Pedophiles in the Jewish Community Are Going Unpunished

In a recent article published in the Yiddish Forward, journalist Rukhl Schaechter reports on the problem of unreported abuse and cover-ups within the Charedi community.

Below are links to the original article in Yiddish and an English translation commissioned by SFJ (Survivors for Justice) and approved by Ms. Schaechter.

=================== Forward 

Listening to the popular New York Jewish radio program, "The Zev Brenner Show," one suddenly heard the following commercial narrated by a woman speaking in authentic Hasidic Yiddish:"I am the mother of Yoeli Engelman. Yoeli is a survivor of sexual molestation. 15 years ago, when he was a child in cheder (elementary school), he was molested by his principal. This very principal today teaches in the same cheder, and the administration unashamedly defends him. This terrible crime and severe chilul Hashem (desecration of God's name) can only be dealt with by the Child Victims Act, which will force the administration to protect the innocent children instead of the guilty teacher. Fathers and mothers, Remember! Our children need us! Thank you." This commercial, aired by the SFJ (Survivors for Justice) -- an organization that combats sexual abuse in the orthodox world, mentions only one example of a serious problem in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world: Countless numbers of children, specifically boys, are sexually molested by their teachers, rabbis and other authority figures in the community, but little is being done to punish the perpetrators..

Vacation halachic guidance

YNET

Senior haredi rabbis advise on Halacha matters pertaining to yeshiva students' holiday period between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community ruled recently that during flights one is best advised to pray the Amidah prayer (The Standing Prayer) sitting down, restfully, rather than standing up.

This was his answer to haredi yeshiva students currently in the midst of the "Bein Hazmanim" holiday period - a break between Tisha B'Av and the beginning of Elul. Busy planning overseas vacations, the students were concerned about difficulties in saying all the customary prayers on board planes.[...]

Some Orthodox rabbis call for acceptance of homosexuals

YNET

Dozens of Orthodox rabbis have signed a statement of principles saying that religious communities must accept those of its members who are "active homosexuals" and their biological or adopted children, and that they must not be encouraged to undergo "change therapies" or marry someone of the opposite sex.

The statement was formulated following a panel held by the "rashei yeshiva ramim" six months ago in New York. The panel included three homosexual graduates of the Yeshiva University, and was hosted by its spiritual supervisor, Rabbi Yosef Blau. [...]

Grad rocket hit Ashkelon today

YNET

Military officials hope Friday morning's Grad rocket in Ashkelon was lone incident which will not be followed by escalation in south, although two mortar shells land in Eshkol Regional Council several hours later. 'They have longer range missiles,' head of Home Front Command's southern district tells Ynet [...]

Hersh lawsuit - Cross Motion filed by Elliot Pasik esq

Part of Cross Motion filed with the Supreme Court of New York Index

No. 006170

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

11. The tenuousness of this action has already been demonstrated. As a result of the aforesaid motion practice, there is no need to elaborate as to the allegations of the amended complaint, but suffice it to state that causes of action for intentional interference with contract, tortious interference with contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and prima facie tort are brought. The heart of the factual allegations, in the 38 page amended complaint, are based on paras. 56 and 57, where it is acknowledged by the plaintiffs that they sent their teenage son to Tranquility Bay, Jamaica, which they refer to as a"school". The complaint then alleges that all of the named defendants, and a group of John Does essentially conspired to force plaintiffs out of their well-paying jobs, including Hatzalah, a volunteer ambulance company, and disrupt their family. One of the John Does is Vin News,according to complaint para. 127, where it is pleaded that Vin is amember of the conspiracy. It is claimed that VIN "posted many entries on his/her website intending that Mr. Hersh be fired from his position at Hatzalah".

12. Tranquility Bay is hardly a "school". In Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, it is described as a residential treatment facility. It is best described as a house of horrors where child abuse and torture were regularly practiced. When it was learned within the orthodox Jewish community in New York that one of the plaintiffs' sons was consigned there, a significant protest arose, which did not subside until leading and widely respected community activists were able to have him released. The Wikipedia entry about Tranquility Bay is Exhibit D herewith, together with a Miami New Times article from June 2006. There are other online media articles well describing the rampant and horrible child abuse occurring at this so-called "school".

