Judaism discovered
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A mohel performing metzitzah b'peh, Jerusalem, 1976. In 2005, after a mohel transmitted herpes to a New York infant during metzitzah b'peh, the practice was legally challenged. In a political deal struck during his 2005 election campaign, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg promised to keep the metzitzah b'peh homosexual predation legal. As a result, Orthodox Judaics supported him in a bloc. "With three days to go before Election Day, ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, held what was by far the largest rally of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's campaign. With searchlights bouncing across the Brooklyn sky and klezmer music blaring from speakers hoisted on cranes, thousands of Hasidic Jews, in black hats or head scarves, cheered the beaming mayor from rooftops and blocks upon blocks of bleachers. When.. .Rabbi David Niederman, addressed the throngs, he praised the mayor for his...support for the constitutional separation of church and state. For many in the crowd, the last 683 reference was code for the administration's decision to hold off from taking action against an ancient form of ritualistic circumcision..." 822 Mayor Bloomberg was as good as his word. By June of 2006 an agreement between the New York State Department of Health and the rabbis, renewing permission for fellatio on infant boys as part of the bris, was granted: "It was one of the more unusual public policy negotiations: Yiddish-speaking rabbis venturing to Albany for months on Sunday nights to talk with the state's Catholic health commissioner about a controversial circumcision ritual. They brushed up on science journals. She read the Talmud...In the end, Commissioner Antonia Novello, in pink suit and gold jewelry, and a sea of men with long beards, black suits and hats signed a new protocol Monday June 12...The new state guidelines require mohels, or anyone performing metzizah b'peh, to sanitize their hands like a surgeon...The person performing metzizah b'peh also must clean his mouth with a sterile alcohol wipe and, no more than five minutes before it, rinse for at least 30 seconds with a mouthwash that contains 25 percent alcohol... "Novello said she read the Talmud and the writings of the rabbi and philosopher Maimonides. The Jewish leaders said they read more scientific journals than they could count. Novello said she treated the rabbis with the same respect she would treat Catholic cardinals. The rabbis, in turn, seemed charmed and entertained by the woman who called them 'my rabbis' and greeted them with a hearty Hebrew 'Shalom'...Rabbi David Niederman, the executive director of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and a member of the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, said the issue wasn't about a lack of understanding, but about 'not appreciating. People, even those who aren't Jewish, should appreciate the fact that this is a religion that's been around for thousands of years." 823 .
Orthodox Judaism is a single-sex society, immersed in a milieu of homosexuality, or as the Judaic homosexual journalist Jay Michaelson terms it, homo-eroticism'. "The minor Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day after the beginning of Passover, is traditionally observed as the yahrzeit 824 of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, to whom has been ascribed the authorship of the Zohar, masterpiece of Kabbalah....Up to 30,000 people converge on his tomb and dance through the night and throughout the entire next day. Given that the tomb complex itself is only the size of an average suburban house, the crowding is intense....Of course, the hordes are separated —men on one side, women on the other. And so for the entire time I was there, I was sandwiched between a moving mass of male humanity. There was no personal space whatsoever; every part of my body, except my head, was in full contact with a part of someone else's body. There were rare instances where I stumbled into a gap in the crowd. But most of the time, I had to surrender to its ebbs and flows, pushing through the sea of flesh to get where I wanted to go. The full body contact in an undulating, dancing, ecstatic, sweaty, loud, and extremely excited crowd of men was only the beginning. Men were dancing with each other, embracing one another, laughing and celebrating, singing at the top of their lungs. Bonfires were burning. And the dancing was erotic, sensual. Two .
685 men, captured on video by a friend of mine performed sensual yichudim (unifications) using each other's bodies as the medium for the Divine. They ran their hands a few inches from one another's bodies — imagine the hand-gestures a sailor might make to show the outline of a curvaceous woman, except the woman is actually there, except the woman is actually a man. "The two men made eye contact, slid around one another like a pair of belly-dancers, with seductive expressions on their faces. Had I not seen it myself, I would not have believed it. This was not the deracinated 'simcha dancing' popular in more moderate Orthodox circles. This was ecstatic, erotic...Now, these were haredi men living in a virtually all-male environment, seeing their wives only a few hours each day and avoiding conversations with all other women. They had been educated in single-sex yeshivas. "There is a longstanding Jewish custom to immerse in the mikva, the ritual bath, before the sabbath and holidays. Some hasidic men do it every morning before prayer or study. According to halacha, only women are required to immerse in the mikva, after menstruation, as a purification rite. But it is a custom which has become widespread. The mikva, is seen as purifying one from an array of sins — but most importantly, that of shichvat zera, or spilled seed. Jewish law is very concerned with the discharges of the body, chiefly blood and semen, both of which were believed to contain the life-energy of a person... "In Mea Shearim, the oldest haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem, the pre-sabbath mikva has been expanded to a wild extreme. I visited a complex with a traditional schvitz (steam room) combined with three mikvas (warm, hot, and scalding) and group showers. Old men, young men, adolescents, and boys filled the complex, with far more personal body contact than I saw even in the Turkish bathhouses of Europe. In the schvitz, it was not unusual for a man to bend over, hand the man behind him the traditional platza branches, and ask him to whip him with it — or, as an alternative, to hand the man a soapy rag and ask for a massage. I have no interest in S&M (sado-masochism), and so have only seen it practiced a few times...There was, as far as I could see, little phenomenological difference between what I saw there and what I saw at the Mea Shearim schvitz. Again, no 'sex.' But the whipping sound, followed by passionate sighs from the man being whipped. The occasional grunts of 'harder.' The smells, the naked men. 686 Were any of the men in Mea Shearim aroused? Not that I could see. There were a few obviously gay men there, men whose eyes roved downwards when they looked at you. One man came into my shower stream (there were plenty of other shower heads available) and started up a conversation with me, frequently and obviously looking down at my crotch several times. As with Lag B'Omer, the eroticism of the Mea Shearim shvitz I mikva was undeniable — these were not just naked men, they were naked men with other naked men, working with the bodies of naked men — and yet it was so thoroughly embedded into the culture there that there was nothing unusual about it....this was among the queerest places I had ever visited. "The answer for me came at the schvitz-mikva, as I went about my own ritual in the midst of all the nakedness, whipping, massaging, and panting. I love going to the mikva. ...The haredi world seems to be mainly one of'don't ask, don't tell, get married/ There have long been well-known homosexuals within the haredi world, often leading lives that are best described as open secrets. People know, and they may whisper, but then again, everyone has their sins, as long as they don't make a parade out of it..." 825 .
