THEY CAN RUN BUT...

Gaydamak, Chen and Fanan – Abuse & Corruption Roundup...

There were key milestone positive developments in three scandals in Israel this past week.

Israeli-Russian-French Billionaire, and latterly a candidate for Mayor of Jerusalem, Arcadi Gaydamak, was found guilty in absentia by a French court, of illegally trafficking arms to Angola and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Gaydamak recently left Israel, leaving a deposit, and an open charge sheet for laundering hundreds of millions of shekels behind him. Gaydamak is believed to be in Russia.

“Rabbi” Elior Chen, the spiritual leader of an ultra-Orthodox sect in Jerusalem suspected of severe child abuse, arrived in Israel this week after being extradited from Brazil. Chen and several of his followers allegedly used knives, hammers and other instruments to abuse children as young as 3 and 4 years old – reportedly one of the most horrific child abuse cases in recent times.

And the mysterious suicide of Moni Fanan, a celebrity manager of the Maccabi Basketball football team, has led to police investigation into an illegal banking and investments operation involving Fanan and the disgraced London financier Nicholas Levene. The case resembles the Meydoff scam, with a ‘club’ of people who invested via Fanan and Levene in a scheme which netted the greedy ‘investors’ with double figure returns. Until the money dried up, and Fanan hanged himself. Both Israeli tax authorities and the UK Serious Fraud Squad are investigating. “Disappeared” money is reportedly around $20m in Fanan’s case, and over $200m in Levene’s.

These three multinational cases are showing that, though tardy, the forces of law and order in Israel, in cooperation with those of other nations, can eventually track down and catch abusers and fraudsters. The criminals can run, but - all being well - they cannot hide.

Tempest in the Temple

Tempest In the Temple – Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals

Brandeis University Press; Edited by Amy Neustein

"I couldn't put it down", "reads like a Dan Brown novel…", etc hardly sound like descriptions of a Brandeis University Publication, an academic analysis of Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals.

Tempest in the Temple is the first-ever comprehensive book on this painful & controversial subject, and as such is 'important' in every sense.

The most immediate factor I found with Tempest in the Temple was how very readable ("user friendly")  it is, even to the layman such as myself. With each chapter by a different expert contributor, and written from a different professional angle, on this pretty hair-raising subject, the book itself was compelling to read.

Each of the nine chapters addresses an 'angle' on the topic. Some are direct stories, narratives, such as Loel Weiss and Mark Itzkovitz' "Unholy Waters". This chapter tells the story of how a temple's beloved and veteran chazzan/cantor being accused of repeatedly raping a mentally handicapped girl – and the dramatic stage-by-stage response of the temple as an organization, and its key officers. To me, the most impressive detail is the responsible steps taken - including by the rabbi who did not personally believe the accusations were even true, until the chazzan himself confessed in court – including their immediately reporting the suspicions to the police, working closely to support the whole community through the trauma, whilst dealing with the long legal battles which ensued…

Another powerful narrative is "The Fugitive and the Forgotten" by Michael Lesher (who has recently written an article for this blog), an attorney specializing in child protection, in which he describes his role in the case of alleged multiple child attacker, Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz. Mondrowitz was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury on child sex charges in 1985 and fled from the USA to Israel. In spite of some 25 years of stalling by various authorities in the USA and Israel, and many genuine legal obstacles, Mondrowitz was finally arrested in Israel in 2007 and is now in custody pending extradition to the USA.

I found one of the most striking details in the account was that only non-Jewish victims had come forward to testify against Mondrowitz in the 1980's, whereas today Jewish victims (who were allegedly by far the majority) are coming forward, some quarter-century later, in order that the Mondrowitz will finally face justice.

Rabbi Mark Dratch, founder of JSAFE, writes "A Community of Co-Enablers" – a halachik treatise addressing the response of many orthodox communities – "Why Are Jews Ignoring Traditional Jewish Law by Protecting the Abuser?" For example, R.Dratch addresses Loshen Hora (derogatory/slanderous speech), Mesirah (betrayal of Jews to non-Jewish authorities) and Hillul Hashem (the desecration of G-d's name) – being the three main halachik justifications used to cover-up, deny or evade mandatory reporting of child abuse cases in orthodox communities. I found R.Dratch's conclusions about practical, positive steps communities should take to better protect their children, to be particularly constructive and helpful.

Amy Neustein showed editorial flair, by inviting Barbara Blaine, founder of SNAP (Survivor Networks of those Abused by Priests) to tell her personal story of "How I Challenged the Catholic Church Hierarchy to Atone for their Sins against Me and Other Abuse Victims". The story starts with one victim of rape, at the hands of a Catholic Priest  - the author – who initiated a survivors support group, which grew to 9000 members, in over 60 cities, and culminated in the exposure and arrest of dozens of molesting priests in Boston in 2002 – and legal proceedings against hundreds of Catholic clerics throughout the USA. Civil damages cases have cost the Catholic Church over $1 Billion.

The exposure of the systemic protection and enablement of pedophile Catholic Clerics by the Church, generated an awareness which has begun the process of examining some parallel policies within Jewish communities – and, incidentally, has led to the writing of Tempest in the Temple.

Psychiatrist, Michelle Friedman, delves into the unique factors of a Rabbi's role, and asks "What Makes A Rabbi Violate Sexual Boundaries And What Can Be Done About It?". Although the focus is upon rabbis, and indeed Friedman is director of pastoral counseling at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinic School in New York, the observations about blurring and then progressing to abusing of professional boundaries is also applicable in many other spheres of life – the manager and his secretary, the professor and his students, the sports coach and the kids….

Robert Weiss, a clinical social worker and the executive director of the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles, explains more about the criminology of sex abusers in general, including a helpful explanation of commonly used terminology (eg. what is the difference between a pedophile and a child molester?). Weiss categorises sexual offenders in three groups: The Dedicated or Fixated Child Offender  (adult loner who hangs out with kids and transitions the kids from social to sexual relationships – although Weiss doesn't mention him as an example, from biographical reports, I observe that Michael Jackson seems to have fitted this category); The Situational or Regressed Child Offender (a 'normal guy' who redirects his adult sexual frustrations onto children); and The Sexually Addicted Offender (compulsive, addictive sexual behavior which can include illegal and abusive sexual activities). Weiss highlights the first category as being the least likely to respond positively to available therapy – and holds out positive hopes for enabling the second two categories of offenders to lead offense-free lives.

Dr Joyanna Silberg and Stephanie Dallam, both of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence in Baltimore, in their joint article "Out of the Jewish Closet" examine the   scope and nature of child abuse in orthodox communities, particularly drawing on their experience in Baltimore. For generations, sex abuse was treated as a taboo subject or concern in these communities; in the past few years significant progress has been made in removing the taboo status and honestly assessing and addressing the issue. The first formal study of the extent of child sex abuse in Jewish orthodox communities has been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, in 2007, which surveyed orthodox women, and reports that around one-in-four of the orthodox women who responded to the survey reported they had suffered sex abuse as a child. This mirrors similar studies in the general population (see my posting "So How Common is Sex Abuse.."). The Baltimore Jewish Times has also taken a leading role in bringing awareness of the scale and gravity of the problem ("murder of the soul") to the general public.  The authors also describe the process of increasing awareness in the non-Jewish world, over the past century, and the various backlash movements, which includes moves to discredit the testimony of abuse survivors. The differentials of the orthodox community to the general population are also highlighted. The chapter concludes on a forward looking, positive note, highlighting programs in Baltimore and in Los Angeles which are uniting communities in a shared objective of "promoting healing and prevention".

