On Your Marks...!

"Aba, are you running?", my 13 year old son Ariel asked me.

We were standing around the start line for the first Lev Hatorah Yeshiva + Lema'an Achai 6km run.

"Of course not!", I said. "I haven't run since I was your age, and I can't run 100m, never mind 6km".

Then I thought for a second more, "I wonder if I COULD run 100m..?"

So I asked my son to hold my stuff for a couple of minutes, and I ran around the block a few hundred metres..and when afterwards I checked my pulse, it was still beating.

"What the heck..." I reckoned, and put my name down for the 6km run.

The race was the brainchild of Shlomo Frischman, a student at Lev Hatorah Yeshiva in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Brightly clad in designer yellow tee shirts, some 80 runners were at the starting line, ranging from around 13 to 50 years old. There was a festive air with huddles of spectators and volunteer helpers.

The run initially took us down Ein Gedi St, and then up the steep hill of Tzeilim St. I managed to run most of the way up the incline to the junction, with the occasional slow down to walk...

I eventually did myself a deal, I'll run DOWN the hills, and solely make sure to keep moving (run, trot, walk, whatever) UP the hills.

Our efforts were boosted by the beeping drivers and encouraging bystanders; I was comforted by the hovering MDA ambulance.

The winner of the race was rising young star Binyamin Feldman aged just 14. Binyamin's a keen runner, including recently completing the Jerusalem 10K run in a very respectable time. Even before the start, Binyamin was optimistic about reaching the finish-line first. His parents Libby and Shaul were particularly proud of Binyamin's success in the Lema'an Achai 6km.

I was part of a small group of 40-somethings at the back.

After the finishing line, we were all rewarded with pizza and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Special kudos to Lev Hatorah leadership Rav Boaz Mori and Rav Daniel Hartstein - who both personally completed the run. And to Lema'an Achai's Rav Avraham Leventhal and Susan Hoffman who organized much of the logistics.

Well done also to the tens of volunteers who manned the junctions, handed out water bottles, and encouraged the runners onwards.

And most of all "yeshar koach" to the runners and their generous sponsors!

Over 30,000 NIS was raised by the event for Lema'an Achai!!

It was a very successful first event, the feasibility has been proven - and we are already looking forward to next year, with many more participants and sponsors!

Israel's Shame

Israel looks and feels like a highly developed country, with a thriving economy.

This month's sale of 20% of Iscar to Warren Buffett for $2 Billion; the vast wealth newly discovered in off-shore gas reserves; and the billion-dollar sale now in negotiation for Israel's "Waze" navigation app by Facebook - all point to Israel's successful 'start-up nation' status.

Furthermore, Israel ranked a respectable 17th out of 194 nations in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations. Somewhat further down the list, Israel ranked 47 out of 194 nations in the Annual Standard of Living Index published by the International Living Magazine

Against such a background, the announcement by the OECD that Israel has the worst poverty index out of their organization's 34 member states is shocking.

Ha'aretz Chart of OECD Statistics

According to OECD over 20% of Israelis now (2010 - the newest survey) live under the poverty line, up from around 13% five years previously.

As Haaretz points out, it is important to note that the OECD uses relative poverty, rather than absolute poverty, as its bench-mark. The poverty line is half of half of the median income in that country. Which is to say a median level citizen of Mexico may have less wealth that a poor Israeli. 

Therefore, the OECD measurement is more useful as a measure of disparity - between the haves and have-nots - than a measurement of poverty per se.

This doesn't come as a total surprise, as the Bank of Israel Report last month found that the poverty rate among the Israeli working population has risen significantly in the last decade and living conditions for these families has worsened. "The Bank of Israel report shows that poverty rate in Israeli households with one breadwinner has grown to 29% from 18.6%, while rate in homes with two earners has nearly doubled from 2.6% to 4.68%".

The large scale public demonstrations last summer and the mounting discontent now surrounding Yair Lapid's budget cuts also point to an underlying inequality in sharing the individual wealth (the rich getting richer) and government cuts (which impact the poor and lower-middle classes). 

Israel's economic policy is a blend of socialism (welfare state) and free market (capitalist policies pursued by Binyamin Netanyahu and others). Most developed countries, such as the OECD members, have similar hybrid systems to Israel. 

So the fact is that both images are right.

Israel is a successful start-up nation. 

