Rav Yaakov Horowitz talks about a sex offender registry and about his new book for the Israeli public

Rabbi Horowitz will be in Eretz Yisrael next week and has some lectures lined up you might be interested in hearing..

A Guest Post by Rav Yakov Horowitz, cross-posted

Bein HaZmanim is always an appropriate time for a talk with your kids about safety... Rav Yakov Horowitz is always a great resource for that...

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz was on the Zev Brenner show the other day talking about the Bet Shemesh violence.

Besides for calling for Abutbol's resignation, along with a petition going around now which is pointless (Abutbol already said he won't resign until Yuval Steinitz resigns first considering over the summer half a million people called on him to resign), Rabbi Horowitz discusses how the haredi community must unequivocally denounce the extremists with no if ands or buts. The discussion and Rabbi Horowitz's comments are very on topic and it seems very few people understand the problem as clearly as Rabbi Horowitz. While everyone else in the community diverts the issue to the "anti haredi response", Rabbi Horowitz keeps it on the extremist violence and understand that it is that, and the general silence that accompanies it, that causes the anti-haredi response.

Listen in..

With so few rabbinic voices being heard on the issue itself, each one that does relate to the actual problem is all that much more important.

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz says it is time for the 99% to be heard. We all know the troublemakers are just 1% of the community. It is time for the other 99% to be heard.

Are Hareidi kids at high risk of abuse and/or molestation? I have asked this question before, and I ask it again.

I hear that today would have been Leiby Kletzky's 9th birthday. The horrific murder of Leiby Kletsky has prompted a lot of 'chashbon hanefesh' in the USA and throughout the Jewish world. Both the Aguda and RCA have published statements, focused on how people ought to respond to knowledge or suspicions of child abuse.

At the same time, in Melbourne, the whole frum community seems to be in disarray after exposure of several long-standing abuse allegations. Here in Israel, charges have just been brought against a Hareidi gang of alleged pedophiles who are accused of attacking dozens of kids in Jerusalem. Here in RBS there have also been a spate of arrests over the past year or two in similar cases, with one case being broken as recently as this past week.

Whatever the general situation "out there" is, parents today have to be much more vigilant in protecting their kids, and even in preparing their kids properly to deal with such attempts.

To that effect, Rabbi Yakov Horowitz just published a book with Artscroll/Mesorah to teach parents to do just that. How to stay safe. And the book is called "Let's Stay Safe"

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz has another crucial piece regarding learning from the Leiby Kletsky murder. His latest is a piece in the Jewish Press:

A surefire way to gauge the generation in which a person was raised is to have him or her fill in the following sentence: Where were you when ?"


Baby Boomers would ask, "When President Kennedy was shot?" Thirtysomethings would respond, "When the space shuttle exploded?" Today's teenagers would reply, "On 9/11?"


These were shocking, transformational moments that are etched in our mind's eye forever. We remember where we were standing when we heard the news and recall the sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs as we thought this just can't be happening.


Members of our community had our 9/11 moment last week when we heard that Leiby Kletzky, a"h, was allegedly murdered by one of our own. As was the case on 9/11, people of all stripes banded together to search and later to mourn for that precious neshamah.


In the aftermath of 9/11, a paradigm shift occurred in our thinking about security. No longer would people saunter onto an airplane or enter a New York City tunnel without passing through the watchful eye of law enforcement personnel and fellow citizens alike. The ubiquitous "If you see something, say something," ads have been extraordinarily effective in training people to be more vigilant and to report suspicious activity to the authorities.


It is of utmost importance that members of our community engage in a similar shift in thinking - and acting - in the aftermath of our 9/11, in the arena of the safety and security of our children.


The two areas that demand our urgent attention are (1) the education of our children regarding their personal space and safety and (2) the critical need to immediately report all predators to the authorities.


Education is extraordinarily effective in training children and preventing abuse. Research shows conclusively that children who are spoken to about their personal space are more than six times as likely to take defensive action when approached by a predator. And all of these messages can be delivered in a perfectly modest manner appropriate for haredi homes.


As of this moment, Leiby's abduction seems to have been random in nature, and many parents in our community are limiting their discussions with their children to not taking rides from strangers. This is a grave and dangerous error. We ought to use this opportunity to provide each of our children, from the youngest ages on up, with a comprehensive, research-based model of child safety training.


Why? Because even if Leiby's case was indeed random, it would be an exception to the rule. The vast majority of predators are well known to the victims and are often relatives or friends of the family.


Comprehensive child safety education includes the following components:


● The notion of private space. Your body belongs to you. Worded differently, get children to think of their own bodies like they would a favorite snack - something that is exclusively theirs.
● Good touching/bad touching. One way of expressing this is to tell children that no one is allowed to touch them in a spot covered by a bathing suit.
● No one may tell children keep secrets from their parents; predators naturally want to drive a wedge between the child and his/her parents.
● If someone is making a child uncomfortable, the child has the right to say no. Many victims of abuse felt they had no choice but to listen to the adult or older predator.


