Bill Surkis, the former Quebec regional director for B'nai Brith, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

B'nai Brith leader pleads guilty to child porn charges

Bill Surkis, the former Quebec regional director for B'nai Brith, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

It's a stunning reversal for the well-respected member of Montreal's Jewish community.

Surkis, 70, was Academic Dean of John Abbott College for 22 years, in addition to being the regional director for the Jewish-rights group B'nai Brith.

In court on Wednesday morning, Surkis pleaded guilty to one count of accessing child pornography, and another count of possession of child pornography.

A charge of distributing child pornography was dropped.

Surkis was arrested in May 2009 and charged with counts of accessing and possessing child pornography.

The material was discovered in 2008, when Surkis brought his malfunctioning computer in for repair, and a virus check turned up numerous video and photos of child porn.

In all more Surkis's computer contained 86 videos totalling more than eight hours of video files, and 153 photos of children between the ages of six and 14 being sexually abused.

Surkis had originally planned to plead not guilty, saying he had downloaded the illicit material for a presentation on child abuse.

However prosecutor Cynthia Gyenizse never bought that argument.

Case of Rabbi Shimshon Walzer

Case of Rabbi Shimshon Walzer

THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 Komemiyut (located near Kiryat Gat), Israel

Monsey, NY

According to reports, alleged sex offender Shimshon Walzer escaped prosecution in Israel and may currently residing in Monsey, NY.  "Rabbi" Shimshon Walzer is suspected of sexually abusing dozens of children in Israel.

Walzer's alleged sexual abuse began 19 years ago, when he was rabbi of the Talmud Torah. From the investigative material it appears that a kind of deviant sexual culture arose among some of the boys on the moshav, which included sexual activity, sometimes consensual and sometimes forced, and also that a special language developed around this activity. The expression "to beat up," for example, was used as code for groping and touching of a sexual nature, which often led to forced acts. One resident in his 20s related that instead of playing cops and robbers, the moshav's children invented a game of tag called "Shimshon Walzer."

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Table of Contents:  

2010

1. After Maariv revealed yesterday that the long seat Komemiyut long suspected child abuse, was also arrested his son. Evaluation: The suspect's neighbor complained against (05/26/2010)
2. Teacher molested kids for 20 years, while community turned blind eye  (07/29/2010)
3. Child Abuse: Rav Motti Elon and Komemiyut (08/09/2010)
4. A victim in every home (08/10/2010)
5. Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children  (08/10/2010)

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After Maariv revealed yesterday that the long seat Komemiyut long suspected child abuse, was also arrested his son. Evaluation: The suspect's neighbor complained against

By Ronen Damari

NRG - May 26, 2010
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/111/888.html

Article translated using Google.  Original article below

After the last publication in Maariv, revealed that "Rabbi" Shimshon Walzer suspected of sexually abusing dozens of children over the years who taught the seat of sovereignty, was arrested last night one of his sons - Solomon, on suspicion that he committed child abuse in the community. Police hoped that the father, who is currently in the U.S., decided to return to Israel for the wedding of one of his sons held today. In which case he would be arrested and interrogated.

Bar Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay Photo: Chen rolls

Bar Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay, representing the family and purposes, were angered by the timing of the arrest carried out by the central unit in the Lachish: just one day before the anticipated wedding of Gedaliah David, another son of Walzer.

Walzer took off more than a month to the U.S. to raise funds, just hours before the Central Unit investigators knocked on his door and asked him for questioning. When his family told him that he decided to change his plans and return to Israel for fear of being arrested.

In recent weeks, police came many times the seat, but found it difficult to collect evidence, since most residents refused to cooperate. Walzer associates wondered last night: "This is old suspicions as to why they remembered them after so many years?". Wife and purposes, Riesel, said: "I'm shocked. My children are shocked. Asked me about the allegations, and said to them, 'How dare you speak of my father, he's an honest man."

Officials said that provision seat saved in private for many years finally exploded following an internal dispute between the residents of the small community. They said Walzer said one of the residents that he should not raise goats for religious prohibition to raise small cattle. Resident's response was: 'If this is so, the rough beast now picking. According to the sources then he passed the information on sexual abuse to the police.

"Convinced that justice will be published"

Mr. Fried said in response: "My clients are confident innocence and confident that justice will be published in court." Spokeswoman space Lachish, Meital control graph, said in response: "Solomon and purposes attributed to serious offenses, and the investigation has reached a stage visible."

Yesterday was cleared for publication that for decades sexually abused splendidly "Samson and Walzer dozens of children taught. Allegedly Walzer, a teacher from the seat

Orthodox Komemiyut near Kiryat Gat, carried out the worst deeds when he was alone with the children utilizing the authority Cmhncm. He would warn them not to tell anyone about his actions.