Our problem is that the beneficiaries of that wealth has floated up to further enrich the cream, rather than being distributed to all levels of the economy.

With the cut-backs already voted into the national budget, and the gas wealth about to hit our shores, it is critical that Israel's Government increase taxes on the wealthy, such as the higher levels of income tax, while also increasing (and certainly not slashing) the already meager benefits for the poor - such as income support (National Insurance), child support and cutting VAT on staples such as food and electricity. 

No Jew can be proud of an economy which has the worst disparity in the developed world between the rich and the poor. 

Building A Nationwide Dental Aid Program

Dr Shmuel Katz with a volunteer "first patient" at the new clinic in Rechovot

I was privileged to attend the opening of the fifth Free Dental Clinic in a network started at Lema'an Achai in Ramat Beit Shemesh, and built up by Dr Shmuel Katz.

This is a fine example of taking a good idea, building it once, proving it, and then running with it.

Some 13 years ago, I asked Dr Shmuel Katz (who gives a shiur I attend) whether he'd be interested to establish and run a free dental clinic at Lema'an Achai.

I explained that for impoverished families, who were often unable to even put food on the table for their families, dental care was an unaffordable luxury item. Families could literally go generations without receiving adequate dental care.

Dr Katz enthusiastically agreed to head up the new program. He assembed a group of dedictated volunteer dentists and the program initially ran out of existing private dental clinics in the neighbourhood.

Lema'an Achai applied for and received a generous grant to set up our own dental facility, in the Lema'an Achai Center on Nahal Lachish, Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Today, the Lema'an Achai free dental clinic offers the best professional level care and broadest range of treatment options of any private clinic in the city.

Buoyed with the success of the Ramat Beit Shemesh program, Dr Katz identified a donor who bought into the dream, and sponsored a second Lema'an Achai free dental clinic which was located in the old marketplace of Beit Shemesh. This was subsequently moved into U'Veneh's facility, who now host the program.

Today, Dr Katz's network of free dental clinics consists of Rechovot, Kireat Sefer, Elad, Beit Shemesh and Ramat Beit Shemesh, in each case teamed with a local chesed organization.

The opening ceremony of the new clinic was attended by local dignatories, including Rabbi Kook, Chief Rabbi of Rechovot.

Rabbi Kook's explained that one is permitted to break shabbos for dental problems and this illustrates that dentistry is "pikuach nefesh", saving lives.

Over the years, the dental program has treated literally thousands of patients from poor families, who would otherwise not have been treated, intead suffering pain, infection and danger.

Kol Hakavod to Dr Shmuel Katz, his generous sponsors and teaming partners, on this amazing acievement.

I am proud to have had a formative role in Shmuel's fantastic chesed enterprise!

Dr Katz (rt) next to Rabbi Kook, Chief Rabbi of Rechovot

Rabbi Lipman Vilified

Rabbi Aharon Feldman

Rabbi Dov Lipman's politics are not everyone's cup of tea.

Rabbi Lipman has stated:

The Israeli government should not fund institutions which don't teach basic math and English.  Yeshivos which don't do so will not be closed down but they won't receive government funding. 

Apparently Rabbi Aharon Feldman, Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisrael, disagrees with Rabbi Lipman's policies about introducing secular studies to the Israeli Chareidi Yeshiva system.

This is Rabbi Feldman's right, of course, in an observer status from Baltimore in the USA.

Disagreeing with Rabbi Lipman's policy of encouraging secular studies within the Chareidi education system, could be a little inconsistent for the Rosh Hayeshiva of Ner Yisrael, as Ner Yisrael itself promotes secular learning in Universities and Colleges, in parallel to studying Torah in the yeshiva.

Rabbi Lipman, himself a graduate of Ner Yisrael, also studied Education at Johns Hopkins University.

And less anyone think this is a recent development or aberration, my father-in-law Rabbi Ephraim Kestenbaum, now a robust 86 years old, attended Ner Yisrael in the 1940's, and simultaneously studied Chemistry at Johns Hopkins, along with many other talmidim, and with the encouragement and bracha of the roshei yeshivo.

Be that as it may, I fully acknowledge and respect Rabbi Feldman's right to express his opinions from Baltimore on Israeli politics, and to argue against this or that policy.

However, I am totally flummuxed that the esteemed rav was recorded launching a vicious personal attack upon Rabbi Lipman himself.

