Chaptzem Blog!      

The first step is to convince the oilem that there is a problem. Sadly, as seen from many comments posted, many do not believe there is a problem.

 

You think abuse is less in the secular world then the frum world? Think again! That may have been true fifty years ago, but now they have systems such as background checks in place to prevent such abuse. We have no such systems. We don't have beisdins who can or will conduct a proper investigation. Look around, and ask around in yeshivas and you will see that it is not rare when a yeshiva will have a practice where the teachers are not allowed to drive home the kids because of prior "incidents". Who are the rebbes who have caused these incidents and what happened to them? The odds are they just went on to another yeshiva. We need major changes.

 

well put Chaptzem! You can't solve a problem if you don't believe there is one. If a Rabbi/teacher has a problem help him by taking him out of chinuch and away from our children. There was a similiar case years back in Toronto and the took the Rabbi out of the school got him the help he needed and a job away frow kids. Today thank G-d he is OK and makes a living and has a good family. He hurt 1 child, got caught and got help! Why has this gone on for 30+ years. Who are they trying to protect. Kolko continue to hurt kids and his own life and share of Olam Habbah

 

Chaptzem - I appreciate your sane and rational analysis of a very serious problem that has been reduced to crazy rantings on another blog. However, the key is what you said "Rabbonim have to be forced to listen to us and be made aware of things that are going on". I had a conversation with a very respected Rav yesterday that made me want to cry. He relayed his belief that the Kolko case (even if it is true) is a single isolated event and there is no larger problem.

It took the frum community years to face up to the fact that we have a problem with abuse, with gambling and with alcohol. We didn't want to believe it. The same is true of abuse. We must educate rabbanim that this really is a problem. I spend many years in yeshiva and camp and I can tell you stories that would keep you awake at night for years. I'm sure most yeshiva bachurim can.

The problem is real but the biggest obstical to solving it is denial. I hope that the lawsuit and the publicity will shake us out of follish slumber before more lives are destroyed.

 

THERE ARE A LOT OF THIS KIND OF MAMZARIM AROUND HERE IN BROOKLYN I KNOW WHAT HE DID WITH ALOT OF YIDDISH MEIDLECH FROM B.Y. AND OTHER CHSSIDISH SCHOOLS DONT WANA MENCHEN ANY , HE EVEN GIVES SHURIM / LECTURES FOR GIRLS & WOMEN AND HE CALLS HIM SELF A RABBI(RABBI M. SI....KY) A SHNDAH UN A CHARPAH
MORE TO COME IN THE FEUTER DAYS IN THE MEDIA JUST WAIT AND SEE השם ירחם

 

You make a point here that the previous five commenters have not picked up on and therefore pulled me out of the silent majority to post a comment.

You mentionned the reluctance of our community newspapers to write about this issue to prevent having the children see it. You go on to say that letting the children know about it is vital.

I happen to agree that children should be better informed; i just differ a little in how I feel they should be getting that information and how much detail they need to know.

I feel that as a parent, I was given an "achreiyus" by Hashem to protect and guide my children...and I think every parent has that same responsibility. I have to make him aware of the dangers out there; but at the same time I am not allowed to overwhelm him so that he lives in constant fear.

Letting him read what I have been reading on these blogs would be putting him in a frame of mind of anxiety and fear which is abusive in its own way. I do however feel that I should teach my children that there are some sick people out there and that sickness manifests itself in many different ways and in all sorts of people...even authority figures and religious people sometimes. I would further tell him that only a sick person would touch him in any area of his body which is normally covered when wearing a bathing suit/or underwear unless it is a doctor examining him with his parent's permission. I would further tell him that the likelihood of him encountering such a sick individual is very remote but should it happen he should immediately tell me because we have an "achrius" to get that person help to cure his sickness...that the person himself is so sick that he does not realize he is sick so we have to get him help...that is why regardless of what that person may say to him, he must tell me so I can start the process for getting him the "help" he needs.

This way my child will know that he is no way at fault and that I support him and will ensure that I can take action to remove my child from a bad place and to try to get the sick guy help without making allegations that *I* in no way can testify to.

