BBC covered up abuse by legendary children's entertainer -

Time Magazine   For millions of British children, Jimmy Savile was the TV presenter who promised to make their dreams come true. Now it appears he has been haunting the memories of some of them — and could be turning into a nightmare for his former employer, the BBC.

Savile, who died last year, hosted prime-time children’s shows in the U.K., including the wishes-come-true favorite, Jim’ll Fix It, and raised over £40 million ($64 million) for charity throughout his life. But in a documentary aired on British commercial television last week, five women claimed to have been raped, molested or forced to commit sexual acts on Savile when they were underage, often on the premises of the BBC, for whom Savile worked. Since the documentary aired, over 40 women have made similar allegations.

The BBC is now facing accusations of an institutional cover-up as it emerges that producers, press officers, executives and other presenters at the BBC were aware of Savile’s alleged behavior at the time. The publicly funded broadcaster buckled under pressure to acknowledge the “horrifying” allegations last week, vowing to support the police in any investigations, although it has insisted that there is “nothing to suggest any wrongdoing was ignored by management.” Prime Minister David Cameron has described the allegations as “deeply, deeply troubling” and hinted in a television interview that Savile could be posthumously stripped of his knighthood. [...]

Haredi parties - bitter internal struggles

Haaretz   Both ultra-Orthodox parties are heading for elections unwillingly, as both are embroiled in bitter internal struggles that could make it hard for them to preserve their current combined 16 Knesset seats. And fewer seats means less influence in whatever government is formed after the elections.

For Shas, the internal rift centers on former party chairman Aryeh Deri, who is now weighing a return to politics - either as part of Shas, which would entail an uneasy alliance with current chairman Eli Yishai, or in the framework of a new, rival party.

For United Torah Judaism - a joint list comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudath Israel parties - all is not sweetness and light between the various Hasidic sects that comprise the latter. But UTJ's biggest problem is with Degel Hatorah, which represents the "Lithuanian" (non-Hasidic ) Haredim: The Lithuanians' unchallenged spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, recently died, and the party is now riven between adherents of his two would-be successors, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman and Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach.

כולם נגד כולם ב'עדה': הראב"ד נגד סאטמר ובריסק

bholהמלחמה הפנימית שפרצה בחוגי 'העדה החרדית' סביב מאבק הקברים -          ובראשם המאבק המתהל במתחם גולובנציץ בבית שמש - הולכת ומתרחבת, ובימים האחרונים נראה כי נוצר קרע של ממש בין החוגים המרכיבים את 'העדה החרדית'.

לטענת אנשי 'אתרא קדישא', קיימים במתחם גולובנציץ קברים, טענה אשר מהווה מבחינתם סיבה לעכב את הבנייה במקום, עד לבדיקה יסודית. אלא שיזמני הבניה והרוכשים, שקבלו על העיכוב, פנו אל ראשי בד"ץ 'העדה החרדית', והדיינים התבקשו להתערב ולמנוע מ'אתרא קדישא' את עיכוב הבניה. אלא שהגאב"ד עצר את הדיון, וההיתר לא הונפק.

אלא שבערב חג סוכות פורסם מכתב, עליו חתום ראב"ד 'העדה החרדית', הגר"מ שטרנבוך, הקובע באופן נחרץ כי ניתן לעלות עם דחפורים על השטח ולהתחיל בבנייה, ללא שום חשש לחילולי קברים. "ולמעשה אין לעכב את החפירות", נכתב. "ויש לחפור מיד ממש בטרקטור קטן בלי שיניים גדולות ולהעמיד משגיח מומחה מהבד"ץ לחפש ולעיין אם נמצא..." 

בתחילת המכתב פורש הגר"מ שטרנבוך בקצה את הסיבות ההלכתיות לדבריו ולהיתר הבניה, ובין היתר גם מזכיר כשיקול משמעותי את מצוקתן של 1000 משפחות הממתינות בכליון עיניים לביתם החדש, "ובפרט שהדבר נוגע לחיותן של אלף משפחות, ולחייב רבים מהם לחזור על הפתחים מחשש בעלמא שאינו מבוסס כלל".

NY sued for incompetence in false rape accusations

NYTimes   One of four men who had sex-crime charges against him in a case involving a young Orthodox Jewish woman dismissed last June has sued New York City and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office for malicious prosecution, defamation and false imprisonment.

