Teaneck, NJ – Asserting that there are more victims of an alleged sexual abuser than the four teens who have come forward to the police, the rabbi of an Orthodox synagogue in Teaneck, N.J., is calling on congregants to help an investigation in the case of Adam Melzer, 34, who was arrested several weeks ago for child endangerment.
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Melzer, a married parent and member of the Orthodox community in Teaneck, coached basketball teams at several Jewish day schools in New Jersey and New York. He is accused of persuading teenage boys that he coached to take naked pictures of themselves and give them to him.
Four youngsters in the community, who are now between the ages of 16 and 18, contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Teaneck Police
Department, leading to an investigation of Melzer, and to his arrest.
He was charged with four counts on endangering the welfare of a child, and turned himself in to authorities on July 18.
In an announcement during services last Shabbat morning at Congregation Rinat Yisrael, Rabbi Yosef Adler said that additional youngsters are believed to have been victims. He urged parents to speak to their children and, if they have information, to come forward to the authorities.
The rabbi, who is also rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Academy of Bergen County (TABC), a boys’ high school, said that the more youngsters who come forward, the greater their collective credibility would be in the event of a trial.
Rabbi Adler told The Jewish Week on Tuesday that he and his rabbinic colleagues at the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County had discussed the case, but that as far as he knew, he was the only rabbi to date to speak out and encourage cooperation with the police.
The four youngsters reportedly said that during 2006 and 2007, Melzer told each of them that someone was blackmailing them and had nude pictures of them. He allegedly told them he would intercede with the blackmailers and needed nude pictures of them.
A police spokesman familiar with the case said that adults whose social life focuses heavily on young teenagers should be viewed with a sense of caution.
Parents at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, in River Edge, where the four teens were students and where Melzer had been a basketball coach, received a letter from the dean and president of the school soon after the arrest. It stated that during the time Melzer coached there, “we received no reports of improper behavior or anything that would have raised even the slightest concern.”
The letter asserted that the school has “a zero tolerance” policy regarding the endangerment of children and urged parents with direct knowledge to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which has established a hotline at (201) 226-5155
Rabbi Adler is 100% correct.
modern orthodox=take care of the problem of abuse
yeshivish/chassidish=sweep it under the rug
do the math
Not true at all. Look at the Lanner case. Also, note that the article states “that as far as he knew, he was the only rabbi to date to speak out and encourage cooperation with the police.” Omerta lives in every Jewish congregation, Litvish, Hassidic,MO, Conservative and Reform. Most people would rather sweep these matters under a rug rather than face the consequences.
The story of adam melzer does not add up at any extreme how can a person convince 8th graders of such things?
May Hashem bless your efforts as to your involvment in this important work.
May he also reward you for this difficult task , both in this world, and the next one.
Have a good Shabbos
I guess Nuchem Rosenberg is right!
the only way to stop & prevent is to publicly talk about it with the name of who did it (of course after afew eidis confirmed) we will get nowhere as long that we only say its sick & going on let’s get these ppls name & u will c a change in our communities
Isnt this a case of masering
Rabbi Adler should be praised for his strong stance on this. This is the second case this summer in Teaneck of disgusting acts against children. First with a 19 year old sending disturbing images to a 13 year old and then this incident. Rabbinic and educational intervention is the key to combating this issue.
Their is probobaly a reason why none of the other gedolai yisrael in teaneck spoke about it
Meier: no, it isn’t masering. It is one of the specific cases of Rodef that the Gemara brings, and you are mechuyav to go to the authorities.
i know this mr. melzer for several years. i hardly think this whole story is true…he is one of the greatest and most fun people to be around with.
i am very confident that this was all a set up.
A FEW POINTS :
DINEI NEFASHOS CANNOT BE DECIDED BY JUST ANYONE
BALANCING THE SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN FIRST VS. THE ACTUAL RISK A PARTICULAR PERSON POSES ARE HAIR SPLITTING DECISIONS
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT RABBI ADLERS INTENTIONS ARE TO PROVE THAT ASIDE FROM THESE 4 TEENS THERE ARE NO MORE SKELETONS
i wonder if reb dovid feinstien shlita or rav bleich was asked before he made these statements?
finally assuming that these unfortunate charges were true & THIS MAN (WHOM I DONT KNOW) WERE BROUGHT IN FRONT OF REB MOSHE OR REB SHLOMA ZALMAN ZATZ”L WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PSAK?????
