Molester killed by Father - case sent to Grand Jury

Chicago Tribune  A grand jury next week will consider whether to file charges against a Texas father who said he beat to death a man who was attempting to sexually assault his 5-year-old daughter, the district attorney for Lavaca County said on Friday.

A witness saw Jesus Flores, 47, "forcibly" carrying the girl to a secluded location and notified her 23-year-old father, who was attending a barbecue at the family's ranch outside Shiner, Texas, last Saturday, District Attorney Heather McMinn said.

The father, whose name has not been released because he has not been charged with a crime, heard his daughter's screams and ran to a secluded area, where he "removed Flores from on top of his child and, in the process, inflicted several blows to the man's head and neck area," McMinn said.

Series of attacks on girls in Jerusalem -

.kikarhashabat

תוקף ילדים אכזרי מסתובב בשכונות חרדיות בירושלים, באין מפריע. אתמול הותקפה ילדה קטנה בגן שעשועים מרכזי בשכונת ארזי הבירה. הילדה נכנסה אל מגלשה סגורה, ובתוכה הותקפה ככל הנראה על-ידי אדם בעל חזות חרדית. עסקן שמטפל בפרשה: ההורים חוששים להתלונן (חרדים)....ו

עסקן תושב השכונה, סיפר לכיכר השבת: "אנחנו מקבלים לא מעט תלונות בתקופה האחרונה, אבל הבעיה היא שההורים מפחדים שהילדים יתלוננו במשטרה. הם לא רוצים שילדיהם ייחקרו. אפשר להבין זאת, אבל כך הבעיה מעולם לא תיפתר".

Yosef Kolko: A letter from a defender

I just received the following letter:

Your information is important. My interest is that I had a close friend that was one time accused of wrong doing and when his only accuser matured admitted that he was only accommodating the accusations of his parents. I understand the "two sides of a coin" very well. I visit Lakewood from time to time and observed the accused one Shabbos. You have many assumptions regarding the facts in the case as reported in the news. Many people in Lakewood including the Roshei Yeshiva say that there is no truth to any of the allegations. Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen said that "there was never any Bais Din involved in this case." I asked Horav Yisroel Belsky Shlita after hearing that he personally ruled that Kolko is innocent of any wrong doing why this is so. He responded that this is a case where the accused is the victim and the victim is the molester. I believe that for your own legitimacy you should reach out to properly understand the facts and dynamics of this case, as you seem to be condemning what might very well be an innocent man. I can be reached at [ deleted] You may want to clarify with Rabbi Simcha B. Cohen himself, this is his number: 732-370-2217. Rabbi Belsky: 718-941-5832. From what I understand the accused while on the quiet side, is not shy in his defense and speaks openly, perhaps contact him if you wish to hear his side. 

I responded:

Thank you for contacting me. I would be interested in publishing a post from you - or anyone else -  describing "the other side". I have been told that the accused has confessed to the social worker who evaluated him for the sake of the "beis din" which you claim never existed. That social worker was ordered to testify regarding his findings because the findings were no longer privileged information since he has shared them with the "beis din" that you claim doesn't exist.

I haven't said that Yosef Kolko is guilty - but that he has been charged with a serious crime , there is evidence to support the charges which I provided links to on my blog - and like many other cases e.g., Weberman - the victim and his family have been attacked. I am well aware that false accusations happen - but I am also fully aware that abuse does happen in the frum community.

I would like to talk with you to hear your view - I'll try calling this evening.

CNN: Abuse coverup in Orthodox community

What makes a pedophile tick?

Time Magazine   In a study published in Biological Psychiatry, Martin Walter and his colleagues found that the hypothalamic regions of the brains of pedophiles, a region heavily involved in sexual identity and behavior, are not stimulated by erotic images of adults the way that nonpedophiliac brains are. Neurologically, pedophiles don’t identify adults as sexually attractive. Other brain-imaging works by James Cantor and colleagues published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research and Kolja Schiltz and colleagues writing in the Archives of General Psychiatry confirm that pedophiles have impairments to brain structures involved in sexual development. Put simply, the brains of pedophiles are different from those of other adults.

More research will continue to clarify the origins of a behavior that is extremely difficult for most of us to understand and is deeply repugnant. One common misconception is that victims of childhood sexual abuse are highly likely to later become abusers themselves. Most of the studies that supported this view were retrospective studies of offenders asking them whether they had been abused. The problem is that many perpetrators see claims of their own abuse as a potential mitigating factor that will lead to leniency. However, even such retrospective studies like one published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2001 find that the majority of abusers do not report having been abused themselves as children. And a longitudinal 2003 study, a better standard for assessing risk, made clear that the vast majority of sexual-abuse victims do not become abusers. Those few who did tended to experience other forms of neglect and violence within the family. The victim of sexual assault who is otherwise cared for by his or her family is highly unlikely to become a future predator. Like many abnormal behaviors, pedophilia likely stems from a biological predisposition combined with exposure to a harsh environment. Child abuse is horrific; but the fact that it doesn’t produce an endless chain of future abuse is something we can take small comfort in.

Everyone is Good until Tested - responding to abuse

NYTimes by Maureen Dowd   In February 2001, McQueary was home one night watching the movie “Rudy,” about a runty football player who achieves his dream of playing at Notre Dame by the sheer force of his gutsy character. McQueary, a graduate assistant coach and former Penn State quarterback, was so inspired that he got up and went over to the locker room to get some tapes of prospective recruits. 

There he ran smack into his own character test. The strapping 6-foot-4 redhead told the court he saw his revered boss and former coach reflected in the mirror: Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s right hand, was grinding against a little boy in the shower in an “extremely sexual” position, their wet bodies making “skin-on-skin slapping sounds.” He met their eyes, Sandusky’s blank, the boy’s startled. 

“I’ve never been involved in anything remotely close to this,” the 37-year-old McQueary said. “You’re not sure what the heck to do, frankly.”

"Taliban mother" released after 4 years in jail

YNET  After four years behind bars, a Beit Shemesh resident known as "Taliban mom" was released from prison on Sunday. The woman was convicted in 2009 of aggravated assault and abuse of a minor for continually abusing six of her 12 children for 25 years.

The woman's husband was also convicted of abuse and failure to report the abuse to the authorities, and was sentenced to six months in prison.

