Terrorists have destroyed Nachlaot
I have been very fortunate to be writing lately of frivolities, indulgences, and good news. Â I am so grateful for all of the good in my life these days.
But I am also crying. I have been crying a great deal over this particular tragedy, which is tragic on just so many levels…. The neighborhood of Nachlaot, one of Jerusalem’s oldest, has been broken – destroyed. Â The people who live there – members of our one Jewish family – have been attacked, ruthlessly, for years. The children EVERYONE who lives there, is in constant fear.
Except for the terrorists.
There is a ring of at least 10 adult male pedophiles who have been terrorizing the neighborhood of Nachlaot. They are clothed in religious clothing and have been attending local synagogues as upstanding ovdei Hashem. And only 3 of the ten have even been arrested. The situation is a nightmare.
I don’t know where to focus my anger, sadness and outrage because there is just so much wrong with this story: Â Â Â Â 
1. The police made a statement on the TV news in Israel in Wednesday that “there is an investigation underway and a police presence in the neighborhood and the families are satisfied.” Â This is a scandal, a lie, a sheer cover up. The ringleader of the ten – many of whom he recruited – is walking free. The police have thrown out the testimony of scores of children as “unusable” because the investigators themselves couldn’t get around to acquiring their statements fast enough. Children who were told that if they were brave and told the truth would see the bad guys taken care of by the trusted authorities now see the police doing little to nothing, and their rapists walking free, sharing their kiosk and daily bus.
2. There are not enough Haredi therapists qualified to treat the dozens (probably more than 100) children in their sector that have been terrorized. Their parents understandably want therapy for their children from a Haredi therapist. So children are going without treatment. On Wednesday’s channel 10 news report an anonymous Haredi parent said he did not ask his children if they are among the victims. His claim on TV is that his RABBI TOLD HIM NOT TO ASK HIS CHILDREN. I don’t even know what to say. **Note: Please read Chavi’s comments below that this was a distortion by the television news, and has more of an explanation, of course. Â A tragic, but logical explanation
3. There isn’t enough money in the world to put the staff on this case that is necessary. There aren’t enough investigators trained to take statements from children. So the statements aren’t all being taken.
4. There are very consistent accounts from many children that siblings were forced to watch the molestation and rape of their siblings, and that the sex acts were filmed. NO FILM HAS BEEN RETRIEVED AT ALL. While private investigators could be very helpful in this case, it costs money.
5. Parents do not feel safe allowing their children out at all. Yet they must run from therapy to therapy to treat their children, if they are in fact getting treatment. Â How they can be in so many places at once – and of course not getting the therapy for themselves that they need – is just beyond me.
6. The silent victims are the ones that scare me the most. Who knows how many children can’t, won’t, admit what has been done to them? Each of these children, those who have bravely spoken out and those that have not will grow up with all of the scars of this horrible nightmare:
- The scars of being raped
- The scars of watching the violation of others
- The scars of not being believed or heard
- The scars of being betrayed by the police, their government, their rabbis, their community
- The scars of being betrayed by Klal Yisroel.
“Kol Areivim Ze L’Zeh“. We are all responsible for one another. Every Jew is a cell in one Jewish body that acts to serve G-d. And yet this part of our body is screaming, terrorized, broken, betrayed. And where is Klal Yisrael??? Where is the outcry and support from the Rabbis? The community? The Jewish Human Rights Activists?
Who in the Diaspora KNOWS about this?Â
Chana Jenny Weisberg at Jewishmom.com has done a HEROIC job of publicizing this horrific tragedy, but since it is her community she has paid a price. And she has been mostly alone in her efforts. I am so grateful for her letting me know and giving me an opportunity to pray and cry with the mothers and children of Nachlaot.
But we can do better. WE MUST DO BETTER.
I know there is a lot of press right now about Beit Shemesh and the tensions between religious and non religious groups in Israel. I hope this sinat chinam is not related to this horrible suffering we are seeing. But regardless, this is our chance to show some unity and help poor innocent children, religious and non-religious who have all been hurt.
We simply must act.Â
Kol Areivim Ze L’Zeh. We will be held accountable for our silence on this matter, and it makes me tremble, quite honestly. I worry about these children as adults. How their untreated trauma and terror can create Jews who hate the world, hate Israel, hate Hashem, G-d forbid. Â G-d forbid, it can create future victims, according to research.
