Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
Rabbi Yisroel Belsky’s defense of disgraced former rabbi of Shaaray Tefila (Lawrence, NY) hurt Yeshiva Torah Vodaath when it angered rabbis and laity in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway and they pulled the plug on cooperating with a Torah Vodaath fund-raising weekend.
In explaining the decision, thirteen rabbis and yeshiva heads in the area issued a letter (3/28/14) stating:
Dear Fellow Members of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway Community,
… Unfortunately we are unable to host the Yeshiva [Torah Vodaath] at this time. This is due to a letter written by one of their Roshei Yeshiva [Yisroel Belsky], disseminated throughout our community, and critical of its Rabbonim, whose decision was made after much investigation and deliberation to protect the community from serious harm. It was clear from this letter that this Rosh Yeshiva was misled and misinformed.
The balance of the letter expresses a wish not to harm YTV and expresses the hope that the event can be rescheduled. While the letter urges people to honor their pledges, it does not encourage people who have not yet pledged to make donations before this matter is resolved.
The letter was signed by:
- Yechiel Perr (Yeshiva of Far Rockaway)
- Naftali Jaeger (Sh’or Yoshuv Institute)
- Moshe Brown (Agudath Israel of West Lawrence)
- Binyomin Forst (K’hal Nesiv Hatorah)
- Yehoshua Kalish (Bais Medrash of Harborview)
- Yaakov Reisman (Agudas Yisroel of Long Island)
- Elisha Horowits (formerly with Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid)
- Aaron Brafman (Yeshiva of Far Rockaway)
- Tzvi Flaum (Vaad HaRabbanim of Far Rockaway and Lawrence)
- Eytan Feiner (Kneseth Israel aka the White Shul)
- Mordechai Stern (Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid)
- Asher Stern (Ramam Mesvta High School)
- Yaakov Feitman (Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi of Cedarhurst)
The letter insults Belsky as “misled and misinformed,” chastises him for criticizing local rabbis, and puts the ball in his court to apologize and concede he was wrong. Historically, Belsky does not back down. After all, being daas torah means never having to say you are sorry or wrong. So we have an interesting situation, either he will lose face by backing down or Torah Vodaath will lose mucho dollars. In fact, regardless of Belsky’s decision, Torah Vodaath will not recover all the money they lost and Belsky has been knocked down a peg whether or not he apologizes.
The rabbis of the 5 Towns and Far Rockaway have shown that they have more fortitude than the OU and the RCA which let Belsky twist them around his finger into issuing an absurd statement about the Yosef Kolko conviction which made believe that Belsky supported their position on sex abuse while he continued to defend a convicted child molester.
I have been told by informed sources that the decision to put out this letter was backed by Rabbis Matisyahu Solomon and Shmuel Kaminetzky. This finally makes public what has been known for a long time by insiders; Belsky is not respected by the ultra orthodox establishment. They may have sent the message through proxies but they definitely sent a message: “Belsky, shape up and stop your shenanigans.”
P.S. — Conspicuous by his absence from this list is Rabbi Yaakov Bender of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, a headliner at recent conventions of Agudath Israel of America. He was a holdout on the original denunciation of Weinberger, who only joined in reluctantly and at the last minute under pressure. There are many more rabbis of consequence in the 5 Towns, but the list is weighted heavily to the rabbis in the walking distance of the areas in Lawrence and Far Rockaway where the Torah Vodaath Shabbat events were planned. In addition, during the initial deliberations about denouncing Weinberger, leadership was accorded to the rabbis in the areas closest to Weinberger’s shul, Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence.
FRUM FOLLIES by Yerachmiel Lopin 
Missing as well, is Ginzberg.
In fact he is the person who solicited the letter from Belsky and he lacked the courage to have it addressed to him by name, but then went ahead and circulated it. This is a guy who makes a fetish of attacking others for using pseudonyms. I excluded him because he is geographically far from the Lawrence/FR radius of most of the signers. For the same reason, other rabbis who definitely supported the Weinberger denunciation also took a pass. For example, neither Rabbi Hain nor Rabbi Billet (who heads the largest Young Israel shul in the world) signed on. But they definitely supported the Weinberger denunciation and I am guessing they supported the letter signed by the 13 rabbonim. The letter by the 13 Rabbonim was also a Black Hat list and all parties concerned may have preferred to not have Modern Orthodox rabbis. They probably felt that it needed black hat cred or else Belsky would scream he was a victim of moderns because he is so frum.
why didn’t rabbi Solomon and rabbi kamnetszky sign it as well that would have been the nail in the coffin?