Orthodox community factors involved in the proceedings seat argue that the teacher's actions were discovered a long time ago, but no complaint was filed against him by order of the multi-seat Menachem Mendelson.

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אחרי שאתמול נחשף במעריב כי רב ממושב קוממיות חשוד בהתעללות ארוכת שנים בילדים, נעצר גם בנו. הערכה: שכנו של החשוד התלונן נגדו

רונן דמארי | 26/5/2010 8:11 

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/111/888.html

לאחר הפרסום אתמול במעריב, שחשף כי "הרב" שמשון ולצר חשוד כי התעלל מינית במשך שנים בעשרות ילדים שלימד במושב קוממיות, נעצר אמש אחד מבניו - שלמה, בחשד שאף הוא ביצע מעשים מגונים בילדים ביישוב. במשטרה קיוו כי האב, ששוהה כעת בארה"ב, יחליט לחזור לישראל לרגל חתונת אחד מבניו המתקיימת היום. במקרה שכזה הוא ייעצר וייחקר. 

עורכי הדין יהודה פריד וטל גבאי צילום ארכיון: חן גלילי

עורכי הדין יהודה פריד וטל גבאי, המייצגים את משפחת ולצר, זעמו על תזמון המעצר שביצעו אנשי היחידה המרכזית במרחב לכיש: יממה בלבד לפני חתונתו הצפויה של גדליה דוד, בן אחר של ולצר. 

ולצר המריא לפני למעלה מחודש לארה"ב לגיוס תרומות, שעות ספורות לפני שחוקרי הימ"ר התדפקו על דלתו ודרשו אותו לחקירה. כאשר משפחתו סיפרה לו על כך הוא החליט לשנות את תוכניתו ולא לשוב לארץ, מחשש שייעצר. 

בשבועות האחרונים הגיעו חוקרי המשטרה פעמים רבות למושב, אך התקשו לאסוף ראיות, שכן מרבית התושבים סירבו לשתף פעולה. מקורבי ולצר תהו אמש: "מדובר בחשדות ישנים, מדוע נזכרו בהם לאחר כל כך הרבה שנים?". גם אשתו של ולצר, רייזל, אמרה: "אני מזועזעת. הילדים שלי המומים. שאלו אותי על החשדות, ואמרתי להם 'איך אתם מעזים לדבר כך על אבא? הוא אדם ישר'". 

גורמים במושב סיפרו כי הפרשה שנשמרה בחדרי חדרים במשך שנים רבות התפוצצה בסופו של דבר בעקבות סכסוך פנימי בין תושבי היישוב הקטן. לדבריהם, ולצר הודיע לאחד התושבים כי אסור לו לגדל עזים בשל איסור הלכתי לגדל בהמה דקה. תגובתו של התושב הייתה: 'אם זה כך, עכשיו נטפל בבהמה הגסה'. לטענת אותם גורמים לאחר מכן הוא העביר את המידע על ההתעללות המינית למשטרה.  

"משוכנעים שהצדק ייצא לאור"

עו"ד פריד מסר בתגובה: "מרשיי בטוחים בחפותם ומשוכנעים שהצדק ייצא לאור בבית המשפט". דוברת מרחב לכיש, פקד מיטל גרף, מסרה בתגובה: "לשלמה ולצר מיוחסות עבירות חמורות, והחקירה הגיעה לשלב הגלוי". 

אתמול הותר לפרסום כי במשך עשרות שנים התעלל מינית ה"רב" שמשון וולצר בעשרות ילדים שלימד. על פי החשד וולצר, מורה מהמושב

החרדי קוממיות, הסמוך לקריית גת, ביצע את המעשים החמורים כאשר שהה עם הילדים ביחידות תוך ניצול סמכותו כמחנכם. הוא נהג להזהיר אותם לא לספר לאיש על מעשיו. 

גורמים בעדה החרדית המעורים בנעשה במושב טוענים כי מעשיו של המורה התגלו לפני זמן רב, אך לא הוגשה נגדו תלונה בגלל הוראתו של רב המושב מנחם מנדלסון.

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Teacher molested kids for 20 years, while community turned blind eye
By Tamar Rotem
Haaretz - July 29, 2010

Police are investigating a man who allegedly sexual abused dozens of children on Moshav Kommemiyut over two decades.

For almost 20 years, one man allegedly sexually abused dozens of children on Moshav Kommemiyut, an ultra-Orthodox community in the northern Negev. Yet no one ever complained - either to the police or to the welfare authorities.

The police have since opened an investigation into the abuses, but the suspect is in the U.S. and refuses to return. Meanwhile, some say community leaders knew of the crimes but did nothing to stop them.

At least one of the victims is suspected of having sexually abused younger children in turn.

The main suspect, Shimshon Walzer, began his alleged career as an abuser 19 years ago, while serving as a teacher at a religious elementary school. Two years later, rumors of his abusive conduct led to him being fired as a teacher. Yet for some reason, he was allowed to retain an office at the school.

