Should This Man Be CEO of Hatzalah?

The better question is, shouldn't he and his wife be in jail?

I've been sitting with this story for days. I saw court documents and press releases. But it didn't sit right with me.

The New York Daily News was able to ferret out some additional information that makes me think Michael Hersh (pictured at right), the CEO of Hazalah, and his wife Miriam have committed federal crimes.

Have they?

You be the judge: 

Jewish family sues Jamaican reform school for troubled teens

    BY KIRSTEN DANIS
    DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
    Tuesday, March 25th 2008, 4:00 AM

   

A battle has erupted in the Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager sent by his prominent family to a behavior boot camp accused of terrifying abuse.

    Isaac Hersh, 16, has been trapped since last summer at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica with a soothing name - and harsh discipline, according to the lawyer hired to try to get him out.

    "It's a modern-day concentration camp," said Maryland lawyer Joshua Ambush.

    Isaac's estranged parents sent him to the boot camp last year after luring him back to Brooklyn from his new home in Texas, court papers claim.

    Isaac's twin brother, Sol, is panicked he's next to go.

    "He's very worried about his brother. He's very worried about himself, too," said a friend of the family who asked to remain anonymous.

    Tranquility Bay offers the promise of turning bad boys into focused achievers, but the walled-off camp with barred windows has been called a nightmare.

    Children have been beaten, forced to eat their vomit and made to stand in painful contortions for hours, according to a separate suit filed in Utah by former students against private boot camps, including Tranquility Bay.

    The case has so riled up members of the normally insular Orthodox community that several are taking the rare step of publicizing Isaac's situation.

    One one side is Isaac's informal Texas foster family, who are also Orthodox, and their supporters, who prompted a nonprofit to file suit in Washington last week on Isaac's behalf.

    They claim he was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of a job, handcuffed and thrown into a van that took him to the boot camp as he cried and begged to be released, the suit says.

On the other side are the teen's father, Michael Hersh - CEO of Brooklyn's huge Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah - and his wife, Miriam.

    "Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement.

    The couple has a prominent supporter in Rabbi Aaron Schecter, head of Brooklyn's tight-knit Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, according to the suit.

    It is unclear what prompted the parents to send Isaac to another country. Michael Hersh did not return a call for comment.

    They had a troubled relationship for years, according to the suit.

    Isaac, one of eight children, was sent to schools in Virginia and Long Island before the family moved to Israel in 2002, where the parents were accused of abusing Isaac, the suit says.

    From there, the boys went to live with families in Texas, although the parents never lost custody.

    "They're healthy, good, normal teenage boys," said the family friend.

Pictures: Top, Michael Hersh; middle, Isaac Hersh; bottom, 'students' at Tranquility Bay.

[Hat Tip: Dr. Rofé-Filosof.]

Comments

[ANON]

Most of the goons who work in my local hatzalah take full advantages of the perks. Can anyone report the local hatzalah for cleaning peoples driveways? Illegal minyan? Illegal use of funds?

Does the greater good make everything whitewashed?

Where does this goon live?

Earn HIs money?

[Fleishike Kishke]

What were this boys "crimes?" Was he on drugs? Or was he not saying krishma on time?

Shmarya,

Thanks for posting. What a disgrace !!!!!

The charedei-frum leadership is worse then anyone (except for you) could have ever imagined.

Get ready for all the denials and cover-ups.

Should this man be head of Hatzala..

What about should aron schechter be in an assisted living center instead of being rosh yeshiva of chaim berlin and a member of of the moetes gedolei hatorah ?

[MalachHamovies]

Sorry ! That last quote was mine.

[Archie Bunker]

Why were you hesitating to post this before the Daily News picked it up?

[Archie Bunker]

Steve Zakheim, a convicted sex offender, also works for Hatzalah.

[MalachHamovies]

Fleishke Kishke,

It's DAAS TOIRAH !!!! Please don't ask any more questions ! If a GODOL (tremble) tells you to take your kid and toss him off the GW bridge, you do it. No questions asked.

Oh, after the deed is done, make sure that you apologize to the drivers on the bridge that were held up. You always want to make a kiddush hashem.

