Mordechai Gafni/Winiarz Accused of Rape
One of the most-tailed alleged abusers in the Jewish community, he has had a sort of reprieve for a while now, as various Jewish Renewal and Modern Orthodox leaders have defended him, to the point of threatening lawsuits against those who maintained profiles of his alleged abuses.
Then there was Gary Rosenblatt’s apologetic for the man, despite essentially confirming two separate acts of molesting underaged women.
And now, Jewschool’s Dan Sieradski writes, Gafni/Winiarz “has been oustered from his position at Bayit Chadash, the spiritual community in Tel Aviv-Yaffo, amidst five distinct allegations of sexual harrassment and one charge of rape.” Sieradski declares:
I hate to say it, because it’s a bridge I so don’t want to burn, but I think it is high time to demand accountability from Renewal leaders for brushing off previous charges and giving a predator the space and the legitimacy he needed to strike again. They have a responsibility to act, and if they do not act accordingly this time, they will have lost one of their biggest and most vocal young supporters — me.
Good, strong words from a young fellow who really does stand to lose a lot if the Renewal community turns against him on this.
Let the shame of these acts rain down upon those who chose to keep this man in positions of power and influence, and enabled him to continue:
Rabbi Saul Berman;
Joseph Telushkin;
Rabbi Arthur Waskow;
Rabbi Zalman Schechter-Shalomi;
Rabbi Avraham Infeld;
Gary Rosenblatt.
May 12th, 2006 at 10:06 am
I demand nothing less than the immediate resignation and removal from any public role in any Jewish institution the following rabbonim:
Rabbi Saul Berman;
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin;
Rabbi Arthur Waskow;
Rabbi Zalman Schechter-Shalomi;
Rabbi Avraham Infeld;
Rabbi Haviva Ner-David;
Rabbi Michael Zedek;
Rabbi William Berk;
Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein;
Rabbi Leonid Feldman;
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone;
Rabbi Arthur Green;
Rabbi Rolando Matalon;
Rabbi Joe Schonwald;
Rabbi Daniel Siegel;
Rabbi Avi Weiss;
and all other Rabbis that publicly supported rasha Gafni and ignored the cries of his survivors. Hopefully, we can name more of them shortly.
Damn each and every one of them.
May 12th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Add to the list:
Rabbi Eli Herscher
Rabbi Eric Yoffie
Damn them too.
—–Original Message—–
From: Name withheld upon request
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 4:36 PM
To: Office of the President
Subject: Appearance of “rabbi” Gafni at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles
Dear Rabbi Yoffe:
I would like to call your attention to the lecture series being presented by the above mentioned “rabbi” at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles, California.
The man is a sex offender and his presence in any Reform Temple is a disgrace to our Reform community.
Thank you for your attention to this email.
Sincerely,
Name withheld upon request
Member of a Reform Synagogue
——————————————————-
Tue, 1 Mar 2005 15:27:44 -0500
From: “Office of the President” ...
To: Name withheld upon request
Dear Name withheld upon request:
The rabbi of Stephen S. Wise Temple, Eli Herscher, has informed me that the allegations against Rabbi Gafni have been investigated again and again and have been proven to be simply untrue. Rabbi Herscher is a man of great integrity and I rely on his judgment in this matter.
Sincerely,
Eric Yoffie
May 12th, 2006 at 11:34 am
This email from Arthur Waskow (see last post) was circulated throughout the Jewish Renewal movement at the time. I would note that all his assertions of Gafni/Winiarz’s innocence are garbage. But it shows once again the Jewish Renewal movement will protect a predator at the expense of women and children. And they count on the silence of other rabbonim and community leaders to do it. Unfortunately, they have done so at the expense of MORE victims.
Damn them all.
Arthur Waskow - Friday, March 19, 2004
Dear Mr. Plone almoni,
Since I also received your original memo, Rabbi Isenberg has shared with me his response to you and your rejoinder. There are three aspects of this question that I want to make you aware of:
1) If Rabbi Riskin were in fact in possession of any actual facts, rather than rumors, it would be incumbent on him to say so clearly to the people you have written and the broader public; and knowing his commitment to both ethics and halakha, I am sure he would have done so. In the absence of such a message directly from him, with facts rather than “I have been told,” there is no evidence of the “independent corroboration” that you claim. The Jewish Week also had nothing but rumors, as its editor made clear — and although in other cases that paper named names because it had evidence, in this case it only mentioned rumors about an unnamed person, precisely because it had no evidence.
2. Having heard the rumors long ago, ALEPH and Elat Chayyim did their own assessment of the situation and not only found no evidence of wrongdoing that anyone was able to make available, but took steps to make sure that its strong and explicit and publicly and repeatedly announced policy of preventing any sexual harrassment or abuse was carried out in all cases.
3. You assert that “Rabbi Gafni/Winiarz has a history of serious abusive behavior with women and children.” What is your evidence (not rumors but evidence) that this is so? You also mention “the ongoing danger he resents.” What is your evidence (not rumors but evidence) that this is so? In the absence of such evidence, the passages of Torah you quote are irrelevant. and in the absence of such evidence, I would join in Rabbi Isenberg’s question: What distinguishes your allegations from lashon hara? I would also ask what distinguishes your accusation that “It is a failure of community leaders in the Orthodox community that his name is not mentioned”(www.shalomctr.org) from lashon hara against a long list of Orthodox community leaders?
It seems far more likely that their refusal to name the specific name that you are so insistent on naming stems from their own sense of ethical behavior in a case where rumors are not substantiated by evidence. Shalom, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director The Shalom Center
May 14th, 2006 at 12:44 am
Happy Mother’s Day! ...
May 14th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Gafni on the run!
According to Jewschool, Gafni has fled Israel.
see: ...
