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Did rabbi downplay incest rape?
Telem Yahav
Published: 14.01.12, 23:08
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1. Rabbi and rape
Dave SA ,   Joburg South Africa   (01.14.12)
Cicero described incest as "a game the whole family can play". I cannot believe that a rabbi described this as a common occurrence. Not in a Jewish community, never!
2. not a real Rabbi
Aliza   (01.14.12)
If he was a real Rabbi he would have treated this situation as serious, evidently he did not and did not behave in a moral and halachic manner.
3. So the president of Israel cannot rape, but..
mea   (01.14.12)
if you are affiliated with a religious sect, raping your siblings is fine and dandy, is that what the Haredi community wishes to message to the world? Got it. Rape is okay inside the Jewish home. Police and professionals do not know as much as somebody who reads Torah, right? Israel needs mandatory reporting laws, whereby any adult who suspects sexual abuses is bound by law to report it. These disgusting people need to pull their community out of the 1700's and into modern times. It seems that no matter what it is females who suffer at their hands. END STATE SUBSIDIES FOR THE RELIGIOUS NOW!
4. Who rehabiltates the Rabbi? TATA
Edithann ,   USA   (01.14.12)
5. Tells so much about Haredi rabbis & Haredi community
Observant Jew ,   Israel   (01.14.12)
Only haredim worship their rabbis so blindly and unquestioningly. Says so much, too, that it's so common in their community. They have nothing to do with Torah.
6. Did rabbi downplay incest rape
David ,   Montreal,Canada   (01.15.12)
The rabbi is just as guilty as the 2 bros. In fact as an adult and spiritual leader he should get a greater punishment ! from men and G.
7. Rabbi and Rape
Cephus ,   Auburn USA   (01.15.12)
If the rabbi has a daughter, I feel sorry for her.
8. Sorry Ynet et al
Sagi   (01.15.12)
"downplaying" and "advice" are not the correct terms. Aiding and abetting a crime would be more correct.
9. SHOULD RABBI'S TAKE "MANDITORY" SEX COURSES?
Jewbie ,   ATLANTA GA USA   (01.15.12)
THEY MUST! Look what is happening throughout Israel and the world with RABBI SEXPLOITS... RABBI'S MUST TAKE "MANDITORY" SEX COURSES! Who is going to teach these creatures of habit?
10. For God's sake!
Henry from New York ,   USA   (01.15.12)
Stop tacking the word kosher on to everything. Can't we just leave it to stuff that is actually kasher?
11. SICKENING!!!!!
Helene ,   Tel Aviv   (01.15.12)
12. Such a bunch of B.S.! There's DEATH for incest in Jewish Law
Sergio HaDaR ,   Copenhagen   (01.15.12)
13. Living in closed world...
Ralph ,   Caesarea   (01.15.12)
14. Maybe being a rabbi should be made
jason white ,   afula,israel   (01.15.12)
illegal? They are not what they used to be and are as dumb as dirt when it come to human relations and religion. Perhaps a good punishment tor the rabbi is to throw his daughter(s) if he has any into a men's prison. The psycho wing and let them get raped. It is only natural there.
15. #10 says wise words.
(01.15.12)
16. incest in the jewish community
allan ,   canada   (01.15.12)
Unfortunately these horrible things do occur in the Jewish community, and some Rabbis do try to downplay it, and tell the families not to report it. It happens all over.
17. perhaps the family is worried about thier kid's prospects
allan   (01.15.12)
for a shidduch if the truth gets out.
18. The State should license its rabbis,should control religions
Michael ,   California, USA   (01.15.12)
Rabbis should be educated and pass exams before allowed to "practice" in service of Israeli citizens. Everybody is so gentle about those rabbis, about the Tanah, about Judaism. It is a manifestation of a huge complex. This incident only illustrates what can go wrong with this kind of an approach. In reality, Israel needs to license its rabbis, like it does with Social Workers, Psychiatrists and Doctors. Rabbis deal with the public and can do a lot of damage. The government of Israel is charged with protectring the public. Licensing rabbis should be the first step. High time for the government to legislate and control religion in Israel, all the religions. Not only the buildings, what the rabbis and priests do and say also.
19. Throw that scum of a Rabbi in Jail...
Sarah B ,   U.S.A./ Israel   (01.15.12)
and throw the keys. How dare he advise the parents against involving the police saying that such incidents happen in many families? Sorry Rabbi, but it may happen in families with no moral values as yours, but it certainly does not happen in good families...
20. Totally unacceptable
moriah ,   sacramento usa   (01.15.12)
If this is proven to be true rabbi should be stripped of is smicha!
