Thursday, July 24, 2014

Rifky Stein & Yoel Weiss: The embarrassing silence from the media about being fooled by Rivky's story

I was about to write a post on this subject when I received the following cogent and sensitive comment that I decided to post it instead.
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Guest post by  Guy Gustafson

What I find really wacky is that after all these recent developments and exposures none of the media circles have put out an updated or new story.

All the old stories are still up there and doing a search on google news for "Rivky Stein" or "Yoel Weiss" brings up news articles from the New York Daily News to Jweekly (and about this issue the Daily News hasn't said anything new about this for days and Jweekly hasn't said anything for weeks).

The articles on news sites and various blogs (aside from this blog) read as if the verdict is already in and that Yoel Weiss is condemned and that Rivky speaks truth as if she gave the Torah on Mount Sinai.

I think Yoel has more then vindicated himself and at the very least has shed some serious doubts on Rivky's story which I would think she would have to defend... but no she does not because as far as the media in concerned the story hasn't changed since they first heard about it and only if you happen to read this Daas Torah blog will you get an alternate side to Rivky's story.

I don't understand it. I would of thought the media would have a field day with this. I mean this is drama and entertainment of the highest order (sorry Yoel but it is, I myself don't follow news stories so much anymore but this one had me hooked from the beginning, its so alarming!)

Everybody loves it when a liar gets outed in the media, look what happened when Susan Smith and Lance Armstrong got there lies smashed into pieces (the latter spent a whole session with Oprah and his sociopath sob story).

I'm not saying that this case is anywhere close to the level of exposure of the above heavyweight all time media highlights that will never be forgotten. but this is a very serious Jewish community issue and its not an isolated incident.

When men start dating after this they are going to be obsessively looking for signs of psycho with a magnifying glass in every woman thus extending dating for months or years. I imagine men are going to turn away a lot more women for marriage at the slightest perceived sign of instability or wackiness.

But better that then to marry a super-psycho! Background checks, private investigators and references equal to that of getting a job in the US secret service will be necessary. cause I'll admit until this circus I myself was not too concerned about this issue but now its a very very big concern.

I'm fairly confident to say that most people have met people like Rivky Stein somewhere throughout there lives so everybody knows they exist.

I remember people I met at all levels of schooling and at various work places. People who I initially found to be engaging and interesting and with time passing small signs of crazy started showing and then they accumulated to the point of discomfort and then fear - cause they got too close and how could I get rid of them now?

If you have been in that kind of situation you know how uncomfortable and spooky it can be and how much effort and thought has to go into avoiding them after you have befriended them. Now imagine that happening after you married someone cause you didn't check them out closely enough during the dating process!

So for the sake of this alone (although exonerating Yoel is in its self a good enough reason) that the shofar on this issue should not be put away but be blown to warn unmarried Jewish men to be REALLY careful and scrutinizing when dating.

So this is why its important for these new developments to get into the media; news, blogs, and social networking sights need to be brought up to date.

Yet aside from Daas Torah - there's silence all around and worse; the perpetuation of the old and obviously fabricated story. people on Facebook (not that I'm a member thank G-d) are still condemning Yoel Weiss and calling for him to be burned at the stake.

They are ready with their cyber pitchforks and burning torches to form a mob and cast him out of existence with such certainty that he is Frankenstein. this is very likely to be just because they haven't heard latest events making up much more then half the story.

So if the people heard the closer to full story they can stop screaming to rip off Yoel's head and stick it on a spike, step back, think, reform their opinions and apologize to Yoel and ask forgiveness for so naively accepting lashon hora (evil speech) and spreading it. At the very least they can just stop verbally bashing him and celebrating Rivky raising her ego to the heavens.

But I guess if that never happens Yoel will just have to pack his bags cause his reputation got so tarnished that he can never live a normal life again and move here to Israel where nobody knows him thus fulfilling the mitzvah (commandment/obligation) of dwelling in the land of the Jewish people.

Hey if you look at it that way once again we see that every thing G-d does is good and there is a silver lining to every dark cloud. Come home Yoel the unmarried girls here need you!

17 comments :

  1. Yep, we are close to whose son got married and divorced due to such issues.

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  2. fedupwithcorruptrabbisJuly 24, 2014 at 4:17 PM

    Well said GUY. I too have investigated and researched the Meir Lonna Kin case which is more thann 9 years old. The poor guy has undergone wrongful conviction for over 9 years with the final blow of being ejected from his shuls after he remarried with a heter mea rabbonim. Lonna bamboozeled the public in her phony aguna campaign all the while he 1) had offered her 4 Bais Dins and she refused 2) had him gagged by Family Court order to prevent any bais din from hearing the truth what she did in the marriage 3) He deposited a GET at his Bais Din and despite all this ORA has attacked him relentlessly. Unless the public says enough to Men being bashed in public, this pattern will continue. I guess ORA and its cohorts learn from Hamas that media bashing is the way to go. Woe to us who are stupid enough to believe whats in the media before analyzing all the facts. TO YOEL: PLEASE GET REMARRIED AS MEIR KIN DID AND MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE UNTIL RIVKY WILL WAKE UP AND APOLOGIZE IN PUBLIC FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE AND MAKE RESTITUTION TO ALL YOUR DAMAGES. LONNA KIN HAS REFUSED TO DO SO AND PERHAPS RIVKY WILL TOO. THIS MATCHES HAMAS' TACTICS AS THEY TOO REFUSE A CEASE FIRE DESPITE ALL THEIR LOSSES!!!

