There are three types of cases that are important. 1) There are suspicions that abuse took place or there are suspicions that someone is an abuser. What is missing is evidence but the evidence can be obtained by competent investigation. 2) the facts are well known or the evidence is solid that abuse took place and the identity of the abuser is known. The problem is what to do with this according to the halacha and secular law. These two cases are dealt with at length in my book. However there is a 3) third type of case which is much more problematic. That is where the evidence is not known - either regarding whether abuse happened or whether the suspect in fact abused the child. Or alternatively there is conflicting evidence. This happens in divorce cases where where the wife accuses her husband of abusing the kids. She might even claim that she witnessed it. The husband denies it. In addition there are cases of abuse where the police investigate and say that they don't have sufficient evidence and therefore close the case.
In both these cases claims have not in fact been disproven - but they haven't been proven either. Many times the beis din, police or the secular court system will simply say there is nothing that they can do because of lack of evidence and they close the case.
The suspect has not in fact been declared innocent. What should be done with the suspect?
According to the judicial model (both Jewish and secular)- since there is no case it is equivalent to saying he is innocent. In fact if there aren't two kosher witnesses - the charges are not allowed to be made public. However according to the defense against harm model - the suspected abuser can not be trusted and restrictions or supervisions are necessary.
If he is a teacher or someone who deals with children - he can not be allowed unrestricted access to the children and there are solid grounds for dismissal simply because of the charges. If he is a parent then there needs to be careful monitoring of the children. These are difficult cases to deal with - especially since both sides usually have proponents who feel very strongly that they have the truth.
Prosecutors have submitted to the Be'er Sheva District Court an amendment to the indictment against one of the men suspected of sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community of Moshav Komemiyut. The Southern District Prosecutor's Office has thus agreed to ease the conditions of the suspect's house arrest, allowing him outside for most of the day and evening.
According to the amendment, the man - whose name is banned from publication because most of the deeds attributed to him were committed when he was a minor - performed indecent acts from 2001 to 2004, not earlier, as stated in the original indictment.[...]
The following was written by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha given by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
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ABOMINATIONS IN YERUSHALAYIM
Guard yourself lest you forget the Almighty… (Devorim 8:11).
The entire world trembles as every passing day brings Iran closer to nuclear capability. However, Torah-true Jews do not have the slightest fears regarding Iran. We know that without Hashem’s consent, they cannot lift a finger against us.
What are we worried about? The posuk warns us that what we must fear the most is the possibility that we may forget the Almighty. If this happens, then we really have something to fear.
The Smag writes that forgetting Hashem is a Torah prohibition. How do we make sure we avoid this transgression? If Divine honor is being trampled on, we must take action to protect it. Otherwise, we have forgotten the Almighty.
The posuk in ParshasHa'azinu writes that to’eivos, abominations, yach’isuhu, arouse the anger of the Almighty. Rashi explains that this refers to the abominations of same-gender marriages. There is no other transgression that Hashem considers as much of an affront to His honor, and it therefore elicits such a harsh Divine response.
On the 18th of Av, in the holy city of Yerushalayim, there was a parade of those who are guilty of this very abominable act. We can only imagine the level of Divine anger that was stirred up by this event. What can Jews in Israel and around the world do to counter the spiritual damage that took place and to save our entire nation from the great catastrophe that this could cause?
THE DANGER OF KEEPING QUIET
There are pesukim in Yechezkel that warn of the great retribution that will come about if there are such abominations in Yerushalayim: the entire population would be killed. At the time of these warnings, the Jewish people did not listen, and eventually Divine patience ran out and a decree was handed down for all of the transgressors to be killed.
The Gemara in Maseches Shabbos (55a) states that this instance was the only time in the history of Klal Yisroel that Hashem rescinded a positive decree. These abominations that took place during the times of Yechezkel were similar to the acts of those who marched in Yerushalayim on the 18th of Av.
At that time, Hashem made a gezeirah to destroy all of the resha’im, but to put a tuf on the heads of the tzaddikim. The Soton went to Hashem and pointed out that the tzaddikim didn’t protest all of these abominations. Hashem replied that even if they had said something, it would not have helped. The Soton continued his accusation and said that although this may be true, the tzaddikim did not know that, so they should have taken action.
Hashem did not argue with this claim of the Soton, and responded by rescinding His decree to protect the tzaddikim from being killed along with the resha’im in this gezeirah of destruction. In no other case in history did Hashem rescind a positive decree. History tends to repeat itself, and if we keep quiet, we may find ourselves in a similar situation.
AN OBLIGATION TO PROTEST
At Har Sinai, the malachim told Hashem not to give us the Torah, for we were destined to violate it. While their prediction was accurate, Klal Yisroel replied to the malachim that they accepted arvus, i.e., responsibility for the sins of all future Jews, and it was under these conditions that Hashem agreed to give us the Torah. Since we have accepted responsibility, even though we are not actively marching in this parade, we are responsible for the actions of those who are.
