Rabbi Marc Gafni - Confessed Child Molester Becomes Board Member of "High Road For Human Rights"

The Awareness Center, Inc.

(the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault)

P.O. Box 65273, Baltimore, MD 21209

www.theawarenesscenter.org

MEDIA ALERT - Confessed Child Molester Becomes Board Member of "High Road For Human Rights"

Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Winiarz)

June 2, 2009

Over the last few years The Awareness Center has been attempting to warning the public and various rabbinic organization that confessed child molester, Rabbi Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Gafni, Mordechai Winartz) has been in the process of reinventing himself.  The Awareness Center has been asking all rabbinic organizations to post public statements on their web pages denouncing this confessed sex offenders behavior.  Back in 2004, Rabbi Marc Gafni confessed to sexually abusing a thirteen-year-old girl in the state of New York. 

It has been brought to the attention of The Awareness Center,  that Rabbi Gafni has become a cherished board member of an organization called "High Road for Human Rights".  

High Road for Human Rights, state that their mission is to advocate for those who have been treated unjustly.  Unfortunately, this organization does not seem to care about the women who have been sexually violated by board members, Rabbi Marc Gafni. (https://www.highroadforhumanrights.org/aboutus.htm).  Other board members of this organization include many internationally reknown celebrities such as : Ed Asner (Actor), Harry Belafonte (Actor and Singer), Ben Cohen (co-Founder Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream), Yoko Ono (Widow of John Lennon), Eli Wiesel (writer, professor, political activist).  You can see a complete list of board members by clicking on the following link:  http://www.highroadforhumanrights.org/board/board.htm

Over the years Yeshiva University, The Rabbinical Council of America and The Alliance For Jewish Renewal (ALEPH) have dealt with Rabbi Gafni and are very much aware of the potential dangers this confessed sex offender possess, including the fact that he has once again recreated himself.  

Considering Marc Gafni's past history, we must believe that  it is only a matter of time before new victims of sex crimes emerge. The Awareness Center is demanding that Yeshiva University, The Rabbinical Council of America and The Alliance For Jewish Renewal --  make public statements denouncing this confessed serial rapists past behavior in hopes of preventing another sex crime and also assist The Awareness Center's attempts at warn both women and children to stay away from Rabbi Marc Gafni.  (See background information below)

The Awareness Center, Inc.

Vicki Polin

vickipolin@aol.com

ALEPH (Alliance for Jewish Renewal)

Debra Kolodny  - Executive Director

debraruth@mac.com

7000 Lincoln Drive #B2

Philadelphia, PA 19119-3046

215-247-9700

Orthodox Union

Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb - Executive Vice President  

execthw@ou.org

Eleven Broadway

New York, NY 10004
212-613-8264

Rabbinical Council of America

Rabbi Basil Herring - Executive Vice President

bherring@rabbis.org

Rabbi Mark Dratch -  Chair of Task Force on Rabbinic Improprieties

mdratch@jsafe.org

305 Seventh Ave., 12th Floor

New York, NY

Yeshiva University

Richard M. Joel - President

president@yu.edu

212 960 5300

Belfer Hall 1200

2945 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, NY 10033

Morry J. Weiss - Chairman of the Board of Trustees

500 West 185th Street

New York, NY 10033

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

September 24, 2004 -- The New York Jewish Week, "The Re-invented Rabbi" (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#The), in which Gafni stated: "I was a stupid kid and we were in love," "She was 14 going on 35, and I never forced her".  The 13-year-old girl called his "loving relationship" sexual assault.  (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#Teachings).  