[shmuel]

If you compare the two pix of Isaac, one as a bar mitzva bachur and one as a teen, you'll see why the heilige parents did what they did: Isaac was getting too modern. Nisht git. Must teach lesson. Off to concentration camp in Jamaica.
If any rabbi, of any institution, is in the parents' camp, we must act as a community and work to shut down that institution.
The agony of being an observant Jew in this day and age is insufferable. The chilulei Hashem are sky-high.

[Avi Cohen]

I know Michoel Hersh. He is erlich. His wife is a fine woman. No one should have to go thru what they are going thru.

Michoel is erlich and honest and the newspaper is printing one side of the story. Of course they will not reply as this is a very private matter.

Unfort., those that reply only know a little of what happened.

May the Hersh family and klal yisroel only know simchos.

[Archie Bunker]

Avi Cohen, you are a fool.

Torture of children cannot be justified under any circumstances.

[Avi Cohen the second]

Torture of children can only be justified if you are saving them from Modern Orthodoxy or chas v'chalilah worse. This young man is obviously turning not frum and all steps must be taken to save him by feeding him traif food and being raped. His neshoma will not be affected as it is being done by daas Torah.

You don't understand what grief the poor parents are going through. They had to put all the money to this.

Instead of being angry say some tehilim that no one has to send kids again.

This happened because of the internet and he went to concerts.

This also happened because he looked at the women that were immodestly clad.

An avlah.

[Anon]

--Torture of children cannot be justified under any circumstances.--

It is also likely to have little or none of the desired effects anyway.

[rabbidw]

Stupid question, but I am curious. Does this tranquility bay have kosher food? Is there a minyan? What about shabbas? What is the kid supposed to do about Pesach?

[Jake]

Shmaryah,

Thanks for posting this story.
Hatzalah does great things,despite some very probelematic behavior of many of it's mebers.

For sake of clarity there are a number of different groups useing the name Hatzalah serving different communities.

Obviusly if a man does what this Hirsch guy is accused of, he has no buisness having any communal responsibility.

If the child is a " problem child " (not meaning that he wants to be less relegious than his parents. That is not a problem child. ) There are plenty of quality American institutions. Not wanting to be " frum " is not something a child is institutionalized for.

Sort of a joke having Hatazalah monitoring any situation. they have more than enough problems monitoring and keeping their own volunteers in line.That is putting the fox in the hen house.

[Archie Bunker]

http://geocities.com/saveisaac/

It says at the top "Click here to view court papers"
which opens a file.

According to the court filing, Michael Hersh had a complaint lodged against him with Child Protective Services in Israel for abusing his sons. He then fled Israel and returned to NY. The Israeli investigation in 2004 centered around Hersh giving his son mind control drugs. To escape scrutiny, Hersh sent his son to a school in Toronto, Canada, before returning to his old Brooklyn address at 817 Ave M.

The way Isaac was abducted by bounty hunter type thugs is scary according to witnesses in Flatbush.

Using the direct URL does not work. The file must be opened through the Geocities page.

[Ariel Sokolovsky http://www.BostonChabad.com]

B"H
Shmaryah!
What will it take for you to stop using peoples tragedies (and this is what it seems to be a tragedy not a crime by the parents duped by the promoters of the behavior modification programs)and misusing them to score points in your belligerent campaign of mesirah against the chareidi Jews?
Here is the link to the page created some time ago to free Yitzhak :
http://geocities.com/saveisaac/
nowhere on this page the parents are being accused of any intentional act
to cause harm to their child.
Readers please note the embedded Google videos closer to the bottom of the linked page explaining the situation with these programs.
Parents are duped by slick advertisements and fast talking promoters even made to take out 2nd mortgages to pay for supposedly possibly saving their child from a life of crime by sending him or her to such a program and afterwards children are angry at parents for doing it to them and parents feel guilty for having allowed themselves to be manipulated to do this to their child.
Why do you have to present Michael and Miriam Hersh (a frum Jewish couple involved in Chesed , people you have probably never personally met or interviewed) as some kind of monsters who would pay to have their child abused , degraded and hurt for no good reason rather than saying the whole truth including embedding those news reports videos about these behavior modification programs which I am sure you have seen while researching info for this post?!

