Friday, August 31, 2007

Stop The Promotion of Alleged Serial Sex Offender - Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

From The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter:

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CALL TO ACTION: Stop The Promotion of Alleged Serial Sex Offender - Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

The following article regarding a fund raiser honoring Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach is nothing more then a slap in the face to all of the women who were sexually terrorized by a man who carried the title -- Rabbi. <
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/carlebach_shlomo.html>

There are so many other options that Meir Panim could have used for a fundraiser then to promote
Shlomo Carlebach and paint him as a saint.

Please contact the
Food distribution charity Meir Panim.

American Friends of Meir Panim
Director of Development - Judy Grossman
Toll Free 1.877.736.6283

judy.grossman@meirpanim.org


Meir Panim Relief Centers in Israel
Director of Foreign Relations - Tamar Zuckerman
Phone: 972.2.501.1444
tamar@ksharim.org


Call to Action: Accountability in the Portrayal of Shlomo Carlebach --
Tzadduk (saint)? Serial Sexual Predator?
Some of you may be aware of the fact that for the last 10 years there has been a movement to glorify the accomplishments of a man named Shlomo Carlebach. The Awareness Center firmly believes there is a problem in doing this. There have been numerous accusations that Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach sexually harassed and assaulted many young women, and sexually assaulted/abused a few teenage girls.


Shlomo Carlebach, was the popular Neo-Hassidic rabbi and singer, is the son of Rabbi Nephtali Hartwig and Paula Cohn Carlebach. He is the descendent of a family of rabbis, most of whom had aligned themselves with Hassidism, the mystical form of Judaism which emerged in central and eastern Europe in the eighteenth century.

Allegations of sexual misconduct against Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach can be dated back to the 1960's. Among the many people Lilith Magazine spoke with, nearly all had heard stories of Rabbi Carlebach's sexual indiscretions during his more than four-decade rabbinic career. Spiritual leaders, psychotherapists, and others report numerous incidents, from playful propositions to actual sexual contact. Most of the allegations include middle-of-the-night, sexually charged phone calls and unwanted attention or propositions. Others, which have been slower to emerge, relate to sexual molestation.

Rabbi Carlebach was seen as "being bigger then life", "He touched many people on a level that they have rarely been touched in their lives." Such idealization was only the beginning of a process of canonizing Rabbi Carlebach, a process that has continued since his death. A number of his followers told Lilith Magazine that Rabbi Carlebach, when alive, "walked with the humblest of the humble" and "never said he was a holy man." But with his death came an outpouring of love, and a degree of idolization that did not easily allow followers to recognize what others gently call his "shadow side.
__________
Benefit Concert: Carlebach across the board
By Esti Keller
THE JERUSALEM POST - Aug. 30, 2007

An unlikely lineup comprising American star of ultra-Orthodox pop Avraham Fried, Israeli headliner Dudu Fisher, newly religious rocker Evyatar Banai, alternative Jewish music brothers Yonatan and Aaron Razel, and the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra under Eli Jafe will evoke the spirit of beloved "Singing Rabbi" Shlomo Carlebach at a concert featuring his hits and narrative video from the late performer.

The event, taking place at Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium on Wednesday, is the third in a series in Carlebach's honor - the first and second of which were held in New York and Paris - hosted by food distribution charity Meir Panim to mark its sixth anniversary. Proceeds will go toward improving the organization's Kiryat Gat facility.

"Carlebach is the ideal choice, because he embodied Meir Panim's motto," explains producer Danny Kazelre. "Through his music, Carlebach attempted to create unity and understanding between Jews from across the religious spectrum," which is something Meir Panim aims to achieve by providing for all segments of Israeli society. The services on offer, Kazelre continues, which include soup kitchens, children's meals and meals on wheels, create opportunities for volunteer work in different Israeli communities and are available regardless of background or religious affiliation.

Carlebach's desire to promote Jewish unity, says Kazelre, is reflected both in the varied choice of performers - all of whom, he enthuses, were excited about taking part in the concert, even though most are musically far removed from the late singer and will be performing their own interpretations of his works - and in the choice of venue.

"We decided to hold the event in Tel Aviv rather than the Carlebach stronghold of Jerusalem so as to attract audiences from across the religious spectrum and enable them to experience the beauty of Carlebach's music and messages."

Similar approaches, he says, proved successful in New York and Paris. "Our previous concerts received a very positive reaction from both secular and religious audiences, whether Carlebach devotees or those who were hearing his music for the first time."

The most original aspect of the event will be the orchestrated versions of Carlebach classics - an idea Kazelre says appealed to him precisely because of its novelty.

"I wanted to portray Carlebach's music from a different perspective and was lucky enough to obtain permission from his widow and daughters, who didn't even demand royalties, preferring that more money went to charity."

He admits that adapting the works for orchestra was sometimes difficult, owing to the simplicity of Carlebach's tunes. "Most of his songs are comprised of the same few chords; adding to the complexity of the music would erase its unique character, so the task of adapting was challenging and required talented musicians."

One such musician is alternative Jewish music performer Yonatan Razel, who will conduct two pieces which he arranged for orchestra.

"The simplicity of the tunes makes it difficult to create tension within the orchestrated adaptations and to involve all the instruments," Razel acknowledges. "But at the same time, this simplicity generates a clarity that complements the symphonic medium, creating a strikingly pure sound."

Wednesday, 8 p.m., Mann Auditorium; tickets - ranging from NIS 180 to 240 (discount for Isracard holders) - are available at (03) 604-5000 or *5000.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Shabbat Shalom - Dealing With Overwhelming Feelings Relating to the Case of Moshe Eisemann

I have received several e-mail's from various people who are in a state of shock over the case of rabbi Moshe Eisemann. I know how difficult it can be learning someone you honored and respected allegedly sexually abused a child.

Many survivors may also be having a whole array of mixed feelings. On one level they may be elated that the dark secret they have been keeping for years is finally exposed. What happened to them is finally in the light. They may also be feeling a sense of guilt -- if they start learning that more children were abused by the same offender -- and they never told anyone. It would not be unusual for survivors to also be having flashbacks.
A friend of mine is an amature photographer. She took the following photos and created this mini slide show. My hope is that those of you who may be having a difficult time or are experiencing flashbacks -- might be able to use the slide show to replace the images embedded in your mind with the images in this slide show.

Baltimore Jewish Times - Case of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann

Thank you Phil Jacobs For Writing The Truth!

Two articles came out today in the Baltimore Jewish Times regarding alleged child molester - Rabbi Moshe Eisemann.

If you live in Baltimore go out and buy at least two copies. Share them with your friends. Remember this is the newspaper banned by Rabbi Moshe Heinemann. Buying several copies is a way to say NO to those who cover up sex crimes in Baltimore and enable child molesters to continue on. Another way is to make donations to The Awareness Center, Inc.


Rabbi Moshe Eisemann

Ner Israel Rabbi Alleged Abuser:


1) When Whispers Get Louder - Abuse Questions Raised on Ner Israel's Rabbi Moshe Eisemann

Baltimore Jewish Times - Page 24
The whispering got lounder in the summer of 2006, Rabbi Moshe Eisemann, 71, a beloeved longtime Ner Israel Rabbinical College scholar, teacher and author, was associated with the words "alleged molester."

A Baltimore - area pulpit rabbi and Ner Israel colleague left Rabbi Eisemann off the invitation list to his daughters wedding, because of the uncertainty of it all. . .

