“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l

Friday, May 8, 2015

Murder charges against Freddie Gray cops may be DROPPED because police findings don't support the case, say officials


  • Baltimore City State Attorney charged six officers over death of Gray
  • Separate police probe of case says manslaughter is most serious crime 
  • Defense lawyers are arguing that arrest for knife possession was legal
  • 'If this case falls apart, will Baltimore burn?' one official asked 

  • The"brilliant" Black AG


    The murder charges filed against the Baltimore officers who arrested Freddie Gray could be dropped, because the police investigation into his death doesn't support the prosecution's case, it's been reported.

    Last Friday, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby levelled charges ranging from assault to second-degree murder at six police officers involved in Gray's death. He had suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody.
    However, officials familiar with the case have revealed that police investigators do not agree with the charges.

    The officials said that the internal probe team do not believe a charge more serious than manslaughter should be brought against any of the officers, according to CNN.

    What's more, defense lawyers are mounting a challenge to Mosby's assertion that the officers had unlawfully arrested Gray because the knife he had in his pocket is considered legal under Maryland state law.
    Marc Zayon, the attorney for Edward Nero, one of the officers charged, argued in a motion filed Monday that the knife in Gray's pocket — described in charging documents as 'a spring assisted, one hand operated knife' — is in fact illegal under state law.



    'If the facts were that the knife was illegal then the Gray arrest would be justified. Even if it wasn't illegal and the officers acted in good faith, it would be the same result. All charges fail,' said lawyer Andy Alperstein, who is not involved in the investigation.

    Defense lawyers may also exploit the past of a member of Mosby's investigative team, CNN said.

    One of her lead investigators is Avon Mackel, a former senior Baltimore police officer whose reputation is tainted by a 2009 incident that led to him being removed from his command post.


    He was accused of not tackling two officers who failed to report a robbery.

    Lawyers for the defense could reason that he holds a grudge against the department. 
    Nero and Officer Garrett Miller are charged with misdemeanors. Four others — Sgt. Alicia White, Lt. Brian Rice and officers Caesar Goodson and William Porter — are charged with felonies ranging from manslaughter to second-degree 'depraved-heart' murder.

    An official told CNN: 'If this case falls apart, then does Baltimore burn?'

    The charges against the officers came near the close of a turbulent week in which violence, looting and fires erupted in the streets April 27 only hours after Gray's funeral that Monday.

    Meanwhile, Baltimore's mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has asked the US Justice Department to investigate the case.

    The Democratic mayor now says she'll accept outside intervention to rebuild public trust in a city torn by riots over the death of Freddie Gray.
    'I am determined not to allow a small handful of bad actors to tarnish the reputation of the overwhelming majority of police officers who are acting with honor and distinction,' she wrote in a letter to the new U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

    HOW BALTIMORE STATE'S ATTORNEY MARILYN MOSBY FACES UPHILL BATTLE TO SECURE MURDER CONVICTION AGAINST OFFICERS IN FREDDIE GRAY CASE

