Monday, April 14, 2008

BREAKING: RABBI YEHUDA KOLKO PLEADS GUILTY





EXPOSEMOLESTERS CHIMES IN WITH SOME THOUGHTS:

This is a bittersweet victory:

The sweet:

1) A guilty plea opens the floodgates for civil lawsuits against Kolko/YTT/Margo

2) Victims don't have to go through the agony of testifying

3) KOLKO IS GUILTY - eat drek to all those who said kolko was innocent

4) Kolko victims should feel vindicated that this monster pleaded guilty

5) 555 ocean pkwy is going to get their a$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$es whooped

The bitter:

1) Kolko sentence way too lenient (no jail time)

2) Kolko will NOT have to register as a sex offender

3) Kolko has destroyed so many lives and deserved a harsher sentence

4) The District Attorney's office handled this with kid gloves and it reeks very badly (are they protecting the Jewish community?)

5) The silence of the Haredi community, and its adamant refusal to cooperate with law enforcement, has weakened the state's case.

You pathetic worms of Satan! How dare you stand by the blood of your neighbor! To the parents who are still sending their kids to YTT; and to the rest of Haredi Drek Society, have you no shame? You would rather not call the police if someone is raping a child. I know you putzes like a book. I know how irrational your mind thinks and doesn't think. You're all just punks and thugs who worship a Torah different than that of Moses.

Haredi Drek Society (HDS) is made up of a mix of rotten apples. They include but are not limited to the following: Agudah Fressers, enablers of abuse, abusers, molesters, penetrators, Weasels, and the silent ones (Iyov- remember what happened to him?)

There are many good Jews in the world. Haredi, MO, RE, CO, and Hassidic. However, a large percentage cases of child abuse are being discovered and then quickly covered up - primarily in the Haredi villages and streets. There are too many of such cases that exist. Why has the frum community not responded in protecting the victims? In a heartbeat they excuse and protect alleged Haredi sexual offenders. What unbelievable hypocrisy! Children have basic human rights like you and I, do they not?

Whew... these bigoted shysters from HDS can make any sane person go insane. Did G-D intend Judaism to be one sadistic cult of lies and deceit? Did he want a Jew to act like a robot all the time; or was he hoping that they could think for themselves once in a while when the need arises?

All that being said, the other factor in the equation - is the Brooklyn District Attorney angle. I'm still of a belief that the DA went way too easy on Kolko and I'd like to find out why? Did the Haredi weasels use their clout with Charlie Hynes for the upcoming elections? Let's not forget that this is the same Hynes who refused to make an extradition request from Israel to extradite Avrohm Mondrowitz who was indicted in 1984. That is until 23 years later when they finally did file the paperwork. When asked why so long? Hynes through his spokesperson lied and said that only now
(as opposed to many years ago) did Israel amend its laws to encompass male rape as an extraditable offense.

Final synopsis:

Until the corrupt Haredi leadership is replaced by new blood, and until putz drek society stops weaseling out of their moal and ethical obligations, the flock of sheep being led by this runaway train of bogus Jewish leadership will rear its ugly head over and over and over and over and over again - and I'm not sure we have seen the worst of it yet.


EM


===================================================================
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/04/breraking-rabbi.html#more

Rabbi Yehuda Kolko pleaded guilty today to two counts of…

…endangering the welfare of a child, according to a source familiar with the case.

Kolko received 3 years probation and mandatory counseling.

He will not serve any jail time and will not be listed on sex offender registries.

========================================================

Also go to the UOJ blog for more

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2008/04/breaking-news-yudi-kolko-rebbe-and.html

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you including us in the Haredi Drek Society?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agudath_Israel_of_America

Agudath Israel of America (or Agudas Yisroel of America or Agudat Yisrael of America or simply the Agudah [agudah is Hebrew for "gathering" or "union"]), is a Haredi Jewish communal organization in the United States loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel.

Functions

Agudah in the United States has been very successful in retaining its major Hasidic factions, with members from the Ger Hasidim in America working together within the organization and its non-Hasidic Lithuanian rosh yeshivas as partners. Agudah represents many members of the yeshiva world, sometimes known by the old label of mitnagdim, as well as sectors of Hasidic Judaism; all are commonly known as Haredim or "ultra-Orthodox" Jews representing Torah Judaism in North America. Not all Hasidic Jewish groups are affiliated with Agudath Israel. For example, the Hasidic group Satmar dislikes Agudah's relatively moderate stance towards the State of Israel.

It has ideological connections with both the Agudat Israel party and with Degel HaTorah (Hebrew, "Flag of Torah"), two Israeli Orthodox Jewish political parties that have representation in the Knesset (Israel's parliament). In Israel, Degel and Agudah are in a political coalition called United Torah Judaism (UTJ).

AIA is also a part of the World Agudath Israel organization, which convenes international conferences and religious conclaves.

[edit] History

The original Agudath Israel movement was established in Europe in 1912 by some of the most famous Orthodox rabbis of the time, including the Chafetz Chaim,Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski of Vilna, Rabbi Reuven Grozovsky, and Rabbi Meir Shapiro. It grew during the 1920s and 1930s to be the political, communal, and cultural voice of those Orthodox Jews who were not part of Zionism's Orthodox Jewish Mizrachi party. See more information at World Agudath Israel.

Rabbi Eliezer Silver, an Eastern European-trained rabbi, established the first office of Agudath Israel in America during the 1930s, organizing its first conference in 1939. After the Holocaust, some prominent rabbis made their home in America who established a moetzes ("[supreme] council") and the movement began to grow rapidly with the rise of the yeshiva-based and Hasidic Orthodox communities.

Mike Tress lead the expansion of the movement during the early 1900s until his death during the mid-1960s as its chief lay leader. His cousin Rabbi Moshe Sherer then took control. He was succeeded by Rabbi Shmuel Bloom after his death in the 90s.

In 2007, it was among over 530 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $30 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.[1] Since 2002, the Carnegie Corporation has donated more than $115 million.[2]

[edit] Structure

Agudah's policies and leadership are directed by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah : Council of Torah Sages, comprised primarily of Rosh yeshivas (the chief spiritual and scholarly authority in a yeshiva) and Hasidic rebbes (who head Hasidic dynasties and organizations). The Moetzes sets all major policies and guides the organization according to its precepts of Daat Torah ("Torah knowledge/direction")

The organization has a lay staff, many of whom are also ordained rabbis, but not of a caliber comparable to the rosh yeshivas and rebbes. After the passing of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, its last significant "lay" leader, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow who is also the Novominsker rebbe and a member of the Moetzet, was appointed as the Rosh Agudat Yisrael ("Head of Agudath Israel"). The past Noviminsker Rebbe, Rabbi Nochum Perlow was considered a key figure in the Agudah. The present official head is now his son, also known as the Noviminsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow who works closely with his fellow leaders on the Moetzet.