687 A Partial Biography of Rabbi Yehuda Kolko & Rabbi Lipa Margulies Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was alleged to have molested boys since 1967, but was not arrested until Dec. 2006. The following allegations were made on the website thetruthaboutagudah.com (This summary was written by an anonymous ultra-Orthodox insider and published as part of an open letter during the first week of December, 2006. The events dated after July, 2006 have been added by this website's adminstrator.] 1967 - While working as Dormitory Counselor at Yeshivas Mir, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko calls a student (name withheld) out of his dormitory room and begins discussing matters of a sexual nature with him while rubbing up against him in an aroused state. This abuse continues for the remainder of the school year and into the summer season at Camp Agudah [then owned by Agudath Israel of America]. This student is now a distinguished Manhattan attorney living happily with his partner in New York City and insists that his lifestyle choice has absolutely nothing to do with his abuse by Kolko. 1969 thru 1971 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko begins abusing Dovid Framowitz in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas of Flatbush (now known as Yeshiva Torah Temimah) and Camp Agudah, the details of which abuse are now public knowledge. Mr. Framowitz, a grandfather living in Eretz Yisroel, has not gone a day since being abused without reliving the unspeakable agony he suffered at Kolko's hands. 1972 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko sexually abuses two young campers (names withheld at the request of the victims) in Camp Agudah who complain to their counselor. Their counselor reports the complaint to Rabbi Simcha Kaufman. The abuse of these two boys cease for the remainder of that summer. Rabbi Simcha Kaufman is a co-worker of Kolko in Yeshiva Torah Temimah (more on Kaufman below) and was a co-worker of Kolko in Camp Agudah until 1976 when Kolko voluntarily left Camp Agudah after he co-founded Camp Ma-Na-Vu with Rabbi Lipa Geldwirth, another co-worker of his at Yeshiva Torah Temimah. 1977 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, employed as a Rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Temimah in the morning, is employed in the afternoons by Yeshiva Karlin Stolin as Secular Studies Principal. During the course of his short tenure in Yeshiva Karlin Stolin numerous complaints are lodged by both students and parents (names withheld at the request of the victims) accusing Kolko of 688 sexually abusing boys in the Yeshiva. Rabbi Shmuel Dishon asks Kolko to leave the employ of the Yeshiva. 1977 on - Eyewitness testimony and accusations of sexual abuse by Rabbi Yehuda Kolko of students at Yeshiva Torah Temimah and Camp Ma-Na-Vu reach a crescendo which culminates in several businessmen approaching Rabbi Lipa Margulies in 1984 and offering to fund a retirement package for Rabbi Yehuda Kolko provided he seeks employment away from children. Rabbi Lipa Margulies steadfastly refuses to accept the offer and suggests that those parents who disagree with his decision remove their children from his Yeshiva Torah Temimah. 1981 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko sexually abuses a twelve year old student of Yeshiva Torah Temimah (name withheld at the request of the victim.) This victim publicizes the abuse and acts out, vandalizing Kolko's home and car. Rabbi Lipa Margulies calls this victims father and warns him that if this activity does not stop his other children would be expelled from Yeshiva and the safety of his family could not be guaranteed. This victim is subsequently referred to Avrohom Mondrowitz for counseling. 1984 — As instructed by Rabbi Avigdor Miller, an Askan calls for a meeting which takes place at the home of Rabbi Yakov Perlow (the Novominsker) and is attended by Rabbi Avrohom Pam, Rabbi Elya Svei, Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller, Rabbi Aharon Schechter, Rabbi Moshe Scheinerman, Rabbi Shia Fishman and Rabbi Yankel Bender. At this meeting, chaired by Rabbi Perlow, the Askan discusses what is transpiring to innocent boys at the hands of Rabbi pedophiles and requests that Torah Umesorah and the Rabbonim issue a statement calling for their removal from Chinuch. Rabbi Svei informs this Askan that Torah Umesorah has consulted their attorneys who advised that for Torah Umesorah to admit knowledge of such abuse would subject Torah Umesorah, its staff, all its member schools and their staff to liability for not having reported their knowledge to the authorities earlier. Accordingly, Rabbi Elya Svei informs the Askan, neither he nor Torah Umesorah will do anything about this problem. 1984 thru 1985 - At directed by Rabbi Avrohom Pam an Askan approaches Rabbi Moshe Scheinerman and the two meet with Rabbi Shia (Joshua) Fishman in the office of Torah Umesorah. Both Scheinerman and Fishman neglect to inform this Askan that Fishman had been instructed by Torah Umesorah's lawyer to do nothing about this issue. Rabbi Fishman 689 requests the names of Kolko's victims and promises absolute confidentiality. Names are provided to Rabbi Fishman who begins his own investigation of the allegations. He meets with and speaks with several victims who pour their hearts out to him after he guarantees them confidentiality. Rabbi Shia Fishman promptly discloses all he has learned to Rabbi Lipa Margulies who in turn publicly disparages and discredits each and every one of those boys who were brave enough to step forward. 1985 — A follow up meeting takes place at the home of Rabbi Simcha Kaufman and includes Rabbi Kaufman, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, Rabbi Shia Fishman, an Askan and an eyewitness. The eyewitness recounts his personal knowledge of Rabbi Kolko's sexual abuse of boys and discusses the information he had gleaned from others. Rabbi Lipa Margulies insists that the charges are all fabrications and attacks the reputations of everyone involved in seeking the removal of Kolko from his Yeshiva Torah Temimah. Rabbi Shia Fishman subsequently informs anyone who asks that he can not deal with this issue as he is old (50 at the time) and will lose his job if he pursues this matter. 1985 — Rabbi Moshe Scheinerman is offered a lucrative and prestigious position as Rav of a Shul (a position he holds to this day) and is told that he must cease and desist from his actions against Yeshiva Torah Temimah Rabbeim (his own words) which he promptly does. Scheinerman abandons ship explaining that it is not appropriate for a rabbi of his stature to deal with these matters. Rabbi Yehoshua Leiman takes over. 1985 — Rabbi Yehoshua Leiman and others continue their quest for a solution and convene a Bais Din for this purpose. This Bais Din, consisting of Rabbi Menashe Klein, Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, Rabbi Aharon Stein, Rabbi Moshe Stern and Rabbi Chaim Yankel Tauber, is scheduled to hear testimony for two days after which they will rule on how to proceed. This panel meets and hears testimony for one day. Shortly thereafter, Rabbi Moshe Stern states that he is unable to participate in any more sessions and this Bais Din is disbanded without further explanation. In a private conversation with one of the Askanim, Rabbi Stern disclosed that he had been approached by Rabbi Lipa Margulies which resulted in the discontinuance of the Din Torah. 1985 - Upon the dissolution of the above Bais Din, Rabbi Lipa Margulies retains Rabbi Pinchus Scheinberg to convene a second Bais Din for the 690
