tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post5018505148012073944..comments2023-08-17T06:45:58.317-07:00Comments on "Yeshiva" of Brooklyn also Guilty of Child Abuse: Rabbi Menachem Genack - administrator of the Orthodox Union’s kashrut division: speaks about the Agriprocessors scandal.exposemolestershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097300261898413798noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-118387824532863772008-06-07T22:12:00.000-07:002008-06-07T22:12:00.000-07:00Child abuse includes physical abuse, physical negl...Child abuse includes physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse inflicted by a parent or other caretaker.<BR/><BR/>PDF of the 2005 Child Abuse and Neglect Fact Sheet<BR/><BR/>PDF of Prevent Child Abuse New York's Report, the Costs and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect<BR/><BR/>New York State law defines these types of abuses in the following ways:<BR/><BR/>Physical abuse is non-accidental physical injury of a child inflicted by a parent or caretaker which ranges from superficial bruises and welts to broken bones, burns, serious internal injuries and in some cases, death. The definition of physical abuse includes actions that create a substantial risk of physical injury to the child.<BR/><BR/>Physical neglect is withholding, or failing to provide, adequate food, shelter, clothing, hygiene, medical care, education, and/or supervision, such that the child’s physical, mental or emotional condition is impaired or at imminent risk of being impaired.<BR/><BR/>Sexual abuse is when a parent or caretaker commits a sexual offense against a child or allows a sexual offense to be committed, such as rape, sodomy, engaging a child in sexual activity, engaging a child in - or promoting a child’s - sexual performance.<BR/><BR/>Click here for further information about recognizing and reporting sexual abuse. Click here for information about protecting your children from sexual abuse.<BR/><BR/>Emotional abuse includes parents’ or caretakers’ acts or omissions that cause or could cause serious conduct, cognitive, affective, or other mental disorders. For example, torture, close confinement or the constant use of verbally abusive language to harshly criticize and denigrate a child. It also includes emotional neglect - withholding physical and emotional contact to the detriment of the child's normal emotional development, and in extreme cases, physical development.<BR/><BR/>Click here for information about recognizing and reporting emotional abuse.<BR/><BR/>Child abuse and neglect cross all ethnic, social and economic lines. <BR/><BR/>Child abuse and neglect stymie children’s normal growth and development. Victims of child abuse suffer medical and developmental problems requiring long term health, mental health and special education services.<BR/><BR/>The consequences are wide-ranging and affect us all. Child abuse leads to other problems – long term health and mental health problems, drug addiction, runaways, juvenile violence and adult crime. Most violent prisoners in our jails were abused or neglected as children.<BR/><BR/>Child abuse is costly for society, as well as for its victims. New York State spends more than $2.3 billion a year to deal with the immediate and long-term results of the abuse and neglect of our childrenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-58929905003306243702008-06-07T22:06:00.000-07:002008-06-07T22:06:00.000-07:00Prevent Child Abuse New York is the only statewide...Prevent Child Abuse New York is the only statewide, nonprofit organization in New York dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect. We do so by:<BR/><BR/> * Increasing public understanding of the problem and its solutions.<BR/> * Serving as a resource for families, individuals and organizations.<BR/> * Advocating for expanded and improved programs and policies to prevent child abuse.<BR/> * Fostering a statewide network committed to child abuse prevention.<BR/><BR/>Quick Links:<BR/><BR/> * Price Chopper Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign Raises More Than $32,000!<BR/> * Stay Informed - PCANY Blog<BR/> * 2008 Excellence Award Winners<BR/> * Donate Now<BR/> * Child Find of America - Prevention Network Featured Partner<BR/> * Show Your Support with PCANY Bears<BR/> * Subscribe to our E-mail News & Alerts<BR/> * Child Abuse Prevention Resource Room<BR/><BR/>Contact Us:<BR/>Send an E-mail | 1-800-CHILDREN<BR/>24-Hour Prevention and Parent Helpline: 1-800-342-7472 (PIRC)<BR/><BR/>We are the New York State chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America. Call 1-800-CHILDREN to reach your state's chapter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-60668064582748774182008-06-06T14:59:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:59:00.000-07:00I didn't read anywhere in the article that there w...I didn't read anywhere in the article that there was penetration.<BR/>***********************************<BR/><BR/>All sexual abuse of kids is deserving of federal time<BR/> <BR/>Joey Thompson<BR/>The Province<BR/><BR/>Friday, June 06, 2008<BR/><BR/>Newspapers gave the sexually abusive dad only a passing mention, but the length of the child molester's sentence bugged me enough to dig deeper.<BR/><BR/>D.S. had been handed a total of three years for sexually terrorizing his daughter for more than a decade, from the time she was in playschool to her early teens, as well as for molesting his wife's 13-year-old sister dozens of times before she was old enough to flee the home.<BR/><BR/>Dad should have got more jail time, I figured. But perhaps B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Powers had his reasons.<BR/><BR/>Turns out, a prison term of three years is well within the conventional range for repeated sexual assaults on a child under Canadian criminal law, even when the attacks have crippling long-term effects, as many of them do.<BR/><BR/>If you doubt that, take a look at the sex-trade workers and addicts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Research shows the majority of them suffered physical and/or sexual abuse when they were kids.