tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post6634027239370716598..comments2024-03-29T12:21:24.976+03:00Comments on Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: Rabbi Shmuel Goldin - president of the RCA - clarifies the RCA-Rav Belsky joint statement on child abuse.Daas Torahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07252904288544083215noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-27752969035384052522013-06-11T04:22:34.957+03:002013-06-11T04:22:34.957+03:00Mr. Insider,
can you explain why, if Rabbi Belsky...Mr. Insider,<br /><br />can you explain why, if Rabbi Belsky knows the father is guilty, does he not press charges? Since when do we casually accuse people of molestation in public and just leave it at that?<br /><br />=ben dovAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-37807861697771979222013-06-10T17:06:57.660+03:002013-06-10T17:06:57.660+03:00And because of the way he assessed the situation i...And because of the way he assessed the situation it became מותר to bashmutz another Talmud chacham?!<br />And what's with throwing him out of Lakewood, taking away his income etc, is he still sure that kolko is innocent? You mean to tell us that he has no ספק at all?<br /><br />And what are all the other Rabonnim saying?Still shockednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-56341567003775687262013-06-10T15:42:04.760+03:002013-06-10T15:42:04.760+03:00Hi. I actually have spoken to Rabbi Belsky about t...Hi. I actually have spoken to Rabbi Belsky about this issue. My take is that Rabbi Belsky is a Tzaddik who a] believes Kolko's statement of innocence and b] thinks that since the victim's father made certain statements about Kolko having admitted in front of a few people that he did do it and when he asked these people they denied everything, that the victim;s father is not being truthful.<br /><br />It is clear that Rabbi Belsky's support of Kolko's innocence is a product of his assessment of the situation onlyInsidernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-67777274658810514362013-06-10T14:54:50.856+03:002013-06-10T14:54:50.856+03:00You say Rabbi Belsky is at odds with the RCA. But...You say Rabbi Belsky is at odds with the RCA. But Rabbi Belsky has not pressed charges against the father in a beis din either. The whole thing is at odds with any system.<br /><br />-ben dovAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-39868686320699560852013-06-10T08:23:44.996+03:002013-06-10T08:23:44.996+03:00Ditto what "Still shocked" said. Accord...Ditto what "Still shocked" said. According to Rabbi Goldin, "Rabbi Belsky did not accuse the father of abuse-but rather of rishus. He claims that the allegations were trumped up and that Kolko was framed and forced to accept a plea deal."<br /><br />But Rabbi Belsky accused, if not the victim's father, members of his family of abuse: "And the truth is that the allegations they make against others are crimes they themselves are in fact guilty of ...." The reasonable reading of Rav Belsky's statement is that members of the victim's family abused the victim and sought to blame Kolko for it. That's worse than accusing them of trumping up charges against Kolko, bad as that would be. In his previous communication, Rabbi Goldin acknowledged that Rav Belsky "believes the defendant to be innocent of the charges and that the accusers are actually the guilty parties." <br /><br />According to Rabbi Goldin, Rav Belsky "is convinced of this position, in spite of what seems to be overwhelming evidence to the country [contrary]." Rabbi Goldin then gingerly implies that one need not credit Rav Belsky with having Da`as Torah in this area, and that "in such areas-we can accept the possibility of 'error' even on the part of great sages." <br /><br />I feel Rabbi Goldin is insulting our intelligence, and is close to insulting the victim's family. If someone in a position of power and prominence publicly accuses another of a heinous crime, in spite of "overwhelming evidence to the contrary," he is not merely guilty of an "error," to employ Rabbi Goldin's pusillanimous quotation marks, he is a slanderer, and ipso facto not a "great sage," no matter the extent of his knowledge.<br /><br />With due respect, surely Rabbi Goldin and his OU colleagues know perfectly well "what else [they] can do." If they found pork chops in a refrigerator, would they throw out the refrigerator and try to kasher the pork chops?Kevin in Chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04134839107044549138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-72290118590224491952013-06-10T07:56:12.115+03:002013-06-10T07:56:12.115+03:00The English translation is not true to the origina...The English translation is not true to the original Hebrew, which does not contain this assertion, but should be understood as Rabbi Goldin presents it.Zoharhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13777354773864518000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-69463534019102356582013-06-10T07:35:58.820+03:002013-06-10T07:35:58.820+03:00What? I don't understand. How can someone b...What? I don't understand. How can someone be "forced" to take a plea deal? That would be illegal. These stories from the Rav Belsky camp are simply not making any sense.Student Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-572672865280986522013-06-10T05:53:00.173+03:002013-06-10T05:53:00.173+03:00Rabbi Goldin, thank you for your kind response to ...Rabbi Goldin, thank you for your kind response to my brother's questions. (You are obviously a man of courage or else you don't read my brother's blog very often.) Now it is my turn to try your kindness and patience!