The two chapters "Straying the Course" by Erica Brown and "Justice Interrupted" by Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher describe, document and assess some of the past failings of Jewish communities in appropriately handling and preventing child abuse, and propose some practical steps for detecting and responding to such cases.

Brown focuses on abuse by rabbis or other authoritative moral figures, observing that, whereas there can be distinctions drawn between private morality and public functionality, a rabbi (or priest) have elected to pursue a career which sets them up as specifically moral role models. Therefore standards are set higher, and private failings become a betrayal of their professional persona. Brown suggests therefore that regular assessments/evaluations of the rabbi by the lay leadership should be standard procedure in communities (as is standard in many workplaces).

Neustein and Lesher's "Justice Interrupted" reviews the case of Rabbi Solomon Hafner who was "cleared" of abuse charges by the Bobov Bet Din (religious court) while the alleged victim was chased out of town; they also explore the Mondrowitz case and Rabbi Yehuda Kolko.In all three cases, the DA, Charles "Joe" Hynes seems to have participated in whitewashing, or obfuscating, due apparently to political considerations. Neustein and Lesher examine the legalities of Hynes behavior and that of the rabbinical courts, and bring federal civil law to challenge the legitimacy of these policies.

Conclusion: Tempest in the Temple is a pioneering book, offering a broad range of highly readable, thorough, balanced, professional studies and first hand accounts concerning the chosen subject matter of Jewish Communities and Child Sex Scandals. It is my recommendation that Tempest in the Temple should be read particularly by those involved in Jewish community life, including Jewish social services, education, congregational management. and rabbinical training.  

 

(Tempest in the Temple can be ordered on-line directly from Brandeis University Press )     

The Final Solution to the Palestinian Problem?

In the darkest times of The Cold War (1959) Tom Lehrer's black humour song went:

For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbours too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve….

We will all go together when we go,
All suffused with an incandescent glow.

Have you ever wondered why the Palestinians are not Israel's allies when it comes to opposing the nuclear weapons program in Iran? After all, as Tom so memorably sang "We will all go together when we go".

A nuclear holocaust visited upon me and my family, here in Israel, will also get my neighbors, Ahmed and his family, living in a West Bank/Judea village just five minutes drive from my front door.

Iran is solely developing nuclear weapons to bomb Israel with, and this would also be the Final Solution for the Palestinian Problem.

There is no contradication between destroying Israel together with Arab Palestine  - and all the occupants of our region, both Jews and Arabs together "all suffused with an incandescent glow" – with the Iranian + Palestinian objective of "liberating Palestine".

How is this, you may ask – surely the destruction of Palestine is the polar opposite of what the Palestinians and Iranians want? Why else would they have sacrificed so much for the claims to "an independent Palestinian State, living in peace side by side with Israel"?

However, my friend, you and almost the entire world have mistaken the Palestinians' and their supporters' (such as Iran) true objectives.

They have sacrificed a lot, it is true, for their objectives. Palestinians have given their children to two intifadas (over 5000 Palestinian 'martyrs'). But their objective is NOT a peaceful Palestinian State, living side by side in peace with Israel.

Their objective is, and always has been, the destruction of the State of Israel, and the annihalation of the Jews/Israelis. Yes, some Palesatinians have sometimes voiced support for a partial Palestinian State, but only within the context of this being a tactical step towards that final goal.

And if you doubt me, then consider: why do the Palestinians support an Iranian Bomb?

They support it, because an Iranian Bomb, dropped on Israel will achieve their objective. The destruction of Israel and the annihalation of the Six Million Jews/Israelis. And the simultaneous and glorious martyrdom of two million Palestinians. What greater fulfillment could any devout Moslem aspire to – what could be even more glorious than sacrificing just five thousand of their own children - than the sacrifice of two million? If you believe this is far fetched, recall a world just fifty years ago, where two superpowers faced off, armed with thousands of nuclear bombs, apparently each willing to sacrifice the whole planet and all of its inhabitants for their ideals.

We will all go together when we go,
All suffused with an incandescent glow.

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P.S. Those culturally impoverished souls who are unfamiliar with Tom Lehrer's brilliantly ironic song can watch & hear him sing it:

Did Barak Overspend?

Scathing report slams conduct of defense minister's convoy to Air Show in France during times of recession, says most expensive hotel chosen, some of rooms booked were not used by anyone.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3790095,00.html 

The Chief Comptrollers latest report severely criticized Defence Minister Ehud Barak for the "excessive spending" on this year's Defence Ministry Delegation to the Paris Air Show.

Barak's political opponents have jumped on this stating Barak "has proven himself once more unworthy of leading the Labor Party."

In the details, the following facts have been revealed:

Total cost of the delegation: $250,000

Hotel Expenses: $80,000

Number of attendees: 57 representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Defence travelled to the Exhibition, including the Defence Minister. 

Micha Lindenstrauss, the Chief Comptroller, highlights mess-ups with the bookings, leading to high prices at this, the 100th Anniversary Paris Air Show. Barak's hotel room at the exclusive Intercontinental Hotel in central Paris was $2500/night. 

Background: The bi-annual Paris Air Show is arguably the world's largest aerospace exhibition. Israel has for many years had its own exhibition hall at the show (when other major countries hosting Air Shows even refused to grant Israeli companies the right to exhibit!); it is here that Israel's leading defence contractors, such as Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, Elbit, Israel Military Industries, as well as smaller manufacturers, show their wares, and many large sales contracts are inked at the show. 

Israel's defence industry accounts for around $6 billion/a in exports, placing Israel in the world's top ten defence exporters; this business is thriving, relatively untouched by the global economic recession. Over 80% of the turnover of Israel's defence industries goes to export markets.

Israel's military strategic edge is largely reliant upon Israel's own defence industries, providing mission-ready systems, at affordable (even for a small country) costs. The local market alone cannot sustain this, and so defence exports enable Israel's Defence Forces to maintain a critical qualitative edge. A strong defence industry also allows us a certain level of independence from boycotts by supplier countries (as happened with France and the UK in the past).

Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence is itself a major customer, particularly for US Aerospace manufacturers – with over $2 Billion/a in US Defence Aid being spent back in the USA by Israel's MoD. The Israel Air Force, for example, is totally reliant upon US manufactured fighter aircraft, such as F-16's and the upcoming Joint Strike Fighter, which will ensure Israel's fighting capability for the coming decade. All the main US manufacturers are present, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, et al, together with their top executives

In this perspective, for the Ministry of Defence to spend $250,000 on having a highest level presence at the Paris Air Show, seems a reasonable national investment. Even the minister's $2500/night suite would seem to be proportionate to his status.

So, whereas Micha Lindenstrausse beady eye on government spending is to be welcomed, and will hopefully prevent excess – and hopefully as a result of this latest report the boys in the MoD will be more careful with their hotel bookings in future – I do not see this as a cause for Barak to stand-down or even, frankly, to apologise. The main excess here, methinks, is political opponents within the Labour Party absurdly stating that, by these expenses " Barak has proven himself once more unworthy of leading the Labor Party."

This card can save ONE HUNDRED LIVES each year!

Considering the outstandingly generous and charitable nature of the Jewish People, and the espoused centrality of saving human lives ("pikuach nefesh") it is curious that when it comes to donating life-saving organs to dying patients, we Jews are apparently one of the stingiest nations on earth.

In Israel, the percentage of people who hold an organ donation card is only 10 percent; in Western countries the rate is 30-40 percent. The rate of agreement to organ donation is only 45 percent, which is 50 percent lower than the rate in most Western countries.

As a result, there are about 1,000 Israelis currently on the "waiting list" for organs, and it is estimated that roughly 10% [100 people!!] of them die annually due to a lack of donations. (Wikipedia).

