Tragedy In Borough Park Puts Shomrim Under Scrutiny

Jewish Week

As the Borough Park community struggles with the brutal murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, and as more information surfaces about the history and emotional state of his accused killer, the tragedy is shining a light on the neighborhood watch groups that operate within the strictly Orthodox communities — and the largely under-the-surface tensions between these groups and the NYPD.

Those tensions became more apparent in recent days as sources in the community and the NYPD expressed frustration with how the Shomrim (Hebrew for “guardians”) operate – however well intentioned – with little accountability, sometimes hindering the work of the police.

The heartbreaking outcome in the Leiby case is seen by some in these circles as a dramatic case in point.

The Shomrim, who respond to calls about everything from vandalism to missing persons, domestic violence and sexual abuse, are highly respected in their communities. While they don’t have the power to make arrests, they tend to be trusted more than police in these tight-knit communities, as they have a reputation for responding quickly to calls and taking care of their own.

They have also been criticized at times for overzealousness bordering on vigilantism. [...]

Molestation investigation shuts private school

Sacramento Bee

For some observers, the case evoked memories of the notorious McMartin preschool trial of the 1980s. The McMartin family operated a preschool in Southern California, and seven people initially were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. 

Years of criminal trials produced no convictions, and all charges were dropped in 1990. 

The case was spawned by a mother who told police that her son had been sodomized at the school, and the allegations grew from there. Police sent a letter to about 200 parents of students at the McMartin school, asking them to question their children about abuse. Critics have said that children were asked leading questions, some of which produced bizarre accusations including travels in hot air balloons and trips through secret tunnels.

Segula for husband to be boss - and why not to use it

Briefly the following is taken from Minhag Yisroel Torah. There is a segula for the husband to be the boss of the family mentioned in Chesed L'Avraham. The chasan should step with his right foot on his wife's left foot. If he fails to do so she will be the boss.

However the Chemdas Shaul says that in fact experience shows that the family functions best -both spiritually and psychologically - when the wife runs the household. In fact Avraham was told to listen to his wife and they had a very successful househould

מנהג ישראל תורה (חלק ד' עמוד קצא): כתב בספר חסד לאברהם מעין ריביעי נהר מ"ח (הו"ד במדרש תלפיטות ענפ חתן וכלה) שאם החתן נזהר לשים רגלו הימינית על רגל הכלה השמאלית בשעת ז' ברכות מסוגל שישלוט עלי' כל ימיו ונשמעת לכל דבריו ולהיפך היא תשלוט עליו כל ימיה והביא שם ענין לבטל הסגולה עי"ש, ובס' זכירה כתב דיש אומרים דאחר החופה כשישב אצל הכלה יעשה כן, אולם בשו"ת חמדת שאול (מהג' מו"ה שואל ראזענבערגער אבד"ק ראצפערטא) סימן מ"ג אחר שדן בעינן סגולה זו דאין היתר לעשות כן אם היא נדה הוא מסיים וז"ל, ובגוף הסגולה לא ראיתי נוהגין כן וישראל קדושים הן מקיימין תמים תהי' עם ה' אלקיך ואין עושין שום סגולות רק מה שירצה הקב"ה יעשה, והגם שאין לי עסק בנסתרות מ"מ מצינו בביתו של אאע"ה שהי' מתנהג עפ"י אשתו שרה שא"ל כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה שמע בקולה, ואעפ"כ ביתו הי' מלא חסדים גמורים, והנסיון מלמדנו שברוב הבתים של המון עם הבית מתנהג בכשרות ויראת ה' רק ע"י האשה והיא שולטת בבעלה להדריכו ג"כ בדרך ישרה ואשה יראת ה' היא תתהלל ע"כ אין מוכרח שיותר טוב להתנהג הבית ע"י האיש, והרבה פעמים האשה מונעת הבעל מלבוא לידי עבירה, ואותם הגדולים והצדיקים שכתבו לעשות סגולה כדי שיתנהג הבית ע"י האיש בשכמותם דברו ואין מביאין מהם ראי' ע"כ.

Alleged kidnappers of Meir Briskman surrender to FBI

Haaretz SEE PREVIOUS POSTS Meir Briskman refuses to divorce wife  Meir Briskman assaulted in Lakewood

A New Jersey couple surrendered themselves to the FBI on Monday, and were subsequently charged with abducting an Israeli man last year.

The FBI says the couple abducted the man, beat him and threatened to bury him alive if he didn't grant his wife a religious divorce.

Federal authorities say the victim had refused to give his wife a ‘get,’ or a divorce sanctioned by the Rabbinical Court, preventing her from remarrying. The man also fought for custody of the children, and moved from Israel to New York.[...]

Sexual abuse by internet hacker

YNet

A central Israel resident in his 20s was detained on suspicion of hacking the computers of US girls and threatening to circulate their intimate photos, unless they perform indecent acts on their webcam.

