http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20090625-7.html
Bar mitzvah tutor convicted of sexual abuse
BROOKLYN - Yona Weinberg, 31, was convicted of seven counts of sexual abuse in the second degree and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, for sexually abusing two boys.
Weinberg, a Flatbush Bar Mitzvah tutor and licensed social worker, will be sentenced September 9. He faces up to a two years in jail.
The victims were ages 12 and 13 at the time. One was one of Weinberg’s students, from the Khal Beth Abraham synagogue, where Weinberg gave Bar Mitzvah lessons. The other was a client from Weinberg’s work as a licensed social worker for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.
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http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/101317/hebrew-school-teacher-found-guilty-of-sexual-abuse/Default.aspx06/24/2009 10:28 PM
Hebrew School Teacher Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse
The Brooklyn District Attorney says Yona Weinberg, 31, was convicted of sexual abuse in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child.
The DA says Weinberg, a Flatbush Bar Mitzvah tutor and licensed social worker, sexually abused a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy back in May 2008.
Weinberg is due back in court on September 9th for sentencing, where he faces up to two years in jail.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/06/24/2009-06-24_molest_defendant_kid_came_on_to_me.htmlMolest defendant: Kid came on to me
Wednesday, June 24th 2009, 4:00 AM
A Bar Mitzvah tutor and social worker charged with molesting four teens took the stand Tuesday to deny it - and even said one of the youngsters came on to him.
Yona Weinberg, 31, of Flatbush, said one teen asked him about Viagra and sex toys while he was praying and teaching Talmud, and another tried to grab his crotch.
He denied abusing the teens.
"It never happened," the married father of four said of one boy's account of a sexual proposition.
He said another boy put his hand on his right leg in a van.
Later, the boy said, "He had feelings for me. I explained to him that they were not mutual. I told him he would eventually outgrow them."
Weinberg, a licensed social worker who is now in real estate, lost his composure only when defense lawyer Marvin Schecter asked if he had called any of the families since his May 2008 arrest.
"I called at least two other patients to inform them I was no longer allowed to work with children," he said, lowering his voice, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes.
Cross-examination is slated for Wednesday.
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Daily News Comments:1) What a bunch of BS
2) Pedophiles often blame the children they abuse as being the instigators of the abusive act. It's another facet of a pedophile's twisted mentality.
3) He came on to me, and he was so overwhelming, I just couldn't resist. It wasn't my fault. It's not my fault. Waaaaaaaaa!!!
4) Hell get probation and some counseling at mustard seed (place where pervs get counseling) so dont be decieved if one is in your neighborhoo
5) What a crock of lies! Yeah, he's an adult & he's trying to make it seem as though he was seduced by a minor... a mere child! Ha! Courts are dishing out such insane verdicts nowadays that this guy is likely to get probation & won't have to register as a sex criminal or pedophile b/c it may "ruin" his reputation... or maybe the judge should hire him!
6) I think I heard this defense before.. Oh yeah, I remember !! the woman who molested a four year old boy in daycare and said that the little boy came on to her !! this muthaf**** needs to be locked up in an institution for pedophiles so that they can molest each other !!
7) housing93 I agree: We're talking about: how much money can we get? Yes, there are the real pedophiles out there, but give me a break with this one! These are HARD ECONOMIC TIMES - there are some of those that will use what they have, to get what want , to get what they need, including children and that is a doggone shame. And for those pedophiles that are using this lame a$$ excuse I doggone you to the fire! Thank you!!!
8) Anacondaman: don't condemn me. I'm just say'in!
9) Hmm, it seems a certain segment of our community is predisposed to this type of behavior.I'm sure Yona will enroll in the special israel-nyc sex molestor program which will keep him out of jail and free to molest others.
10) The sick freak; blaming it on the kids.
11) The last perv who was recently convicted said the same words about his own daughter a few weeks back. Wasn't he a rabbi also, married and sleeping with his 17 yr old daughter. Now this rapist does the same thing.He'll probably be convicted as he should be.
12) this man is playing the system ,so they can think he's crazy and go away for a while and come out and do the same thing again and some child might not be lucky to tell the story. ain't no kid said this to him and if they did he was the grown up he should have reported it to the courts don't let him get away with this especially for lieing .the courts need to throw the book at him.he's a rabbi who is suppose to teach kids not molest them
13) how dare he.. I mean with unfiltered access to the internet, cell phones, the average kid having sex at 12-14 years of age... how dare he ever suggest that any kids would ever be smart enough to come on to an adult or someone else.. how dare he suggest that our kidsare that knowledgeable of the world and sex... Waaaaaaaa
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42 comments:
He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters.
His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.
As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grownup life. His skin became lighter and his nose narrower. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.
In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy482.html
Yeshiva In Sex Scandal Pledges More Protection
Torah Temimah, at meeting with parents, admits no wrongdoing in Kolko case.
Jewish Week, New York/June 16, 2006
By Jennifer Friedlin
The yeshiva at the heart of a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Orthodox community of Flatbush has pledged to take a series of steps to protect children from sexual molestation, including forbidding teachers from being alone with students and hiring a counselor and ombudsman to hear any future complaints.
While not admitting to any wrongdoing in the wake of two lawsuits that allege that Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah knowingly harbored a molester, the school announced the latest moves on Monday night at a forum attended by 150 parents of school-age children.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy482.html
A number of parents applauded the school’s efforts, and there were no critical questions from the audience. But some observers said the event shed light on the inner workings of the insular Brooklyn community in terms of the deference it pays to its leadership.
The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, who allegedly perpetrated a cover-up of the abuse and threatened students who made complaints, called the meeting, he said, to stress the importance of children’s safety. However, he declined to address parents’ concerns about the allegations, saying the matter was in litigation.
“I’m sure you’ll understand, I am precluded because of pending litigation from discussing any of that,” Rabbi Margulies said in reference to the claims.
In his only allusion to the past, he noted: “We always have had and always will have zero tolerance for any type of abuse, whether physical or emotional. … If, however, any member of our yeshiva family was ever subject to abuse by anyone at any time, our hearts go out for them and their families.”
The event was the first open forum for parents following the filing of the lawsuits in May. In two complaints, three former students of Torah Temimah alleged that Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a longtime rebbe at the school, had sexually molested them in attacks that occurred more than 20 years ago. The lawsuits, which seek $30 million in damages, claim that Rabbi Margulies conducted a rigorous coverup, including the foiling of two beit dins convened in the 1980s to air alleged victims’ complaints.
