Monday, June 6, 2011

Workshop on Protecting Children from Abuse

Rabbi Horowitz will be giving a workshop (not his first) about educating your children about abuse in a Torah way.

Here is a link to his article about this workshop.

Here is Vosizneias talking about it.

You'll see me there!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Agudath Israel's Self-serving Distortions of Halacha

Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn has addressed some serious problems with the recent Agudah Halacha Conference.
"I listened in dismay to R' Shlomo Gottesman's presentation of halachic issues of child abuse. He picked a very narrow perspective in answering the question of whether halacha allows going to the police to report abuse....

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gay Marriage: A Senator Responds

Please write letters of support to this senator, and ask your senator to oppose the legislation legalizing same-gender marriage.

Following is a letter from Senator Martin J. Golden, written in response to an emotional letter from a frum Brooklyn man decrying the upcoming vote on legalizing same-gender marriage in New York.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Weberman's Latest Court Appearance

Weberman had to face a group of supporters of his victims when he walked into the courtroom this Wednesday. Perhaps he will get the message that the victims will not be intimidated, because they are strong and because they have the support of many people in the community, some of whom are not afraid to show their faces in support of the victims. Emanuel Yegutkin also had his appearance that day.

This court appearance was covered by a number of blogs, including Frum Follies (who provides a number of links to info about the molesters) and CALANY (who provides an in-depth analysis of the court proceedings).

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Call Your Senator: Same-Gender Marriage Bill

In the next couple of weeks, the New York State Senate will vote on a bill legalizing gay marriage. I don't need to point out what's wrong with that, since my target audience is frum people. But I would like to ask everyone: Do you want your kids seeing people acting on their illness (click to read a frum psychologist's perspective on this)? Right now, we can see lots of love going on in the streets, but we can rationalize that away. Big deal, so our kids will know about male-female relationships. But do you want your kids seeing gay couples honeymooning on 13th avenue?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Meir Dascalowitz Friday Hearing (May 6) UPDATED AFTER HEARING - 5:20 P.M.

UPDATE 5:20 P.M.:
          Today's "Molester of the Day" hearing was covered by a number of websites, perhaps most notably Failed Messiah. According to people who attended, Meir Dascalowitz's hearing was the first one on the calendar (presumably due to the large number of attendees for that particular hearing - there were numerous supporters there) and it was over in two minutes.
          Court-appointed psychiatrists want to declare the defendant "unfit to stand trial." For an explanation, see CALANY's blog (Coalition Against Legal Abuse). Here is an excerpt from their article:

Monday, May 2, 2011

New Victims Come Forward: Show Your Support at the Hearing

          The next couple of weeks are loaded with hearings for our molesters, including a new alleged molester from Crown Heights. Yes, it seems we as a community are getting the message that only the cops can handle the molesters. This week, we have Meir Dascalowitz and "the new guy," check out this link for details, and next week we have Jerry/Yechiel Brauner and Nechemya Weberman.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

ATTENTION CAMPS: Educate your staff members about dealing with sexual abuse in camp. It has happened, and we need to be ready for it. We don't want our children getting hurt. More importantly, we don't want to get sued! [sarcasm]

Click to view the guide which was distributed to representatives of 30 Orthodox summer camps.

Article in The Jewish Star:

Camp directors learn about preventing abuse
By Michael Orbach
Issue of May 7, 2010/ 23 Iyar, 5770
More than a hundred representatives of 30 Orthodox summer camps attended a two-hour meeting in Flatbush last week to discuss ways to deal with sexual abuse in a camp setting. The event organized by Sacred Lives, an organization that advocates for sexual abuse victims and for greater education inside the Jewish community, was closed to the media. Several journalists, including a freelancer for The Jewish Star, were ejected, but the materials used at the meeting were leaked and published online the next day by the news website vosizneias.com. They included a manual, as well as a form letter and information prepared with the approval of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, the ruling body of Agudath Israel of America, that the camp administrators were advised to mail to parents of all prospective campers before the summer...
Read More on The Jewish Star

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

"Guard Your Eyes" Handbook (For Scrap Paper Use Only) - UPDATED 11:48 am

At the recent Torah Umesorah Convention, sexual addiction was addressed. A handbook was presented to all attendees. This handbook on sexual addiction was produced by the anonymous authors of Guard Your Eyes. Guard Your Eyes (GYE) is "a website for Jews struggling to maintain their moral purity in today's world."  It claims to have helped many people with sexual addictions. 
Click HERE to see the letter from Torah Umesora to schools regarding GYE.

