At 47, and having nothing left to fondle at home ( after 10 kids ) this rabbi is venturing in the international free market.

If you are rabbi or a priest you get a free pass for sexual harassment. The judge must have been out of his mind when he made the decision to let the defendant come back to Israel.

The Rabbi will not return, you can bet on it.

The religion forbids rabbi to sit near a woman on the plane. I was several times asked by an orthodox person to change my sit with him so he would't sit near a woman. I believe our Lord was well aware of these sort of tempations by inspiring this prohibition.

among orthodox Jews there is no "Rabbi Gabriel Bidani".

Reading comprehension problem? Read it: "At his April 5 arraignment, the Orthodox rabbi..."

These people are a disgrace to Judaism.

I beg to disagree with you Sasha... When you say that an ultra orthodox Jew is not supposed to sit next to a woman on a plane: " I believe our Lord was well aware of these sort of tempations by inspiring this prohibition." Do you really believe that temptation is a monopoly that belongs to Priests and Rabbis? The problem here Sasha is moral upbringing, which many Rabbis and Priests seem to lack these days. I generalize here because many priests and Rabbis have been caught with their pants down these days...

No Dov, this is the name he uses when visiting the Red Light District...

I would not be surprised if this woman has an ulterior motive... She may be after money or she may be a Pali lover...

which is how ynet usually reports their news if someone sports a beard. Here it cannot be because orthodox rabbis would know better than to sit next to women. Either he's not a rabbi just a plain bum like other "rabbis" reported by ynet or he's reform or secular posing like an orthodox Jew. Only gullible ones would believe every word ynet writes.

the Rabbi could claim that he was doing research into the mysteries of the old Asherah cult.

Does being a Rabbi automatically make you a sensible, loyal and straight person? I think lots of people take advantage of a position or another to curb the law when there is an opportunity. Anyway It is the human mind which is essentially wicked, not that rabbi of course.

If its not Clinton, or Katsav, then it MUST be a Rabbi...

Just a hypothetical question Sasha, where would the Rabbi sit if he were bi-sexual?

similar to that adopted by the prison system in many countries around the world. To prevent sexual misconduct among prisoners, coffee laced with a substance that diminishes sexual desire. Ultra Orthodox Jews who have no alternative to sitting next to a woman, would be made to drink that coffee... Problem solved!

In the mid 1990s, an orthodox rabbi was falsly accussed of groping a teenage female on an airplane. It made the papers. Several months later, a small article was release stating that the teen girl had made it up and the rabbi was exonerated of all charges. Unfortunately many people these days are victims to false accusations. I will wait before I judge these particular individuals.

Why do you think that it is discouraged, for the Orthodox men, to stay away from women? Because they can't control themselves. This was not groping, this was RAPE. A sexual driven assault. This occurs commonly among the Orthodoxy, and rarely reported in Israel. People are too afraid of complaining, and the Rabbinate and other Haredim, will successfully cover it up. It is also common behavior in strict Islamic countries. In fact, in many parts of the Islamic world, this kind of activity is to be expected.

1. Come on Marco, this was ironical, but maybe away from the basque country the spaniards have problems with humor. 2. Marc, I like your point very much- Then he shouldn't fly. This one is a good one. Sasha

Why did you forget about Silvio Berlusconi?

What are your sources Avi? As far as I know, that Rabbi was convicted and is spending time in Jail...

sasha there is no prohibition (issur) against sitting next to the opposite sex on a plane, bus and so on...it is an attempt at going beyond the level of the required law (halakha), called a chumra, it happens to be terrible because the person is all to often offended that they are asked to move because of their gender. offending someone is a torah prohibition, while this would only really fall under the catergory of a halahka d'rabanan (rule of the rabbis). im asssuming they are concerned for the prohibition of lo tiqrivu (aka-"shomer negiah") but sitting next to a women clearly does not violate this issur

talking in your sleep. this is the first i have heard of sleep groping :) If I was the lady I would certainly asked to be moved after the first grope or did she need a second one. If this is true it is a pretty sad case on many fronts.

Most Israelis are liars, so my heart goes out to this man. I doubt he did anything so ridiculous, because any woman would have screamed the first time and reacted much more strongly than she claimed. She just covered hersself and went back to sleep. Yeah sure! And she claims he groped her crotch yet. Its one thing when ure sitting next to these crazy Israelis that have no manners and act like Arabs in the desert, but when someone is touching u you make a scene. All of a sudden this Israeli woman lost her vocal chords. She most probably didnt like him because he sat next to her and they had words and this is her revenge tactic.

Sleep walking, snoring, are common... I salute this Rabbi for inventing something new: sleep raping...

Was the rabbi arrested in Israel for sodomizing his friend's wife also a Reform Jew posing as an Orthodox rabbi? Was Rabbi Mordechai Fish who was busted by the FBI last week for money laundering Reform? How lucky are the Karaite Jews that they don't have to be constantly embarrassed by these Orthodox rabbis for whom avoiding cheeseburgers is the extent of their moral law.

Sorry ;)