13. Vin News is an anonymous, online site which is, essentially, a digest oftopical news stories that are of interest to mostly the orthodox Jewish community. People have the opportunity to comment. Vin News, together with other sites, such as UOJ, Daat Torah, and Failed Messiah, have been active in addressing the ongoing problem of child abuse in the Jewish and general community. Relevant to this case, Vin re-produced two articles, in 2008, about the Isaac Hersh/Tranquility Bay situation, annexed herewith as Exhibit E.

14. In April 2008, the largest orthodox Jewish newspaper in the United States, .the Jewish Press, published a full-page ad which displayed a letter dated April 14, 2008, signed by a very prominent rabbi, psychiatrist, and psychologist, stating, "We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those shtadlanim (activists) who gave of their time, effort and money to save Yitzchok Meir (Isaac) from a nonJewish oriented reform facility. The selfless devotion that they displayed to save a fellow Jew was truly inspirational. What has clearly emerged, is that the facilities such as Tranquility Bay, Jamaica is not a place for any Jewish child. We understand the need for all types of intervention to help our children, but Tranquility Bay SHOULD NOT be an option." The signatories are, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, a senior member ofthe Council of Sages (Moetses) of a leading ultra-orthodox organization, Agudath Israel of America; Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, a psychiatrist and widely published author, who for many years was the founder and operator of an addition treatment facility in Pittsburgh, Pa.; and, Dr. David Pelcovitz, a psychologist who pecializes in treating child sex abuse victims, currently a professor of psychology at Yeshiva University, New York, and previously, Director of Psychology at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, Long Island. This letter also appeared in Vin news.

15. With this basic factual background in mind, the premise of the complaint is actually absurd. The underlying assumption is that the public, including a religious community, may not, legally, discuss and act upon credible allegations of a child being physically abused at a defacto prison camp. To accept that premise would be to eviscerate the protections of the First Amendment, and expose children to the worst forms of abuse. This badly misguided lawsuit is serving as a chilling effect upon responsible adults "getting involved" and preventing child abuse. Web site and blog site operators, such as Vin News and others, should continue to possess the legal right to remain anonymous, so as to avoid harassment and retaliation. Particularly where the interests of children are at stake, the right to remain anonymous should be enforced.

16. The subject subpoenas should clearly be stricken in this dubious lawsuit. This court should consider the public policy of free and robust speech as expressed in the First Amendment, and all of the child protection laws in our state and country. A rescue operation was mounted for Isaac Hersch, and it succeeded. The subject subpoenas are fishing expeditions to get evidence to add even more defendants in this lawsuit which well deserves a summary dismissal. The subpoenas should be quashed.

Dated: July 22, 2010 Cedarhurst, New York

Incest: Yichud of brothers & sisters

Igros Moshe1(E.H. 4:65.11): Concerning the permissibility of a brother and sister being secluded together alone occasionally - whether this also applies in a situation where they are living in their parents home which therefore means it a fixed arrangement. When they are alone together in the house is this considered on occasion and therefore permitted or since he is in fact living with her in a fixed manner it is not permitted for them to be alone - even though the seclusion is only occasional. It seems that the practice of the world is to permit this. Even when the parents have only one son and one daughter who are old enough to be obligated in mitzvos, they leave them alone in the house for hours even at night. No one is concerned about the issue of yichud in these circumstances for brother and sister - even religious people. It would seem that this leniency is implied by Rashi who writes (Kiddushin 81b) that "brother and sister can be secluded together occasionally but he does not dwell with her constantly in the house".... this implies that the permissibility of seclusion with a sister is even when they dwell together for an extended time. However the prohibition of seclusion with his sister is only if they are alone constantly together but if it is only occasionally that they are alone then it is permitted even when they are living together for an extended time. That is the reason for the widespread leniency in this matter. However there is no question that they are not to be left alone in the house for an extended time at nights on frequent occasions until this is viewed as the normal situation - and not just an occasional occurrence. In this matter it is not possible to specify the exact number of hours or times that it is prohibited. Rather each one needs to recognize in his sons and daughters what is appropriate.