I hope this bleak and poorly written blog post makes you upset. And I hope it empowers you to help.
There is a lot that YOU can do:
1. MAKE A DONATION. There is so much need, both in terms of resources to help these families, as well as to fight the battle properly in court. (Assuming they can get an arrest of the known perpetrators). These children will obviously need YEARS of therapy and assistance. Their souls, their minds, their well being are the collective responsibility of the Jewish people and right now they are broken. Destroyed. I hope to see their future participation in the type of camps and retreats set up for other terror victims, such as the work at One Family Fund. I hope they read this, and make an inclusion for this horrible type of terror victim.
Click here to make your donation to the Nachlaot Pedophile Crisis Fund:
2. Letters can be sent to these children to let them know that they are NOT ALONE. That Klal Yisrael loves them, and that most Jews are not the monsters they have experienced. They need love, lots and lots of love. Â Letters can be sent in Israel to: Â Children of Nachlaot (or Yaldei Nachlaot) c/o Weisberg Family, Shirizli 11a, Nachlaot, Jerusalem, Israel
In America to: Nachlaot Children, c/o 3 Overton Road, East Windsor, NJ 08520. They will then be sent to Nachlaot. Gifts are welcome too, but please send them directly to Israel.
3. Emails can be sent to the Justice Minister, Yaakov Neeman:  Neeman@hfn.co.il.  At least one person has had trouble with that address, so you can also send to the Ministry’s Director General: mancal@justice.gov.il. Complaints to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat can be sent through the form at this link: http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/residentsRequests/requestAccepted.asp?Type_complaint=100.
They are waking up to the extent of the damage, but public pressure and concern will help get the attention and resources where they need to go. It is already too little too late, but we can still make a big difference. Not just to help these victims, but to pressure the administration(s) to make permanent changes so something like this can never happen again.
NOTE: Since the writing of this post, this is finally being discussed by the Knesset. Please see Altea’s comment below. Pressure and attention is still needed, of course. If you can read in Hebrew, or if you use google translate, you can read more here: Â http://www.jerusalemnet.co.il/
4. Prayer – this will always help. Join me in letting Hashem know that these are our children too, and that their trauma is our trauma. That Nachlaot is broken, so we are broken.
5. Publicity – please share Jewishmom.com’s articles on this matter with people you know. Share this post. Let people know. Make sure your local Jewish paper is talking about this. Appeal to your Rabbis and leaders to talk about this. Grown Jewish victims of pedophilia around the world will tell you the damage they have been caused by Jewish institutional silence. It is a second rape. We can do better. We must show them that we can and will scream out loud in pain for them over and over until the noise is heard.
6. Volunteer. Â Altea Steinherz is a local lawyer and hero. She is coordinating volunteers and says she needs anyone who can and will help. You can email her at:Â alteasteinherz@yahoo.com.
7. Donate. I said this already, but I want to remind you in case you got distracted. I am sorry for not making this story easier to read. I am too upset, and too much time has gone by for these families already.
Please leave me comments to this post, so that I know I am not alone. Because I will keep making noise until I feel like someone out there is hearing me. I hope that happens soon. I also must mention that in addition to her other heroic efforts on this front, Chana Jenny Weisberg raised $4500 for these families. Would that it were enough. Let’s help rebuild Nachlaot.
We, Klal Yisroel, can do better.
Additional resources for information about the situation in Nachlaot include:
Israeli news report from Channel 10Â
Haaretz (all the way back in October – little has changed since)
You’re absolutely right, Rachel, this horror story hasn’t gotten enough publicity. Excellent summary.
Thank you for your support. Let’s hope to see some positive help come out of this, B”H.
Here are some more links from my husand’s blog about the pedophiles, including the names of 6 of them (last link). I also have photos of “Skippy” Marcus (the mastermind who is still free and exercises in Gan Sacher each morning) if anyone is interested. You can email me rabbiswife at Gmail.com
http://mekubal.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/nahalaot-nightmare/
http://mekubal.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/losing-the-pr-war-the-nahalaot-tragedy/
http://mekubal.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/shomrim-yeladim/
Hi,
Thank you for drawing more awareness to this.