The staff includes Rabbi Shmuel Bloom as the Executive Vice President, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel as the Executive Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin as the Chief Financial Officer.

There are AIA-affiliated synagogues across the United States and in Canada.

[edit] Positions

The AIA takes sides on many political, religious, and social issues, primarily guided by its Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah. It uses these stances to advise its members, to lobby politicians, and to file amicus briefs. See below, under "Activities".

In 1956 for example, the moetzes issued a written ruling forbidding Orthodox rabbis to join with any Reform or Conservative rabbis in rabbinical communal professional organizations that then united the various branches of America's Jews, such as the Synagogue Council of America. This position was not endorsed by the Modern Orthodox. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik of Yeshiva University had initially aligned himself with Agudah but later established his independent views on these matters and a host of other issues, such as attitudes towards college education and attitudes towards the secular-led Israeli governments. Rabbi Soloveitchik felt it important to nurture the modern Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). However, at times, a few of the more traditionalist rabbis at Yeshiva University aligned themselves with Agudah's positions.

[edit] Activities

[edit] Political activity

With its head office in Manhattan and the bulk of its members living in the New York-New Jersey area, the Agudah ensures that it monitors and intercedes on behalf of causes important to it in the politics of New York City, its five boroughs, and in the state government of New York State.

With the growth of Orthodox Judaism throughout the country, AIA also has active branches in Chicago, Ohio, Maryland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Texas, Florida and California where they lobby the judicial and legislative branches of these state, and local governments on any issue it deems important morally or religiously or important to its constituency. Agudath Israel's National Director of Government Affairs is Rabbi Yehiel Mark Kalish who manages the state government effort under Zwiebel. It also has a representative at the United Nations and in Washington DC.

AIA also files amicus briefs in cases at all levels of the judiciary, often signing on as one of many organization signatories to a brief authored by Nat Lewin or COLPA.

[edit] Social services

Agudah maintains a network of summer youth camps attended by several thousand children. It has a number of social service branches that cater to the elderly, poor, or disabled. It has a job training program called COPE, a job placement division, and a housing program. The Agudah is also responsible for the funding of many other national institutions and projects, including the Bais Yaakov girls' school system, the National Siyum Mishnayos, the national Daf Yomi Commission, and countless others. In addition, there are hundreds of local "Agudah" synagogues scattered in communities throughout the country, all of which are affiliated with AIA.

[edit] Communications

Anonymous said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/nyregion/16molest.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I believe you are calling me a lier. I maintain that until Jan 2007, I have no recollection of a treaty with Israel in place to extradite Mr. Mondrowitz. I know what your next question to me is. Why didn't we push for an extradition anyway? why did we let it sit for 23 years? Do we have a conscience? Had it been one of our children who Mondrowitz raped, would we push off a request to the Israeli authorities to extradite an indicted child molester for over two long decades?

These are all legitimate questions and right now we have no answers for you.
---

November 16, 2007
22 Years Later, a Child Abuse Suspect’s Extradition Is Sought
By TINA KELLEY

Prosecutors in Brooklyn said yesterday they were pursuing the extradition of a man who fled to Israel more than 20 years ago after being accused of molesting young boys.

The man, Avrohom Mondrowitz, 59, was indicted in 1985 on eight counts of child abuse and five counts of sodomy involving four boys ages 9 to 15. He left for Israel before he could be arrested.

Michael Lesher, a lawyer for six other men who said they had been molested by Mr. Mondrowitz, said that Mr. Mondrowitz was believed to have sexually assaulted boys while posing as an educator or psychological counselor in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said that Mr. Hynes’s office had asked the State Department to extradite Mr. Mondrowitz.

Mr. Hynes’s predecessor, Elizabeth Holtzman, requested Mr. Mondrowitz’s extradition in 1985, but at the time the offenses did not qualify as grounds for extradition under Israeli law, according to a memo written by federal officials and obtained by Mr. Lesher. Mr. Schmetterer said that in January a new extradition treaty went into effect that allowed the request.

A State Department spokeswoman referred questions about the status of the request to the Justice Department. A spokeswoman there, Jaclyn Lesch, said the department did not comment on extradition matters.

Messages left for Mr. Mondrowitz on his cellphone and at his home in Israel were not immediately returned.

Amy Neustein, an author who is editing a book on rabbis and pedophilia, who has researched Mr. Mondrowitz’s case, said that Mr. Mondrowitz claimed to have a degree in psychology from a New York university but that the university stated in writing that he had never been a student there. She said that he also posed as a rabbi, but that his credentials were from a nonexistent rabbinical school.

Mr. Lesher said that the case was particularly troubling because Mr. Mondrowitz belonged to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect whose members were reluctant to report his offenses to secular authorities.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, who operates the Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse-Free Environment, a nonprofit organization in New York, said, “Social pressure in the community had a real stifling effect, a silencing effect, not to cooperate with the investigation.” He said that such pressure allowed Mr. Mondrowitz “to continue his activities for a while and escape the jurisdiction.”

In a statement provided by Mr. Lesher, a man who said he had been one of Mr. Mondrowitz’s victims said: “It’s now over 20 years and nothing has been done! I know the pain and torture that I go through on a daily basis.”

The man, whose name Mr. Lesher did not release to protect his privacy, added, “Knowing that this monster is still out there among children just adds insult to injury.”

Mr. Lesher said he hoped that the case against Mr. Mondrowitz, if resolved, could help prevent future molestations.

“I want it to be an example of what it looks like when you do try to sweep something under the rug, and 23 years later it comes back from the dead,” he said. He added, “Had we looked at this kind of case differently to begin with, and said, ‘Let’s go to the police and stop this man as soon as we can,’ how many of these men wouldn’t be victims at all?”

Anonymous said...

Excerpts from past Forward article (July, 2006):
Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz was indicted in 1984 on four counts of sodomy and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree after years as a school counselor in the Brooklyn Orthodox community. Three of Mondrowitz's alleged victims, who had not been aware of the original investigation.

