When Only One Victim Comes Forward

Sarah Ruth Hoffman

About the Author

 Sarah Ruth Hoffman was a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when an older male rabbi (now suspended by his rabbinical association) groomed, raped, and abused her. She has since completed the PhD and converted to Orthodox Judaism. She continues to write as part of her healing, and she often writes what she would have found comforting and useful to read during her lengthy exodus from the ongoing sexual violence that was inextricably linked to roles and scripts in Jewish institutions. She hopes that this blog will help the public to understand the dynamics of clergy sexual abuse, whether the victims are adults, or children. Much of what is written can apply to non-clergy relationships as well. If any one person is helped by any of what is written, then the purpose of this blog has been fulfilled.

 One of the most traumatic aspects of my rabbinic abuse case was the fact that I was the only one to come forward. During my abuse, I learned of many other victims, past and present, some in great detail. When I reported, I was able to name and give contact information for at least half a dozen other women, including female rabbis. But none of them, to my knowledge, wanted to hold him accountable. Why?

It’s been five years, and I’ve done a lot of thinking on this issue. I’ve come to the conclusion that it all goes back to the abuser, but not in the way that you might expect. That is, it’s not just that the abuser is so good at grooming and manipulating people that none of the victims want to come forward. It’s actually deeper and more sophisticated than that.

The Low-Risk Target

I now understand that the abuser intentionally selects the types of people that are least likely to report him or to cooperate with an investigation in the first place.

Watch David Stern seriously wounded in shooting attack in Huwara released from the hospital in a motorcade

 

Gerer "tzadikkim" Come To Court To Support the Pedophile

 

הרשעות של עסקני חסידות גור.

למרות שכולם שמעו את ההקלטות המחרידות של "התכשיט" שלהם, עסקני החסידות ממשיכים לתמוך בנאשם בתקיפות מיניות ובאלימות נגד רעייתו וגיסתו הקטינה.
היום הם הגיעו שוב לביהמ"ש עם חיוך על פניהם לתמוך בו.
והאדמו"ר? ממשיך לתמוך בשתיקה בפדופיל> pic.twitter.com/8jAkfFDlcx

— אהרן רבינוביץ (@AronRabino1) March 22, 2023

The Evilness of the Gerer Askanim

Although everyone has heard the horrifying recordings of their "tachshit", the Chasidishe ass'kanim continue to support the accused in sexual assaults and violence against his wife and younger sister-in-law. Today they came to the court again with a smile on their faces to support him. 

And the Rebbe continues to silently support the pedophile 

The following "tzaddikim showed up in court:

יהודה ברסלר

שמחה ברסלר

יהודה בינקה

שמחה ברלינר

The sudden turn of events that could derail Trump's indictment

 

"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime," was the infamous boast of Joseph Stalin’s ruthless secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria. His modus operandi was to target any man the Soviet dictator chose and then find or fabricate a crime against him.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has taken a page out of Stalin’s playbook and targeted Donald Trump. Driven by personal and political animus, the DA presumed the former president must be guilty of something. It was just a matter of devoting enough time and resources to hunt down the crime. Failing to find one, Bragg copied Beria’s paradigm and simply dreamed one up.

The DA invented his case against Trump by taking an alleged misdemeanor business records violation and supercharging it into a felony by citing an imagined second crime arising out of a supposed campaign finance violation.  The novelty of such a charge is exceeded only by its absurdity.  

Biden Blunder's Pushing Arabs Towards Iran

 

Many Arabs and Muslims are celebrating the Saudi-Iranian agreement to restore diplomatic relations as a devastating blow to the Biden Administration, a victory for Iran and China, and a sign of Washington’s failed policies in the Middle East.

According to these Arabs and Muslims, the Saudi-Iranian pact is the direct result of the Biden Administration’s antagonism towards America’s traditional Arab allies, especially Saudi Arabia, and the American policy of appeasement towards the mullahs in Iran.

Lebanese-born American scholar Walid Phares wrote that in the past two years he has been issuing warnings that the Biden administration’s dealings with the Arab allies “were neither at the required level nor with the necessary depth.”

According to Phares, the Obama Administration “went too far in its partnership with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, while turning its back on the Arab countries, with the aim of establishing partnerships with Islamists in the region.”

