Menachem Levy given 3 year jail term for abusing teenager

 Update: July 21 2013 Rabbi Rapoport explains his views

The following represents a very difficult case from the point of halacha. On the one hand it is a seduction of a typically sheltered Orthodox girl from the ages of 14 to 21 - by a married family friend who is 14 years older. She clearly was an adult according to halacha. On the other hand it is obvious that someone who doesn't know what sex is - can hardly be accountable for what happened. Also problematic is that Rabbi Rappaport testified that the married man was the “embodiment of repentance”, for what he did over a period of years. This is truly bizarre since the man pleaded not guilty and is appealing the conviction. Does the seducer deserve 3 years in jail?

See older J.C. article for background information on this case

 For perspective on general issue: Would you react differently if the seducer was an Arab?
Jonathan Rosenblum: Jewish teenagers seduced by Arabs

The problem is whether there is a concept of statutory rape for teenagers in halacha? Statutory rape assumes that a party below a certain age can not consent. Penalties vary widely between states and are not universally regarded as desirable even in secular society.

CNN

In short, the crime of statutory rape may have originated from repressive and misogynist conceptions of sexuality. Nonetheless, it has (and may always have had) redeeming characteristics, even from an enlightened perspective that takes into account the realities of prosecuting rape and of women's equality. It makes it easier, for example, to prosecute and thus to deter real rapists who count on jury skepticism about acquaintance rape allegations.
Still, reducing burdens of proof relies a great deal on trust – in victims and in prosecutors – that the omitted element will truly be present when cases come to trial. If and when that trust is misplaced, as may or may not have happened to Marcus Dwayne Dixon, a grave injustice can result.

CGA

Most states do not refer specifically to statutory rape; instead they use designations such as sexual assault and sexual abuse to identify prohibited activity. Regardless of the designation, these crimes are based on the premise that until a person reaches a certain age, he is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. Thus, instead of including force as a criminal element, theses crimes make it illegal for anyone to engage in sexual intercourse with anyone below a certain age, other than his spouse. The age of consent varies by state, with most states, including Connecticut, setting it at age 16. The age of consent in other states ranges from ages 14 to 18. 

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Jewish Chronicle  A young Orthodox woman who was sexually abused as a child has broken her silence to talk about the despair of being betrayed by her own community. 

After years of suffering at the hands of a long-time family friend, Yehudis Goldsobel finally reached out for help. But after reporting the crimes to the police, rabbis refused to acknowledge her suffering, her family were driven from their synagogue, and kosher shops refused to serve them.

Now, as father-of-six Menachem Mendel Levy, 41, begins a three-year jail term for two counts of sexual assault, his victim, now 27, has waived her legal right to anonymity to speak out in a bid to encourage other victims to come forward.

“Since the sentencing the reaction from the community has been really upsetting. I’ve had people closing doors, I’ve had people stop talking to me.[...]

The first trial ended in deadlock when the jury could not reach a decision, but Levy was convicted at the retrial of sexual assault, although he was acquitted of rape.

Levy argued that their sexual contact was a consenting extra-marital affair which began when she was over 16. The jury were shown a birthday card she had written to him after she had said the abuse began. [...]

Rabbi Chaim Rapoport, who until last year held the medical ethics portfolio on the Chief Rabbi’s cabinet, gave evidence as a character witness for Levy, calling him the “embodiment of repentance”, despite the fact that Levy pleaded not guilty and is appealing against both his jail sentence and his conviction.[...]

Counselor accused of abuse of 13 year old at Camp Dora Golding

Times of Israel   Originally reported in the Morning Cal

 A counselor at a Jewish summer camp for boys in Pennsylvania was taken into custody after a camper accused him of inappropriately touching him, police said.  [...]

According to an email sent to parents by the camp’s executive director, Alex Gold, the counselor was arrested within hours after the camper reported the alleged incident. He said the camp’s staff is cooperating with authorities in the investigation, and making mental health professionals and social workers available to campers, counselors and parents. [...]

Can molesters such as Mondrowitz and Lanner do teshuva & have a fresh start?