 

"Do we lock him up, sue him, destroy him and his family's life?

YES, All of the Above!!

 

Where's Dov when he's needed....In Israel of course!!!!!!!!

 

It seems that not everyone that is commenting on this post actually read what Chaptzem wrote. Chaptzem said: "How do we as a community deal with allegations of abuse? How do we decide if they are founded or fabricated? Do we just assume that every person that gets accused by someone is automatically guilty? It doesn't take much to accuse someone of abuse!"

So Susie and Anonymous from 12:28 PM, read and Don't ASSUME guilt.

 

I don't Assume anything! But where there is smoke there is fire. I didn't say this guy is innocent. I am not judge nor jury, I don't have to judge, his day of reconning will come. and G-d will decide. If what I have read about this guy is even 25% true he deserves all of what he gets. I think that someone should have done something about him 30 years ago, he could have been helped and 100's of children would not have been hurt. The people (Rabbis) who helped cover up and threaten the abused is as bad or worse than the accused abuser. I did read but I don't think he is innocent! I just think people should have done something before so many boys were hurt

 

Are you the same Susie who'se daughter ran into a problem with someone -- and that person was banished from your shul and another as well?

So what experience did you have of Rabbis denying true stories?

You are assuming, where there's smoke there's fire. But here there are a few individuals making all the smoke about someone else.

Who may be 100% innocent. Or 100% guilty. But what part of your concience allows you to BELIEVE any of it?

Has any investigation confirmed ANYTHING?

Come on.

We as a community have a responsibility to protect our children. As you, Susie did. As as Anon 11:52 is doing.

That doesn't include what's taking place right now.

 

yes, it's the same Susie. Why would someone make up such sick things. If it weren't in at least partial true who could imagine such disgusting acts. If it didn't happen at all than there would be nothing to say. What makes you think he is completly innocent?

 

In any system, it is guilt that has to be proven, not innocence.

There are quite a number of sex abuse cases that have turned out to be unfounded.

I'm not saying that he can;t be guilty, I AM saying that, especially with the internet, what looks like an avalanche of allegations MAY in fact only be the concocted stories of a few people with an agenda against the teacher or the school (or are joining the bandwagon because now there's the potential for money to be made).

All I'm saying is, don't assume guilt. Especially when you're own experience has shown that the system DOES work!

 

"V. ETHICS GUIDELINES CONCERNING SEXUAL BOUNDARIES

As rabbis, Jewish leaders and pastoral guides we are commanded to exemplify holiness through our teachings and our lives. We bear the greatest responsibility for insuring that ethical and sexual boundaries are scrupulously respected in all our relationships with the men, women and young people who turn to us in trust. Sexual misconduct by rabbis is a sin against human beings; it is also a ChilulHashem (profanation of God’s name). It is the responsibility of the CCAR to uphold the sacred calling of the rabbinate by creating just and appropriate responses to sexual misconduct.

This section (Section V) of the Code of Ethics sets forth clear definitions of sexual misconduct. The following section (Section VI) sets forth powers and procedures that will enable the CCAR to respond promptly and effectively when sexual (or other) misconduct is alleged: to insure a fair hearing, to extend sensitivity and spiritual guidance through offering the opportunity for rabbinic referral to the complainants as well as families of alleged perpetrators, and to bring offenders to justice. We firmly believe that the gates of repentance are always open, and, whenever possible, colleagues who have been disciplined will be guided toward rehabilitation. In some cases, however, a return to the sacred work of the rabbinate may not be permissible.

As rabbis vested with real and symbolic religious authority, we have the responsibility to recognize the vulnerability of those whom we teach, counsel and serve. It is our obligation to maintain appropriate boundaries in all situations and settings. Unacceptable behavior includes all forms of sexual harassment and intimidation, requests for sexual favors, and any unwelcome verbal, physical or visual conduct of a sexual nature. Any such act or behavior, even if it appears to be consensual, which exploits the vulnerability of another, compromises the moral integrity of the rabbi and is an ethical violation.

