Tzvi Gluck, one of the men involved in the rescue of Isaac Hersh, is on Zev Brenner's Talkline show. An mp3 of the interview is posted after the jump.
A lot of what he is doing is covering for Michael Hersh, his wife, and especially for Rabbi Ahron Schechter:
First, based on Tzvi Gluck's interview and what I know to be the truth:
1. Gluck knew about the story for months but did not begin take the necessary action until about 2.5 weeks ago.
2. Only when MR got involved just over one week ago was real action taken.
3. Still, Gluck did try, but only in ways that would not shame Rabbi Schechter or the community.
4. Rabbi Shechter only became "helpful" after the Daily News story ran and the pressure on him mounted exponentially. (Kind of like a person cooperating with police after realizing lack of cooperation will lead to a very long jail sentence. I think Rabbi Gluck confuses helpful with covering one's own butt.)
5. Isaac Hersh is sill not safe. He is within reach of his parents, and is being kept at the home of a family chosen by them, in Brooklyn, it seems, close by the family home. In other words, not with his foster family as incorrectly reported by VosIZNeais (please see the update to this post).
6. Bad as Tranquility Bay is, it is not a Nazi concentration camp. Calling it that cheapens the Holocaust and defines down the suffering that took place in it. Tzvi Gluck should know better.
The idea that a representative of the Jewish community could try to kasher the actions of Michael Hersh, his wife and Rabbi Ahron Schechter is appalling.
No matter how much good work Tzvi Gluck does, no matter what he did to help bring about this rescue, nothing allows Gluck or anyone else to cover for someone like Michael Hersh or Rabbi Ahron Schechter.
And to leave Isaac Hersh within reach of what clearly seem to be abusive parents is also appalling. It is also negligent. And it is criminal.
I said before police needed to be involved in this case. That is still the truth.
Previous Posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
UPDATE 6:20 am 3-30-08 –– Here is an mp3 of Tzvi Gluck's appearance last night on Zev Brenner's Talkline radio show:
You should be able to play this mp3 in your browser, or you can download it and play it in an mp3 player, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc.