April 17th Marks the 42 Anniversary of the First Conference on Rape

April 17th Marks the 42 Anniversary of the First Conference on Rape

Look what those radical feminist in the 1970s started.  If it wasn't for them, no one would be talking about sex crimes.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month was created to honor the Anniversary of this First  Conference on Rape, which was held April 17, 1971.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

If you believe that ALL survivors of sex crimes should be treated with dignity and respect and that you believe the Statute of Limitations should be abolished, share this image with everyone you know.

It's also important to remember that the SOL bills are about the Survivors and NOT about a particular attorney who is using the movement for their own personal gain.

Case of the Sex Offenders at Carmel College

Case of the Sex Offenders at Carmel College

Oxfordshire, England

Several alleged victims, who studied at the co-educational school in Oxfordshire, have claimed that at least two tutors sexually abused students between the 1970s and 1990s.  The school closed in 1997 due to lack of funding. Carmel College was the only Jewish boarding school in Europe.
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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs. 

Table of Contents:   

2012

1. Legendary Rabbi Kopul Rosen 1913-1962

2013

1. Police investigate allegations of sexual abuse at Carmel College (03/28/2013)

2014

1. You'll never forget how to put on tefillin (02/14/2014)
2. Sex abuse arrest at Jewish school (02/27/2014)

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Legendary Rabbi Kopul Rosen 1913-1962

Algemeiner - February 24, 2012

Rabbi Kopul Rosen (1958)

On March 1st several hundred pupils of Kopul Rosen will gather at his graveside on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem to remember him on the 50th anniversary of his death. He was the most charismatic person I have ever encountered; a learned, fervently Orthodox, open-minded rabbi, intellectual, musician, sportsman, artist, wit, and orator. He was well over six feet tall, darkly handsome and engaging with a warm attractive smile, arresting dark eyes, and an imperial beard. On the other hand, he did not suffer fools gladly. His anger was fierce and his moods frightening. He dominated my life, and I desperately wanted his attention and love.

He was born in London in 1913 to a modest family of Eastern European immigrants from Radomsk. After his primary school education in Notting Hill, the family could not afford secondary education, and he went to study at Etz Chaim Yeshivah in the East End. His extracurricular activities included a passionate involvement in the Zionist movement, teaching Cheder, guest preaching (even then he was in great demand), and furthering his own broad intellectual, literary, and musical education.

He was encouraged to go to study at the great Lithuanian Yeshivah of Mir. Mir had a profound impact on him, both in learning and in the person of Rav Yerucham Levovitz, the greatest Mussar preacher of the generation, who inspired him to become a rabbi. Kopul returned just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He acquired another mentor, Rav Dessler, and was soon appointed the first rabbi of the Higher Crumpsall Congregation in Manchester in 1939.

He immediately became a sensation. He combined his strong Eastern European religious scholarship, with powerful spirituality, and a fluency and passion that had simply not been encountered previously in Anglo-Jewry. His rise was meteoric. Within two years in 1944 he was invited to become the Communal Rabbi of Glasgow.

In 1946 he was invited to become the Principal Rabbi of the Federation of Synagogues in London. His impact on London Jewry too was powerful and immediate. When Chief Rabbi Hertz died, Kopul, although only 33 years old, was regarded as the most exciting prospect to succeed him. But the conflicts of the Hertz era led the United Synagogue leadership to opt for a safe pair of hands instead of a charismatic mercurial individualist, so they appointed Israel Brodie instead.

By 1948, Kopul had grown disillusioned with the rabbinate in general and the Federation in particular. As the President of the Religious Zionist movement, Mizrahi, he was also feeling uncomfortable at the entry of religion into politics in the new State of Israel. He was increasingly alienated from communal affairs. He had always felt that education held the key to Jewish survival and Anglo Jewry was not noted as a community of scholars or its Jewish academic institutions.

His dream was to build the equivalent of the English public school combined with the intensity and learning of a traditional yeshivah. He founded Carmel College at first at Greenham Common outside Newbury and later at Mongewell Park. In 1949, he resigned his communal positions and moved with his family into the school.