Moreover, any personal relationship which the rabbi feels the need to keep totally clandestine (beyond the bounds of normal privacy), or which raises doubts for the rabbi regarding its ethical propriety ought to give the rabbi serious pause and propel him/her, at the very least, to seek moral counsel. Among other considerations, rabbis are expected to honor the sanctity and fidelity of committed relationships, their own and those of others. Any sexual activity that betrays those relationships or leads others to betray like relationships constitutes an ethical violation."

- Reform Jewish rabbinical (CCAR) code of conduct of the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism)

 

Susi:

You wrote: "Why would someone make up such sick things. If it weren't in at least partial true who could imagine such disgusting acts. If it didn't happen at all than there would be nothing to say."

Why do you find it easier to believe that someone would "do such things" but no one would "make up such things"?

Unfortunately, there are sick (or evil) people who do such things and sick (or evil) people who make up such things.

The fact that Framowitz also claims to have been molested by another Rebbe as well (in Baltimore, per New York magazine)does seem a bit strange.

Anyway, the jury is still out. Obviously the more people that come forward, the worse it looks for Kolko (Ben Hirsch claims at least another 100 kids are coming forward). If a few people that are generally stable, join the lawsuit with similar claims, one would have to conclude that Kolko is guilty.

If nobody else come up to the plate (or even if 1 or 2 people join the lawsuit), it would at least to me, prove Kolko's innocence.

It is also stange that Mr. Fromowitz waited 37 years before filing. Why???? Do you really believe that sitting in Israel he was intimidated?

 

Call in and speak with Jeffrey Herman, Esq. the attorney suing Kolko and Torah Temimah on:

TALKLINE WITH ZEV BRENNER America’s premier Jewish program.

Tonight, Wednesday May 17th 9-10pm
WSNR 620 AM (NY), WLVJ 1040AM(FL)

 

"It is also stange that Mr. Fromowitz waited 37 years before filing. Why???? Do you really believe that sitting in Israel he was intimidated?"

The same thing happened with the priests. Are you saying the priests were falsely accused too? As for why he waited 37 years, is because he always felt that pricks like you would not believe him. He finally got the courage.

 

Call in and speak with Jeffrey Herman, Esq. the attorney suing Kolko and Torah Temimah on:

TALKLINE WITH ZEV BRENNER America’s premier Jewish program.

Tonight, Wednesday May 17th 9-10pm
WSNR 620 AM (NY), WLVJ 1040AM(FL)

 

Just for the record. If anyone would bother to read the Shakla V'Taryah of this whole thing they would notice that at no point did either Margolies or Kolko deny anything. Their response all along has been that the issue has been previously dealt with and is no longer relevant.

As for "the previously dealt with" I, for one, happen to personally know some of the victims that came forward back then and remember the whole "previously dealt with" thing quite well. It was a fiasco. A total perversion of justice courtesy of the "Frum/Rabbinical" community. What's more, none of those victims have had any other "incidents" and If some of you want to claim that Framowitz made it up as "evidenced" by what took place in Baltimore (as per the New York magazine article) that cannot be said about these individuals. Even with regard to Framowitz, that counter-claim is specious at best. Come on. The fact that it happened on two separate occasions with two separate perpetrators is proof that they were both fabrications? Anyone familiar with Framowitz's life story can plainly see how a vulture would have recognized such a kid as easy prey.

Lastly, the time lapse between the incidents and said incidents being brought to light by the victims is thoroughly understandable. Try putting yourself in their shoes. Let's see how quickly you would come forward and try to buck an obviously stacked deck.

As an aside, perhaps we should start taking the Yeshivos to task for theft too. Based on the atrocious spelling I've come across here its obvious they didn't give you guys the education your parents paid for.

 

One of the many victims of the system's failures to protect our children even when the children muster the courage to come forward when the abuse is occurring happens is the most important person in my life. I live in awe of that person's courage to report the incident as a child and depth of belief in the Ribono Shel Olom to remain faithful to yiddishkeit as an adult despite being assaulted by a well known Rav/Mechanaich and trampled by the protective ring of wagons circled in defense the perpetrator by the hear no evil, see no evil, do nothing about evil Roshai Yeshiva involved in the cover up which enabled the abuse to continue for the better part of a decade.