Over the ensuing years, his conduct became ever more abusive, police say, and an entire generation of children became his sex slaves. According to the testimony they have collected, he abused his victims frequently and in broad daylight, in barns and chicken coops, in fields and even at the mikveh (ritual bath ).

The testimony reveals that the victims were usually young - aged 9 or 10, or sometimes a bit older - and generally came from families whose from lower social status. Walzer would allegedly pick them up from school or synagogue in his car.

Police have been conducting an undercover investigation of Walzer for the last few months. Over the course of the probe, they began to suspect that some of the victims had also been sexually abused by a second person.

Suspect indicted

That person, who was a minor at the time most of his alleged crimes were committed, was indicted two weeks ago on charges of sodomy and indecent assault, then released to house arrest. But Walzer was not indicted at the same time, because he was out of the country.

In April, Walzer had gone to the United States to raise funds for the elementary school and the moshav's synagogue. While there, he realized that the noose was tightening about his neck and decided not to return to Israel.

The prosecution recently decided not to seek his extradition, fearing the process was likely to prove complicated, due in part to the fact that the statute of limitations has already expired on some of his alleged crimes.

Some Kommemiyut residents, as well as some of the victims, told police the rabbi of the moshav, the principal of the school and members of the moshav's governing body all knew about the alleged abuse committed by the two suspects. But most residents denied that any abuse had occurred.

Walzer's attorney insisted that he had not returned because he was still fund-raising, and would "fight for the truth when he decides to return."

An attorney for the other suspect said his alleged victim "suffers from credibility problems, to say the least, and his desire to harm Haredi society in general, and the Walzer family in particular, is clear. We believe his testimony will not hold up."

Kommemiyut's rabbi, Mendel Mendelson, declined to respond to Haaretz's questions.

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Child Abuse: Rav Motti Elon and Komemiyut
By David Morris
Tzedek - Tzedek  - August 9, 2010

The case of Rabbi Motti Elon, the charismatic National Religious rabbi, has now been investigated by the police in Israel, who are apparently recommending prosecuting Rabbi Elon for child abuse and other sex crimes.

Meantime, shocking details are emerging from the ultra-orthodox community of Komemiyut , located near Kiryat Gat, regarding a decades long cover-up of a child molester in the community, Shimshon Walzer  – who is reported to have attacked dozens of children. The alleged perpetrator is now in the USA, and is unlikely to return to face his investigators.    

Of the 40 cases in which there is suspicion of abuse by Walzer, the police have reportedly collected complaints and testimony from 16 purported victims, who were aged between 7 and 16 when the acts were committed. Two complained against an additional suspect (who was a minor during the time of most of the alleged offenses). Many of the witnesses, now married and living outside the moshav, were not willing to make official complaints, for fear they would be exposed. The acts were apparently frequent, and committed in abandoned barns and chicken coops, or surrounding fields.

It is interesting to compare these two cases – Rav Motti Elon, and Shimshon Walzer.

In both instances, their communities endeavored to handle the problem internally.

With Rav Motti Elon, Takana, a forum of leading National Religious rabbis, tried to control Rav Elon’s access to victims, for a period of four years between discovery until they finally threw their hands up in despair at Rav Elon’s non-compliance, and broke the news in February this year about Rav Elon’s alleged affairs with his male (over 18 yo) students.

It now seems that there were other victims which Takana was unaware of, which the police have  investigated, including minors.

In Komemiyut, Shimon Walzer was apparently dismissed from his teaching job 18 years ago, as a measure taken by the community to address his alleged pedophilic behaviour. He was subsequently employed as a fundraiser by the community - a profession which, compared with teaching, inevitably resulted in Walzer having less day-to-day access to children.

However, with victims reportedly “in every family in Komemiyut” – the community’s efforts to handle the problem internally, appears to have been disastrously unsuccessful.

The incentive for close communities, whether National Religious or Ultra-Orthodox, to contain scandal by trying to control the behaviour of alleged pedophiles, without recourse to the police, social services and mental health professionals, is a hazardous policy – which indeed, in both cases, seems to have back-fired with terrible costs to the safety of children (and, in Elon’s case, over 18 year old youths).

This comparison would not be complete without noting that Takana worked within the legal framework of the Mandatory Reporting Laws (under which Takana were apparently not required to report Rav Elon's misdemeanours to the police - as the cases Takana were aware of solely involved 'consenting' over-18's) - whereas the community of Komemiyut seems to have broken the Mandatory Reporting Laws, over a period of decades.

Dealing with alleged sex criminals in our communities is not a problem for which there is a Holy Grail solution.

Even the police, prison services, psychiatric and psychological professionals, the works…regularly fail to curb pedophilic behaviour.  

