‘Bank-fraud’ case jolts Satmar schools

new york post 

A massive federal bankruptcy case threatens to cripple the school system of Brooklyn’s Satmar community, whose operator is accused of a huge money-laundering scam, court records show.

The United Talmudical Academy is being sued for $200 million by a bankruptcy trustee who claims the UTA helped a big donor conceal bank fraud at the contributor’s company -- and the case is expected to go to trial early next year.

The trustee claims in Brooklyn federal bankruptcy court records that as far back as 1997, the UTA was helping the family of Victor Jacobs hide the fact that his Allou Distributors was cooking its books to boost its line of credit from a lender.

Up to 50 free copies of Child & Domestic Abuse vol I - available to rabbis & organization heads

My 3 volumes of Child and Domestic Abuse were published about a year ago. It has been sold in seforim stores and Amazon and  distributed without much fan-fare around the world. I have received very positive feedback from those who have read it, and at the same time have not received any criticism of the content or conclusions.

Now the time is right to give it more publicity and make it available to rabbis, lay leaders and community organizations. A generous donor has offered to pay the printing costs for up to 50 copies of volume one.

If you know someone influential in the Jewish community who you think would benefit from it, please send me [yadmoshe@gmail.com] the name, address and reason you think he should get a free copy. Obviously not everyone suggested will receive a copy. In addition, volume II dealing with the rabbinic literature will not be included nor will the summary volume III - except in special circumstances. I also only want names of those who will read it

Hatzola & protecting women from embarrassment - guest post by Ruchi Freier esq.

This guest post deals with the delicate issue of women's embarrassment and degradation when treated by their well-meaning and purely motivated neighbors in Hatzalo. In my own recent investigation of the matter I have found that - contrary to the common belief of men - it is a traumatic experience for many women. One posek I asked whether it was permissible to have women members responded, "Why is their a need for this when they have been going to male doctors for many generations?"

When I explained the difference between a doctor and a neighbor - he told me to speak to the director of that communities Hatzalo concerning the practicability and only then would he evaluate the proposed solution in terms of halacha. The director told me he would bring it up at the next general meeting. I spoke to a senior Hatzaloa member in Lawrence who felt that the issue of modesty was not common. However he said that even if there were a need and there were no halachic objection - the proposal would be rejected because of a more serious barrier. He said that one of the most important factors in saving life is response time.

He said it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to add another level to the organization without significantly increasing the response time. But he also was open to suggestions that would accommodate women's feelings. In sum, this is a legitimate question and concern for the Jewish community.

Case against convicted molester Leibovits crumbles

Forward

One of the most high-profile convictions of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi for sexual abuse in recent times may be in danger of reversal, according to new disclosures in court records obtained by the Forward.

When Baruch Lebovits was sentenced last year to up to 32 years in jail, victims’ rights advocates hailed it as a turning point in the battle against sexual abuse in the insular Orthodox community. [...]

But Lebovits’s 2010 conviction is now unraveling amid allegations of perjury, conspiracy and extortion.

Was Steve Jobs Smart? Nature of genius

New York Times

So was Mr. Jobs smart? Not conventionally. Instead, he was a genius. That may seem like a silly word game, but in fact his success dramatizes an interesting distinction between intelligence and genius. His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times magical. They were sparked by intuition, not analytic rigor. Trained in Zen Buddhism, Mr. Jobs came to value experiential wisdom over empirical analysis. He didn’t study data or crunch numbers but like a pathfinder, he could sniff the winds and sense what lay ahead.

He told me he began to appreciate the power of intuition, in contrast to what he called “Western rational thought,” when he wandered around India after dropping out of college. “The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do,” he said. “They use their intuition instead ... Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work.”

Mr. Jobs’s intuition was based not on conventional learning but on experiential wisdom. He also had a lot of imagination and knew how to apply it. As Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Rav Moshe Sternbuch: Parshas Bereishis

Rav Moshe Sternbuch: Halachic discussion of Shalit exchange