[Update] More from inside Bayit Chadash: Gafni, who fled Israel late last week for the US, “could have left for either of the following reasons: Firstly, both women he was currently involved with were not willing to stand by him after learning all the details of his current and past situations. The Bayit Chadash community officially left his house in Yaffo, so if he went home, he went home to an empty house. He met several leaders of the Bayit Chadash community at their lawyer’s office the night he arrived in the US and was informed that he was fired and that he should prepare to ‘go down.’ He then allegedly tried to bribe Avraham Leader to cover for him. He then went directly to Boston to stay with Erica Fox who has been his teaching partner for several years, with whom he may also be romantically involved. She has covered for him previously and continues to do so. Secondly, he was aware that three women filed complaints against him to the police and may have fled Israel to avoid the charges.�
May 14th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Mobius banned me on Jewschool. So all my comments on this will be in this thread. Apparently, attacking Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s veracity gets my comment deleted.
Here’s the deleted post in response to low-life Waskow’s non-apology statement.
When will the Jewish Renewal leadership ever learn that the truth can never be silenced?
see: ... comments for Mobius’ ban
Waskow is a %#^&#@#3 liar:
1) Two groups in the Renewal movement, Aleph and Elat Chayyim, looked into the allegations against Rabbi Gafni and found “no evidence of wrongdoing,” according to Rabbi Arthur Waskow. (The three women said they were never contacted.) And that’s an investigation?
2) I heard rumors that the Jewish Renewal folks attempted to “investigate” the claims made against Gafni several months ago. Rabbi Pam Frydman Baugh headed this “investigation.” I’ve been told by a reliable source that Rabbi Baugh spoke at length to one of the three survivors named in the Jewish Week article, and attempted to silence her. The survivor was told NOT to tell any one of what happened to her, for fear it would contaminate the Jewish Renewal investigation. I was curious, what kind of forensic training or experience does Rabbi Baugh have, or any of the other members of the Jewish Renewal’s tribunal? How many other cases of alleged abuse have they handled? What were their outcomes? I guess I should also ask the same question regarding the honorable Rabbi Saul Berman?
3) Here’s a response to Telushkin, Berman and Firestone by someone who claims to have been a victim of Gafni. SWG writes 10/5/04 on Protocols:
As one of the victims of Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni, I am writing to express my outrage at the supporters of Gafni who, without ever having spoken with me or the other victims referred to in Gary Rosenblatt’s article (Sept. 24) claim that all the allegations were explored and found to be completely unsubstantiated.
First, none of the three of us were ever contacted by any agency or by Gafni and/or any of his followers for the purpose of conducting any sort of investigation of what occurred many years ago. It’s outrageous that they claim that they delved into every allegation and spoke with numerous people and rabbis and completely exonerated Gafni. Who do they think they are?
The fact that Gafni is a charismatic and effective speaker and writer is irrelevant when serious charges of rape/ sexual abuse of minors and sexual abuse/harrassment of a young adult are the issues. His own quotes in Rosenblatt’s article are his own worst enemy. And, whether or not “teshuvah” has been sought by Gafni is for G-d to determine–not Rabbis Berman, Telushkin, and Carmi(?).
When I sought help from various rabbis in the Orthodox community after my and another young girl’s experiences, I was shocked at the vigorous attempts of rabbinic “leaders” to quash our attempts to pursue a true investigation. A well-known rabbi in Lawrence said, “Sometimes the bigger person is the one who can just let things go.” The woman sexually assaulted by Winiarz when she was 13 attempted to contact Berman many times. He refused to take her calls and has never spoken with her. Kudos to Gary Rosenblatt for his courage and willlingness to explore this ugly issue which exposes the hypocrisy of so-called “rabbis” and defenders of Winiarz/Gafni.
4) And let’s not forget this Jewish Renewal morality misfit who libelled Gafni’s survivors as rodfim , he needs to be tossed out from the rabbanute and public life as well.
By Rabbi Arthur Green
Although I am not a regular reader of The Jewish Week, a New York colleague sent me your column regarding Rabbi Mordechai Gafni (”The Re-Invented Rabbi,” Sept. 24). It makes me wonder whether journalistic honors and awards are as rescindable as rabbinic smicha seems to be.
I have known Rabbi Gafni for several years and think highly of his abilities as a creative teacher of Torah. As a trusted friend, I also know how he struggles with a personal history that includes some genuinely bad deeds done when he was quite young, some 20 years ago. He has been relentlessly persecuted for those deeds by a small band of fanatically committed rodfim, in whom proper disapproval of those misdeeds combines with jealously, anger at his swerving from Orthodoxy, and a range of other emotions.
Perhaps this rabbi should be made to confront his past more fully. A bet din before a mutually accepted rabbi would be the right setting for that. But the public press? Who set you up as ruler and judge over us? Is this responsible journalism?
Rabbi Gafni has more or less been assassinated in the Jewish community. None of his explanations will mean much against the whispering that will accompany him forever, thanks to your article, within the confines of our extended gossipy shtetl. You have taken it upon yourself, on erev Yom Kippur, to drive a man away from Jewish life. In the absence of anything like a “smoking gun” evidenced in present or recent conduct, I find this journalistically and Jewishly abhorrent.
Rabbi Arthur Green
Newton, Mass.
Who do these Jewish Renewal leaders think they are?
We know who and what they are …. garbage. The human refuse that protects child molesters and sexual predators.
Keep your Kabbalistic “Chesed (overflowing lovingkindness)” ... to yourself. This is about evil and those who protected it at the expense of the vulnerable.
I want justice. I want all of you morally challenged garbage OUT of the leadership of MY community. You have no integrity, no decency and now you have been demonstrated to be unfit for the title of Rabbi which you have completely soiled.
Damn you Waskow. Damn you Green.
Damn all of you who protected Gafni.
May 14th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Where in the world is Mordecai Gafni?
What is the name he will go by next?
Let’s track him down for the authorities. Post your tips here.
Clues:
1) Was scheduled to be in NY last week
...
in Riverdale
...
Jewish Life and Culture - May 2006
Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500
Media Contact: Beverly Greenfield, 212.415.5452, email
ALL THINGS JEWISH AT THE 92nd STREET Y
— MAY 2006 —
Sun, May 7, 9:30 am-1:30 pm, $30
EVERETT INSTITUTES — 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Sunday Morning Seminar / MOSES MEETS BUDDHA: HOW DO THEY SPEAK TO EACH OTHER?