The man, Darrell Dula, filed the lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Oct. 2, more than a year after he was jailed on Rikers Island and held there for months without bail on the charges, which were dismissed amid troubling questions about the accuser’s credibility and whether prosecutors mishandled exculpatory evidence. [...]

The case began in June 2011 when Mr. Hynes, at a highly publicized news conference, announced the indictments of Mr. Dula and three co-defendants — Damien Crooks and two brothers, Jamali and Jawara Brockett — on charges of rape, sex trafficking and compelling prostitution over the course of a decade.

The four men were accused of using assaults and threats of violence to silence the woman, a member of the Chabad Lubavitch community in Crown Heights who was only 13 at the start of the events described in the indictment.

Jerry Sandusky sentenced to at least 30 years

CBS News   Jerry Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to at least 30 years in prison -- effectively a life sentence -- in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno's downfall.

Judge John Cleland sentenced the 68-year-old former assistant football coach to 30 years minimum to 60 years maximum in prison. Under Pennsylvania law, Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.

A defiant Sandusky gave a long, rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.[...]

Why banning anti-gay therapy is problematic

Time Magazine   On September 29, Jerry Brown signed into law a bill banning therapy that purportedly “cures” gays for minors in the state of California. Brown had previously Tweeted that these practices, known as conversion therapy, “have no basis in science of medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.” Almost immediately after being signed into law, a Christian legal group called the Pacific Justice Institute sued the state, saying that the ban was a violation of free speech and private relationships between youth, families and their therapists. Is the law a helpful effort to protect minors or a nanny-state intrusion into a private and intimate issue?

Both, possibly. First, it should be clearly stated that the empirical research supporting the efficacy of this form of therapy is weak, at best.  A 2009 task force report    by the American Psychological Association concluded that efforts to therapeutically change sexual orientation do not work, and carry significant risk of harm.  Consenting homosexual behavior is no more harmful than consenting heterosexual behavior, but instilling or reinforcing in patients the view that their sexual orientation is wrong can do psychological damage. Outside of religious conservatives, few defenders of conversion therapy can be found.

Whether government banning of such procedures is the most appropriate response is worth debating, however. There are a number of therapies out there which have been empirically demonstrated to range from useless to outright harmful. Scott Lilienfeld, a professor of psychology at Emory University, discussed this in a 2007 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science. Among the therapies he looked at were questionable ones such as facilitated communication, “rebirthing” therapies, and “recovered memory” therapy. But they also included relatively popular approaches such as “Scare Straight” for kids who are at risk for delinquency, boot camps kids who are anti-social, and DARE anti-drug programs. If we are going to start down the road of banning therapies, should we not ban these all, if the research evidence continues to bear out Dr. Lilienfeld’s concerns?  Why do we ban gay conversion therapy but leave DARE programs intact?

Rav M' Feinstein - Women & men are equally holy

Igros Moshe (O.C. 4:49): ...It is necessary to know that  women are not inferior in their level of kedusha (holiness) to men. Concerning kedusha, women are equal to men regarding the aspect that the obligation of mitzvos is only because of holiness.. Also we see that all the verses regarding kedusha apply equally to women. Whether it is in regard to the beginning of the receiving of Torah when the Torah says, And you will be to Me a treasure and you will be for me a holy people. Or when G‑d said to speak to Beis Yaakov – which means the women and tell Bnei Yisroel – which means the men. Or when the Torah says, You shall be holy men to Me – in Mishpatim. Or in Shemini, You shall be holy or in Kedoshim, And they will be holy. Or in Re’eh, Because you are a holy people to me. In all these verses where kedusha of the Jewish people is mentioned, it also applies to women. This equivalence of halachic kedusha is why women say the same beracha – “who has commanded us with His mitzvos” - when they do mitzvos as men say. This is true also even when they do mitzvos that the Torah doesn’t obligate because of various leniencies that G‑d has for women not having to do certain mitzvos. Their exemption from certain mitzvos is certainly not the result of being inferior, G-d forbid! And concerning the obligations between husband and wife, the husband is obligated to honor his wife and the wife is obligated to honor her husband – without any difference. Furthermore there were many women who were prophets and they had exactly the same laws of prophets as the men. In addition there are many things that women are praised more than men in Torah verses and the words of our Sages. There is absolutely no degradation of their honor or anything else by the fact that they are exempt from studying Torah and time bound positive commandments. Thus there is no reason to complain at all. Consequently it is necessary for you to explain this each and every time. It is necessary to be determined and strong in these views which are like the laws of the Torah and to protest against those women who stubbornly insist on clinging to their foolish and distorted [feminist ideology]- in order that no change should be made to any aspect of holy Jewish practice

