any form of abuse call me to discuss their at-risk children, the very first thing I listen for are the classic red-flags for abuse/molestation. (If I do suspect abuse, I immediately refer them to mental health professionals, as I do not feel qualified to deal with these matters.)
Why am I writing about this subject in the context of the ‘Walmart’ discussion? Because as we talk about building walls around our children to protect them from the decadence of secular culture, we had better make certain that the ‘monster’ of child abuse is on the other side of the wall.
Abusers are nocturnal creatures, operating most effectively in the darkness of denial. What they fear most is the light of day and the righteous indignation of victims. Most predators have a sixth sense of which children are from homes with parents who are inattentive or not ‘complainers.’ They zoom in on them like a moth to light knowing that the odds are slim that their despicable acts will be reported.
So ‘walled’ communities are the dream setting for a child molester. A community where negative news is not reported and the fear of causing a chilul Hashem makes people hush things up is a community where an abuser can comfortably set up shop.
Much as I would love to pass on the sensitive matter of child abuse and molestation, I feel the burden of responsibility to squarely address it due to the life-threatening danger that it represents to our children. I write these lines because I am haunted by the images of the many abuse victims I have encountered over the years. I visited shelters and substance-abuse facilities where they attempted to recover from drug overdoses. I tried my best to comfort their parents who were going through their own personal gehenom, while their children confronted theirs. I paid shiva calls to bereaved parents and siblings of abused children who later committed suicide and to those whose children’s suicides were presented to the public as death by other cause.
In short, I keep seeing the horrific carnage that the monster of abuse is causing among our children. We have the capacity to banish it to the other side of the door. All we need is courage and conviction.
L’maan Hashem, let’s finally do it.
Where is this nudist colony, sound like my kind of fun.
U.S. nudists accused of child sex abuse
Brazilian boys assaulted, prosecutor says; Americans deny charges
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A prosecutor said Tuesday she has asked a judge to indict a U.S. couple on charges of sexually abusing children at a Brazilian nudist colony, and police say hundreds of photos of young boys engaged in homosexual acts were found in their home.
Prosecutor Natalia Cagliari said Tuesday she was seeking the indictments of Frederic Calvin Louderback, 63, of San Diego, and his girlfriend, Barbara Anner, 72, from Georgia, on charges involving "the sexual abuse of children, corruption of minors and conspiracy."
Cagliari is also seeking the indictments of Andre Ricardo Herdy and Cleci Jaeger, a Brazilian couple suspected of helping the Americans, and the parents of three boys who were allegedly abused sexually.
The charges carry potential prison sentences of up to 30 years.
Accused of preying on the poor
According to police inspector Juliano Ferreira, the parents "received money in exchange for allowing their sons to be sexually abused by the American and Brazilian couples."
Ferreira said such photos were found in both homes and included images of children allegedly victimized by the couples. He said police have identified 12 of those minors.
The two couples resided in the Colina do Sol nudist colony in until they were arrested Dec. 11 and accused of sexually abusing 12 boys. Anner is accused of luring the boys, between the ages of 6 and 14, with promises of gifts, food and trips.
All of the boys lived in poor neighborhoods near the colony, police said.
Ferreira said that police found "DVDs and CDs containing hundreds of photographs of young boys posing nude or having sex with each other."
"There are even some photos showing an adult penetrating a baby boy," he said adding that police have not been able to establish the identity of the adult.
He said Louderback was not shown in any of the photos seized.
Police are still analyzing computers seized at the American couple's home in the nudist colony to determine if the photos on the CDs and DVDs were posted on the Internet. The analysis is not expected to be concluded before March.
Couple maintains innocence
According to prosecutor Cagliari, who filed her indictment request late Monday, a judge must now decide if the evidence presented is enough to formally charge the two couples and bring them to trial.
She said she expects a decision by the end of the week.
The Associated Press was unable to locate the couple's Brazilian attorneys on Tuesday.
The American couple has denied all the allegations and have told their lawyers they believe they were set up by wealthy members of the colony who didn't like their work for the poor.
Louderback and Anner ran an organization that gave free English lessons to children in the region and also promoted sports activities and donated products to poor families, according Vitor Peruchin, one of their attorneys.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_pedestrian_fatality_trial.html
January 16, 2008
Rabbi on trial in Seattle crosswalk fatality
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- An assault trial is under way in Seattle Municipal Court for a rabbi accused of fatally running down a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
The prosecutor, Kevin Kilpatrick, says Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident in November 2006 that killed 29-year-old Matthew Nakata.
The defense lawyer, Diego Vargas, says the city is out to get Schwartz because Nakata worked for former City Councilman David Della.
If convicted, Schwartz could face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The King County prosecutor's office decided not to file a felony charge, so the city prosecutor filed the assault charge.
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Judah Folkman, renowned cancer researcher, dies
Published: 01/16/2008
Dr. Judah Folkman, a groundbreaking cancer researcher, died at the age of 74.
Folkman, the son of a rabbi, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack at Denver International Airport while changing planes on the way to a medical conference in Canada.
A Harvard University professor and director of the vascular biology program at Children's Hospital Boston, Folkman found a revolutionary new way of fighting cancer by cutting off the blood supply to tumors. Several successful cancer drugs are based on his approach.
The New York Times reported that Foxman, a Cleveland native, at about the age of 7 began visiting hospital patients with his father. The visits led Folkman to tell his father that he would rather be a doctor than a rabbi.
“So,” his father replied, “you can be a rabbi-like doctor.”
Folkman showed in 1998 that two drugs he developed to block blood flow to tumors killed cancer in mice, but other scientists could not duplicate his results. Improved versions of his drugs eventually did go on the market, but they were developed by other scientists.
Experts said those drugs might not exist but for Folkman’s work.
We both are experts on abusing children, physical and sexual abuse. We say to yidden don't believe this story because it came from the evil internet and has no cheskas kashrus!
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Newsday.com
Man convicted of sexually, physically abusing young boys
January 15, 2008
OSWEGO, N.Y. (AP) _ A 48-year-old man has been convicted of sexually and physically abusing three young boys while his wife watched.
Richard Kirk Sr. of Williamstown was convicted Monday on 25 counts by an Oswego County jury that heard a week of testimony.
The jury convicted Kirk of 11 felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse and four counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, also a felony, as well as six counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of second-degree sexual abuse, all misdemeanors.
He was acquitted of raping a 12-year-old girl.
The sex acts occurred between April and September 2004. The boys were 7, 8 and 11 years old at the time of the crimes, police said. Kirk was convicted of subjecting the 7- and 8-year-old boys to "physical abuse and or excessive corporal punishment."
He also was convicted of having sex with his co-defendant, Catherine Grybowski, in front of the boys, as well as "soliciting, requesting or commanding" them to touch Grybowski's genitals.
Grybowski, 42, pleaded guilty last May to three felony counts of first-degree attempted sexual abuse. She was accused of raping several boys and letting Kirk watch, and allowing Kirk to sexually abuse those same boys and three girls in 2004. Grybowski is serving a four-to 12-year state prison sentence.
Kirk was offered a plea bargain of 20 years in prison, but turned it down. If the judge imposes the maximum sentence on each count and runs them consecutively, Kirk could receive 177 years in state prison, Assistant District Attorney Gregory Oakes said.
Kirk will be sentenced March 17.
"Hopefully, the court will impose a sentence which will mean the children will not have to see the defendant for the rest of their lives," Oakes said.
Throughout the trial, Kirk repeatedly denied having any sexual contact with any child.
"I wasn't interested in no kids because I'm not like that," Kirk told jurors last week.
Defense lawyer Richard Mitchell Jr. said he plans to appeal.
"Obviously, we were disappointed with the results. I believe the jury would have been justified in finding him not guilty of all the sexual counts because I thought there was more than ample reason to have reasonable doubt," Mitchell said
SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A Catholic church deacon who was charged last month with sexual offenses against a close female relative has been accused of abusing a second victim.
Dan Paul Stallings, 71, of the 10000 block of Woodland Drive in Silver Spring, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with child sexual abuse.
He was charged in December with 10 counts of incest after police said he had an unlawful sexual relationship with a juvenile female family member in the 1960s and 1970s...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Doctor admits sexual abuse
BY SHARON COOLIDGE | SCOOLIDGE@ENQUIRER.COM
An emergency room doctor admitted in court this morning that while working at Mercy Hospital Anderson he sedated and sexually molested two patients.
Samuel Tomboly pleaded guilty to charges of gross sexual imposition and sexual battery that were brought against him in October in the molestation of a patient. He also pleaded guilty to an additional charge of gross sexual imposition that was brought this morning for a similar incident with another patient in 2004.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge David Davis postponed sentencing until Feb. 28.
Tomboly told investigators that "he crossed the line and lost control," said Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier.
The 45-year-old Anderson Township doctor was working at the hospital Oct. 9 when one of the victims, a woman he knew through his children's sports activities, came into the emergency room in pain from kidney stones. Tomboly gave the woman a double dose of painkillers, incapacitating her, prosecutors said.
As a result the woman was unable to stop Tomboly from fondling her breasts, buttocks and genitals.
She reported the molestation, and Tomboly was arrested.
If I were this man - I would swiftly issue an hazmanah for motzi shem rah!
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Man charged with sexual abuse of children
Auburn - Sheriff David Gould reports that the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Charles “ Chuck” Seamans, 46, of 26 Evergreen Lane Weedsport, N.Y. in connection with an investigation into the sexual abuse of two children under the age of 13.
The investigation began on Thursday, January 10 when the parents of one of children called the Sheriff’s Office. Upon conducting interviews it was learned that there were incidents which had occurred in Seneca County as well. The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and joined in the investigation. A search warrant was executed at Seamans’ residence Friday, January 11 at which time computer and camera equipment were seized. The outcome of the evidence is pending forensic computer analysis.
The joint investigation lead to the arrest of Seamans on Saturday, January 12 at the Cayuga County Public Safety Building after an interview. Seamans was charged with two counts Sexual Abuse in the First Degree ( felony ) and two counts Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree ( misdemeanor).
Seamans was arraigned in the Town of Throop Court and remanded to the Cayuga County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash or $30,000 bond. Further charges are pending in Cayuga County and charges are expected to be filed by the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office as well.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (315) 253-1610.
Child porn sting nets nine Canadians, including ex-Scout leader
OTTAWA - A child pornography investigation that began in Australia 18 months ago has followed a circuitous path around the world into the homes of nine arrested Canadians.
Canadian and international police agencies announced the arrests Tuesday, and said another 50 ongoing investigations continue in this country.
The charges relate to a horrific child porn website based in Ukraine that provided customized videos of sexual abuse to paying customers worldwide.
All nine of the Canadians arrested so far were men and at least one, arrested two weeks ago in Peel Region, just outside Toronto, was a former Scout leader.
Police have no evidence of Canadian child victims to date, although one suspect still at large is alleged to have communicated a desire to get his daughters involved.
"I would say that there will be more arrests," RCMP Supt. Earla-Kim McColl told a news conference in Ottawa..
Austrian Politician Calls Prophet Muhammad a 'Child Molester'
A candidate campaigning for the Graz city council in Austria says it is time that Islam was "thrown back ... behind the Mediterranean," and alleges Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."
Susanne Winter, campaigning for the Graz city council, called the Prophet Muhammad a child molester.
DPA
Susanne Winter, campaigning for the Graz city council, called the Prophet Muhammad a child molester.
Election campaigns, it would seem, are uncomfortable times for immigrants to be in Europe. First, it was Ronald Koch, the conservative politician in the German state of Hesse who turned up the rhetoric and began railing against "criminal young foreigners" in his country. Now, an Austrian politician has followed suit.
Susanne Winter, a right-wing politician with the FPÖ party running for a city council seat in the city of Graz, blasted Muslims on Sunday, saying that "in today's system" the Prophet Muhammad would be considered a "child molester," apparently referring to his marriage to a six-year-old child. She also said that it is time for Islam to be "thrown back where it came from, behind the Mediterranean." Not yet finished, she also claimed that Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."
In an interview with the daily Österreich published on Monday, Winter continued the onslaught saying that child abuse is "widespread" among Muslim men and that Graz is facing a "tsunami of Muslim immigration." In 20 or 30 years, she warned, half of Austria's population would be Muslim.
Her comments have resulted in a storm of protest in Austria, with politicians and commentators of all stripes taking Winter and her party to task. Austrian prosecutors are also looking into the possibility of filing charges against the 50-year-old politician for incitement.
Her comments, said Omar Al-Rawi, head of integration for an Austrian association of Muslims, showed "a lack of respect" and they "had no basis in fact." He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that such Islam bashing has reached a point in Austria that "one wants to puke."
But despite the strong reaction generated by Winter, such rhetoric is hardly foreign to political campaigns in Austria. Her party was brought to international prominence by Jörg Haider, the notoriously right-leaning politician who found success in the 1990s and earlier this decade with a mixture of xenophobia and nationalism. He has since moved on, but his rhetoric has remained the same. Campaigning recently for his new group, the Association for Austria's Future (BZÖ), he said, "We are still allowed to say Gruss Gott," -- the traditional Austrian greeting -- "and don't have to praise Allah."
A Winter campaign poster: "Don't give radical Islam a home."
A Winter campaign poster: "Don't give radical Islam a home."
Winter's comments are also reminiscent of controversial remarks made recently by Roland Koch in his campaign to be re-elected as the governor of the western German state of Hesse. Following a brutal pre-Christmas attack by two youths -- one German born with Turkish parents and the other an immigrant from Greece -- against a pensioner in a Munich subway, Koch has turned youth crime, particularly that perpetrated by those with foreign backgrounds, into his No. 1 campaign issue. Among other questionable comments, he said it must be clear that the slaughtering (of animals) in the kitchen ... runs counter to our principles."
Israel HC criticises 'kosher' for preventing women aboard
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
JERUSALEM: A controversial bus line dubbed 'kosher', which caters to the 'Haredim' community in Israel, has been slammed by the country's High court for preventing women wearing pants aboard on grounds of immodesty.
"It is inconceivable for a driver not to allow a woman on a bus because she is wearing pants and is not dressed modestly enough," Justice Elyakim Rubinstein was quoted as saying by news portal 'Ynetnews'.
The High Court panel, composed of Justice Rubenstein, Justice Salem Jubran and Justice Yoram Dantziger, noted that 'even if Haredim lines are allowed to operate, the clothing and gender-separation restrictions in play on them cannot be imposed on people who object to it'.
The justices also noted that a solution to continual harassment must also be found, be it by training drivers to defend passengers, or by clearly designating the buses in question as 'kosher'.