(Please note that these few lines do not do justice to a complex subject. Project YES conducted a series of workshops in the month of June to train parents in speaking to kids about personal space and abuse prevention. You can view the 33-minute video of one such presentation at http://vimeo.com/25322132).


On a communal level, we urgently need to adopt and publicize a firm policy that predators will be reported to the authorities.


Contacting someone like me when your child has been molested is analogous to informing me you saw someone carrying a suicide vest and you suspect an imminent terror attack. I have no training in the counter-terrorism field, zero enforcement capability and a day job that precludes me from devoting the 24/7 level of attention to the case it deserves and needs.


A predator is a rodef and every bit as dangerous as the guy with the suicide vest. Worse, in fact, because he can keep exploding young lives again and again until he is arrested and locked up.


Finally, there is one more similarity between the Kletzky tragedy and that of 9/11 - there had been similar incidents, albeit on a smaller scale, that were not given the attention they deserved.


Many members of our community had been lulled into a false sense of security and were not preparing our children with the kind of safety training that perhaps could have helped Leiby refuse to enter a car with a stranger.


We cannot turn the clock back, and all the justifiable recriminations in the world will not return Leiby to us. However, the many abuse survivors in our community who have been misunderstood and even shunned are watching carefully for signs that this terrible tragedy will provide us with the resolve and steely determination to provide our children with a safe and secure future.


Lma'an Hashem, please let's finally make it happen.

If you are unsure of what to tell your children, in the aftermath of the Leiby Kletsky murder, Rabbi Yakov Horowitz has posted an article entitled "How Could This Happen" that offers good advice and guidance to parents having that talk..

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Darchei Noam of Monsey and the Director of Project YES in Agudas Yisrael of America, has designed a new style of chumash workbook and has just released it.

See http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=1475&ThisGroup_ID=235&Type=Article&SID=2 for more information.

The new chumash is unique in the sense that it is a skills oriented chumash workbook.


You can download an 11 page sample from the new chumash here: http://rabbihorowitz.com/Bright_Beginnings_Sample.pdf




You can see the 10 minute promotional DVD here:
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=a4d598715f0e4309&sid=0AZsmzFmzZNWbmI

Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz discusses the recent violent protests in Jerusalem over the opening of the parking lot.

He raises some interesting points. Rabbi Horowitz says:

Maybe it is just me, but throwing stones to prevent the desecration of Shabbos is about as logical as a librarian yelling, “STOP TALKING” into a powerful megaphone at the top of her lungs whenever someone whispers in the library. Or like a group of vegetarians celebrating their accomplishments by hosting a communal barbecue.

The demonstrations were purportedly called by our gedolim shlit’a in Eretz Yisroel. The large and beautiful Friday Night group Kabbolas Shabbos may have been initiated by them. However, the overall campaign to make these hafganos are unquestionably planned, prepared and led by “askanim” not gedolim.

If I may give an analogy, a sefer written by a gadol is just that – 100% the work of the gadol who wrote it. But if I write a sefer and get a haskama (letter of recommendation) from a gadol, that is a very different kettle of fish. All the more so if I were to only show the gadol the first 50 pages, and then add another 150 pages that he never saw.

I don’t for one moment believe that our aged and overburdened gedolei hador shlit’a are being informed by the askonim who plan these demonstrations, what the “last 150 pages” look like – the disgusting images of burning garbage cans and pitched battles with the police that are broadcast worldwide in real time.

Rabbi Horowitz also suggests:

I suggest that all askanim take a hiatus of at least one full generation where we stop protesting about other people’s sins and start looking inward. Maybe Mr. Krause should worry more about the hundreds of our sons and daughters who are in Israeli clubs on Friday night smoking pot, than worrying about secular Jews parking their cars on Shabbos. Maybe Mr. Krause should worry more about the pedophiles in our community who are violating children, more than those outside our community who are violating Shabbos.

Those of us who have any positions of influence in our communities must speak up loud and clear and call this behavior what it is -- a disgraceful Chillul Hashem and a distortion of Torah values -- in the loudest and most unequivocal terms. I am convinced that those of us who don’t, will have to give din v'cheshbon for not having done so.

Rabbi Horowitz also makes reference to the following Jpost article quoting Yoelish Krausz, who is involved in arranging these protests.

"It's a network," he says of the young men who willingly take to the street in protest. "Once the word goes out, it filters through the community quite efficiently."

While he shies from the title, the slender, 36-year-old father of 11 is indeed the man behind the men - the coordinator of the Eda's meticulously coordinated protests and behind-the-scenes deal-brokering that brings leading rabbis into its fold on various issues. He can set the haredi street on fire, often literally, with a telephone call or even a word.

In reality, the job is more complex than that, and Kraus, himself born and raised in Mea She'arim, serves as a facilitator - someone who knows who's who within the community, and makes the appropriate connections between them when something needs to get done.

"Let's say we want to stage a protest," Kraus says. "I contact people and get the word out, while the pashkivlim [wall posters used for announcements] also play an important role."

Rabbinic support only helps, and depending on the perceived severity of the issue, Kraus is able to drum up support and use his connections to mobilize his men on the street, culminating, if he so chooses, in what was seen last Saturday... and may be seen this Saturday too, unless Barkat backs down.

