Who said this? Luke Ford or Michael Ozair?
Read this profile. Rabbi Michael Ozair
Can you tell me if this is Luke Ford saying this? or is it Ozair saying it?
http://lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/michael_ozair.htm
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Rabbi Michael Ozair was a former teacher of mine who was particularly skilled at reaching out to non-Orthodox Jews. I went to a dozen of his classes, so I must've gotten something out of them. I wouldn't be bothered by his crime (as long as the sex was voluntary and with a post-pubescent girl) except that he was married, and an employed Jewish teacher. I believe he was twice voted teacher of the year at Shalhevet High School before he was fired in the summer of 2000 (before the sex scandal broke) for allowing some senior students on a field trip to Mexico to buy a couple of beers on July 4th.
What's the big deal here? If we restricted Kabbalah coaches to those who have not commited sex crimes, there would not be enough to go around in Hollywood, let alone the wider world.
I say, those who have not had oral copulation with a 14-year-old-girl, let them throw the first stone.
A lot of these ninth grade girls are going on 28 and very willing, if you know what I mean, and a teacher has to take to sewing his pants shut before he goes over the Cuckoo's nest.
At least he wasn't priestly and making it with a boy. Give him points for that.
Can you tell me if this is Luke Ford saying this? or is it Ozair saying it?
http://lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/michael_ozair.htm
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Rabbi Michael Ozair was a former teacher of mine who was particularly skilled at reaching out to non-Orthodox Jews. I went to a dozen of his classes, so I must've gotten something out of them. I wouldn't be bothered by his crime (as long as the sex was voluntary and with a post-pubescent girl) except that he was married, and an employed Jewish teacher. I believe he was twice voted teacher of the year at Shalhevet High School before he was fired in the summer of 2000 (before the sex scandal broke) for allowing some senior students on a field trip to Mexico to buy a couple of beers on July 4th.
What's the big deal here? If we restricted Kabbalah coaches to those who have not commited sex crimes, there would not be enough to go around in Hollywood, let alone the wider world.
I say, those who have not had oral copulation with a 14-year-old-girl, let them throw the first stone.
A lot of these ninth grade girls are going on 28 and very willing, if you know what I mean, and a teacher has to take to sewing his pants shut before he goes over the Cuckoo's nest.
At least he wasn't priestly and making it with a boy. Give him points for that.
posted by Jewish Survivors at Wednesday, February 09, 2005
30 Comments:
Why don't you ask Luke yourself? Luke if you're reading this, let us know.
I just went to the site. It looks like Luke said:
"A lot of these ninth grade girls are going on 28 and very willing, if you know what I mean, and a teacher has to take to sewing his pants shut before he goes over the Cuckoo's nest."
I hope I'm wrong. But I read it over a few times.
can't you people recognize sarcasm and irony?
Ford also wrote in this piece:
'Kabbalah Rabbi Mordechai Gafni in on his third marraige. What's wrong with that? So he's accused of womanizing and cult-like practices. Big deal.'
Maybe Luke should write a comment on the ozair site that he now see's the light.
They way he writes makes me think he's a pretty scary character. It's obvious that most of us don't know if he's joking or serious.
Jewish Whistleblower,
Help me out here. Why is it that you give Luke so much support? From everything I've been reading he's really a pretty shady character.
I'm pretty open minded, but this guy gives me the chills. Just look at his photo. Look into Lukes eyes. There's no emotion there. I believe everyone can change, but I don't see this Luke doing that. I think he's just manipulating everyone for his own personal gain.
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I wouldn't call him a "disturbing character" as much as a disturbed character. He has some serious emotional/personal/social issues. I am planning on reading the new book entitled "The Sociopath Next Door" in the hope that it will shed some light on his behavior. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076791581X/qid=1108043281/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5777286-8339110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
To be frank, I like Luke. He's a very charming, funny person. He has some very redeeming qualities. He is sometimes kind. I think it's important for us to keep in mind (especially survivors) that he has personal problems that are in some ways similar to the problems sex offenders have (ie sociopathic personality, sex addiction). I am not saying that he's an offender, I don't believe that he is. The manifestation of his problems is in his journalism and in different things he's done. He is not an offender, but neither is he harmless.
I am not an advocate of cutting contact with him. I respect him and I like him, as I said. I just think we need to be aware of his problems in our interactions with him.
No Luke bashing please. Let's accept him for who he is.
It's very difficult to accept someone who says:
"A lot of these ninth grade girls are going on 28 and very willing."
How old is a ninth grader? 13 - 14? This is the same sort of thinking Marc Gafni had when he said that the 13 year-old Bais Yaakov girl that he raped had. His victim called it sexual assault. Gafni called it a loving relationship.
Yes, Luke has done some wonderful things. He's written about sex offenders. But I can't help but worry that he may be luring unsuspecting women into his nest. What better way to find a date? You know what I mean? Women who have been sexually assaulted are very vulnerable. Luke can be their prince in shining armor. I wonder how many dates he's gotten from women who call him to tell them their stories?
Hey, it's all a part of being a sociopath, isn't it?
I think there is a huge difference between JW (Jewish Whistleblower, who used to be known as "ME" in the days of Protocols.