purpose of clearing Rabbi Yehuda Kolko's name. Rabbi Lipa Margulies then drafts Rabbi Friedman (the Tenka Rav) and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Brown to serve on Rabbi Scheinberg's Bais Din. Prior to convening the Bais Din, Rabbi Pinchus Scheinberg speaks with several of Kolko's victims and asks them to describe what Kolko has done to them. Upon hearing the allegations Rabbi Scheinberg informs the boys that in the eyes of Halacha they had not been molested. Rabbi Scheinberg also calls the Askanim and tells them to cease and desist in their attempts to remove Kolko from Chinuch. Rabbi Avigdor Miller disagrees and instructs the Askanim in no uncertain terms to do whatever must be done to protect children from Kolko. Rabbi Pinchus Scheinberg convenes the Bais Din and takes the position that Rabbi Kolko has a Chezkas Kashrus absent any testimony by two adult witnesses to any single event. Rabbi Friedman takes the position that in light of the persistent rumors Rabbi Kolko must be kept away from children. Rabbi Brown ultimately concedes that there is no Halachic evidence against Kolko and the Din Torah is concluded. Rabbi Lipa Margulies insists that he has a Psak from this Bais Din but to this day has refused to produce it. Regardless, it is of note that no victims testified before this Bais Din. 1987 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, having groomed a former first grade student of his for years, begins systematically sexually abusing this boy (name withheld at the request of the victim) both in and out of the Yeshiva Torah Temimah building. When this boy complains to Rabbi Lipa Margulies that his grades are slipping because Kolko is removing him from class almost daily, Margulies responds by slapping the boy across the face and throwing him out of his office. This young man is now living down south where he is on leave of absence from the U.S. Army. 2001 - Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, takes a young Yeshiva Torah Temimah student under his wing (name withheld at the request of the victim) and begins removing him from class for "special projects." These special projects include the boy being sexually molested by Kolko in the basement of the Yeshiva, in Rabbi Kolko's car and in Rabbi Kolko's private office, which Rabbi Lipa Margulies has conveniently equipped with its own private bathroom. This young man is currently in therapy and hopes to be able to recover enough to be able to get married and start a family. 2005 — Dovid Framowitz, after years of searching on the internet, chances upon a post written by a blogger calling himself "Un-Orthodox Jew"
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which makes reference to Rabbi Lipa Margulies harboring Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a known pedophile, in his Yeshiva Torah Temimah. Dovid begins communicating with this blogger via e-mail who in turn posts Dovid's story on his blog. Over the course of several months other victims of Kolko begin to step forward with their stories. January 2006 — Several Askonim decide that this four decade long Chillul Hashem must stop and approach both Rabbi Yehuda Kolko and Rabbi Lipa Margulies with a demand that Kolko be removed from Yeshiva Torah Temimah and Camp Silver Lake and further commit to spending the rest of his life in treatment and away from children. Both Kolko and Margulies refuse. February 2006 - A letter is drafted informing the public that Rabbi Yehuda Kolko is a dangerous pedophile and that Rabbi Lipa Margulies continues to employ him despite his knowledge of this fact. Copies of this draft letter are delivered to Kolko and Margulies. Both Kolko and Margulies are offered the opportunity to deal quietly with the issue and are informed that if they continue to refuse, the letter would be mass mailed to the entire community. Kolko responds by stating that "the matter has been taken care of and Margulies responds by asking if anyone "thinks Kolko is still a threat" and declares "if anyone does not like the way I run my yeshiva let them not send their children to my yeshiva." They refuse to comply and the letter is sent out in a mass mailing. February 2006 — Eli Greenwald, a graduate of Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah, son of one of the founders of the Yeshiva and a parent in the Yeshiva receives the letter and spends a few days investigating the matter. He calls Rabbi Yaakov Applegrad, the Yeshiva's Administrator, and requests a meeting of the Vaad HaHorim in order to address this serious issue. Rabbi Applegrad informs him that there will be no meeting as the allegations are false and that he and Rabbi Margulies have the matter under control. Mr. Greenwald called Rabbi Lipa Margulies and makes the same request of him. Rabbi Margulies responds by shouting at him. February 17, 2006 - Eli Greenwald is served with a Hazmana issued by Rabbi Yisroel Belsky calling him to a Din Torah to answer the charge of Hotzoas Shem Rah allegedly committed against Rabbi Yehuda Kolko. Mr. Greenwald responds on February 21, 2006, that he will appear for a Din
