Ner Israel's Newest PR Campaign - The One And Only Dr. Aviva Weisbord!

Aviva Weisbord - Matis Weinberg

Hanna Ruderman-Weinberg / Yaaov Weinberg

Noah Weinberg

Saying What Everyone Is Thinking But To Afraid To Speak Out!
A survivor of Ner Israel's Sex Offender program sent me a copy of the article "An Interview with Dr. Aviva Weisbord.", which was published in the most December issue of "Where, What, When" (WWW). The article is not available on line yet.

WWW is a monthly magazine that caters to the haredi community of Baltimore, Rockville, Silver Springs and Washington DC. The magazine has very strong ties to Ner Israel. I'm told that nothing gets in the paper without the halachic approval of the "ravs." Basically meaning you have to be "In, with the In Crowd."

For those of you who are not familiar with Aviva Weinberg-Weisbord, she is daughter of Rabbi Yaakov and Chana Weinberg. Her father was the past Rosh Yeshiva (head) of Ner Israel Rabbinical College. Aviva's husband, Rabbi Beryl Weisbord is the current dean of students. What's also important to mention is that two of Aviva's siblings have had serious allegations made against them of professional sexual misconduct/clergy abuse (Rabbi Smicha Weinberg and Rabbi Matis Weinberg). Dr. Weinberg-Weisbord is also the niece of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the founder of Aish HaTorah.

I don't want to forget to mention that Aviva Weisbord's mother -- Chana Weinberg has a regular collume in the www called Shalom Bayis.

It is believed by many, that the Weinberg family has done everything in their power to cover up the alleged sexual criminal behaviors of those connected to their "Royal Jewish Family" for years. I've been told that the arms of this family reach far outside of the charedi Jewish community of Baltimore. All one has to do is ask Rabbi Noah Weinberg about how he has allegedly enabled his nephew Matis Weinberg for the last twenty years in Israel.

In the article "An Interview with Dr. Aviva Weisbord, Aviva talks openly about her newest position as the executive director of Baltimore's Jewish Big Brothers League and Big Sisters League (JBBL), which is a constituent of The Associated of Baltimore (Jewish Federation of Baltimore).

Why at this time in her career, Aviva Weinberg-Weisbord would want to take a roll in a program that is supposed to be helping our children? Could it have anything to do with the newest attempt at PR Campaign being instituted by Ner Israel?

Prior to taking this position, Dr. Weisbord was the vice-president of Optimum Performance, Inc. An organization where Aviva provided consultation to businesses and organizations. This is a far cry from working with "at risk youth".

According to what was written in the WWW article, it does not appear that Aviva Weisbord had any specialized training in working with children, let alone those who have been abused, neglected or in some sort of personal crisis in their lives.

One has to question why at this time The Associated chose to hire someone without the qualifications one would think they would want for this sort of position.

Does anyone know if The Associated put out hiring notices for this position in either local or national Jewish papers seeking to find someone with the appropriate qualifications to fill the position? I don't know the answer to this question. Perhaps someone in Baltimore can answer this question.

The fact is that in 2003, Aviva Weinberg-Weisbord's brother (Matis Weinberg), made international headline news when the newest round of allegations of clergy sexual misconduct. There have also been several other cases coming out regarding Ner Israel's involvement in either covering up other cases of clergy abuse. We all have to be asking is Weisbord's appointment another alleged attempt of Ner Israel desire to manipulating the Baltimore Jewish community?

Don't forget that back in 2003 the Weinberg family was very actively involved in doing damage control. Should they speak out about their "royal family member", at risk of harming the reputation of the yeshiva and family name?

Remember the Weinbergs never did anything to help those that were victimized. The chatter I heard stated they did the opposite. The Weinberg's and those with authority at Ner Israel did what they could to take credibility away from the victims. They were extremely active in the shame and blame game.

Back in 2003, allegations once again surfaced of molesting boys. The first allegations were made against him was when he was around sixteen-years-old. The story goes that Rabbi Matis Weinberg was the ring leader of a group of boys that gang raped others on the campus. The next allegations were made in the 1980's at a yeshiva in California that Matis ran; and again in 2003. If these allegations are true, that means that the Weinberg family others with authority at Ner Israel have been covering up sex crimes connected with their institution for at least thirty to forty years.

There are several items I find both shocking and scary in the WWW article. One includes the fact that Aviva Weisbord stated that she only "started giving any sort of deep thought to the problem of addictions after she was hired as the executive director."

When you think about the population served by any big brother/big sister program, one often think of kids at risk of using drugs and alcohol. I also start to think of children who have been physical, emotional, sexually abuse or neglected. Keeping this in mind, why would the Associated of Baltimore hire an executive director for a youth program, that does not have any significant education, training or experience working with children and or addictions?

The article goes on to say that Dr. Weisbord counseled individuals for 25 years. Her educational background is being an alumna of Baltimore's Bais Yaakov, Yavne Teacher's College and a Phd from American University. It does mention she got specialized training at Georgetown University's department of psychiatry, yet does not say in what particular area of in the field. Was this training in working with Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder?

I'll be honest I don't trust the administration at Ner Israel. I can't help but wonder if the folks at Ner Israel wanted to get a handle on all the allegations of sexual abuse being made in Jewith Baltimore? I am also wondering if Aviva will push Ner Israel's "lashon hara" policy/method of silencing victims. Remember the Vaad of Baltimore does not believe in cooperating with law enforcement. They believe they can handle these sorts of problems on their own. Just look at how they handled the case of Rabbi Yaakov Menken.

I don't want to forget remind everyone of Dr. Aviva Weisbord's professionalism with how she worked with the alleged Survivor of Rabbi Eliezer Eisgrau.