AP: Hundreds of officers lose licenses over sex misconduct

AP    In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse.

The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York — with several of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies — offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records.

 "It's happening probably in every law enforcement agency across the country," said Chief Bernadette DiPino of the Sarasota Police Department in Florida, who helped study the problem for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "It's so underreported and people are scared that if they call and complain about a police officer, they think every other police officer is going to be then out to get them."

Even as cases around the country have sparked a national conversation about excessive force by police, sexual misconduct by officers has largely escaped widespread notice due to a patchwork of laws, piecemeal reporting and victims frequently reluctant to come forward because of their vulnerabilities — they often are young, poor, struggling with addiction or plagued by their own checkered pasts.

In interviews, lawyers and even police chiefs told the AP that some departments also stay quiet about improprieties to limit liability, allowing bad officers to quietly resign, keep their certification and sometimes jump to other jobs.

The officers involved in such wrongdoing represent a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands whose jobs are to serve and protect. But their actions have an outsized impact — miring departments in litigation that leads to costly settlements, crippling relationships with an already wary public and scarring victims with a special brand of fear. [...]

Victims included unsuspecting motorists, schoolchildren ordered to raise their shirts in a supposed search for drugs, police interns taken advantage of, women with legal troubles who succumbed to performing sex acts for promised help, and prison inmates forced to have sex with guards.

The AP's findings, coupled with other research and interviews with experts, suggest that sexual misconduct is among the most prevalent type of complaint against law officers. Phil Stinson, a researcher at Bowling Green State University, analyzed news articles between 2005 and 2011 and found 6,724 arrests involving more than 5,500 officers. Sex-related cases were the third-most common, behind violence and profit-motivated crimes. Cato Institute reports released in 2009 and 2010 found sex misconduct the No. 2 complaint against officers, behind excessive force. [...]

Victims of sexual violence at the hands of officers know the power their attackers have, and so the trauma can carry an especially crippling fear.[....]

Experts said it isn't just threats of retaliation that deter victims from reporting the crimes, but also skepticism about the ability of officers and prosecutors to investigate their colleagues.

Milwaukee Police Officer Ladmarald Cates was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2012 for raping a woman he was dispatched to help. Despite screaming "He raped me!" repeatedly to other officers present, she was accused of assaulting an officer and jailed for four days, her lawyer said. The district attorney, citing a lack of evidence, declined to prosecute Cates. Only after a federal investigation was he tried and convicted. [...]

Chaim Walder is outraged that a potential murderer has become a hero

kikar haShabbat

ריקודי השמחה בחסידות סקווירא על שחרור שאול שפיצר שהצית בית של "מורד", עוררו זעזוע אצל המחנך והסופר הרב חיים ולדר • "אם אנחנו לא נגנה - זה עלול להגיע לכולנו", הוא מזהיר (חרדים)

 

חלטתו של שופט בית המשפט המחוזי ברוקלנד שבניו יורק לשחרר את הבחור שאול שפיצר, בן לחסידות סקווירא, ממאסרו לאחר שריצה עונש מאסר של 4 שנים בגין עבירת תקיפה מדרגה ראשונה זאת באשמה שהצית ופצע קשה את החסיד אהרון רוטנברג תושב העיירה מאחר ונחשב היה ל"מורד" באדמור גרמה לצהלות שמחה ולריקודים סוערים במרכז החסידות בארה"ב.

האברכים והבחורים, חבריו של שפיצר, רקדו במשך שעות ארוכות במעגלים שירים כגון דידן נצח, וחסדי ה' כי לא תמנו ואף שתו "לחיים" לרגל השמחה.

האווירה השמחה בעקבות השחרור גרמה לתגובות מעט זועמות ברשתות החברתיות. "כיצד ניתן לחגוג ולרקוד בעקבות שחרורו של אסיר שביקש לפצוע אדם יהודי ואולי חלילה אף יותר מכך", תהו רבים. היו שהסבירו זאת בדאגה ואכפתיות לשלומו של הבחור בן החסידות מה שמלמד דווקא על הלכידות הפנימית ועל האחדות. אחרים הבהירו כי הבחור הגן על כבודו של הרבי ועל כבודה של החסידות ולכן מגיע לו הכבוד הראוי.