One of the alleged victims, David Framowitz, 48, said that Rabbi Kolko fondled him on multiple occasions in a car as well as in the school and at a summer camp for boys.
After the lawsuit was filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, Rabbi Kolko, who has worked for the yeshiva for four decades, was put on administrative leave. Rabbi Margulies, who appears to have the community’s full support, has remained in his position.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy482.html
None of the named defendants in the two lawsuits — Rabbi Kolko, Torah Temimah and Camp Agudah — have yet responded to the lawsuit. A lawyer for Torah Temimah previously denied the allegations.
In the wake of the charges, Torah Temimah invited Rabbi Aaron Twerski, dean of the Hofstra University Law School, and David Mandel, the executive director of Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, a Jewish social service agency, to speak at the event on Monday night.
Rabbi Twerski, a legal scholar who said he has been working on the issue of abuse for “a long time,” dismissed the allegations against Rabbi Margulies.
“I know Rabbi Margulies for many years and know him to be a man of great honor,” said Rabbi Twerski. He did not make any comments about Rabbi Kolko.
Rabbi Twerski then outlined a host of steps he said the yeshiva was taking to improve school safety, including agreeing to train employees to recognize signs of abuse. In addition, he said the school would be hiring a counselor and an ombudsman to handle claims of abuse.
One member of the audience was overheard saying under her breath, “It’s about time.”
In addition, Rabbi Twerski said the school had implemented a number of guidelines, including forbidding teachers to be alone with students and requiring that there be no enclosure without windows “so that a passerby cannot see what is going on.”
Rabbi Twerski also said that Torah Temimah was in the process of implementing additional, but undefined, steps recommended by Torah U’Mesorah, the Jewish education arm of Agudath Israel of America.
A call placed to Torah U’Mesorah in search of the guidelines was not returned.
Following Rabbi Twerski, Mandel spoke about ways to engage children in conversations about sex abuse. Mandel noted that it was up to the parents to engage their children because most victims do not come forward due to shame, fear of their abusers, a sense of loyalty to their abusers and/or concern about being stigmatized.
However, when an audience member asked whether sex education could help to strengthen children’s knowledge of inappropriate behaviors and empower them to come forward if someone violated them, Mandel responded that sex education was “not something realistic” in a community that stresses modesty.
He told parents that the overwhelming majority of children who have experienced “unwanted touch” would go on to live happy, healthy lives, while only a “small percentage” of individuals would be permanently harmed by the abuse
Mandel also said that abusers could be treated for their perversions.
“An individual who abuses children and who participates in treatment can lead a successful life and be believed that they would no longer hurt children,” Mandel said.
When asked, in an interview the following day, whether such people could work with children again, Mandel evaded the question.
Several parents who were in attendance said they were pleased with the information they received and with the school for holding the session.
“A little too late, but better late than never,” said one parent following the event.
Another parent, requesting anonymity, said he felt the school was “taking every step humanly possible” to prevent abuse. He added that Rabbi Margulies had his full confidence.
But some Orthodox observers said the event amounted to a whitewash of the allegations.
Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University who has been working to focus communal attention on the problem of rabbinic abuse, said that the community was so “authority oriented” that it prevented members from demanding more accountability from its leadership.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy482.html
Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University who has been working to focus communal attention on the problem of rabbinic abuse, said that the community was so “authority oriented” that it prevented members from demanding more accountability from its leadership.
“No one who protected him [Rabbi Kolko] all these years is paying any price,” Blau said, adding that Rabbi Margulies “should remove himself for awhile until things can be reviewed objectively.”
Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive director of JSafe, an organization that fights abuse in the Jewish community, said the Brooklyn Orthodox community had a somewhat spotty record of taking care of its own.
“Part of the problem with Brooklyn is that it’s a very insular community,” Rabbi Dratch said. “They look to solve the problems themselves even if it’s not in the best interest of the community.”
Sex scandal roils Orthodox Melbourne
By Dan Goldberg · March 21, 2008
SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – A sex scandal at a fervently Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne has sparked a furious debate in Australia’s Jewish community.
Malka Leifer, the Israeli-born principal of the fervently Orthodox Adass Israel Girls’ School, was accused on the front page of last week’s Australian Jewish News of sexual abuse , setting off a media storm in Australia.
The story also sparked a blistering war of words within the Jewish community about whether the newspaper should have aired the community’s dirty laundry in public.
Under the headline “Adass principal flees Australia in disgrace,” the newspaper reported last week that Leifer fled the country on March 5 – 24 hours after the school board confronted her with allegations of sexual misconduct involving former students.
Leifer denied the allegations, according to the president of the Adass Israel synagogue, Binyomin Koppel. In a statement, Koppel confirmed that Leifer, the principal for five years, was “suspended from all school duties” and had left the country on the evening of March 5.
A mother of eight in her late 40s, Leifer is believed to have gone to her parents’ home in the fervently Orthodox enclave of Bnei Brak, a Tel Aviv suburb.
At least three alleged victims, recent graduates who became teachers at the school, are believed to have come forward to counselors with allegations of misconduct by Leifer.
There are about 1,200 members of the Adass Israel community, an insular community of fervently Orthodox Jews, many of whose primarly language is Yiddish.
In the wake of the scandal, Adass Israel has hired psychologists to counsel the school’s 250 students as well as staff, teachers and former students.
Meanwhile, a furious debate has raged over whether the newspaper should have reported the salacious story.
One letter-writer whose missive was published in this week’s edition of the Australian Jewish News called for a boycott of the newspaper for the “shame and humiliation rendered on Melbourne Jewry.” A second accused the weekly of “tabloid-like behavior” that was “disgraceful and outrageous.”
The editor, another wrote, should be “reprimanded by the owners” for “transgressing the laws of lashon hara” – the ban on gossip.
Letter writers also came to the paper’s defense. One said the paper did its job “with sensitivity and compassion,” and that it had an “obligation” to publish the allegations because “our children need to be protected.”
In a strongly worded editorial, the newspaper argued that it was “nonsense” to suggest that it should have refrained from publishing the news.
“That there could be an alleged sexual predator in one of our schools will not make our friends think any worse of us, nor will it breed a new generation of anti-Semites,” the editorial argued. “It simply proves again that our community, like any, has its flaws.”
The fury surrounding publication of the story recalled a similar controversy several years ago in the United States, when The New York Jewish Week published allegations of sexual abuse by Baruch Lanner, a rabbi who worked in the Orthodox Union’s youth movement. Lanner was later convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to seven years in prison.