2) Former Student Speaks Up - Mike Simms has bitter memories of his time in Yeshiva

Baltimore Jewish Times - Page 26
. . . Mike Simms, originally Zev Simanowitz, has come a long way since he wa a student of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann, a teacher, author and scholar at Baltimore's Ner Israel Rabbinical College.

Mr. Simms, a phoenix-area locksmith, former community newspaper publisher and writer, was Rabbi Eisemann's student in the 1960s at the Philadelphia Talmudical Academy.

He said he doesn't remember much from his classes with Rabbi Eisemann. But he does recall his former teacher had a "habit of staring at people's crotches. I knew that being around him there was an ongoing assault on my privates. He'd stare at my privates to the point it made me uncomfortable." . . .
____________________
CALL TO ACTION: Rabbi Moshe Eiseman's Removal From Ner Israel, Baltimore, MD
The Awareness Center
September 3, 2006

There have been serious allegations made against Rabbi Moshe Eiseman over the last several years of molesting boys at Ner Israel of Baltimore, MD. The allegations were first reported by a blogger by the name of Unorthodox Jew. These allegations have since been confirmed by various reliable rabbinic sources.

It has been over a month since the Ner Israel administration brought the allegations to Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer who made a decree that Rabbi Eiseman needed to leave the Ner Israel. To this day Rabbi Moshe Eiseman is still employed by Ner Israel and continues to lives on their campus. Each day that goes by puts another child at risk of harm.

The Awareness Center is demanding that Rabbi Moshe Eiseman be relieved of his duties immediately, move off campus and required to attend treatment at a residential facility for sex offenders. It is also imperative that all communities members in which Rabbi Eiseman has worked be made aware of the allegations. The goal is to prevent one more child from being harmed and also to make sure that all past victims get the help they need.

Those who have been sexually victimized deserve to be treated with respect and dignity by professionals who have the experience and training to work with survivors of sex crimes. It is also very helpful if survivors contact local rape crisis centers who have free legal advocates available to go with them to file police reports.

There is a realistic fear that Rabbi Eiseman will return to Russia or return to working with Russian immigrants. These communities also need to be made aware of the past allegations and that if survivors come forward that they be referred to local rape crisis centers.

The goal is to prevent on more child from becoming the next victim and to ensure those who have already been sexually victimize receive help.

Please contact the administration at Ner Israel and Rabbi Hopfer and demand that Rabbi Moshe Eiseman be removed today!

Ner Israel Contact Information:

410-484-7200

Rabbi Aharon Feldman - Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the School)

Rabbi Beryl Weisbord - Dean of Students

Rabbi Sheftel Neuberger - President

Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer Contact Information:

Shearith Yisrael (Glen Ave. Shul)

410-466-3060

410-367-9183 fax

"Our Precious Children" (St. Louis, MO") - A Small Group of People Can Change The World

From The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter:

"Our Precious Children"
The Jewish Community of St. Louis is A Role Model
By Vicki Polin
The Awareness Center, Inc.
August 30, 2007

Something good can come out of a horrendous criminal act. The hope of The Awareness Center is that by reading about "Our Precious Children," other communities will also be inspired to create a program like this.

Recently the case of
David Kramer broke in the St. Louis Jewish community. He was originally arrested and charged with exposing himself to a little boy in his apartment. At the time Kramer was a volunteer youth leader at Nusach Hari B'Nai Zion Synagogue (St. Louis, MO). Since then another arrest warrant was issued for David Kramer, this time the charges include sodomy.

Unfortunately, as in many communities there was a large group who rallied behind the alleged offender -- raising money to pay his bond and to help his family. Unfortunately, like in most communities there was very little support for the child survivor or the family. That is until a small group of people got together and started brainstorming.

The group was outraged at what was happening and wanted to make a difference. The answer was to create "Our Precious Children" -- a new organization and fund to help local sexually abused children in the St. Louis Jewish community.

"Our Precious Children" is sort of similar to the "Make A Wish Foundation" only this one is for Jewish sexually abuse children. Their primary goal is to help meet some of the financial needs sexually abused children and their family members. This includes helping to cover the costs of rape counseling or small things such as purchasing an IPOD for the child.

To learn more about them go to:
http://ourpreciouschildren.com/

_______________________
FYI: Rabbi Ze'ev Smason is an orthodox rabbi who understands the issues of survivors of sexual violence (child sexual abuse/assault). If you are a survivor living in the St. Louis area and would like to talk to a rabbi, he's a great choice. He can be reached at: 314-991-2100 or via e-mail: Pepshort613@ sbcglobal.net

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Update Case of Tobias Gabriel - Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal

Rabbi Tobias Gabriel
From Vicki Polin at The Awareness Center, Inc.
Looking for more survivors of Rabbi Tobias Gabriel:

Through out the life of Tobias Gabriel he moved around from country to country (Bolivia, Israel, Mexico, USA, Canada). It is believed that he left survivors of professional sexual misconduct along the way. As of today there have been several women who have come forward accusing Rabbi Gabriel of clergy sexual abuse/professional sexual misconduct.

If you or someone you know has been sexually manipulated by Rabbi Gabriel please contact The Awareness Center immediately: 443-857-5560.
___________________________
Rabbi, synagogue sued over seduction scandal
By Sandro Contenta
Toronto Star
August 29, 2007

Woman who claims cleric pressured her into a sexual relationship wants $1.3M in compensation

A woman claiming she was coerced into a sexual relationship by a rabbi is suing the rabbi and a prominent Toronto synagogue for $1.3 million.

Richmond Hill resident (NAME REMOVED), is suing Rabbi Tobias Gabriel and the Beth Tzedec Synagogue for breach of fiduciary duty and the pain and suffering she claims the relationship caused her and her marriage.

The lawsuit highlights an issue that has pushed some religious institutions into writing codes of conduct that govern relationships between clergy and members of their congregations.

(NAME REMOVED) position is the rabbi abused the trust of a deeply religious woman, according to her lawyer Simona Jellinek.

Gabriel responded to a Toronto Star request for an interview by calling the allegations "groundless" and refusing further comment. His lawyer, Alf Kwinter, stressed none of the allegations have been proven in court. "He's going to vigorously defend this lawsuit," he added.

Kwinter described Gabriel's 13 years of service at the synagogue as "outstanding" and "exemplary." Beth Tzedec's website describes Gabriel as happily married.

The incident rocked the congregation Monday when a letter was sent to the synagogue's 6,000 members, three days after the Toronto Star made repeated requests to Beth Tzedec authorities for comment.

"Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the impropriety occurred," wrote Shep Gangbar, president of the Beth Tzedec Congregation, who called the situation "distressing."

While the synagogue "strongly affirms that such actions are improper and wrong," it is not legally liable for the actions of Gabriel, the letter states. "Beth Tzedec has never condoned or tolerated such behaviour and will never do so."

Beth Tzedec is prepared to provide financial compensation to (NAME REMOVED), the synagogue's lawyer, Michael Royce, said yesterday.

Gabriel, who was hired as a cantor by Beth Tzedec, has accepted an agreement with the synagogue that will see him resign at the end of the year, Kwinter said. He will be paid until then, he added.
Gabriel, who is not the synagogue's chief rabbi, has been suspended and will no longer work at Beth Tzedec, Royce said.

This week, representatives of the New York-based Rabbinical Association, of which GabrielGabriel taught in the synagogue.

Beth Tzedec, in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood, practises the Conservative stream of Judaism. One of the country's largest synagogues, it was recently the site of Ed Mirvish's funeral.