את הסופר והמחנך הרב חיים ולדר הדבר הרתיח והרגיז במיוחד. בשיחה עם "כיכר השבת" הוא נשמע זועם במיוחד וקובל על הדוגמא האנטי חינוכית שבכל ההילולא סביב שפיצר.

Rav Nochum Eisenstein on the Tamar Epstein "Heter Nisuin"

Guest Post by MiMedinat HaYam

Wednesday nite on a local NY / NJ radio program by R Dovid Lichtenstein (a Lakewood real estate gvir, who wrote a book and gives a Lakewood shiur on current topics in halacha) R Nochum Eisenstein was interviewed regarding the Memphis "hafkaat kiddushin" case. (the program will probably be rebroadcast in NY metro area at 11PM motzei Shabbat on 570AM radio, and online at Nachum Segal. check their for schedules, other stations, and podcasts.)

The format of this program, as one can see at http://podcast.headlinesbook.com, is leading poskim and rabbonim on issues of the day.

Rav Eisenstein was "mesharet baKodesh" to Rav Yosef Shlomo Elyashiv for thirty years, specializing in kiddushin and giyur matters, and is currently the av bet din for Rav Elyashiv's bet din on this matter.

Rav Lichtenstein's office sent me a link to the program's recording at dropbox . 

Rav Eisenstein begins at approximately 38:30.

Some highlights:

Rav Elyashiv was very insistent that there is no hakfkaat kiddushin today. perhaps by a godol like Rav Moshe Feinstein, but that’s it.

Everything must be done "befanav" (in front of him) husband and wife, before a "proper bet din"

Rav Lichtenstein said he spoke with Rav Greenblatt, who told him he did this twice in sixty years, this is the second time (meaning Rav Greenblatt did the "hafakaah" and the subsequent kiddushin.)

Rav Eisenstein said that Rav Greenblatt is from the "gedolei america", but he added that "transparency will be the answer for everything" "there is no 'makor' (source) (in this case) for 'mekach taut' since they were living together and had a child together."

The discussion then turned to the issue of prenuptuals. "Rav Elyashiv was against any type of prenup" because of "asmachta" (though Rav Lichtenstein said there are solutions, but to Rav Elyashiv, they were "no good.") that was a halachic opposition. he Rav Elyashiv also had a hashkafic opposition that they were " not the derech of yisrael sabbah . . . not the way kiddushin is done."

Rav Eisenstein had an extensive discussion with Rav Dovid Feinstein this past summer on various issues, and he is authorized to quote Rav Dovid that "Rav Moshe was against all prenuptuals" halachically and hashkafically. 

He also quoted Rav Dovid that the "agunah problem is entirely out of proportion". and Rav Eisenstein goes on to say that he has handled numerous gitten, and they can always be solved, but once the parties get bad advice from bad sources, they are much more difficult to solve, and only then does one have problem solving them.

An Agunah's Story: Adina Porat

As there are always 2 sides to a dispute, I welcome any comments by Eli Shur - including a guest post - that explain why he hasn't given his wife a Get after 8 years.

In Dayton, Ohio’s Jewish community of approximately 4,000, few beyond the dozen or so Orthodox families here are familiar with the word agunot, let alone its ramifications.

But the issue of agunot — the plight of women in the Orthodox world whose husbands refuse to provide them with a get, a religious bill of divorce — is now squarely focused on this Midwest community. The New York-based Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA) will hold a rally on Sunday, November 8 near the home of Dovid Porat, known locally by the name Eli Shur.

Shur and his wife, Adina Porat, were married in Israel in 1990. According to ORA, in 2007, Shur left his wife and their five children; he moved to the United States a year later. Since then, he has refused to provide his wife with a get. According to halacha (Jewish law), a divorce isn’t final until a husband provides his wife with a get. Without one, an agunah is unable to remarry.

Despite ORA’s private attempts over several years to obtain a get from Shur, he has refused. On October 21, ORA opened the website freeadina.com to announce the rally, along with a video interview of Adina Porat that has gone viral.

ORA anticipates supporters from Orthodox communities in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus will converge on Kettering, a city just south of Dayton, at 11:30 a.m. on November 8 to publicly ostracize Shur, raise awareness about the case, and to pressure him to sign a get.

“In my life, I’m stuck in a prison,” Adina Porat says in ORA’s video. “I can’t move on, I can’t continue. The kids never had a chance to have a stepfather, a new family, and to continue on with their lives.” [...]