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Torah before the Bais Din of America. To this day there has been no reply to Mr. Greenwald's response by either Kolko or Rabbi Yisroel Belsky. February 2006 — An Askan meets with Rabbi Yaakov Perlow and pleads with him to get involved in this matter. Rabbi Perlow refuses on the basis of his being a Yuchid and this being a Tzibur matter. After being pressed further Rabbi Perlow takes his final stand that this is a Flatbush matter and as he is a Boro Park Rabbi it would be unseemly for him to get involved in this matter. March 2006 - Rabbi Lipa Margulies reaches a standstill agreement with the Askonim by committing to appear before a panel consisting of two Rabbonim and one Frum lawyer, all three of whom had been chosen by him. Rabbi Lipa Margulies reneges on his promise to appear before this panel. March 23, 2006 - A Hazmana to a Din Torah is sent to Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, Rabbi Lipa Margulies and Yeshiva Torah Temimah summoning them to a Din Torah before the Bais Din of Mechon L'Hoyroa or a Bais Din of ZBLA. The Hazmana is ignored by all the defendants. March 30, 2006 - A second Hazmana to a Din Torah is sent to Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, Rabbi Lipa Margulies and Yeshiva Torah Temimah summoning them to a Din Torah before the Bais Din of Mechon L'Hoyroa or a Bais Din of ZBLA. By fax sent on April 5, 2006, Rabbi Lipa Margulies responds to this Hazmana stating he will not appear for a Din Torah "without a prior determination of the charges against Rabbi Kolko." Rabbi Kolko continues to ignore the Hazmanas. April 6, 2006 — A third Hazmana to a Din Torah is sent to Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, Rabbi Lipa Margulies and Yeshiva Torah Temimah summoning them to a Din Torah before the Bais Din of Mechon L'Hoyroa or a Bais Din of ZBLA. By fax sent on April 10, 2006, Rabbi Lipa Margulies responds to this Hazmana by stating "the Hazmonah that you sent to us was not a valid Hazmonah." Rabbi Kolko does not respond at all. It is of note that Rabbi Yehuda Kolko is still teaching in Yeshiva Torah Temimah while these exchange are taking place. May 4, 2006 — A lawsuit is filed in United States District Court: Eastern District of New York, naming Rabbi Yehuda Kolko; Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah, Inc. and Camp Agudah as defendants. Rabbi Yehuda Kolko remains in the classrooms of Yeshiva Torah Temimah.
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May 5, 2006 — Rabbi Simcha Kaufman approaches Dovid Framowitz and with tears in his eyes tells him that if only he had known what Rabbi Kolko was doing to him he would have put a stop to it. Of interest was Rabbi Simcha Kaufman's complete denial of any prior knowledge of any accusation before Dovid Framowitz brought his lawsuit. Rabbi Simcha Kaufman pleads with Dovid to withdraw his lawsuit lest he hurt Rabbi Lipa Margulies and the Yeshiva. May 10, 2006 — After being approached for comment on several occasions by Robert Kolker, a reporter for New York Magazine, and with a 5:00 printing deadline looming, Rabbi Lipa Margulies issues a statement through his attorney at 4:30 PM. Beginning with a proclamation that Yeshiva Torah Temimah is the preeminent Yeshiva in the world followed by an absolute denial of all the allegations, the statement concludes with an announcement that Rabbi Kolko has agreed to a "leave of absence" pending the resolution of this matter. Despite this claim, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko remains in the classrooms of Yeshiva Torah Temimah. May 12, 2006 - A second lawsuit is filed in United States District Court: Eastern District of New York naming Rabbi Yehuda Kolko; Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah, Inc. as defendants. Still, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko remains in the classrooms of Yeshiva Torah Temimah. May 15, 2006 - "On the Rabbi's Knees - Do the Orthodox Jews Have a Catholic Priest Problem" a feature article in New York Magazine,826 a publication with a circulation of three million, is published. Within days of the publication of the article and after thirty-eight years of committing unspeakable acts of perversion in Yeshiva Torah Temimah, Kolko leaves the classrooms of Yeshiva Torah Temimah. It was only after the magazine hit the newsstands that Margulies succumbed to pressure and removed Kolko from the classrooms of Yeshiva Torah Temimah. July 2006 — Over the vocal protest of many residents and with the help of his friend Rabbi Yaakov Applegrad, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko takes up summer residence at a home in Regency Estates in the Catskills. Despite the claim that Kolko was on a leave of absence from Yeshiva Torah Temimah, he continues working for Camp Silver Lake, Yeshiva Torah Temimah's summer home. In addition, Kolko initiates and organizes a multi-camp excursion to
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Lake Compounce, a water park located in Connecticut, where he is seen frolicking with young boys in bathing suits. A media outcry ensues resulting in Kolko being banned from the park by its non-Jewish management. Astonishingly, in August Kolko organizes a second trip to Lake Compounce, which is attended by the same frum (Talmud observant) boy's camps who participated in the July trip. December 6, 2006 — A civil suit is filed against Mesivta Torah Temimah in Kings County (Brooklyn) NY by the parents of a boy, now 9, who claims Rabbi Kolko abused him in 2003 and 2004. December 7, 2006 — Rabbi Yehuda Kolko is arrested in Brooklyn on criminal abuse charges. (End quote from thetruthaboutagudah.com) April 16, 2008 - "No Sex Charge For Kolko; Boys' Parents Foiled By DA. Hynes' office dissuaded families ready to let their children testify about alleged abuse. Questions about Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes' willingness to press cases in the Orthodox community are now being reignited." By Hella Winston and Larry Cohler-Esses, The Jewish Week (NY) April 16, 2008 - "In a surprise move, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, the Brooklyn yeshiva teacher charged with having sexually molested his students, pleaded guilty Monday to two lesser counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years' probation. Under the plea agreement, Rabbi Kolko, 62, made no admission of sexual wrongdoing. He will not have to register as a sex offender, and pleaded guilty only to a misdemeanor — not a felony. Before the plea bargain, Rabbi Kolko, of Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Flatbush, had been facing felony charges of touching two first-graders in their sexual areas and forcing an adult former student to touch him during a visit to the school. Five former students have also filed suit against the prominent yeshiva, alleging school administrators knew about Rabbi Kolko's molestation of students over many years but sought to conceal it and intimidate students who spoke out. "Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes would give no public explanation of why he suddenly dropped the high-profile molestation case. But its collapse resurrected questions in some quarters about Hynes' competence or his political will in pursuing allegations of wrongdoing involving prominent institutions and individuals in Brooklyn's politically powerful Orthodox community. Those questions were underscored by contradictions between the alleged victims' account of how Hynes' office secured their agreement to the plea deal and the account offered by the
