Kiruv Workers Who Are Alleged or Convicted Sex Offenders
What do we do about Kiruv workers (those who do Jewish Outreach), who manipulate the men and women they work with for their own personal pleasure?
What do you do when someone uses their power and authority and create chaos in the lives of those who desperately need someone they can trust?
Who were / are the masters in the Kiruv arena who did this? I'll provide you a list of some of them. the problem is that for many no newspapers ever wrote articles about them. Survivors have been afraid to bring criminal or civil charges up against them. The fears are real because many of them act as thugs.
I can only name those where there is public documentation already. Some I'm just listing as "Unnamed". Go to The Awareness Center's web page, and look at their entire list, let me know if I missed any:
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/clergyabuse.html
List of Alleged or Convicted Sex Offenders who did / do Kiruv Work
1. Case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks (Winnipeg, Canada, New York, NY) (Accusations about sexual inappropriate behavior with children started surfacing in the 1980's. Rabbi Bryks is currently a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. The Vaad is a Rabbinical committee that makes important decisions within an orthodox community.)
2. Case of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Accused of several cases of child molestation, and sexual assault of young adult women)
3. Case of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni (aka: Marc Gafni, Mordechai Winiarz/Winyarz, Marc Winiarz/Winyarz) (Accused sexually abusing teenage girls, attempted sexual assault of a young adult, and also accused of cult like practices).
4. Case of Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg (St. Paul, MN) (Accused by a sexually exploiting a female congregant while counseling her for more than two years).
5. Case of Rabbi Steven J. Kaplan (Saskatoon, Canada) (Allegations, detailed in court documents, that he lacked proper ordination, sexually harassed female congregants and committed adultery with one of them).
6. Case of Rabbi Robert Kirschner (San Francisco, CA) (Accused of sexually exploited or harassing three congregants and a synagogue employee)
7. Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch (Jerusalem, Israel) (Convicted of molesting students at Rosh Yeshiva, Netiv Meir yeshiva high school)
8. Case of Rabbi Baruch Lanner (New York, NY) (Convicted - child molestation. Sentancing still pending after 2 years)
9. Case of Rabbi Michael David Mayersohn (Westminster, CA) (Accused of "groping" a female congregant who was undergoing pastoral counseling with the rabbi, due to marital problems. The rabbi is also accused of tring to "convince the congregant to have sex with him" in a second meeting. The female congregant refused).
10. Case of Rabbi Shalom Nagar - AKA Shlomo Nagar (Ariel, Israel) (Arrested for allegedly raping a woman who had turned to him for advice. Nagar, married with children, has served for many years as the chief rabbi of this mainly secular town, the largest Jewish settlement in Samaria)
11. Case of Rabbi Haim Pardes - Former President of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court (Israel) Convicted of sexually blackmailing" and performing "licentious acts" with women who sought his counsel in a synagogue. Pardes was sentanced to six months in prison and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and fined 25,000 shekels ($12,500).
12. Case of Rabbi Charles Shalman (Buffalo, NY) (Accused of sexual misconduct toward female congregational members)
13. Case of Cantor Michael Segelstein (Las Vegas, NV) (Accused of attempted rape; Chabad)
14. Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Sultanovitch (Jerusalem, Israel) (Accused of sexually molesting a number of adult yeshiva students at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva)
15. Case of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler (AKA: Mordechai Tendler) (Monsey, NY) (Accused of innappropriate sexual behavior with women in he counseled that had gone on for years).
16. Case of Rabbi Isadore Trachtman (Chicago, IL and Jerusalem, Israel) (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
17. Case of Rabbi Eliyahu Tzabari - Former chief rabbi of Ganei Tikva, Israel (Charged with sexually abusing a women with whom he counseled).
18. Case of Rabbi Ivan Wachmann - Manchester, England (Accused of sexual misconduct with women from his Manchester synagogue)
19. Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg (Baltimore, MD, Santa Clara, CA and Har Nof, Israel) (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
20. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Baltimore, MD
21. Case of Several Kiruv Workers in Jerusalem, Israel
22. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Monsey, NY
23. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker who has lived in London, Enland; Chicago, IL; and now in Istanbul, Turkey.
24. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Pasaic, NJ
What do you do when someone uses their power and authority and create chaos in the lives of those who desperately need someone they can trust?
Who were / are the masters in the Kiruv arena who did this? I'll provide you a list of some of them. the problem is that for many no newspapers ever wrote articles about them. Survivors have been afraid to bring criminal or civil charges up against them. The fears are real because many of them act as thugs.
I can only name those where there is public documentation already. Some I'm just listing as "Unnamed". Go to The Awareness Center's web page, and look at their entire list, let me know if I missed any:
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/clergyabuse.html
List of Alleged or Convicted Sex Offenders who did / do Kiruv Work
1. Case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks (Winnipeg, Canada, New York, NY) (Accusations about sexual inappropriate behavior with children started surfacing in the 1980's. Rabbi Bryks is currently a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. The Vaad is a Rabbinical committee that makes important decisions within an orthodox community.)
2. Case of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Accused of several cases of child molestation, and sexual assault of young adult women)
3. Case of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni (aka: Marc Gafni, Mordechai Winiarz/Winyarz, Marc Winiarz/Winyarz) (Accused sexually abusing teenage girls, attempted sexual assault of a young adult, and also accused of cult like practices).
4. Case of Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg (St. Paul, MN) (Accused by a sexually exploiting a female congregant while counseling her for more than two years).
5. Case of Rabbi Steven J. Kaplan (Saskatoon, Canada) (Allegations, detailed in court documents, that he lacked proper ordination, sexually harassed female congregants and committed adultery with one of them).
