Rifky Stein interviewed for the Mendel Epstein trial which starts today

NY Post    LAKEWOOD, N.J. — When a Jewish woman wanted a divorce from an unwilling husband, federal prosecutors say, Mendel Epstein was the rabbi who — for the right price — could gather a kidnap team to make it happen.

Prosecutors allege Epstein’s team would use brutal methods, including martial arts beatings, handcuffs and electric cattle prods, to torture the man into granting the divorce.

“If it can get a bull that weighs 5 tons to move, you put it in certain parts of his body and in one minute the guy will know,” prosecutors said the Orthodox rabbi told a pair of undercover FBI agents posing as a brother and sister trying to force the sister’s husband to grant the ritual Jewish divorce known as a “get.” Prosecutors say Epstein was recorded telling the agents the operation would cost at least $50,000. [...]

Epstein’s trial on attempted kidnapping charges starts Tuesday in federal court in Trenton. Several co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the case; others will go on trial with Epstein.[...]

“Without having the get … I have no prospects of getting remarried. I cannot date men. I have no future of having more children,” said Rivky Stein, a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman who says she is trying to obtain a get from her husband but isn’t involved in the Epstein case. “It just literally locks you in. You’re just entirely chained, and, in a sense, you’re controlled.” [...]

"My husband was raped when he was 14": Lifelong consequences of sexual abuse

Balaboostas    [...] Thirteen years ago, when my husband was 14 years old, he was raped. He was a young boy, who came from a family that never quite fit in however hard they tried. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he suffered for years as a result of that. At the age of 9, a judge made him decide. Mommy or daddy? Yes I repeat, mommy or daddy, “who do you want to live with?” the judge sweetly asked him.

My husband chose daddy, because mommy was no longer frum, stable, nor lived in the community, and daddy said he could still see mommy and he would let her come and visit. Mommy promised she would. But she never did. [...]

He was 14, he had a job in a local shop and got rather close with the owner. Until one day he got a little too friendly and raped him. [...]

My husband knew something was wrong. Something bad had happened. Being the technological savvy teenager he was, he managed to actually obtain the cd of the CCTV camera that had recorded them.

He decided he would go to speak to their Rabbi about what had happened. Surely his saintly Rabbi, who everyone in the community flocked to for advice, would be able to help him.

And so there he found himself, seated in his Rabbi’s house, telling him his story. From beginning to end.

Once he had said his piece, he looked up at his Rabbi, with his tear stained face and asked him “what shall I do? What shall you do?” and brace yourself for this response.

“You won’t do anything, you must not tell anyone about this or about this conversation, don’t tell your father, don’t tell your friends, or everyone will know what a bad person and boy you are, you will be shamed, you will be nothing. Now go and never speak of this again to anyone.” [...]

He did not blame the man that raped him. He blamed the Rabbi for covering it up.

When I met my husband at some point in our relationship prior to marriage, I was told about all of this. He confided in me, and I promised to keep his secret and support him no matter what. [...]

As every young couple starts their new marriage, one of the most exciting aspects is the physical side, the intimacy.In our relationship, we had it before we were married, although we had firmly kept to our self-made rule of anything but sex before marriage.

I first realised something was wrong when I would cry myself to sleep at night, feeling so rejected when my husband once again told me “I’m not in the mood tonight, I just want to cuddle.”

We had sex, but it was not as often as I would have liked or wanted. But after countless arguments, we just came to the conclusion that we were different from each other and we had different sex drives. And the good outweighed the bad, so we tried not to make it a big deal out of it. [....]

But that was when the flashbacks started for my husband. Every time he looked at our daughter, all he could feel was fear, and images of what had happened played in his mind over and over again. All he saw were images of himself being raped. He feared for our daughter’s safety, and he fell into a deep depression. [...]

He did not want to talk. He wanted to forget. [....]

And then it happened.

Our community exploded.

Headlines read as follows: “Hariedi Rabbi Exposed in Rape Sex Scandal”, “Prominent Marriage Counsellor Inappropriate with Married Women.”The list can go on and on. And then the big one:“Rabbi Resigns from All Positions”

During the course of these past few months, we have watched the biggest cover-up in our community unfurl. Finally, this Rabbi is being exposed for the heinous crimes he has committed. Not only did he cover up for rapists and pedophiles, but he was a molester himself. [...]

But finally, my husband is beginning to heal. [...]

I would not say my husband empathises with or understands the man that raped him. But to this day, he is not willing to press charges against him or speak to the police. Therefore, there is a pedophile roaming the streets of our community and has gotten away scot free.

And that is the hardest part for me. I need this man to be punished. I feel like he has ruined my husband’s life and my own.

I do not think that my husband realises what our sex life could be like if he had not been raped, or maybe he does realize but he does not want to dwell on it, because the harsh reality is that the lack of sex, has led to the lack of a pregnancy. We have been desperate for a second child for over a year; but until now, we have not been able to make that happen because of the lack of intercourse.

I stand by my husband and I am patient for him because I love him. I love him unconditionally, partly because I know he is my soul mate and partly, I make the extra effort because I know he has no one else in the world that can love him unconditionally. [....]

During the course of these past few months, we have watched the biggest cover-up in our community unfurl. Finally, this Rabbi is being exposed for the heinous crimes he has committed. Not only did he cover up for rapists and pedophiles, but he was a molester himself.

But as always, there will always be the poor misguided souls that will follow their leader to whichever depths of the lowest places they will go.There were those that fought back, and the fights are still taking place.It is far from over.

Divorce strategy: Wives try to use racketeering law against rich husbands in court

NY Post  These rich wives have at least one thing in common with John Gotti — they know their RICO laws inside and out.

The well-heeled wives are trying to use the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — which famously took down the Teflon Don — to nail their wealthy husbands during divorce battles.

The women claim that their husbands have hidden away cash that they have a right to — and they are trying to use the federal racketeering law to grab the dough.