<BR/><BR/>Powers said S.'s daughter and sister-in-law still suffer nightmares, depression and panic attacks. They so fear the 38-year-old dad and what he might do to retaliate that they've had to break off their relationship with their mom and sister to avoid the likelihood of running into him. They're having difficulty forming relationships. The emotional pain will stalk them always.<BR/><BR/>Not so the sexual offender whose identity, if he's related to his victims, is automatically protected by the laws prohibiting disclosure of their names. How convenient.<BR/><BR/>In calculating the appropriate sentence for S., Powers reviewed a dozen sex-offender cases that involved the same aggravating factors: The victims were young, the perpetrators were either relatives and/or in a position of trust and they abused the kids for years.<BR/><BR/>Only the most violently abusive child molesters were given sentences longer than four years. The garden variety were handed two years less a day, meaning they did their time in a provincial facility rather than in a nastier, tougher and more distant federal institution.<BR/><BR/>Problem is, treatment isn't available in provincial jails. So there's no chance of rehabilitation for these guys, even though it is supposed to be a key principle of sentencing.<BR/><BR/>Only the federal institutions are equipped with intensive sex-offender programs and yet those who routinely prey on vulnerable family members aren't being sent there.<BR/><BR/>Denunciation and deterrence are also considered principles of sentencing; especially applicable when the offence involves the abuse of children or youth, according to the Criminal Code.<BR/><BR/>But is two or three years, cut by a third for good behaviour, much of a deterrent? I don't think so. It's time judges realized that all acts of sexual abuse against children are violent and deserving of federal time.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of time, The Province had to wait about three months for Powers to release a copy of his reasons for sentence. We might still be biding our time had the paper not retained a lawyer to flex some muscle and remind the court that the public, including the media, are entitled to unrestricted access to public documents such as judges' reasons.<BR/><BR/>Accessing data clearly of public interest and relevant to the administration of justice should not take that long, nor incur such legal costs.<BR/><BR/>Phone: 604-605-2119.<BR/><BR/>jthompson@png.canwest.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-70543710626344464632008-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:00John Sickels and James Christensen are honorable p...John Sickels and James Christensen are honorable police officers!<BR/><BR/>Creston Police Officers Arrested On Sexual Abuse Charges<BR/><BR/>June 6, 2008--Criminal complaints were filed today in Union County court against two Creston police officers, accused of sexual abuse. John Sickels and James Christensen, both of Creston are each accused of second degree sexual abuse. The charges carry possible 25-year prison sentences.<BR/><BR/>The alleged incident happened April 17 at the Crestmoor County Club in Creston. A female bartender claims the two officers were the only patrons left in the bar around 2 a.m. She says they requested she perform a sex act to both of them, but refused. The woman says Sickels then left the room while she pleaded with Christensen. When he came back, the woman says Christensen held her down while Sickels raped her.<BR/><BR/>During a May 6th interview with DCI, Sickels admitted having sex with the woman, but says it was consensual and doubts Christensen witnessed the act.<BR/><BR/>Sickels and Christensen turned themselves in today in Des Moines. Bail is set at $25,000 for both men. The DCI is handling the case while the attorney general's office will prosecute at request of Union County officials.<BR/><BR/>Look for more information tonight on Channel 13 News at Five and Six.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-6594835250393991102008-06-06T14:44:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:44:00.000-07:00Remind me never to use Talanksy's dentist. I prefe...Remind me never to use Talanksy's dentist. I prefer that my teeth get pulled out by an ultra orthodox dentist. <BR/>------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Morris Talansky due in court in dentist assault<BR/>Michal Lando, NEW YORK , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 5, 2008<BR/><BR/>Morris Talansky, the wealthy Long Island businessman at the center of the corruption scandal that threatens to bring down Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is due to appear in court in Hempstead, New York, on Tuesday over an altercation with his longtime dentist.<BR/><BR/>Talansky is currently in Israel for a grandson's wedding.<BR/><BR/>One of his many legal embroilments, this one concerns Talanksy's dentist, Leonard Barashick, 84, who said the 75-year-old slammed him in a heavy steel chair and threw him against a wall with a fist as big as a "kosher ham" in a Baldwin, New York, dental lab.<BR/><BR/>Police arrested Talansky last July and charged him with third-degree assault, said Eric Phillips, communications director for the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.<BR/><BR/>Barashick said he had been a friend of Talansky for 40 years, and they couldn't be "closer," adding that the dentist-patient relationship is the most "intimate" of all.<BR/><BR/>"In the hours that you have root canals done, you talk to your dentist," said Barashick, who claims insight into why Talansky, once caring and kind, turned "insane."<BR/><BR/>Talansky's lawyer, Ralph Bontempo, did not return several calls from The Jerusalem Post.<BR/><BR/>The argument with Talansky took place at the Ralph Ragucci dental lab, where the two went to pick up "dental caps," according to Barashick, and Talansky was upset that Barashick was asking to be paid for dental procedures.<BR/><BR/>"Talansky said he paid enough money over 40 years and doesn't have to pay any more money," said Barashick. "So even though I quoted him the fees labeled on the expenses, I couldn't satisfy him. He wanted the work without having to pay the couple thousand dollars."<BR/><BR/>Despite the alleged assault, Barashick said he was still prepared to drive back with Talansky, but instead Talansky "charged" at him with his car "as if to run me over" and drove away, first throwing a bag of dental impressions that belonged to another patient out the window.