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government...'My son was ready to go to trial, and we feel he would have done an excellent job,' the father of one of the children said. 'The damage, pain and emotional stress Joel Kolko caused my family, and especially my son — we will never forgive him for this...We are sorry to hear (the molestation) charges against him will not proceed.' "The father, whose child is now 10, said that it was Hynes' prosecutors who pressed him — not the other way around — to keep his son from testifying. The father said he eventually agreed when the prosecutors told him they could better pursue not just Rabbi Kolko but school administrators and the school itself via an alternative route....He declined to say what they told him this was. But a source close to the families of both alleged child victims who has been intimately involved in the case said the prosecutors spoke to the father about going after Rabbi Kolko and Rabbi Lipa Margulies, the yeshiva's founder and administrator, on tax fraud charges, based on recently obtained school financial records ...That would preempt any need for testimony from his son. But, according to the source, the same prosecutors offered a very different rationale when they approached the family of the second child and convinced the parents they need not put their son forward. "The DA told them that they think it's best to do a plea deal because the other child was too young and his family was not allowing him to testify,' the source said. 'This family was also ready and willing to put their child on the stand to testify and face Kolko. In fact, they believed, while difficult for their son to endure, it would be cathartic and benefit him.' The family declined to speak with a reporter. But the source, who has been with the family through the entire legal process, said they had asked him to speak for them. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear that the children, who have not been publicly named, could be identified through him. This child's parents were from day one ready to have their son testify if it was necessary,' he stated. 'And they were ready to go to trial. They had come to terms with the reality that their son was going to testify on the stand.' "Both children, in fact, remain as plaintiffs in the civil suit against Yeshiva Torah Temimah, and are expected to be witnesses in that case, according to Michael Dowd, a plaintiffs' attorney in that case. Dowd said the plea deal would not harm his prospects for success in the civil suit since the guilty plea would allow him to press Rabbi Kolko on the stand for specifics on what acts he committed that had endangered children...Jeffrey Schwartz, 696
Rabbi Kolko's attorney, said he and his client were satisfied with the case's outcome. 'Endangering the welfare of a child could mean anything,' he said. 'It could mean that (Rabbi Kolko) took the kids to a park and didn't watch them on the sliding post. It's not a sex offense. He doesn't have to register as a sex offender. There's nothing else attached to it except the three years of probation. There are no conditions. He just has to lead a law-abiding life and stay out of trouble.' "But for some, the collapse of the molestation charges recalled earlier cases involving high-profile figures in Brooklyn's Orthodox community that Hynes was accused of failing to pursue with vigor. Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz was indicted in 1984 on four counts of sodomy and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree after years as a school counselor in the Brooklyn Orthodox community. When he fled to Israel, Hynes' predecessor... pushed for his extradition. But Hynes dropped the effort when he was elected, in 1989. He said Israel's extradition treaty with the United States made the effort futile... "Hynes renewed the effort in 2006 under prodding from new individuals who, after attention from several media outlets about the Rabbi Kolko case, came forward alleging Rabbi Mondrowitz had molested them as students, too. Hynes' renewal of the extradition request, combined with the efforts of advocates and media pressure in Israel led to Rabbi Mondrowitz's arrest there last year. A court has ruled him extraditable. But he awaits a final appeal on this ruling...In an indication of the kind of resistance such efforts by Hynes face in parts of Brooklyn's highly organized ultra-traditionalist Orthodox neighborhoods, Rabbi Herbert Bomzer, president of the Rabbinical Board of Flatbush, told the Jewish weekly The Forward flatly: 'If he (Rabbi Mondrowitz) has managed to get to Israel and is protected by the law there — then leave it alone.' "The case of Shai Fhima, a 13-year-old Jewish boy whose non-Orthodox parents said he was kidnapped by an ultra-traditional Orthodox rabbi giving him bar mitzvah lessons, also brought scrutiny to Hynes as it dragged on through the 1990s. The parents accused Hynes of failing to press the case vigorously because he did not want to alienate Orthodox leaders. A judge ultimately rejected the plea agreement Hynes reached with the rabbi that would have imposed only probation and community service. In another case, police in 1993 reported that Augustine Hazim, a Puerto Rican man, was 697
beaten in Borough Park by a group of Orthodox Jews after his motorcycle came close to striking a child. It took seven months for the District Attorney's office to conduct a lineup, according to police officials and Hazim's lawyer, The New York Times reported. The district attorney's office told Hazim that a witness had developed a 'memory lapse' and only one man was ever arrested. "Michael Lesher, an attorney and community advocate specializing in child sexual abuse cases, said he could cite at least two other cases 'off the top of my head' in which Hynes failed to diligently pursue child sexual abuse cases in the Orthodox community. T say it reluctantly that there has been a pattern of inaction by Charles Hynes' office in cases of this kind/ said Lesher. 