They’re outsiders as much as Belsky is. If Salomon and Kamenetzky have the right to an opinion, so does Belsky. Wise move excluding rabbinic opinions from New Jersey and Pennsylvania in a 5 Towns / FR matter.
Rabbi ginzberg was not the person who solicited the letter. Rabbi bender was.
lets exposé bender for what he did what is he hiding?
Bender isnt hiding anything. He just is abstaining. He abstains when it pertains to people he loves like Ginzberg, Belsky and anyone else traced to his Brooklyn roots. Thats the only thing he is loyal to. He is disgusting and much worse than you can imagine.
glad to see you are calling Weinberger a sex offender. And kol hacovod for the 5town rabbonim for striking back at belsky and all what’s happening is Weinberger is digging his grave deeper and much wider audience is aware of him thus making it harder for him to rehabilitate himself.
What is with all the Rabbi Yaakov bender bashing? My children have been in his school for so many years. The man is a genious mechanech. He is so good to so many in Klal yisroel. Our Rav admitted that rabbi bender never even defended Weinberger. All rabbi bender did was try to have it handled in a less tumultuous manner.
I do not feel I was bashing. I was stating for the record that he was reluctant to join in the public shul statements warning about Weinberger, and he is conspicuous in not signing the letter about Weinberger.
I would not call it bashing, but I think he made a serious mistake in his reluctance to publicly denounce Weinberger. RDW will never be effectively out of the business of harming girls and women unless everyone is warned and he cannot get another rabbinical position.
To the best of my information, Belsky’s letter was solicited by R. Ginzberg. If it should turn out that R. Bender was also involved in soliciting it he should be roundly criticized because the letter is misleading and designed solely to protect a serious sex offender.
If you know R. Bender, you should contact him and find out where he stands on the Belsky letter. If he claims it is legitimate, run from Bender and stop trusting him. As an insider on the community deliberations he knows perfectly well that the process that led to the denunciation of Weinberger was more than fair.
Bender and Ginzberg go way back and EXTREMELY loyal to each other and each others interests.
Genius Mechanech, my son was in special ed. He stole something from his teacher. Rabbi Bender the genius called the police and he asked them to cuff my son in front of the entire school. He said that will cure him. He told me he didnt know about it. My childs teacher with the greatest fear of losing his job begged me not to say anything but that was 100% Rabbi Bender and he heard Bender speak to the police who didnt want to do what was being asked. Good job genius, my special ed son was used as a sacrafice for other kids to be scared out of stealing. My son knows this and he is scared for life.
For the record, UOJ had this letter up since Fri afternoon.
Some of the identifications are mistaken. R’ Elisha Horowitz has not been at Heichal Dovid for a very long time. After heading a shul in Freddie Martin’s basement & now has his own shul at 200 Broadway. He is notably the Noviminsker Rebbe’s son in law which means the Agudah has for the 2nd time made Belsky persona non grata.
Rabbi Forst is also a rosh kollel & a major posek which gives this serious halachic weight
Rabbi Flaum is also rosh kollel in the basement of Weinberger’s former shul
Rabbi Feiner used to employ Weinberger at his seminary
Rabbi Asher Stern is rov of Rabbi Gruber zl’s shul on Rockaway Turnpike
I wonder why the other Rabbi Horowitz, the Bostoner Rebbe of Lawrence is missing in action? Could it be because Belsky is his superior at the OU and he has gone along with OU cover ups in the past?
the bostoner has never been a member of the FR Vaad and has never signed on any vaad letters about anything. This is his mesorah from his father.
Almost none of the rabbonim who signed against Belsky belong to the Vaad. I repeat the Bostoner stands by silently while cover ups are underway at OU kashrus in the course of his high ranking position, with Belsky as his superior.
Edited by blog proprietor to remove irrelevant and possibly defamatory information about someone not directly connected to this issue. Please stick to the topic or risk being banned from commenting.
Supposedly the rabbis who signed this letter are the ones who were hosting various parts of the Torah vodaath shabbos this weekend and chose to cancel. Apparently several rabbis also read the letter above from the pulpit today.
Rabbi Yaakov Bender is of Darchei TORAH not darchei Noam as you state above. He is not on the list as he is not a pulpit rabbi but a rosh yeshiva, and not a rabbi who had been hosting the Torah vodaath roshei yeshiva. He is also, as rumor has it over the kiddush Chulent today, the guy who solicited the letter from r belsky.
Thank you for correction of the name of R. Bender’s yeshiva. I have corrected the text. In spite of rumors to the contrary, I stand by my information reporting that it was Rabbi Ginzberg who solicited the letter from R. Belsky.
Other Roshei yeshiva were in the letter such as Rabbis Perr and Jaeger.