<BR/><BR/>Barashick, who served in an infantry unit in World War II and is a decorated war hero, said, "a friend who slams me with a chair and wants to kill me is like a mosquito biting you."<BR/><BR/>Barashick said he ended up in the emergency room and was hospitalized for two weeks. He said he had "swelling the size of an egg" on his left shin, and "broken skin" on both legs.<BR/><BR/>Police took down two messages saved on his voicemail with threats to his life from Talansky, Barashick said. One said "thunder and lightning were going to strike me," he added.<BR/><BR/>Initially hesitant, Barashick said he was convinced by the policewoman working on his case to have Talansky arrested. "I felt he was more to be pitied than censored," Barashick said.<BR/><BR/>But now he intends to sue Talansky for damages.<BR/><BR/>"I am accusing Rabbi Morris Talansky of being a liar, a thief, a philanderer and a homicidal maniac."<BR/><BR/>Barashick also said Talansky had involved him and several other dentists in their 80s in a "life insurance scheme" for which he was promised $200,000 in cash.<BR/><BR/>A local rabbi who asked to remain anonymous said Talansky was known as a "tumler," someone who makes "a lot of noise."<BR/><BR/>"He liked to throw his weight around, and be close to the gedolim (big shots)," the rabbi said.<BR/><BR/>Though he has a "good heart" and wanted to "do things for the Jewish people," the rabbi said Talansky was "a guy who people wouldn't have bought a used car from."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-52833197386767035162008-06-06T14:39:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:39:00.000-07:00Genack, also the CEO of the OU Kashrut Division, i...Genack, also the CEO of the OU Kashrut Division, is co-editor of Mesorah, a journal expanding on the teachings of Soloveitchik, and "Shiurei HaRav," scholarly volumes based on Soloveitchik’s lectures as interpreted by his students. He serves on the board of the Toras HoRav Foundation, headed by Soloveitchik’s daughters Tovah Lichtenstein and Atarah Twersky, through which 15 English and Hebrew works have been published.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-53120356037922715262008-06-06T14:34:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:34:00.000-07:00No joke: Woody Allen sues company over rabbi billb...No joke: Woody Allen sues company over rabbi billboard<BR/><BR/>(JTA) — Woody Allen is suing a clothing company for advertisements showing the actor dressed as a rabbi.<BR/><BR/>Allen filed a $10 million lawsuit recently in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against American Apparel Inc. for using an image from one of the filmmaker’s movies of him dressed as a rabbi.<BR/><BR/>The text of the billboard and online ads, which were published without Allen’s consent, read “The Holy Rebbe” in Yiddish. The billboards were put up last May in New York and Hollywood. Allen does not commercially endorse any products in the United States, the suit said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-8058057108983875642008-06-06T14:32:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:32:00.000-07:00Chief Rabbi Threatens to Quit if Rabbi Druckman is...Chief Rabbi Threatens to Quit if Rabbi Druckman is Fired<BR/> <BR/>by Hillel Fendel<BR/><BR/>(IsraelNN.com) Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar stands behind Conversion Authority head Rabbi Chaim Druckman, and demands that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reinstate him.<BR/><BR/>Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Rishon LeTzion, plans to meet with Olmert's top aides next week. One of the main issues, the rabbi's aides say, will be Rabbi Druckman.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Druckman became the center of a storm last month when a three-judge panel of the High Rabbinical Court invalidated all the conversions to Judaism performed over the past several years under Rabbi Druckman's watch. Religious-Zionist rabbis immediately stated that they did not recognize the validity of the ruling, and Rabbi Amar reassured government ministers that the ruling was not binding.--------<BR/><BR/>http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126432Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-89871449796674015952008-06-06T14:29:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:29:00.000-07:00I see no reason why we can't have giraffe meat rea...I see no reason why we can't have giraffe meat readily available. I'm placing a call to the Rubashkins to ask if their schochtim are up for the task.<BR/>--------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Israeli rabbi says giraffe meat, milk are kosher<BR/><BR/>JERUSALEM (AFP) — An Israeli rabbi has declared giraffe meat and milk to be kosher, although his pronouncement is unlikely to have observant Jews clamouring to consume the exotic products, a daily reported on Friday.<BR/><BR/>"The giraffe has all the signs of a ritually pure animal, and the milk forms curds, which strengthened that view," the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot quoted Rabbi Shlomo Mahfoud as saying.<BR/><BR/>The rabbi based his ruling on a recent finding by researchers from Bar Ilan University who took a milk sample while treating a giraffe at Ramat Gan safari park near Tel Aviv.<BR/><BR/>They found that the milk forms curds as required under Jewish religious law, a finding confirmed by another research institute, the daily said.<BR/><BR/>Giraffe meat is also considered ritually pure because the animal has a cloven hoof and chews the cud.<BR/><BR/>"Indeed, the giraffe is kosher for eating," said Mahfoud, who was present when the researchers made their finding.<BR/><BR/>Yigal Horowitz, chief veterinary surgeon at the safari park, is not overly worried by the development.<BR/><BR/>"This doesn't mean that tomorrow we are going to drink giraffe milk or eat soup made from giraffe necks," the paper reported him as saying. "After all, this is an animal in danger of extinction."