Two landmark Organ Donation laws were passed in Israel in 2008, one defining the moment of death and the mechanism for determining this, and the other permitting limited compensation/incentive to donors while outlawing the "business" of out-of-country organ transplants.    

As the Hebrew readers will see from my ADI organ donor card (which I carry on me with my ID card), I have ticked the boxes for:

"any organ which can aid in saving a life"

"this is conditional upon the permission of a cleric of the choice of my family after my death."

"My donation is for the purposes of transplant only".

There are halachik opinions against organ transplants, particularly regarding those performed after "death" (defining that is the main point of debate); indeed it is this religion-based objection which is reportedly the dominant factor in the low donor rate in Israel. However, increasingly rabbonim are promoting organ donations, due to the ever clearer and urgent life-saving potential.

In the case of my ADI Organ Donors card, that halachik decision can wait until "lemaisah", after my demise. 

Rav Soloveichik – you will have a long, long while, I hope, to further research and contemplate this topic!!

To sign up now for your Israeli organ donor card (a simple form in English), click here: http://www.health.gov.il/transplant/card_eng.htm

You can forward this post to whoever you believe may also be interested in Saving One Hundred Lives!

Tizku lemitzvos!!

The Third Temple as a Political Objective

This week’s riots in Jerusalem reminded us that the most volatile location in the Middle East (and arguably in the World) is Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In September 1996, the opening of the exit of the Western Wall Tunnels resulted in false rumours being spread around the world (CNN, BBC et al) that the Tunnels were directly under the Dome of the Rock, and were aimed to undermine and destroy the building. The riots which ensued claimed over 80 dead, and almost started what later became the 2nd Intifada. (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nifty footwork, encircling Ramallah with Israeli tanks, prevented the riots spreading).

On 28th September 2000, then Prime Minister Arik Sharon’s visit to Temple Mount , was seen as the actual start to the 2nd (“Al Aksa”) Intifada – a terror war which cost 5500 Arabs and over 1000 Israeli dead.

So when around 15 Jews entered Temple Mount on Sunday 27th September, 2009, and Arabs started rioting, the potential consequences were a cause for concern. Secondary riots indeed started in other East Jerusalem locations, and abroad, reaching even Istanbul, Turkey (from where I write this piece). Israel is still in a state of alert, lest riots again spread around the country.

Considering the centrality of Temple Mount to the political and security situation in Israel, it is astounding that Israel does not seem to have forward-looking strategic policy about the status of the Mount.

Whereas Jews are highly restricted from visiting the site, by the Israeli authorities, including being forbidden to pray there, this is a tactical response to the volatility of the location, rather than a strategy.

Rav Elyashiv, accompanied improbably by President Shimon Peres, reaffirmed this week that he holds that it is forbidden by halacha to visit Temple Mount.

On the other hand, increasing numbers of rabbonim now permit, and even encourage, observant Jews to go up to Temple Mount – such as the group of 15 “settlers” who went up last week (athough I saw a report they were French tourists).

Again, these responses seem to me to be a tactical, rather than a strategic, approach.

Surprisingly, the nearest Israel has come to a forward-looking diplomatic position regarding Temple Mount was during the ill-fated, last-ditch negotiations at Taba in 2001, between Ehud Barak, as Prime Minister, and Yasser Arafat.

Having offered Arafat 97% of land East of the Green Line, including the re-division of Jerusalem into Al Kuds/Yerushalaim - the break-point was reached when the issue of Temple Mount was addressed.

Barak made strong statements back in 2001, regarding Temple Mount, saying “my government will not agree to transfer the Temple Mount to foreign sovereignty: Two thousand years ago, there was no mosque or church on the Temple Mount, but only the Jews' Holy Temple... This holy place is a fundamental anchor of our Zionist and Jewish essence."

According to Ron Pundak, an extreme left wing negotiator of the Oslo Accords, and who was critical of Barak’s handling of the negotiations at Taba:

Barak added fuel to the fire in the form of an Israel demand to change the status in the area of Haram El-Sharif [ed = Temple Mount] by building a Jewish synagogue within the boundaries of the sacred compound. Such an act had not bee contemplated for 2000 years since the destruction of the Temple in 70 ad.

http://www.peres-center.org/Media/from%20oslo%20to%20taba.pdf

Interestingly, the synagogue on Temple Mount plan was raised again, just this week, by Balad leader Dr. Jamal Zahalka who asserted that “recent conspiracy theories may not be unfounded, speculating that Israel was possibly "planning to build a synagogue" on the Temple Mount.” (JPost)

Aside from this, I am not aware of any discussions or negotiations in over 20 years of on-off dialog between Israel and the Palestinians, which have addressed the future status of Temple Mount.

The only other political figure who I am aware has stated a strategic plan for Temple Mount, is from the other end of the political spectrum, Moshe Feiglin of Manhigut Yehudit/Likud, who has stated:
"if I become prime minister I will take away control over the Temple Mount from the Wakf [the Islamic trust] and reinstate Jewish sovereignty over the entire mount and, hopefully, rebuild the Temple."

I do not believe that any of the major Israeli political parties have a declared strategy or policy regarding the future of Temple Mount in their manifestoes, nor the Israeli Foreign Office have a Policy Paper on the subject.

So, with trepidation, given the unique and critical importance & sanctity of the location, and the dearth of forward-looking political strategy being discussed openly or promoted, I offer the following thoughts about a political objective for the future of Temple Mount.

It is undeniable that “Peace Negotiations” will take place between Israel and the Palestinians. And it is inevitable that these negotiations will focus on a quid-pro-quo arrangement. You do this, and we’ll do that.

And Territory will be on that negotiating table; the final lines of partition between Israel and Palestine will be a matter for speculation - .but the Israeli built security barrier today looks and feels like a national border for tomorrow.

I do not know whether these strategic ‘peace’ negotiations will take place in a month, or in ten years, or longer… But to deny the overwhelming probability of the event itself, is to defy 30 years of Israel’s diplomatic history and all future rational projections.

In the split between Jewish Israel and Arab Palestine, Temple Mount will be discussed again, as it was by Barak and Arafat.

I propose that Israel’s red-line position in these negotiation should be an inviolable demand for half of Temple Mount.

Half, because the whole substance of the negotiations will be division of assets and the splitting up or halving of Eretz Yisrael itself.

To be more specific, the Israeli demand should be for the Northern Half of Temple Mount.

This would give the Arabs the Al-Aksa Mosque, on the South, which is the holiest site on Temple Mount for Moslems.

And it would give Israel the site of the Kedosh Hakedoshim (Holy of Holies). The beautiful (but less sacred than the Al-Aksa for the Moslems) Dome of the Rock could be moved several meters South.

And I would agree with Moshe Feiglin’s bottom-line political objective: Building the Third Temple.

Like building a Jewish State itself, this project can not rely upon the hands-on support of the Litvish rabbonim and their followers. For they will surely oppose the building project – as indeed Rav Elyashiv has joined with Shimon Peres in forbidding Jewish entry to the Mount today.

The difference between the strategic political approach proposed here, and that of Moshe Feiglin, is that it is the unfortunate reality that Moshe is very unlikely to be Israel’s Prime Minister, and even if he is, he would lack the political forces, nationally and internationally, required to implement his building plan. The confrontation against every other country in the world, and the internal opposition in Israel, would render such a plan unachievable.

On the other hand, negotiations are (regretfully) very likely to take place between Israel and the Palestinians, and Temple Mount will inevitably feature. In the future as it did in the past.

While Moshe and likeminded friends will be outside in the streets, defiantly protesting, the strategic future of Temple Mount will be handed over to the responsibility of Ehud Barak, or worse.