He is not a pulpit Rabbi, but a Rosh Yeshiva (unfortunately). But Ha Rav Jaeger is a Rosh Yeshiva so is Rav Peer, and others on the list. The fact is he didnt sign because he came to Far Rockaway to bring his brooklyn to Far Rockaway, not any other way. He respects his roots only. He is a very bad person is all I can say. And I know him well, unfortunately. His fellow beighbors from Far Rockaway have told me he enclosed himself and disregarded his neighbors until he became big enough to bring his loyalists to Far Rockaway.
This story has been percolating for 6 months now…what the hell did Weinberger do exactly? I’ve heard everything from mere comments to women about their bodies to serious dreadful sexual violations (with minor high school girls to boot)? How can we all judge when no one knows what actually happened
My information is sexual talk with a lot of women, repeated violations of din yichud, and in some cases sexual activity with women including oral sex. I do not know if he sexual activity was only with adult women. It’s character was disturbing enough for some therapists to feel it could be reported to the police as criminally prosecutable. The rabbis who deliberated about Weinberger heard some tape recordings that seems to have clinched the decision for them.
The nature of the accusations and the evidence were such that the rabbis were forced to act. Anyone can make one ‘mistake’ in ‘the heat of the moment.’ A pattern of behavior over years involving those seeking counsel and impressionable young ladies could not be ignored. Such actions posed a ‘clear and present danger’ to the community.
Whether he should have been allowed to resign quietly under the pretense of a leave of absence due supposedly to the stress of the job is another matter.
Fortunately for potential future victims those who cajoled, pleaded with, and even threatened the financial stability of local yeshivas and Shuls did not prevail and indeed helped expose the serious moral crimes ( alleged but reportedly backed by much evidence ) here.
He was allowed to resign quietly and quit the rabbinate. He failed to keep his side of the bargain and that is why he was denounced from pulpits. Then he fought back with the Belsky letter. That is what led to publicly signed letters by rabbis attacking Belsky.
The Vaad of the Five towns is very powerful. As we experienced a few years ago with gourmet glatt supermarket. When they sought a new hechsher the Vaad shut them down and they were forced to sell. Once again we see their strength with the Rabbi Weinberger scandal. Also, a few corrections rabbi Horowitz is not the current rav of heichal dovid and rabbi bender is rosh yeshiva of darchei Torah
Rabbi Asher stern is with Congregation Bais Avrohom Zev. (Rabbi grubers)
Rabbi Elisha Horowitz is with congregation agudas achim.
Husband came home from shacharis and word is very widespread that it was rabbi bender. He told someone directly that he was involved.
What does R Yisroel Reisman of TV have to say about this , if you know .
It is my impression that many others in YTV, including R. Reisman, despise Belsky but have never had the ability to force him out. If they fire him they know he will sling mud and play din torah games. If they had spines they would face him down. But they do know he will not leave quietly. The fact that he is costing them big money may get them to press him harder. Time will tell.
Karen:
How many times will you post it was Rabbi Bender. It seems like you have some sort of agenda here. Just because there is a rumor out there does not mean its fact. I have no idea if it was or wasnt. Its even possible it was Weinberger himself who went to Belsky. But someone telling someone that someone said something is not worth much.
Karen you are clearly obsessed with Bender. Anyone living in five towns knows that bender is responsible for reshaping rights for underprivileged kids across America. Does he really seem like he would defend a predator like Weinberger? We all know him as likely do you and he’s much smarter than that . Just doesn’t add up. No way.
Not at all. I have girls so do not know the man personally but have many close friends who sing his praises. I am just repeating what my husband told me. From what I understand there is no proof pointing to either rabbi bender or rabbi ginzberg. It’s all rumor at this point. Yerachmiel heard one rumor, we heard from someone close to rabbi bender that it was he who wrote the letter.
Keep in mind that at the initial meeting rabbi bender came uninvited with a close cohort of his who I will not name as he is am askan but not a community leader. They apparently got up and tried to stop the meeting and said that there is no reason to ruin rdw’s life over unsubstantiated allegations. At which point someone took rabbi bender and his friend to another room and played tapes of rdw talking salaciously to the single woman he had an affair with. Rabbi bender was still not convinced at that point that rdw was anything more that a man who sinned once but agreed to back down for the time being.
The person close to rabbi bender who claims he was behind the letter said he did not want it publicized, he just solicited it to help rdw possibly acquire employment in the future. It was rabbi belsky who disseminated it and rabbi bender was blindsided. Rabbi bender was behind the letter from rabbi belsky but definitely did not want the fallout that occurred and is very upset that the fundraising shabbos was ruined.