21. violates torah
Michael BenDaniel ,   utica new york USA   (01.15.12)
How can a person calling himself a rabbi give this kind of advice when the torah strickly forbids this behavior? because talmud permits it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
22. Bias type of reporting
Nechama ,   USA   (01.15.12)
I am not surprised about the article at all, anything to bash the Charidim. The media had been very bias against the religious. Matter of a fact I really doubt very much that you will publish my opinion on this forum. Publish anything to make the news and sale or get viewed! Sex sales!...bashing on Charidim sales. I doubt very much that any Rabbi will go along with it and not to report to the authorities and not to help to protect the child. Something is wrong with the story!... Also, doesn't present who reported it to the police this time. Giluhi Ha Raiot (incest) is against Torah absolutely!...No Rabbi will say such a boneheaded statement!... With your article it makes us seem that we the Charidim are monsters and that's what the media wants to portray us as. The media is trying to show us as a degraded individuals when were are not! Like I say, a bias article irregardless if the story is truth or not! It's a fad now to bash on the "Charidim". I do agree if this Rabbi gave such a "horrifying" statement and counsel, it should be taken away is Smicha of a Rabbi and also persecuted as an accomplice as well. What about publishing what the Charidim do for the public? Yad Sarah, Yad le achim, Hatzalah and other organizations. Why only bashing articles?
23. That's the price you pay for living in a Theocracy
Helena Krauze   (01.15.12)
Maybe the rabbi is right.. Sexual abuse might be the norm in these communities, but maybe that's because their version of religion requires them to repress their sexuality in line with their religious beliefs. That's not healthy for people of any religion - repression of sexuality is a major cause of sexually deviant behaviour - the state needs to address that problem rather brush it under the carpet.
24. I want to express my sympathy and empathy with the girl
Alexander ,   Tel Aviv, Israel   (01.15.12)
I'm horrified at what happened to this poor girl. I'm horrified that her brothers have committed such a terrible act of malign evil and sadism. I'm horrified at how they have treated her and how they reduced her to an object for their personal pleasure. I'm horrified that the rabbi downplayed these continuous rapes and that the parents made the horrible and catastrophic decision to deny and hide what was going on in their home. I'm even more horrified that the parents "didn't know" what was going on in their home and that they did nothing to stop it. Four things should happen: the brothers should be sentenced to jail - hopefully for many years - preferably decades in jail. The girl's parents must be brought in for questioning by the police and ask her "beloved" parents why on earth could her brothers rape her continuously for years without the parents knowing about it - and when they found out - why they didn't stop it. The parents belong in jail too. The rabbi must be brought in for questiong as well by the police. Condoning rape or to give one's connivance for it is equally immoral. The rabbi belongs in jail. The rabbi must be stripped of his title - such low life scum doesn't deserve to be a rabbi. The girl must be given some kind of therapy, treatment, encouragement and if possible - her emotional wounds must heal - if they ever will heal. I express my sadness at what happened and I hope that as a compensation for her terrible experiences, that she will have a future that will be happy and blessed.
25. Rabbi gets away with it?
T. Dikel ,   Gainesville FL USA   (01.15.12)
The "Rabbi" should be prosecuted severely for his role in this continuing crime. He is a perpetrator in what happened to this child. If at least the Rabbinical community does not punish him severely they are only emphatically supporting the concerns and complaints of the anti-religious community. If he is not punished in the courts at least as severely as the brothers, whom he basically advised to keep on raping their sister, it reinforces the concerns of those who worry that the politicians and the courts are whoring themselves for the support of the "religious" community. I say "Rabbi" and "religious" because this is neither the religion nor the rabbinical role associated with the God of the Jews and the Universe.
26. They call themselves parents
Haim ,   TA   (01.15.12)
It seems these so called parents are also to blame. Have they lost the basic human ability to think for themselves?
27. did rabbi applied the Torah?
observer ,   Egypt   (01.15.12)
no one can contest rabbi's opinion, unlike in other religions. rabbis must have been mistaken in his ruling.
28. #18 They do pass exams.
Susan ,   Kfar Saba   (01.15.12)
New rabbis have to pass a very difficult exam, much like the bar exam or CPA exam. I dont know about the haredi rabbis though. These problems occur in closed religious societies all over.
29. Who says the family is Haredi?
susan ,   raanana   (01.15.12)
Who says the family is Haredi? There are plenty of Jews from other religious communities who confer with a rabbi for every decision. The point of the matter is that it is unfortunate that some people are brought up to blindly obey rabbinical advice. As a health care professional working in a public clinic, I have seen numerous examples of pregnant and post partum women who fast (a taboo in every other culture or religion) or need approval in order to use birth control. Every detail - from the most intimate levels of a woman's menstrual cycle to her sex life is the business of her rabbi?! I've seen spousal abuse covered up in the name of shalom beit.... Have individuals become so brainwashed that they are unable to differentiate between right and wrong? Have the rabbis gotten so much power that they can rule on medical and psychological issues? As for this rabbi, he is required by law just as EVERY other community professional, including teachers, counselors and nurses to report abuse. I hope the state will open a case towards him. The parents also should be held liable. If this were to happen in a so-called "cult," there would be a public outcry, but it is doubtful if our statemen will have the guts to put an end to rabbinical power.
30. OMG! thats disgusting.
Salma ,   Palestine   (01.15.12)
the family of this "Rabbi" should be investigated NOW.
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