From the start, he encountered opposition. The community at large at that time was convinced that a Jewish school amounted to segregation and would inhibit successful integration into English society. As for the small but growing ultra-Orthodox community, they thought that Kopul’s wider cultural and intellectual aspirations were too unorthodox for them. The lack of funding was a constant strain on Kopul and his ever-supportive wife Bella (who once pawned her engagement ring to provide breakfast for the pupils). But slowly the school grew and gained a serious academic reputation. Its success during the late fifties slowly began to attract support. Carmel grew and became one of the premier schools of the Jewish world.

Kopul was perceived by many as an Achilles withdrawing from communal life to his tent in the countryside. He held the Jewish establishment in scant regard. His lessons and talks often betrayed his impatience with the ignorance and lack of religious conviction that characterized postwar Anglo-Jewry. He had no patience for the growing fundamentalism and narrow-mindedness to which he believed the Orthodox community had fallen prey. He enjoyed sharing his criticisms with his pupils, who he hoped would usher in a new era of enlightened Jewish stewardship. Nevertheless, he was always in demand as a public speaker throughout the Jewish world, raising funds for Israel and Jewish education. His legacy is still remembered particularly in Australia and South Africa.

He threw himself into his school and into close relationships with many pupils. Some found the force of his personality too intense. But his own enthusiasms and example reflected his ideal of a tolerant universal Jewish education. He himself played sport, cricket and soccer, but swimming was his first love. He delighted in Carmel’s success in rowing and dreamed of his pupils going to Oxbridge as athletes whose religious commitment would cause the annual boat race to be postponed. He encouraged music, art, intellectual enquiry, while at the same time trying his best to get his pupils to live and master the Jewish tradition. His made all the religious occasions at Carmel unforgettable. His mellow singing voice and religious enthusiasm suffused them with authenticity and spirituality.

For various reasons, Carmel never lived up to his original ideal. Too few of its pupils cared for an intense religious way of life and the quality of the Jewish education never matched the secular. But nevertheless it did have a powerful influence on many who remember his example and personality with great affection and gratitude.

Kopul was seriously injured in a boating accident 1959, just as he started to negotiate the next dream on his list, the establishment of a school in Israel. He was hospitalized and invalided for almost a year. At the same time the impending retirement of Chief Rabbi Brodie was seen by many to be an opportunity to give Kopul the position he had been denied 13 years earlier. He was not enthusiastic and told his inner circle that he had no wish to leave his beloved school for the straightjacket of communal politics. He never recovered from his accident and died in March 1962, at the age of 49. They don’t make ‘em that way anymore. His memory sustains me and has always been a blessing.

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Police investigate allegations of sexual abuse at Carmel College

By Zoe Winograd

Jewish Chronicle - March 28 2013

Thames Valley police have confirmed that they are conducting an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at Carmel College, the now closed Jewish public school.

Former Carmel students have claimed that they were sexually abused while they were at the school.

Several alleged victims, who studied at the co-educational school in Oxfordshire, have claimed that at least two tutors sexually abused students between the 1970s and 1990s.

A spokeswoman for the police said: “We are a long way from bringing charges— there are many people to speak to.”

Carmel College, which was latterly co-educational, was founded by Rabbi Dr Yaakov Kopul Rosen in 1948 as a Jewish public school. It closed in 1997 due to lack of funding.

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Carmel College

March 28, 2013

Carmel College was founded by Rabbi Dr Kopul Rosen in 1948 and closed in 1997. Approximately 4,000 students attended the school for some period of time, nearly a third of them from all over the world. The four headmasters, Kopul Rosen, David Stamler, Jeremy Rosen and Philip Skelker together with their senior teachers and staff all played their parts in the story of Carmel College.

This site exists to keep former pupils and staff in touch and also is enabled to download photographs. If any one has photographs from any era we should be delighted to post them here.

More importantly it can serve as a business resource to help all the members of the Carmel experience by fostering contacts. Please add your name and details to the Business Service page.

The ideals and values of the founder Rabbi Dr Kopul Rosen are being perpetuated today by the YAKAR EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, which is centred in Jerusalem and can be reached at its web site www.yakar.org or its UK branch www.yakar.org.uk.