Simchas Torah Hakafos – Standing Up

Five Towns Jewish Times by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

As people grow older, often the infirmities of age can change what used to be simple activities into situations with some challenges.  Simchas Torah is, of course, a time of intense joy in which we celebrate both the completion and the continuity of the Torah.  In doing so, we generally remove all the Sifrei Torah from the Aron Kodesh and encircle the Bima with seven joyous Hakafos.  The Sifrei Torah are always on the move and in front of us, and this brings up some halachic questions

THE ESSENTIAL HALACHA

The Shulchan Aruch (YD 282:2) states that one who sees a Sefer Torah being moved is obligated to stand up in front of it.  All should stand up until the person moving the Torah reaches his place or if it is no longer within their sight.

This Halacha would seem to dictate that the entire period of Hakafos of Simchas Torah, one must remain standing.  In many places the Hakafos can last several hours.  There are places in which the Hakafos last for four or five hours and rare is the Shul that has Hakafos for less than an hour and a half.  Must one really stand the entire time? 

Rabbi Yair Bacharach, author of the Chavas Yair writes in his newly discovered commentary on Shulchan Aruch (Mekor Chaim 141:7) that, in fact, there is such an obligation to stand.  ONE 

LENIENCY

The Aruch HaShulchan (YD 282:5) expresses a somewhat more lenient view.  He writes that while the Hakafos are going on and the Torahs are encircling the Bima, there is certainly an obligation to stand.  However, in between the Hakafos, even though the Torahs are being held by individuals, one may sit down.  His reason is that this is uquivalent to the Torah having reached its place.   It is interesting to note that Rav Yoseph Teomim in his Pri Magadim (Mishbetzes HaZahav 141) writes that when a Chazan is holding the Torah while reciting Yizkor it is considered as if the Torah is resting in its place and there is no obligation to stand up.  So we do see some precedent for the Aruch HaShulchan’s opinion.

Slashing tires on Shabbos - required to pay?

5tjtimes  by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

 This past Chol HaMoed Shabbos a near tragedy was averted by a quick-thinking Orthodox Jewish man, when he noticed that a driver was stopped at a stop sign on Empire Avenue right before the corner of Reads Lane.  The problem was that the driver had fallen fast asleep with his foot on the brakes.  The person noticed the imminent danger and acted quickly.

The car was running, but the Jewish man was unable to awaken the driver and all four doors of the sedan were locked.  

If the driver were to inadvertently move his foot in his sleep, he could possibly run over innocent victims.  Plus, the area was a heavily walked site next to two very popular synagogues with numerous kids around as well.

After calling the authorities to deal with the driver, the Orthodox Jewish man took a kitchen knife and punctured the tires so that the car would be unable to move forward.  Later, firemen smashed the glass windows and placed the car in park.

There are two questions.  The first question is whether it is permitted to have punctured the driver’s tires on Shabbos or not.    The second question is whether the person doing the puncturing should have made sure to puncture the tires in such a manner that the tires can still be repaired.  When a tire is slashed on the sidewall it cannot be repaired.  If it is cut on the treading of the tire itself then the tire may be plugged up at a tire repair shop.  Is the tire-slashing hero responsible to pay?

The Clics Sukkah - halachic issues

 Five Towns Jewish Times  by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

According to their website, “Clics are colored plastic building blocks that clic together to form hundreds of different models, limited only by the imagination of the child.

They are “produced in bite-proof safe, polypropylene, they are durable and able to withstand prolonged use under all conditions.”

Many people saw the Sukkah made out of Clics highlighted in a popular Vosizneias artcle just before Sukkos.  The Sukkah was constructed by Yonasan Schwartz, owner of Toys to Discover in Borough Park, with the assistance of numerous young boys from throughout Boro Park. The Sukkah, it is reported used over 30,000 Clics and was six by eight feet in its dimension.  

The question is: Are there any halachos about the use of the Sukkah’s clics after Yom Tov is over?

The Sukkas Chaim cites the Zichron L’Moshe which relates a fascinating story about the Chasam Sofer.  The Chasam Sofer had a Yeshiva in Pressburg where students came to study with him from far and wide.  There was one bochur who, while taking down the Sukkah after the Yom Tov, callously stepped upon the branches that were used for the Schach.  The Chasam Sofer felt that the young man’s insensitivity to something that was just used for the Mitzvah of Sukkah was not an insignificant issue.  The Chasam Sofer refused to take the young man as a student in his Yeshiva.

