Monday, March 9, 2015
Epstein Torture Trial Does this court document mean that the U.S. Attorney is offering Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag immunity for testimony?
According to this document filed by the US Attorney, it appears that the
US Attorney is going to give Rabbi Ralbag immunity in order to
testify. Otherwise, Rabbi Ralbag would, according to the document,
invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Rav Dovid Eidensohn's rebuttal of Rav Breitowitz claim that forcing a get is a mitzva
This is the reponse of by brother Rav Dovid Eidensohn to the claims made by Rav Yitzchok Breitowitz regarding the endorsement of violence in forcing a husband to give a get. It is part of a larger 17 page response
Rabbi Breitowitz arguments as well as my response are found in previous posts
Epstein-defense-of-torture/kidnapping
Statement of Rabbi Breitowitz regarding use of force
Sunday, March 8, 2015
U.C.L.A. Debate Over Jewish Student: The shocking rise of anti-Jewish sentiment on college campuses
NY Times LOS ANGELES — It seemed like routine business for the student council at the University of California, Los Angeles: confirming the nomination of Rachel Beyda, a second-year economics major who wants to be a lawyer someday, to the council’s Judicial Board.
Until it came time for questions.
“Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community,” Fabienne Roth, a member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, began, looking at Ms. Beyda at the other end of the room, “how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
For the next 40 minutes, after Ms. Beyda was dispatched from the room, the council tangled in a debate about whether her faith and affiliation with Jewish organizations, including her sorority and Hillel, a popular student group, meant she would be biased in dealing with sensitive governance questions that come before the board, which is the campus equivalent of the Supreme Court.
The discussion, recorded in written minutes and captured on video, seemed to echo the kind of questions, prejudices and tropes — particularly about divided loyalties — that have plagued Jews across the globe for centuries, students and Jewish leaders said.
The council, in a meeting that took place on Feb. 10, voted first to reject Ms. Beyda’s nomination, with four members against her. Then, at the prodding of a faculty adviser there who pointed out that belonging to Jewish organizations was not a conflict of interest, the students revisited the question and unanimously put her on the board. [...]
Reports of anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish sentiment have been on the rise across the country in recent years, especially directed at younger Jews, researchers said. Barry A. Kosmin, a Trinity College researcher and a co-author of a study issued last month that found extensive examples of anti-Semitism directed at college students, said he had not come across anything as striking as what happened at U.C.L.A.
“It’s egregious and startling,” Mr. Kosmin said. “If they had used this with any other group — sexual, racial, any kind of identity group — they would have realized it was illegal.” [...]
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Rare Footage Of The Chofetz Chaim At First Knessia Gedolah
Update - background information - Tablet Magazine
update Names added to the film the new version is not as sharp as the original so I have kept both versions.
Published on Feb 22, 2015
update Names added to the film the new version is not as sharp as the original so I have kept both versions.
Published on Feb 22, 2015
The First World Congress (Knessia Gedolah) of the World Agudath Israel the first major gathering of all the different sects of Klal Yisroel which took place in Vienna starting from Elul 3, 5683 / August 15, 1923 and which lasted for ten days.
Without Names
Friday, March 6, 2015
Family Secrets can make you sick - effects of sexual abuse on health
In the 1980s, Dr. Vincent Felitti, now
director of the California Institute of Preventive Medicine in San
Diego, discovered something potentially revolutionary about the ripple
effects of child sexual abuse. He discovered it while trying to solve a
very different health problem: helping severely obese people lose
weight.
Felitti, a specialist in preventive medicine, was trying out a new
liquid diet treatment among patients at a Kaiser Permanente clinic. And
it worked really well. The severely obese patients who stuck to it lost
as much as 300 pounds in a year.
"Oh yeah, this was really quite extraordinary," recalls Felitti.
But then, some of the patients who'd lost the most weight quit the
treatment and gained back all the weight — faster than they'd lost it.
Felitti couldn't figure out why. So he started asking questions.
First, one person told him she'd been sexually abused as a kid. Then another.
"You know, I remember thinking, 'Well, my God, this is the second
incest case I've seen in [then] 23 years of practice,' " Felitti says.
"And so I started routinely inquiring about childhood sexual abuse, and I
was really floored."
More than half of the 300 or so patients said yes, they too had been abused.
Felitti wondered if he'd discovered one of the keys to some cases of obesity and all the health problems that go along with it.
That possibility made him very curious: What if having a bad childhood could affect health in other ways?[...]
