Sunday, August 14, 2011
UK violence raises questions about American unrest
A black man killed by police. Mobs of looters. Cities charred and shaken. The riots in London mirror some of the worst uprisings in modern U.S. history.
And there are more parallels: Stubborn poverty and high unemployment, services slashed due to recessionary budget cuts, a breakdown of social values, social media that bring people together for good or bad at the speed of the Internet. And finally, there are a handful of actual attacks, isolated and hard to explain, by bands of youths in U.S. cities.
As Americans look across the Atlantic, a natural question arises: Could the flames and violence that erupted in Britain scar this country, too?
Police, elected officials, activists and regular citizens offer varied answers, reflecting the unsettled mix of race, class, lawlessness, and the chasm between haves and have-nots that may lie behind the unrest. [...]
Autistic spectrum kids & their love of trains
Like many children with autism spectrum disorders, Ravi is fascinated by trains and buses, entranced by their motion and predictability. And for years, these children crowded the exhibitions of the modest New York Transit Museum, chattering about schedules and engine components and old subway maps.
“This is really their element,” said Ravi’s mother, Juliana Boehm, who brings Ravi and Oliver, his 8-year-old brother, who is also on the autism spectrum, to the museum almost weekly. “If I suggested another activity,” she added, “it may have provoked anxiety.”
Now, the museum, and others like it, are moving beyond accommodating the enthusiasm for trains and buses among children with autism and trying to use it to teach them how to connect with other people — and the world. [...]
Friday, August 12, 2011
Rabbinic leadership lives in constant fear of being labeled too lenient
The Sifi (Devarim 17) says on Devarim (1:16) Don't be afraid of any man. Perhaps a judge will say I am afraid that the defendant will kill my son or burn down my barn...Therefore the Torah says not to be afraid of any man because judgment is for G-d.
This is cited by Chinuch #415, Rambam(Sanhedrin 22:1). Aruch HaShulchan (C.M 12) cites the Rema that today the practice is that if a ruling might cause danger to a judge he can withraw from the case even if has already poskened. But if there is no danger just verbal abuse he can not withdraw.
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I recently had a conversation with a rabbi who is a major talmid chachom and involved in the community i.e he fully knows reality. He also has strong connection to many of the gedolim. He is widely respected and is viewed as an establishment figure. He never rocks the boat in public but follows the standard chareidi viewpoint.
Someone had just given him a copy of my book on child abuse.He had called me to express gratitude for my book to let me know that he felt it was necessary and that it was well done.
We talked a while about the issue of child abuse. I mentioned to him the Aguda position and the nasty editorial in Ami magazine. I said that I felt that their requirement that rabbis had to moderate going to police - even at the expense of the welfare of the children - has no justification in halacha. He agreed without any hesitation. He added that he did not think abuse was being handled properly by the rabbis.
I was surprised at his candor on the issue, so I asked the obvious question - so why aren't the rabbinic leaders following halacha. Why are they taking positions which are against the halacha?
His answer was simply and blunt- they were afraid. they were worried about being labeled a shaygetz - a liberal who is lenient regarding mesira - by other rabbis
Then he added - it is necessary for the rabbinic leadership to be pressured by the masses to do the right thing. They are not going to do it on their own and but they would welcome being pressured to do the right thing.
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Thus despite the denunciation of bloggers, advocates and the press - it seems there is some recognition not only of the good that they do but also the indispensable role they play in necessary change.
Prayer, & Bug Juice, at a Summer Camp for Jews of Color
Be’chol Lashon's Goals
NYTimes
Vision: A Global Jewish People
Imagine a new global Judaism that transcends differences in geography, ethnicity, class, race, ritual practice, and beliefs. Discussions about “who-is-a-real-Jew” will be replaced with celebration of the rich, multi-dimensional character of the Jewish people.
Jews around the world face serious demographic challenges. Worldwide, the number of Jews is stagnant. Decimated by the Holocaust, Jews now comprise only 0.2% of the world's people. We believe the Jewish population, through pro-active efforts, could grow to 20 million by 2020, and 40 million by 2060.
We seek to overcome the significant organizational, cultural and ideological barriers to growth in the Jewish community. A more expansive Judaism is particularly engaging for younger and unaffiliated Jews who want Judaism to reflect the global community in which they live.
Mission
Be'chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) grows and strengthens the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural, and racial inclusiveness. We advocate for the diversity that has characterized the Jewish people throughout history, and through contemporary forces including intermarriage, conversion and adoption. We foster an expanding Jewish community that embraces its differences.
NYTimes
Such is the mission of Camp Be’chol Lashon (“In Every Tongue”) here in the hills of Marin County about 35 miles north of San Francisco. For the past two years, it has provided the commonplaces of Jewish summer camp, right down to poison oak and bug juice, to an emerging population of Jews of color.