I live in Nachlaot and would like to clarify the quote from the local resident who said he didn’t ask his kids if they were effected because his Rav told him not to.
The media only took this soundbite and could have likely left out the rest of the story. Many say that the reason children should not be asked the pointed question, “Were you hurt in such and such a way?” is two-fold: 1. If in fact they were hurt in this way, and the police then question them, they might say, “My parents asked me.” This can throw out their testimony. Parents cannot therefore lead their children to state certain things. They can, however, ask their children, “Were you ever at so-and-so’s house?” or “Do you know so and so?”, or “Did you perhaps go anywhere with this person? It’s okay if you did, I just want to know.”
2. Parents and teachers are being taught the signs of abuse to look out for. Parents can, and have, taken their children for “ivchun” by therapists and pediatricians to try to determine if there are any signs of abuse.
3. People experienced in the field say it is best for parents to remain calm, sit back, and watch their children in a non-invasive way to determine if perhaps they show signs of abuse. If the parents seems hysterical (which is totally understandable), it could lead to a shut-down from the child.
All parents need to be aware that children often don’t express what’s going on with them, from a mild bullying case which has gone on for months at school, to something as extreme as these cases where the children were heavily threatened by the perpetrators not to tell their parents.
This is a case of a pedophile ring where abuse came from outside the families. At the same time, most child sexual abuse is from within families or from close family friends, and that also can easily go undetected. This is why our awareness of any signs from the children must be heightened, and our children taught what are acceptable touch and words, and what are not.
Hashem Yishmor.
Shalom Chaya,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply and for your very important clarification. I am going to add a note into the post itself directing people to what you have said. I have given the benefit of the doubt that the news report did not fully explain the Hareidi parent’s response, and I am very glad to have a better understanding.
May this horrible tragedy ultimately result in a heightened awareness by many more adults of the signs and needs to fight this problem. And this of course unfortunately remains a problem in the Jewish community beyond Nachlaot.
We all wish some peace and healing for your neighborhood.
Money talks. Nachlaot residents should refuse to pay Arnona until this is dealt with. It costs a ton of taxes to live here, and if they aren’t providing services for our money, then they shouldn’t get our money.
I think this is an interesting idea. I wonder how long it would take the huge bureaucratic mess that is the Jerusalem Municipality (I used to work there) to make the connection and act. I hope it doesn’t come to that. Lack of Arnona won’t create a proper treatment center. The right millionaire could. Please let me know as an update if there is an organized cessation of arnona payment by the neighborhood.
Even the Nahlaot Yahoo Group seemed to silence the concerned mothers who were posting warnings. Heard that people were moving or planning to move also.
How can they not? The whole neighborhood must seem haunted to the children. It is such an old, beautiful neighborhood with history oozing out of the walls. It makes this whole thing even more sad.
The only other way to get the story out is get a journalist. You need to make a video with children speaking- it’s what gets the whole world to hear. The Bet Shemesh protest was only heard when there was a terrified little girl crying. Sometimes you need the media to speak your story. That, and a good journalist. Find the one who put out the Bet Shemesh story. I hope there is some sort of help on the way for all of you out there.
I am working on this. I hope others will too.
So, so broken. I’ve been following it as much as I can find publicized. Thanks for posting ways to help. It was hard for me to read your whole post. I can’t and don’t want to imagine how hard it must be for the parents of the victims.
You’re right, we can do better.
thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you for writing about this. As a mother myself I am just sick over this… I have just sent emails to the justice minister and mayor. I will also pray for these poor children, and that justice be done.
So scary and sad. Thank you for publicizing this.
I hear you. I hear you loud and clear. I am too stunned to say much more right now, but something WILL happen, count on that. I will tell all I know about this. May Hashem avenge this innocents!
Thank you for this- but I wanted to let you know that the PayPal link isn’t working.
Thank you so much Deena – I will B”H get it up and working immediately.
How sad if only I could write and share what the rabbunim her in Monsey NY are covering and protecting thease molesters so many years and tears and these ppl like [deleted] and [deleted] walk the streets and get sheshi in shul.