[Incidentally, these resources are not much more successful with (non-sexual) violent criminals and thieves, drug dealers or fraudsters. Repeat offenders (recidivism) is not solely a problem of dealing with pedophiles. People don't get better in prison.]

What is clear, is that communities do have resources which the authorities (police, social services, etc) lack; and it is surely obvious that communities working in isolation from the big-guns provided by the State, are hopelessly lacking in ability to “deal with” such major crimes internally.

An improvement upon both approaches would be a community based organization, such as the recently established organization “Magen” in Bet Shemesh, working in full cooperation with the State authorities, in compliance with the Law, and solely focused on strengthening the safety of the community’s children.  

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A victim in every home

SIX YEARS AFTER THE ABUSE APPARENTLY ENDED, RESIDENTS OF A HAREDI MOSHAV HAVE FINALLY BEGUN TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE ALLEGED SEXUAL ATTACKS OF TWO MALE RESIDENTS ON THE COMMUNITY'S CHILDREN. THOSE WHO COMPLAIN ARE BEING SHUNNED.

By Tamar RotemHaaretz - August 8, 2010

Insofar as is known, up until the police stepped in, no complaints about the alleged acts had been filed with the welfare authorities. MK Danny Danon (Likud ), chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child, wrote a letter in June to Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog, asking him to examine "how it is that welfare personnel were not involved, and why the many victims were not and are not being afforded treatment by the welfare authorities." Danon believes that the affair is "a matter of criminal negligence and neglect on the part of the authorities that have failed to treat those involved, both the welfare authorities and the enforcement authorities." His letter has not yet received an answer.

'Defilement that prevails'

Moshav rabbi Mendel Mendelson declined to answer questions from Haaretz. The wife of the Talmud Torah principal, Rabbi Haim Knopfelmacher, said on his behalf that he submitted to police questioning "because there's no choice, but we will not cooperate with the press." Members of the community council whom we contacted also refused to respond.

Komemiyut was established as a cooperative farming village in 1950, but today only a small number of its members raise crops or livestock. Neglect is everywhere; small, ugly houses are surrounded by weed-choked yards. The moshav's only playground has a sign indicating separate hours for boys and for girls.

This is not the first time this moshav has concealed a dark secret. The abducted 6-year-old boy Yossele Schumacher was hidden here for a while in the 1960s; today, Ben-Zion Miller, suspected of having given three narcotics-filled suitcases to ultra-Orthodox drug-runners in 2008, is under house arrest there.

One resident, who like all those interviewed here asked that his name not be published for fear he would be ostracized, said the place never developed because of the "defilement that prevails in it."

Meanwhile, it is hard to explain how, in a community with just 340 inhabitants - fewer than 40 families, who belong to the large Gur, Belz and Vishnitz Hasidic sects - no one knew about the suspected abuse. Especially because, according to one resident, and confirmed by the police, there is hardly a home in which there isn't a victim.

Walzer's alleged sexual abuse began 19 years ago, when he was rabbi of the Talmud Torah. From the investigative material it appears that a kind of deviant sexual culture arose among some of the boys on the moshav, which included sexual activity, sometimes consensual and sometimes forced, and also that a special language developed around this activity. The expression "to beat up," for example, was used as code for groping and touching of a sexual nature, which often led to forced acts. One resident in his 20s related that instead of playing cops and robbers, the moshav's children invented a game of tag called "Shimshon Walzer."

Of the 40 cases in which there is suspicion of abuse by Walzer, the police have collected complaints and testimony from 16 purported victims, who were aged between 7 and 16 when the acts were committed. Two complained against the additional suspect. Many of the witnesses, now married and living outside the moshav, were not willing to make official complaints, for fear they would be exposed. The acts were apparently frequent, and committed in abandoned barns and chicken coops, or surrounding fields.

From the testimony collected by the investigators, it emerges that the patterns of action of the two suspects were similar: molestation of minors aged 9, 10 and above, most from families with a lower status on the moshav. Walzer would pick them up from the school or the synagogue in his car, and sometimes molest them in the mikveh (ritual bath ).

Over the years, residents say, people lowered their voices when they spoke about incidents they had seen: the flash of naked bodies through the windows of a parked car, a boy groping with Walzer among the bushes, suspicious movements near the mikveh.

Some claimed with self-conviction that their children weren't among the victims. "I have girls and he abused boys," said one woman, though the suspicion is that Walzer abused both sexes.

"I worked in the cow barn all day. My main concern was always supporting my family," said another resident. "I am shocked. But the truth is, I don't dare ask my children whether they were molested."

Children were warned to stay away from Walzer. "From a very young age, we knew he was dangerous," related one inhabitant.

Complaints were made, however, to the moshav's rabbinical establishment. From the testimony, it emerges that they were silenced time after time with the pretext that the matter would be dealt with, or that the incidents were not current.

