Reporting Abuse:At last - R Zwiebel clearly explains the Aguda's view

[This is a an interview I posted a year ago - which has direct relevance to the current interview I just posted- see comments]

[Since this is of great importance for all Jews and since this is the first time the Aguda has clearly stated their position - I am presenting the entire halachically important article from Mishpacha for critical examination and enlightenment]

 A few Minutes With...

Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel [pages 30-31 Mishpacha Magazine August, 3 2011] 

Agudath Israel of America recently clarified its position on when one is halachically permitted to or required to report suspicions of any form of child abuse to authorities. That clarification led to further debate on a potential clash between halachah and secular law. Agudah's executive vice president, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, discussed this further with Mishpacha's news editor; Binyamin Rose

Would the Agudah support the formation of or put resources into a hotline or a board of rabbanim with the knowledge and expertise to guide people who suspect abuse?

We are definitely looking into this. I had a discussion with a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah about how we should be following up. There are some concerns about a hotline in light of the fact that the sensitivity of the issues might require a face-to-face conversation rather than just an anonymous call over the phone. Certainly we believe that in light of everything that's going on in the world today, rabbanim should familiarize themselves with the signs and symptoms of abuse, as well as the issues involved in how and when they should be reported, and to whom. Agudath Israel has organized conferences and seminars for rabbanim and mental health professionals. We feel there is room to expand such forums to include a wider list of rabbanim who would familiarize themselves with all the issues and who would then be qualified and capable of providing guidance to Klal Yisrael who have these kinds of sh'eilos.

 What categories of people are considered by law to be mandated reporters, and what happens if there is a clash between the law of the land and the halachah? Does dina d'malchusa dina prevail?

 This is something that is usually subject to state law jurisdiction, so each state will have its own laws and regulations. The law that applies in New York, in general, lists a dozen or so categories, including teachers, pediatricians, and other health providers, who encounter children in their professional capacities and have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused. Other people, such as the next-door neighbor, are not mandated reporters under the secular law. They are permitted and maybe even encouraged to report, but there is no New York statute that requires them to do so.

Regarding the second part of your question, I think those clashes will be few and far between. The secular law in New York State mandates you to make a report if you are on their list of categories and have "reasonable cause to suspect." Under the guidelines of Rav Elyashiv shlita and other gedolim, raglayim I'davar comes mighty close to "reasonable cause to suspect." They are so very close in my opinion, that I don't envision frequent clashes between the secular law and the halachah.

Where a conflict could arise would be in a case where a rav says not to report, but the person's lawyer says he must. In that case, I suppose part of the process of the sh'eilah to a rav could also be where the person goes back to the ray and says, "You told me not to report, but my lawyer says I have to, so does that in any way affect your psak?" The moreh hora'ah will then have to decide how that fits in with the overall equation in determining his final answer to the sh'eilah. 

Wouldn't the requirement to consult with rabbanim first delay the reporting process, thus leaving children at greater risk? 

Under secular law you are required to report promptly according to the statute. Even under secular law, if an inexperienced pediatrician sees something that makes him nervous, he may wish to consult with a more experienced doctor. Senior law enforcement officials have told me that such a consultation does not conflict with the law.

Where the process outlined by the gedolim under raglayim I'davar requires consulting with a rav first, a conflict might arise if that consultation would interfere with the immediacy of a report, but it should not delay the process any longer than the length of time it would take for two doctors to discuss the case between themselves. 

Are there efforts underway to reconcile the reported differences on this issue between the Agudah and the Rabbinical Council of America? 

We haven't had formal conversations with the RCA, but there are rabbanim engaged in informal discussions at all times. But I would also like to clarify what we have been referring to as the Agudath Israel position. We don't take positions. AII we did was present the issues at a halachic conference a few months ago and then issue a synopsis of the written teshuvos of gedolei haposkim, mostly in Eretz Yisrael. Not withstanding the very serious prohibition against mesirah, where there is raglayim l'davar, the gedolei haposkim are telling us today that we should report. While this is something very important that we wanted to bring to the community's attention, at the same time, we need to recognize the weightiness of the matter. People should be consulting with a ray who is knowledgeable in this area before coming to conclusions of their own. There is still an attitude that exists in certain quarters of the chareidi world that these matters have to be handled internally and not by the authorities. But today, the mainstream chareidi authorities hold that if there is raglayim I'dav ar, it should be brought to the authorities. In that respect, l don't think the position of the gedolei haposkim is substantively different from that of the RCA. 

