Welcome to the Voice of Justice Blog

Monday, November 14, 2011

SACRED LIVES CONFERENCE ON SEX ABUSE" HEADED BY MS BETH KAPLAN TAINTED BY SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS OF COVERUP. THE DISTRICT ATORNEY OF BROOKYN CHARLES HYNES AND OTHE CO-SPONSORS BOYCOTT THE EVENT AND DO NOT ATTEND

PATRICIA ATTIA
      It is also alleged that the Guest Speaker at this event, Ms. Patricia R. Attia, LMSW, Ph.D supposedly treated Andrew Goodman who allegedly molested many kids, and was involved in drugs — and sits now in Rikers in lieu of two million dollars bail — AND IS A KEY PERSON IN THIS CASE     It seems that this clique, inclusive of Agudah, Satmar, Lakewood, Kaminetsky and other so-called rabbis, who are supposed to be our protectors, are our worst enemies. What I can't understand is, how the organizer of this conference Ms Beth Kaplan, that runs the organization Sacred Lives — and who happens to be a good person — got involved with this bunch.
What should we learn from this?
If you or your loved one is or was molested, do NOT leave the reporting to a Social worker or Rabbi, CALL THE SEX CRIMES UNIT of the Police Department, and get proof that your complaint was recorded. We live in a world of "אם אין אני לי, מי לי — If I am not for myself, who is [doing] for me".


MANDATED REPORTERS MUST REPORT SEX ABUSE OR GO TO JAIL


Sunday, November 13, 2011


"SACRED LIVES CONFERENCE ON SEX ABUSE" HEADED BY MS BETH KAPLAN TAINTED BY SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS OF COVERUP. THE DISTRICT ATORNEY OF BROOKYN CHARLES HYNES AND OTHE CO-SPONSORS BOYCOTT THE EVENT AND DO NOT ATTEND

The Brooklyn DA's office, sent out a  invitation to numerous people. It was alleged that Kol Tzedek [Sheker] whitewashed many sex-abuse cases. We still have to hear of any cases that Kol Sheker reported to prosecutors.
      It is also alleged that the Guest Speaker at this event, Ms. Patricia R. Attia, LMSW, Ph.D supposedly treated Andrew Goodman who allegedly molested many kids, and was involved in drugs — and sits now in Rikers in lieu of two million dollars bail — and she never reported him as mandated.
     It seems that this clique, inclusive of Agudah, Satmar, Lakewood, Kemenetsky and other so-called rabbis, who are supposed to be our protectors, are our worst enemies. What I can't understand is, how the organizer of this conference Ms Beth Kaplan, that runs the organization Sacred Lives — and who happens to be a good person — got involved with this bunch.
What should we learn from this?
If you or your loved one is or was molested, do NOT leave the reporting to a Social worker or Rabbi, CALL THE SEX CRIMES UNIT of the Police Department, and get proof that your complaint was recorded. We live in a world of "אם אין אני לי, מי לי — If I am not for myself, who is [doing] for me".


MANDATED REPORTERS MUST REPORT SEX ABUSE OR GO TO

Friday, November 11, 2011

Albany, NY - In the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal currently convulsing Penn State University, and has led to the firing of the school’s legendary football coach Joe Paterno, two New York state lawmakers on Friday announced plans to introduce legislation that would make it a crime for college staff to fail to report child abuse.
Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys who were taking part in a charity program. Paterno, who holds the record for most wins by a college football coach, and the university’s president, Graham Spanier, were fired this week for allegedly covering up the scandal after an assistant coach in 2002 saw Sandusky raping a boy in a Penn State locker room and reported it to Paterno. Two other university officials were charged with perjury and failing to report child abuse.
New York state law currently requires public-school teachers and officials, doctors, social workers, police officers and some other professionals to report child abuse. The proposed bill would add college staff, including professors, coaches and administrators, to that list, making failure to report a class A misdemeanor.
Advertisement:

“Given that many colleges and universities offer athletic and academic programs to children, we need to make sure that a situation like what occurred at Penn State does not happen in New York,” Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, a Republican from the Albany area, said in a statement.
If you witness child abuse and do not feel compelled to alert authorities you might fail a moral test, but as the law is written in New York State you may not be held accountable legally,” Assemblyman George Amedore, a Republican also from the Capital region, said in a release.
The lawmakers said they will introduce the bill immediately, though the legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until January.
A call to United University Professors, a union that represents 34,000 professors in the state university system, was not immediately returned.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