This is a very troubling article. I do have questions though. 1. Are we talking about real “religious” people or people dressing up as religious. You know what I mean. 2. Are we talking about Chassidic dress or just white shirt black hat, or what. 3. If the people there know who this guy is and they are sure why are they not dealing with this person themselves? 4. Judging from the video it seems that there is some charedi cover up going there. Are the locals trying to cover up whats going on? 5. Are we talking about charedi children being assaulted by charedi men? 6. Do these pedophiles shout “shiktza” at women or children who arent tzniyus?
Obviously anyone who is truly religious could never perpetrate such an act. As for the type of garb, I hardly find it relevant.
I am glad that the community members have shown the restraint that they have not to matters into their own hands. I applaud them. I am not sure I could do the same. They are trying so hard to do the right thing and to be cooperative with authority.
I do not believe there is a “chareidi cover up”. The challenges of addressing pedophilia withing the Chareidi community in general is an internal and difficult one. I know there has been a lot of growth and progress over the past 15 years, but that there is much more to be done. However, please read Chaya’s comment below for the very important explanation of the Chareidi father saying what he did on camera.
The pedophiles aren’t being accused of shouting anything at anyone. Unfortunately, from what I understand there has been far too much stealth for that.
I can’t get over this. Especially over: “On Wednesday’s channel 10 news report an anonymous Haredi parent said he did not ask his children if they are among the victims. His claim on TV is that his RABBI TOLD HIM NOT TO ASK HIS CHILDREN.”
What kind of a parent this person is? What is more important in his life than protecting his children? What can be above that? How the hell does he even go to a rabbi or whatever figure of authority he has in his life to even ask WHETHER he should check with his kid?
I can’t even begin to comprehend this state of mind. This goes against every atom of my being. This and every other “parent” that behaved this way has failed their kids in the most despicable manner possible, in a situation where the child needed them the most.
I don’t even want to discuss the “rabbi” that gave the advice. That scumbag should sit in the prison, together with the molesters and experience the treatment that this type of criminals reportedly get in jail.
Please take a look at the comments left by Chava that help shed some light on this disturbing quote. I know it is fact that some children that were encouraged to speak freely and express themselves were subsequently told that their statements were “tainted” and “unusable”. This defies logic to me, since an adult rape victim is allowed to give a deposition after having spoken about her experience with others. Yet it may be one of the explainations why parents were discouraged from confronting their children directly.
There should be a demonstration at the iriyah with the press attending. I don’t live in nachlaot but would join such a demonstration!
An amazing and corageous article.
I just want to point out that Kav LaNoar is holding a major conference in Jerusalem of the topic of child abuse in the religious community on January 22 – check it out here http://www.kavlnoar.org/ I’m not involved with Kav Lanoar, but I’m sure it will be interesting to many people who are reading this.
Obviously the Nachlaot situation should be addressed at this conference in a BIG way.
It is a big and brave step towards raising awareness among teachers, rabbis and parents.
Yashar Koach
Naomi
PS. IYH I will be giving some of my maaser to this fund this month. Some sort of organized fundraising effort is needed… except that the cause is so awful that dressing it up with a “Win a Free trip to Israel” raffle is not appropriate
Ima2seven – I can not begin to imagine the horror you are all going through. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND HIRING A PR PERSON. Thats’ what we did in Beit Shemesh. They (I think a she) brought in the media big time, and that’s what finally BH is turning things around. It caused enormous pain and chillul haShem, and a lot of people didn’t like it, but when you’re talkign about your children’s safety, that’s the bottom line. I am happy to discuss.
Rachel Hershberg
Let’s raise enough money to hire a local PR person! I agree with you! (I am a PR professional, actually, but in the US, and therefore this is where I am doing what I can.)
I hope that those in Nachlaot will use the money we can raise for such a thing that will help raise even more. Yasher Koach.
Skippy is the mastermind and is still free? That’s news to his friends who think he’s dead and found his body hanging from a tree last week. And a few days before that, Yochanan Spielberg was murdered, the day after someone, who I won’t mention but you probably know, publicly named him as the mastermind. So just how many “masterminds” are there? And why are people in Nachlaot now putting themselves in Hashem’s position and not only deciding who should live and who should die, but are also acting as the executioners? Is this how we prepare ourselves for Mashiach? Are we forgetting that we will have to answer for our actions?
