tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post3427852122468430936..comments2023-08-17T06:45:58.317-07:00Comments on "Yeshiva" of Brooklyn also Guilty of Child Abuse: Excrement and Feces are clogging the sewage system!exposemolestershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097300261898413798noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-53805403295155348852008-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:002008-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:00Russia’s chief rabbi to participate in the World E...Russia’s chief rabbi to participate in the World Economic Forum’s summit 2008 in Davos<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the CIS Lev Levaev is also to participate in the forum.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Last year Lazar was a member of the C-100 group, which discussed relations between the West and the East.<BR/><BR/>The global financial crisis is on the agenda this year. Global climate change and terrorism will be addressed at the first plenary meeting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-89437495554084419362008-01-23T23:35:00.000-08:002008-01-23T23:35:00.000-08:00by Johanna GinsbergNJJN Staff WriterJanuary 24, 20...by Johanna Ginsberg<BR/>NJJN Staff Writer<BR/><BR/>January 24, 2008<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>In an interview with NJ Jewish News, Zwickler said it is up to parents to set limits.<BR/><BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“Let’s not be naive,” he said, suggesting some skepticism and a reality check for parents.<BR/><BR/>One parent of yeshiva students, Lee Rosenblum, said he too has heard stories of inappropriate behavior during yeshiva week.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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).”<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>The Jewish Week article set off a round of soul-searching among Orthodox Jews who maintain Web logs, or blogs.<BR/><BR/>“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.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-25164280327562163322008-01-23T23:27:00.000-08:002008-01-23T23:27:00.000-08:00the posek is here. green leaves should be checked ...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!<BR/><BR/>----------<BR/><BR/>China plants go kosher with rabbis' help<BR/>Exporters seek part of U.S. market<BR/><BR/>Mark Drajem<BR/>Bloomberg News<BR/>Jan. 24, 2008Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-26429911250203977122008-01-23T23:09:00.000-08:002008-01-23T23:09:00.000-08:00The title of "rabbi" should only apply to men. Thi...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!<BR/>------------------------------<BR/><BR/>http://www.slate.com/id/2182351/<BR/><BR/>Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn't<BR/>Why an Orthodox institute's decision to ordain female rabbis isn't as revolutionary as it sounds.<BR/>By Samantha M. Shapiro<BR/>Posted Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at 1:06 PM ET<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/>Samantha M. Shapiro is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-74422623522461168262008-01-23T23:01:00.000-08:002008-01-23T23:01:00.000-08:00Obesity surgery seen as diabetes cure By CARLA K. ...Obesity surgery seen as diabetes cure By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer - <BR/><BR/>Provided by: Associated Press<BR/>[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)<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Most of the surgery patients were able to stop taking diabetes drugs and achieve normal blood tests.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>The study involved 55 patients, so experts will be looking for results of larger experiments under way.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>"This opens an entirely new way of thinking about diabetes."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>In the United States, surgeons perform more than 100,000 obesity surgeries each year.<BR/><BR/>The American Diabetes Association is interested in the findings. The group revises its recommendations each fall, taking new research into account.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-53628374545936237112008-01-21T13:38:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:38:00.000-08:00I swear I had nothing to do with threating or hurt...I swear I had nothing to do with threating or hurting this victim.<BR/>---------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Five thugs jump Yeshiva student<BR/><BR/>BY JESS WISLOSKI and TINA MOORE<BR/>DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS<BR/><BR/>Monday, January 21st 2008, 4:00 AM<BR/>Samuel Balkany, 16, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, needed staple to close gash after being attacked Friday night. Maisel/News<BR/><BR/>Samuel Balkany, 16, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, needed staple to close gash after being attacked Friday night.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"They were saying, 'Oh, little Jew boy, you think you own this neighborhood,'" Samuel said. "'Who are you, f---ing Jew?'"<BR/><BR/>Samuel, a Lubavitch Hasidic, said he exchanged no words with the teens before the attack.<BR/><BR/>They were not trying to rob him, he said.<BR/><BR/>"I was just getting clobbered," added Samuel, who said doctors told him the attackers must have used a rock or some other sharp object.<BR/><BR/>"I was screaming for help but nobody was there."