Rabbi Bender did support removing Weinberger from rabbanus. It is not rumor but fact that R. Ginzberg solicited the letter from Rabbi Belsky and then circulated it to try and rehabilitate Weinberger’s reputation. I have confirmed it with multiple sources. I do not know where Rabbi Bender stood on the letter criticizing Rabbi Belsky. But clearly, he did not sign it. He and Rabbi Belsky have close family connections going back to when his mother was a key figure in the formation of the first Bais Yaacov girls HS in America after WWII and the Belsky/Wilhelm family were active in the same Williamsburg circles as key figures in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Williamsburg. That may have weighed in his feelings about signing that letter.
Sounds like Ginzberg. I know him close to 40 years. Notice Chofetz Chaim didn’t find a job for him in any of the branches.
A reflection of the esteem in which AZ is held by Rabbi Harris perhaps?
To rational faith,
What means AZ?
Who is Rabbi Harris?
Please dont defend Yackov Bender. He knew better than everyone combined what he signed or lack there of. He is an expert, he is great at publicity, controlling his employees lives, gaining control and being loyal to his own interests. Maybe you are writing for him or are blinded by his facade.
Josephine, you know the public Rabbi Bender. He loves Ginzberg, they go way back. I know him, he is a very bad person. Its nice that you are giving benefit of the doubt. I would also, but I know him very well. He is not who you think he is.
Let’s start at the beginning and Yerachmiel may need to create flow charts to follow all this.
Mike Tress was molesting boys inside the Agudah’s building in WIlliamsburg. We don’t just know this from MIT scientist Philip Fishman hinting it in his book. There are a lot of rabbis who admit it off the record. Whether or not Sruly Belsky and his good friend Yudi Kolko were molested by Tress as rumored, here is what transpired in the decades that followed:
Kolko is a talmid of Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, grandfather of the sex offenders Dovid Weinberger & Weiner.
Scheinberg interfered with several beis dins & other rabbonishe gatherings investigating Kolko. Scheinberg was aided primarily by Lipa Margulies, Sruly Belsky & his close talmid Aryeh Zev Ginzberg.
Yankel Bender was at one of the meetings that ended with covering for Kolko. Yankel Bender’s father was rosh yeshiva in Torah Vodaas and hence close to Belsky.
A major financial supporter of both Margulies and Belsky is convicted felon Berish Fuchs who has since moved to Lawrence, a few doors away from Dovid Weinberger, and has become very close with Yankel Bender. Fuchs partner in crime is convicted felon Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum who along with Belsky covers up for their good friend convicted child rapist Lipa Brenner. Brenner is family with Belsky’s accused molester buddy Ephraim Bryks & shyster Paysach Krohn who is good friends with Weinberger. Fuchs is first cousin of Dov Hikind who suddenly became interested in the molester cause only after Yudi Kolko moved out of state.
Mike Tress put systems in place at the Agudah to protect molesters. These systems were fanatically protected by Rabbi Shmuel Bloom who lives at the Far Rockaway – Lawrence border. It was only after Bloom was pushed out of the Agudah that they would even allow the mention of the word molester and would consider censuring Belsky.
I cannot say if this is true, and I do not know all the particulars, but the ones I know are accurately reported. Sadly, I must say, I find the above plausible.
To cover up encyclopedia,
What means MIT?
Who’s Weiner?
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) scientist Philip Fishman on “Glatt”/Mike Tress:
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2012/08/agudath-israel-of-americas-very-own-child-molester-234.html
Weiner = Rabbi Yaakov Weiner formerly of Camp Mogen Avraham
It’s even worse.
You left out the the Canadian Agudath Israel coverup of the sexual abuse at Camp Agudah, Eitz Chaim, NCSY and the Toronto Jewish Boy’s Choir. Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum of the powerful Nussbaum family was protected for decades and was only arrested and charged in the past year. Harvey Erlich a product of Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum’s Toronto Jewish Boy’s Choir was also arrested and charged with similar offences. David Reichman the late son of the late Paul Reichman was a victim of Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum’s Toronto Jewish Boy’s Choir. Hamayvin yavin.
Rabbi Ephraim Bryks ran an NCSY program with Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum after Rabbi Heshi Nussbaum had been removed quietly from Eitz Chaim due to allegations of child sexual abuse.
The Nussbaum family were founders of the Agudah movement in Toronto, and of Agudath Israel Congregation. They had family members who were active members on the Vaad Hapoel Agudath Israel, the governing body of the International Agudah organization. They were active in the Eitz Chaim schools, and founded Bais Yaakov High School. In addition, they helped found Camp Agudah in Port Carling, and Perspectives, the newspaper of Toronto Agudah.