If you’re looking for a top-notch “Haredi therapist” who specializes in SA and traumas of this nature, connect with Tanchum Burton, tsburton@gmail.com. He also offers to a highly informative seminar on SA which includes a take-home handbook for parents, etc. See more at http://chedva.org/programs/good-secrets-bad-secrets/
Thank you for the referral. I have passed this along to the volunteer coordinator.
Thank you for your article! We currently have on our site a very important piece titled: Things You Need to Know about Pedophilia. Here is the link: http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1707466/jewish/Things-You-Need-to-Know-About-Pedophilia.htm
I also wrote a piece about discovering how the person who was my rabbi was one of the ringleaders! Chana (Jenny) Weisberg also ran it on her site: http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/1640883/jewish/My-Teacher-the-Abuser.htm
Thank you Sara Esther Crispe for sending this, and for writing in. I have added your article to the links at the end of the post, in addition to it being posted here.
Yasher Koach.
Can we also send checks / drop off donations to the nachlaot address you gave for letters?
Yes!
Thank you for posting. I would love to join a demonstration to help get the message across that this evil needs to be taken just as seriously as an impending terrorist attack!
I reposted this on Janglo at http://www.janglo.net/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&page=display&catid=99&tid=190477
Bsorot tovot.
Zev
Thank you Zev!
Thanks for posting. This is the worst abuse case since the founding of the State. The indictments read like Megillat Eicha, even after most of the children’s testimony was rendered inadmissible.
There was a major Knesset meeting yesterday in which MKs Zevulun Orlev and Orly Levy heard the horror stories from the parents directly and responded with serious criticism of the ‘responsible authorities.’ I am seeing what I hope will be the beginning of a turnabout on the case, in terms of the police and praklitut.
To all who responded with volunteering offers: You are the people that make us proud to be Jews. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
I posted the link to your blog post, and to Hannah Katsman’s, on my Facebook page to try to get more financial donations in addition to spreading the word. Thanks for such a thorough post, and for continuing to make this story “front-page news.” As a Mother, I feel for these parents and my heart aches for these children. Rehabilitation needs to be a priority, and making the streets safe for all children should not be a priviledge, but a responsibility of all Jews.
Hi I have read some of the above comments and personally I dont agree. We are talking about a person who they are certain is the pedophile roaming their neighborhood. How could anyone just let someone like that roam around. You may applaud them for not taking the law into their own hands but I dont. I am not talking about dragging the guy out and breaking his legs although that would be nice. I am talking about making his life miserable. It doesnt make any sense that this guy is roaming freely.
I also sense there is some cover up going on here. There is so much ambiguity within this article. So much of this just doesnt make any sense. No one mentioned in this article or in the comments what type of community we are talking about here. Is this an ultra-orthodox community thats being terrorized? Modern community? Dont tell me it doesnt make a difference. It makes a big difference in how things are handled, how much the police get involved and so on. Believe me I am not trying to nitpick at the article. I genuinely care about whats going on and would like to help as well.
Ari,
I understand where you are coming from. As a parent, I do not know if I could show the restraint being shown in Nachlaot. I think there has been a certain degree of ostracism and misery going on, but because it is a neighborhood, it is not consistent. Families are so traumatized many just simply do not go out unless it is necessary, and they spend no time outside.
The neighborhood of Nachlaot is truly mixed. There are Chareidi victims, and non-chareidi victims. I do not know if there are secular victims, and I hope someone there will clarify for us all. But the evil did not afflict one demographic alone. There are allegations of a cover up. In the sense that the police and government are reluctant to fully disclose just how much they botched this in a huge way in October, now that the public is speaking up and it is finally drawing attention.
I don’t think the community being religious or secular is irrelevant. Every population in Israel seeks out therapists particularly for their children that share their world view enough to feel truly comfortable. This is one of the challenges here. For the religious Jewish world to have enough therapists trained to deal with molestation and pedophilia there first has to be an awakening to the enormity of the problem in our midst. This is one of the reasons I feel that this is a terrible awakening – or should be – for all of us.
