Sunday, January 2, 2022

Our Kids Need Protecting, Not Our Community

 https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/our-kids-need-protecting-not-our-community/

Our community is not getting bad press because we have child molesters. Sadly, every society in the world has its share. We are getting slammed precisely because some folks seem to care more about our reputation and less about the safety of our children and the trauma of abuse survivors.

Our public image will dramatically improve when we direct our focus inward; reporting abusers to the authorities, encouraging victims to come forward without fear of retribution, helping them get professional counseling, and making research-based, child safety training for children, parents and educators a top priority.

Let’s keep child safety the “Main Thing.”

Why would a husband tell his wifeI "I just bought a knife!" after accusing her of kidnapping her own children"



'Un-Orthodox' Jewish prof prefers Hamas to Israel

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/210749

 Daniel Boyarin is far from the typical Orthodox Jew.

A professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Boyarin is a renowned Talmudic scholar and Shabbat-observant Orthodox Jew.

But he’s also an ardent advocate for the LGBT community and an avowed hater of Israel.

Despite the Zionist ideals of his youth, today Boyarin is a self-declared anti-Zionist and proud supporter of the BDS movement, which denies Jewish people the right to self-determination.

Boyarin lived in Israel for years, but since returning to the US in 1990 he has refused to speak with Israeli media outlets. This week, Channel 10 managed to secure the first ever interview with Boyarin by an Israeli news organization.

Chief Rabbi David Lau must resign - editorial

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-690240

 Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau paid a shiva mourning period visit this week to the family of haredi author Chaim Walder, who was facing numerous allegations of rape and sexual assault of minors at the time of his suicide. The visit drew condemnation and questions about why Lau has not also reached out to the victims. This is a serious error on Lau’s part, and illustrates yet another bad choice by religious authorities in this country.

 However, nothing prevents the same chief rabbi from meeting victims, showing them support, and sending a message to communities to stop ostracizing victims and stop the conspiracy of silence that often surrounds abuse allegations. If we want to stop the next case, we must send a message from the highest levels that victims should speak out, and that abusers will not only face justice but also public shame.

 

 This is  totally stupid

On the one hand the victims are given the right to testify anonymously. And then Rabbi Lau is condemned for not reaching out to these anonymous victims

Berland was brought down by jealousy from within the community?!

 Lux Noahide

But what audacity, what infamy!

Damn lashon hara. Aren't you ashamed to republish stupid news like this that ridicules a Tzadik and calls a community of thousands an extremist sect? what stupidity is that ?

Don't you by any chance know that all the charges against him were brought about by jealousy from within the community? I suggest you research more about what happened before you spread reports. Or I suggest you close your site

5 QAnon Predictions in 2021 That Unsurprisingly Didn't Happen

 https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-prediction-2021-that-unsurprisingly-didnt-happen-1664031

QAnon followers believe an interconnected global cannibalistic pedophile elite are engaged in child sex trafficking on an industrial scale and that former President Donald Trump will expose them before ordering their arrests and executions.

In order to explain their worldview, QAnon followers have built up a mythos around the movement and have made numerous predictions in the past, notably that former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would be arrested for her role in the cabal—a claim that has been presented without any evidence.

R Shmuel Eliyahu's defense

 https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/rabbi-shmuel-eliyahu-this-is-why-we-ruled-chaim-walder-guilty/2021/12/29/

As head of the rabbinical court, Rabbi Eliyahu has faced numerous questions from Walder’s colleagues, asking why the rabbis issued a ruling finding him guilty without having heard testimony directly from Walder.

The rabbi posted the following to his Facebook account in response.

Question: How was the Bais Din allowed to establish Chaim Walder’s guilt without hearing directly from the accused? Especially since they paskened (with certainty) that he was guilty?