Rabbi Dan Rand, executive vice-president of Eitz Chaim Schools, acknowledged in an interview that Nussbaum was fired from Eitz Chaim in the 1970s after the school became aware of allegations against Nussbaum in the camp.
No report to the police of child protective services. No warnings to the parents of the community. No attempt to offer victims/survivors any assistance. Just a whitewash. Just a cover up.
Stern is worse than that. When this all started he yelled in his Shul that Weinberger was Sexual predator before any details or daas Torah was consulted.
Note by Blog proprietor- I deleted the last two sentences because they were irrelevant insults not related to the topic under discussion.
Not true and not correct chronologically. Rabbi stern spoke after the meeting of all the vaad rabbis where the tapes were played. At that point, after he has heard with his own ears that weinberger is a predator, the fact that he spoke from the pulpit to warn his kehilla can either be debated or commended but certainly not denounced!! At that point weinberger was still local and word was still out that he was “ill” and people feared that women of the community were not safe.
I do not know rabbi Stern. But you know what, a rav does not need daas torah to know bacon is trayf and sexual misconduct is unacceptable for a rabbi. Unless you can prove he was wrong in his statements, I find his actions praiseworthy. As for being young and new to the community, maybe it shows he is brave and independent in his thinking.
the problem with Weinberger is not that the criticism was premature, but that decades passed between the beginning of his misconduct and when he was finally exposed.
to: fivetownsgolfcart,
There r at least 2 sterns in 5 tns.
Which stern r u referring to?
That is actually a high compliment of Rabbi Asher Stern. If he had information about Weinberger there was no need halachically speaking to consult Daas Torah.
I know for a fact that he had many details and he had heard the tape and furthermore, it was after many Rabbanim in the area had concluded as he had.
This is an example of the sort of post which makes FF appear like a site for outright lashon harah … This site is better than that
I realize that some comments are unfair. However, I consider the silence about abusing rabbis a major problem and crowdsourcing local info is our best weapon until rabbis and communal leaders consistently step to the plate to expose culprits and protect potential victims. In the end, even with contradictory and occassionally inaccurate information, the discerning reader can get more truth here than they will from official sources. I trust discerning readers to distinguish between my posts and the comments, and between competing claims. I have great faith that the truth will out.
To Y.L.,
The fact that 13 5t/fr Known Rabbis Officially signed on a paper black on white has to be considered a big miracle by itself (that happened close to Purim).
(A couple of months ago, when the Rabbis of 5t/fr only announced it on Shabbos, many were writing in that they did on Shabbos only for the purpose that nobody should be able to record it or tape it down etc…)
Also, if it’s true that Rabbi Solomon and rabbi kaminetzki are letting the Local 5t/FR rabbis sign that denunciation… (and not interfering against it), should also be considered as another miracle by itself.
Ive posted in the past many things on this case.I am a member of Shaare Tefilla and was also duped by Davey weinberger.I have heard so many different stories about what exactly happened my head is spinning.On Thursday I finally spoke to someone that is very involved in the case and demanded some answers.I asked him why Rabbi Bender didnt sign he said Rabbi Bender didnt like the way the other Rabbis handled the case,he felt it should have been decided by an out of town Bais Din ,not the local Rabbonim.He also told me that to date more then 28 women have come forward that Dave and buster violated them in some sexual manner.He also claims that the Rabbis never even spoke to Davey ,they just decided to go public when they heard the s-x tape dave made by a girl,some say even exposing himself to her.Also that Reb Mattisyahu never gave the go ahead to the Rabbanim to go public,he said maybe some rabbanim called him to see if they should sign,which is different then him saying that the group of rabbanim asked collectivly if they should go public.
My own person take on this is if you have a child molester,and 30 different kids come out claiming abuse,and you have a tape ,Lets think do you wait around and twidle your thubs until he strikes again do you castrate him. You answer the question
To can’t say,
Who’s Buster?
rabbi Solomon is in a pickle cause he used to send all his ladies that need help to jack Mueller son law gelly from lakewood then he got caught having affairs with his clients so then rabbi Solomon started sending them to Weinberger now he got caught but Solomon would never admit he is wrong so he just is never available and never comes out saying anything just that his gabbai Levi says the masghacih is not feeling well.
Can I ask why my comment about Gelley was erased when I provided documentation? His mug shot is online as well by the way.
Was not relevant to the topic at hand or did not address it directly.
What a terrible thing to say about Gelley.
I know him personally. He is a Talmud chochom
An excellent clinician and was the victim of slander such as people like yourself!
if indeed its true that weinberger perform phone sex and oral sex and expose his private parts and we now know there are over 28 cases and he paid his victim monterey funds i think the FBI should be called in to look into this and if confirm to be true to have him locked up.