In July 2006, (NAME REMOVED) was the only female in Gabriel's class for student cantors at the Bathurst St. synagogue when Gabriel became "friendly and flirtatious," according to a statement of claim filed by (NAME REMOVED) and her husband (NAME REMOVED) at Ontario's Superior Court last month.

Gabriel kissed (NAME REMOVED) in his office at the end of the course after she gave him "a small token of appreciation," the statement alleges. She "fled" the office "confused and shaken," the statement adds.

Gabriel then called her repeatedly while she vacationed in Israel, the statement alleges. It claims he "pressured" her into seeing him when she returned.

When they met, "Rabbi Gabriel began to kiss (NAME REMOVED) and told her that he will take responsibility and that it would not be wrong to be intimate with him," the statement claims. He told (NAME REMOVED) "it is acceptable that she love two men," it alleges. The claim also alleges the relationship progressed to sexual intercourse.

"Did he use violence and rape her? No, he did not," Jellinek said. (NAME REMOVED)'s husband, who learned of the relationship last September, is claiming $100,000 for the damage it caused to his marriage.

The claim alleges the synagogue knew that Gabriel "had previously engaged in sexual relations with another married woman who was attending the Beth Tzedec Synagogue while she was grieving the loss of one of her parents."

The statement of claim says (NAME REMOVED) relied on Gabriel as "an authority figure to give advice to her, to guide her and to protect her from harm."

"Gabriel knew or ought to have known that (NAME REMOVED) would follow his instructions without resistance," it says. "Gabriel knew or ought to have known that he had (NAME REMOVED)'s absolute trust in all regards and that she would obey Gabriel's instructions and follow his advice in all matters."
(NAME REMOVED) refused to comment when contacted by the Star. Her husband, (NAME REMOVED) said: "There's been incredible grief and publicity would only cause more."

The experience continues to cause (NAME REMOVED) "physical and mental stress," including "inability to trust others ... suicidal behaviour ... sexual dysfunction ... (and) marital discord and breakdown," the statement of claim says. It calls the alleged incident a "sexual assault."

The synagogue does not have a written policy governing conduct between employees and members of the congregation. But the New York-based Rabbinical Association strictly forbids sexual relationships, Royce said.

Kwinter accused Beth Tzedec of convicting Gabriel although none of the allegations have been proven.

"We're not talking about young children. ... Nothing here is alleged to be illegal," Kwinter said. "The allegations are being made against adults."

Rabbi Michal Shekel, executive director of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, would not comment on the case but noted that adultery contravenes one of the Ten Commandments.

More modern concerns about the power a cleric may have over a member of the congregation, particularly one seeking counselling, has resulted in different branches of Judaism – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – writing codes of conduct, Shekel said.

In the United States, windows are being added to rabbis' offices when old synagogues are redesigned. It allows for privacy while ensuring that others can witness the meeting, Shekel added.

In a teacher-student relationship, concerns are similar to those in universities, where a teacher has power over whether a student makes the grade, Shekel said.

In the Anglican church, it used to be common for a young cleric to fall in love with, or marry, a parishioner, said Archdeacon Peter Fenty, executive assistant to the Anglican Bishop of Toronto.
But recent reforms, including a "Sexual Misconduct Policy" for staff and volunteers adopted by the General Synod in 2005, resulted in the Toronto diocese banning romantic relationships between a cleric and a parishioner, Fenty said.

When that happens, the parishioner is asked to seek another parish. It avoids embroiling the parish into conflict that may arise if the relationship breaks down, and preserves the integrity of the pastoral relationship, Fenty added.

"When are you the person's priest and when are you the person's lover? It is in the interest of the cleric, the parishioner and the church community that there be clarity," Fenty said.

Rabbi Reuven Tradburks, president of the Toronto-based Council of Orthodox Rabbis, said his Judaic movement prohibits any man or woman being alone together in a room unless they're married or closely related.

Single rabbis are permitted to date and marry members of their congregations but sex is the reserve of married couples, Tradburks added.

People who go to rabbis for wisdom and guidance have a right to expect high ethical and moral standards from representatives of the Torah, Tradburks said.

"People will say, `Well, if a rabbi can behave that way, who needs the whole religion; it must not be worth much if he can act like that,'" he said.

"I'm a person like anyone else and I have my failings, but that's an expectation people have a right to make: a rabbi should do things differently," he added.


was a member when the incidents are said to have occurred, will come to the synagogue to investigate the claims. The group runs the cantor classes

History of Tobias Gabriel - (Cantor / Hazzen)
  • (Born) La Paz, Bolivia
  • (1949) Lima, Peru
  • (1955 - 1959) Telzer Yeshiva (High School) - Cleveland, OH
  • Yeshiva University (Cantorial School) - New York, NY
  • (1966 - 1968) MBA in International Marketing - City University of New York - New York, NY
  • Mexico
  • President, Zionist Federation of Peru - Peru
  • Cantor, Religious Affairs Director and Bar Mitzvah Instructor - Peru
  • Bakery Business, Israel
  • (1990) Toronto, Canada
  • (1968 - 2006) Former Member - Cantor Assembly (CA)
  • (1990 - 1992) Former Cantor, Shaar Shalom - Thornhill, Canada
  • (1994 - Present) Cantor, Beth Tzedec - Toronto, Canada
  • (2002 - 2006) Jewish Theological Seminary (Rabbinical School) - New York, NY
  • (2006) Spiritual Director, Camp Ramah - Utterson, Ontario, Canada
  • (2006 - 2007) Former Member - Rabbinical Assembly (RA)
  • (2006 - Present) Rabbi, Beth Tzedec - Toronto, Canada

Parole Hearing Today For Rabbi Alan Horowitz


Parole hearing today for fugitive child molester
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST,
Times Union
Wednesday, August 29, 2007


SCHENECTADY -- Alan Horowitz, the notorious child molester who jumped parole and led state and federal authorities on an international manhunt, will go before a judge this morning in a closed parole hearing, authorities said.

State parole officials will make the case that Horowitz should be sent back to prison for some or all of his remaining prison sentence after, they say, he glibly fled the country last summer, penning a goodbye note of sorts to his parole officer.

Horowitz, who was captured in India in May, will be represented by Public Defender Mark Caruso, and the hearing will be before Administrative Law Judge Patricia O'Malley at the county jail, said Mark Johnson, a spokesman for the state Division of Parole.

Horowitz, 60, has been at the downtown facility since his return to the region July 12.

At the time of Horowitz' return, George B. Alexander, state Board of Parole chairman, vowed to send Horowitz back to prison for the remainder of his sentence, which was then 5 years, 22 days plus the 11 months he was on the lam in South Asia.

Horowitz, who has claimed to be an ordained rabbi and who has worked as an adolescent psychiatrist, is not facing a new criminal charge, though federal authorities could charge him with failing to register as a sex offender.

He is accused of absconding from parole in June 2006, hopping a plane to Japan and telling state officials he'd be living in Israel, when, in fact, he ended up touring South Asia. He had no permission to leave the country at all, parole officials say.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney, who is not involved in the parole hearing, has called Horowitz an unrepentant, cunning predator who is a prime candidate for civil confinement.

Horowitz was charged in 1991 with more than three-dozen counts of abuse and related charges, later pleading guilty to sodomy and serving more than 13 years in prison before he was paroled in 2004 as a highest-level sex offender. His parole was scheduled to last until 2011.

