Sunday, August 17, 2014

Seminary Scandal: Joe McCarthy also had a list he wouldn't reveal

The present seminary scandal reminds me of the Joe McCarthy's hunt for communists. As shown below he insisted he had the name of those who had infiltrated sensitive government agencies - but he refused to share the information. I well remember the fear of communists as well as the reliance on rumors or associations - which caused a reign of terror in American in the 1950's. The fear of doing anything which would cause people to make accusations of communism caused people to avoid friends or family members and to allow the bullying of many in the name of patriotism. The rejection of the rule of law, of the right to fair trial, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty - did much damage to the fabric of American society. 

I sense a similar fear in air, there are suspicions everywhere, there are anonymous documents taken for fact, there are rabble rousers who are making accusations based on inferences, erroneous deductions and lies. The guilty need to be found - but the paranoia which has developed and the readiness to assume guilt without any meaningful evidence or the normal rules of a fair trial has to be stopped.

If anyone has evidence of abuse or even suspicions of abuse - they need to contact either the Israel Beis Din or the police. It is not acceptable to simply make comments on blogs - either anonymously or by name. It is not intelligent to make drastic change in plans of seminary or shidduchim or even friendship based on wild rumours. We have means of establishing the truth and protecting the vulnerable - but it needs to be done in a mature, lawful manner to protect the innocent and correctly label the guilty.



Reform Judaism's dilemma - Serve Jewish community or the help the world?

NY Times    Leafy, affluent Park Slope, Brooklyn, embodies the challenge facing modern American Jewry: Though many Jews live there, few are observant. So it was no small feat when Rabbi Andy Bachman took the helm of Congregation Beth Elohim in the neighborhood eight years ago and began attracting a vibrant congregation of Jewish atheists and agnostics, as well as the more traditionally religious.

Drawn by big-name book talks, family-oriented religious classes and the rabbi’s teaching that to be Jewish is to do good in the world, membership in the Reform synagogue doubled to more than a thousand families. It drew young literati like Jonathan Safran Foer and catapulted to national attention as a model for what might bring some of the nation’s millions of Jews who are unaffiliated with synagogues back to the fold.

Recently, however, Rabbi Bachman shocked many in his congregation and in Jewish circles by announcing that he was stepping down from the pulpit and out of Jewish leadership to help New York’s poorest, regardless of their religion. [...]

His decision was deeply personal, but also touched on vexing questions at the center of Judaism’s future in this country as modern Jews — the secular, the unaffiliated, the questioning — grapple with what it means to be Jewish and what role a synagogue should play in that identity. Nationally, synagogue affiliation is falling as American Jews increasingly decide they do not need to live out their Jewishness in a religious context.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Seminary Scandal: CBD's "spokesman" Frum Follies attacks the IBD as not being a real beis din

The war of words in the Seminary Scandal has now reached a new low.  The great blogger, newsleaker and defender of the CBD and R Gottesman - Yerachmiel Lopin - has published his "psak" - that this is not a truly a dispute between two beis dins but between a real beis din and a mere bunch of 3 corrupt Israeli rabbis! 

Wow is this a gross and disgusting misrepresentation of the halachic status of the Israeli beis din as well as a deliberate slur against great talmidei chachomim who are recognized as having greater competence and integrity than the CBD. He apparently is just trying to distract from the ugly fact of the CBD's bizarre refusal to cooperate with a beis din that they themselves selected to deal with the scandal. Lopin - who has never manifested an expertise in halacha or even concern for observing it - now presents himself as a rabbinic authority in order to denigrate the opponents of the CBD.

Lopin fails to mention in his screed that the CBD sent one of their dayanim Rav Zev Cohen together with askan R Gottesman (from Torah U'Mesorah and the CBD) together with Rav Aharon Feldman to initiate this beis din for the express purpose of dealing with the Scandal. There is a detailed Shtar Berurin which I have published - that was witnessed by the above  -which authorized the IBD to deal with the matter. 

Were the purported great experts of the CBD unaware of the "facts" that Lopin is claiming when they arranged for the transfer of the case - if so they can't be considered experts. If they were aware that they were giving the case to "a corrupt group of rabbis" - then they were clearly derelict in their duty. Either the CBD was remiss in giving the case to the IBD or Lopin is seriously misrepresenting the facts. The reality is that the CBD was clearly aware of the integrity and competence of the IBD and Lopin's description is false.