  1. The Halacha requires us as Rabbanim (rabbis) to act against people who defile Beit Yisrael (the House of Israel). This involvement is not done with conventional parameters of Beit Din (rabbinical court) and we are not required to accept testimony before the defendant. Even more so when he regularly threatened women and they feared him.
  2. Despite this, we checked, investigated and questioned thoroughly. Witnesses testified that he committed adultery with married women for many years and they were forced to divorce because they were prohibited from their husbands. We saw rulings from other Batei Din (rabbinical courts) about these issues and supported the findings with additional unanimous evidence. In addition, we heard recordings in his own voice that attest to serious immoral acts, and we found him guilty without a doubt.
  3. Although it was clear to him that he was destroying homes and causing Jewish families to be hurt and become tamei (impure) he continued this behavior without stopping for a moment. We heard testimonies about 22 women and girls whom he assaulted, and there is no doubt that these cases are just a small fraction of the evil that he did.
  4. The Torah teaches us to treat Walder’s actions with the same severity as if it was murder. “For as a man will stand up against another man and murder him so is this thing.” Such acts bring anger upon Klal Yisrael (the People of Israel), evil decrees, and prevent our prayers from being heard.
  5. According to Halacha (Jewish Law) we are allowed to publicly lash him, threaten him, and humiliate him. We may remove him from being a shliach tzibbur (leader of public prayers) and stop him from teaching Jewish children. In addition to many other things that are not customary today.
  6. We don’t do these things [in these days], but we are still obligated to stop him. If we don’t warn the public about his actions and he continues, the blame will be on us, chalilah (God forbid). Due to the great responsibility on us to stop this [behavior] from happening in the future, we were forced to stop these abominations.
  7. We called upon Walder to take upon himself a path of teshuva. We sent people to convince him to repent, in order to prevent a huge Chilul Hashem (desecration of God’s Name) when his actions became public. Instead of repenting, he chose to threaten us through his messengers, just as they tried to threaten Rav Yehuda Silman shlit”a who paskened (ruled) that people to remove Walder’s books from their homes. It’s a pity that he doesn’t (didn’t) surrender and follow a path of teshuva (repentance).
  8. Among a plethora of evidence, the Tzfat Beit Din (rabbinical court) was presented with a recording in which Walder was heard urging a married woman who had confessed to the rabbis about having an affair with him, to take back her testimony and conceal evidence relating to him.

    “Come and learn something,” he was heard saying to her. “In life, everything can be concealed… even if they were to present a photograph of me next to you, I would deny it. I would say it was photoshopped. I will never admit to it, never.”

    Walder advised the woman to instead say that her husband threatened her into reporting a fake event.

    But the woman chose to testify before the court, presenting her version of the events that had taken place.

    In the recording, Walder was heard threatening the woman, saying he would end his own life.

    “Listen to me,” he said on the recording. “If this is publicized, I will“Listen to me,” he said on the recording. “If this is publicized, I will shoot myself. Let this be clear to you, and don’t have any doubts. This would mean the end of my own life.”

Defense of R ShmuelEliyahuin yiddish!

The following defense of R Shmuel Eliyahu was published in yiddish on Vos iz Nieas. It obviously was not written by the sephardi chief Rabbi of Tzfas





Why is there no magic demons or dybukkim today?

 אמת ליעקב שמות פרק ז פסוק כב

(כב) ויעשו כן חרטומי מצרים בלטיהם וגו'.