"The second woman, Judy, said that when she was 16 and deeply unhappy at home, she joined a popular Orthodox outreach group for teens that Rabbi Gafni was leading called JPSY (Jewish Public School Youth), and was drawn to his charisma and concern for her.". . ."During a two-week period when she ran away from home and was staying with Rabbi Gafni, who was then 25 and married, Judy said he abused her sexually on two occasions. Even more upsetting, she said, was that afterward, the rabbi tried to convince her the encounter did not happen, and then harassed her for many months. He threatened to keep her out of Jewish schools (she was seeking to transfer from public school to a yeshiva), called her home at all hours of the night and then hung up, mailed pictures to her home of naked men, and had her followed." (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#If)

A woman named Susan, who at the time was a 22-year-old adviser in JPSY, said she believed Judy's account, because of what he attempted to do to her.  She said that when she took Judy's side, Rabbi Gafni made harassing phone calls and threats against her. "He told me I would regret it," Susan said, adding that the rabbi made inappropriate advances to her as well. (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#Susan)

2004 -- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, spiritual leader Efrat, Israel was going to revoke the rabbinic ordination he gave Rabbi Winiarz/Gafni  many years ago when they had a close rabbi-student relationship. When Gafni heard of Rabbi Riskin's wishes, he wrote a letter "returning" his semicha to spare his former teacher any further embarrassment.

May 18, 2006 -- YNET News (Israel): "Rabbi Gafni Accused Of Sexual Assault" (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#sexual%20assault), Three women in their twenties file complaint with Haifa police against Rabbi Mordechai Gafni (AKA: Marc Gafni), claiming he sexually harassed them during Torah lessons, promised to marry them; Gafni meanwhile flees country to US.  

May 19, 2006 -- Forward News:  "Rabbi Fired Over Sex Claims, Defenders Offer Mea Culpa"  (http://theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#Mea).   Marc Gafni issued a public apology for having "hurt people I love," and said that he would seek in-patient treatment for what he called "a sickness.". . . At least five female students and staff members have come forward to accuse Rabbi Mordechai Gafni of luring them into sexual relationships through intimidation, psychological manipulation and deception. Late last week, Gafni, an Orthodox-trained rabbi who has become a star of the New Age-style Jewish Renewal movement, was dismissed from his position as the head of Bayit Chadash, a center on the Sea of Galilee that he co-founded six years ago.

2006 -- Gafni moves from Boston, MA to Boulder, CO and then on to Salt Lake City, UT.  He becomes involved with the Buddhist community and befriends Diane Musho Hamilton, who is also on the board of "High Road for Human Rights" (http://www.eomega.org/omega/faculty/viewProfile/83aca76821e7c2b7e598576087789963/).  

July, 2008 -- It was reported that Marc Gafni married his forth wife and is the process of recreating himself and his web page.  Marc Gafni's biggest supporter is Rabbi Gershon Winkler, founder of the Walking Stick Foundation. It has been reported by that Winkler shares many of Marc Gafni's philosophies including the one on having multiple "marriage partners".  (http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Winkler_Gershon.html).

Case of Gary Rosenblatt

Case of Gary Rosenblatt

This Page is under construction

Alleged enabler of a confessed sex offender

New York Jewish Week - New York, NY

Gary Rosenblatt has always had a very strong allegiance to both Yeshiva University and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). 

For nearly over a decade there has been a ban created by Gary Rosenblatt against many Jewish news media groups publishing the name of Vicki Polin or The Awareness Center.  

The ban began after The Awareness Center applied pressure to have a story regarding the case of Rabbi Mordechai Winiarz (AKA: Marc Gafni) published in the New York Jewish Week.  

According to reports, Gary Rosenblatt had been holding on to a story he wrote about Gafni  since the early 1990s; explaining to one of the survivors the story would be published.   

Even though for years Rosenblatt's paper has been publishing stories regarding sex crimes, there are several individuals who have made allegations that Gary Rosenblatt has been assisting various Jewish leaders who are associated with Yeshiva University or those connected to the RCA cover up sex crimes.