In Australia, the story about Adass Israel spread quickly on the internet, on radio talk shows and in the Australian press, which ran with headlines like “Principal ‘molested schoolgirls,’ ” and “Fury over girls school sex claims.”
The Adass community has been traumatized by the scandal.
“The mere allegation has gone to the very core of the Torah principles, ethos and practices of that whole community,” said Norman Rosenbaum, an attorney for the school and brother of Yankel Rosenbaum, the yeshiva student who was murdered during New York’s 1991 Crown Heights riots. “It is devastating. This has shattered people.”
Failedmessiah Reports:
BREAKING! Huge Demonstration On Sex Abuse Bill Shakes Lopez
Police out in force to separate hundreds of pro and anti bill protesters, protect Lopez. Satmar and Catholic Church Send Busloads Of Protesters To Support Lopez And Attack The Child Victims Act
I'm glad he's dead now all the little children can be safe from that pig he was.
Rabbi Shmuley on Jackson Death: 'Few Did Anything to Stop It'
Famed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is speaking out about Michael Jackson's death, telling "Extra," "The saddest aspect to this tragedy is that so many watched it happen and few did anything to stop it. I pray that Michael's death will not be in vain and that we see a return, even among Hollywood celebrities to the spiritual and family values that are life sustaining."
Shmuley worked with Jackson and helped create Heal the Kids, a charity aimed to help parents reestablish the importance of children. The rabbi tells "Extra," "Our thoughts and prayers are with his children and the Jackson family."
Boteach adds, "Michael Jackson's death is not just a terrible tragedy for three young children who will now be orphaned. It is also an American tragedy that affects us all. Our culture, in which fortune and fame readily eclipse family and life nurturing values, is claiming an increasing number of casualties. There was a great beauty and gentility in Michael's soul. His talents far surpassed those of his contemporaries and he yearned deeply to make the world a better place. I am saddened that the emotional pain he lived with prevented him from finding the meaning and connectedness which he longed for."
http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/local_news/public_role_for_rabbi_jacob_a._max_still_unknown/13130
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Rabbi Fink said individuals and organizations should feel some rachmones, compassion, for Rabbi Max.
“He’s obviously an ill man and has been for many years,” he said. “But we also have to have rachmones for his victims. It was not just one victim but many women who have come forth about him being inappropriate with them.”
When asked if Rabbi Max could perform teshuvah, repentance, for his actions, Rabbi Fink said the first step would be a public admission of guilt.
“Do you cut out someone from your family if they’re ill? He’s part of our family, so we want him to get treatment,” Rabbi Fink said. “But we should limit contact with him until he’s well. Women would be ill-advised to spend time with him. I’d encourage him to go through treatment to deal with his illness.”
Right of Reply: What's wrong with public awareness?
Jun. 25, 2009
Name witheld , THE JERUSALEM POST
Jonathan Rosenblum's response ("Those primitive haredim- yet again," June 12) to the article about abuse cases in Ramat Beit Shemesh ("Haredi parents take on sexual abuse of children, June 3") contains several misleading statements.
Rosenblum mentions the work of Lema'an Achai only in connection with the Gush Katif refugees and those from the North. This gives the impression it is a narrowly National Religious organization. That is not true.
Lema'an Achai is a tzedaka and hesed organization that serves the entire Ramat Beit Shemesh community (not only the refugees from Gush Katif and the North). Most of the families helped by Lema'an Achai are haredi (despite the fact that several leading haredi rabbis do not encourage supporting Lema'an Achai.) So its head, David Morris, certainly has no anti-haredi agenda. Most of the community - haredi and nonharedi - supports Morris's efforts.
Rosenblum refers to the case against the heder rebbe being closed (the police decided not to pursue further investigation), and that this was not the outcome Morris wanted. Rosenblum misses the point entirely.
The case was closed due to lack of sufficient evidence to indict and prosecute, which often happens in cases in which the primary claimants are minors - as Rosenblum, a lawyer, should know. The facts in that particular case are very disturbing (there is more than one complaint against that particular rebbe), and yet he is presently teaching young children in the same position he held previously - with the agreement of some (not all) of the haredi rabbis in the neighborhood. This is exactly the problem on which the original Jerusalem Post news story focused, and this is exactly the indifference that many haredi and non-haredi residents alike are concerned about.
Rosenblum highlights the fact that Morris is not professionally trained. Morris is not a professional, nor does he claim to be. However, his organization has many professionals on staff, and he consults them on all these issues. Rosenblum knows this, and it's very unclear why he chose to give a different impression.
ROSENBLUM IS CORRECT that the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood is generally well educated, etc. However, many residents feel that the rabbis are "behind" the community on this issue. That was exactly the point of the original article. Rosenblum himself points out that the haredi community in general has begun to approach this issue more aggressively.
That is particularly true in the US and to a lesser degree in Jerusalem. The Ramat Beit Shemesh haredi community lags behind in this area - though since the original article was published, public awareness has been raised.
Rosenblum writes: "These are not people with no knowledge of the outside world, who have never heard of sexual perversions, or whose every behavior is shaped by generations-old social mores. Few of them would silently endure the sexual abuse of their children, or tolerate rabbis they viewed as passive in the face of such abuse."
Exactly! That is what is happening. The community members, both haredi and non-haredi, are not standing by and remaining silent. That is why there has been so much pressure put on rabbis in recent weeks, which was one point of the original article.
ROSENBLUM PITS Morris against the rabbis. Yet Morris consults with rabbinic leadership consistently, and several rabbis in the neighborhood fully support his efforts to raise awareness on this issue. Rosenblum could have easily checked this out. Why didn't he ask Morris for comment? Had he spoken to him, he would have realized that there is no antiharedi agenda coming from Morris. The agenda is to raise awareness and spark more action, and that is exactly what is happening.
Rosenblum puts words in the mouth of Morris to paint him in a negative light. For example, Morris never used the word haredi or epidemic.
Morris is out to raise awareness, do hesed and help protect our children. He has done, and in this case is doing, a great job. Most Ramat Beit Shemesh people think it's crazy that Rosenblum turned him into the "antiharedi" bad guy.
Lema'an Achai is not the antiharedi bad guy either. As mentioned above, most of the families Lema'an Achai has been helping (some for years) have been haredi. Furthermore, some (maybe many, I don't know the exact number) of its leading administrators, social workers, therapists and counselors are haredi themselves.
Unfortunately, this and the other examples show that Rosenblum was writing a knee-jerk bashing of a nonharedi person and organization who had the strength to point out a weakness in the Beit Shemesh community. Rosenblum owes Morris and Lema'an Achai a major apology.