“If there’s Christians of all colors and all kinds, and Muslims of all colors and all kinds,” Amalia, 11, said over Shabbat lunch, “then why would Jewishness be any different?”
One of her fellow campers, Josh Rowen-Keran, 14, who was born to black and Korean parents and then adopted by an interracial couple in the Bay Area, sounded similarly nonchalant. “Being Jewish isn’t looking a certain way,” he said. “I could look at anyone and not know if they are or aren’t Jewish. You can’t know till you know the person.”
Yet what strikes these children as the same old same old, an American-Jewish community of multiple hues and heritages, has arrived as a seismic change. Religiously and historically, Judaism has generally placed little emphasis on evangelism and conversion.[...]
How did child abuser Avraham Mondrowitz escape justice?
Most people have never heard the story of Avrohom Mondrowitz, which has received only a smattering [1] of headlines [2] in the Jewish media. A charismatic and eloquent member of the Ger Hasidic sect of ultra-Orthodox Jews, the 63-year-old claimed to be both a rabbi and a Columbia-trained psychologist. Though he was neither, for years he ran a psychology practice out of his basement, as well as a school for troubled youth. He is also alleged to be one of the worst sexual predators in Brooklyn history.
In 1984, Mondrowitz was accused of sexually abusing four Italian boys. Since then, the number of Mondrowitz’s alleged victims has been estimated at close to a hundred—making him, shockingly, an average pedophile. But given the shame and secrecy surrounding sexual abuse, and his broad network of contacts, the number of alleged victims could actually be much higher. Moshe Rosenbaum, one of the activists who first aired concerns about Mondrowitz in the late 1980s, estimates the number to be 300. If Mondrowitz were to be convicted of so many crimes, he would be the worst sexual predator in the Orthodox community on record.
But that would require a case to be brought against him—which, for a variety of troubling reasons, has never happened.
This fall, the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, will hear [3] oral arguments pertaining to the release of documents about Mondrowitz. Michael Lesher, an attorney representing several of Mondrowitz’s alleged victims, asked the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for the documents under New York’s Freedom of Information Law in 2007. A trial court initially ruled in favor of Lesher’s clients, but that verdict was overturned unanimously last year on appeal.[...]
Judge sentenced to 28 years for jailing youths for kickbacks
Former Luzerne County (Pennsylvania) Judge Mark Ciavarella has been spending his time doing odd jobs for a car towing service while he awaited sentencing since being found guilty on felony corruption charges. Well his painting days are over and 61 year old judge is heading to federal prison for 28 years…a life sentence.
His sentencing brings to closure a dark time in the history of the city of Wilkes-Barre, PA, which is in Luzerne County. He was found guilty back in February of racketeering for taking a $1 million kickback from the builder of for-profit prisons for juveniles. Ciavarella who left the bench over two years ago after he and another judge, Michael Conahan, were accused of sentencing youngsters to prisons they had a hand in building. Prosecutors alleged that Conahan, who pleaded guilty last year and is awaiting sentencing, and Ciavarella received kick-backs from the private company that built and maintained the new youth detention facility that replaced the older county-run center.[...]
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
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.
Why do non-Jews bashing Israel claim to be Jewish?
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.[...]
Friday, August 5, 2011
Kletsky Killing Renews Calls For Oversight of Yeshivas
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
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.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Bnei Brak teacher arrested on charges of sexual abuse
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. [...]
The keys of Baba Elazar - a false embellishment
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.
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Breslover cult abuse case
YNet
הנשים עברו התעללות מצד אנשי הכת שעינו גם ילדים, והאם מספרת כי ניסתה להרחיק את בתה מהם - אך לשווא. גם באיגוד לנפגעי תקיפה מינית לא מבינים: "איך שירותי הרווחה לא שמו לב". משרד הרווחה: "כל פנייה שהגיעה נבדקה וטופלה"
החשש שהילד יאבד שליטה הוא פחד שמלווה כל הורה. עבור הוריהן של הנשים שנפגעו מהכת הסדיסטית שנחשפה אתמול (יום ג') בירושלים ובאזור טבריה, הפחד הזה התממש. אמה של אחת הנשים שהיו חברות בכת סיפרה אמש ל-ynet כי ניסתה לשכנע את בתה להתנתק מהחבורה: "קראתי עליהם בתקשורת, וניסיתי למנוע ממנה להתמסר להם, אבל היא הייתה מסונוורת", העידה.