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Table of Contents

2006

1. Is Gary Rosenblatt reinventing history when it comes to the case of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni? (06/16/2006)

Background Information

1. Gary Rosenblatt - Bio
2. The Harry Walker Agency - Gary Rosenblatt

Also see:

1. Case of the Unnamed Principal in a Brooklyn Yeshiva

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Rosenblatt reinventing history when it comes to the case of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni?
By Vicki Polin
The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter - June 16, 2006

Early in 2003, while The Awareness Center, Inc. was in its infancy, several orthodox rabbis (who had a connection with the Rabbinic Council of America and Agudath Israel) started calling to request our organization to do something about Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Winiarz). In order to comply with wishes of the rabbonim, our board and volunteers attempted to track down three known survivors of this alleged sex offender.

We had very little difficulties tracking down the second and third survivors, yet had trouble locating the first. Gary Rosenblatt was the link to finding the first survivor.

During our initial conversation with Winiarz/Gafni's first survivor, we learned that several years prior, she had provided Rosenblatt with her story. Back in the 90’s Gary had heard rumors and tracked her down. The first survivor stated that she was not seeking an opportunity to share her abuse history, but was convinced by Rosenblatt that sharing the story might spare future women the pain of abuse at Winiarz/Gafni's hands.

This survivor shared every painful detail with Gary Rosenblatt. Gary promised that he would publish a story right away. Years went by, there was no further contact and a story was never published. The survivor felt exploited and betrayed.

In 2004 finally Gary Rosenblatt reestablished contact with the first survivor, providing her with the contact information for The Awareness Center. The survivor was apprehensive, yet followed through and made the initial call.

I'll never forget the day Survivors two and three communicated with the first survivor. It was amazing to watch; a day filled with old terror and pain transforming into tears of healing, joy and empowerment.

Amazingly the three survivors were eager to work with Gary Rosenblatt. The intention was and always has been to prevent any more women from being victimized by Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni. The Awareness Center did it's best to work with Gary Rosenblatt as well, and provided him with names of individuals who had first hand knowledge of Gafni’s past.

Gary had ample information and factual content from highly respected rabbis and members of the community. The original story Gary wrote was to be published in the spring of 2004, yet nothing happened. Every week Mr. Rosenblatt told the survivors it would be published the following week, yet nothing happened. It wasn't until September 24, 2004, that an extremely watered down version of what was originally written was published.

In Gary Rosenblatt’s most recent article “Deconstructing The Gafni Case” he wrote:

"They felt they were the victims, that they had suffered enough and did not want to go through a public scrutiny of past abuses and humiliations. His former wives and the other women had new lives to live and reputations to protect."

The problem with this statement is; Gary ceases to mention that in the code of journalistic ethics created by the US department of Justice, one should never publish the names of victims of sex crimes. Three women spoke directly to Rosenblatt with the understanding that thier names would not be used, all of whom were quoted in his original article. It is common journalistic practice to have unnamed sources. Remember Watergate?

Rosenblatt continued:

"But for a journalist probing these accusations and knowing that the resulting expose could destroy the subject's career, professional standards require offering up real people and real names to make those charges. That is why I spent three years on the Gafni trail, interviewing dozens of people about the allegations of sexual misbehavior, before publishing anything. And at that point, in September 2004, I wrote an opinion column rather than a news story because I still did not have anyone with firsthand experience of abuse speaking on the record."

“And I offered up Gafni’s denials, and other rabbis defending him. They said that even if these things had happened, it was a long time ago and he had done teshuva (repentance). . . I think I should have written at the time that I found the women far more credible than Gafni. . . One thinks I should have acted on my instincts and been tougher on Gafni, even though I had no firsthand accounts on the record. Another said I was right to have held out for on-the-record attribution.”

The survivor who was thirteen at the time of her abuse stated that it wasn’t until years after her initial contact with Mr. Rosenblatt that he connected her with The Awareness Center. The survivor had already given a detailed account of her sexual assault directly to Rosenblatt, yet she requested that her name be withheld from the story. From the point this survivor contacted The Awareness Center, it was another six months before Gary's watered down article was published. He promised the survivor years before that he would publish the story the week following the initial interview, yet nothing ever happened.

