San Francisco, CA – In an explosive broadcast on his nationally syndicated talk radio show yesterday, political commentator and author Michael Savage likened Jewish law to Sharia law, quoting a New York Post article that was published this past Sunday, saying that incidents of sexual abuse within the Orthodox Jewish community must be reported to a rabbinical board instead of the authorities.
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“Agudath Israel of America, a prominent body of Torah sages, requires anyone alleging sex abuse by a fellow observant Jew to first report to its rabbis, who decide whether the case should go to secular authorities,” writes Susan Edelman in Sunday’s New York Post.
The article not only accuses Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes of going easy on Orthodox pedophiles in the Jewish community but also accuses community rabbis of being part of a massive cover up designed to keep these crimes hidden from the outside world.
Two callers challenged Savage’s allegation of “Jewish law trumping our domestic law,” and informed the talk show host that facts within the Post story were erroneous and that abiding by the laws of your host country is one of the basic tenets of Jewish law.
Upon learning that the facts as represented in the article were completely inaccurate, Savage suggested that the Agudah demand a retraction from Susan Edelman, saying that the representations made in the article incorrectly “gives the general public a terrible view of an insular community that hides its criminals”.
The Savage Nation, hosted by the conservative Savage, has ten million listeners and is the third most listened to radio broadcast in the United States.
To listen to the full exchange by Savage, hear below:
interesting this guy thinks every paper and talk show radio host in the nation is a fony a froud except for him but all of a sudden he belives this post article like it would be sent from heaven????? wow what a froud!!!
He’s absolutely correct!
There was nothing erroneous about the article. It didn’t suggest a cover up, it exposed the very real cover up. Dina d’Malchusa Dina is ignored by most rabbanim in this case. For some reason R’ Elyashivs psak to go to the police is ignored in this case but not when it comes to banning books.
Mike Savage for PRESIDENT!!!
And all of you American charedi yiddn thought that Michael Savage ym”s was such a great pal of the Jews!
What a fraud he turned out to be.
The caller is wrong when he says that the Agudah allows victims to go directly to the police. On the Zev Brenner show a few months ago, Rabbi Zwiebel did not make any distinction between the victims going to the police or a third party. He stated that ALL must first go to a rabbi who is qualified in handling these cases. Only that rabbi can give the ok to go to the police. When he was asked if he knows of any such qualified rabbis, he said that he did not. So basically the Agudah position is to keep silent and do nothing. The cover up continues, only that it is now more elaborate with Kol Tzedek and Hynes joining in to further protect the molesters. Out of all the arrests handled by KT, not one of the molesters has been registered as an offender. Out of all the arrests, none of the identities of the molesters have been publicized. Why should our children feel any safer?
Agudath Israel executive vice president, an attorney, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, held a seminar for licensed professionals on May 15, 2011, at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel, where he advised to first ask a rabbi’s permission before reporting abuse to the government.
The Jewish Forward wrote a May 25, 2011 article about this seminar, and in a phone interview, R Zwiebel repeated this advice. forward.com/articles/138131/
Aguda next issued a formal, written statement on July 22, 2011, through the web site, Cross-Currents.
http://www.cross currents.com/archives/2011/07/22/agudath-israel-statement-on-reporting-suspicions-of-child-abuse/
On July 24, 2011, R Zwiebel submitted to an interview on the Zev Brenner radio show in which he repeated the same advice.
talklinecommunications.com/broadcasts/?p=episode&name=2011-07-24_talkline_july_24_2011_rabbi_chaim_dovid_zweibel_rabbi_nachman_kletzky_rabbi_simcha_scholar_and_rabbi_yaakov_german.mp3
The NY Post was correct in writing: “Agudath Israel of America, a prominent body of Torah sages, requires anyone alleging sex abuse by a fellow observant Jew to first report to its rabbis, who decide whether the case should go to secular authorities.”
Sorry to say this but whatever savage says or others we r committed to the Torah ALWAYS and the holy torah says whe should NOT surrender a fellow to the authorities w/o rabbinical permission, unless ur in immediate danger that calling police will take u out of it of course
To #3: I agree with you. “Cover up” is an ancient tradition in Jewish history. There have been times when it might have been a necessity. There is no justification to allow renegade Rabbis, spouse abusers or child molesters to be protected from the American judicial system.
What did I tell you all??? (lol)
These Christians are NOT your friends! The stuff they say about you to your face… isn’t NEAR as bad as what they say behind your backs!
So if you’re upset w\Michael Savage comparing Agudah to Sharia Law now… just imagine what he thinks about your religion when you’re NOT listening to his show!
Please trust me on this one: when the you-know-what hits the fan, your Christian “friends” will be long gone, and joining forces w\all of the other pagans & idol worshippers, to put all of the Jews “in their place” in the hopes that their false Messiah will come & somehow bring salvation to the world.
