I was debating whether to even write about this, and I thought that in the light of the recent Walder scandal maybe I should just let "dead dogs lie."
But as I glanced at the cover of the latest issue of Ami Magazine, with the caption "Remembering Rav Lipa Margulies" my interest piqued and I asked the storekeeper if he had an open copy so that I can peruse the article.
Before even reading the article I knew that Ami is always on the wrong side of the news. DIN readers remember the recent outrageous cover story about Rabbi Zamer Cohen who claimed that the Zionists wanted to shut down his school because it was a Kiruv Yeshiva
It turned out to be a fabrication; his school which was coed wasn't a classic yeshiva patterned after our "mesorah" it was patterned after the "Finnish school system," and he admitted that there was absolutely no Torah being taught there except for boys putting on a kipa and girls putting on a skirt while making a blessing "bla bla bla thanks for the grub". Rabbi Cohen couldn't explain why the Zionists would close a school that was doing this kind of "Kiruv" when the Zionists government was funding Chinuch Atzmai, Shuvu Schools, Ohr Samaich etc.at the very same time!
Not too long ago Ami was telling its foolish readers that the cult Lev Tahor was a legitimate chassidius, and gave the story 5 pages filled with fiction and lies!
And so back to Rav Lipa Margulies.
As I was reading this glowing article I noticed that they left out the fact that his Yeshiva started out on a fraudulent premise. R Margulies opened his Yeshiva calling it Torah V'Daas, and he did this to steal students from the real Torah V"Daas.
The real Torah V"Daas had to take R' Lipa to Bais Din to issue a cease and desist order. He then changed the name to Torah Temimah only after enormous pressure from Gedoilei Hador that were outraged at this chutzpah.
The glowing article also left out the huge elephant in the room the fact that R' Margulies settled a lawsuit by two former talmidim who accused him of covering up for a serial sexual molester called Kolko. Margulies finally settled by paying them over 2 million dollars. This was not money from his pocket but taken out of the Yeshiva coffers. Tzaddaka money!
There are a half dozen lawsuits still pending in the courts.
In the Ami article they write the following about R' Margulies:
"Rav Lipa was strongly opposed to bachurim attending college classes while they were a part of Yeshiva Torah Temimah. One time, the hanhala found out that a bachur was taking a college class at night, and Rav Lipa presented him with an ultimatum: Quit collage or leave the yeshiva. Someone objected and mentioned that this boy's parents were among the yeshivah's biggest donors. "If they want, they can get back all the money they have donated," Rav Lipa said. He never compromised on his principles"
So R' Lipa objected that a guy going to college would G-d forbid learn a trade, make a living to support his family, while allowing at the very same time a murderer of children to continue to teach, because as Ami put it so beautifuly "He never compromised on his principles" as warped as they obviously were.
I will now list a chronology of Kolko's Molesting & Lipa Marguilies' Protection Read it for yourself and judge!