Back in 2001, survivor number one received a telephone call from Winiarz/Gafni supporter Naomi Mark, ACSW. Naomi's goal was for a survivor of childhood sexual abuse to meet with her offender. Naomi told this survivor that Marc Winiarz/Gafni wanted to make amends. She told the survivor that Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni had wrote a letter stating: “he thought the survivor was hurting because he ended their relationship instead of marrying her”. He wanted to apologize for "breaking her heart.”

The survivor told Ms. Mark that she would not meet with the man who raped her. The survivor disclosed that she let Naomi Mark know that “the relationship” Winiarz/Gafni was referring to should be called RAPE. A far cry from what Winiarz/Gafni called a “heartache, or a fallen romance.”

The Survivor believes the reason Winiarz/Gafni wanted to contact her at the time was because he learned of the interview she had given to Gary Rosenblatt. The survivor was sure that Winiarz/Gafni was worried about what Rosenblatt would publish. Winiarz/Gafni wanted the survivor to say that she had forgiven him for the assault. Marc Winiarz/Gafni neither acknowledged that he had sexually abused a child, nor admitted to any violent acts.

It appears Gary Rosenblatt's attempt to re-create history has been influenced by his long time friend, Rabbi Saul Berman -- who to this day is believed to be a defender of Mordechai Gafni.

If Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni has done teshuva, why has he not contacted the other women whom he victimized? Why didn't he ever offer to pay for the pain and suffering all three women endured because of his offenses?

Once again Rosenblatt's affiliation with Rabbi Saul Bermaninfluenced his ability to get the facts straight. Gary Rosenblatt had firsthand accounts. He spoke to three women who were sexually victimized by Mordechai Winiarz (AKA: Marc Gafni). Two survivors had sexual contact; the third was a survivor of inappropriate sexual advances by an orthodox rabbi, who was also a married man.

Gary Rosenblatt spoke to numerous rabbis and other credible individuals who backed the survivor’s stories. What more evidence did he need?

If Rosenblatt really wants to make amends to the survivors of Winiarz/Gafni, he should put an advertisement in the New York Jewish Week calling for the extradition of Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni, and have all those who have blindly supported Winiarz/Gafni sign it.

Gary Rosenblatt can be reached by e-mail at Gary@jewishweek.org

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Don't forget about what Rabbi Kenneth Hain said regarding the Gafni case:

"Sometimes the bigger person is the one who can just let things go."

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Gary Rosenblatt - Bio
Beliefnet - August 14, 2013

Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, the largest Jewish newspaper in the U.S.

Before coming to New York in 1993, Rosenblatt was editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years. He has won numerous awards for his writing from secular and Jewish organizations. His analysis of the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Los Angeles was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Special Reporting in 1985. The honor marked the first time an article in a Jewish publication was cited in the Pulitzer competition, which dates back to 1917. His investigative reporting on a rabbi's abuse of teens received national acclaim. It won the Casey Medal for Meretorious Journalism in 2001, and led to the arrest and conviction of the rabbi.

Rosenblatt is chairman of the Fund for Jewish Investigative Journalism and founding director of Write On For Israel, a Jewish Week-sponsored advocacy journalism program for high school students.

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The Harry Walker Agency - Gary Rosenblatt
August 14, 2013

Is Gary 

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The Re-Invented Rabbi - Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Winiarz)