The court asked the transportation ministry to investigate and review claims, the report said.
The court began its deliberations on the petition filed by Center for Jewish Pluralism. The petitioners had also called upon the court to examine whether these 'kosher' lines are an actual necessity for the ultra-orthodox community.
Kosher meat isn't safer than treifa meat.
Is Kosher Food Safer?
By Deborah Kotz
Posted January 11, 2008
Not only Jews look for the kosher symbol on food these days. In a surprising turn of events, "kosher" has become the most popular claim on new food products, trouncing "organic" and "no additives or preservatives," according to a recent report. A noteworthy 4,719 new kosher items were launched in the United States last year—nearly double the number of new "all natural" products, which placed second in the report, issued last month by Mintel, a Chicago-based market research firm.
In fact, sales of kosher foods have risen an estimated 15 percent a year for the past decade. Yet Jews, whose religious doctrine mandates the observance of kosher dietary laws, make up only 20 percent of those buying kosher products. What gives? "It's the belief among all consumers that kosher food is safer, a critical thing right now with worries about the integrity of the food supply," says Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst at Mintel.
Whether kosher foods are actually less likely to be contaminated with, say, E. coli bacteria remains up for debate. While research is scant in this area, experts say it makes sense that kosher food could be safer because it's more closely monitored. "Jews aren't allowed to ingest bugs, so produce must go through a thorough washing and checking to ensure that no bugs are found within the leaves or on the surface of the fruit or vegetable," says Moshe Elefant, a rabbi and chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union KOSHER, a kosher certification organization based in New York. But bacteria can remain even after this type of washing, so consumers can't assume they're less likely to get food poisoning with bagged spinach marked kosher than with a conventional bag.
The same caveat applies to poultry and beef. A salting process that removes blood from the meat has antibacterial effects, but salmonella and E. coli can still survive, says Joe Regenstein, a professor of food science who teaches a course on Jewish and Muslim food laws at Cornell University. Kosher beef, though, is much less likely to contain the misshapen proteins that cause mad cow disease, rare as that is, probably because the animals are slaughtered young, before the disease sets in.
Another selling point of kosher foods is that they're easily decoded by those looking to avoid dairy or meat. "One of the fundamental rules of kosher certification is that you can't mix meat and milk," says Elefant. So each product is labeled either dairy or meat—or "pareve" (also spelled parve) if it contains neither. Pareve foods can't even be manufactured on equipment previously used for dairy or meat products. "People with severe dairy allergies are looking for that pareve designation," Elefant says. They might also turn to kosher salami and hot dogs, since nonkosher cured meats often contain a preservative made from milk sugar.
Some consumers, though, may simply buy kosher because they prefer the stricter supervision that goes into certifying kosher foods. "Food companies agree to allow a third-party inspector to come in unannounced, at essentially any time," says Regenstein. These inspectors check, among other things, that products are being manufactured only with those ingredients listed on the label. Companies, he says, must carefully keep records of where ingredients come from—not always the case for small nonkosher food manufacturers—which allows for quick recall if a product gets contaminated with a nonkosher ingredient or food-borne pathogen. "That alone is worth the price of kosher," Regenstein opines. Contrary to what some folks think, however, a rabbi doesn't bless the food. "Kosher dietary laws are actually just a simple set of rules," explains Elefant, "and the kosher certification helps those who make a commitment to live under those rules."
The Subway on ave J is under my strict supervision. I appeal to restaurants who had their hashgochos dropped by other supervisions to come to me. I'm sure we can work something out.
================================
amNY.com
Subway opening kosher location in city
By Leah Hochbaum Rosner
Special to amNewYork
January 10, 2008
While kosher-keeping Manhattanites have never been able to "have it their way" at Burger King, they¹ll soon be able to "eat fresh" at Subway with the introduction of the sandwich chain's first glatt kosher location in the borough.
The shop, which is expected to open on Water Street later this month (though delays may push it off further into the first quarter of 2008), promises to feature the standard Subway atmosphere -- with a Jewish twist.
"Our intention is for people to have the same Subway experience in a kosher location as they would in a non-kosher one," said Tim Miller, an operations specialist for Subway Restaurants. "We wanted to appeal to a segment of the population that¹s never eaten at a branded fast food restaurant. They¹ve seen the commercials, but they haven't been able to eat the food." Subway's regular menu has been tweaked in order to adhere to kosher laws that prohibit the mixing of milk and meat. Cheese will be banned from the premises. Additionally, pork products will be replaced with beef.
Subway already has seven kosher locations open across the country, including three in the New York area -- one in Cedarhurst on Long Island, and two in Brooklyn. This year, the company plans to open an additional 11 kosher stores throughout the U.S.
The idea for the chain's first kosher locale, which opened in Cleveland in April 2006, came from a franchisee who wanted to run a branded kosher restaurant in the local Jewish Community Center.
"It seemed like a great idea," said Miller. 'We always want to expand our brand and our franchise base. We shouldn't limit it to one or two or three groups of people.² Although Miller wouldn¹t release hard numbers on the kosher stores' earnings, he said that local communities have embraced them with their hearts and wallets. It¹s a wonder, then, that other fast-food giants haven't gone after the kosher set, yet.
While Burger King and McDonald¹s have kosher restaurants in Israel, reps for both chains said there were no plans for any stateside kosher stores at this time. Kosher locales might mean good business for Subway, but they mean more options for kosher-keeping New Yorkers.
"To have one downtown would be fantastic," said Steven Schwartzberg, 28, a marketing manager who works in the financial district. "I used to have to fly two hours for a sub, and soon I can walk 15 minutes."
By DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writer
The 80-year-old leader of a megachurch pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying under oath about his sexual affairs and was sentenced to 10 years' probation. Archbishop Earl Paulk, who has been in ill health, was also fined $1,000 on a single felony count.
The charges stem from a 2006 deposition Paulk gave in a lawsuit against him, his brother Don and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church by former church employee Mona Brewer, who said she was coerced into an affair.
In the deposition, Earl Paulk said under oath that the only woman with whom he had ever had sex outside his marriage was Brewer. But the results of a court-ordered paternity test revealed in October that Paulk is the biological father of his brother's son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head pastor at the church.
As part of Brewer's lawsuit, eight women have given sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl Paulk.
"It was a fair and just resolution of the case for a man who has lived his whole life and done wonderful things but made a mistake," said Earl Paulk's attorney, Joel Pugh. "He's ready to move on."
Paulk turned himself in to authorities Tuesday night after a warrant was issued for his arrest the previous day. The warrant was the result of a months-long probe by Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Head called the sentence "certainly adequate" for Paulk, who had never been charged criminally before.
Paulk could have been sentenced to as many as 10 years in prison. Cox said the sentence was not unusual for someone like Paulk, who has no prior record and whose health is "frail."
Paulk has been in bad health for the past couple of years after a battle with cancer, limiting his activity with the independent charismatic church he and his brother founded in 1960.
At its peak in the early 1990s, the Cathedral at Chapel Hill claimed about 10,000 members and 24 pastors and was a media powerhouse. The church was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary outside Atlanta.
Today, membership is down to about 1,500; the church has 18 pastors, most of them volunteers; and the Bible college and TV ministry have closed — a downturn blamed largely on fallout from the sex scandals.
As a YOB student of the past,I know Nussbaum the kid molester - who had his hands in places they shouldn't have been - and Mandel to be sadistic and abusive animals. Cruel and mean to boys all the time. If ever there were two worthy monsters who belong behind bars it would be them!
Air Canada is an honorable airline!
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Some fellow passengers are questioning why an Orthodox Jewish man was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight in Montreal last week for praying.
The man was a passenger on a Sept. 1 flight from Montreal to New York City when the incident happened.
The airplane was heading toward the runway at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when eyewitnesses said the Orthodox man began to pray.
"He was clearly a Hasidic Jew," said Yves Faguy, a passenger seated nearby. "He had some sort of cover over his head. He was reading from a book.
"He wasn't exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth," Faguy added.
The action didn't seem to bother anyone, Faguy said, but a flight attendant approached the man and told him his praying was making other passengers nervous.
Continue Article
"The attendant actually recognized out loud that he wasn't a Muslim and that she was sorry for the situation but they had to ask him to leave," Faguy said.
The man, who spoke neither English nor French, was escorted off the airplane.
Air Canada Jazz termed the situation "delicate," but says it received more than one complaint about the man's behaviour.
The crew had to act in the interest of the majority of passengers, said Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stewart.
"The passenger did not speak English or French, so we really had no choice but to return to the gate to secure a translator," she said.
The airline is not saying if the man was told he was not allowed to pray, but a spokesperson said the man was back on board the next flight to New York.
Jewish leaders in Montreal criticized the move as insensitive, saying the flight attendants should have explained to the other passengers that the man was simply praying and doing no harm.
Hasidic Rabbi Ronny Fine said he often prays on airplanes, but typically only gets curious stares.
"If it's something that you're praying in your own seat and not taking over the whole plane, I don't think it should be a problem," said Fine.
The Jewish group B'nai Brith Canada has offered to help give Air Canada crews sensitivity training.
TEXT: Temple Youth Leader Arrested
Saturday, 04 Aug 2007
By Summer Knowles
UNIVERSITY CITY, MO (KTVI-myFOXstl.com) --
A St. Louis man conducting a youth program at an orthodox synagogue in Olivette has been charged with sexual misconduct with a child.
University City Police say the man exposed himself to a little boy. David Kramer led a youth forum at the Nusach Hari B’Nai Zion Synagogue back in April and was scheduled to have another one in June and one later in August. But he was taken into police custody instead.
University City Police arrested David Kramer, 46, Friday night. According to the warrant, Kramer is charged with one count of sexual misconduct involving a child. The incident allegedly happened between January and March at an apartment complex off Olive Blvd.
"He seems to be a humble man," says Jovana Hutson, who lives in that building. Hutson says Kramer seemed like a religious man, who she often saw walking to his synagogue.
"I'm shocked just on the strength he stays across the hall, so close," says Hutson. "I mean he doesn't look like a monster or someone who could do that, but you never know these days, you never know and it's just like wow. I'm shocked. I'm really and truly shocked."
According to the Nusach Hari B’Nai Zion Website, Kramer lead a youth forum back in April entitled "Hot Topics For Jewish Teens."
The program was geared towards 12-16 year olds. Kramer's alleged victim was reportedly a 12-year-old boy. It's unsettling news for Hutson who has a little boy of her own.
"I don't have any tolerance for it and I think it’s pretty disgusting, I do. I mean it just blows me away I'm shocked and I will be informing the other parents around here."
Rabbi Ze'ev Smason said he was aware of Kramer's arrest but declined an on camera interview due to the Jewish Sabbath. However, the rabbi says Kramer was never an employee and was asked to leave the synagogue roughly five weeks ago
He wouldn't elaborate on why Kramer was asked to leave. He just said there was reason for concern.
2008-01-18
Briefs: Rabbi Weil condemns 'Spinka' participants, Prime Grill closure rumors untrue
Weil Condemns 'Spinka' Participants
"You call yourself a tzaddik, you're a liar!" Rabbi Steven Weil told his congregation in a fiery speech from the pulpit last Shabbat, regarding someone who acts very religious but may be involved in stealing, lying or cheating.
The rabbi of Beth Jacob, an Orthodox congregation in Beverly Hills, was reacting to the Spinka case, in which eight ultra-Orthodox men were indicted for tax fraud and money laundering.
A member of Beth Jacob is alleged to have been involved in the scheme, and served as a subject of the three-part speech. Robert Kasirer, the state's confidential witness, has donated funds to the synagogue, including a kollel named for his father, Jacob Kasirer, and machzors (high holiday prayer books) embossed with the family name.
Weil declined to be interviewed for this article, saying his speech was a private sermon for community members and not for publication. But past-president Marc Rohatiner confirmed the content of the three-part speech. Firstly, Weil condemned the alleged actions in the Spinka case, noting that the United States government has treated the Jewish community wonderfully, and that there is no excuse for defrauding the government.
"He said that when non-Jews look at our behavior, they don't look at whether you keep Shabbos or wear tzitzit or keep kosher, they look at how you treat your employees, how you deal with the government, are you an honest and straightforward person?" Rohatiner recounted.
Actions like these play into negative stereotypes about Jews, Weil said.
Shul President Steve Tabak then announced that "at the request of Robert Kasirer and with the agreement of Beth Jacob," Kasirer will remove his family's name from Kollel (the adult learning center and its program), the Torahs and from the prayer books.
Weil, who has come under fire for evicting members from synagogue, then resumed his speech and said that they will not "engage in collective punishment" by barring the family from the shul. Kasirer was not one of the anonymous donors who contributed to the purchase of a new lot for Beth Jacob, Weil said.
Weil concluded by saying no one should point fingers at other religious Jews. He did not talk about the issue of moser (being a Jewish informant on other Jews).
-- Amy Klein, Religion Editor
No Land for Peace, Mr. President
Felicia Benamon
Felicia Benamon is a conservative columnist who writes from a political perspective, but occasionally deviates to write about other concerns facing her country. A patriotic American, Felicia hopes to motivate others to be more conscious of the current state of affairs in America, and to hold true to the wonderful traditions that make America great.
Felicia comes from a military background and is proud to support the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect American citizens and who reach out to help those in need across the globe.
Write to Felicia at: FeliciasDesk@aol.com
By Felicia Benamon
January 16, 2008
President Bush is making a move very similar to that of President Clinton...
he's desperately trying for peace in the Middle East prior to leaving office. His goal is to have an established peace treaty between Israelis and Palestinians before his term is up.
As the President visited Israel, he was greeted with a stern warning from Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former Chief Rabbi in Israel. In a letter to President Bush, he said:
"The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers those that have aided it throughout history, as well as those that have done it harm. Please let your name go down in history as a president who aided the Jewish nation, who worked alongside God and not against him."
Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3492562%2C00.html
The Rabbi did however, give credit to the effort President Bush is doing to bring peace to that part of the world but that Bush's peace plan "goes against the will of God."
Rabbi Eliyahu also pointed out that anyone who believes the Bible as God's Word should be mindful that it is God who set aside the land of Israel only for the Jewish people.
As a Christian, I believe the Rabbi is exactly right in this aspect.
President Bush has not been shy about declaring himself a Christian. As a Christian, if he truly believes in the God of Israel (Jehovah), I hope he seriously reconsiders what he is asking of Israel.
More opposition to President Bush came in central Jerusalem, where protesters held a rally to stand against his visit. They held signs that mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Bush "bringing another holocaust." Others held up signs with the words "terror abettors" written on them with accompanying pictures of PM Olmert, President Bush, and Israel's President Shimon Peres, who is also an advocate of "land for peace"...