The mother, who was nicknamed "Taliban mom" on account of her refusal to reveal her face during her trial, was originally charged with abusing all 12 of her children.

The final indictment included multiple counts of abuse against only six of the the children, both due to some of the cases falling under the statute of limitations, and the fact that several of the children refused to testify.

Frozen (potential) grandchildren - latest trend

 NYTimes   The technology to freeze a woman’s delicate eggs to be used later, when the eggs being released by her ovaries may no longer be viable, has improved sharply over the past decade. There currently is no single source of data on the number of women who are choosing to freeze their eggs, but doctors in the United States say the practice is slowly growing. 

The procedure remains expensive, generally costing between $8,000 and $18,000. And because it offers no guarantees and is still considered experimental by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a professional association, it can seem to some like an extravagant gamble. 

But it is a gamble that many would-be grandparents are willing to take with their daughters, even if it means navigating a potentially uncomfortable conversation.[...]

Even Ms. West’s mother, an international environmental and human rights lawyer, whom Ms. West described as “very career oriented” and “not the type to nag,” could not resist a joke after hearing how many of her daughter’s eggs had been successfully frozen. “I have 26 grandbabies!” she exclaimed.

 See this article  Psychology Today: How eggs are different from frozen waffles

Hi-tech exec - charged with online child abuse

YNet  A 41-year-old high-tech executive has been charged with a line of serious sexual offences involving minors on Sunday. A 44-page indictment filed with the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court lists 33 counts based on the testimonies of female and male teenagers. The prosecution noted there is evidence for dozens of additional acts.

In one of the cases described in the indictment, the defendant solicited a 13-year-old boy to perform indecent acts and acts of sodomy on his 11-year-old sister.

Posing as sexually experienced teenage girl, the defendant victimized dozens of teenagers and convinced them to perform indecent acts as well as acts of rape and sodomy on camera on various online chat rooms.  [...]

Fight over Yated - Rav S. Auerbach's side

kikarhashabat

פרשת המחלוקת בבטאון יתד נאמן ממשיכה להסעיר את הציבור החרדי: שעה קלה לפני כניסת השבת הגיע הרב שמואל אריה לוין, מרבני ארגנטינה ומתלמידי מרן הרב שך זצ"ל, אל ביתו של הגר"ש אויערבך בירושלים שם זעק מרה כנגד ההשתלטות על העיתון

לדבריו, הוא זכה להיות בביתו של הרב שך בשעה שהכריז על הקמת העיתון, בכדי שיהיה שופר ראוי להפצת ההשקפה הטהורה ולהילחם את מלחמות היהדות הנאמנה.

"

לאחר שהוקם העיתון", אמר הרב לוין, "הרב שך בכה בפניי שאינו יכול לנוח ולהיות בשלווה כל זמן שרוצים להרוס את עיתון יתד נאמן

[....]

"ועכשיו", המשיך הרב לזעוק, "כואב הלב שהגיע "בעל בית" מניו יורק ומבקש להשתלט על העיתון בגלל שיש לו כסף".

$28 million award in religious abuse case

ABC News    A Northern California jury has awarded $28 million in damages to a woman who said the Jehovah's Witnesses allowed an adult member of a Fremont church to molest her when she was a child in the mid-1990s.

Alameda County jurors awarded $7 million in compensatory damages on Wednesday and another $21 million in punitive damages on Thursday to Candace Conti, her attorney, Rick Simons said.

"This is the largest jury verdict for a single victim in a religious child abuse case in the country," Simons told The Associated Press.

A Talmud chachom shouldn't serve his son?!

Kiddushin( 31b): R. Jacob b. Abbahu asked Abaye: ‘I, for instance, for whom my father pours out a cup [of wine] and my mother mixes it on my returning from the school, what am I to do’? — ‘Accept it from your mother,’ he replied: ‘but not from your father; for since he is a scholar, he may feel affronted.’

This is the halacha in Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 240:25)

Thus that the halacha is that a father can serve his son a drink - but not if the father is a talmid chachom because it is against the mitzva to honor his father. Is this a din only for a son or it applies to every talmid chachom? Why will the father be upset if his son accepts? Why should the father even offer it if it in fact will cause him to be upset if his offer is accepted? Why wasn't Avraham upset at serving what he though were idol worshipers and in fact he is held up as a role model of chesed?

Perfectionism - On the Level

Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen honors July 4th

Last year the Lakewood Scoop  reported that the shul of Rav Cohen in Lakewood displayed an American Flag on the front of the shul to honor July 4th. It reported that displays of patriotism were strongly encouraged by Rav Avidgod Miller who was Rav Cohen's grandfather in law.

It also contained the following from Halacha for Today

Question: Displaying the American flag, is that considered a gentile ideal?

Answer by HaRav Avigdor Miller Zatzal:

Let me tell you something, Fifty years ago I wouldn’t have spoken about that. I have been speaking more than fifty years in public; I didn’t speak about American flags. We don’t need it. Who needs American flags? It wasn’t necessary. Today I say, if you want to do it, I say Yasher Koach. Do you know why? Because all the Reshaim are trampling on the flag, and they’re trying to desecrate America. You know why? Not because they’re good goyim, because they are Reshaim Gemurim; the liberals are trying to ruin everything. And when that wicked Supreme Court permitted burning an American flag, and saying you cannot make a law against it, it was a desecration of America

After all, America is a good country. We came from countries where we were persecuted, and this country gave us all the rights. I say we should kiss the ground of America. I was in Europe for some time; I went to study in the Yeshiva. I came back and I saw this was a blessed country; it’s a gift from Hashem to us. Shouldn’t we appreciate it? And therefore I say a Jew should hang out the flag. Yes; today yes. I won’t say you’re a sinner if you don’t, but I think it’s a good thing to hang out the flag today. It’s not a contradiction, not a contradiction by any means.

We hang out the flag from this Shul on the Fourth of July.

Is Yosef Kolko supported by Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen?

The new appeal ad for Yosef Kolko contains two changes from the previous appeal ad

- 1) A citation from the Rambam and 2) the use of Rav Simcha Bunim's shul as a conduit for donations. The Rambam (Hilchos Rotzeach1: 14-16) is not obviously not applicable because it applies to a victim not the perpetrator! However the involvement of Cong. Ateres Yeshaya is  disturbing.

