ISRAEL (VINnews) — In a stunning turnaround, Dovi Weinroth, Chaim Walder’s lawyer and personal confidant, appears to have backtracked from his role as an apologist of Walder’s.
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In addition, Mr. Weinroth apologized to the Haaretz reporter who first broke the story, after calling him a murderer at Walder’s hesped.
On Thursday Mr. Weinroth published an emotional and candid Facebook post, in which he discussed the importance of focusing on the unspeakable pain and torture that the victims suffered. He also expressed remorse for his own words at Walder’s levaya.
He wrote, “I write post-trauma. Like everyone else, I have been going through a very difficult personal upheaval since Chaim Walder’s suicide. This story is a kind of horror film. It is never too late to hear the sound of those who were shattered.”
He also addressed his apology to the reporter, saying, “I picked up the phone and called Aharon Rabinovitch. Truthfully this was the first time, and for a simple reason. To apologize. At the end of the day I never spoke with him. [Yet] I got up at the levaya and demeaned him.”
He wrote about Mr. Rabinovitch’s gracious and forgiving response. “Dovi I’m not upset at you. You were eulogizing a friend. I can understand that. Of course I disagree with you and think you did not convey the right message. You missed the most important point, but I did not take it as an attack. Do not worry one bit.” .
Mr. Weinroth went further, saying that the extreme concern to avoid lashon hara may have led to a lack of concern about the victims.
He wrote, “I understand that the most dangerous part of this has been the lectures against lashon hara, for one simple reason: The Charedi community has not offered any alternative. To frighten people about speaking lashon hara about a matter like this only worsens the situation.
“I missed [the point], and I missed it in a huge way. At the hesped, I spoke about lashon hara, and I now realize that only exacerbates the problem, if certain other prerequisites are not first met. Likewise, everyone must ask themselves, what is their motivation for their comments or publication–to repair or to gossip?”
We are still waiting for an unequivocal and public apology from Yated Ne’eman for their glowing obituary and putting ZL after a rapist’s name.
If and until they do, what they print is worth less than the paper it’s printed on.
As things stand now, they have a clear agenda of providing cover for sexual criminals and they have betrayed all that we hold holy and dear.
The apology, and the gracious acceptance thereof, are beautiful to see. We can have disagreements, but still be respectful, still be open-minded, still acknowledge mistakes. That will enable moving forward together.
I was thinking about the lodging Hora issue.. if someone is walking around with a loaded gun, is it losing Hora to warn ppl? The only way, it seems to take him down, was to go public.
Never too late to fix an error, as long as you are still alive. (as opposed to C. Walder who took his own life without showing remorse and asking Mechilah from his victims) but it would have been much better had you called Aaron Rabnowitz BEFORE your hesped, not AFTER. the damage was already done.
I remember reading somewhere about the YK case many years ago where a certain rov didn’t want to get involved because it was too schmutzik and beneath him to pasken. Until this mentality changes, it will always give cover to abusers and charlatans to do their nefarious deeds.
That is indeed the challenge, to warn of a dangerous predator without being accused of lashon hora. Our Chareidi society hasn’t figured that one out yet.
Unfortunately. most people say and or listen to lashon hara all day long. When it comes to child molesters, all of a sudden it becomes a bigger chumra than keeping shabbos or eating trief.
A lawyer. Period
What did Dovi Weinroth know about the abuse? And when did he know it?
i dont know why walders death was reported in alot of the charedi media as a tragedy it is not a tragedy it is a good thing
the real tragedy was what he had done
and under no circumstance should he be refered as z”l he does not deseve that term
may his name be erased from the face of the planet
“personal confidant” who didn’t suspect anything. How did Walder fool his nearest and dearest for over 20 years? Was everyone around him stupid or what??
Wow, I cried after reading his full post. My hope in “us” has been restored. If he can do it, the full klal can too. I couldn’t be prouder to be part of a people who can see their own weaknesses and pivot fundamentally. This defines courage. From the comments it seems some people may not fully grasp the significance of this. It’s a game changer. This may have been Dovi Weinroth’s proverbial “sha’ah achas”. I pray this snowballs into a new paradigm. We owe it to the victims!
And he couldn’t have worked that out in two seconds, before the funeral? A five year old could work out that if a bad man attacks hundreds of children them he needs to be stopped, and if he kills himself out of shame them that’s all on him and no-one else. Idiot.
It takes strength to admit when you were wrong.
From what this lawyer has dealt with in life, my guess would be that he is sincere.
When Dovi Weinroth’s well-known wife Chani was first diagnosed with cancer, she was just 25 years old and the mother of two toddlers and an infant. In the nine years that followed, Chani became a public figure in Israel, lecturing and writing openly about her illness until her death in November 2017. Now, four years later, attorney Dovi is the author of the recently published Machar HaShemesh Tizrach (Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise), in which he describes coping not only with the loss of his wife, but also that of his father, Dr. Yaakov Weinroth. Dr. Weinroth was one of Israel’s most famous lawyers; he and his daughter-in-law died within a year of each other.
Well you’re a bit too late, typical politician after he fails he says he made a mistake till then he stood by him and defended him all the time.
One big huh!
The client is dead. His family will not shell out money to pay this expensive lawyer. He needs to look good for future potential clients. The monstrous eulogy was delivered just to show loyalty to the dead client. The apology was probably well meant. The reporter knows what a defense attorney does so he bears no malice.
But we still need to plan for how to prevent abuse, and handle claims by victims.
His being a lawyer and realizing that the HaAretz reporter now has a strong case against him for defamation and disbarment has absolutely nothing to do with this.
Does attorney-client privileges exist in Israel and is it still in effect after death?
ese doche lo sase.
This is complete gibberish. There’s no coherent meaning to what this lawyer is quoted in the above story as saying now.