Tosafos in Maseches Shavous writes that if a talmid chochom is quiet and does not give evidence that he knows, it is as if he did the act himself. So, too, if we sit by quietly while an abomination happens, we will be held accountable for it as if we had done it ourselves. We must do what we can to stop future events.
Other Torah luminaries agreed with the importance of protesting this abominable display. When Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was asked whether Jews should attend the protest, he replied, "The Torah says that when abominations take place, one must make a protest. What can I add to the words of the Torah?”
FIGHTING AMALEIK
The war against Amaleik continues in every generation. Amaleik completely denied the existence of Hashem and laughed at Him. They took the milah of Jews and threw them to the Heavens, implying that that is where this mitzvah belongs.
Rav Chaim Brisker said that the Rambam writes that the mitzvah of destroying Amaleik is to destroy the zeicher of Amaleik, not just the seed of Amaleik. Anything that has to do with Amaleik is included in this prohibition. The animals who are parading today are not only zeicher Almaleik. They are Amaleik.
Chazal tell us that Amaleik comes when Klal Yisroel is weak in Torah learning. Targum Yonason says that this is what Eisav had in mind when he said that he would kill Yaakov when Yitzchok died. It was because Yaakov would not be learning Torah then. Even if Yaakov would be learning, he could not be learning b’iyun. Under such circumstances, he was vulnerable.
The Torah states that if we allow abominations, the Shechinah will leave us. Women also have to strengthen themselves to prevent the strengthening of Amaleik. Inappropriate clothing fuels the power of Amaleik. Every Jew has to look into his or her own life and try to eliminate what they are doing that might have had a part in bringing this abominable parade to Yerushalayim.
PROFANING YERUSHALAYIM
During the time of the Vilna Gaon, there lived a famous righteous convert whose name was Avrohom ben Avrohom. He was from a distinguished family of religious non-Jews, and they were appalled by his decision to convert to Judaism. For his betrayal to the faith, he was sentenced to be burned alive.
Right before the ger tzedek was about to be killed, the goyim said that if he would make the smallest sign of agreement with the religion of the notzrim, they would release him. The ger tzedek replied that he was not willing to engage in even the smallest act of agreement, and Avrohom ben Avrohom died a death of complete kiddush Hashem. The Vilna Gaon commented that, at that moment, the power of the Soton was weakened.
On the other hand, when great chillul Hashem takes place, the power of the Soton is strengthened. This is what happened on the 18th of Av when this abominable parade took place in the holy city. The Yerushalayim of 4 p.m. on the 18th of Av was not the same Yerushalayim as that of 8 p.m., after it was profaned by the parade.
In our days, we are suffering through a bitter golus, and the pain of the Shechinah is great. Some rabbonim said that we should not protest the parade because it will cause people to speak about things that are an abomination. While this sounds logical, remaining silent actually makes these issues even worse.
From the story of the ger tzedek, we see that the mere presence of these people here in the holy city strengthens the forces of impurity in Yerushalayim. The entire city is threatened by this. If we sit back silently, these forces will quietly grow stronger and stronger.
BIRTHPAINS OF MOSHIACH
Rav Yochanan, who experienced the death of ten of his children, said he could not withstand the pain of chevlei Moshiach. These words are extremely difficult to understand. What could be worse than having ten children die?
Rav Elya Lopian, in the name of Rav Simcha Zissel, explains that Rav Yochanan was afraid that he would not be able to stand the nisyonos of the End of Days.
Having such an abominable parade marching through the streets of Yerushalayim is surely included in the events that Rav Yochanan feared.
On the 18th of Av, the Creator of the Universe was disgraced in His holy palace. By protesting, we show that we also share in His pain. Whatever we can do, we are responsible to do.
One tumah brings another tumah. If we sit by silently and let this happen, then it will get worse and worse. We must do what we can to stop these types of events.
This year's parade was much larger than last year's parade. Next year, they are planning an even bigger parade. They want to bring people from all over the world to flaunt their abominations.
The Torah warns us about forgetting Hashem, and, as mentioned above, one of the greatest expressions of ignoring Hashem is standing by quietly while Divine honor is trampled upon. Every Jew, both inside and outside of Israel, should try and feel the great pain that the Shechinah suffered from this abomination that took place in Yerushlayim, and try and do teshuvah for the transgression that may have helped bring it about. In this way, we will merit to see the great revelation of Divine honor soon.
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Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U'Teshuvos Toras Chaim and "Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion," a practical daily guide to improving one's prayers, available from Feldheim Publishers. Rav Shternbuch’s weekly shiurim on the parsha, compiled and edited by Rabbi Travis, are now available as a sefer titled “A Voice in the Darkness.” For more information about his work, contact dytravis@actcom.com.
TEASER
If we sit back silently, these forces will quietly grow stronger and stronger.
Police recently reopened criminal investigations based on sexual abuse allegations made against Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon, it was reported Wednesday.
A former student of the charismatic rabbi accused him of sexual abuse, which sparked the new scrutiny. Police expect to present their findings to the state attorney within a few weeks.[...]