This site has been the result of support and encouragement from Old Carmelis of different times Joe Dwek, Leo Scheiner, Jeremy Coller, Gary Phillips and Olivier Hess.

This site is maintained by JBL associates and financed by YAKAR UK with technical support from
graham@mulberryweb.com

Donations to
Carmelcollege.org.uk
28 Johns Avenue London NW4 4EN
Registered Charity Number 277818.

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You'll never forget how to put on tefillin 
By David Robson
Jewish Chronicle - February 14, 2014

When it comes to religious practice I can’t make any great claims for myself, but a couple of weeks ago I actually did some religious practice – I practised putting on tefillin. It was around midnight, I was in my pyjamas and about to get into bed when I suddenly felt this was something I absolutely must do. The following morning I was going to shul to say kaddish and, it being Sunday, tefillin were part of the dress code. And, between you and me, I didn’t know if I’d be up to it.

I went to a Jewish boarding school – Carmel College, now defunct – I laid tefillin every weekday morning for five-and-a-half years. That’s roughly 1,000 times. But, I’m pretty sure, I hadn’t done it since.

And who’s to know how much you remember of what you did at school? You do French for ten years and ten years later you can just about manage to order an omelette; you study Latin for yonks then thank your lucky stars you’ll never be called upon to use it. So how would tefillin fare?

With some trepidation I went to the cupboard where the religious paraphernalia is kept – multiple kippot, some bought, some stolen, some souvenirs of weddings and barmitzvahs, plus my Leeds United yarmulke (and at the moment they need all the prayers they can get); my tallit in the velvet bag my grandma embroidered for my father; and there, tucked in at the back, a tired-looking blue bag containing my tefillin.

And, what’s this? Another one bearing the initials of my late Great-Uncle David – who would have thought it? Mine may not have been used for 50 years; I doubt if his had seen service since before the Boer War. Forgotten phylacteries! I suppose I could feel ashamed but in truth I was relieved just to find them. Though there will be some readers to whom a day without tefillin is unthinkable, it is also true that millions of tefillin have lain forever idle. Tefillin are the exercise bikes of Jewish life. You’re supposed to use them every morning but you never do.

I examined the two pairs and chose Uncle David’s. Would I even remember what went where? I certainly didn’t want the humiliation of someone having to take pity on me next morning and helping me out – “seven times round the arm, the letter shin on the hand – let me show you.” Happily, when I rolled up my pyjama sleeve, it all came flooding back as if I’d done it yesterday. What was it? Muscle memory? Divine providence?

True, the straps were only just long enough – had I expanded or had they shrunk? True, they were thin and fragile and browny-yellow with age. For me browny-yellow was the new black. Come the morning I headed to shul, bag in hand. A kind man came up and said I’d made up the minyan. I may even go again. The tefillin went on lovely. If they don’t come out of that cupboard for another 50 years, it won’t be me who’ll be wearing them.

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Sex abuse arrest at Jewish school 

By Simon Rocker

Jewish Chronical - February 27, 2014

Police investigating allegations of sexual abuse of pupils at Carmel College, the now closed Jewish public school, have made an arrest, the JC has learned.

Thames Valley Police said that a 76-year-old man from Essex had been arrested and had been released on bail until March 24 this year.

Last March, Thames Valley confirmed that it had launched an investigation into claims of sexual abuse of students by at least two former members of staff at the Orthodox boarding school at Wallingford outside Oxford between the 1970s and 1990s.

Opened in 1948, Carmel taught 350 pupils in its heyday in the 1970s. By the time of its closure, student numbers had dropped below 200 at the “Jewish Eton”, whose annual fees at £14,000 made it one of the UK’s most expensive schools.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.  

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." –– Margaret Mead

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Case of the Unnamed Rabbi At Camp Dora Golding

Case of the Unnamed Rabbi At Camp Dora Golding
(Formerly known as Camp Deal)

East Stroudsburg, PA

Allegations were made that over thirty years ago a thirteen-year-old boy was sexually abused by a 28-year-old rabbinical staff member of Camp Dora Golding.  At one point this camp was called "Camp Deal"

According to the report the alleged offender went on to having a long career in Jewish education, and based on whispers on the Internet, probably continued targeting young Jewish boys within the walls of Jewish educational institutions. 