The district attorney preceding Hynes had pushed for Mondrowitz's extradition from Israel in the 1980s, but Hynes dropped the effort after he was elected in 1989, according to recently released government documents. The new set of victims to come forward say they are pained by Mondrowitz's continuing freedom, and the lack of effort by Hynes and the Orthodox community in pursuing the suspected abuser.

Mondrowitz has been a teacher at the Jerusalem College of Engineering, posting his lectures and syllabi online.

A spokesman for Hynes, Jerry Schmetterer, said the Brooklyn district attorney's office is ready to arrest Mondrowitz if he ever returns to the United States. But Schmetterer says the D.A.'s office is hamstrung by Israeli law, which in the 1980s did not classify Mondrowitz's alleged crime ” sodomy ” as rape. For extradition to go forward, the crime generally must be punishable in both countries. In fact, the Israeli rape law was changed in 1988 to include sodomy, but Schmetterer said the extradition treaty cannot be used retroactively.

Our position is that he cannot be extradited; he could not be extradited then, and he cannot be now, Schmetterer said.

That line of legal reasoning was explicitly rejected by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, soon after the Israeli law was changed. In a cable to the State Department, the embassy said that they had talked with officials in the Israeli Justice Ministry and determined that because Mondrowitz could eventually be charged under American rather than Israeli law, the retroactivity should not be an issue. The new law presents us, we believe, with an opportunity to reopen the extradition case of Avrohom Mondrowitz, the embassy said.

I don't think the D.A. is being aggressive enough, said Douglas McNabb, who specializes in international extradition at a Washington, D.C., law firm. If I were a victim I would be very upset that the D.A.'s office is not pursuing this matter.

The extradition was a clear priority for Hynes's predecessor, Elizabeth Holtzman. Her office pushed the State Department on the matter. At one point the Israeli government signed a deportation order, but the situation ended in a stand off, according to a State Department memo. When Hynes took office, and his assistants were asked if they wanted to pursue the case, one of those assistants informed the State Department that they would not be pursuing the case any further at this time, according to another memo.

Schmetterer said that the Brooklyn D.A.'s office dropped the issue after knowing for years that it could not pursue Mondrowitz.

Anti-abuse activists in the Orthodox community say Hynes's silence may have been due to pressure from the Orthodox community, which they claim has historically been reluctant to see alleged sex offenders prosecuted.

One member of Hynes's Jewish council, Rabbi Herbert Bomzer, said he does not remember Mondrowitz's extradition being discussed by the council. Bomzer did say that he knew Mondrowitz when the younger man was a counselor at Yeshiva University's high school, and that Mondrowitz had been loved by the students.

When asked if he would now support extradition proceedings, Bomzer, president of the rabbinical board of Flatbush, said: If he has managed to get to Israel and is protected by the law there then leave it alone.

On of the alleged victim of Mondrowitz, said that from the beginning it had been clear that many members of the Orthodox community wanted him to let the case go. He said he had been molested when his father sent him to spend a week with Mondrowitz at a difficult moment in Weiss's adolescence. During that week, Mondrowitz's family was in the Catskills and, Weiss claimed, each night he was coaxed into bed by Mondrowitz.

What's difficult to think about is that he was so smooth ” so manipulative, Weiss said. It was as if it was all my choice.

The survivor said that he blocked the experience out for years, but a run-in with Mondrowitz during high school conjured up the memories and led to a breakdown. He first told his parents, but they told him he must be mistaken. He's a frum man, Weiss remembers his parents saying, using a Yiddish word meaning religiously observant.

A few years later, a principal at the yeshiva that Mondrowitz had attended summond Weiss ” but after giving over the details, Weiss said, nothing happened.

The incident faded into the background for many years, but in 2001, The Survivor was drawn out by what was billed as a night for healing at a New York school for Orthodox boys. The Survivor showed up with high hopes, but he says that the event turned into a series of speeches by rabbis who spoke in allegorical terms, rather than dealing with the victims in the room.

The Survivor decided to go outside the Orthodox community when he read an article in New York Magazine last month, detailing the case of Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a teacher at an Orthodox boys school in Flatbush who was sued by alleged former victims. Kolko has not yet filed opposition papers.

The second alleged Mondrowitz victim, who has already gone to Hynes and who wishes to remain anonymous also said it was the Kolko article that prompted him to step forward. For both, the hope is that Mondrowitz will be brought to justice and made an example of, in the words of the second accuser.

I want to show that abusers can't get away with it, that we as a community will no longer stand for the routine cover-ups of abuse, and to try to put some finality to that chapter of my life, he said.

It is likely that the new complaints would not be included in the counts, if Mondrowitz is arrested, due to the statute of limitations. But the men both say they hope their voices will increase the pressure on Hynes.

Anonymous said...

King County's (Brooklyn) District Attorney Charles Hynes writes for the Jewish Press. His roots are with the ultra-orthodox communities; and I don't think he wants to ruffle any feathers. He needs them. They need him. Good deal. They Shake hands.

Anonymous said...

You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Your silence and refusal to cooperate has earned you a spot on the latest "Final Destination" movie sequel. Watch the movie(s) and you'll know what the devil has in store for you.

Anonymous said...

Fart... Fart... I hope you'll excuse me. I think the Chicken Cordon Bleu I ate at La Marais' had too much cheese to go along with that ham.

Anonymous said...

I think Belsky should next time order either the Croque Monsieur (A classic French ham sandwich accented with cream sauce and Swiss, baked to a golden brow) or the Shrimp Crêpe Florentine (Shrimp, tomatoes and spinach mixed with pesto* cream sauce in a light crêpe. Served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans almondine. Available a la carte)

They are both known to be easy on the intestines (but harsh on the calories hehehe..)

Anonymous said...

April 15, 2008

Scarsdale rabbi's death leaves void

Jonathan Bandler and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
The Journal News

NEW ROCHELLE - Howard Bryks wanted to attend the funeral of Jacob and Deborah Rubenstein on Sunday. But he was sitting shiva after his own mother died, and it is traditional not to leave home during the mourning period. The man he would have turned to for guidance was Jacob Rubenstein, his spiritual leader at the Young Israel of Scarsdale for a quarter-century.

"He didn't have his rabbi to ask," said his wife, Chanie.

That was just one of the simpler ways congregants felt profound loss since learning Saturday morning that the Rubensteins had perished when a fire engulfed their home at 43 Baraud Road in New Rochelle.

"They were just a fantastic couple, good friends," said Robert Rimberg, who joined the congregation 15 years ago. "He really acted the way a Jew is supposed to and was a role model for all those who knew him."