What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D

New York Times

Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the fact remains that a huge part of the population — from robust newborns to the frail elderly, and many others in between — are deficient in this essential nutrient.

If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including the brain, heart, muscles and immune system, has receptors for vitamin D, meaning that this nutrient is needed at proper levels for these tissues to function well.[...]

Rethinking Criminal Sentences

NYTimes

A federal conviction for white-collar fraud is no guarantee of a heavy prison sentence. When five defendants in the fraud case involving the American International Group were sentenced, they could have faced life in prison; instead, a judge handed down sentences of one to four years for causing more than $500 million in losses. A Ponzi-scheme criminal who caused more than $40 million in losses got 25 years. A man convicted of securities fraud that caused more than $50 million in losses got a three-and-a-half-year sentence. [...]

Conversion:Supreme Court vs. Rabbinate

Jewish Star hat tip to RaP

Although some American Jewish leaders said this week that they will be entering upcoming negotiations over the proposed Israeli conversion bill free of preconceptions, a leader of Reform Jewry said there remains a “red line” for his movement.

“The critical point will be giving ultimate authority to the Chief Rabbinate, which is a fundamental violation of the status quo,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “In my opinion, that is the red line.

“If you write in the law [as currently proposed] that the Chief Rabbinate has the ultimate authority over conversions, 30 years of legal decisions [by Israel’s High Court of Justice] are thrown out,” Rabbi Yoffie continued. “For us, that is the most significant issue; everything else should be negotiated.”[...]

Student threatened with expulsion because of religious beliefs about homosexuality

ABC News

A Georgia student studying counseling says her university went too far in requiring her to change her Christian beliefs on homosexuality before she's allowed to graduate.

Backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, Jennifer Keeton has filed suit against Augusta State University after, she said, school officials threatened to dismiss her from its counseling program when she refused to participate in a "remediation" plan to increase her tolerance of gays and lesbians after she made it known that she believed homosexuality was a personal choice.

According to the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, school officials told Keeton that she was failing to conform to professional standards because of her views on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.[...]

Hersh lawsuit: The theologically nasty Litvak

I recently had a long conversation regarding with someone who wanted to know how to deal with someone who was really very nasty. The person under discussion was constantly putting down those who disagreed with him. He was always tossing out cruel barbed statements and put downs against those whom he viewed as having moral or psychologica lweaknesses. He was focused on absolute obsessive control of his familyand children and plotted against his enemies and isolated his wife and children from their influence. The person who spoke to me - asked me as a psychologist - how to deal with such a person who was destroying so many lives. The assumption was that there was something seriously wrong

with the person. A psychopath perhaps or borderline personality. My response was simply that while the person was not nice - in fact was downright nasty - this was a theological issue more than a psychological issue. The person she was describing was the prototypical Litvak. There are many statements in Chazal and halacha that can support such behavior (of course there are many sources in rabbinic literature that also reject such an approach). Thus when I hear that some tzadik rejected his parents or his own children - to preserve the religiousity of the rest of the family - it has a familiar ring.

The question is now that we live in a society where the values of mussar and interpersonal sensitivity are the supreme value, where religious values are supported and maintained by being a nice person - can this  pure Litvak be justified? This question obviously is irrelevant to a pure Litvak because emes is emes and there is little relevance of soft and cuddly values of modern psychology which are condemned as goyish.

They focus on malchus and din while for most of religious Jews in our contemporary society these have been replaced the attributes of mercy and kindness.

I was once studying a mussar sefer in the beis medrash when Rabbi Friefeld walked by. He saw the name of the sefer and simply closed it. "This is a good mussar sefer," he said. " But it was written for the European who was toughened by a very hard life. For that type of person you could only get through to him by a powerful blow and shocking statements. You are an American and are too delicate for this talk of Gehinom and torture for your misdeeds."

In Western society, the obsessive religiousity of the Litvak - as described in the famous letter of the Gra to his wife - is viewed as disgusting and psycholgically sick. The need to control and the teaching of submissiveness by beatings as described by Rav Dessler - is simply viewed as a chilul hashem. The ranks of those who go off the derech are considerably swelled by this type of religion. That is why most Litvaks today are actually a mixture of Litvak inviduality with chassidic psychological and social sensitivity and sefardic love and respect of tradition.