While RICO was enacted in 1970 “to get to corrupt families under the name of the Mafia, there’s a certain symmetry [with divorce cases] because oftentimes . . . you have the corrupt spouse in cahoots with others, often family members or paramours,’’ said family-law expert Michael Stutman.</ Patricia Cohen, the ex-wife of billionaire Steven Cohen, pioneered the tactic in 2009. [...]

A judge tossed the civil RICO charge last year — but that hasn’t stopped at least six more New York and New Jersey women from using the statute in a similar way. One of Stutman’s clients, Rivky Stein, brought a RICO suit against her ex, Yoel Weiss, in Brooklyn. Stein alleged that Weiss laundered money from an illegal importing business through his aunt and uncle’s plumbing supply company so he could claim poverty to the matrimonial judge.

Brooklyn federal court Judge Brian Cogan tossed the case, finding that the people whose merchandise was stolen, not Stein, were the RICO victims.

Chabad's official response to testimony at the Australian Royal Commision abuse hearings - Will Vienna be the next topic?

Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch in New York has issued a statement in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse  hearing dealing with the Sydney Yeshiva and the Melbourne Yeshivah.

“The Board of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, has been following Australia’s Royal Commission proceedings into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse. While we appreciate the need for patience as the process takes its due course, some of the testimony which was shared with the Commission is extremely alarming, and we feel compelled to comment even before the Commission issues its findings and recommendations.

We are appalled and deeply pained to learn of the allegations against individuals associated with some of the Chabad institutions in Australia. The information that has emerged is utterly disturbing, a profound violation of the non-negotiable principles implicit– and explicit–in any and every situation where the wellbeing of a child is entrusted to the care of an educational institution.

The first, foremost and overriding concern of every one of our educational institutions, and of each individual affiliated in any way with those institutions, is the protection—physical, emotional and psychological—of any and every child entrusted to it.

We are confident that the reports emanating from Australia are the rare and unfortunate exception to our institutions; however in light of the allegations now under investigation, we are reviewing procedures and protocol to see how these can be improved and enhanced for better implementation and enforcement. Indeed, given the devastating and long-lasting effects of child sex abuse now well-known, teachers, administrative and other school personnel who become aware of any incidents of such abuse, must act responsibly and report them to authorities without delay

The unfortunate incidents alleged to have occurred in Australia may have well been avoided if the institutions in question would have adhered to the Child Safety Code guidelines of the Merkos Educational Office. We will therefore take additional steps to ensure strict adherence of these codes by all Chabad-Lubavitch educational institutions, and we will continue to explore additional measures to raise awareness among school personnel, about the dangers, risks and indications of offenses of sexual abuse and misconduct.

We commend the efforts of the Royal Commission, and trust that their involvement in this matter will not only address the immediate situation, but that they will provide broader recommendations as well that will be instrumental in ensuring a safe, sound and positive environment within all schools. We welcome and value their insight.

The decision on the part of the victims to come forward cannot have been an easy one. But it was the courageous and correct one. For in their willingness to do so, they have contributed to a heightened awareness that will prevent other children from falling victim. The suffering and consequences of such abuses are often life-long, and as such, every instance of prevention is a life saved.<

In our ethos, every life is a world. Every child represents a world, worthy and deserving of our greatest investment towards their safety and nurture. The victims who have stepped forward to report abuse have surely saved many, many lives, each of them a world unto itself. For this, we applaud them. We pray that they will find healing and the strength to move on. G-d bless them with goodness and kindness.”

Mass shaming of others on Internet:How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life

NY Times

As she made the long journey from New York to South Africa, to visit family during the holidays in 2013, Justine Sacco, 30 years old and the senior director of corporate communications at IAC, began tweeting acerbic little jokes about the indignities of travel. There was one about a fellow passenger on the flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport:

“  ‘Weird German Dude: You’re in First Class. It’s 2014. Get some deodorant.’ — Inner monologue as I inhale BO. Thank God for pharmaceuticals.”

Then, during her layover at Heathrow:

“Chilly — cucumber sandwiches — bad teeth. Back in London!”

And on Dec. 20, before the final leg of her trip to Cape Town:

“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”

She chuckled to herself as she pressed send on this last one, then wandered around Heathrow’s international terminal for half an hour, sporadically checking her phone. No one replied, which didn’t surprise her. She had only 170 Twitter followers. [...]

By the time Sacco had touched down, tens of thousands of angry tweets had been sent in response to her joke. Hannah, meanwhile, frantically deleted her friend’s tweet and her account — Sacco didn’t want to look — but it was far too late. “Sorry @JustineSacco,” wrote one Twitter user, “your tweet lives on forever.” [...]

It’s possible that Sacco’s fate would have been different had an anonymous tip not led a writer named Sam Biddle to the offending tweet. Biddle was then the editor of Valleywag, Gawker Media’s tech-industry blog. He retweeted it to his 15,000 followers and eventually posted it on Valleywag, accompanied by the headline, “And Now, a Funny Holiday Joke From IAC’s P.R. Boss.”

Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Imam Stir Rifts in Insular Ilinois Community

NY Times    She ordinarily did not wear a veil. But it was required at the Islamic school where she worked, and she remembers being surprised when the head of the school, a conservative imam, suggested that she remove it.

When the imam, Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, came into her office, she said, he would sometimes touch her cheek or put an arm around her shoulder. Mr. Saleem was revered in her close-knit community, and she did not object at first. But simply being alone together represented a forbidden intimacy, and looking back, she said those first gestures should have been more alarming.

“It’s not something that gets done,” the 23-year-old woman said recently. “Men and women don’t even shake hands.”

Over time, she said the touching became more aggressive, reaching a point that she did something almost unheard-of in her community. She told people: her family, a social worker, an Islamic scholar. Recently, she went to the police. As word spread of what she had told them, three other women came forward, telling detectives that as young girls they had been molested by Mr. Saleem.[...]

Abuse allegations against Catholic priests and Jewish rabbis have brought similar anguish to insular communities suddenly exposed to outsiders, in a crisis. But the Chicago case comes with added baggage in a community where discussion of sex is taboo and many girls are forbidden to attend school health classes. Dating is uncommon or secretive, many marriages are arranged, and a blemish on a young woman’s reputation can render her unmarriageable.