This post is in defense of a good man – Rabbi Weinberger. He has helped countless people throughout the years and selflessly served his congregation, his community, and his fellow Jews. l do not know all the facts here, however, we are quick to point the finger at the man in these situations no matter what the circumstances and say he is the guilty party and the predator. I have not heard any calls of rape here, and a woman can always say “no.” How many women are the initiators in these situations, and how many men out there would be able to resist the feminine wiles of some ladies?.As far as a recording goes, it is illegal to tape conversations unless the other party is aware of it. The fact that there is a recording at all smacks of entrapment. Why would anyone make a recording of a personal conversation unless there were ulterior motives involved?
. I hope this gives you all out there something to consider before you ruin a good person’s life and livelihood.
I have no doubt that Rabbi Weinberger has good deeds to his credit. However, the question, for communal leaders, is not whether he has good deeds, perhaps even, many, many good deeds. The question is whether it is dangerous to let him hold a rabbinical position. They concluded that he misused his position to solicit sexual acts. Even if the rabbis concluded he did not use violence or the threat of violence, they could still conclude his conduct was so inappropriate for a rabbi that he could no longer stay in that role. If they had evidence that he routinely ate ham sandwiches they would also have supported forcing him out because it meant he could no longer be trusted as a religious role model. Moreover, eating ham sandwiches would have been only his sin, but his sexual activities entangled others.
Contrary to his propaganda, the rabbis who investigated, found evidence involving many victims and conduct that included soliciting highly sexual acts, some of which actually occurred.
The women who trusted him and got entangled deeply regret their poor judgment. But whatever their mistakes, it is ridiculous for Weinberger to claim he is like Joseph falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. Remember, Joseph did not do anything. Weinberger did.
Contrary to Weinberger’s claims, he was constantly on the prowl and grooming potential sex partners. One women, who evaded his misconduct, told me that he rescheduled an appointment from the Shaaray Tefilla office to a small empty shtieble nearby. He then took her up two flights of stairs to a back office. He then closed the door, violating din yichud (the Jewish rule against seclusion with an unrelated member of the opposite sex). While talking to her, he stood close, uncomfortably close. This woman wasn’t sure why she was so uncomfortable. After all she figured, “he is respected rabbi, so it must be my imagination.” But she listened to her discomfort and never contacted him again. This was his mode of operation with many, many women. He broached boundaries, he tested resistance, he put out feelers, and when some were susceptible, he went further, much further.
Someone who is regularly fishing cannot blame the few fish he catches for entrapping him. At most he can fault them for not being smarter about recognizing his lure. If he is fishing out of season, game wardens cannot let him off the hook if he blames the fish.
recording conversations in nys is legal as long as one of the parties knows. In other words, it is only illegal for a third party to record a conversation, without the two parties knowing about it
Below are quotes from “Female Opinion” and my comments [in brackets].
This post is in defense of a good man – Rabbi Weinberger. [Comment: If it was your close relative he molested, would you still consider him a good man?]
He has helped countless people throughout the years and selflessly served his congregation, his community, and his fellow Jews. [Comment: Granted. He also helped himself to countless vulnerable females who trusted that a Rav could do no wrong].
l do not know all the facts here, however, we are quick to point the finger at the man in these situations no matter what the circumstances and say he is the guilty party and the predator. [Comment: You don’t know ANY of the facts, or you wouldn’t defend this guy].
I have not heard any calls of rape here, and a woman can always say “no.” [Comment: You don’t know anything about abuse and how the abuser grooms a vulnerable victim and gradually breaks down all her barriers of modesty, and then can do all kinds of things to her without her giving consent].
How many women are the initiators in these situations, and how many men out there would be able to resist the feminine wiles of some ladies? [Comment: Why is it OK to blame the victim, but Weinberger needs to be defended at all costs?]
As far as a recording goes, it is illegal to tape conversations unless the other party is aware of it. [Comment: I get it. If Weinberger molests someone’s daughter, you assume she seduced him, but if a desperate victim records his x-rated phone calls, because she can’t get this predator to stop calling her (and realizes that if it’s his word against hers, she’ll never be believed), you’re concerned about the legality of recording phone conversations without the predator’s consent. If an EMT goes through a red light to save someone’s life, are we concerned with the legality? Why not be grateful that countless potential victims will now be spared. Anyway, in most states and under federal law, it’s perfectly legal to record a phone conversation without the other party’s consent].
