Police arrest 4 orthodox men on suspicion of paedophilia

JPost

Four ultra-Orthodox men were arrested by Jerusalem police in the past week on suspicion of sexually abusing children in their neighborhood between the ages of three and 13 over the past two to three years. According to the police, the men would lure the children into their apartments using promises of candy, money, or movies, and then would abuse the children.

Ami Magazine trashes critics of having submission to rabbinic control as the paramount value - in reporting abuse - rather than the safety of our children

Editorial by the publisher of Ami Magazine - R' Yitzchok Frankfurter July 27, 2011 page 6

 [Bold text was added for emphasis]

The unspeakable tragedy of Leiby Kletzkys murder united humankind as few things recently have. People of every race and creed expressed their heartfelt pain over what happened to that innocent, angelic child. However, as Rabbi Avi Shafran rightly points out in his columns this week, while it may have united people far and wide, an all-too-public exception found its way into the Jewish world. 

The New York Jewish Week, a publication that has long been viewed by many as anti-Orthodox, saw in the tragedy an opportunity for slander. In its editorial entitled "Lessons from Leiby," dated July 19, 2011, it seems to fault Leiby's parents for reaching out immediately to Shomrim, and goes on to state: 

"While many rabbinic authorities encourage their constituents to contact police immediately in cases of suspected abuse ... or other crises, there is still a stigma in some Orthodox communities to seek help from the authorities.

"Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union, has often noted that when your house is on fire, you call the fire department, not your rabbi. Similarly, he maintains, when there is a suspected crime, the first call should be to the police. 

"But that logic has been slow to take hold in some neighborhoods, sometimes with unfortunate results.

"In the meantime, attention should be focused on strengthening legislation for mandated reporting in New York to emulate states like New Jersey, where any person having reasonable cause to suspect abuse is required to report. Such legal action would prevent neighborhood watchdog groups from withholding from the police potentially vital information about suspects. This is particularly timely in light of reports that several neighbors of the accused killer say he had tried to abduct other boys in the neighborhood. Such incidents need to be reported." 

No one else, from governmental authorities to major media, found any connection between the horrific crime perpetrated by a fiend named Levi Aron and this prejudiced publication's pet issue: the alleged failure by the Orthodox community to report abusers to the police. In addition to the weekly's gross insensitivity in raising such accusations during a period of mourning, the charge is false. Just this very week, Agudath Israel of America publicized once again the ruling of gedolei Yisrael "that when certain standards have been met it is not only permitted but in fact obligatory to report suspicions of abuse .... Where there is 'raglayim la'davar' (roughly, reason to believe) that a child has been abused ... the matter should be reported to the authorities.... " 

The only caveat: "Because the question of reporting has serious implications for all parties, and raises sensitive halachic issues, the individual should not rely exclusively on his own judgment to determine the presence or absence of raglayim la’davar. Rather, he should present the facts of the case to a rabbi who is an expert in halacha and who also has experience in the area of abuse - someone who is fully sensitive both to the gravity of the halachic considerations and the urgent need to protect children." 

Some were upset by the directive to consult with a rabbi. What is wrong, though with seeking rabbinical guidance before going to the police? This is but the Orthodox way of life. Yet this halachic ruling of leading decisors has been distorted not only by The Jewish Week, but by a gaggle of "activist” groups, falsely contending that the Orthodox people are obligated to go to a rabbi instead of the police, when that is not what the rabbinic ruling said at all. 

While The Jewish Week claims that it seeking to help our community, when was the last time it reached out to assist challenged Orthodox children who are not victims of a crime? There is virtually no reportage about our children who may be learning disabled or suffering from serious disease. These poor souls, too, need our compassion and help. But, to The Jewish Week, crimeless victims seem of limited interest. Apparently, when an issue that affects the Orthodox community does not provide an opportunity to criticize or misrepresent, is ignored. 

It is true that there are Jewish people, even within our own community, who have come to distrust rabbonim on the issue of abuse. Perhaps that is why some have joined the chorus of condemnation of the ruling that a rabbi should be consulted prior to reporting to governmental authorities. But instead of denouncing the rabbonim, it would be more constructive to assist rabbis in becoming more aware of the dangers and signs of abuse. Seminars for rabbis on this issue, perhaps sponsored by the Agudah, would certainly be a step in the right direction. 

Despite the detractors, at the same time that we seek to protect our children, respect for our rabbinic leadership is paramount. Protecting our children and respecting our leaders are our solemn duties that will also lead to a more promising future.

Reporting Child Abuse:Care Enough to Call

What is a Mandated Reporter?

Why do non-Jews bashing Israel claim to be Jewish?

JPost

Defending his participation in the latest flotilla operation in an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza, Gabriel Matthew Schivone, an American university student, stressed in a late June Ha’aretz opinion piece that he is one of a growing number of young American Jews seeking to disassociate himself from Israel.

There is, however, a rather large factual wrinkle with Schivone’s account – he appears to have falsified his Jewish identity.[...]