This is not chas veshalom meant as an indictment of all or even most Roshai Yeshiva. This purpose of this post is to ask YOU to stop for a minute and reflect upon the courage victims of sexual abuse must summon to come forward.

I ask you to please just ignore the poor pathetic venom spewing vipers and maggots attacking the accusers because they can offer no defense of a man who himself knows that his actions are indefensible and admits his guilt by his silence in the face of these accusations. Say a heart-felt thank you to the Ribono Shel Olom that we have such heroes amongst us and ask Him to protect them and grant them success is protecting our children from the next cover up.

 

Speaking of teh voiceless...

Why is it that UOJ does not post any comments that raise serious FACTUAL issues about what are clearly misrepresentations and fabrications on his site, unrelated to YK?

The only comments he allows through either support him or are critical in a way that he can dismiss them.

This gives honest readers, like Susie and many others here, the illusion that they are seeing both sides, and that those who question the credibilty of UOJ and friends don't have any legitimate things to say?

There are allegations made there regarding dinei Torah and financial issues. Anyone in the Yeshiva in the 1970's knows that the statements are clearly, absolutely and completely contrived.

The Yeshiva was called Torah Vodaath of Flatbush -- the last part is ignored by UOJ.

That these were two distinct yeshivos was known to anybody and everybody.

It was started with the blessings of Torah Vodaath -- also ignored.

When Torah Vodaath decided to move to Flatbush, it took Rabbi Margolis to a din Torah to force hom to chnage the name of his yeshivah. The din Torah took some time, but name was changed within a short time after the psak was finalized. I was in the yeshiva. I remember one of my rabbeim going to beis din. And I remember the name changing a year or two later.

So UOJ is DEMONSTRABLY a liar with a ax to grind again Rabbi Margolis.

But UOJ will not allow any such facts (or even allegations of impropriety by him) to be posted, so the readers are misled to think that he is truthful, gutsy and unassailable.

This approach has led me to believe that nothing he says has any credibility.

 

Smoke screen.

 

Sorry .. you're the folks causing all the smoke...

 

How does UOJ's credibility regarding the name of YTT affect the credibility of the accuser - which is not UOJ?

 

Some people have speculated that this whole scandal is a shakedown attempt to extract money from TT and is not the Lishma campaign to fix our yeshiva system,as UOJ would have you believe.
Clearly UOJ has a broader agenda than just the Kolko Abuse allegations and scandal. That gives me pause to ponder issues such as innocent until proven guilty,hearing both sides of a story,not jumping to conclusions etc. This also demonstrates both the good potential and bad, of our internet blogosphere world. On one hand, if the allegations are true, it is only because of the blogosphere that the truth is finally emerging. On the other hand it also demonstrates how easy it could be to orchestrate a smear campaign. There are a whole list of personalities having their charachters assasinated as a result of this scandal. On one hand it is good to out the phonys, on the other hand are we not all phony on some level and therefore vulnerable to having our shortcomings and private failings exposed on a blog somewhere for all to see. this is a scary new world.

 

The silence of the accused speaks loudly enough for reasonable people to hear it as his mea culpa through all the noise you made about one of the accusers need to sharpen his forestry tools.

However, being that you are so sure that he never performed any perverse acts on any child and is a wonderful mechanaich and a superb human being, you and I should be able to jointly wish that your children and grandchildren ad sof kol hadoros be on the receiving end of whatever treatment the accusers TRULY received at his hands. If you are certain you are correct we will both be wishing wonderful chinuch experiences on your family's children forever.

If you can't join me in asking the Ribono Shel Olam for this bracha you obviously are not as certain of the accused innocence as you claim and should henceforth cease your pitiful attempts at defending him by besmirching his accusers. Perhaps only raising one's voice when defending a weak position testify moe clearly to the hollowness of one's case more than changing the topic to an attack on the accused.
Of course, you could always try that last great bastion of protection behind which many other scoundrals slither when the lights start shining on them: Patriotism.