האם סיפרה כי חברי הכת לא הצטיירו לה עצמה בתחילה כאנשים רעים שאחראים לפשעים מזעזעים, כפי שהתברר בדיעבד. אלא שכעת, היא אומרת, היא איבדה את האמון בבני אדם: "הלב שלי סתום ואטום אחרי מה ששמעתי שאומרים במשטרה. אני שמחה שהבת שלי פתחה סוף-סוף את העיניים, ומקווה שמנהיג הכת ייענש".
Police arrest Breslover group suspected of abusing women and children
Israel Police, in cooperation with Jerusalem district officers and social services, arrested nine members of a cult living in Jerusalem and in theTiberias area over the past few weeks, on suspicion of carrying out emotional and physical abuse of women and children over a two year period,
Is It ‘Anti-Orthodox’ To Seek A Safer Community?
Jewish Week By Gary Rosenblatt editor & publisher
It is sad, if not maddening, when this newspaper is labeled “anti-Orthodox” for its reporting on scandals and other disturbing incidents in a segment of the community whose culture places a high value on policing itself.
Such accusations are not new, but they have ratcheted up significantly in recent days following the tragic death of young Leiby Kletzky of Borough Park, and The Jewish Week’s report and Editorial (July 22 issue) calling into question the role of the much-respected community watchdog group, Shomrim, in terms of its procedures and relations with law enforcement authorities.
The headline last week of an Orthodox magazine, Ami, used the word “slander” in referring to our reporting on Shomrim. Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, wrote in Ami, where he is editor at large, that The Jewish Week “seems bent on viewing and portraying the charedi community with” a “jaundiced eye.”
Marvin Schick, an expert in the field of Jewish education who writes a paid-for column in The Jewish Week, goes further in his criticism, proclaiming in a blog that “Orthodoxy-bashing is alive and well” at The Jewish Week, which he said has reached a new low in offering up “a vile exercise in group libel.”
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Eishes Chayil Author, 'Hush': Shattering a Traumatic Silence
When I was a little girl, I never spoke with strangers. Strangers would hurt us. Strangers were capable of great evil.
In the ultra-Orthodox world of Borough Park, friend and stranger were simple words to define. A friend was anyone who looked like us, religious Jews who wore traditional Orthodox garb, had beards and covered their heads with large black kippas. A stranger was anyone who did not. You could never confuse the two. Most importantly, strangers did not fear God.
The garb made the world a clear and safe place and taught us everything we needed to know about right and wrong. If you wore the garb you were right, if you did not you were wrong. As children, we always knew how lucky we were to be living in the insular world of Borough Park. In Borough Park, we could trust everyone. In Borough Park children could not be hurt.
Orthodox Jews were good; they were trustworthy and moral above all. If such a man offered you a ride home, you could always hop in and go. If such a man gave you a drink, you knew it was safe.
It was a good world, if only an illusion. It was a warm and secure place for a child to grow, except when it wasn't. Because in a world where trust was so total, so blind, it was that much easier to get hurt.
Three weeks ago, in Borough Park, 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky walked home from day camp. He got lost. He asked a man for directions. The man seemed safe. He wore a kippa. He did not wear jeans. One day later, the police found Leiby's feet in the man's freezer; his body was somewhere else.[,,,]
In the ultra-Orthodox world of Borough Park, friend and stranger were simple words to define. A friend was anyone who looked like us, religious Jews who wore traditional Orthodox garb, had beards and covered their heads with large black kippas. A stranger was anyone who did not. You could never confuse the two. Most importantly, strangers did not fear God.
The garb made the world a clear and safe place and taught us everything we needed to know about right and wrong. If you wore the garb you were right, if you did not you were wrong. As children, we always knew how lucky we were to be living in the insular world of Borough Park. In Borough Park, we could trust everyone. In Borough Park children could not be hurt.
Orthodox Jews were good; they were trustworthy and moral above all. If such a man offered you a ride home, you could always hop in and go. If such a man gave you a drink, you knew it was safe.
It was a good world, if only an illusion. It was a warm and secure place for a child to grow, except when it wasn't. Because in a world where trust was so total, so blind, it was that much easier to get hurt.
Three weeks ago, in Borough Park, 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky walked home from day camp. He got lost. He asked a man for directions. The man seemed safe. He wore a kippa. He did not wear jeans. One day later, the police found Leiby's feet in the man's freezer; his body was somewhere else.[,,,]
Feedback, causality & G-d
I am working on the issue of feedback. I can not find any Jewish sources regarding feedback - to pick a reference and modify behavior or processes or efforts to maximize the referent. This is a fundamental Western idea - but not Jewish. It seems that the official Jewish view is that human effort does not cause success but only provides merit which justifies G-d making you successful. This issue cuts across a wide range of issues from child abuse, education, parnossa etc etc.
I also can't find where and when this idea developed in the Western World.