The question becomes one of whether you are willing to live with the losses. Rav Dessler in his famous pience on producing Gedolim says that the Litvaks were prepared to accept the loss and destruction of even the majority of students leaving yiddishkeit - in order to produce gedolim. Is there still a place for the pure Litvak in our present society?

Experts answer questions about internet privacy

NYTimes

Last week, we asked readers to submit questions to Michael Fertik, founder of ReputationDefender, and Paul Ohm, a law professor at the University of Colorado, in response to The New York Times Magazine article “The Web Means the End of Forgetting.”  Below are their responses. In some cases, we shortened the questions and fixed typos.

What is the best way to maintain an online alias for any material that you do not wish to be publicly connected to you, while still allowing friends and some acquaintances to stay in contact? [...]

Science & Free Will

NYTimes

In an influential article in the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Joshua Gold of the University of Pennsylvania and Michael Shadlen of the University of Washington sum up experiments aimed at discovering the neural basis of decision-making. In one set of experiments, researchers attached sensors to the parts of monkeys’ brains responsible for visual pattern recognition. The monkeys were then taught to respond to a cue by choosing to look at one of two patterns. Computers reading the sensors were able to register the decision a fraction of a second before the monkeys’ eyes turned to the pattern. As the monkeys were not deliberating, but rather reacting to visual stimuli, researchers were able to plausibly claim that the computer could successfully predict the monkeys’ reaction. In other words, the computer was reading the monkeys’ minds and knew before they did what their decision would be. [...]

Fleur de Lis - A Jewish symbol?!

5 Towns wrote:

What does the oylam think?

I once heard from a talmid chochom in Eretz Yisroel, albeit a krumme one vos halt zich a talmid fun Shloime Goren, that the Fleur de Lis symbol was mistomme adopted by the Notzrim in France because they brought it back from the Crusades.

I was surprised to see in a seforim store today, kiddush bechers being sold with the symbol on them. When I inquired, it was brushed off as being a "Jewish" symbol on klei koydesh that has been on things for a "long time". I didn't buy it, especially because I have never seen it before on anything Yiddish.

From what I can find on the internet, it was takke adopted by French kings in the 1100s. The royal propaganda had it that it shtams from the coronation of King Clovis in 493, the first king of Gaul (old France) to be megayer to Catholicism. Historians don't seem to believe it and make choyzek that the Catholics made up a bubbe mayseh so they could convince the hamon am to be maaminim that it was given over to Clovis by Yoshke alein al yedei the Pope.

Historian Anne Lombard-Jourdan associates the emblem with the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis, which is one of biggest mekomos "hakedoshim" in Catholic France.

Historian Fox-Davies says it is associated with the "besulah", imo Miriam, and King Louis VI started using it as a symbol for "Saints".

England also uses Fleur de Lis on the Crown Jewels which are religious in nature. The set that we know today has been around since the 1200s, the time of the Crusades.

Pastorneau says they were embedded in icons of Yoshke in the 1200s. F.R. Webber said the Notzrim considered the Fleur to represent the Trinity.

The only "Jewish" usage I could find anywhere was adopted by the Tzionim on badges for חיל המודיעין which is a branch of Israeli Intelligence under Tzahal.

Hersh lawsuit: Hersh's full complaint filed in secular court

Factchecker has left a new comment on your post "Hersh lawsuit:Testimony of Rochel Rosengarten":

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.

It 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.

==========================
The above comment illustrates the difficulty some people have in dealing with reality. I have posted a series of documents which have been given to the secular court - which were written and submitted subject to the penalty of perjury - in which the defendants responded to Hersh's claims. Despite the fact that the testimony of Rochel Rosengarten and the others  are legal documents and if false punishable for perjury  "Factchecker" claims it is mere allegations and that I have failed to give the other side. The other side is in fact the lawsuit that Hersh has brought in which he goes to great length explaining his version.  Both sides are publicly available documents.

Factchecher seems to be totally ignorant of how to read information and seems to be unaware of elementary facts - either in law or halacha when he states "

" 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."