[Ariel Sokolovsky http://www.BostonChabad.com]

B"H
Can you stop throwing around accusations of unspecified "federal crimes"
The parents didn't lose custody of the child.
They did what many other parents in their situation have done and haven't been prosecuted for because (for better or for worse) Congress refuses to regulate "behavior modification industry" see videos at the bottom here:
http://geocities.com/saveisaac/

[Archie Bunker]

Ariel, please read the court filing before you make yourself look completely ignorant. The parents have been made aware of what's going on.

[steve]

Ariel, you are extremely naive. Anyone can google "Tranquility Bay" and find hundreds of sites that describe the abuse and torture that goes on there. It all starts with a group of gangsters waking up the child at around four in the morning, handcuffing him and whisking him off to the airport. Hersh happens to be in the computer software business and is a computer techinician. You don't think he looked into this place before he invested $40K to send his son there? What about the fact that he stood idly by as they handcuffed his son while the boy pleaded with his captors? I'm sorry, but these parents are no better than those that throw new born babies in garbage dumpsters. Shmarya is absolutely right, these parents deserve to be locked up. I don't care how troubled the boy is, you do not feed him to the wolves.

[Barry]

Shocking case. No child should ever be removed from supervision of the country of which he is a citizen for disciplinary reasons without consent of a judge reviewing reports of social workers.. There should be no exceptions. Children are not the property oftheir parents.

[steve]

Barry, there you go again. Children are the property of responsible parents. When parents are abusive, then they forfeit their rights as parents and should lose custody of their children. Your statement places all parents in the same category as abusers that cannot properly take care of their children. This is not the case.

[S.]

Children are not the property of parents, responsible or not. Children are under guardianship of their parents, but they most certainly are not property of the parents.

[Ariel Sokolovsky http://www.BostonChabad.com]

B"H

What about the fact that he stood idly by as they handcuffed his son while the boy pleaded with his captors?

It may be cruel of them yet it is probably not illegal (for better of for worse) the United States never ratified the UN convention on the rights of children.
Also let's suppose they would have called the police or EMTs on their kid and filed a a form asking that he be interned in a psychiatric facility and evaluated for a few days.
The kid (or an adult for that matter) would have been restrained in the same exact way wit them standing and watching.

[Archie Bunker]

Ariel, you are really getting silly.

Doctors or other authorities can order someone to be forcibly restrained but in all other cases it is against State law and against Federal law if the child is transported across state lines.

Is that a Purim joke about ratifying the UN Convention? Maybe it was ratified at the Agudah Fresser Convention.

[steve]

Ariel,

The parents are the ones that need to be interned in a psychiatric facility, and if you continue to defend them, then I think you need to be headed there yourself. BTW, they did try that on Isaac in a L.I. psychiatric hospital and the hospital released him. Harry Maryles got this info from the court documents:

http://haemtza.blogspot.com

In July of 2006 Isaac was brutally taken by force to a psychiatric facility in Long Island, New York. Isaac was released six weeks later when the facility determined that he did not need their services

Bottom line is that this kid needs to be taken out of this hell hole before it's too late. That's the reality of the situation. We can sit here and bicker day and night as to whose fault it is, but it won't do Isaac any good. Let's work together to save him.

http://geocities.com/saveisaac/

[Ariel Sokolovsky http://www.BostonChabad.com]

B"H
Archie, this is not an isolated incident thousands other parents have done this also with "kidnapping" and handcuffs watch the news reports videos on that page :

since in those cases the perents have not been prosecuted there is probably no crimes involved.
The child is in parents custody to begin with, the parent signs a power of attorney to the "kidnapper" and the "behavior modification program", apparently
no existing laws are being broken
.
I know that when Shmarya wants to change the sad reality he sometimes simply imagines it to be changed already and proceeds to make arguments based on this new imagined reality, but why do you have to descend to this level.
Go watch the relevant videos and get back educated.
PS.
US signed but didn't ratify the convention on the rights of children since among other things it conflicts various state laws see the Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Convention_on_the_Rights_of_the_Child

[steve]

From the Tranquility Bay agreement:

TUITION. Sponsors agree to pay to the School/Program eighty dollars ($80.00) per day.