Kletsky Killing Renews Calls For Oversight of Yeshivas

Forward

A number of child-safety proposals have been floated in the wake of the murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky in Brooklyn’s Boro Park neighborhood.

One proposal might stand out to New York State residents as a commonsense initiative: mandatory background checks and fingerprinting for private school employees.

The checks would not have prevented the murder of Kletzky. Accused killer Levi Aron, also a Jew from Boro Park, abducted the boy off the street in July as the child walked home from a neighborhood summer camp. But advocates contend that such regulation would codify one lesson of the murder: that Orthodox communities can no longer place blind trust in their own.

“The point that we bring to the table is that we Jews can’t do it ourselves,” said Elliot Pasik, president of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children. “We can’t self-govern. We can’t police ourselves. We need laws for child safety.”[....]

Young woman recounts her escape from Breslaver cult

Haaretz

In mid-May, a young woman called the Israel Center for Cult Victims, asking that her identity be kept secret. "I live in a Jerusalem collective," she told center director Rachel Lichtenstein. "I'm not certain, but I think it's a cult."

That call led to the exposure of the Jerusalem cult whose ringleader, D., was indicted yesterday along with two other members. 

In several meetings with center staffers, the caller, in her early twenties, revealed the story of her life in D.'s house. She later agreed to complain to the police. Her detailed testimony about the physical, sexual and emotional abuse inflicted on the household's women and children led to an investigation that ended with the police and welfare authorities raiding the house. The women and children were sent to shelters; D. and two others were arrested. 

Now, according to her lawyer, Ami Savir, the complainant will be the key prosecution witness in the trial.

Bnei Brak teacher arrested on charges of sexual abuse

JPOST

An indictment was filed on Thursday in the Tel Aviv District Court against Rabbi Yaakov Vimer, a Bnei Brak teacher suspected of carrying out serious sexual offenses against one of his students.

According to the charge sheet, filed by Attorney Claudia Bilenka of the Tel Aviv District Attorney's office, 52-year-old Vimer committed sodomy and sexual assault on the young boy over a period of two years, from 2002 - 2003. The victim was 12 years old when the alleged abuse started. [...]

Abusive Breslover cult [Video]

International child porn ring encouraged abuse

The keys of Baba Elazar - a false embellishment

BCHOL

שעה קלה לאחר הרצח המזעזע של המקובל רבי אלעזר אבוחצירא זצ"ל, נלקח הרב לבית החולים 'סורוקה', שם ביצעו הרופאים בדיקת סי טי בגופו הטהור.

הבדיקה השגרתית שנערכת לאחר כל רצח, השאירה - לדברי משפחת אבוחצירא - את הרופאים בהלם מוחלט.

מקורבו של ה'באבא אלעזר', יוסי רפאלי, מספר ל'בחדרי חרדים' את הסיפור המופתי שסיפרו, לדבריו, רופאי בית החולים לבני המשפחה.

"בליל הרצח תיאמתי את מסע הלוויה והקבורה בירושלים והייתי בקשר רציף עם בנו של הרב - רבי פנחס.

"במהלך אחת השיחות אמר לי הרב פנחס שהוא חייב לכבות את מכשיר הטלפון בשל בדיקת סי.טי. שנערכת לגופת אביו. לאחר חצי שעה שוחחנו שוב, והבן אומר לי שהוא עדיין בבדיקה ויצור איתי קשר מיד לאחריה.

"לא הבנתי. מניסיוני בדיקת הסי.טי. אורכת דקות בודדות. לא הבנתי למה הבדיקה מתארכת.

Palestinian who lead double life as a Jewish baal teshuva

BCHOL

מחזיר בתשובה חי חיים כפולים: חרדי ופלסטיני מחזיר בתשובה התגלה כפלסטיני בעל חיים כפולים • בימים בילה בכפר 

הולדתו הפלסטיני, בלילות נאם בכנסים • זהותו נחשפה לאחר שאשתו החרדית ניסתה להתאב                                                            

א' בן 45 נולד כמוסלמי בכפר עבדאללה, סמוך לירושלים. לפני 15 שנה החליט לברוח מכפרו, הגיע לירושלים, והחליט להתגייר. לאחר שבע שנות לימודי יהדות באחת הישיבות הידועות בירושלים, הוא השלים את הליך הגיור.

לאט לאט צבר לעצמו קהל מעריצים והתפרסם כמחזיר בתשובה שמילא בתי כנסת ואולמות.

הוא נישא בשידוך לצעירה חרדית, ויחד גידלו בת בעיר מגוריהם ירושלים. היום מתברר כי א' ניהל חיים כפולים ובימים התגורר בכפר פלסטיני.

"כולם העריצו אותו", סיפרה האשה ההמומה לעיתון 'מעריב' שמפרסם את הסיפור. "הוא היה מודל לחיקוי עבור החוזרים בתשובה. הם האמינו לכל דבר שיצא מפיו". גם האשה לא העלתה על דעתה שבעלה אינו מרבה לבקר בבית, משום שהוא נוסע לכפר הולדתו.

את ההעדרויות הרבות שלו הסביר בכך שבימים הוא לומד מאוד קשה.