ROSENBLUM WRITES, "In addition, publicity can lead to hysteria in which parents become convinced that their children are at great risk in school. (In fact, more abuse takes place within families or involves older children as perpetrators.)" This line completely baffles me. Is Rosenblum saying that since most abuse takes place at home, we should be less careful and less concerned about abuse in school? Is that how he would (not) react if he heard about abuse in his own child's school?
When parents hear about abuse in their children's school, a certain amount of extra concern - yes, even a little hysteria - is warranted. And that is exactly what happened in this case. Since its publication, there has been a lot of discussion about the other case referred to in the article.
Some parents, after consulting professionals, took their kids out of the nursery school; others, also after consulting professionals, left their kids there but became more aware and stayed in closer contact with the school. Many (I assume and hope all) have consulted professionals and their rabbis. That is what is supposed to happen in cases like this. The article, along with the accompanying publicity, have been a catalyst for better protection of our children.
In both cases, the original article has had exactly the right effect in providing additional protection for our children.
IN GENERAL, Rosenblum misrepresents the Ramat Beit Shemesh scene. Many (I think most) English-speaking haredim support Morris's efforts. They feel that the rabbinic leadership has been slow to respond in cases like this.
Since the article was published, awareness has been raised. The upcoming meetings on educating the public (which Rosenblum refers to) and the new focus on this issue are happening primarily due to the article and the efforts of Morris and Lema'an Achai.
A local rabbi sent out a letter publicly supporting education in the area of abuse. Has that ever happened before? I think the answer is no. Rosenblum quotes one leading local rabbi by name: So this leading rabbi is on record publicly supporting these lectures. That also hasn't happened before.
Rosenblum's own column closes with a call for more education and public lectures in the areas of parent/child communication and abuse.
Awareness has been raised and people are asking good questions and encouraging more action. Even Rosenblum's way-off-the-mark piece is part of the solution. Thank you David Morris for being the catalyst.
The Camp Agudah fire should have served as a wake up call for them to stop protecting child molesters. It has not been that way. In fact Agudah has intensified its role in harboring and excusing pedophiles. What a travesty of justice!
Congregation To Decide Fate Of Convicted Rabbi
Saturday, June 27, 2009 - Robert Lang and Baltimore Jewish Times
Officials of the Liberty Jewish Center are due to meet Sunday to decide if it will end it's long time association with Rabbi Jacob Max, who was convicted two months ago for molesting a woman who worked at the Sol Levinson Brothers funeral home, where Max officiated.
The board of directors of the synagogue, also known Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation, will make a recommendation to the congregation's executive board which makes the final decision.
The 85-year-old rabbi is serving one year of unsupervised probation, and one year of a suspended jail term.
He has been with the congregation for more than 50 years.
A congregation member told the Baltimore Jewish Times that deliberations over Max's future have been “very, very difficult. We’ve had executive board meetings until you’re nauseous. The agenda is to make a final recommendation. It’s a horrible, painful situation.”
The congregation's Pikesville campus is named for Max.
The Jewish Times also reported this week that Max resigned from the Baltimore Board of Rabbis as the reorganization was about to expel him. Other organizations and synagogues where Max officiated are also considering similar action.
WBAL Radio Baltimore
http://wbal.com/
The Rev. John Hynes claimed June 22 that the Child Victims Act is ineffective in preventing child abuse. The law opened a window, which closes on July 9, allowing victims of child sexual abuse to expose their predators in court.
Hynes advocates “restorative justice,” such as an apology from their abusers. That, however, does nothing to protect children. Nor does that approach expose those who shielded predators (some of whom still hold powerful positions where they could continue to conceal predators).
Apologies don’t help pay for mountains of medical and therapy bills that many adults who were severely assaulted as children have to endure. Nor do they make whole families who have lost through suicide members who were unable to further endure the psychological, physical and financial pain of child sexual abuse.
Hynes credits the church for implementing policies to prevent child abuse. He neglects to mention that these policies came about only when public exposure, civil lawsuits and media attention forced bishops to finally take some action.
Those policies promise “openness,” yet religious orders like the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales even now refuse to reveal publicly the names and locations of known pedophiles. Delaware’s new bishop, Francis Malooly, refuses to require the oblates in his diocese to reveal this information. The much-touted church policies look good on paper, but in reality change little.
As a lifelong Roman Catholic, I know my church can do better than the scapegoating of the Legislature and legal profession offered by the Rev. Hynes.
Judy Miller, Delaware state leader, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, Hockessin
Any possibility of me opening up a daycare? it certainly is an attractive idea.
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Baltimore County police have arrested a White Marsh teen and charged him with the second-degree rape and sexual abuse of two young children who were in day care in his mother's home. Robert Poellot, 16, of the 8900 block of Lennings Lane was charged as an adult with the sex abuse of a minor, second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense, sodomy and perverted practices, according to court records. He was released on home detention under the supervision of the county Department of Corrections pending arraignment. According to a statement of charges, the children's mother told police her 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter had been receiving day care in the suspect's home for about a year. The alleged abuse occurred over a period of time. The children revealed it to their mother over the weekend.
Yudi Kolko said...
Any possibility of me opening up a daycare? it certainly is an attractive idea.
*
Sure, just not in Brooklyn. We need a DA that will put you behind bars where you belong.
Two Orthodox Rabbis Arrested for Laundering Columbian Drug Money
N.Y. Times, June 17, 1997
NEW YORK -- A dozen men, including two identified as Orthodox Jewish rabbis, were charged by federal authorities Monday with conspiring to launder and hide $1.75 million in drug profits for Colombian narcotics dealers by routing the cash through the bank accounts of a synagogue and a yeshiva in Brooklyn.
The bizarre case, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said, brought together a collection of strange bedfellows - five New York representatives of Colombian drug traffickers, three go-betweens who purportedly transported cash in suitcase quantities, and four men with ties to a close-knit Jewish community.
At one point, the officials charged, the rabbis ran tens of millions of dollars in drug profits through the bank accounts of a relatively modest Borough Park synagogue and provided nearly $3.5 million from American and Swiss accounts for the purchase of an aircraft for the Colombian drug lords.
"Money launderers are the indispensable partners of major drug traffickers, and the cynical act of using religious institutions to conceal drug proceeds is particularly reprehensible," said Zachary Carter, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in announcing the charges.
Seven defendants, including Rabbi Mahir Reiss, 47, of 3543 Bedford Ave., and Rabbi Bernard Grunfeld, 64, of 1417 46th St., both in Brooklyn, were arrested Monday and were arraigned late in the day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann, charged with conspiracy to launder money. Two suspects, Grunfeld and Israel Knobloch, 24, of 5200 15th Ave., Brooklyn, also were charged with conspiring to avoid federal cash-transaction reporting requirements.