In 2010, Shur arrived in Dayton to serve as ritual director of Beth Jacob Congregation. He had presented himself as a single man with no children. Nearly six months later, volunteers with ORA showed up at one of Shur’s evening classes at the synagogue and urged him to sign a get for his wife. He refused. The congregation fired him when it learned he had falsified his identity.

Despite repeated attempts, Shur declined to be interviewed for this article.

In agunot cases, it’s not unusual for husbands to attempt to extort wives and their families for money or property in exchange for a get. In Adina’s video, she says Shur hasn’t asked for anything.

According to ORA, in 2009, the Israeli Rabbinate ruled that Shur must give his wife a get. [...]

“I also made attempts to reach out to him,” Klayman says. “He did return one of my emails. He had no real context. He said they ruined his life, but he won’t tell you what they did, why they did it, or what he wanted to do to try and resolve it. Just a lot of ranting and cursing me. I made other attempts to reach out to him. He never responded again.”

Intermarriage: Just Say “No”, and Mean It! by Rabbi Gordimer

Cross Currents

Intermarriage is probably the reddest line that exists for Orthodox Jews. There are Jews who identify as Orthodox yet are not fully careful about kashrus, about certain aspects of Shabbos observance, and so forth – but to marry out is a non-starter. It is not on the radar, it is not done, and it is unthinkable.

The few Orthodox-affiliated Jews who do marry out are assured to be a few and not more, due to the utter ban and uncompromising rejection of intermarriage by the totality of the Orthodox community. This stance, which has become part of Jewish tradition and is not a new, reactionary position (not that new, reactionary positions are always bad – they are sometimes needed), has worked, except in times of mass public sh’mad (assimilation), when even the highest of barbed wire fences will not help. But under normal circumstances, the system is accepted without question and seems to be doing the job fairly well.

It is therefore with shock that I read Orthodox Rabbis Confront Intermarriage, by Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky of Big Tent Judaism and Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.

For those who don’t know about Big Tent Judaism, one look at its website says it all. Featuring celebratory photos of intermarried families, we read things such as:

The Jewish people have been a global people, a “mixed multitude,” for thousands of years. Today we’re more diverse than ever, and that’s something to celebrate. Our families are all colors and include members from all other religious and cultural backgrounds. Together we strive to add meaning to our lives and to better the world, informed by our rich heritage.

We also read:

The Torah and the rest of the Jewish sacred literature contain both admonitions against intermarriage and positive examples of intermarriage. In Deuteronomy7: 1-3, the Torah says, “You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. For you will turn you children away from Me to worship other gods….” This reference against intermarriage is based on the notion that intermarriage will lead the individual to another religion.
Despite this, the Torah also portrays positive examples of intermarriage. Moses married Tziporra, who was the daughter of a Midianite priest. Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, was a convert. Queen Esther, who saved the Jews from Haman in the Purim story, was married to the Persian, non-Jewish King Ahashverus.
The prohibition against intermarriage sought to preserve Judaism by maintaining exclusivity. The laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) try to accomplish this indirectly. If you have a special diet, you are less likely to eat with non-kosher, non-Jews, and therefore, you have less opportunity to socialize, and consequently, marry them.
That being said, it is evident that intermarriage is not only a modern phenomenon; it occurred in the Bible as well. Intermarriage is inevitable, especially in a society where Jews and non-Jews work together and socialize with one another with few barriers. Prohibiting it has not stopped the trend. Realizing the realities of Jewish society, the Jewish Outreach Institute works with the intermarried, promoting an inclusive Jewish community.

Big Tent Judaism refers people contemplating intermarriage to rabbis who will officiate at their intermarriages, and its message is one of total inclusion.

Of course, Big Tent Judaism is not purposefully promoting intermarriage, and its goal is, rather, the perpetuation of Judaism:

The Jewish Outreach Institute seeks to insure Jewish continuity. By providing an inclusive Jewish community, JOI believes that children of interfaith families will develop a Jewish identity. Instead of excluding interfaith families from the Jewish community, JOI believes that it is necessary to welcome them and educate them about Judaism.

Nonetheless, when the message sent is one of acceptance of intermarriage, it is clear that danger is lurking.