Johnson said it could be several weeks before the judge renders her decision, which will be reviewed by a member of the state parole board.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Richard Schwartz, PhD, LMFT
I think this training could be helpful for those who work with survivors of sexual violence and or any kind of childhood trauma.

The Center for Self Leadership
Internal Family Systems (IFS
) is at the forefront of a movement in psychotherapy toward a more collaborative approach that relies on clients' intuitive wisdom. Therapists and related professionals have broadened their expertise and expanded the scope of their practice through IFS training. The Center for Self Leadership is having their Level 1 IFS Training in New York City starting in October, 2007.

The Internal Family Systems Model
Developed over the past twenty years, Internal Family Systems can be easily integrated with a wide variety of practices. The Model provides a set of original techniques that create a safe environment for clients to become Self-transforming. Internal Family Systems Therapy is a simple yet sophisticated integration of intrapsychic and family systems theory and technique, and of psychology and spirituality, that:
  • works with couples, families, groups, and children
  • is effective in healing trauma safely, without backlash or overwhelm
  • helps therapist stay centered and open-hearted
  • provides a user-friendly language for therapy that encourages disclosure and empathy
  • brings therapist and client into contact with the beauty and joy that lies beneath protectiveness
  • is respectful of client's pace/leadership
  • reduces "resistance" by appreciating and respecting client's protective parts
  • establishes an enjoyable, collaborative partnership between therapist and client

The Training Program
Experienced Lead Trainer Susan McConnell will team up with Dick Schwartz and an experienced local staff to bring you this invaluable personal and professional learning opportunity. For more information on the training staff please click the links below.

For More Info on the Training Staff Click Here

In addition to thoroughly learning IFS theory and technique, the Internal Family Systems Level 1 (Basic) Training Program invites participants to explore their own inner worlds in a safe nurturing context. Participants will:
  • understand the conceptual base of the IFS Model
  • apply basic IFS techniques to various clinal popluations
  • take advantage of the opportunities the Model offers for personal development
FORMAT
Format includes lecture, discussion, demonstration, video review, experiential exercise, and small group supervision and practice. Six three-day weekend retreats over the course of one year totals 18 training days, 120 program hours. A Certificate of Completion is awarded. Participants are not certified. Continuing education credit is available through the continuing education sponsor, The Institute for Continuing Education.

Registration deadline: September 1, 2007.
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants.

Click Here to Register

Monday, August 27, 2007

Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles Has School Up In Arms

Two graduates of Shalhevet (a Modern Orthodox day school in Los Angeles), released a parody last week called "The Rolling Joint" or something like it. It accused one teacher of child molestation.

Several of us are trying to find it on line yet haven't been able to. If you know where it is, please post the link.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

CALL TO ACTION: Jonathan Berkowitz - Letter of Recommendation


CALL TO ACTION: Jonathan Berkowitz
(AKA: Yochanan Berkowitz, Yohanatan Berkowitz, Jonathan Yochanan Berkowitz)

Contact the following individuals who have allegedly written letters endorsing Yochanan Berkowitz. Please note that the letters are dated after The Awareness Center created a page regarding Jonathan Berkowitz on their web page.
  1. Make sure each of the three mental health professionals are aware that there is a letter allegedly written by them on Berkowitz's web page.
  2. Make sure each of the three mental health professionals are aware that several women have stated that Jonathan Berkowitz was sexually inappropriate with them on dates, and that there was has also been one allegation of date rape made against him over the last 10 years.
  3. Make sure each of the three mental health professionals are aware that if Berkowitz sexually violates another woman they could be held liable, especially after they have been made aware of Jonathan Berkowitz's past alleged sexual offenses. This is espeically true if manipulates a woman he is treating (as a mental health professional) into having sexual relations with him.

Letter of Recommendation for Jonathan Berkowitz

Dr. Ellen Friedman, PSY.D (Letter dated - February, 10 2007)
287 93rd Street
NY, NY 10952
(212) 674-2423


Elliot Novogrodsky, School Psychologist / CSW (Letter dated - March 12, 2007)
187 Fairfield Woods Road
Fairfield, Connecticut 06825
917-439-6182


Dr. Vikhta Gurevich, MD (Letter dated - January 25, 2007)
307 Ocean View Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11235
718-743-5555

Calling All Jewish Incest Survivors

The image “http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/CanYouSayIncest.jpeg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
INCEST - It's Not Just a Family Affair!

I've been made aware that an issue that is hardly discussed anywhere is the topic of Incest in Jewish communities. I've also noticing most of the cases in the news address the topic of clergy abuse of males (with the exception of the case of Mordecai Tendler).

I was wondering how incest survivors differ from those who were abused by sex offenders outside the home?

We keep hearing about teachers, rabbis, coaches, babysitters who molest, but what about parents? How common is it for a mother to be an offender? Are there cases where a survivor was abused by both parents.

If you are an incest survivor please let us know and what we can do to help.


I thought you might be interested in the Time Magazine aritlce - "Should Incest Be Legal"

Saturday, August 25, 2007

WARNING: If you are a single woman in Passaic, NJ stay away from Jonathan Berkowitz



WARNING: It could be dangerous to date Jonathan Berkowitz (AKA: Yochanan Berkowitz, Yohanatan Berkowitz, Jonathan Yochanan Berkowitz)

If you know of any single women in Passaic, NJ make sure they are aware that they could become the next victim of a sex crime if they date Berkowitz!

There have been several complaints made against Yochanan Berkowitz over the last few years of being sexually inappropriate on dates. There has also been one allegation of date rape. I've been told by a reliable source that the rabbonim of both Passaic and Monsey feel that Yochanan is ok to be dating, even though he has never under gone a evaluation by a mental health professional who specializes in evaluating alleged sex offenders.

Berkowitz's past alleged victims seem to be young, beautiful women who are going through some sort of personal crisis.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Achi Ben Shalom not guilty of lewd act

Achi Ben Shalom was acquitted Wednesday, Aug. 22, of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a girl younger than 14. However, the Israeli-born musician was found guilty of a count each of battery and assault.


Music teacher and showman Achi Ben Shalom not guilty of lewd act
By Joe Eskenazi - staff writer
Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
Friday August 24, 2007


Achi Ben Shalom, a longtime music teacher at Albany’s Tehiyah Day School and a fixture at Bay Area bar mitzvahs was acquitted Wednesday, Aug. 22, of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a girl younger than 14.

However, the Israeli-born musician was found guilty of a count each of battery and assault — meaning that the jury found inappropriate touching did occur, though of a non-sexual nature.

“I definitely feel very relieved at the situation,”
Ben Shalom told j. “It could have been much worse, of course.”

“I am trying to go back to my life.”

Just what that life will be, however, is yet to be determined. Ben Shalom acknowledged that he won’t even ask for his old job back at Tehiyah. And, though he was cleared of any sexually related wrongdoing, the stain of the accusation doesn’t figure to recede anytime soon.

When asked if Ben Shalom could reintegrate himself into the East Bay’s tight-knit Jewish community, his lawyer, Harold Rosenthal, replied “I don’t think it’s possible, quite bluntly.

“I think the stigma of all this will follow him around to some degree. That’s a tragedy, but that’s what happens.”

J. was unable to reach prosecuting attorney Colleen Gleason. While Rosenthal will ask for probation at Ben Shalom’s Sept. 14 sentencing hearing, he figures Gleason will fight him on this — she asked Ben Shalom be remanded into custody following Wednesday’s trial as a result of the battery and assault counts. Her request was denied.

Rosenthal said first-time offenders charged with assault or battery rarely get jail time, though the maximum sentence is up to a year for each count.

Ben Shalom was arrested in November of last year after a former student, now 11, charged that he touched her private parts on five separate occasions in his Tehiyah classroom starting Oct. 11 of last year.

Ben Shalom does not deny touching her stomach on one occasion — he said he was applying a massage technique to relieve a stomachache — a technique that he used on his own two children.

Yet, in what Rosenthal believes was one of the keys to the acquittal, on one occasion when the accuser claims she was with Ben Shalom he was actually in Washington, D.C., on a school trip.

Ben Shalom does not currently have an income and said that he doesn’t know what he will do next, career-wise.

“I am worried in finding a job, especially with all the things that went on the Internet,” he said.

“I don’t plan to move away or anything. My option is to go on with my life as much as I can.”

Where in the World is Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov?

It is believed the convicted Rabbi discussed at the end of this article is Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov formerly of Chabad Chedar Menachem School. Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov is in violation of his parole by not registering on the California Sex Offender registry.

Dealing With Schmutz
By David Suissa
Jewish Journal - August 17, 2007
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=18065

The other day, a remarkable neighbor named Dennis Brown was telling me about a Chasidic kid who had rebelled against his parents and his religious lifestyle and gotten into drugs. After a couple of rough years, he got professional help, sobered up and started reconnecting with his observant upbringing. He was even enjoying going to shul on Shabbat. But there was a little detail that drove his parents nuts.

The kid wore pleated pants.

For the parents, it wasn't very "chassidishe" to wear pleated plants. They saw it as a sign of secular fashion. Not a good omen. So when they met with Dennis to discuss the boy's progress, they brought up the pleated pants.

Dennis went ballistic.

When Dennis goes ballistic, he has to tell you he's going ballistic, because you can't tell from his body language. Nothing changes on this man's face. It's sculpted in granite.

Still, when he told me the story of the pleated pants, you could see the emotion smoldering beneath the surface. He had spent many long hours working with the kid. He had helped turn his life around. He was counting his blessings. Meanwhile, the parents were sitting there kvetching about pleated pants. How could they be so blind?

This notion of blindness is a common theme in the life of Dennis, a Chasidic Jew and professional counselor in his early 60s who runs the state-certified Ness Counseling Center in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Dennis deals with what he calls "the schmutz of life" on a daily basis -- physical and sexual abuse, drugs, marital and family problems, wife beating, pleated pants.

As I sat with him in his office right off La Cienega Boulevard, with the famous gaze of the Lubavitcher Rebbe hovering above us from a picture on the wall, he kept going back to the theme of blindness.

"People see what they want to see", he said. "The parents [of the Chasidic kid] were blind to the pain that got him into drugs in the first place, and when he started to get out of it, they were blind to his progress. They could only see the pleated pants."

Although the Ness Center caters to everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, the majority of their cases are with Orthodox Jews -- perhaps, as he says, because the Orthodox prefer to deal with one of their own, especially when highly sensitive subjects are involved.

Dennis is not naive. He understands his insular Orthodox community. There's always a good reason to sweep the schmutz under the carpet: It's a desecration of God's name for a Jew wearing a yarmulke to do something immoral or criminal; it puts an indelible stain on the community; it can ostracize a family and make it hard for their children to find a good mate. He's heard it all.

And what happens when all hell breaks loose? When a woman has taken one too many blows? Or when a kid is about to overdose?

Well, that's usually when they call Dennis -- when much of the damage has already been done.

That's why Dennis rails against blindness. He sees a greater shame in hiding the schmutz than in confronting it early and honestly. He tells victims of abuse not to wait until it gets unbearable. He wants to see people before the pain gets too deep.

Strangely, as I listened to Dennis talk about the vile stuff he's seen in his 30 years of working in the field, I didn't sense in him any feeling of Jewish or communal shame. For this ultra-Orthodox Jew with a long white beard, when it comes to human behavior, there is no Jew or non-Jew, no Orthodox or non-Orthodox. There are only humans. He doesn't see a black hat or a yarmulke or a wig. He sees a kid who's misunderstood. A wife who's overwhelmed. Parents who don't get it. A man with a sickness. A woman who needs immediate protection.

He sees pain and sickness, before he sees religion and shame.

His forthrightness hasn't always endeared him to the Orthodox community. A few years ago, when an Orthodox rabbi was convicted of child abuse and had spent time in jail, a group of Orthodox rabbis and leaders got together to raise funds to help the convicted rabbi leave town. When they contacted Dennis for help, he told them what they didn't want to hear: They should use the money to get the convicted rabbi professional help, not to help him take his sickness somewhere else.

In other words, he wanted them to open their eyes and see the real problem: a Jewish man with a sickness and potential future victims, rather than a community with a black eye.

The man ended up leaving town.

The notion of sickness as applied to human behavior is not a popular one in Torah-observant circles. Abusive and aberrant behavior is usually seen as a failure of character. If you follow the Torah, you should never have to use drugs or abuse anyone. When someone cracks -- when human reality trumps Torah observance -- the instinct is not to deal with the problem, but to circle the wagons and defend the honor of the community.

Dennis is encouraged that emerging groups like Aleinu and Aish Tamid, with the support of many Orthodox rabbis, are trying to deal honestly with the "dark side of life," which no part of the Jewish world is immune to, even the Torah observant.

When I ask him if it's better for the image of the Orthodox community, in the long run, to deal honestly and openly with their troubled elements, I see a hint of impatience in his granite face. Clearly, this man has little time to ponder notions like "long term" and "image."

There's a woman on the phone waiting to speak to him and, apparently, she's quite agitated.

Let's hope she's not calling about pleated pants.


David Suissa, an advertising executive, is founder of OLAM magazine and Meals4Israel.com. He can be reached at dsuissa@olam.org.

Update: Case of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler and the court decision made

Vicki Polin, Executive Director of The Awareness Center says:
The Awareness Center was contacted late yesterday afternoon regarding the court decision made on the civil suit filed against Rabbi Mordecai Tendler. Before you read the following information I'm going to ask everyone to say a prayer for the woman who was manipulated and sexually violated by Mordecai Tendler and then had the courage to come forward and attempted to have justice served. The survivor deserves a great deal of credit and honor for her strength determination and dedication in doing what she could to stop this alleged sexual predator. Remember, out of all the women who were allegedly harmed by Mordecai Tendler she was the only one who stepped up against all odds.

I want you to know that New York is amongst one of the worst states in our country when it comes to protecting the rights of those who have been sexually violated. Knowing this the survivor did what she could to have her voice heard and for justice to be served. She should be seen as a hero and when she walks into a room everyone should stand up and applaud her efforts. My hope and the hope of The Awareness Center is that her attorney will file an appeal and this glitch in justice will be overturned.

Vicki Polin, Executive Director
The Awareness Center, Inc.
______________________

Divided Court Rules Seduction Claims Against Rabbi Mordechai Tendler Are Barred by N.Y. Law, Women Seduced To Appeal
by Daniel Wise
New York Law Journal
August 24, 2007

A woman has no claims against a Rockland County, N.Y., rabbi who she alleges counseled her to have sex with him as a way of overcoming her problems in finding a husband, a divided Appellate Division, 1st Department, ruled Thursday.

The woman, (NAME REMOVED), asserts in (NAME REMOVED) v. Kehillat New Hempstead, 117629/05, that, as a result of the counseling, she and Orthodox Rabbi Mordecai Tendler had sexual relations for five years ending in 2005 after the rabbi had abused her emotionally and physically.