That darkest moment in Israel’s diplomatic history, severing Eretz Yisrael, can, ironically, be the most promising moment in our 2000 history of galut, to justly, fairly and openly demand our National Heritage and most fundamental Religious Right.

Just Half of Temple Mount. And a Building Permit.

A Third Beit Hamikdash.

And think about it for a moment - what would YOU be willing to give up, if you were at that negotiating table, to achieve that?

Will Gaydamak Be Back?

Israeli mogul and owner of the Betar Jerusalem Football Club Arkadi Gaydamak was hit Thursday with an indictment alleging he laundered some NIS 650 million. Nahum Galmor, Gaydamak's business partner, and two senior executives in Poalim Trust, Haim Shamir and Shlomo Recht, were also indicted.


…………. Gaydamak is currently on a trip to Russia. He left NIS 4 million as bail when he left the country. In case he fails to return to Israel, it will be confiscated. (JPost.)

Arkady Gaydamak is usually described as a “Russian/Israeli billionaire”. He has a dramatic rags-to-riches biography – making aliya from Russia aged 20, then working as a sailor for ZIM shipping lines, then moving to France where he worked as a gardener and bricklayer. Gaydamak became a successful businessman in France, but often courted controversy and legal challenges.

Gaydamak is wanted by police in France on charges connected to the illegal exporting of arms to Angola, and tax evasion. In Israel, where Gaydamak has been living since leaving France in around 2004, allegations of misdemeanor have been gathering since 2006.

Gaydamak reached his peak of popularity in Israel during the 2nd Lebanon War when he initiated and funded an emergency evacuee-camp on the beach for Israeli families who left the war-torn North of Israel. (I, together with Lema’an Achai, ran a similar program in Bet Shemesh, regretfully garnering less publicity!).

In 2007 Gaydamak went into Israeli politics establishing “Social Justice” – a new party. In 2008, Gaydamak flopped as a candidate for Jerusalem mayor, attracting just 3% of the vote.

With charges of fraud and money laundering, to the tune of 650M NIS, now issued by police in Israel against Gayadamak and his partners, and leaving a measly 4m NIS as deposit before hopping to Russia, I can see no good reason for Gaydamak to return any time soon to Israel.

Can you?

Chag Smeach!

Wishing you all a Chag Sameach - A Gud Yomtov - from Tzedek-Tzedek!

Rabbis Dealing with Abuse...

(Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Note from Tzedek-Tzedek: Rabbi Yosef Blau is the mashgiach ruchani at Yeshiva University and its affiliated rabbinical school Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchal Elchanan. Rav Blau has been active in trying help survivors of abuse in the Orthodox community. Rav Blau has kindly agreed to offer his insights on Tzedek-Tzedek into the question of Rabbinical involvement in child abuse cases in the orthodox community.

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By Rabbi Yosef Blau 

My experience is with the Orthodox community in America but from what I have heard the situation in Israel is similar. As in many other personal areas, Orthodox Jews, when they are informed about abuse, instinctively turn to their rabbis. Unfortunately the rabbis (with the exception of young rabbis recently trained in modern Orthodox rabbinical schools) have no training and are not equipped to evaluate the accusations. When the accusations are about other Orthodox rabbis they assume that such behavior is impossible. While it is true that most abuse takes place within families, teachers have access to many potential victims and even a small number guilty can molest hundreds of children.

Our assumption that observance creates better people makes it difficult to believe that the abuse has happened, and if it did, then the abuser was someone not religious and certainly not a Torah teacher. Halakhic standards of proof are essentially impossible to achieve, as the victims are children and women who are ineligible to be witnesses. The shame associated with being violated in the Orthodox world also promotes the notion that people should not go public. Rabbis, even when suspicious that molestation has occurred, will usually advise silence to protect the family's good name.

Batei Din in our times are not effective in dealing with criminal behavior. Lacking the investigative arm of the police and having restrictive standards of testimony they can not establish guilt. When the culprit is charismatic, he can often get protégés who feel indebted to him to lie to the Beis Din. It takes years before those who have been abused as youngsters to openly face their abuser.

The desire to protect the image of the community from an outside seen as basically hostile, both prevents going to authorities or media and turns the whistleblowers into the perpetrators. There is a perverted sense of Chillul Hashem that places the blame, not on those whose behavior mocks their external look of piety, but places it instead on those who unmask them.

When the issue becomes protecting the role of the rabbinate rather then stopping abuse, defensive articles are written, but children are not protected. In America, there is a growing awareness that no community is spared from having abusers in its midst. Orthodox mental health professionals have prepared materials to help children and their parents recognize signs of abuse which are being used. The taboo of calling the police (mesira) is slowly being replaced by following the pesak of almost all the gedolim that abusers are ongoing dangers and that secular authorities must be informed.

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Wishing Away Child Abuse: Jonathan Rosenblum Responds

(Note from David Morris of Tzedek-Tzedek: I published an article written by Michael Lesher ("Wishing Away Child Abuse in RBS") which took Jonathan Rosenblum to task for an article Rosenblum wrote in the Jerusalem Post. Rosenblum contacted me today, and asked me to publish his response. I do absolutely respect Rosenblum's right of response - even though I disagree with some of Rosenblum's opinions here.) 

By Guest Writer, Jonathan Rosenblum - Journalist & Author

I have no reason to doubt that Michael Lesher has done valuable work in the area of child abuse and will continue to do so in the future. His attempt to refute by ridicule my piece in the Jerusalem Post of three months ago, however, neither contributes to an informed discussion of the scourge of child abuse nor to civility in general.

Lesher accuses me of attempting to “wish away” child sex abuse allegations in Ramat Beit Shemesh. But I neither denied those allegations nor the existence of child abuse in the Orthodox/chareidi world in Ramat Beit Shemesh or anywhere else. I know very well from my wife’s experience as a psychotherapist within the chareidi community how serious the problem is, though, interestingly the perpetrators are much more likely to be family members, neighbors, and older children than teachers or rebbes. 

Far from denying the problem, my piece began with a discussion of its seriousness and the long-term, often irreversible, scars left by abuse. And I specifically said that the chareidi world is just beginning to awaken to the gravity of the issue.

What I did critique in the Jerusalem Post news story to which I was responding was the implication that the leading chareidi rabbis of Ramat Beit Shemesh are either indifferent to the issue of child abuse or that they routinely believe the alleged perpetrator over the child accuser. (Not everyone who calls himself rabbi is a rabbinical leader or even a moreh hora'a.)

But I did not say or suggest that the author of the Jerusalem Post article or those quoted in the piece were motivated by anti-chareidi bias. Rather, I pointed out that no chareidi rabbis were quoted or had even been contacted by the author, and that the picture that emerged from the article conformed a bit too neatly to stereotypes of the backwardness of chareidim.

Mr. Lesher takes me to task for not dealing with the two serious allegations in the Jerusalem Post piece. There is a rather simple and, I would have thought, obvious answer. The two allegations are both made anonymously. I have no way of even knowing which rabbis were supposed to be involved or who made the charges, much less whether they are accurate. Like Mr. Lesher, my background is as a litigator. One of the first lessons I learned practicing law is that there are usually at least two points of view to every story -- not one honest person and one liar, but two different views of the same encounter or transaction. That lesson has served me well in life as well. For good reason does the Torah prohibit judges from hearing the testimony of one side alone, without the other party being able to respond. That is no less true of anonymous accusations made against unknown rabbis in newspapers.

Next Lesher mocks the qualifications of the chareidi rabbis to deal with allegations of child abuse at all. One is quoted as having prescribed “vigilance,” as if that were all he had to say on the issue. What he actually said – and I quoted in my column – was that extra vigilance is needed in Ramat Beit Shemesh because it is a new community, where people do not really know one another or their backgrounds. Something quite different.