Six defendants were held without bail, and one, Abraham Reiss, 48, of 320 Riverside Drive in Manhattan, a brother of Mahir Reiss, was released on $750,000 bail. Three other men named in the federal complaint were listed as fugitives, and two more were being held in custody elsewhere in New York in other cases, according to Lee Dunst, the assistant federal attorney prosecuting the case.
Unveiling a three-year undercover investigation that used court-authorized wiretaps and other surveillance, the federal complaint charged that the two rabbis and Abraham Reiss laundered $750,000 by taking cash from go-betweens, depositing it in the bank accounts of a synagogue-based organization and, after subtracting commissions, writing checks to drug traffickers.
Investigators said the bank accounts used in the scheme, held in the name of Chaim Shel Shulem, which shares quarters with Congregation Eitz Chaim at 1577 48th St. in Borough Park, held deposits of more than $19 million during the 10-month period when the laundering transactions occurred, between August 1995 and May 1996.
Full Article:
http://radioislam.org/crime/drugs/rabbis.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran29-2009jun29,0,877375.story
I vant to tell the tzibbur dat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mine hero. He is stubbern like me end dis is veri importent mida to heve.
Protesting parking lots that are open on sabbath is encouraged, but doing the same against pedophilia and child abuse is not on the Jewish agenda. Unbelievable junk Jew mentality.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55Q21L20090627
Sabbath parking fuels Jerusalem religious tensions
Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:35pm EDT
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Ultra-Orthodox Jews, angry at the opening of a parking lot on the Jewish sabbath, clashed with police separating them from secular Jerusalem residents who held a protest on Saturday in support of the move.
Police moved in to separate the demonstrators after ultra-Orthodox Jews started hurling stones and vegetables. A police spokesman said 24 people were arrested and four policemen suffered minor injuries.
Tensions have been brewing in the city over plans by Jerusalem's Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, to reopen a parking lot on Saturday, a move that could draw more traffic into the city on the Jewish sabbath.
Jewish religious law bans travel on the sabbath, and Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community has negotiated with city authorities arrangements that limit or ban traffic in their neighborhoods on Saturdays.
Tensions reached a new peak on Friday when thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews walked through a main street in the city in protest at Barkat's decision. Some scuffled with journalists and photographers covering the march.
The march occurred a day after Orthodox Jews held street prayers to mourn Thursday's gay pride parade in the city, at which police deployed some 1,500 policemen.
Many devout Jews, Muslims and Christians view homosexuality as an abomination. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed and wounded three participants in the gay march. He is serving a 12-year sentence.
Barkat became mayor in November after beating ultra-Orthodox Uri Lupolianski. He ran on a platform of reversing an exodus of secular young Jews who leave to cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa in search of better job opportunities.
He also vowed to fight poverty and unemployment in the city where religious and secular Jews live in a delicate balance.
In Orthodox neighborhoods, families in traditional black garb stroll to synagogues during the Sabbath and Jewish holidays on roads blocked to cars. In downtown Jerusalem, secular Jews frequent non-Kosher bars and eateries.
Proposal will help abuse victims
First published: Monday, June 29, 2009
Survivors often take years before they can overcome the psychological damage caused by childhood sexual abuse and come forward to report it. But our laws do not reflect this medically recognized reality. The statute of limitations for child sexual abuse is too short, meaning most pedophiles never are brought to justice.
Extending the civil statute of limitations and opening a one-year window to allow survivors outside the limit to sue will help right that wrong. It will also expose many hidden pedophiles. When California and Delaware passed these measures, hundreds of previously unknown pedophiles were exposed.
The Child Victims Act is now before the Assembly and Senate. The Catholic Church and the ultra-Orthodox umbrella group Agudath Israel of America vociferously oppose the bill because the potential financial costs to these groups because of their own allegedly negligent behavior is high. Yet many other religious groups, including other Jewish groups, strongly support the bill.
Saving children from sexual abuse must take precedence over money. To argue otherwise is to turn morality on its head.
Childhood sexual abuse must be stopped. The Child Victims Act is one giant step toward reaching that goal. Please support it.
Shmarya Rosenberg
St. Paul, Minn.
I wish New York would take after Delaware so we can teach Agudah, the Catholic Church, and all the opponents of this bill a lesson they'll never forget.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090629/NEWS01/906290312
The two-year window of Delaware's 2007 Child Victim's Act is about to close, putting an end to a steady stream of civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse that dates to the 1950s and reaches to churches, schools and private homes.
The 2007 law eliminated the civil statute of limitations in such cases and opened the two-year period during which cases previously barred by the time limit could be filed.
More than 140 cases had been filed as of Friday, attorneys said, and lawmakers last week unanimously approved legislation to clarify that the deadline for the cases should be July 9 -- marking exactly two years since Gov. Ruth Ann Minner signed the act into law. Some judges and attorneys previously thought the window closes Tuesday, the last day of the fiscal year.
Though the following nine days may produce additional cases, attorneys expect most to be filed by Tuesday.
"If someone knocks on the door, we'd probably do it for them," said Thomas S. Neuberger, whose Wilmington law firm has filed about 75 percent of the cases. "But we're sprinting toward the finish line."
The law was the Legislature's response to victims and advocates who said the state's two-year civil statute of limitations denied victims adequate time. Experts say it can take decades for victims of child sexual abuse to be able to speak about what happened to them.
Contact Beth Miller at 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com
Wacko Jacko is not an honorable nickname.
--------------------------------
To one generation, Michael Jackson was a charismatic child star.
To another, he was "Wacko Jacko," suspected child molester.
The sex scandals that plagued the increasingly erratic singer dated to the early 1990s, when he was first linked to the repeated abuse of a 13-year-old boy at his lavish Neverland Ranch.
Jackson, eventually accused of molesting three boys, was never convicted of any crimes.
But multimillion-dollar settlements with two victims, along with his bizarre persona, convinced many something odd was happening at his California home/kiddie theme park - and it crippled his career.
Jackson made no secret of his preference for the company of kids over adults, insisting it was all innocent as he welcomed "many children" into his bed.
His high-profile house guests included "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin and child star Corey Feldman.
Jackson - even after his 2003 arrest on molestation charges - seemed clueless about the furor caused by his lifestyle.
Asked on "60 Minutes" if he thought it was okay to share his bed with a child, Jackson replied, "Why not?"