WILL THE TRAGIC PENN STATE ABUSE SCANDAL NOW BRING THE FEDERAL GOVERMANT TO INVESTIGATE ALL PRIVATE CATHOLIC AND YESHIVAS THAT PARTICPATE IN THE FEDERAL STUDENT AID AND COLLEGE PROGRAMS

                                                      

 

THE NEW YORK  CATHOLIC LEAGUE AND AGUDATH ISREAL OF AMERICA MUST CLEAN HOUSE OR FACE A MAJOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE BY NOT REPORTING ABUSE AND VIOLATING "THE CLERY ACT"

                                

U.S. DOE will investigate Penn State’s role in sex abuse scandal and violation of The "Clery act"




As more information comes out in the Penn State scandal, it becomes all the more unimaginable that so many adults failed to take the ethically, morally and legally mandated actions to protect the children involved.

Now, the U.S. Department of Education is entering into this scandal, which has cost Penn State President Graham Spanier and legendary coach Joe Paterno their jobs.
From the US DOE:
The U.S. Department of Education will launch an investigation into whether Penn State University failed to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act) in regard to allegations of sex offenses on campus by a former school official. Former Penn State Defensive Coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually abusing several young boys over several years, including incidents on campus.
Under the Clery Act, colleges and universities are required to disclose the number of criminal offenses on campus that are reported each year. In addition, in certain cases, the institution must issue a timely warning if a reported crime represents a threat to the campus community. The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for Clery Act compliance.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, “If these allegations of sexual abuse are true then this is a horrible tragedy for those young boys. If it turns out that some people at the school knew of the abuse and did nothing or covered it up, that makes it even worse. Schools and school officials have a legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from violence and abuse.”
The investigation of Clery Act violations will be conducted by the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). DOE officials formally notified Penn State of the investigation in a letter today. As the FSA investigation proceeds, the Office for Civil Rights will also assess whether further investigations or enforcement actions are warranted.

                  

 The Jeanne Clery Act


Jeanne Clery
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, codified at 20 USC 1092 (f) as a part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose certain timely and annual information about campus crime and security policies. All public and private institutions of postsecondary education participating in federal student aid programs are subject to it. Violators can be "fined" up to $27,500 by the U.S. Department of Education, the agency charged with enforcement of the Act and where complaints of alleged violations should be made, or face other enforcement action.

The Clery Act, originally enacted by the Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, was championed by Howard & Connie Clery after their daughter Jeanne (pictured right) was murdered at Lehigh University in 1986. They also founded the non-profit Security On Campus, Inc. in 1987. Amendments to the Act in 1998 renamed it in memory of Jeanne Clery.

Monday, November 7, 2011

THE VOICE OF JUSTICE SALUTES DR MICHAEL J SALAMON ON HIS NEW BEST SELLER ON CHILD ABUSE

Abuse in the Jewish Community: Religious and Communal Factors that Undermine the Apprehension of Offenders and the Treatment of Victims                     YASHER KOACH
DR MICHAEL J.  SALAMON


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4nePobtRVE
by Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D.                     

Published by Urim Publications
Hardcover, 141 pages                                        
ISBN 13: 978-965-524-064-1
publication: 2011


About the author:

Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D., FPPR, has worked with the Jewish communities of the Greater New York area for more than two decades. He has been at the forefront of influencing the Jewish community to acknowledge and deal with the challenges it faces, including dating and relationship issues, substance and alcohol abuse, eating and other disorders relating to body image issues, and abuse. Dr. Salamon is a sought after speaker by synagogues, yeshivas, Jewish communal institutions and social organizations both in the United States and internationally. He is the author of many assessment tools including the Life Satisfaction Scale and the Addiction Dependency Scale, as well as the book Home or Nursing Home: Making the Right Choice. He has presented more than one hundred papers at national and international conferences.

Dr. Salamon is the founder and director of the Adult Developmental Center, Inc., and ADC Psychological Services, PLLC, a comprehensive psychological consulting practice in Hewlett, NY. He empowers individuals and families to cope with the various psychological challenges that arise throughout the life span. Among his areas of specialization are substance abuse and alcoholism counseling, crisis management, child, family, and marital counseling, therapeutic interventions, and gerontology.

Dr. Michael Salamon received his doctorate in psychology from Hofstra University. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Section, and a board-certified Diplomate-Fellow Prescribing Psychologists’ Register. He is also Co-Chair of the Professional Advisory Board of PTACH.


