New Article About Rabbi Malinowitz

It has been brought to my notice that a new letter has been circulated locally in Ramat Bet Shemesh, and an article has been written and published on the Unorthodox Jew child protection blog. 

The letter and article focus on the chronic dispute between Rav Malinowitz and myself about reporting of child abuse allegations to the police and social services.

(I'm curious if anyone knows why this long-running dispute has resurfaced now?)

The UOJ article and comments can be read in full here.

Comments

  1. Anonymous26 January 2011 at 18:46

    WOW!!! What a shame BTYA members STILL don't have the balls to stand up to him. Maybe when it's their kid....

    ReplyDelete
  2. anonymom26 January 2011 at 19:08

    When you say the letter is circulating, what does this mean? Is it being sent to BTYA members only or to random households? Is this the work of a rogue individual or a group. It's a very interesting development.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous26 January 2011 at 19:43

    I've been told there is a group at BTYA who have decided to (finally) take a stand for justice.

    Perhaps these folks are inspired by current popular uprisings in our region against corrupt despots?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shmuel26 January 2011 at 19:46

    Hopefully no-one from BTYA will immolate themselves on the steps of the shul...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous26 January 2011 at 20:13

    Shmuel, I beg to differ. Sounds like a great idea! BTW, did anyone enjoy the irony of Rav M's comments on making Aliyah this week? He is not a citizen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rafi G.27 January 2011 at 11:47

    what did he say about making aliyah? he was not there this past shabbos due to a simcha in his family and I dont know what comment you are referring to..

    ReplyDelete
  7. anonymom27 January 2011 at 13:03

    BTW, this letter is only being sent to "select" BTYA families, certainly not to the whole kehilla. Can any one of the "anonymous" writers suggest why this is, why they did not sign the letter and why, in light of the letter's content, do they still support the Rav?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous27 January 2011 at 17:31

    anon of 1:03,

    I believe that the letter is sent to everyone just in stages.
    I received it on Sunday and asked several others if they had received it as well. They had no idea was I was referring to. Today 2 of them told me that they received theirs in the mail.

    The letter is well written and not in any way nasty. I think that these people like the rav but have a strong feeling about his treatment of Lema'an Achai.

    I also wondered why they didn't sign. I surmise that they are afraid of earning the Rav's ire.

    In any case I do agree that the time has come to warm up to Lema'an Achai again. They do good work for the community and I'm certain that the rav's campaign against them has had to have hurt.

    The rav made his point and if it is David Morris that he has the beef let him take it out on Magen which Morris actually runs, not on Lema'an Achai where he seems to be just a figure head.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Michael27 January 2011 at 17:33

    Rafi,

    Rav Malinowitz was quoted in Mishpacha magazine about aliyah. It is reprinted in the week's Chadash.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Still don't get it...27 January 2011 at 17:53

    Sorry, don't get it. Why are members afraid if the name of the campaign is 'we still love the Rav" even tho' we think that he's a bit of a jerk when it comes to child abuse". How will anything get achieved if they do not name themselves? they might not be members, there might just be one disgruntled individual. Hey, david, it might be you(lol. What are they so afraid of and why was ANYONE too afraid to speak up after his public screaming match in the shul? Can anyone explain? Rafi? Anyone?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michael27 January 2011 at 18:12

    Still don't get it,
    Your name is fitting. Look at what Rabbi Malinowitz did to Lema'an Achai because he "feels" that David Morris was speaking about him with the general comment of a "rabbinic authority".
    For quite a while Lema'an Achai has been forbidden from kaing appeals and I know many people in Bais Tfilla who won't give to them.
    The being a good tzedaka organization helping many in our community.
    He then lashes out publicly at David in the shul on a Shabbos afternoon. Not just lash out but calls him "rasha" and "jackass".
    Now imagine what he would do to members who publicly challenge him? Who could imagine?

    I can readily understand their reluctance to identify themselves. I certainly wouldn't if I were in their situation.

    If you "still don't get it" maybe it's time you thought this through.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous27 January 2011 at 18:54

    Michael, the word you're looking for is "intimidate".

    Amongst Rav Malinowitz' talents is his ability (and willingness) to intimidate people, including regular members of his shul, David Morris, and even several mothers who have brought him allegations of child abuse in his community.

    It's a fact - and that's why Rav Malinowitz' critics, even loving ones, will hide behind anonymity.

    Like me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. David Morris27 January 2011 at 20:08

    Warning - Before this comments section becomes a platform for any inappropriate rants or gripes, please will commenters kindly stick to the subject at hand, being Rabbi Malinowitz' dispute with yours truly, on the subject of obeying the state's child protection laws, mandatory reporting of child abuse etc.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous27 January 2011 at 20:41

    David, stop being so bloody British. whatever he feels about you, the Jerusalem Post, child abuse or even the unseasonal weather, it is unfathomable that he insists that a public rant is appropriate behavior for the Rav of a shul. Did he ever apologise for that? To abuse (verbally) a Jew in a public place and then feel vindicated in this public display of rage is not an indication of someone worthy of anyone's respect.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous27 January 2011 at 21:07

    Rafi,

    I assume that you read this blog as you have posted on it.