"If you're going to be a pedophile, if you're going to be Jack the Ripper, if you're going to be a murderer, it's not a good idea," Jackson said. "That, I am not."
His explosive 2005 trial on sex charges drew international attention. Prosecutors portrayed the fortysomething Jackson as a sexual predator who plied victims with wine and girlie magazines.
Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor - allegations that put him back in the headlines long after his musical career slowed to a crawl.
During the three-month trial, the teen recounted Jackson giving him wine - the singer called it "Jesus juice" - before fondling him as they lay on a bed inside Neverland.
Jackson reportedly encouraged the boy to masturbate before groping the teen.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/26/2009-06-26_the_stain_of_kidsex_raps_plagued_career_weird_sleepovers_with_boys_huge_payouts_.html#ixzz0Jrvkp9IY&D
More Reaction - Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years - Bloomberg
Live! From U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan: Exclusive Interview with Madoff Victim Cynthia Friedman (Bloomberg News)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAm4Jd6AX6A
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090630/NEWS01/906300340/1006/Hit-man--prosecutors-trade-denials-in-rabbi-case
We deny any involvement in the murder of the rabbi's wife. Belsky didn't want to pay our asking fee for this one so we decided no can do.
-------------------------------------
CHERRY HILL — The hit man who long claimed a Cherry Hill rabbi hired him to kill his wife more than a decade ago has now changed his story.
Leonard Jenoff, jailed since admitting Fred Neulander hired him to kill his wife in 1994, now claims Carol Neulander was beaten to death as part of a robbery and the rabbi had no involvement in the death..
What the hell is rabbi shmuley boteach saying? This guy is giving a hesped on michael jackson's sorry life as if we lost a great tzadik. He further places blame on those who watched him die while doing nothing to stop it.
Has boteach totally lost his mind? Boteach would have been better served using jackson's death as an opportunity to address jewish orthodox pedophiles and their enablers. That might be more befitting than to bestow honor and praise on somebody who's significance hardly lies with jewish roots.
Bernie Madoff is my hero!
When Bernard Madoff's attorney, Ira Lee Sorkin, appealed to US Federal District Court Judge Denny Chin to go easy on his client just before the Ponzi-scheme king was sentenced on Monday, his argument was: "Vengeance is not the goal of punishment."
There is no way of knowing what the judge thought of that. What we do know is that after labeling Madoff's 20-year crime spree an "extraordinary evil," Chin sent him to prison for 150 years. Granted, Madoff showed - if not remorse - then self-awareness, admitting that his $65-billion racket had caused "a great deal of suffering and pain… I live in a tormented state now… I've left a legacy of shame." Indeed, his wife, who absented herself from the courtroom, claims to have known nothing of the plot which left her "embarrassed and ashamed."
Just as "Quisling" has become synonymous with "collaboration"; "Churchillan" with "eloquence" and "Freudian" with "analysis," the name Madoff will henceforth, as The New York Times aptly put it, "become synonymous with greed and fraud."
We are generally rough with our talmidim. We beat and abuse them for chinuch purposes. We turn skin into black and blue and we even have rabbis that molest kids when they act bad.
http://archive.theday.com/re.aspx?re=50d0c1b3-7929-4abb-9093-35b08960da10
Father in child abuse case tells police he was 'generally rough' with infant
By Karen Florin Published on 6/29/2009
Jeffrey Mears, accused of inflicting multiple fractures and bruises on his four-month-old daughter, denied hurting the baby intentionally, but told police that his judgment gets “clouded” by the marijuana and alcohol he uses constantly.
Mears, 29, and the baby's mother, 19-year-old Jaime Carr, made their first appearance today in the New London court where their case will be heard. Mears is charged with two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor. He is being held on $150,000 bond. Carr is charged with risk of injury to a minor and is free on $50,000 bond.
Both were assigned public defenders and had their cases continued. They are forbidden from having contact with the child, who is in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
The couple was living at 1591 Norwich-New London Turnpike when the assaults occurred, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Mears would watch the child while Carr was at work. The child's injuries were discovered on April 30, when Carr took him to his pediatrician. The doctor noticed the child had multiple bruises and a broken left arm. The baby was taken to the Connecticut Children Medical Center, where doctors determined the baby also had a healing fracture of the clavicle, healing fractures in both arms, multiple healing and fractured ribs, healing fractures to both legs and a probable skull fracture. They said the injuries were “consistent with multiple episodes of inflicted injury.”
Mears denied intentionally hurting the baby, but said he had fallen with her in his arms once. He told state police he was “generally rough” with her, that he “bobbles her around a lot” and that he was always intoxicated on marijuana and alcohol when he was around the baby and Carr.
The police have charged Carr with not seeking alternate care for the child, knowing that Mears was rough with her.
New York Post
PLEA DEAL COULD SET 'PERV' FREE THIS YEAR
By ADAM NICHOLS
June 30, 2009 --
A pervert who faced 50 years in jail for having sex with two boys he'd lured to his Brooklyn home could be freed as early as this year.
Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Martin Murphy today ordered Stefan Colmer jailed for between 2-1/3 and seven years under a plea deal. He has already been held for two years.
The lenient punishment was handed out despite Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes urging the judge to give him at least double the sentence - or scrap the plea agreement and send Colmer to trial.
"We object," he said in a letter sent to the judge. "We strongly recommend that you sentence the defendant to 4-2/3 to 14 years in prison or, in the alternative, you set aside the agreement and reassign this case for trial."
Colmer, 32, an orthodox Jew, agreed to plead guilty to eight counts of a criminal sexual act. He had been facing 37 charges.
Hynes had asked the judge to run two of the counts consecutively -- sending Colmer to jail for 4 2/3 to 14 years.
But Murphy refused, saying Colmer had no previous record, was seeking treatment for his crimes and the case against him was weak.
Colmer had befriended the boys, who were both 13, in 2006. He invited them to his Midwood home to play board games before molesting them.
He then went on the lam to Israel. He became the first person to be extradited from that country for sodomy under a new treaty with the U.S.
"We are very grateful that the judge reflected in his sentence a true sensitivity and understanding," said Colmer's lawyer, Robert Gottlieb. "These two boys will not have to testify in open court and hopefully they will now have productive lives."
Colmer mumbled an apology to his victims as he was sentenced. The victims and their relatives were not in court.
“We maintained our objection, requesting that he be sentenced to consecutive time for the two victims – four and two thirds to 14 years,” said Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. Colmer was the first American to ever be extradited under a new amendment made to the Israeli-American treaty, which many had felt was outdated in some respects.