The fact that there is a recording at all smacks of entrapment. Why would anyone make a recording of a personal conversation unless there were ulterior motives involved? [Comment: Law enforcement does it all the time. It’s only entrapment if you try to cause someone to commit a crime that he would not have otherwise committed. It’s not entrapment when you’re gathering evidence against a criminal who is committing a crime].
.
I hope this gives you all out there something to consider before you ruin a good person’s life and livelihood. [Comments: Weinberger ruined his own life and livelihood. And having abused his position as a Rav, he is permanently disqualified from serving as one].
See Wikipedia on grooming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_grooming
While the article focuses on children, regrettably, many frum women have been over-socialized into always deferring to rabbonim even when it violates their common sense.
Yerachmiel the only thing I can say is at least no children were involved..while whatever RDW did is horrific (of which to this day I still don’t know what he did) these were all grown women …vulnerable and easy prey but still grown women nonetheless. And I am in no way defending him…he was my mesader kiddushin and I’m so upset I chose him ..am I even married????
Also can you give us an idea as to what the contents of the “recording” were?
Yes you are married. The witnesses are more important than the rabbi performing the wedding and there are all sorts of other reasons not to worry.
I am bound to maintain confidences and cannot and will not speak about the details of any specific victim. Suffice it to say that the overall pattern definitely included overt physical sexual acts (unless you reason like Bill Clinton, and probably even by Bill’s criteria). Vihamevn Yaven. The activities were identified for dozens of women and it is a good guess that it involved hundreds of women. Moreover his pattern involved grooming moves on first interactions with a number of women such as closing doors and violating din yichud, inappropriately initiating graphic sexual conversations, etc. He did some of his things in person and some by phone and email and over the internet in other forms.
He was indisputably an EverReady bunny of grooming and initiating.
Just to be clear, he did not hit on everybody. Moreover, I am willing to concede as others claim that he was wonderful to some members of his community.
We will never find out all the details unless he is foolish enough to sue the rabbis who denounced him as unfit for defamation.
Just to lighten things up a bit…when I was dating maybe 1 out of every 5 girls liked me…how on earth did this guy seduce so many women? Is there something about a rabbis beard that is irresistible to women?
Rabbi Stern was ahead of his colleagues in publicizing the matter to his Shul, but he was more than vindicated when everyone followed suit.
I was involved in a divorce in the early 1990s weinberger was a huge instrument in the divorce. To be sure no children were involved and my ex and I were kids ourselves. Something didn’t add up the man was pushing hard for the divorce and had never even met me. The marriage lasted 3 yrs and though it was never a great marriage weinberger didn’t seem to care he seemed more interested it getting me out of the way in order to make some play on my 21 yr old wife. I am one story im sure there are scores just like this. I feel nothing other than the comfort of knowing hashem takes care of everything.
sick, sick, sick … and I dare say, evil
meant “… and I dare say evil”
It’s good there were recordings otherwise this would still be going on
Yehuda,
did something happen? Any proof? Any specific instance?
You ask this question exactly one year after the last post on this thread.
The more important question would be:
Where is a certain menuval and does he pose a danger to anyone?
Please message me privately by one of the methods mentioned on the top right of this page if you have any information.
All you need to know is,,,,”Rabbi” Yackov Benders is the son of “Rabbi” Dovid Bender who was a Menahel at Torah Vedas.
Benders father was a Menahel at Yeshivah Torah Vedas. The disgraced child Molester Rabbi Belsky was from Torah Vedas, He was the only “Rosh Yeshivah” to not sign a petition against Belsky of the 13 Roshei Yeshivah’s in the Five Towns. Its a well known fact amongst those who have what to do with Darchei Torah or Mesivtah Chaim Shlomo that Bender employed a teacher even after knowing that teacher locked a student in the closet on a regular basis. The teacher had strong ties in the religious community. Anybody who knew the teacher can tell you he wasn’t dealing with a full deck anymore, but still Bender allowed him to teach many years after. Are you surprised Bender didn’t standup against the Brooklyn Rabbi who molested children ? One of Benders friends from his days in Brooklyn Bender is a result of public relations and being an opportunist. He built the Yeshivah and named it Chaim Shlomo after a special ed student who was in the school at the time, the students father is Ronald Lowinger. In the meantime of his image being of loving special children, he hid the classrooms in the back of the building so nobody can see them. He refused to allow the special needs students attend school events, assembly’s and trips. He claimed to have special needs students included in regular education classrooms when appropriate. It happened once and he milked it as if he were the most giving special education Rosh Yeshivah, capturing the hearts of so many. He squeezed out his dedicated special education staff, leaving them jobless. He proclaimed that the school doesn’t have the budget anymore. He kept the students which he charged $ 11, 000 of tuition and refused anyone who