How Abraham Could Have Saved Sodom

For five days I have anguished about a perverse rabbinical court ruling. It twists facts and tangles logic; it betrays honest witnesses and rewards those who lied. It does all this to protect institutions and jobs.

If Abraham had been pleading to this rabbinical court, he would have dispensed with appeals to a just G-d. He wouldn’t have concerned himself with the number of righteous people. He wouldn’t have settled with just bringing out his nephew Lot and Lot’s family. Instead he would have declared: “Surely a just rabbinical court would not let 150 people lose their jobs, not when they are supporting men who learn Torah in kollel, not when they come from prominent families.”

Enlarged Beis Din Met Again About Meisels Seminaries

Elimelech Meisels, serial sex abuser

The enlarged beis din met again on two evenings this week by teleconference to finally resolve the transfer of authority from Meisels who retains a financial interest and is accused of using his position for sexual violence against students. However the teleconference was acrimonious and there was no resolution. As things now stand, they have still not effected a transfer of authority completely removing Meisels from control sufficient to satisfy some of it members or Touro College. So they are still unaccredited. The enlarged beis din consists of the members of both the Special Beis Din in Chicago (CBD) and the Israeli Beis Din and its av beis din is Rabbi Eliezer Brudny, Rosh Yeshiva at the Mirer Yeshiva in Brooklyn.

What Parents Need To Know Before Sending Girls to the Meisels Seminaries

No Accreditation

Rabbi Moshe Krupka,
Executive VP, Touro College

As of last week, Touro College (and its affiliate, Hebrew Theological College) still hasn’t restored accreditation to the four seminaries, Pninim, Chedvas, Keser Chaya, and Binas. According to a source who spoke to Executive VP, Rabbi Moshe Krupka, Touro is waiting for proof that Elimelech Meisels, no longer has ANY possible control over the seminaries. Without accreditation, your daughter won’t qualify for FASAP grants and loans or college credits.

According to Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn, Touro is also demanding that a staff member be fired (probably the principal of Binas, Hindy Ullman). This would be consistent with the statement by the Special Beis Din of Chicago (CBD) in September:

Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz NYT 2012 Senior Dayan, Special Beis Din, Chicago (aka CBD)

Staff members who knew of Meisels’ misconduct, yet did nothing to stop it, violated their most fundamental responsibility-protecting the bnos yisroel entrusted to their care. Absent extraordinary circumstances, such persons must be removed from the seminaries, just as any reasonable person would insist upon removal of a mashgiach who knowingly permitted a cook to serve treif food to consumers.

Refund Problems

Those who now control the seminaries continue to refuse to give refunds to parents who withdrew their students for the 2014-2015 year. The parents involved either get no answers or they get sent running from one party to another. The only parents who got refunds were those who joined a lawsuit. If an individual seminary decides to close shop because enrollment is too low, don’t count on getting your tuition deposits back. Even if you are willing to sue, there may be no assets to back up a judgment. Officially, the seminary does not own real estate. They rent, according to their Israeli amutah reports on Guidestar.

Meisels Still Controls the Seminaries

Nobody has confirmed in writing that Meisels has given up control of the seminaries. In September, the CBD wrote:

How Meisels Can Prove It Was Just a Hug

Elimelech Meisels,

There is a terrible machlokes about you. Yesh omrim, some say, you raped, fondled, seduced, sent dirty pictures of yourself, sent dirty texts and emails, and so on. Viyesh omrim, and some say, it was just a hug. In fact a certain rabbi in Israel says it could have been just a consensual, non-sexual, Tattie-style hug.

Elimelech Meisels

On the other hand, according to the Special Beis Din in Chicago (CBD) because of “unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature between Elimelech Meisels and students” which you “confessed,” students “are at risk of harm.” They even say you delivered a “handwritten list of multiple additional victims.” They think you are so dangerous that you “may have no contact with any girls, including present or former students, not by mail, email, texting, talking, Shabbos meals; no contact whatsoever.”

Wow! The CBD is really down on you. Yet Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn says even if you should not be in chinuch any more because you violated negiah, you are not that bad.

Unfortunately for you, Elimelech Meisels, the only official statement about your behavior comes from the CBD. Nobody else has said you did less or more. They just talk about the present safety of the school (where you haven’t been since May).

Elimelech Meisels, only you can solve this machlokes.

More Irregularities Revealed In Legal Documents Between Meisels and Plaintiffs

(See images of the referenced documents at the end of the post)

Meisels Still Claims Control of Peninim of America, Inc

Yesterday (12/14/14) I reported that Elimelech Meisels still claims ownership of the not-for-profit (NFP) entity, Peninim of America, Inc. This claim was part of his response to a complaint by two plaintiffs (Jane Doe # 1 and Jane Doe #2) who allege Meisels sexually assaulted them.

Internet Intimidation

The plaintiffs sought a conference with the court ( which was granted for Tuesday 12/16/14, 1:30 p.m. with Judge Marily Go) because, “In the past week, information concerning the plaintiffs has been posted all over the internet. The personal information concerning the plaintiffs is information that only an insider would have.” The letter is probably referring to information and threats that appeared as comments on the Daas Torah blog with the tacit consent of the blog moderator, Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn.

Rabbi Daniel Edensohn
Daas Torah blog

After I blogged to protest implied threats to reveal the identities of the plaintiffs, Eidensohn grudgingly backtracked in part but directed a massive attack at my blog. He and I argued about his allowing a comment in favor of revealing the plaintiff identities if they lied. This was in the context of repeated suggestions by Eidensohn and his favored commenters that the plaintiffs were lying in claiming rape and attempted rape.

Eidensohn insists that there is no proof that Meisels’ misconduct extended beyond a few hugs which may have been consensual and not explicitly sexual. His next few postings claimed that reports of the incidence of rape of college women are exaggerated, that U.S. Title IX legislation (regarding sexual violence and harassment in higher education) is “strongly reducing a man’s presumed status of innocence,” and referenced an article pointing out that the media have a legal right to reveal the identities of John and Jane Does in sex abuse cases.

Eidensohn finally stated, “I of course agree with the standard procedure of not publicizing the names of victims and witnesses.” However, he mitigated his responsibility stating “I approve many comments which I don’t agree with.” However, the plaintiffs, this blogger, and many observers detect an implied threat coupled with the strong suggestion that these plaintiffs are part of a large problem of exaggerated allegations of abuse by young adult women.

Meisels Blames Others for Leaks
Claiming an Attempt to Take Away Peninim of America, Inc