July 12, 2013 –– A 19-year-old counselor at Camp Dora was arrested and taken into custody on charges of alleged child sexual abuse.

November 1, 2013 –– Another survivor came forward naming another rabbi as being an alleged sexual predator (see letter below)
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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves whether the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents: 

2013

1. Sharing The Secret That’s Haunted My Soul (03/28/2013)
2. It's very hard to come forward (03/28/2013)
3. Poconos camp counselor accused of indecent assault of boy (07/12/2013)
4. More allegations surface against Second Alleged Camp Dora Golding Molester (11/22/2013)
5. Camp Dora Golding Abuse Video Update (11/27/2013)

Also see: 

• Case of the Unnamed Rabbi At Camp Dora Golding
• Case of the Chisdai Ben-Porat
• Case of Rabbi Yisroel Bodkins
• Cases of Sexual Abuse Associated with Yeshiva University
• List of Alleged Enablers of Sex Offenders

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Sharing The Secret That’s Haunted My Soul

An abuse victim goes public, and suggests some communal reforms.

By David Cheifetz
Jewish Week - March 28, 2013

My name is David Cheifetz and I am a victim of childhood sex abuse in a Jewish institution.

There. I have said it. After more than 30 years I have shared the dark secret that has haunted my soul.

I was 13 years old, attending sleep-away camp at Camp Dora Golding, an all-boys Orthodox camp that some of you still send your sons to. I was befriended by a 28-year-old member of the rabbinic staff. Over the course of a week he sexually abused me repeatedly. When the activity was exposed, I was summoned to the camp director’s office and forced to confront the assailant. Then I was summarily sent home, as if it were I who had committed the crime. The camp never even told my parents why I was being sent home. They were just advised to pick me up at the Greyhound terminal at New York’s Port Authority.

I do not know if the perpetrator was ever fired; to the best of my knowledge he was never reported to legal authorities. I understand that he went on to a long career in Jewish education, and based on whispers on the Internet, probably continued targeting young Jewish boys within the walls of Jewish educational institutions. [Camp Dora Golding officials did not respond to repeated attempts for comment on the author’s allegations.]

When I arrived home, I was not given a hero’s welcome. I was also not given a victim’s welcome. I was never sent to a psychiatrist or a psychologist or even a pediatrician. The bitter secret was locked away, barely thought of or spoken of over the next 30-plus years. I did once share the incident with my yeshiva high school principal who insisted, “No, Duvid, he could not have been a rabbi. Rabbis never do such things.”

The Orthodox community is going through its Catholic Church moment: All elements of the community, from the chasidic to the Modern Orthodox, are being inundated by reported cases of sexual abuse of minors. Each of these incidents is characterized not just by accusations of sexual abuse, but by accompanying allegations of systematic cover-ups — incidents hidden or swept under the rug, in some cases (such as the Weberman case) with allegations of extreme financial and social pressures brought to bear on the victims and their families.

But, as my experience reflects, such behaviors of the abusers and of those that protect them are not new. It is not that Orthodox groups and institutions advocate pedophilia. It is that the Orthodox community is unwilling to address this “inconvenient truth.” Instead of confronting this scourge, many members the community have taken on a “circle the wagons” mentality, perhaps to protect their friends, perhaps to protect their institutions. But in all of this, what is forgotten is the victim.

I know. I was a forgotten victim. But I will no longer remain silent or silenced.

And what happens with these child sex abusers when they are ignored, or allowed to continue working within the community? Research shows that they are serial offenders, they tend to hunt out their prey and commit their despicable crimes again and again. Such is the nature of pedophiles. In the Catholic Church. In the Boy Scouts. And in the Orthodox community.

I look with sadness at my own story. I look at all the unanswered questions surrounding the Baruch Lanner case and the full investigative report conducted by the Orthodox Union that was never released, a study led by Richard Joel, now the president of Yeshiva University. Will there be a full release of the current investigation at YU’s boys’ high school involving its former principal, George Finkelstein. I listen to the voices in the ultra-Orthodox community citing mesirah — the notion that one Jew cannot hand over another Jew to the non-Jewish authorities — a remnant of medieval fear of hostile gentile governments. Thankfully that is an anachronism in our current society. These lingering questions and troubling observations take away any belief, any faith that the Orthodox community as a whole is able to reform itself.