The issue, of course, is based on the Gemorah in Megillah 26b that states that items used for a Mitzvah (Tashmishei Mitzvah) may be thrown out.  Yet we do find (Shabbos 22a) that a use that is demeaning or undignified is forbidden.   The term used by the Poskim is Tashmish shel Bizayon.

In regard to our Clics Sukkah we, therefore, have three questions:  

1] What exactly defines a Sukkah?  Is it the Schach and the four walls?  Or is it just whatever is under the Schach (provided, of course, that what is under meets the size and stability requirements)? [...]

Rape - like force feeding honey on Yom Kippur

Abarbanel (Bereishis 33:18-35): The Torah says, “Dina, the daughter of Leah who was born to Yaakov” – went out. It doesn’t tell this to criticize her that she went out – contrary to what Rashi claims. That is because Leah was well known for her modesty and it because of this modesty that Yaakov did not recognize her when he first had sexual relations with her (Bereishis 29:23:25). And this that Leah went to Yaakov and told him that he would be spending the night with her (Bereishis 30:16) – means only that she went to the door of her house and she said it purely for the sake of Heaven [and not because of lust]. In fact this verse comes to praise Dina and it was saying this to declare that she typically didn’t go out of the house since she was the daughter of Leah and she had been taught to stay in the house. In contrast Rachel was a shepherdess while Leah typically did not leave the house. This attribute of remaining in the house also came to her from her father who was known as one “who dwelled in the tents.” So if her father was modest then surely this would be true of the daughter. All this teaches that she did not go out of the house for bad intentions – G‑d forbid! – but merely “to see the daughters of the land.” The Torah doesn’t say it was to see the men of the city or even the children of the city – but the daughters of the city. In other words she wanted to see the girls of the city and their clothes and jewelry. This was because there was no other girl besides her in the family. So she wanted to learn from the local girls as is the manner of young unmarried women. This resolves the fourth question we raised. Furthermore there is no doubt that Dina did not go out alone but was accompanied by a man or woman - even though this is not mentioned in the Torah’s account – since it is self-evident. (This is similar to the Torah’s description of Moshe going to meet his father-in-law where it is known from other sources (Mechilta Shemos 18) that he didn’t go alone.). However it just says, “That Shechem the son of Chamor the ruler of this land saw her.” This verse is to be understood to mean that since he was the son of the ruler he took Dina by force and was not concerned with the one who accompanied her and he wasn’t afraid of Yaakov and his sons. The Torah simple states, “Shechem took Dina and lay with her and tormented her.” [...] Perhaps the reason the Torah says that he “tormented her” is because sexual intercourse is inherently pleasurable even if it starts out as rape it will nevertheless typically result in physical pleasure. For example it is mentioned in the gemora that a woman came to Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi and told him that she had been raped. Since he held that a woman who is raped must resist from beginning to end – he asked her whether she had experienced any physical pleasure during the rape. Because in his view if there was any moment that she didn’t resist then she would be prohibited to her husband. She replied by asking him whether a person fasting on Yom Kippur who has honey forced into his mouth -  would he find the experience pleasurable even though it was done against his will? This is proof that a natural physical pleasure is not eliminated even if it is brought about by force. Thus this verse is alluding to the praise of Dina. Because she was so upset by the rape that she experienced no physical pleasure at all. All of this teaches us that Dina was absolutely free of all sin. Because if she had experienced pleasure there is no question that her brothers would have killed her when they massacred the community of Shechem and they would have viewed it as a case of an adulterous couple. However it was clear to them that it was absolutely a case of rape – from beginning to end -  and thus they did nothing to Dinah.