Thus the facts are that Hersh attacked in a 411 million dollar lawsuit against the defendants ( He refused to go to beis din). These letter I am publishing are public record responses and testimonies from the defendants. Hersh is slandering the defendants because he claims they slandered him. The defendants are merely reporting how they view the truth and are thereby rejecting his claims. Thus these statements are more than the simple "allegations" found in newspapers but are in fact the evidence the secular court will use in deciding the validity of the claims and the legal consequence of guilt and innocence - and are subject to punishment if they contain false information.  This link takes you to Hersh's claims of conspiracy against him in his lawsuit

Rav Aharon Schechter addresses NCSY

OU Radio

This contains a link to listen to Rav Aharon Schechter address an NCSY gather

Hersh lawsuit:Testimony of Rochel Rosengarten

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

Rav Moshe Sternbuch - Jurisprudence

The following was written by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha given by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
• • • • •

PRIORITIZING
"Do not show favor in judgment, listen carefully to small and large cases, do not be afraid of anyone, for mishpot is in the jurisdiction of Elokim..."
Sefer Devorim starts off by describing the type of judicial system that we should establish. After listing a number of requirements, the Torah substantiates its requirements by writing that mishpot is in the jurisdiction of Elokim. What is the deeper meaning of this idea?

Moshe Rabbeinu is instructed to set up these courts, and to find judges who can decide cases between one Jew and another. On the surface, it might appear as though this mitzvah pales in comparison to Shabbos, kashrus, and other such Torah commandments that govern man's direct relationship with his Creator. These are the areas that would seem to deserve much more focus and attention.

For this reason, the Torah states the direct association between mishpot and Elokim. In connecting judicial law to His Divine name, the Torah is saying that someone who downplays the mitzvos involving interpersonal relationships should recognize that his actions are an affront to Elokim. This is why the neviim repeatedly warned the Jewish people to make sure that they were not lax regarding this category of mitzvos.

UNPAID DEBTS
There is also a more hidden aspect to this association: On occasion, a person might come to bais din thinking that he has an open and shut case, one hundred percent sure that he will be victorious. Yet, when the p'sak is issued, it is actually his opponent who is rendered the victor. How can he come to terms with what seems to be a clear perversion of justice?

The Zohar explains that this is the deeper connection between mishpot and Elokim. At times, there are debts that need to be repaid from other gilgulim, i.e., previous occasions that we lived in this world. Through some minor financial losses in this world, Elokim makes sure that a person can go into the next world free of previous debts.

Every Jew who experiences seemingly undeserved suffering in this world should keep the above concept in mind. Nothing in this world is for naught. Any travails that a person experiences during his lifetimes lessen the necessity for punishment in the next world.

Rav Sternbuch remembers seeing Rav Mordechai Pogramansky during the last days of his life. Although Rav Pogramansky was stricken with stomach cancer, was already blind, and suffered from unbearable pain, he did not complain at all. On the contrary, he pleaded with Hashem that He should allow him to pay off all of his debts in this world and come to the next world clean.

Rav Pogramansky's actions are certainly an extremely high level and far beyond the reach of most Jews in this generation. Yet, there is an important message in his words, even for us today. All of Hashem's actions are just, and if we can swallow what He sends us, we will definitely be remunerated with acceptance in the next world.

IN THE SHADOWS OF CHURBAN HABAYIS
Perhaps the greatest punishment that the Jewish people have received as a nation was the destruction of both the first and second Botei Mikdosh. On Tisha B'Av, we spend the entire day recognizing this tragedy. Yet, our mourning goes far beyond that: Tisha B'Av is also the day to remember all of the many tragedies that Klal Yisroel has experienced throughout history.
The Medrash describes Tisha B'Av as a day of mourning and as a mo'ed, a festival. We can understand why Tisha B'Av is viewed as a sad day, given all of the travails we suffered on that day, but what about Tisha B'Av classifies it as a festival?
When the Bais Hamikdosh stood, Divine judgment was much stronger. Since we were able to witness constant miracles there, any doubt in emunah was considered a major breach in our relationship with Hashem. Transgressions during this time quite seriously aroused His anger, and the attribute of din was very prominent.
After the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, the full extent of the Shechinah's Presence is no longer felt. Because of this, Divine retribution is much less harsh. While His face is hidden, Hashem expects much less of us.
For this very reason, Tisha B'Av is also considered to be a festival. In today's world, where the Shechinah is almost completely veiled, any mitzvah we perform is considered a major accomplishment. Even the smallest act is looked upon as something extraordinary.