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The undergraduate and the mentor: The confusing world of Title IX sex abuse and Universities deciding guilt or innocence
NY Times On a weekend in March almost three years ago, Ellie Clougherty flew from
London to Rome with Joe Lonsdale. She was a 21-year-old junior at
Stanford University, and it was her first trip to Italy. Lonsdale, then
29, was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and he booked a room for them for
two nights in a luxury hotel — a converted Renaissance mansion in the
shadow of the Pantheon — and arranged a special excursion, with a friend
of his who is an architect, to an archaeological site amid the ruins of
the Golden House on Palatine Hill, overlooking the Colosseum. Under a
light gray sky, they stood on plexiglass bridges and looked down at the
uncovered remains of what is thought to be a fabled rotating dining room
that the Emperor Nero built for extravagant banquets. Lonsdale is a
Roman-history buff, and he told Clougherty about the emperors, praising
their civilization and engineering feats.[...]
Clougherty
and Lonsdale had been dating over the previous couple of weeks, while
he was her assigned mentor for an undergraduate course at Stanford
called Technology Entrepreneurship, Engineering 145. The
limited-enrollment class offered a combination of academics, business
skills and access to Silicon Valley that has made Stanford the most-sought-after university in the country, with the most competitive undergraduate admissions and among the highest donations.
More than any other school, Stanford is the gateway to the tech world,
and computer science is the most popular major. Each year, new young
multimillionaires are minted, some just months after graduation.[...]
After sightseeing in Rome, Lonsdale and Clougherty were together in the
hotel room they were sharing when she started dressing for evening Mass.
Lonsdale came up behind her and kissed her, touching her neck and hair
and telling her she was beautiful. She had told him she was a virgin.
Both agree they had sex. But what actually went on between them that
night, and throughout their yearlong relationship, would become highly
contested. After the relationship ended, Clougherty accused Lonsdale of
sexual assault. Stanford investigated whether he broke the university’s
rule against “consensual sexual and romantic relationships” between
students and their mentors and, later, whether he raped her. The
findings from the investigations have sparked a war of allegations and
interpretations, culminating last month with dueling lawsuits, filled
with damaging accusations. This case, which has been picked up by the media,
does not fit neatly into the narratives that have fueled an ongoing
national conversation about sexual assault of students on campus. But it
exposes the risks of Stanford’s open door to Silicon Valley and the
pressure that universities are under to do more for students who say
they’ve been raped. It also reveals the complexity of trying to
determine the truth in a high-stakes case like this one.[...]
On March 1, Clougherty went to Stanford’s counseling
center. She said that Lonsdale had forced her to have sex when she
didn’t want to and also talked about the man who accosted her in the
restaurant bathroom when she was 10. The university psychologist noted
in a report that she “seems to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder from current and past trauma.” Clougherty went home to Virginia
and spent days crying and rocking in a corner of her family’s living
room. Clougherty embarked on therapy twice a week with Keith Saylor, a
clinical psychologist who treated her eating disorder. He used
prolonged-exposure therapy, a treatment developed for combat-related disorders,
in which a therapist prompts a patient to describe deeply traumatic
events. Later, patients listen to tapes of their sessions at home every
day in an attempt to drain the memories of their power. [...]
Meanwhile
on campuses throughout the country, a movement was taking shape. A
growing number of students were coming forward to criticize their
universities for the handling of sexual-assault cases. They had support
from the government. In 2011, the Office of Civil Rights in the
Department of Education sent a letter
to every college and university in the country that receives federal
funding, as almost all do, clarifying that under Title IX, the federal
law passed in 1972 to prevent sex discrimination in education, colleges
and universities had an obligation to prevent and respond to sexual
violence and harassment. “Once a school knows or reasonably should know
of possible sexual violence, it must take immediate and appropriate
action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred,” the letter
from the Office of Civil Rights warned.
The
government also instructed schools to adopt a new standard for
determining the outcome of a sexual-harassment or violence case. At the
time, many schools used the standard of “clear and convincing” evidence,
meaning that the adjudicators (usually a panel of administrators or
faculty) believed that it was substantially more likely than not, or
roughly 75 percent likely, that the accused had committed the offense.
The letter from the civil rights office demanded that schools switch to a
lower standard of proof, a “preponderance” of evidence, meaning that it
was more likely than not — above 50.01 percent — that the offense was
committed. The office noted that preponderance is the standard that
courts use to decide civil suits for sexual harassment. A few schools,
including Princeton and Harvard, initially refused the new standard and then found themselves under investigation for suspected Title IX violations.[...]
In the last few months, Stanford and other schools have felt the ground
shift beneath them once again. Some critics are now charging that
universities are overcompensating for past mistreatment of victims. Even
as they’re attacked for giving victims short shrift, schools are also
being denounced for inadequately protecting the rights of the accused.
In October, 28 members of the Harvard law-school faculty wrote a letter,
published in The Boston Globe,
deploring the procedures the university adopted to follow the mandate
from the Office of Civil Rights for lacking “the most basic elements of
fairness and due process” and being “overwhelmingly stacked against the
accused.” Around the country, about three dozen men are suing
universities over findings or punishments for sexual infractions. In a
short span of time, a well-intentioned effort to right a seemingly
obvious wrong has fed additional claims of injustice.[...]