People are concerned that incidents of abuse have been swept under the carpet and that victims were even hushed up by prominent community members. Since this feeling has gained validation in people's minds, is there anything in the new Agudah guidelines that alleviates these concerns?

 To the extent that the hushing up that may have taken place was a byproduct of halachic concerns about mesirah, I think the teshuvos of the gedolei haposkim that we brought out in our statement should provide the framework that will at least minimize such instances. We can no longer hide behind a blanket prohibition against reporting to the authorities if the gedolei haposkim are saying you should report to the authorities. That was one of the reasons we decided to publish our statement, even though we knew it would generate some backlash and controversy. 

It is clear that allegations of abuse can destroy a person’s reputation and family forever, and that people have misused the system to exact revenge. ls this due to a flaw in the system, and is it correctible? 

One of the advantages of the raglayim l'davar standard is that the halachic authorities are telling us you need to be very careful before you report. If it is eizeh dimyon, as in the phrase Rav Elyashiv used- mere conjecture – or if you have some vague sense, that's not enough. Part of what Rav Elyashiv and the other poskim are telling us is, this is dinei nefashos on both sides of the equation and we have to find a balance. We are concerned about some of the statements made by a few advocates for the victims, because there seems to be a lack of appreciation that sometimes allegations of this nature can be destructive to people who are entirely innocent. 

Is there any community-wide effort to raise awareness among children and parents, or is this just up to devoted volunteers?

 Over the last number of years, this issue has come out of the closet and has become a part of our community's consciousness. The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah took a step, which would have been unimaginable 10 or 15 years ago, to encourage parents to talk to their children about good touch and bad touch and what to do if someone touches them inappropriately. There are seminars for summer camp personnel on this subject. I don't know that we are where we need to be yet, but I think very meaningful movement has been made, and further steps are under consideration.

Molester Mondrowitz living in Nachlaot

NYPost   Here is Avrohom Mondrowitz, New York’s most notorious child molester — living scot-free in Israel.

Called the “Bin Laden of pedophiles” by one victim, the bogus rabbi and self-proclaimed psychologist fled the United States in 1984 just before cops broke into his Borough Park, Brooklyn, home with a search warrant. They found a cache of kiddie porn and lists of hundreds of names of local boys, most referred to Mondrowitz by Jewish families and child-service agencies for counseling and his yeshiva-style program.

“He was known in the insular community as the go-to therapist, child mentor,” said an outspoken victim, Mark Weiss, whose parents sent him to Mondrowitz at age 13. “He had a certain knack with kids.”

The Post last week spotted Mondrowitz, 64, cloaked in religious garb, in Nachlaot, a hip, Greenwich Village-type neighborhood in central Jerusalem near his apartment on Yizreel Street. He wears a façade of piety and respectability, even leading prayer services at a local synagogue. But documents show he has indulged his penchant for child porn and continued to seek contact with troubled kids.

Abuse:Halachic & Ethical Dilemmas I

Pitputim/Guest post    Consider this scenario

The family of a victim of sexual abuse approaches the abuser and their family. The family of the abused has not yet reported the said abuse to the police; instead they initially confront the abused and their family. The situation becomes complicated and lawyers are brought in. Lawyers for both sides settle on an agreement involving some “compensation.” In return the abuser agrees to plead guilty to a somewhat lesser offence without recording a conviction.

The lawyer of the abuser is under no doubt that her client is a dangerous pedophile. She had a choice. She could have refused to take the case. In the end, whether she was the lawyer who accepted the brief, or a lawyer who turned the case down, she is unable to remove thoughts from her head. She is convinced that the abuser is a dangerous person and that he may continue on his misadventure and sexually abuse others. She is bound by client confidentiality; we understand that

My question relates to the Halachic imperative. Is a lawyer/person in such a case permitted to remain silent? Is there not a real problem of contravening a Torah command: [Click link for rest of post Pitputim ]

Another disgusting abuse case in Brooklyn

WPIX    The family of a Brooklyn man being treated for drug addiction in California traces his problems back to sexual abuse by a yeshiva teacher, when he was just 9 years old. "I do recall the rabbi being over here, trying to hush up my dad," Yosef Werner--the abuse survivor's brother--told PIX 11 Friday.

20 years ago, Daniel "Benji" Werner came home from the Yeshiva of Brooklyn one day and started confiding in his mother at their Midwood home. "He told me the rabbi was touching him," Yehudis Werner told PIX. "And I said, 'What??!!"