Lopin has consistently misrepresented facts - such as claiming that the IBD prohibits students from transferring to another seminary when the IBD only prohibited predatory recruiting. He also has consistently falsely claimed that the sale to Yaakov Yarmish was a sham because Yarmish is a good friend of Meisels. The fact is that the first time they had real contact was only a month ago as a result of the scandal. The sale is real. Rav Aharon Feldman (who has been closely associated with both beis dins) has verified that fact.

Lopin slanders the Israeli Beis Din - whose members are recognized world wide as being superior to the dayanim of the CBD - as being focused solely on lying in order to protect the money investment in the seminaries and that they have no concern for the victims. Lopin stoops to ad hominem attacks because he has no real justification for the CBD's betrayal. The CBD has not only betrayed their commitment to the IBD - but in their supposed compassion for the seminary girls they have prevented resolution of the matter. This stalemate is creating a slander against all the girls who have attended or are attending these seminaries. Where is their compassion? Where is their concern for the victims.

His disgusting slander concludes with this "gem":
The 3IRs are not a Beis din. They are a business protection scam. Israel has its share of convicted politicians including an orthodox ex-president convicted of rape. Chicago has had more than its share of crooked politicians and gangsters. But it also has its  untouchables. I applaud Chicago for standing its ground and not acquiescing to the shenanigans of the 3 Israeli Rabbis.
Lopin - have you no shame?

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Punishment or Teshuvah- Repentance by Allan Katz


Guest Post by Allan Katz: 

In one of the discussions on the DT blog about using extrinsic motivators like punishment , I was challenged  with the pasuk  וידעת עם לבבך כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו יהוה אלהיך מיסרך

I said I would respond at a different time. The pasuk  Devarim 8:5  is in this week's parasha, so here is my response
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Against 'punishing kids , doesn't the Torah - Devarim 8:5 say -You should know in your heart that just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem-Your God, chastises you
וידעת עם לבבך כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו יהוה אלהיך מיסרך

Rabbi Shimson R. Hirsch notes that the word מוסר - mussar =moral teaching has nothing to do with punishment or chastisement which focuses on making a kid suffer for past mistakes. It is about kids internalizing the education and guidance they receive from their fathers. Does God actually punish us or is it more about how we make meaning of what happens to us? Man has the freedom of choice to interpret and explain his misfortune. It could be simply the way of the world, bad luck or misfortune, (reward or) punishment for past behavior or God communicating to him to change his ways and do Te'shuvah. The Talmud-Kidushin 20, tells of a man who sins by doing business with fruit from the Sabbatical year -fruit that is deemed ownerless and free to be taken by all. There is a consequence for this sin - he has to sell his movable property , if he does not change – he has to sell his fields, then his home , his daughter , and if he has not yet changed, he will have to sell himself to an idolater. Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz asks – why did he not learn the first time or the second time? People find it so difficult to say they did wrong and change, especially when people are struggling and taking knocks, since they tend to feel sorry for themselves.

One might ask that when parents or teachers punish kids, the lesson and message is clear and it is in the interests of the child to change to avoid the punishment. We may think we are teaching him a lesson, but he is still free to make meaning of what is happening to him.Usually , he learns something completely different - you are unfair.[...]

Seminary Scandal: A parent explains why he is sending his daughter to Chedvas

I have verified that this is from a parent who is sending his daughter to Chedvas. I welcome addtional comments by parents of either girls in the 4 seminaries or are planning on attending. Additionally from parents who have taken their daughters out or who have changed their minds about sending them.

Guest Post by neveyacyack •

Why we continue to support our decision to send our daughter to Chedvas.

We are Americans living in Israel, and have been for the past 17 years. Our daughter went to Charedi schools, up to and through 12th grade of a Bais Yaacov. She is an outstanding student and could have gone anywhere. She chose to go to Chedvas, as did some of her friends because:

- She knows many girls who went there in the past several years, and they all said the same thing: the staff is outstanding, each person is treated as an individual, the school places a strong emphasis on the American approach to Ahavas Yisroel and they deal with and answer all questions of hashkafa that thinking Americans have.