Thousands of Israelis in recent years have journeyed to Dharamsala, India, home of the Dalai Lama. One of them is Rabbi Mordechai Gafni, invited by the Dalai Lama to participate in a televised discussion of Buddhist and Jewish perspectives. In this Sunday morning seminar (part of the Everett Institutes), Rabbi Gafni compares the ideas and sensibilities behind Tibetan Buddhism with those of biblical, Talmudic and mystical Judaism. Rabbi Gafni is the co-founder of Bayit Chadash, an international spiritual community retreat center. He is an author as well as host and creator of Israeli television programs on ethics and spirituality.
Mon, May 8, 7:30 pm, $20
Workshop / SOUL PRINTS
This program introduces an emerging school of biblical thought—the School of Personal Myth. Personal Myth relates classical and mystical sources to the key experiences of life. Exploring laughter, silence, tears, eros, creativity and loneliness, Rabbi Mordechai Gafni addresses the unique relationships among these states of mind. Rabbi Gafni is the co-founder of Bayit Chadash, an international spiritual community retreat center committed to a Jewish renaissance in Jaffa and the Galilee in Israel. He is the host and creator of Israeli television programs on ethics and spirituality and is the author of several books on new Jewish thought.
2)
He’s scheduled to speak at the Omega Instiute in NY. Does he still have the ticket?
...
Course: SM06-3005-546
July 23, 2006 - July 28, 2006
Rhinebeck Campus: Rhinebeck, NY (US)
Tuition: $385 (does not include accommodations or commuter fee)
Tuition discounts are not available.
Integral Kabbalah
The Erotic & the Holy
Rabbi Marc Gafni
REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP: online with Visa, MasterCard, or Discover; by phone at 800-944-1001; or by mail or fax
This workshop occurs during Retreat Week.
According to an ancient tradition, the kabbalah is revealed anew in every generation. Receiving the wisdom of the ancient masters and merging it with the great spiritual understandings of the modern world, Rabbi Marc Gafni and others are developing, with integral philosopher Ken Wilber, a kabbalah for tomorrow. In this retreat, we explore one dimension of this unfolding kabbalah: the relationship of the erotic and the holy.
According to Gafni, the ancient Hebrews illuminated this essential relationship between erotic love and divine grace when they built the First Temple. Accounts of the temple describe it as being adorned with vivid images of angels locked in passionate lovemaking—even directly above the Ark of the Covenant. When the temple fell, Gafni teaches, the great tragedy was the exile of the feminine erotic, known to the ancient Hebrews as Shechina. It is this feminine quality of the divine, the sensual and creative side of God, that we must now reclaim.
Through talks, prayer practice, deep kabbalistic mediation, and other experiential exercises, we explore what erotic love can teach us about the divine. We seek to understand the force of Eros that lies within sexuality and learn to embrace Eros as our spiritual teacher—a teacher who will guide us with sweetness and tenderness toward “being a lover” as a commitment to the act of generosity in every aspect of our lives.
Rabbi Marc Gafni is the leader of the international spiritual community, social movement, and think tank Bayit Chadash. Author of Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment, he lives in Israel, where he writes and hosts a weekly television show on ethics and spirituality on the nation’s highest-rated station.
What Our Price Includes: Price above is for tuition only. See the accommodations page for housing/commuter information and fees. See the travel directions page for information on transportation services.
Arrival/Departure Information: Plan to arrive for check-in on Sunday between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. for an 8:00 p.m. orientation session. Workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. Housing begins Sunday night. Meals begin with a light dinner Sunday night and end with lunch on Friday. Commuters may check in from 8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Monday morning. Workshop ends Friday at noon. You must be checked out of your room by 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Depart after lunch. Please note: Workshop schedules are subject to change; further information will be given in your confirmation letter.
For additional information about faculty and other workshops they may be offering at Omega, please click on their name above.
We reserve the right to cancel or reschedule any program at any time.
Our workshops are educational experiences, and are not to be mistaken for long-term therapy or cure. Some people may find some programs to be too psychologically or physically challenging. We recommend that in case of any doubt, a physician or trusted counselor be consulted.
For more information: Call 800.944.1001 or E-mail us at ...
May 14th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Reb Yudel AKA Larry Yudelson on Jewschool:
>At this point, JWB/Jewish Survivors/Vicki Polin have become
>part of the problem, not part of the solution. They have
>sufficiently discredited themselves with their own craziness
>on their blogs and others that people like Tendler and Gafni
>have successfully deflected their attacks.
Well Larry, KNH had and its board had declared rasha Tendler I innocent, survivors had been paid off and/or run out of the shul (along with others who supported them) long before any of us were on the scene. Of course you and your colleagues like Gary Rosenblatt suppressed the story for over a year while he preyed on others. Did you investigate? Of course not. You’re a Monday morning quaterback.
As to Gafni, he had been declared innocent at least twice by Jewish renewal before we were on the scene.
Now where are rasha Tendler I and Gafni now?
One will be spending years in court, the other is on the run …. again.
No thanks to you or Yori.
But maybe you could enlighten us as to his whereabouts as it was YOUR best friend Yori Yanover who just in the past two weeks defended Gafni the CHILD MOLESTER on USAJEWISH from allegations of child molestation and promoted a program with him in Chicago alongside snuff-porn writer Rabbi Hershy Worch.
>The question is, is there a need for a group advocating
>for these issues?
Yes, the ONLY one that has stood for the victims and survivors … the Awareness Center.
>What would its charter look like?
It would keep you out along with your friend Yori Yanover who on his blog equates the possession of CHILD-PORN to free speech.
>What services would it provide?
What do you care Yudel? You and your friend Yori clearly hate anyone who calls themselves a Survivor. Where was your post about your child molesting colleague from JCN18 Rabbi Lipman? Oh, that’s right, the same place your article exposing Rabbi Baruch Lanner. I’m sure we can expect one thing from you when the cries of women and children are heard …. utter silence. You’re consistent.
And Yori like the rest of our morally challenged leadership will be declaring the predator’s innocence publicly.