Benji Werner told his mother the teacher would call him up to the front of the class, take the boy behind the desk, place Benji on his lap, and then put his hands in the boy's pants and molest him.

Mrs. Werner said she called her husband, Aaron, and he started contacting other parents from Benji's class. She told PIX several parents had heard the same thing from their children. Soon after, she said the family received calls from religious leaders. "They called up my husband and said 'if you continue to call parents, we'll make your name mud.'"

Pedophile released without tracking protocol

Haaretz    Officials in the Israel Prison Service's Unit for Monitoring Sex Offenders claim that due to turf wars among government agencies, a convicted pedophile is to be released from prison on Sunday without arrangements for housing or therapy. They say that makes it very difficult to keep tabs on the man, who is considered highly likely to reoffend. 

The individual served two previous prison terms for sexual offenses against minors. After the second one, as now, he was ordered to remain under supervision following his release but he reoffended, committing sexual crimes against a young boy. 

According to a figure familiar with the case, "In the absence of a supportive environment and with no permanent address, the individual will become even more dangerous while the monitoring capabilities have declined significantly."

Non-Orthodox rabbis to receive payment

NYTimes    The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that, for the first time, it planned to pay the salaries of a small number of Reform and Conservative rabbis, as it does with many Orthodox ones. 

In a deal brokered in response to a 2005 petition by the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, the state said it would financially support up to 15 non-Orthodox rabbis serving farming communities and regional councils. They will be classified as “rabbis of non-Orthodox communities” and paid by the Ministry of Culture and Sport, not the Ministry of Religious Services.  

While any recognition of Reform and Conservative rabbis by the government is significant, the move does not address a principal concern of those movements: the Orthodox rabbinate’s control of marriages and other legal questions. The deal says these non-Orthodox rabbis will not have any say over matters of religion and Jewish law, so it is unclear what their roles will be, or how many communities will request them.

Being comforted by the Holocaust - a true story

The May 29, 2012 edition of Binah (page 14) has a story "Savoring Shabbos" which is the first person account of a young wife and mother, who had appendicitis erev Shabbos in Jerusalem. She was forced to go to Shaarei Tzedek Hospital 2 hours before Shabbos to have emergency surgery.  I found her method of comforting herself quite disquieting. However I have been told that this is not unusual for girls who attend Jerusalem Seminaries for Americans.

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As I lay uncomfortably upon my  stretcher, the inspiring words of Pearl Benisch, in her book To Vanquish the  Dragon, came to mind. She described her arrival in Auschwitz on a Friday night. As she and her fellow group of  Bais Yaakov girls were about to be  marched to their barracks, Tzila Orlean approached them and wished them a gut Shabbos. Mrs. Benisch questioned how a woman could greet her friends in such a manner in front of the smoke stacks of Auschwitz. Her answer gave me much strength on that challenging Shabbos:

Good Shabbos. How do those two words sound... when said amidst the stench of burning human flesh? But it was Shabbos in the whole world, including this living inferno. Even here, G-d, it was Your holy Shabbos, and Your children remembered it...

 If those tzidkaniyos were able to acknowledge the arrival of Shabbos in Auschwitz, then certainly I could feel the arrival of Shabbos in Shaare Zedek Hospital. As I lay in my little cubicle waiting for surgery I felt fortunate to be in a frum hospital in Yerushalayim, surrounded by Yidden. I felt the peaceful radiance of the Shabbos Queen, and I knew that I was in Hashem's Hands.

Gay Marriage approved by Conservative Jews - point of no return

Forward    The Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which sets halakhic policy for the Conservative movement, has voted unanimously to provide the approximately 1,600 Conservative rabbis with guidelines on performing same-sex marriages. 

The move is an official sanction of the ceremonies by the movement. 

The CJLS approved the documents Thursday by a 13-0 vote with one abstaining ballot. For years, the Conservative movement has debated how to approach same-sex unions. Traditionalists often opposed such relationships while urging respect as progressives -- particularly some rabbinical students -- pushed for full equality.

Clergyman faces 21 years for abuse coverups

CNN   Lynn is the first high-ranking church figure charged with child endangerment for allegedly shuffling predator priests from parish to parish.

If convicted, he faces up to 21 years in prison.

Now-defrocked priest Edward Avery was due to go on trial with Brennan and Lynn, but he pleaded guilty in March after admitting to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-1999 school year. Avery, 69, was sentenced to two-and-a-half to five years in prison.