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-39631397441700767362008-06-05T23:56:00.000-07:002008-06-05T23:56:00.000-07:00Obama is my kind of champ. Now that wre're making ...Obama is my kind of champ. Now that wre're making moves to be a partnership (with hillary and I getting the final say of course), I'd like to look you in the eyes and say that I did not have sexual relations with that woman.<BR/><BR/>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_el_pr/clinton<BR/><BR/><BR/> Obama and Clinton meet, discuss uniting Democrats<BR/><BR/>By BETH FOUHY and NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writers2 hours, 54 minutes ago<BR/><BR/>Hillary Rodham Clinton and likely Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately Thursday night to talk about uniting the Democratic Party.<BR/><BR/>"Senator Clinton and Senator Obama met tonight and had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November," their campaigns said in joint statement.<BR/><BR/>The statement included no details of their talks, as pressure mounted for Obama to invite Clinton to become his running mate.<BR/><BR/>Robert Gibbs, an Obama spokesman, would not say where the former rivals met, except that it was not at Clinton's home in Washington, as had been widely reported.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-54281514771303566952008-06-05T22:32:00.000-07:002008-06-05T22:32:00.000-07:00Is this the same lawyer that's trying to ruin the ...Is this the same lawyer that's trying to ruin the reputation of Yeshiva Torah Temima and Yudi Kolko? Sheker gumur!<BR/>--------------------------------<BR/><BR/>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/nyregion/04witness.html?ref=nyregion<BR/><BR/>During most of his testimony, Mr. Richard seemed the antithesis of the gloating, sarcastic man who lashed out against many of his former crime associates in an interview with The New York Times in 2000.<BR/><BR/>He rarely raised his voice on the witness stand, even when defense lawyers fired confrontational questions.<BR/><BR/>When questioned about his family, Mr. Richard mixed melancholy and anger.<BR/><BR/>“I’ve tried to change my life, sir,” he told Mr. Dowd.<BR/><BR/>“Was that after you left your children and your wife?” Mr. Dowd fired back.<BR/><BR/>Mr. Richard’s voice began to crack, his cadence picked up and his face turned red. He explained, “I’m not proud of everything I did,” but Mr. Dowd did not relent.<BR/><BR/>“And you chose a stripper over your children?”<BR/><BR/>Mr. Dowd was referring to Mr. Richard’s decision to take an exotic dancer who was his girlfriend into witness protection in 2000, and not his wife and two sons. Mr. Richard testified that he later took Ms. Riggi, whom he divorced roughly five years ago, and his children into protective custody with him.<BR/><BR/>Mr. Richard was most emotional when Mr. Dowd questioned whether he had been punished for his poor decisions.<BR/><BR/>“I’m missing out on my children’s lives for eight years now because of what I’ve done,” Mr. Richard said.<BR/><BR/>The authorities raided Mr. Richard’s home office in the summer of 1999, he testified. In October, they notified him that he had been wiretapped, he said. Two months later he turned himself in to the authorities.<BR/><BR/>His high life was over and the results were devastating, he said.<BR/><BR/>Mr. Richard said he became addicted to cocaine and other drugs. He was an alcoholic, he said. “I was a terrible man,” he said. “I don’t deny that before this court.”<BR/><BR/>Mr. Richard seemed depressed about his current situation. He is in witness protection on his own. Asked by Mr. Scotto when he last saw his 9- and 10-year-old sons, Mr. Richard’s voice cracked and he said: “I don’t remember. A long time ago.”<BR/><BR/>He said, however, that he was turning a corner. He said that he was in Alcoholics Anonymous and that he had been sober since 2003. He works as a furniture mover under an assumed name in an unidentified location. Yet Mr. Richard might have seen this coming. When he first got into the business, he said, he spoke with Ms. Riggi about the fact that police raids were an inevitable part of organized crime.<BR/><BR/>After roughly five hours of testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Richard was whisked out of the courthouse in a van with windows tinted pitch black, hiding him from the outside world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-8088747886061531122008-06-05T22:24:00.000-07:002008-06-05T22:24:00.000-07:00Lawyer Michael Dowd (who is also representing Kolk...Lawyer Michael Dowd (who is also representing Kolko victims) is in the news.<BR/>--------------------------------<BR/><BR/>edited by Michael Clancy | email: mclancy@villagevoice.com<BR/>Carpenters Union Big Goes Back on Trial for Bribery<BR/>Posted by Tom Robbins at 10:00 AM, June 3, 2008<BR/><BR/>What may be the city’s longest running bribery case is back in court this week — ten years after the alleged crime was committed.<BR/><BR/>Mike Forde, executive secretary of the 25,000-member New York District Council of Carpenters was charged back in 2000 with taking a $50,000 bribe from a mobbed up contractor while dining in 1998 at a midtown Hooter’s restaurant.<BR/><BR/>Forde didn’t go to trial on those charges until 2004 when he was convicted, along with union business agent Martin Devereaux, of taking cash to allow the builder to violate union work rules during the renovation of the Park Central Hotel on Seventh Avenue.<BR/><BR/>But the trial judge later overturned the conviction, stating that jurors had improperly discussed the case during deliberations. The judge also said jurors had read an article about it —in the Voice!(“A Mob Soprano Sings", April 13, 2004).<BR/><BR/>So yesterday Forde and Devereaux were once again facing a jury, as lawyers delivered opening summations.<BR/><BR/>Manhattan assistant district attorney Michael Scotto, who tried the first case, said the state would prove both men had sold out their membership for money. Rod Lankler, representing Forde, said key witness Sean Richards, a contractor whose father in law was a New Jersey mobster, “was a man who would do anything to avoid his obligations.”<BR/><BR/>Lawyer Michael Dowd, who is also on his second time around on the case, represents Devereaux. “This is a case based on fabrications,” Dowd told the jury.