EARLY ENROLLMENT TERMINATION.
A. Liquidation Provision. The Program/School recognizes and affirms that since Sponsors
maintain all parental authority and responsibility, Sponsors can remove the student at will. However,
this Agreement is for a twelve (12) month minimum Enrollment Period, the Sponsors agree to give the
School/Program sixty (60) days written notice prior to the actual withdrawal or to pay to the
School/Program an amount equal to sixty (60) days payment. The payment of sixty days is considered
by the parties to this Agreement as a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable losses which would be
sustained by the School/Program in the event of a withdrawal of their student prior to the end of the
period. This "loss" amount is not considered by either of the parties to this Agreement as a penalty
for early withdrawal of the student, but is intended to reimburse the School/Program for costs and
budgeting commitments made by the School/Program in connection with the enrollment of the student.
This clause will be waived should the student transfer to another World Wide Association of
Specialty Programs School/Program with the approval of WWASP administration.

COMMUNICATION WITH STUDENTS. Sponsors understand that there is no telephone contact with the
student until the student has earned level III status which normally takes 60 to 120 days. It is very important that the
Student earn this privilege and that exceptions are only made in cases of emergencies. During the first 60 to 120 days both
the Sponsor and Student may write as often as they choose but telephone calls are disruptive to the students' progress as
it distracts their focus in the School/Program. Once the students have demonstrated their progress in the School/Program
by earning level III status, monthly telephone calls with the Sponsors become an important part of the School/Program.
Visits may occur after the student has earned Level 4, has been in the School/Program a minimum of three months, has had
several successful phone calls, and has been approved by the Family Representative, and Staff Team. The first visit may
only be approved for just on-grounds, as determined by the School/Program. Sponsors understand and agree to follow the
School/Program’s visit and communication policies. Sponsors further agree that if they violate the School/Program’s
communication and visit policies the School/Program may at their option discharge the student, and yet still hold the
Sponsors financially accountable and responsible for the tuition on the remainder of the contract period (see Item #3) and/or
the time that would equal proper written notice

AUTHORIZATION FOR BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. The Sponsors understand and authorize the
School/Program's Behavior Modification program which includes rewards and incentives for appropriate behavior; and
consequences and deterrents for inappropriate behavior or rule violations. Rewards and incentives include earning merits,
privileges, trust, and status advancements. Consequences include but are not limited to demerits, loss of privileges, loss
of status, essays, work hours and work sheets. The Sponsors further understand and authorize the School/Program to
suspend the student from their regular schedule and activities, including school classes, until they complete any necessary
essays, worksheets and/or other disciplinary assignments. The Sponsors also understand and authorize that all essays and
worksheets are completed in a designated area within the facility where students have minimal distractions and interaction
with peers. The Sponsors further understand and authorize the School/Program to maintain a strict code of conduct
including rules on dress, hair cuts and grooming, interaction with others, use of manners, appropriate attitudes and
behaviors. The Sponsors authorize the School/Program to apply the behavior modification techniques described here-in
and any others deemed by the School/Program to be necessary.

[mother in israel]

Thought you would want to know:
http://mominisrael.blogspot.com/2008/03/layered-beit-shemesh-mother-of-12.html

[Bnei Levi]

Shmarya,

More facts are needed. Will it be the bloggers who manage to research this properly or the media?

[Name withheld]

My daughter had some issues
She has something like Attention deficient syndrome and some other stuff.
Some of the symptoms are outbursts impulsiveness.
Took six months of seeing this and that doctor to figure out what she has.
Now it is controlled via different drugs and she is NOT some zombie either.The drugs get adjusted periodically too! I taught my daughter how to speak to a doctor so that he/she understands her issues and that worked.
Well it looks to me that Isaac's parents went the way of the cat-o-nine whip, electro-shock and sent the poor kid to a Gitmo style camp for Al-Qaida types.Isaac's parents on the other hand may say "have you tried upping the voltage on the electro-shock machine"

[steve]

http://www.isaccorp.org/tranquilitybay.asp

Tranquility Bay - Jamaica
Tranquility Bay, located in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica opened in 1997. The program has also been known as the Caribbean Centre for Change.

Jamaica has the highest crime rate of all Caribbean nations and averages 4 murders per day.

