Suicide Groom Told Friend He Was Molested By Rabbi Baruch Lebovits

A Brooklyn man who committed suicide two days into his honeymoon had confided to a friend's dad that he was molested by a prominent rabbi now facing charges of sexually abusing other boys.

Suicide groom's anguish
By REUVEN BLAU and SUSAN EDELMAN • NY Post

A Brooklyn man who committed suicide two days into his honeymoon had confided to a friend's dad that he was molested by a prominent rabbi now facing charges of sexually abusing other boys.

The friend's father told The Post that Motty Borger, 24, accused ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Baruch Lebovits, 59, whose trial -- on 75 counts of sexual assault involving three boys -- starts Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Borger's videographer dad, Shmuel, founded the boys choir Amudei Sheish. The Borgers and Lebovits shared strong ties to the Munkatch Hasidic sect. Borger attended the sect's school and summer camp and its synagogue in Borough Park. Lebovits, too, was a regular.

Borger confided his secret to his bride, Mali Gutman, the day after their Nov. 3, 2009, wedding in Williamsburg, a source close to the family said.

At 6:45 a.m. on Nov. 5, as his wife slept, Borger jumped from the seventh-floor balcony of their room at the Avenue Plaza Hotel, cops said.

Lebovits is accused of repeatedly sodomizing two boys and fondling another, sometimes in his car and even in a mikvah, a ritual bath, in a synagogue, from April 2000 to September 2004.

"It was really well known in the community," said a source close to the probe. "It was no secret."

[Hat Tip: Mayer.]

Comments

[danny]

What is the story with the "boys choirs"? I've read many references to it, usually laced with some type of sexual innuendo.

[critical_minyan]

@danny
according to a hardline interpretation of Jewish law it is prohibited to a woman sing, because it leads to erotic thoughts in the men listening to it.
As a result, similar to shakespearean times, the soprano role in Jewish songs, usually filled by a woman is sung by pre-pubescent boys in a choir.
This begs the question, "if singing by a woman incites lustful thoughts in the sexually repressed charedi listener, does singing by a young boy do the same?"

[CHAIM]

THANKS FOR POSTING THE STORY I AM AMAZED THAT THE BP OLIM KNEW ABOUT THIS MOLESTOR FOR SO MANY YEARS AND THE REBBES DID NOTHING MABY ITS TIME TO ARREST THE RABBIS WHO PROTECT THE ANIMALS

[shneerhere]

If it was 'really well known in the community' and 'not a secret' than why the hell didn't someone man up and go to the authorities?

[John joe]

cuz this whole story is horse shit, motty borger never attended munkatch cheder, was a counsler for a couple of uears in camp, but lebowitz was never in munkatch camp

I hope you will post my comment

[A. Nuran]

Shneerhere, these people do not believe in secular law. They do not go to the police when crimes are committed, especially by one of their own. Anyone who does is a "moser" and is shunned by the community.

[CHAIM]

JOHN

MOTTY WAS ALWAYS HANGING OUT IN MUNKATCH THERE ARE MANY PICS

[confused]

Any chance of hanging a murder/manslaughter charge on Lebovits over this bit of info?

[effie]

shneerhere: Worse, they don't even protect their own children.

[David]

As John joe wrote this story is baloney. Motty never attended Munkatcher Cheder.
CHAIM, these pictures were of Motty only recently when he was a counselor. Please this story is a farce.

[Ratsmell]

There was another much more ominous story on the internet as to who the molester was. This story sounds like a very convenient distraction from a much uglier truth.

[Driven Leaf]

> Borger's videographer dad, Shmuel, founded the boys choir Amudei Sheish.

The reported should have done a better job and dug around for the reason why the Amudei Sheish choir was forced to disband. Herein lies the *real* story!

[seymour]

cuz this whole story is horse shit, motty borger never attended munkatch cheder, was a counsler for a couple of uears in camp, but lebowitz was never in munkatch camp

I hope you will post my comment

Posted by: John joe | January 17, 2010 at 12:01 PM

this comments always pop up whenever a frum person get accused

[itchiemayer]

John Joe and David - Did Motty voluntarily jump or did he accidentally fall?

[David]

Seymour, I agree, your type of comment always comes up when a frum person is being accused as well. Please, you guys are such self haters.
itchiemayer, I don’t know I wasn’t there, and I am sure that you weren’t either. Just because we don’t know what happened does not mean that every story offered up is true. In any case, the story in the Post is patently false.

[alternative childcare]

critical minyan: you make these units sound much more professional and musical than they are. These kids don't sing a "soprano" role, they get a bunch of kids together, and with cheesy saxophone based arrangements have them sing mostly in unison, certain its in no way choral singing, and the worst part is that they frequently "dress them up" and have them do little steps, its always been this weird homoerotic thing in the frum community (and of course, with seperate seating, really is sick). Somehow this wave totally supplanted the more folk styled music created in the first wave of modern religious pop, ie Carlebach, Rabbis Sons, and knockoffs such as Simchatones and Rashi and the Rishonim. Somehow, those albums were more suspect than getting a bunch of young boys to croon and dance. Everyone seemed to think it was OK getting off on hearing that Sherzer kid sing "Bilvavi" on the Or Chadash album.
There were in fact many scandals of the sort alluded to here, from the very first one (Yigal Calek's London pirchei) through Amudei Sheish.