In a 3-2 ruling, the 1st Department dismissed the two remaining claims against Tendler as being barred by a state statute that specifically rules out a cause of action for seduction.

Lenore Kramer of Kramer & Dunleavy in Manhattan, who represents (NAME REMOVED), said she will take the case to the Court of Appeals as a matter of right since there were two dissenting votes.

The Rockland County synagogue where Tendler presided, Kehillat New Hempstead, had not moved to dismiss (NAME REMOVED)s claim for negligent supervision against it, but will now move for summary judgment based on the 1st Department's ruling, said its lawyer, Marcy Sonneborn, of Molod, Spitz & DeSantis in Manhattan.

Tendler's lawyer, Glen S. Feinberg of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, said the rabbi is no longer associated with the 150-member synagogue, which he founded.

According to the decision, Tendler was known within the Orthodox Jewish community as a scholar, educator and community leader.

In her lawsuit, according to the majority opinion written by Justice Joseph P. Sullivan, (NAME REMOVED) averred that Tendler had advised her to have sex with him so that her "life will open up and men will come to her." She also claimed the rabbi had told her "he was as close to God as anyone could get" and having sex with him would be "her only hope."

The allegations were not enough to overcome the bar against actions for seduction in Civil Rights Law �80-a, Justice Joseph P. Sullivan wrote. (NAME REMOVED)'s two remaining causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress, he concluded, are "thinly veiled claims" for "seduction," a term that has been "broadly defined" by the courts in construing Civil Rights Law �80-a.

Justices Richard T. Andrias and Bernard J. Malone Jr. joined in the majority opinion.

At the trial level, Manhattan Justice Jane S. Solomon had dismissed (NAME REMOVED)'s other two claims -- fraud and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She had not appealed that ruling.

In dissent, Justice John W. Sweeny Jr. concluded that, notwithstanding the statutory prohibition against actions for seduction, (NAME REMOVED) had made allegations sufficient to make out a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. Justice Milton L. Williams was the second dissenter.

In Wende C. v. United Methodist Church, 4 NY3d 293 (2005), which involved a congregant who had initiated sexual relations with her pastor from whom she had sought counseling, Sweeny noted, the Court of Appeals had dismissed a claim for "clergy malpractice" but left open a determination of whether a claim for breach of fiduciary duty might be available.

The court in Wende C., Sweeny said, had expressly left open the breach of fiduciary duty question for claims "between a cleric and a parishioner under very different circumstances, not present here."

Returning to (NAME REMOVED)'s case, Sweeny wrote, "those 'very different circumstances' may well be present here."

(NAME REMOVED)s allegations, taken as true, Sweeny stated, describe a fiduciary relationship: (NAME REMOVED) consulted Tendler because he had held himself out as counselor with expertise in women's issues, and he abused the confidence she had placed in him "by inducing plaintiff to enter into a sexual relationship to satisfy his own desires."

Similarly, the claim for the intentional infliction of emotional distress was not "merely a seduction case," Sweeny wrote, but a claim that Tendler had "clearly exploited the vulnerability of the plaintiff to attain his own ends."

Sullivan disputed the dissent's claim that Wende C. gave (NAME REMOVED) an opening within which she could raise a claim of breach of fiduciary duty.

The fact that the Court of Appeals in Wende C. left open the issue of whether "under very different circumstances" a fiduciary relationship may arise between a cleric and a parishioner, Sullivan wrote, "does nothing to advance the dissent's position."

In Wende C., Sullivan reasoned, there were no "veiled allegations" of seduction like those made by (NAME REMOVED).

______________________
The following comes from blogger Jewish Whistleblower:
JWB: All this current decision means is that we will now have to wait for a further appeal. Hopefully this will be the case that changes/clarifies NY law in this area. A strong court of appeal decision would be a very significant victory against Mordecai Tendler and has kind. If not, then hopefully it will spur legislative change in this area. Either way it is for now but a minor technical win for Tendler who avoids the opportunity (at least for now) to have the issues dealt with in an open impartial forum. It certainly was not won on the factual basis of the case but on a narrow technical point of law. The earlier decision of Justice Jane S. Solomon and the strong dissents of Justice John W. Sweeny Jr. and Justice Milton L. Williams hopefully reflect where the law in this area is going.

Please pass on this decision to other survivors groups as success in the Court of Appeals is important for us all, it is also clear that legislative change may be necessary in this area.

1) Decision
2) NY Law Journal article

1) (Survivor) v Kehillat New Hempstead: Rav Aron Jofen Community Synagogue
2007 NY Slip Op 06504
Decided on August 23, 2007
Appellate Division, First Department
Sullivan, J.
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on August 23, 2007

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION
First Judicial Department
Richard T. Andrias, J.P.
Joseph P. Sullivan
Milton L. Williams
John W. Sweeny, Jr.
Bernard J. Malone, Jr., JJ.

306
Index 117629/05


[*1] (Survivor), Plaintiff-Respondent,

Kehillat New Hempstead: The Rav Aron Jofen Community Synagogue, Defendant, Mordecai Tendler, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant Mordecai Tendler appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, New York County (Jane S. Solomon, J.), entered June 20, 2006, which denied his motion to dismiss the causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP,
White Plains (Glen S.
Feinberg and Katherine Hammond
GallÈ; of counsel), for
appellant.
Kramer & Dunleavy, L.L.P., New York (Lenore
Kramer and Jonathan R.
Ratchik of counsel), for
respondent.


SULLIVAN, J.

At issue on this appeal is the viability of plaintiff's causes of action for breach of [*2]fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Since the complaint alleges nothing more than thinly veiled claims of seduction, prohibited by Civil Rights Law § 80-a and couched otherwise to avoid that statutory bar, we reverse and dismiss these causes of action.

The allegations of the complaint, which must be taken as true on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action (Cron v Hargro Fabrics, 91 NY2d 362, 366 [1998]), are as follows. In 1994, plaintiff became acquainted with defendant Mordecai Tendler, the founder and spiritual leader of defendant synagogue. Known within the Orthodox Jewish community as a scholar, educator and community leader, defendant held himself out as a counselor and advisor with an expertise in women's issues. In 1996, plaintiff began attending services at the synagogue. Defendant advised plaintiff with respect to her personal, legal and financial problems, and represented that he would assist her in finding a prospective husband so she would be able to marry and have children as she wished. Beginning in November 2000, the two began a sexual relationship that lasted through May 2005.

Plaintiff alleges that she was induced by defendant to engage in this physical relationship "as part of a course of sexual therapy which he represented would lead to her achieving her goals of marriage and children." He told her she was "closed to the possibility of finding a husband" and "would never find a husband in her current state." He advised her "to permit him to have sexual intercourse with her so that her life will open up and men will come' to her." He told her he "was as close to God as anyone could get," and engaging in sexual relations with him would be her "only hope." The relationship did not lead to the outcome plaintiff desired. Rather, she alleges, defendant "physically and emotionally abused [her] for his own sexual pleasure and gratification," and warned that if she told anyone about their sexual relationship he "would have her placed in a straight jacket," "have her put in the penitentiary," and "would turn the community against her."

The action was commenced in December 2005, asserting four causes of action against defendant and one against the synagogue for negligent retention. On defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) as against him, the court granted the motion as to the causes of action for fraud and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and denied the motion as to the claims for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Since plaintiff did not appeal from the partial grant of the motion, only the two latter causes of action are at issue here.