However, the suffering of children isn’t the responsible of their “own kind” alone, and pedophiles will exploit whatever child they can, regardless of affiliation. I see this as an opportunity to show real ACHDUT, particularly in the wake of the tensions in Beit Shemesh. Israel is no doubt suffering terrible growing pains, but we have to learn from this and starting getting things a lot more right.
Israel needs a Megan’s list, i.e., a forced publication of the residence of convicted child molesters. However, this first requires conviction, and we aren’t getting there very fast in this case. I am hopeful, and there is finally some movement in the government.
Lastly, what happens to these men will happen. Ultimately, their justice will be in shamayim. Sitting here in Chutz L’aretz I don’t feel very empowered to change their fate.
My #1 concern is for these children. Therapy will not be enough to help them overcome. How they can grow up to be healthy, loving adults that love Hashem and the Jewish people is just beyond me, and that breaks my heart. It is why I feel so strongly that in addition to pursuing justice we as Klal Yisroel must reach out to the children. I am working on sending letters. You know what? It’s really hard! What to say? But I feel it must be done.
I wish I could send each one a puzzle and tell them that the pieces can be put back together…even if it takes a really, really long time.
Dear Rachel,
Thank you so much for taking the time to articulate your rage, and the need for activism and support for klal Yisrael. Even though you’re physically still far away from E”Y, it’s so amazing how you “make a difference.” B”EH, you and your family will be back here soon enough, to take on the PR job on many fronts, and to get forces going to make a positive impact on the ground. Yashar Kochech.
B”H! Thank you for the kind words.
I don’t understand, why are you waiting for the police to do something? do it yourself! why cry for help? create an anonymous blog and post pictures and names of the pedophiles. generate outrage. You didn’t mention any names in your article, are you protecting them too?
I understand where you are coming from. BUT, I don’t live there and at the end of the day, I haven’t heard a single thing first hand from anyone. As far as I know, I cannot “out” anyone on that basis. From what I understand there has been vehement warning by the lawyers and prosecutors on all sides of this that such actions, for now, will jeopardize the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators. I will ask community members to address this question and post a follow up post in the future.
However, I am trying to generate outrage. Effectively. I hope it is working.
I’ve been thinking about this article a lot and I’m a bit confused. The bit about the shortage of haredi therapists doesn’t gel with me. There are hundreds of haredi therapists in this city, and more being trained all the time. Neve’s Family Center gives therapy for as little as NIS 10 an hour, if you qualify for special assistance. I’m sure everyone will agree that these are special cases! That institution has haskamas and is as haredi as you are going to get.
It seems to me that the real reason that these kids (and their parents) are not getting therapy might be because the of the stigma attached to acknowledging the problem and getting help. This is also related to the rabbis not sending a strong message that it is a chiyuv for them to get their children treatment, just like if they were sick with a physical illness. All these children have been exposed to a highly infectious and life-threatening emotional illness and if they don’t receive treatment, their lives are in danger.
I know how hard it is to get haredi rabbis in Israel to say or do ANYTHING about sexual abuse problems. In my neighborhood… OK, I’m not going to get into that. It’s nowhere near as bad as Nachlaot but certain rabbis are definitely invested in covering up the cases that have risen to the surface. In a way I understand it, because we so value our nice haredi society where everyone is a yiras shamayim and the unspeakable doesn’t happen. Who wants to be the one to turn that myth on it’s head?
I really think that Kav Lanoar conference on abuse in our community is a big step. also the Jewish blogs have been doing a great job of bringing this issue to public awareness!
I like your comparison to terrorism. It is so true – One Family, The Koby Mandel Foundation and others, are the organizations best equipped to help people with such horrific trauma.
One of the replies above noted that Kav L’Noar is having a conference on Jan. 22nd. I am a Board Member of Kav L’Noar and want to urge everyone concerned about these issues to attend. It is called “Confronting Abuse in Our Community.” Our speakers are Rabbi Zev Leff and Dr. David Pelcovitz and is being held at the Ramada in Jerusalem. For details go to http://www.kavlnoar.com or call the office at (02) 622-3039. Kav L’Noar is a non-profit organization that focuses on kids-at-risk and their families, and provides therapeutic services and an outstanding mentoring program.
I know that the child protection organization ELI has dealt with a similar situation in Kvar Chabad I believe…and perhaps other neighborhoods as well. They send in teams of therapists to work with everyone who needs intervention.
