Harvard Hillel: $780k embezzled by accountant

Boston Globe Sept 14, 2010

A Framingham man was sentenced to state prison Friday for stealing more than $780,000 from Harvard University’s Hillel House during five years as the accountant for the nonprofit’s books through a financial management firm, according to the attorney general’s office.

William O’Brien, 58, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn Thursday to three counts of larceny over $250 and one count each of forgery and making false entries in corporate books.

He was sentenced to two to three years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation.

O’Brien also was ordered to pay $783,489 in restitution. He could not be reached for comment.

Judaism & Justice: Chief Rabbi Lord,Jonathan Sacks & Professor Michael Sandel.

The following link will bring you to the video presentation of Judaism and Justice: Judaism and Justice - A Conversation Between Chief Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks and Professor Michael Sandel. http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/1535

Gay rights: Exclusion from common law rights

ynet

Same-sax couples suffer setback Tuesday: Beersheba Family Court Judge Yeshayahu Tischler ruled that the term "man and wife" will mean only one thing in the eyes of the law - "In my opinion, the only legitimate interoperation for this term is male and female," he said.

The ruling, which was given after a lengthy legal battle over the inheritance of an academic figure that passed away, negated several previous rulings recognizing long-term relationships between same-sex couples as equal to common law marriage, awarding partners the same legal rights. [...]

Comics & Jewish education

New York Times

For a quarter century, Jewish children have hungrily followed the kooky adventures of the Shpy, the adventurous hero of The Moshiach Times, a family-friendly magazine that is published six times a year in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. (Think Highlights, but Jewish.)

With a closet full of disguises and more gadgets than 007, the Shpy volunteers his services when innocent people or ancient traditions are imperiled. He escapes from a giant Mixmaster when investigating a case of stolen hamantaschen, and thwarts a mysterious bee infestation that nearly spoils the fall holiday of Sukkot. In one installment, he invents a repellent to keep the sinister Yetzer Hora at bay, complete with a catchy slogan: “Let us Shpray.” (The softening of the S, when the Shpy shpeaks, so to speak, is meant to evoke Humphrey Bogart.) [...]

Does reality matter? Accepting one's llimits

Fox News

Scoring the team's only touchdown in a 35-6 loss is normally nothing to celebrate. But sometimes the touchdown counts as more than six points on the scoreboard.

In a high-school game in Snohomish, Wash. on Friday, the hometown Snohomish Panthers avoided a shutout in inspirational fashion as junior Ike Ditzenberger -- a 17-year-old with Down syndrome -- scored on a 51-yard touchdown run after entering the game for the first time with just 10 seconds remaining.[...]

Abuse: Facebook & pediophiles

Fox News

The world’s largest pro-pedophilia advocacy group uses Facebook to connect with its members throughout the world; to find and exchange photos of children; to hone its members' predatory behavior; and to identify, target and reel in child victims, an investigation by FoxNews.com reveals.

Facebook says it has a strict policy against the posting of content that supports groups engaged in child exploitation, yet a simple, five-second search on Facebook, conducted on Sept. 23, yielded dozens of pages devoted to the infamous North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). Many of those pages featured numerous photos of unnamed boys, some of whom appeared to be too young for kindergarten.  [...]

Child abuse:Bringing out the crazies

When I started working on my book of abuse I was well aware that the issue elicits strong emotions. I was well aware that the traditional understanding of halacha and rabbinic authority and the suspicion of mental health workers as well as the inherent disgusting nature of abuse  and informing the government - would cause some talmidei chachomim to disagree strongly.

But what has actually happened so far is something far different. In the last two year there has been a strong shift of the mainstream chareidi organizations and rabbinical authorities to publicly acknowledge the need for involvement of mental health workers, lawyers and even the police. In fact so far I have not found any talmid chachom that I talked with who is strongly opposed to my views. As one of my friends said, "the pendulum is already swinging toward a more enlightened view and if you don't get your book out soon then it will be the mainstream view instead of a pioneering effort."

Instead what is happening is that it is bring out the crazies. These people are very frum - some are FFB and others are well educated baalei teshuva - who are acting weird in the clinical sense because of the discussion of this topic. They present themselves as if they were concerned with piety and knowledge of the halacha - when in fact it has nothing to do with halacha and everything to do with mental illness. In fact none of them display an understanding of the halachic issues. But that doesn't stop them from viewing me and others as a manifestation of Satan. This is clearly seen by the individual who has sent in a number of off the wall comments to the posting of the excerpt of R' Micha Berger essay. I have received a number of emails containing very strange comments - that have everything to do with the break down of ego boundaries and clear indications of trauma and disassociative states and nothing to do with dealing with abuse. In short they act as if they have been abused or have suffered severe trauma or mental illness and perhaps are currently abusing others.