Because I do not list the names of the experts with whom the rabbis I spoke to consult, Lesher implies that they do not exist. But I specifically wrote that Rabbi Kornfeld had given me a list of those experts with whom he consults and that we had discussed the different ways he had handled a number of cases. I did not think the names of those experts were of interest to the readers of the Jerusalem Post. (I also mentioned Rabbi Chaim Malinowitz’s invitation to Dr. Susan Shulman, a Boro Park pediatrician with expertise in child abuse, to address his congregation on preventing and recognizing child abuse.)

Rabbi Kornfeld told me that when parents come to him his first step is to suggest a therapist to evaluate their child – both with respect to the allegations and to the proper course of therapy. (I presume that Mr. Lesher has read Dorothy Rabinowitz’s work on the lives destroyed by the past-memory-recovered movement, and knows that not every child has correctly interpreted his or her experience or reported it accurately.)

According to Lesher, the only relevant issue is whether the rabbis tell parents to go immediately to the police. Why is that so? In at least one of the cases discussed in the Jerusalem Post article, we are told that the police did not prosecute. And, according to David Morris, who is one of the main sources for the article, only one of ten complaints brought to the police results in prosecution. When the police receive a complaint about a teacher, for instance, they do not even routinely inform the school that there might be cause for concern. So why are the police the only or even the best remedy?

Lesher labels my explanation of why turning the police into the sole remedy might deter children or parents from coming forward with complaints “one of the strangest I have ever seen in print.” Actually, I don’t think it’s that complicated. But I’ll try to make it simple for him. Where cases go to the police, and especially if they go to trial, there is a great likelihood that the name of the victim will become public. Parents will worry – and not without reason – that the knowledge that a child was a rape victim or the victim of abuse will scare other families away in the shidduchim process. Not because the victim is guilty of anything, but because of the deep scars left by abuse.  

That said, I believe in cases of serious abuse parents should be encouraged to go to the police to prevent the perpetrator from harming new victims and to validate the seriousness of the wrong done to the child. When someone put his hand on the leg of one of my sons on a bus, his older brothers went back to the same bus stop the next week, photographed the perpetrator, and when he broke their camera, held him captive until the police arrived. He spent seven months in jail. 

Finally, Lesher accuses me of “selective invective” and of “being uninhibitedly nasty.” To which I would say, “Kol hamumo b’mumo posel.” I am said to have accused David Morris of making a “wild claim’’ and demanding that “a teacher should be automatically fired the first time any student complains of untoward behavior.” I never attributed such a demand to Morris, with whom I have not discussed the issue.

 The “wild claim,” which appeared seven paragraphs earlier in my piece, was Morris’s statement that only one out of ten abused children ever tell their parents, and only one out of ten parents ever go to the police, and of those who go to the police, only one out of ten is ever prosecuted. In other words, for every case brought to the police, there are a hundred others never reported, and for every case prosecuted, another thousand actual cases of abuse. Yes, I do think that’s a wild claim, at least absent some compelling evidence in support. And it is one that is likely to fan hysteria.

Finally, Lesher characterizes me – whom he has never met -- as believing that the most important principle of all is that one may never criticize any rabbi, even if it means denying reality, blaming the victim, and covering up for the guilty – in short, fiddling while Rome burns. I guess he was being nice.

Anyone interested in reading what I actually wrote can find it at www.jewishmediaresources.com under  weekly columns/"Those Primitive Haredim Again," Jerusalem Post, June 12 2009.

(Note from David Morris: the article Rosenblum links to here is based upon that published in the Jerusalem Post, but it is significantly different from the original published article)

Today's Lesson: Let's Count States...

The US president said the goal is clear: "two states living side by side in peace and security."  JPost 23/10/09


They say the more you repeat a lie, the more people will believe it.

The political goal of "two states living side by side in peace and security", has become a mantra since the Midde East Road Map was promoted by George Bush in 2002. That Road Map was adopted by the Israeli Government under Ariel Sharon in 2003 (with certain reservations).

The "Disengagement" (scorched-earth retreat) by Israel from Gush Katif was described by George Bush in April 2004: "These steps will mark real progress toward realizing the vision I set forth in June 2002 of two states living side by side in peace and security, and make a real contribution toward peace. "

For the still-new President Obama to echo that mantra at the UN General Assembly today, seems uneventful and, well, sort of obvious. A bit like saying "we are united in our fight against world poverty and global warming." How could anyone reasonably object?

However, between 2002 and 2009 there has been a major event in our corner of the Middle East, which many people, from Obama down, apparently overlooked.

In June 2007, following their election victory, Hamas staged a violent coup in Gaza, and seized power. Since that time, Gaza has become the home of perhaps the most advanced terrorist army and islamic fundementalist regime in the world, including firing thousands of increasingly sophisticated missiles into Israeli cities, culminating in the Cast Lead Operation by the Israeli Army in January 2009.

Mahmoud Abbas, head of the "Palestinian Authority" has zero "authority" in Gaza.

So where are the "Two States" in the much touted "Two State Solution" ?

In the current circumstances, there could only be a THREE STATE "solution".

1. Israel,
2. Palestine (West Bank)
3. Palestine (Gaza).

Unless they really do mean TWO STATES.

I wonder which two?

Wishing Away Child Abuse in RBS...

Guest Writer: Michael Lesher (M.A., J.D.) writer, journalist and attorney specializing in Child Abuse Litigation. Lesher has represented child victims and their families in the Mondrowitz case (photo above) and more recently against Stefan Colmer.  

Jonathan Rosenblum’s recent attempt to wish away child sex abuse allegations in Ramat Beit Shemesh (“Think Again: Those Primitive Haredim – Yet Again,” Jerusalem Post, June 11, 2009  ) is so full of false assumptions and disingenuous gibes aimed at anyone audacious enough to challenge Orthodox rabbis on the issue (critics just don’t like the haredim, he suggests, even when the critics are themselves haredim) that no short response can do justice to them all.

But the greatest evil of his column lies less in what he says than in what he doesn’t say. For in Rosenblum’s head-in-the-sand world, when a fact reflects poorly on haredi rabbis, it doesn’t even get to see the light.

You’d never know, from Rosenblum’s writing, that anyone had made more than a few careless accusations about child sex abuse in Ramat Beit Shemesh. But of course they did: the complaints – all quoted in recent articles in The Jerusalem Post  and in Ha’aretz – were both specific and severe. A mother complained that when she reported her own child’s abuse (with “proof,” according to the article), the rabbis in Ramat Beit Shemesh “called me a liar and said that this kind of thing does not happen here.” Another parent, whose abuse allegation was supported by professional evaluators, spoke of “a combination of denial, protecting your good name and not involving the secular world” which, he said, characterizes his community’s rabbinic leadership. In fact, he told the reporter that “his family was threatened and pressured by community leaders not to pursue the matter with the police,” and even the abused child was “ostracized by most former classmates.”

How does Rosenblum deal with those charges? Simple: he doesn’t.

Nor does Rosenblum, who boasts of his acquaintance with Ramat Beit Shemesh’s “young, worldly and energetic” rabbis, ever tell the reader what those vigorous sages actually know about child sex abuse. One of them is quoted as prescribing “vigilance”; but all their energy and worldliness combined cannot give Rosenblum’s readers a single clue about what they look for in an alleged child sex abuse case, or how they look, or whom they consult, if anyone.

