Shimon Benisty confesses to assaulting 11 children

times of Israel   A suspected sex offender who has admitted to assaulting at least 11 minors was jailed in the US for similar offences against two girls aged 8 and 10, Channel 10 revealed Thursday.

Police arrested Simon Benisty, a 48-year-old resident of Jerusalem, on Wednesday, after the mother of an 11-year-old girl filed a complaint against him over an alleged sexual assault against her daughter. In the course of the investigation, Benisti confessed to sexual misconduct against 10 other minors. He was remanded for six days on Thursday.

The New York sex offenders registry designates Benisty as a “sexually violent offender.” According to his page in the registry, he was sentenced to 11 months in prison and was subsequently deported to Israel in 2010. Benisty’s photo was published on a New York ultra-Orthodox community blog devoted to warning against sexual predators.

Emanuel Yegutkin gets 55 years for sex abuse

dnainfo   The 33-year-old principal of a Jewish religious school in Brooklyn was sentenced to 55 years in prison for sexually abusing three boys over the course of a decade, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced Thursday.

Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, was convicted in December of sexually abusing three boys between the ages of seven and 15-years-old while a principal at Elite High School, a private school catering to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Bath Beach.

Search for biological markers for PTSD

NY Times   Over the past decade, about half a million veterans have received diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. Thousands have received both. Yet underlying the growing numbers lies a disconcerting question: How many of those diagnoses are definitive? And how many more have been missed? 

No one can say. Though PTSD is hardly new, diagnoses still largely rely on self-reported symptoms. And while severe brain injuries are often clearly diagnosable, finding evidence of mild T.B.I.’s, particularly older ones, can be all but impossible. [...]

Dr. Marmar faces deep skepticism that biological signals can be found for psychiatric disorders like PTSD or depression, which his group is also studying, or even a less severe brain injury.

But while previous quests have failed to produce results that could be replicated, private foundations and the government still seem willing to finance new efforts, amid the growing tally of disabled veterans.

Woman withdraws complaint about girl's rape

YNET   Several days after the police opened an investigation into an alleged rape of a five-year-old girl in Modiin Illit, the woman who filed the complaint has withdrawn it.

Nevertheless, the police have not suspended the investigation despite admitting that there are doubts as to whether a rape had indeed taken place.

Interview on Channel 2 - Made up story to draw attention to the actual cases

 

Vishnitz Decrees: Prohibited to walk with wife in public

BHOL  The Rebbei of Vishnitz announced a number of new decrees in a closed meeting with avreichim. They include: 1) It is prohibited to walk with his wife in public 2) It is recommended that women wear a scarf over their sheitels 3) Only Yiddish should be spoken in the house.

האדמו"ר מויז'ניץ הכריז על תקנות מחמירות במיוחד שיונהגו מעתה בחסידות. ביניהן: איסור לטייל עם האשה ברחוב ואיסור על חינמונים.

מאז שיא ימיו של האדמו"ר ה'ישועות משה' מויז'ניץ, שבחודש הקרוב ימלאו י"ב חודש להסתלקותו, לא זכור מעמד כה דרמטי, כפי שהתרחש הערב (ג), בהיכל בית המדרש הגדול בקרית ויז'ניץ בבני ברק.

התקנה הדרמטית ביותר, היא שאסור לאברך לטייל או להסתובב עם רעייתו ברחוב. איסור זה, מוכר בעיקר בחסידות גור. האדמו"ר הוסיף וציין, כי בין איש לאשתו וגם בין אדם לחברו יש להקפיד על נושאי שיחה ראויים. "לא כל נושא ראוי להעלות על השולחן ויש דברים רבים שהשתיקה יפה להן ואין לדוש בהן כלל ועיקר", הטעים.

Meshech Chochma: Cohanim killing man for his wife

Guest Post by Rabbi Raffi Bilek
 There is an interesting comment from the Meshech Chochmah in this week’s parsha:-- Shmos (21:14) וְכִי-יָזִד אִישׁ עַל-רֵעֵהוּ לְהָרְגוֹ בְעָרְמָה מֵעִם מִזְבְּחִי תִּקָּחֶנּוּ לָמוּת 

And if a man will come purposefully upon his fellow to kill him deviously, you shall take him from My altar to die.