The accusations are particularly jarring because of Mr. Saleem’s stature. “In the South Asian community, he is like Billy Graham. He’s the archbishop of Chicago,” said Omer Mozaffar, an Islamic scholar who serves as the Muslim chaplain at Loyola University Chicago and who acted as a mediator between Mr. Saleem and his first accuser last year.

Mr. Saleem said in a brief phone interview that his accusers “are lying.” He referred questions to his lawyer, Thomas T. Glasgow, who said that after an internal investigation by the school, “I have not seen any evidence to substantiate anything.” [...]

10 hours of fear and loathing in Paris: A reporter walks the street of Paris wearing a kipa and tzitzis

One month after the terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, NRG's correspondent, wearing a tzitzit and a kippa, took what proved to be an intimidating walk across the French capital. "What is he doing here Mommy? Doesn’t he know he will be killed?" one little boy asked, saying it all

Welcome to Paris 2015, where soldiers are walking every street that houses a Jewish institution, and where keffiyeh-wearing men and veiled women speak Arabic on every street corner. Walking down one Parisian suburb, I was asked what I doing there. In modern-day Paris, you see, Jews are barred from entering certain areas.  [...]

For 10 hours I quietly walked down the streets and suburbs of Paris, with photographer Dov Belhassen documenting the day using a GoPro camera hidden in his backpack. Given the tensions in Paris, which is still reeling from a wave of terrorist attacks (including the murder of Charlie Hebdo magazine journalists), I was assigned a bodyguard.[...]



At times it was like walking in downtown Ramallah. Most women were wearing a veil or a hijab, most men appeared to be Muslim, and Arabic was prevalent everywhere. We decided ahead of time that I was to walk through these areas quietly, without stopping anywhere, without speaking to anyone, without so much as looking sideways. My heart was pounding and negative thoughts were running through my head. I would be lying if I said I was not afraid. [..]

In one of the mostly-Muslim neighborhoods, we walked into an enclosed marketplace. "Look at him! He should be ashamed of himself. What is he doing walking in here wearing a kippa?!" one Muslim merchant yelled. "What do you care? He can do whatever he wants," another, seemingly unfazed merchant, answered. Over at a nearby street I was lambasted with expletives, mostly telling me to "go f*** from the front and the back." [...]

They made it clear to us that we had better get out of there, and we took their advice. "A few more minutes and this would have been a lynching," the bodyguard told me as we were getting into the car. "Leave this area right now."   

Is this what life is like for Paris' Jews? Is this what a Jew goes through, day in and day out, while walking to work or using public transportation? The majority of French Jews do not flaunt their religion, as the Jewish community leaders have urged them to wear hats as they walk to and from work, or go bareheaded. But what about nighttime? Well, Jews prefers to stay inside in the evening. It is safer at home

Op-Ed: Why are They Converting to Islam?

Arutz 7  One of the things that worries the West is the fact that hundreds and maybe even thousands of young Europeans are converting to Islam, and some of them are joining terror groups and ISIS and returning to promote Jihad against the society in which they were born, raised and educated. The security problem posed by these young people is a serious one, because if they hide their cultural identity, it is extremely difficult for Western security forces to identify them and their evil intentions. This article will attempt to clarify the reasons that impel these young people to convert to Islam and join terrorist organizations.

The sources for this article are recordings made by the converts themselves, and the words they used, written here, are for the most part unedited direct quotations.

Many of the converts are convinced that Islam is a religion of peace, love, affection and friendship, based on the generous hospitality and warm welcome they receive from the Moslem friends in their new social milieu. In many instances, a young person born into an individualistic, cold and alienating society finds that Muslim society provides  – at college, university or  community center – a warm embrace, a good word, encouragement and help, things that are lacking in the society from which he stems. The phenomenon is most striking in the case of those who grew up in dysfunctional families or divorced homes, whose parents are alcoholics, drug addicts, violent and abusive, or parents who take advantage of their offspring and did not give their children a suitable emotional framework and model for building a normative, productive life.[...]

Converts to Islam report that reading the Koran and uttering the prayers add a spiritual meaning to their lives after years of intellectual stagnation, spiritual vacuum and sinking into a materialistic and hedonistic lifestyle. They describe the switch to Islam in terms of waking up from a bad dream, as if it is a rite of passage from their inane teenage years. Their feeling is that the Islamic religion has put order into their lives, granted them a measuring stick to assess themselves and their behavior, and defined which actions are allowed and which are forbidden, as opposed to their "former" society, which couldn't or wouldn't lay down rules. They are willing to accept the limitations Islamic law places on Muslims, thereby "putting order into their lives" after "a life of inanity" that they led before "discovering the light" of Islam that cleansed them from all their past sins and mistakes.[...]

One of the significant sources of converts in the USA is the prison system, and there, the overwhelming majority of converts are African Americans. Thousands of them see Islam as a return to roots dating from the days before their ancestors were sold into slavery. They generally do not know that the biggest slave traders were Muslim Arabs that overran idol-worshipping African villages and sold their inhabitants into slavery. And in Arabic, blacks are still called "slaves".[...]

Australia's most senior rabbi sent text message calling abuse victims' father a 'lunatic', royal commission hears

ABC Australia    Australia's most senior rabbi sent a text message calling a father whose children were molested at Melbourne's Yeshivah College a "lunatic" who neglected his children, the royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard.

Rabbi Meir Kluwgant admitted sending the message about Zephaniah Waks to the editor of the Australian Jewish News, Zeddy Lawrence, on February 3.

The Waks's lawyer Melinda Richards SC put it to the rabbi that he sent an SMS to Mr Lawrence which read: "Zephaniah is killing us, Zephaniah is attacking Chabad, he is a lunatic on the fringe, guilty of neglect of his own children, where was he when all this was happening?". [...]

Manny Waks posted a message on social media in which he called for Rabbi Kluwgant to resign or be sacked immediately "from every leadership position he currently holds".