    Two other high profile cases - Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York - resulted in no criminal charges against officers involved in their hideous deaths.
    This came despite there being video evidence in the case of Garner showing his brutal death and dozens of eyewitness accounts in Brown's death.
    Mosby does not have the benefit of a video capturing a decisive moment where lethal force was used such as the video showing a North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer shooting a fleeing Walter Scott multiple times in the back. 
    Example: This photograph from earlier in the week shows a Baltimore Police version of the van, similar to the one driven by Caesar Goodson but in order to win a conviction, city prosecutors will have to convince a jury that  Goodson acted so recklessly that he knew his actions could take Gray's life
    Example: This photograph from earlier in the week shows a Baltimore Police version of the van, similar to the one driven by Caesar Goodson but in order to win a conviction, city prosecutors will have to convince a jury that Goodson acted so recklessly that he knew his actions could take Gray's life
    Despite initial claims by authorities that the shooting was in self-defense, the officer was quickly charged with murder after the video was provided to the media.
    In the Gray case, the video evidence is much murkier, with no visual evidence the officers purposely beat him. 
    Expert witnesses are likely to disagree on whether Gray was seriously injured when the Baltimore officers pinned him to the sidewalk and cuffed his hands behind his back. 
    Gray was recorded asking for medical assistance as he was hefted into the waiting van, his feet dragging along behind him.
    In her statement of facts, Mosby alleged the officers later also bound Gray's feet together and placed him in the van face-down, rather than buckling him into a seat belt as required by departmental procedures. 
    That would have left Gray unable to brace himself as he slide around on the floor as the van traveled through Baltimore. 
    She also recounted the multiple stops made by the van, even after it likely became clear he was in distress. Nearly an hour passed before Gray received any medical attention.
    Journey: Freddie Gray died a week after his arrest on April 12 . He suffered a 'catastrophic' injury and died a week later in hospital. Caesar Goodson was at the wheel of the van in which he was put after the arrest
    Journey: Freddie Gray died a week after his arrest on April 12 . He suffered a 'catastrophic' injury and died a week later in hospital. Caesar Goodson was at the wheel of the van in which he was put after the arrest
    Route: According to police, these are the stops the van made while transporting Gray to the station
    Route: According to police, these are the stops the van made while transporting Gray to the station
    The prosecutor steered clear of specifically alleging Goodson took Gray on a 'Rough Ride,' the term commonly applied in Baltimore to the practice of the driver making quick stops and sharp turns so as to slam the prisoner around in the back of the van.
    Glenn Ivey, a defense attorney and the former chief prosecutor in Prince George's County, Maryland, said Mosby's prosecution would likely be considered successful if she were to secure any felony conviction against the officers that results in lengthy terms in prison. 
    Second-degree assault carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
    'Typically in police cases, if you get a conviction on almost any of the charges, it's viewed as successful, because police cases are hard to win,' he said.
    Adding: 'Even in Baltimore city, where juries tend to be skeptical of police officers, they can still make compelling defendants and persuasive witnesses.' 
    By bringing charges less than two weeks after Gray's death, Mosby, 35, said her decision showed 'no one is above the law.' 
    Yet, within hours, the city's police union questioned the prosecutor's impartiality, accusing her of a rush to judgment and demanding she excuse herself from the case.  
    Following the announcement of the charges, the prevailing mood on the city's streets changed to relief.
    But defense attorneys for the officers will likely use Mosby's own public statements about the case against her in requests that the venue for the trial be moved outside of Baltimore. 
    Though such changes of venue are relatively rare, there have been several examples of such motions being granted in cases that have garnered intense media coverage.
    This happens when local officials are deemed to have made public statements that could unfairly influence potential jurors. 

    Thursday, May 7, 2015

    Chabad IDF Officer And Rabbi Attacked By Chareidie savages In Beit Shemesh

    Maj Shraga Dahan

    An IDF officer was attacked by ultra-Orthodox savages on Monday evening while paying a shiva call at a home in a Charedi Beit Shemesh neighborhood.

    Maj. Shraga Dahan, a military chaplain and Chassidic Jew, was in the insular neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet with another rabbi to pay their respects to a family in mourning when they were attacked by members of an extremist sect known as the Sicarii. Dahan and the rabbi were both verbally and physically abused, with their attackers spitting and throwing garbage at them and calling them Nazis.

    Dahan, a French immigrant, is the rabbi of the Tel Hashomer military base, one of the country’s largest.

    Ultra-Orthodox residents of the neighborhood came to the pair’s defense, helping them escape and hurling invective at the attackers, one witness to the attack told The Jerusalem Post.

    "The IDF views with severity, denounces and condemns any attempt to harm its commanders and soldiers. The Rabbi is proud of his military service and of wearing his uniform,” the IDF said in a statement Wednesday evening.

    A similar incident occurred on Holocaust Remembrance Day, when protesters from Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet entered a nearby moderate Charedi neighborhood and screamed Nazi at a Charedi soldier, like Dahan a member of the Chabad movement, walking nearby. In response, national-religious and secular city residents held a Yom Hazikaron memorial ceremony at the entrance to Bet, prompting further confrontations. During last summer’s Gaza war, a reservist in uniform visiting Bet was physically assaulted.

    Posters and stickers portraying ultra-Orthodox soldiers as pigs in uniform can be seen throughout the city. The posters also refer to these soldiers by the derogatory Hebrew acronym “hardakim” meaning weak-minded Charedi, which is an amalgam of the words Charedi and harakim, or insects.

    The problem has been severe enough in several neighborhoods that the army decided last May to allow Charedi soldiers to travel home sans their uniforms. And while in some parts of the city soldiers in uniform are a common site, one resident told the Post that she had seen soldiers waiting for buses near Charedi neighborhoods being verbally abused by passersby.

    English-speaking residents of the town took to Facebook to complain and discuss ways in which to combat the phenomenon.