For background information see Jewish Week Hella Winston- Parallel Justice System

Clergy fight change to statute of limitations

NYTimes   While the first criminal trial of a Roman Catholic church official accused of covering up child sexual abuse has drawn national attention to Philadelphia, the church has been quietly engaged in equally consequential battles over abuse, not in courtrooms but in state legislatures around the country.

The fights concern proposals to loosen statutes of limitations, which impose deadlines on when victims can bring civil suits or prosecutors can press charges. These time limits, set state by state, have held down the number of criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against all kinds of people accused of child abuse — not just clergy members, but also teachers, youth counselors and family members accused of incest.

Victims and their advocates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York are pushing legislators to lengthen the limits or abolish them altogether, and to open temporary “windows” during which victims can file lawsuits no matter how long after the alleged abuse occurred.

The Catholic Church has successfully beaten back such proposals in many states, arguing that it is difficult to get reliable evidence when decades have passed and that the changes seem more aimed at bankrupting the church than easing the pain of victims.

Rav Steinman ends bullying of Yated Ne'eman

The reign of bullying by the Hebrew Yated Ne'eman comes to an end as Rav Steinman took control by having R' Shimmy Glick buy the newspaper and fire the staff.

kikarhashabat

במשך עשרות שנים, הצליח עיתון אחד, מגזרי, להלך אימים על רבותיו, ולא רק: מישהו מכיר רב, ראש-ישיבה, או אדמו"ר מפורסם שלא חטף אי-פעם "עקיצה" מהיומון "יתד נאמן"? האם למישהו השם "יתד נאמן" משדר משהו חיובי בכלל?  

עורכי העיתון החצופים הצליחו פעם אחר פעם, בשחצנות שאין לה אח ורע בעולם החרדי, ללעוג לרבותיהם, לרבנים מפורסמים ולאדמו"רים שכל חייהם הוקדשו לפעילות חסד וקדושה ברחבי הארץ והעולם

אלה שיחקו בתוארים של רבנים, השפילו ורוממו, והכל על-פי מצב הרוח באותו הבוקר.

לפני כשבועיים, בצעד היסטורי, הצליח מרן ראש-הישיבה הגראי"ל שטיינמן להחזיר את המושכות לגדולי ישראל. ההמשך היה אמש, כפי שדווח בהרחבה ב'כיכר השבת': גורמים שונים, מההנהלה הישנה של העיתון, ניסו בכל דרך למנוע את פרסום המכתב של מרן הגר"ח קנייבסקי

[...]

נסיים בציטוט ממכתבו של הרב קנייבסקי, המתפרסם היום ב"יתד": "והנה חובה לכל לציית לכל מוצא פיו של מרן שליט"א והזהרו בגחלתן, ובזה מקיימים מ"ע ועשית ככל אשר יורוך, וכל העוזרים והמסייעים בהנהלת העיתון החדשה בראשות הר"ר שמעון גליק שליט"א יתברכו בכל טוב סלה. חיים קניבסקי"..

.

אהרל'ה יקטר רושף אש: אתרא קדישא - טרוריסטים

kikarhashabat

אהרל'ה יקטר, איש הועד למניעת חילול קברים ויריבם המר של אנשי אתרא קדישא, הואשם השבוע בחילול שבת לאחר שהתראיין לתחקיר ששודר בערוץ 2, בליל שבת.

כעת, הוא משיב מלחמה שערה. בראיון לתוכנית טוקר FM ברדיו גלי ישראל עם מנחם טוקר, תוקף יקטר: "אתרא קדישא חופרים קברים. הם עושים הפגנה ביפו, מביאים את גדולי ישראל ובאותו זמן - 500 מטרים משם חופרים יותר קברים. הם עושים טרור לכולם, הם עושים חילול השם, זורקים אבנים בשבת ויש שם כלי תקשורת שמצלמים אותם.

"הם חופרים קברים, עושים את כל העברות שבתורה. אני לא מדבר על כספים שהם חייבים לאנשים ולא משלמים".

Bar Ilan conference on Orthodox wife abuse

YNET אלימות במשפחה היא מכת מדינה שאינה מבחינה בין מגזרים ואוכלוסיות, אך בכל זאת, עד לאחרונה לא בוצע מעולם מחקר על שכיחות התופעה במגזר החרדי. בכך נותר הבית החרדי סגור ומסוגר, גם אם מאחורי הדלת התרחשו מחזות מסמרי שיער

YNet English   Domestic violence is a national epidemic that does not differentiate between sectors of the population, and yet, until recently no study has been conducted to examine the frequency of the phenomenon within the haredi sector.

Dr. Mally Schori-Biton, a criminologist and couples' therapist from Ariel University Center conducted a pioneer research that aimed to distinguish the phenomenon's unique characteristics within the religious and haredi sectors, while addressing a subject that was considered taboo for many years – violence against women.

The research will be presented during a conference in Bar Ilan University on June 20, which will host the top therapists in the haredi sector. 

The dangers of new technology e.g., the Printing Press

The Atlantic   Near the end of the conference, Rabbi Jacob Schacter of Yeshiva University -- who had taught many of the men in the room and was affectionately called "Rebbe" -- led a session offering some Jewish reflections on the age of the internet. Though the men gathered for this conference were modern Orthodox, not the Haredim whom the media usually call "ultra-Orthodox," I immediately thought of the recent ultra-Orthodox rally in New York that focused on the dangers of the Internet. But Rabbi Schacter pursued these issues in a surprising and, to me, enlightening way. 

Professor Fishbane and I had prepared some brief handouts to guide the participants in our sessions, but Rabbi Schacter had a rather more ambitious plan. After recommending Clay Shirky's recent books Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus -- he was speaking my language then -- he plopped before each of us a three-ring binder filled with photocopies of passages from a wide variety of rabbinical texts, most of them dealing with the proper preparation of a divorce decree, known as a get. (Anyone who has seen the movie A Serious Man will be familiar with the complexities of the get.) 

This seemed a strange way to proceed, but I soon saw the sense of it, because traditionally a get had to be written by a sofer (scribe) according to a very strict protocol -- and with the rise of the printing press in the sixteenth century, debates ensued among rabbis about whether a printed get could ever be legitimate. This led in turn to a fascinatingly complex debate, chiefly focused on the Taz, a name that refers both to a book (the Turel Zahav) and its author (David HaLevi Segal, a seventeenth-century Polish rabbi). The Taz is itself a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, written a century earlier in Safed by Rabbi Yosef Karo.