"We have just heard the most senior rabbi of Australasia, Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant ... publicly admit to sending a shocking, vile message to the editor of the Australian Jewish News, viciously attacking my father (during his testimony at the RC, no less) and blaming him for the sexual abuse of his three children (myself included)," he wrote.

"Rabbi Kluwgant has been one of the leading forces behind the horrific intimidation campaign against me and my family.

"Until today it was difficult to prove. It has finally been exposed publicly."

More results from the Waks family's courage: Rabbi Abraham Glick resigned from Yeshivah College

The Age  The former principal of Yeshivah College from the period that sex offenders David Cyprys and David Kramer were abusing students has resigned as a teacher at the school.

Rabbi Abraham Glick was the principal of Melbourne's Yeshivah College between 1986 and 2007.

Asked at the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Abuse on Thursday whether he thought resigning from any remaining positions at the Yeshivah Centre and Yeshivah College "would assist the victims to move on from the wrongs of the past", he announced that, after much "soul searching", he had decided to resign as a teacher.

"I resigned because I felt that [will help meet the] needs of the victims that would want me to resign.

"In the interim... I will resign from any positions that I hold in the Yeshivah College. I [have] resigned from any association with the school because that's where the abuse took place and it was under my leadership. I haven't taken this lightly."

The rabbi, who is still a member of Yeshivah Centre's spiritual leadership, Vaad Ruchni, said he would also review his position there in light of the royal commission's findings.

He is the second person to resign since the commission began its hearing last week on Yeshivah Melbourne and Yeshiva Sydney's responses to child sexual abuse. Senior Sydney Rabbi Yosef Feldman resigned as a director of Yeshiva's board of management after his testimony on Wednesday.

On Thursday Rabbi Glick also denied victims' claims that he knew they had been sexually abused by Cyprys years before he, Cyprys, had been convicted of his crimes. Rabbi Glick said he only learned of this close to Cyprys' conviction in 2011. Cyprys is serving a five-year, six-month sentence for indecent assault charges against children from when he was involved in Yeshivah Centre's sporting, educational, religious and youth programs. [...]

Rabbi Glick apologised to victims, saying he felt "sickened" that they had been abused under his watch.

"I see that many mistakes were made. We should've been more vigilant. We should've responded better. I think that from 2007 we started that process. And today things are very different."

Under cross-examination by AVR's lawyer, Dr Kristine Hanscombe, QC, he conceded he had never before personally apologised to victims or offered them any help. [....]

Seruv against Ziva Citronenbaum for going to arka'os and not beis din

Chabad Rabbi explains how important it is to help others- Lesson for Australia and Vienna?

The R Avraham Ort family tragedy: A Lakewood avreich forced to flee America after his wife asked for a divorce - but refused to go to beis din, his children are alienated and she took his inheritance of millions of dollars

I recently spent time listening to Rabbi Avraham Ort tragic story. How he went from a fulfilling and happy life of Torah study, a fine wife, wonderful children - all supported by an inheritance millions of dollars.- to an impoverished refugee, divorced and with all his children turned against him. What he said was shocking and I found it hard to believe this story. However the validation of what he told me - the details and full documentation (Letters from Rabbis) are on the site Emes VShalom . This is a case of someone  who says, "We were happy for many years then my wife asked for a divorce but I don't know why"

It boils down to his wife going to secular court - without permission of beis din and getting his inheritance from his father ($7,000,000). He was ordered to pay child support of $25,000 a month - however after being left penniless he left America to avoid the court created obligations. His children were told that their father left them penniless and that they subsisted on money from tzedaka. His children have been totally alienated and now hate him because of what they heard from their mother. He gave her a Get without a fight - even though it was his only real weapon against her use of the secular courts to bankrupt him.

At this point the goal  - agreed to by the gedolim - is that the issue needs to be settled in beis din. His wife has consistently refused despite the clear directives of the gedolim (Letters from Rabbis).

He has asked me to publicize his case to help create pressure on his former wife - with the hope that this Ort family tragedy be resolved through the involvement  of a proper beis din. I suggested that he write letters directed at his alienated children and that I would publish them.  The first letter will appear soon.

If his ex-wife would like to write her perspective on the events - I will be glad to publish it. Please take the  time to read the documentation on the Emes VShalom site

Rabbi James Kennard: Chabad's shameful response to injustice in Australia and Vienna

Guest post by Rabbi James Kennard, principal of one of Australia’s largest Jewish school

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

In January 2014 I commented in the Australian Jewish News on the impending departure of the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Sydney, and suggested that one Modern Orthodox rabbi should be replaced with another, rather than a Chabadnik

This reasonable notion outraged the Chabad leadership in Australia to such an extent that, although unable to pen a reply themselves, they recruited Rabbi Schochet from London to write a hatchet-job, vehemently attacking both me and the very idea that not every synagogue needs to be led by a Chabad rabbi.

My response was a column, published in the Australian Jewish News on 13 February 2014 in which, inter alia, I detailed a number of moral failures that Chabad had shown in Australia and elsewhere. I complained about the lack of any call for the leadership to take responsibility for the child abuse and the cover-up in Melbourne; I referred to the support that the Chabad director and the Chabad organization in Vienna had given to an abusive husband and a corrupt court system that were conspiring against a suffering mother and her two children.

The answer was denial, vilification and threats. The avoidance of any responsibility for numerous acts of abuse in Melbourne and Sydney continued, together with the blaming of victims. Now, the tide begins to turn, but tearful apologies at the Royal Commission are far too little and far too late. And we still await the resignations and the completely fresh start that will demonstrate that the organization has learnt and changed.