In fact, parents' protest led to the termination of Walzer's work as a teacher 18 years ago. Instead, he was given offices in the school building where he established a workshop for making tefillin (phylacteries ).

One witness told investigators that when the parents protested yet again, a functionary was brought in from Jerusalem and put in charge of dealing with Walzer. However, in the end, say investigators, it was decided to distance Walzer from the moshav and he was sent abroad to raise money.

As long as the police were not let in on the secret, however, the acts continued, according to the suspicion.

'Not in my time'

The extent of the denial pervading the moshav emerges from testimony that one community council member gave investigators. The witness related a series of "rumors" involving residents, whom he named. Among them were some whom Walzer purportedly abused when they were minors, and others apparently abused by other people.

When the investigators asked why he hadn't complained to the police, the man replied: "The incidents occurred in the past, not in my time. We were not able to know exactly when." He added that, "the victim who is harmed doesn't tell and it's natural that way. And from what I hear, most of the parents of the children who were harmed didn't hear a thing and didn't know anything about it ... They were afraid to ask the children so as not to traumatize them. I can't remember exactly when and with which parents I talked about Shimshon and they said it was an old story and nothing could be done about it, and above all it would harm matches [for marriages] for their children if made public. We are afraid that would be more harmful."

Asked why he was telling the story today, the witness said: "We want an end to it for the sake of our children." Later he recalled that one of the victims, who had in fact complained against the other suspect, had told him two years ago about the sexual abuse he had undergone.

The police visited the homes of people who might have been abused as children and asked them to testify; they also went to yeshivas in Bnei Brak where there are people who may have been in contact with the suspect. Many did not cooperate. Others, who agreed, changed their minds after they were apparently threatened. However, a few of the victims did file complaints.

From their testimony it emerges that even though revealing their secret was a relief, this did not suffice to convince them to complain formally or to confront the attackers. "I don't feel good about it. He is old," one said.

Parents of minors did not cooperate for fear their testimony would harm their sons' chances of a good marriage match. As a result, most of the complainants in the case are adults who have no connection with the moshav now, and some have given up a religious lifestyle.

Only today, 20 years later, has one of the complainants against Walzer told what exactly happened. He was 9 years old when Walzer offered him a ride home from the synagogue. "It was in the evening, but I didn't suspect anything because he had been my 'rebbe' the previous year," he relates. "The truth is, I was even glad to ride with him in the car."

Walzer did not take him home, but rather to a chicken coop at the edge of the moshav. "I was a naive child," relates the complainant. "He started to take off my pants and play with my body. When I resisted, he took his gartel (a thin belt worn by Hasids ) and tied me to him. I don't remember how long it lasted or how I got home."

He did not reveal what he already knew - that "it was a routine thing to go with [Walzer]," as he says. "Friends talked about what they did with him; sexual things that shouldn't be happening to children."

"Until we heard about what happened to our son, I didn't know there was such a thing," relates one woman, whose son complained. "My big sons wanted to beat him up and kill him, but we felt sorry for his wife and his children."

Today, in retrospect, she is remorseful. "I ask myself, what did I do? How did I relate to it? We just yelled that they should kick him out of the school and we believed the principal. Why didn't we go to the police?"

Despite the acts of which he is suspected, about which everyone supposedly knew, Walzer was put in charge of the synagogue and renovated it at his own expense. One local person commented bitterly: "Apparently in order to get respect in the moshav, you have to rape children." The speaker and his family are among the few who, even though they did not have the courage to turn to the police because they feared din moser (the duty to eliminate a Jew who intends to turn another Jew in to non-religious authorities ), fought Walzer in ways acceptable in ultra-Orthodox society: First, they spoke to the principal of the school and the rabbi of the moshav and subsequently they testified at a rabbinical court in Bnei Brak, but to no avail.

The finger of blame in the moshav is now pointed at the accusers. They are being shunned. They are not called up to say the blessings from the Torah in the synagogue on the Sabbath. No one is speaking to them. Their children have no one to play with.

Nor does the complainant against the other suspect feel relief as a result of the indictment. He will soon be 20 years old. According to the charges, for about four years, from age 9 to 13, he would be called over by the suspect during se'udah shilishit (the traditional late-afternoon meal on the Sabbath ) in the synagogue, and undergo abuse behind a hedge near the mikveh.

"The first time, I went in all innocence. I didn't resist," the complainant told Haaretz. "I froze to the spot. I didn't understand what was happening." The longer the acts continued and became more sophisticated, the more ashamed he was: "I knew it wasn't right. I was in total shock. I was in pain."

He says he was raped twice, and each time the suspect warned him to keep mum. He explains that he obeyed because it is a principle in ultra- Orthodox society to obey every adult. He adds that the abuse stopped when he reached the age of 13, and that he dropped out of the yeshiva a short time later.