Working from a previously unexamined audio recording of a discourse delivered 40 years ago by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, the group charged with publishing his talks has committed itself to release a revised transcript of the work.
The discourse, delivered just after the Shabbat of the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat in 1968, examined the 18th chapter of the last discourse prepared by the Sixth Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory. His passing on that date in 1950 saw his son-in-law, the Rebbe, assume the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch.
For the next 42 years on the date of his father-in-law's passing, the Rebbe would deliver a discourse expounding on one of the 20 chapters of the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe's last work. Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidim continue to learn those chapters in 20-year cycles. On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of people studied the 1968 discourse, which explains the influence of will and intellect on a person's attributes and actions, and states that every individual has the responsibility to create a dwelling place for G‑dliness in this physical world..
Dear Abby: Molester's victim regrets
lying to police about abuse
DEAR ABBY: I am ashamed and angry at myself because I think I have made a mistake that is impossible to correct.
Two detectives came to my home about two years ago to ask me about a teacher I'd had in high school. He was being investigated for molesting boys. I told them, my wife and my parents that nothing had happened to me. In fact, he had molested me for more than two years. He was charged with molesting some boys and taking pictures of them performing sexual acts, but I learned recently that those charges were dropped because of some legal technicality.
One of my friends from high school nearly committed suicide because of what this man did. I feel awful about having lied, and now this man is free to do it to others.
Abby, that teacher took pictures and made movies of me. That's how he made me do things with him. He told me if I didn't, he'd send them to my parents and my friends.
The guilt is killing me. Please tell me what you would do in my situation. Please do not reveal my name or location.
- Didn't Tell the Truth
DEAR DIDN'T TELL: There may be a way to correct your mistake. If more men step forward and reveal how this predator molested and blackmailed them, other charges could be filed. Of course, this will require honesty and courage from you and more of his other victims.
Here is what I'd do: I would ask my doctor for a referral to a psychotherapist who specializes in victims of sexual abuse. Then I would contact the district attorney, give an honest statement, and have that office help you locate your classmate who "almost committed suicide" to see if he will finally reveal what happened. It was not his fault, and perhaps knowing that may help him come forward. The crimes that were committed against you both are appalling, and the perpetrator belongs behind bars.
Why would I have comment about my hometown?
Church deacon charged again with child sexual abuse
by Agnes Jasinski | Staff Writer
A deacon at a Silver Spring church charged in December with incest against a female relative has been charged with child sexual abuse in another case.
Dan Paul Stallings, 71, of the 10000 block of Woodland Drive in Silver Spring and a deacon at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Silver Spring since 1986, was charged Tuesday for an incident in 1998 involving a female who was 15 or 16 years old at the time, according to a news release from the Montgomery County Police Department.
The woman came forward last month after Stallings was charged Dec. 11 with 10 counts of incest against a female relative, police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said. The relative claimed she was abused more than 60 times between 1967 and 1973, according to charging documents filed in District Court. Stallings admitted to police he began abusing the relative when she was 12 years old, according to the documents.
Police say the second woman, a resident of Silver Spring, claims sexual contact occurred after she left a parish event outside the grounds of St. John the Evangelist Church with Stallings, who was a church deacon at the time.
Stallings was ordained as a deacon at St. John the Evangelist in 1986. Deacons assist priests in preaching and other parish services, and are ordained for life. They may be married or single. Stallings was married at the time he was ordained; his wife died last year.
Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, said Stallings has been barred from ministry with the church since last month. Gibbs said the church has not yet had the conversation as to whether to go through the laicization, or defrocking, process in this case. Laicization would legally strip Stallings of his ordained status with the church by order from the Vatican.
Gibbs said the Archdiocese of Washington’s Child Protection Advisory Board will review the facts of the case and make further recommendations. The board, which reports to the archbishop, was created by the Archdiocese of Washington in 2002, and is called by the archdiocese when there are allegations of misconduct against ordained ministers.
The board is chaired by former Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Dennis McHugh, and includes a former director of the Family Services Division of the Montgomery County Police Department and a pediatrician who specializes in forensic child abuse medical investigation and treatment.
‘‘Because this did involve something that occurred during his ministry, and his role as a minister, this is just extra protection to make sure we looked at everything, and took all the necessary steps,” Gibbs said. ‘‘Even without this review process, however, there are no thoughts that he will be returning to function as a deacon.”
Stallings was released Tuesday from the Montgomery County Detention Center after posting a $20,000 property bond, according to a police news release.
Thomas DeGonia, an attorney representing Stallings with the Rockville office of Venable Law Firm, would not comment on the new charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15, DeGonia said.
Baur said police are still looking for other possible victims. Stallings had been involved in several organizations with children, such as his church’s Catholic Youth Organization.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Detective Katie Ellis Leggett of the Family Crimes Division of the Montgomery County Police Department at 240-773-5426.
Lifting limits on sexual abuse lawsuits
Thursday, January 17, 2008
By Andrew Beckett
State lawmakers are being asked to lift the statute of limitations for filing lawsuits in sexual abuse cases.
During heated testimony at the Capitol Wednesday, State Representative Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) pushed for a bill that removes the current time limits on filing a civil case against an abuser. Suder says the bill would make Wisconsin a "sex predator's worst nightmare" by giving victims a voice, regardless of when they feel ready to face a personal tragedy.
Current law prevents civil suits from being filed after a victim turns 35. The legislation would only apply to future cases, but would also provide a three year window for cases that have already passed the current deadline. State Senator Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) argued those limits exist for a reason. Sullivan says a statute of limitations is a balancing act.
Opponents say the bill will create a flood of lawsuits, with many people trying to cash in on hard to prove abuse claims. Suder says laws exist to prevent frivolous suits.
The bill is being considered by a Senate committee.
The sex tourism dilemma:
Most onlookers do nothing TheStar.com
Global code aims to protect children from sexual exploitation
January 17, 2008
Leslie Garrett
Special to the Star
Years ago in Phuket, Thailand, friends and I spent part of one evening sitting at an outdoor bar watching a paunchy, middle-aged English-speaking Caucasian man flirt with and caress a petite Thai girl. It was hard to gauge her age but her mannerisms seemed self-conscious and young.
We had heard so many stories by that point and had already wandered incredulously along Patpong Rd. We became convinced the girl was an underage prostitute.
What did we do? We did what most tourists did – nothing.
What should we have done? According to Carol Smolenski, there's more we can do now than we could have 20 years ago when this happened. But not much more.
Smolenski is executive-director of ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), an organization that deals exclusively with sex tourism and the exploitation of children.
"Many men believe it's legal and culturally acceptable as long as they're in another country" to have sex with children, she says. (Beyond Borders is the Canadian affiliate of ECPAT and also offers info to travellers on its website, beyondborders.org.)
Geralyn Dreyfous is producer of the documentary The Day My God Died, which presents the stories of young girls sold into sexual servitude. Like Smolenski, Dreyfous insists that more must be done to educate people that sex tourism is illegal. She, too, points to cultural myths that perpetuate the abuse, such as the wrong-headed conviction among perpetrators that sex tour packages "are helping families or that it is somehow acceptable because of a difference in cultures."
It's difficult, because of the veiled nature of the activity, to come up with hard numbers of victims or offenders. World Vision Canada's Sara Austin says that 600,000 to 800,000 children are estimated to be trafficked each year across borders, a number that's likely much higher within borders (such as rural to urban trafficking). A widely accepted estimate from UNICEF has two million sexually exploited children in the world. But Kusumbar Choudhury, of Save the Children India, admits, "The child sex tourism trade is invisible as it is efficient."
What's helping keep it invisible is the proliferation of the Internet. There are plenty of small travel companies only too happy to meet their clients' wishes by identifying resorts where child prostitution is widespread. Because these companies are small, they rarely attract the attention of law enforcement agencies. From the privacy of their homes, perpetrators can plan their trips and purchase tickets, all with relative anonymity.
Smolenski says my experience in Thailand is, unfortunately, entirely too common.
"It's not at all unusual to have people say they've seen something. Only in retrospect does it become clear what they saw."
Child sexual abuse is happening under our noses, she says, but when we are out of our own element, we're confused. We don't often know the relationship between the adult and child and are afraid of wrongly accusing or offending someone. And many of us aren't clear on what we can do about it.
It's a widely held – and unfortunately often accurate – belief that many law enforcement agencies in developing countries turn a blind eye themselves and are sometimes complicit in the trade.
Dreyfous says that, regardless, any suspicions should be reported to authorities. Sara Austin agrees.
"If we suspect something, we have an obligation," she says. "Report it to local authorities, report it to your local embassy."
And if you know the nationality of the offender, report it to his embassy or consulate.
It helps that governments and tourism professionals are taking the issue more seriously and taking responsibility for their role in stemming it.
The World Tourism Organization, ECPAT and Nordic tour operators created a global code of conduct in 1999 to protect children from sexual exploitation.
To date, 600 travel companies from 23 countries have signed it. What's more, many governments are implementing a national awareness campaign to educate people about the issue. Air France, for example, shows inflight videos about sex tourism.
Travellers can help by asking a hotel or a tour company you're considering using if they have signed the code. Smolenski admits it has been "incredibly hard" to get some companies to sign and notes that the only big tourism industry corporation to sign so far is Carlson Hotels, which operates Radisson, Park Plaza and Country Inn & Suites.
She believes many companies don't want to sign the code because "they believe that if they sign the code of conduct, they'll be subject to a lawsuit" if something does happen. But there this is one key thing travellers can do, she says: Demand that any company that wants our business sign the code.
As long as offenders think their chances of getting caught are slim, they'll continue to sexually exploit children. As travellers, we are the eyes.
I saw something that made me uncomfortable. Maybe I was wrong. But if I wasn't, I owed it to that girl to report what I saw to my hotel manager, the bar manager, someone ...
A story of hope from one who has survived sexual abuse
John McCann
A man in a clerical habit abused me in the church hall of the Johannesburg parish of the Immaculate Conception in Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank. It happened after a children’s Christmas party -- and my abuser was a Catholic cleric.
My uncle, Cardinal Owen McCann, was the archbishop of Cape Town at the time. His position as president of the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference was not enough to deter my abuser.
This was in the early Sixties, and I must have been between four and six years old. It was not the only such incident, but it was discovered, and the Catholic Church must have some knowledge of it. I do not know the fate of my abuser, but I will tell you what happened to me.
My brothers and I were at a Christmas party for children of the members of a Catholic society, the Knights of Da Gama. The party ended and we were sitting on the steps of the entrance to the church hall waiting for my father to fetch us.
It is now hidden by a precast wall, but I’ve been to look at it and it is the same place. I was holding my party Christmas present, which my mother told me not to open until Christmas day.
There was a Santa Claus and a girl in a ballet costume, a fairy, handing out presents. We queued for them. I was fascinated, but greatly apprehensive when the fairy singled me out, touched me on the shoulder with her wand and took me to the front of the queue. I was never to find out what was inside the present.
One of my sisters fell ill that day and my father took her to the doctor, so they were delayed. My brothers and I were the last children left at the hall. My older brother remembers some of the incident and recalls a cleric hovering around us as we were waiting on the step.
He confirms it was a religious brother (similar to a monk) from the De La Salle order. All the boys in my family attended that order’s school in Victory Park.
Having had a number of soft drinks I needed to urinate and remember hopping from one leg to the other on the step. I asked someone if I could go to the toilet.
I went inside; it was daytime, but the lights were off and it was gloomy. As I crossed towards the toilet I was aware of a dark shape following me. It was a man in a black habit of the type worn by Catholic clerics. Next I remember him putting his arms around me from behind and holding my penis while I was still urinating. I could not move.
Then I remember him standing and pushing my face into his groin area. I could not breathe and gasped for air. He pushed his fingers into my mouth and forced it open, pushing his penis inside. His habit fell over my head and I was enveloped in darkness.
Next I remember him lifting me up and standing me on top of the toilet bowl facing away from him. He held me from behind and forced something into my anus. It was probably his penis -- I was too young to know what sex was. He continued to manhandle me in this way.
Then something dramatic happened. I was suddenly pulled away with great force. There was a lot of shouting. My father had arrived and discovered the incident and rescued me.
But, I was to be punished for it and resented by him for the rest of his life, as if it were my fault. He never came to terms with the incident and it destroyed our relationship. A rule-bound, rather than devout, Catholic, he took the side of the church.
After being rescued, the next recollection I have is of being in the car and my father shouting at me. I became aware of my twin brother being there and asking my father if he was shouting at him.
When we got home I was thrashed with a rather terrifying Irish blackthorn stick. I believe it is the last time it was used. Then I remember being sent to bed and lying there sobbing because I was given a hiding and my present was lost. Later I became conscious of the wet, tear-sodden sheets as they grew cold, but I just lay there in the dark, as I was too afraid to move.
As one of the after-effects, bedwetting was a feature of my childhood. I was too afraid to use toilets in case there was a man in there. I took spare shorts and underwear to school because I was too afraid to ask the teachers if I could go to the toilet. I waited in terror and discomfort as my bladder filled to bursting and I could hold it in no longer.
This happened while sitting at my desk. The wooden chairs had a ridge on the seat. This would fill up first and then the piss flowed on to the floor. Sometimes it got cold before a teacher noticed or a classmate pointed me out.
There were a number of attentive visits from my archbishop uncle, but these petered out in the years to follow. Because of this I still have a measure of fondness for him. I remember kindness from some nuns.
My devoutly Catholic mother stood up to my uncle, both over what happened to me and my younger brother, who was severely beaten by a drunk teacher at De La Salle. She was shunned for it: the cardinal declined to visit her when she was terminally ill, despite being nearby in Pretoria on Bishops’ Conference business. My sister, who is older than I, witnessed a heated discussion between them some years later.
My parents met him at the bishop’s house in Johannesburg to discuss her intention to withdraw her sons from Catholic schools. She recalls my mother saying words to the effect of: “I am sick of my children being assaulted and abused by the church.” He threatened her with excommunication.
He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Paul VI, so this was a threat from a prince of the church. She, in turn, threatened to go to the press and he backed down.
My intention in publicly telling my story is not to inspire homophobia -- the American Medical Association gives the statistic that 98% of paedophiles are not homosexual. Neither is it to incite anti-Catholic hysteria (I am still a Catholic). Nor do I have anything material to gain. I do not have the resources to sue the largest and most influential institution in the world and I believe there is still a statute of limitations for such cases prior to 1996.
The final decision to send a message to other victims was made on reading Umberto Eco’s recent comment in Time magazine that for him writing is an act of love.