We have followed this blog and many others.
We have spoken to Rabbaim at Chedvas, and other schools.
We conferred with heads of other seminaries here who we know.
We have conferred with principals of American high schools for girls.

And, we had a rather long talk with Y. Yarmush.
We found him to be totally open and frank.
They are putting into place all the logical recommendations:
supervision of all staff, from top to bottom. Safeguards of all sorts. Procedures that would prevent any abuse or anything close to abuse.

Meisels has not been in Chedvas for at least 2 or 3 years. No matter who runs it, or owns it, we are positive that he will not be there.

There have been no verified complaints from Chedvas about any sexual advances by any staff people.

Chedvas remains full, and they do not anticipate any problem meeting its financial obligations.

If anything, the school will be stronger this year.

So, following our hearts, our heads, and the advice of several senior outstanding mechanchim, we will continue to support our decision to send our daughter to Chedvas

Rivky Stein & Yoel Weiss: Judge ruled in January that Rivky has been making false claims of abuse against Yoel


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Seminary Scandal: Why R Harry Maryles is wrong in objecting to my criticism of the Chicago Beis Din

Rabbi Eidensohn, 

I am one of your biggest fans, But I am disappointed at your negative spin about the Chicago Beis Din. Just because you are close friends with a member of the IBD does not give you license to smear the Chashuva Rabbonim in Chicago who for 3 months worked diligently to determine what the facts were.

Why did they remain silent until they referred the matter to the IBD? Maybe because they wanted to get all of the facts and testimony before accusing anybody of anything. I really don't understand why you have to smear these fine Rabbonim Chashuvim with headlines that include hot button words like 'cover-up'.

If you want to use that word, try using it on the educators in Meisel's seminaries that chose to coverup what he did... and the IBD who seems not to care about that in Kashering these seminaries so quickly.

Harry Maryles

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The above letters is from one of the few people I consider a good example of yashrus and commonsense. But his letter demonstrates that yashrus and commonsense are not enough when there is misplaced loyalty and respect for talmidei chachom - because they are talmidei chachomim.  

One of the basic facts that we all need to know is if sexual abuse, or corruption is to be dealt with properly - is that when a wonderful  rabbis or laymen are accused of major crimes the defense is always - "but he is such a good person, he is such a big talmid chachom,  he has such good midos -  it is not possible that he can do what he is accused of."  The most important lesson that needs to be learned is that character references or mastery of Torah literature - is not proof that a someone could not have committed the transgression. The actual facts need to be examined - even for nice people.

Reb Harry claims that I am putting a negative spin about the Chicago Beis Din. That is false - I am not twisting the facts - I am accurately describing the  negative things that they actually have done. 

He also objects to my saying that when they concealed from publication the fact of Meisels serious misbehavior for at least 2 months - that they were covering up the abuse. In a long talk with the rosh yeshiva of Ner Yisroel - Rav Yaakov Weinberg - I learned a critical lesson that I hope I will never forget. The lesson is that words have meaning. While that seems obvious - it is often forgotten when dealing with things that are precious to us. We especially tend to twist the meaning of words in order to make things sound frum or to defend frumkeit.

If I had said that some priests in the Church had concealed the presence of  a pedophile and had concealed that there were other priests who were complicit by their silence - Reb Harry would be the first to scream - coverup - and he would be right. But when it comes to his heroes. The people he looks up to - he has a different standard. Words have a different meaning if they sound critical about nice people, about saintly people  about respected talmidei chachomim. He doesn't allow the world coverup to be used about these people - and in this he is clearly wrong. You will note his last paragraph  -  that I can only use the word coverup about people he doesn't respect!

The Chazon Ish says one can say negative things  only about big and influential people. That is because people need to be able to guard against the weakness in people they respect or influence them. For someone you don't pay attention to - there is typically no justification or benefit from saying bad things about them.

Seminary Scandal: "The Letter Never Written" by David Morris

The following letter is published with the kind permission of David Morris - someone who really cares and has accomplished much - and with  whom I agree with more than I disagree. The views don't necessarily represent my views - but I think they are an important basis of discussion. [there were reports of infection by malware of the letter that I took from David Morris' blog - I think I have succeed in removing it but please let me know if I haven't]
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The Meisels Seminaries - The Letter Never Written

THIS LETTER WAS NOT WRITTEN NOR SENT OUT BY PNIMIM, BINAS BAIS YAKOV, CHEDVAS BAIS YAAKOV OR KESER CHAYA SEMINARIES

However, if it had been, I believe this situation would be far better today, than it is.