Here’s Yudel’s portion from my debate over Gafni with Mobius in 2004. His usual stupidity:
Reb Yudel @ 4:46PM | 2004-06-24| permalink
ME: I assume you endrose the point of the letter-to-Lilith which attacked Waskow for accusing R’ Shlomo for an excess of hesed.
You seem to be revealing an ignorance of kabbala, not to mention Jewish renewal. Of course an excess of hesed can lead to evil, just as can an excess of gevurah. Balance, my son, balance: That’s the message of kabbalah.
Does R’ Zalman teaching on masturbation lead to child abuse? No more than the haredi world’s opposite teachings on masturbation lead to child abuse.
email | website
me @ 11:19PM | 2004-06-24| permalink
>ME: I assume you endrose
>the point of the letter-to-
>Lilith which attacked Waskow
>for accusing R’ Shlomo for
>an excess of hesed.
>
>You seem to be revealing an
>ignorance of kabbala, not to
>mention Jewish renewal. Of
>course an excess of hesed
>can lead to evil, just as can
>an excess of gevurah.
>Balance, my son, balance:
>That’s the message of
>kabbalah.
The abuse was as a result of a man who had power and women and children who didn’t. The abuse was the result of a man who thrived in an environment that let him abuse with impunity. Those around him were aware of his abuses but took no action to stop him or get him any form of help. They too had no chesed let alone an “excess of chesed”.
It had nothing to do with chesed. To claim otherwise is obscene.
>
>Does R’ Zalman teaching on
>masturbation lead to child
>abuse? No more than the
>haredi world’s opposite
>teachings on masturbation
>lead to child abuse.
Not my point at all. My point was that he is way out there and the lack of boundaries and professional behavior in the culture of the Jewish Renewal Movement. It’s this culture that allowed Carlebach to thrive and now allows Gafni/Winiarz to thrive.
email | website
Larry Yudelson what has he done for victims of abuse OTHER than support and link his friend YORI YANOVER’S blog that equates the possession of CHILD-PORN to free speech?
Can you point me to an article Larry? Any article at all?
May 14th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Mobius has blocked me, so I shall respond here to his garbage spin.
Comment by KYLE’S MOM — May 14, 2006 (Mobius’ mom) @ jewschool:
>Saul Berman is one of most important defenders of
>Jewish women in the Jewish community. He would not
>knowingly protectan abuser. He would try to make sure
>that the allegations were true before he would condemn
>someone else.
Rabbi Saul Berman is a piece of garbage who has protected Gafni for decades.
1) ” The woman sexually assaulted by Winiarz when she was 13 attempted to contact Berman many times. He refused to take her calls and has never spoken with her.”
2) October 12, 2004, per Rabbi Yosef Blau of Yeshiva University:
…
“Last year, rabbi Saul Berman came to see me. We’re old friends. We had a long conversation. We are clearly not on the same page. I can’t explain other people’s attitudes. I told him about the women. I gave him the name of the private investigator.
…
“They [rabbis Telushkin, Berman and Tirzah Firestone] said they did some kind of investigation. Rabbi Berman did speak to Judy. She thought that he understood her, but again, probably not. One of the other women called him a number of times and he didn’t respond. To the best of my knowledge, rabbi Telushkin has spoken to none of these three. They are not the only ones. I don’t have an investigative agency.
…
He treated Gafni’s victims like garbage. Damn him.
Damn all of those who protected Gafni.
May 14th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
More of Rabbi Saul Berman, protector of child molester Gafni.
1)
The Re-Invented Rabbi
By Gary Rosenblatt - Editor and Publisher
The Jewish Week - September 24, 2004
…
Rabbis Saul Berman, who heads the Modern Orthodox group Edah, and Joseph Telushkin, the writer and ethicist, also defended Rabbi Gafni, asserting that he is a gifted teacher and that they have heard no credible reports against him of improper behavior in the past 15 years or so.
…
2) A Letter from the 3 Enablers
Defending Rabbi Gafni
By Rabbi Saul Berman, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
Jewish Week (NY) Letters - October 08, 2004
There was a time when the Jewish community too glibly and carelessly disregarded words of accusation of sexual abuse against clergy. That was clearly wrong, and Gary Rosenblatt of The Jewish Week helped to correct that. The pendulum has now swung to the opposite extreme, as evidenced in Rosenblatt’s column (”The Re-Invented Rabbi,” Sept. 24).
The column reports an allegation concerning a relationship from 25 years ago — when Rabbi Mordechai Gafni was 19 and 20 and not yet a rabbi — in a situation where he had no pastoral relationship with the person in question.
Furthermore, we can attest firsthand that several years ago Rabbi Gafni made serious attempts through an intermediary to contact this woman in a therapeutically mediated context — to clarify the gulf in their understandings of what happened and, if necessary, to apologize for any way in which she felt hurt. This offer was rejected.
The story also reports unsubstantiated allegations that are 20 years old. The story critically omits the fact that the professional to whom Rabbi Gafni (then Winiarz) was responsible at the time conducted an investigation and concluded that the accusations “were not true and were not substantiated.”
We have collectively looked at this issue again in the last six months, and come to a similar conclusion. Further, Rabbi Gafni has long expressed his desire to meet with any of the parties who believe he has wronged them — even when he has a completely different account of the situation.
We, like Gary Rosenblatt, have struggled with the question of what gravity to assign to recycled allegations. Our conclusion differs from that of Mr. Rosenblatt. We have collectively, over many years, spoken to virtually everyone who would speak to us who was directly involved in order to examine the accusations against Rabbi Gafni. We have found them totally unconvincing. Further, there is simply no evidence that Rabbi Gafni constitutes a risk to Jewish women, or to anyone for that matter.
We pray that this unfair, scandalous moment will soon be forgotten and that Rabbi Gafni will be able to free his spiritual energy and formidable intellect in order to help build Jewish consciousness and commitment.
Rabbi Saul J. Berman (Director of Edah)
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (Associate at CLAL-the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership)
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone (Congregation Nevei Kodesh - formerly, the Jewish Renewal Community of Boulder, Colorado)
3) A Response from a survivor of Gafi to the 3 Enablers:
...