========

It is not strange to say that the intent of the verse is regarding that which is practiced among the nations and recorded in the Torah, “lest the people of the place will kill me” by Pharaoh (Genesis 12) and Avimelech (ibid. 26). And the term “עָרְמָה” we find by the snake (ibid. 3:1), and he set his eyes on Eve, as the gemara says in the first chapter of Tractate Sotah (Tosefta chap. 4): he said “I shall kill Adam and marry Eve.” 

And that is what is meant by “וְכִי-יָזִד אִישׁ עַל-רֵעֵהוּ [בְעָרְמָה]” – that he shall covet his fellow’s wife and kill him in order to marry her [just as did the snake, who is hinted to by the word עָרְמָה].  Therefore the verse says “מֵעִם מִזְבְּחִי תִּקָּחֶנּוּ לָמוּת” – because this situation is most likely to happen among the kohanim, since they are forbidden to marry a divorcee, and therefore at times they have no alternative but to kill the husband [in order to be able to have his wife – as opposed to finding some way of causing them to divorce].  Furthermore, married women [are frequently in contact with the kohanim because they] need them for matters of sacrifices of zavah and yoledes, and thus the verse says “מֵעִם מִזְבְּחִי” [to hint to this] . . .

 This is a fascinating Meshech Chochmah on several counts.  The real eye-popper is when he states that a kohen “has no alternative” (אין להם עצה) but to kill a husband whose wife he is after.  Naturally he means that this is the kohen’s perspective, but it’s a pretty extraordinary comment nonetheless.

I think the take-away though is the attitude towards “holy men” taken by the Meshech Chochmah. The kohanim, after all, are supposed to be the role models for the Jewish people, showing them how a Torah personality acts, inspiring them to greater kedushah, etc. Yet the Meshech Chochmah hardly blinks an eye in saying that they are prone to killing men in order to marry their wives; in fact, he states that it is likely more common among kohanim than among the general population, because of their particular halachic situation!

This brings out another interesting observation, which is that the Meshech Chochmah is very cognizant of the phenomenon of apparently frum people who are meticulous in observing some aspect of halachah or other but who don’t hesitate to blow other rules out of the water (such as, say, the man who beats his daughters to ensure compliance with the laws of tznius).  So kohanim are apparently in fact more likely than the general population to be lechers, murderers, and hypocrites.  (Perhaps this is in line with Chazal’s statement that the greater a person, the greater his yetzer hara?)

There is a lot of debate today between various camps on how we view our leaders.  It seems that our forebears had no problem suggesting that our clergymen could very well be among the worst sinners as well.

Attributes of Spirituality Described by Survivors of Sexual Violence

NCBI     Click to download pdf of full article

Attributes of Spirituality Described by Survivors of Sexual Violence
Gregory P. Knapik, Donna S. Martsolf, Claire B. Draucker, and Karen D. Strickland

Abstract

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women’s and men’s responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley. The attribute aspects of connecting with others in spiritual ways and with God/higher power were particularly significant. The attribute of transcendence was found less important, and the attributes of value, becoming, and meaning were not found important. The Martsolf and Mickley framework helped organize narrative data for a content analysis of spirituality in survivors of sexual violence.

Introduction

This study’s purpose was to determine what attributes of spirituality, as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998), are most commonly described and what aspects of these attributes are considered salient by survivors of sexual violence. [...]

The use of spirituality may be one way survivors cope with the experience of sexual violence. Studies in the United States reveal that religious support (Glaister & Abel, 2001; Oaksford & Frude, 2003, Valentine & Feinhauer, 1993), belief in and connection with divine beings (Draucker & Petrovic, 1996; Smith & Kelly, 2001), and finding spiritual meaning in adversity (Smith & Kelly) can aide in recovery from sexual trauma. Researchers have also found, however, that survivors’ religious faith can fuel shame and guilt, and church communities can minimize, deny, or enable violence and abuse (Giesbrecht & Sevcik, 2000). A systematic review of empirical studies examining associations between religion, spirituality, and personal growth following trauma revealed three major findings:

First,….religion and spirituality are usually, although not always, beneficial to people in dealing with the aftermath of trauma. Second, that traumatic experiences can lead to a deepening of religion or spirituality. Third, that positive religious coping, religious openness, readiness to face existential questions, religious participation, and intrinsic religiousness are typically associated with posttraumatic growth. (Shaw, Joseph, & Linley, 2005, p. 1)

While spirituality appears to be an important aspect of recovery for some survivors, little is known about what attributes of spirituality are most frequently described in narratives of survivors of sexual violence and what aspects of those attributes are most salient for survivors. [...]