Prior to an amendment to a treaty, a defendant who was charged with sodomy, and not rape, could flee to Israel and be safe from extradition back to the United States. That all changed last year when Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes successfully got Colmer extradited back to Brooklyn.
There are rumers out there that somehow 'ich veis' how do you say it.. That somehow I have the achrayes for the things that colmer did.
Why would they say this about me? Why, because I let this child predator into my home and didn't report him to the police?
You know that in the yeshivisheh velt we deal with it ourselves from within. Stop griping and chirping about my responsibility for his lapse in judgment.
Memeila I think it would also be fit to assume that Stefan has probably done tshubah and we should judge him favorably and hopefully make a seudas ho'doah when he gets out of prison.
Brooklyn is big. We should all see to it that after colmer serves his time, he be treated nicely and fairly like we would talk to our parents, and that his neighbors accept him with open arms into the community.
I'm out of time. Remind me next time to tell you a gevaldic story about what it means to be nice to every yid, and the major schar for doing it...
It starts out like this.
There once was a donkey, an ape, and a weasel. They tried to get along with each other and they succeeded. How could three kinds of animals of entirely different species have the seychel to survive?
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/01/2009-07-01_family_bids_farewell.html
Loved ones of Brooklyn dad and son slain in sewer tragedy say farewell
BY Oren Yaniv, Stephanie Gaskell and Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, July 1st 2009, 4:00 AM
Maisel/News
Mourners in Borough Park, Brooklyn, bear coffins at service for Shlomo and Harel Dahan.
Related News
Articles
* Three die at Queens sewage plant from toxic fumes
* Tenants & owners make their case
* Elderly Queens landlord dies in sewage drain fall
* Transit worker Nunez nets $13M for fall thru station platform
Sobs and unspeakable sadness enveloped a Brooklyn family Tuesday as they bid farewell to a father and son killed in a freak cesspool accident at a Queens sewage plant.
"What can you say to a family that in one moment lost a patriarch and a son?" wondered Rabbi Yirmiyahu Levy in a moving eulogy before black-draped coffins and an overflow crowd.
"Who can believe this?"
Shlomo Dahan, 49, died Monday in a desperate attempt to rescue his 23-year-old son Harel from the deadly fumes of an 18-foot-deep cesspool at a Queens sewage plant.
A third man, Rene Francisco Rivas, was killed when he went after the elder Dahan.
Shlomo and Harel Dahan enjoyed their difficult and dirty jobs, friends said.
The elder Dahan, co-owner of S. Dahan Sewer Specialists, worked alongside his employees. The younger Dahan liked being at his father's side.
"He loved what he did, because he worked with his father," said Shaul Hanuka, 23, a friend of Harel.
The victims' family was among the 500 mourners that filled the Shomrei Hadas Chapel in Borough Park. Three sons, ages 15 to 25, were left behind with their mother.
"Abba! Abba!" shouted one devastated son, using the Hebrew word for father. "I love you, Abba!"
Levy recalled Shlomo planning to watch his boys on their wedding days. "Who could believe that instead of marrying his son, he will be buried together with him?" Levy said.
The pair will be laid to rest today in Zichron Yankov, Israel, south of Haifa, where Shlomo Dahan's parents still live.
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
Rabbi decides it's OK for Jews to eat giraffe after declaring the animal's meat kosher
A rabbi has answered a question that probably isn't tripping off every Jew's tongue: Is giraffe meat kosher?
And the answer, according to Rabbi Shlomo Mahfoud, is that it is. And giraffe milk also accords with religious law.
'The giraffe has all the signs of a ritually pure animal, and the milk forms curds, which strengthened that view,' Rabbi Mahfoud said.
He 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.
They found that the milk forms curds as required under Jewish religious law, a finding confirmed by another research institute, the daily said.
Giraffe meat is also considered ritually pure because the animal has a cloven hoof and chews the cud.
'Indeed, the giraffe is kosher for eating,' said Mahfoud, who was present when the researchers made their finding.
Yigal Horowitz, chief veterinary surgeon at the safari park, is not overly worried by the development.
"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."
In Defense of MJ
by LastTrumpet [➚] · Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
BS”D
I find myself surprisingly saddened by the passing of Michael Jackson. I was never the biggest fan, but I certainly have an appreciation for the musical legacy of perhaps the greatest entertainer of the past 50 years, (truth be told, I’m watching Moonwalker right now). That all said, I was totally surprised to find Eric Yoffie blogging about the Jewish response to MJ’s death:
2 Responses to “In Defense of MJ”
1.
It seems to me the Carlebach legacy and the MJ legacy, though with parallels, diverge in one key way. Shlomo’s core message was about bringing love, ecstasy, and feeling back into Judaism. The problem with his sex abuse, in addition to it hurting many many women, relationships, etc, was that it cast a sinister shadow over his message. Perhaps MJ had a similar issue but I don’t know his music and statements well enough to talk about his core message. My sense, though is that in general it wasn’t nearly as much about collapsing boundaries, embracing, etc as Shlomo’s. Sure it touched on those themes but not as centrally.
—zt · June 30th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
2.
Uh MJ was a very ill narcisist who ruined the lives of many young boys.We seem to overlook evil when it comes through those who entertain us. How pathetic we are.
What’s really sad is how black leaders are falling over themselves to praise him.MJ was the 21 century uncle tom. He dyed his skin white, married a white women and had her inpregnated with a white mans sperm and did nothing to help black people.What ever happened to black pride ?
MJ was nothing more than an uncle tom kiddie toucher who isolated is children from the other children and their mother, never had a creative moment in 25 years and left this world with 400 million dollars of debt.
If he’s a hero we are in trouble.
—i love jewschool · June 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
176 years is too harsh. Too bad this guy didn't have Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes to save him with a plea deal.
*
A Yolo County judge has sentenced a man to 176 years in prison for raping his daughter and foster daughter, preventing his release from prison when his current term ends.
Superior Court Judge Arvid W. Johnson sentenced 46-year-old Victor Chappale to 116 years plus two consecutive 30-years-to-life terms for convictions in eight sex crimes with minors under age 14.
Chappale was already in prison for killing a man when he was charged with the sex crimes in August 2008. He was scheduled to be released on parole in 2010.
The judge denied Chappale's request for a new trial.
___
Information from: The Daily Democrat, www.dailydemocrat.com
Feds seize Madoff penthouse, wife must leave
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 44 mins ago
NEW YORK – The U.S. Marshals Service on Thursday took possession of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million Manhattan penthouse in a move that forced his wife to move elsewhere.