It was thus quite disturbing to read Rabbi Olitzky and Rabbi Lopatin jointly write:

Some people might think that facing the challenging reality of intermarriage and being fully committed to Orthodox Judaism is an oxymoron. Yet, two weeks ago, 20 Orthodox rabbis accepted an invitation by Big Tent Judaism and the Lindenbaum Center for Halachic Studies at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah to join together for a behind-closed-doors, daylong symposium focused on the nexus of the two issues.
We promised no media coverage out of respect for the rabbis’ willingness to participate. Sponsored by the Marion and Norman Tanzman Charitable Foundation, this was a historic meeting for Orthodox rabbis — the first of its kind — since the focus was not on so-called prevention. Rather, it was about understanding intermarried couples and their families. The conversation was frank. There were no pulled punches. Yet the pervasive question taken up by these rabbis was: How do I connect with people whose life choice I disagree with — and keep them engaged in the Jewish community?
…The rabbis also struggled with issues of patrilineal descent and the idea that the children of intermarriage (when the father is Jewish and the other partner is not) could be considered Jewish, even if not Jewish according to halacha. This topic also emerged while debating the validity of conversions by non-Orthodox rabbis.
….This symposium showed that Orthodoxy could maintain its fidelity to halacha and tradition while being sensitive to the complexities and realities of the diverse Jewish community. In fact, the Orthodox community might be critical in enabling intermarriage to not be “the end of the line,” but, rather, a challenge leading to a deeper relationship to Judaism and the Jewish community.

If the idea of the Big Tent Judaism-YCT symposium was to prevent intermarriage, or to try to work toward Orthodox conversion of intermarried families (something that is not practical), that is one thing. But by teaming up with Big Tent Judaism and entertaining engagement and acceptance of intermarried families, the central authority of Open Orthodoxy has crossed yet another bright red line.

A few weeks ago, YCT graduate Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz posted in favor of embracing intermarrieds. I just hope that this changed stance toward that which tradition has heretofore unequivocally shunned and excluded without exception will not be yet another major trend and fault line that divides Open Orthodoxy from the rest of the community.

Imagine sending a message that Orthodox Judaism does not allow intermarriage, yet if one intermarries, he is still welcome and can still even be “frum”. Imagine setting precedent for people to be intermarried yet “Orthodox”. Open Orthodoxy must urgently consider the very real dangers at hand.

Agudah Convention: Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky will explain leadership

Vayera 74 -The Art of Hospitality is in the ' Escorting'

Guest post by Allan Katz

 

Parashat Va'yeira opens up with Abraham being confined to his home after undergoing surgery – brit milah = circumcision. He still wants to have guests in his home, so he sits at the entrance of his tent despite the intense heat in the hope of inviting travelers passing by into his home. Abraham served God by being kind to people, inviting them into his home and drawing them into his orbit so he could inspire them with his example to learn about and serve God. Further on in the Parasha – chapter 21:33, the verse says that Abraham planted an 'Eshel' in Be'eir Sheva and proclaimed the name of God. The Sages talk about Abraham building an inn or planting an orchard for the benefit of his guests.

The word ' eshel ' is made up of the 3 Hebrew letters - Alef, shin and lamed. This is an acrostic for the 3 basic services a host should provide for his guests. The Alef stands for a'chilah = eating , shin = shti'yah = drinking and lamed = li'viyah = escorting.

A man once came to the Vilna Ga'on and said that his home had been destroyed by fire. He wanted to know on what he should repent and do Te'shuvah. The Vilna Ga'on said that the man was not particular about ' escorting his guests ', the 3rd element of hospitality. He gave his guests food and drink, so there was the eating and drinking - the first 2 letters of 'eshel'. The first 2 letters – alef and shin produce the word ' esh' which means fire. So eshel without the lamed is esh= fire. This is the reason why the home was destroyed by fire.

So if you entertain guests, give them food and drink but you don't escort them, you are playing with fire. The obvious conclusion is that it is better and safer not to have guests in your home than to have guests whom you provide food and drink but don't escort.

Rabbi David Lapin offers the following explanation. If we want to have a party we need food, drink and most important guests. So the guests actually serve the host. Without guests there is no party. The same goes for the food and the drink – their presence serves the host. When the guests leave the home, they no longer serve any function in the party for the hosts. When the host honors and 'escorts' the guests - who now no longer serve a purpose- , the true intentions of the host are revealed. This tells us that the food and drink were not for the host and his party but there to provide and serve the guests.