The following are comments made to:
Here’s the letter from rabbis Telushkin, Berman and Firestone:
SWG @ 11:46PM | 2004-10-05|
As one of the victims of Mordechai Winiarz/Gafni, I am writing to express my outrage at the supporters of Gafni who, without ever having spoken with me or the other victims referred to in Gary Rosenblatt’s article (Sept. 24) claim that all the allegations were explored and found to be completely unsubstantiated.
First, none of the three of us were ever contacted by any agency or by Gafni and/or any of his followers for the purpose of conducting any sort of investigation of what occurred many years ago. It’s outrageous that they claim that they delved into every allegation and spoke with numerous people and rabbis and completely exonerated Gafni. Who do they think they are?
The fact that Gafni is a charismatic and effective speaker and writer is irrelevant when serious charges of rape/ sexual abuse of minors and sexual abuse/harrassment of a young adult are the issues. His own quotes in Rosenblatt’s article are his own worst enemy. And, whether or not “teshuvah” has been sought by Gafni is for G-d to determine–not Rabbis Berman, Telushkin, and Carmi(?)
When I sought help from various rabbis in the Orthodox community after my and another young girl’s experiences, I was shocked at the vigorous attempts of rabbinic “leaders” to quash our attempts to pursue a true investigation. A well-known rabbi in Lawrence said, “Sometimes the bigger person is the one who can just let things go.”
The woman sexually assaulted by Winiarz when she was 13 attempted to contact Berman many times. He refused to take her calls and has never spoken with her.
Kudos to Gary Rosenblatt for his courage and willlingness to explore this ugly issue which exposes the hypocrisy of so-called “rabbis” and defenders of Winiarz/Gafni.
4)
Perplexed Reader - Letter to the Editor
By Judy Klitsner
The Jewish Week - October 15, 2004
After reading the letter signed by Rabbis Berman, Telushkin and Firestone, I wonder if they read the same column (”The Reinvented Rabbi, Sept. 24) that I did.
Gary Rosenblatt cites three women who claim they were victimized by Rabbi Gafni. It is difficult to recognize these allegations in the version of these incidents presented by the three rabbis; they refer to the women’s accusations as a “gulf in understandings” between the women and Rabbi Gafni, as “recycled allegations,” and “way[s] in which [alleged victims] felt hurt.” The rabbis inform us that they have conducted their own exhaustive investigation and have found all allegations to be “totally unconvincing.”
The perplexed reader is left wondering, are these comments a response to the quotes offered by Rosenblatt, or did the rabbis conduct a different investigation? If they did not question these women, on what basis did they conclude that all allegations are totally unconvincing? If they did question them, are we to understand that the rabbis have judged the women to be untruthful? Or are the rabbis asserting that the women are so obtuse as to misconstrue consensual acts of love for abuse and harassment?
And what of the rabbis’ own colleague, Rabbi Riskin, whom Rosenblatt reports was approached by many additional women over the course of years “with similar patterns of complaints of seductive and harassing behavior toward young women, charges which he takes seriously”? Was Rabbi Riskin included in the rabbis’ thorough investigation of Rabbi Gafni’s background? If not, why not? And if so, did the rabbis conclude that all those women must also have suffered from gulfs in understanding with Rabbi Gafni? Or are they implying that the women lied? Or that Rabbi Riskin lied?
Rabbis Berman, Telushkin and Firestone accuse Rosenblatt of succumbing to an overreaction to previous incidents of rabbinic abuse. I fear that in their haste to vindicate their colleague, the rabbis have chosen the much more dangerous and well-tread path of underreaction. It is always easier to accept the claims of the charismatic and powerful religious leader while agreeing to participate in delegitimizing the accuser.
Judy Klitsner
Jerusalem, Israel
And now it’s time for Berman and the other enablers to resign and leave ANY position of authority in the Jewish community.
Damn them all.
May 14th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
UOJ HERO-BLOGGER
Jewschool blog - Team Worch effort:
>Reb Yudel,
>Amen.
>I’m also interested in a discussion about what this would
>look like, how it could take form.
>We need to reclaim this fight, and restore legitimacy to
>those defending survivors of rabbinical abuse.
>Comment by Yaakov — May 14, 2006 @ 9:02 pm
Well Yaakov, tonight a new defender has been crowned among the anonymous bloggers who fight the good fight.
His name is UnorthdoxJew (UOJ). He is a hero.
And pedophile Rabbi Kolko and his defenders/enablers fall.
see the latest expose: ...
Merely the beginning folks, if our leaders and Jewish press won’t expose the corruption and child molesters …. we will.
Justice is coming. It doesm’t matter if you are Rav Feinstein’s grandson or Rav Sheinberg, if you hurt women or children or protect the abusers, you will be exposed. NO ONE is beyond our reach. Child molesters and enablers, know one thing … this is OUR community and we’re taking it back. Your day is done.
There will be a regime change.
It has begun.
May 15th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Avraham Leader’s statement: :
>
May 16th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Morbius vs. JWB Round 2
(there was an earlier thread on Protocols)
More evidence of what Jewish Renewal leaders KNEW and ignored:
see: ...
Excerpts:
1)
mobius Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
oy ge-freakin-valt. i’ve never even heard of jeremy werch. and i’m no stranger to the allegations against gafni and i don’t have anything to do with the guy (though many of my friends do and they find your depiction of him incongruous with their experience). suffice to say, i take the charge of sexual assault very seriously and any who’s ever mentioned gafni in my presence knows i’m quick to bring the issue up.
that being said, a) a man’s presumed innocent until convicted by either a court of law or a beit din. and b) arthur waskow is not mordechai gafni, and i’m gonna have to agree with him: what a couple chooses to do of their own free will and consent is their own business. if he can halakhically justify it to someone’s satisfaction, kudos. if he can’t, it doesn’t have to be your hashkafa.