Any and all help in this area would be appreciated. I also don't see that there is any difference between chareidi, Modern Orthodox and Hirschian theology regarding this issue.
Chovas HaLevavos (4:4) Even when you are fully aware that effort is worthless without G‑d’s decree, nevertheless you must act like the farmer who plows, removes the thorns, seeds and waters his field if there is no rain. At the same time he trusts that G‑d will make it fertile, guard it from calamity, make a bountiful crop and bless it. In other words he knows that it is wrong to leave the field unworked and unsown even though he has full faith that G‑d could decree that the land produce a crop even without planting beforehand. Similarly workers, merchants and laborers are commanded to earn a living in their occupation even though they have full trust in G‑d to provide them with sustenance. They make this effort despite the fact they accept that everything is totally in His hands and according to His wishes and that in fact He has promised them a livelihood. They understand that He will provide this sustenance anyway He wants. Since everything is in G‑d’s hands you shouldn’t think that one profession is more likely to provide a livelihood than another. Similarly you shouldn’t take pride in what seems to be professional success or even to make special efforts to achieve success. Total involvement in a job serves merely to weaken trust in G‑d because the effort is in fact not the cause of success. Instead of depending totally on your efforts you should be grateful to G‑d for providing sustenance for you after your efforts and that your efforts were not in vain
I also can't find where and when this idea developed in the Western World.
Any and all help in this area would be appreciated. I also don't see that there is any difference between chareidi, Modern Orthodox and Hirschian theology regarding this issue.
Chovas HaLevavos (4:4) Even when you are fully aware that effort is worthless without G‑d’s decree, nevertheless you must act like the farmer who plows, removes the thorns, seeds and waters his field if there is no rain. At the same time he trusts that G‑d will make it fertile, guard it from calamity, make a bountiful crop and bless it. In other words he knows that it is wrong to leave the field unworked and unsown even though he has full faith that G‑d could decree that the land produce a crop even without planting beforehand. Similarly workers, merchants and laborers are commanded to earn a living in their occupation even though they have full trust in G‑d to provide them with sustenance. They make this effort despite the fact they accept that everything is totally in His hands and according to His wishes and that in fact He has promised them a livelihood. They understand that He will provide this sustenance anyway He wants. Since everything is in G‑d’s hands you shouldn’t think that one profession is more likely to provide a livelihood than another. Similarly you shouldn’t take pride in what seems to be professional success or even to make special efforts to achieve success. Total involvement in a job serves merely to weaken trust in G‑d because the effort is in fact not the cause of success. Instead of depending totally on your efforts you should be grateful to G‑d for providing sustenance for you after your efforts and that your efforts were not in vain
Among Conservative Rabbis, a Wide Disagreement Over Same-Sex Marriage
But at another Conservative congregation, Temple Israel Center in White Plains, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, 60, the synagogue’s leader, performed a Jewish ceremony a year ago for two young gay men who had been civilly married in Connecticut. On Saturday, the first anniversary of the wedding, the men were called up for an aliyah, a blessing they said over the Torah, and their parents sponsored the celebratory kiddush, the postworship meal for congregants.
“It’s not controversial in the congregation,” said Rabbi Tucker, a former dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the movement’s fountainhead. “Over a period of years we have reached a consensus and people supported my position.”
The two rabbis’ contrasting viewpoints are reflective of the wide disagreement within Conservative Judaism on an issue that continues to roil many of its synagogues even after passage of laws in New York and five other states that legalize same-sex marriage.
Monday, August 1, 2011
3 retarded Jerusalem men accused of seducing children after school
Walla
המשטרה עצרה שלושה חרדים על סף הפיגור השכלי, בחשד שביצעו מעשי סדום בכ-30 ילדים בגילאי 5-10 בירושלים. על פי החשד, את חלק מהמעשים הם ביצעו יחדיו. מעצרם הוארך בשלושה ימים
Maariv
פרסום ראשון: משטרת מחוז ירושלים עצרה אתמול שלושה אנשים בני 44, 67, ו-46 מהעדה החרדית, בחשד לביצוע מעשי סדום ומעשי התעללות בעשרות ילדים בגילאי 5-10 בשכונה חרדית בעיר
לפי חשד המשטרה, השלושה נהגו לפתות את הילדים בסוכריות ובחלק מהמקרים אף נהגו לבצע אורגיות עם הילדים. במשטרה חושדים כי בחלק מהמקרים נהג אחד החשודים לתפוס את איברי מינם של הילדים באמצעות צבת ופטיש.
השלושה נהגו לפתותם לאחר שאלו חזרו מתלמוד תורה. כאשר אספו שלושה או ארבעה ילדים יחד, הם נהגו להכניסם לביתם ולבצע את זממם. החשודים הובאו לחקירה בתחנת המשטרה במגרש הרוסים, אך בחקירתם הכחישו את המיוחס להם.