During the police inquiry, it emerged that two years ago an investigation was opened against this same complainant on the grounds that he himself had abused a minor, but the case was closed for lack of evidence.

He says he told the police investigators he was "sorry I had unwittingly harmed another child." In a conversation with him last month, he said: "When I look at my brothers, I don't know if they are happy but they are married and they have a normal life. I look at myself. From the age of 16 I've been living away from home, looking after myself. And I don't have anyone to cry to. To my mind, the ultra-Orthodox are hypocritical people. My mother said to me, 'The whole moshav doesn't need to suffer because of you.' I am not angry at my mother. She is afraid. I went home to her and I told her everything. She said she didn't know about it, that the deeds were done a long time ago, that it's passed. What hurts most is she didn't come with me to complain."

Attorneys Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay, who are representing the two suspects, have informed Haaretz that Walzer went to the United States "on a routine mission on behalf of the moshav's educational institutions, even before he knew he was wanted for questioning ... When he decides to return to Israel he will fight to clear his name.

"As an addendum to this investigation the name of our [other] client came up, also as a suspect in similar offenses. The complainant in the case was questioned in the past as a suspect in acts of sodomy with minors, a case that was closed because of difficulties in proving the evidence against him. The complainant was expelled from ultra-Orthodox society because of unsuitability. Any reasonable person who reads the complainant's testimony against our client understands this is a complainant who, to put it mildly, is suffering from problems of credibility, and it is obvious he has a desire to harm ultra-Orthodox society in general and the Walzer family in particular. We believe his testimony will not hold up at all."

The lawyers added: "The court, in a series of decisions, released our client from detention. We believe we will be able to convince the honorable court of our client's innocence."

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Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children

By Roni Dmari 

May 26, 2010

Translated Using Google - Original Hebrew below

8/01/2010

Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children

House Seat Harry the more "Rabbi" mkummius

Hshuft Harry to day Sunday to metsru of Solomon ultsr hkhshud bbitsue practical Sodom air hukhlt. Crest is shooting out lkhsuns brother

Home Judge Magistrate bashdud Harry until the day Sunday to metsru of Solomon ultsr, teacher Torah Ben 24, hkhshud the request works mgunim umeshi Sodom air bkummius. Extend hmetsr hsbtseh bhskhms eurkhi sentence, Josh Freed utl ruler, when the Torah that Scherer ultsr berbus lkhsuns brother shsyerkh evening, when he mskheyb language lmetsr immediately with siumh.

Solomon ultsr bharkhs metsru in court Peace bashdud. Photo: Adi Israel

Al according to the new ultsr please the mrbis hebirus before khshmunh years when it was no. With this, bmshtrh months because it works please mgunim also bshnseym hakhrunus bmudyein Elite, which is msgurr today.

Bmshtrh still do attempts lshkhne the father of Solomon, Samson ultsr, lkhzur country ulhseytsb lkhkirh it is required bkhshd lhsellus mini beshrus Kids bmushb independence which is msgurr.

Bshbueus last hgyeu khukri police often many lmushb, but hskshu end evidence, because mrbis residents refusal lshsf action. Related ultsr shu amsh: "This bkhshdus older, why nzkhru them after all so many years?". Even the wife of ultsr, Reyzl said: "I mzuezes. Kids my hmumim. Asked me on hkhshdus, uamrsi them 'I do you works speak so on father? Is human right'."

Factors bmushb story that provision shnshmrh rooms rooms for years many hsfutstsh end of that bekbus conflict internally between residents heyshub small. Ldbrihm, ultsr notification to one of the residents that prohibited him lgdl ezim bshl ban hlkhsi lgdl beast dkh. Responses of hsushb heysh 'If it so, now fog bbhmh West'. Ltens those factors after then it hebir the hmide on hhsellus species lmshtrh.

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8/01/2010

פארגעסט נישט אז שמשון וואלצער איז אין מאנסי - געבט אבאכט אויף אייערע קינדער

בית המשפט האריך את מעצר "הרב" מקוממיות

השופט האריך עד ליום ראשון את מעצרו של שלמה ולצר החשוד בביצוע מעשי סדום בילדים הוחלט. הערב הוא יורשה לצאת לחתונת אחיו

רונן דמארי | 26/5/2010 19:01

בית משפט השלום באשדוד האריך עד יום ראשון את מעצרו של שלמה ולצר, מלמד תורה בן 24, החשוד כי ביצע מעשים מגונים ומעשי סדום בילדים בקוממיות. הארכת המעצר התבצעה בהסכמת עורכי דינו, יהודה פריד וטל גבאי, כאשר בתמורה לכך שוחרר ולצר בערבות לחתונת אחיו שתיערך הערב, כאשר הוא מתחייב לשוב למעצר מיד עם סיומה.