Last night, the community was to begin its healing process with a lecture from Norman Blumenthal, director of bereavement and crisis-intervention services for the organization Chai Lifeline. There was also advice planned for parents on how to help their children cope with the deaths.

Shiva is being observed through Friday afternoon at the Teaneck, N.J., home of Daniel Rubenstein, one of the couple's four grown children.

New Rochelle fire officials said that the blaze was still under investigation, but it appears to have been sparked by a lightning strike that hit the split-level home about 1:40 a.m. Saturday.

Fire Commissioner Ray Kiernan said the flames festered undetected in the attic for nearly two hours, while the Rubensteins slept unknowingly underneath.

"The fire was all in the top over the living quarters, and then dropped in on top of them," Kiernan said. "They were just in an atmosphere that was just totally super-heated gas. They didn't have a chance to survive."

It wasn't until about 3:30 a.m. that a neighbor noticed the flames and dialed 911. By then, Kiernan said three-quarters of the roof was gone, and Jacob and Deborah Rubenstein lay dead inside - the 58-year-old rabbi in the bedroom and his wife in an entrance hallway, possibly after a futile attempt to get to safety.

Kiernan said the home did not have a hard-wired fire alarm system and was so heavily damaged that fire inspectors have been unable to determine if there had been smoke detectors involved.

"Even if they had smoke detectors downstairs, the smoke wouldn't come down necessarily right away," he said. "It would all be over the top of the smoke detectors. So that's why getting something in your attic is a good idea."

Kiernan said the tragedy should serve as a lesson to other homeowners, who should consider wiring attics with fire alarms or at least installing smoke detectors to provide an early alert.

He said it was unknown if the home had a lightning rod, but he cautioned that that alone might not be enough protection - as when six homes were struck by lightning in one day on July 21, 2006.

"Lightning is crazy," Kiernan said. "I've seen it hit a tree in the backyard and then come into the house sideways. I don't know if anything is really fool-proof."

The sudden tragedy left a congregation struggling to understand how the pair could die in such a fashion, although one longtime friend said in his eulogy that they had to die together because they could not live life without each other.

The Rubensteins met while in college in Jerusalem in the late 1960s, around the time five families began the Young Israel of Scarsdale out of the same Baraud Road home the couple would eventually move into and raise a family. After marrying, they settled in the Northeast as he led congregations in Providence, R.I., and Milford, Mass., before taking the Young Israel pulpit nearly 25 years ago.

Both Rubensteins touched many lives beyond the synagogue's New Rochelle and Scarsdale neighborhoods. He was a past president of the Westchester Board of Rabbis and the Rabbinical Council of America, the country's largest association of Orthodox rabbis.

Deborah Rubenstein, 59, was a former school principal in Queens and in recent years taught Hebrew school at Temple Israel in New Rochelle and Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown.

"The rabbi was always there for us and our needs, every day involved in doing things for us," Chanie Bryks said. "It had to take away from his family that they shared him with us. And that was her strength. Above everything else that she did, she was there for her family."

Rimberg said there was no mystery why the synagogue has grown to 400 families since its modest beginning - it was the rabbi. "That's what people were attracted to," he said.

He said Rubenstein was a great friend you looked forward to seeing two or three times a week, whether at Saturday prayer services or the Judaic studies classes he taught on weekdays. Their bond was solidified during the annual trips to Israel the rabbi led for men in the congregation. "He showed us what Israel was about, what Israel meant," Rimberg said.

Each year at Purim, when Jews traditionally give gifts of food to their friends, the Rubensteins always had a theme for their baskets - often including delicacies from a particular region and a history of Jewish life in those places.

Bryks said she wondered this year what the couple would come up with, figuring that in 25 years they probably covered all the regions of the world. She laughed when she got her gift - the couple had picked Dunkin' Donuts.

"I told him he was so creative - he said: 'It's all Debbie," Bryks said.

The rabbi shined at all moments, she said - holiday sermons, bar and bat mitzvahs, funerals. Bryks said she once told him that she wanted him to deliver her eulogy because he always captured the essence of a person.

"I can't believe he's gone before that," she said.

Anonymous said...

This guy got a harsher sentence than me. He must also register as a sex offender. I feel really good about my lenient sentence.
---------------------------------

Child Porn Rabbi Must Register as Sex Offender

Tuesday , April 15, 2008

AP

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. —
A former West Haven, Conn., rabbi has been given a suspended five year prison sentence for possessing child pornography.

Fifty-three-year-old Edward Schlaeger of Trumbull is also on probation and has been ordered to register as a sex offender.

Before his sentencing Schlaeger told the judge he has great remorse and great sadness and has accepted responsibility for his actions.

Schlaeger had been the rabbi of Congregation Sinai in West Haven. He was also a clinical social worker for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The prosecutor says Schlaeger's estranged wife discovered two compact discs with child porn images while cleaning out their home in 2005.

exposemolesters said...

Where is that Rav that is related to kolko and said he was innocent? You know who you are. The same one who refused to cooperate in bringing down another child molester, Yehuda Nussbaum. What's the matter now. You're going to say kolko pleaded guilty to avoid a chilul hashem? It wasn't done leshem shomayim. Enablers such as yourself help feed the fuel that child molesters thrives on. Shame on you!

Anonymous said...

I still think Yudi Kolko was framed. The Non-Haredim are just looking to make us all look bad.

Anonymous said...

I still maintain that there is a 10% cheskas kashrus that we owe to Rabbi Kolko. He probably just pleaded guilty to avoid a bigger chilul hashem.

Anonymous said...

Orthodox Union
www.ou.org
Our Way Welcomes Jewish Deaf to Palm Harbor for OU Shabbaton, May 16-17

OUR WAY WELCOMES JEWISH DEAF TO PALM HARBOR FOR OU SHABBATON, MAY 16-17

Young Israel/ Chabad of Pinellas County
3696 Fisher Rd.
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
May 16-17, 2008

This spring season, the Orthodox Union's Our Way program will bring its popular and meaningful Shabbaton program for Jewish deaf and their families to Palm Harbor (near Tampa), May 16-17. The Shabbaton is designed to meet the specific needs of the deaf and hearing impaired and to provide them with a one-of-a-kind Sabbath experience. It will be held at Young Israel/Chabad of Pinellas County, 3696 Fisher Rd.

Highlights of the Shabbaton include the presence of a Deaf Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi David Kastor. Rabbi Kastor graduated from Gallaudet University with a BA in Computer Science and received his semicha (rabbinical ordination) from Ner Israel in Baltimore. While in Maryland, he started the Ahavas Israel School of the Deaf, located in Frederick, and taught there for two years. Rabbi Kastor has worked for Our Way as Regional Representative of Maryland for more than 18 years. He is married to an Israeli deaf woman, Tchia.