Downs Syndrome: Treat with drugs or abortion or accept them as is?
[....]“This was a disorder for which it was believed there was no hope, no treatment, and people thought, Why waste your time?” says Craig C. Garner, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-director of the Center for Research and Treatment of Down Syndrome at Stanford University. “The last 10 years have seen a revolution in neuroscience, so that we now realize that the brain is amazingly plastic, very flexible, and systems can be repaired.”
But the effects of that revolution on Down research may yet be cut short. A competing set of scientists are on the cusp of achieving an entirely different kind of medical response to Down syndrome: rather than treat it, they promise to prevent it. They have developed noninvasive, prenatal blood tests which would allow for routine testing for Down syndrome in the first trimester of a pregnancy, raising the specter that many more parents would terminate an affected pregnancy. Some predict that one of the new tests could be available to the public within the year.[...]
Not all parents of children with Down syndrome embrace Costa’s vision of a medical treatment targeting intelligence. In a recent survey conducted in Canada, parents were asked what they would do if there was a “cure” for their child’s Down syndrome. A surprising 27 percent said they would definitely not use it, and another 32 percent said they were unsure. [...]
A follower of Baba Elazar zt"l, “Nobody had so much in body & spirit & such discipline in serving God"
The sudden and traumatic demise of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, who was stabbed to death overnight Thursday in his Beersheba yeshiva, has left thousands of his followers mourning and perplexed.
What made Abuhatzeira, known as the Baba Elazar, so special to the scores of people from all walks of life who sought his blessing and advice?
“He had intuition, or the holy spirit; he had something going on. I attributed it to his family lineage, and his holy lifestyle,” said Chaim Cohen, an educator from Jerusalem.
Abuhatzeira was a scion to a famous Moroccan rabbinic dynasty. His grandfather was Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, the Baba Sali, believed by his followers to work miracles.
What made Abuhatzeira, known as the Baba Elazar, so special to the scores of people from all walks of life who sought his blessing and advice?
“He had intuition, or the holy spirit; he had something going on. I attributed it to his family lineage, and his holy lifestyle,” said Chaim Cohen, an educator from Jerusalem.
Abuhatzeira was a scion to a famous Moroccan rabbinic dynasty. His grandfather was Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, the Baba Sali, believed by his followers to work miracles.
As for the lifestyle, Cohen said that Abuhatzeira trained himself to suffice with only two hours of sleep a night, with short naps during the day. That way, he could spend the whole day studying Torah and helping people. He also covered himself, and never looked at women. He would fast the entire month of Elul, and was a great Torah scholar.
“Nobody who had so much in body and spirit had such discipline in serving God, that’s why he had the gifts he had,” said Cohen, “which he used to help people.” [...]
“Nobody who had so much in body and spirit had such discipline in serving God, that’s why he had the gifts he had,” said Cohen, “which he used to help people.” [...]
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The chareidi man behind the Anti-Shariah Movement
NYTimes
Tennessee’s latest woes include high unemployment, continuing foreclosures and a battle over collective-bargaining rights for teachers. But when a Republican representative took the Statehouse floor during a recent hearing, he warned of a new threat to his constituents’ way of life: Islamic law.
The representative, a former fighter pilot named Rick Womick, said he had been studying the Koran. He declared that Shariah, the Islamic code that guides Muslim beliefs and actions, is not just an expression of faith but a political and legal system that seeks world domination. “Folks,” Mr. Womick, 53, said with a sudden pause, “this is not what I call ‘Do unto others what you’d have them do unto you.’ ”
Similar warnings are being issued across the country as Republican presidential candidates, elected officials and activists mobilize against what they describe as the menace of Islamic law in the United States.
Since last year, more than two dozen states have considered measures to restrict judges from consulting Shariah, or foreign and religious laws more generally. The statutes have been enacted in three states so far. [...]
Tennessee’s latest woes include high unemployment, continuing foreclosures and a battle over collective-bargaining rights for teachers. But when a Republican representative took the Statehouse floor during a recent hearing, he warned of a new threat to his constituents’ way of life: Islamic law.
The representative, a former fighter pilot named Rick Womick, said he had been studying the Koran. He declared that Shariah, the Islamic code that guides Muslim beliefs and actions, is not just an expression of faith but a political and legal system that seeks world domination. “Folks,” Mr. Womick, 53, said with a sudden pause, “this is not what I call ‘Do unto others what you’d have them do unto you.’ ”
Similar warnings are being issued across the country as Republican presidential candidates, elected officials and activists mobilize against what they describe as the menace of Islamic law in the United States.