The Re-Invented Rabbi
Gary Rosenblatt - Editor and Publisher New York Jewish Week - September 22, 2004
Is there a statute of limitations for rabbis accused of abuse — and should there be? How does the community determine when someone has done teshuvah, or repentance, as claimed? Can rabbinic ordination be revoked? And when, if ever, do persistent rumors and allegations over a period of years add up to a legitimate story? Prompting these thoughts in this season of repentance and forgiveness is the continuing saga of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni, 43, who in recent years has become an increasingly influential leader of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born as Marc Winiarz, he came to New York from the Midwest for high school and college, became a youth leader and rabbi, was accused of sexual abuses and misconduct, and started life anew in Israel 13 years ago with an Israeli name. He has left several rabbinic and educational posts, here and in Israel, amid a swirl of rumors and allegations spanning two decades. Over time Rabbi Gafni has assumed an increasingly high profile as a charismatic teacher, promoting what he calls a new, post-Orthodox stream of Judaism. He has been featured on Israeli television; written several books, including “Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment,” which was made into a PBS special; lectured extensively in the United States and Israel; served on the spiritual advisory council of Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, a national organization based in Philadelphia; led retreats at Elat Chayyim, a Jewish Renewal center in the Catskills; preached frequently at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles; and founded Bayit Chadash (“new home”), a New Age Jewish community in Israel that he said strives “to restore the spark of holy paganism.” Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the spiritual leader of the Israeli community of Efrat, called several months ago to tell me he would like to revoke the rabbinic ordination he gave Rabbi Gafni many years ago when they had a close rabbi-student relationship. Rabbi Riskin characterized as beyond the bounds of Orthodoxy his former student’s theology, described earlier this year in a lengthy profile in Haaretz, the Israeli daily. In the newspaper, Rabbi Gafni called for restoring a balance between the erotic and the spiritual in Judaism. For his part, Rabbi Gafni acknowledged he has moved beyond Orthodoxy. He said he has other ordinations and, in a letter to Rabbi Riskin this spring, “returned” his semicha to spare his former teacher any further embarrassment. Dogged By Critics But the crux of the controversy surrounding Rabbi Gafni is more about his personal behavior than his theology. For the past two decades he has been dogged by a small, informal network of people, here and in Israel, who charge that he has had a long history of immoral conduct, including sexual contact with and abuse of underage girls. These critics, including alleged former victims, several rabbis and educators, have urged synagogues and educational institutions not to hire or engage him, and they have stepped up their efforts as Rabbi Gafni’s activities have broadened and become more public after his return from a self-imposed exile of sorts, spending several years writing and studying at Oxford University in England. Rabbi Gafni admitted to having “made mistakes in my life,” including giving in to a strong temper when he was a young man. But he insisted that while he had adult relationships with women at times when he was single — he has been married for several years to his third wife — he was “never abusive.” He said he has done teshuvah, in part by carefully removing himself from potentially tempting situations. “I don’t work with kids, I don’t counsel men or women, and I don’t meet alone with women,” he said, anxious to be rid of the old allegations. “How do I make it be over?” he asked me. Even Rabbi Gafni’s detractors said he is brilliant, charming and magnetic; even his supporters admitted he has a powerful ego and a spotted past. And he has plenty of detractors and supporters. Indeed, what makes this case so unusual — besides the length of time this issue has been discussed and debated — is the number of prominent rabbis and educators lined up on opposing sides, and the intensity of their convictions. Avraham Infeld, now the president of Hillel, was heading an educational program in Israel called Melitz when he hired Rabbi Gafni in the late 1990s, despite pressure not to do so. Infeld has said he had no regrets. Rabbis Saul Berman, who heads the Modern Orthodox group Edah, and Joseph Telushkin, the writer and ethicist, also defended Rabbi Gafni, asserting that he is a gifted teacher and that they have heard no credible reports against him of improper behavior in the past 15 years or so. “There is an element of unfairness,” Rabbi Berman said, “in continuing to resuscitate the same old claims, which are not substantiated, and for people not to acknowledge that individuals can change and grow.” Regarding the allegations of sexual misbehavior against Rabbi Gafni, Rabbi Riskin said he has been approached by many people over the years with similar patterns of complaints of seductive and harassing behavior toward young women on the part of his former student — charges he takes seriously. Other rabbis troubled by Rabbi Gafni’s past behavior and skeptical of his depth of teshuvah include Rabbi Heshie Billet, the former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, and Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University, both of whom knew Rabbi Gafni in his youth. Rabbi Blau said he has spoken with a number of women “from the past who said they were victimized, and in no case do I know of his admitting direct responsibility or contacting them to express regret. So what teshuvah has he done?” In Love Or Abusive? Two women who claim to be victims of Rabbi Gafni when they were teenagers in New York more than 20 years ago have come forward separately to speak out, though both asked that their full names not be used because they said they still fear the rabbi. One of the women said Rabbi Gafni “repeatedly sexually assaulted” her over a nine-month period, beginning when she was 13. The woman said she remains emotionally scarred by the experience, which took place in 1979 and 1980. She asserted that Rabbi Gafni, who was then a student rabbi, “repeatedly and forcibly sexually assaulted me” when he would stay at her house over Shabbat and sneak into her room in the middle of the night. “It was a reign of terror and I felt helpless,” she said. “He told me that if I told anyone, I would be shamed in the community and I believed him. I was physically afraid of him.” In the mornings, she continued, Rabbi Gafni would be overcome with guilt and pray fervently, beating his chest, and urge her to do teshuvah as well, since he said his desire for her was her fault. Only years later was she able to tell her family, and she still feels anger about the experience. “I had a real spiritual home in Judaism, and he completely destroyed it,” the woman said. “My work has been to make peace with my own spirituality because it died after that experience.” When told of the woman’s comments, Rabbi Gafni said he would like the situation to be “healed,” adding that his attempt to do so several years ago went unheeded. He pointed out that he was only 19 or 20 at the time of the relationship. “I was a stupid kid and we were in love,” the rabbi said. “She was 14 going on 35, and I never forced her.” The second woman, Judy, said that when she was 16 and deeply unhappy at home, she joined a popular Orthodox outreach group for teens that Rabbi Gafni was leading called JPSY (Jewish Public School Youth), and was drawn to his charisma and concern for her. During a two-week period when she ran away from home and was staying with Rabbi Gafni, who was then 25 and married, Judy said he abused her sexually on two occasions. Even more upsetting, she said, was that afterward, the rabbi tried to convince her the encounter did not happen, and then harassed her for many months. He threatened to keep her out of Jewish schools (she was seeking to transfer from public school to a yeshiva), called her home at all hours of the night and then hung up, mailed pictures to her home of naked men, and had her followed. “He attempted to destroy my life for a year and a half,” she said. Rabbi Gafni said that Judy was a troubled, unstable teenager who fabricated the story after he rebuffed her advances. A woman named Susan, who at the time was a 22-year-old adviser in JPSY, said she believed Judy’s account. She said that when she took Judy’s side, Rabbi Gafni made harassing phone calls and threats against her. “He told me I would regret it,” Susan said, adding that the rabbi made inappropriate advances to her as well. The rabbi said his version of the episode with Judy was corroborated by a psychologist engaged by Yeshiva University, which housed JPSY at the time. Judy said other psychologists support her account. ‘Spiritual Signature’ The back-and-forth on the charges and explanations have filled many of my notebooks over the past three years, as I have interviewed more than 50 people on this issue. Some investigations have a clear resolution; this one does not. Defenders of Rabbi Gafni note the allegations go back many years. They demand more recent proof of wrongdoing and real names to back up the charges. His critics offer, and psychologists affirm, that it is common for abuse victims to speak out only after much time has elapsed, if at all, and to feel embarrassed, if not fearful, about using their names. Even the criteria of when a public airing of abuse charges constitutes lashon hara (prohibited gossip) and when it is an obligation — to protect people — is ultimately a judgment call. The determining factor is whether the accused person is a danger to society and may abuse again. But who is to say when and whether Rabbi Gafni is free of his acknowledged past “mistakes”? Two groups in the Renewal movement, Aleph and Elat Chayyim, looked into the allegations against Rabbi Gafni and found “no evidence of wrongdoing,” according to Rabbi Arthur Waskow. (The three women with whom I spoke said they were never contacted.) And Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the acknowledged leader of the Renewal movement, said he is aware of the allegations against Rabbi Gafni but supports him. “If you want to find fly specks in the pepper, you can always find them,” Reb Schachter-Shalomi said. “But I’ve watched him teach. He is learned, exciting and charismatic. A good teacher is one who gets people excited.” Indeed, Rabbi Gafni’s followers and admirers said he is a gifted thinker and leader who has helped bring many people closer to Judaism through his writings, lectures and television shows. They said he has done teshuvah, presents no threat to anyone and should be left alone to continue his important teaching. His critics contend that he is a self-promoter and deceiver who has never been honest with others, or himself, about his behavior. They find his increasing popularity infuriating and worry that his charisma and influence could result in trouble for unsuspecting followers. In the middle is Rabbi Gafni, who said that while others portray him as Svengali, he sees himself as a “victim” of a longstanding “witch hunt,” motivated primarily by several Orthodox rabbis jealous of his success. In his writings he described himself as “a flawed human being, forever striving,” and urged each of us to establish and craft our “soul print,” our personal life story, the “spiritual signature” we leave on the world. Rabbi Gafni evokes strong emotions wherever he goes, leaving a mark of darkness or light, depending on how his own “soul print” is perceived. n ALSO SEE: The Case of Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Gafni)

