NOTE: Besides Yori Yanover being friends with alleged sex offender, Rabbi Hershy Worch, he was also close friends with convicted sex offender Rabbi David Lipman, both worked for him when he ran JCN18 (Jewish Communication Network) along with his friend, Rabbi Larry Yudelson (Reb Yudel).
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Newspaper publisher becomes the story before debate
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Newspaper publisher becomes the story before debate
Yori Yanover, publisher of the Grand Street News
By Ronda Kaysen
Volume 75, Number 8 | June 13- 20, 2005
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_115/newspaperpublisher.html
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_114/newspaperpublisher.html
Yori Yanover - enabler of sex offenders |
Much
thought isn't usually given to moderators. By definition, they are
thought to be moderate, but Yori Yanover, who was tapped to facilitate
Tuesday night's City Council District 2 debate, has some strong opinions
about the feminist, gay rights and psychoanalytic movements and isn't
afraid to blog them.
On
Tuesday morning, hours before 12 of the candidates vying to fill
Margarita Lopez's City Council seat gathered at the Henry Street
Settlement for their first public debate, an anonymous e-mail circulated
among the candidates, urging them to boycott the event, which was to
include three panelists asking questions in addition to Yanover, who was
to moderate. The writer, identifying himself only as Constitution Man
of the Committee to Boycott LoHo Realty and their Grand Street News,
pointed to a private Web blog penned by the debate's moderator as cause
for a candidate-wide boycott.
The
blog, www.usajewish.com, was written by Yanover, the publisher of Grand
Street News, a booklet-size community newspaper sponsored by LoHo
Realty. The entries in question address an ongoing dispute within the
Jewish community about a handful of rabbis accused of sexual
impropriety.
In one entry, Yanover responds to sexual allegations against the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
lodged by several women after Carlebach's death. The allegations were
never brought to court. In response to the unsubstantiated allegations,
Yanover, in his blog, blamed the "homosexual movement, the feminist
movement and the psychoanalytical movement. All three movements have
politicized the sexual, and with that, robbed us of the carefree
availability of our sexual expression," he wrote.
"The
gay rights, feminist and psychological movements have changed how
society approached sex in worrisome ways," Yanover told The Villager.
"Making a sexual mistake in this society is the most dangerous thing
that can happen to you. The boss who 10 years ago may have said
something cheeky to a secretary or a female underling, now he's going in
the other direction. This is part of the anxiety of our culture."
One
candidate, Brian Kavanagh, withdrew his name from the debate after
learning about Yanover's statements. "The moderator of a debate is not
merely a bystander, but controls the forum and has a public presence and
I think that choosing this particular person under the present
circumstances shows some insensitivity both to the gay and lesbian
community and also to victims of rape," said Kavanagh, describing the
blog entries as "reprehensible."
"Is
she concerned? I'm sure she would be concerned with anything that's
homophobic or anti-women," said Roberto Caballero, who is gay and is the
campaign manager for Reverend Joan Brightharp, the only member of the
clergy in the race. Brightharp, however, planned to attend the debate,
which occurred as The Villager went to press.
Yori Yanover making online death threats to various Rape Victim Advocates |
Yanover
is a strong presence in the Lower East Side community. In fact, Grand
Street News approached Henry Street Settlement several months ago to
co-sponsor the debate along with LoHo Realty. Some local figures have
jumped to his defense in the wake of the Tuesday morning e-mail. "I
believe in supporting good people," said Susan Stetzer, district manager
of Community Board 3. "He is not homophobic, he is not anti-feminist.
He and his wife are feminists and they're raising their daughter to be a
feminist." Stetzer and David McWater, C.B. 3 chairperson, were profiled
by Grand Street News within the past year and their photo appeared on
its cover.
Henry
Street Settlement, which hosted the event, had no intentions of
canceling or changing moderators on Tuesday afternoon. "At this point,
we're not making any changes," said Kathleen Gupta, a chief
administrator for the Henry Street Settlement, two hours before the
event. "We're just moving forward and hoping it'll be a productive
evening."
Rosie
Mendez, the only openly gay candidate in the race, had not read the
e-mail when she spoke to The Villager on Tuesday afternoon and was
reluctant to take a position. "I have to ask myself, `Why today, a
couple of hours before the debate, is this coming to light?' " she said.
"This has been planned a long time ago. It's interesting that this has
come out now." Mendez planned to attend the event.
The
author of the e-mail that pointed candidates and The Villager to the
blog did not return requests for comment, nor did he respond to requests
to identify himself.
Bias
is often subjective and, according to Yanover, the comments on his blog
— all of which were removed on Tuesday afternoon — were part of a
larger dialogue within the Jewish community. The blog entries in
question were written last winter, he said, in response to comments made
last October by an organization, the Awareness Center, about his close
friend Rabbi Jeremy Hershy Worch.
The Awareness Center,
a Maryland-based organization, is "dedicated to addressing sexual
violence in Jewish communities around the world," according to its Web
site. Among the alleged perpetrators of sexual violence accused on the
Web site is Yanover's friend Worch.
"Every time you Google the guy's name,
every time he applies for a job," the link to the Awareness Center Web
site appears at the top of the search engine, said Yanover. "His name is
destroyed. What can you do about this? All you can do is cower away or
you can fight this."
And
so Yanover printed the full name, address and telephone number of the
woman who made the accusations against Worch, removing the "the shelter
of anonymity" that protected her.
"This
woman destroyed the life of a man, she accused him of despicable things
and hid behind a veil of anonymity and she did not deserve it
[anonymity]," said Yanover in a telephone interview, pointing out that
no charges were ever brought against Worch.
Ironically,
the Internet and the infinite memory of Google may now have turned on
Yanover, thrusting his online ramblings into the political arena. "A
friend of mine last October was destroyed by sinister people and it's
been my business to defend his good name," he said.
"And if I get
skewered by that then that's the way it has to be."
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