JW is extremely consistent in what he stands for. It's obvious what his agenda is. I just wish he would let us know how old he is, and if he's single? If not, if he has any brothers that are.
Luke on the other hand is attempting to tell the world how pious he is, with his blog called "YOUR MORAL LEADER". How can someone who's so moral earn a living from the exploitation of others?
Luke, you can't have it both ways. Either you are respectable? or you're not!
Everyone deserves a chance to change. Some of us need many chances. It's just outrageous that he would write about sex offenders and those who were victimized, and then also write for lukeisback.com
Let's be careful how we throw around words here. Gafni never raped anyone. His victim herself was quoted in the Maariv article saying that they never had sex.
digital penetration counts as rape.
The following paragraph comes from The Awareness Center's page on Gafni. Let me know what legal term you would call this?
Rabbi Mordecai Gafni's Teachings to a Teenage Girl
By Secoya (The anonymous girl in Gary Rosenblatt's article)
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/gafni_mordechai.html#Teachings
Then he asked my parents if he could stay at our house over shabbat, because he wanted to be able to walk to a synagogue in our part of the city. They said OK. (My parents had no idea that they should suspect him of anything. After all, he was a religious guy from YU.) It was then that he started coming into my room after I had fallen asleep, and waking me up. I remember clearly that when he tried to touch me, I pushed him away repeatedly. I remember saying, "no, no, no!" I knew intuitively that it just wasn't OK with me. But he was larger and stronger than me, and after a huge struggle, he overcame me. Week after week, he would come into my bedroom and woke me up in the middle of the night, and I would fight to keep him from touching me. Every time, I was overcome by him physically. He had already done the job of convincing me that if I told one I would be shamed by my family and my community, so I kept silent about what was going on. I hated it, was disgusted by it, and I was terrified, but there was no place I could talk about it or get help. I also had no words for what was happening to me, it was horrible and indescribable. I think of myself back then as a 13 year old girl who had to become disconnected from the world around her, it was full of contradiction and betrayal, and I had been trapped in this horrible situation with, as far as I could see, no way out. I walked around my neighborhood, a place that had always been familiar and safe for me, and I no longer felt connected to anything.
Much of Luke's writing is tongue-in-cheek, including those paragraphs on Ozair. The name of his blog is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. He's so good at his craft that people can think he's serious. The LukeFordSeeksAWife is also not meant to be serious. In fact, Luke may not have even written any of it.
Wow, what a compelling topic. Luke. Moderator, please don't remove it.
Luke, if you want any survivors to give your their stories, you need to be sensitive to them. This is not the place for irony.
This comment is not meant to be ironic. It is perfectly in tune with Ford's comments on Protocols last year. (JWB prefers to think that his arguments there convinced Luke to reform. But that's b/c he doesn't want his close association with Ford to be called into question.)
Webmaster: Will you be deleting this thread too, as you did in the case of the last thread concerning Ford?
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Well, I hadn't seen that before. I wish Luke would be less trying to be satirical when it comes to
'humour' about incest or sexual abuse, unless it's used in scathing commentary about the abusers.
This paragraph in question: "I say, those who have not had oral copulation with a 14-year-old-girl, let them throw the first stone. A lot of these ninth grade girls are going on 28 and very willing, if you know what I mean, and a teacher has to take to sewing his pants shut before he goes over the Cuckoo's nest."
This obviously an allusion to a famous scene in the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Sheesh.
http://sfy.iv.ru/sfy.html?script=one_flew
I'm sorry. I am not going to idiot-proof my writing so nobody can possibly be offended.
As far as being sensitive to those who are purported to have survived sex abuse, I am professional in my dealings with them, as any reporter should be. I am not a therapist or a social worker or an activist.
But I'm not going to change one word of my writing to accommodate the sensitive feelings of anybody.
I've never dated or tried to date any of the persons I've spoken to for this project.
But what if I did? As long as they are adults, I don't have a problem with it (except for the journalistic conflict of interest)...
When someone has been sexually assaulted they are in an extremely vulnerable state. This state can last for years.
When a survivor reaches out for help, and calls someone looking for help, the receiver of the call needs to have good, healthy, clear boundaries. The last thing you want to do is to cause any more harm. It's very easy to become emotionally attached to someone who's in a crisis situation, and unfortunately survivors are often taken advantage of when they are in this mode.
Luke, can you ever be wrong?
Hi Luke,
I'd really encourage you to read "Trauma and Recovery", by Judith Herman, which will really give you a broader understanding of what survivors of abuse/violence/etc. go through, the history of understanding the ramifications of abuse and PTSD. It's a good read, and will probably be helpful for you in continuing to write about these issues, even though you are not writing in the form of activist or social worker.
I'm curious what everyone's obsession is with Luke? Why give him all this attention? Besides him being a writer, is he also a survivor? Is he afraid to come out of the closet? Aren't most people in the porn industry survivors of sexual abuse from childhood?
It's hardly an "obsession", it's natural to be curious about the person who is willing to maintain profile pages on these creeps.
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Some of us spent much energy at Protocols trying to get Luke to be clearer about exactly this question of who said what. To no avail.
I've realized from this thread that my writing on rabbi Ozair (as highlighted in this post) was unclear and in poor taste. I've severely edited it.
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