I ask you: how many times in recent months has your congregational rabbi delivered a sermon on the travesty that is sexual abuse of minors in our community? It is headline news, but how many rabbis have raised their voices to increase awareness or called for fundamental change? I worry when rabbis are more prepared to discuss nuclear fusion and complex geopolitical machinations than they are to discuss the despicable sex crimes that are happening in our own Jewish educational institutions.

If change will not come from the inside, then it must come from the outside. And so I am speaking up and encouraging the thousands of other victims of childhood sexual abuse in our community to do the same.

I am also encouraging everyone to withhold financial support from every institution suspected of ignoring or covering up sexual abuse activities in their midst. There are plenty of other important causes and institutions that can benefit from your generosity.

But that is only a start. In order for the Jewish community to seriously address this scourge it must embrace real reforms. I believe necessary reforms include:

♦The establishment of an independent ombudsman sensitive to the needs of the Jewish community, with programs in every major educational institution. Too many rabbis have been hesitant to advise victims and their families to report abuses to the police, to social service agencies, or to the local district attorney. Or they have been outright complicit in cover-ups. So a central, independently funded ombudsman program (preferably funded by a foundation, and not reliant on the financial pressures of communal mood swings) must exist for victims and their families. The ombudsman will work with legal authorities and social service agencies and the schools to investigate all credible allegations and use its voice and power to pursue and bring pedophiles and their supporters to justice.

• The institution of mandatory training programs for schools and summer camps — leaders, administrators, teachers and counselors — of what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. (Isolated programs already exist, but are only in place in limited instances.)
• The institution of criminal background checks for all school leaders, teachers, administrators and camp staff.
• The establishments of a “one strike you are out” policy, and the immediate suspension of anyone facing a credible accusation, pending a detailed investigation.
• The establishment of protocols that penalize not only sex offenders, but those who knowingly ignore, protect and enable their behaviors. These people should be held liable on both criminal and civil levels. And they should certainly not be allowed to work in schools, camps, or other Jewish educational institutions. They too should be held accountable.

Speaking as a survivor, I bear scars that will be with me for life. I wish I did not have that unique set of perspectives. But sadly, the Orthodox community has progressed very little since 1979.

We face a demon in our midst, a cancer that will not go away without harsh measures. The Orthodox community can keep Shabbat and pray three times a day; its members can keep kosher and learn Torah day and night. But that means nothing if the community remains deaf to the cries of the past and future victims, and is ultimately complicit in the atrocities committed against our children and grandchildren.

David Cheifetz is a resident of Teaneck, N.J.

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It's very hard to come forward
Experts say it can take years for abuse victims talk openly about their past.
By Steve Lipman
Forward - March 28, 2013

Like David Cheifetz, many victims of abuse do not confront their past, or their abusers, for many years, or even decades, after the abuse took place, according to mental health professionals.

The experts say a combination of shame (the victims feel sullied by an act that they had not initiated or encouraged), and fear of rejection (often their relatives and members of the wider community do not accept the claims of abuse) lead abuse victims to suppress thinking about, or talking about the abuse for a long time.

“It is very hard to come forward,” says Dr. Michelle Friedman, a psychiatrist who directs the pastoral counseling program at Yeshivat Chovovei Torah in Riverdale.

Abuse victims are often reticent to confront the abusers, who typically are a relative a close friend of the family, or a respected member of the ethnic or religious community — in the case of Jews, a rabbi or trusted therapist, Friedman says. “You don’t get to molest someone you don’t know.”

The passage of time, and the occurrence of major lifecycle event like divorce or the birth of a child may prompt an abuse victim to belatedly come forward, says Richard Gartner, a New York psychologist and psychoanalyst who specializes in the treatment of men with histories of sexual abuse.

Gartner says the reluctance to face one’s past as an abuse victims “is common, particularly among men,” because such admission can affect one’s “macho” self-image. Men, he says, are “frequently socialized to think of themselves as people who cannot be victims, particularly sexual victims.”