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  3. What is harder to achieve
    A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas? or a Jewish divorce?

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  4. I would love to see a Rabbi with guts and a spine to go live on a public forum in order to interpret our beautiful and sacred laws of marriage and Gerushin succinctly from Shulchan Aruch verbatim and explain it without an bias or any conflict of interest. To truly see how precise, genuine and perfect and how great our holy Torah really is. All other opinions and biases from the masses means zero. The Torah is our rock, the Torah is our life, the Torah is our religion. We should preach and follow what the Torah teaches us which is to love your fellow friend and to honor your wife, all else is cheap commentary by masses and ignoramuses!!

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  5. Verification of AddressJuly 24, 2014 at 8:17 PM

    I contacted twice Chabad of Georgetown of 1278 east 72nd Street Brooklyn NY 11234 via phone#: 1(718)444-3770, and spoke twice to Choshuva Rebbetzin Holtzberg; After she consulted twice with her Choshuva husband HaRav Avrohom Holtzberg שליט"א, then she came back with a very clear answer (on behalf of her husband, the רב), that the above חב"ד of Georgetown is NOT related in any way to any בית דין or דיינים and NEVER hosts any outside בית דין\דיינים in their Shul/חב"ד of Georgetown; Furthermore, they are NOT related/involved in any way with the controversial divorce case of Stein vs. Weiss. Therefore, their above mentioned address, is definitely not affiliated in any way with that so called בית דין of Mill Basin, NOR it's so called אב בית דין ודיינים (and their so called חרם NEITHER). So therefore, there's definitely NO point at all, for Yoylie Weiss to try to also go at the above mentioned, as confirmed with owners of that same address.... Now, let's just hope that the 1278 East 77th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236, is the Correct Address of that בית דין and hopefully things will work out right, and that it's Rabbis & both parties etc. will all show up at that same place & time to achieve the goal of getting that Get controversy OVER...

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  6. I am not acquainted with the context, but the fact you cared enough to write this and the bottom lines - the call to forgive and be empathetic and seeing the good in everything - these I find touching.

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  7. I'm willing to accept that Rivky is emotionally unstable. I'm willing to consider that Yoeli never intend to withhold the get as punishment. But I am absolutely certain that he is a pervert and a terrible husband. G-d help the next girl he marries!

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  8. Chani from Israel - I gather that halacha isn't that important to you. You are willing to trash a person publicly - without any clear evidence?!

    Do you husband, rabbeim agree with this apporach to ahavas Yisroel?

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  9. Yoeli should go to both addresses the day he goes to meet the so-called beis din, so Rivky cannot later say he went to the wrong one.

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  10. He needs a big crowd to go along with him, as well as a police presence at both locations.

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  11. Verification of AddressJuly 24, 2014 at 11:22 PM

    How can you expect Yoilie Weiss to make it happen to be showing up by himself by both places on the same exact day at the same exact time (the day after Tishah B'Av by 12 day)? [1 place is in Canarsie & the other one is in Mill Basin/Georgetown!]

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  12. Unbelievable. I didn't respond to this yesterday because I considered it might be lashon hara to repeat the audio of Yoeli in his own words describing his rape of his wife. But then you went ahead and printed it for me in a later posting!
    My ahavas yisroel is complete. I would never let my own daughter marry him. Honestly, would you let yours?

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  13. @Chani - I find your judgment strange. You seem like an intelligent person who knows about comments being taken out of context and you should also know about the obligation of giving a person the benefit of the doubt.

    Rivky presented a several second snippet of a recording. Do you have any idea of who he was speaking to? What was the discussion about? Did you notice that he said that "she said you know you raped me". Did Yoel agree with that? Did she say it with anger or humiliation or did she smile when she said those words? We have absolutely no answers at present regarding the meaning of this conversation. If after hearing the rest of the recording it clearly shows that Yoel was confessing rape as Rivky is now claiming - than I would agree with your conclusion.

    We do know now that she has presented false information repeatedly. We know that there is no evidence that she complained to the police, doctors etc about rape or abuse.. On what basis can you believe that her assertions are true?

    Given Rivky's record - what she has said and presented so far does not change Yoel's chezkas kashrus. Assuming you are a frum Jew - you have no justification for believing that Yoel is an evil person as Rivky has charged - though you have every right to be suspicious and seek out additional information. Not sure how your ahavas Yisroel is complete or you observance of the laws of lashon harah.

    At the present time we have a self-proclaimed aguna - who has been offered a get with her own beis din at anytime she wants - it has been 8 days and she hasn't responded. Given the incredible chilul hashem she has caused in order to force Yoel to give her a get - how do you explain that she has made to move to accept it.

    Would you let your son marry Rivky?

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  14. Verification of AddressJuly 30, 2014 at 4:53 AM

    Did rifky, her supporters, her Rabbonim etc. respond to yolis great offer?

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  15. Verification of AddressJuly 30, 2014 at 5:19 AM

    We're all waiting along with yoilei for Rifkies reply to his offer?!

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  16. Verification of AddressAugust 3, 2014 at 4:50 AM

    Are you gonna go with him to both addresses?

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  17. Verification of AddressAugust 3, 2014 at 4:51 AM

    Are you gonna part of his crowd?

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