2)
Steven I. Weiss Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
…
Mobius - You’re allowing a libertarian/relativistic mode of thought and hashkafa to completely blank you out on moral concern. Wife-swapping and much of the bed-hopping that was key to Waskow types in Waskow’s time has real consequences. Simply dismissing those consequences as beyond your concern because it’s people acting “of their own free will and consent� denies the realities of moral agency.
3)
jewishwhistleblower Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
>i take the charge of sexual assault very seriously and any
>who’s ever mentioned gafni in my presence knows i’m quick
>to bring the issue up.
If you or your friends care to know about the allegations, I suggest you speak to Rabbi Blau and others WHO ACTUALLY HAVE TALKED to his victims. There were people who saw this girl on a daily basis at the time Gafni was molesting her and knew there was something wrong, they just didn’t know what it was till later.
Excerpt from 13 year-old victim statement:
…
I was getting some extra attention from an adult at a time when there wasn’t a lot adult attention to go around in my family. My dad was overworked, and my mom was recovering from cancer. I didn’t quiet understand why I should be silent about the things Mordechai told me. He hadn’t touched me yet, but was doing a fine job of “grooming me� into being silent and fearful. He convinced me that I had to be loyal to him, and “not tell� about how he felt about me. I believed everything he told me. In retrospect, he calculatedly brainwashed me into silence, hooked me into an emotional trap, ensuring that I wouldn’t tell my parents.
Then he asked my parents if he could stay at our house over shabbat, because he wanted to be able to walk to a synagogue in our part of the city. They said OK. (My parents had no idea that they should suspect him of anything. After all, he was a religious guy from YU.) It was then that he started coming into my room after I had fallen asleep, and waking me up. I remember clearly that when he tried to touch me, I pushed him away repeatedly. I remember saying, “no, no, no!� I knew intuitively that it just wasn’t OK with me. But he was larger and stronger than me, and after a huge struggle, he overcame me. Week after week, he would come into my bedroom and wake me up in the middle of the night, and I would fight to keep him from touching me. Every time, I was overcome by him physically. He had already done the job of convincing me that if I told one I would be shamed by my family and my community, so I kept silent about what was going on. I hated it, was disgusted by it, and I was terrified, but there was no place I could talk about it or get help. I also had no words for what was happening to me, it was horrible and indescribable. I think of myself back then as a 13 year old girl who had to become disconnected from the world around her, it was full of contradiction and betrayal, and I had been trapped in this horrible situation with, as far as I could see, no way out. I walked around my neighborhood, a place that had always been familiar and safe for me, and I no longer felt connected to anything.
I remember on one of the nights that he came into my room, woke me up and was trying to molest me, he told me that he and his brother were abused by their mother, who was a holocaust survivor. He told me that she stuck their heads in the kitchen oven. There was a very clear message that because of what had happened to him, he couldn’t help but doing what he was doing to me, and he pleaded with me to understand that, have compassion with him, and comply. More than once, he told me what he was doing was because of the way I looked, or because he just couldn’t control himself. He described the world to me as he saw it, full of boys and men who just could not control their sexual impulses, and like them, he really couldn’t help himself- he just had to do what he was doing to me. He just had no choice. He added, as part of his rationalization, that the guys at YU were always masturbating, but no one talked about it.
But he was tormented by the fact that he had no control over himself. Each morning after the molestation experience, I would wake up and walk into the living room, and see him shuckling wildly, beating his chest, doing “teshuva� for what he had done the night before. He told me that I should join him in doing teshuva too! Amazingly, he really believed that I was a partner in sin. Of course, I didn’t “daven� or do “teshuva�, but just stared at him in disbelief. And even after this fervent bout of repentance, he would wake me up in the middle of the night the next week.
I also remember him practicing sermons in front of me. He would pace around, gesticulating and dramatizing this or that phrase from the Torah. He wanted to be just like Rabbi Riskin, and he did a great job emulating Riskin’s body language and speech patterns. He talked a lot about gaining popularity and getting to be a powerful leader. Mordechai made it clear that he wanted to be a “big rabbi,� a “tzaddik�. It seemed to me that he just loved to hear himself talk.
The abuse went on through the year I was in 9th grade. The school year was almost over, I remember it was warm out. He called me on the phone one day to tell me that he would no longer be coming over. He realized that what he really needed was to get married soon, and he explained that this would give him a proper outlet for his sexuality. Its hard to describe how I felt at that moment, because it is complex. My molester finally decided to stop abusing me, to leave me alone, to move on. You would imagine I would feel great relief, but actually the full weight of the abuse I had endured in silence came crashing down on me. Here I was, left with this horrible experience, still with no one to talk to about it, and no language for it anyway. And he wasn’t retreating because I had some how managed to make him stop, but because he decided it just wasn’t worth the risk any more. He was terrified that he would do more and make me pregnant- then there would be no way to keep his secret. Until then, his abuse included exposing my body against my will, forcibly touching my breast, grabbing my hand and forcing me to touch his penis, and forced digital vaginal penetration. All were the most horrifying, degrading and painful experiences for me. All this only a year or so after my bat mitzvah.
…
>that being said, a) a man’s presumed innocent until convicted
>by either a court of law or a beit din.
He altered his name several times after the allegations and moved several times making criminal or civil charges at the time impossible due to the relevant statute of limitations. If he wants to waive his rights under the Statute of Limitations in writing after legal advice, we likely can have charges or a civil suit filed VERY quickly.
As to a beit din, which one? Has any beit din been able to deal with such allegations properly? You want self-confessed recovering sex and drug addict Reb Zalman Schachter-Shlomi who’s already publicly declared Gafni’s innocence WITHOUT speaking to his victims? The same guy who took off his hat in the cemetery at his 1st ex-wife’s funeral and began trying to collect “neshoma gelt� from those attending and when no one would give anything he began trying to collect from other funerals going on in the cemetery? That kook?
>what a couple chooses to do of their own free will and
>consent is their own business. if he can halakhically justify
>it to someone’s satisfaction, kudos. if he can’t, it doesn’t
>have to be your hashkafa.
Dude, what Judaism is this that turns 1 of the 10 commandments into a suggestion? And lets you contract out of it? Wife-swapping can’t be justified halachically. Get with it. That isn’t Judaism.
