Pedophiles in the Jewish Community Are Going Unpunished

In a recent article published in the Yiddish Forward, journalist Rukhl Schaechter reports on the problem of unreported abuse and cover-ups within the Charedi community.

Below are links to the original article in Yiddish and an English translation commissioned by SFJ (Survivors for Justice) and approved by Ms. Schaechter.

=================== Forward 

Listening to the popular New York Jewish radio program, "The Zev Brenner Show," one suddenly heard the following commercial narrated by a woman speaking in authentic Hasidic Yiddish:"I am the mother of Yoeli Engelman. Yoeli is a survivor of sexual molestation. 15 years ago, when he was a child in cheder (elementary school), he was molested by his principal. This very principal today teaches in the same cheder, and the administration unashamedly defends him. This terrible crime and severe chilul Hashem (desecration of God's name) can only be dealt with by the Child Victims Act, which will force the administration to protect the innocent children instead of the guilty teacher. Fathers and mothers, Remember! Our children need us! Thank you." This commercial, aired by the SFJ (Survivors for Justice) -- an organization that combats sexual abuse in the orthodox world, mentions only one example of a serious problem in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world: Countless numbers of children, specifically boys, are sexually molested by their teachers, rabbis and other authority figures in the community, but little is being done to punish the perpetrators..

Vacation halachic guidance

YNET

Senior haredi rabbis advise on Halacha matters pertaining to yeshiva students' holiday period between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community ruled recently that during flights one is best advised to pray the Amidah prayer (The Standing Prayer) sitting down, restfully, rather than standing up.

This was his answer to haredi yeshiva students currently in the midst of the "Bein Hazmanim" holiday period - a break between Tisha B'Av and the beginning of Elul. Busy planning overseas vacations, the students were concerned about difficulties in saying all the customary prayers on board planes.[...]

Some Orthodox rabbis call for acceptance of homosexuals

YNET

Dozens of Orthodox rabbis have signed a statement of principles saying that religious communities must accept those of its members who are "active homosexuals" and their biological or adopted children, and that they must not be encouraged to undergo "change therapies" or marry someone of the opposite sex.

The statement was formulated following a panel held by the "rashei yeshiva ramim" six months ago in New York. The panel included three homosexual graduates of the Yeshiva University, and was hosted by its spiritual supervisor, Rabbi Yosef Blau. [...]

Grad rocket hit Ashkelon today

YNET

Military officials hope Friday morning's Grad rocket in Ashkelon was lone incident which will not be followed by escalation in south, although two mortar shells land in Eshkol Regional Council several hours later. 'They have longer range missiles,' head of Home Front Command's southern district tells Ynet [...]

Incest: Yichud of brothers & sisters

Igros Moshe1(E.H. 4:65.11): Concerning the permissibility of a brother and sister being secluded together alone occasionally - whether this also applies in a situation where they are living in their parents home which therefore means it a fixed arrangement. When they are alone together in the house is this considered on occasion and therefore permitted or since he is in fact living with her in a fixed manner it is not permitted for them to be alone - even though the seclusion is only occasional. It seems that the practice of the world is to permit this. Even when the parents have only one son and one daughter who are old enough to be obligated in mitzvos, they leave them alone in the house for hours even at night. No one is concerned about the issue of yichud in these circumstances for brother and sister - even religious people. It would seem that this leniency is implied by Rashi who writes (Kiddushin 81b) that "brother and sister can be secluded together occasionally but he does not dwell with her constantly in the house".... this implies that the permissibility of seclusion with a sister is even when they dwell together for an extended time. However the prohibition of seclusion with his sister is only if they are alone constantly together but if it is only occasionally that they are alone then it is permitted even when they are living together for an extended time. That is the reason for the widespread leniency in this matter. However there is no question that they are not to be left alone in the house for an extended time at nights on frequent occasions until this is viewed as the normal situation - and not just an occasional occurrence. In this matter it is not possible to specify the exact number of hours or times that it is prohibited. Rather each one needs to recognize in his sons and daughters what is appropriate.

What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D

New York Times

Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the fact remains that a huge part of the population — from robust newborns to the frail elderly, and many others in between — are deficient in this essential nutrient.

If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including the brain, heart, muscles and immune system, has receptors for vitamin D, meaning that this nutrient is needed at proper levels for these tissues to function well.[...]

Rethinking Criminal Sentences

NYTimes

A federal conviction for white-collar fraud is no guarantee of a heavy prison sentence. When five defendants in the fraud case involving the American International Group were sentenced, they could have faced life in prison; instead, a judge handed down sentences of one to four years for causing more than $500 million in losses. A Ponzi-scheme criminal who caused more than $40 million in losses got 25 years. A man convicted of securities fraud that caused more than $50 million in losses got a three-and-a-half-year sentence. [...]

Conversion:Supreme Court vs. Rabbinate

Jewish Star hat tip to RaP

Although some American Jewish leaders said this week that they will be entering upcoming negotiations over the proposed Israeli conversion bill free of preconceptions, a leader of Reform Jewry said there remains a “red line” for his movement.

“The critical point will be giving ultimate authority to the Chief Rabbinate, which is a fundamental violation of the status quo,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “In my opinion, that is the red line.

“If you write in the law [as currently proposed] that the Chief Rabbinate has the ultimate authority over conversions, 30 years of legal decisions [by Israel’s High Court of Justice] are thrown out,” Rabbi Yoffie continued. “For us, that is the most significant issue; everything else should be negotiated.”[...]

Student threatened with expulsion because of religious beliefs about homosexuality

ABC News

A Georgia student studying counseling says her university went too far in requiring her to change her Christian beliefs on homosexuality before she's allowed to graduate.

Backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, Jennifer Keeton has filed suit against Augusta State University after, she said, school officials threatened to dismiss her from its counseling program when she refused to participate in a "remediation" plan to increase her tolerance of gays and lesbians after she made it known that she believed homosexuality was a personal choice.

According to the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, school officials told Keeton that she was failing to conform to professional standards because of her views on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.[...]

Experts answer questions about internet privacy

NYTimes

Last week, we asked readers to submit questions to Michael Fertik, founder of ReputationDefender, and Paul Ohm, a law professor at the University of Colorado, in response to The New York Times Magazine article “The Web Means the End of Forgetting.”  Below are their responses. In some cases, we shortened the questions and fixed typos.

What is the best way to maintain an online alias for any material that you do not wish to be publicly connected to you, while still allowing friends and some acquaintances to stay in contact? [...]

Science & Free Will

NYTimes

In an influential article in the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Joshua Gold of the University of Pennsylvania and Michael Shadlen of the University of Washington sum up experiments aimed at discovering the neural basis of decision-making. In one set of experiments, researchers attached sensors to the parts of monkeys’ brains responsible for visual pattern recognition. The monkeys were then taught to respond to a cue by choosing to look at one of two patterns. Computers reading the sensors were able to register the decision a fraction of a second before the monkeys’ eyes turned to the pattern. As the monkeys were not deliberating, but rather reacting to visual stimuli, researchers were able to plausibly claim that the computer could successfully predict the monkeys’ reaction. In other words, the computer was reading the monkeys’ minds and knew before they did what their decision would be. [...]