Updated I am raising an important question. Can a person, such as Mondrowitz or Lanner, who have abused numerous people over a long period of time - do teshuva and start fresh? Teshuva is a fundamental idea in Judaism. In addition once a person has done proper teshuva it is prohibited to remind him of his past misdeeds. Does this apply to every sinner and every type of sin?

This question does not present a problem for most of us concerning a person who once spoke lashon harah or stole a small amount of money when he was 14. However when we get to serious crimes that have been done to many people over an extended period of time - is teshuva possible? Let's start at the top. If Amalek or Hitler decided to repent - should they be accepted?  Does a person who lost his family in the concentration camps have to accept the sincere repentance of the Nazi soldiers who killed them? See this previous post

The issue recently was raised concerning Baruch Lanner who has allegedly been accepted by Rabbi Taubes into his home.  See Jewish Standard for more details .   Someone recently made the allegation on this blog that an alleged long time molester Richard Andron has been accepted as a baal teshuva by his rabbi who has allegedly prohibited anyone from reminding him of his past. Assuming these two individuals have in fact done teshuva - do they need to be accepted without reservation - as any other Jew? Would they get an aliyah in your shul?  Would you have them sit at the head table at any public affair? Would you allow your daughter to marry his son. Are you allowed to tell others about their past deeds?

My answer is that while on a theoretical level every sinner without exception can in fact repent and one is not allowed to remind a repentant sinner of his past - there is no halachic requirement to be stupid (in the immortal words of the Chofetz Chaim). The data on pedophiles and sexual abusers is extremely clear - they can never again be trusted.  Thus if it is a question of the welfare of your children or those of others - one does not have to be apologetic about reminding a pedophile to avoid yichud with children and to take appropriate steps needed to protect society from his possible urges.

A proof to this obvious and common sense understanding of halacha is found in a contradiction in the Mishneh Torah regarding heretic - which the Rambam himself reconciled in the way I am suggesting regarding sexual molesters. The following is from my Daas Torah page 106.

Is the Repentance of a Heretic accepted?

Contradiction in Rambam concerning repentance?

Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 3:14): Concerning the sinners and heretics who lose their portion in the World to Come. … that is only if they die without repenting. However, if they truly repent then they obtain the World to Come since there is nothing which stands in the way of repentance. Therefore, if a person has been a heretic all his life but repents at the end then he has the World to Come…. All the wicked, the heretics and those like them, if they repent either openly or in private they are accepted…

Rambam (Hilchos Avoda Zara 2:5): … a Jewish heretic is not considered a part of the Jewish people and he is never accepted back even if repents…It is prohibited to talk with them or reply to them in any manner…

Resolution of contradiction

Rambam (Letter #615:8): …concerning the apparent contradiction [between Hilchos Teshuva and Hilchos Avoda Zara] as to whether a heretic can repent and obtain the World to Come. In fact, there is no contradiction. The statement found in Hilchos Avoda Zara that his repentance is not accepted means that he is always presumed to be a heretic. His apparent repentance is to be assumed to be from fear or to fool people. The other statement from Hilchos Teshuva that their repentance is accepted is referring to the case where they have in fact genuinely repented - in their relationship to G‑d. That is why they obtain the World to Come. It is specifically dealing with their relationship to G‑d. The first statement from Hilchos Teshuva is describing their relationship with other people - and in that case, their repentance is presumed to be false.

Rav Belsky is speaking this Shabbos Nachamu Weekend - Business as usual

A Concerned Lakewood Parent writes:

Enablers and supporters of molesters, after the fact, try to go on as if nothing happened. It's the most effective tactic they have, and the most hurtful.

Rav Belsky's notorious letter makes him, arguably, the biggest supporter of molesters in recent history. Click here for letter

 

Most people would be shocked when they hear what he wrote/did.  Everyone would be disgusted if they learn he still stubbornly holds those positions.

Attached below please find a poster that will be hanging in every Shul in the mountains this Shabbos.

This seems to be a call for action.