See previous postings here on Tzedek-Tzedek, Frum Follies (in the CBD corner), Daat Torah (in the IBD corner) and other fine blogs.

This is a suggested model for such situations in the future.

You are invited to suggest improvements either on-line or by email to me offline- 
David Morris

I believe that such a letter would have promoted safety and responsibility, in a way which would have given the parents the confidence they need and are entitled to that these Seminaries will be safer for their daughters in the future, than they were in the past.
==========================================================
Date of Letter: [Within One Week of the Seminaries becoming aware of the Chicago Beit Din’s investigation and findings].

To our staff, students and parents,

We are writing to you in the most regretful circumstances in a timely fashion in order to put you all in the picture, in the interests of the safety of our students, and transparency and accountability before the parents.

We have just been informed by the special Chicago Beis Din (CBD) that the founder and proprietor of our seminaries, Rabbi Elimelech Meisels, has been investigated by the CBD, further to complaints the Beis Din received from pupils of the seminaries. These complaints concerned serious allegations of unwanted sexual contact by Rabbi Meisels.

As a result of the investigation, the CBD has made this announcement:

We first wish to share our deepest regret sincere grief should any of our staff have participated, wittingly or unwittingly, directly or indirectly in any abuse. We feel the pain of the alleged victims and we feel proud that these girls have had the courage to step forward in order to protect others girls.

We reach out and strongly encourage others who have endured any kind of abuse, or were witnesses to the same, during their time at our seminaries, to take this step also.

As a result of this CBD announcement, we have immediately taken the following steps:

1. Regretfully, we have discovered that there is and never has been a Seminary Protocol Concerning Abuse Prevention & Reporting in any of our seminaries. We have therefore referred this important matter of omission to Such & Such Organization, which is an independent non-profit agency and they will establish these protocols in all our seminaries. The S and SO will be acting under The Committee (see below). Deadline for implementation: 15th August, 2014.

2. In the absence of this protocol, we have formed an independent expert committee (“the Committee”) consisting of Rabbi X, Social Worker Y, and Lawyer Z.

This committee has been vetted by both the CBD, the Israeli Beit Din (IBD) referred to in the CBD’s declaration and Such & Such Organization; they have concluded that the individuals and collectively the Committee is of the highest professional and ethical reputation and can be relied upon to be independent and to protect the safety & confidentiality of anyone who refers to them.

The committee’s contact details are: XXXX

In light of the Committee’s immediate advice and instruction:

 3. Rabbi Meisels has been requested by the Committee and has committed to take immediate leave of absence and will only return to a role in the seminaries in future in the event that he is entirely vindicated of wrong-doing. Rabbi Meisels has agreed to have no further contact, immediately and until further notice, with anyone associated with the seminaries, including governors, staff, pupils and parents. (For administrative purposes Rabbi Meisels will communicate via the IBD).

 4. Any other member of staff who is suspected of participation, collusion or turning a blind eye to abusive behaviour will be placed on immediate leave, pending conclusion of the investigation.

5. The Committee has contacted the Israeli police to brief them, with a view to the police investigating and addressing any aspects of this case which are or could be criminal by nature. We strongly encourage anyone with information which may be helpful to this police inquiry to contact: Detective Plonit (who is a female investigator,experienced with crimes of this nature) contact details XXXXX. If you are in doubt as to whether the information you possess is significant in this context, you may contact The Committee for their expert confidential advice and counsel. 6. Regarding issues of finance (dinei mamon/civil) in Israel, the IBD has graciously made themselves available to accept and judge claims either presented jointly or separately; the IBD will be operating officially as Arbitrators. The IBD has given assurances that they are impartial and will deliver their judgments, according to halacha and which will also be legally binding upon the parties, and in a timely fashion. IBD contact details: 7. Regarding issues of financial damages (dinei mamon) in the USA, the above is true for the CBD. CBD contact details. These are the steps which have been taken in immediate response to to the declaration of the CBD. Enrollment for Next Academic Year: Moving forward, our objective is to ascertain that the schools will be safe, beyond all doubt, for you (our pupils) and your daughters in the coming academic year, commencing 1st September 2014.

