Date: April 3, 2009
AFFIRMATION OF ROCHEL ROSENGARTEN
My name is Rochel Rosengarten and I live in Jerusalem. Israel. I was a
neighbor of the Hershes in Israel. The Hersh's twin boys. Isaac and Sol.
spent considerable amount of time in my house during the week, as well
as on holidays and Sabbath.
At the time of the Hersh's relocation to Israel, my husband became
acquainted with Isaac and Sol and began to tutor them occasionally. Many
times they would leave messages that they were unable to come because
they were locked in their room for a period of 12 to 24 hours.
Repeatedly, at the last minute, Mr. Hersh would ca1l us asking if we
can have the boys over for Ii meal or for a whole Sabbath. We always
gladly accepted.
Soon thereafter, when the boys were over by us for Sabbath meals I
realized that they were both falling asleep and that they had unusual
swelling of their faces. This led us to believe that they bad been placed
on strong medication. This was later proven true, when Mr. Hersh
confirmed our suspicions
During the Jewish holiday of Succos, we offered to have Isaac stay with
us for a month. He was very helpful and appreciative. My children
immensely enjoyed his company as did our other guests. However, Mr.
Hersh conditioned Isaac's stay with us on the fact that we would
continue to administer his medication. I informed Mr. Hersh that we
wanted to try without the medication and Isaac reacted beautifully.
There was never a problem with Isaac throughout the whole visit.
During this visit e. few incidents occurred Which gave me a better
glimpse into the Hersh's home situation. At One point over the one month
period, Isaac developed an ingrown toenail. Mr. Hersh insisted, over my
objections, that Isaac be medicated before the doctor's appointment. Mr.
Hersh then proceeded to take Isaac into another room. and hissed "opened
your mouth now!" Isaac walked out of the room heavily sedated and unable
to stand on his own. My husband and Mr. Hersh had to carry Isaac down
the steps and place him into a cab.
During the same visit, Mr. and Mrs. Hersh came to our house late one
night unannounced to relay to us their concerns as to what color shirts
Isaac should wear over the holiday. These were their concerns and not
the welfare or wellbeing of their child. Mr. Hersh. then proceeded to
inform him that Isaac was dangerous and a psychomaniac and that he and
his wife are the most amazing parents. After they left, my husband and I
were extremely puzzled and confused about this strange meeting. In
reality Isaac posed no danger, he was a caring and loveable young boy.
At one point, I had the opportunity to have Sol spend two months of
his summer vacation with my family. after he spent the school year at a
boarding school. At the beginning of the school year Sol would come home
for weekends, however after a while he was no longer invited home as his
family believed him to be an embarrassment to the family and his parents
broke all ties with him for the rest of the year.
While Sol spent the summer stay with us, I received phone calls from
broken sounding. grandparents who had not spoken to their grandson in
years., just wanting to talk and reconnect. That summer Sol became a
part of my family, we had a great time together. Sol has a great sense
of humor, he is creative. hard working and a lovable child.
When Sol was notified that his mother was sick, he was desperately
worried about her. At times he would cry for her. However. he was never
allowed to visit his family and his phone calls where never answered.
His family then abruptly moved back to America that summer. without
having notified Sol or us. Sol was left numb with shock, as be felt
abandoned once again.
These boys have suffered an immeasurable amount. They have been dealt
with as if they are hard and fast criminals. They are sweet,. normal.
hard-working. and appreciative children. Anyone who gets to know these
two boys adores them as do I.
The foregoing is hereby affirmation under penalty of perjury,
Rochel Rosengarten
Jerusalem. Israel
Rabbi Eidensohn Shlita,
ReplyDeleteI have a personal Shaala I would like to ask you, Baruch Hashem not related to the sad subjects covered on this site, but about using the internet to educate others. I hope I'm not intruding by sending my question here. Is there another e-address where you can be contacted? This question might not make any sense, being that I am not sending my own e-address yet. I would appreciate if you could write a separate post or a response within this post saying something to the effect of:
"To the person who wants to ask me a Shaalah- please send it using your email address to this blog. I will not publish it on the blog but will answer it in private to your email address."
Thank you for your time and attention.
My mother is bipolar and my father has always been a community big shot, philandering Baal Tzedaka who is also a controlling mental case.
ReplyDeleteI was deemed "bad" and a threat to my younger siblings. I was thrown into the street one cold January night when I was 15.
Anyone who tried to help me was threatened with criminal prosecution or lawsuits by my parents.
I became a ward of the State and and went into foster care and my parents sued the State agency and each foster caregiver.
Finally the State had no place to put me but juvenile detention.
B"H after a year and a half in the system, an astute Family Court Judge recognized the truth about my mental case, controlling abusive parents and made me an emancipated minor.
I finished public High School, got a degree from State university, married a wonderful frum man and am today blessed to be the mother of a large family.