Reactions that often range from disbelief and rejection of abuse claims, to outright criticism of the victim and defense of the accused perpetrator discourage many abuse victims from coming forward, Gartner says. “They expect not to be believed.”

The fact that someone goes public with an abuse accusation, seeking “recognition that something [bad] was done,” possibly opening that person to embarrassment and questioning, usually indicates that some abuse did take place, Gartner says. And while some details of the abuse are likely to become clouded by time, victims rarely forget the general contours of the abuse, he says. “Some of them never forget it. They’re haunted by it.”

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More allegations surface against Second Alleged Camp Dora Golding Molester
Failed Messiah - November 22, 2013

More allegations against the second alleged Camp Dora Golding molester have been made, and they allegedly come from new alleged victims.

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Camp Dora Golding Abuse Video Update

Failed Messiah - November 27, 2013

The edited video allegedly of Chisdai Ben Porat sexually abusing a child at Camp Dora Golding this past summer has been removed from this site and from the site that first posted it. Here's why:

The edited video allegedly of Chisdai Ben Porat sexually abusing a child at Camp Dora Golding this past summer has been removed from this site and from the site that first posted it.

Why?

Because the purpose of posting the edited excerpt has been served. CDG officials and supporters can no longer claim that what Ben Porat did was not abuse or was not serious.

Also, law enforcement in that rural region of Pennsylvania cannot downplay what Ben Porat did.

The D.A. had the full video within three weeks of the incident and, I'm told, has still not contacted the child who was abused or his parents.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  –– Margaret Mead

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Vicki Polin speaks at the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women (UN-CSW)

United Nations Presentation - Perspective: Survivors of Sex Crimes Being Revictimized

March  9, 2013

The following article is the first part of Vicki Polin's presentation at the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women that wasn't recorded.  

To watch the the rest of Vicki Polin's presentation that was recorded at the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women (UN-CSW) see below

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Perspective: Survivors of Sex Crimes Being Revictimized

By Vicki Polin

Examiner - March 26, 2013

Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC

In any community where people do not trust the outside world they become more vulnerable to predators from within their own communities. This is true for people of all faiths, especially those who live within more insulated communities, which includes those who come from a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or Jewish faith based community.

Being a Jew, and after working within various movements within the Jewish faith for the last 14 years, I feel most comfortable speaking about the experiences of Jewish survivors of sex crimes.

To understand the responses of Jewish communities dealing with sexual abuse or assault, we all must be aware that for over 5700 years, the ugly face of anti-semitism has always shined brightly when it came to be known that a Jew committed a crime.

Needless to say for many Jews, there became a distrust of outsiders. From my own person observations I can say there seems to be more of a heightened fear of the non-Jewish world from those who survived the holocaust, including the following generations along with those who live within the more observant Jewish world.

Because of past experiences of anti-semitism and the fear of retaliation from the non-Jewish world -- the handling of allegations of cases of emotional, physical and sexual abuse have mostly been handled by members of the clergy and or various Jewish community leaders -- and NOT by secular law enforcement agencies.

Just like those from other faith based communities, these clergy members and community leaders had little if any training in forensics, let alone conducting victim sensitive interviewing. Needless to say, those who were victimized by sex crimes are being revicitimized and are still being shamed and blamed.

So the question has been asked, how can we prevent a survivor of emotional, physical or sexual abuse from being revictimized? The answer is not so simple. I personally believe it’s a societal problem.

As long as those in leadership positions blame those who have been victimized for the crimes committed against them, it will make it difficult for one to heal, let alone to hold their heads high and say “I survived”.

For those who were victimized as children, they often need to learn how to replace the tapes playing in their heads that they were “bad, dump, dirty little girls or boys”.

Adults who were abused as children often carry an array of symptomologys which can often lead them into patterns of being re-victimized.

It’s widely known in the trauma field that there’s a correlation between those who have been abused as children to those develop such things as low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, eating disorders, various types addictions, and a whole array of other mental health issues.

When someone has been traumatized, the first 24 - 72 hours are critical for the survivor to share with other’s what happened to them.

If someone was robbed on the street, they would share their story. Would not get blamed.