[The recent critical edition of the Abarbanel notes there is apparently no known source that Dina was engaged or married- in addition the Abarbanel's claim that she might have been killed if she had been forced to have pleasure is a view clearly against the halacha]
There seems to be a major dispute in the commentaries as to the degree of Dinah's complicity as well as whether she rejected Shechem totally - as the Abarbanel states - or wanted him as the Torah Temima notes.
תורה תמימה (בראשית לד:ב הערה ג): פירש"י שלא בא אליה בעונתה בשעה שנתאוית לו או שבא עליה שלא כדרכה, עכ"ל, ומה שלא פרשו חז"ל בפשיטות ויענה שאנסה שלא לרצונה, שעל זה יונח לשון ענוי כמו תחת אשר ענה את אשת רעהו (פ' תצא), י"ל ע"פ המבואר במ"ר בפרשה כאן בפסוק ויקחו את דינה ויצאו (פ' כ"ו) גוררין בה ויוצאין, והיינו שלא יצאה ברצון מבית שכם, א"כ מבואר שלא נאנסה על כרחה:

Bereishis Rabba(80:11):[[ 11. AND TOOK DINAH OUT OF SHECHEM'S HOUSE, AND WENT FORTH. R. Judah said: They dragged her out and departed.6 R. Hunia observed: When a woman is intimate with an uncircumcised person, she finds it hard to tear herself away. R. Huna [also] said7: She pleaded, ’And I, whither shall I carry my shame?’  (II Sam. XIII, 13), until Simeon swore that he would marry her. Hence it is written, And the sons of Simeon... and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman  (Gen. XLVI, 10): (this means, the son of Dinah who was intimate with a Canaanite).l R. Judah said: It means that she acted in the manner of the Canaanites.2 R. Nehemiah said: It means that she was intimate with a Hivite [Shechem] who is included in the Canaanites. The Rabbis said: [She was so called because] Simeon took and buried her in the land of Canaan

Minyan, group therapy, and the validation of being seen

Times of Israel by Rabbi Mendel Horowitz

Of those devout it is not unusual for men to gather, fedoras askew, seeking inspiration in the company of strangers. Thrice daily, observant men assemble for prayers and are routinely affected by the shared experience. The siddur is not lacking in appeals for personal growth; the process of supplication can be humbling, heartening, hardy. Still, as much as we talk to and about God, observant men are uncannily reserved about themselves. In a scheme that emphasizes ritual, it is easy to hide behind behavior.

A minyan is a curious thing. Ostensibly a forum for individual worship, much liturgical prose is composed in the plural, likening independent wants with communal needs. Restore us in repentance. Save us and we will be saved. Observant men pray not only with each other but for each other, regularly. Ideally, when joined in prayer dissimilar men concede similarities, the unaffiliated align. Stubbornly, differences tend to divide. There is a certain safety in praying for — and being prayed for by — others. In divine ears we each sound disharmonious. The “one for all, all for one” ideal increases our odds of being heard while protecting us from the humiliation of disclosure.

Compulsory prayers are by design both a declaration of praise and an expression of lacking. The Hebrew term for prayer – t’filah — connotes intervention, a petition for mystic involvement in the minutia of existence. Appealing for such intervention involves appreciating celestial supremacy and confessing human deficiency. Indeed, the Hebrew term for gratitude — hoda’ah — is of the same root as that of admission. While minyans can seem boisterous, the prayers they comprise can function as means for silent confessions and resolutions

Rubashkin appeal rejected by Supreme Court

Forward  The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday by Sholom Rubashkin, the former chief executive of a kosher meat packing plant in Iowa who was sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of financial fraud.

Without comment, the high court refused to consider whether Sholom Rubashkin’s sentence was excessive for a first-time, nonviolent offender and whether he was entitled to a new trial based on evidence of alleged judicial misconduct in the case.

The rejection could mark the last step in a four-year legal saga that began in May 2008 when federal authorities raided the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

California bans therapy for sexual orientation

NYTimes  California has become the first state to ban the use for minors of disputed therapies to “overcome” homosexuality, a step hailed by gay rights groups across the country that say the therapies have caused dangerous emotional harm to gay and lesbian teenagers.

This bill bans nonscientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide,” Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement on Saturday after he signed the bill into law. “These practices have no basis in science or medicine, and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.”

The law, which is to take effect on Jan. 1, states that no “mental health provider” shall provide minors with therapy intended to change their sexual orientation, including efforts to “change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”

Tattoo to remember the Holocaust

NyTimes   When Eli Sagir showed her grandfather, Yosef Diamant, the new tattoo on her left forearm, he bent his head to kiss it. Mr. Diamant had the same tattoo, the number 157622, permanently inked on his own arm by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Nearly 70 years later, Ms. Sagir got hers at a hip tattoo parlor downtown after a high school trip to Poland. The next week, her mother and brother also had the six digits inscribed onto their forearms. This month, her uncle followed suit. [...]