Praise for Abuse in the Jewish Community:

“Dr. Michael Salamon raises some very important questions about the role of spiritual leaders giving guidance on matters of abuse in the Jewish community. One need not agree with Dr. Salamon on every case he cites to recognize that the issues he addresses must be confronted by the Jewish community and its leadership.”
-Rabbi Hershel Billet


"Dr. Michael Salamon combines years of experience in treating victims of sexual abuse and an intimate knowledge of Orthodox Judaism. In his valuable new book he clarifies the trauma resulting from abuse and the particular impact of religious values in creating difficulties in confronting predators and in therapy. Reading this work will help the community make the changes needed to effectively reduce the present threat to many of our youth."
-Rabbi Yosef Blau


“Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D.' s book is so important in that it actually sheds light on this issue and identifies how and why abuse in the Jewish community is less reported and less known than that in the Catholic Church or within other religious groups.”
-Robin Sax, author of It Happens Every Day


"Dr. Michael Salamon, a clinical psychologist with 2 decades of experience treating frum victims of abuse, is the author of the newly-released book Abuse in the Jewish Community: Religious and Communal Factors that Undermine the Apprehension of Offenders and the Treatment of Victims (Urim). This excellent, comprehensive book provides harrowing statistics and stories that illustrate the extent as well as the causes of this widespread evil within our midst.

On behalf of all JewishMOMs everywhere I would like to thank Dr. Salamon and his publisher (and mine) Tzvi Mauer as well as Rabbi Blau, who provides the book’s haskama, for taking the brave step to publish and support this controversial book in order to keep our children safe, IY”H."
-Chana Jenny Weisberg, JewishMOM.com

Friday, November 4, 2011

COMMUNITY ALERT BROOKLYN MAN WITH URGENT MEDICAL NEEDS MISSING , UPDATE SUNDAY NOV 11 2011 WE NEED YOUR HELP

JOSHUA RUBIN
           New York - Community Alert! Family of Missing Brooklyn Diabetic Ask Public For Help 

New York - Concerned relatives have been canvassing New York City hospitals for a Brooklyn man who disappeared the evening of Oct. 31 after leaving his Flatbush apartment.
30 year old Joshua Rubin was leaving his Lawrence Avenue apartment, located between McDonald Avenue and Seton Place, when he vanished.  Rubin, a diabetic, left his insulin backpack at home and it is unknown if he was carrying any medications at the time of his departure.
Anyone who has any information regarding this case should contact Detective Joseph Perry of the NYPD at 718 851 5553. 
Enclosed is a poster that Brooklyn residents are encouraged to hang up. The family thanks you for your support and prayers.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

VOJ SALUTES ALL THE HONORED JEWISH ADVOCATES OF THE YEAR 5772 BY THE COALITION OF JEWISH ADVOCATES


AS WE CELEBRATE THE JEWISH NEW YEAR OF 5772 IN JOY,  WE CELEBRATE THE GREAT HISTORIC PROGRESS WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN PROTECTING AND SAFEGUARDING OUR MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY OUR CHILDREN. THE FIGHT IS TOUGH AND DIFFICULT. CHANGING THE WAY THAT WE, COLLECTIVELY AS A COMMUNITY, DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES IS NOT AN EASY TASK.  


WE PAY TRIBUTE TO THE CHILD ADVOCATES OF THE YEAR.
                    
                     CHILD ADVOCATES OF THE YEAR

ADVOCATES:
MARK MEYER APPEL
THE VOICE OF JUSTICE



With both compassion and zealousness, Mark Meyer Appel works both in the public eye and behind the scenes with individuals and families experiencing the damage and anguish caused by child sexual abuse, making himself available 24 hours a day to handle the physical, material, and spiritual needs of any victim that needs assistance.



Dr. Asher Lipner, Ph.D.


Tireless advocate for our community’s children, Dr. Lipner keeps the issue of child sexual abuse at the forefront of our collective consciences by both creating awareness of the problem in the frum community and calling upon our leadership to address the issue head-on.
 








 With both compassion and zealousness, Mark Meyer Appel works both in the public eye and behind the scenes with individuals and families experiencing the damage and anguish caused by child sexual abuse, making himself available 24 hours a day to handle the physical, material, and spiritual needs of any victim that needs assistance.


Professor Marci Hamilton


Professor Marci Hamilton of the Cardoza Law School/Yeshiva University, leads the historic campaign of protecting our children and enacting new laws in all states to increase the statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes and has already been successful in California, Hawaii, and Delaware, states which have increased to statute for the benefit of survivors of sexual abuse.
 