 

"However, being that you are so sure that he never performed any perverse acts on any child and is a wonderful mechanaich and a superb human being, you and I should be able to jointly wish that your children and grandchildren ad sof kol hadoros be on the receiving end of whatever treatment the accusers TRULY received at his hands. If you are certain you are correct we will both be wishing wonderful chinuch experiences on your family's children forever."

I LIKE THAT !! Make all the phonies answer Amen to that one.

 

Mr. Voice,

Before copying what I wrote yesterday, I want to highlight that you've completely distorted my position, as well as many of those "in the middle."

By doing so you evidence to me that you -- like UOJ -- aren't interested in the truth, you're interested in a lynching.

And that's not borne of "the pain of the victims" -- because if it were, you'd agree with our right and responsibility to presume innocence until guilt is established by an objective body. If it were, we would agree with many of your assertions, unpleasant as they may be.

Instead, you want everyone on your hit list damned, now, because you said so.

Those of us who don't share your opinion are maligned and called names, because we don't agree with you.

It seems to me that you and your comrades-in-arms are announcing to us all that you DO have an axe to grind. We have no right, let alone an obligation, to offer a possibly innocent man a fair hearing.

We must listen to you -- who have distorted our own words -- to deny someone his basic rights.

I think that itself overshadows your sanctmoniously wrapping yourself in the flag of "defending the victims" while not allowing us to be convined that they even are.

Here's what I wrote yesterday:

In any system, it is guilt that has to be proven, not innocence.

There are quite a number of sex abuse cases that have turned out to be unfounded.

I'm not saying that he can;t be guilty, I AM saying that, especially with the internet, what looks like an avalanche of allegations MAY in fact only be the concocted stories of a few people with an agenda against the teacher or the school (or are joining the bandwagon because now there's the potential for money to be made).

 

"There are quite a number of sex abuse cases that have turned out to be unfounded."

What's the percentage? Do some research and get back to us.

 

How do people like you breath if your head is buried so deep in the sand?

 

If everything every "accuser" says is by definition true, then I think that we all should review the court papers of Mr. Benny Hirsch's divorce and see what his ex accused him of. Of course, Mr. Hirsch is not allowed to defend himself.

What?? You don't believe everything she says or writes? You mean not everything she accuses him of is true?

What a strange concept. A person actually has a right to present his side of the story. But not Mr. Kolko, Right? Not R' Margolis.

 

Who is Ben Hirsch and what on earth do Mr. & Mrs. Hirch's marital difficulties have to do with the growing number of people accusing Kolko of sexual abuse and Margo of a cover up?

Sounds like someone is try very hard to change the topic of conversation.

 

Per information from this and other blog sites, Mr. Hirsch is rumered to be funding the lawsuit against Kolko.

 

"....have to do with the growing number of people accusing Kolko of sexual abuse and Margo of a cover up?"

I don't see a growing number of people accusing Kolko of sexual abuse.

There is, rather, a growing number of people believing Framowitz (and likewise a gowing number of people defending Margo/Kolko). This however, has no bearing on the real truth.

I think there is a growing number of people who are willing to wait and see what the outcome of the lawsuit will be. Will his accusations hold up under cross examination? Will there be character witnesses for Framowitz or against Framowitz?

There is a lot that still remains to be seen and many intelligent and unbiased people are actually waiting to see all of the evidence before they decide.

If in fact "a grwing number of people are accusing Kolko of sexual abuse", this will come out and I think that virtually everyone will be convinced> If one the other hand no one else comes forward.......

 

IS YESHIVA & MESIVTA TORAH TEMIMAH A MODERN DAY IR HANIDACHAS?

Background:

The institution currently known as Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah (“TT”) was founded by Lipa Margulies (“Margulies”) as Yeshiva Torah Vodaath of Flatbush. As an employee of the authentic Yeshiva Torah Vodaath (“YTV”), one of the oldest and most prestigious Torah institutions in America, Margulies had access to YTV’s proprietary donor information which he absconded with when he departed to start his own school.