Spiritual Renewal Leader Ousted For Sexual Behavior -- Marc Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Gafni)

Mordechai Gafni, long accused of womanizing, forced out of New Age Jewish group in Israel.
By Gary Rosenblatt - Editor and Publisher
New York Jewish Week - June 15, 2006  Mordechai Gafni, 46, a rabbi whose charisma and brilliance dazzled students and large audiences in spiritual renewal communities in Israel and America even as he dodged rumors and accusations about improper sexual behavior for more than 25 years, has been dismissed by the leadership of Bayit Chadash in Israel, a Tel Aviv-based prayer and study group he co-founded and where he served as teacher and religious guide. The move came last week after four women, including students of his and a staff member, filed complaints of sexual misconduct against Rabbi Gafni with the police in Israel. ?We feel we were deceived,? Jacob Ner-David, a co-founder of Bayit Chadash, told The Jewish Week, which first reported on allegations against the rabbi in September 2004. ?He should not be called a rav [rabbi], his was not the behavior of a rav and he should not be in a teaching or counseling position,? said Ner-David, who noted that the incident ?is my worst nightmare come to life.? He added that Rabbi Gafni is ?a sick man, and has harmed so many.? A statement issued by Ner-David and his Bayit Chadash co-founder Avraham Leader said ?there is no place for relations like this between a rabbi and his students or between an employer and his employees, whether consensual or not. It would seem that this is the opinion of Mordechai, since he swore all the women involved to eternal and absolute silence.? Rabbi Gafni achieved much attention here and in Israel as a leader of the New Age Jewish movement. He taught classes, led retreats, wrote several books and appeared in a PBS documentary about the quest for spirituality. In a statement this week to his followers, he took blame for his actions and said he was ?infinitely saddened and profoundly sorry? for the pain he had caused. He acknowledged that he was ?sick,? and said he planned to enter a treatment center and leave his ?rabbinic teaching capacities.? Rabbi Gafni, who was divorced from his third wife about a year and a half ago, told The Jewish Week in 2004 that he had ?made mistakes in my life? and had ?a sense of exaggeration? and was ?too ambitious.? But he insisted he had done teshuvah [repentance] and was the victim of a longstanding ?witch hunt? from a small cadre of women accusers and Orthodox rabbis jealous of his success. ?I am moral and ethical,? he said during a series of conversations with this reporter in 2004, during which he asserted that he was sharing his ?deepest truth.? Ner-David told The Jewish Week that one of the women involved with Rabbi Gafni over the last 18 months came forward to Leader, and that soon after, another woman spoke out about her relationship with the rabbi. ?And then we discovered there were two more.? Leader and Ner-David asked the women to give sworn statements to an attorney, which they did. At this point the police have not acted on the complaints, which address the boundaries of relationships between teacher-student and employer-employee. ?We have no doubt that they [the women] speak the truth, and willingly risk our personal credibility and integrity in support of their testimony,? Leader and Ner-David said in their signed statement. ?For us it was a complete surprise,? Ner-David told The Jewish Week, noting that as recently as a month ago he had a conversation with Rabbi Gafni affirming that immoral behavior could never be tolerated within Bayit Chadash. Ner-David, who first met Rabbi Gafni when he was a 13-year-old at summer camp in the United States and the rabbi was his counselor, said he had long known of the allegations about the man born Marc Winiarz in the Midwest. Winiarz moved to Israel in 1991 and took the Israeli name Gafni after a series of controversies about sexual improprieties