    “It’s old news. Happens every week,” one American immigrant complained. “Need to go stand [in their neighborhood] on Friday morning by where this cult lives with our soldiers and piss them off, [a protest] anywhere but in their area is a waste of everyones time.”

    “These events need to be publicized to [brethren abroad], who continue to stream money to these corrupt communities every day in their shuls and at their front doors,” another suggested.

    In a letter to supporters on Tuesday, local resident and former MK Dov Lipman wrote he and others are planning what he called “a non-political unity rally” against the extremists.

    "We, in Bet Shemesh, have had enough. Extremism is one thing. Mistreating those risking their lives to defend you is another. We are in contact with the police to arrange a massive demonstration - at the spot where this soldier was attacked in the extremist neighborhood - and will call on citizens and leaders from around Israel to join us," Lipman told the Post Asked about the incident, Beit Shemesh’s Charedi Mayor Moshe Abutbul told that Post that his administration "strongly condemn[s] all acts of violence against people. [This] is not the way of the Torah and the rabbis [are] against it."

    Wednesday, May 6, 2015

    Dionne Warwick is coming to Israel, says won't succumb to BDS pressures


    After entertainer Lauryn Hill cancelled her show in Israel for political reasons, American diva Dionne Warwick said Wednesday that she has no plans to cancel her upcoming Tel Aviv performance, saying that "art has no boundaries." 

    A statement released to the press read that Ms. Warwick "would never fall victim to the hard pressures of Roger Waters, from Pink Floyd, or other political people who have their views on politics in Israel." 

    Outspoken Israel critic Roger Waters and Pink Floyd frontman has called on entertainers to nix their Israel performances in line with the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

    "Waters’ political views are of no concern to Ms. Warwick, as she holds her own unique views on world matters. Art has no boundaries. Ms. Warwick will always honor her contracts," the statement read.  

    "If Ms. Warwick had an objection to performing in Israel, no offer would have been entertained and no contract would have been signed," the statement concluded. 

    Answering questions from The Jerusalem Post via email ahead of her show in Tel Aviv at the Menorah Mivtachim Arena on May 19, Warwick said she was no stranger to Israel, and has visited the country several times. "I always enjoy the wonderful audiences that Israel brings out! I think of the colorful people and the beautiful scenery."

    Tickets to Warwick’s show are available at *8780 or at www.leaan.co.il 

    Chovevei Zion: The roots of the type of thought that saved a people

    Kindergarden at Rishon-Le'zion
    It is hard to imagine how it must have felt for Jews, specifically in Eastern Europe, to go about with their daily lives knowing that they were surrounded by hate, not only of their religion, but every single cultural characteristic that they held so dear. 

    This has been a truth throughout all of Jewish history, but nowhere has it been as bad, despite all of Europe in the Second World War, as in Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century where antisemitism was unbridled.

    Let us not forget that Hannah Arendt once said that Romania was perhaps the most anti-Semitic country of its time. Let us also not forget of the pogroms that plagued Russia, and drove its Jewish populations further West which were perhaps the most unforgettable. It is therefore no surprise that Chovevei Zion first began to spring roots in these two countries.

    Years before Zionism became a full fledged force that would modernize the Jewish world in the West, smaller organizations congregated that aspired for the same thing, the same ideal- to see Israel become a reality. The most prominent of these, of course, was Chovevei Zion mainly because of its proto-Herzelian concept of one Jewish people, in one land.

    The movement which also went by Chibbat Zion, was in fact a conglomerate of sparse communities of Jewish intellectuals, men of labor, Rabbis, and Jews from all walks of life that knew that the antisemitism that they encountered in Europe and lived through was too much to bear. They were right. Israel was indeed the only answer.

    In short, most of these groups gathered to discuss the needs of Jewish people, particularly in Eastern Europe where rampant antisemitism led to unbearable lives for many. Hovevei Zion amassed a much larger following in the late 1880’s specifically after most of Europe’s Jews were already or beginning to be emancipated. Yet the xenophobia that they encountered before they were given full rights, remained unchanged. It is no surprise therefore that the main topic of discussion at many of their meetings were to find a means to actually get Jews to move back to Eretz Yisrael in Palestine.

    Although at first a great deal of the work that Chovevei Zion organizations practiced were mostly philanthropic, they also played an important part in diffusing the culture of Zionism, and the idea of a Jewish state as more than just a dream. Isaac Keib Goldberg took it a step further, and actually established a small settlement called Rishon LeZion in Israel which was also interestingly the first Zionist colony in Eretz Yisrael.