It is possible that what is left of the reputation of Chabad in Australia may one day be redeemed, but that would be far in the future. Meanwhile, there is still a chance for Chabad to correct its appalling complicity with the injustice in Vienna. There is still time for the Chabad leadership to demand that Rabbi Biderman, the organizations director in that city cease ignoring the plight of this mother and her children, cease claiming to be “too busy” or “not able to interfere”, cease treating the abusive father as a respected member of his congregation, and start to actively assist the oppressed. As a very small first step, he could facilitate the weekly visits of the children to their mother, which the father is currently illegally denying since “he cannot find any way of arranging it” (Rabbi Biderman’s response to date has been to ignore this most modest suggestion entirely)

There is still time for supporters of Chabad worldwide to cease claiming that Vienna is “too far away” or “Rabbi Biderman is respected” or “there are always two sides to the story”. There are indeed two sides to this story; good and evil.

We are watching the claims by Chabad Rabbis in Australia that they did not know what was happening here unravel before our eyes. When Chabad is held to account for its role in the tragedy in Vienna, they will not even be able to cling to that excuse. They know and they look away. If Chabad genuinely wants to learn from its mistakes, the time for action is now.

Weiss supplement to motion to dismiss Rivky's allegations

Click to see - Initial Motion to dismiss allegations
===============================================

update This is one of the letters that Rivky wrote to a friend when she was allgedly being tortured, treated as a slave etc etc. You will notice that her letter indicates that she was having a great time. This letter was submitted others to Judge Cogan in the supplement motion below.

From: Rivky Weiss ....@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Photo from Feb 5, 2011

Date: February 14, 2011at11:25:16AM EST To: ..... @yahoo.com

thanks uch i miss you soooooo much i looooooooove it here just thinking of brooklyn depresses me thaey have so many government funded things for kids like a community center: center of town yea i made one really good friend plus other friendly friends and i have myh sis n law n my kids have couzins to play with etc i loooooooooooooooove it here my condo s gorgeouse it looks like a hotel cant describe its too nice lol

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

   BW Supplement Motion 2-10-15

Schlesinger Twins: Timely lessons to be learned from the Australian abuse scandal

picture not of Schlesinger twins

Guest Post by Beth Alexander

It has taken over 20 years for the victims of child abuse in Australia to finally be vindicated and awarded their day of justice at last. Not that anything could ever undo the pain and horror they suffered at the hands of the perpetrators at the time or remove the stain of guilty memories all those torturous years thereafter but at least now it is no longer they who have to carry the heavy burden of shame and silence.

This week marks the second in a two week government inquiry set up to investigate claims of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s and 1990s in Sydney and Melbourne. Commissioners of the Australian Royal Commission are currently hearing the victims and interrogating rabbis who were employed by the Yeshivah Centre at the time.

As details come to light, it is horrifying to discover that many of the highest ranking rabbis were informed about the abuse taking place but conspired to cover it up and instead shunned and silenced the victims. Their responses today make for shocking reading but perhaps these individuals, unfit to hold the title rabbi, are more shocked than anyone. Confident it had all been buried in the past, they never expected the scandal to resurface years later to destroy them and their families.

Austria is just one syllable away

Following these events while desperately fighting for justice for my own little boys here in Vienna is chilling. There are so many parallels. 'A week from hell' is how the past week has felt for the Australian Jewish community. I have spent the past four years in that hell - repeatedly calling on the rabbis in Vienna, on Chabad Vienna and the community leaders of Vienna to listen to our anguished pleas for help to end my own little boys' suffering. Instead of the protection, support and compassion their moral code of conduct obligates them to provide, I have also been met by stony silence, indifference and worse, ostracized and re-victimized over again for speaking out, as were the victims in Australia who naively misplaced their trust and confided in the rabbis about what was happening to them.

It's telling that victims in Australia were threatened not to breathe a word to the non-Jewish authorities because of mesirah yet in my case the rabbis and leaders in Vienna have repeated like a mantra, 'It must go though the courts' when they are fully aware  that the judicial process has been subverted by a member of the Jewish community, a high court judge who happens to be a friend of the father and convert to Judaism. Add to that an orthodox psychiatrist who tried (unsuccessfully) to have me committed to a mental hospital on the orders of my ex husband before admitting he had never met me, a false statement by a Chabad rabbi and a court issued gagging order on me and you have the makings of another giant cover up.

Unlike Australia today, not a single Austrian rabbi will be able to claim they didn't know about Samuel and Benjamin Schlesinger in their community.

Recently, one local at the centre of the Viennese community (who has never spoken to me directly) admitted to a trusted friend back home in the UK, 'This is a conspiracy against Beth.' Not only that, he warned portentously, 'The case of the Schlesinger twins will haunt this community. In ten years the rabbis will be shamed, they will have blood on their hands.'

While it is too late to save Manny Waks and the countless other victims who now have to live with their scars and somehow find the strength and courage to rebuild their shattered lives as emotionally and psychologically damaged adults, Sammy and Benji Schlesinger are still young enough to be saved. Will any lessons be learned from Australia?

Open Orthodox Launches Genteel War on Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington

Guest post by Joe Orlow

The Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington (RCW), also known as the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Washington famously bills itself as, "The only organization of Orthodox Rabbis in the Metropolitan Washington area that is responsible for kashrut supervision. (The Washington Vaad.) Maintains a Beth Din which deals with matters affecting Jewish Family Status, i.e. adoption in accordance with Jewish law, marriage, and divorce as well as with the adjudication and/or arbitration of financial disputes, and provides all services essential to the traditional Jewish community. Maintains the city-wide Chevrah Kadisha (provides services essential for the deceased)."

No more is this the whole story, if it ever was. A group of Rabbis and a Maharat, all closely affiliated with Rabbi Avi Weiss and his so-called Open Orthodox movement, have announced the formation of the Beltway Vaad. (The Beltway is a road that entirely encircles the Washington DC region, as a belt encircles a waist.)

This gang can claim some authority in as much as it includes Rabbi Joel Tessler. Rabbi Tessler was the Rabbi of one of the oldest and largest Orthodox Congregations in the DC region for many years. He was a member of the RCW before any of the current Rabbis joined the RCW. Interestingly, this Congregation, Beth Shalom, is listed as an affiliate of the RCW, although its current Rabbi is not. And there's the rub.

