Jewish Chronicle [This is a historic moment for British Jews who are about 10 years behind the rest of the world in dealing with abuse. ]
[I have received a copy of an 8 page letter by an insider that describes in great detail allegations of his disgusting behavior - at this point I am not sure whether to publish excerpts. ]
[I have received a copy of an 8 page letter by an insider that describes in great detail allegations of his disgusting behavior - at this point I am not sure whether to publish excerpts. ]
Todros Grynhaus was convicted on all seven charges
A
Jewish teacher turned businessman is facing a ''substantial'' jail
sentence after being found guilty of seven sex abuse charges on Tuesday.
Todros Grynhaus, 50, was convicted of five counts of indecent assault
and two counts of sexual assault against the girls when they were aged
around 14 and 15.
Grynhaus, a prominent member of the Charedi community in Salford, was
accused of a course of conduct against the two alleged victims over a
number of years which involved touching them inappropriately and forcing
himself on them.
He denied the allegations, saying he was the victim of a “revenge plot” and that the girls, now adult women, were lying.
But he was convicted after a two-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Wearing glasses and dressed in a black suit with open-collar white
shirt, Grynhaus showed no emotion as he was unanimously found guilty of
three charges of indecent assault, and of the four other charges by a
majority verdict of 10-2.[...]
Please publish the letter, suitably anonymised. It is of the greatest importance that we learn from the accounts that brave survivors of abuse of the terrible damage done to their lives, which in many cases could have been avoided had the people responsible for employing the perpetrators done the right thing and brought in the police as soon as they knew of the allegations, whether they regarded them as proven or not. We also need to bear in mind the huge additional pain and distress caused to this and other victims by Todros Grynhaus denying the charges, claiming they were liars and thus forcing them to testify in front of him and be hounded by his barrister in open court.
ReplyDeleteDear Rabbi Eidensohn, please can you also include the testimony of his father, Dayan Dovid Grynhaus, who is currently serving as a federation communal Rabbi in Stamford Hill, London: http://www.totpi.com/2/rabbi-todros-grynhaus-jury-told-to-reach-unanimous-verdict/
ReplyDeleteWe have to grateful to Rabbi Zimmerman, the Rav of Gateshead for his fearlessness in tackling this horrendous behavior.
ReplyDeleteI have received a copy of an 8 page letter by an insider that describes in great detail allegations of his disgusting behavior - at this point I am not sure whether to publish excerpts.
For what it's worth, I'm with the not publishing it. This in itself would now become akin to pornographic filth writings.
The guy was convicted of the charges brought against him in court and not in 8 page documents.
ReplyDeleteIf one wants to raise awareness then perhaps a different way would be more suitable
Perhaps i'm just jaded from all the stories recently, so i don't know if i really want 8 pages of details, but charges werq 'improper touching' and 'forcing himself on the victims' (paraphrasing) and guilty of indecent assault and ... unspecified...
ReplyDeleteLoaded question: can they marry cohanim?
In the other case, that unqualified statement was later found to be false. What about this case?
Rabbi E.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is not to publish the docs. Todros is going to sit in jail - his family has been through enough. Must they subjected to additional pain and embarrassment? There is no longer any point to doing so.
@David - how can you make such a judgment when you have not the slightest idea what the letter contains?
ReplyDelete"This is a historic moment for British Jews who are about 10 years behind the rest of the world in dealing with abuse."
ReplyDeleteIt is only recently that British non_jews have started to deal with abuse, when it comes from famous people, and are still hiding scandals of the political classes. So perhaps this influences how Jews deal with it. Since I am reputed to knock the hareidim every opportunity i can - there were plenty of cases of abuse in all parts of the frum community, some of which came to light 15 -20 years back. One Chabad rabbi of a Modern shul was involved in eishes ish a few year back, and this led to her divorce.
Rabbi E.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what it says, but I have a "slight idea" of what it contains because I read the following from none other than you:
" that describes in great detail allegations of his disgusting behavior"
Now I'm fully prepared to admit that I may not have the greatest imagination, but I assume it contains
information that will continue to haunt his children and family members.
I do not know what benefit could possibly come from sharing it. If I'm
wrong please feel free to explain.
If the identities of his victims are known, the details contained in the letter could be hurtful and harmful to them.
ReplyDelete@kishkeyum - that is obviously true and that is why their identities will not be published here.
ReplyDelete@David - there never was any possiblity that the entire letter would be published. So there is no need for your guesses regarding what might be published
ReplyDeleteYour last paragraph is impossible for me to decipher - but I am quite tired.
ReplyDeleteCan they marry Kohanim? Well, the answer is no if the following 2 conditions were met:
1. There was an act Halacha defines as ביאה.
2. The girl was related to T in a way that made her an ערוה.
What a terrible sorry story.
Am-haaratzishe question. The can marry cohanim regardless of what he did, as they were single and he's a kosher Jew.
ReplyDeleteCan they marry Kohanim? Well, the answer is no if the following 2 conditions were met:
ReplyDelete1. There was an act Halacha defines as ביאה.
Are you certain about that? The definition of a זונה according to ש"ע אבן העזר סימן סימן ו ס"ק ח is:
איזהו היא זונה כל שאינה בת ישראל או בת ישראל שנבעלת לאדם שהיא אסורה לינשא לו
Even if רח"ל there was ביאה, these girls could still marry כהנים since they and T were not forbidden to marry.
bewhiskered:
ReplyDelete1) When I said "if the following 2 conditions were met", I meant if they were BOTH met. Thank you for alerting me to the ambiguity of what I wrote, and I have now added the word "both".
2. You have completely misunderstood the Mechaber. Please look at it again or ask somebody to learn it with you.
I was quoting a statement made by a dayan of the CBD in that case. The dayan claimed some of those young ladies can't, which led us to believe actions as described below. That statement is now discredited.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, there were charges of improper touching (no problem vis a vis cohanim) and forcing ...
The question is, whta is forcing? Is it no cohen, or general force?
The convictions were 'indecent assault' (not too specific vis a vis cohanim) and unspecified. Even more confusing.
Again, if a single woman has intercourse, even intentionally, with a kosher jew (not a mamzer, etc) she may marry a Cohen.
ReplyDeleteHonesty - I have read the 8 page letter, it is not pornographic filth writing, as it was written by a respected Rabbi in the U.K. I will not give an opinion whether it should be published or not since it is not for me to decide.
ReplyDeleteThe letter is written with so much sincerety and truth. It is nothing at all akin to pornographic filth writings, as it is written by a highly respected Rabbi in the U.K.. My opinion is irrelevant whether it should or should not be published.
ReplyDelete