couldn’t meet the price. Due to the overwhelming need for children with special needs, he chose those who were wealthy and can pay tuition and be contributors. To save money he hired CAHAL, which is a special education program that costs him nothing in overhead. He complained of students who caused damage to the classrooms, which was true, but common with students with behavioral issues, which he took in with open arms as long as they had tuition and donations. The only special ed student Bender, catered about was Chaim Shlomo. He was treated with the utmost care, because his father built the Mesivta. He proclaimed himself Rosh Yeshivah. The others whom already helped the day school, and donated millions of dollars their children received preferential treatment. Once they were of no use, they went from preferential to run of the mill. When one of Benders biggest donors lost all of his money in 2008, the dedication names were removed because part of the promise was to give a yearly donation and they weren’t able to do it anymore.. He is a very bad person. It is an absolute shame he is in a positon of being a community leader based on the false image he bestows. Further, there were 3 incidents of his fellow alumni from Torah Vedas that were charged with sexual abuse of minors. (Torah Vedas seems to be a factory of such villains). They were declared to be exiled from the community. Bender made it his job to ask his many staff from Brooklyn to make a minyan at these peoples houses because they were not allowed to daven in shules because of their horrible offenses. Their is also the truth about those that ran Ponzi scams and made victim their family and friends. It was a tragedy and a very sad story. Bender was coincidentally a involved with investing with these people and came out ahead of the game. He also showed his immoral loyalty to a few of these horrible human beings. If its in his good, and building his empire it doesn’t matter who you are and what you do. As I finish this information which I write for the sole purpose of trying to do my part with the information I know and should be known to the public and know the real “Rabbi” Jacob Bender. Bender will try to find out who is the author of this article and if known he would make life miserable for that person as the others who have been brave enough to be truthful.
You mean Rabbi Yackov Bender, the one who allowed Rabbi Mandel continue teaching at Darchei Torah even though Rabbi Mandel locked students in the closets? You mean Rabbi Yackov Bender who put all of the self contained classrooms in the back of the school and had different times for those classes for recess and lunch? The same students not allowed to attend school assemblys or school trips. He looks great under the big Rabbenstein Plaque or the Lowenstein Plaque. I thought ten times before writing this. Rabbi Bender is a master at publicity. He will exploit people to make himself look good. He is very responsible, not worthy of leading a Yeshiva. He will allow child abuse and sweep it under the rug, I know it, I saw it. The way he pursues publicity by having a nose for the camera and looking good. He is an oppurtunist and he really is about pumping his image and making money. If you are not loyal to him, he has absolutely no regard for you. I am completley not surprised to see him side with the Rabbi’s who molest children. The very same grouping of these horrible Rabbis is the Yeshivas and orginazations that Rabbi Bender considers his roots and he wont take a stand against them. In his own school there is abuse and he is more scared of a din torah than doing the obvious. This isnt the only case, he has instructed his many yeachers, Rabbis and anyone on his payroll to support, drug money launderers, and sex offenders to have Minyanim at these peoples houses because they were not abled to daven in a shule. He has a very strange propencity to support some of the worst sexual offenders and crminals. I dont know why, i just know it to be true, I am speaking from what I have seen with my own two eyes. He is a terrible person. I regret knowing him because he gives frum yidden a bad name. I wish i were wrong.
Whats worse the sick man who committed these horrible acts? Or the person covering it up? If Bender takes the money and has gone out of his way to make sure it says, Rabbi Yackov Bender Shlita. The Shlita should mean he is obligated to sign that letter. Instead he didnt. He is very good at writing his name when it attracts attention but also very good at excluding his name and hopes nobody notices, because his real loyalty is to the Yeshivas that back these horrible people and criminals. He is much worse than what I am saying. I only am stating this because I think its better that it be said than not said. I am sorry its true, and maybe the awareness will help us choose our leaders better and realize that there are people who are not who they pretend to be.
The only thing I will say. Rabbi Yackov Bender is a very bad person. He wants to be the king of his empire at the same time he controls his own interests which in this case once again shows he will be loyal to abusers, just ask alumni, if they remember the Rebbe who hit kids and locked them in closets and Bender swept it under the rug, because even though Rabbi Mandel was not fit (to say the least) to be in a classroom, he swept it under the rug. Whats worse is he could have put the teacher on paid leave but he wouldnt even do that. Hashem Yirlacheim.
Rabbi Bender has his cronies searching the internet looking to see what they say about him and his interests. I have seen with my own 2 eyes, Rabbi Bender has his own ways of dealing with people who cross him. Its not pleasant and I highly reccomend your identity if posting here be completely annomous with out an internet trace.