Since last year, more than two dozen states have considered measures to restrict judges from consulting Shariah, or foreign and religious laws more generally. The statutes have been enacted in three states so far. [...]
Chareidi Internet cafe opens in Israel
The ultra-Orthodox city of Modiin Illit has got its own Internet café for the very first time. The café, an initiative of haredi businessman Yehuda Weisfish, was opened after he received rabbinical approval.
The new experimental store is called "Gilad Net" and is strictly kosher. For the haredi public this is a real revolution, as the Internet has been considered abominable by rabbis for years.
Every passing day, Weisfish says, proves that progress cannot be made without the worldwide computer network. "We are becoming a small global village, and one can no longer do with just faxes and telephones."
Every passing day, Weisfish says, proves that progress cannot be made without the worldwide computer network. "We are becoming a small global village, and one can no longer do with just faxes and telephones." [...]
Crisis in medical care: Hundreds of doctors rally at Knesset
YNet
Hundreds of doctors, medical residents and interns from hospitals around the country marched Sunday from Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center to the Whol Rose Park near the Knesset, where they held a mass rally demanding "to save the collapsing health system."
Hundreds of doctors, medical residents and interns from hospitals around the country marched Sunday from Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center to the Whol Rose Park near the Knesset, where they held a mass rally demanding "to save the collapsing health system."
During the rally, Israeli Medical Association Chairman Dr. Leonid Eidelman urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who also serves as the health minister – to intervene.
Finance Minister: Growing calls for reform could lead to 'anarchy' in Israel
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz hit back on Sunday at the growing national protests over the rising cost of living, saying some reforms being demanded might lead to economic crises like those besetting parts of Europe and the United States.
The warnings followed marches by some 150,000 demonstrators, the resignation of a top treasury official and questions from leading commentators over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to ride out a revolt by the middle class.
"We see the talk about the debt crisis in Europe. We are even hearing talk of a possible default in the United States,"Steinitz said. "My supreme duty is to ensure we do not reach this situation in the State of Israel."
He rejected calls for the authorities to curb industry leaders who are often accused of artificially inflating the price of consumer goods through cartels tolerated by Netanyahu and his predecessors.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Shocking discovery! Psychology doesn't always help & sometimes makes it worse
Some given treatment undoubtedly benefited, researchers say, but others became annoyed or more upset. At least one commentator referred to therapists’ response as “trauma tourism.”
“We did a case study in New York and couldn’t really tell if people had been helped by the providers — but the providers felt great about it,” said Patricia Watson, a co-author of one of the articles and associate director of the terrorism and disaster programs at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. “It makes sense; we know that altruism makes people feel better.”
But researchers later discovered that the standard approach at the time, in which the therapist urges a distressed person to talk through the experience and emotions, backfires for many people. They plunge even deeper into anxiety and depression when forced to relive the mayhem.
Crisis response teams now take a much less intense approach called psychological first aid, teaching basic coping skills and having victims recount experiences only if it seems helpful. [...]
“We did a case study in New York and couldn’t really tell if people had been helped by the providers — but the providers felt great about it,” said Patricia Watson, a co-author of one of the articles and associate director of the terrorism and disaster programs at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. “It makes sense; we know that altruism makes people feel better.”
But researchers later discovered that the standard approach at the time, in which the therapist urges a distressed person to talk through the experience and emotions, backfires for many people. They plunge even deeper into anxiety and depression when forced to relive the mayhem.
Crisis response teams now take a much less intense approach called psychological first aid, teaching basic coping skills and having victims recount experiences only if it seems helpful. [...]
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sydney's top rabbi urged to resign over views of reporting abuse to police
SYDNEY’S top rabbi has been urged to resign after he said it should be up to rabbis to decide whether allegations of child abuse should be reported to police.
In a series of emails that contradicted the recommendations from other rabbinical authorities around Australia in the wake of claims of abuse at Melbourne’s Yeshivah College, Rabbinical Council of NSW (RCNSW) president Rabbi Yosef Feldman outlined his views to fellow members of the rabbinate.
Among his assertions were that anyone who reported a paedophile would be responsible if the paedophile was raped in prison.
He also said abuse should be dealt with, when legally possible, outside the Australian legal system.
“I really don’t understand why as soon as something of serious loshon horo (evil talk) is heard about someone of even child molestation should we immediately go to the secular authorities (sic),” Rabbi Feldman wrote.
In a series of emails that contradicted the recommendations from other rabbinical authorities around Australia in the wake of claims of abuse at Melbourne’s Yeshivah College, Rabbinical Council of NSW (RCNSW) president Rabbi Yosef Feldman outlined his views to fellow members of the rabbinate.
Among his assertions were that anyone who reported a paedophile would be responsible if the paedophile was raped in prison.