Meier Says:
Isnt this a case of masering
08-14-2008 – 5:39 PM
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If your daughter or son were RAPED would you still ask if its mesirah? Please dont answer!
Assuming that the claims against him are 100% true, how is what he did redifa? I’m having trouble understanding how it’s an aveira at all. I mean, shein iz dos nisht, but please, people, get a sense of proportion. He didn’t abuse anyone, he did nothing to anyone, he didn’t even take the pictures himself (not that that would have been such a terrible crime either); he talked some boys into going home, and in the privacy of their own rooms taking pictures of themselves and giving them to him. For this he deserves to go to jail? He should definitely be fired from his job, but I can’t see how it’s justified to do any more to him than that.
Anon of 8:46, he didn’t rape anyone. He never even laid a finger on anyone. He never even laid EYES on anyone in the nude. All he saw was PHOTOS. This isn’t nice, but it also isn’t rape.
I know its not “masering”, but why is it a CLEAR case of rodef
To those who seem to have difficulty understanding why this is a crime…..If the story is true as was reported. Child pornography is a crime! It is illegal for an adult to take explicit pictures of underage children, to blackmail underage children into taking explicit photo’s of themselves and to blackmail minors into taking explicit photo’s of their mother and sisters. Anytime an authority figure ABUSES their power to take advantage of minor children it is a crime. Anybody who is perverted enough to not only dream up this scheme, but to actually go through with it is in a dangerous mindset. They are clearly putting out feelers to see how much they can get away with.
A child who has been molested by an authority figure, or emotionally blackmailed into doing things that are wrong suffers a tremendous amount of shame and embarrasment that can lead to lifelong trust and emotional issues. They might never have a healthy relationship or might become molesters themselves.
The Jewish community has an absolute obligation to love and protect our children. Protecting a past molester or a borderline molester is just plain wrong. Molesters do not get better, they either give in to temptation and progressivly get more aggressive or struggle to beat it every day.
So stop defending the molesters. They deserve a fair day in court, but if proven guilty should be absolutely kept away from children in the same way that you would keep a cheesecake away from a starving, obese person who’s eaten lettuce for a week.
Anon. 3:41PM. You are wrong to put a label on the level and extent of cooperation by the Yeshiva/School staff with the authorities! It has nothing to do with one belonging to a Modern-Orthodox or Chasidish/Yeshivish stream in Judaism. Enough of the divisions and name calling! At one time, some in the Chasidi/Litvi (Black Hat[ter]s [mistakenly] thought that they’re more immune to the [unfortunate] abuses prevalent in some segments of the population] than the Modern-Ortho.! Now they know better!!
I am proud of this yeshiva for doing the right thing NOW, instead of letting it become another Kolko story, with the yeshiva protecting it own..and tons of emotionally disturbed adults coming out as a result..who then are raising this generation with their own phobias..its a cycle of abuse and molestation that mUST STOP!! Go Dov Hikind, Nuchem Rosenberg, and all of you! Finally an advocate for the kids…and better late than never..Good for you, YNJ for standing up for your students!
Shmiel-
What are you talking about?
Kudos to Rabbi Adler for doing what all Rabbis should do in a case like this. I don’t live in Teaneck but I heard that all of the Rabbis in Teaneck have been encouraging people to come forward. Those in the heimeshe/yeshivishe comuntities shoud learn a lesson from the rabbis of Teaneck. As a YU grad, I am very dissapointed that Rabbi Neuberger, who is the rabbi of the shul where Melzer davens, has not spoken out. I hope he will do so in the future.
The sexual abuse of children – girls and boys -and men), that we have allowed to be perpetrated within each of our respective communities, is the “Molech” of our generation. (Check out the Rashi in Yirmiyahu, Perek 7, Posuk 31 “Bamos HaTofes”). Those in the Jewish community that enable the abusers, by actively covering up their crimes, or by denying the existense of this abuse and its pervasiveness, are merely “banging on drums” so that we are unable to hear the cries of our children. It must end.