Rabbi's Daughter Claims Mother, Not Father, Sexual Abuser

Judge: This is not Jerry Springer!

Rabbi Israel Weingarten's daughter claims mother was sexual abuser in trial
John Marzulli • NY Daily News

Enough already.

A federal judge refused Monday to allow a rabbi charged with molesting his daughter to turn the courtroom into the "Jerry Springer" show.

The defendant, Israel Weingarten, who is acting as his own attorney, called two grown daughters Monday to testify that it was their mother who was the child molester, not him.

When Weingarten said he planned to call three more children, ages 13 to 18, to take the stand in Brooklyn Federal Court, the judge had enough.

"Your 13-year-old son is going to testify about sexual abuse by your wife?" Judge John Gleeson asked.

Weingarten replied that the boy would testify to physical abuse by his mother.

"I'm not going to permit it," Gleeson snapped.

Earlier the judge had allowed Weingarten's daughters Chayeh, 23, and Chaneh, 20, to testify that their mother had sexually abused their older sister, who claims she was repeatedly sodomized by her father starting in 1990 when she was 9 and continuing until she was 18.

Chayeh Weingarten testified her mother had sexually abused the victim and that she was warned by the victim that the Mafia would get her if she came forward.

The defendant is charged with transporting his daughter across international borders for the purpose of committing sexual crimes against her.

In her closing argument, prosecutor Rachel Nash asked the jury to consider the humiliation and embarrassment the victim endured by speaking publicly of the abuse.

The rabbi and his wife are divorced and he has claimed that she fabricated the abuse allegations as part of the bitter breakup.

Previous Posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Federal Indictment.

Comments

[Yochanan Lavie]

Maybe nor Springer, but I wish it was Judge Judy. She'd put him in his place.

[Chicago Samson]

She would probably have the abuser re-circumcised from the head down...

[Fred E.]

Ah, the varmkeit of the yiddeshe neshama. Shulom Bayis permeates our communities. What a difference from the tumult and machloikes of the goyishe velt!

[Bilaams' Donkey]

If Weingarten gets convicted, the judge just gave him excellent grounds for appeal. Not allowing him to present directly relevant exculpatory evidence? There's no greater error.

[phillip]

This family will make a great made for
TV movie. I hope all the children use
birth control...... this group of people
need should not reproduce.

[Paul Freedman]

this blog now routinely presents aberrant behavior as the norm--who did Judaism manage to exist for millenia without the scourging attention of FM?

well, at least as a pisher inside the tent

[critical_minyan]

i see a lot of people dressed like rabbi weingarten in williamsburg today.
they should do a sweep and arrest them all.

[Fred E.]

Paul, Hareidi Jews have been parading around the abberant members of the gentile world to tout the superiority of hareidi Judaism for many years. Why not have the truth about the perversions of Judaism exposed for once? The false messianism, the hatred of "outsiders", the constant infighting and abuse that is prevalent in Orthodox Judaism needs to be exposed to the light of day.

BTW: "malcontents" such as Isaiah and Jeramiah were raising their voices to the blindness of the Israelites in their day just as UOJ and FM are doing today. Oh--but I forgot, you wouldn't know about the Nevi'im since Hareidi Jews don't study Nach.

Thanks to FM's "scourging attention", perhaps some voice (if there exists any in the Jewish world) will be raised to put an end to the evils that are prevalent in Judaism today.

[Dr. Dave]

He's just pulling the old Esther v'nahaphochu (turn around) play.

He just doesn't realize that he not the hero of the story.

may there be no further abuse by anyone. Anywhere.

Freilichen Purim!

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

this blog now routinely presents aberrant behavior as the norm--who did Judaism manage to exist for millenia without the scourging attention of FM?
Posted by: Paul Freedman | March 10, 2009 at 08:40 AM
-

It starts with the Torah: Genesis is the multi-generational tale of of one disfunctional family. Cast out one son, bind up the other; deceive your father, favor one son; sleep with your step mother; sleep with your dtr-in-law; toy with your brothers...

[Paul Freedman]

FredEKugerand:

blah blah blah

Every day the Jewish community is bombarded by critics who are quite prepared to scourge Jewish mendacity, evil, power, aberration, perversion, and control of the entire universe with intent to do ill--this site is as "prophetic" as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or the Evening Sun--

but hey, when in doubt, form a circle and pull the trigger

byebye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBG4vxi9mtk&feature=related

[maven]

Yes, there's this classic antisemitism hate move that seems to occur here; while its critical for those of us in the community to know, identify, and prosecute criminals within our community (and Shmarya should be thanked for this), this information always degenerates into a community wide accusation.