על דבר השאלה מדוע בזמנינו חדלו המכשפים, גם השדים נעלמו, וכן הדיבוקים שספרו לנו אבותינו, וכן כל מיני החכמות הנעלמות היכן הם. נראה לי, דבאמת מה שסידר לנו השי"ת שיהיה זה לעומת זה, שאילו לא היה כן היתה הבחירה נטולה מאת בעלי השכל. הן אמת שכשהרצון מוליך את האדם אינו רואה אפילו דברים שכליים, אבל בכל זאת מוכרח הוא למצוא איזה מקום לטעות, וכמש"כ הרמב"ן להלן [י"ד פכ"א] שלפיכך הוצרך המקום בעת קריעת ים סוף לרוח קדים עזה כדי שיטעה פרעה ויאמר כי בקיעת הים היא על ידי הרוח ולא ע"פ נס ולכן גם הוא יכול לבוא [אל תוך הים], אבל כשהיו נביאים והיו נותנים אותות ומופתים לקיים דברי ד', אילו לא היו כשפים שגם על ידיהם היה אפשר לעשות מופתים היתה הבחירה בטלה וכמו שעשה פרעה, ואף שאחר כך במכת כנים הודו החרטומים ואמרו אצבע אלקים היא, אמר פרעה בלבו שיתכן שהחרטמים בדו זאת מפני שלא רצו להודות שמשה גדול מהם בחכמת הכשוף, אבל האמת היא שהוא גדול מהם בחכמה זו.

ולפיכך כל זמן שהיתה נבואה היו מופתים נעשים על ידי כשפים, ואח"כ מכיון שהיו משתמשים בבת קול היו ג"כ כוחות נעלים חֶצְיָים רוחנים כמו שֵדִים, וכשהיו בעלי מופת עדיין היו שדים שהיו מגלים רוחניות ממרכבה השחורה, משא"כ כשחדלו בעלי מופת נעשה הכל רק גשמיות בלבד ומעתה רק השכל והרצון נשפטים ונאבקים. ויתכן שלפיכך ארז"ל [ספרי סוף זאת הברכה] לא קם בישראל כמשה עוד אבל בבבליים קם ואיזה זה בלעם בן בעור2, מפני שתהיה הבחירה שקולה, לפיכך בימי משה הוצרכו לבלעם, ודו"ק כי זהו כלל גדול בהנהגה.

ולפיכך יוסף הצדיק, כשאמר לו פרעה [בראשית מ"א פט"ו]: שמעתי עליך תשמע חלום לפתור אותו, השיב לו "בלעדי", כלומר אין זו מחכמתי אלא אלקים יענה את שלום פרעה. וכן דניאל אמר לנבוכדנצר [דניאל ב' פכ"ז]: לא חכימין גו' יכלין להחויה למלכא ברם איתי אלק בשמיא גלה רזין וגו'3, דלכאו' תקשי למה לו להציל חכמי בבל, והלא בלתי ספק שאותם החכמים הם שאכלו קרצא בי יהודאי וסכנו את חנניה מישאל ועזריה, ולמה לו להצילם. אלא ודאי שכל גילוי ממרום החובה היתה לפרסם בין הגויים מפני שהכשוף והחכמה הם הם שנוצרו לחצוץ בין בני האדם וההשגחה האלקית, וכמש"כ בפרשת ואתחנן [ד' פ"ו]: כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים וגו'.

ונראה4 שלפי זה נוכל ליישב את דעת הרמב"ם [בפיהמ"ש פ"ד מע"ז] הסובר שאין לשדים שום אחיזה במציאות וכולם שקר הן, וכבר השיגו עליו הבאים אחריו דהרי רואים אנו בגמרא בהרבה מקומות סיפורים שלמים עם שדים, וא"כ מה יעשה הרמב"ם עם כל הני סוגיות5. ולפי מה שכתבתי אפשר שסובר הרמב"ם דבזמן הגמרא, שהיו אמוראים שבכוחם היה להחיות מתים ולחולל נפלאות וכדומה, בהכרח הוכרחו גם לכוחות של השדים וכדומה, כי זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים, ואם כח הקדושה בתוקפו כמו כן כח הטומאה בתוקפו, ורק בימינו שגם הכוחות הרוחניים נעלמו ונמוגו, כמו כן שוב אין אחיזה במציאות לענין השדים, ודו"ק.