Relating my experience is similarly a message of love and support for all who have suffered the fate of clerical and other sexual abuse, to say that they are not alone and that they can begin to conquer the humiliation and guilt.
It is a message of love for the church also, because the stories of victims have finally forced its administrators to begin making concessions towards solving the problem, which is shared by other establishment denominations.
I want to tell them that the church is deficient in its attitude towards victims and, in this matter, certainly does not have God on its side.
In the season of goodwill who could reject a message of hope and love?
Kaine proposals target assaults
January 3, 2008
Groups combating domestic violence and sexual assault listen yesterday as Gov. Tim Kaine proposes new laws.
RICHMOND--Gov. Tim Kaine says the state has made strides in keeping violent sexual offenders behind bars, but it's time to focus on the victims of such crimes.
To do that, Kaine yesterday announced proposals for the upcoming legislative session, several of which aim to make less traumatic the experience victims of sexual violence have with the police.
"Many times people suffer in silence, and that's one of the reasons we're trying to address this issue," Kaine said in a news conference.
He was flanked by members of his Commission on Sexual Violence, which recommended several of Kaine's proposals.
One would eliminate a requirement in some localities that victims pay for the "physical evidence recovery kits" used to collect physical evidence of a sexual crime if they do not agree within 48 hours to prosecute that crime.
Each kit can cost up to $800 and is paid for by the state if the victim prosecutes, but if a victim refuses to prosecute he or she can be charged for the kit.
Whether to prosecute an attacker is "the last thing that somebody in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault needs to worry about," Kaine said.
Another proposal would bar police from administering polygraph tests to victims of sexual assault.
Kaine said a 2004 survey showed that 72 percent of law enforcement agencies sometimes make sexual assault victims take lie detector tests, while only about 15 percent of such agencies said they never ask the victim to take a polygraph.
Such tests on victims, he said, suggests that their stories of assault are met with skepticism that "compounds the injuries and trauma that they suffered."
Some police agencies, such as the Fredericksburg Police Department, have special units assigned to handle sexual and domestic assault.
Natatia Bledsoe, spokeswoman for the city police said that department has a policy "that precludes victims of sexual assault from having to submit to a lie detector test."
The federal Violence Against Women Act, passed in 2005, requires that states stop using the polygraph on sexual assault victims and charging them for evidence kits by 2009, or risk losing federal funds.
Other proposals from Kaine include eliminating the "marriage as subsequent defense" statute. Under that statute, someone who commits "carnal knowledge" of a 14- to 16-year-old, and later marries the victim, can use the marriage as a defense.
Kaine wants to repeal that because, he said, it is an "antiquated concept that really doesn't have any place in our concept of sexual violence.
"The notion that something is an excuse for sexual assaultis a really outrageous notion," he added. Kaine compared his proposal to the now-repealed marital rape law, which had prevented spouses from being prosecuted for sexually assaulting their wives or husbands.
Kaine is also proposing having court clerks enter into police databanks any protective orders, rather than having the clerks report the protective order to police and police entering it into the databank. That's the current system, and it results in a delay of several days before a protective order is in the police system.
In Fredericksburg, Bledsoe said, policy requires protective orders to be entered into the state and national database as soon as they are received from the court or magistrate.
Kaine's two-year budget includes an additional $900,000 for the state's sexual assault crisis centers--the only victim assistance programs that provide 24-hour services to sexual violence victims--and $576,000 over two years for the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances Project.
That project operates in seven localities and works to prevent domestic violence.
Kristine Hall, with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, said Kaine's proposals are a good response to barriers within the system that can hinder victims' ability to get help.
Over the next few days Kaine will unveil other issues he'll push during the two-month legislative session, which begins next Wednesday. Those issues include working to pass a ban on smoking in restaurants, which failed in the legislature last year.
Kaine said he thinks a ban has a better chance of passing this year, because he took into account some lawmakers' concerns about technical aspects of the legislation. He said that while some localities are already passing their own bans on smoking, "the best practice is a statewide practice" because it affects all localities equally.
Kaine will also support some consumer protection legislation to be announced today, and a closing of the "gun show loophole" that allows people to buy guns from sellers who aren't gun dealers without having to undergo background checks.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
Women are cautioned not to train to become a Rabbi. I am a Rabbi who knows all the Halacha. You're telling me women can be on my level? I don't think so!
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Orthodox women to be trained as rabbis
18/01/2008
By Nathan Jeffay Haifa
A Jerusalem Jewish-studies institution will ordain Orthodox women rabbis within five years.
The programme is being planned by the Shalom Hartman Institute, headed by Rabbi David Hartman, a leading light on the left fringe of Orthodoxy, whose British donors include Lord Kalms and Fred Worms.
Speaking to the JC this week, Rabbi Hartman said that the ordination would not be the standard type which qualifies the recipient to make judgements in Jewish law. It would be a qualification demonstrating that the holder is well-versed in Jewish texts, ethics and philosophy.
The institute will launch a four-year course for men and women in 2008, focused on producing educators and ending in ordination. Rabbi Hartman described it is a return to the root of a rabbi’s role, explaining: “Rabbi means teacher, and rabbis were always meant to be teachers.” In his view, there is no reason to exclude women from this qualification.
Rabbi Hartman emphasised that the objective was not to create female pulpit rabbis, rather to provide school teachers, particularly for North America, who could do their job “with more authority”.
The Israeli Chief Rabbinate and other leading religious figures have declined to comment on Rabbi Hartman’s plans: “They just ignore these things — they have more important things to deal with.” Their silence could also be explained by the time-scale and the fact that mainstream institutions could choose to ignore the qualification.
Nevertheless, in the long term Rabbi Hartman’s plan could represent a challenge to the status quo in mainstream Orthodoxy.
For whatever the objectives of the programme, Rabbi Hartman admitted there was nothing to stop graduates from applying for pulpit jobs.
“That is up to them — people are free to choose what they want to do.” In such circumstances, it would be up to the individual communities to decide if someone was suitable.
“If a community looks for a rabbi as a halachic authority, then no. If a community looks for a rabbi to make Judaism exciting for its congregants, then yes.
“Everyone gets panicky about where things will lead to, but that’s not my concern. My concern is filling a need.”
This guy should go to anger management.
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Abuse victim's anger
DAVID KILLICK
January 18, 2008
A SEXUAL abuse victim who hit an elderly pedophile with a hoe after urinating on his front lawn has been convicted of assault.
Scott Brian Enslow was drunk when he went to the man's home in Chapel St, Glenorchy, on February 14 last year, Hobart Magistrates Court heard yesterday.
When the 66-year-old resident investigated noises about 3am, he was attacked from behind with a hoe, suffering bruising, scrapes and two cracked ribs, prosecutor Luke Manhood told the court.
Enslow also smashed a porch light and glass panels in the man's front door, he said.
Enslow was arrested nearby but denied the offences when questioned by police.
The unemployed 20-year-old from Dromedary pleaded guilty yesterday to assault and destroying property.
His lawyer, Tegan Musket, told the court Enslow had been sexually abused by the man on a weekly basis between the ages of 12 and 15 and was struggling to deal with the consequences.
A criminal complaint against the man had not proceeded to a prosecution, although the man had been jailed for offences against other children, the court heard.
Enslow had only intended to urinate on the man's lawn when he appeared screaming abuse and swinging the hoe.
"He was going to leave after he'd done his business," she said.
Enslow had seized the implement and struck back in self-defence, she said.
Magistrate Glenn Hay said Enslow had done the wrong thing.
"Two wrongs don't make a right and he shouldn't have been there doing what he was doing," he said.
Taking into account his age and previous record, he fined Enslow $200 for the assault and $80 for destroying the man's property.
Deon Malcolm Henricks, 22, unemployed, of Bridgewater, who was also present during the incident, was fined $280 for his role.
Although he did not strike a blow, "he knew they weren't going there for a social call", Sgt Manhood said.
Americans in Brazil Indicted in Abuse
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A U.S. couple was indicted Thursday on charges of sexually abusing children at a Brazilian nudist colony, a court official said.
Judge Vancarlo Andre Anacleto indicted Frederic Calvin Louderback, 63, of San Diego, and his companion Barbara Anner, 72, on charges of "the sexual abuse of children, corruption of minors and conspiracy," said Renata Savian, the judge's top aide, speaking by telephone.
He also indicted Andre Ricardo Herdy and Cleci Jaeger, a Brazilian couple suspected of helping the Americans, and the parents of three boys who were allegedly abused sexually.
To face this rising threat, Israel must look in the mirror
By RICHARD CHESNOFF
Thursday, January 17th 2008
As President Bush returns from the Mideast, he and all those who hope for a strong and secure Israel should wake up to an unpleasant reality: The biggest danger to Israel's future may not come from Hamas rockets or even Iranian nuclear yearnings. It could be from Israel's own, increasingly restive, Arab minority.
More than 20% of the Jewish state's 7.2 million citizens are Israeli Arabs - Muslims, Christians and Druze, descendants of the approximately 180,000 Palestinian Arabs who chose not to become refugees during Israel's 1948 War of Independence but stayed and cast their lot in with the Jewish state.
Over the past 60 years, Israeli Arabs have grown and prospered like the state itself. Indeed, their population growth rate outstrips that of Jews.
It is probably no coincidence that a nationalist and Islamic militancy is spreading among many of them that now ominously demands not only cultural, but even political separation from the Jewish state.
No, the lives of Israeli Arabs have not always been easy. Their loyalties suspect in the early days of the state, they were once subject to security restrictions. Nor have their economic fortunes always been equal. Aside from election time - when Israeli politicians scrounged for their votes - Israeli Arab public works have rarely been as strongly supported as those of Israeli Jews.
Still, to appreciate how well Israeli Arabs live now, one need only look at how their once-dusty towns sprinkling the Galilee and the Ara Valley are now sprawling communities of brand-new villas and two-car families. Israeli Arabs have superb medical care, and their children have a wealth of educational opportunities. They vote, have Arab members of parliament, Arab judges and now even an Arab member of Israel's cabinet.
For some, however, that's not enough. Israeli Arabs can often be heard repeating the Arab world's renewed anti-Zionist mantra - that Israel has no right to be a "Jewish state," despite the fact that countless Arab and other nations consider themselves to be Islamic states.
Indeed, during the war against Hezbollah in 2006, some openly demonstrated against their country - and for the terrorist group.
Just this month, an Israeli Arab anti-Zionist group called for a boycott of American Jewish groups that contribute to the social and economic betterment of Israeli Arab communities. Their twisted reasoning: These American groups favor a "Jewish state of Israel." One group of Israeli Arab activists publicly denounced the boycott call as self-defeating - but most kept silent.
New York recently hosted an event dubbed "The Other Israel Film Festival," which showcased productions by and about Israeli Arabs. Some, like "The Syrian Bride," were excellent cinema. But almost all of the films I saw revealed a split personality. Their mentaliyut (as they put it in the Hebrew that sprinkles their Arabic) was Israeli (modern, liberal, open-minded), their sympathies Arab. "We are caught between two worlds," one Palestinian director told me.
That may be so - but it does not give them a right to deny Israel's very raison d'etre - its unique status as the world's only Jewish state.
Indeed, there are few greater examples of political chutzpah than the worldwide Arab claim that while at least a dozen sprawling states declare themselves officially Islamic and even some European nations are formally "Christian," the Jews - a nation and culture as well as a faith - have no right to a state, no matter how small it is.
Israeli Arabs have every right to maintain their own minority community - and participate fully in Israeli life - but they must accept the basic concept of Israeli Jewishness. The alternative is to consider moving elsewhere, perhaps to the future independent Palestine.
rzc@att.net
Over half of Jerusalem's children poor
Statistics published by CBS reveal third of capital's families poor, employment rates among residents lower than in rest of country, number of persons per family substantially higher
Ynet
Published: 01.17.08, 20:05 / Israel News
Over a third of the families in Jerusalem (33%) and 56% of the children living in the capital are poor and live under the poverty line, data published Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) revealed.
According to the CBS' Statistical Abstract for 2005-2006, only 45% of the city's population is employed, an employment rate that is 11% lower than the national average. The employment rate in Jerusalem stands at 50% among Jews (compared to a national average of 59%), and 35% among Arabs (compared to a national average of 43%).
These differences are mainly attributed to the low employment rate among haredi men and Arab women.
As a result of these figures, Jerusalem ranks very poorly on the index of the average household monthly income, which stands at NIS 11,429 per family, compared to NIS 15,918 in Tel Aviv and to the national average of NIS 14,419.
It should be noted that the number of persons per family in the capital is substantially higher than in the rest of the country, reaching 4.2. In comparison, the average family in Tel Aviv comprises 2.6 persons, and the national average stands at 3.7.
More opting to leave capital
At the end of 2006, Jerusalem's population stood at 733,000, making up about 10% of Israel's population. Sixty-six percent of the city's residents were Jewish, and the rest were Arabs...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a9Eb.vP.8FjU&refer=asia
China Goes Kosher as Exporters Use Rabbis to Reassure Consumers
By Mark Drajem
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese exporters, facing a U.S. backlash over tainted food products, are turning to an unlikely group of inspectors to help clean up their act: Jewish rabbis.
Kosher certifications by rabbis have doubled to more than 300 in China in the past two years, according to the Orthodox Union, a New York-based organization that does inspections. The group expects thousands more plants to get certified in the next few years, covering everything from spices and chemical additives to frozen berries, sliced garlic and beef.
Chinese exporters, eager to gain access to the $11.5 billion U.S. kosher market, had already begun seeking the certifications before the uproar over contaminated seafood, toothpaste and pet food began last year. Now, after a rush of recalls, the rabbis say the companies are paying for the inspections to ease growing concern among U.S. consumers about imports from China.
``When we certify a product, consumers know there is another pair of eyes'' on it, said Mordechai Grunberg, an American rabbi whose seven-member team examines Chinese factories, scans company books, and even drops in for surprise inspections to ensure the biblical dietary laws are followed.
The surge of kosher certifications hasn't come without hiccups. Many Chinese companies were unfamiliar with the concept: One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff. Another facility asked to get certified as kosher even though it was smoking eel on site, a kosher no- no. The company was turned down; it is now building a separate, kosher-only facility.
Jarred by Grilling
And many companies weren't ready for the grilling the rabbis gave them on their first visits to their plants, seeing it as a sign of distrust. ``In China, everything works on relationships,'' said Grunberg of the Orthodox Union, which certifies more than 400,000 products worldwide.