<br />This is the English translation of Rabbi Belsky's letter: "Further, all the reports made to the secular authorities were only for the express purpose of casting blame for their [the victim's family] own shameful and cursed existence on others. And the truth is that the allegations they make against others are crimes they themselves are in fact guilty of and they seek to cleanse their reputation by blaming an innocent man for their own deeds." <br />Let's play that again. "Further, all the reports made to the secular authorities were only for the express purpose of casting blame for their [the victim's family] own shameful and cursed existence on others. And the truth is that the allegations they make against others are crimes they themselves are in fact guilty of..." Let's see, I don't have a Marsho, so I'll have to sweat it out. Who was the victim? I suppose it means somebody who claimed to be a victim or somebody who was depicted in a police report as a victim. Rabbi Belsky clearly says that the people who made allegations, as I understand it, the father of the alleged victim, that he himself was guilty of molesting his son, and therefore, he is "cursed" (phew, this is real phooey stuff). Rabbi Goldin is kind enough to respond to my brother, but he is really sweating the defense over here. The letter clearly calls the person who went to the police a "cursed" person, not just wicked, and it clearly says that what he claimed others did, he did himself. What does that mean? It means the father of the victim raped his son! Rabbi Belsky has no fear and calls the shots as he sees them. But why do you defend this obviously lucid statement that curses the person who went to the police, the father, with the written Pesak of Rav Shternbuch. Now, is Rav Shternbuch just wicked or is he a molester, or does he write on my brother's blog?Dovid Eidensohnhttp://torahtimes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-34073886162520142062013-06-10T05:23:41.090+03:002013-06-10T05:23:41.090+03:00Still shocked. I too am still shocked. Just to con...Still shocked. I too am still shocked. Just to confirm your point, here are the relevant facts: <br />1. On the basis of the charges brought forth by the victim Kolko was indicted and eventually pleaded guilty to seven felony charges of sexual abuse including attempted anal penetration.<br />2. Rabbi Belsky wrote: <br />All the reports made to the secular authorities were only for the express purpose of casting blame for their [the victim's family] own shameful and cursed existence on others. And the truth is that the allegations they make against others are crimes they themselves are in fact guilty of and they seek to cleanse their reputation by blaming an innocent man for their own deeds.<br /><br />3. It beggars my imagination that President of the largest orthodox rabbinical association in America issued a statement without actually reading the text of Belsky's statement. Alternatively, it boggles me that Rabbi Goldin could write: "Rabbi Belsky did not accuse the father of sexual abuse-but rather of rishus."<br /><br />4. I do not know how he arrived at such a gross mischaracterization of the facts, but it is glaring and demands a correction of some sort. The RCA cannot simultaneously claim it agrees with Rabbi Belsky while still claiming it upholds the policy it announced about 2 years ago. <br /><br />Yerachmiel Lopinhttp://frumfollies.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-48374403459359656272013-06-10T03:51:07.290+03:002013-06-10T03:51:07.290+03:00Rabbi Belsky should be removed from his position w...Rabbi Belsky should be removed from his position with the OU.<br />Kolko not only pleaded guilty, but his attorney, Michael Bachner, said that Kolko was "extremely remorseful, apologizes to the victim and hopes after treatment to return to society as a benefit to it."<br /><br />Could someone please explain what sort of 'treatment' Kolko will undergo in order to rehabilitate himself.Enoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-77692224647400425072013-06-10T01:56:05.999+03:002013-06-10T01:56:05.999+03:00To Rabbi Goldin,
Please re read the words Rabbi Be...To Rabbi Goldin,<br />Please re read the words Rabbi Belsky said on him. He accused him of being a moser and that he himself is guilty of the allegations they made against others!<br />Instead of whitewashing the tremendous עולה done against such a Talmud chacham, it's better to admit a mistake and ask mechila then to pretend it didn't happen.Still shockednoreply@blogger.com