<BR/><BR/>The trial is expected to take three to four weeks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-64873612591950565072008-06-05T18:38:00.000-07:002008-06-05T18:38:00.000-07:00I hope Charles Hynes doesn't come after Rabbi Yeh...I hope Charles Hynes doesn't come after Rabbi Yehuda Nussbaum, the other Rebbeim, and myself for sexual and physical abuse against boys at Yeshiva of Brooklyn. The NYPD scared me so much when they showed up to investigate.<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/>http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20080605-10.html<BR/><BR/>Priest arrested on sex abuse charges<BR/><BR/>BROOKLYN - Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes Wednesday announced the arrest of Father Augusto Cortez, 44, on sex abuse charges.<BR/><BR/>Cortez, a priest who works with students at Saint John the Baptist School, in Bushwick, is charged with Sex Abuse in the Second Degree, Forcible Touching and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail.<BR/><BR/>He is charged with touching a 12-year-old female student’s breast May 29.<BR/><BR/>District Attorney Hynes thanked the Diocese of Brooklyn for quick action in alerting prosecutors about the allegations, in accordance with the protocols of a Memorandum of Understanding. Since the Memorandum of Understanding was drafted by the Diocese and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, in 2002, sex-crimes charges have been brought against five priests.<BR/><BR/>According to the Memorandum of Understanding, the Diocese of Brooklyn has agreed to notify the Kings County District Attorney’s Office whenever church officials are accused of sexual misconduct. The District Attorney agrees to keep the investigation confidential until – and unless – formal charges are brought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-6047480030826394542008-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:002008-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00Seventy people have been arrested in Australia in ...Seventy people have been arrested in Australia in a nationwide operation to crack down on the use of images of child sex abuse posted on the internet.<BR/><BR/>The arrests followed a six-month investigation by police into paedophile communities online and how they trade pornographic images of children.<BR/><BR/>The inquiry was launched after 99 explicit pictures were posted by a hacker on a respected European website. Over 76 hours, the site had 12 million hits from 150,000 users in 170 nations.<BR/><BR/>More than 2,800 internet protocol addresses were traced back to Australia and then identified by police. Those arrested include a federal policeman and several teachers, reports say.<BR/><BR/>Some of those arrested are accused of child abuse and four children have been removed from their homes.<BR/><BR/>Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said that investigations were continuing and more arrests were likely.<BR/><BR/>Investigators had worked with international partners and state police in what Mr Keelty described as one of Australia's largest single operations against images that show child sex abuse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-18660487562694720132008-06-05T18:27:00.000-07:002008-06-05T18:27:00.000-07:00What the Rubashikins fail to grasp or comprehend -...What the Rubashikins fail to grasp or comprehend - is that bnei yisrael put their trust in what they thought was an ethical Glatt Kosher product. With tremulous hearts they now realize the true reality. They have been duped!<BR/><BR/>It goes without saying, that illicit practices by Agriprocessors has created a firestorm, as it should. If Moshe Finkel didn't stir your outlook on consuming tarfus, perhaps this will. <BR/><BR/>It's inconceivable how one doesn't even pause and do a double take on supporting a company that violates and infringes on your inner and outer soul. One that blatantly disregards halacha and basic human rights. Don't be a nitwit. Stop supporting the Rubashkins. Demand that Genack and Orthodox Union do the same. <BR/><BR/>The shady, dishonest, crooked, and amoral practices at Postville, Iowa must come to an end!exposemolestershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02097300261898413798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-50965391854440208482008-06-05T17:55:00.000-07:002008-06-05T17:55:00.000-07:00Just want to make a point here. The Rubashkin's cl...Just want to make a point here. The Rubashkin's clearly violated laws of the Torah and laws of the land. To deny it like they are, is an insult to our intelligence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-62816120445765060652008-06-05T17:49:00.000-07:002008-06-05T17:49:00.000-07:00'Rabbi' Elior Chen arrested in Braziletgar lefkovi...'Rabbi' Elior Chen arrested in Brazil<BR/>etgar lefkovits and jpost staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 4, 2008<BR/><BR/>An Israeli fugitive who is considered to be the ringleader of - and 'spiritual mentor' responsible for - one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history was arrested by Sao Paulo police on Tuesday night. Elior Chen, who calls himself a "rabbi," is expected to be extradited to Israel in the coming days.<BR/><BR/>Chen, 29, and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, ages three and four, who were beaten with hammers, knives and other implements for months, until the younger child lost consciousness in March.<BR/><BR/>They are also suspected of severely abusing other children in the family.<BR/><BR/>The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse he was subjected to at the hands of his mother and her companions, according to an indictment filed in a Jerusalem court.<BR/><BR/>He is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.<BR/><BR/>Initially on Wednesday, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby reported that Chen had turned himself in, though the Justice Ministry said Thursday that the suspect had actually been apprehended.<BR/><BR/>However, Chen's lawyer Ariel Atari claimed that his client had turned himself in "so as to prevent Brazil's Jewish community from coming to harm."<BR/><BR/>"There were reports that the Jewish community was hosting a man who had perpetrated terrible deeds, and that is why he turned himself in," Atari told Israel Radio, asserting that "The reason for his turning himself in has nothing to do with Israel Police."