Rabbi Feldman was recorded publicly referring to Rabbi Lipman as a "Rasha" (an evil person), "shona uperish" (someone who learned Torah but then separated/removed himself from it), and then drawing parallels with the scum of Jewish history - Haman (who tried to massacre every Jew) and Amalek (the eternal anti-G-d Jew-hater).

Rabbi Feldman also seems to have centrally misquoted Rabbi Lipman, saying Lipman "said on the radio that he will close all yeshiva katanos". Whether this quote was a mistake or deliberate, it is apparently not what Rabbi Lipman said: "Yeshivos which don't do so will not be closed down but they won't receive government funding." 

Such an insulting diatribe, based on a misquotation, would be barely acceptable even in the hyperbole of the Knesset.

Whereas Rabbi Feldman's attack was probably calculated to undermine Rabbi Lipman's orthodox credentials, IMVHO, the honour of the Rosh Yeshiva would be enhanced by issuing Rabbi Lipman a retraction, or correction, and a personal apology.

-----

UPDATE: Rabbi Feldman has now issued an apology & retraction for defaming Rabbi Lipman. He has upgraded Rabbi Lipman from a "Rosha" (evil person) to a "shogeg" (mistaken/misguided) - which is indeed a major difference.

Kol Hakavod to Rabbi Feldman for having the backbone to retract!

Beating Up Arabic-Speaking Policemen

According to the news reports this week, several students from Yeshivat Yerushalaim Letzeirim ("Yashlatz"), the yeshiva high school of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Kireat Moshe, beat up two policemen.

These policemen were apparenty operating under-cover and were speaking Arabic with each other, outside the gates of the yeshiva.

The policemen were reportedly mobbed by five or six students, including one who pepper sprayed a policeman, while the other officer was hit.

There are two elements to the story which make it newsworthy - Jews beating up "Arabs"; and yeshiva boys beating up "policemen".

All in one swoop.

There are also two angles which muddy those waters.

1. Yashlatz and the neighboring Mercaz Harav Yeshiva were the victims of a terrorist outrage on 6th March 2008. Eight students were murdered in the massacre and five more seriously injured.

During the massacre, the security forces were allerted - but they remained outside the building. The terrorist was shot dead by a student Yitzchak Dadon and off-duty soldier David Shapira

It would be legitimate for the boys to be particularly alert and sensitive to two "Arabs" loitering outside their yeshiva. It is understandable they would act first to protect themselves, even before or in parallel to calling the police (I don't knw if thy did or did not call 100).

2. The events happened on the same day that Evyatar Borovsky, 31, and father of five young children, was brutally stabbed to death by a Palestinian Arab at the Tapuah Junction.

Evyatar was a resident of the small town of Yitzhar, where several Yashlatz boys also live.

The shock and grief of that terrorist murder would have been very much on the minds of students from Yashlatz.

So, while I am certainly not justifying these boys taking the law into their own hands - it is more understandable that the Yashlatz students responded this way to the presence of two 'loitering Arabs' - potential ticking-bomb terrorists standing right outside their school gates - than the press made out.

Ariel's Got "Yichus"!

This week is my youngest son Ariel's barmitzva.

In his honour, I filmed and directed a dramatic 11 minute video which features Ariel's grandparents, their stories, and detailing his impressive ancestry. This was well received by family and friends.

Ariel's got Yichus! Enjoy the video!

(You can see it better directly on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/2ksrZpTnOrU )



Special Thanks & Plug for Momento Media who skilfully did the editing for this movie. 

Ariel Morris Barmitzva Song - by Moshe Burt

It's my son Ariel's 13th Birthday, his barmitzva, and our friend Moshe Burt has produced this foot-tapping parody of the Beech Boys Sloop John B (which our family sings with the words of the shabbat song "Dror Yikra").

Thanks Moshe!

Anyone who would like a fun song written for their special occasion should contact Moshe: olehchadash@yahoo.com

Magen: Child Abuse Warning to Parents & Kids on Lag BaOmer

According to the Child Protection Center in Jerusalem, Lag BaOmer has become an annual nightmare – it is the worst night of the year for child abuse.

The reason for this is OPPORTUNITY.

With thousands of children out-and-about, generally with minimal or zero adult supervision, often sleeping in the open, or wandering around till the morning hours – there is plenty of opportunity for perpetrators to attack children.