Grunberg first traveled to China in 1981 in what would have been the first kosher-certification there. It didn't work out. His translator failed to meet him at the airport and his hotel had rats. Grunberg didn't bother to examine the facility, instead returning to New York the next day.
``It was a trip wasted,'' he said in a telephone interview from Israel, where he lives. When he returned two decades later, ``it was a different China.''
Now, kosher ``is part of the vernacular'' as companies there try to take advantage of the U.S. market, he said.
Fully half the Chinese exports to the U.S. of $2.5 billion a year in food ingredients, such as coloring agents and preservatives, are kosher, up 150 percent from two years ago, the Orthodox Union estimates.
`Phenomenal'
``We are experiencing phenomenal growth,'' said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, chief operating officer of the kosher-certification body.
While the rabbis see to it that the products adhere to such laws as prohibitions on pork and the mixing of meat and dairy, they don't perform scientific food-safety tests.
``There is definitely marketing power to have a kosher symbol on products,'' said Mark Overland, who directs the kosher and organic department at Cargill Inc., the largest U.S. agricultural company. ``But it would be a misnomer to equate kosher with food safety.''
Many consumers disagree. Buyers of kosher products -- the majority of whom in the U.S. are non-Jews -- are seeking healthy and safe products, according to a 2005 survey by Lubicom, a marketing firm specializing in kosher products.
Plant Codes
And one of the kosher safety measures has already been seized on by Chinese regulators since the U.S. began cracking down on the imports. Since 2001, the Orthodox Union has required makers of products it certifies as kosher to place a code on their packages identifying the plant where it was made so the product can be traced in a recall. In September, Chinese regulators began requiring the same code on all food exports.
For Chinese companies, the benefits are clear amid increasing scrutiny from foreign consumers. More than two-thirds of Americans say food and product recalls have dimmed their view of Chinese-made products, according to a poll released last month.
For Nanjing Biotogether Co., certification is a prerequisite for selling fructose, salts and amino acids to U.S. makers of sports drinks, pharmaceuticals and food flavoring. Exports may soar to 450 million yuan ($62 million) in the first year since it got the kosher stamp last June, more than 11 times the previous year's total, said sales manager Wu Yonghong.
`Vote of Confidence'
Zhoushan Genho Food Co., in eastern China's Zhejiang province, got its frozen tuna fillets certified as kosher last August. Its sales have picked up, too.
``At a time of renewed international scrutiny on quality and safety, any additional stamp of approval or certification is equivalent to a vote of confidence,'' said sales manager Chen Xing.
While food companies say they already use many comprehensive safety procedures, analysts say they have a lot to learn.
``If unsafe food is getting through, then someone has dropped the ball,'' said James Morehouse, a senior partner at A.T. Kearney in Chicago and lead author of a study on China's food-safety system. ``The rabbis are an example of a working inspection system.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajem@bloomberg.net
As a mohel myself I couldn't stop laughing when I read this. I do think a Foreskin museum would be excellent education for both Jews and gentiles.
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Rabbi Opens Foreskin Museum
Written by Jalapenoman
Rabbi Abraham Wanglestein has opened a new museum in New York City. No famous paintings or sculptures are on display. No historical inventions are encased in plastic or surrounded by ropes. Instead, the walls are adorned with foreskins of famous American men (both Jews and gentiles).
The foreskin is the part of the penis removed during a circumcision (called a Bris in a ritual Jewish ceremony) of newborn baby boy.
The Rabbi has been collecting foreskins both from circumcisions he has performed himself and form others for years. When it outgrew his home, he decided to open a museum so that others could enjoy the fruits of his labors.
Upon entering the museum, which is located just outside of the famous Diamond District, one encounters a picture by picture description of a bris, from beginning to end. At that point, one can visit their choice of several themed rooms displaying both the foreskin and a picture and short biography of the adult. The rooms are, in order from their nearness to the entrance, Politicians, Athletes, Entertainers (two rooms), Religious Figures, Writers, Gentiles, and Others of Note.
Some foreskins are larger than others. When asked if the size of the foreskin denotes the size of an adult penis, the Rabbi was quick to say "no." "The biggest foreskin we got is from actor Bert Lahr, but we all know that someone most famous for playing the Cowardly Lion isn't heavily endowed. The littlest foreskin is from jockey Willie Shoemaker (originally Shumacher), who was actually hung like the horses he rode to victory.)
When asked why someone would want to collect foreskins, Wanglestein said that "it is like holding on to a little piece of history."
When asked to list some of the famous foreskins from the gentile room, he said that everyone wanted to see the foreskin of Hillary Clinton. "Everyone knows she's got one big pair of balls for a woman, but she doesn't have anything on display in our museum."
The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious
I am shocked by this. As I mentioned in my many articles, women have no place in studying the Talmud. And how could they get ordained if they are not even orthodox? Why should we grant them Rabbinical ordination? I worked hard to gain my title as Rabbi. This is totally unfair!
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‘Rabbi Is The Highest Title For Teacher’
Hartman Institute launches co-ed, transdenominational rabbinical program aimed at creating lead educators for day schools.
by Michele Chabin
Israel Correspondent
Jerusalem — In a bold educational initiative called at once “problematic” and “a blessing,” the Shalom Hartman Institute will offer a joint rabbinical program that will train Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox rabbinical students — men and women — in the same classroom.
At the end of the four-year program, the male and female students will be ordained by some of the institute’s rabbis, and will then be prepared to assume the role of “rabbi-educators” — not pulpit rabbis — in North American community day schools.
The venture, which is expected to begin in September, is unprecedented in that it will be the first rabbinical program in Israel to welcome students from all religious streams of Judaism. Some of these students could be.
Orthodox women searching for semicha (ordination) from a respected mainstream institution.
The very notion of a transdenominational semicha program has some people very excited and others bewildered or downright worried. A number of nondenominational rabbinical schools exist in the United States, including the Academy for Jewish Religion in Riverdale and Hebrew College in suburban Boston.
Rabbi Donniel Hartman, the institute’s Modern Orthodox co-director and son of its founder, master educator Rabbi David Hartman, told The Jewish Week that the program isn’t as shocking as some are painting it to be..
Independent.ie
Parents to stand trial for sex abuse
A HUSBAND and wife are to go on trial on charges that they sexually and physically abused their six children.
The man, in his 50s, and his wife, in her 30s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were returned for trial at a sitting of Castlerea District Court yesterday.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between 1998 and 2004 at a time when the children were aged from 4 years to their teens.
The West of Ireland couple are charged separately, with the children's father facing a total of 32 charges, alleging sexual abuse, neglect and cruelty of all six children.
The children's mother faces a total of 20 charges. These include similar offences in respect of the children, as well as a single charge of incest involving her son.
Sergeant John Hynes gave evidence in court yesterday of serving the books of evidence on both defendants.
Omaha archdiocese warns of sex claim against ex-Neb. priest
Associated Press - January 18, 2008 4:45 PM ET
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Omaha archdiocese announced today that a former Nebraska priest is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.
The Reverend Patrick Henry had been serving as pastor of an Ohio parish until June, when he was placed on administrative leave.
The archdiocese said the 66-year-old Henry was accused of "sexual misconduct with a minor" in the mid-1970s, before he was ordained as a priest. Details of where the alleged abuse occurred were not available.
Henry worked at Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk in fall 1980. He later served as pastor at Saint Columbkille Parish in Papillion and then Saint Michael Parish in South Sioux City before transferring to Ohio in 1994.
A message left by the Associated Press for Henry at his Ohio parish was not immediately returned. No other number for him was listed.
Do we have any witnesses who saw penetration?
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Professor accused of sex abuse
Chemeketa puts economics lecturer on unpaid leave
RUTH LIAO
Statesman Journal
January 18, 2008
A Chemeketa Community College adjunct professor was placed on unpaid leave Thursday after allegations of child sex abuse charges were filed in Corvallis, officials said.
Richard Wesley Montgomery, 71, was arraigned Wednesday on accusations of sexually abusing three children, including one no more than 6 years old, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported.
Montgomery faces 14 counts of sex abuse that involve touching the children and sexually penetrating at least one, Gazette-Times said.
His attorney, Jennifer Nash, said in court that Montgomery was an adjunct professor at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, teaching only adults, and that he has lived in Corvallis for more than 20 years.
Montgomery has taught economics for several years at Chemeketa, said school spokesman John Hawkins.
School officials placed Montgomery on unpaid leave Thursday pending the outcome of the allegation, Hawkins said.
School officials were working to find someone to take over Montgomery's classes, Hawkins said. Students in his two classes will be notified.
Reports from his past students have been exemplary, officials said.
rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941
Gathering on sex abuse against children unleashes personal memories
January 17, 2008
ALEX DeMARBAN
The state's first conference on Alaska Native child sexual abuse was organized in part to get people talking about the problem.
It worked.
The unprecedented and emotional two-day conference in Anchorage last week, attended by about 300 people, saw more than one person recall the time they were raped.
The public revelations triggered flashbacks in some participants who took refuge in a psychologist-manned "safe room" outside the main conference hall to decompress, said Mona Evan with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in Alaska, which organized the conference at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel.
"It was used in the first hour," Evan said.
Sexual abuse of Alaska Native children is a continuing crisis for several reasons, including not enough resources and the shame that keeps many victims quiet, said Diane Payne, director of the institute's Alaska office, a national organization that strives to improve life for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
A lack of confidence in the state's justice system is another factor. Many believe their abusers will never be prosecuted, so they don't report attacks, Payne said.
"We knew we needed a dialogue, not just for Native people but for the people they rely on," she said. "We hope it will empower Native people to support and advocate for children using the system in a way they haven't felt strong enough and knowledgeable enough to do."
Speakers included police, tribal judges, children advocates and others who described the depth of the problem and shared ideas such as how to intervene and how to support children.
A cornerstone of the conference – the first statewide gathering of its kind – was a 40-minute video called Pathway to Hope, she said. It featured dozens of Alaska Natives discussing the problem, including elders who encouraged others to break longstanding taboos and talk about it, Payne said.
Mary Ahkivgak, a tribal court judge who appears in the video, said the two days inspired her to return home to Barrow to make a difference.
"It challenges us to go strong in sexual abuse," said Ahkivgak, 75.
Ahkivgak wishes she had discussed it with her daughter who was 8 or 9 years old when she was raped. For many years, Ahkivgak didn't know it happened, she told the audience.
"I was ignorant about it," she said. "She opened up to me after her first marriage had broken. It was devastating to me as a mother."
"If something is happening (with your children) bring it out. Don't keep anything bad in here," she said, patting her chest.
Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.
Religion in the News
By JOE MILICIA – 1 day ago
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is discouraging its employees and volunteers from making anonymous reports of sexual abuse of minors, a policy change that appears to be unique among U.S. dioceses and has outraged church watchdogs. However, it has the support of the local prosecutor's office.
Church policy had required any suspicion of sexual abuse by church personnel be immediately reported to civil authorities. The revised policy says a person reporting abuse to civil authorities should include his or her name, address and telephone number to help assist in an investigation.
"That's just as wrongheaded as possible. That's just silly," said David Clohessy, spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "All reports of abuse should be encouraged, anonymous and otherwise, especially with an institution with such a horrific track record on this issue. Many victims and witnesses are terrified of retribution, and some information always beats no information."
Diocese spokesman Bob Tayek said there have been few anonymous reports in past years and that they're only being discouraged because they're often not helpful.
"Terminating an employee on an anonymous allegation is really unlikely," Tayek said.
Bishop Richard Lennon approved the revised policy and it took effect on Jan. 1. It changes a policy that was last updated in 2003 during the height of the church's clergy sex abuse scandal.
The revised policy makes it appear as though church officials are trying to control the information that civil authorities get, said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of bishopaccountabilty.org, an online archive of documents related to sexual abuse in the church.
"That's really stepping over the line and trying to suppress what could be very valid reports," she said.
But the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said the revision is appropriate.
"The best possible policy for the diocese is to tell it's employees you must report suspected child abuse and we expect you to give your name," said Rick Bell, supervisor of major trial unit for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, who led an investigation into the diocese's abuse cases in 2003.
"They're encouraging reporting and openness," he said. "Anonymous information may not be helpful whatsoever and encourages a climate of secrecy."
Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection, wasn't aware of other dioceses adopting similar policies.
She agreed that anonymous reports were difficult to investigate and substantiate and noted that the Cleveland Diocese is only discouraging them.
"If they were saying, 'We're not taking any more anonymous complaints' that would be of concern to me," Kettelkamp said. "I just hope it doesn't discourage people from coming forward."
The revised policy, which was drafted by a lay review board, also establishes that in alleged abuse cases involving non-clergy, the diocesan legal office should be contacted and will coordinate an investigation.
Clohessy believes that's the last office that should be involved because church lawyers will only seek to limit damage claims against the diocese.
Tayek said the change was made so the legal office can ensure that parishes and church institutions are following the policy for reporting abuse, and to make sure employment law is followed.
More than 13,000 molestation claims have been made to dioceses nationwide and more than $2 billion in settlements have been paid since 1950. The Cleveland diocese has paid about $23 million in abuse-related claims.
The 195 U.S. dioceses also have taught more than 6 million children to protect themselves from sexual predators and have conducted 1.6 million background checks on workers in response to clergy sex abuse.
If I do not become the next President of the United States of America, I will seriously consider becoming a woman bishop!
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Church stalls over deal on women bishops
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
19/01/2008
Attempts to heal a damaging split over women bishops in the Church of England have faltered after bishops could not agree on a compromise deal.
It was widely expected that plans to appoint women bishops, backed by the liberal and conservative wings of the Church, would be presented to the General Synod next month.
But when bishops met behind closed doors to thrash out proposals, there were heated exchanges and no final decision could be reached. It means that the Church is back at square one on the issue.
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Campaigners for women bishops are growing increasingly frustrated over the delays...
Child Porn Suspect May Have Had Access To Children
Thursday January 17, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
A man police have charged with possession of child pornography may have had access to young children, and authorities are concerned there may be victims of abuse that have yet to come forward.
Michael Harman, 37, (pictured) was arrested and charged with possession, and making child porn available, after a raid of his home in the Kennedy Road/Highway 401 area on Wednesday.
Harman previously volunteered at the Glamorgan Junior School and has represented himself as a member of the clergy.
"We know that Mr. Harman positioned himself within areas of the city in his community, which would have afforded him access to young people," revealed Det. Const. Jason Albanese of the Child Exploitation Section during a press conference Thursday.
"This includes a junior school, an elementary school, and after-school programs in the area of his residence. We also know that Mr. Harman portrayed himself as a member of clergy. We are trying to identify any victims or witnesses, if any, who may have had any contact with Mr. Harman."