Potential attendees would be mortified to learn, that aside from listening to an entertaining shiur, they are being used to stab many victims in the back.

Aside from bringing it to the attention of would be attendees, there are a number of organizations that might want to steer clear. The event is being sponsored by The Beren Foundation. It's being held in The Woodridge Shul. And if they have ANY credibility left, it's being organized by the OU.

Beth Alexander Schlesinger fights for her children in the media

Jewish Week   The last two years have been a living hell for Alexander, a British woman who came to Austria in 2006 to be the doctor’s wife. She said she was promised family and security but instead found abuse, isolation and the worst fate imaginable — separation from her children.

Under a court order, Alexander, 29, is able to see her sons, now 4, only a few hours a day every Tuesday and every other Sunday. The handoff from mother to father is supervised at a state-designated contact center.

Frustrated by a court system that appears to favor the Viennese father, Alexander, a naturally demure and reserved Brit, has decided to fight back through journalism and social media. She has had nearly 100,000 hits on her blog, HelpBeth.org, and some 7,000 followers on Facebook. Her story has been told in newspapers in Austria, England, Australia and Israel. She has become something of a cause célèbre for British Jewry, which, from the office of the chief rabbi on down, has been fully supportive of Alexander. Over 100 people rallied for her in March in front of the Austrian Embassy in London. Until now her story has not been told in the American press, but it is a case that demands our attention.

“Cases like this are all too common,” said Phyllis Chesler, author of “Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody” (Chicago Review Press). “Mothers are automatically suspected of being ‘crazy,’ of lying, of hating the father of her children, of seeking revenge, of alleging battery falsely, out of revenge.” [...]

Shameful attack on Chareidi soldier in Meah Shearim by Chareidim - Rav Edelstein condems attack

Update Matzav: Rav Edelstein said that he is shocked that a chareidi soldier was attacked in Meah Shearim and that those who committed this act have “caused great damage to the world of Torah.”
“It is incumbent upon the people of the Eidah Hachareidus to condemn the attack on the soldier,” said Rav Edelstein.


Times of Israel   The soldier assaulted in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood on Tuesday stepped into the lion’s den of anti-establishment ultra-Orthodoxy: a street dominated by the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect. 

While politicians, army officials and others, many from the ultra-Orthodox community, have come out against the attack, residents of the neighborhood voiced little condemnation on Wednesday.

The soldier was attacked by dozens of ultra-Orthodox men Tuesday night while walking through the central Jerusalem neighborhood. His attackers beat him and threw oil, water and eggs at him before he managed to escape by ducking into an office, changing out of his uniform, and calling the police.

Officers and medics called to the scene were pelted with stones by residents, who called them Nazis. Four men were arrested for allegedly participating in the assault.[...]

Army officials, however, were unequivocal in their condemnations of the attack.

IDF head Benny Gantz called the incident “very severe,” and said he would deal with it using all the methods at his disposal.

“IDF soldiers carry out their mission not on behalf of shtreimels or yarmulkes or whoever doesn’t wear them, but for all Israeli citizens.”

IDF Spokesman Yoav Mordechai called on ultra-Orthodox leaders to issue an unequivocal condemnation of harassment of IDF soldiers.

“I’m trying to think what would happen if soldiers were attacked by Israeli non-Jews in the Negev or Galilee,” Mordechai said.

The attack was also met with condemnation from across the political spectrum. [...]

Minister of Economics and Trade Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home), however, cautioned against a backlash of animosity directed at the ultra-Orthodox community.