Killing child molesters - is it legal?

Time  Consider it a warning to those who would stoop to sexually abuse children: on Saturday, a Texas father who allegedly discovered a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter hit him so hard that he killed him.

And few seemed to care. “Dad’s a hero in my book,” was one of more than 5,400 comments on CNN. “No jury in this country will convict the father,” read another.

The incident took place in Lavaca County, Texas, west of Houston, where the girl’s family had invited people over, including the man who was killed. Neither man has been identified, but Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon told CNN that they were casual acquaintances. The preschooler stayed inside her house while relatives were outside tending to the horses; when her father came back, he found the man attacking his daughter and cut short the assault by punching him in the head multiple times.

Must teach until students understand reasons

Shulchan Aruch(Y. D. 246:10): If a when a teacher gives a lessen and the students don't understand he should not get angry at them. Instead he should patiently teach over and over against until they understand the depth of the matter. On the other hand a student should not say that he understands when he doesn't.  Instead he should continue asking questions until he understands it. And if the teacher gets angry with him he should reply, "This is Torah and I have to learn it but my mental abilities are limited."

Eiruvin(54b):Rabbi Akiva asked, How do we know that a teacher is obligated to keep teaching his student until he has mastered the subject? We learn it from the verse (Devarim 31:19), And you shall teach it to the children of Israel.And how do we know that it must be taught until the students are totally fluent in the material? Because that verse says, “Put it in their mouths.” And how we know that the teacher needs to explain the reasons to the students [and not just teach it didacticly – Rashi]? Because the verse (Shemos 21:1) says, Now these are the laws which You have put before them.

Eiruvin (54b): R. Pereda had a pupil whom he taught his lesson four hundred times before the latter could master it. On a certain day having been requested to attend to a religious matter he taught him as usual but the pupil could not master the subject. ‘What’, the Master asked: ‘is the matter to-day?’ — ‘From the moment’, the other replied. ‘the Master was told that there was a religious matter to be attended to I could not concentrate my thoughts, for at every moment I imagined, now the Master will get up or now the Master will get up’. ‘Give me your attention’, the Master said, ‘and I will teach you again’, and so he taught him another four hundred times. A bath kol issued forth asking him, ‘Do you prefer that four hundred years shall be added to your life or that you and your generation shall be privileged to have a share in the world to come?’ — ‘That’, he replied. ‘I and my generation shall be privileged to have a share in the world to come’. ‘Give him both’, said the Holy One, blessed be He.

Reality Check:Self-Esteem vs "You're not special"

Eliyahu will poskin - not Moshe - because he never died

Dr. Marc Shapiro in the recent Seforim Blog wrote:

I recently found a very interesting comment by R. Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, Kedushat Levi ha-Shalem (Jerusalem, 1958), Likutim, pp. 316-317. He asks why we say תשבי יתרץ קושיות ואבעיות, that in Messianic days Elijah will answer all problems. Since Moses will be resurrected, and he is the giver of the Torah, why don’t we say that he will provide the answers? R. Levi Yitzhak explains that only one who is living in this world knows what the situation is and how the halakhah should be decided. This is not the case with one who is dead and has lost his worldly connection. This explains why Elijah will provide all the answers, as he never died and was always part of the world. Therefore, unlike Moses, Elijah is the one qualified to decide matters affecting us. The lesson here is obvious, especially for those who think that every issue must be decided in Israel by authorities who really have really no conception of how American Jews live.

I found this same idea in the Beis Elokim of the Mabit who predated the Kedushas Levi

בית אלקים (שער היסודות - פרק ששים): והחכמים שימצאו באותו הדור ילמדו חכמת התורה לאותם שנקברו זה כמה שנים, וגם ימצאו ספרי התורה ונביאים וכתובים אשר יהיו באותו הזמן ומהם ילמדו תורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פה, כפי מה שהוא רמוז בה כפי שלמדו החכמים שבדור ההוא, ואליהו ז"ל ימצא בפרסום בזמן ההוא אשר הוא "תשבי "יתרץ "קושיות "והויות, והוא ישיב לב אבות על בנים ולב בנים על אבותם בכל הדברים ובפרט בקבלת התורה ובכל העניינים שהיו נסתרים בעוה"ז הכל יתגלה על ידי אליהו הנביא, כי שאר הנביאים והשופטים והחכמים אשר היו בדורות העוברים וגם האבות והשבטים וממשה רבינו ע"ה עד ימי התחייה כשיחיו, לא ידעו מענייני העוה"ז ממה שקרה אחרי מותם, כי היו בג"ע התחתון והעליון מובדלים מענייני העוה"ז הגשמי, אבל אליהו ז"ל אשר חיה מימות משה רבינו עד ימי יהורם ידע כל מה שהיה בימיו, ואחר הסתלקותו בגוף ונפש נזדכך גופו כאחד מן הגרמים השמימיים או יותר, והכינו האל יתברך להמצא בעת צרת ישראל להצילם על ידו ובזכותו בכל הדורות אשר הם צריכים לו, ומתגלה ג"כ לחכמי ישראל לגלות להם סודות התורה כפי הכנת כל דור ודור, מלבד מה שמקובל אצלנו היותו מצוי נ(מצות ברית מילה אשר קנא עליה ואנחנו מכינים בפועל כסא לכבודו:

Florida's Mandated reporting law - $1 million fine

VIN Editorial    It is that common theme, again, that is once again in the news - the abuse of young people where someone in authority is protecting the abuser or molester. The names and players change but the theme remains constant.  And, unfortunately, there does not seem to be an adequate solution.

After the Baruch Lanner case many thinkers in our community had thought that the times of covering up were over.  A few years elapsed.  Then came the accusations against Kolko and people once again thought that a fundamental change had happened. It didn’t. We went back to the same routine.  And many more innocents were victimized.  Newspapers and bloggers picked up the cry for protection of the innocents and the abused, but by and large, our leadership did not make the fundamental changes that were necessary for complete safety in schools. 

Last week, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes issued a call to push for a law that would make Rabbis into mandated reporters.  The call was not met with welcoming arms.  A subtle rift was detected by some between the Brooklyn DA and some of the Rabbinic leaders who had formerly worked together. 