"If this man is familiar, and you know his name or face, and you believe that your child may have had any direct contact with him, we are urging you to give us a shout so we can find out what the contact was about," he adds.
The suspect's next court appearance will be on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at the Toronto east courts.
Anyone with information regarding Harman is urged to contact the Toronto Police Service Child Exploitation Section at 416-808-8500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at http://www.222tips.com/.
No comment on Jewish children getting sexually abused by their Rabbis. However we are deeply offended and what like to comment on Lesbian Clergy. The Torah says it's wrong!
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Presbyterians Vote on Lesbian Clergy
By LISA LEFF
RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — A Presbyterian deacon who has twice been denied ordination because of her sexual orientation can move forward with her bid to join the clergy.
The regional body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted 167-151 Tuesday night in support of Lisa Larges' application, despite the denomination's long-standing ban on openly gay ministers. Larges, 44, still must submit to an interview with the regional body as soon as April, church officials said.
Larges said after the vote that she was proud of the church members' decision, despite the heavy opposition.
"The church is a beautiful, messy thing," she said. "It's about loving the church in spite of the church. It's about being part of a movement to call the church back to its best self."
While the meeting represented a third try for Larges, it was thought to be the first test of a policy adopted by the Presbyterian national assembly giving local presbyteries the right to ordain candidates who declare conscientious objections to specific church teachings, said Jerry Van Marter, news director for the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The constitution of the church says only members in traditional man-woman marriages or who are sexually abstinent may serve as clergy, elders and deacons. Larges has submitted a statement to the Presbytery of San Francisco declaring her disagreement with that policy, calling it a "mar upon the church and a stumbling block to its mission."
The presbytery represents 77 churches and about 29,000 parishioners in the San Francisco Bay area.
Those who oppose Larges' application said they would appeal Tuesday's decision through the church court.
"The presbytery's action constitutes a willful disengagement from the denomination's requirements, breaking trust with every other presbytery by not requiring compliance with church mandates," said the Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli, who presented the minority report at the meeting.
The church has other openly gay ministers, Van Marter said. The current policy banning the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians to the ministry was enacted in 1978, and a number of ministers who were ordained before then have since come out to their congregations.
Associated Press Writer Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco contributed to this story.
By Tzvi Freeman
Question:
I believe in my heart that the Five Books of Moses and the Prophets are from G‑d. When it comes to the Talmud, however, I am beginning to believe it was made up over the centuries to control the Jewish believer with all its added laws. The rabbis add scores of laws to each of the 613 commandment and you end up having to obey all kinds of things that were never part of Judasim when it all started.
I guess what I'm saying is that although we claim to believe in the Bible, in reality we are controlled by a small group of old men and their Talmud.
Answer:
I appreciate your concern, since this is the trap institutionalized religions have fallen into time and time again: It starts off with a lot of good ideas, and then come along a priestly cult to hijack those ideas for their own benefit.
The question is, does Judaism include some mechanism to avoid this trap? If, as we say, the Torah is truly a Divine document, you would expect it to foresee all obstacles to its own survival--including this one--and to include some safeguard to prevent it from happening.
The answer, it seems to me, is that this is why G‑d chose Moses, of all men, to be the agent by which Torah would enter earth-space.
Moses was the first populist civil rights leader. Already at a young age, he demonstrated his contempt for abuse of power when he struck and killed an Egyptian taskmaster. He was well aware of the dangers of a hierarchical religious cult, familiar as he was with the priestly cult of ancient Egypt. He cared for the people and empathized with them--so much so, that he even took G‑d Himself to task in Egypt, demanding, "Why have you done evil to this people? Why did you send me?" More than his wisdom, more than his courage, it was this trait of Moses that made him a faithful shepherd of his people. And for this, he was chosen to bring Torah to them..
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph pays $45,000 settlement
By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has paid $45,000 to a Kansas City-area man who alleged that two priests sexually abused him in 1976.
The alleged abuse by Thomas Reardon and Thomas O’Brien was unusual in that it involved a 16-year-old boy who was not a Catholic, said the unidentified man’s attorney, Sam Wendt.
The settlement also differed in that it was reached last month before a lawsuit was filed. A diocese spokesman said other such settlements have been quietly made in the past, but he did not know how often.
At least a dozen men have sued O’Brien and the diocese, and 14 have sued Reardon and the church. One has settled, and others are moving toward trial.
The diocese spokesman declined further comment, and lawyers for Reardon and O’Brien did not return calls for comment.
Wendt announced the settlement at a Wednesday news conference alongside David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
The abuse started after a Catholic friend persuaded the boy to attend church at St. Elizabeth in Kansas City, Wendt said, and sometimes one of the priests gave the boy money after sex acts.
Both he and Clohessy urged any other victims of sex abuse by clergy to come forward.
Coming forward treats inner scars that often have festered since childhood, Clohessy said. “The unacknowledged wound never heals.”
In November, The Kansas City Star reported on widespread allegations that adolescent boys decades ago called Reardon and O’Brien the party priests.
Lawsuits against both detail accusations of rape, sodomy and other sex acts. They allege a pattern of molestation that began in the early 1960s with O’Brien and continued with Reardon through the 1980s.
They contend the priests used their positions to access and prey on youngsters, plying them with alcohol, groping them and sometimes paying them for sex.
As of November, priest abuse cases nationwide had cost the Roman Catholic Church at least $2.3 billion since 1950, including millions of dollars in settlements in recent months.
To reach Joe Lambe, call 816-234-4314 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.
If the pilots of both airplanes were not dead, I would slap them each across the face for causing this crash.
4 Dead As Planes Collide in Calif.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Two private planes flying about a mile from an airport collided Sunday, killing at least four people and raining debris down on car dealerships below, authorities said.
The small Cessnas collided at 3:35 p.m. near the small Corona Municipal airport and a freeway in Riverside County, about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles, FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
Three of the dead were from the planes and the fourth was in a car hit by debris on the ground, Kenitzer said.
Debris fell on car dealerships, and television pictures showed that the smashed fuselage of one of the planes landed atop a parked car.
"The smaller aircraft ... just disintegrated into pieces, maybe fifty pieces coming down," eyewitness Jeff Hardin told KABC-TV. "The other aircraft pretty much stayed intact and started spiraling down."
Eyewitness Hector Hernandez said he saw bodies falling from the sky.
"One of them crashed into the top of a Ford Mustang, and another one fell not too far behind that one on the parking lot," Hernandez told KCBS-TV.
Police were going through the dealerships to see if anyone was injured, Corona Police Sgt. Jerry Pawluczenko said.
January 21, 2008
Gaza Power Plant Shuts Down Over Dispute
By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — Israel’s closing of its border crossings with Gaza remained in effect Sunday, and Gaza’s only electricity plant shut down because of a shortage of imported fuel needed to run it.
Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, ordered a temporary halt on all imports into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip late last week. The measure, along with stepped-up military operations in Gaza, was meant to persuade Palestinian militants there from firing rockets at Israel.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Barak said Sunday that the decision would most likely be re-evaluated in a few days.
Five rockets had been launched from Gaza by nightfall on Sunday, two of which landed in and around the Israeli border town of Sderot, an army spokeswoman said. There was a marked decrease in rocket fire over the weekend, compared with the roughly 130 rockets that the army said had been launched from Gaza during four days last week.
An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Sunday night was aimed at a rocket launching squad and killed at least one Palestinian, Hamas and Palestinian medical officials said.
Palestinian officials shut down Gaza’s power station on Sunday night, leaving Gaza City in darkness. The manager of the power station, Rafiq Meliha, said that local hospitals, water and sewage treatment facilities would also be affected.
Israeli officials disputed Mr. Meliha’s claims, saying that Israel still supplies Gaza with about 70 percent of its electricity requirements, while another 5 percent comes from Egypt. “That is all going on as usual,” said Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry. “Sure, the Palestinians can say they have no electricity and take down their turbines, but there is no crisis,” he insisted, adding that it is up to the Palestinians how they allocate whatever electricity they have within the Gaza Strip.
Moshe Kariv, a spokesman for the Israeli government body that is in contact with the Palestinians, said the situation in Gaza is “difficult” but that there was enough food “for a few days.”
About 70 Gazans were allowed to enter Israel for medical treatment on Sunday, according to an Israeli official at the crossings, but nothing else went in or out. Mr. Kariv acknowledged a shortage of medicine in Gaza, but said that was because of a problem with payment from the Palestinian side.
Separately, Israeli politicians expressed outrage on Sunday at a speech made by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah militia, who said in Beirut on Saturday that his organization possessed many body parts of Israeli soldiers left behind on the battlefields of southern Lebanon. Several ministers called for Sheik Nasrallah’s liquidation and one called him a “sewer rat.”
In a statement released late Saturday night, the Israeli Army spokesman’s unit said that Sheik Nasrallah’s pronouncements “constitute a cruel and cynical move by an organization that flagrantly tramples the most fundamental ethical codes, shows no respect for human rights or the international conventions that govern these matters.”
Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza City.
I agree. These people are not even considered real Jews.
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Kiryat Arba rabbi: Don't sell mezuzahs to Reform Jews
Sofer stam (certified Jewish scribe) told by rabbi on yeshiva website that he should not fix Torah scrolls for Reform Jews and not sell them tefilin or mezuzahs
Neta Sela
Rabbi Dov Lior, chief rabbi of the West Bank town Kiryat Arba, continues to take a hard line against Reform Jews. In the past, the rabbi had issued a religious ruling stating that one should not go into a Reform synagogue, nor attend any events sponsored or held by the Reform Movement.
Religious Intolerance
Rabbi: Reforms worse than Muslims / Neta Sela
Following question from 12 year-old girl invited to a cousin's Bat Mitzvah - Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba rules Orthodox Jews forbidden from attending Reform events, entering Reform synagogues – deeming them worse than Muslims
Full Article
On Monday, however, the rabbi issued an even harsher edict, mandating that sofrei stam, or Jewish scribes, should not sell Torah scrolls, tefilin or mezuzahs to Reform Jews.
Rabbi Lior issued this edict on an internet forum belonging to the Beit El Yeshiva. A sofer stam wrote the rabbi and told him that that he was asked to fix a Torah scroll for, and sell mezuzahs and tefilin to, a Reform Jewish congregation.
The scribe asked the rabbi whether he could fix Torah scrolls for Reform Jews, and whether these scrolls were even considered kosher. He also asked the rabbi whether he could sell tefilin and mezuzahs to this congregation according to Jewish law.
Rabbi Lior replied emphatically that the scribe should not get involved with the congregation at all so as not to be “privy to a transgression or sin”. In his reply he takes a very harsh line against the Reform movement, which seeks to amend certain facets of Judaism to bring them in line with modern realities.
“Granted if the tefillin are used by a Jew, then this is a great mitzvah indeed,” stated the Rabbi, “but there is a more public issue at hand, namely adorning the Reform synagogue and giving legitimacy to this movement.”
Rabbi Lior thus strives not to grant any recognition to the Reform movement, even at the expense of not performing a great Mitzvah, due to his outspoken and public opposition to the movement.
By PENNY E. SCHWARTZ
Special to The Press-Enterprise
When Rabbi Douglas Kohn was treated for cancer several years ago, he found few resources in the Jewish domain for living with the disease.
"I imagined a book written by rabbis who had had cancer or were dealing with cancer," said Kohn, a Redlands resident who has been rabbi of Congregation Emanu El in San Bernardino since 2001.
His imagination led to the December publication of "Life, Faith and Cancer: Jewish Journeys through Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery."
Kohn was the book's editor and wrote one of its chapters. Other Jewish religious leaders who have been through experiences like his own also contributed chapters.
Kohn's 2004 diagnosis was metastatic papillary thyroid cancer, which was treated with a radical neck dissection at Loma Linda University Medical Center, followed by radioactive iodine treatments, a second surgery a year later and check-ups every six months.
"All of us who have had this experience undergo a life-affecting transition and must adapt to and live with the changes that follow," Kohn said..
Rabbi Avi Shafran, the director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, and sometimes journalist, wrote a crude defamation of Jewish bloggers in the January 4th issue of the J Weekly of Northern California.
In his article titled, “Avoid the untamed jungles of Blogistan”, (why the learned Rabbi thinks that central Asian state suffixes are synonymous with evil is beyond me) Rabbi Shafran wastes no time in comparing bloggers to “swindlers and pornographers”. As a Jewish reader (and commentor) of blogs for 3 years, and as a blogger myself for the past year and a half, I am personally offended by what he wrote.
He throws in some obligatory ‘well, I guess there are a few ok Jewish bloggers out there. Maybe five’ qualifier, but the marks of his broad-stroke brush cannot be finessed away. He claims that, “responsible blogs in the Jewish realm as in the general are decidedly in the minority”. This is so obviously a case of seeing what you look for. As someone who has read many a blog from the J-blogosphere, I can say that it runs the gamut from Torah discussion to Israeli culture. I believe that Rabbi Shafran is so focused on the negative aspects of what he reads online, that he’s willing to slander the good with the bad. You can tell that this is a lashing out at blogs that struck a personal nerve with him, when he writes, bitterly, that these malicious blogs seek to score “extra points for Orthodox Jews and triple score for rabbis”.
What he really fails to see is that blogs aren’t some sinister ideological movement that seeks to spread “evil” (in his own words), but are just another means of communication. This is a classic example of confusing the message with the medium. Hateful and mean-spirited content can be delivered by books, movies, TV, magazines, newspapers, and, yes, HTML documents on computer networks. This is no reason to support the knee-jerk throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater reaction of, “the Internet in general is not a healthy place to hang out in”.
One of the charges that he levels is that these blogs do not uphold the value of avoiding Lashon Hara. I know several Jewish blogs that take this matter very seriously. JewSchool, a left-of-center blog that might not be one of Agudath Israel’s biggest fans, makes a point of invoking the Chofetz Chaim & Rav Soloveichik in reminding its readers that one must show the utmost respect for other writers / commentors, and must avoid Lashon Hara. Oy Bay itself has taken this matter extremely seriously, to the extent of involving both local Orthodox rabbinical authorities and even the police when an especially egregious case of Lashon Hara landed at our doorstep. Perhaps because most of us don’t wear black hats and suits he finds it inconceivable that Jewish blogs could cherish the self-same values that he does?