שלמה ולצר בהארכת מעצרו בבית מפשט השלום באשדוד. צילום: אדי ישראל

על פי החשד ולצר ביצע את מרבית העבירות לפני כשמונה שנים כאשר היה קטין. עם זאת, במשטרה חושדים כי הוא ביצע מעשים מגונים גם בשנתיים האחרונות במודיעין עילית, בה הוא מתגורר כיום. 

במשטרה עדיין עושים ניסיונות לשכנע את אביו של שלמה, שמשון ולצר, לחזור לארץ ולהתייצב לחקירה לה הוא דרוש בחשד להתעללות מינית בעשרות ילדים במושב קוממיות בו הוא מתגורר. 

בשבועות האחרונים הגיעו חוקרי המשטרה פעמים רבות למושב, אך התקשו לאסוף ראיות, שכן מרבית התושבים סירבו לשתף פעולה. מקורבי ולצר תהו אמש: "מדובר בחשדות ישנים, מדוע נזכרו בהם לאחר כל כך הרבה שנים?". גם אשתו של ולצר, רייזל, אמרה: "אני מזועזעת. הילדים שלי המומים. שאלו אותי על החשדות, ואמרתי להם 'איך אתם מעזים לדבר כך על אבא? הוא אדם ישר'". 

גורמים במושב סיפרו כי הפרשה שנשמרה בחדרי חדרים במשך שנים רבות התפוצצה בסופו של דבר בעקבות סכסוך פנימי בין תושבי היישוב הקטן. לדבריהם, ולצר הודיע לאחד התושבים כי אסור לו לגדל עזים בשל איסור הלכתי לגדל בהמה דקה. תגובתו של התושב הייתה: 'אם זה כך, עכשיו נטפל בבהמה הגסה'. לטענת אותם גורמים לאחר מכן הוא העביר את המידע על ההתעללות המינית למשטרה.

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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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Shabbatai Tzvi - cult leader

Does history repeat itself when it comes to cult leaders in the orthodox Jewish world?

CALL TO ACTION: Demand the Brooklyn Police Dept. Investigate the newest attempt on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg life

CALL TO ACTION:  Demand the Brooklyn Police Dept. Investigate the newest attempt on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg life

Pictured is Senator James Brochin (MD) and Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg -- Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg receiving the 2008 - Rape Victim Advocate of The Year Award for his advocacy work in Brooklyn, NY

Last Thursday night, Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was trying to cross the street when a car attempted to run him down in Brooklyn, NY.  Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg is a well known advocate for orthodox children in charedi communities in Brooklyn.  Rabbi Rosenberg is also a member of The Awareness Center's international advisory board.  

Rabbi Rosenberg's was able to get the license plate number of the car that attempted to harm him, and went directly to the 90th Police Precinct which is located on Union Ave.  He spoke to Officer Thompson, providing all the information necessary for a police report to be taken.  Officer Thompson, made a copy of Rabbi Rosenberg's drivers license and told him someone would be in touch with him.  Friday morning Rabbi Rosenberg called over to the 90th Precinct to get a police report number, and was told there was no such report made.  Unfortunately, this is the same thing that happened two years ago when an unknown assailant shot Rabbi Rosenberg in the head.  

The Awareness Center is asking that everyone contact Deputy Inspector Michael M. Kemper and demand that a police report be taken and that his precinct investigate the newest attempt made on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg's life.  

CONTACT:  

Deputy Inspector Michael M. Kemper 

90th Precinct - Brooklyn Police Department

211 Union Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11211
(718) 963-5311

Sincerely, 

Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC

Founder and CEO

The ultra-Orthodox face up to abuse: Catholicism doesn't have a monopoly on child abuse scandals, as the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has discovered

The ultra-Orthodox face up to abuse:  Catholicism doesn't have a monopoly on child abuse scandals, as the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has discovered

By Rosa Greedman

Guardian - May 5, 2010

The uncovering of sexual abuse perpetrated by religious leaders in the Catholic church is mirrored within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. As with the Catholic church, where the abuse was uncovered early on in the US, institutional child sexual abuse is starting to be prosecuted in New York. And as with the Catholic church, which has begun to change its stance on prosecuting priests, ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders are beginning to permit the reporting to police of these crimes. As with the Catholic church, Jewish victim support groups and advocates have brought these crimes to the public's attention. The question is whether, as with the Catholic church, this is far too little far too late.

A little known Jewish law called mesira, found in the Talmud with some scriptural support, forbids a Jew from reporting another Jew to the gentile authorities. The law was in response to non-Jewish governments whose courts were staffed by antisemites. According to Jewish leaders, those courts looked for any excuse to find against a Jew. Many rabbis took a rather dim view of gentile legal processes, advocating that their courts were flawed, antisemitic and less capable than Jewish courts. Mesira essentially allowed Jewish courts to retain control over all disputes, ensuring that religious law prevailed.