The Rabbis (aside from Rabbi Tessler) and Maharat of the Beltway Vaad are smarting from the fact that they have been excluded from "[t]he only organization of Orthodox Rabbis in the Metropolitan Washington area that is responsible for kashrut supervision...."

With the arrest of Rabbi Freundel, who was the Vice President of the Vaad, and the subsequent weakening of the Vaad from this scandal, the Open Orthodox clergy and lay people have seized the moment and made a push to become de facto leaders of Orthodoxy in the Greater Washington DC area. To become, in their words, the "Orthodox Leadership for the 21st Century."

 The Beltway Vaad is strongly positioned. They control Beth Shalom, the Congregation Rabbi Tessler headed. Shuls and schools closely connected to the RCW routinely have important events like fundraisers at Beth Shalom. Thus, the Beltway Vaad having their inaugural event at Beth Shalom is especially poignant. It should also be noted that Steven Lieberman, a vice-president of Beth Shalom, is chairman of the Yesivat Chovevei Torah, the Yeshiva Rabbi Avi Weiss started.

 This is the link to the press release about the new Vaad https://beltwayvaad.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Press-Release-Beltway-VAAD-Inauguration.pdf

This is a letter sent out by Maharat Ruth. Maharat Ruth is a full member of the Vaad. The reference in the letter to a Beit Din for conversion is critical. In the past, the RCW did not accept the conversions of some of the Rabbis who are now becoming part of the Beltway Vaad.

Dear friends, Rabbi Herzfeld and I wanted to share some exciting news with you. As some of you may know, we have been working with local Orthodox pulpit clergy on the formation of a new Vaad to serve the Greater Washington Orthodox Community. Today we officially launch the new "Beltway Vaad"!

In addition to Rabbi Herzfeld and me, The Beltway Vaad currently has the following members from area shuls:

Rabbi Nissan Antine - Beth Sholom Rabbi Joel Tessler - Beth Sholom Rabbi Uri Topolosky - Beth Joshua

Beltway Vaad Mission

The Beltway Vaad is a council of local, orthodox, pulpit clergy supporting one another as we serve the spiritual needs of our congregants and the larger community.

Guided by a set of shared core values, our Vaad aims to provide our communities with religious education, spiritual leadership, kosher supervision, and a Beit Din for conversion and other relevant matters. You can learn more about the specific goals of The Beltway Vaad on our website - www.beltwayvaad.org

Why do we need another Vaad?

Some people might wonder why is it necessary for our community clergy to have a second Vaad if we already have The Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington (RCGW) http://www.capitolk.org.

The answer to this question is that all of our members (with the exclusion of Rabbi Tessler) have not been granted admission into to the RCGW. We therefore feel that we cannot respond to the needs of our communities without a unified voice and a mechanism for collective action. We hope to have a very productive and collegial relationship with the RCGW and to work together with them for the benefit of the Washington Orthodox Community.

Lay Advisory Council

One very exciting aspect of the Beltway Vaad is that we will work in partnership with a Lay Advisory Council ("LAC"). The LAC will be a voice for communal concerns, its members will serve as ambassadors to the community and it will be a vehicle for accountability, transparency and an address for grievances against members of The Beltway Vaad. More information about the LAC can be found on the Beltway Vaad website.

Our Lay Advisory Council includes the following members:

Behnam Dayanim, Chair David Janus Bruce Wiener Tamar Zakheim Ahuva Orlofsky David Gillers Tovah Koplow Benjamin Neumann

Q and A session this Shabbat (Feb 14) - 15 minutes after Lunch There is obviously so much more information and not all of it can be communicated in an email. We know that some of you will have questions, concerns and suggestions. If you would like to learn more about The Beltway Vaad, please join Rabbi Herzfeld and me 15 minutes after lunch this Shabbat February 14 in the chapel. If you have specific questions, feel free to email them in advance to MaharatRuth@ostns.org 

Beltway Vaad inaugural event on March 8 at Beth Sholom Finally, We would like to invite you to our inaugural event - a Yom Iyun on Sunday Morning March 8 at Beth Sholom. The Yom Iyun will be a chance for community members to study Torah with the members of the Vaad, learn about our goals and mission and have questions answered. Please see the flyer for more details! https://beltwayvaad.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Beltway-Vaad-Yom-Iyun-March-8.pdf 

We look forward to our future work together! Maharat Ruth

-- 
Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman
Ohev Sholom: The National Synagogue
  1600 Jonquil Northwest
  Washington, DC
  20012
MaharatRuth@ostns.org
847-722-8287

New Harvard Policy Bans Teacher-Student Relations

NY Times     Harvard University has adopted a ban on professors’ having sexual or romantic relationships with undergraduate students, joining a small but growing number of universities prohibiting such relationships. The move comes as the Obama administration investigates the handling of accusations of sexual assault at dozens of colleges, including Harvard.

The ban clarifies an earlier policy that labeled sexual and romantic relationships between professors and the students they teach as inappropriate, but did not explicitly prohibit professors from having relationships with students they did not teach.

Harvard said Thursday that the change had been made after a panel reviewing the institution’s policy on Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, determined that the university’s existing policy language on “relationships of unequal status did not explicitly reflect the faculty’s expectations of what constituted an appropriate relationship between undergraduate students and faculty members.” It said the policy had been revised “to include a clear prohibition to better accord with these expectations.” [...]

 “Our rule is that if you are supervising, evaluating or grading someone, you should not have a sexual relationship with that person,” said Alison Johnson, a history professor who led the committee. [...]

After the courts found in the 1990s that universities could be financially liable for sexual harassment, many institutions — among them, the University of California and Yale — adopted formal policies forbidding sexual or romantic relationships between faculty and students.

Jesse Friedman: Convicted abuser - is he a victim of 'a vast moral panic?'

NY Times  Early in “Capturing the Friedmans,” the 2003 documentary that tells the harrowing story of a father and son charged in 1987 with the brutal sexual abuse of children on Long Island, one of the detectives on the case recalls her hesitation in the face of intense pressure from parents to prosecute quickly.

