Gary Rosenblatt’s Self-Serving Take on Gafni/Winiarz
How do you atone for a story that essentially wrote off allegations of abuse against a rabbi when you find out a couple years later that he’s alleged to have abused again? By pretending you had the story right all along, of course.
In this week’s NYJW:
“We feel we were deceived,� Jacob Ner-David, a co-founder of Bayit Chadash, told The Jewish Week, which first reported on allegations against the rabbi in September 2004.
No mention of Rosenblatt’s apologetics for Gafni/Winiarz in that 2004 report. Also no mention of Jewschool, which broke the story, but that’s predictable.
This story also gives a pretty easy walk to Gafni’s enablers: Berman, Telushkin, Waskow, etc.
By the way, for those of you looking into whether Waskow’s claims of doing an investigation in the first place are legitimate, notice this from the 2004 story:
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 with whom I spoke said they were never contacted.)
May 17th, 2006 at 10:47 am
why is saul berman’s photo the lead image on that article?
May 17th, 2006 at 10:50 am
mobius - Yeah, I was wondering that myself. They tend to make some pretty weird photo choices at the NYJW.
May 17th, 2006 at 10:52 am
The following may answer your question. It comes from a posting from my blog on March 30, 2005
...
Jewish Whistleblower was instrumental in making sure the world was aware of what was really going on with the case against Rabbi Mordechai Tendler.
There’s a problem with the Journalistic ethics on some of the blogs that are out there today, but I have to tell you that papers like the Jewish Week is NOT always a friend to survivors of abuse. I look at how the paper reported on the case of Mark Gafni, and then I learn from bloggers like Steven I. Weiss, Luke Ford and Jewish Whistleblower, the problem could stem from the fact that Gary Rosenblatt is a long time good friend of Rabbi Saul Berman, who is one of Gafni’s strongest supporters. It also turned out that the assistant editor of the paper’s sister is Naomi Marks. Another one of Gafni’s supporters. Without the exposure of these facts one might believe that Gafni has done his repentance for his crimes, and all is hunky dory with the three survivors.
May 17th, 2006 at 10:53 am
i mean, jesus, you could find 100 hi-res photos of the guy on google images alone.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Steven–while I realize it probably won’t get published, lets do a collective letter to the editor and get a bunch of folks to sign–
May 17th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Cole - He’s aware of the criticism here, on Jewschool, etc. He just doesn’t seem to care.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Do you think Saul Berman is still supporting Gafni?
I wonder if Saul is still making phone calls and writing letters to rabbis and various other community leaders to warn them about the practices of The Awareness Center. The organization was actively involved in trying to warn various organizations about Gafni’s past in an attempt to prevent anyone else from becoming his next victim.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:39 am
The fact is that Berman, Waskow, Firestone, Telushkin and many, many others in Jewish Renewal declared that Gafni had been investigated several times (no proper investigation EVER happened) and declared him innocent, something even a criminal court cannot do.
Further, they went out of their way to blacken the names and reputations of numerous supporters of Gafni’s earlier survivors and that activity potentially dissuaded others from coming forward with information.
No apologies, no restoration of names/reputations.
This article is simply Berman and Jewish Renewal spin.
It’s time these people were held accountable and removed from public roles in our community.
Further, Berman states:
…
He told The Jewish Week the Gafni case underscores the ongoing need for a mechanism to investigate allegations against rabbis “in a way that the community has confidence in, so that when it’s over, it’s over.�
He said that rabbis are “not capable of enough objectivity to handle such matters themselves,� and called for a collaborative effort of rabbis, lay leaders and professionals in the health care field who deal with abuse.
…
BUT
The fact is numerous Rabbis, lay leaders AND professionals in the health care field who deal with abuse have demonstrated clearly in the Gafni case that they shouldn’t handle such matters in ANY collaborative effort. Their behavior demonstrated both a lack of character and concern.
What we need is outside experienced, forensic investigators with NO ties to the community being investigated. Such people simply do not exist in the Jewish community.
IF such an investigation had occurred, MUCH suffering could have been prevented.
What we need is:
1) Resources for survivors: Independant legal representation and counselling.
2) Independant forensic investigators.
3) Commitment NOT to dismiss allegations of a serious nature out of hand.
4) An understanding of the dynamics which may lead to decades before survivors come forward.
5) An understanding that advocacy for the survivors is a necessary part of the process.
6) An understanding that it is not “the process”, not some “criminal court legal terminology” which is important, it is the protection of the vulnerable in our community that is key.
7) An understanding that sexual offences are not appropriate for “restorative circles” or mediation.
8) An underatanding that someone that commits sexual offences, regardless of teshuva or fulfilling a sentence, can never again be in a position of authority or kavod which gives them access to the vulnerable in our community.
But let me be clear, the leadership of Jewish Renewal must be held accountable. They were ONLY interested in protecting Gafni and his name. They showed no compassion to his past survivors or concern for potential future victims. They had no trouble blackening the names and reputations of anyone who dared support Gafni’s survivors publicly.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:39 am
That’s why I’m saying COLLECTIVE letter to put more pressure on them–use the blog to organize phone calls to them, etc…unless we hound them they’re not gonna feel heat.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:46 am
If you or anyone you know is a survivor of Rabbi Marc Gafni please ask them to contact attorney Jeffrey Herman.
Jeffrey Herman
Herman & Mermelstein, P.A.
18205 Biscayne Boulevard
Suite 2218
Miami, Florida 33160
Toll Free: 1-800-686-9921
305-931-2200
May 17th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
If you or anyone you know is a survivor of Rabbi Marc Gafni please ask them to contact attorney Jeffrey Herman.
Is that attorney taking calls on JH Worch also?
May 17th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Survivor? Someone should contact the entire yishuv “Tzofim”.
May 17th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Lee, you can give him a call and find out if he would be willing to take that case on too. If he’s not he will refer you to someone who might. He’s definately dedicated and has been given high marks by SNAP (the organization that advocates for survivors of priest abuse).
May 17th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
FYI: I want to thank UOJ for referring me to Jeff Herman. What a valuable resource!
May 18th, 2006 at 1:16 am
I am no fan of Rosenblatt, and I appreciate all efforts to highlight his shoddy reporting and agenda-driven journalism.
Nevertheless, can it be that he presents too easy a target here? Please show me where his original article goes wrong. Isn’t it possible that he did not know then what he knows now? Is there no gray area for a reporter? Can all truths be know to all at all time?
As Rabbi Berman (another man who I can’t beleive I am defending) states. thje real issue here continues to be: How do we as a community offer sufficient protection to accusser and accusee?