Here in Beit Shemesh/RBS Magen has received numerous reports regarding suspected perpetrators - highlighting the need for increased awareness and vigilance in the community.

PLEASE sit down with your kids before Lag Ba’Omer to calmly warn them about the nature of the risks and to give them practical tools and ground-rules.

Some examples:

1. On Lag BaOmer do not walk or hang-around by yourself. Stay at all times with one or more friends.

2. If someone who is not a part of your family or group, who is older (eg. more than 2 years your senior), even if they look frum, invites you to go with them, even to do a big mitzvah (eg. to help them with something, or to find an object or location), or with the offer of a present, firmly reject the offer and tell the person they should find an adult to help them.

3. No touching or revealing areas of your or other people’s bodies which are normally covered. Just say No and get away.

4. Tell your parents. Especially if anyone tells you NOT to tell something to your parents, you must tell your parents straight away.Your parents will not be angry with you. 

5. Fix a to-be-home-by time. There is no positive purpose in children being out all night. Perhaps tell your kids “You can blame your parents” if they are uncomfortable leaving their group at the designated time.

It can be very helpful to role-play, presenting your kids with various scenarios.

If you have questions, concerns or reports - please call Magen Hotline: 02-9999.678; cell: 050 8489001 and/or the Police. 

Wishing all our kids a fun and safe Lag BaOmer!


Magen

------------------------

"Magen" - Creating a Safer Community for Kids

DavidM@magenprotects.org

Tel:    02-9999.678

Cell:   050-8489001

Just a Few Minutes from Beit Shemesh!

There is a wonderfully rich variety of historical and natural sites within just a few minutes drive from Beit Shemesh.

This past Friday we went exploring, and chanced upon a system of large & spectacular caves close to Beit Guvrin, but outside of the national park.

As you will see from the photos, the caves have many of the characteristics of the well-known caves of Beit Guvrin itself.

The bell shaped formation, carved out of the limestone, with an opening through the high ceiling, and some triangular niches carved into the walls ("columbarium"). The
se were apparently often used as a source for chalk, particularly for constructing roads in ancient times.

The large deposits we found of white dust made for a spectacular and rather messy snow-ball-fight.

There are around 800 such caves in the area around Beit Guvrin!

Warning: while walking around off-the-beaten-track around Beit Guvrin, you must be extremely careful about where you put your feet (and your children, dog, etc). There are numerous open holes, some of which plunge tens of metres downwards - including into these bell-caves. These deep holes can be difficult to see among thick undergrowth.

Tip: Bring torches to explore deep into our local caves.

Delaying Lag B'Omer Bonfires - Loving Our Neighbors

Rav Chaim Soloveichik made a shul announcement this past shabbat that the Chief Rabbinate had asked that everyone celebrates their Lag Baomer bonfires on Sunday evening in place of Motzei Shabbat.

Rav Chaim then spoke on the topic of "Love your neighbor as yourself" - which features in the weekly torah portion.

Rav Chaim told us about Rabbi Spektor of Beit Shemesh who, many years ago, discussed the latest alterations being made at that time to the first eiruv around the new Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood with Rav Chaim.

Rav Spektor said that the existing eruv is certainly kosher, but it used many "kulot" leniencies, because of the state of construction of Ramat Bet Shemesh. Rav Spektor explained that since there are many people in Beit Shemesh who are not shabbat observant and would carry objects in the public areas regardless of the existence of an eiruv, he rushed to have a sufficient eruv to ensure that people carrying would not be breaking shabbat by so doing.

As soon as he was able, Rav Spektor upgraded the standard of the eiruv, meeting many stringencies, allowing more residents to rely on the eruv.

Rav Chaim continued that someone had asked him at that time - why should Rav Spektor be concerned about people who are not shabbat observant? If it doesn't bother them to carry on shabbat, why should it both Rav Spektor?!

Rav Chaim said that loving others as ourselves doesn't mean we should look after just our families, our community, our camp...it means we should look out for every Jew.

That's why it was important to Rav Spektor to make an eiruv even if only the non Shabbat observant community was going to benefit from it. It was not a kiruv (outreach) exercise to make them more observant. However, because Rav Spektor cares deeply about ALL the Jews of Beit Shemesh, he addressed their spiritual needs, without any coercion and even without their knowledge or appreciation.

Similarly, in the case of Lag BaOmer.

