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Showing posts with label Belsky letter about kolko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belsky letter about kolko. Show all posts

Friday, May 24, 2013

Rabbi Belsky says that Yosef Kolko is innocent, while Kolko himself says he is guily of child sex abuse!


Read this e-mail exchange from a fellow blogger! 
I am writing to you in light of the recent trial of Yosef Kolko, who was found guilty last week of aggravated sexual assault of a minor in Lakewood. One of Kolko's chief defenders was and continues to be Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaas, who wrote a public letter to Lakewood defending the molestor and vilifying the family of the abused child.
Following is the text of Rabbi Belsky's letter: 
RABBI YISROEL BELSKY'S LETTER TO THE RESIDENTS OF LAKEWOOD      My ears should have been spared hearing the horrific news that one of your fellow residents in town informed upon a fellow Jew to the hands of the secular authorities, may god spare us, for which the [Jewish] law is undisputed that one who commits such an act has no share in the world to come. (see: Choshen Mishpat 388:4) 
     After conducting a thorough investigation I am absolutely certain that R' Y.K. [Yosef Kolko], may his light shine, is perfectly innocent of any wrongdoing of any nature whatsoever. And not only is he innocent but it is also as clear to me that all these allegations are fabrications made by [REDACTED]. 
     Further, all the reports made to the secular authorities were only for the express purpose of casting blame for their [the victim's family] own shameful and cursed existence on others. And the truth is that the allegations they make against others are crimes they themselves are in fact guilty of and they seek to cleanse their reputation by blaming an innocent man for their own deeds. 
     Accordingly, as it is a great mitzvah to rescue the pursued from the hands of the pursuer and to make it known that the righteous man is right and the evil man is evil‐to rescue a pure and righteous soul. Therefore, anyone who has the ability to rescue the righteous and does not do so is considered as if he is himself the pursuer. (See: Rambam ‐ laws regarding informing 1: 14) 
Thus, all who have the ability to influence the informers that they should retract their terrible deeds should do so.
 


Despite the fact that Yosef Kolko admitted his guilt of long term sexual assault of a child, Rabbi Belsky has neither retracted his letter or his vilification of the victim and his family. His letter is unfortunately a tragic example of the widespread, grotesque, evil phenomenon of rabbinic coverup of child molesters and persecution of their victims throughout the frum world.
 
Rabbi Belsky is a Senior Posek at the OU, an organization which prides itself on its educated leadership, its integrity and its protection of children. I am writing to you to join and be a signator in a letter writing campaign to all the administrators of the OU leadership, asking that they require that Rabbi Belsky publicly retract his letter if he is to continue to be affiliated with the OU. If the OU does not do so, it is giving credibility and publicly honoring a senior employee who advocates protecting sexual child molestors and persecuting their victims, even when the molestor admits his guilt. This is hardly a message befitting the OU and its admirable mission in the Jewish world.  
Please join an email letter writing campaign to voice your opinion about this matter to the OU administration. Following are their names and email addresses. Please include Rabbi Belsky's letter to Lakewood in your letter to the OU. You may just copy the above letter and email it to the following:  
Executive Vice President
Rabbi Steven Weil
rabbiweil@ou.org 

Executive Vice President, Emeritus
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
execthw@ou.org

Chief Financial Officer
Shlomo Schwartz
shlomoschwartz@ou.org

Chief Communications Officer
Mayer Fertig
fertig@ou.org

Rabbinic Administrator/Chief Executive Officer
Rabbi Menachem Genack
genackm@ou.org

Executive Rabbinic Coordinator/Chief Operating Officer
Rabbi Moshe Elefant
elefantm@ou.org

Executive Rabbinic Coordinator
Rabbi Yaakov Luban
lubany@ou.org

Executive Rabbinic Coordinator / Director of Operations
Rabbi Moshe Zywica
zywicam@ou.org

Senior Rabbinic Coordinator/Vice President, Communications and Marketing
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran
safrane@ou.org

Senior Rabbinic Coordinator
Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz
rabinowitzn@ou.org

Senior Educational Rabbinic Coordinator / Director of Kashrus Education
Rabbi Yosef Grossman
grossman@ou.org 
Senior Director of Institutional Advancement
Paul Glasser
pglasser@ou.org

Chief Human Resources Officer
Lenny Bessler
besslerl@ou.org

Senior Information Officer
Sam Davidovics, Ph.D.
davidovics@ou.org

Public Relations Director
Stephen Steiner
steiners@ou.org

Alumni Connections
Rabbi Yehoshua Marchuck
marchuck@ou.org

Community Engagement
Rabbi Judah Isaacs
isaacsj@ou.org

Community Services
Frank Buchweitz
frank@ou.org

Heshe & Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus
Rabbi Ilan Haber
college@ou.org

Institute for Public Affairs/IPA
Nathan Diament
ipadc@ou.org 

Jewish Action
Nechama Carmel
carmeln@ou.org

Job Board
Michael Srulie Rosner
rosnerm@ou.org

NCSY
Rabbi Micha Greenland
mgreenland@ou.org

NextGen
Rabbi David Felsenthal
rabbidave@ou.org

OU Press
Rabbi Simon Posner
posners@ou.org

Pepa & Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services
Rabbi Judah Isaacs
isaacsj@ou.org

Yachad/Our Way/NJCD
Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman
lichtmanj@ou.org 




Dear Tiferes,
Thank you for your letter.  I agree that the OU should sever its relationship with Rabbi Belsky as soon as possible.  The question is what is the most effective manner in which to accomplish this.
I think that what is needed, rather than writing to the OU staff (other than Rabbis Weil, Genack, and maybe selected others) is to reach out to the volunteer leadership.  So far, the only email address I have been able to track down is for Martin Nachimson, President of the OU: martin.nachimson@macquarie.com.  Here are links to what the OU website shows for their lay leadership, in case you want to try:
Board of Directors (appears out of date but that's what is on the website) - http://www.ou.org/contact/C392#listing

Please let me know what you think.
P.S.  Please let me know if you are using a real name or an assumed name.  I work with a number of people who choose not to use their real names.  That does not bother me, but I need to know when that is the case