'That's a statement I make based upon hard evidence in specific cases...I must at this point consider it to be a politically motivated pattern.' Hynes' office did not respond to two detailed messages seeking reaction to this critique..." (End quote from The Jewish Week). Shmarya Rosenberg, a fiercely independent Judaic based in New York who is a courageous critic of Orthodox Judaism, added the following observations, "...what we have seems clear. Hynes's prosecutors manipulated and even lied to victims and their families in order to let Kolko off the hook...Charles Hynes sold them out, just like he sold out the victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz and other haredi pedophiles. I believe what Hynes has done can be construed as illegal....Hynes relied, it seems, on the haredi community's omerta to get away with this. Unlike other communities in which victims and families of victims talk about the abuse with others - and with each other - in the haredi community silence reigns. The abuse stigmatizes the family in ways largely unknown outside haredism. Parents are afraid to speak about the abuse because it damages marriage prospects for their children. It brings shame on the family, as well. And it creates real conflict with community leaders who insist on interpreting lashon hara and mesira law (anti-gossip and anti-'informing' law) in ways that protect rabbis who abuse children."
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Molesters shielded by Judaism's laws and customs "Is molestation being swept underneath the Eruv? Hidden horrors in the haredi community by Eugene L. Meyer and Richard Greenberg,827 Within Jewish circles, much of the focus on sexual predators has centered on the Orthodox community, particularly its more ultra-religious precincts, where some contend that clergy sex abuse is more hidden— and possibly more widespread — than elsewhere. Whether or not those contentions are true, the problem in that community was spotlighted by two recent episodes in the fervently Orthodox, or haredi, community. The first involved a fierce debate over public remarks criticizing his community by a haredi rabbi. The second involved the arrest of a haredi rabbi and teacher, who was charged with sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor. On Thanksgiving (2007), at the annual national convention of Agudath Israel of America, a haredi advocacy organization, Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, a featured speaker, ignited a controversy with his discussion of the haredi response to clergy sex abuse. Salomon, a dean of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J., one of the world's largest yeshivas, said, according to an Agudath Israel spokesman, that haredim are indeed guilty of'sweeping things under the carpet.' What he meant was open to interpretation. Salomon declined comment, but according to the Agudath Israel spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran, Salomon meant that rather than ignoring or covering up sexual misconduct, as detractors maintain, haredi officials deal with it discreetly to protect the dignity of the families of perpetrators and victims. "...one of the lawsuits brought against Torah Temimah was filed in May by David Framowitz, now 49 and living in Israel. In that $10 million federal litigation, Framowitz, who was joined by a co-plaintiff also seeking $10 million, alleged that he was victimized by Kolko while he was a seventh and eighth-grader at Torah Temimah. Although the lawsuit, which named Kolko as a co-defendant, referred to Framowitz only as 'John Doe No. 1,' he has since dropped his anonymity and gone public with his story. That's the only way that people would believe that there's actually a problem, if they knew that there's a real person out there who was molested,' Framowitz said in a recent telephone interview. 'There are many other victims out there, and I want people to know that this really exists.' 699
"Framowitz grew up in part in ultra-Orthodox communities in Brooklyn, where rabbinic sex abuse, he said, is rarely reported. And when it is reported, he added, rabbinic courts seldom have the expertise or the inclination to deal with it effectively. After his own reports of abuse were met with disbelief and inaction, Framowitz said he chose to 'deeply bury' his painful memories of the alleged incidents....Kolko...was the focus of a May 15 New York magazine story that said 'rabbi-on-child molestation,' according to several sources, 'is a widespread problem in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and one that has been long covered up....' Hard numbers are not available to determine if clergy sex abuse is more widespread in haredi communities than in other Jewish locales. However, several insiders said there is anecdotal evidence that abuse often goes unreported there. The reason, they said, is that many individuals in those communities, which are noted for their insularity, resistance to modernity and reverence for religious leaders, are loath to confront rabbis for fear of being publicly shunned. Shafran said he doubts that clergy sex abuse is more prevalent in the ultra-Orthodox world than elsewhere. Asked whether victims there are afraid to report abuse, he said, 'I hope it's not true. But it's easy to see how someone would be reluctant to publicly report such an issue.' ...In fact, Shafran acknowledged that 'for a person whose whole life revolves around the community,' the ostracism that results from publicly confronting a leader of that community 'can be worse than death.' Others believe that underreporting of clergy sexual misconduct may in fact facilitate abuse. "...Among many Orthodox Jews, the preferred forum for adjudicating communal disputes is a beit din, a rabbinic court. But critics say such panels often try to dissuade sex abuse victims from pursuing their complaints, a charge vigorously denied by Shafran. However, he added, 'In cases where there is some degree of doubt, the beit din has a responsibility to counsel against going to authorities until there is proven criminal activity." Hella Winston: "...Last May (2007, New York magazine ran an article about the Framowitz allegations, and while many members of the ultra-Orthodox community expressed their outrage in private conversations, or anonymously on Internet blogs, the communal leadership remained silent. The few rabbis and other leaders who acknowledged the report expressed anger not about the alleged abuse and cover-up, but at those who brought the 700