We understand that you have legitimate concerns about whether your daughters should attend our seminaries in the coming year, and we will make every effort to address these concerns in our ongoing communications.

You are invited to discuss these concerns with the Committee by email or by phone (Committee contact details and hours of availability)

We fully understand if you chose to find alternative educational institutions for your daughters for next year, as is your right, and we will be entirely helpful in this regard.
If you wish to apply for a refund of your deposits, please contact the CBD (for those who paid the Pnimim USA non-profit) or IBD (for those who paid Israeli Amuta). An application form for refunds is available on the website:... The Batei Din have indicated a response time of approximately two weeks to respond to your request. You may may submit applications until 15th August for your deposit to be returned.

Summary: These are the allocation of responsibilities.

a. The Committee - professional issues relating to the alleged abuse

b. Israeli Beit Din (IBD) - financial issues (dinei mamon) in Israel

c. Special Chicago Beit Din (CBD) - financial issues (dinei mamon) in the USA

d. The Police (Israel) - criminal issues in Israel

e. The Minhalim - implementation

We are making every effort in these extraordinary and regretful circumstances to prioritize the uncompromised safety of our students, particularly for the coming academic year and ongoing, and we would appreciate your expression of confidence by continuing the enrollment process for 2014/15.
We will report our next steps on a scheduled bi-weekly basis. (In the case we have further urgent information to relay, we will contact you whenever required).

Once again, we express our deepest pain and sincere support for any student who may have suffered inappropriate behaviour while a student in our seminaries.

Signed:

Four Principals
Representative of CBD
Representative of IBD
Representative of The Committee.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Rivky Stein & Yoel Weis: A catalogue of Rivky's problematic legal attacks on Yoel - Court Document



Seminary Scandal: Why has the Chicago Beis Din reneged on its promises to the Israeli Beis Din?

This scandal actually contains a second scandal. The first scandal is that of Meisels and his betrayal of trust of his students and his fall from being a highly respected educator to being someone who is despised and held in contempt. But there is a second scandal which is also very disturbing. That involves the fact that the Chicago Beis Din has gone from being an active partner with the Israeli Beis Din to being a major opponent.

Contrary to popular mistaken belief - which is nurtured by the Chicago Beis Din and its supporters - the antagonism to the Israeli Beis Din and the non cooperation is not based on a difference in concern about victims. The view as presented by Frum Follies from leaked documents as well as the many negative comments made against the Israeli Beis Din is that only the Chicago Beis Din cares about the victims of abuse and thus it is important to either close the seminaries or have a wholesale house cleaing of staff. The claim made - directly or indirectly - is that the Israeli Beis Din cares only about the jobs of the staff and the preserving of the seminaries and therefore wants to cover up and defend Meisels.This is clearly illustrated by the false claim Frum Follies made that the Israeli Beis Din had prohibited girls to go to other seminaries or for the other seminaries to accept them click here for the post

Yesterday I conducted a two hour interview with the new owner - Yaakov Yarmish. I was impressed by how this successful businessman was fully aware of and fully attentive to the issues involved concerning the well being of the students. He is fully aware of the seminary culture which we discussed as well as the dangers inherent in male teachers with female students. He also has strong connections with gedolim and askanim. 

In short he is not a figure head brought in to save the seminaries at all cost. He was originally supposed to buy the seminaries together with his friend Tzvi Bloom (the friend of R Gottesman). Contrary to what the CBD and the lawsuit have asserted - it was no sham sale and was witnessed not only by the Israeli government but also was supervised by Rav Aharon Feldman. He also clearly stated that he was not a friend of Meisels and that the first signifcant contact he had with was only after the scandal broke.

He spoke of his frustration about trying to communicate with the Chicago Beis Din and in particular with R Gottesman - who didn't return his 50 calls in which he was careful to leave a message after each one. R Gottesman has been presented by the CBD as a key player in the relationship between the IBD and the CBD.

This is just the beginning of an expose of the sordid - clearly documented - details which will be presented in the near future. The IBD is not the villain and the CBD is not the hero.