No-one in the Soloveichik community needs to be concerned that their children would break shabbat in order to prepare or light their bonfires (on Saturday night).

However, there are many people who would not know better, and would certainly break shabbat if Lag BaOmer bonfires were carried out on Saturday night.

We are all one "Am", one nation, and we need to care and watch out for each other.

It is therefore important that everyone accords with the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate by making their bonfires on Sunday afternoon/evening - in order to be shoulder-to-shoulder with all of our fellow Jews, both observant and non-observant.

"V'Ahavat L'reiecha" - Love you neighbor as yourself.

Apology

I recently wrote an article about my feelings on seeing a photo of Women of the Wall. 

The intention was to share my feelings, and generate a discussion, even a debate, about the issues of acceptable boundaries in behaviour at our Holy Sites.

However, it is clear that many fine people found the article itself hurtful and offensive.

This was certainly not my intention and I have therefore taken down the article.

I whole heartedly apologize for the hurt that this article caused and sincerely request ‘slicha’.

Just a Few Minutes From Home!

There are times when it's uplifting to join with a mass of people, doing the same thing at the same time.

I guess it brings out some tribal group instincts, but honed to greater or at least more modern causes.

A political demonstration can generate a surge of camaraderie.

Many people who attend funerals of Torah luminaries (lehavdil) report a strong emotion as they move with the massive crowd.

Sports attract large crowds to games with... large crowds. Being a part of that mass of humanity in the stands, supporting the home team, is a factor in why so many turn out for the game.
  
However, I don't really enjoy nature with a crowd.

So on Yom Ha'atzmaut, and indeed on most public holidays in Israel, it can be challenging to find a beautiful spot, which is also quiet.

The national parks are crammed with The People and the access roads are often jammed with traffic.

However, I have often noticed that, just a short hop from the crowds, off the main parks and tracks - you can still find solitude in awesome locations.

This year, we traveled a few minutes out of Bet Shemesh to the sweeping hills surrounding Moshav Aviezer.

We hiked for hours in the stunning rugged countryside, enjoying the protected nature, watching eagles swoop, and feeling the fresh wind on our faces.

The ruined tower (described on the map as an oil press, and pictured above) afforded particularly spectacular views.

And the whole time, we barely saw another person...

Maybe see you there next year?

 

Memories of Maggie

Asking a Brit like me, brought up during the time of Mrs Margaret Thatcher, of his memories of "Maggie" and you'll evoke a melange of macro and micro. Of national and personal experiences. Buried passions, rusty disputes, and biographical snippets.

I never met Maggie - indeed I don't know if I've met anyone who met her! - but the events of Mrs Thatcher's period in the Prime Ministers office (1979-90) influenced and formed me, as they did many (all?) of my generation.

Mrs T was the absolute political leader in the eyes of the Morris family. My dad, in particular, was a fan, a devote. Voting Conservative, reading the Daily Mail and Telegraph, welcoming "monetarism", and seeing only Maggie's side of the story, while despising her opponents, was as natural as having your tea with milk.

It was only many years later, when I slipped into discussing politics (actually Gush Katif activism, which was then in its hey-day) with my visiting British relative Andy, that it even dawned on me that those who opposed Mrs Thatcher also had a narrative.

Andy happened to mention that he was a student during the miner's strike, and was part of the 'flying pickets'. He could have confided that he was actually an extra-terrestrial alien - and I would not have done such a double-take.

The flying pickets were the striking miners' tactical response to Mrs Thatcher's outlawing of secondary pickets (Joe joins the picket lines at Harry's mine). The flying pickets would show up and disappear at miners picket lines, popping up around the country, demonstrating, moving on, before they could be arrested by the slower moving police. Apparently Andy was arrested for this activism at the time.

And deservedly so, I would have intoned in 1984. The bloody miners were a bunch of militant commies. Surely?

However, Andy's an eminently intelligent and reasonable guy. And this revelation caused me to revisit my teenage, parental & friends' spoon-fed, assumptions.

Mrs Thatcher's confrontational approach to bringing down the powerful Trade Union Movement in the UK, indeed had an aspect of Arik Sharon's "Disengagement" and withdrawal from Gush Katif.

The miners were not so much obstacles to economic progress (as I saw them at the time), but rather thousands of families whose way of life, villages and communities were facing closure, abandonment and devastation - on the basis of a coldly economic justification. If the mine is 'not economic' it had no justification existing, and should be shut down.