Mendelssohn & Modernity: Think Tank topic

Update: Prof. Samuel Feiner (New Perspectives on the Haskala) Secularization only reached its  peak in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, then becoming a mass phe­nomenon of such proportions that the various churches, including the rabbin­  ical elite, were, in many parts of Europe, pushed to the sidelines, and the state  and modern culture provided services, institutions, and values that replaced  religion. But in the eighteenth century, the roots of secularization first  emerged among both Christians and Jews. Religion still maintained its hold  on many people, but rationalist criticism of religions grew, the deist worldview  took shape, anticlerical trends were strengthened, and amid conflicts and  struggles, the authority of priests and rabbis was weakened. In the eighteenth century, the culture of the modern city offered a secular  substitute for the experience of religious ritual in the form of entertainment,  the consumption of luxuries, and fashions that changed with dizzying fre­quency. Ambitious individuals, seeking to live as free men, unrestrained by  religious discipline, became more self-confident. The birth of the "new world"  was attended by the repressed voices of the freethinking Jews and the angry  voices of the "congregation of believers." A penetrating look into the life of  European Jewry, with the help of several perceptive individuals who left  behind fascinating testimonies, reveals dramatic changes that occurred in that  century. It discerns not only the various channels through which religion was  weakened but also identifies religiously lax and skeptical Jews whose existence  was not previously known to us.

The Torah u-Madda Journal
The Hatam Sofer’s Nuanced Attitude Towards Secular Learning, Maskilim, and Reformers 2002-2003  Footnote 110. R. Hirsch felt that had Mendelssohn completed his work, the Reform movement might never have come into being. R. Hirsch termed Mendelssohn, “one of the noblest sons of Israel” and “a strictly religious Jew, and yet . . . brilliant and highly esteemed as the German Plato.” R. Azriel Hildesheimer, founder of the Rabbinical Seminary and head of the Adat Israel community in Berlin, termed Mendelssohn “the great worldly sage.” He claimed that Mendelssohn was a loyal adherent of the Jewish religion, but that his disciples and children crudely distorted the essence of his philosophy. Mendelssohn, therefore, could not be held responsible for their actions. S. R. Hirsch, Iggerot Zafon (Jerusalem, 1952) Letter 18; Jeschurun (Frankfort, 1885), 833-834; Mordechai Breuer, Modernity Within Tradition (New York, 1992), 58-59, 61, 71; Meir Hildesheimer, “Moses Mendelssohn,” note 105 above: 111-112.

6 more former students accuse Y.U.of covering up sexual abuse

Forward   Six more former students have come forward with accusations against Yeshiva University, days after 19 former high school students filed a $380 million suit charging that Y.U. covered up decades of physical and sexual abuse. [...]

Shmuel Goldin, a leading Modern Orthodox rabbi, said Y.U.’s response to the allegations has been “prompt and thorough.”

Goldin added, “There is a sadness that everyone feels when people have been hurt, and a sense of solidarity with the victims and a hope this will reach a resolution that will bring peace and healing to all involved.”

But one of the survivors, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, does not see it that way. “What’s really crazy about the Jewish community is that nobody cares,” said the survivor, who asked to remain anonymous. “There is a complete lack of interest in this whole thing.”

Kellner injustice: Demonstration for Kellner on Thursday

Brooklyn, New York - July 10, 2013 - Today, members of several large abuse advocacy organizations announced that they would be joining together this Thursday to protest unfounded charges from the Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes's office against Sam Kellner, a father who reported his son's allegations and heroically encouraged others to do the same against notorious abuser Boruch Lebovitz in 2010.

Kellner stands falsely accused of having blackmailed a witness into testifying against Lebovitz but as reported in The New York Times and The Jewish Week, prosecutors recently told the trial judge that they found their key witness was unreliable despite Kellner's defense having asked the DA for a month to look into the credible allegation that the witness against Kellner was being manipulated.  Furthermore despite the case being unprosecutable at this point the DA has still refused to drop the charges. Said witness has changed his story on several occasions and has been found to have been receiving money for expenses from an activist in the Orthodox Jewish community, Zalmen Ashkenazi, a Lebovitz supporter he previously claimed he did not know.

Just received this letter:

================================

Hi I am a Satmar Brooklyn Jewish Hasidic Father and as a child who was myself sexually molested i cannot speak up to my abusers but ask you to please help out. 