It is certainly an intensely personal decision that often provokes ugly interactions with strangers offended by the reappropriation of perhaps the most profound symbol of the Holocaust’s dehumanization of its victims. The fact that tattooing is prohibited by Jewish law — some survivors long feared, incorrectly, that their numbers would bar them from being buried in Jewish cemeteries — makes the phenomenon more unsettling to some, which may be part of the point.

“It’s shocking when you see the number on a very young girl’s hand,” Ms. Sagir said. “It’s very shocking. You have to ask, Why?” [...]

Ms. Sagir, a cashier at a minimarket in the heart of touristy Jerusalem, said she is asked about the number 10 times a day. There was one man who called her “pathetic,” saying of her grandfather, “You’re trying to be him and take his suffering.” And there was a police officer who said, “God creates the forgetfulness so we can forget,” Ms. Sagir recalled. “I told her, ‘Because of people like you who want to forget this, we will have it again.’ ”

Holiness is not ascetisicm:Rav Shimon Shkop

Translation by Rabbi Micha Berger click here for full introduction

In my opinion, this whole concept is included in Hashem’s mitzvah “Be holy, [for I am Holy].”3 The Midrash (Leviticus, Emor, ch. 24) says about this verse: “Can it [truly] be ‘Like Me?’ This is why it continues, ‘for I am Holy’ to teach that My Sanctity is above yours.” And about the foundation of this mitzvah of sanctity the Toras Kohanim4 has “‘be holy’ – be separate”. Nachmanides, in his commentary on the Torah, explains at length this notion of separation as it is stated in this mitzvah, that it is separation from excessive comfort and pleasure – even if they are actions that are not prohibited to us. In one illustrative statement, he writes that it is possible for a person to be disgusting with [what would otherwise be] the permission of the Torah, see his holy words there.

According to this, it would seem the Midrash is incomprehensible. What relevance does the concept of separation have to being similar to the Holy? The verse tells us with regard to this that His Will is not like this. As it says, “Can it [truly] be ‘Like Me?’ This is why it continues, ‘For I am holy’ to teach that My sanctity is higher than yours.” It is more difficult to understand “My sanctity is higher than yours.” This explanation is incumbent upon us to understand – in truth there is some similarity in the holiness He expects of us to His [Holiness], except that His Holiness is more general and inclusive. If we say that the essential idea of the holiness He demands of us (in this mitzvah of “be holy”) is distance from the permissible, that kind of holiness has nothing to do with Him.5

Weberman: The smoking gun

Rabbi Horowitz   After many delays and much legal wrangling, Nechemia Weberman will finally stand trial in Brooklyn Criminal Court on October 30th for allegedly abusing a young girl in the Williamsburg community over a period of three years -- beginning when she was 12 years old. Mr. Weberman is entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.[...]

Moreover, it would help undo the denial and cognitive dissonance of those who defend Weberman -- by pointing out how disturbing were the circumstances of his "treatment" of the young girls referred to him.

Think of it this way. Wouldn't alarm bells go off in your mind if a doctor performed an invasive procedure without using latex gloves or if he/she picked up a used syringe to give you an injection? Wouldn't you think it strange if you were a single mother and were requested to meet with your son’s Rebbe or principal at 9 p.m. one evening in a deserted Yeshiva building to discuss your son's progress?

Well, those of us familiar with the do's and don'ts of accepted practice in the mental health profession saw similar blaring warning lights in our minds, as should you when the facts were made public that Weberman:

1) Had unregulated access to many girls over a number of years in his inappropriate and illegal role as their unlicensed "therapist."

2) Had these young girls referred to him for counseling by very Chassidish schools, whose general level of gender separation far exceeds those of the typical "Bais Yakov" (and it would be exceedingly rare for non-Chassidish girls’ schools to regularly refer their Talmidos to a male therapist)

3) Engaged in private, unsupervised counseling sessions with young girls -- often in an office/apartment that contained a working bedroom -- violating all norms of Yichud and Tzniyus.

In addition to all these disturbing facts, it has become clear that these serious allegations are in fact not isolated ones. In fact, since Mr. Weberman's arrest, I was personally contacted by immediate family members of four additional alleged victims of his who are afraid to come forward, and those of us close to the community have heard similar reports from others as well. [...]

Mea Shearim:No gender segregation for Sukkos

YNet   The Toldot Aharon Hasidic dynasty has pledged not to send ushers to the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood's streets to impose modesty rules during the holiday of Sukkot, and not to enforce gender segregation as it has done in previous years.