    In Russia, almost 14000 followers of Chovevei gathered numerous times to talk politics, issues about the future of Eretz Yisrael, and the current situation of their people in under the despotism of the Tsar, led by leaders such as Leon Pinsker and Rabbi Samuel Mohilever.

    Interestingly, despite the obvious political tenets behind Hovevei in places such as Russia, the organization would not be made official unless it was registered as a charity with the government, which is a testament to the political fears held by Alexander III, whose antisemitism was more than obvious, but fear of rebellion towards his crown even more so. Something which led him to take some harsh actions towards the Jews of Russia.

    It is essential not to forget the significance of Chovevei Zion-as it literally means “The Lovers of Zion.” Also it is paramount to contemplate the absolute importance of these almost unofficial but still important movements. They represented men and women who became fed up with being unwelcome in lands in which their families had lived for hundreds, even thousands of years since their exodus.

    Their love for Israel, and their people had transpired towards the need to congregate and find a solution. This of course was the wave of socio-political thinking that would later lead to the Zionist Congresses and would aid Herzl towards actually consolidating support for his modern, and more organized Zionist movement. It was in Romania and Russia that the first inkling towards understanding the idea of “one people” first began to become part of common language and thought.

    The small meetings of a few dozen people sometimes in the most uncanny of places, were the first small steps towards a nation. To forget that is to forget their characters, and spirits as the men and women who laid the roots of the type of thought that saved a people.

    Am Yisrael Chai.


    Milad Doroudiam a native of Jassy Romania, is a writer, historian, and the senior editor of The Art of Polemics magazine. He is currently working on a book on The Jassy Pogrom of 1941.

    Malka Leifer Adass Israel School principal 'used student's home life to groom, abuse'

    Malka Leifer

    A school principal used a student's abusive home life as a way to groom and then sexually abuse her over several years, a court has heard.

    A former student of Adass Israel Girls School, in Elsterwick, is suing the school for damages stemming from abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of former principal Malka Leifer.

    The school sacked Mrs Leifer in March 2008 after allegations of impropriety came to light.

    The Supreme Court heard on Tuesday that a member of the school's committee arranged the plane tickets so Mrs Leifer could leave the country within two days of being sacked.

    Mrs Leifer was arrested in Israel in August last year and extradition proceedings are underway to bring her to Victoria to face sex abuse charges.

    The court heard on Wednesday that the former student's abuse started in 2002, when she was 15, and as a result had suffered flashbacks, nightmares, persistent depression, post traumatic stress disorder and at one point was suicidal.

    The former student, now 27, told the court she was brought up in a family dominated by her physically abusive mother and that Mrs Leifer offered to help her.
    "She [Leifer] had an interest with my older sister first ... so when she approached me and said she knew what was going on at home and [she said] she could help me with that," she said.

    The alleged victim said Mrs Leifer started giving her private religious lessons, during which Mrs Leifer would rub her through her clothes.
    This abuse accelerated and by the time the alleged victim was in grade 11, aged 15 or 16, Mrs Leifer was touching her skin and digitally penetrating her, she told the court.

    The alleged victim, who can not be named for legal reasons, said she was too scared to speak up about the abuse because of Mrs Leifer's pre-eminent position in the community.
    "The community is the school and the school is the community. Because she was the head of the school, the whole community looked up to her and idolised her," she said.
    "She had a very powerful personality... I saw how she reacted to people who attempted to cross her. I was scared."

    The alleged victim said she feared Mrs Leifer would tell others in the ultra-orthodox Adass community about her abusive home life, which would damage her marriage prospects.

    The victim said Mrs Leifer gave her a part-time job at the school when she graduated, aged 18, and the abuse then continued for eight months until she was married and left the school.