crimes to light. That bombshell article...suggested several reasons why confronting sexual abuse is a particular challenge for ultra-Orthodox Jews: the social stigma associated with being the victim of abuse; the ages-old Jewish prohibition against mesira, or "informing" to the secular authorities; and the religious proscriptions against lashon hara (gossip) and chilul Hashem ('desecrating God's name,' which in this context means giving the community a "bad name"). These impediments silence victims and protect perpetrators....the characteristically restrictive ultra-Orthodox approach to sexuality may foster such abuse through its rigidly enforced sex segregation, strict laws governing physical contact between the sexes (including married couples), and taboo against talking openly ("immodestly") or educating young people about sexuality. The conjectures in that article proved deeply offensive to many in the frum (religious) world. Orthodox advocate Marvin Schick, in his regular advertisement which runs as a paid column in New York's Jewish Week newspaper, accused ...'group libel.' In an op-ed article in the same newspaper, Avi Shafran, spokesman for the influential ultra-Orthodox umbrella organization Agudath Israel, offered a counter-argument: 'A Torah-observant life does not lead to aberrant behavior; it helps prevent it....That fundamental Jewish truth that human inclinations are harnessed and controlled by Torahlife and Torah-study is self-evident to anyone truly familiar with the Orthodox community. The vast majority of its members are caring and responsible people who lead exemplary lives, free in large measure from societal ills like rape, AIDS, prostitution and marital infidelity that affect their less 'repressed' neighbors.... To imagine that what has defined traditional Jewish life for millennia is somehow a risk factor for abuse is to turn all logic and experience on their heads...' (end quote from Avi Shafran). "...many interviews I have conducted over three years with people intimately familiar with ultra-Orthodox life — including therapists, social workers, physicians, educators and community members themselves — suggest that some aspects of today's...ultra-Orthodox...create conditions conducive to sexual abuse. 701
Mostly Male Culture Foments Misogyny "...These communities—concentrated primarily in parts of New York and New Jersey—also enforce...sex segregation in almost every area of social life, including education, employment and family relations. Women generally have primary responsibility for the 'private' realm of home and family, and some public charity efforts, while men—who, unlike women, are obligated to engage in religious learning—occupy public positions of leadership and power in the community. A fierce commitment to sex segregation has emerged in the 'rules' issued recently by the leadership of the Hasidic enclave of New Square, in New York's Rockland County, purportedly to ensure the 'modesty, holiness and pureness' of this 'holy shtetl.' In this community of approximately 7000 people, about 30 miles north of Manhattan, Yiddish signs instruct women and men to use opposite sides of the street, to prevent them from walking or talking together in public. In addition, women in New Square are urged never to sit in the front seat of a car (as passengers only; women there and in several other Hasidic communities are not allowed to drive); not to congregate in middle of the street or talk loudly in public, especially at times when boys and men come home at the end of the day; not to sit or stand near the entrances of the school or their own housing complexes, since that might force men to pass by them too closely. The rules also prohibit girls from riding bikes or 'dancing5 on a trampoline, unless it is surrounded by an actual mechitza (a wall separating women from men in synagogue and mixed social events). Other regulations warn against women wearing transparent hosiery, dying their eyelashes and sporting long wigs and housecoats outside the home.... "In the upstate New York Satmar Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, several women told me that they had received letters and visits from members of self-appointed community watchdog groups (meshmeris hatznius —"guardians of modesty") because they were seen to be violating communal standards. One woman was targeted for wearing a skirt that was "a few inches above regulation" (about three inches above the ankle is the custom), while another was approached because she and her husband often invited divorced men to her home for Shabbos, something the watchdogs apparently considered inappropriate mixing of the sexes; eventually both of these women moved with their families out of the community. This past August in Kiryas Joel, a flyer was posted publicly referring to one married woman by name and 702
labeling her a 'stinking carcass' and a 'sinner' who must 'abscond from' this "holy shtetl." No resident I spoke to could confirm this woman's sin, other than to mention that she dressed attractively and that she and her husband often invited other young couples to their home to socialize. "...all-male yeshivas can become breeding grounds../' "...the perverse environment inyeshiva" "Certainly New Square and Kiryas Joel are among the most extreme ultra Orthodox communities; in more "modern" (and not exclusively Hasidic) neighborhoods, many ultra-Orthodox women do drive, and there are no directives ordering women and men to walk on different sides of the street. Nonetheless, throughout the ultra-Orthodox world schools are sex-segregated, and social contact with non-family members of the opposite sex, let alone casual dating, are generally prohibited. In this environment, all-male yeshivas can become breeding grounds for behavior that borders on— and sometimes crosses over into—sexual abuse. "In an email to me, one Hasidic man I know personally explained how this can happen: 'The atmosphere of sexual repression in yeshivas (at least the kind of yeshivas I'm directly familiar with) contributes to many sexual perversions in people not otherwise inclined to behave that way. I'm not only talking about the rampant gay sexual activity ('rampant' as in relative to what I would expect; I don't know if it's rampant relative to a similar secular environment), but also pressuring younger boys into acquiescing to certain acts by the older boys, offering payments— or certain electronic goods in lieu of payments—for outright molestation, and sometimes even rape. The vicious cycle is sometimes continued by newlywed young men coming back for their favorite 'pets' even after they have a chance for something different (either because they are gay, or because they feel more of an emotional connection to their friends than they do to their wives). Even without the above, the outsized emphasis put—both explicitly and implicitly—on the sin of masturbation, combined with the extreme sexual repression, leaves many detrimental effects on most going through the system. Now combine all of the above with the fact that many people in positions of authority over young boys and teenagers are young men not yet mature enough to have acquired a healthy attitude toward sex after the perverse environment in yeshiva.'