Tomorrow morning will be a rally in downtown Brooklyn in support of Sam Kellner, A father of a victim abused by Rabbi Baruch Mordechai Lebovits, a notorious child molester who has harmed many children, 

As reported by the Jewish Week, the New York Times, The New York Daily News and others, Sam Kellner is being prosecuted by Brooklyn DA Hynes based upon allegations brought to the DA by Lebovits' son & friend Moshe Freidman, known as Moshe Gabba, The head assistant to Satmar Rabbi Zaly and his father the old Satmar Rebbe, which will deliver Hynes His block vote to get reelected! 

We are respectfully calling upon Mr. Hynes to immediately drop the charges against Sam Kellner and to also conduct an investigation to determine how this case was allowed to be brought in the first place. 

Join us this Thursday at 11am outside the DA's office at 350 Jay Street in Brooklyn to show your support for Sam Kellner and justice.

If you have any questions about the details of this event feel free to email its organizer Chaim Levin at: chaim89@gmail.com

Further details:

https://www.facebook.com/events/194120940750790/

Thanks!

  ======================================

NY Times   Brooklyn prosecutors had been scheduled on Monday to open the trial of an Orthodox Jew charged with paying a child to falsely testify that he was a victim of sexual abuse. 

But in a dramatic reversal, they told the trial judge that their key witness was no longer trustworthy, indicating the potential collapse of a controversial case that highlighted the complicated relationship between District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and the politically influential Orthodox community.[...]

The filing of charges against Mr. Kellner prompted criticism from advocates for victims of sexual abuse who viewed him as a whistle-blower. It also undermined the conviction of Mr. Lebovits, which had been a high-profile achievement of the district attorney’s campaign to persuade members of the insular Hasidic community to cooperate with authorities in such cases.[...]

The problems with the cases against Mr. Lebovits and Mr. Kellner have raised new concerns. Among them is why separate units of the office pursued cases that were directly at odds with each other: the sex crimes bureau prosecuting Mr. Lebovits and the rackets division prosecuting Mr. Kellner. Both relied on a witness who court records show was addicted to drugs. 

The concerns come even from inside the district attorney’s office, where some have worried that Mr. Lebovits’s lawyer, Arthur L. Aidala, had undue influence.[...]

28 years prison for father who repeatedly raped 6 year old stepdaughter - because he claimed they were in love

YNET     This item shows that the most disgusting examples of abuse can be perceived by the perpetrator as being wanted by the victim.

The Jerusalem District Court gave a nearly unprecedented punishment to a father who raped his stepdaughter hundreds of times over a period of seven years, beginning when she was six. The man was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he was convicted of hundreds of counts of rape, sodomy, indecent assault, sex crimes and additional sex charges. [...]


 During the trial, the father expressed remorse and said he saw the deeds as a “romance” which the two share.

Lakewood is driven by the fear of being called a sheigetz

Just had a long conversation with some insiders of the Kolko case. The simple question raised was,   "What is the way to change Lakewood's approach to dealing with child abuse?" It is obvious that they don't respond to halachic arguments and it is also clear that the rabbis lack the moral backbone to stand up for what they feel is right. They can't even muster the courage and decency to apologize for driving Rabbi "S" out of Lakewood - on a mistaken belief that he was a moser. 

Appeals to stop the suffering of children don't carry any weight - because their insistence  that  following the directive of a beis din is paramount even when children are being destroyed by molesters. They claim, mistakenly, that without a psak from a beis din that a person is a moser for going to the police. However the beis din system is incompetent and impotent. 

Bizarrely the beis din that Lakewood had to deal with child abuse has been disbanded. Mickey Rottenberg claims that he was told to disband it because it was too sensitive to the claims of the victims. He said in an interview with Jewish Week 12/06/11 that he was told to do this by Rav Malkiel Kotler. However Rav Malkiel Kotler denies the truth of this statement. So who is running Lakewood - Rav Malkiel Kotler or Mickey Rottenberg? Apparently the Lakewood rabbis are too embarrassed or chicken to answer that question.

In sum, Lakewood is a society that  while giving lip service to halacha is in fact concerned with one thing - the fear of being called a sheigetz. 