Margulies commenced his fraud by misrepresenting himself to donors as an agent of YTV, and donations slated for YTV began fattening TT’s bank account. By the time YTV realized the extent of the brazen fraud being committed by Margulies, millions of dollars had been stolen from them by Margulies. It took several years for YTV to get Margulies into a bais din for a din Torah. The bais din forced Margulies to change his business name. He was ordered to return the stolen money, but never did. He began operating under the name Yeshiva Torah Temimah, F/K/A/ Yeshiva Torah Vodaath of Flatbush.

Kolko:

Margulies hired Yehuda Kolko (“Kolko”) as a rebbe in his new yeshiva. Margulies was immediately made aware of Kolko’s dangerous sexual deviance. Fearful of the potential impact the double whammy an ongoing financial scandal coupled with a child abuse scandal would have on his budding business, Margulies cynically chose to cover up the fact that he had hired a known pedophile and focused instead on building his business.

Kolko in turn focused on grooming and molesting his victims.

Complaints:

As TT grew both in size and prestige, the pedophile issue kept raising its ugly head. Parents and students, with frightening regularity, approached Margulies with complaints against Kolko. Margulies responded by discrediting any victims bold enough to go public and threatening their families with retaliation if they did not stop their victimized children from complaining.

In the mid 1980’s, when a few of the victims managed to convene a bais din to address the horrific accusations against Kolko, Margulies reacted by retaining Rabbi Chaim Pinchus Scheinberg, rosh hayeshiva of Torah Ohr (“Scheinberg”) to interfere with the bais din. Simcha Kaufman (“Kaufman”), is a former student of Scheinberg and currently an employee of both Margulies/TT and Camp Agudah where Kolko worked and abused children for a decade. As a high level employee of Camp Agudah, Kaufman was informed of Kolko’s molestation of young campers as early as the late 1960’s, and together with others, chose to cover up the accusations. Kaufman contacted victims and their supporters to insist they cease and desist from their attempts to rid TT and their community of a dangerous pedophile.

Specifically, Scheinberg called the organizers of the bais din and insisted they stop the din Torah proceedings. He falsely stated that under halacha two witnesses are required for the testimony to be halachically valid, and as there were not two witnesses for any single act of abuse perpetrated by Kolko, all of the accusations must be disregarded.

Scheinberg also contacted victims and asked them to tell him what had been done to them by Kolko. Upon hearing the details of Kolko’s acts of molestation, Scheinberg falsely informed the victims that under halacha, absent penetration or proof of ejaculation, Kolko’s actions against them were not punishable, and that they were obligated to cease and desist in their pursuit of justice.

In doing what he did, Scheinberg knowingly violated clear halacha to the contrary of his stated position, and allowed Margulies and Kolko to continue their perversity. Due to Scheinberg’s gross distortion of halacha, to this day, there are victims of Kolko who believe that the horrific acts of abuse Kolko perpetrated upon them are not actionable under halacha.

Not one to leave anything to chance, Margulies also enlisted the aid of Yehoshua (Shia) Fishman (“Fishman”) (Fishman is the Executive Director of Torah U’Mesorah, the National Society of Hebrew Day Schools in America.) Fishman used his position as representative of Torah U’Mesorah to have one-on-one conversations with victims of Kolko. Introducing himself as the head of Torah U’Mesorah, an organization held in great esteem by yeshiva students, he promised to keep anything told him in the strictest confidence. Reassured, the young victims poured their broken hearts out to Fishman who promised to help them. Fishman promptly reported all stories and victim's names to Margulies and Kaufman. Margulies and Kaufman proceeded to publicly name and discredit each and every victim, one by one. The astonished victims react to this day with fury at Fishman’s betrayal of their confidences. To his credit, Fishman now acknowledges that a horrible injustice was perpetrated upon Margulies and Kolko’s victims, and pleads old age, ill health, and his imminent retirement as the reason for his inaction at this time.