On the other hand, because there is so much impurity in the world, our transgressions are viewed as less serious. What once required many fasts and other forms of abstention to gain atonement can now be achieved with relative ease. The same destruction that is a reason to mourn can simultaneously be viewed in a different and more positive light.

As we approach the coming of Moshiach, we can strengthen ourselves by keeping the dual nature of this time in mind. We should never let the craziness of the world around us pull us into the abyss of modern day society. Our lowly state should not be a cause for depression. Rather, we should use it to lift ourselves up and empower ourselves to strive forward during this final chapter of Jewish history.
• • • • •
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U'Teshuvos Toras Chaim and "Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion," a practical daily guide to improving one's prayers, available from Feldheim Publishers. Rav Shternbuch's weekly shiurim on the parsha, compiled and edited by Rabbi Travis, are now available as a sefer titled "A Voice in the Darkness." For more information about his work, contact dytravis@actcom.com.

TEASER

The same destruction that is a reason to mourn can simultaneously be viewed in a different and more positive light.

Hersh Lawsuit: Daily News defends the Hersh's

Daily News

An angry Brooklyn couple whose parenting choices were excoriated online by scores of anonymous commenters are demanding Yahoo and Google unmask their attackers so they can sue them for $411 million.

Michael and Miriam Hersh were pilloried after their fellow Orthodox Jews in March 2008 launched a bizarre rescue mission to pull their troubled teen son from a behavior boot camp they put him in.

Michael Hersh was described as a "Nazi" - and worse - by commenters on thecooljew.com Web site. He and and his wife were further criticized across the blogosophere. [...]

Rumors, Cyberbullying & Anonymity

NYTimes

So I thought this week, I'd share with you a piece of another interview for that segment. This time, the subject is John Palfrey, Harvard Law School professor, co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and author of "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives."

David Pogue: What experience do you bring to the Internet rumors issue?

John Palfrey: I study, in particular, how young people use technology, how they relate to one another. And one of the big things is they've moved their social lives, by and large, online. Places like Facebook and on services like Twitter, they're spreading a lot of information, including rumors about one another.[...]

Hersh lawsuit: Michael's mother supports defendants

Gay rights outweigh religious rights

FoxNews

A proposed ordinance in Memphis, Tenn., that would ban discrimination against gays is causing outrage among some local critics who say the ordinance itself would be discriminatory -- against people who oppose homosexuality because of their religious beliefs.

A proposed ordinance in Memphis, Tenn., that would ban discrimination against gays is causing outrage among some local critics who say the ordinance itself would be discriminatory -- against people who oppose homosexuality because of their religious beliefs.

"It's going to discriminate against people of faith who are Christians in their worldview, and I believe with all my heart that they have rights too," says Bellevue Baptist Church Pastor Steven Gaines. [...]

Korean War & concern for civilian causalities

NYTimes

North Korea, like Cuba, is a country suspended in time, one that exists off modernity’s grid. It’s a place where the cold war never ended, where the heirloom paranoia is taken down and polished daily.

Korea’s cold war chill is heating up. Four months ago a South Korean warship was sunk, and a South Korean-led international investigative team concluded that North Korea was responsible. Next week the United States and South Korea will begin large-scale naval exercises off the coasts of the Korean Peninsula and Japan in a show of force.

The world will be watching, and here’s a book that American policymakers may hope it won’t be reading: Bruce Cumings’s “Korean War,” a powerful revisionist history of America’s intervention in Korea. Beneath its bland title, Mr. Cumings’s book is a squirm-inducing assault on America’s moral behavior during the Korean War, a conflict that he says is misremembered when it is remembered at all. It’s a book that puts the reflexive anti-Americanism of North Korea’s leaders into sympathetic historical context. [...]