4)
mobius Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
lady, take your lashon hara and stick it. i will not stomach your bad mouthing of zalman.
“He altered his name several times after the allegations and moved several times making criminal or civil charges at the time impossible due to the relevant statute of limitations.�
uh, ever hear of a warrant? with a grand jury indictment he could’ve been extradited from any state and under any name. they could’ve also put a bounty on his head, as is often the case for wanted child molesters. “most wanted� lists exist for a reason.
You’re allowing a libertarian/relativistic mode of thought and hashkafa to completely blank you out on moral concern. Wife-swapping and much of the bed-hopping that was key to Waskow types in Waskow’s time has real consequences. Simply dismissing those consequences as beyond your concern because it’s people acting “of their own free will and consent� denies the realities of moral agency.
engaging in an illcit affair with “your neighbor’s wife� behind his back is amoral. consenting adults having an open relationship is a lifestyle choice.
5)
jewishwhistleblower Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
>lady, take your lashon hara and stick it. i will not
>stomach your bad mouthing of zalman.
1) You do not know my gender
2) All true. You can ask zalman’s son who was there. As to Zalman being a recovering drug and sex addict, you know that’s true. And you know he’s led many followers into that depraved and sick world. Dude he used to bring home women to his marriage for threesomes.
What teshuvah has he done for all those he has led astray? Nothing. And now he declares a child molester innocent without talking to Gafni’s victims.
While Zalman’s cancer eats him alive, Gafni’s supporters position themselves to take over his organization and legacy. Damn them both.
>“He altered his name several times after the
>allegations and moved several times making
>criminal or civil charges at the time impossible
>due to the relevant statute of limitations.�
>
>uh, ever hear of a warrant? with a grand jury
>indictment he could’ve been extradited from
>any state and under any name. they could’ve
>also put a bounty on his head, as is often the
>case for wanted child molesters. “most wanted�
>lists exist for a reason.
You are clearly clueless as to the resources victims of clergy abuse had and the resources they had access to. They had no advocates or information to help them. Ask our catholic cousins how helpful the authorities were in the past.
>engaging in an illcit affair with “your neighbor’s
>wife� behind his back is amoral. consenting adults
>having an open relationship is a lifestyle choice.
And has zero to do with Judaism where the whole basis of our religion is “kedoshim tehiu� and wife-swapping is clearly contrary to everything Judaism stands for.
6)
jewishwhistleblower Says:
February 16th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
In fact damn the whole Jewish Renewal movement. For all their talk about “social justice� they did spit for Gafni’s victims. There is no decency OR leadership in the Jewish Renewal movement.
You are all as bad as the left-wing groups that supported Ortega in Nicaragua EVEN though they knew he was molesting his step-daughter. They put their social beliefs above individual injustices. As long as Gafni is part of your leadership, you are all a bunch of degenerates that are beneath contempt.
AND MUCH MORE - READ THE THREAD
May 17th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
New List
I’ve included names from public letters claiming Gafni’s innocence.
I demand nothing less than the immediate resignation and removal from any public role in any Jewish institution the following rabbonim and lay leaders:
Rabbis:
Rabbi William Berk
Rabbi Phyllis Berman
Rabbi Saul Berman
Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein
Rabbi Leonid Feldman
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
Rabbi Shefa Gold
Rabbi Arthur Green
Rabbi Eli Herscher
Rabbi Avraham Infeld
Rabbi Rolando Matalon
Rabbi Haviva Ner-David
Rabbi Zalman Schechter-Shalomi
Rabbi Joe Schonwald
Rabbi Daniel Siegel
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Rabbi Avi Weiss
Rabbi Eric Yoffie
Rabbi David Zaslow
Rabbi Michael Zedek
Lay Leaders:
Metuka Benjamin
Zivit Davidovich
Arthur Kurzweil
Avraham Leader
Naomi Mark, ACSW
Stephen Marmer, M.D.
Jacob Ner-David
Peter Pitzele
Noam Zion
and all other Rabbis that publicly supported rasha Gafni and ignored the cries of his survivors. Hopefully, we can name more of them shortly.
Damn each and every one of them.
May 18th, 2006 at 8:33 am
. . . this is actually a reason for my hesitancy for getting involved with II . . . Cohen, now Gafni . . . there is a male arrogancy that is actually encouraged and I’ve been around that vibe, and I know where it leads . . . I blogged about my own experiences at Kripalu with Amrit Desai . . . ‘Shram Living . . . and may I say that as horrific as it was and as evil as it felt, it most certainly cured me of guru-ism . . . .
May 28th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Campaign Against Edah for Justice for Survivors of Rabbi Mordecai Gafni.
I am launching a Campaign Against Edah for Justice for Survivors of Rabbi Mordecai Gafni.
For the past years, Rabbi Saul Berman has proclaimed Rabbi Gafni’s innocence, claimed publicly that he conducted an investigation despite refusing to speak to key parties and has attacked publically both the allegations of brave women who came forward and the names of anyone who supported them.
To this day, Rabbi Berman has refused to make any public apology or done anything resembling teshuvah.
As such we call on Edah contributors to pull their financial support for Edah and Edah directors to either demand Berman do public teshuvah or fire him.