The truth is, that I am a survivor of child abuse and have been revictimized as an adult. For me, with hindsight I know the answer to why these things happened. Even though my gut was warning me something was wrong, I didn’t pay attention. I rationalized away that ah oh feeling. This is something everyone does, even those who were not abused as children -- but to a lessor degree.

Though we all wish that we could control the universe and never be victimized again, the truth is we can not. But what we can do is to learn how to identify and process our thoughts and feelings, without blaming ourselves if we do get revictimized and to ask for help as often as we want or need to.

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Panel members from the workshop at the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women, included
Natsuko Utsumi, Gabriela Nava Campos, Vicki Polin, Jan Kraft, Judy Meikle and Dana Raphael, PhD

Case of Rabbi Yehuda Paris

Case of Rabbi Yehuda Paris
(AKA: Yehudah Paris, Yehuda Paris)

Teacher, Yeshivat Hesder - Ma'ale Adumim, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel

Arrested on charges of sexually assaulting three of his children.  ]

According to a source that wishes to remain anonymous, Rabbi Paris is both a teacher at Yeshivat Hesder along with being a member of the Beit Din (Jewish Religious Court) in Ma'ale Adumim.  


We have also been told that Rabbi Yehoshua Katz (Chief Ashkenazic rabbi of Ma'ale Adumin) along with Rabbi Elisha Aviner (Dean of the Kollel at Bikat Moshe Yeshiva) have been involved in possible witness tampering and  obstruction of justice in this case.  Rabbi Katz has claimed that there was no halachic proof any indiscretions.  According to halacha (Jewish law) there needs to be two male witnesses to the crime, for there to be "proof" that a sexual assault has taken place.

If you or anyone you know were sexually assaulted in Israel contact The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel for help.  Nation-Wide Hotline for Women 1202 or the Hotline for Men 1203.

If you have information about this case please forward it to The Awareness Center.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:

1. Rabbi Yehuda Paris Member of Rabbinical Court
2. Working Women - Her Salary to Whom?
3. Prominent rabbi charged with molesting daughters (03/27/2013)
4. Top Israeli rabbi arrested for raping teenage daughters for over a decade  (03/28/2013)

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Rabbi Yehuda Paris Member of Rabbinical Court
Yeshiva.co - July 6, 2013

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Working Women - Her Salary to Whom?
Yeshiva.org.il - July 6, 2013

האישה העובדת - משכורתה למי?

הכנס העולמי ה-17 לדיני ממונות

Rabbi Yehuda Paris, ז' טבת תשס"ח

http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/video/Edefault.asp?id=6650

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Prominent rabbi charged with molesting daughters

Suspect indicted for sexually assaulting three of his daughters, ages 12-14, for more than 10 years

By Aviel Magnezi

YNet News - March 27, 2013

A prominent rabbi was arrested 10 days ago on suspicion he sexually assaulted three of his underage  daughters, Ynet has learned.

He is being charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and invasion to privacy and has been remanded in custody for an additional two days.

According to the indictment, which was filed with the Jerusalem District Court, the suspect began molesting three of his daughters, ages 12-14, more than 10 years ago. He sexually abused one of the elder daughters for two years, despite her pleas.

According to the indictment, the suspect told the girl they could sleep naked together and also placed a video camera in her room and watched her as she got dressed and showered.

The suspect's daughters are set to testify against him in court.

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Top Israeli rabbi arrested for raping teenage daughters for over a decade
Press TV - March 28, 2013

A prominent Israeli rabbi has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting his three teenage daughters for more than 10 years.

Rabbi Yehuda Paris

The rabbi, who has not yet been publicly named, is reportedly being charged with multiple accounts of sexual assault and invasion of privacy, Israel's Ynet news website reported on Wednesday. 

He was arrested 10 days ago but has been remanded in custody for an additional two days. 

An indictment filed with the al-Quds (Jerusalem) District Court said the suspect began molesting the victims, ages 12 -14, more than 10 years ago. 

The document said the rabbi sexually abused one of the elder daughters for two years, despite her pleas. 

He told the girl they could sleep naked together and also placed a video camera in her room and watched her as she undressed and showered. 

The suspect's daughters are expected to testify against him in court. 

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