Decades later, it sounded remarkably parallel to Sharon's coldly expressed security arguments to justify  destroying and abandoning the 9000 Jewish residents of the Gush Katif towns and villages.

Of course, I was proud and flag-waving when Mrs T sent our battleships thousands of miles to liberate the Falkland Islands - and thrilled with patriotism as the brave British troops sent the "Argies" back to their Juntas in Buenos Aires.

And I was stunned, horrified and disgusted by the murderous IRA bomb attack on Mrs Thatcher's hotel in Brighton, where many leaders of the Conservative Party were attending the annual Party Conference. It was as close to Guy Fawkes apocalypse as Britain had seen in centuries.

We were enchanted by the politico-love-story which developed between Mrs Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. And by the turn-around in British-Soviet relations - personified by her transition from formidable Iron Lady, building up a strong nuclear Britain, to her subsequent warm relationship with Mikhale Gorbachev.

I never really grasped the mechanisms of Mrs Thatchers ouster. She had won three elections and was sitting pretty in office. And then her own cabinet ministers deposed her, almost coup-d'etate style. Mrs Thatcher was in power one minute, then out on the streets the next. Without any electoral process.

Most un-British.

     

    

Offended by Islam

This is a very British outspoken response to Islamic intollerence.

Brilliant.



(Hat-tip: Life In Israel)

"Chasing The Devil"

This article is re-posted here from "Gotta Givem Hope", with kind permission of the author Chaim Levin.

A few comments before the article itself:

1. The article provides an important insight into the criminal investigation process in Israel, from the point of view of a child abuse 'survivor' who is an adult resident of the US, pressing charges in Israel.

2. The "imut" confrontation described is typically used in he-said-she-said cases. This is an emotional and often stressful process, which can be empowering for the victim.

3. Children however, are NOT required or generally encouraged by the legal process to confront their (alleged) abuser, lest it cause trauma to the child. Instead, the child is represented by the Child Investigator (ie the State). Children who are interviewed by the Child Investigator often report similar feelings of empowerment to those Chaim describes.

4. I have posted the complete article unedited; I have no privileged information regarding the case described. Anyone having additional testimony or information relating to this has been encouraged to contact Erwin Zalkin adv.

5. The article mentions the Statute of Limitation - which in Israel can be up to the age of 38. If anyone is a survivor of child abuse, and is interested to better understand their legal rights and position (under Israeli law), please contact "Magen": 02-9999.678 or after hours 050-8489001, email: davidm@magenprotects.org. 

Chasing the Devil - Sholom Eichler in Shackles

Sholom Eichler was arrested on March 21st near Kfar Chabad for sexually abusing me as a child. I had already filed a civil lawsuit against him in New York and he ignored the lawsuit and fled to Israel with his family. The result of that lawsuit is still pending, I was awarded a default judgment against him and will hopefully know the amount of that judgment by this coming Monday, March 25th.

As I’ve written previously on my Facebook page and have told many people as well, the last place that Sholom Eichler molested me was when our families were visiting Israel together on a family trip while we were staying at the [then Hilton] David Citadel hotel. The details of that incident, along with many of the other incidents remain clear as day in my mind; I even remember the room number that he abused me in while we were in Jerusalem.

After ignoring the civil lawsuit against him in New York Sholom Eichler and his family fled to Israel because of the default judgment that I was granted against him. Unfortunately for Eichler, the criminal statute of limitations are much broader and severe in Israel, and so I spent the past few months researching my options before deciding to press criminal charges against him. It pains me greatly to know that there are so many sex offenders out there whose victims have the ability to bring them to justice but are too afraid to do so because of community or family pressure, or because they don’t feel strong enough. For 7 seven years I was frightened by the prospect of forcing Sholom Eichler into a courtroom or even confronting him, and it is thanks to the support of many great survivors, advocates, friends and family who showed me that it’s possible to pursue justice despite the staggering intimidation that many victims face once reporting their crime and/or going public especially when coming from more religious communities.

The Israeli justice system operates quite differently than what I was familiar with in regards to how sexual abuse cases are handled in the US. After I received confirmation on Thursday morning that Eichler was arrested, the police requested that I be on “standby” for when they would call me. I thought they would ask me to ID Eichler or something, but what came next was very unexpected. I was brought into a fairly small room with three police interrogators, one of them a translator, and was directed to sit in a seat right across from Sholom Eichler where he was sitting with shackles on his feet.