As to the claim for breach of fiduciary duty, the complaint alleges that defendant "occupied a position as fiduciary to the plaintiff . . . as her counselor, advisor and therapist and owed her a relationship of trust and confidence," which he breached. Plaintiff asserts that she was physically violated, her reputation impugned, and that she was ostracized from her synagogue and lost her standing in the community. The claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress alleges that defendant engaged in conduct - including falsely inducing plaintiff into a sexual relationship, physically violating and abusing her, and causing her to be harassed, threatened, intimidated and ostracized by the community - which would and did result in severe emotional distress.

Pursuant to section 80-a of the Civil Rights Law, originally enacted as section 61-b of the [*3]Civil Practice Act (L 1935, ch 263), "[t]he rights of action to recover sums of money as damages for alienation of affections, criminal conversation, seduction, or breach of contract to marry are abolished. No act done within this state shall operate to give rise . . . to any such right of action." A cause of action for seduction is broadly defined to cover "any conduct on the part of a man, without the use of force, in wrongfully inducing a woman to surrender to his sexual desires" (Coopersmith v Gold, 172 AD2d 982, 984 [1991]).

Distilled to its essence, the complaint alleges that plaintiff was induced by defendant, who "represented himself as an advisor, a father figure and a god," to engage in a sexual relationship "as part of a course of sexual therapy which he represented would lead to her achieving her goals of marriage and children." Since the conduct alleged here falls squarely within the embrace of Civil Rights Law § 80-a, whether couched as a claim for breach of fiduciary duty or intentional infliction of emotional distress, it is not actionable.

In any event, the complaint fails to state a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. "One standing in a fiduciary relation with another is subject to liability to the other for harm resulting from a breach of duty imposed by the relation" (Restatement [Second] of Torts § 874). "A fiduciary relation exists between two persons when one of them is under a duty to act for or to give advice for the benefit of another upon matters within the scope of the relation" (id., Comment a). It is thus clear that to maintain a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty, the existence of a duty is essential. Plaintiff argues that since defendant held himself out as a counselor and advisor with an expertise in women's issues, he "owed a fiduciary duty to [plaintiff] and a duty not to abuse their relationship of trust and confidence."

"'Fiduciary' is a vague term, and it has been pressed into service for a number of ends" (Doyle v Turner, 90 F Supp 2d 311 [2000], affd sub nom Hughley v Local 1199, Drug, Hosp. and Health Care Empls. Union, 231 F3d 889 [2000], quoting D.W.M. Waters, The Constructive Trust 4 [1964]). The allegations that defendant held himself out as a counselor and advisor with an expertise in women's issues are merely general allegations; the mere giving of advice that is in turn accepted is not sufficient to create a fiduciary relationship.

Significantly, it should be noted that the complaint conspicuously avoids any reference to defendant as a rabbi or even an allegation that plaintiff was a member of his congregation. While he is alleged to have advised plaintiff with respect to her "legal, financial and personal problems," there is no allegation that he counseled her with respect to religious matters. No doubt, these omissions are intended to avoid entanglement with First Amendment concerns (see Langford v Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, 271 AD2d 494, 495 [2000] [cause of action to recover damages for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of sexual relationship between a parishioner and a member of the clergy properly dismissed as it would require courts to "venture into forbidden ecclesiastical terrain"]).

We cite Langford merely to note the complaint's studied avoidance of any reference to religious counseling a curious omission in light of defendant's position as spiritual leader of the synagogue plaintiff attended. This, as we noted, is an obvious ploy to stay clear of the First Amendment (see Wende C. v United Methodist Church, 4 NY3d 293 [2005], cert denied 546 US 818 [2005]). That Wende C. left open the question of whether a fiduciary relationship may arise [*4]"between a cleric and a parishioner under very different circumstances, not present here" (at 299) does nothing to advance the dissent's position, especially since that case did not involve veiled allegations of seduction.

While plaintiff asserts that defendant "occupied a position as fiduciary . . . as [plaintiff's] counselor, advisor and therapist," there is no claim that he held himself out to be a professional counselor, that the parties had a professional relationship, that he was trained to be a therapist [FN1] in any particular specialty or even that he was counseling her in a specific area. On the contrary, she claims that he counseled her "with respect to her personal, legal and financial problems." That plaintiff may have succumbed to defendant's persuasive power and may have been exploited by him for his own sexual gratification is insufficient to impose a legal duty on him, entitling plaintiff to the recovery of damages. She must allege more than her subjective belief in defendant's rectitude and honesty. "[A] fiduciary duty cannot be imposed unilaterally" (United States v Chestman, 947 F2d 551, 567 [2d Cir 1991], cert denied 503 US 1004 [1992]). The dissent offers no authority to support its conclusion that defendant's alleged claim of expertise in a particular area coupled with advice to plaintiff, on which she allegedly relied, is sufficient for the imposition of a fiduciary duty.

While informal fiduciary relationships may be found to exist between friends or family members (see e.g. Penato v George, 52 AD2d 939, 942 [1976], appeal dismissed 42 NY2d 908 [1977]; Cody v Gallow, 28 Misc 2d 373 [1961]), in those cases the plaintiff suffered a pecuniary injury. Here the alleged harm is that plaintiff was sexually exploited, and as noted, actions based on such a claim are prohibited by statute.

Since the cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress is founded on the sexual relationship, it is also barred by § 80-a and should be dismissed as well.

Accordingly, the order of the Supreme Court, New York County (Jane S. Solomon, J.), entered June 20, 2006, which denied defendant Tendler's motion to dismiss the causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress, should be reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, and the motion granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment dismissing the complaint against said defendant.

All concur except Williams and Sweeny, JJ. who dissent in an Opinion by Sweeny, J.

SWEENY, J. (dissenting)
The IAS court denied defendant Tendler's motion to dismiss the breach of fiduciary duty claim, holding that the issue involved a question as to whether his actions "betrayed a trust that plaintiff had reasonably placed in him, commencing well before she joined his congregation," [*5]not whether those acts were in conformance with religious practices.

Fiduciary relationships have been broadly defined and have been held to exist "in all cases in which influence has been acquired and abused, in which confidence has been reposed and betrayed. The rule embraces both technical fiduciary relations and those informal relations which exist whenever one man trusts in, and relies upon, another. Such a relationship might be found to exist, in appropriate circumstances, between close friends or even where confidence is based upon prior business dealings" (Penato v George, 52 AD2d 939, 942 [1976], citations omitted, appeal dismissed 42 NY2d 908 [1977]).

Plaintiff's allegations on this cause of action, taken as true, describe such a fiduciary relationship. Tendler held himself out as a counselor and advisor with expertise in women's issues, and was consulted by plaintiff because of his reputation. She initially consulted him regarding a number of personal issues and he encouraged the development of a relationship of trust and confidence. Once this relationship was established, he betrayed this confidence and abused his influence by inducing plaintiff to enter into a sexual relationship to satisfy his own desires.