In rare move: Biden Antisemites Summon Israel's Ambassador to the US

 

Michael Herzog

In a rare move, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, was summoned on Tuesday for a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

The meeting concerned the Knesset’s approval of the law repealing the Disengagement in northern Samaria, Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.

“The Deputy Secretary conveyed US concern regarding legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset rescinding important aspects of the 2005 Disengagement Law, including the prohibition on establishing settlements in the northern West Bank,” said Patel.

“They also discussed the importance of all parties refraining from actions or rhetoric that could further inflame tensions leading into the Ramadan, Passover, and Easter holidays,” he added, in what could be viewed as a reference to the controversial remarks by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said at an event in Paris on Sunday that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

A meeting of this type is very rare in Israel-US relations and constitutes an official diplomatic protest. The Americans usually make sure to convey their messages to Israel without using these types of procedures.

In fact, the meeting came hours after Patel condemned the Knesset's passage of the amendment repealing the Disengagement from northern Samaria and allowing Jews to return to the four communities which were destroyed there in 2005.

"The United States is extremely troubled that the Israeli Knesset has passed legislation rescinding important parts of the 2005 Disengagement Law, including the prohibition on establishing settlements in the northern West Bank," Patel said.

Patel claimed that Homesh, one of the four communities is "illegal" even under Israeli law because it was "built on private Palestinian land."

He called the move "particularly provocative and counterproductive to efforts for restoring calm" and said that the administration "strongly urges Israel to refrain from allowing the return of settlers to the area covered by the legislation."

Patel also condemned Smotrich’s remarks in Paris, saying the Biden administration found the Finance Minister’s remarks "to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous."

"The Palestinians have a rich history and culture," Patel said.

Israel is in the throes of an orchestrated, well-funded coup d'état, devoid of ideology and close to bloodshed in the street

 

Israel is fighting for its independence from the tyranny of affluent and powerful elites. Independence from the legal establishment's absolutism, independence from the propaganda of the mainstream media propaganda, freedom from the progressive ideology of academia, and from the social engineering carried out by the IDF.

For thirty-plus years, Israel has faced a gradual campaign to change the identity of the Jewish state to a secular state for all its citizens. It's an attempt to separate Israel from its rich diasporic history, Jewish traditions, customs, and above all, the Jewish religion. The bon ton that leads the crusade is in the minority; be that as it may, they wield hegemonic control over national bodies, effectively dominating key decision-making agencies.

They dominate the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Office, which rank among the most significant of these institutions. Together with the activist left-wing agenda and authority they arrogated to themselves, they have created a supra-legislative hierarchy that can override the legislation of the elected legislative assembly.

The dispute is not over the need for long-overdue judicial reform. It concerns the elite's efforts to reassert its authority. By doing so, they have unleashed anti-democratic forces that completely reject and invalidate a legal government that was democratically elected by the majority of the people.

YESHIVA POLITICS: Should Yeshiva guys use Artscroll Gemaras?

 

The following question was presented on a VIN forum:

Artscroll Gemaras are an extremely valuable tool, which help thousands of people learn. The question is, can they sometimes be used as a crutch? Should Yeshiva and Kollel guys ever use an Artscroll Gemara?

DIN: This is one of the stupidest discussions I have ever heard.

Who cares how one learns? In Yiddish there is an expression "abee men lerent" "as long as one is learning?

We all say in the morning before reciting the Shama:

אבינו אב הרחמן המרחם רחם נא עלינו ותן בלבנו בינה להבין ולהשכיל לשמע ללמד וללמד לשמור ולעשות ולקיים את כל דברי תלמוד תורתך באהבה

The purpose of learning is לשמור ולעשות ולקיים is to put learning into practice! 

It doesn't say that you cannot use Artscroll. 

I'll bet that when Rashi first came out, there were Roshei Yeshivos that were pointing their middle fingers at those looking into a rashi laughing at them saying "oh look at that guy, he must be a big am-haaretz, he needs Rashi to help him!

The talmud was written in aramaic, because that was the language people were talking at that time. It was the "english" of that era!