According to UNICEF, more than 900 children were sexually assaulted in Jamaica in 2004.

ISAC has received more complaints about Tranquility Bay than any other facility.

Complaints include beatings, brutal physical restraint resulting in broken bones, sexual assault, food deprivation, and excessive use of isolation - known as Observation Placement or OP.

The facility operates according to the guidelines of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), and is marketed by Teen Help, LLC, both located in St. George, Utah.

For additional information about WWASPS, please see our main WWASPS page.

Jay Kay, owner and director of Tranquility Bay, holds no credentials that commonly qualify individuals to work with children.

He is however, the son of WWASPS President Ken Kay.

After dropping out of college, Jay Kay managed a gas station mini-mart in San Diego, CA.

He then worked as a guard at Brightway Adolescent Hospital and eventually became the administrator of the facility.

Children were "evaluated" at Brightway before being sent to other WWASPS/Teen Help affiliated facilities such as Tranquility Bay and Casa by the Sea.

During an investigation of Brightway, Utah State officials found that many of the patient care plans were identical and the staff had failed to report at least one suspected case of abuse.

Jay Kay was declared bankrupt in 1994, just 2 years prior to the purchase of Tranquility Bay.

As with several WWASPS facilities, Tranquility Bay used to be a hotel.

It is guarded and gated, complete with barbed wire and barred windows.

Following a suicide in 2001, bars were added to all balconies.

Most of the 200 Jamaican staff members are reportedly in their late teens or early 20's and are unskilled workers earning a minimum wage.

Students at Tranquility Bay are chaperoned and scrutinized by these staff members 24 hours a day, even while using the toilet.

ISAC has received reports of staff members providing marijuana and cocaine to students in exchange for sexual favors.

During sworn testimony in the August 2004 case of WWASPS vs PURE, WWASPS President Ken Kay stated that in his opinion, sexual activity between staff members and students is "not necessarily" abuse.

When he made the remark, Kay was being questioned about an incident at Tranquility Bay involving a female student and a male staff member.

Of all programs currently under the WWASP/Teen Help referral umbrella, Tranquility Bay carries the reputation of being the "harshest."

Many of the former Tranquility Bay students who have spoken with ISAC were originally placed in other WWASP-affiliated facilities, but were transferred to Tranquility Bay for not complying with the program's rules.

Randall Hinton, a former long-time staff member, has reportedly admitted to using pepper spray on students and spraying it in their eyes from a distance of about 2 feet.

At least one student was reportedly hog-tied when he was sprayed by Hinton.

Hinton also admitted to diapering a teenager with a plastic garbage bag after the child had been pepper-sprayed.

Hinton has stated that he had the approval of Director Jay Kay.

Randall Hinton is currently an administrator of Royal Peak Academy in Colorado. Royal Peak appears to be affiliated with WWASP.

ISAC has received statements alleging that Jay Kay has personally pepper-sprayed, restrained and beaten students.

Tranquility Bay has been described by parents of former students as a "private detention facility," "a holding pen for teens" and "a place for parents to dump their kids."

It appears to ISAC that the statistics support those descriptions.

According to reports, only 20% of all students "graduate" from the program.

Of the remaining 80%, many are withdrawn by their parents, but most withdraw themselves when they turn 18.

Some students are not allowed to leave even when reaching age 18 because parents refuse to make arrangements for the students to return home, and the students themselves are not permitted to do so.

[steve]

Posted on UOJ:

Michael and Miriam,

Your child was in your eyes a problem child, going off the derech you chose to project, and certainly at risk for failure. You sent him to yeshivos in Richmond, and on Long Island. These yeshivos are for good kids who aren’t interested in the false lifestyle of their parents, NOT at-risk programs. It stands to reason that you failed to adequately check out the many outstanding frum programs that could have helped your child. Instead you chose to send YOUR SON, no matter how much you hate him, to a place devoid of any vestiges of religion or human decency.

You can rationalize that “this is called tough love”, “this is the structure he needs”, “I asked Daas Torah”. Tranquility Bay is not called tough love, needed struture, or approved by anyone with the slightest Jewish upbringing, any more than Birkenau was. To deny these facts will make you one of Judaism’s strongest supporters of the Final Solution.