<BR/><BR/>After the beating, Samuel ran to his friend's house, where his pal's mother called 911.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>Cops were investigating the beating as a possible hate crime.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>Samuel is hoping politicians will work harder to make things right.<BR/><BR/>"I think we've been a little bit abandoned," Samuel said.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>"It can't go on."<BR/><BR/>jwisloski@nydailynews.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-58429660924135518712008-01-21T13:32:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:32:00.000-08:00Any relation to Milton Balkany?newsday.com/news/lo...Any relation to Milton Balkany?<BR/><BR/>newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--studentattacked0121jan21,0,2177822.story<BR/>Newsday.com<BR/>NYPD investigates Jewish teen's claim of hate attack<BR/>January 21, 2008<BR/><BR/>NEW YORK<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-57047439479025191582008-01-21T13:29:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:29:00.000-08:00Survivors finding hopeSafe Haven Child Advocacy Ce...Survivors finding hope<BR/>Safe Haven Child Advocacy Center offers Finding Hope and Peace Support Group for those who are survivors of sexual abuse and incest.<BR/><BR/>By Tricia Lynn Strader / Living staff writer<BR/>January 21, 2008<BR/><BR/>Want to go?<BR/><BR/>What: Finding Hope and Peace Support Group<BR/>When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays<BR/>Where: Safe Haven CAC, 201 N. High St.<BR/>Open to survivors, friends and family. Must be at least 16 years old. Refreshments provided.<BR/>For more information, call (304) 596-2022 or visit safehavencac@comcast.net or www.siawso.org.<BR/><BR/>Editor’s note: Because of the sensitive subject matter, victims names have been withheld.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Hospitalized in October, Mary saw an ad for the newly opened Safe Haven Child Advocacy Center. She saw it as a sign.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>The group evolved to include survivors and family or friends ages 16 and older. The first meeting was in November.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“There are (doutbtless) many high school kids who have been abused. I want them to know they have a place to go,” Mary says.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>Mary’s dream is a little grander. “I’d like to see a farmhouse or large house that is a real safe haven.”<BR/><BR/>—Staff writer Tricia Lynn Strader can be reached at<BR/><BR/>journal_reporter@juno.com.<BR/><BR/>Subscribe to Journal NewsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-58355743573840857762008-01-21T13:25:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:25:00.000-08:00www.capitalnews9.comS.N.A.P. responds to sex abuse...www.capitalnews9.com<BR/><BR/>S.N.A.P. responds to sex abuse allegation in Albany Diocese<BR/>Updated: 1/20/2008 <BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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:<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>The website bishop accountability dot org has an "abuse tracker" function, where news of this latest inquiry is found.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-28280624489646158122008-01-21T13:22:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:22:00.000-08:00NEPAL: Risks of child sexual abuse growingChildren...NEPAL: Risks of child sexual abuse growing<BR/><BR/>Children are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sexual abuse due to weak laws and a poor security situation<BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>''Everyone is too scared to speak up because we may not get justice.''<BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Child sexual abuse “alarming”, says NGO<BR/><BR/>There is no precise data available on the number of sexual abuse and rape cases but activists believe the situation is alarming.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN<BR/>Sexual abuse often occurs in schools, activists say<BR/>CWIN is a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) helping to rescue and protect children at risk of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation.<BR/><BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>Strong laws needed<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>''It takes them months to finally reveal the incident of rape and it is often too late to punish the alleged rapists.''<BR/>“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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Government officials authorised to speak on the issue and laws related to sexual crimes were not immediately available for comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-15991504560528014672008-01-21T13:19:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:19:00.000-08:00Winter might conjure pleasant memories of playing ...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.<BR/><BR/>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).<BR/><BR/>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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-47481850379137627972008-01-21T13:16:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:16:00.000-08:00Rabbi Avi Shafran suggests ways that the Web, and ...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.<BR/><BR/>Either way, keep me honest by visiting, commenting, and suggesting links and material. Just lay off the last name.