The main interrogator read Eichler his right to remain silent and warned him that anything he said would be used against him. I was still absorbing the fact that I was sitting right in front of the monster who took so much away from me, the monster that caused so much damage that no amount of therapy will ever undo, but within two minutes I was able to gain my bearings. According to legal experts in Israel, this process is called “eimut” (confrontation) and is used by interrogators to observe the body language between the victim and the accused. I was instructed to look at Eichler and tell him what he did to me, they were adamant that I describe every incident in detail and not hold back on anything. It was at that moment that I looked at the monster in the eyes and told him exactly what he did to me, where he did it and the painful and sensitive details of the times he abused me.

This “confrontation” was sort of like a court proceeding, after I gave my opening statement Eichler was given a chance to respond to what I said, and without an ounce of shame or remorse he attempted to deny everything that I claimed he had done to me. With every word he spoke, with every lie he told I felt my blood boiling to the point where I thought I was going to explode, but although he was lying, his body language was telling a very different story. He was completely unhinged and was shaking non stop, he sounded like he was on the brink of tears and his attempts to discredit what I was saying were clearly not working. One of the things I confronted him about was about a meeting that he and I had five years ago before he got married in which he apologized to me for what he had done to me. I looked at him and said “how dare you sit right in front of me and call me a liar? How do you live with yourself knowing what you did despite the fact that not only did you apologize to me but also admitted your crimes against me to my older brother and my mother as well?”. Eichler admitted to meeting me five years ago, (something he denied until now) and said “I didn’t apologize for what I did to you, I apologized for how you were feeling”.

I pressed further and recounted in vivid detail how Eichler used to wait on his parents’ porch that was just across the street of my school for when I would be walking home from school so that he can lure me inside to commit those unspeakable acts. I also recounted the times that he abused me in the synagogue that our families attended, in my parents’ house, upstate at the bungalow colony that our families both attended during the summer, and of course, one of the most brutal incidents, the last time, in that hotel in Jerusalem on the fifth floor. Eichler had the audacity to attempt and accuse my older brothers of actually abusing me; and when asked by the interrogators why I would make such claims against him he said that he was the “perfect target”. I responded to that by saying that if i was looking for a “perfect target” I would have gone after one of his older brothers which would have ensured that one of them would be sitting in American prison today because they would’ve been well within the criminal statute of limitations within the American justice system.

Those twenty minutes felt like hours and most of the exact details are quite blurred in my head at this point, but luckily it was all on the record and will surely be used to prove his guilt in criminal court. What I remember was the feeling of empowerment I felt when I looked at this evil excuse for a man in the eye and told him exactly what he had done to me and the look on his face, the expression of guilt and shame, feelings that I felt for far too long because of what he had done to me; the tables had finally turned and for the first time in thirteen years Sholom Eichler finally had to answer for his heinous crimes. After leaving that room, I felt nothing but strength and a certain of closure. As painful and emotional as that confrontation was for me, it reminded me that pursuing justice is one of the most important things that a person could do in his or her life.

Eichler was released on bail the next day, the exact amount is still unknown to me but I hope to find out soon, and it is my sincere hope that he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I hope that others will learn by example that while at certain points the prospect of facing their abuser might seem impossible but the truth is that with the right amount of support, therapy, and healing facing one’s abuser IS possible and the power that abusers enjoy over their victims (the way Eichler had power over me) diminish over time.

Aside from knowing that it was my obligation to make sure that Eichler answer for his crimes and that I exercise every single legal option that was available to me in order to do so, I hope that by pressing criminal and civil charges against my abuser a better precedent will be set in the future for those struggling with the decision of if and how they should take action against those who stole part of their innocence, part of their soul. I know that by being so public about my past and about what was done to me is giving a voice to so many who feel like theirs was taken from them, something I once felt all the time. I’ve been publicly shamed on more than one occasion; anonymous emails and tweets from people who don’t even have the courage to use their real names remind me the importance of this journey and only empower me even more to pursue justice. Those voices of hate and negativity fade and the voices of my family, friends and every single person who supported me and encouraged me echo loudly for me and for the world to hear, to you all, I am thankful, I wouldn’t be here without you.