    The Adass community is a small, ultra-orthodox Jewish group of about 150 families based in Elsternwick and Ripponlea.
    The trial in expected to continue on Thursday.
    This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/adass-israel-school-principal-used-students-home-life-to-groom-abuse-20150506-ggvq8g.html

    ISIS VOWS TO KILL PAMELA GELLER

    isis flag
    ISIS released a new online threat today on JustPasteIt.
    The terrorist group says they will murder Pamela Geller and kill anyone who shields her.
    Pamela Geller 

    The terrorists also say they have 71 fighters in 15 different states and they 23 have signed up already for missions like the failed Sunday attack in Garland, Texas.
    Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Raheem
    “The New Era”
    To our brothers and sisters fighting for the Sake of Allah, we make dua for you and ask Allah to guide your bullets, terrify your enemies, and establish you in the Land. As our noble brother in the Phillipines said in his bayah, “This is the Golden Era, everyone who believes… is running for Shaheed”.
    The attack by the Islamic State in America is only the beginning of our efforts to establish a wiliyah in the heart of our enemy. Our aim was the khanzeer Pamela Geller and to show her that we don’t care what land she hides in or what sky shields her; we will send all our Lions to achieve her slaughter. This will heal the hearts of our brothers and disperse the ones behind her. To those who protect her: this will be your only warning of housing this woman and her circus show. Everyone who houses her events, gives her a platform to spill her filth are legitimate targets. We have been watching closely who was present at this event and the shooter of our brothers. We knew that the target was protected. Our intention was to show how easy we give our lives for the Sake of Allah.
    We have 71 trained soldiers in 15 different states ready at our word to attack any target we desire. Out of the 71 trained soldiers 23 have signed up for missions like Sunday, We are increasing in number bithnillah. Of the 15 states, 5 we will name… Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, California, and Michigan. The disbelievers who shot our brothers think that you killed someone untrained, nay, they gave you their bodies in plain view because we were watching.
    The next six months will be interesting, To our Amir Al Mu’mineen make dua for us and continue your reign, May Allah enoble your face.
    May Allah send His peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhummad and all those who follow until the last Day.

    Abu Ibrahim Al Ameriki


    Why are the Mullahs laughing at USA?

    A new ad from the Center for Security Policy says the mullahs are laughing in Tehran about President Obama's concessions to Iran in the nuclear negotiations:

    Tuesday, May 5, 2015

    Pamela Geller Battles CNN Host on Cartoon Event, VIDEO "'We're Giving Up Our Freedoms so as Not to Offend Savages"



    Pamela Geller, the outspoken head of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, has spoken out after her group's Mohammed Cartoon event was targeted in a shooting attack by Muslim terrorists on Sunday night..

     In an interview with CNN, Geller lashed out at the media "elites" for criticizing her group - the attackers' intended victims - as opposed to radical Islamists responsible for such violent attacks. 

    The event had offered a $10,000 award for the best cartoon depicting the founder of Islam, Mohammed, and featured a speech by Dutch MP Geert Wilders, among other prominent critics of Islam. Depictions of Mohammed are forbidden by Islam, and many Muslim extremists have attempted to enforce those blasphemy laws globally - most notably culminating in the slaughter of the staff of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this year. 

     The prize was won by an ex-Muslim, Geller noted, as she responded to a grilling by her interviewer, who asked whether she realized "just how dangerous an event like this could be?" 

     "It's dangerous because increasingly we are abridging our freedoms so as not to offend savages," Geller shot back.

     "The very idea that if something offends me or if I'm insulted by something, I'll kill you, and that way I can get my way - and somehow this is OK with members of the elite media and academia - is outrageous."

    Geller insisted that the event was an attempt to push back against such attacks on freedom of expression. 
    "We have to have this conversation, and the fact that we have to spend upwards of $50,000 dollars in security speaks to how dangerous and how in trouble freedom of speech is in this country," she said, before taking a direct swipe at the media itself.

    "And then we have to get on these news shows and somehow we - those who are targeted, those who were going to be slaughtered - are the ones who get attacked, speaks to how morally inverted this conversation is.

    "I'm not concerned with Muslims, especially peaceful Muslims. I am concerned with the 25% which support Sharia; I am concerned with the amputations and the female genital mutilation and the honor violence; I am concerned that the media whitewashes and scrubs this. I am concerned for the victims."

    Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in particular, some western media outlets were accused of "betrayal" after self-censoring in order not to "offend" Muslims, by refusing to show the front cover of the paper's post-massacre issue, which featured a picture of Mohammed.
    Free speech advocates argue that by doing so media outlets are essentially granting  victory to Islamist terrorism, and betraying their raison-detre of upholding freedom of speech and expression.

    Republicans have a Black, a Woman, Two Latinos Running for President, Democrats have only Whites! So Who is Racist?


    So the Republicans running for president now include a woman, Carly Fiorina.  