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-87198848653675920312008-01-21T13:13:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:13:00.000-08:00Rabbi Avi Shafran, the director of public affairs ...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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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”.<BR/><BR/>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”.<BR/><BR/>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?<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-57543741935691396472008-01-21T13:07:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:07:00.000-08:00By PENNY E. SCHWARTZSpecial to The Press-Enterpris...By PENNY E. SCHWARTZ<BR/>Special to The Press-Enterprise<BR/><BR/>When Rabbi Douglas Kohn was treated for cancer several years ago, he found few resources in the Jewish domain for living with the disease.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>His imagination led to the December publication of "Life, Faith and Cancer: Jewish Journeys through Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"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..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-86330172317592606352008-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:002008-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:00I agree. These people are not even considered real...I agree. These people are not even considered real Jews.<BR/>---<BR/>Kiryat Arba rabbi: Don't sell mezuzahs to Reform Jews<BR/><BR/>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<BR/>Neta Sela<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/> <BR/>Religious Intolerance<BR/>Rabbi: Reforms worse than Muslims / Neta Sela<BR/>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<BR/>Full Article<BR/>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.<BR/><BR/> <BR/>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.<BR/><BR/> <BR/>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.<BR/><BR/> <BR/>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.<BR/><BR/> <BR/>“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.”<BR/><BR/> <BR/>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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-36124794042540539562008-01-20T19:44:00.000-08:002008-01-20T19:44:00.000-08:00January 21, 2008Gaza Power Plant Shuts Down Over D...January 21, 2008<BR/>Gaza Power Plant Shuts Down Over Dispute<BR/>By ISABEL KERSHNER<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>A spokeswoman for Mr. Barak said Sunday that the decision would most likely be re-evaluated in a few days.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>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.”<BR/><BR/>Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza City.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-30977462435255708122008-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:002008-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:00If the pilots of both airplanes were not dead, I w...If the pilots of both airplanes were not dead, I would slap them each across the face for causing this crash.<BR/><BR/><BR/>4 Dead As Planes Collide in Calif.<BR/><BR/>Sunday, January 20, 2008<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Three of the dead were from the planes and the fourth was in a car hit by debris on the ground, Kenitzer said.<BR/><BR/>Debris fell on car dealerships, and television pictures showed that the smashed fuselage of one of the planes landed atop a parked car.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>Eyewitness Hector Hernandez said he saw bodies falling from the sky.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>Police were going through the dealerships to see if anyone was injured, Corona Police Sgt. Jerry Pawluczenko said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-62300776527384525402008-01-19T22:58:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:58:00.000-08:00Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph pays $45,000 set...Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph pays $45,000 settlement<BR/>By JOE LAMBE<BR/>The Kansas City Star<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>The diocese spokesman declined further comment, and lawyers for Reardon and O’Brien did not return calls for comment.<BR/><BR/>Wendt announced the settlement at a Wednesday news conference alongside David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Both he and Clohessy urged any other victims of sex abuse by clergy to come forward.<BR/><BR/>Coming forward treats inner scars that often have festered since childhood, Clohessy said. “The unacknowledged wound never heals.”<BR/><BR/>In November, The Kansas City Star reported on widespread allegations that adolescent boys decades ago called Reardon and O’Brien the party priests.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>To reach Joe Lambe, call 816-234-4314 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-14874126670077144562008-01-19T22:51:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:51:00.000-08:00By Tzvi FreemanQuestion:I believe in my heart that...By Tzvi Freeman<BR/><BR/>Question:<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Answer:<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-60250058595882801562008-01-19T22:47:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:47:00.000-08:00No comment on Jewish children getting sexually abu...