I remember many years ago, when Artscroll was just beginning to publish the talmud and there were only a few out,  there was a meeting of school administrators, Roshei Yeshiva, and Rabbonim  about a certain issue, I cannot recall at the moment what the issue was all about, but what I found fascinating was something that I noticed about one particular rabbi. The Rabbi was R' Moshe Meir Weiss shlitah, who sat on the dais with other noted Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim all with their closed Hebrew seforim in their hands. R' Moshe Meir Weiss's sefer was an Artscroll gemarra and he was glancing inside, in-between speakers ! He was probably getting ready for his Daf Hayoimie class that he gives for decades. He was not embarrassed or intimidated at all.

I know baalei teshuva that never learned in a Yeshiva and who are huge talmeidei chachamim and who are proficient in the entire shas and poiskim, all from Artscroll!

There is another 'pirush" on the talmud  that has recently come out, but in Hebrew, called "Mesivta"! When you get a chance, take a look in the back. You will notice a section that explains every single tosfos, a section that reviews each and every daf, and there is a section that goes thru sugyois of that particular perek! I guarantee if you just learn those pirushim, you will be a bono-fide talmud chacham. 

I learn now in a kollel, some asked me if I can give a "chaburah" on the sugye that the kollel was learning. 

את חטאי אני מזכור היום

I cheated and just repeated one of the suguas from the back of the Mesivta. They were sitting there with their mouths open and couldn't believe that a "baal habyis" was as knowledgeable in this sugya as any guy that was learning in kollel for years and was throwing out references from the entire Yam ha'Talmud. When I admitted that it was all there in the back of the Mesivta gemarra they were floored. 

Some "taanid" that this isn't really learning and to attain knowledge you have to "hureva" and do the research yourself, and they brought a verse from Parshas Be'chukoisah where the torah states:

אם בחקתי תלכו

and rashi comments: שתהיו עמלים בתורה meaning to "labor in the Torah" 

I answered you left out the words of rashi right after that:

על מנת לשמור ולקיים "in order to observe and to fulfill that which you learn"

I told them that what I just did was far more productive and by doing what I'm doing I can cover far more in one year then they will in five. I added that I am prepared to be tested just like them and will fare far better than any of the guys. I quoted Rav Shach z'l who told a kollel guy that was on the same page in the gemarrah for over two days that he will be a "loimdeshe am'haaretz" 

My humble opinion is that now in this era where we can B'H access so much information in minutes, it is imperative to take advantage of that, and if it's by learning with an Artscroll or a Mesivta gemarrah then so be it. 

In the six months that I'm in kollel, not to brag, I have completed 2 and 1/2 difficult tractates in talmud with Rashi and Tosfos, completed Yehoshua Shoftim and will complete very soon Shmuel alef and bet plus sifrei musser, and a daily shiur in Mishnayois Kehati, Rambam and Mishna Berurah and was tested on all this, and if it wasn't for Artscroll and the Mesivta, I would not have been able to accomplish all that. 

I am advocating that Kollim start learning with.....yes... absolutely, Artscroll and or Mesivta!

Gerer Chusid Sexually Abuses Two Minor Girls .. Gerer Rebbe's Gabbai Warns Father to Remove Police Complaint

 

Listen to R' Yisrael Stuel trying to keep the father of the girls to shut up!

"Israel ranked fourth happiest country in world " Gallop Poll

 

 Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, according to a report produced by the U.N.-affiliated Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Based on Gallup World Poll data, the study leverages six key factors to help explain variation in self-reported levels of happiness across the world: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

The report was released on Monday to mark the International Day of Happiness, which was established when the U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281 in June 2012.

The report named Finland the happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands.

This year’s Happiness Report found that despite several overlapping crises, most populations around the world continue to be remarkably resilient, with global life satisfaction averages in the COVID-19 years 2020-2022 just as high as pre-pandemic.

“The happiness movement shows that well-being is not a ‘soft’ and ‘vague’ idea but rather focuses on areas of life of critical importance: material conditions, mental and physical wealth, personal virtues and good citizenship,” said Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, who worked on the study.

“We need to turn this wisdom into practical results to achieve more peace, prosperity, trust, civility—and yes, happiness—in our societies,” he added.

Afghanistan and Lebanon were the two unhappiest countries in the survey, with average life evaluations more than five points lower (on a scale running from 0 to 10) than in the 10 happiest countries.

Rounding out the top 10 countries on the list were Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.

The United States ranked 15th, Britain 19th and France 21st.

Israel placed ninth in last year’s report.