703 "While this man stressed that the abusive behavior he described is by no means a universal feature of yeshiva life, his overall assessment of the environment, and its potential impact on students, was echoed by other people I have spoken to at length. A married Hasidic woman with whom I communicated online wrote 'Everyone knows frum boys f**k around with each other in yeshiva, mikvah (the ritual bath). Because they are told don't ever look at a girl...They get married but still think of gay sex....' These observations were confirmed by a sex therapist working with ultra-Orthodox clients, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity because of her sensitive therapeutic role. She likened the situation in all-male yeshivas to that of prisons, or the military. 'It's the same thing. People are sexual and it gets acted out.' In fact, several men told me that sexually abusive teachers would often target boys they knew were already 'sinning* by experimenting sexually with their peers, as a way to ensure their silence about the teacher's abusive behavior. Further, my own research revealed that many Hasidic boys were groped or fondled in the ritual bath (mikvah)... "Without any outlet for their normal sexual urges—one man told me that he and his classmates were instructed not to touch their penises even while urinating,828 lest they accidentally get aroused—particularly at a time when those urges are strongest, boys may act out sexually in ways they otherwise would not if other options were not forbidden.
"...One highly regarded Manhattan psychiatrist, who treats many ultra-Orthodox patients and who spoke on condition of anonymity in order not to compromise his therapeutic relationships, told me he had noted a good deal of what he called 'casual incest'—sexual activity between siblings— among his patients....Bringing shame on one's family is a significant obstacle to reporting abuse and prosecuting abusers. Because most marriages are arranged on the basis of individual and familial reputation, public knowledge that a person has been a victim of abuse severely compromises his or her options for making a 'good match.' The stigma of abuse taints not only the victim but siblings and other relatives as well. As a result, those who have been abused (and their families) have a tremendous incentive to keep the abuse a secret. One woman told me that her father, learning that she had .
been raped by a respected member of the community, threatened to burn her with a hot pan if she ever told anyone in the community about it; she was ten years old at the time. Another serious impediment to rooting out abuse is the communal prohibition against mesira, betraying the community to outside authorities. Once punishable by death, mesira is still taken seriously, discouraging most people from reporting abuse to the police. When I asked her whether she had ever considered going to the police, one woman who was molested replied, "I don't think so! It does not work like that in the frum world. You shall not be a moser, which means no telling on other (Judaics); suffer in silence.' This attitude is pervasive...the fear of being branded an informer remains strong, and is often exploited by those in power as a means of silencing victims, protecting the community's 'good nam'—and protecting the abuser in the process. Many parents privately express concern about this issue, and claim they would like their leaders to prevent sexual abuse in institutional settings, and to deal with it effectively when it does occur. Most also say, though, that they themselves are unlikely to speak up about their concerns, let alone 'inform' to the police on an abuser. Further, most admit that they would not allow one of their own children to marry a known victim of abuse. While the outside world responds to such reports with shock, there is no denying the role played by the larger society in enabling this state of affairs. In the name of deeply held American commitments to religious freedom, these communities have been allowed to flourish with little outside oversight. A combination of ignorance and nostalgia often makes these very stringently observant and closed communities immune to serious scrutiny by fellow citizens—particularly liberal Jews who may idealize or romanticize this way of life, or politicians who appreciate the fact that ultra-Orthodox leaders can and do deliver votes in a bloc. "Unlike their public-school counterparts...ultra-Orthodox teachers (most of whom are rabbis, at least in boys' schools) are not legally required to report suspected cases of abuse. And where distortions of Jewish law and custom may be invoked to prevent people from taking legal action, and educational options are limited, there may be little motivation for self-policing, aside from the obvious: the health and welfare of young people. Instead, this past August, a few months after the original magazine article appeared, the teacher accused of sexual molestation was spotted escorting young campers to a water park in Connecticut, and a reliable source told me that he has
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since been soliciting parents to sign their children up for a similar outing next summer. At Rosh Hashanah, he was also reportedly asked to blow the shofar in his shut, an honor accorded only the most respected members of the community. One can only imagine how his victims must feel about that." 829 "Rabbi Avi Shafran on the Beit Din and Abuse: Among many Orthodox Jews, the preferred forum for adjudicating communal disputes is a bet din, a rabbinic court. But critics say such panels often try to dissuade sex abuse victims from pursuing their complaints, a charge vigorously denied by (Agudath Israel spokesman Rabbi Avi) Shafran. But, he added, In cases where there is some degree of doubt, the beit din has a responsibility to counsel against going to authorities until there is proven criminal activity.' "In other words, in 99% of abuse cases, Rabbi Shafran's 'gedolim' will say that it is forbidden to go to the police. Why? Because the victims of abuse are largely underage. Their testimony is invalid in a beit din, and abuse happens in secret, away from witnesses - except, of course, for the abused child. In a simiar vein, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg told victims of Rabbi Yehudah Kolko and their parents that, because Rabbi Kolko did not penetrate the boys (he only rubbed his erect penis against them), according to halakha, no abuse happened. Therefore it is forbidden to go to police. This is Agudath Israel. This is the gedolim. This is Orthodox Judaism." 830 .
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