The story was cleared for publication Thursday. 

Almost 100 girls aged 12 to 17 were allegedly victimized by the suspect. He is believed to have hacked their computers, seeking embarrassing photographs and later approaching them on online social networks and threatening them.

Yadeinu Shafchu Es Hadam Hazeh

Cross Currents - Rabbi Adlerstein

After the horror, the disbelief, the shock, the emptiness, I next thought what many others must have. He had to have been a pedophile. I messaged a colleague, a respected rov, and asked what he thought. I will post it anonymously; I haven’t gotten to him yet to ask to use his name: I am sure he was, and I am sure he molested many others, and i am sure that there were people that knew and hushed it. It is time to forever bury the myth that reports of pedophilia can be managed and dealt with by committees of rabbonim, even for a short time. It is time to bury the myth that there is a serious halachic barrier to going to authorities to deal with credible reports of such behavior. Enough baalei halacha have told us that there is no barrier. Choshen Mishpat 358:12 tells us that those who vex the public can be handed over. Any pedophile does at least that, and poses a danger of doing much more. Moreover, mesirah of a molester exposes him to a safek of danger; pedophiles pose a much greater danger level to many more victims.[...]

Haredi entertainer convicted of indecent acts

YNET

The Jerusalem Magistrates Court on Tuesday convicted haredi entertainer David Bruckner of indecent acts against a 12-year-old boy. 

Bruckner was arrested in January 2010 over suspicions that he committed indecent acts against a 12-year-old. At the end of the investigation into the case he was indicted for four counts of indecent acts.

Hundreds riot in Mea Shearim after police raid

YNet

Tax Authority operation sees prominent Eda Haredit figures arrested for tax evasion suspicions. Six officers hurt during subsequent riots  

Six police officers were hurt Wednesday during haredi riots in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. A joint Tax Authority-Jerusalem Municipality operation saw inspectors raiding local business whose owners were suspected of tax evasion. Police provided security.

Three business owners were arrested and their assets confiscated. Ultra-Orthodox elements accused the police of unnecessary provocation and claimed their deployment was disproportionate. Dozens of haredim rioted following the arrest and set trash cans on fire.[...] 

Every parent's nightmare: A child z"l abducted & killed by a stranger

NYTimes

| The search for a missing 8-year-old Brooklyn boy ended early on Wednesday when investigators discovered what they believed to be his dismembered remains in a third-floor attic refrigerator of a Brooklyn man and in a trash bin on a street, the police said. The man, who made incriminating statements, was in custody and being questioned, the police said.

The grim discovery capped two days of intense searching for the boy, Leibby Kletzky, who had disappeared along a short walk between a Borough Park school and a meeting place with his parents on Monday. Police detectives searched around his neighborhood and used helicopters to find the boy, who was part of the Hasidic Jewish community. They recovered video clearly showing the boy alive.[...]

Crown Heights Beis Din says to report abusers to police

Hasidic Sleuth’s Beat: Mean Streets of Brooklyn

NYTimes

JOE LEVIN, a private investigator in Brooklyn, was waiting to meet a new client in the parking lot of a kosher supermarket in Borough Park one recent morning. Glancing in the side-view mirror of his chauffeured sport utility vehicle, Mr. Levin said he liked this particular spot because he knew the manager, the delivery man and the security guard, who lets him borrow footage from the lot's surveillance equipment.

Most of the time, though, Mr. Levin does his own snooping. On his iPad, he scrolled through photographs of people he was being paid about $100 an hour to follow, including a rebellious Hasidic girl in a white miniskirt and a long-bearded rabbi lighting a cigarette on the sidewalk.

"He's a bad guy," Mr. Levin said, enlarging the rabbi's image. "A very bad guy." [...]

Court orders mother to have child's hand amputated to save her life

YNet

A court ruled that a 13-year-old girl suffering from cancer must have her hand amputated – otherwise she will die. The ruling came after the girl's mother refused to authorize the operation, claiming the only treatment her daughter requires is fasting and prayer.

Three months ago, the Ministry of Social Affairs' legal adviser filed an urgent request with the Family Court, requesting permission to perform the urgent surgery.

Majorcan Descendants of Spanish Jews Who Converted Are Recognized as Jews

NYTimes

Centuries after the Spanish Inquisition led to the forced conversion of Jews to Catholicism, an ultra-orthodox rabbinical court in Israel has issued a religious ruling that recognizes descendants from the insular island of Majorca as Jews.

The opinion focused narrowly on the Majorcan community of about 20,000 people known as chuetas and did not apply to descendants of Sephardic Jewish converts in mainland Spain or the broader diaspora of thousands of others who scattered to the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish colonies in South and North America. [...]

Camp Agudah & Ohel: Advice to campers' parents regarding abuse