ELI: 1800-223-966
03-6091920
The volunteer coordinator’s e-mail is not working.
This is horrifying. Thank you for bringing about awareness!
Why isn’t the ring leader being arrested if his identity is known? The fear must be unbelievable especially if some or any of these perpetrators are at large. Does someone need to be caught in the act to have an arrest made? Parents need to be really tuned in to the unspoken messages from their children to be able to react and help them. All of these victims are terrorized into silence as part of the abuse.
In response to the latest reports regarding the sexual abuse of children involving a ring of pedophiles in Nachlaot, I need to express my sorrow for the young children and their families who have been victimized. I feel frustrated. We are faced in our community with an avoidable tragedy.
As a social worker and clinical therapist having dealt with abuse in our community, I am unfortunately not surprised by these events. When there is insufficient commitment to transparency and education, these events can plague our community. Unfortunately, child sexual abuse is an uncomfortable topic in most communities and even more so in the religious community.
Our duty as professionals, parents, volunteers and leaders in the community is to ensure the safety, healthy development, and growth of our children. It is critical that we are informed and familiar with the inherent risks in the relationships we initiate for our children.
More information about sexual abuse and useful tools to help build awareness, educate and prevent more children from being abused and hopefully prevent these tragedies from occurring in our communities will be discussed at the upcoming
8th Annual Conference Promoting Healthy Family Relationships at the Ramada Hotel on January 22,2012
CONFRONTING ABUSE IN OUR COMMUNITY
This conference was planned several months ago and will feature Rav Zev Leff and Dr. David Pelcovitz. A message from a parent whose children are victims of abuse will be included in the program.
Please visit our website http://www.kavlnoar.org/ for more information and to register for the conference.
http://www.kavlnoar.org/the-8th-annual-kav-lnoar-conference-promoting-healthy-family-relationships/
Moishe Witkes, Mentor for Kav L’Noar together with input from the staff of Kav L’Noar
If you would like to contact the author you may do so via Email: MoisheWitkes@gmail.com
Questions can be sent now for Rabbi Leff and Dr. Pelcovitz to kalnoarcenter@gmail.com
There are steps that can be taken – such as putting up posters with the perps names and pictures. All over the country, starting with Yerushalaim, in order to protect potential future victims .
This should not be so expensive , and can make a big difference.
Here in Beit Shemesh we have seen posters up about people for all kinds of things, I am sure that in Yerushalaim this can be done as well. Also, the Hareidi newspapers have to start printing articles teaching parents and teachers how to spot signs of distress in their children. Makor Rishon has been doing this for months already. It is vital!!!
Other organizations that can help the victims are The religious women’s crisis line and Yad Sarah’s family centre. I have compiled a booklet, to be distributed at mikvaot, with these and many other phone numbers. Anyone who wants a “soft” copy of this booklet can email me and I will send them – I would like to see this information reaching as many people as possible
philnchanie at gmail
Jewish Parents for Safe Yeshivos will also continue to publicize this horrific situation as well! Thank you for bravely chronicling it!
You are not alone. Stay strong and thank you for taking this on. Let me know if there are any English speaking teen victims and I would be happy to donate copies of my book.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…for making us more aware and inspiring us to DO Something to help. I emailed Altea Steinherz. I am also putting together a workshop for parents based on awareness, prevention, and empowerment.
Thank you.
I am Davening constantly for these poor kids. Thanks for your article, it is really hard to write such horrific words, and it takes a lot of courage. No punishment could ever be enough for men such as this.
In most neighborhoods in Jerusalem there are those who volunteer for community patrol in Mishmar Ezrahi. If the areas being terrorized have patrols, they should receive special training so they can be alert and help round up the perpetrators and create an atmosphere of security and safety for neighborhood children. And if there are not enough patrols and volunteers, they must be recruited immediately.
Thank you so much for publicising this horrific situation. There are abusers in all communities, but it goes on for far longer in closed communities.
The priority is for these kids to feel safe before any trauma therapy can be effective. I am mystified that these perpetrators are allowed to freely roam the streets. Aren’t there any vigilantes in the community? The conspiracy of silence in the Haredi press is shameful.
Thank you.
