What Were They Thinking?!

In the ongoing storm in New York about child abuse in the Brooklyn chasidishe community, an interesting angle is the case of Nechemia Weberman, charged with abusing a 16 year old girl from the age of 12.

Weberman's community organized a big-time public dinner and fundraiser for his legal costs. The target was to raise $500,000 for this.



I am astounded that anyone would think it's a good idea to have a public fundraiser for a man charged with such a crime - particularly when the media spotlight is now shining directly on that community, against a background of allegations of child abuse and associated corruption.

If people wanted to raise money for Weberman's defense which, while not exactly my cup-of-tea in charitable causes, is fine, their right etc, then why didn't they go to a few rich guys and quietly ask them to help out?

Why make a public spectacle (and chilul Hashem) of it? And why do they need a hefty $500,000 for such a cause?

I wonder if it is coincidence that four people were subsequently arrested for attemtping to bribe the victim to withdraw her allegations.

They allegedly offered her $500,000.


  


Comments

  1. Yocheved Golani28 June 2012 at 14:38

    The phenom reflects the values of that community's policy-makers. And the sex abuse is an inevitable result of their obsession with sex/modesty. The Victorian era in England resulted in covered piano legs and men who frequented whore houses though they were men of the church and statesmen, run of the mill types etc. Far too often to be coincidental, the volunteers trying to rehabilitate the prostitutes were the wives of those men.

    Think of the garbled for today's blog purpose line "Methinks ya doth protest too much" and realize that guilty minds foment belabored cover-ups.

    GOD help that young woman. I hope she doesn't become suicidal after knowing her rebbes and teachers, every authority figure in her life, supports her repeated rapes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mighty Garnel Ironheart28 June 2012 at 16:40

    Your mistake is to approach this from your frame of reference.
    Try it from the other side, the one that runs according to the following principles:
    1) One of "us" can do nothing wrong.
    2) If one of "us" is accused then the accuser is, de facto, a liar and that one of "us" must be defended.
    3) If the goyim get involved then for sure that one of "us" is innocent and has to be defended because all goying are slavering anti-Semites who look for any excuse to attack the most kosher and holy amongst us.
    Now does their behaviour make sense?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mark28 June 2012 at 18:26

    When was the dinner fundraiser for the victims?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daniel S1 July 2012 at 10:06

    Mark: "When was the dinner fundraiser for the victims?"

    As there is No Perpetrator, there can be No Victims.

    Therefore, anyone claiming to be a victim must either be a rabbid hareidi-basher, mentally ill, or, in most cases, both.

    Same goes for advocates of victims - such as abuse survivor orgs, blog writers, journalists, etc. As there are no victims to support, then these others are solely driven by an agenda of attacking & discediting hareidim.

    Clearer?!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yocheved Golani2 July 2012 at 07:25

    This week is the year-long anniversary of Leiby Kletzky's murder by horrific torture. That those bozos can support this creep is unconscionable. UNCONSCIONABLE. Am Yisrael is way behind the curve on being a light unto the nations.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yerachmiel Lopin3 July 2012 at 17:23

    I have a few reactions based on familiarity with the particulars of the case.

    But first, in general:
    1. It is understood that the English translation of pidyon shvuyim is b-r-i-b-e.
    2. Therefore it is understood that you do not ask too many questions when approached. The usual assumption is that the bribe will go to a public official. But that is just a detail.
    3. Pidyon shvuyim fundraising is one of many activiities that are profitable and many of the fundraisers have a generous conception of justifiable expenses. From what I have heard, the 4 guys arrested are poor shmoes who thought they could move up in the fixing business by taking care of a simple errand. But like mafia flunkies these guys can never squeal about who hired them. In return they will get their own pidyon shvuyim campaign and financial support for their families.

    Weberman is someone who was highly regarded before he was indicted. But he is now suspected by a decent sized contingent. I don't see anyone trusting him with their daughters. If nothing else it is now clear that one of the leaders of the Williamsburg-Satmar Vaad Hatznius was violating din yichud. But guilty or not, they are convinced that secular law should not be applied to them. So while some are convinced he is innocent others are just trying to keep him out of jail. But talking to outsiders they will of course lie and insist on his innocence. They are not dumb enough to think that their tolerance of child rapists can be defended to the outside world.

    I am told by usually reliable sources that he has been offered a plea bargain of 10 years in jail. It is a pretty good deal for serial rape of a child. He is refusing the deal. The powers that be are urging him to take the deal because they fear the revelations that will come out in trial. The revelations could lead to multiple civil suits against the main Satmar Yeshiva in Willi that was referring kids to Weberman and others including R, Yagen of Monsey. So the fundraiser and the bribe attempt was not really about believing in his innocence but about keeping the lid on potential civil suits. But naturally that is not how it was sold to the paying public.

    All this is a long winded way of saying violence, corruption and hypocrisy.

    For more details on Weberman as a shake down artist see my post of last year: http://frumfollies.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/who-will-watch-the-watchers/

    ReplyDelete

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