In today's society, where there are proper, transparent and just courts of law, the law of mesira has largely been abandoned. Most Jewish communities recognise the legal system of the countries where they live; saving relatively few disputes, mostly centring on religious issues such as divorce, for the Jewish courts. However, the ultra-Orthodox communities still use mesira to prohibit any Jew being reported to the non-Jewish authorities.

As can be imagined, this is a pretty dangerous stance to take, particularly in terms of violent criminals. Perpetrators of, for example, domestic violence, child abuse, or sexual crimes, are often protected by the ultra-Orthodox communities and dealt with "in-house". They are sometimes beaten up by the self-appointed Jewish "police", and often moved to areas where there is no knowledge of their crimes.

Perpetrators of child sexual abuse within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities have been afforded similar protection to Catholic priests. Rabbis have continued to teach, in their own or in new institutions. Yehuda Kolko allegedly had his crimes covered up by the Yeshiva Torah Temima school where he taught for over 25 years. Communities have shielded fugitives, such as Nachman Stal, who fled charges in Israel and was protected for almost a decade by the North London ultra-Orthodox community.

As with the Catholic church, silencing the victims has kept secret, at least from the wider public, ongoing abuse within ultra-Orthodox Jewish institutions. Various Jewish laws have been twisted and misused to threaten victims with divine retribution for reporting crimes. Families are told that their other children will not be given suitable matches for marriage, or won't be accepted by good schools, if the boat is rocked. Similar threats of communal ostracism were used by the Catholic church in Ireland to silence the many people who knew of abuse in Christian Brothers' institutions.

Within many closed, religious communities there is fear of communal repercussions, religious leaders, and ultimately of God. Fears are exploited to allow grave crimes to be covered up, and to continue within religious institutions. Motives of religious leaders may be hard to prove, but there are clear financial incentives as well as issues of power and control that have influenced the positions taken towards perpetrators of child sexual abuse.
There are huge financial implications for admitting abuse and permitting court cases. In the US alone, the Catholic church has paid over $2.5bn to victims. Little wonder then that ultra-Orthodox rabbis opposed New York's Markey bill which sought to extend the statute of limitations for criminal and civil cases about child sexual abuse. Now that abuse is coming to light, the financial implications could be devastating for institutions that covered up allegations and continued to employ abusers.

Similarly, leaders, seeking retain a tight grip of control over their communities, covered up scandals to avoid schisms, splits or defections. Yet these tactics have backfired. In silencing victims and protecting perpetrators, these religious communities face a crisis beyond anything they could have imagined.

As in the Catholic church, things are starting to change in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world. Top rabbis, such as Rav Elyashiv, have come out in support of reporting abuse to the police. Indeed, they have emphasised that prosecution is necessary to keep communities safe and to protect children. Self-appointed Jewish "police" in Flatbush have now told their community to report all abuse directly to the gentile police. Clearly, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world is learning from the recent spate of cases, the Catholic church's experience, and listening to the victims. But can it be enough to say that the institutions will change only once the scandals have broken, or is a Catholic-style crisis of faith about to hit the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community?

Ani Yehudi - An Important song for everyone to listen too

If you don't know Hebrew be sure the close caption button is on or see the text below.  The words to this song are vitally important when we fight together in the war against sexual violence within our community.

Ani Yehudi (I am a Jew)  

I am a Jew (Ani Yehudi)

I am a Jew
When I ask myself
Who am I
I'm a little Sephardi (Jews originally from the mediterranean)
a little Ashkenazi (Jews originally from the europe) 
a little Israeli
a tiny drop of galuti (exiled)

Maybe religious
maybe irreligious
but between myself and I

I am a Jew
and that special
not better than the other, not worse
not better than the other, not worse
Simply a Jew.

Sometimes a soldier
sometimes a student

I have a lot of past
and I also see the future
sometimes a mitnaged (non-chasid)
and sometimes a chasid

Maybe materialistic and maybe spiritual but always always

I am a Jew
and that special
not better than the other, not worse
a little bit different
Simply a Jew

Suddenly I returned from afar
Suddenly I returned from afar
so we will be able to be here together
that I will be secure that I'll return to laugh
that I can live comfortably not to be afraid,

because I am a Jew
and that's special
not better than the other, not worst

Simply a Jew . . . Nothing will succeed to break me my brother
my soul, is a part of a high external light
to fix the world that is my motto
I was born like this, I am a Jew.
I was born like this, I am a Jew.

Simply a Jew - like in other religions
we have; festivals, Shabbat, customs and mitzvot (blessings)
Mazel tov

To say that everyone is sure that he is right
at the end were all Jewish, before the chair of his holiness

I am very afraid of baseless hatred
I am very afraid of baseless hatred

I love my land and I love my nation
I have been here and there and all over the world

I have two options on what you will ask
and I'e also got a third option

Because I'm a Jew
and that's special
not worse, not better, a little bit different

Simply a Jew