The Shabbaton Host is Daniel Goldberg, who is deaf and is a fluent American Sign Language signer, and who was active in Our Way New England for four years. “I am excited to see a deaf Shabbaton coming to the Tampa area, where there have not been interpreted temple services or events in the past 15 years that I have lived there. I welcome all Jewish deaf to come and share in this special event,” he said.

Along with special programming, the Our Way Shabbaton will provide three delicious meals and snacks; an interpreted synagogue service; a beginner’s prayer service; child care; and an opportunity to join together with others from the deaf community to live and learn about Judaism.

To attend, send an application and check for $35 by May 12 to Our Way Shabbaton, c/o Daniel Goldberg, P.O. Box 270997, Tampa, FL 33688.
For more information contact Mr. Goldberg by TTY relay telephone at 813-960-7978 or video phone at 813-249-1659 or by email at djgpatriots05@verizon.net or Sharon Siegel by voice phone at 727-729-5838.

For information on Our Way national programs, contact Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, Director of Our Way, at 212-613-8234 or email ourway@ou.org.

Anonymous said...

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61565

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
WorldNetDaily
Rabbi reveals video of debate that 'didn't happen'
Says 'man as honorable as Dawkins will correct the error'
Posted: April 14, 2008
10:27 pm Eastern

WorldNetDaily


Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

There are a wide range of issues on which the faithful and atheists have difficulty finding common ground, and to that now can be added reality.

That's after Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the host of the daily "The Rabbi Shmuley Show" on XM Satellite Radio and author of 19 books, posted on his website an excerpt of a debate with atheist Richard Dawkins, after Dawkins announced he never had debated Rabbi Shmuley.

On his website Rabbi Schmuley posted a response to Dawkins' comment.

"A friend recently called my attention to the official website of Richard Dawkins, the world's most famous atheist, where, as a way of assailing me, he denied having ever debated me," he wrote.

Dawkins' actual comment on his website followed a question about his debates with Boteach....

Anonymous said...

By Jessica Fargen | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Around the Nation
Photo
Photo by AP

On the heels of Pope Benedict XVI’s bold statements this morning that he’s “ashamed” of the clergy sex abuse crisis and wants to bar pedophile priests, Boston victims and Catholic critics are speaking out and demanding more action from the visiting pontiff.

“There has to be more substance to what’s he’s saying,” said Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston attorney who represented dozens of clergy sex abuse victims who sued the Boston Archdiocese. “He actually has to take steps. He has to let victims and the public know what those steps are.

“The words are fine, but we need action.’‘

Garabedian is holding a press conference today with six clergy abuse victims and their families, which was planned before Bene dict made his comments. Prior to his arrival in Washington D.C. today, Benedict told reporters aboard the papal airplane that he was “deeply ashamed” of the U.S. sex abuse scandal and will work to make sure pedophiles don’t become priests.

“We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry,” Benedict said, speaking in English. “It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”

Ray Flynn, the former Boston mayor and former Ambassador to the Vatican, said Benedict has given the sex abuse crisis his “highest priority” on this visit by making it the subject of his first public comments.

“I don’t think he could be stronger,” said Flynn, speaking from Washington D.C. where he’ll meet with the Holy Father tomorrow. “I don’t think he could be more direct.”

Marianne Duddy-Burke, president of DignityUSA, a Boston-based national group that advocates for gay, lesbian and transgendered Catholics, said Benedict didn’t go far enough.

“I’m furious,” said Duddy-Burke, whose group plans to demonstrate along Benedict’s motorcade route tomorrow in Washington D.C. “He’s not addressing the main issue in this scandal, which is that bishops repeatedly gave known abusers access to other innocent children and unknowing families.”

Benedict answered questions that were submitted in advance by reporters aboard a special Alitalia airliner as he was flying from Rome to Washington D.C. to begin his first papal pilgrimage to the United States, the Associated Press reported.

“It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” Benedict said. “It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission . . . to these children.”

Benedict’s pilgrimage was the first U.S. trip by a pope since the pedophile priest scandal was exposed in U.S. dioceses in the early 2000s spawning lawsuits costing dioceses around the country hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view.bg?articleid=1087167

Anonymous said...

April 15, 2008

Sex-abuse bill is signed into law

Offenders to face tougher penalties

By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- It had been six years since John Scott filed a lawsuit over the sexual abuse he suffered as a child and three years since the priest who abused him pleaded guilty.

So Scott, of Louisville, took quiet satisfaction yesterday when Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law a measure toughening the penalties for sexual abusers and those who fail to report them, the first legal reform in the state following the sex-abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.

"I'm really glad," said Scott, who for the past several legislative sessions has advocated for stricter criminal laws on sexual abuse. "The kids and parents of Kentucky should be proud. They wanted this for a long time, and it's here."

In a signing ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Beshear said: "Over the last decade, we have all been outraged and horrified by the revelation of wretched and sometimes avoidable sexual crimes by those in positions of power in religious and education institutions.

"Today we hear and answer the voices of the victims of those crimes," Beshear said.

House Bill 211 -- which passed both houses without dissent earlier this year -- takes effect 90 days from the end of the legislative session, scheduled for today.

Since 2003, Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders in Kentucky have agreed to pay a total of more than $100 million to more than 500 people in lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests and others associated with the church.

The cases revealed multiple instances in which bishops kept known abusers in ministry without warning parishioners.

"Perhaps no institution has desecrated its sacred trust of our youth more than the Catholic Church in America during the last 70 years," the Rev. Joseph Fowler, a retired priest in the Archdiocese of Louisville, said during the ceremony.

He applauded the victims and activists in the group Voice of the Faithful for promoting the legislation.

"Today is a day of joy for a lot of people who have put a lot of work into this," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville.

Still, abuse survivor Tom Weiter, also of Louisville, said advocates have more work to do to keep perpetrators in prison longer.

Like Scott, Weiter was abused by the Rev. Edwin Scherzer, who is serving house arrest for abusing them and two other boys in the 1950s and 1960s.

Weiter said that when perpetrators are released, he believes the rate of new offenses is so high "they need to be under some kind of supervision for the rest of their lives."

The bill makes virtually all types of sexual offenses against minors felonies, which means they carry tougher penalties and can be legally prosecuted whenever the victim comes forward. Advocates say it often takes victims many years to do so.