There is one thing that will work, though, and it is perhaps time that we do it.Florida Governor Rick Scott has recently signed a bill, SB 1816 , into law that we must adopt here in our fine state of New York, as well. Institutions must put the well-being of children before their own reputations.  Florda’s SB 1816 provides the toughest child abuse reporting law in the country and gives the law some teeth too.

In essence, institutions that do not report allegations of child abuse will face huge fines – fines to the tune of $1,000,000.  That’s right, one million dollars.  New York State must also pass such a law. 

If New York State passes such a law, no institution will question their obligation to report.  The law also draws no distinction between mandated reporters or not.  Any school or institution that suppresses or quashes a report will face the fine.[...]

Chillul Hashem - and resulting crisis of faith

Rabbi Eidensohn - I salute you.

In your recent blog posts, you have touched repeatedly on something that has been deeply troubling me for a very long time.  Because it is relevant to this discussion, I include a letter I wrote to my Rav  a few months ago.  You can insert the phenomena of intimidation and abuse of victims mentioned in your blog to my list of disillusionment.

If you would like to post this on your blog (anonymously of course) I would be grateful to see what response it gets.  

And I would also very much like to know how you deal with this situation.  Can you see any way forward?  Can Klal Yisrael be saved from this horrible scourge where "frum" social policy is effectively dictated by a bunch of corrupt, immoral bullies?

============================================

Rebbe,

I have for a long time harbored several misgivings about the Charedi world.  You already know my opinion about the seeming obsession with chumros.  Moreover, I find the very concept of categorizing Jews quite offensive: was David Hamelech charedi?  Was he Dati-Leumi or Tziyoni?  No, he was a Yehudi.  OK, I can tolerate as much as saying which shevet you belong to, so maybe I can deal with Sefardi and Ashkenazi labels, because we have different minhagim - just so long as there is mutual respect, and my saying I'm Ashkenazi doesn't mean I think less of the next guy who happens to have made aliya from Iraq.  But these days, when someone says they're Charedi, it usually carries implications that everyone else is somehow a lesser Jew, holding at a lower level at best; off the derech and an apikoros at worst.  And this last series of events in Beit Shemesh and Mea Shearim is only serving to solidify this perception in my eyes.  Notwithstanding the unbelievable chessed and selflessness of individuals in the Charedi world (e.g. Zaka, Yad Sarah, Hatzola etc.) it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the mainstream Charedi establishment is becoming more and more openly hostile to and deprecating of all other Jews.

And it comes from the top.  Rav Elyashiv may be a sacred cow, but this letter that was trumpeted all over the Charedi media just blows me away.  I didn't trust the media to translate and excerpt it for me; I read it in full, with my own eyes - and it is totally unambiguous.  No to the army.  No to secular studies.  No to any form of contact with the secular world.  And the startling claim "אשר לא שערום אבותינו" - that our ancestors never learned these things.  So Rambam wasn't a physician.  Rashi wasn't a vintner.  The Chayei Adam wasn't a businessman.  Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov weren't shepherds.  And people like me, who committed the sin of learning a trade and don't spend our time in full time learning - and especially those who go to the army - are clearly outside the fold, תועים and חטאים, in the opinion of Rav Elyashiv, the Official Gadol HaDor.

My best דין לכף זכות is that R' Elyashiv did not write this letter, and that his signature at the bottom is forged.  But considering that the learned Rav has not protested against the forgery of his signature here, we must conclude either that he agrees with the content, that he is being kept in ignorance by his askanim/handlers, or that his protests are not being allowed to be publicized.  And whichever conclusion we come to, it makes it very difficult to take anything I hear in his name seriously.  If he is so out of touch with the outside world because everything reaching him or emanating from him is so thoroughly filtered and perverted by his askanim, then frankly he is no more than a puppet.

Irrespective of whether or not Rav Elyashiv actually wrote this letter, the common perception now is that this is the Official Charedi Position on life.  Any True Believer must forswear any secular education, accept the privations associated with having no professional qualifications and therefore the extremely high probability  lifelong poverty and reliance on handouts from the aforementioned חטאים and תועים with whom he should have no contact (beyond extending his palm to them).  And not a breath of protest or dissent from anyone.  Since it comes from Rav Elyashiv, this is Torah MiSinai, and to question it is apikorsus.

I'm not buying the apologetics anymore about Charedi society being centered on chessed.  Haven't bought it since the charedim turned their backs on the Jews of Gush Katif.  If the Jew in need wears (or wore) a different kind of kippa, it's not for us to protest if he gets kicked out of his home and has his life ruined - just so long as the government keeps funding our yeshivos.  We'll protest about desecration of ancient graves on Kvish 6 and remain silent about the desecration of fresh graves in Neve Dekalim.  The behavior of the Sikrikim in Beit Shemesh and Mea Shearim does not strike me as an aberration, but rather the logical conclusion of a certain attitude about life that seems to characterize the Charedi world in general.  So it makes perfect sense that the Rabbonim don't condemn it; why should they, if it serves their purposes?  

אמר רבי אלעזר אמר רבי חנינא: תלמידי חכמים מרבים שלום בעולם.  

I am no Talmid Chacham, and I cannot judge who is a Talmid Chacham.  But I am pretty well grounded in logic.  And if the above statement is true, then it logically follows that anyone who increases machlokes in the world ipso facto cannot be a Talmid Chacham.  

Rebbe, I have to tell you, if I had not learned Torah under Rabbi G' ZTz"L, I probably would have come to the conclusion by now that there are no Talmidei Chachamim left in the world, and maybe even that Torah produces self-righteous, self-centered and elitist bullies who don't give a tinker's cuss about anyone outside of their narrow world.  If it were not for you, presenting a sane alternative to the insanity of the rest of the Charedi world, I might already have packed my bags and gone back  so that I could educate my children in the school that Rav G' founded, and draw my inspiration from what seems now to be one of the last sources of genuine Torah in the world.  Torah without politics.  Torah without divisions.  Torah without judgmentalism.  Just Torah.  And Shalom.

Chillul Hashem cuts deep.  It's not just chilonim who are alienated by this disgraceful behavior and the שתיקה כהודאה of the Charedi world.  It's even frum Jews like me.  And who knows how many people never learned Sane Torah under a Rabbi G', and have been pushed off the derech altogether?