"critical minyan" wants to do a "sweep" of all traditionally garbed individuals. And then what should we do with them, Herr Oberkommander?

When similar cases break in other communities, such as that case in Austria, no one said that we should ban Mozart and that all central europeans are degenerates. Only "Jews" provoke that kind of response. And then, of course, we'll have the halfwits come around and tell us that its because of "evolution" or not reading "mussar" (although much of these issues surround clergy abuse, the group that is most likely to have read "mussar" and know how to exploit it to manipulate their victims, as did Ben Zion Sobol, a Litvish mashgiach at Itri).

The issue here is that every population will have a percentage of people who are criminals, just as every society know to science has a roughly equal proportion of schizophrenia and other neurological changes. The problem is how it is dealt with in the community.
One learns from reading these postings why the Orthodox community hushes these up, it seems that it is impossible to bring a criminal of Jewish origin to justice without calls for a racial pogrom!

[Jerome Soller]

Bilaams' Donkey (what a cool name), I don't share your view that the judge gave him excellent grounds for appeal. The events in question happened 10 or 11 years ago. The children that the father wanted to testify, who are still under his control to some level, would have been between three and seven years old at the time and not likely credible witnesses (even without their father's influence). Given that their father had a history of coercing their older brother when he was their age, the judge made a very reasonable and defensible decision.

Jerome

[Yochanan Lavie]

I agree with Maven that we shouldn't tar everyone in a given community with the same brush, and that abherent individuals will occur anywhere. However, is it fair to ask if a culture helps nuture latent tendencies through its own dysfunctionality? This is not a rhetorical question- I'd appreciate feedback.

And I don't mean to necessarily imply that all "ultra-Ortho" cultures are dysfunctional, either. But are some? And if so, does it affect the amount of deviant behavior? This is not an indictment- my own views are always evolving.

[maven]

YL-

Personally, I dont think this Satmar case is anything but an aberration, the kind of sick case that happens here and there, I'm unaware of a linkage between incest and religious communities of any sort (Sphinxer chassidim, get it?).

I do think there is an issue with molestation of boys due to a strange combination of repression of homosexuality in the religious community coupled with a tolerance for misogyny, so that all-boys yeshivas, may be a "safe" territory for this kind of preying. And, since the ultimate crime is talking to girls, oddly, there is some tolerance for somewhat gay behaviour, one sees this in the whole "Pirchei" and "Boys Choir" phenomenon, etc. This is an uncanny parallel to the situation in the Catholic world, only that in the Jewish case, the perp may be married (but again, since the marriage was usually arranged and at a young age, the latent sexual preferences may simmer below the visible surface).

[WoolSilkCotton]

The black hatters claim that their way of life, and all the isolation and total immersion in the religion, is the best way to protect oneself from the depravities of a nonTorah life.

And yet, the % of depravity amongst the black hatters doesn't seem a whole lot better than the secular population.

So why bother with all the heavy baggage of the ultra-ortho lifestyle, if it's supposed to make you a better person, but it obviously doesn't?

If they want to live their wacky lifestyle, that's fine with me, but I don't want to be berated by the black hat crowd with scoldings on how the Torah life necessarily makes you a more moral person than a nonreligious, or nonJewish, person is. Yes, yes, it should, but in real-life practice, it doesn't.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Maven: Thank you for your thoughful comments. You articulated what I was thinking better than I could.

WSC: Religion, like sex, IMO, is a basic need. Being religious adds value to one's life, but there is a point of diminishing returns, as with sex. The clothing of Polish nobility doesn't do if for me- either spiritually or sexually. ;)

[WoolSilkCotton]

YL, true. People all over the world, even in the most remote recesses, seem to have a need for spirituality, tradition, belief in a subliminal higher force, etc.

I agree that it does add to one's self.

Even an atheist who believes in ethics, goodness, love, etc. brings on that spirituality.

You hit the nail on the head about there being a point of diminishing returns. Moderation seems key for everything in live.

So how about Ms. Purim in nothing but a 1700's shtreimel?

[maven]

WSC: Gaultier beat you to this in 1993 with his Rabbins Chic collection.

[Chicago Samson]

I recall once being in Jerusalem some 16 years ago, in Mea Sharim to be exact, at a pizza shop where boys and girls were playing with some of the video games like normal kids you would find anywhere in the US. Within several months later, the rabbanim of Mea Sharim insisted that boys and girls not be in the pizza shops at the same times, lest they fraternize--perhaps it might even lead to mixed dancing, a cardinal sin among the Charedim! (Of course I am only speaking tongue in cheek).