My siblings and I several years ago had to relive the horror of our childhood when my mother took guardianship of my grandmother and proceeded to drug her into a coma as a means of "dealing" with her. Incidentally my father's business was failing and my grandmother's estate was worth a great deal. The siblings and our cousins together sued my parents and won guardianship of my grandmother who lived an additional 5 years to age 89 in our care.
I have lived through the beatings, the freezing nights being locked in the garage, the mental abuse, the shuffling around from benefactor to benefactor knowing that my parents and their lawyers were only one step behind anyone who would help me and the drugs forced on us by my mother. My siblings and I are lucky to be alive since several neighbors have told us through the years that we were regularly drugged and left in the house alone for hours at a time.
The only silver lining to the pain that I am reliving via the Hersh story is that I am comforted to know that so many loving family and community members have gotten involved on behalf of these boys in spite of the threats of the parents.
Kol Hakavod to you all.
testing
ReplyDeleteHow did my comment get through for public view? Are you on the east of the Atlantic where, I think, it was already Shabbos when I sent my message? Did my question bypass the moderation?
ReplyDeleteThak you.
Eretz Yisroel.
ReplyDeleteFrom Professor Shapiro in Scranton:
ReplyDeleteFollowing my last post, a number of people have corresponded with me about the issue of anti-Semitism and how it it sometimes self-inflicted because of Jewish actions that cause a chillul ha-Shem, meaning that we can’t always claim ידינו לא שפכו את הדם הזה. As many readers know, R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg already pointed out that some anti-Semitism arises for precisely this reason. He was not the first. R. Yisroel Moshe Chazan (Kerakh shel Romi, p. 4a), speaks of the bad impression given non-Jews by Jewish behavior:
שאנחנו מצד אמונתנו אנחנו מחוייבים להיות משחיתים הקיבוץ המדיני
See also the words of R. Shlomo Alami, Iggeres ha-Mussar, ed. Haberman (Jerusalem, 1946), pp. 11-12:
עם היותנו עבדים נכבשים להם התלנו בם וחיללנו שם קודש א-להינו בקרבם כי הלכנו אתם באונאה ובמרמה וקבענו אותם בחוקים לא טובים בערמה עד אשר מאסונו והחזיקונו כגנבים ורמאים מנאפים עצרת בוגדים.
See also Maharsha to Ketubos 67a, which so accurately describes what we often face:
ורבים בדור הזה שמקבצין עושר שלהם שלא באמונה ובחילול השם כגזילת עכו"ם ואח"כ מתנדבים מאותו ממון להיות להם כבוד בכל שנה ולתת להם ברכת מי שברך להיות להם שם ותפארת, ואין זה אלא מצוה הבאה בעבירה, ואין לעושר הזה מלח וקיום
(To understand the last words, see Ketubos 66b: מלח ממון חסר)
As R. S.R. Hirsch taught, it is incumbent on us to show that we are a great benefit to society, and we cannot behave as if the rules, and the consequences of violating these rules, only apply to everyone else.
Adam Ferziger writes in “From Demonic Deviant to Drowning Brother: Reform Judaism in the Eyes of American Orthodoxy,” Jewish Social Studies 15 (Spring/Summer 2009), pp. 56–88:
ReplyDelete"[T]he head of Pittsburgh’s Kollel Jewish Learning Center, Rabbi Aaron Kagan, meets on a regular basis with his local rabbinic colleagues from Reform and Conservative synagogues to study Torah together. . . . Based in Palo Alto, California, the Jewish Study Network—one of the most dynamic and rapidly expanding of these kiruv kollels—does not limit its interdenominational contacts to private study. Its fellows work together with Conservative and Reform representatives to create new Jewish learning initiatives throughout the Bay Area and to offer their own programming in non-Orthodox synagogues. Rabbi Joey Felsen, head of the Jewish Study Network and a veteran of five years of full-time Torah study at Jerusalem’s venerable Mir yeshivah, made clear that he was not opposed to presenting Torah lectures in a non-Orthodox synagogue sanctuary, although he preferred to teach in the social hall. Indeed, according to Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried, leader of the highly successful Dallas Area Torah Association (DATA) Kollel and a well-respected halakhist, insofar as Jewish religious institutions were concerned the only boundary that remained hermetically sealed was his unwillingness to teach in a gay synagogue. . . ."
R' Moishe clearly assers entering a Conservative or Reform sanctuary.
Aron Kagan was the guy in Lakewood busy with the beer kegs and DATA kollel in Dallas were heavily involved with Tropper.
This article by Rosengarten is not news, because it is not an unbiased report. A news report would report her charges as 'allegations,' perhaps, and then go on to interview the other side and give a balanced picture.
ReplyDeleteIt is also not a blog, because it is featured as a regular item and is not a post of someone just letting off her own personal steam.
It really has no place and I do not understand what it is supposed to be and why it is here. Other than to attack someone with unproven claims without giving them a chance to retort.
It should be removed.