Michael, you have what to boast about being CEO of Hatzolah saving peoples lives. However, a man is judged based on his weakest link. Isaac is your weakest link, and he needs to be saved immediately. No one is asking you to take him back into your home, all people expect is for you to do Pidyon Shevuyim of your own son.

Go ask Reb Ahron about the pasuk in the Aseres Hadibros, “LO TIGNOV” this means DO NOT KIDNAP. Arranging the kidnapping of your own flesh and blood is not something for Jews to be involved in. Release your son from captivity NOW.

Your Friend,
MP
Moshep613@aol.com

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

I'm sorry, but these parents are no better than those that throw new born babies in garbage dumpsters.

He's also no better than Shlomo Amar who also had a kidnapping victim in his house.

What's with these people? I thought kidnapping was part of the Ten Commandments.

[Archie Bunker]

"I thought kidnapping was part of the Ten Commandments."

It is even one of the most severe sins within the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) itself because a kidnapped child can become lost, losing his identity to the point where he comes to violate every sin in the Torah including marrying his own sister without knowing it.

What happened in the Amar household, while reprehensible, was just assault & temporary forced confinement. It seems to me though what the Hershes are doing can lead to the type of kidnapping that is almost a cardinal sin.

[Bnei Levi]

The story has gone out on the wire reports internationally:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/25/lawsuit_claims_boy_kidnapped_to_boot_camp/8260/

[Open Letter]

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK JEWISH COMMUNITY

After speaking with numerous Hatzoloh members it has been made clear that the people primarily responsible for the hiring of Michael Hersh and seeing Hatzoloh dragged into the public eye are:

Zelig Gitelis (F-19) who lives at 1319 East 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 [Cell no. 1-917-612-3519 – Home no. 1-718-434-5359]

and,

Yitzi Stern (B-30) who lives at 1405 48th Street, Brooklyn NY 11204 [Cell no. 1-917-559-8880 – Home no. 718-633-3905].

They were the active members of the Hatzoloh search committee and offered the most vocal support for his hire. They failed us and their executive responsibilities by hiring someone with no previous employment history and a record of child abuse. In addition, the fact that we’re paying him an annual salary $250,000 is an outrage.

All this on the say of Rabbi Aaron Schechter.

Their responsibilities are to Hatzoloh and the Jewish community who support Hatzoloh, not to any individual or other group. We hold them personally responsible for this embarrassment of Hatzoloh, Klal Yisroel’s proudest organization, and demand they take immediate action to see that Hatzoloh is kept out of the news and can return to their incredible mission of saving, not assisting in the destruction of, Jewish lives.

We are going to research and post the names of all the guilty members of the Hatzoloh board that caused this travesty and hold them personally responsible for their actions.

[MF]

HOLD IT HOLD IT HOLD IT.

Wait one minute here- I happen to know the family personally, and let me tell you this: the family is a wonderful wonderful family who went through a lot of tzaros in general, and what I can tell you is that YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. The father and mother are wonderful wonderful people, who in general are excellent parents and have raised beautiful children. They made the decision to sned this child to this school becasue THIS CHILD NEEDED IT. I feel bad for the family and I wish I didn't have to say this, but this kid could be a hard core criminal if he wasn't sent there. Do you want this kid to become a rapist/psychopathic killer when he grows up? Because this is the only thing keeping him back from there. Trust me, the parents love him and care for him and want him to be NORMAL and not a danger to society, which he already is. I understand that from a supericial glance it appears horrific, but you don't understand that this is the only thing that will SAVE him. If you want to pray for him pray that this place will staighten him out, and tell everyone you can the truth.

[Open Letter]

MF:

You hold it. Regardless of the situation, and I dispute everything you wrote about the parents and Isaac, there is no valid reason for Isaac to be subjected to torture in a life threatening environment.

If your rebbe Aaron Schechter disagrees that is his right. He does not have a right to participate in a kidnapping.

This will not end well for him. His past is out in the open and his reputation will not survive intact.

I know Izzy. He is a sweet boy.
His only failing is that he has lunatics for parents.
In the name of Ha Shema there will kill people, and send their son to a terrible place.
I would like to see them living there.
What has happened to our religon?
These fanatics are criminals.