UPDATE (11:48 AM): According to Yonasan Rosenblum of Mishpacha Magazine, GYE has helped many people with the support groups they offer. I highly recommend support groups when they are moderated by skilled therapists. If you wish to use them, find out who is moderating the group and what his credentials are. However, a support group can be very helpful regardless of the therapist's credentials. The shame surrounding sexual issues can be very much alleviated when it is shared with fellow frum Jews struggling with the same issues. Although it's great that support groups are provided for this greatly under-addressed issue, I am suspicious of GYE. Their Handbook on how to deal with sexual addiction contains some kinky ideas.
Click to view the Guard Your Eyes Handbook (from the Torah Umesorah Convention) in PDF form.
          This stuff is worse than garbage. They tell you to punish yourself, and they are wrong. Before you write me off as being against Da'as Torah, you need to realize that today's poskim hold that sigufim (self-flagellations) are not only uncalled for nowadays, they are assur - prohibited. That is because we are not on the level of being able to grow from sigufim; we can only lower ourselves by punishing ourselves. The reason this site is so successful, is that people think they are right! More Painful = More Frum. But this is against Da'as Torah.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Rabbis Publicly Support Kellner, and Prosecution of Lebovits

Two prominent Rabbis have announced their support of Kellner's pursuit of Baruch Mordechai Lebovits's prosecution on child molestation charges, and have written and signed a letter declaring that.

The letter has been posted on FailedMessiah.com (the letter is in Hebrew).

Here is my translation of it (it's almost a transliteration, actually, so it's quite precise):

Friday, April 22, 2011

A new post on Nuchem Is Right.
"During these 1st days of Yom Tov, you heard people all over the community saying. Hey Nuchem – Lebowitz is out or Rabbi Rosenberg – You are next, and some similar brilliant statements. Let’s get the record straight for a second..."

 If you're having doubts as to who the real criminal is, after all the joy which seems to surround the possible reversal of "Rabbi" Lebovits's conviction, you need to read this article.

Posted by Nuchem Is Right.

On Lebovits and Other Criminals: Rabbi Rosenberg's Encouraging Words

         Lebovits is not in prison now, which is a frightening thought for our community. It might even cause flashbacks for survivors of abuse. It is definitely a slap in the face of every victim of his to see their abuser released from prison.
         But Lebovits is not free. He is under house arrest for 120 days and then he is back in prison, since the appeal does not negate his conviction. Frum Follies has explained this situation.
         Still, concerned citizens are worried about this molester being out of prison, and are wondering what this says about our justice system. Many abuse victims are getting confirmation for their worst fear, that "There is no point in going to the police. They just set the abusers free. They don't punish them."
         Here are Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg's reassuring words, loosely translated from the Yiddish-language recording that he posted on his website:

Friday, April 15, 2011

Prevention: How to eliminate the risks of abuse happening

          There is far from enough talk about fighting abuse. A blog here and there cannot be construed as a movement, which is what our community really needs: a “Movement” to expose molesters and help victims get help. There needs to be more talk about this.
But what about prevention? We need another “Movement” to teach parents how to make their kids less vulnerable to abuse.
         (There is an organization dedicated to prevention, called Jewish Parents for Safe Yeshivas - click to see their Facebook page. They are currently organizing workshops for parents on how to educate and protect your children.)

Monday, April 4, 2011

BREAKING: Michael Sabo's Hearing (No News)

Michael Sabo, alleged molester and poster of child pornography, did not even appear in court today.