          



Zvi Gluck, Community Activist






No stranger to community activism, Zvi Gluck is a very strong advocate and supporter of keeping our community safe.  He has traveled all over the world and has become an icon to our community as a strong defender and supporter of child safety.Zvi undestands the process and the inner working of law enforcement.




RABBIS:

Rabbi Yosef Blau, Yeshiva University
   
Mashgiach Ruchani of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Blau serves as rabbinical counsel to many child advocates in the community, and often addresses the halachic ramifications of sexual abuse and reporting it.  Rabbi Blau has become the spiritual leader of our movement.


Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg
 

Advocate for children and survivors of sexual abuse and assault, Rabbi Rosenberg, through his hotline, website, and other media, as well as behind the scenes, educates the frum community about abuse, predators, and supports survivors of abuse and their families, often at great personal expense.
                                        





Rabbi Daniel Eidelsohn

 Rabbi, author, and blogger, Rabbi Eidensohn of http://www.daattorah.blogspot.com/ has written Child & Domestic Abuse, Vol. I, III, and III, a comprehensive resource for the discussion of halachic and psychological issues of abuse.  Rabbi Eidensohn is a strong advocate for reporting incidents of child abuse directly to the police.





 
Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum

Rabbi Tannenbaum, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Linden Heights, Brooklyn, NY and Director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, has been a staunch supporter of sexual abuse survivors, including opening up his shul for the “Survivors Seder” in 2011, forums on abuse, and other public events meant to create awareness of sexual abuse in the Jewish community.





Rabbi Yakov Horowitz


Dean of Yeshivas Darchei Noam and Director of Project Y.E.S. has been a strong advocate for child safety and has been a strong voice for stronger policies to eradicate predators from our yeshivas and neighborhoods.  Through his numerous seminars and publications, Rabbi Horowitz also educates parents, educators, and the Jewish community as a whole about the issue of sexual abuse and its prevention.




JOURNALISTS:
Hella Winston
 
Author, journalist, and advocate, Ms. Winston has spent countless hours interviewing survivors, researching the issue of child sexual abuse, and reporting about it with accuracy, compassion, and tenacity, as well as uncovering a long history of abuse cover-up by the Agudas Yisroel of America and Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services.


Bracha Goetz
   


Author of sixteen children’s books, including Let’s Stay Safe, the first book of its kind targeted to children in the Orthodox community that teaches personal safety in a calm, clear way.  Mrs. Goetz has also written numerous articles in various Jewish publications on the topic of sexual abuse.









LEGISLATORS:

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey
 
New York State Assemblywoman, Margaret Markey has championed the cause of child safety in private school by proposing legislation that would, among other provisions, allow victims of sexual abuse to bring lawsuits against clergy, teachers, camp counselors, and perpetrators of abuse no matter when the abuse occurred.  If enacted, this bill would go a long way in providing substantial recourse and validation for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.




Assemblyman Dov Hikind
 


New York State Assemblyman, Dov Hikind, in 2008, established a task force to investigate the rabbinic abuse of children and uses his radio show to address this issue blunt and openly thus providing a forum for honest discussion about the topic of sexual abuse.  Mr. Hikind has energized our community with his strong support of protecting our children from abuse.







Tuesday, October 4, 2011

PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE OF HOPE OF LOVE UNITY AND PEACE VOTE FOR NESHAMA CARLEBACH AS JEWISH HERO OF THE YEAR

NESHAMA
Share Your Hero                                                                         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr2JpGj4tS8
                      http://www.viddler.com/explore/sojournrecords/videos/62/                     

Neshama Carlebach

NYC, New York

Neshama Carlebach began training as a singer and actress at the age of 5 and began singing with her father, Shlomo Carlebach, at 15. She began her professional career soon after her father's death in 1994.
Her full name is said to be "Esther Neshama Tehora Shlucha" (a pure soul that descended to this world on the Sabbath Eve).
Carlebach performs in a number of venues, including Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, Hillels, clubs, and summer camps worldwide. She also performs alongside The Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir singing Reb Shlomo's Hebrew and English collaborations.

How is your Hero working to make the world a better place?

When Neshama sings, you want to close your eyes and take it all in. Your body energizes with spirituality and goodness. Her volunteer work in New Orleans and compositions with the Baptist Choir are typical examples of how she leads by example in wanting to be better in this world and bridge gaps with others. Her messages are filled with love and hope and her voice is angelic. If you haven't heard it, you're missing out.


Share Your Hero
                                           

Neshama Carlebach

                                      PLEASE SIGN IN AND CAST YOUR VOTE

http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/nominees/profile/neshama-carlebach/