And just because we all know that’s a bunch of malarchy & isn’t going to happen anyways (lol)… doesn’t mean that they’re not going to make things difficult for the Jewish people before the end comes.
I mean, Michael Savage is the same guy who once said that 99% of cases in Autism, are really just a “brat who needs to be dealt with”!
These radio shock jocks are getting out of control! If any of us said some of the racist & sexist garbage they say on air at OUR jobs… we’d all be fired! Are you kidding me?!
These people are hardly moral. Blech!
Savage is Jewish by the way. His real name is Michael Weiner and he’s from the Bronx originally.
The problem in our community is not only with reporting fellow Yidden who need to be reported. The problem is even reporting and testifying against Goyim. A few summers ago in Borough Park they caught a Goy who had taken several little frum girls into an ally and molested/raped them. The parents refused to allow their daughters to testify because they did not want to hurt chances of shidduchim. As a result this Goy molestor is back on the streets. So folks time to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to stop worrying about what people will think and instead do the right thing. We all know instinctively what the right thing is. If you spend time going asking shailos when there is a matter of Pikuach Nefesh you are a Rotzeach. I am sorry that Rabbi Belsky and Aguda does not agree with Rav Elyashiv and Rav Dovid Cohen on this matter, but clearly there are Gedolim to be Somech on in terms of reporting to authorities without pre-clearing it with a Rov. Also in regards the accused person in the case in Lakewood, I believe he used to teach secular studies in Torah Vodaath and was let go due to suspicions about him. Therefore Rabbi Belsky is Nogea Bedavar.
Millions of Yidden don’t hold by what Agudah declares.
I love this.
Savage is right about one thing. There are MANY Orthodox groups who will not call the police, that will not go to ANYONE unless a Rav allows it. For those groups, they should be cheering that Savage is recognizing them for their ultra-holy views! (sarcasm intended).
The fact is that the story has some level of truth to it and we all know it. Calling it a lie or saying that Savage hates Jews because of this is just absurd. We all know that there are many groups that have this opinion. To call it a lie is just plain dishonest!
this is absolutely ridiculous!
i agree with #17 . what is all this “permission from a rabbi” garbage? rabbis dont have the power “give permission” to do anything! (or to bless food and make it kosher either). the purpose of going to a reputable rabbi is to consult someone with greater knowledge of torah, daas torah, mesorah, hadracha, and halachah to try to understand the will of Hashem and the guidlines of halacha/mesorah. they often have valuable experience and knowledge of the secular system that can also be very helpful.
We follow only the torah. dina demalchusa dina is binding on torah jews because it is IN the torah (if we had no torah we would be obligated to behave morally and follow the law anyway but we do have the torah and its how we live & belive if we truly accept it is from hashem and for the purpose of guiding our lives).
i am not denying that there are weak, bad, or misguided/naive people and rabbis who do cover this stuff up and it is a big problem. the community is much more aware and proactive about these issues nowadays. You need to go to a rabbi that deserves your trust. Advice: if your rabbi tells you to cover up for a molester find a new rabbi
Why can’t we all agree to vociferously condemn the Resha-eem who care more about their children’s shidduchim than following the Derech Hayashar.
Guys, people, relax! If you listen a lot to Savage you’ll all know that he brings out his points very strongly sometimes even stronger that he alone believes, its not that he thinks Jewish law is like sharia, that’s his way of talking. He is a great host and a real common sense person
Abuse in our communities is certainly a horrible blight to contend with, but the Post journalists have been licking their chops with their so-called exposures. Forget his name at the moment, but the guy whose piece on this very same issue was published in the Post a couple of weeks ago was laying it on thick, with inaccuracies and ugly insinuations about our ways. We definitely should take it to a competent rabbi before reporting it to the police. Shaming and dragging an innocent man through the mud is inexcusable and can’t be undone. There’s nothing wrong and everything right with getting the backing and advice of a rabbinical authority. Granted some are corrupt and /or would advise us erroneously. But there’s enough information out there to weed these out. While we have to do the right thing to protect our children, we must do it the right way.
Savage is also laying it on thick, to curry favor with the goyim. Gets him ratings.
I dont see why it’s normal to talk to a lawyer but not a rabbi, a rabbi is versed in Torah law… It only makes sence to double check with one… If u r versed in Torah, then u should still go to a rabbi bec of bigots…. Am I wrong?
If I believed everything I read in print media as fact, I’d be madder than a hornet. Here’s a fact. There are people out there who are capitalizing on the bits of progress that Agudah has yet to make, and are baschmutzing them to the public. With few exceptions, none of these baschmutzers do anything to protect children anywhere. The dirt thrown at Kol Tzedek is simply false. Those cases that do not proceed to courts are so because the victims (or their families) won’t testify. Perhaps their fears of stigma are warranted because of public ignorance, maybe not. But that situation is not Agudah’s fault, nor a shortcoming of Kol Tzedek. Bottom line is that more needs to be done to get abusers out of the community, and the system, far from perfect, is much better.