    So we have a woman, Carly Fiorina, and   Dr. Benjamin Carson announced today, who, by the way, worked in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins.  He's from Detroit.  He's African-American.  And we have two Latinos in the Republican roster. 
    I guess the Republicans can now start calling themselves the Rainbow Party.  The've got Rubio and Cruz.  The've got a woman. They have an African-American.  They have two Latinos. 
     And to the Democrats, it doesn't count, it doesn't matter, it may as well not be the case because none of that matters to the Drive-By Media.  
    I mean, folks, if they were consistent, we would all have to now vote for Ben Carson.  He's black, he has worked and lived in Baltimore. Voting for anybody else would be racist, at least according to the media and the rest of the Democrat Party.  

    Warning to Young Woman about a predator living in the Five Towns, But Remains "Nameless?"

    This "No Loshon Hara" campaign is insane....

    Rabbi Yair Hoffman issues a warning to the young ladies of the Five Towns that there is a guy that has inappropriate contact with women, but won't name the guy that they must stay away from?

    And even if the women know who the pervert is, can't this predator drive a car to Boro-Park, where they might not know him, and start his shenanigans there?

    So it's not ok to molest in the Five Towns, but it's ok to molest in other towns! 

    Then the Chuchem, Rabbi Hoffman says: "The author has also reached out to five separate Gedolei Torah –"

    I would like to ask Rabbi Hoffman, if this unnamed predator molested his daughter or his wife.... would he have also "reached  out to five separate Gedolei Torah?" Or would have gone straight to the Police? 

    From Five Towns Jewish Times 
    by Rabbi yYair Hoffman
    There is an individual loose in our community who presents himself as both a therapist and an activist fighting against the dangers of internet pornography addiction. He gives public lectures and speeches in various venues presenting himself as an expert in the field. He has spoken in shuls, Yeshivos, and Bais Yaakovs. He warns young men and young women to stay clear of potential sites and predators. This speaker is eloquent, articulate, and reassuring. He cites facts and figures authoritatively. Yet he has a pattern of eventually getting involved in Biblically forbidden ways with young ladies that reach out to him. These young ladies may be single or even married.

    When he speaks at a shul, school or other event, contact with vulnerable young ladies can begin. The contact between the two begins innocently enough, at times, he presents himself as a type of therapist or counselor and promises confidentiality. At first the confidentially is maintained. When the young lady begins to delineate her problem, he explains that the problem is so severe that it must be either dealt with more directly or in person.

    The patterns follow typical grooming techniques which are well-documented, of others who attempt to develop inappropriate relationships with unsuspecting victims. They begin by complimenting them. The relationship quickly becomes inappropriate and professional boundaries are not maintained. This individual has an office where he sees people, or he may meet them on a more casual basis. He tells the individuals that they need to develop normal patterns of relationships, and then he models that “normal” pattern of relationship r”l.

    This particular individual makes sure that he does not get involved on a physical level with anyone under the age of eighteen. The individual treats his victims as “special” and may even say that this is the first time he has been so “taken” by a person.
    The author of this article has met with a victim, and has examined evidence corroborating the victim’s story. The author has no doubt whatsoever as to the veracity of the story.

    The author has also reached out to five separate Gedolei Torah – each Gadol has ruled that the information contained in this article must be disseminated to the public on the internet. It was at the behest of Rav Aharon Feldman Shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisroel and Rav Dovid Harpenes Shlita, a renowned Posaik in Williamsburg that this community alert be issued.

    If you feel that you or a family member has been victimized by this individual please contact jewishcommunityalert@gmail.com. Your identity will be kept private and this will help prevent others from being victimized.

    In addition, Rav Harpenes is of the halachic opinion that all situations of a therapeutic nature should be strictly gender separated. Women must see women and men must see men, according to Rav Harpenes.

    Other Poskim have said that ideally gender separation should be maintained, but if necessary and under strict observance of the laws of Yichud alternatives can be pursued. They further instructed that the following guidelines be implemented.

    1] Anyone who is currently seeing a therapist or counselor should make sure that the therapist is truly licensed and undergoes regular supervision. It goes without saying that this should be verified independently.

    2] All yichud situations of a male therapist alone with a woman must be avoided, notwithstanding any assurances of permissions granted by Rabbis etc.

    This specific matter is being researched for any possible illegalities involving misrepresentations of a therapeutic nature, and whether there are any illegalities involved in physical involvement with someone in a therapeutic context, even if the therapist is not a licensed New York State therapist. At this point the name of the individual in question is being omitted as research into the matter continues.