Rosenblum is even silent on what may be the most important question of all: whether these rabbis encourage their congregants to report to police without first seeking a rabbi’s specific approval. Rosenblum suggests vaguely that they must favor police reports on suspected offenders because a prominent haredi rabbi has authorized the practice. (He doesn’t name the rabbi, perhaps because – if Rabbi Elyashiv is the one he means – he misrepresents Elyashiv’s published view as more pro-reporting than it really is.) But if, in fact, the Ramat Beit Shemesh rabbis insist on being the ones who decide whether an allegation may move on to secular authorities, Rosenblum’s defense only means that the rabbis may support reporting a given case, assuming that they themselves are persuaded of the sufficiency of the evidence. How is that standard to be satisfied? Again, Rosenblum doesn’t say.

The disingenuousness of Rosenblum’s silence on these critical points is particularly offensive when juxtaposed with his sanctimonious outcry against the critics of Ramat Beit Shemesh’s rabbis. In attacking the parents, and David Morris, who has supported them, Rosenblum is uninhibitedly nasty: he accuses Morris, for instance, of making a “wild claim” and demanding that “a teacher should be automatically fired the first time any student complains of untoward behavior, and he and his family stigmatized for life.” Of course, Morris never demanded any such thing.

But more important, Rosenblum’s choice of targets – his selective invective – exposes the real point of his defense. It really doesn’t matter to Rosenblum, finally, whether the rabbis deny the reality of sex abuse charges, cover up for the guilty, and blame the victims. If they do all that, it’s simply proof to Rosenblum that blaming victims for telling the truth really can be better than taking action against those they accuse. The only thing certain is that one cannot criticize the rabbis.

Rosenblum even strengthens this bizarre implication with one of the strangest claims I have ever seen in print: that rabbis choose to stand between victims and law enforcement for the victims’ own good:

The rabbis’ preference for working behind the scenes derives . . . from a considered philosophy about what is best for victims, their families and the community. The knowledge that incidents will be publicized can keep victims or their parents from coming forward. In addition, publicity can lead to hysteria . . .

Well, there you have it, folks: the reporting of child sex abuse cases actually inhibits the reporting of child sex abuse cases. Even worse, it can cause “hysteria.” Wouldn’t want that, now, would we?

All in all, Rosenblum’s column – which claims to disprove the existence of child sex abuse cover-ups in Orthodox communities – is itself a kind of cover-up. Not only does Rosenblum refuse to discuss any of the key questions, he simply assumes they don’t exist.

As a contributor to the first book-length treatment of child sex abuse in Jewish communities (Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals, Brandeis University Press, 2009), I must add that Rosenblum’s denial is depressingly familiar. But if our communal spokesmen don’t start doing any better than this, we can only be headed for disaster in the long run. The political philosopher Leo Strauss once said of such empty theorizing that it amounted to “fiddling while Rome burns” – and he added these ominously relevant words: “It is excused by two facts: it does not know that it fiddles, and it does not know that Rome burns.”

Shanah Tova - Happy New Year!

Wishing all our readers, fellow bloggers and your families a great New Year - of Health, Prosperity and Every Blessing!

The Smoking Gun on Iranian Terror

Description of the Book "To Kill Without a Trace"

(“Matar sin que se note”)

Gustavo D. Perednik

perednik@netvision.net.il

(Personal Note: Gustavo Perednik is my brother in law, and is a university professor specialising in Jewish History. He has researched and now exposed the incredible smoking-gun, directly linking today's Iranian regime in Teheran to the bloody terror attacks of 1994 in Buenos Aires. Were this linkage to be widely known, any pretense of the regime's legitimacy (in the UN and even with the USA under Obama) would be revealed as a dangerous fraud. This book has been published now in Spanish; IMHO it needs to be translated into English and also would make an important & dramatic movie. If you may be able to help with this - contacts, funding, whatever, please let me know - or contact Dr Perednik directly.)  
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On July 18, 1994, the worst anti-Jewish attack in the post world war era occurred: the site of the center of the Jewish community in Buenos Aires was obliterated, leaving 85 dead and hundreds injured.

A short time later, a web was spun to provide cover for those responsible for the attack, which included red herrings, blackmailing, bribery, intimidation of witnesses and diverse methods of obstructing the investigation.

This cover-up network was instigated by government functionaries, intelligence agents, judges and leaders of the Jewish community. It would have succeeded had it not been for the herculean work of Alberto Nisman, who in 1997 was nominated to be a State Prosecutor of the AMIA case with the intention of rubber stamping this network of falsifications.

At the heart of this novel is the gradual unraveling of this web of lies.

Its author, Gustavo Perednik, has published ten books, several of which have been translated and have received international prizes.

The author reveals vast realms of information gained through his personal friendship with the protagonist of the tale, Alberto Nisman.

To Kill Without a Trace was published in June 2009 by Editorial Planeta, a top Spanish language publishing house. Prior to its publication, the book has already been quoted by The Jerusalem Post, Makor Rishon, and various other newspapers.

Initially, Alberto Nisman was the Prosecutor for the duration of three years, during which the false leads were cracked. Taking a courageous stand against all other officials involved in the case, Nisman decided he would do whatever it takes to reveal every last detail of the cover-up. The judge, the State attorneys, and the politicians involved ended up in jail or are under continuing investigation.

In November 2007, during its Assembly in Morrocco, the Interpol adopted Nisman's thesis and requested the capture of the Iranian ringleaders incriminated in the terrorist attack (one of them is currently Iran’s Minister of Defense.)

The protagonists of this novel include heads of State, Argentineans, Israelis and Iranians, as well as the mothers of the children who died in their arms, as they casually passed by the block of the AMIA on that fateful day.  

The intense dramatization of the book takes place in many time periods, such as:

·             September 1, 2004: All the framed culprits are declared innocent; the victims' relatives are stunned and hopeless. The victims' families had organized themselves into two goups demanding justice, each with its own perspective. Both groups had absolutely trusted Nisman, who now appears to betray them. Months later, they will discover the new reality.

·             February 9, 2005: The corrupt judge is fired, the Argentinian government admits its role in the cover-up. A professional team led by Nisman is entrusted by the new judge to lead the prosecution. Nisman receives approximately 500 files with 120,000 pages, and 1,500 Intelligence reports. The staff includes detectives, CIA contacts, lawyers, graphologists and Islam scholars. 

·             April 30, 2005: The suicide bomber is identified; an identikit and a trip by Nisman to Detroit to interview family Berro clinch the identification: The terrorist was a young Hezbollah militant, the organization appointed by Iran to carry out the attack.

·             October 25, 2006: Nisman's 800-page verdict is published, as Argentina becomes a world leader in the legal struggle against global terrorism.

The novel’s foci are Nisman's experiences, including his personal life, and cover the following aspects:

1)     The intricate and multi-level fabrication of the initial trial, employing an elite cast: Ministers, the judge, policemen and witnesses. Despite the cover-up of false evidence, the hoax was unravelled twelve years later.

2)     An unknown Prosecutor, stubborn, jaunty and impetuous, gradually solves the mystery while contending with general scepticism, death threats, family conflicts and warding off advanced attempts to bribe his senior professional partner.

3)     Out of an Argentina often mired in a corrupt and inefficient justice system, portending a “third terror attack,” emerges revolutionary hope -justice might prevail.

4)     Celebrated  members of the top echelon of society descended into the pit of corruption, while humble bereaved everymen became justice fighters.

5)     The war on Iranian terrorism, European passivity, and Argentine ambivalence.     

______________________________

Please Pay Me Early...

3M = Magic at Lema'an Achai

People often ask me "what makes Lema'an Achai different from other great charitable organizations?"

To begin to answer this question, we have focused on the team of three of our professionals at Lema'an Achai, whose amazing activities give insight into "what makes Lema'an Achai not just different, but Unique".

We call them 3M – Meir Crandell + Meir Jaffe + Motti Weisner

This is Part Two of a Three Part Series...