ונזכרתי, שכשהייתי בקלם ראיתי שכתב הגר"א ווסרמן זצ"ל בשם החפץ חיים זצ"ל שמעשה הדיבוק המפורסם שהיה בימיו מן הסתם יהיה האחרון, כי ככל שתקטן כח התורה והרוחניות כן תקטן כח הטומאה, עכת"ד. ובאמת אפשר שאפילו בימינו במקומות שנשארו יהודים חדורים באמונה ותמימים במעשיהם שאצלם יהיה גם לכח הטומאה כח נוסף, כי זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים, ודו"ק היטב.

Leo Frank was lynched for a murder he didn’t commit. Now neo-Nazis are trying to rewrite history.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/22/leo-frank-was-lynched-for-a-murder-he-didnt-commit-now-neo-nazis-are-trying-to-rewrite-history/

The twin murders of Mary Phagan and Leo Max Frank will always haunt the South, cultural historians say. Phagan, a 13-year-old child laborer at an Atlanta pencil factory, was found strangled in the facility’s basement in 1913. Frank, the factory superintendent and a member of a prominent Jewish family, was convicted of the crime, then kidnapped from prison and lynched in 1915.

Another retold accounts of Jewish blood libel, myths of Jews using the blood of gentile children in sacrifice rituals, in medieval Russian villages.

The trumped-up anti-Semitism led to the lynch party’s formation, Oney said, and the slow withdrawal of Jews from southern life. These Web pages try to do the same thing to stoke fears and stereotypes of Jews from a century-old crime, Oney said.
“It’s something I don’t think the Jewish community takes seriously enough,” he said. “The scary thing about it to me is that it portrays itself as a fair and straightforward account of the Frank case.”

Beis din can accept testimony if both parties not present?

Police berate victim of Vienna metro attack for ‘acting provocatively’ by reading book about Jews

 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/student-attacked-for-reading-a-book-about-jews-berated-by-police-for-provocative-act-gskz9g6mh

A 19-year-old Austrian student who was attacked and insulted as a “Jewish slut” and “child murderer” for reading a book about Jews has said she was told by police that she had been acting provocatively.

The student, who has not been named, was reading the book The Jews in the modern world for a Jewish studies course on the Vienna underground system when she was insulted by three men and had her hair pulled.

 

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Update regarding Beth Alexander

http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2021/12/austrian-court-bars-manchester-mother.html

 


 * In response to a comment on Facebook querying whether the Jewish Telegraph has fully investigated the story from both sides, we have featured the plight of Ms Alexander extensively over the years. We twice visited Vienna and spoke in person to many of those involved, as well as interviewing others by telephone. One key player apologised to Ms Alexander over her own involvement, insisting that her actions had been as a result of pressure from the Schlesinger family. We even spoke to Dr Schlesinger's own estranged father who revealed that history was repeating itself. We remain convinced that there is something inherently rotten about this case.

Chaim Walder's attorneys

 https://middleeast.in-24.com/News/530561.html

Advocate Mickey Hova and Advocate Guy Shemer, on behalf of Velder, responded: “The writer Haim Velder vehemently denies any allegation of immoral conduct on his part, mild or severe. Rabbi Eliyahu is interviewed by every media channel and expresses his opinion against our client with insults and harsh remarks towards him and even called for his books to be taken out of the houses. “Decides his case clearly.”
“Only after Rabbi Eliyahu decided the law of our client, since he was invited to present his version before the Torah court where he serves as the court’s father. Rabbi Eliyahu also addressed the Knesset, in this language: ‘He has two options at this stage. Either admit and accept an answer or he will have to face a verdict that will embarrass him and his wife and family greatly. Especially if materials published by different journalists are published. ‘ And see this is a miracle – after our client informed Rabbi Eliyahu that the tribunal is not the proper forum to discuss such matters, the rabbi’s promise was fulfilled through the current article. We will clarify that a tribunal that appoints itself and decides a person’s guilt and only then invites his version to be heard is a field tribunal to which the truth is foreign and the rules of justice are not his. We would like to express our astonishment at the conduct of the Haaretz newspaper, which persecutes our clients and serves as a platform for publishing gossip. “Our client will not give up and he is ready to fight for his good name, to the end,” they said.