There is a remarkable Malbim on the book of Jonah 2:4. The Malbim discusses how Jonah was caught in a river under the sea – where the waters of the river were separate from the ocean waters. Until this month – this was generally thought to be a physical impossibility.
Below, however, we find an article written by Richard Gray – the science editor of the British newspaper the telegraph. The results are striking. The reader is urged to see the Malbim with his or her own eyes. The term utilized by the Malbim - “Levav Yamim” clearly means sea bed.
“Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out channels much like a river on the land. [...]
On Tuesday afternoon, several hours before a highly anticipated televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese army snipers fired at an Israeli military detail that was trimming trees on the Israeli side of the border. The premeditated attack, which killed a colonel and left another officer severely wounded, came exactly four years since the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The question now is whether this incident could spark a chain reaction that results in another war.
Despite its overwhelming military might, Israel emerged badly bruised from its confrontation with the Shiite militia in 2006. Since then, the Jewish state has repeatedly threatened that any act of aggression on the Israel-Lebanon border would be met with a punishing response. It claimed it would hold the Lebanese government—in which Hezbollah is a key player—responsible, regardless of the identity of the perpetrators.. [...]
JERUSALEM — The United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, Unifil, said on Wednesday it had concluded that Israeli forces were cutting trees that lay within their own territory before a lethal exchange of fire with Lebanese Army troops on Tuesday, largely vindicating Israel’s account of how the fighting started. [...]
The last three men nominated to the Supreme Court have all been married and, among them, have seven children. The last three women — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Harriet Miers (who withdrew) — have all been single and without children.
This little pattern makes the court a good symbol of the American job market. Women and men with similar qualifications — age, education, experience — are much more likely to be treated similarly today than in the past. The pay gap between them, while still not zero, has shrunk to just a few percentage points.
Yet once you look beyond the tidy comparisons of supposedly identical men and women, the picture is much less sunny. There are still only 15 Fortune 500 companies with a female chief executive. Men dominate the next rungs of management in most fields, too. Over all, full-time female workers make a whopping 23 percent less on average than full-time male workers.
Far from newspaper headlines, several sexual abuse cases involving children and teens exposed in national-religious sector. Rabbis blame porn websites, while new program attempts to tackle phenomenon for first time, without using word 'sex'
When the nightmare began, Shlomo (not his real name) was sure he could still put an end to it: One slap or a serious talk and the child would surely understand there's something utterly wrong with his behavior.[...]
On any other day, the facility on the Sapir campus would have been packed with kids, and the losses would have been devastating.
The child hydrotherapy rehabilitation center adjoining Sderot’s Sapir Academic College provides therapy and workshops for specialneeds children who live in the western Negev and is used by children from the entire country.
On Saturday night, an upgraded Kassam rocket scored a direct hit on the ceiling of the center.[...]
A five-year custody battle ended recently when a 17-judge panel at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasberg determined that Noam Shuruk, whose mother kidnapped him to Switzerland after his father joined the Chabad community, is to remain in her care.
The decision gave rise to claims of anti-Semitism and miscarriage of justice by both the State Prosecutor's Office and the father, who say the judges ruled in favor of the mother because the father is Israeli and ultra-Orthodox.
The mother, Isabelle Neulinger, recounted the kidnapping in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth. She said she had hired a smuggler for the sum of $30,000 to take her and Noam to Sharm El-Sheikh after they had crossed the border from Israel into the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. [...]
In a recent article published in the Yiddish Forward, journalist Rukhl Schaechter reports on the problem of unreported abuse and cover-ups within the Charedi community.
Below are links to the original article in Yiddish and an English translation commissioned by SFJ (Survivors for Justice) and approved by Ms. Schaechter.
Listening to the popular New York Jewish radio program, "The Zev Brenner Show," one suddenly heard the following commercial narrated by a woman speaking in authentic Hasidic Yiddish:"I am the mother of Yoeli Engelman. Yoeli is a survivor of sexual molestation. 15 years ago, when he was a child in cheder (elementary school), he was molested by his principal. This very principal today teaches in the same cheder, and the administration unashamedly defends him. This terrible crime and severe chilul Hashem (desecration of God's name) can only be dealt with by the Child Victims Act, which will force the administration to protect the innocent children instead of the guilty teacher. Fathers and mothers, Remember! Our children need us! Thank you." This commercial, aired by the SFJ (Survivors for Justice) -- an organization that combats sexual abuse in the orthodox world, mentions only one example of a serious problem in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world: Countless numbers of children, specifically boys, are sexually molested by their teachers, rabbis and other authority figures in the community, but little is being done to punish the perpetrators..
Senior haredi rabbis advise on Halacha matters pertaining to yeshiva students' holiday period between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community ruled recently that during flights one is best advised to pray the Amidah prayer (The Standing Prayer) sitting down, restfully, rather than standing up.
This was his answer to haredi yeshiva students currently in the midst of the "Bein Hazmanim" holiday period - a break between Tisha B'Av and the beginning of Elul. Busy planning overseas vacations, the students were concerned about difficulties in saying all the customary prayers on board planes.[...]