Hersh lawsuit, Defendant Mrs. Rivka Cohen - sister of Mrs. Hersh

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS

MIRIAM HERSH and MICHAEL HERSH, Plaintiff.
-against-

ELIZABETH REBECCA COHEN. RAPHAEL COHEN, ARYEH LARRY WOLBE. ELI WOLBE. ZVI GLUCK, JOSHUA AMBUSH, ARIEL FISHMAN, HINDA FISHMAN, EFFI GOLDSTEIN, ABE LIFSCIHTZ, AYELET MEHLMAN, SARA KREISLER, YOSEF SHIDLER, and JOHN DOES #1-20, Defendants.

Index No. 006170/2009

AFFIRMATION OF ELIZABETH REBEKAH COHEN
I hereby affirm, under penalty of perjury, as follows:

My name Is Elizabeth Rebekah (Rivka) Cohen, I reside at 559 Cedarhill Road, Far Rockaway, New York:. I am the sister of the plaintiff Miriam Hersh and the aunt of Isaac and Sol.

I am the legal guardian of the Hersh's twin boys, Isaac and Sol, whose custody was transferred to me by an emergency order of the New York Family Court in 2008. These children have been living with me since then, after suffering many years of abuse, abandonment and neglect by their parents. The judge transferred custody to me after interviewing Isaac and recognizing that these children finally deserve a loving home.

Unfortunately, anyone who has tried to help and protect these children was immediately threatened by Michael Hersh through phone calls, threats of lawsuits, actual lawsuits and police reports. As early as 2005, I received a threatening letter from an Israeli lawyer demanding $500,000 from me for expressing my concern for these children. In 2007, Mr. Hersh sued me for defamation, which of course did not succeed. Now he has just filed another lawsuit against me.

Since filing this lawsuit, I received a call from a detective from the New York City Police Department informing me that Mr. Hersh reported that J stole his wife's social security number. The detective was naturally suspicious of the report and asked if I was having some kind of fight with Mr. Hersh. I told the detective that I was granted custody of Mr. Hersh's two children and the detective responded "Oh, I didn't know .... I guess he didn't tell me the whole story."

I have been told that Mr. Hersh has also filed police reports against his own brother in Connecticut and against Isaac's faster parent in Texas.

These lawsuits and police reports have unfortunately been a price that I have had to pay for helping to protect these children. But to the extent that the court has the power to end it, I would be eternally grateful.

Date: 04/06/09
Elizabeth Rebekah Cohen

Does Teen Drug Rehab Cure Addiction or Create It?

Time Magazine

"Matt Thomas" (a pseudonym) had only recently begun experimenting with marijuana when he got caught selling a few joints in the bathroom at his junior high school. It was no big deal, Thomas thought, especially considering that his parents — an investment banker and a homemaker — smoked pot too.

But Thomas' grades had already begun to slip, perhaps because of his increasing alcohol and marijuana use; that, coupled with his drug-dealing offense, was enough for the school to recommend that his parents place him in an inpatient drug-treatment program. Thomas, then 13, was sent to Parkview West, a residential rehab center located a few miles from his suburban Minneapolis home. (See pictures of teens in America.)

But rather than encouraging sobriety, Thomas says, his seven-week stint at Parkview West helped trigger a decades-long descent into severe addiction — from regular marijuana user to daily drinker to cocaine and methamphetamine addict. "It was [in rehab] that they told me that I was a drug addict and an alcoholic," says Thomas. "There was no turning back. The whole event solidified and created this notion in my own mind and in my social status. Who I was, was an alcoholic and drug addict." [...]

Internet: The end of forgetting

NYTimes

Four years ago, Stacy Snyder, then a 25-year-old teacher in training at Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, Pa., posted a photo on her MySpace page that showed her at a party wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup, with the caption “Drunken Pirate.” After discovering the page, her supervisor at the high school told her the photo was “unprofessional,” and the dean of Millersville University School of Education, where Snyder was enrolled, said she was promoting drinking in virtual view of her under-age students. As a result, days before Snyder’s scheduled graduation, the university denied her a teaching degree. Snyder sued, arguing that the university had violated her First Amendment rights by penalizing her for her (perfectly legal) after-hours behavior. But in 2008, a federal district judge rejected the claim, saying that because Snyder was a public employee whose photo didn’t relate to matters of public concern, her “Drunken Pirate” post was not protected speech.[...]