D.A. Hynes case against abuse whistleblower Kellner - blows up in his face

Jewish Week  On the eve of his scheduled trial date, prosecutors turned over to Sam Kellner’s defense attorneys evidence that appears highly damaging to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ case against the chasidic sex abuse whistleblower, prompting his lawyers to call for an “outside investigation.”

Kellner, a resident of Borough Park, is charged with paying a witness — a man The Jewish Week refers to as a “Yoel” — to fabricate claims of sexual abuse by Baruch Lebovits, a cantor and prominent member of the Munkacs chasidic community. Kellner, whose son is also an alleged Lebovits victim — and who brought additional Lebovits victims to the police — is also charged with attempting to extort money from the Lebovits family via emissaries sent to Lebovits’ son Meyer.

The evidence, which was turned over last Friday, three days before the scheduled start of the trial on Monday, July 8, includes notes of interviews prosecutors conducted with a key witness over the past two weeks. In the interviews, Yoel made a series of inconsistent statements, including some that directly contradict his grand jury testimony against Kellner.

For example, while Yoel testified in the Kellner grand jury that he knew Lebovits from synagogue, in a July 1 interview with Nicholas Batsidis and Joseph Alexis, two assistant district attorneys, and Rackets Division Chief Michael Vecchione, he claimed that he had “never seen Baruch Lebovits in his life.”

In the same interview, Yoel also denied picking Lebovits out of a photo array, which, along with Yoel’s statements to a detective, led to Lebovits’ arrest. However, five days earlier, on June 26, he told prosecutors that Lebovits “could have molested me. [I] can’t really say.”

During the course of these interviews, Yoel also told prosecutors that the reason he came forward with his allegations against Kellner was because, according to their summary of the conversation, he had become “disenchanted” with him after Kellner failed to pay him “a fee that the two had agreed upon for his false testimony.” However, in the Kellner grand jury, Yoel testified that Kellner gave him approximately $10,000 to testify against Lebovits.

All of the inconsistencies and contradictions in Yoel’s statements seriously undermine the prosecution’s case against Kellner, experts say.

Former Students File $380 Million lawsuit against YU for abuse coverup

Forward     Nineteen former students of a Manhattan high school run by Yeshiva University have filed a $380 million lawsuit against Y.U. accusing administrators and teachers of covering up decades of physical and sexual abuse.

The lawsuit, filed July 8 in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., alleges a “massive cover-up of the sexual abuse of [high school] students…facilitated, for several decades, by various prominent Y.U. and [high school] administrators, trustees, directors, and other faculty members.”

The assaults are alleged to have taken place during the 1970s and 1980s, at a time when Y.U. faced severe financial problems.

In New York, criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse must be brought before a victim’s 23rd birthday. However, Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer representing the victims, argues in the suit that the statute of limitations does not apply because Y.U. fraudulently covered up the abuse. [...]

The Mitzvah of Tzedakah by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

5tjt [...]THE THOUGHT PROCESS ONE SHOULD HAVE

Whoever shows compassion to the poor – Hashem shows compassion to him.  (247:3).

The thought process that one should have is that just as he is constantly begging Hashem for assistance in his own business ventures so too should he listen to the cries of the poor.  He should also realize that what goes around comes around and either he, or his son or grandson might need assistance in the future as well.  Whoever has compassion for others, earns compassion from others.  (Ramah 247:3).

HOW TO GIVE

• One should give Tzedakah while standing up and with the right hand.  This is true even if one puts it in a Tzedakah box.   If one is giving Tzedakah in the middle of prayers, however, one may remain seated.

• As soon as one has given the money to the poor person, or to his messenger or to the gabbai, one has fulfilled the Mitzvah.

• One must give charity even if it is 100 times to the same person.  This does not mean with no waiting period in between.  However, some authorities write that from morning to evening one is still obligated to give.

---

[1] SA 247:1

[2] The Steipler Rav in Kehilos Yaakov Bava Basra #8.

[3] Tosfos BB 8b Akfai; Lev Aryeh Chullin 110; Sefer Haflaah, Ksuvos 49a.