He also said abuse should be dealt with, when legally possible, outside the Australian legal system.
“I really don’t understand why as soon as something of serious loshon horo (evil talk) is heard about someone of even child molestation should we immediately go to the secular authorities (sic),” Rabbi Feldman wrote.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Technology transforms Jewish education
As rapidly advancing technology transforms virtually every sector of society, a diverse group of Jewish educational institutions — not generally thought of as early adapters — are increasingly turning their attention to digital tools and resources.
Whether distance learning or online gaming, Skype or Twitter, Google Earth (and a plethora of other free educational apps available at the click of a mouse) or iPads, SMART boards or Smartphones, QR codes or robotics, Jewish day schools and supplementary schools — and their funders — are struggling to sort the useful, cost-effective and engaging from the gimmicky, expensive and simply overwhelming.
Technology has headlined almost every major Jewish education gathering this year, from the North American Jewish Day School Conference (“The High Performance, High-Tech Jewish Day School of the Very Near Future”) to the Conservative movement’s Jewish Educators Assembly (“From Sinai to Cyberspace”) and Reform movement’s North American Association of Temple Educators (“Imagineering Jewish Education for the 21st Century”).
In June, both the Avi Chai Foundation, a major supporter of day schools, and PELIE, a group seeking to improve “complementary” Jewish education (better known as Hebrew school), for the first time sent delegations of teachers to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference. Avi Chai also sent 10 educators to Games For Change, a conference promoting the use of computer games in education.
Orthodox groups clarify stance on reporting child abuse
Two Orthodox Jewish groups have released statements attempting to clarify their positions on reporting child abuse.
Agudath Israel of America and the Rabbinical Council of America were responding to what the former called “misleading claims about our stance on reporting suspected child abusers to law enforcement agencies.”
Agudath Israel of America and the Rabbinical Council of America were responding to what the former called “misleading claims about our stance on reporting suspected child abusers to law enforcement agencies.”
The statements come in the wake of criticism over comments by a leading American Orthodox rabbi, Shmuel Kamenetsky, that abuse should be reported to rabbis rather than police. Kamenetsky is the vice president of Agudah's Supreme Council of Rabbinic Sages.
Agudah in its statement referred to rabbinic arguments that authorities should be notified when a certain threshold of evidence is met, but “where the circumstances of the case do not rise to threshold level … the matter should not be reported to authorities.”
However, in order to distinguish whether the threshold has been met, the statement continued, “the individual shouldn’t rely exclusively on their own judgment … rather, he should present the facts to a Rabbi.” [...]
Agudah in its statement referred to rabbinic arguments that authorities should be notified when a certain threshold of evidence is met, but “where the circumstances of the case do not rise to threshold level … the matter should not be reported to authorities.”
However, in order to distinguish whether the threshold has been met, the statement continued, “the individual shouldn’t rely exclusively on their own judgment … rather, he should present the facts to a Rabbi.” [...]
Jewish group promoting polygamy?
YNET
Synagogues across Israel flooded with tens of thousands of leaflets calling on Sephardic men to marry several women, claiming ancient custom now permissible under Jewish Law[...]
RCA requires reporting abuse to secular authorities
RCA Reaffirms Halachic Requirement to Report Knowledge or Suspicion of Abuse or Endangerment to Secular Authorities Without Delay The Rabbinical Council of America has today reaffirmed its position that those with reasonable suspicion or first hand knowledge of abuse or endangerment have a religious obligation to report that abuse to the secular legal authorities without delay. One of the unique features of Jewish law is that it imposes upon every member of the community an obligation to help others avoid danger. The biblical verse “do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed" is understood by Jewish Law to mandate that one must do all in one’s power to prevent harm to others - even if monetary harm, but certainly physical harm.
Consistent with that Torah obligation, if one becomes aware of an instance of child abuse or endangerment, one is obligated to refer the matter to the secular authorities immediately, as the prohibition of mesirah (i.e., referring an allegation against a fellow Jew to government authority) does not apply in such a case.
As always where the facts are uncertain one should use common sense and consultations with experts, both lay and rabbinic, to determine how and when to report such matters to the authorities. False accusations are harmful to those falsely accused – but unreported abuse
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Talking to strangers? Rewriting the rules of childhood
Long before Leiby Kletzky was gruesomely murdered in Brooklyn after the lost 8-year-old asked a man he didn't know for help earlier this month, I made sure my three kids knew my cell phone number my heart. Even the 4-year-old can rattle off the digits, but Leiby's death changed everything I thought I knew about stranger danger.
We teach our children not to talk to strangers, but — as in Leiby's case —sometimes they have to. After all, if they're lost, how are my kids ever going to be found unless they first approach a stranger to lend them a cell phone so they can call me?