Please convince me I am wrong.  And please tell me who the talmidei chachamim are in our generation who are increasing Shalom in the world.  I am sick to my stomach, disillusioned, and frankly, hanging on to the thread that is Rabbi G' to maintain my own faith.

Sincerely,

Bullies, trolls & sick people

For those of you who are following the abusive comments from "Outraged" - you are seeing in real time what goes on in the frum community regarding those who dare criticize the establishment view. This is also the standard procedure against those who  report abuse - whether victims, families or concerned community members. This is going on big time in Lakewood now regarding the Yosef Kolko case. The debate there  is not a reasoned one with halacha or cost/benefit analysis. There are a few individuals who threaten - with epithets such as moser or  lashon harah - apikoros. At other times they are more blunt - "your kid is no longer welcome in yeshiva because you are a moser." Sometimes it is more subtle such as no shidduchim. This the intimidation that D.A. Charles Hynes referred in abuse cases when the defendant's name is revealed.

By and large the abuse comes from  askanim or  zealot rabbis. However it is important to note - this bullying doesn't go on just against bloggers or abuse victims. It is also used against the rabbinical leaders themselves. Tropper was not only good at handing at the goodies to those who supported him - but he was good threatening those who stood up to him. Thus he achieved the silence of gedolim - who knew he was twisted - but didn't want the burden that came with confronting him

One of America's leading gedolim was threatened that if he didn't sign a certain letter denouncing the Zoo Rabbi - he was finished because top student would no longer be sent to his yeshiva. He signed it.

Outraged has threatened me on various levels. - the spiritual (loss of olam habah for daring to criticize gedolim), social (find those who have influence with me so he can knock be out of my perch), psychlogical (I am sick and in need of therapy 4 days a week)...... etc etc.

These threats are not idle ones and he is seriously out to get me. This is the dynamic that the Netziv wrote about in his introduction to Bereishis. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of pious individuals who felt that anyone who disagreed with them was a heretic and had to be killed. This righteousness was behind the lashon harah and sinas chinam.

CDC: Metzitza infected 11 Babies in NYC

Time Magazine   The report is sure to reignite a long-simmering debate over public health and religious liberties: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday that 11 baby boys in New York City were infected with herpes between Nov. 2000 and Dec. 2011 following an ultra-Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual called metzitzah b’peh — or oral suction — in which the mohel puts his mouth directly on the newborn’s circumcised penis and sucks away the blood.

Ten of the babies were hospitalized, at least two developed brain damage and two died, according to the New York City health department. In 2005, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked rabbis throughout the city to move away from performing metzitzah b’peh — and also issued an open letter [PDF] to the Jewish community warning of the health risks — but they refused claiming the practice was safe.

Convert of R' Karelitz rejected by Rabbinut Court

Haaretz   The Netanya Rabbinical Court recently rejected a request by a woman to have her conversion recognized, even though it had been conducted by the Bnei Brak Rabbinical Court of Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, which is considered one of the most respected rabbinical courts in the ultra-Orthodox world.

This was an extraordinary decision, since state rabbinical courts usually approve the rulings and conversions of Haredi rabbinical courts automatically. But the Netanya panel, headed by Rabbi Shlomo Shapira, declared that Haredi rabbinical courts have no intrinsic advantage and that conversions by the state rabbinical courts are preferred. [...]

ORA: A Child is a Tool against a Parent

Guest Post: Larry Silverstein. It should not be surprising that Rabbi Jeremy Stern and ORA would openly complain about demonstrators, such as himself, having to travel from New York or Pennsylvania to Silver Spring to demonstrate against Aharon - while completely disregarding that ORA is demanding that the child have to travel from Pennsylvania to Silver Spring every time the child is to spend time with Aharon.  See http://www.daattorah.blogspot.com/2012/06/oras-inconsistencies-regarding-aharon.html

ORA frequently acts in complete disregard of, or directly contrary to, the best interests of the children in ORA's cases - such as supporting several child abductors, and trying to prevent children from spending time with their fathers. 

For ORA, a child is just a lowly tool to be used against a parent.  ORA is encouraging and assisting Tamar in using the child of which she and Aharon are parents as a mere tool against Aharon.  What is in the child's best interests is subordinated to using the child as a tool against the other parent for any purpose Tamar and ORA choose.  

And these are not unsupported accusations.  ORA itself openly boasts to the media that it is using the child as a tool against Aharon, such as pressuring Aharon's relatives to stop making it possible for the child to see Aharon.

"ORA has tried to get Friedman’s relatives to agree to stop helping him ferry his 4-year-old daughter between her parents’ homes for her semi-monthly visitation with Friedman. But they have not agreed," the Forward reported, citing Rabbi Stern. http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/152345/congressman-pressed-on-agunah-issue/

Rabbi Jeremy Stern has said that ORA considers it appropriate to demonstrate against Aharon's relatives for the supposed sin of enabling the child to spend time with Aharon, and has already done so.  Rabbi Stern called up Aharon's relatives on the day they picked up the child -  threatening them for making it possible for the child to spend time with Aharon.  And Rabbi Stern can only know which relative to threaten, because Tamar tells him.   (Aharon lets Tamar know in advance who is coming to pick up the child so that the child will know.)

Tamar also organized a large demonstration at her house in front of the child against the child's aunt, uncle, and three young cousins, when they came to pick up the child - and refused to let them pick up the child before subjecting them to additional harassment by her lawyer and rabbi. 

Note that under the current parenting schedule, it is sometimes impossible for Aharon to pick up the child for the weekend before Shabbos, and the only way the child can be with him on scheduled weekends is if Aharon's relatives do the driving.  [The parenting schedule generally has Aharon picking up the child from Tamar's house on Thursdays at 5 (although sometimes the pickup time is not until Friday afternoon or Erev Yom Tov), but given that Aharon has a full-time job in Washington DC and Tamar unilaterally relocated the child to Pennsylvania, Aharon is often not able to leave work early enough on Thursday to pick up the child before the child's bedtime (note that Aharon leaves work early each Friday (except in the summer), so he can't always leave early on Thursdays as well) nor generally leave work early enough on Friday to pick the child up before Shabbos,  Tamar vehemently objected to the schedule, arguing that the child should not miss school on Fridays and should not be allowed to travel to Silver Spring for most of the child's time with Aharon.]     

