A long exposé on the hasidic Village of New Square, New York shows that the Skvere Rebbe, Rabbi David Twersky, is running a cult that uses draconian tactics – some clearly illegal – to control the lives of his largely brainwashed followers. Even so, haredi leaders outside Skvere do not condemn Twersky's tactics or Twersky himself, and most were silent when one of Twersky's close followers tried to kill a local dissident and his entire sleeping family.
Above: The Skvere Rebbe Rabbi David Twersky
The Forward has a long exposé on the Skvere hasidic Village of New Square, New York shows that the Skvere Rebbe, Rabbi David Twersky, is running a cult that uses draconian tactics – some clearly illegal – to control the lives of his largely brainwashed followers. Even so, haredi leaders outside Skvere do not condemn Twersky's tactics or Twersky himself, and most were silent when one of Twersky's close followers tried to kill a local dissident and his entire sleeping family.
Almost all of this information was published by Failedmessiah.com over the past several years, but having it all together in one article with the new information the Forward's Frimet Goldberger has been able to add – like Twersky refusing to answer her questions, even when they were sent to him in writing – is very important.
But what stood out to me is this very brief takedown of someone whop richly deserves to be taken down – the untrained and dishonest Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz, who portrays himself as an anti-child-sex-abuse activist.
Horowitz is really a shill for Agudath Israel and for Satmar, and he partially responsible for quashing the Child Victims Act, the bill proposed by NY State Assemblywoman Marge Markey that would have made it much easier for child sex abusers to be prosecuted and sued.
Horowitz was allowed to present on of child safety seminars in new Square recently, and Goldberger asked him a simple question:
"Asked if he had urged the New Square fathers who attended his anti-child-sex-abuse workshop In New Square to consult with law enforcement authorities if they suspect their child had been abused, Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz declined to comment," Goldberger reported.
So to be clear, Horowitz not only can't say if he told fathers to call police, he presented his child safety seminar to men only – females were not allowed to hear the information.
Past Horowitz, you can read all about the rebbe's vacation palace, his lavish lifestyle, his follwers' poverty, and his likely illegal government car (all things Failedmessiah.com previously reported, most often breaking the story), and much more, at the Forward.
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