“Just charging somebody with this kind of a crime is enough to ruin their lives,” she said. “So you want to make sure that you have enough evidence, and that you’re convinced that you’re making a good charge.”

On Tuesday, the son, Jesse Friedman, who was released in 2001 after serving 13 years in prison, will be back in court, arguing once again for the disclosure of that evidence, which he says will help to prove his innocence. Twenty-seven years after he was first charged, prosecutors still refuse to give it to him.

From the beginning, the case was deeply flawed. The only evidence that Jesse and his father, Arnold, had abused anyone consisted of statements to the police by children and one of Jesse’s friends. Many of the statements were made after repeated or hourslong visits from detectives who would not leave until they heard what they wanted. None of the children had previously complained to anyone of any abuse. [...]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, similar cases were playing out across the country: extreme, often implausible allegations of mass sexual abuse of children by child care workers, leading to dozens of prosecutions and convictions. One federal appeals court has described the mood of the time as a “vast moral panic.”

The problem was that most of the charges weren’t true. Decades later, almost all the convictions of that era have been reversed. [...]

But Mr. Friedman says he pleaded guilty under the threat of an effective life sentence if he were convicted at trial.

In the years since his release, Mr. Friedman has been developing a case to clear his name, with the help of his lawyers and the documentary’s director, Andrew Jarecki. Among other things, the prosecution’s only adult witness has recanted, as have five of the children who said they had been abused. More than two dozen eyewitnesses at the computer classes where the abuse was allegedly committed now say no abuse occurred. Many students told investigators this at the time, but prosecutors did not share that with Mr. Friedman’s lawyer. [....]

In 2010, the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said “the police, prosecutors, and the judge did everything they could to coerce a guilty plea and avoid a trial,” and that there was a “reasonable likelihood” Mr. Friedman had been wrongfully convicted.

That concern was echoed by the only person outside the Nassau County district attorney’s office to have seen the full 17,000-page file in the Friedman case — a state trial judge named F. Dana Winslow. In 2013, after reviewing the file along with new pieces of evidence, Mr. Winslow ordered prosecutors to turn over “every piece of paper” generated in the case against Mr. Friedman, with a handful of names redacted. That has still not happened.

The [D.A. ]office says it re-confirmed Mr. Friedman’s guilt in a three-year, 155-page report it released in 2013, purporting to re-investigate the case. But whether or not Mr. Friedman can establish his innocence is for a court to decide, not for the prosecutors who tried the case in the first place. [...]

There have long been grave questions about the prosecution and guilty plea. And innocent people plead guilty surprisingly often. At the very least, Mr. Friedman — whose life has already been ruined — should be given a real chance to prove his innocence in court. If the Nassau County district attorney’s office is so confident of his guilt, and of the legitimacy of its prosecution, what is it afraid of?

Why is polygamy or incest between consenting adults or bestiality -prohibited if Consitution prohibits banning gay marriage?

Talking Points    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch to explain Wednesday at her confirmation hearing why polygamy wouldn't also become a constitutional right if if the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage was protected by the Constitution.

"If the Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional — that it violates the Constitution to try to limit marriage between a man and a woman, that's clearly the law of the land unless there's a constitutional amendment to change it — what legal rationale would be in play that would prohibit polygamy?" Graham asked. "What's the legal difference between a state ban on same-sex marriage being unconstitutional but a ban on polygamy being constitutional?"

"Could you try to articulate how one could be banned under the Constitution and the other not?" [...]
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 Bestiality - if animal not harmed?

CNS News      (December 20111) Senate Approves Bill that Legalizes Sodomy and Bestiality in U.S. Military

The Senate on Thursday evening voted 93-7 to approve a defense authorization bill that includes a provision which not only repeals the military law on sodomy, it also repeals the military ban on sex with animals--or bestiality.

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Incest between consenting adults?

USA Today

A state assemblywoman says she'll propose legislation banning adult incest, in the wake of a New York magazine interview with an anonymous Great Lakes-area 18-year-old who says she plans to informally marry her long-estranged biological father and move to New Jersey because there aren't penalties in the state so long as both participants in the sexual relationship are at least 18 years old.

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Additional question - Relationship of halacha of polygamy to ban of polygamy in secular society

If the cherem of Rabbeinu Gershom was based on the ban on polygamy in the Christian world in which Ashkenazi Jews then resided, would that ban no longer be relevant if/when polygamy becomes legal in the United States and the West?

Schlesinger Twins: Another Chabad rabbi supports Beth

Lubavitcher refuses to divorce his wife saying the Rebbe is alive and "paskened"

Psak Din

הבעל, שמאמין כי הרבי חי, התעמר באשתו ובילדיו במשך שנים. בית הדין הרבני שחרר את האישה וקבע: "יחיה הוא בחייו כרצונו אך יעזוב את אשתו לנפשה."

גבר ואישה נישאו ב-1991. לשניהם היו אלה נישואין שניים: האישה הייתה אלמנה עם שני ילדים, ואילו הבעל גרוש עם שני ילדים. לבני הזוג נולדו ארבעה ילדים משותפים, שלושה מהם בגירים ואחת קטינה. הם נישאו בישראל ולאחר מכן עברו לדרום אפריקה. ב-2009 עזבה האישה את הבית ואת דרום אפריקה, ועברה לגור בניו יורק ליד הוריה. מאז ועד היום הבעל ממשיך לגור בדרום אפריקה והאישה בניו יורק.

לשאלות בענייני משפחה:

תחילה פתחה האישה בהליכים נגד הבעל בבית הדין ביוהנסבורג בדרום אפריקה. הבעל סירב לשתף כל פעולה עם בית הדין בדרום אפריקה, שבתגובה הוציא נגדו "כתב סירוב וחרם חמור".

לרגל חתונת בנם המשותף שמתגורר בישראל, הגיעו השניים לארץ. האישה ניצלה את ההזדמנות ופתחה תיק בבית הדין הרבני האזורי בתל-אביב, בו תבעה מבעלה לתת לה גט.

האישה טענה כי לאורך השנים שררה בבית אווירה קבועה של פחד וטרור. לטענתה, הבעל נהג בהתפרצויות זעם, צעקות וכינויי גנאי משפילים, גם כלפי הילדים, שאותם אף נהג להכות. לפני שש שנים עברה לניו יורק כי הרגישה שהיא פשוט לא יכולה יותר להמשיך כך.

לדבריה, הבעל מעולם לא עבד ולא פרנס, ואף לא נתן לה לצאת לעבודה, ובמשך כל השנים המשפחה התקיימה מתרומות שאביה אסף עבורם. אם לא די בזה, המשיכה, הבעל בהתנהגותו הביא לכך שהיא הייתה חייבת לשלוח שניים מילדיהם ללמוד בארה"ב בגלל הסכנה הרוחשת בבית.

הבעל – חסיד חב"ד שחי באמונה כי הרבי מלובביץ עדיין חי – טען כי קיבל מהרבי "איגרת" ובה ההוראה לא להתגרש, וזהו זה. הוא הכחיש את האלימות הפיזית והמילולית, הן כלפי האישה והן כלפי הילדים, וטען כי הילדים נשלחו לארה"ב כדי לקבל חינוך טוב יותר. 

Uziel Frankel - Rivky Stein's mentor - use of beis din to obtain house

I received the following document from Yoel Weiss regarding Uziel Frankel - Rivky Stein's mentor - problematic use of a beis din to obtain a house.

This allegations was referred to in the recent Weiss document to dismiss Rivky's charges.

http://daattorah.blogspot.co.il/2015/02/weiss-files-motion-to-dismiss-rivkys.html

"Mr. Frankel is very familiar with filing frivolous RICO complaints. He has done it unsuccessfully before in previous attempts to intimidate, threaten and harass innocent people. He even stole an innocent person's home and he was convicted when he was sued for that in State RICO complaint. (See Exhibit 4 attached.)"

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   Uziel Frankel - Petition to Confirm Arbitration Award 3-31-04-1 

Beaten wife receives Get by hiring false witnesses to tell the truth.Is this Get valid?

Rav Yizchok Zilberstein (Aleinu L'Shabeach Vayikra page 317) describes a strange case. A woman is being beaten by her husband. She goes and complains to beis din. They simply tell the husband to behave himself - but the beatings go on. There were no witnesses for her claims - which is common in such cases. Her brothers, seeing nothing was being done - hired two people to be false witnesses on her behalf and to testify that they saw the husband beating her. The beis din carefully examined the false witnesses and decided that they are telling the truth. Based on this testimony the beis din orders the husband to give his wife a divorce - which is the law in Shulchan Aruch.

After she received the Get she went to Rav Silberstein to ask whether she can remarry with a Get given because of false witnesses - who were telling the truth about her beating. She said, "It is clear that what the witnesses said was true that the husband beat me. But on the other hand they lied when they said that they witnessed it. Is the Get posul?"

Rav Silberstein felt that the Get was valid because we accept the principle that every Jew wants to do what is right in the eyes of G-d. The reason why we sometimes force the husband to give a Get is because his yetzer harah sometimes prevents him from doing the right thing. In this case the husband is well aware of the truth that he was beating his wife. In his heart he knows that he has an obligation to divorce his wife. Therefore we can consider that he gave the Get willingly - even though he was forced to give it.

However Rav Eliashiv did not agree with this reasoning and stated that it is prohibited to remarry with a  Get obtained through false witnesses. However in this case since the woman already has the Get there is no reason to tell the husband that Rav Eliashiv said the Get is not valid....It is possible to say to him that since the Get already is in the hands of his wife perhaps he will now write a get of his own free will...

Survivor tells Pope Francis to hand priests over to police as new Vatican child abuse commission starts work

Telegraph

Pope Francis should immediately hand over to the police all the Vatican documents on Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children and “cast out the vipers” who are still being protected by the Church, a British survivor of clerical abuse said.

The Catholic Church needs to end decades of obfuscation and cover-ups by fully cooperating with civil authorities around the world instead of protecting abusive priests, moving them from parish to parish or subjecting them only to canon law, said Peter Saunders.

Peter Saunders, who was sexually abused as a child in London by two Catholic priests and the headmaster of his Catholic primary school, was appointed by the Pope to a new Vatican commission on child protection, which will hold its first full meeting on Friday in Rome.

“The Pope should release all the documents the Vatican has on abusive priests,” he said in an interview shortly after arriving in Rome for the meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.[...]

New York Times' "The Orthodox Sex Guru" - furthered an inaccurate stereotype that Orthodox Jews are clueless about reality

Times of Israel     Last week, the paper of record contained a 3,000 word profile piece on Bat Sheva Marcus “Orthodox Sex Guru” who feeds into the hands of the New York Times by furthering the ignorant stereotype of unworldly Orthodox Jews clueless in the bedroom.
See original post

You don’t have to be a guru to recognize that rather than remaining in the dark ages as Marcus describes, in the last few years, Orthodoxy has been advancing in healthy sexual awareness, building on our rich treasure trove of holy traditions surrounding the spousal relationship. 

The Orthodox community in Israel is paving the way for healthy discourse and learning surrounding intimacy and sexuality. Where Dr. Marcus finds it challenging to gather a crowd for sexuality training course, we are seeing the opposite here in Israel.

In my work as an educator and therapist, I have found that the words ‘Orthodoxy’ and ‘Sex’ are not incongruous, but describe a fast growing and important area. There are a number of burgeoning organizations that offer training in the topic of intimacy to a variety of medical professionals, as well as kallah and chatan teachers.

In addition to numerous private practitioners, organizations like the Eden Center, Merkaz Yahel, the Puah Institute, and Nishmat’s Yoatzot Halacha Program, to name a few, are all doing pioneering work in expanding the healthy discussion surrounding intimacy and sexuality within the religious community in Israel.

In America steps are definitely being taken in this direction with pioneers taking the field in the form of religious and community leaders, among them; Drs. Scott and Rivky Chudnoff as well as Chani and Shmuel Maybruch. [...]