Rape by deception

Haaretz

Lawyers for the Arab man convicted of rape by deception and sentenced to 18 months in prison, say they are considering an appeal to the High Court of Justice.

Sabbar Kashur, 30, had consensual sex with a woman after he posed as a Jewish bachelor interested in a long-term relationship.

When the woman found Kashur was not a Jew but an Arab, she filed a police complaint that led to charges of rape and indecent assault.

Possible cover for abuse book

This is a possible cover - on a scale of 1 to 7 - do you like it 7, dislike it 1 or don't care 4 ?

Hersh lawsuit: Mr. Shalom Hersh testifies against his son

The following is a deposition of Michael Hersh's father. It is part of the court papers filed by the defendants Exhibit B. The hand written original was also filed. Index No. 006170/2009. I am surprised Michael Hersh isn't also suing his father.
=========================================================
Dear Mr. Gluck,

We heard from a few different sources that your generosity and connection helped many people who were in great need of your help. We would be forever grateful and thankful to you if you in anyway possible could help us with our problems.

We are going to try to explain our situation as briefly as possible.

We have a son Michael Hersh, who until recently lived in the building as Yossy and Dina Deutch, who were very helpful to my twin grandsons in their time of need.

My son has eight children. They have one set of twin boys, who are now sixteen years old. We don't understand why and for whatever reason those two boys don't want to be religious. My son and his wife abandoned and abused their twin boys. They say that they would rather sacrifice the two boys forthe sake of saving the other six children from having a bad influence on them.

For about three and a half years or so my son moved with his family to Israel. Those boys spent a lot of time on the streets of Israel by strange families. They have become extremely street smart.

After my son moved back with his family to America. He put those two boys a couple of times in a mental facility. There he was trying to push pills on them. My son has close ties to one! well known psychiatrist. One of the twins put my son in trouble with the social services in Israel.

A couple of poor religious families from Texas took in those two boys and treated them like human beings. One of the family's wife was giving birth to another child so they had no more room for one of the twins, Isik Hersh. For the nine months he was there his father never talked to him nor did he help financially. Even though my son didn't want to take his own son back. The family in Texas sent him back anyways. After spending a couple of days in the basement of his fathers house, he didn't let him go upstairs to see his siblings that he dint see for a long time and missed them. The second night home about four o'clock in the morning my son brought home a couple of big fellows and dragged the kid out of bed and handcuffed him, then shoved him into a car by force like the Nazis did with the Jews in Europe. Away from family and friends to a place calted Tranquility Bay in the island of Jamaica. My son felt that there he could get rid of him for good and no one will ever find out where he is.

After a few months his twin brother searching on the internet managed to find a boy that reached the age of 21 and came out of Tranquility Bay. He met our grandson Isik there. The write up about that place as all about torture, abuse, rope etc .... the boy that came out from there confirms that the place is very bad. Who knows if the kid will ever be normal again.

Hersh case: Tranquility Bay: Expose of the Guardian

Is this anywhere to send your Jewish child? Or any child for that matter.

Guardian June 2003

When you have a teenager on the rampage, who are you going to turn to? In America, parents send their troubled offspring to Jamaica's Tranquility Bay - a 'behaviour-modification centre' which charges $40,000 a year to 'cure' them. Decca Aitkenhead, the first journalist to gain access to the centre in five years, wonders if there isn't too high a price to pay.

Were you to glance up from the deserted beach below, you might mistake Tranquility Bay for a rather exclusive hotel. The statuesque white property stands all alone on a sandy curve of southern Jamaica, feathered by palm trees, gazing out across the Caribbean Sea. You would have to look closer to see the guards at the wall. Inside, 250 foreign children are locked up. Almost all are American, but though kept prisoner, they were not sent here by a court of law. Their parents paid to have them kidnapped and flown here against their will, to be incarcerated for up to three years, sometimes even longer. They will not be released until they are judged to be respectful, polite and obedient enough to rejoin their families. [...]