dogged him when he was a youth leader and later a rabbi in several U.S. communities. He was ordained by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founder of Lincoln Square Synagogue here and now chief rabbi of Efrat, in the West Bank. Rabbi Riskin revoked his ordination in 1994 after his former student, in a lengthy interview in Haaretz, called for restoring a balance between the erotic and the spiritual in Judaism. Rabbi Gafni?s response was that he had other ordinations and had moved beyond Orthodoxy. Ner-David said he was guilty of having relied on information from others in seeking answers to questions about Rabbi Gafni?s past. Several prominent Israeli educators hired the rabbi as a teacher despite complaints from some women and rabbis who asserted he was unfit to work with students. Those who hired Rabbi Gafni said he was a gifted teacher, that he acknowledged past wrongdoings (though he was vague about them) and that they could find no current cases of women with complaints against him. Some of the charges went back more than two decades. Ner-David said he realizes now that Rabbi Gafni was ?a master manipulator,? but in the past he had felt justified in working with him because no one had come forward with recent complaints about the rabbi?s behavior. Rabbi Saul Berman, the founder and director of Edah here in New York, has been an outspoken defender of Rabbi Gafni. In a letter taking this reporter to task for writing about the controversy in 2004, Rabbi Berman, Rabbi Tirzah Firestone and ethicist and author Joseph Telushkin said they had looked into past allegations and found them ?totally unconvincing.? They described the article as ?unfair? and ?scandalous.? This week, Rabbi Berman said he is ?deeply regretful? of his prior support for Rabbi Gafni, and worried that his past defense may have prolonged the rabbi?s ?predatory behavior against women.? ?I was clearly wrong in stating that Rabbi Gafni?s continued role as a teacher within the Jewish community constitutes no risk to Jewish women,? he wrote in a statement. Rabbi Berman said he had felt the earlier accusations ?were not justifiable foundations for public disgrace and exclusion,? and noted that he will ?continue to struggle with the ideal line between presumption of innocence and protection of potential innocent victims. He told The Jewish Week the Gafni case underscores the ongoing need for a mechanism to investigate allegations against rabbis ?in a way that the community has confidence in, so that when it?s over, it"s over. He said that rabbis are ?not capable of enough objectivity to handle such matters themselves, and called for a collaborative effort of rabbis, lay leaders and professionals in the health care field who deal with abuse. Other institutions and individuals who had supported Rabbi Gafni in the past also spoke out this week. Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center in Philadelphia said he felt ?sad, angry and betrayed? by Rabbi Gafni?s behavior, noting that it ?raises questions once again about how to walk that thin line between spiritual ecstasy and the domineering frenzy that is not only damaging in itself but sometimes even leads to sexual abuse. One of the criticisms of the spiritual renewal movement is that its emphasis on charismatic teachers and the search for religious bliss lends its members to being emotionally manipulated. Jacob Ner-David, acknowledging that he will be asking himself for a long time what lessons can be learned? from the Gafni episode, said that Bayit Chadash ?must make sure not to allow anyone to become a guru.? He said the members of the group, which includes hundreds of Israelis who pray and study together, are determined to go on with their work even though Rabbi Gafni, their spiritual leader, has been removed. As for whether Rabbi Gafni truly understands the pain he has caused and can be rehabilitated and return, Ner-David said it was too early to say. ?It is hard to tell if he really means it or not,? he said. n