Now, years later, we have further separation between the sexes on buses, in supermarkets, the list seems to go on and on. I recall in my Charedi yeshiva how Time Magazine was considered to be pornographic literature, as were books about ancient Israelite history depicting the idols of Egypt.

The more strict they enforce these codes of conduct, the more they psychologically eroticize the opposite sex, or sex in general. Is it any wonder why there are so many problems of dysfunctional sexual behavior? The answer is obvious. Victor Frankl writes about this type of problem in many of his books, and basically argues that the more you try to prohibit something, the more you risk tantalizing that forbidden object.

The rabbis haven't a clue that they are a major part a problem that is unfolding everywhere in the Charedi community. They can choose to deal with it, or deny that the problem exists, but their desire to micromanage their communities is only exacerbating the tragedies we are witnessing. Their religious system and worldview is broken, and it needs to be replaced.

[maven]

1. In Benai Berak all seats were removed from pizza shops in the 1980s under threat of revocation of kashrut certification, so that there would be no mingling.

2. Most of the abuse cases described have been rebbeim against male children (and there are cases that haven't even been discussed here, a friend of mine wrote a book in Hebrew about this in the Benei Berak hatzerot); the male:female issue hasn't really been a source of abuse, except in MO circles; Charedim might argue that in that regard they've been successful, although they then have to answer about the "shabab" situation, and all that entails at the margins of the chareidi world. To some degree, the entire disavowal of the humanity of women has led to a certain tolerance of male:male sins as not being so bad, or understandable.

3. I don't know where you get that comment that the "rabbis don't have a clue" about what's going on. They knew very well about Sobol's proclivities, and covered for him for years even as more and more cases of abuse were transpiring. As long as we keep attributing it to "religious systems" we won't make headway, criminal acts need to be referred to as such and appropriately punished in criminal courts. The Geulah story published on another thread was a step in the right direction.

[Yochanan Lavie]

We need to punish perps, true. And bad systems don't excuse bad behavior. But systems that unintentionally encourage bad behavior need to be fixed.

[Chicago Samson]

Maven, do you care to comment on the "shabab" situation you alluded to?

The comment you made regarding male sins being "more understandable is alarming,” This is an interesting point I had not considered. I suspect you may be right.

However, I also wonder whether "a conspiracy of silence" might prove to be a more accurate explanation for why cases of abuse are seldom reported. Basically, religious organizations always want to project a healthy image of their institution to the general community. When deviancy occurs, it threatens to undermine the community's self-image, hence silence is the way families and communities deal with the nature of their members’ dysfunction; these folks who attempt to cover up the crime or problem are classical "enablers".

For instance: among alcoholics, when family and friends try to help an alcoholic, they are actually making it easier for an alcoholic person to continue in the progression of the disease without ever having to take personal responsibility in his recovery.In order to maintain an illusion of normalcy, enablers will lie to others about their loved one’s alcoholic symptoms; and they also refuse to talk about the problem with the individual; they will frequently give numerous chances for the drinker to get rehabilitated, but true to form, the drinker persists in his disease.

Many of the classic trademarks of enabling are definitely visible with the religious hierarchies that govern their community. Until they perform a fearless accounting of their role in the deviant’s behavior, the problem will not get better. While Maven appears to be convinced that the enablers are conscious and deliberate in their cover up (and he may well be right), I think it is no less plausible to say they are covering up the deviant and abuse because they are fearful that their community’s self-image will be tarnished. Unfortunately, by opting not to call the police, their worst fears of ruining the community’s reputation will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[maven]

The "shabab" a term borrowed from Arabic for youth, refers to kids from chareidi homes who don't go to the army, but aren't really at their yeshivas, they roam the streets, occasionally get involved with drugs, prostitution, etc, another one of these problems that no one wants to speak of publically. I'm sure somewhere along the line there were posts about this on this list.

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with, I didn't itemize the reasons the leadership hides this, certainly a major reason is to protect the community image, I mentioned this elsewhere. However, its very clear that even "talking to girls" would get one immediately chased out of yeshiva, whereas, a little latent homophilia (I don't know what else to call those concerts with the little boys in sailor suits at male only concerts) seems to merit one the title of being one of the "good guys". So while they violently attack women who may be provocative (say by wearing a sheitel a few millimeters "too long"), they seem to willingly defend "roshei yeshivos" who systematically sodomize their students, pedophiles who attack little boys, etc.