The bill signed yesterday:

Makes it a felony for anyone older than age 21 to subject a minor younger than 16 to sexual contact or engage in masturbation in the minor's presence.

Makes it a felony for a person in "a position of authority or special trust" to engage in such acts with anyone younger than 18. Such persons could include teachers, clergy, coaches, adult relatives and other such categories.

Establishes progressively steeper penalties for any citizen who fails to report the abuse or neglect of a minor. The first offense could bring a sentence of up to 89 days of incarceration, the second up to 12 months and any subsequent offenses up to five years.

Lengthens the statute of limitations for prosecuting the few remaining sexual-abuse crimes that remain misdemeanors, those involving alleged perpetrators younger than 21. The new law allows victims to bring charges within five years of turning 18, rather than one year.

Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.

Anonymous said...

Baruch Lanner spent time in jail and Yudi kolko will not. This doesn't sit well with me. I'm happy about the guilty plea, however he is getting a very sweet deal. Perhaps Kolko got off easy in a deal to spill the beans on Marguiles & Co.

Anonymous said...

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2008/04/breaking-news-yudi-kolko-rebbe-and.html

Analysis said...

1. Kolko acknowledged guilt.

2. A plea deal always involves a reduction in the charges and penalty.

3. Kolko is not accused of sodomy or rape. He is a "fondler."

4. Only two of the six victims who have filed cases thus far fell within the statute of limitations for criminal charges.

5. If any of Kolko's many victims who have not yet filed cases now step forward, Kolko will be indicted and arrested again.

This saga has just begun and this plea is a victory for the good guys.

Anonymous said...

We are not ashamed of our pedophile and abusive Rabbis. In fact, we encourage a hands on approach in being mechanech your child.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/us/nationalspecial2/16pope.html?ref=us

The New York Times
April 16, 2008
The Pope's Visit
Pope, in U.S., Is ‘Ashamed’ of Pedophile Priests
By IAN FISHER and LAURIE GOODSTEIN

WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI chose to address bluntly the sex scandal that has torn at the church here even before he landed Tuesday on his first official visit to the United States, saying he was “deeply ashamed” by the actions of pedophile priests.

His comments aboard his plane, in answer to a written question submitted by a reporter and selected by the Vatican, appeared to soothe many Catholics but left others demanding more action than words.

“It’s difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children,” the pope said, adding that the church would work to exclude pedophiles from the priesthood.

“It is more important to have good priests than to have many priests,” he said.

The words were his strongest ever on the issue, one he clearly wanted to emphasize as he arrived on a six-day visit to Washington and New York. His comments were in response to the first of four questions he answered on the plane — chosen from 20 the press corps had submitted in advance.

It was unclear whether these would be the last words from Benedict on the issue, which ruptured the faith between parishioners and priests and has cost the church some $2 billion, or whether it was an opening signal of both reconciliation and more to come. Church officials have said they expected the pope to address the scandal more than once during his visit, and there is speculation that he may even meet with some victims.

But victims’ advocates clearly were not satisfied by the comments.

“He talks about feeling shame for the scandal but it’s a far cry from the shame that victims have had to live with our entire lives,” said Becky Ianni, 50, who said she was abused by her parish priest in Alexandria, Va., from age 9 to 11.

She was speaking at a vigil outside St. Dominic Church in Washington when the pope’s plane landed just before 4 p.m. Those at the vigil held a long vinyl banner with photographs of more than 60 children abused by priests. They explained that the 15 or so faces that were framed with black boxes were those of victims who had committed suicide.

“We don’t really need his sense of shame,” Ms. Ianni said. “We need him to take firm actions to correct the situation.”

The pope might actually be signaling that he was close to authorizing a change in canon law that would explicitly bar sexual abusers from the priesthood, said Nicholas P. Cafardi, dean emeritus of Duquesne Law School. A civil and canon lawyer, Mr. Cafardi was an original member of the National Review Board appointed by the American bishops at the height of the abuse scandal, in 2002.

There is a section in the church’s Code of Canon law that specifies that a man cannot be ordained a priest, or cannot remain a priest, if he has committed certain acts, like homicide, self-mutilation, attempted suicide or procuring an abortion, said Mr. Cafardi, the author of “Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops’ Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children” (Paulist Press, 2008).

“It’s time to add to that list pedophilia and sexual abuse of children,” Mr. Cafardi said. “I’m reading Benedict’s remarks as heading toward a change in the law of the universal church, so that this can be implemented throughout the Catholic world.”

He said it was unlikely that the pope would use a papal visit to announce a change in canon law. But, he added: “He’s raised expectations now, and he’s not an unkind person. You don’t raise expectations to bash them.”

Mathew N. Schmalz, an associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit institution in Worcester, Mass., said Benedict’s remarks on the plane were significant because they represented a change in tone.

“He was reputed, at least during the tenure of John Paul II, to be uncomfortable with the church apologizing for the sins of its past,” Professor Schmalz said. “But quite clearly, here he is offering if not a mea culpa, then a sincere statement of regret for what happened, and taking responsibility for the church’s role.”

The timing of the pope’s remarks is also important, Professor Schmalz said.

“He’s putting it out there right away, and so he is setting the tone,” he said. “He recognizes there is no way for him to avoid this issue, so he’s addressing it.”

Benedict is the third pope to travel to the United States. Pope Paul VI visited once, in 1965; John Paul II made seven trips to the United States.

President Bush traveled to Andrews Air Force Base to meet Benedict, whose visit is clearly an event of some pomp and great celebration for many of America’s 64 million Catholics.

The white-haired pope, dressed in his traditional white vestments and red shoes, stepped off the Alitalia Boeing 777 and greeted a crowd with a two-handed salute. Because of the wind, he had taken off his zucchetto, his white skullcap, and carried it until he reached the red carpet, where President Bush, his wife, Laura, and daughter Jenna were waiting.

Several hundred spectators waved yellow and white Vatican pennants and sang “Happy Birthday” to Benedict, a native of Germany who turns 81 on Wednesday.

Neither the pope nor the president made any public comments, and the pope retired immediately to the residence of the nuncio, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States.

The official meeting between the pope and the president is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the White House. Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, told reporters here that the president and pope would discuss human rights, fighting extremism in the Muslim world, Lebanon and hunger in Africa.

On the plane, the pope said he also planned to raise the issue of immigration, contentious in America, but on which the Vatican has clear opinions. Among his concerns, he said, is the “grave problem of separation of families.”