A source who attended the hearing says that Sabo's lawyer, Schwartz, did not appear either. A different lawyer served as a backup for him. As has been the case for the last 10 hearings or so, the lawyer requested more time. Unlike the other times, however,

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Topic: Attending Hearings

Calendar for Hearings and Trials
This calendar was posted on Yasher Koach's website - a site dedicated to "Giving chizuk to Jewish Survivors of Sexual Abuse."

What I especially like about this site is that they provide many ways to help victims, including a mentoring program. I will look into that program soon, maybe even become a mentor (if the supervision is done by people I can trust). I will keep everyone posted on that. But back to the current topic:
Attending Hearings
Who attends the hearings? Why do they do so? Should I attend, too?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

For Those Worried about Mesira or Loshon Hora

Here is a PDF with Teshuvos (responsa) from various poskim, including Rav Elyashiv, on halachically "mandated reporting".

Your concerns about Loshon Hora and Mesira are justified; that is why Rav Elyashiv is here to tell you that you have nothing to fear about reporting child molesters.

In short, you may report them to the authorities.

Does he say that you must? I did not read the entire thing; find out for yourself.

But don't hide behind "It's an aveirah!" It's more of an aveirah to allow children to be spiritually and emotionally murdered. OK?

NEW(added April 5, 2011): Here are some more PDFs.

Yeshurun 15 Shaarei Halacha Pamphlet

Yeshurun on Reporting Abuse 

Rav Elyashiv's Tshuva (responsum) 

Translation of Rav Elyashiv's Tshuva  


P.S. The PDFs were kindly provided by Dr. Asher Lipner, a frum psychologist at the vanguard of the war on abuse in our community.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

I Despise Silence

FACT #1: Courts cannot prosecute child molesters unless the abused child testifies.
FACT #2: (Most) Children of abuse are afraid to testify.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Why I Love Nuchem

This morning, March 25th, I attended the court appearance of child rapist Nechemya Weberman. So far, five victims have come forward with accusations against him. I also came to attend the appearance of Meir Dascalowitz (another child rapist, who - justifiably - wants to claim insanity), but i missed that one because by the time Weberman was done, Dascalowitz had already left.

It was very exciting to be there, because we were making history by coming out in the open with support for the victims of abuse. It was even more exciting because of the packed courtroom! The court officer at the entrance was constantly overheard saying, "You can't come in. You have to wait until somebody leaves, because there are no more seats." That was so inspiring, I wanted to dance and hug everybody in the courtroom, even the people who were there for other cases.

It was also exciting because of all the historical figures who attended; courageous men who speak out against abuse, continuously chipping away at the Wall of Silence surrounding abuse in our community:

Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz (see link below - he also attended the Dascalowitz hearing, somehow!)

Dr. Asher Lipner

Etc...

and of course...

Reb Nuchem Rosenberg!

I felt honored to be in their presence. I was also honored to be in the presence of Yoily Deitch/Joseph Diangello (I really don't believe that's how he spells it, but Rabbi Horowitz spelled it that way). Joseph/Yoily is a man who came forward with his own story of how he was abused by Nechemya Weberman, and because of him (and the others who came forward) Weberman will be put behind bars for many years, be'ezras Hashem. His days of terrorizing our children are coming to an ignominious end.

The judge offered him 5 years today in the courtroom. But he refused the offer. I guess Weberman's lawyer cannot admit defeat because the Va'ad Hatznius will assassinate him if he does. But it's quite obvious that he is already defeated, and he would have been smarter to take the five years and be done with it. Since the judge offered five years as a deal, this means that the charges against Weberman are sufficient to put him away for 20 or 30 years, if convicted.

I plan to attend his next appearance, as well, which was scheduled for May 11. I hope to see all of you there, too! .Just don't come too early; I want to get a seat! :)

Here is Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz's press release about today's court appearances.

Oh, so why do I love Nuchem? Without Reb Nuchem, this would never have happened! Now, it's the abusers who are running!

As Yoily Deitch said: "You can run, but you can't hide..."