[steve]

His only failing is that he has lunatics for parents

And lunatic, sadistic friends such as MF that come on here to defend them. I am praying for the boy (Yitzchak Meir ben Miriam), not that the 200 Jamaican gangsters will "straighten" him out like you suggest, but that he should be rescued from that gehinnom and find a loving family to care for him.

[james]

Shmarya, check out the jewish week article on this, it doesnt say, but the family's attorney is the president of the national council of young israel, shlomo mostofsky...how do you like all the connections, its just sick....

[steve]

http://www.isaccorp.org/warningsigns.asp

Warning Signs of Potentially Abusive Facilities

The facility is not licensed.

Verbal and/or written communication between the child and his parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. is prohibited, restricted, or monitored on any level.

The facility requires that the parents and/or child sign a form releasing the program of liability in the event of injury to the child.

The program requests/demands/recommends that they have legal custody of children.

The program requires that children live in foster or "host" homes instead of allowing them to reside with their parents.

The child or parent or forbidden from discussing the daily happenings at the facility. Often this policy is called "confidentiality."

The child is denied access to a telephone.

Phone calls between children and parents are monitored.

The program uses confrontational therapy.

Parents must fulfill requirements of the facility before being permitted to visit their own children.

The facility is located outside the jurisdiction of the United States.

Children are restrained or otherwise physically prevented from leaving the facility.

The staff includes former students/clients of the facility.

Staff members claim that self-injury or cutting/carving on ones body is normal behavior for a child in treatment.

Parents are not allowed to remain with their child during the entire intake/entry process.

The program inflicts physical punishments on children such as exercising for extended periods of time, bizarre cleaning rituals (ie scrubbing floors with a toothbrush) or food restrictions.

The program uses humiliation to "break them down."

The program forces children to remain in solitary confinement/isolation/time-out for an unspecified amount of time.

The facility considers homosexuality to be a behavioral problem.

The facility claims to be able to "treat" homosexuality.

Reading materials are prohibited or severely limited.

The facility does not have a clearly visible sign outside the building or descriptions of their location are vague.

The facility claims to modify behavior, yet has no licensed therapists on staff.

A licensed doctor or registered nurse is not present at any time during normal operating hours.

Current clients/students participate in the intake/entry process.

Staff members offer to help parents obtain a court order forcing the child into, or keeping the child in, the facility.

Children are observed while bathing, dressing, or using the toilet on any level of the program.

The facility claims to treat drug abuse, but does not conduct a drug screen prior to entry.

The facility does not allow children to follow their religion of choice.

Staff members must "approve" family members, siblings, friends, or employment.

Children are not afforded an education in accordance with state requirements.

Medication is recommended, prescribed, approved, or dispensed by anyone other than a medical doctor (MD).

Children are denied medications that have been prescribed by an MD.

Staff members, admissions personnel, referrers, etc. make statements indicating that "your child will die without" the program.

Children escort/supervise other children.

Children have to "earn" the "right" to speak during group/therapy sessions.

Children are denied outside activities on any level/phase.

Staff members must approve the withdrawal of children from the facility.

The facility expects total and unquestioned support of parents.

Children on any level/phase are forbidden to speak to other children in the facility.

The facility will not disclose the names of any doctors or therapists on staff prior to the child's admittance into the program.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The above post describes some baal teshuva yeshivot (LOL).

At least in Jamaica, the music is good.

[Jake]

If you or anyone you know was abused at Tranquility Bay contact attorney, Joshua Ambush Immediately. He can be reached at: 410-484-2070

[caring mother]

To MF:
You sound so cruel, or should I say you sound like Michal Hersh !
I know Michal and Miriam for many years- and on the exterior I would say that your description of them sounds nice - but so far from the truth of who they really are . They have become Bal Teshuvas and have used Religion as a cover to hide behind ... this child is a sweet boy, with a kind heart - he is defenseless - how dare you have your speculations on such a innocent victim ! He will probably grow up to be a much more decent man than his father ever was NOT because of him- IN SPITE of him !
we should all say tehillim foor Yitzchok Meir ben Miriam - for his safe return