It is of note that Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt"l, instructed the organizers of the bais din to ignore Scheinberg’s perversion of halacha and to persist in their quest. Nonetheless, for over twenty years after Scheinberg’s maniacal interference, Kolko continued molesting young boys.

Having survived the most serious assault against his yeshiva, Margulies assumed he had put the matter behind him and focused on building his businesses. Margulies expanded Kolko’s responsibilities to include administrative duties, one-on-one “tutoring” of select students in TT, and the running of TT’s summer camp in the Catskill Mountains, known as Camp Silver Lake.

Needless to say Kolko’s child molesting continued, resulting in newly shattered lives every year.

Ir Hanidachas:

According to most interpretations, Ir Hanidachas is in reality a practical impossibility and as such is taught as a lesson on how to deal with irredeemable evil. The purpose of this post is not to seriously suggest that TT must be burned down to the ground together with all its inhabitants. To the contrary, many of the rabbeim and students of TT are innocent victims of Margulies. These rabbeim and students will have to spend the rest of their lives distancing themselves from Margulies and TT, and clearing themselves of the horrible stigma of association with TT. This is more punishment than most of them deserve and we wish them no further pain.

However, as with the concept of Ir Hanidachas, Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah is infused with an evil beyond most of our comprehension. While boy after boy was being sexually assaulted by Kolko in his private office and in the basement of the yeshiva building; at the very same time and in the very same building, the rabbeim and students sat in their classrooms and bais midrash learning, while turning a blind eye to the horrors being committed. When a few of the victims summoned the courage to accuse Kolko, the rest of TT went along quietly with Margulies, and allowed their classmates and Talmidim to be villified.

Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah cries out for treatment as an Ir Hanidachas. The Rambam’s requirement that the inhabitants of an Ir Hanidachas be warned has been met. The TT community have been on notice of the midas S'dom being perpetrated by Margulies and Kolko for decades, and were warned publicly and repeatedly of the consequences its continued inaction and refusal to repent would result in.

According to the Ra’avad, the occupants of an Ir Hanidachas are so beyond the pale that even true repentance does not allow for a reprieve. A Tosefta Sanhedrin postulates that in the case of Ir Hanidachas the property of the righteous inhabitants are burned along with everyone else’s. Allow me to expand upon that thought and suggest that the guilt of the “righteous” lies in their silence while they allowed the horrific behavior to continue under the roof they shared with the purveyors of evil. Their silence is interpreted as acquiescence.

What did someone such as Rabbi S.F. Shustal, by many accounts a very special man, do to deserve this indelible blemish on his reputation? Simply stated, he was and remains to this day, silent about the horrors perpetrated by Kolko and Margulies.

While Margulies countenanced and supported Kolko’s murder of our children’s innocent souls, Shustal and his co-workers sat, and continue to sit, silently. They did, and continue to do, nothing to stop Margulies and Kolko.

In response to the argument of “what about the zechusim of the tremendous amount of Torah emanating from the many thousand graduates of TT?”, I refer to the Rambam who in Yesodei Ha’Torah states that a Sefer Torah written by an apikoros must be burned. The Rambam called for the burning of a Sefer Torah written by an apikoros because of the lack of proper intention to be m’kadaish shaim Shomayim as the Sefer Torah was written. Thus, such a Sefer Torah, although on the surface identical with a kosher Sefer Torah, lacks kedusha and as the living embodiment of tumah and sheker its very existence stands in contradiction to everything the Torah represents.

Accordingly, it must be destroyed.

It takes no great leap of logic to apply the above to Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah, an institution built by a kofer on a foundation of sheker, theft, deception and the blood and souls of innocent children. While Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah might appear at first glance to be a yeshiva similar to other yeshivas, it is in fact the yeshiva equivalent of a Sefer Torah written by a min (non-believer). Being a community of sorts, the atrocities committed within the four walls of Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah render it an Ir Hanidachas. As such it is an institution whose eradication from our midst will result in a true kiddush Hashem and will hasten the geulah, may it be G-d’s will.

 

If he went for therapy and hasnt done anything in 20 yrs would UOJ still be right to spread this?