JWB
2002 contributions
Avi Chai $51,299
The Bendheim Foundation 25,000
Sender Cohen 25,000
Mark Galler Research FDN 10,000
Alan Goldberg 125,000
Michael Jesselson FDN 50,000
Howard Jonas 10,000
Keren Keshet 50,000
Morty Landowne 10,000
Murray Laulicht 10,000
Avi Naiman 12,200
Robin Neustein 25,000
Shimon Neustein 25,000
The Adina & Jefferey Rubin FDN 6,250
Eli Salig 35,000
Ron Stern 12,000
Straus Quintas FDN 16,250
Daniel E Straus Family Fdn 6,250
Zah and Nosh J Straus Fam Fdn 6,250
Total identified contributions 510,499
Total contributions 587,632
Board (as per latest public information):
Jack Bendheim
Dr. Giti Bendheim
Daniel Besdin
Michael Feldstein
Allan Galper
Phyllis Getzler
Alan Goldberg
Dr. Robert Goldberg
Rabbi Irving Greenberg
Blu Greenberg
Jan Goveman
Dr. Phyllis Hammer
Rachel Neumark Herlands
David Jacobwitz
Howard Jonas
Dr. Norma Baumel Joseph
Michelle Greenberg Kobrin
Rabbi Simcah Krauss
Charles Kushner
Dr. Gila Leiter
Nathen J. Lindenbaum
Evi Mushner
Shimon Neustein
Bethia Straus Quintas
Joseph R. Rackman
Adina Raskas
Judy Rosenblatt
Dr. Norm Shudofsky
Maurice Spanbock
Michael Stein
Daniel Strauss
Moshael J. Strauss
Mark Charendoff
Sender Cohen
Shelley Cohen
Rella Feldman
Michael Jesselson
Suri Kasirer
Lawrence Korbin
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
Matthew Maryles
Linda Sterling
Linda Levi Tarlow
May 28th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Letter from Rabbi Saul Berman
The following letter was sent to numerous individuals who supported The Awareness Center, Inc.
To Whom It May Concern,
I have had occasion during the spring, summer and fall of 2004 to conduct an extensive personal inquiry in response to accusations which have been made against Rabbi Mordechai Gafni and publicized on the Internet. A more balanced version of these same issues than that on the Internet was raised in an editor’s column by Gary Rosenblatt published in the Jewish Week newspaper, in which Rosenblatt asserted that he was unable to draw either a negative or positive conclusion about these issues, calling his extensive research into the issue an “investigation without a conclusion”.
I have invested literally hundreds of hours in talking to parties directly and indirectly related, reading public statements posted on the Internet, and following the unfolding of this issue. I have come to a number of clear and unequivocal conclusions.
First, as I have written in a public letter together with Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, we have found the decades-old accusations against Rabbi Gafni to be unconvincing now, as they were dismissed in responsible contemporaneous investigations. We believe that these accusations have been intentionally distorted, kept alive and circulated by a small group of people who have waged a vendetta-like campaign against Rabbi Gafni, creating a false and unfair impression of his character.
Second, the material posted on the Awareness Center website and related Internet blogs is not credible. Both in regard to Rabbi Gafni as well as to other cases posted there, the Awareness Center has grossly distorted facts and blatantly lied. Indeed, working together with a small team I have collected a host of examples of such behavior on the part of the Awareness Center. While the Awareness Center does address an issue critical to the Jewish community, that of sexual harassment and abuse, the center itself has unfortunately become an abuser itself of the first order. The major other Internet poster of accusations against Rabbi Gafni is a certain Luke Ford. Luke Ford, who poses as a journalist, also runs a pornography site. He is a discredited Internet gossip columnist for the pornography industry, who, by his own written admission, regularly publishes libelous material as truth without even the slightest attempt at verification.
Third, I have urged Rabbi Gafni to continue actively writing and teaching his communities of students around the world. I have done so based on my firm conclusion that he poses absolutely no danger or threat to anyone. Indeed, I firmly believe that the notion suggested by Vicki Polin of the Awareness Center that he poses any danger whatsoever is patently absurd. While in some areas I would take issue with Rabbi Gafni’s thought, particularly in areas where he departs from classical Orthodoxy, the work he is doing is serious and is of great benefit to the Jewish community worldwide.
I urge the readers of this letter to continue to support Rabbi Gafni’s work, including his public teachings, writings, television projects and social activism. We are in need today of hearing the emerging voices of the next generation of Jewish leadership, and Rabbi Gafni’s voice is one of them. I look forward to learning what he has to teach in the decades to come.
Rabbi Saul J. Berman
(Director, Edah)
May 28th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Hey hey hey. JWB — I hesitate to enter into any thread you are in. Who wouldn’t? You are the most heavy-handed blogger on record. But cool it man. Gafni is obviously a very talented con man. He conned many credible leaders in the community. This is a source of embarrassment for them. Give them some room to save face. Don’t rub their faces in the scandal. The community must go on without one of its would-be stars. Let the credible and sincere leaders absorb this blow. Again — they were conned by a master. They are ashamed. Let them heal.
May 28th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Hey, hey hey, Tzvee,
You don’t know what you are talking about Berman, Telushkin and the Jewish Renawal leadership weren’t victims, they weren’t conned by a “master”. Read Gafni’s documented history in Luke Ford’s profile and at the Awareness webpage. Read the 2004 Maariv article.
They lied, they harassed and they smeared everyone who was brave enough to come forward and those who stood behind them. If you don’t believe me ask Rabbi Blau personally. He will confirm everyhthing I’ve posted. They went after Blau personally.
To this day these people have taken NO responsibility and have done no teshuvah.
Ask his past survivors how they were and still are treated. Again NO apology to those brave women.
They are not ashamed. They are exposed and are now just spinning the FACT that they enabled and protected Gafni by destroying the names of many good people. They are not ashamed, they are shameful and must be held accountable for what they’ve done.
May 28th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
I believe Rabbi Blau who has represented and assisted Rabbi Gafni’s earlier survivors can also confirm this.
Helping The Survivors of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni
WARNING to all of the survivors of Gafni.
Don’t sign anything without your attorney reviewing the documents!
Be very careful accepting money from any organization. Consult with an attorney first. By accepting money raised you may become ineligible to file a civil suit against them.
**********************************************
From Vicki Polin, Executive Director
The Awareness Center, Inc.
I want publicly state that at this time the Bayit Chadash community and those connected with Jewish Renewal movement have not apologized to the three survivors of Mordechai Winiartz/Gafni who came forward back in 2004.
Various leaders in the Jewish Renewal movement, Rabbi Saul Berman, Rabbi Yosef Telushkin and several other individuals attempted to silence the voices of three women when they attempted to warn everyone that Marc Gafni was a sexual predator.
Can you imagine the psychological damage our community leaders and other members of our communities have caused the three survivors?
for more see: ...