The fact that the complaint makes no mention of Tendler as a rabbi or that plaintiff was a member of his congregation is not, as the majority argues, of significance. Plaintiff did not become a member of Tendler's synagogue until well after she had established a relationship with him while he was acting as her advisor on a number of issues unrelated to her search for a husband. Indeed, even when she sought his counsel and advice on that issue, she did not do so in the context of her religious practices, nor did she seek spiritual guidance or counseling. The majority's reference to Langford v Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn (271 AD2d 494, 495 [2000]) is misplaced. The plaintiff in Langford "sought religious and spiritual counseling" from the defendant clergyman, which ultimately led to a sexual relationship between them. In dismissing the cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty, the court there found the basis of that cause of action was clergy malpractice, which "would require the courts to venture into forbidden ecclesiastical terrain'." There is no claim here that plaintiff sought "religious and spiritual counseling" from Tendler, and since we must accept the allegations in the complaint as true for purposes of this motion, we cannot infer, as the majority does, that this is simply a pleading device [FN1] to circumvent the prohibitions regarding clergy malpractice and seduction. Indeed, a breach of fiduciary duty claim may be viable even in those situations where a plaintiff seeks spiritual counseling from a member of the clergy. In Wende C. v United Methodist Church (4 NY3d 293 [2005], cert denied 546 US 818 [2005]), the plaintiff sought ministerial counseling from defendant pastor who, like here, was not a licensed professional counselor. She initiated a sexual relationship with the pastor, and subsequently she and her husband sued the pastor and church for what amounted to clergy malpractice. The Court of Appeals found that with respect to the plaintiffs' claims that the pastor had breached his fiduciary duty to them, those claims were not specifically pleaded. The Court held that "Given that no fiduciary cause of action is properly [*6]before us, we leave open for another day the question whether such a claim may arise between a cleric and a parishioner under very different circumstances, not present here" (id. at 299). Those "very different circumstances" may well be present here, and the IAS court properly denied Tendler's motion to dismiss the cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty.

The court found the complaint regarding intentional infliction of emotional distress contained no factual allegations that Tendler encouraged his congregants to harass plaintiff. However, it found other allegations on this cause of action sufficient to withstand the motion to dismiss.

To prevail on a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must prove four elements: (1) extreme and outrageous conduct; (2) intent to cause, or disregard the substantial probability of causing, severe emotional distress; (3) a causal connection between the conduct and the injury; and (4) severe emotional distress (Howell v New York Post Co., 81 NY2d 115, 121 [1993]). Liability will be found "where the conduct has been so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community" (Murphy v American Home Prods. Corp, 58 NY2d 293, 303 [1983], quoting from Restatement [Second] of Torts § 46, comment
d).

Plaintiff alleges that Tendler repeatedly advised that her "only hope" of achieving her goal of getting married and having children was to engage in a course of "sexual therapy" with him. We must respectfully disagree with the majority that this is merely a seduction case. Rather, Tendler clearly exploited the vulnerability of plaintiff to attain his own ends. Allegations of this type of conduct have been held to be sufficient to survive a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss (see Sanchez v Orozco, 178 AD2d 391, 394 [1991], where the court reinstated the cause of action seeking damages for emotional distress, based upon the allegation that the defendant psychiatrist had persuaded the plaintiff to have sexual relations with him for her to obtain "therapeutic benefit"; see also Noto v St. Vincent's Hosp. & Med. Ctr. of N.Y., 160 AD2d 656 [1990] lv denied 76 NY2d 714 [1990]). The IAS court thus correctly denied defendant's motion to dismiss this cause of action, and I would vote to affirm.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

ENTERED: AUGUST 23, 2007

CLERK

Footnotes


Footnote 1:A therapist is defined as a person "trained in applying occupational or physical measures in the treatment or rehabilitation of patients" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary [1993]).

Footnote 1:Or as the majority characterized it, a "ploy"

2)
Divided Panel Rules 'Seduction' Claims Against Rabbi Are Barred by N.Y. Law
Daniel Wise
New York Law Journal
August 24, 2007
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1187859736882

A woman has no claims against a Rockland County, N.Y., rabbi who she alleges counseled her to have sex with him as a way of overcoming her problems in finding a husband, a divided Appellate Division, 1st Department, ruled Thursday.

The woman, (Survivor), asserts in (Survivor) v. Kehillat New Hempstead, 117629/05, that, as a result of the counseling, she and Orthodox Rabbi Mordecai Tendler had sexual relations for five years ending in 2005 after the rabbi had abused her emotionally and physically.

In a 3-2 ruling, the 1st Department dismissed the two remaining claims against Tendler as being barred by a state statute that specifically rules out a cause of action for seduction.

Lenore Kramer of Kramer & Dunleavy in Manhattan, who represents (Survivor), said she will take the case to the Court of Appeals as a matter of right since there were two dissenting votes.

The Rockland County synagogue where Tendler presided, Kehillat New Hempstead, had not moved to dismiss (Survivor)'s claim for negligent supervision against it, but will now move for summary judgment based on the 1st Department's ruling, said its lawyer, Marcy Sonneborn, of Molod, Spitz & DeSantis in Manhattan.

Tendler's lawyer, Glen S. Feinberg of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, said the rabbi is no longer associated with the 150-member synagogue, which he founded.

According to the decision, Tendler was known within the Orthodox Jewish community as a scholar, educator and community leader.

In her lawsuit, according to the majority opinion written by Justice Joseph P. Sullivan, (Survivor) averred that Tendler had advised her to have sex with him so that her "life will open up and men will come to her." She also claimed the rabbi had told her "he was as close to God as anyone could get" and having sex with him would be "her only hope."

The allegations were not enough to overcome the bar against actions for seduction in Civil Rights Law §80-a, Justice Joseph P. Sullivan wrote. (Survivor)'s two remaining causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress, he concluded, are "thinly veiled claims" for "seduction," a term that has been "broadly defined" by the courts in construing Civil Rights Law §80-a.

Justices Richard T. Andrias and Bernard J. Malone Jr. joined in the majority opinion.

At the trial level, Manhattan Justice Jane S. Solomon had dismissed (Survivor)'s other two claims -- fraud and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She had not appealed that ruling.

In dissent, Justice John W. Sweeny Jr. concluded that, notwithstanding the statutory prohibition against actions for seduction, (Survivor) had made allegations sufficient to make out a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. Justice Milton L. Williams was the second dissenter.

In Wende C. v. United Methodist Church, 4 NY3d 293 (2005), which involved a congregant who had initiated sexual relations with her pastor from whom she had sought counseling, Sweeny noted, the Court of Appeals had dismissed a claim for "clergy malpractice" but left open a determination of whether a claim for breach of fiduciary duty might be available.

The court in Wende C., Sweeny said, had expressly left open the breach of fiduciary duty question for claims "between a cleric and a parishioner under very different circumstances, not present here."

Returning to (Survivor)'s case, Sweeny wrote, "those 'very different circumstances' may well be present here."

(Survivor)'s allegations, taken as true, Sweeny stated, describe a fiduciary relationship: (Survivor) consulted Tendler because he had held himself out as counselor with expertise in women's issues, and he abused the confidence she had placed in him "by inducing plaintiff to enter into a sexual relationship to satisfy his own desires."

Similarly, the claim for the intentional infliction of emotional distress was not "merely a seduction case," Sweeny wrote, but a claim that Tendler had "clearly exploited the vulnerability of the plaintiff to attain his own ends."

Sullivan disputed the dissent's claim that Wende C. gave (Survivor) an opening within which she could raise a claim of breach of fiduciary duty.

The fact that the Court of Appeals in Wende C. left open the issue of whether "under very different circumstances" a fiduciary relationship may arise between a cleric and a parishioner, Sullivan wrote, "does nothing to advance the dissent's position."

In Wende C., Sullivan reasoned, there were no "veiled allegations" of seduction like those made by (Survivor).