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!<BR/>-<BR/>Presbyterians Vote on Lesbian Clergy<BR/><BR/>By LISA LEFF <BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Larges said after the vote that she was proud of the church members' decision, despite the heavy opposition.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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).<BR/><BR/>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."<BR/><BR/>The presbytery represents 77 churches and about 29,000 parishioners in the San Francisco Bay area.<BR/><BR/>Those who oppose Larges' application said they would appeal Tuesday's decision through the church court.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Associated Press Writer Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco contributed to this story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-42692926860542093442008-01-19T22:40:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:40:00.000-08:00Child Porn Suspect May Have Had Access To Children...Child Porn Suspect May Have Had Access To Children<BR/>Thursday January 17, 2008<BR/>CityNews.ca Staff<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Harman previously volunteered at the Glamorgan Junior School and has represented himself as a member of the clergy.<BR/><BR/>"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. <BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>The suspect's next court appearance will be on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at the Toronto east courts.<BR/><BR/>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/.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-57366810768637277412008-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:00If I do not become the next President of the Unite...If I do not become the next President of the United States of America, I will seriously consider becoming a woman bishop!<BR/>-------<BR/><BR/> Church stalls over deal on women bishops<BR/><BR/>By Jonathan Wynne-Jones<BR/>19/01/2008<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/>advertisement<BR/><BR/>Campaigners for women bishops are growing increasingly frustrated over the delays...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-69961280061372386372008-01-19T22:30:00.000-08:002008-01-19T22:30:00.000-08:00Religion in the NewsBy JOE MILICIA – 1 day agoCLEV...Religion in the News<BR/><BR/>By JOE MILICIA – 1 day ago<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"Terminating an employee on an anonymous allegation is really unlikely," Tayek said.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"That's really stepping over the line and trying to suppress what could be very valid reports," she said.<BR/><BR/>But the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said the revision is appropriate.<BR/><BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>"They're encouraging reporting and openness," he said. "Anonymous information may not be helpful whatsoever and encourages a climate of secrecy."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>She agreed that anonymous reports were difficult to investigate and substantiate and noted that the Cleveland Diocese is only discouraging them.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Clohessy believes that's the last office that should be involved because church lawyers will only seek to limit damage claims against the diocese.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-74500451396443355652008-01-19T18:43:00.000-08:002008-01-19T18:43:00.000-08:00Gathering on sex abuse against children unleashes ...Gathering on sex abuse against children unleashes personal memories<BR/><BR/>January 17, 2008 <BR/><BR/>ALEX DeMARBAN<BR/><BR/>The state's first conference on Alaska Native child sexual abuse was organized in part to get people talking about the problem.<BR/><BR/>It worked.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"It was used in the first hour," Evan said.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"It challenges us to go strong in sexual abuse," said Ahkivgak, 75.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>"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."<BR/><BR/>"If something is happening (with your children) bring it out. Don't keep anything bad in here," she said, patting her chest.<BR/><BR/>Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-71737598286647773252008-01-19T18:21:00.000-08:002008-01-19T18:21:00.000-08:00Do we have any witnesses who saw penetration?-Prof...Do we have any witnesses who saw penetration?<BR/>-<BR/><BR/>Professor accused of sex abuse<BR/><BR/>Chemeketa puts economics lecturer on unpaid leave<BR/><BR/>RUTH LIAO<BR/>Statesman Journal<BR/><BR/>January 18, 2008<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Montgomery faces 14 counts of sex abuse that involve touching the children and sexually penetrating at least one, Gazette-Times said.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>Montgomery has taught economics for several years at Chemeketa, said school spokesman John Hawkins.<BR/><BR/>School officials placed Montgomery on unpaid leave Thursday pending the outcome of the allegation, Hawkins said.<BR/><BR/>School officials were working to find someone to take over Montgomery's classes, Hawkins said. Students in his two classes will be notified.<BR/><BR/>Reports from his past students have been exemplary, officials said.<BR/><BR/>rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com