Bulgaria Implicates Hezbollah in Deadly Israeli Bus Blast

NY Times   The Bulgarian government said on Tuesday that two of the people behind a deadly bombing attack that targeted an Israeli tour bus six months ago were believed to be members of the military wing of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. 

The announcement could force the European Union to reconsider whether to designate the group as a terrorist organization and crack down on its extensive fund-raising operations across the continent. That could have wide-reaching repercussions for Europe’s uneasy détente with the group, which is an influential force in Middle East politics, considers Israel an enemy and has extensive links with Iran.[...]

“There’s the overall fear if we’re too noisy about this, Hezbollah might strike again, and it might not be Israeli tourists this time,” said Sylke Tempel, editor in chief of the German foreign affairs magazine Internationale Politik.

The significance of their determination has put pressure on Bulgarian officials, who would like to maintain strong ties with Israel and the United States, and European allies like France and Germany. Bulgarian officials had maintained a studied silence for more than six months since the attack.

“If you factor in the suspicion that there are political implications beyond Bulgaria’s borders, it’s completely understandable that they’ve been playing for time,” said Dimitar Bechev, head of the Sofia office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Baby Boomers are less healthy than their parents

Time   Every generation likes to think it’s healthier than the one that came before, but baby boomers can’t make that claim.

In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that a sample of the baby boom generation, the 78 million Americans who were born in the post-war birth explosion from 1946 to 1964, were less healthy than many of their parents. Never mind the fact that Baby boomers have been dubbed the Healthiest Generation, since they have the longest life expectancy of any previous generation, and that  they were able to exploit advances in medical care and reap the benefits of public health campaigns highlighting the dangers of smoking and unhealthy diets. That moniker may simply no longer apply, since it turns out that they have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol than members of the previous generation. [...]

Hypertension is a particularly troubling example of that—both because of the raw numbers and because of the cardiovascular damage that can result from the condition: 35% of those in the previous generation had high blood pressure, while more than double that proportion, 75%, of baby boomers do. And that’s despite greater awareness of the condition, as well as better screening methods and treatments for runaway readings.

Why are public health campaigns, as well as improved therapies, not having a greater effect on disease rates? One factor overshadowing any incremental gains in chronic disease may be obesity — a greater portion of the US population is overweight or obese than ever before, and those extra pounds can trigger a host of unhealthy medical conditions. And rather than treat the root cause of obesity, advances in medical care — drugs that lower cholesterol, medications that drop blood pressure, and bypass surgeries that fix plaque-burdened hearts — may only be masking and perpetuating the problem. “Medication use has definitely increased, so we are propping ourselves up on our canes and our medicines,” says King. “We are becoming over dependent on medications and surgical solutions rather than creating our own good health.” [...]

Problem: Nobody wants to live next to a sex offender

NY Times   Two trailers in this wealthy beach town stand as testament to an increasingly intractable problem for localities across the country: where to let sex offenders live after prison. 

 The cramped trailers house convicted rapists, sexual predators and child abusers, about 40 sex offenders in all. They are stuck here in large part because Suffolk County, like many jurisdictions, has in recent years passed laws that bar convicted sex offenders from living near schools, day care centers and other places with children. 

The restrictions are so sweeping that it can be difficult for the offenders to find housing, leaving many homeless, officials said.

Suffolk County, on Long Island, installed the trailers, after the authorities discovered that sex offenders had crowded into cheap motel rooms, sometimes down the hall from families with children. Around the country, similar clusters of offenders have been found in campgrounds, under highway overpasses and other isolated spots.