6. Case of Rabbi Robert Kirschner (San Francisco, CA) (Accused of sexually exploited or harassing three congregants and a synagogue employee)
7. Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch (Jerusalem, Israel) (Convicted of molesting students at Rosh Yeshiva, Netiv Meir yeshiva high school)
8. Case of Rabbi Baruch Lanner (New York, NY) (Convicted - child molestation. Sentancing still pending after 2 years)
9. Case of Rabbi Michael David Mayersohn (Westminster, CA) (Accused of "groping" a female congregant who was undergoing pastoral counseling with the rabbi, due to marital problems. The rabbi is also accused of tring to "convince the congregant to have sex with him" in a second meeting. The female congregant refused).
10. Case of Rabbi Shalom Nagar - AKA Shlomo Nagar (Ariel, Israel) (Arrested for allegedly raping a woman who had turned to him for advice. Nagar, married with children, has served for many years as the chief rabbi of this mainly secular town, the largest Jewish settlement in Samaria)
11. Case of Rabbi Haim Pardes - Former President of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court (Israel) Convicted of sexually blackmailing" and performing "licentious acts" with women who sought his counsel in a synagogue. Pardes was sentanced to six months in prison and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and fined 25,000 shekels ($12,500).
12. Case of Rabbi Charles Shalman (Buffalo, NY) (Accused of sexual misconduct toward female congregational members)
13. Case of Cantor Michael Segelstein (Las Vegas, NV) (Accused of attempted rape; Chabad)
14. Case of Rabbi Ze'ev Sultanovitch (Jerusalem, Israel) (Accused of sexually molesting a number of adult yeshiva students at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva)
15. Case of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler (AKA: Mordechai Tendler) (Monsey, NY) (Accused of innappropriate sexual behavior with women in he counseled that had gone on for years).
16. Case of Rabbi Isadore Trachtman (Chicago, IL and Jerusalem, Israel) (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
17. Case of Rabbi Eliyahu Tzabari - Former chief rabbi of Ganei Tikva, Israel (Charged with sexually abusing a women with whom he counseled).
18. Case of Rabbi Ivan Wachmann - Manchester, England (Accused of sexual misconduct with women from his Manchester synagogue)
19. Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg (Baltimore, MD, Santa Clara, CA and Har Nof, Israel) (Accused of cultic type practices and sexual offenses)
20. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Baltimore, MD
21. Case of Several Kiruv Workers in Jerusalem, Israel
22. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Monsey, NY
23. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker who has lived in London, Enland; Chicago, IL; and now in Istanbul, Turkey.
24. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker in Pasaic, NJ
posted by Jewish Survivors at Thursday, February 03, 2005
9 Comments:
Why isn't the case of Rabbi J. Hershy Worch, accused of sexual misconduct and abuse of many women in his position as Rabbi of the Hamakom Synagogue of Melbourne, Australia, and other complaints, listed?
Do you know of any articles in newspapers about him? Were criminal charges ever brought up against him? Is there any civil suits pending?
Do all of the above have newspaper articles printed on them before getting on the list, criminal or civil charges pending?
For the record, the wheels *are* in motion, but the timing is mine.
Will other Worch survivors be willing to speak up/come forward?
Please Note that this posting does NOT mention Worch. Perhaps the alleged Worch survivors can start a blog of their own?
Maybe the Tendler survivors should also start a blog of their own. That way they can also say what they need to say regarding their case?
Re: "list not mentioning Worch":
23. Case of the Unnamed Kiruv Worker who has lived in London, Enland; Chicago, IL; and now in Istanbul, Turkey.
--The only part that's left out is Melbourne Australia, New York, but how many other rabbis have recently fled from Chicago to Istanbul? And why can he be mentioned 'vaguely' and not named? There are plenty of others on the list that have 'various allegations' without criminal convictions--yet, so if someone could explain, I'd certainly appreciate it.
I think that this is a disgusting example of the abuse of the internet and of the people named.
I saw all sorts of accusations and proof of none. Are we returning to the days of McCartheyism of the 195o's, or the Salem witch hunts?
Each one accused is treated as guilty. Can't we take into consideration that the internet is a great place to take vengence, to pursue selfish agendas and to destroy other people's reputations without fear of having to tell the truth.
One example is that of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler. Loads of accusations have been made about him. He has proofs to refute each and every allegation. Nobody seems to want to view those proofs or find out what really happened--especially not the RCA.
He has, like many of the people on the accused list, lots of enemies who are out to destroy him, and are not concerned about being truthful in doing it.
(While I am at it, why don't I just accuse everyone reading this of being a "one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater". Since these people are accused they must be guilty.)
I fully support going after perp's of sexual violence, but let's not detroy truth and innocent people in the process.
I think that this is a disgusting example of the abuse of the internet and of the people named.
I saw all sorts of accusations and proof of none. Are we returning to the days of McCartheyism of the 195o's, or the Salem witch hunts?
Each one accused is treated as guilty. Can't we take into consideration that the internet is a great place to take vengence, to pursue selfish agendas and to destroy other people's reputations
without fear of having to tell the truth.
One example is that of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler. Loads of accusations have been made about him. He has proofs to refute each and every allegation. Nobody seems to want to view those proofs or find out what really happened--especially not the RCA.
He has, like many of the people on the accused list, lots of enemies who are out to destroy him, and are not concerned about being truthful in doing it.
(While I am at it, why don't I just accuse everyone reading this of being a "one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater". Since these people are accused they must be guilty.)
I fully support going after perp's of sexual violence, but let's not detroy truth and innocent people in the process.
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