Rabbi Shafran also underestimates, and under-reports, on the positive aspect of the J-blogosphere. In my own personal life, I had a transformative experience when I met other Jewish bloggers in real life at the Jewlicious Festival in LA. Meeting David Abitbol (jewlicious.com), David Kelsey (the Kvetcher), Esther Kustanowitz (JDaters Anonymous), Rabbi Yonah Bookstein (BlogShul), and others changed my life, and made Jewish writing a passion of mine. That lead me to attend other Jewish conferences, and now I have Jewish friends all over the world. And all from reading a so-called “venomous spider” of a website called Jewlicious.com . And now imagine this effect ten-thousand fold, as similar young Jews around the world interconnect and collaborate online, creating a positive Jewish community that *does* lead to friendships and relationships in real-life.
In closing, Rabbi Shafran writes, “All Jews should be concerned with basic Jewish values such as shunning forbidden speech, [and] refusing to judge others”. Rabbi Avi Shafran would do well to heed his own words, and not write articles that prejudice the Jewish community against Jewish bloggers.
Rabbi Avi Shafran suggests ways that the Web, and especially the “comments” sections of blogs, can degrade the level of human discourse. I’m probably inviting more trouble, but this week I’ve launched a new blog, JustASC. I’m calling it a “multilog” (like a dialog, but with more voices), in hopes that it becomes a forum for a wide-ranging conversation about Jewish culture, politics, religion, the arts, and anything else. Of course, I’m also calling it “JustASC,” which I liked not for its exclusivity but its note of inquiry. Or something.
Either way, keep me honest by visiting, commenting, and suggesting links and material. Just lay off the last name.
Winter might conjure pleasant memories of playing in the snow, but it is hardly a season most of us would consider symbolic of childhood. We more naturally associate the 'winter of life" with a time when it is only our hair, if we even have any, that is snowy.
Yet, the earliest stage of life is precisely what winter represents, according to the Maharal of Prague (Rabbi Yehuda Betzalel Loewe, 1525-1609) in his supercommentary to Rashi's on the Torah (Genesis 26:21).
There the celebrated Jewish mystic and philosopher assigns a stage of human life to each of the year's seasons. A Western mind might associate nature's annual coming-to-life in spring with childhood, the warmth of summer with youth, autumn with pensive middle age and cold, slow moving winter with life's later years – think 'Old Man Winter."
The Maharal, though, described things differently. He regards autumn, when leaves are shed and nature seems to slow down, as corresponding to older age; summer's warmth and comfort to represent our middle-years; spring to reflect the vibrancy and energy of youth. And winter to evoke childhood.
Winter? Childhood? On the surface, to eyes unaided by deeper recognition, it might indeed seem strange; winter, after all, is a stark time, a season barren of activity and growth....
NEPAL: Risks of child sexual abuse growing
Children are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sexual abuse due to weak laws and a poor security situation
BARDIYA, 21 January 2008 (IRIN) - Nearly a year has passed since 13-year-old Maya (not her real name) was sexually abused and molested by her class teacher but her abuser has been walking free since he knows the victim cannot prove anything legally.
“I want that teacher punished but my only evidence against him is my testimony,” Maya told IRIN in remote Milan Chowk village of Bardiya District, nearly 700km west of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.
She said her teacher had been molesting her every day during and after school for nearly three months. But she was too scared to complain to the school administration, fearing they would not believe her and then suspend her from school. Her only escape was to quit school and stay at home with her mother.
“I fear for other students because nobody is complaining about him or other teachers who ‘do bad things’ to children,” said Maya. She said a large number of girls aged 10-13 were often sexually abused at her school, but their crimes always went unpunished despite complaints to the school administration.
''Everyone is too scared to speak up because we may not get justice.''
Maya and her friends are ready to make their case public and take legal action but their only question is who will take the first step. “Everyone is too scared to speak up because we may not get justice,” she said.
Child sexual abuse “alarming”, says NGO
There is no precise data available on the number of sexual abuse and rape cases but activists believe the situation is alarming.
A research study report entitled No More Suffering - Child Sexual Abuse in Nepal - Children’s Perspectives published in April 2006 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), found that nearly 18 percent of the 4,000 students interviewed had experienced severe sexual abuse, including molesting and rape.
Another research report on child sexual abuse entitled Silent Suffering - Child Sexual Abuse in the Kathmandu Valley issued in June 2003 by Save the Children Norway in Nepal and CWIN, said a large number of schoolchildren in Kathmandu had been subjected to sexual abuse. Nearly 13.7 percent of the 5,000 interviewed students had suffered from severe sexual abuse.
Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN
Sexual abuse often occurs in schools, activists say
CWIN is a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) helping to rescue and protect children at risk of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation.
“The situation of child sexual abuse is alarming and strong measures have to be taken to protect the children at risk of being sexually abused,” said Madhav Pradhan from CWIN.
CWIN’s 24-hour emergency service called Child Helpline, which helps vulnerable children, has been receiving more calls from victims to help rescue them from being abused and raped on a regular basis.
“We immediately respond to calls from children to ensure that we report their cases immediately to the police so that they can start investigations promptly,” said Bharat Adhikari, programme officer of Child Helpline.
Strong laws needed
Adhikari said a lot could have been done to protect the children and punish their abusers if there was a stable government and strong laws were in place. So far, the penalty against the accused rapist is a prison term of 11 years if the crime is proven within 35 days. But in cases of child victims, most of them report quite late due to fear and their state of trauma, according to Adhikari.
''It takes them months to finally reveal the incident of rape and it is often too late to punish the alleged rapists.''
“It takes them months to finally reveal the incident of rape and it is often too late to punish the alleged rapists,” explained Adhikari. He said the law was even weaker when it comes to sexual abuse cases. The abuser, if found guilty of attempting rape, would get barely a year of imprisonment.
Child rights activists expressed their concern that sexual abuse incidents could increase as the government had failed to give priority to non-political social issues, including the protection of children.
Government officials authorised to speak on the issue and laws related to sexual crimes were not immediately available for comment.
www.capitalnews9.com
S.N.A.P. responds to sex abuse allegation in Albany Diocese
Updated: 1/20/2008
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Albany Diocese says it has a zero tolerance policy for clergy sexual abuse of minors. The Diocese encourages anyone who, as a minor, was sexually abused by a member of the clergy to report the incident to authorities or the Diocese itself so that the allegation can be investigated and the potential victim assisted.
One group that provides assistance to church abuse victims is the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests or S.N.A.P. Mark Lyman is the upstate coordinator for that organization and joined us Sunday:
"We as an organization, Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests local and national doesn't feel bishops have worked hard enough to be honest about how many predators there are. We want to change that,” said Mark Lyman.
The website bishop accountability dot org has an "abuse tracker" function, where news of this latest inquiry is found.
Survivors finding hope
Safe Haven Child Advocacy Center offers Finding Hope and Peace Support Group for those who are survivors of sexual abuse and incest.
By Tricia Lynn Strader / Living staff writer
January 21, 2008
Want to go?
What: Finding Hope and Peace Support Group
When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays
Where: Safe Haven CAC, 201 N. High St.
Open to survivors, friends and family. Must be at least 16 years old. Refreshments provided.
For more information, call (304) 596-2022 or visit safehavencac@comcast.net or www.siawso.org.
Editor’s note: Because of the sensitive subject matter, victims names have been withheld.
MARTINSBURG — From the time she was 5 years old until she was 16, a woman who wants to be referred to as Mary was sexually abused by her mother’s husband.
Mary knew she needed someone to talk to but couldn’t find the help she needed. “When I moved to this area, there weren’t any support groups for sexual abuse and incest,” she says.
Hospitalized in October, Mary saw an ad for the newly opened Safe Haven Child Advocacy Center. She saw it as a sign.
Safe Haven opened in February 2006 and is a children’s advocacy center that provides a neutral, “safe” atmosphere for interviews with children who’ve been physically or sexually abused.
Law enforcement, hospitals or child protective services refer children to Safe Haven. There, they are interviewed by the forensic investigators and other agencies, so hopefully they only have to go through the process once.
“We are a community oriented and facility-based program that provides a coordinated response to child abuse cases,” says coordinator and licensed social worker Victoria Slater. “Our mission is to reduce the trauma of child victims and their families by reducing the number of required interviews, providing comprehensive medical, mental health, and advocacy services and coordinating agencies in the criminal prosecution of cases.”
Mary was able to find the support she needed with a meeting titled Finding Hope and Peace Support Group. The group is open to anyone who is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and incest. In addition, friends and family members of survivors are welcome. Meetings are at 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Safe Haven CAC on High Street.
The majority of Slater’s cases, 166 since opening, are sexual abuse cases. When a survivor of childhood sexual abuse approached Slater last fall about Safe Haven hosting a support group, it seemed like a good fit.
“I had been working on a group for parents of children who came through the center as sexual abuse cases,” Slater says. “So, we started the Finding Hope and Peace Support Group for victims of sexual abuse and incest.”
The group evolved to include survivors and family or friends ages 16 and older. The first meeting was in November.
Meetings are free and structured like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Slater says. Guidelines are provided by Survivors of Incest Anonymous or SIA. SIA’s mission statement says the group’s goal is to empower survivors with self-help and support groups, referrals, information and national service offices.
“They begin with a serenity prayer,” Slater says. “They go through the 12 Suggested Steps and 12 Traditions of SIA, and then have an open time for sharing experiences, and feelings.”
Mary says she has been through many tough years and a lot of pain; she is still surviving and healing. She saw a private therapist when she was younger, who helped to a certain extent. But the therapy didn’t help her escape the pitfalls that often overtake sexual abuse victims.
“Anyone who has been sexually abused could follow a pattern of abusive partners, drugs and alcohol,” Mary says. “I fell into that. The last abusive relationship almost killed me.”
In October 2004, she left that behind. “He’d beaten me the night before, and told me the next morning to go to the store to get him something. But when I came out, the car wouldn’t start. I sat there, thinking. There was a warrant out on him already. I made a decision that God had spoken to me, and I would get out of the relationship. Then the car started,” she says.
Mary turned him in to authorities, and says she left her house and family members behind and started a new life in the Panhandle. “My children were grown, so I started all over again,” she says.
But Mary still had thoughts of suicide. She went to counselors and psychiatrists. “When you are abused, you are thinking all the time that you did something wrong, and why can’t you do anything right? But what you really want is to find someone to love and be loved,” she says.
She knows how the abuser manipulates those feelings of inadequacy. A co-worker referred her to SIA. And although the man she left a few years ago is in jail, he has put out a hit list on a judge and deputies. Mary doesn’t know if she’s on the list. But she has a job and is getting her life together. Ironically, her job in criminal justice brings her into contact with offenders.
“In my line of work, I deal with them all the time,” she says. “No one around here had thought of a survivors’ support group for this before, and I was even told there wasn’t enough call for it. It’s not as common as domestic violence or other support groups. The SIA groups are in Dundalk and Columbia, Md., or Union, Pa.”
With Safe Haven, Mary wants to get the word out that there is help here in the Panhandle, and a place to go to share fears, triumphs, and experiences.
“There are (doutbtless) many high school kids who have been abused. I want them to know they have a place to go,” Mary says.
But the idea of coming to a support group for the sexually abused still has a stigma. “There haven’t been many coming, really,” Mary says.
Slater says it may take a little time for the group to grow. “The nature of the group is highly sensitive and perhaps people are afraid to walk in the door. It’s not as socially acceptable yet as AA,” she says.
Slater says meetings are every Tuesday night at the center on High Street, except when a holiday falls on a Tuesday. And it is a “drop-in” group, so visitors don’t have to come every week.
Slater also hopes they can expand. “We share information about agencies and issues like behavioral issues,” she says. “A lot of the children who come through the center have behavioral issues. We’re purchasing materials through Safe Haven’s budget because the support group is not funded. And we hope to have presentations in the future.”
Mary’s dream is a little grander. “I’d like to see a farmhouse or large house that is a real safe haven.”
—Staff writer Tricia Lynn Strader can be reached at
journal_reporter@juno.com.
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Any relation to Milton Balkany?
newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--studentattacked0121jan21,0,2177822.story
Newsday.com
NYPD investigates Jewish teen's claim of hate attack
January 21, 2008
NEW YORK
Police say they are investigating as a possible hate crime claims by a Jewish 16-year-old boy who said he was attacked by a group of black teenagers in Brooklyn.
Yeshiva student Samuel Balkany says he suffered a gash in the side of his head in the attack Friday night in the Crown Heights section. He says the group of black teens used anti-Semitic slurs as they kicked and punched him.
The 1991 riots in Crown Heights erupted when a Jewish man fatally struck 7-year-old Gavin Cato, who was black. In the ensuing chaos, a 29-year-old Hasidic scholar, Yankel Rosenbaum, was stabbed to death.
I swear I had nothing to do with threating or hurting this victim.
---------------------------------
Five thugs jump Yeshiva student
BY JESS WISLOSKI and TINA MOORE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Monday, January 21st 2008, 4:00 AM
Samuel Balkany, 16, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, needed staple to close gash after being attacked Friday night. Maisel/News
Samuel Balkany, 16, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, needed staple to close gash after being attacked Friday night.
A 16-year-old Yeshiva student who told cops he was beaten by five black teens shouting hate-filled slurs said Sunday the attack has left him terrified - fearful of even walking outside his Brooklyn home.
A medical staple juts from a deep gash in the side of Samuel Balkany's head, a grim reminder of the ambush in Crown Heights at 10.30 p.m. on Friday.
"They were saying, 'Oh, little Jew boy, you think you own this neighborhood,'" Samuel said. "'Who are you, f---ing Jew?'"
Samuel, a Lubavitch Hasidic, said he exchanged no words with the teens before the attack.
They were not trying to rob him, he said.
"I was just getting clobbered," added Samuel, who said doctors told him the attackers must have used a rock or some other sharp object.
"I was screaming for help but nobody was there."
After the beating, Samuel ran to his friend's house, where his pal's mother called 911.
"I have a lot of deep holes in my head, one deep gash," he said. "All over my body, I have black and blue marks."
Cops were investigating the beating as a possible hate crime.
"Now, last night, I walked to my friend's. And I didn't want to walk home," he said. "It's a difficult ordeal to live in a community and not be able to walk to your friend's house."
Samuel is hoping politicians will work harder to make things right.
"I think we've been a little bit abandoned," Samuel said.
"I hope one of the higher-ups at City Hall - [Police Commissioner] Ray Kelly, [Mayor] Bloomberg - can come to Crown Heights and show us solidarity in this community," Samuel said.