Perhaps, I realized — even as I wincingly told my kids that a boy my oldest child's age had been killed by a stranger — that “don't talk to strangers” truism needs to be revised.
I didn't tell my kids about Leiby's fate to scare them. I used it as an excuse to talk to them about strangers and how to interact with them. Because it's inevitable that they'll have to. My children don't have their own phones, so if they were ever lost, they'd have to ask a stranger for help. Look for someone in uniform is a tough concept for a 4-year-old to grasp; to her, a uniform could be a princess outfit. In fact, when recently discussing a fire escape plan for our family, I explained to her that although generally she shouldn't leap into the arms of muscular men she doesn't know, if one comes stomping through her house in the event of a fire, she shouldn't run and hide. It was all very confusing.
Intermarried couples try to raise Jewish children
Lisa Shimel, who is not Jewish, celebrated Christmas with her Jewish husband until their first child was born; now they’ve added Chanukah. Deb Morandi works at Jewish Family Services, where she introduces intermarried families to Judaism, though she is not Jewish.
Pat Luftman was a committee co-chair in her son’s Jewish preschool, but her Jewish husband was denied a board position because the couple was intermarried. The Rev. Eleanor Harrison Bregman accompanies her children and Jewish husband to synagogue on Saturday, then goes to church the next day on her own.
Pat Luftman was a committee co-chair in her son’s Jewish preschool, but her Jewish husband was denied a board position because the couple was intermarried. The Rev. Eleanor Harrison Bregman accompanies her children and Jewish husband to synagogue on Saturday, then goes to church the next day on her own.
A growing number of non-Jewish parents in America who have no plans to convert are raising Jewish children, marrying Jewish spouses, building Jewish homes and playing active roles in the Jewish community. But without plans to join the faith officially, their place in the Jewish community can be a bit complicated.
“My husband has never asked me to convert, and I feel strongly that I won’t, so this is as far as it will go,” Morandi, an active member of her Reform congregation, Temple Etz Chaim in Franklin, Mass., said of her synagogue work.[...]
“My husband has never asked me to convert, and I feel strongly that I won’t, so this is as far as it will go,” Morandi, an active member of her Reform congregation, Temple Etz Chaim in Franklin, Mass., said of her synagogue work.[...]
Vatican's plan for dealing with abuse fails in Ireland
Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza was recalled to Rome "for consultations with the (Vatican) Secretariat of State," the official Vatican Information Service said in citing a statement from the Roman Catholic Church's leadership.
The move came in reaction to this month's release of the Cloyne report about "allegations of abuse of minors by clergy ... and, in particular, in the wake of subsequent reactions."
Released July 13, the 421-page report into abuses in the diocese of Cloyne -- near the southern city of Cork -- demolished claims by the Catholic Church in Ireland that policies it put in place in 1996 had enabled it to get a handle on the problem. It details how complaints against 19 clerics in the diocese were dealt with between 1996 and 2009.
It also accused Bishop John Magee, who was responsible for policing abuse in his diocese, of not backing the policy himself and failing to take action against abusers.[...]
Rabbinical court wants woman jailed for refusing to accept divorce
In a rare move, the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court ordered a 59-year-old woman jailed this week for refusing for 15 years to accept a ritual divorce from her husband and release him from their marriage.
Disputes over refusals to grant a get, or Jewish religious separation, are common, but usually involve a husband holding back the bill of divorce, making this a rare case.
The woman, who lives in the center of the country, is refusing to accept the divorce from her husband because of an ongoing property dispute between the two.
“I won’t take the get under any circumstances, even if they take me to jail,” the woman told Haaretz Monday. “I’m made of steel, you can’t break me.”[...]
Rav Shteinman opposed to elitist non-Beis Yaakov schools
Rav Shteinman, upon seeing the list of students, asked why these particular young ladies were not accepted into the local Bais Yaakov. The Avreichim quickly corrected Rav Shteinman and stated that it was not that they were not accepted. Au contraire, these young ladies were from the finer families, a cut above the standard “Bais Yaakov” family. The parents had willingly registered them in this elite school.
Rav Shteinman responded that, if that is the case, the plans for the school should be negated immediately. The group attempted to explain to the Rosh Yeshiva the dire need for the new type of institution, but they were unable to budge Rav Shteinman. They were stuck and had to scramble to register their daughters in the other Bais Yaakov institutions.
Word quickly spread throughout Yerushalayim. There were other elite schools too, that were established for the same purpose. Kollel Yungerleit flocked to Rav Shteinman, only to receive the same response, “There is no inyan whatsoever to be frummer than Bais Yaakov. Anyone who registered their daughter at an elite school should negate the matter and re-register in the Bais Yaakov schools.”
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