[perele]

the mikveh for men should be abolished (same thing for women ) . it encourages homosexuality and depravity . could you imagine the site of a men's mikveh ?
you get into a room and what do you see ?
a communal bath for fags . disgusting . everybody sees each other . and look. you can't help it . just imagine the effect it has in a person's mind . no wonder they molest or have sex with men . it's because of that kind of education they have, bathing with men . a primitive practice that was done thousands of years ago.
since then, ppl became civilized .and we all know that this kind of ancient practice is not acceptable today, because it's wrong and it creates problems and young ppl can be hurt permanently .
if those rabbis want to keep the mikveh then , there should be a guard at the door allowing ONE PERSON AT THE TIME to go into the mikveh room , just enough to soak himself for one minutes , once that person is out, then the next can get in . it is healthier for the mind that way .
rabbis should not allow men to go all together into the mikveh room . doing so, it's like allowing them to get into a communal fag bath . disgusting .

[Not Chareidi]

Perele
1. Not all molesters are mikvah going Jews so don't blame it on mikvah!
2. There are plenty places that have men bathe naked. In many sports clubs and spas people bathe naked. In mens locker rooms and showers the guys are naked (college sports, pro sports) your comments are ridiculous. As the old adage goes, if you have nothing smart to say, shut up!

[OMG]

Perel,
When I was in the military the showers where communal, and there were no sexual molestations’, every gym or spa has communal showers and there is no molestations’ going on. What is your issue with communal showers that you are so afraid of them?

[shneerhere]

'Mikvahs don't molest boys, molesters do.'

[John Joe]

itchiemayer, I wasn't there to know what happened that unfortunate tragic night, one thing is for sure this article is total heresey, word for word the same article appeared than, and it is verbatim for the sewage the pervert nachum rosenberg keeps on spewing

Fact: Motty Borger never learned in Munkatch Cheder,

Motty borger might have gone to late minyan schachris to munkatch shull, as do thousands others, maybe all of them were molested

[CHAIM]

john ure a sick dude motti was allwats hanhing out in munkatch

[David]

CHAIM, you are the sick one. Motti hung around Munkatch as an adult. Everyone, who hung around Munkatch was molested? Talking about sick ones...

[fouty eighter]

From someone in the "know":

- Baruch Lebovitz was never a "prominent rabbi", if you can even call him a rabbi. He acted as one sometimes, but nobody was fooled. He was always presumed to be bluffer, and a creepy one at that.

- Motty Borger was molested well before he knew Lebovits. The rumors abound.

- Lebovits was once a rebbe in Muncatch camp, but that ended well before Moty was born.

- Motty was a councellor in Muncatch camp. Without making a specific accusation, I will simply state that there were widely circulated rumors that campers were mollested in camp by their councellors during that time in Munkatch Camp.

- Motty might have become acquainted with Lebovits through their mutual connection to Muncatch. Lebovits was a regular long-time attendee, while Moty was a summer staff member, who became a recent casual attendee.

- It is a likely scenario that Moty and Lebovitz's association developed mutually and consentually. Both have enough in their backgrounds to indicate a propensity to this.

- It is obvious that Moty at least felt guilty about his predelictions, and couldn't reconcile himself with living a lie. He also probably wanted to break the vicious cycle.

- Lebowits, on the other hand, has no problem having it both ways.

- I also predict that Lebowits will either walk or get a slap on the wrist.

[Shaul in Monsey]

Anyone know where this drek hangs out in Monsey? I'd like to welcome him.

[Shaul in Monsey]

"- Lebowits, on the other hand, has no problem having it both ways."

You mean, either anally or orally from a boy?

[Bill]

I am aware of no place in the world, other than a mikvah, where grown men bathe naked with prepubescent boys.

[Krechtz]

fouty eight- what makes you say that lebowits wont see any prison time ..?

does the karmana rebbes brother have anything to do with that

[David]

fouty eighter, you are living in fantsy land. This though is typical of all you haters to make such absurd assumptions that there is no need to even debate them.

[fouty eighter]

Krechtz, Lebowits wont see prison time because his main accuser has already gotten cold feet (read payoff), and the other one is a certified basket case. Unless the posecutors have an ace up their sleeves, this case is going down.

The prosectors already know they are doomed, they are only keeping up the charade with the hope of calling Lebowitz's bluff and getting him to plead out to littering.

Typical game of 'blink'.

[Hometown Postville]

How can Lebowitz live with himself? How many other suicides resulting from his unreported molestation have occurred? Without compassion, how can he call himself a rabbi? Does anyone know how these pseudo-men justify their actions at the time?

[Herschel]

Any news on what is actually hapenning with the court case?

[Inya Kawin]

What is the end of the story? Anyone knows?

Thanks.

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