[ah-pee-chorus]

he was found guilty.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112009/news/regionalnews/bklyn_rabbi_found_guilty_of_molesting_da_159085.htm

[Chicago Samson]

Maven, I seek clarity, not disagreement. I looked up shabbab and discovered it was an Arabic word, but I wasn't familiar with the context you were using.

Little boys in sailor suits at Haredi concerts? Sounds pretty weird. BTW, on Purim in Mea Shaarim, it is amazing to see how many Charedim cross-dress, in open violation of the famous biblical proscription.

Talking to girls has always been a no-no, I remember when I was about 16 and I met a pretty young girl outside the yeshiva, and some rabbi went up to me, waved his finger: "Don't let me catch you speaking with the meydelach" and I replied, "Rabbi, drey your own kop!" (Mind your business!)

How common in your opinion are the roshey yeshiva who sodomize kids?

Your comment reminds me of a Talmudic Mashgiach who beside having a very effeminate voice, used to gently touch his teen students on the hand; he always gave me the creeps, now I think I know why ...

One of my classmates was accused of molesting a younger student in the dorm; this fellow was so refined, verrry pious, but he denied the accusation. The administration wanted him swear on a Sefer Torah that he didn't touch the kid, but he refused; they let him remain in the yeshiva, he was considered to be an up and coming talmid chacham.

[Chicago Samson]

I heard of a Haredi singer, who sounds like a woman, and his music was banned by the Herdeim.

[maven]

"Little boys in sailor suits"- that's how these Pircheis and "Boys choirs" perform. Saw it with my own eyes in Jerusalem, I thought I was going to puke.

Your cases are consonant with my argument. You can rest assured that if your classmate was seen instead talking to girls, that they would have thrown him out.

I know of several cases of similar "good guys" who were finally married off as alter bochurim, leading to either rapid divorce or abuse because the bochur was, how shall we say, not attracted to women (This is true of women as well, Jerusalemites may remember the whole Orthodykes scene at Vibe and other locations, etc. Activist friends of mine were always amazed at chareidi women with husbands and children showing up in tiechels hitting on the more "out" MO women, cf. the Australian principal story).
I'm surprised to hear about the haredi singer, since they love those little boy singers and Uri Shevach used to be very popular in the charedi world after he became a baal teshuvah.

[Chicago Samson]

Here is an interesting article some of the bloggers might find pertinent to our discussion:

Story from Theatrical Release in NYC

On the night of our Benefit Premiere at Film Forum, I saw two Hasidic women exit the theater and walk toward 6th Avenue. I rushed after them, eager to invite them to the unprecedented Orthodox community-wide discussion taking place the following Sunday, co-sponsored by eight Orthodox synagogues.

"How did you hear about the film?" I asked one of them. "The group," she answered. I hesitated. “The group?….you mean the Orthodykes?" I tentatively asked. “Yes," she replied. "Sara" later told me she is a Hasidic lesbian from Monsey, a mother, now trying to separate from her husband. She had brought her straight Hasidic friend to the theater. “Sara” was born "Ultra Chassidish." She knew she was attracted to women at a young age, but had never heard the words gay or lesbian. "Hey, I thought everyone had these feelings and then they get married to whoever their parents choose for them. I met a boy at age 17 and spent 3 full hours talking to him at which point I was announced engaged. We got married and my mom came to shave my hair off [a ritual for brides in her Hasidic sect]….”

“Sara” married while still in her teens, and has slowly, over years, come to accept her gayness. "My parents refuse to talk to me, and if I go to their house they lock the door in my face. When I call the phone gets slammed down upon hearing my voice. They do not speak to me because I have long hair (which I cover with a wig) and because I have openly lesbian friends. I have given up trying because it is too painful to be rejected." She thanked me for making the film, and for portraying the beauty of Judaism. “I admire your work and the dedication it took to make this project come to be.”

The next day “Sara’s” friend left me a message later thanking me as well. Having seen the film, she now understood what a lesbian was, why “Sara” couldn’t just be with a man, and all the struggle she has been through. The following night, I was surprised to see a crowd of Hasidim outside Film Forum. "Sara’s" straight friend had brought her husband, her brothers, and a cousin from Monsey to see the film. After the screening a virtual United Nations - Hasidic, non-Hasidic, Jewish, non-Jewish, gay, lesbian, straight, Asian, and African-American - stood for two hours outside the theater talking and laughing and at the end, even taking pictures with each other! For me, these unprecedented, spontaneous connections represent part of the unforeseen promise of Trembling Before G-d.

http://www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com/screenings/ny_story.html