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"Please Pay Me Early…"

Motti Wiesner's professional background is in Finance, Business Management and Marketing. He worked in management of long term care homes in the USA for 14 years in Ohio, until his Aliya three years ago.

"Part of my duties as a manager was preparing and distributing salaries to the staff at the homes," Motti recollects. "Every month, members of staff would approach me, asking for their salaries to be paid early. After a while, I noticed it was the same staff members who were asking. So I made some enquiries why they were having problems finishing the month….

"I began to offer counseling to these staff members, most of whom did not budget their household income and expenses. I developed my own system, which I taught these staff members, and the results were dramatic. These staff and their families were soon not needing to ask me for advancing their salaries – as they had learned how to budget effectively.

"When I made Aliya, I was looking to apply these skills to helping my friends and neighbors in Ramat Bet Shemesh. I joined Lema'an Achai, who were actively seeking people with my skill-set, and I now head up the Lema'an Achai financial counseling department.

In addition, over 10% of our families are running small businesses. I work intensively with these businesses to get them working effectively – the objective is to generate the revenue which is needed to meet the family's budgetary needs.

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"Mom, Dad….Where Are You……????...

When the L family made Aliya, they had no idea how they would survive financially in their new home. Mr L had $5000 in savings. But that was it.

Mr L is industrious and hard working, and he set about establishing a new business, almost the day they hit Ramat Bet Shemesh. Like all businesses, it did not prosper in those first months and his $5000 had soon disappeared, leaving an increasing hole of debt in his bank account. His wider family wanted to help the L family, but they themselves were struggling including family back in the United States.

The L family sold off what few possessions were sellable, and tried to think of new ideas how to bring the business to a profitable level. But they just went round in circles, eventually becoming nonchalant and then depressed. As the bills piled high and the business kept losing more money, they became desperate.

Their disappointments and failures just became to much for them to bare, they were overwhelmed, desperate and utterly embarrassed. They had a plan … They informed their adult children that they were leaving Israel along with their 12 year old daughter, they would change their identities and not tell anyone of their future destination…..even their family. In plain words, they would skip the country. The reasoning, pleading and crying of their children made no difference. They were resolute.

After their son left the house he flipped his cell open and did the only thing he could. He called Lema'an Achai.

It is now over a year later. The business has been revamped, with Motti's help, and now generates enough salary to fully pay the family's bills – with even enough to repay their debt at the bank.

"I feel so proud," said Mr L, as he wrote out his first tzedaka check since his Aliya. The check was to Lema'an Achai and he made a point of handing it over to Motti. "and I'm so thankful. I want you to use this to help other families, the way you helped me. You literally saved my business, and my life in Israel."

-----------------------

Motti Weisner's work at Lema'an Achai covers these activities:

· Family Budgeting – teaching home budgeting skills, and working with the family to tailor a budgeting solution for each family.

· Debt Management – assessing an appropriate level of debt, and restructuring unaffordable debt.

· Small Business Management – getting started, and improving productivity of running businesses.

· Managing Transition – when a family member becomes ill, or redundant, or other destabilizing events, then the impact of this must be carefully managed to contain and resolve the problems, while avoiding collapse.

· Family rehabilitation – teamed together with other professionals at Lema'an Achai, Motti helps plan out and implement sustainable, achievable programs for helping each family get back on their feet.

To Donate to Lema'an Achai: www.SmartChesed.org

By Phone in Israel 24/6: 02 99999.33

Mail Checks: "Lema'an Achai", 40/7 Nahal Lachish, Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel 99093.

Tax deductible in Israel, USA, Canada and UK.

David Morris on National Radio

Yitzchak Hutner of Arutz 7 Radio featured an interview with me and Rav Avrohom Leventhal of Lema'an Achai on his show "Making a Difference":

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/Player.htm#0#1410

Lakewood vs Ramat Bet Shemesh

I have been passed the following link to a report entitled:

Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood deals with sex abuse

For those aquainted with recent allegations of child abuse in Ramat Bet Shemesh (see my previous posting "So How Common IS Child Abuse in RBS" for background), and the response of community leaders here, the reports of the "shitta" (methodology) used by the community leadership in Lakewood, will sound disturbingly familiar:

http://www.app.com/article/20090914/NEWS/909120323/-1/FRONTTABS01/Orthodox+Jewish+community+in+Lakewood+deals+with+sex+abuse

When Abuse Becomes Mundane

Three calls in 24 hours. Three distressed victims of abuse. And that’s just to my private line, not even to the Lema’an Achai office line (where there are professionals who deal with kind of stuff 24/6…).

A man who called to say that he’d found a toddler wondering around in the streets, and had returned the child to their home – where the parents were apparently oblivious to the child’s absence; the family seemingly have other problems, including “troubles” with the police. The man who called suspected neglect, and was frightened the child in future might run into a road or otherwise get hurt... What should he do?
He said had considered reporting this to the Child Protection Services, but was afraid of suffering retaliation on members of his family, if he reported them…

A woman whose child had returned home on several occasions from the transportation service to the out-of-town school she attends, with scratch marks and bruises on her body. There were gruesome pictures as evidence. The mother believed she knew the culprit. She had reported it to the police, the school, and child protection services. What else could she now do?

And a third person, who was so concerned about “consequences” that they asked me to not even generically describe the nature of the alleged abuse they called me about.

Unfortunately, each is a humdrum everyday kind of event, that happens in every neighborhood. No screaming headlines, or flashing blue lights, or public outrage.

People get rightly distressed by child sex-abuse - but other forms of abuse, physical, mental, adult sex-abuse tend to be overlooked.

Abuse is all around us, all the time, and it is easy to become numb and even uncaring.

It is hard to grade abuse in levels of severity. Because abuse is not just the process, it’s the result. People can amazingly recuperate from the most outrageous forms of physical, mental and sexual abuse, and yet, for example, a few vicious words can scar someone for life.

That wondering toddler may stay quietly in their home, or he may walk under a car; the beaten child, who has already regressed in development, might bounce back to the cheery child they were – but they may be traumatized for life; and the third person may have an overly vivid imagination – or may indeed suffer the most appalling attack and "consequences"….

So how is one to go about responding to such calls?

It is my position that the key factor in any case of alleged abuse, is not to presume guilt or presume innocence of the alleged perpetrator – because only the police are equipped or authorised to investigate that – but always, always, presume risk to the alleged victim.

Always Presume Risk!!

About Denial - The Rosh HaYeshiva, Sex-Abuse & Ramat Bet Shemesh

By A Guest Writer - A Survivor of Abuse

I was one of those “kids at risk” who went off the derech and no one could figure out why. I was from a chashuv family. I was a good kid, a quiet kid. I had everything going for me. My grandfather was a Rosh Yeshiva. No one knew, or wanted to know, that for years I was molested in the yeshiva by my grandfather the Rosh Yeshiva and also by some of his students. One of those students was my father. When I tried to talk about it no one believed me. They said I was crazy. They said I was lying. They said I was saying it to get attention. (I could think many better, less painful, ways that I could have gotten attention!) They said I had a memory problem. They said I had a “vendetta” against my father. They said everything they could think of to try to discredit me and to avoid the truth. They were in denial.

What's unusual about my story is not that I was molested by frum yeshiva bochurim and a Rosh Yeshiva. Child sexual abuse knows no social or religious boundaries. I believe it happens far more than we care to contemplate. What is unusual about me is that I came back to my roots and I am now living a fulfilling Jewish life. I know so many who went through similar experiences and never looked back. Their souls are lost to Judaism forever.