In November, after I contacted Lonsdale, his lawyers submitted to
Stanford hundreds of pages of his email correspondence with Clougherty
and her mother that they hadn’t previously provided. Stanford has not
decided whether to consider this evidence, along with an eight-page
sworn statement Lonsdale gave the university from an unexpected source:
Clougherty’s friend Jane.
In the months
after Jane helped Clougherty break up with Lonsdale, she says that she
watched with increasing unease as Clougherty’s accusations mounted, from
emotional abuse to rape. “In March 2014, she texted me that she
considered herself a ‘sex slave’ during her relationship with Joe,” Jane
wrote in her statement. “This is far, far beyond anything that she ever
said about the relationship when it was happening or for a long time
afterward. It also made no sense in light of her clear enthusiasm about
the relationship.”[...]
In response to Clougherty’s lawsuit, Lonsdale mounted a swift
counterattack, calling it “a vengeful, personal attack by a disturbed
former girlfriend” in an email to friends and associates. He also said
that Stanford’s investigation was “a Kafka-esque nightmare.” He linked
to Clougherty’s emails, posting them on a website
his team created overnight, highlighting the most affectionate and
admiring passages and arguing that she was unstable. Lonsdale also sued Clougherty for defamation. (In the wake of the lawsuits, Formation 8 has been criticized in the press for not disclosing that Lonsdale was banned from Stanford.) He blamed himself only for being naïve. [...]
At
the same time, the role the government has cast universities in is not a
natural one. They are not the police. Yet they are asked to grapple
with criminal accusations even when the events in question are receding
into the past and are deeply difficult to deconstruct. And they are
self-interested in a way that courts are not, with a different need: to
protect their reputation.
Beis Yaakov Schools accused of taking money from teachers - threatening to fire them if they complain
שכר משפיל, פגיעה בוותק: כך נעשקות גננות חרדיות
זכויות עובד? תשלום עבור שעות נוספות? שכר בזמן? הצחקתם את המנהלים הכוחניים של רשתות הגנים שמנצלים בחסות שתיקת משרדי הממשלה את העובדות בצורה שיטתית • אחת הגננות העשוקות: "אם אתלונן יפטרו אותי. עדיף לבלוע ולשתוק" • תחקיר מקיף של "כיכר השבת" חושף נתונים קשים במיוחד (חרדים)
לחדווה
(שם בדוי, כמו שאר השמות בתחקיר. השמות המלאים שמורים במערכת), גננת
מירושלים, היה די ברור שאין לה מה לעשות. המערכת חזקה ממנה, היא מודעת עד
כאב לעובדה הזאת, כבר שנים. היא לא יכולה לדבר, לפצות פה. חרב הפיטורין
מתנופפת בבירור מעבר לפינה, ורק המחשבה על מסכת הייסורים שתאלץ לעבור כדי
להוכיח שמדובר בפיטורין לא חוקיים הוציאו ממנה כל שארית של חשק להיכנס
לסחרור הזה. אז מה עושים? שותקים. היא כבר רגילה לזה.
כך
פחות או יותר הן התחושות של עשרות, אם לא מאות, גננות וסייעות אחרות. חוסר
האונים המשווע אל מול המערכת הדורסנית והשיטתית של רמיסת זכויות העובד
הבסיסיות ביותר, כמו גם החוק במדינת ישראל, זועק לשמים. כך נשללים מהגננות
החרדיות זכויותיהן הבסיסיות ביותר להן הן זכאיות על פי חוק, ועל פי כל דין.
כך מושתקות הן שנה אחרי שנה, תוך שימוש ציני בידיעה כי במגזר החרדי – הכוח
מצוי בידיים של אלה שנטלו אותו לעצמם.
כך בסיפורה של רחל שהגיע לידי 'כיכר השבת', גננת ברשת פתחיה לחינוך מיוחד, השקיעה
במסגרת עבודתה שעות רבות בלימודי תואר B.A. ובהגשת העבודות הנצרכות לשם
קבלת התואר, מתוך ידיעה כי הדבר יקדם אותה בעבודתה עם הילדים ואף יעלה את
רמת השכר שלה.
אלא
שלטענתה התברר לה, כי ברשת פתחיה בה היא עובדת, אין כל כוונה לעדכן את
תלוש השכר שלה כלפי מעלה, כמתבקש לאור הנתונים. רוצה להתלונן? נאמר לה, אז
תתלונני. בינתיים אין העלאה. גם שאר הגמולים , מעבר לגמול על תעודת
"בכיר" המגיעים לעובדי ההוראה מכוח החוק, אינם משולמים לה לטענתה.