Nazi Victim’s Family must Return gold tablet to museum

NYTimes    A state appellate court in Brooklyn has ordered the family of a Holocaust survivor to return an ancient gold tablet to a German museum. 

The decision turns on its head the familiar scenario of Holocaust victims suing to reclaim property stolen or extorted from them by the Nazis. But in this case, according to court papers, the precious 3,200-year-old Assyrian artifact had been looted, not from the survivor, but from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, at the close of World War II. 

It is not clear how the survivor, Riven Flamenbaum, came into possession of the tablet after his liberation from Auschwitz in 1945, when he was sent to a displaced persons camp in southeastern Germany.

DA Hynes & Aguda on collision course

Jewish Journal   In an interview with the Forward, Hynes reportedly said that he was in “sharp disagreement” with the Agudah’s position, arguing that the rabbis “have no experience or expertise in sex abuse.” The Forward quoted Hynes as saying that he stressed his opposition in a telephone call with Zwiebel last week.

Zwiebel “still thinks they have a responsibility to screen,” Hynes said. “I disagree.”

Meanwhile, Hynes spokesman Jerry Schmetterer told The Jewish Week that Zwiebel “risks having the rabbi prosecuted for obstructing a law enforcement investigation.”

The shift puts Hynes’ office at odds with the haredi Orthodox community—a problem the Kol Tzedek program was supposed to solve.

In an interview last week with the New York Post, Hynes cited the insularity of Brooklyn’s haredi community and the need to protect sex-abuse victims from intimidation as the reason for not releasing the names of about 100 accused molesters from the community.

“Within days, people within this relentless community would identify the victims,” he told the Post. “Then the intimidation would start.

Rat studies, New Hope for Spine Injuries

NYTimes   Rats with a spinal cord injury that left their hind legs completely paralyzed learned to walk again on their own after an intensive training course that included electrical stimulation of the brain and the spine, scientists reported on Thursday. 

The report, published online on Thursday in the journal Science, provides a striking demonstration of what until recently few scientists thought possible: complete rehabilitation after a disabling blow to the spinal cord. After weeks of training, many of the rats could walk as well as before the injury, and some could run. 

The findings do not apply to all spinal injuries. The animals’ spinal columns were cut without being completely severed; there were still some nerve connections that extended intact through the injured area. But this is also the case for a substantial proportion — perhaps a quarter to a third — of people whose injuries are severe enough to confine them to a wheelchair.

Using unfiltered internet invalidates witness

http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/238796

אפקט הכנס ההיסטורי בקווינס? אחד מרבני מונסי שבניו יורק פסל אמש לעדות בחופה אדם המשתמש באינטרנט לא מסונן.

המדובר באב"ד סאטמר במונסי, הרב אברהם צבי וואזנר, שטען במהלך חופה שערך ובו שימש כמסדר הקידושין, כי בעקבות אמירתו של סבו לפיו משתמשי אינטרנט לא מסונן פסולים לעדות, יש לנהוג כך הלכה למעשה.

על פי הדיווח, האב"ד בירר בקרב משפחת הצדדים לגבי העדים, ומששמע כי הם מחזיקים בטלפון לא "כשרים" ובעלי אינטרנט לא מסונן, ביקש להביא עדים אחרים תחתיהם למעמד הח

Curtain falls on yy's saga

On 5/31/2012 1:21 PM,  --- wrote:

Your blog is thought provoking, and I’ve been following it for some time.  I was moved by yy’s story -- just about ready to post another comment -- and was surprised to see that the whole thing was removed.  Then I saw your tweet about “yy’s saga” which seemed to judge the author negatively, and that disturbed me.  Later I went back to the tweet and found that its content had been removed also.  I'm wondering what's going on.  Thanks.

Yes yy story was moving and well written and is a good example of a marriage collapsing. However despite posting anonymously - he did not want to be judged or criticized based on the personal details he wrote about himself - but only wanted to stimulate discussion of a general nature and in his words "get sympathy & empathy". I felt it was counterproductive for him to reveal his personal details of his life to the public as well as his judgments of his wife - and then to get irritated if readers didn't view events as he did and judged him harshly. He disagreed and got hurt and became angry with me for not taking his side - so the post was removed. My purpose in publishing was to encourage awareness and communication about an all too common problem. I felt that he was in fact benefiting from the feedback he got as well as in communicating the problem and thus it was a win-win situation. He clearly disagreed and asked that I remove his post which I did. I had written a more detailed description of events and but decided to remove it.