Yosef Kolko: How is the victim being protected?

The following recently appeared in a Lakewood paper. Trial is set August 6. The family of the victim has already been driven out of Lakewood. Witnesses have been intimidated. What are the gedolim doing to protect the victim and ensure a fair trial? "Outraged" demanded to know what is the current problem - well here is a good example!

Rema: Create peace by slandering an innocent person

Peace Through Slander

Tamar's supporters rally primarily to defeat "evil"

guest post: Some have asserted that the attacks and demonstrations against Aharon and his family are contrary to halacha and are counterproductive if the goal is for Tamar to receive a get. They have wondered whether those attacking and demonstrating against Aharon and his family are even doing so primarily in order to help Tamar receive a get. Here is the answer from the demonstrators themselves.

The author of this blog has previously noted that she is related to Tamar (a sister of Tamar's brother-in-law Dovy Goldschmidt, and daughter of Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt), and appears to be Estee Goldschmidt, the organizer of the online petition against Aharon.

==================================

http://walkingthegreyline.blogspot.com/2012/02/support-tamar-epstein-agunah-become.html

http://thinkingjewgirl.blogspot.com/2012/06/reason-its-important-for-you-to-go.html#comment-form

Okay. So another three months have passed. Tamar still has no get. This Sunday rallies will be held at the locations of Aharon's mother and uncle, his biggest supporters.

*The reason it is extremely important for you to go to the rally, is not because of the impact it might have on Tamar, but primarily because of the impact it will have on you.*

It is similar to the marches for Soviet Jewry in the eighties. Two hundred and fifty thousand Jews gathered in Washington to rally on behalf of Jewish brethren in Russia screaming: "Mr. Gorbachev, let our people go!" No matter what it accomplished in terms of affecting Soviet Jews, it accomplished so much more in the impact it had on those American Jews who stood up against injustice, and became part of a larger picture fighting for good to triumph over evil.

I was once on a date where the guy brought up the agunah issue and then said: "All those people who fight for agunahs, do they really care about them? Of course not. They are just pushing feminist agenda." 

I just looked at him. There was no point in arguing.

After a hundred and twenty years, you won't be held accountable for not changing the world. You will be held accountable for not trying. This Sunday presents you with a tremendous opportunity to stand up against evil, to stand for "Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof" (Justice, Justice, you shall pursue). Having attended rallies in the past, I must say, they are some of the most bonding, intensely emotional and inspiring experiences I have ever lived through.

Abuse:Halachic & Ethical Dilemmas II

Pitputim Guest Post - Thanks to all who commented on the first scenario. Consider, now, a new scenario.

Your daughter is showing signs of strain. She has not been herself for some time. You have tried all manner of parental approach: the stick and the carrot and you can’t seem to manage to cajole her to be on the same page as you and your husband. She is also not performing to her ability at school.

You become aware of rumours that a male associated with your daughter’s school has been exposing himself and may well have fondled or even forced himself on some girls. When you hear these rumours you are in a state of disbelief. You cannot imagine that this apparently fine and upstanding individual would do such things. If he did, then you conclude that he must be sick or have experienced some trauma that has scrambled his moral compass.

One day your daughter casually mentions that the said person approached her and attempted to interfere with her. You aren’t sure whether actual interference has taken place. On the other hand, this may well explain her unusual behaviour and lack of focus. Given the rumours, you run to the School and meet with the powers that be. They tell you that there have been issues with this person and that he is receiving treatment and the strong indications are that this earlier behaviour will no longer be manifest. It’s a close-knit school where each parent knows the other and shares strong common ideals. The school did not contact the police because they felt they were dealing with it internally through professionals. Their Rabbi forbade “Mesira” anyway and there was no mandatory reporting in place. [Click for full posting]

An open letter to Matisyahu: Rabbi Hoffman

5tjt by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Dear Matisyahu,

The reports, have been a bit devastating. First came the beard. Now, it seems, your appearances are sans Yarmulkah.

What happened?

We were, for a while, so proud of you. Here was a powerful entertainer, filled with talent, and unabashed in his Judaism. Unabashed, as well, in his Hasidic deportment. And filled with a spiritual energy of which the secular world took note.

The beard. The peyos and black Yarmulkah. The tzitzis out and flying as you danced to the tunes that underscored Jewish spirituality.

True, reggae music is not to everyone's tastes, but the gentile world was now exposed to a thinking - a philosophy not heard from before. You had exposed a small, yet discernible, ray of the light of Chassidus to a different world. True, it was a world that had gone mad, but nonetheless, the notion of spreading Hasidic light was, in a sense, coming alive in you.

Your religious fans loved you. Those with a similar physical appearance to you, finally, had recognition. No longer did they receive bizarre looks in the street from those never exposed to such dress. They had a Matisyahu out there. Ambassador to the world. But then, something happened. Something may have changed within you. You went native. [...]

The Emperor has no clothes:Rabbinical infallibility

Outraged wrote demanding I retract my criticism of rabbinic leadership on a previous post Saving-kids:Lashon-harah-high-price-to pay. In one of his many strident criticisms he noted:

I am asking you what it is TODAY that you are criticizing in harsh terms the rabbis on the moetses for currently handling abuse cases wrongly ( i am quite aware that prior to NOW the frum community dealt with these issues internally without ultimately going to the police) I'm not asking for a general repeat of the last 10 years but rather exactly what the moetses is NOW doing that warrants your CURRENT massive criticism of the moetses today. I am not asking about Zweibel now, I am asking only about the moetses. And of course aside from wanting to get to the bottom of what you are mean regarding NOW.

I want to congratulate Outraged for stating two things - 1) That the gedolim and rabbinic leadership have not acted appropriately in the past and have been negligent in protecting our children and communities against child molesters. 2) He wants me to ignore this past and only criticize the present - which I assume he means no further back than a week ago. 

He is outraged that I dared mention past neglect, incompetence and deliberate coverups. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS? He is demanding that we do not hold our rabbinic leadership  accountable. Only we the masses are held accountable if we really messed up an important responsibility. Whenever the rabbinic leadership  botch something up - we are to repress awareness of the mistakes or at least no public acknowledgements) and we are not to expect them to apologize and to promise to try better in the future (teshuva).