U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said the marshals arrived at the property at noon with a court order permitting them to take custody of the apartment and to make anyone living there move out.
Guccione said Madoff's wife Ruth had been advised in advance of the marshals' plans and was leaving the residence and surrendering all personal property.
"She will be leaving," he said. "Restitution for the victims is the government's top priority."
Typically, the marshals service changes all locks and secures a property when it seizes a location.
The 71-year-old Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in March to charges that his investment advisory business was a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out thousands of investors and ruined charities.
Authorities said Madoff had carried out the fraud for at least two decades before confessing to his sons in December that his investment business was a fraud and that he had lost as much as $50 billion.
Last week, Ruth Madoff agreed to give up all of her possessions in return for a promise that federal prosecutors would not go after $2.5 million she can keep. The money, though, is not protected from civil legal actions that might be pursued by a court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff's assets or by investor lawsuits.
Ruth Madoff broke her silence Monday when she said in a statement that her husband "stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves."
On the expose molesters sidebar Dov Hikind makes a promise that he still has not kept. We cannot trust him, he's let us down. Ditto Yaakov Horowitz.
The Jewish Press this week has a column that credits Hikind & Horowitz for their greatness in combating the child sex abuse epidemic. This is a false and misleading token of appreciation, because the reality is hikind has been wish washy at best, and horowitz went so far as to NOT support Duane/Markey Child's Victim Act of New York.
Hardly the actions of one who supposedly acts against sex abuse.
Mr. Meyerson would not discuss Rabbi Max’s reaction to the synagogue’s move to break away from him. “It’s a matter of confidence between us,” he said, “it’s not for public consumption.”
In the letter, Mr. Meyerson wrote that “it is with a heavy heart that I report to you the decision of the Board of Directors with regard to how we, as a congregation, are addressing the Rabbi Max situation. … As a spiritual institution, we cannot be seen as condoning or ignoring the serious breach of behavior that led to Rabbi Max’s conviction. Therefore, our Executive Committee has recommended and the Board of Directors approved that until further notice, Rabbi Max’s title of Rabbi Emeritus will be suspended, along with all the privileges attendant to that title.”
The letter states that MMAE is removing the polished stone marker designating “the Rabbi Jacob A. Max Torah Campus” at the entrance to the synagogue’s driveway, as well as a sign reserving a parking place for Rabbi Max. The congregation will also remove the his name as rabbi emeritus from its stationery and “Shabbat Bulletin.”
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/bryks_ephraim.html
WARNING: Rabbi Ephraim Bryks and Marriage Counseling
Ephrayim Bryks has become a rabbinic marriage counselor. The term marriage counselor or life coach can be used by anyone. He is not the only "rabbi" suspected of sexual abuse using one of these titles to access vulnerable individuals or couples both here and in Israel. Consulting actual professionals is expensive and unless the community publicly warns against going to these charlatans (often worse) many innocents will continue to be hurt.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Yosef Blau
Rabbi Ephraim Boruch Bryks principal Yeshiva Berachel David Torah High School Queens, currently serves time as a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens (Rabbinical committee that makes important decisions within the community). As of today, there has been no public statement made concerning his decade long membership on the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. On May 27, 2003, he resigned his membership in the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), after being involved for a quarter of a century.
Anyone with relevant information regarding the open case in Canada is encouraged to contact the Winnipeg Police at their main phone number: (204) 986-6037.
Anyone with relevant information in the United States is encouraged to contact their local police department and their local District Attorney's office, NYPD Switchboard: 646-610-5000 Queens District Attorney's office: 718-286-6000.
Rabbi Ephraim Bryks is originally from Denver, Colorado. In this case, accusations about his inappropriate behavior with children started surfacing in the 1980's. These accusations also included making sexual advancements to women in his congregation. When his alleged victims disclosed their experiences to a rabbinic leader in their community, they were basically told to keep silent. The rabbi advised them not to go to the police or child family services. He told them to deal with the allegations internally with the synagogue board. The children were not offered psychotherapy to help them cope with their alleged victimization. Unfortunately a teenager who didn't have the coping skills to deal with his memories ended up committing suicide.
Over the years Rabbi Ephraim Bryks has left a trail of alleged victims from such far-away places as Winnipeg, Canada. He is currently located in New York City. There are no documented cases or public information regarding any victims in New York, yet he has been let go by schools (one characterized as firing), but the schools will not discuss the matter.
For years alleged victims have been going to rabbinic leaders in their communities looking for guidance. For years rabbinic leaders have found it more important to protect an alleged sexual predator over protecting our children.
by Staff Report
Jewish Week staff writers Stewart Ain and Tamar Snyder and correspondent Hella Winston were among the winners of the 2008 Simon Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish journalism, which were announced last week.
The paper also won top honors for its annual magazine, Directions, and second place in its circulation division for editorial writing.
Winston, who has aggressively covered allegations of child sexual abuse against Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn and the communal response to it, won first place in the features category for “A Charge of Double Betrayal,” the story of a man who says he was victimized first by the yeshiva principal who allegedly molested him and then by a yeshiva administration that took no action.
Snyder, a two-year veteran at
The JewishWeek.com on Facebook
the paper, won second place in the same category for “Anti-Semitism 2.0 Going Largely Unchallenged,” about the slow response of Jewish agencies to growing hatred on Facebook and YouTube.
Ain, a 22-year veteran at the paper, took second place in the David Frank Award for excellence in personality profiles. His winning entry was a piece on controversial professor Norman Finkelstein, whose views about Israel and the Holocaust have made him a pariah in the Jewish community and may have cost him tenure at DePaul University in Chicago.
The theme of Directions, coordinated by Managing Editor Robert Goldblum, was a look at 18 unsung heroes of the Jewish community. The magazine won first place in excellence for special sections and supplements for newspapers with a circulation above 15,000.
The prize for excellence in editorial writing was awarded for “The Reluctant DA,” a November, 2008 commentary written by Larry Cohler Esses, then editor at large. “For several years Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has been treating the issue of child sexual abuse in certain Jewish communities with a stance ranging from passive to weak-willed,” read the editorial. “Victims brave enough to contemplate going to the authorities — with its attendant social costs — are left wondering if their information will be acted on seriously if they come forward.”
The awards were bestowed in Chicago at the annual gathering of the American Jewish Press Association, which administers the contest.
“We are extraordinarily proud to be the recipients of these awards,” said Peter Wang, president of The Jewish Week. “They demonstrate that we continue to be recognized as the premier source for Jewish journalism, and that our reporters and staff are the best in the business.”
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