I believe that as much as the children have become the korbon that the Orthodox Jewish world will change hereon in when it comes to pedophilia. I have to believe it.
shalom
i live in the same street as jewishmom. and share the same fury and passion that she does – in fact more as i was duped into the service of s who asked me to help him make the moshe montifore garden as my own garen is so pretty. i donated plants, hours of time almost 5 years and then found out, he is the leader of a gang of 9 perverts. the garden i destroyed, gave away the plants and started war against him and his mates. and there are many
1,i want people to understand a few things clearly. stop blaming the parents. i am not hareidi. start blaming the useless police,court and judges here in israel.
the parents are totally broken up into pieces. stop blaming them.
2. help.any way you want to pray, practical, financial or just get out the way with opinions that destroy – the negative words have an affect – if you dont get it learn, humble yourself and thank god it never happened to your child . its not what you think that is of any importance. it is what hashem thinks. i am outraged by the vicious comments.
3. educate yourselves – and guard your children. listen to them.
4. do not invite the miserable ones to shabbat again do not invite them to meals. they eat the food and then your children.
5. show heart and common sense and derech eretz. do not enter panic and hysteria into this mess.find solutions, if you dont know what to do, ask me i do know. [email address available upon request.]
take this diaster to clean your own hearts and unite as one with the devastated and destroyed families left here picking up the pieces. Their entire world is destroyed and kindness is necessary.
Do not judge anyone. Keep quiet. be humble and just help or get out the way and dont do damage.
[Note: This message was edited slightly be ima2seven]
Does anyone have any photos of these 10 or so animals!? Though it borders on “lashon hara” and “rechilut”, it would be extremely helpful in preventing the still roaming predators from attacking children in other parts of Nachlaot and/or Jerusalem. You’ll excuse me, but I’m not part of the your community and don’t recognize them by name. They may be roaming my block as i’m writing this.
Please upload their photos, at least the ones still roaming free.
Thanks!
UUUGGG. I used to live in Nachalot…. BTW, good info for parents can be found at:
http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=729&ThisGroup_ID=261
Rachel,
Thank you so much for publicizing this atrocity. I am in shock. I will contact our Rebbetzen about organizing something to educate our community of Yad Binyamin on Prevention Methods. And thank you sooo much for letting us know what we can do to help the Nachlaot community.
Thoughts are with the Nachlaot victims and their parents, in this nightmare scenario.
It is true that something can happen in any sector, but some thoughts on religious communities, from personal experience:
Religious people often naively think that problems only happen among the secular and goyim. I’ve a heard a chasidic rabbi state categorically, that there is no domestic violence in his community and thus no need to provide assistance. And when things do come to light part of their unwillingness to take action stems from their “pity” for the perpetrator’s wife and children. Or there is a desire to try to find a “compromise” solution, as if criminal offenses can be mediated away like the finer points of a contractual dispute. But above all, don’t make “us” look bad. This is much more important than providing justice for the victim, who should remain passive and silent for the good of the community. Furthermore, religious people often do not know what the halacha is. Informing other parents of a pedophile is NOT lashon hara, it is a mitzva. Make sure that your information is correct, but once you know that it is you have a duty to inform others in order to protect children. Also, with judging favorably, one does not have to judge favorably when doing so may endanger a person, and even more so a child.
I’m not blaming the parents, but I do think that they have to wake up from their naivety. However, given that they prefer their children to have no treatment over seeing a chareidi therapist, I’m not hopeful.
I meant over seeing a non-chareidi therapist
I am very skeptical about this. This is beginning to sound more and more like a great deal of hysteria. The way in which you are writing is just begging for an abuse of justice.
You make many claims and throw a lot accusations around, but do you have actual proof aside from unbacked vague accusations? The police have investigated this, what am I supposed to believe when they throw out the testimony? There is already one dead body (Yochanan Spielberg) and another woman who was handcuffed and beaten to wothin an inch of her life (Sarah Vorst). How much more blood do you need to see spilled? And while you may or may not know the truth of the matter, the rest of us have no real idea whatsoever if these people were actualky guilty of anything at all!
When you write articles with these kinds of trigger words ie “terrorist” you are not asking for a calm measured response, you are screaming for vigilante mob rule.
what sort of a g-d would allow this in the first place?