I am sure that most of us have experienced what it feels like to escort oneself out of the host's home or function. I can understand the host who is occupied with attending to other guests apologizing for not be able to escort me a ' couple of meters'. But when that does not happen one feels used, like a tradesman being invited to serve the host and then let himself out. One feels that the only reason you were invited was to fill the hall and make sure that there are guests for the party- without guests there is no party.

The quality of the hospitality therefore is dependent and hinges on the 3rd element – 'escorting the guests.' 

The Rambam in the laws Of Avel chapter 14 gives a lists of mitzvoth – good deeds that a person does to others as an expression of loving one's neighbor as oneself. He talks about visiting the sick, comforting the mourners, burying the dead, making weddings and ' escorting guests'.

We usually talk about the mitzvah of hospitality = hach'na'sat or'chim, why does the Rambam call the mitvah as escorting guests, and not use the language that we use. ? People talk about the importance of inviting guests and not ' escorting guests'.

From the story about the Vilna Ga'on we learn that inviting guests without escorting them is destructive and not a mitzvah. It is playing with fire- eshel without the lamed is esh=fire. The mitzvah of inviting guests – hachna'sat orchim is dependent and hinges on the quality of the escorting of the guests. This explains why the Rambam defines the mitzvah as escorting guests and not inviting guests.

As parents we should not only model hospitality , but allow kids to participate in the decison making, generating choices and solutions. Responsibility is learned by making decisions not by following instructions. We should reflect with our kids on the importance making guests feel comfortable , showing an interest in them , putting food and drink on the table and also reflect how a guest would feel if he has to show himself out of the home.

Obtaining a Get by Shaming husband on the Internet

kikar HaShabbat

תופעת השיימינג גבתה לא מעט קורבנות בנפש בעולם וגם בישראל. אין ספק כי מדובר בתופעה שלילית עם השלכות הרסניות על החברה, אך לעתים התופעה גם עוזרת לאנשים.

כזה למשל היה סיפורה של אישה מהתנחלות בגוש עציון שביקשה להתגרש מבעלה, אך זה לא הסכים להעניק לה גט כדת וכדין. על פי הדיווח באתר "חורים ברשת", הבעל נכנע רק לאחר שחווה על בשרו את תופעת השיימינג במלוא עוזה.

על פי הדיווח, הבעל ומשפחתו הפעילו סחבת ולא הסכימו להעניק לאישה את הגט. בשל כך, חבר של משפחת האישה פרסם סטטוס ברשת כנגד הבעל, בו פרסם את הסיפור במלואו. 4 שעות בלבד לאחר מכן הסכים הבעל להעניק לאשתו גט, והשבוע היא אכן קיבלה אותו.

הסטטוס הוסר אמנם מהרשת בשל ההסכמות שהושגו, אבל רק אחרי שרשם 300 אלף צפיות, 2,000 שיתופים ומספר דומה של לייקים.

Tamar Epstein:Rav Shlomo Miller's view which is circulating Lakewood

Just verified that this is Rav Miller's view on the matter

New Square Firebomber resentenced as youthful offender - to go free afer 3.5 years of 7 year sentence

lohud  [see also bhol]

Shaul Spitzer convinced Judge William Kelly Tuesday to give him youthful offender status and release him after serving 3 1/2 years in prison for seriously burning a New Square dissident while trying to torch the man's house in 2011.

Kelly told the packed courtroom — including more than 40 New Square supporters and victim Aron Rottenberg — that he started the day thinking he would deny Spitzer early release from a seven-year prison term.

But Kelly said he thought over what Spitzer had told him in court Tuesday morning and changed his mind during the lunch break in the resentencing proceedings.

Kelly said he came away convinced that prison life had matured Spitzer and his attack on the Rottenberg family spurred from immaturity, being naive  and a bid to impress the New Square Hasidic Jewish leadership and grand rabbi David Twersky. Spitzer was working and living in Twersky's home as a butler at the time. [..]

Rottenberg asked Kelly on Tuesday to keep Spitzer in jail, saying he can't use his right arm effectively after skin grafts and other operations to treat his burns. He said his family, which was inside the home at the time, still suffers from the pain of the attack.