"It can't go on."
jwisloski@nydailynews.com
Obesity surgery seen as diabetes cure By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer -
Provided by: Associated Press
[AFP/File/Paul Ellis] A man and a woman wait at a tram stop in Manchester, northwest England. Cooking lessons will be made compulsory for English teenagers from the start of the next academic year as part of a battle to cut spiralling levels of obesity, the government announced Tuesday.(AFP/File/Paul Ellis)
CHICAGO - A new study gives the strongest evidence yet that obesity surgery can cure diabetes. Patients who had surgery to reduce the size of their stomachs were five times more likely to see their diabetes disappear over the next two years than were patients who had standard diabetes care, according to Australian researchers.
Most of the surgery patients were able to stop taking diabetes drugs and achieve normal blood tests.
"It's the best therapy for diabetes that we have today, and it's very low risk," said the study's lead author, Dr. John Dixon of Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia.
The patients had stomach band surgery, a procedure more common in Australia than in the United States, where gastric bypass surgery, or stomach stapling, predominates.
Gastric bypass is even more effective against diabetes, achieving remission in a matter of days or a month, said Dr. David Cummings, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal but was not involved in the study.
"We have traditionally considered diabetes to be a chronic, progressive disease," said Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle. "But these operations really do represent a realistic hope for curing most patients."
Diabetes experts who read the study said surgery should be considered for some obese patients, but more research is needed to see how long results last and which patients benefit most. Surgery risks should be weighed against diabetes drug side effects and the long-term risks of diabetes itself, they said.
Experts generally agree that weight-loss surgery would never be appropriate for diabetics who are not obese, and current federal guidelines restrict the surgery to obese people.
The diabetes benefits of weight-loss surgery were known, but the Australian study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association is the first of its kind to compare diabetes in patients randomly assigned to surgery or standard care. Scientists consider randomized studies to yield the highest-quality evidence.
The study involved 55 patients, so experts will be looking for results of larger experiments under way.
"Few studies really qualify as being a landmark study. This one is," said Dr. Philip Schauer, who was not involved in the Australian research but leads a Cleveland Clinic study that is recruiting 150 obese people with diabetes to compare two types of surgery and standard medical care.
"This opens an entirely new way of thinking about diabetes."
Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, and researchers are furiously pursuing reasons for the link as rates for both climb. What's known is that excess fat can cause the body's normal response to insulin to go haywire. Researchers are investigating insulin-regulating hormones released by fat and the role of fatty acids in the blood.
In the Australian study, all the patients were obese and had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the past two years. Their average age was 47. Half the patients underwent a type of surgery called laparoscopic gastric banding, where an adjustable silicone cuff is installed around the upper stomach, limiting how much a person can eat.
Both groups lost weight over two years; the surgery patients lost 46 pounds on average, while the standard-care patients lost an average of 3 pounds.
Blood tests showed diabetes remission in 22 of the 29 surgery patients after two years. In the standard-care group, only four of the 26 patients achieved that goal. The patients who lost the most weight were the most likely to eliminate their diabetes.
Both patient groups learned about low-fat, high-fiber diets and were encouraged to exercise. Both groups could meet with a health professional every six weeks for two years.
The death rate for stomach band surgery, which can cost $17,000 to $20,000, is about 1 in 1,000. There were only minor complications in the study. Stomach stapling has a 2 percent death rate and costs $20,000 to $30,000.
In the United States, surgeons perform more than 100,000 obesity surgeries each year.
The American Diabetes Association is interested in the findings. The group revises its recommendations each fall, taking new research into account.
"There is a growing body of evidence that bariatric surgery is an effective tool for managing diabetes," said Dr. John Buse of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, the association's president for medicine and science.
"It's just a question of how effective is it, for what spectrum of patients, over what period of time and at what cost? Not all those questions have been answered yet."
Medical devices used in the study were provided by the manufacturers, but the companies had no say over the study's design or its findings, Dixon said.
The title of "rabbi" should only apply to men. This is not about equal rights. This is about being an orthodox Jew. The hell with the reformysters and conservmysetrs!
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http://www.slate.com/id/2182351/
Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn't
Why an Orthodox institute's decision to ordain female rabbis isn't as revolutionary as it sounds.
By Samantha M. Shapiro
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at 1:06 PM ET
Last week, the Jerusalem Post ran an article announcing that for the first time, an Orthodox institution, the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, would begin ordaining women rabbis. Predictably, the decision was both lauded as a historical moment and instantly denounced as evidence that the institute's founder, Rabbi David Hartman, isn't really Orthodox, anyway—though he was ordained at the modern Orthodox flagship, Yeshiva University, and his institute runs two Orthodox schools in Jerusalem.
As someone who eagerly, perhaps a little tragically, scans the radar screen of orthodoxy looking for feminist blips, it's hard for me to know whether to be encouraged by or cynical about this most recent piece of news.
Giving learned female teachers the title of rabbi is a big deal—it may grant them better pay and more respect at the schools they work in. But as for whether this will herald the beginning of an era of Orthodox women rabbis, it's not so clear that the title will be recognized within the Orthodox world. In the Jerusalem Post article, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a prominent modern Orthodox rabbi, devalued the move at Hartman for a few reasons, including that the Hartman Institute also gives ordination to men and women from other streams of Judaism, such as Reform or Conservative. These days, many Orthodox leaders have supplanted the traditional invocations for achudus ha'am—unity of Jewish people—and ahavas yisrael—loving all the people Israel—with a rule of their own invention: Do not mix with, appear to be like, or in any way seem to support the vast swathes of Jews who identify as Reform, Conservative, or Reconstructionist. So, rabbinic ordination that happens in conjunction with other Jews is immediately suspect.
This isn't, strictly speaking, the first time an Orthodox woman has been ordained. Since Orthodox semicha, or ordination, can be granted by an individual rabbi instead of an institution, there have already been cases of women receiving semicha from Orthodox rabbis. Mimi Feigleson received semicha from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and Havivah Ner-David received semicha from a Jerusalem-based rabbi named Aryeh Strikovsky (who was also my teacher). But what does this title actually confer to women in the Orthodox world? Feigelson has a distinguished position—but at a Conservative seminary. The title rabbi does not mean that these women can go to any Orthodox synagogue and have an equal chance—or any chance—of being hired as a rabbi. In fact, at those synagogues, the title is likely to be held against them.
Although a woman taking the title of rabbi is frowned upon in most Orthodox circles, there has been a remarkable development in the Orthodox world in the last 25 years of women learning Talmud and other texts traditionally forbidden to them. At Nishmat in Jerusalem and the Drisha Institute in New York City (where I have taken classes), women study Torah seriously in a traditional yeshiva environment. The Drisha Scholar's Circle program is a three-year study course that closely follows the typical training Orthodox rabbis get, although it confers no formal title on graduates. Graduates of these programs have quietly acquired some aspects of rabbinic responsibility without the title. High-level students at Nishmat are trained to answer questions relating to the laws around marital sex, which is one of the roles a rabbi would traditionally have. However, Nishmat is careful to emphasize that the women are "halachic advisers" who regularly consult with and, it is implied, defer to rabbis.
Recently, graduates of Nishmat and Drisha, as well as the women's Talmud program at Yeshiva University, have been awarded a slew of nonrabbi rabbi jobs at Orthodox synagogues. Sara Hurwitz is the "madricha ruchanit," or religious mentor, at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale; Lynn Kaye is the "Director of Jewish Life and Learning" at Shearith Israel, also in New York. Rachel Kohl Finegold is the "programming and ritual director" at Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. And the Jewish Center in Manhattan recently hired Elana Stein Hain to serve as scholar in residence. These women are very learned and perform many of the tasks you might expect a young associate rabbi to do: giving sermons on Shabbat, answering questions about Jewish law, and, in Hurwitz's case, co-officiating at a wedding.
These strides are significant, but there's a question of the trajectory of these quasi-rabbinic roles. A man in any of these women's positions could expect after a few years of service to be promoted to main rabbi. It's fairly unlikely, however, that these women's careers will advance much further. Without an accepted orthodox rabbinic ordination, there is nowhere to be promoted to.
Dina Najman, a graduate of Nishmat and Drisha, did make it to the top position of a small, unaffiliated Orthodox prayer group called KOE (which I sometimes attend). Her title of rosh kehila (head of the congregation) grants her the same power and authority as her male predecessor—to make halachic decisions for the community, answer questions, teach Talmud, and give sermons. (Services at the congregation are led by members.) As soon as Najman was appointed, various Orthodox leaders denounced KOE as non-Orthodox—just as some commentators are now claiming about the Hartman Institute.
I met my fiance for the first time at a lunch where Dina Najman spoke, and when we got engaged, we decided to have her perform our wedding ceremony this March. We will be the first couple she marries. We didn't care about having someone with a title marry us—we just wanted someone with charisma, experience, and knowledge of Jewish law (and, of course, we were partial to her because she was the reason we met). But the state of Massachusetts, where our wedding will take place, did care about titles. The civil part of our ceremony requires an ordained member of the clergy—and we will be able to have Najman marry us only through a loophole that allows a "layperson" to perform one marriage a year in that state.
Initially, I felt great optimism about the existence of learned, devout Orthodox women in positions of power, and I felt their title was unimportant. But after learning from several of these women at various points in my life and fumbling with what to call them, or whether to stand for them as one does for a rabbi, my optimism has been tempered. It now seems a little sad to me that women devote their intellect, time, and passion to Torah and to the system of Jewish law without being formally recognized by that system, and often being seen as a threat to it.
Women who believe so passionately in the divinity of the Torah and its laws that they want to remain in the Orthodox community have to do a difficult dance. If they get rabbinic ordination through Hartman or other institutions, they are likely to move themselves outside of the norms of their communities and not really be able to influence them as a rabbi would—and if they don't, well, they're still not rabbis.
Samantha M. Shapiro is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.
the posek is here. green leaves should be checked thoroughly for termites and horse manurer. The beans and barly going into your cholent pot must first be immersed in tomato sauce. From this moment and on the mohel and the sandak must wear body protection to avoid circumcision accidents. Failure to comply with my commands will have me sending you a hazmana for motzei shem rah, rechilus, and loshan hrah!
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China plants go kosher with rabbis' help
Exporters seek part of U.S. market
Mark Drajem
Bloomberg News
Jan. 24, 2008
by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer
January 24, 2008
A local Orthodox rabbi has joined colleagues in warning about the high risk behaviors of some students who spend the so-called yeshiva week vacation in Florida.
The issue came to wide public attention last year after an opinion article in The New York Jewish Week described day-school kids indulging in drugs, alcohol, and sexual activity during their Miami vacation.
In advance of yeshiva week, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler of Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob and David in West Orange sent an e-mail to synagogue families urging them not to send their children to Florida unsupervised.
“In past years, there has been activity which has been unbecoming of Orthodox Jews, involving abuse of alcohol, drug use, and promiscuous behavior. At times, there have been very tragic results,” wrote Zwickler. “We are obligated as parents to educate our children and keep them safe even if they feel that our actions are not in their best interests. This is a matter of life and death on many levels.”
In an interview with NJ Jewish News, Zwickler said it is up to parents to set limits.
“I don’t want to sound negative,” Zwickler said. He said that the kids should enjoy “their hard-earned vacation.” But he worries. “The bottom line is that parents have to be vigilant. As much as kids want their space and want their parents to stay out, they are still kids and we have to do parenting,” he said.
He recalled a parent he encountered years ago from a different community who told him she didn’t worry about her son because the boy had a cell phone and she could call and check on him and find out where he was.
“Let’s not be naive,” he said, suggesting some skepticism and a reality check for parents.
One parent of yeshiva students, Lee Rosenblum, said he too has heard stories of inappropriate behavior during yeshiva week.
Rosenblum has children ages 14 and 16 at Bruriah High School for Girls in Elizabeth and children ages 12 and 17 at the Kushner academy and high school in Livingston, as well as a six-year-old who attends the Jewish Education Center in Elizabeth.
He told NJJN in an e-mail that one of his children said he has friends who have participated in the Miami yeshiva week scene but “haven’t gotten caught.” Rosenblum said he would not send his own children to Florida alone. He also suggested that there is a delicate balance to be struck between freedom and limits. “At ages 16 and 17, teenagers should be given some freedom,” he said, “but going out of state alone and unsupervised for an extended period of time (a week) is just not worth the risk. (As we have all seen and heard, teenagers can find trouble given enough freedom).”
The Orthodox Union has been encouraging Orthodox youth to consider alternatives to winter and spring breaks in traditional vacation spots. At Negiah.org, an OU-sponsored Web site promoting abstinence among teens, an entry warns about the risks of alcohol abuse and sexual activity. “Instead of risking your health with a trip ‘gone wild,’ why not look into a more wholesome, uplifting Spring Break activity?” says the Web posting. “Take a trip to Israel or help build houses for the homeless, for example. That’s a Spring Break you’re not likely to regret.”
Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski, an expert on drug and alcohol abuse, lectures students and parents on the risks of winter break, as he did earlier this month at an Orthodox synagogue in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Other Jewish groups have also been promoting “alternative winter breaks” to encourage social action, educational, and tzedaka projects. The National Council of Synagogue Youth, the Orthodox Union youth group, hosts various programs during winter break, including a national Yarchei Kallah, or week of Jewish learning, held in Stamford, Conn. The OU and Touro College are running a family mission to Israel Jan. 20-27, on which parents and their high school seniors can visit yeshivot and seminaries in Israel.
Zwickler suggested that parents vacation together with their children. When children have the opportunity to be with their friends, “that’s wonderful,” he said. “We still need to make sure they’re in a safe environment where they are not susceptible to falling into tragic and difficult circumstances. The concept of yeshiva week should not be spring break, where kids go to Florida to party. If it were, it would call into question the whole concept of yeshiva week.”
The Jewish Week article set off a round of soul-searching among Orthodox Jews who maintain Web logs, or blogs.
“Hey, I’m all for giving kids a little freedom — God knows that they need some, considering the constraints of attending 6 days a week of Yeshiva,” wrote the popular blogger “Orthomom.” “But never without proper supervision, never without proper attendance to their safety. Is it easy to strike the right balance? Of course not. But getting it wrong can have dire circumstances.”
Russia’s chief rabbi to participate in the World Economic Forum’s summit 2008 in Davos
Moscow, January 23, Interfax – Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar is to take part in the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, which starts on Wednesday in Davos, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has told Interfax.
The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the CIS Lev Levaev is also to participate in the forum.
It is the 6th Davos Economic Forum where the Russia’s Chief Rabbi participates. For the first time Lazar visited Davos as part of the Russian delegation in 2003. He was one of 37 world’s religious leaders and the only rabbi who participated in the WEF.
Last year Lazar was a member of the C-100 group, which discussed relations between the West and the East.
The global financial crisis is on the agenda this year. Global climate change and terrorism will be addressed at the first plenary meeting.
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