Kikar HaShabbat
תחקיר 'עושק הגננות החרדיות' של 'כיכר השבת', עורר תגובות ופניות רבות למערכת עם סיפורים נוספים על תנאי עבודה מחפירים ועושק גננות ומורים • כעת אנו חושפים - כך נראה חוזה עבודה ברשת הגנים של בית יעקב - חרדים
הפרה שיטתית? יממה לאחר שפרסם "כיכר השבת" את התחקיר אודות מה שנראה כעושק של העובדות ברשתות הגנים החרדיות, נחשף לראשונה כיצד נראה חוזה העבודה של הגננות ברשת הגנים של בית יעקב, המנוהלת על ידי הרב יצחק גולדנקנופף. החוזה שנראה תמוה ובלתי מובן כולל בתוכו סעיפים אשר מעלים חשד כי נועדו על מנת לעקוף את חוקי המגן בישראל, שנועדו להגן על העובדים.
על פי החוזה שהגיע לידינו, העובדות ברשת הגנים חותמות על כך שהחוזה הוא
זה שמחייב את הרשת בכל הנוגע לתנאי השכר, כשבחוזה נכתב כי הוא "מסגיר באופן
בלעדי את תנאי העסקתה של העובדת על ידי העמותה, בהתחשב בנסיבות, בהתחייבות
ובתנאי השכר המיוחדים שנקבעו בו".
כשבחוזה מודגש כי ההסכמים
הקיבוציים שנעשים מפעם לפעם על ידי הרשויות והגורמים הרלוונטיים, אינם
תקפים, וכי החוזה הוא זה שמחייב את הרשת.
משיחה שקיימנו עם משפטנים עולה כי לכאורה סעיף זה אינו חוקי, מכיוון
שהסכם קיבוצי המאושר על ידי הגורמים הרלוונטיים מחייב את גם את העמותה, ועל
פי חוקי המגן העמותה מחויבת לספק את התנאים המחייבים של כל הסכם קיבוצי
רלוונטי.
ניסוח החוזה מעלה תמיהה לגבי כוונות הרשת לגבי תנאי השכר
והעבודה של הגננות, למרות שכאמור גם חתימה על חוזה שכזה אינו מתיר לעמותה
שלא לעמוד בהסכמים הקיבוציים ובחוקי העבודה השונים (למשל, חוק שכר
מינימום), ועובדת שתתבע את המגיע לה תזכה ככל הנראה לסעד בבתי המשפט
לענייני עבודה.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Get refuser finally gives Get after 18 years and being imprisoned
http://www.kikar.co.il/165482.html
סרבן גט שהתיר את אישתו לאחר 18 שנה של סירוב שוחרר היום (רביעי) מבית
סוהר באזור המרכז. הדיון לשחרורו התקיים בתוך כותלי בית הסוהר בשיתוף עם
נציגי בית הדין הרבני שהגיעו במיוחד למרות יום תענית אסתר.
האסיר
נדון ל-5 שנות מאסר בגין סירובו, מתוכם הספיק לרצות כחודשיים. במהלך תקופה
זו התברר כי האסיר סובל ממחלה קשה בגינה אף אושפז לתקופה קצרה בבית החולים.
New publication publicizes dialogue between Rabbonim and Oz Vehadar Corporation
Oz Vehadar on the defensive as Rabbonim question its credibility with passionate attacks
Lately בעז"ה, many are studying Torah. Groups of people who never studied before, are opening their eyes to the wealth of our Torah Shebichsav Ubaal Peh. Consequently, many publishing houses have opened and are publishing many seforim including Chumashim, Tanachim, Gemoros, and other seforim.
One publishing house, Oz Vehadar, claims it has a mission to print and REPAIR the text of the Chumashim, Tanachim, Gemoros, and other seforim. Oz Vehadar also publishes its seforim in a very appealing appearance, Those who have limited eyesight enjoy its very clear print. Oz Vehadar library has become both attractive and free of errors.
But, that is only according to their perspective. Several Rabbonim and Talmidei Chachomim have stated emphatically with their written word, that there is a serious problem with the authenticity of the many hidden CHANGES in the seforim bearing the Oz Vehadar name. They consider the OZ VEHADAR corporation dishonest and its products not usable!
Oz Vehadar has responded to some of the charges.
In a newly released kuntres bearing the name ופרשו השמלה, the letters of communication between those Talmidei Chachomim and Oz Vehadar have been painstakingly gathered. Included in the kuntres are both the questions of Talmidei Chachomim posed and the answers of Oz Vehadar.
Perusing and studying this work may enable you to get a better understanding of this issue. You may then decide about the legitimacy of the work of Oz Vehadar. Is it our Mesorah that we carried through for thousands of years? Or is it another one of those irresponsible printing presses that have caused havoc on Jewish life, as we know it?
This issue affects directly each and every religious Jewish person. the stakes are high and the room for error is almost non existent.
Time does tell us many times the truth. The question is, "do we have the time to wait??
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