“This really is dangerous to the fabric — social, moral, human — of these countries,” he said, adding that where it was possible to reunite families, it should be done.

In the longer-term, the pope said, the solution is creating enough development in poor countries “so there would be no need to immigrate because there would be sufficient jobs.”

“On this point I will also speak with the president because, above all, the United States must help countries to develop themselves in the interests of everyone, not only of these countries but of the world and even the United States,” he said.

The Vatican did not signal that Iraq — an issue on which the Vatican and the Bush administration have disagreed — would be part of the agenda.

Ms. Perino said she did not expect it to be brought up. “Obviously there was a difference of opinion back in 2003 and beyond, in subsequent years,” she said. “But now I think that there is an understanding that with the strategy that’s working in Iraq right now, the most important thing we can do is help to solidify the situation.”

After three days in Washington during which he will meet with Catholic educators and celebrate Mass at Nationals Park, he will travel to New York on Friday to address the United Nations.

On the plane, he said he would speak on the importance of human rights.

Benedict, who has often spoken favorably about how Americans observe their religious beliefs, was also asked, on the plane, whether he felt America could serve as a model for a Europe, which is far more secularized.

“Certainly Europe can’t simply copy the United States,” he said. “We have our own history.” But he said the United States was interesting because it “started with the positive idea of secularism.”

“This new people was made of communities that had escaped official state purges and wanted a lay state, a secular state that opened the possibility for all confessions and all form of religious exercise,” he added. “Therefore it was a state that was intentionally secular. It was the exact opposite of state religion, but it was secular out of love for religion and for an authenticity that can only be lived freely.”

Ian Urbina contributed to this report.

Anonymous said...

Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease returns

* Story Highlights
* Sen. Arlen Specter has "excellent chance" of achieving remission
* Pennsylvania Republican will continue in Senate and in re-election campaign
* Specter's Hodgkin's disease was originally diagnosed in 2005
* Specter this year released book on his experience with cancer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease, which he battled in 2005, has recurred, but doctors said that its return was detected early and that Specter has an "excellent chance" of once again achieving remission, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the senator's office.

Specter, 78, will continue to perform his Senate duties and conduct his campaign for re-election to a sixth term but will undergo 12 weeks of chemotherapy, the written statement said. Hodgkin's disease is a cancer of the lymphatic system.

The recurrence was found during a routine scan, which flagged small lymph nodes in Specter's chest and abdomen, the statement said. A follow-up biopsy of one of the chest lymph nodes was positive for recurrence, but a bone marrow biopsy was negative.

"I was surprised by the PET scan findings because I have been feeling so good," Specter said in the statement. "I consider this just another bump in the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin's, from which I've been symptom-free for three years."

Specter had no symptoms besides the findings in the scan, the statement said. "Based on the location of the recurrence and the absence of symptoms, his lymphoma is considered stage IIIA. This is significantly less advanced than his Hodgkin's disease when it was originally diagnosed in 2005, when it was stage IVB."

"Specter has an excellent chance of again achieving a complete remission of his Hodgkin's disease," said the senator's oncologist, John H. Glick of the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center. "Sen. Specter's early diagnosis of his recurrent Hodgkin's disease has a five-year survival rate of 60 percent. He is in superb physical condition, with a normal physical examination and blood work, no symptoms of disease, plays squash regularly and follows a careful diet."

The statement from Specter's office noted that he had successful surgery for a brain tumor in 1993. It recurred in 1996 and was successfully treated.

In 1998, during a re-election campaign, he underwent cardiac bypass surgery and suffered post-operative cardiac arrest, from which he fully recovered, the statement said.

"I've beaten some tough medical problems and tough political opponents, and I expect to beat this too," Specter said. "I look forward to getting through this treatment and continuing to serve the people of Pennsylvania."

Specter wrote a book on his experience with cancer. "Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate" was released in March. VideoWatch Specter discuss politics, his book and his battle with cancer »

All AboutArlen Specter • U.S. Senate • Cancer



Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/15/arlen.specter/?iref=hpmostpop

Anonymous said...

Orphan boy lives in garbage dump

* Story Highlights
* Orphan boy eats discarded food to survive
* Biological mother gave him away
* Boy part of refugee community in Thai garbage dump

By Dan Rivers
CNN

Editor's Note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences covering news and analyze the stories behind events. Dan Rivers, CNN's Bangkok, Thailand, correspondent, writes about an unforgettable encounter with a boy in Thailand.

(CNN)--He doesn't know how old he is, but he thinks he's 7. His name is Khin Zaw Lin. He's lived in a garbage dump virtually his entire life.

I find Lin walking in a festering landscape of rotting food, plastic bags and junk at the Mae Sot garbage dump in Thailand near the Thai-Myanmar border. His parents are long gone. His home is a makeshift shelter made from salvaged bags, cloth and wood.

Lin is one of about 300 refugees in the dump who survive on other people's trash. Many are children. Some are women with babies.

Their daily routine follows the same pattern: They mill about the dump, waiting for the next truck to arrive, hoping for enough discarded food to get them through the day.

Lin pokes through the rubbish with a machete. He says he collects bottles and plastic for three cents a sack. He shows me his feet, which were filthy and ribbed with cuts.

He tells me through an interpreter that he can't afford shoes. He walks barefoot through the treacherous landscape.

My assistant told me about Lin's home while he was researching another story on the border area in Myanmar, the country once known as Burma. I found it hard to believe at first, but I was curious. I persuaded my camera crew to make the six-hour drive from Bangkok.

When we arrive at the dump, people are afraid of us. We'd been told there are orphans living at the dump, but people are wary. They think we are there to take away the orphans or ask for bribes.

I tell them I want to help, and I am eventually directed to Lin. He greets me with a soft, hoarse voice. But he's all energy and purpose when he resumes plucking bottles from the mountain of trash.

A recycling firm offers the closest thing to steady employment for Lin and his family. It buys what bottles and plastics Lin and others salvage.

Lin gives the money to his adopted mother. She tells me that Lin's biological mother gave him to her in Myanmar when he was a baby because she couldn't cope with the responsibility.

Life under the military junta in Myanmar can be brutal. The country's economy is collapsing, and torture and rape under the country's military regime is commonplace. Lin's new mother decided to flee to Thailand in search of a better life. She found a garbage dump instead.

Still, she says scavenging for food in the dump is actually an improvement on her previous life.