This is functional infallibility. Gedolim and religious leaders make no errors and when they do err - we are not allowed to talk about it because they are infallible and thus can't make errors! We saw this happening with the infamous Tropper affair. Tropper bought the attention of the gedolim in America. When this spectacle came to a disgusting end - there was complete silence from the gedolim of America. When Rav Sternbuch told me to publicize that Tropper was guilty I was accused by varioius the rabbis of creating a chillul hashem - because since they weren't talking about it - the only way people would hear about it was because I was publicizing the matter!

I recently received a call from a major askan. He was furious at the language I have used. At my lack of respect for the gedolim. He didn't deny the problems that I have raised. I just wasn't supposed to publicly mention my upset. He had the same complaints against me when I publicized the Tropper affair.

When the Tropper affair ended in a multiple collision disaster - I sent a message to one of the most influential gedolim in  America - that he should at least acknowledge what had happened and condemn Tropper - as the RCA had done. The reply I got back was that the scandal was too big and too many major rabbis had been bought -  so it couldn't even be acknowledged that it occurred.

Pleasure is highly dependent on Seeing - Yoma 74b

Yoma(74b):Who fed you Manna in the wilderness in order to afflict you?(Devarim 8:16). There was a dispute between Rav Ammi and Rav Assi regarding what affliction the Jews suffererd from the Manna? One said [it was because of its transient nature] as we know that one can not compare one who has bread in his basked with one who has none [and is worried where he will get more - Rashi]. The other said [it was because what they ate didn’t look like what they tasted] because there is no comparison between one who sees what he eats and one who doesn’t see [and the Manna tasted like all types of food and yet they only saw the Manna – Rashi]. Rav Yosef said, this alludes to the fact that blind people eat but are not satiated. Abaye replied from this we can conclude that who has a meal should only eat it during the day. R’ Zera asked where this idea is alluded to in the Bible? It is Koheles (6:9), Better is the seeing of the eyes then the wandering of the desire. Reish Lakish concluded from this verse that better is the pleasure of looking at a woman than the act itself[- and therefore it needs to be greatly avoided – Semag].

avf - Why Tamar does not have Get

avf previously commented "Young Children After a Divorce Have Nothing More To Do With Their Fathers"

Why Tamar Does Not Have a Get a guest post by Larry Silverstein

Commentator “avf” cuts to the heart of the entire matter - explaining, inadvertently, why Tamar does not have a get.

From the very beginning, Tamar has consistently done what she can, with the encouragement and active assistance of her supporters, to severely limit the child's parenting time with Aharon, seeming to take the position that the child should essentially have little or no day-to-day relationship with Aharon.  [Even the court Order that the child remain in Pennsylvania because Tamar had kept the child there for so long before trial (as a result of Aharon agreeing to jointly cancel an earlier trial to bring the case to Beis Din) concluded that Tamar’s attitude towards the child’s relationship with Aharon was “spiteful.”]  At a a minimum, Tamar devalues that relationship based on the twin, and not coincidentally, convenient for Tamar, beliefs that children are always better off with divorce [if that is what the mother, at any given time, thinks will result in an increase in the mother's happiness], and should subsequently only have one true parent, the mother.  (These beliefs are contrary to halacha or any notion of traditional family values and more accurately described as quasi-theological ideology invented by the 1960’s free love / no-fault divorce movement.)

Tamar has been indoctrinated into this position – by those in Merion/Bala Cynwyd who advised her to leave the marriage with a four-month child and unilaterally relocate the child to Pennsylvania – that, as avf aptly summarized, “with young children after a divorce, they have nothing more to do with their fathers.”

When the mother believes the child should have nothing (or relatively little) more to do with the father, it is hard enough for child and father to have a meaningful relationship.  But it is nearly impossible if the child has been taken hours away (particularly if the parents are Shomer Shabbos), and the child’s spending time with the father involves, as a practical matter, trade-offs that the mother will (placing relatively minimal value on the child spending time with the father) necessarily believe are against the child’s interests, such as traveling and missing school and other activities.  Thus, Tamar told the court that Aharon’s request that the child be allowed to spend allotted time with Aharon in their home would place “an undue burden” on the child and shows that he does not recognize the child’s “need for normalcy and consistency in her routine.”  And this is especially so when the child has been taken to a community that seems to be inculcating Tamar with avf’s attitude, while also poisoning the child against Aharon. 

Sexual abuse at a prep school: Horace Mann

NYTimes   “Guys, I have to tell you something that happened to me when we were at H.M. Do you remember Mr. Wright, the football coach?” Our metal utensils ceased clanking. Speaking calmly and staring into the flames, he told us that when he was in eighth grade, Wright sexually assaulted him. “And not just me,” he added. “There were others.” First Wright befriended him, he said. Then he molested him. Then he pretended nothing happened. 

No one knew what to say, at least at first. But then slowly, the rest of us started telling stories, too. One of the guys talked about a teacher who took him on a field trip, and then invited him into his bed in the hotel room they were sharing. (My friend fled, walking in the rain for hours until the coast seemed clear.) Another told a story about a teacher who got him drunk and naked; that time, no one fled. We talked about the steakhouse dinner, which was a far cry from abuse, but an example of how easy it can be for boundaries to blur and how hard it can be, in the moment, for students to get their bearings. Finally, we all went to sleep.[...]

This was 1978, a different era in terms of public awareness about sexual predators. Today children are taught from a young age that unwelcome touches are not O.K., not their fault and should be reported immediately. But at 13, Andrew hadn’t heard any of those lectures. He didn’t tell his other teachers or his parents. He felt too ashamed to talk about what happened. “What I did do in the immediate aftermath,” he said, “was contribute to the rumors going around that Mark Wright was a child molester, which were pretty rampant at that time. I’d join conversations about it and say that I’d heard he was into boys, etc. But these conversations were always very frustrating, because he had a lot of defenders who would say that people said this about him because they were jealous that he was such a stud.”  [...]

At Horace Mann, students who spoke up at the time and saw quick action from the school seem to have suffered few, if any, ill effects. “I was not traumatized by the experience in the least,” Seth, the student at the center of the John Dorr Nature Lab confrontation with Stan Kops, told me. “In fact, I was just relaying the story to a friend the other day at lunch. I think the school acted swiftly and appropriately.”