Emotional Resilience: Bulletproofing the Mind

NY Times   I first met Miller last December in Kandahar. We had several conversations, but he was under strict orders not to discuss his job. Yet his job -- that of a new kind of soldier -- interested me. The Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan looked different, with their thick beards, fleece jackets, wraparound sunglasses and high-tech weaponry. Did they think and feel differently than the traditional foot soldier? Earlier this fall, I caught up with Miller at Fort Campbell, Ky., where the Special Forces Fifth Group is based. Safely back from battle, Miller was allowed to discuss his brand of warfare -- and how he was built to carry it out.

Miller's dawn assault on the Qaeda fighters in Kandahar, I learned, was but one step away from hand-to-hand combat. It involved grenade exchanges from a distance of just a few feet, and it finished with Miller and his men standing amid their dead and bloodied foes. ''They fought to the last minute,'' he recalled. ''For these guys, surrender was not an option.'' He later added, ''It was amazing to see the carnage.''

The attack was the kind of urban warfare American soldiers will be engaged in should the United States have to shoot its way into Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. When the Cold War ended, many thought that C.Q.B. would become a thing of the past. Conflicts would be fewer, and any interventions undertaken would rely on overwhelming force and precision munitions, not house-to-house fighting. Yet since 9/11 we have begun a war that may draw our soldiers into many battles involving intimate killing. What will that mean for Miller and his men?

The last time this kind of fighting occurred on a grand scale, in Vietnam, 50,000 Americans died, and many survivors had injuries that were not just physical but emotional. The clunky phrase ''post-traumatic stress disorder'' entered the national lexicon. Today, the military believes, the United States is fighting an intimate war in the right way, because soldiers have been prepared and equipped in a manner that increases the prospect of their victory and decreases the prospect of their injury -- whether physical or psychological. Just as smart bombs are less likely to go astray, 21st-century warriors are more lethal than before, yet less likely to suffer P.T.S.D., according to military instructors and psychologists. Dave Grossman, a former Army Ranger and West Point professor of psychology, refers to this phenomenon as ''the bulletproof mind.''

Such confident assertions may seem surprising, considering what happened this summer at Fort Bragg, N.C. Four soldiers there murdered their wives; three of the soldiers had Special Forces training and had served in Afghanistan. The news media rushed to link the murders to post-combat stress, although there is little proof and investigations continue. Military officers, not surprisingly, doubt the idea that P.T.S.D. played a significant role, and they may have a point. Fatal spouse abuse, sadly, plagues the military even in peacetime. As they see it, the furor over this incident has obscured a broader truth. Today's Special Forces soldiers, they claim, have been unusually well trained to succeed not only at war -- but also after war. [...]

Indeed, Special Forces officers openly discuss the use of ''stress inoculation'' -- in which they are exposed to heartbeat-racing drills that raise their threshold for staying calm. It doesn't mean Special Forces soldiers are immune to stress or the mistakes that stress causes, but it takes a lot more to rattle one of them than an old-time draftee.

An important dose of stress inoculation occurs during a three-week training nightmare that comes at the end of the Schoolhouse course. It goes by the acronym SERE, which stands for survival, evasion, resistance and escape. SERE teaches Special Forces soldiers how to avoid and endure capture by the enemy. The exercise places them in a ''resistance-training laboratory'' that is, essentially, a prisoner-of-war camp, with guard towers, barbed-wire fences, blindfolds, putrid food, irregular sleep intervals, abusive guards and brutal interrogations. Details about SERE, such as the types of punishment inflicted on the ''prisoners,'' are classified; Special Forces officers told me that torture is not practiced, though they did not deny that physical pressure is applied. The unpleasantness apparently includes being buried in wood barrels. When I asked Miller about SERE, he shook his head and said, ''It is imprinted on my brain.''

Takanos against gerim : What are the consequences?

Question from GerInTheCornerFebruary 4, 2013 at 5:41 PM

I have a question for the Rabbi or others that is serious, although perhaps a bit off topic. In places where there are takanos against gerim (e.g., Mexico), what happens l'maaseh, if a long time yeshivish ger (+20 years) from the United States comes to a shul while on a business trip to daven, hear the megillah, etc.? If he keeps a low profile and davens, will he be quizzed about his background and summarily be thrown out of the shul? Or are these takanos primarily aimed at the local population?