As I listen to Lin's story, a question keeps going through my mind: How can a 7-year-old spend his entire childhood in this squalor? VideoWatch as Lin and others root through the dump »

Perhaps it's because Lin is invisible -- he doesn't have a passport or papers. He is part of special group of refugees from Myanmar that don't officially exist.

The United Nations established refugee camps in Thailand for those who flee Myanmar, but the camps are reserved only for victims of political persecution. Refugees fear if they enter a refugee camp, they'll be classified as migrant workers and deported.

As a result, these refugees are trapped in the garbage dump -- not enough money to go elsewhere and no prospects back home.

I thought I had become accustomed to the grinding poverty I had encountered in parts of Asia. I've met my fair share of children who are denied the luxury of hope. But Lin's story angers me. I feel close to losing all objectivity.

Near the end of my meeting with Lin, I ask his adopted mother if she, and Lin, would ever escape the rubbish dump.

Her answer is as hard as the world she and Lin inhabit.

"Never."

Anonymous said...

International Herald Tribune
Rabbi clears out thousands of prayer notes from Jerusalem's Western Wall for burial nearby

The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

JERUSALEM: Poking into crevices between the ancient stones of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, a senior rabbi and his helpers on Tuesday removed thousands of handwritten notes placed there by visitors who believe their requests will find a shortcut to God by being deposited at Judaism's holiest site.

The operation is carried out twice each year: before the Passover festival which begins this weekend and at the Jewish New Year in the fall.

The Western Wall was part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, where the biblical Temples stood in the days of the Bible. Destroyed by ancient invaders, their site is now the home of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.

Thought the ages, Jews have prayed at the Western Wall, and others pay their respects to the sanctity of the site. VIP visitors have included U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope John Paul II.

"Millions of people place notes here at the Western Wall with their requests, we take them out in order that more people can place these notes," said the site's rabbi, Shmuele Rabinowitz. "So that these notes are not defiled and don't fall out, we collect then in a seemly and respectful way and bury them on the Mount of Olives," just across a valley from the Old City.

Rabinowitz and a squad of helpers coaxed the pieces of paper from the crevices with sticks. The notes fell to the ground and were scooped in handfuls into plastic-lined garbage bins for later transfer to the ancient Jewish cemetery.

Jewish religious practice forbids the destruction of any written material that includes one of the names of God, so worn or damaged Torah scrolls, prayer books and other religious articles are buried.

"We treat these notes as holy, as something that people wrote to the creator," Rabinowitz said. "We treat them according to Jewish law and inter them along with all holy writings."

He said neither he nor his staff read the notes.

"It's like a prayer, it's an expression of a person's request from the heart to the Creator," he added.

For those unable to reach the wall in person, religious and postal authorities deliver notes that arrive by mail, e-mail or SMS message.

Postal authorities say letters, some addressed simply to God, come from all corners of the globe, including a few from predominantly Muslim nations like Indonesia.

Rabinowitz said the ancient temple, built by King Solomon, was intended as a house of prayer for all nations.

"God promised that every prayer uttered here would be heard in heaven, from Jews and gentiles alike," he said.
Notes:
International Herald Tribune

Anonymous said...

This is a site where you can check the sex offenders registry. You'll be amazed how many child predators live near you.

Anonymous said...

http://www.familywatchdog.us

First Name: DAVID
Last Name: ZIMMER

Conviction(s)
Sexual Abuse-1st Degree Victim: Female, 10 Years
Source of Information: NY State Offender Registry

First Name: DAVID
Last Name: ZIMMER

Physical Characteristics
Gender: Male Race: White
Hair: Blonde Eye: Hazel
Height: 5'10" Weight: 160
DOB: Nov 17, 1971

Markings
No markings provided

Anonymous said...

First Name: JERRY
Last Name: BRAUNER

Home Address
1319 54TH ST
2ND FLOOR
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.72 miles

Other Address
Employer: Current
Address: 1312 54TH ST
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.75 miles
Employer: Current
Address: 5405 13TH AVENUE
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.69 miles

First Name: JERRY
Last Name: BRAUNER

Conviction(s)
Sexual Abuse-1st Degree Victim: Male, Unknown
Sexual Abuse-3rd:Subject Another Person to Sex Contact Without Consent Victim: Male, Unknown
Source of Information: NY State Offender Registry

Anonymous said...

http://www.familywatchdog.us

First Name: DAVID
Last Name: ZIMMER

Home Address
1333 51ST STREET
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.82 miles

Other Address
Employer: Current
Address: 5113 13TH AVE
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.78 miles
Keep your family safe. Check background information on others who are around your family – babysitters, coaches, home contractors, camp counselors, new neighbors, anyone. Start Here.

Anonymous said...

http://www.familywatchdog.us

First Name: YEHUDA
Last Name: FRIEDLANDER

Home Address
1434 46TH STREET
APT 2
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 1.11 miles

Other Address
Employer: Current
Address: 6103 15TH AVE
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
Distance: 0.91 miles

First Name: YEHUDA
Last Name: FRIEDLANDER

Conviction(s)
Non-NYS Felony Sex Offense Victim: Female, 15 Years
Source of Information: NY State Offender Registry

First Name: YEHUDA
Last Name: FRIEDLANDER

Physical Characteristics
Gender: Male Race: White
Hair: Black Eye: Brown
Height: 5'05" Weight: 190
DOB: Jan 18, 1951

Markings
No markings provided

Anonymous said...

I am no longer frum. I was molested by a Rabbi who was arrested but received no jail time. The same bastard DA Charles Hynes didn't want to offend the Jewish community and so my attacker got off easy.

Anonymous said...

Rabbi avoids jail on molest rap

Tuesday, April 15th 2008, 4:00 AM

A rabbi charged with molesting boys at a Midwood, Brooklyn, yeshiva took a plea deal on Monday that will spare him any jail time after the case fell apart for prosecutors.

Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, 62, who still faces five lawsuits, pleaded to misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child in exchange for three years' probation.

The case unraveled after prosecutors found that an adult accuser had been charged with making up unrelated accusations against others, a law enforcement source said.

Scott Shifrel

About Me

My photo
It is unfortunate that it has come to this. It is a big darn shame it has come to this. It is very hurtful that it has come to this. But yet, IT HAS COME TO THIS. It has come at the price of a GREAT CHILUL HASHEM. It has come to Hashem having to allow his holy name to be DESECRATED so that his CHILDREN remain SAFE. Shame on all those responsible for enabling and permitting Hashem's name to be desecrated! When you save children you save the future. You save the future you save generations. You save generations you save lives. You save lives you have saved the world!!!!!!!