<BR/><BR/>Chen originally flew from Israel to Canada to avoid arrest after police uncovered the abuse, then immediately continued to Brazil.<BR/><BR/>In an apparently successful attempt to attain information about his whereabouts, Chen's wife Ruth and their four children were sent to Belgium from Brazil last week, the police said.<BR/><BR/>Chen had apparently sought refuge with members of a vehemently anti-Zionist haredi sect in the Brazilian city.<BR/><BR/>Jerusalem Police had issued an international arrest warrant for the suspected ringleader in the child abuse case in April.<BR/><BR/>The suspects in the abuse case allegedly received instruction from Chen on how to 'fix' the children's behavior, and 'cleanse' them of their satanic possession, says the indictment.<BR/><BR/>The chilling charge sheet in the gruesome child abuse case recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burnt their hands and gave them freezing showers.<BR/><BR/>The abusive mother and 'educators' are also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of one of the children, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing it with masking tape, and giving them alcoholic drinks until they vomited.<BR/><BR/>Chen provided explicit written instructions on how to abuse the children.<BR/><BR/>Chen's father Ya'acov has publicly urged his son to return to Israel and face trial, insisting that he is innocent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-12048498076812001442008-06-05T17:26:00.000-07:002008-06-05T17:26:00.000-07:00No Jew can be called Jewish unless they are orthod...No Jew can be called Jewish unless they are orthodox. <BR/>-------------------------------<BR/><BR/>by Carolyn Slutsky<BR/>Staff Writer<BR/><BR/>While he was traveling the country on a tour bus as a working actor, dreadlocks cascading down his back, becoming a rabbi was the farthest thing from Darby Leigh’s mind.<BR/><BR/><BR/>But last weekend Leigh became the first deaf rabbi ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and one of the only hearing-impaired rabbis in the country, a milestone that points to the increasing diversity being found within all pockets of Judaism today.<BR/><BR/>That milestone was cemented at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, which last weekend ordained its first deaf rabbi in 15 years, William Tepper, since Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe became the first deaf woman ordained in 1993.<BR/><BR/>Steve Brenner, president of the Washington Society of Jewish Deaf, believes the....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-4265740788329364192008-06-05T15:45:00.000-07:002008-06-05T15:45:00.000-07:00Ask the Rabbi: Suicidal tendencies?Shlomo Brody , ...Ask the Rabbi: Suicidal tendencies?<BR/>Shlomo Brody , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 5, 2008<BR/><BR/>Q Given its well-known dangers, how can any Jew justify smoking?<BR/><BR/>- Brian P., Michigan<BR/><BR/>A Your question bothers many people who cannot understand how so many Jews, particularly those who display tremendous piety in other realms, can reconcile this dangerous addiction with the Torah's ordinances against harmful behavior. This phenomenon becomes particularly painful in cases of loved ones whose addiction will ultimately kill them.<BR/><BR/>After tobacco was introduced in Europe in the late 1500s, doctors considered it beneficial for health, especially against digestive and, ironically, respiratory diseases. While a few, including King James I of England, opposed smoking as sinister behavior (1609), it ultimately became socially acceptable among non-Jews and Jews alike. Particularly notable were hassidic rabbis who promoted smoking tobacco and snuff for spiritual purposes, for which they were scorned by their mitnaged opponents (Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics). The idling and sometimes decadent tobacco culture irked the famed R. Yisrael Meir Kagan (Poland, 1839-1933), who denounced smoking in his lesser-known writings as physically deleterious and a waste of time and money (Likutei Amarim Ch. 13). Yet smoking remained prevalent in study halls and homes alike.<BR/><BR/>Before the contemporary era, smoking was most frequently discussed with regard to its permissibility on festivals. As opposed to Shabbat, when tampering with a flame is entirely forbidden, the rules of yom tov allow for kindling a fire from a pre-existing flame, although one is forbidden to create or extinguish a flame entirely (OH 511). One important condition, however, required using the flame for a purpose that is customarily enjoyed by the vast majority of people (shaveh lekol nefesh).<BR/><BR/>Regarding smoking, many rabbis claimed that it is not enjoyed by the majority of people, especially first-time smokers who frequently cough and become disoriented (Hayei Adam 95:13). Yet smoking was historically permitted by most decisors, who cited its social acceptance and frequent recreational use as proof that it constitutes permissible use of a flame on yom tov (Biur Halacha 511:4). Other common questions included whether one must recite a blessing over tobacco, as one does with food (Mishna Berura 210:17), and if cigarettes contain hametz prohibited on Pessah.<BR/><BR/>While a few physicians expressed concern with smoking in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was only in the 1950s that research definitively documented its deleterious effects on smokers and those around them, including a direct link to lung cancer. Since public health services began campaigns against tobacco, the number of new smokers has sharply declined, although the addictive nicotine within cigarettes makes it difficult for many to quit.<BR/><BR/>One immediate consequence of the reduction in smokers related to the permissibility of smoking on yom tov. Since cigarettes no longer fall into the category of actions enjoyed by the majority of people, many contemporary decisors, including Rabbi Shlomo Auerbach, forbid smoking on yom tov. Most scholars also ruled that a person bothered by smoke may demand a smoker to refrain from smoking or to leave his area, even in public places or houses of study (Igrot Moshe CM 2:18).