Spitzer told Kelly that "I know what I did was inexcusable. I know that 3 1/2 years ago I was immature."[...[

Charedim as Catalysts for Political Change in Israel: The Coming Collapse of the Latest Netanyahu Government

Guest Post by RaP

 

Israel is in a very precarious situation at the present time. Beset by surrounding Arab "states" that either no longer exist or are held together by threads as chaos and civil war reign in their midst, with foreign military intervention by Russia and its allies near Israel's borders, and by a widespread internal insurrection by Israeli Arabs, and with a governing coalition with only a 61 seat majority in a Knesset of 120, if one looks very closely, one sees the cracks in the unstable governing coalition opening up.

 

The last two plus years of Israeli political life have revolved around the huge growing Charedi population. The prior government was an outright anti-Charedi coalition that set about to change the "status quo" between the religious and secular worlds in Israel. Openly rejecting any Charedi parties from sitting in it, the government went on a "war-footing" against the Charedim. Decrees were promulgated against Charedi Jews cutting off funding to their institutions and communities, threatening them to forcibly sign up for army service, undermining traditional Torah education and institutions, destruction of rabbinical courts and financially strangling the yeshivas.

 

At the same time, the Arabs seemed to "sense blood" and started a campaign of terrorizing unarmed Israeli citizens who wore any type of Kippa or Yarmulka. Who can forget the kidnapping and murder of the three religious Israel teens that sparked an Israeli invasion of Gaza against Hamas recently, and then the brutal attack against the Charedi rabbis praying at the Har Nof synagogue in the heart of a Jerusalem Charedi neighborhood that sparked so much anger among all Israeli Jews, and many other such acts of terrorism and barbarism directed at any Jews caught off guard.

 

Soon thereafter, the anti-religious governing coalition collapsed, and quickly in its stead a new governing coalition was put together with all the Charedi parties being included in the new government, commencing a roll-back of the anti-Charedi decrees and edicts. The three major Charedi political parties SHAS, AGUDA, and DEGEL, all got important posts.

 

But then, recently over this past Sukkos at the end of September, barely six months into its new term, the latest coalition seems to be in trouble judging by current events, although tentative, but clearly indicating the first rumbles before an earthquake

 

What seems to have triggered this latest political unease and evident in-fighting again likely revolves around the fate of religious Jews in Israel stemming from the preponderance of religious and Charedi Jewish victims of the latest round of Arab violence. Stabbings, stonings and terror are seemingly being directed at the Jewish religious populations in Israel with Charedim fearing for their lives more than most as word leaks out that they are obvious easy targets being that they stand out and are unarmed and do not have military training.

There is also a dimension to the Arab uprising that is evidently directed at the Jewish religious sites such as the Kosel, with the Kosel area now becoming a "fear zone", Kever Rochel is under increased armed guard, Kever Yosef burned down yet again, while Jewish holy places are being claimed as belonging to the Muslims "only" with Israel now on the defensive, all yet again.

 

There are more political rumblings, as a leading SHAS minister resigns from his position as Minister of Economics, without citing good enough reasons, and in this climate indicating perhaps an act of protest. Another Minister from a non-religious party declares he is willing to resign to make way for the Labor leader to join in, and the Labor leader issues a statement, no not about the "matzav" but rather criticizing the Jewish religious sector!

 

Jews are being knifed and bombed in the streets of Israel, and its obvious the people are angry and want to be protected and want action, but the government responds by talking about "revoking citizenship" and building more walls which is already a disaster because it makes Israel look like one long "DMZ" line as in North Korea or the hated Berlin Wall. All this is not good and there is a somber mood as if the next big step is being contemplated.

 

Jews are now under siege and many are nervous to venture outdoors for fear of sudden stabbings. This is no way to live and will have serious political and other consequences as the Jewish public's fear and frustration will force change to happen one way or another.

 

A house divided against itself cannot stand long and likewise a government that includes Charedim in it but does not swing into action to protect not just Charedi and religious Jews but all Israeli Jews cannot go on for much longer as it loses the faith of its citizens in it to protect them from harm.

 

And sadly, it would seem that it is not to the Rabbinical or Charedi or Orthodox voices that Netanyahu is turning but yet again he is being pulled in the direction of bringing in members from the Left to prop up his coalition. This cannot go on for much longer as Jewish blood runs in the streets of Israel and one can only conclude that change is coming soon, hopefully for the better, it is only a question of how soon and who will lead it.

May we hear only good news and may the Geulah Sheleimah come very soon!