    Did you receive this letter?

    Why aren't you weighing in on it on your blog?

    ReplyDelete
  16. David Morris28 January 2011 at 09:08

    Anonymous: "stop being so bloody British..."

    I was brought up on playing a straight bat, fair play, stiff upper lip, and common decency.

    If being so bloody British is somehow displeasing to you - I respectfully suggest you write a sharp letter about it to The Times, old chap!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Rafi G.28 January 2011 at 10:21

    I received the letter.
    I dont know anything more about it than what is in the letter.

    I did not write anything about it in my blog because I dont know what to write about it. a) it says basically what I have said on my blog many times already. b) if I even just mention the existence, the comments will become a pool of anti-malinowitz comments, so I dont see the point, especially as I have nothing new to say about it.

    The only thing new about it, from my perspective, is not the content but that somebody is saying speaking up. Unfortunately he is anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
  18. ho hum28 January 2011 at 16:11

    1.the article in Chadash? you really read that? I never can find myself able to get past the second paragraph...
    2.why would he talk about the need to make aliyah to a bunch of people who have already made aliyah?
    3. he lives there, and even though he did not make official aliyah, that is really just paperwork and not the important part of the mitzvah. he moved from the USA to eretz Yisroel and that is called making aliyah, whether he did the paperwork or not.

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a joke.29 January 2011 at 21:03

    To BTYA members who love the Rav and Lemaan achai. You didn't achieve anything. you haven't changed anything. The Rav thinks you're a joke or a hoax. Sign the letter or don't bother. Oh, and you forgot to send it to the whole shul.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bais Tfilla LChol HaMumim30 January 2011 at 06:44

    " The Rav thinks you're a joke or a hoax"

    Kol haposel bmumo posul. He is a big hoax and a sad joke.

    Perhaps one day his flock of ovedei avoda zara will see right through him while some of them can still be saved.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous30 January 2011 at 09:19

    What a Joke said:

    You didn't achieve anything. you haven't changed anything.

    So you mean that your rav still punishes David Morris by cutting off funding to the poor? He still thinks that it's ok not to report abusers to the authorities?

    What a hero!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous30 January 2011 at 11:30

    With your pathetic unsigned cowardly letter, you have now condemned your kehilla's kids and their parents wheen they turn to the Rav for help. aren't you brave now.

    ReplyDelete
  23. tired of it all30 January 2011 at 11:57

    I am getting tired of the level of pretentiousness of beis tefilloh as led by rav malinowitz. He somehow thinks that he controls ramat beit shemesh and has the right and obligation to tell everybody in the neighborhood who is good and who is bad, who is right and who is wrong. He has no led another vendetta against a local business on the assumption they did not have a hechsher. While he works hard to destroy local businesses and ruin the parnassa of hard working people, yet he feels the need to protect the parnassa of rebbeim accused of sexual molestation.
    if he is so worried about people's parnasa, why does he quickly hurt the business owners, making announcements before checking things out completely?

    i think it is just a sign of pretentousness, thinking he is in control of everything and decides what to tell people to do. I am tired of it all.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous30 January 2011 at 11:58

    Anon,

    I believe they condemn themselves by turning to him for "help".

    His record of "help" has only "helped" the molesters.

    ReplyDelete
  25. On the Sushi Trail30 January 2011 at 12:11

    Actually, Rav Malinowitz' latest kashrus assassination, on Friday, this time targeting a local teenage initiative supplying sushi, is an act of revenge for the letter which BTYA shul members sent around last week to their fellow shul members and blogs, in support of Lema'an Achai.

    This sushi business is directly connected to Lema'an Achai.

    Not only was this attack factually incorrect (Rav Malinowitz subsequently back-tracked - but far short of the retraction and apology which is now required)...

    It is, regretfully, yet another act of personal intimidation by Rav Malinowitz to shut up David Morris/Lema'an Achai on the child abuse issue.

    Will anyone stop Rabbi Malinowitz on his malicious jihad?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Confused30 January 2011 at 13:01

    Was just at a Bat Mitzvah at BTYA. I asked about the hechsher of the food and was told "it's all kosher". Turned out the "caterer" doesn't actually have a hechsher, just buys food from someone who does. Wasn't there just a posting from BTYA about the Shabbes takeout people telling people that this practise isn't ok? On the Sushi Trail seems to have hit a rather rotten nail on the head.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Bais Tfilla LChol HaMumim30 January 2011 at 19:59

    Confused,

    Don't you understand that the simple air breathed by "his imminence" suffices to kasher all food that passes through the doors of BTYA?

    How many sick are healed, barren conceive and deaf hear every week after he preaches his sermons?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous31 January 2011 at 16:16

    I can't believe that the sushi owners have yet to receive an apology.

    They were basically called liars by Malinowitz and JKN.

    How can a man who calls himself a rav, dayan,etc not have the common decency to at least apologize for the misunderstanding?

    Does he consider himself that much above menshlichkeit?

    He was very quick to condemn. Why isn't he as quick to do the RIGHT thing?

    ReplyDelete

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