Beit Shemesh: Chaos As Gentile Buys Leavened Products

Introduction (4th April, 2013): This was an article I wrote on 1st April, which ths year coincided with the last day of (and after) Pesach in Israel. It was an April Fool. It appears to have fooled quite a few people. If you're one of them, and are still waiting for the chametz van - relax. Enjoy. Eat your chametz!! Gotcha!   
---------

1st April, 2013
Bet Shemesh, Israel

Minutes after the close of the Passover Holiday, the city of Beit Shemesh in Israel was thrown into tumult.

Jews around the world traditionally sell their leavened products over the seven or eight day period of Passover, to a non-Jew, as a work-around the religious ban on Jews possessing leavened products during the Holiday.

The deal hinges on several legalities, including that the non-Jew who purchases the leavened products retains the right to buy the products outright immediately following the end of the festival.

This is generally assumed to be a legal fiction, as to the best of anyone's knowledge, no gentile has ever taken up the usually over-priced purchase offer.

In the town of Beit Shemesh, the city's Chief Rabbi, Rav Biton, completed the leavened sale arrangements, as in previous years, with Mr Jabril Musmar, of the nearby Arab town of Abu Gosh, which is located off the highway leading from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

However, much to Rav Biton's surprise, Mr Musmar called the rabbi a few minutes after the end of Passover on Monday evening, and informed him that he will pay the $1.5 million to purchase the leavened products from Beit Shemesh.
    
There seems to be no precedent to this, so Rav Biton contacted Chief Rabbi Amar, who advised Rav Biton that arrangements must be immediately put into action to collect all the city's residents leavened products, for Mr Musmar to pick up, using his own transport, on Tuesday morning. Jews who had sold their produce via Mr Musmar were forbidden to consume or gain benefit from their leavened products.

The municipality arranged vehicles to announce the new arrangements and municipal workers were quickly called from their homes to participate in the collection process.

As of press time, over 200,000 bags of pasta, over 50,000 bottles of beer, 1732 bottles of whiskey and numerous other products had been collected, and positioned in front of city hall for the morning's pick up by Mr Musmar. Municipal authorities estimate there is a further 75 tonnes of produce which is still in resident's homes and in business premises around the city.

Whereas Rav Biton was unavailable for comment, Mr Jabril Musmar told us that "I think this is a good deal, and that the collected produce will be worth over $1.5m."  

(Hat-tip - Yakov Greiff - 1st April, 2013)

Fixing The Western Alliance - Israel's Apology

Benjamin Netanyahu's telephoned apology to Recep Erdogan of Turkey, in respect of the deaths of nine Turkish citizens on the Marmara in 2010, provided a dramatic ending to Barack Obama's visit to Israel.

Erdogan has declared this a victory for Turkey's "principled stand" over the past three years.

Netanyahu is linking this apparent Israeli back-down to events in Syria.

Commentators are referring to Obama pressuring Netanyahu - pointing out that Obama personally spoke first on the phone with Erdogan, and then closed the Netanyahu/Erdogan conversation after the apology was delivered and accepted.

In 2009 and 2010,  Erdogan set his nation on a collision course against Israel,with a series of attacks, including the 2009 Davos diatribe against Shimon Peres, Erdogan's vitriolic & hostile rhetoric against Israel - climaxing during the Gaza War in 2010, and saber rattling with threats to set Turkey's navy on Israel's gas exploration rigs around Cyprus.

A lot has changed regionally since then and I suppose that's why Netanyahu agreed to apologise (beyond the previous statements of "regret"), and why Erdogan accepted (short of his demand that Israel remove the blockade on Gaza).

Turkey's attempts to become a regional power have floundered; and Turkey's budding relationships in 2009 with Iran and Syria, have gone very sour. Even Turkey's attempts to woo the Arab Spring resulted in fewer friends for Turkey, not more.

But the most powerful logic to the kiss-and-make-up between Turkey and Israel is the need for the USA to have a united alliance in the middle east.

With Iran and Syria top of the US foreign policy worry-list, the USA needs a concerted and reliable front of  allies.

Having Turkey at Israel's throat, US interests - and of course, also Israel and Turkey's interests - were not being served.

Obama's successful effort to bridge the gap, getting both sides to swallow some pride (that seems to be the extent of the obstacle), can have substantial dividends in the USA actively and practically confronting the evil regimes of Iran and Syria.