<BR/><BR/>The major issue, however, relates to the permissibility of smoking at any time. The Torah commands us to "greatly beware for your souls" (Deuteronomy 4:15), admonishing us to avoid dangerous behavior. Maimonides contends that anyone who dismisses warnings of harmful behavior should receive lashes (Hilchot Rotzeah 11:5). In defining unacceptable behavior, the sages determined that risks which the multitude engage in remains permissible, citing the verse that "God protects the foolish" (Shabbat 129b). As such, defining dangerous activity remains contingent on the knowledge and behavior of the era.<BR/><BR/>In a landmark responsum in 1976, Rabbi Haim David Halevi, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, banned cigarette smoking, contending that previous generations would have never permitted it had they known of its dangers (Aseh Lecha Rav 2:1). His public announcement received widespread attention here and around the world (it was covered on Page 2 of The New York Times). He forbade purchasing cigarettes for others (Aseh Lecha Rav 6:58), and even asserted that in light of the advances around the world against smoking, continued smoking in Israel represents a desecration of God's name (Aseh Lecha Rav 3:18).<BR/><BR/>While in 1982 Rabbi Eliezer Waldenburg similarly forbade smoking (Tzitz Eliezer 15:39), most decisors in the '80s refrained from prohibiting it, since the deleterious effects were not immediate, even as they forcefully discouraged smoking as an unhealthy habit (Igrot Moshe CM 2:76). As the effects of smoking have become better understood, however, the vast majority of rabbis, of all denominations, forbade smoking. Most recently, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv have joined those voices. Indeed, one can confidently say that today, every Jew has an obligation to help smokers kick the habit and prevent others from beginning.<BR/><BR/>The writer, editor of TraditionOnline.org, teaches at Yeshivat Hakotel and is pursuing a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy at the Hebrew University.<BR/><BR/>JPostRabbi@yahoo.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-87132614338107979852008-06-05T15:42:00.000-07:002008-06-05T15:42:00.000-07:00Rabbi faces fraud allegations in AustraliaPublishe...Rabbi faces fraud allegations in Australia<BR/><BR/>Published: 06/05/2008<BR/><BR/>A U.S.-born rabbi living in Australia will head to court over allegations of fraud.<BR/><BR/>Police have been investigating Rabbi Yossi Engel, who has resided in Adelaide, South Australia, since 1998, after it was alleged last year that he signed fake report cards and applied for government funding for a Hebrew school that did not exist.<BR/><BR/>The director of public prosecutions will assess the police report on Engel before charging him and then set a court date, according to a report in the Australian Jewish News.<BR/><BR/>The Adelaide Criminal Investigation Branch is believed to have interviewed more than 50 people linked to the case in the past 10 months.<BR/><BR/>Engel’s turbulent tenure in Adelaide centered around his dismissal in late 2006 from the post of rabbi at the City of Churches’ only Orthodox synagogue, Adelaide Hebrew Congregation.<BR/><BR/>The embattled Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi appealed the dismissal to the South Australian Supreme Court, which ruled that his contract with the congregation had ended. Despite his acrimonious separation from the synagogue, Rabbi Engel, 41, formed a breakaway congregation that has divided the community.<BR/><BR/>Adelaide, a dwindling Jewish community of less than 1,000 residents, also has a small Jewish school and a Progressive temple.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-71599805774196961642008-06-04T22:15:00.000-07:002008-06-04T22:15:00.000-07:00Obama for U.S President? Won't happen. If it were ...Obama for U.S President? Won't happen. If it were just on the anti-Israel stance alone, that so many fear, mainly the Jews, Barack Obama may still have a very realistic shot at the white house. However, his foreign policy leaves a lot to be desired. <BR/><BR/>When people say don't trust a politician - this is a classic example of what they're referring to. <BR/><BR/>His connections to haters of not just Israel, but America too, should trigger an alarm in every caring citizen. <BR/><BR/>Obama is unsuited to be the next commander in chief, and the polls are going to reflect just that.<BR/>=============================== <BR/><BR/>Newsweek reports:<BR/><BR/> Mideast Views on Obama’s Message to Jewish Voters<BR/>Newsweek<BR/><BR/>By Joanna Chen <BR/><BR/>Barack Obama is trying to persuade Jewish voters that he will maintain Washington’s pro-Israel stance. Israelis, however, are less convinced. Shortly after the newly minted Democratic presidential nominee delivered a strong-and well received-speech to the American Israel Political Action Committee’s policy conference on Wednesday, political analysts in the Jewish state remained skeptical about Obama. “People have a major problem with him here in Israel,” says Yaron Deckel, a political analyst for Channel One TV. “"When I ask Israelis who would be their choice for U.S. president, Obama always comes last, after John McCain and Hillary Clinton. He’s an unknown candidate.”<BR/><BR/>Obama is unlikely to stay unknown for long. But no matter how aggressively he courts Jewish Americans, Israelis are likely to remain leery of a candidate they perceive as lacking in foreign policy experience. "We are the kings of history,” says one Israeli government official who asked to remain anonymous because he has close ties to Washington. “And he has no history. There is a real fear that Obama may be less aggressive and less forthcoming than his predecessor.”<BR/><BR/>Read full article here:<BR/><BR/>http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/ov/archive/2008/06/04/mideast-views-on-obama-s-message-to-jewish-voters.aspxexposemolestershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02097300261898413798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-36794879263680823842008-06-04T21:46:00.000-07:002008-06-04T21:46:00.000-07:00http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom...http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2006/05/forward_rubaski.html<BR/><BR/>FORWARD: RUBASHKIN ABUSES WORKERS, SHORTS PAY CHECKS, ENDANGERS WORKER SAFETY, OTHER ABUSES - RABBIS: DOES NOT MATTER, PLANT STILL "KOSHER"<BR/><BR/>In a damning report by the Forward's Nathaniel Popper, Rubashkin's Iowa slaughterhouse stands accused of serious fraud and worker safety violations, as well as serious charges of other worker abuse. I can add that cattle growers have complained for years about alleged short weighing by Rubashkin, a fraudulant practice that costs them much money, and have echoed many of the charges made in the Forward articles.<BR/><BR/>The rub? Rabbis -- including, it appears, the OU, KAJ, Crown Heights Beis Din and other kosher supervising agencies -- have known about much of this abuse for years, and have done nothing. Why? Because, in their twisted understanding of halakha, meat obtained in whole or in part through fraud and exploitation is still kosher. Therefore, this rabbinic 'logic' goes, rabbis and kosher supervising agencies are not responsible to speak out against these abuses.<BR/><BR/>Many years ago, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein did speak out against less serious workers abuses, and refused to buy or consume produce raised and harvested through worker exploitation. We were once slaves in Egypt. Did God free us to exploit and abuse workers that provide our 'kosher' food?<BR/><BR/>Boycott Rubashkin, until this abuse is no more.<BR/><BR/>And, if you can do so, also stop consuming products produced under the many kosher supervisions Rubashkin employs, until the leadership of those agancies is replaced with a leadership that is committed to observing halakha in whole, and who refuses to endorse companies who exploit workers or tortue animals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-58939401873364075292008-06-04T21:27:00.000-07:002008-06-04T21:27:00.000-07:00Rubashkin's brother-in-law is the prominent Republ...Rubashkin's brother-in-law is the prominent Republican fundraiser Rabbi Milton Balkany, reportedly nicknamed "The Brooklyn Bundler", due to his fundraising tactics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-5803351755816510022008-06-04T21:25:00.000-07:002008-06-04T21:25:00.000-07:00w w w . h a a r e t z . c o mLast update - 15:19 0...w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m<BR/>Last update - 15:19 08/02/2008<BR/>Chabad-linked rabbi fined $0.5 million in toxic waste case<BR/>By Saul Sadka<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Moshe Rubashkin, the head of the Chabad-dominated Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, has pleaded guilty to illegally storing chemical waste at a textile mill owned by his family.<BR/><BR/>In a plea bargain with prosecutors, Rubashkin and his son Sholom agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars to reimburse the local and federal agencies that were forced to clean up the mill site after the Rubashkin family denied ownership of the plant. (Click here for U.S. Department of Justice statement on their arrests)<BR/><BR/>The rabbi's son, Sholom Rubashkin, confessed last month to lying to federal agents when he falsely claimed his family had no interest in the mill at the time the offenses were committed. Moshe Rubashkin, 50, and his son Sholom Rubashkin, 28, face sentencing later in the year, and each face a maximum of $250,000 in fines and 5 years in jail.<BR/><BR/>The Montex Textiles mill in Allentown, Pennsylvania was purchased by the Rubashkin family in 1989, and was operated by them until its closure in 2001. In 2002, the family sold the mill to a corporation called "Skyline Industries." The mill suffered a series of fires in 2005, one of which was ruled to be caused by arson.<BR/><BR/>According to the indictment in the case, Skyline refused to clean up the waste that was subsequently found at the site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and local and federal agencies were forced to undertake the cleanup.<BR/><BR/>According to prosecutors, the waste posed a critical health hazard to the surrounding residents, with highly flammable material stored. The EPA found aluminium powder and hydrogen peroxide stored alongside corrosive acids.<BR/><BR/>The Justice Department statement on the case quotes Pat Meehan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as saying that, "This kind of material, when improperly stored, is the equivalent of a lit fuse to the surrounding community."<BR/><BR/>Prosecutors alleged that the Rubashkin family had maintained an interest in the plant, following its sale to Skyline and during subsequent complex financial transactions relating to the site. Prosecutors had alleged that when questioned by the EPA, Sholom Rubashkin had knowingly made false statements regarding the interests that his family held in the mill.<BR/><BR/>Moshe Rubashkin has a police record going back to the 1980s. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to a count of bank fraud for passing bad checks and was fined over $200,000 and jailed for 15 months with a subsequent five-year probation period. In 1995, Rubashkin was found to have engaged in inequitable labor practices at another textile mill under his family's ownership in Brooklyn.<BR/><BR/>After leaving jail, he was elected to head the council in Crown Heights despite being on probation for fraud. The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council is elected by members of the local Chabad affiliating community based in the Brooklyn neighborhood where the movements headquarters are located. The community is thought to number around 15,000.<BR/><BR/>Rubashkins are seen as an "influential" family within the Chabad movement. Moshe Rubashkin's father, Rabbi Aaron Rubashkin, established the major kosher abattoir AgriProcessors in Postville, Iowa in 1987. The plant is the largest supplier of kosher meat in the United States. Rubashkin's brother-in-law is the prominent Republican fundraiser Rabbi Milton Balkany, reportedly nicknamed "The Brooklyn Bundler", due to his fundraising tactics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28305689.post-1773150437687230272008-06-04T21:13:00.000-07:002008-06-04T21:13:00.000-07:00Aaron Rubashkin has to be suffering from dementia....Aaron Rubashkin has to be suffering from dementia. He sounds ridiculous!exposemolestershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02097300261898413798noreply@blogger.com