In discussions held between senior haredi community members and representatives of the police and Jerusalem Municipality, the parties agreed that a safety fence would be set up to maintain order during the Simchat Beit Hashoeivah celebrations held in the area on the intermediate days of Sukkot – but not to impose segregation.

The Jerusalem Police updated Jerusalem Council Member Rachel Azaria on the developments, following her petition to the High Court of Justice against the gender segregation on the neighborhood's main street in past years and the judges' ruling that authorities must prevent this situation. [...]

Jewish student lied about hate crime assault

MLive  Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said a 19-year-old Jewish Michigan State University student who alleged he was assaulted last month because of his religion won't face criminal charges for false reporting.

Zachary Tennen, of Franklin, said he was at a party about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 26 in the 500 block of Spartan Avenue, about a half-mile north of MSU's campus, when two college-aged men asked him if he was Jewish. When he responded in the affirmative, the pair beat him unconscious then stapled his mouth, he alleged.[...]

The case was closed Thursday, though, after authorities concluded there was no merit to Tennen's assertions of a hate crime. A police report on the matter detailed the accounts of multiple witnesses who said Tennen harassed and inappropriately touched women at the party, leading to his being punched in the mouth.

Kav HaYashar:Myth of Ramban's apostate "son"

Debunking a Parshas Nitzavim Myth

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

http://5tjt.com/?p=7894

There are a number of Seforim on the weekly portion of Nitzavim that cite a story in the “Kav HaYashar” regarding the words of the Ramban on Dvarim (29:17), “Ki Mishoresh Matok lo yetzeh mar – from a sweet root, something bitter will not be produced.”

The book “Kav HaYashar” was first printed in Frankfurt, Germany by Rav Tzvi Hersh Keidenower in 1705.  Rav Keidenower was the son-in-law of the Shach’s brother and authored a remarkable commentary on Mussar and Chumash.  Although it is a well respected Sefer, in this book, the author puts forth an extraordinary claim (Chapter 81 in some editions), regarding a story that he had heard of one of the sons of the Ramban. 

The story, in essence, has the Pope (presumably Clement the IV) having just read a comment from the Ramban’s recently printed commentary that if a son of a Jew adopted another religion it is a proof that he was never from Jewish lineage in the first place, sent a message to the Ramban.  The message stated that since the Ramban’s own son had just converted to Christianity, his interpretation was wrong.  The Kav HaYashar continues that the Ramban was quite saddened until his wife revealed to him that long ago she was attacked by a nobleman on the way to immerse in a faraway place and this particular child was from that encounter.  As proof she produced the nobleman’s severed finger which she had bitten off. 

The Ramban told the Pope what had happened and the Pope brought the nobleman to see his hand.  Sure enough after the glove was removed from the nobleman’s hand, the finger was missing.  The Ramban felt that his interpretation was thus exonerated.

The story is cited by a number of more contemporary figures other than the Kav HaYashar, including Rav Menashe Klein.  Notwithstanding the citations, it is this author’s view that the story is apocryphal.  There are no less than eight different reasons for this conclusion:

1.       The story is filled with anachronisms.  There was no printing press in the time of the Ramban.  The story uses the term “Dfus” which indicates that there was an actual physical press and also indicates that the Ramban’s work was printed.  This was not the case.

2.       The Ramban’s three sons, Shlomo, Nachman, and Yehuda are known and had Jewish descendents or interactions.  Shlomo had children and the Ramban wrote that they should rather name him after the maternal grandmother and not after him.  Nachman was the recipient of letters from the Ramban and authored commentaries.  Yehuda is cited It is possible that there was a fourth son, Yoseph, but the record shows that he maintained his Judaism, when he is mentioned.  No histories indicate one iota that there was  a descendant of the Ramban or his wife who became Catholic.  Also, this is the type of information that would be spread and cannot be kept hidden.  The Dominicans, antagonists of the Ramban, would certainly have spread it as certainly as they defamed the Ramban in regard to matters of the disputation.

3.       Pope Clement IV was never in Aragon, where the Ramban lived.  He lived in Viterbo 50 miles north of Rome throughout his entire pontificate.  There is no known personal interaction between the Ramban and Pope Clement IV.  The Pope did extend a ban on the Ramban returning to Aragon, but that was by proxy

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5.     [...] See Five Towns Jewish Times for full article

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The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com