As Rabbi Horowitz points out, you can see that these hafganas are not directed by the gedolim, as people claim they are. Rav Elyashiv told people to protest! The Gerrer Rebbe told people to protest! etc. Krausz says they decide what to protest and how, and then they get the rabbonim to sign on if they feel they need that extra boost. But even then it is only after the askanim have decided everything.

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz hits another home run in his latest article. Rabbi Horowitz, writing in response to the recent conviction of Elchonon Buzaglo to four years in prison, goes further than ever before.

Buzaglo, in case the name means nothing to you, was the guy working for the Mishmeret Tzniyus who attacked a woman in Maalot Dafna because he considered her behavior inappropriate.

Rabbi Horowitz writes,"

The time has come for us to speak out, telling our children and students in unequivocal terms, “These people are criminals and sinners – and do not represent us!” Our publications should begin reporting these incidents in the news sections of our papers, condemn them in our editorials, and call upon the police to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.

We should stop using politically correct terms like “misguided youths” to describe cowards who beat women for sitting in the “wrong” sections of buses and physically assault peaceful citizens who do not dress according to their standards – observant or otherwise. “Misguided youth” implies that they engaged in a prank, like a water fight, or that they went overboard in pursuit on a noble goal. There is nothing noble about these acts – or the terrorist mentality that glorifies them.

The violent members of these self-appointed modesty patrols are, in fact, a modern-day version of the Sadducee sect (Tzedokim) – having long ago veered off the path of our Torah and formed their own cult. They kneel to the idol of intolerance and bring the blood and bruised bodies of their victims on the altar of hatred. They only lack the intellectual honestly to declare themselves a new, non-religious movement divorced of any rabbinic teaching and tradition.

But violence corrupts not only the souls of the perpetrators, but also those of the silent majority of decent people who sit by silently and allow it to take place. And in this era of the 24-hour news cycle and worldwide digital communication, like it or not, admit it or not, these thugs have replaced our venerable sages as ambassadors of our charedi community to the world at large (a Google search of the words charedi and violence generates 26,200 hits) To our great shame, we have allowed these evil people to represent us before the world media instead of our noble sages from whom we receive inspiration and guidance. The Chafetz Chaim and Rabbi Aryeh Levine of blessed memory have been replaced by Yasir Arafat and Hassan Nasrallah. Burning garbage cans and hurled stones have supplanted Torah learning and acts of kindness.

We must clearly and unequivocally condemn the violence each time it happens in the strongest language. Halachic (Judaic law) rulings ought to be issued, that those who commit violence against innocent people are rodfim (individuals who present a real and present danger to others) and one is obligated by our Torah to defend the victim and report the criminals to the police.

The full article has been posted and published by the Jerusalem Post, along with Rabbi Horowitz on his own site.

Rabbi Horowitz has gone a step further. He has decided to make his article into a quasi petition against such behavior. Please post your real name, city where you live and your email addresses on the thread on his website if you support what he wrote.

If enough Torah-observant individuals stand up, distance ourselves from these criminals, and demand action from our elected officials, we might affect changes which will restore honor to G-d’s name and end these acts of terror that plague us.

If we can get hundreds of people to sign this mini-petition. that would be a huge kiddush hashem, showing the frum public rejects that type of behavior.

Please forward this article to your friends and email lists if you are as fed up as we are with the animals speaking for us -- and that now we finally have an opportunity to stand up and be counted.

Rabbi Horowitz just posted a new article. This one he calls "Charedi Classic".

Rabbi Horowitz compares the success and failure of the current generation raising frum jews to the previous generation that raised frum Jews. He also compares us to Coca Cola...

I think that you and your generation followed that sage advice when you passed on the Torah values of your parents and grandparents to us. You kept things simple. In fact, I could probably fit all the instructions you gave us on the back of an index card. Be a mentch. Learn and master our Torah. “Farbreng nisht der tzeit -- make the best use of every minute of every day. Make a kiddush Hashem wherever you go – don’t ever forget that you are wearing a yarmulke. Get an education, be self-sufficient, and give something back to the community. Yet these simple themes encapsulated all the major components of our tradition.

and...

It is humbling and difficult to come to terms with, let alone say this publicly, but I think that your generation had a far better recipe than ours, though both generations have their successes and failures. You prepared us for secular culture whereas we shelter our children from it. You played offense; we play defense. You celebrated the enrollment of each and every Jewish child to a Mesivta or Bais Yaakov; we send rejection letters. You raised children; we tried to raise gedolim.

Over the past few years, I’ve increasingly felt that the most effective way of reversing the exploding number of kids and adults abandoning Yiddishkeit is to revert to the old-fashioned “Charedi Classic” education my generation was fortunate to receive from yours; and pass on those core values to our children and grandchildren.

I just wish we knew how to do that....

Go read the whole article...

Are you curious what Rav Yanky Horowitz would tell the judge if he were asked to speak during the Avrohom Mondrowitz extradition case? Well, he tells us exactly what he would say.