It took years of soul searching and healing to come back. Child sexual abuse is one of the hardest minhagim for families to change. It's pain and shame handed down from one generation to the next. Until someone swims against the tide of denial, stops the flow, builds a dam, and changes the minhag child sexual abuse doesn't go away on its own.

As I began to heal, It slowly became clear to me that I was not created in my abusers image of God, and that they did not own Torah. It became clear to me that the frum talmidai chachamim who abused me perhaps really were frum and really were talmid chacham...But they had a serious problem that they didn't have the tools or support to deal with. They suffered from an addiction they couldn't even admit to themselves that they struggled with. So they passed the molestation problem down to me, and to other children. For years I battled the current of denial, nearly drowned in it, lost my entire family because of it, and eventually thank God dealt with it, for me, for my children and grandchildren, for the future of klal yisroel.

Or so I thought.

A few years back I made Aliyah and moved to Ramat Bet Shemesh. I thought that I was in a safe place to raise my children. Then, last summer my sons first grade rebbe was accused of molesting some of his classmates. It was horrible, and retraumatizing for me. It brought back my own past. I was ready to leave again, this time for good.

Not because it happened. These things happen in every community. But because of the denial. Denial hurts worse then the actual acts of abuse. When I, or my child, is sexually abused our world is ripped apart. One of the saddest affects of abuse is the loss of trust. Trust in oneself, trust in people, trust in God and in the Torah community. It's hard enough believing that the unthinkable happened. That someone I trusted could molest a child. But when my reality is assaulted at every turn by the people I turn to for support it creates deeper and deeper wounds. Denial is our best defense against that which is too horrible to imagine. But it is insidious and hurtful. It takes a lot of courage to face denial and challenge our existing beliefs.

When I saw what the family of the victims went through because of denial I knew I had to speak up. I wish people would think twice about the possible affect that some of their thoughtless comments have on an already traumatized person or family.

We condemn and our horrified by holocaust deniers and yet we do the very same thing to victims of sexual abuse within our community. Survivors of child sexual abuse have gone through a personal holocaust. It would be unthinkable to question the memories of a holocaust survivor. We wouldn't grill them for details of their experiences. We would wait and see if they needed to talk. Neither would we deny them the need to speak of their experiences. Why do we do these hurtful things to people who have already been so hurt and traumatized by sexual abuse?

If you find out that someone, or someone's child has been a victim of abuse:Offer your empathy and support and ask how you can help.

Just listen.

Don't try to defend the alleged perpetrator because you know them or trust them and can't imagine them molesting.

Perpetrators of child sexual abuse are addicts not monsters.

My father and grandfather were not monsters. They did many good things in their lives. Molesting me was not one of them. Their actions caused a lot of pain.

Don't try to place the blame on someone else.

Don't try to figure out if the child is “lying.”

Frum children especially, don't know how to lie about this.

Believe that something bad happened.

Know that no person would willingly offer themselves to the frum community for the kind of stigma and punishment that families of individuals who have been abused go through when they dare to speak out.

The community reaction of denial and blaming the victim is far worse than the abuse.

Know that until your own child is a victim you really don't understand.

Don't put your child into a school where an alleged perpetrator is teaching.

You are supporting community denial when you do that. You are enabling perpetrators to continue molesting.

Let's end the denial and keep our children safe!

A grateful survivor.

You're Minus EIGHT MILLION shekels?!

PART ONE OF A THREE PART SERIES

3M = Magic at Lema'an Achai

People often ask me "what makes Lema'an Achai different from other great charitable organizations?" - in short, what makes Lema'an Achai's "Smart Chesed" so Smart?

To begin to answer this question, I have focused on the team of three of our professionals at Lema'an Achai, whose amazing activities give insight into "what makes Lema'an Achai's Smart Chesed not just different, but Unique".

We call them 3M – Meir Crandell + Meir Jaffe + Motti Weisner.

Part One...

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Minus Eight Million Shekels

Can you imagine the double blow??

First, Mrs R learned that her husband had died, suddenly, at the age of 58.

As the shock set in, Mrs R then learned that her late husband has left behind enormous debts.

A staggering Eight Million Shekels.

And the debts had now been 'inherited' by Mrs R….

To cut a very long story (over twelve months) short… thanks to Meir Jaffe's Citizens Rights Program at Lema'an Achai, Mrs R is now free to rebuild her life, with a clean financial slate. Her Eight Million Shekel debt, was reduced to a very manageable 100 shekels/month.

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Meir Jaffe made Aliya from South Africa over 50 years ago, and is a spritely 77 years old. Meir lives on Kibbutz Tzora near Bet Shemesh, and as a pensioner volunteered for five years at Kehilla's Citizens Rights Center in Kibbutz Tamuz (Bet Shemesh). Meir joined Lema'an Achai three years ago, and has helped Ramat Bet Shemesh residents face and overcome numerous obstacles and crises with

· National Insurance,

· Debt & Bankruptcy,

· Legal Aid,

· Housing Subsidies

· City Taxes

· Legal and Para-Legal Advocacy.

"I was looking for an organization which went beyond the band-aid approach, and really helped families as a holistic unit. In my experience, Lema'an Achai is the only organization doing this.

"It is only because I am part of a team, that I am able achieve everything I do to help families at Lema'an Achai."

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"50 Shekels Too Much"

Mr F was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition affecting his whole nervous system. He could no longer work, and was adjusting to a new phase – "the rest of your life" – living with this degenerative and incurable condition.

Mr F applied for a Housing Subsidy, which would enable him and his family to continue renting an apartment in Ramat Bet Shemesh. He was dismayed and distressed when the Ministry of Housing sent him a curt rejection letter. There was no way Mr & Mrs F could afford to live in their apartment without this subsidy.

Mr F visited the Lema'an Achai Citizens Rights Center, and showed Meir Jaffe the rejection letter.

"Why have they rejected me, and what can I do now?!" Mr F asked.

Meir got to work, and found out that the reason for the rejection was that Mr J was deemed "too wealthy" to qualify for a Government Housing Subsidy.

"Too wealthy", in Mr F's caser, meant he was 50 shekels a month above the upper income limit. He was therefore not entitled to the 1000 NIS/month housing subsidy.

"It took us twelve months to do it, but we fought and won Mr J's case, and he did obtain the full housing subsidy."

Lema'an Achai also helped the F Family with many issues, including financial counseling, psychological therapy and helping them through the medical system.

Mr F says he is "forever grateful" to Lema'an Achai, which has helped him and his family through so many aspects of dealing with his crippling disease, including Meir Jaffe's specific achievements in obtaining the housing subsidy – enabling the family to keep on living in their apartment.

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Meir Jaffe has helped well over 100 families through their struggles with "the system".

"We have a close-to-100% success rate in obtaining our goals with these families. Given the right knowledge of the system, and persistence, we make sure we get "Yes" for an answer. By getting the Government to pay what is due, we save the families tens of thousands of shekels. Why should our donors' tzedaka money be used to pay instead of the Government?!" asks Meir.

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Unsmart Chesed

A tzedaka organization was generously helping an impoverished single parent family, discretely transferring 1000 shekels every month into the mother's bank account.

Little did they know that for each shekel which was transferred, she was losing a shekel of her government benefits.

"The rules are absurd", Meir explains. "A shekel for a shekel on donations; and it's 60 agorot deducted for each shekel that she earns. Where's the sense in this? Where's the motive for people to help, or for her to seek out employment and pay for child-care for her kids?"

For this reason, Lema'an Achai is lobbying the Israeli Ministry of Welfare, including direct discussions with Minister Isaac Herzog, to change many aspects of the National Insurance system to better serve the needs of Israel's most needy citizens.

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Give online to Lema'an Achai: www.SmartChesed.org

PART TWO COMING SOON...!