"The case of Malka Leifer needs to be in the news," says a source. "She’s hiding out in Beit Shemesh and has left hurt people all over the world. This is a cult-like case."
In 2000, Malka Leifer was hired by Adass Israel Girls School. In 2003 she was promoted and made principal. Her employment terminated and left Melbourne within 24 hours of being investigated by the school board. There were allegations made that Adass Israel school purchased the ticket for Leifer to return to Israel. Norman Rosenbaum, the schools spokesperson, the rumors are not true.
Zipporah Oliver, a prominent Orthodox psychologist, was quoted in saying that she has encouraged anybody who feels traumatized by the events to seek help in a culturally appropriate way.
Over the last seven years The Awareness Center has seen "the culturally appropriate way" in many orthodox communities is to let the rabbis "handle" these sorts situations, by either doing nothing or protecting the alleged sexual predator not to embarrass his or her family, at the expense of those who have been criminally violated.
It’s not very often we will see rabbonim encouraging survivors of sex crimes to work with law enforcement, instead they encourage survivors to have their cases heard in a Jewish religious court. According to Jewish law there needs to be two `kosher’ witnesses to a crime. It’s important to note that women do not count as kosher witnesses. When you are dealing with sex crimes, there is hardly ever one witness, let alone two.
We all must be aware that our rabbis are not trained to conduct victim sensitive interviews nor have knowledge in how to collect forensic evidence. The "cultural norm" in more insulated communities is to scare those who have been victimized into silence by warning them they will not find good marriage partner or be allowed in good yeshivas (schools) if it was known they or a family member were a victim of a sex crime.
Instead of instilling fear, our rabbis should be encouraging survivors to work with law enforcement, to insure no more innocent children, adolescents or adults are harmed by alleged sexual predators. Instead of promoting fear, our rabbonim have a responsibility to be educating our communities that all survivor of sex crimes should be honored and respected.
The Awareness Center wants to encourage all survivors of sex crimes to contact their local rape crisis center and to work with law enforcement. It is the only way to insure that there is hope in stopping a sexual predator from creating more victims.
The police will issue an international arrest warrant this week against an extremist rabbi who fled to Canada and is a key suspect in one of the worst child abuse cases in the nation’s history.
Police said Monday that Rabbi Elior Chen and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were savagely and systematically beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments for months until the younger child lost consciousness last month.
The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the systematic and brutal abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and her companions, according to an indictment filed against his mother this week in a Jerusalem court.
He is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.
Chen, who served as a spiritual mentor to the abusive mother and who provided explicit written instruction on how to abuse the children, fled to Canada last month after the case came to light to avoid arrest, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. He apparently does not have Canadian citizenship, Ben-Ruby said.
According to the charge sheet, the woman’s relationship with her husband broke down last year, and she expressed her desire to divorce her husband, who subsequently left their Jerusalem home, leaving his eight children in the care of his wife and two men who were charged with educating her children.
The men, who allegedly carried out the abuse with the mother, received instruction from Chen on how to "fix" the children’s behavior, and "cleanse" them of their Satanic possession, the indictment says.
During a search of Chen’s Betar Illit home, police found evidence that appears to link the rabbi to the abuse, including notebooks that document the violence, police said.
"Put stones on a [Shabbat] hot plate . . . when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed," the instructions read.
Chen also instructs his followers how to tie up the children, and to prepare alcoholic drinks made of salt water and turpentine, which, he writes, should be given to the children in order to "vomit out the devil from themselves." Among the items police discovered at Chen’s home were hammers, iron bars, turpentine, sticks, and handcuffs.
The other key suspect in the child abuse case, identified as Shimon Gabbai, remains at large and is also wanted by police.
Meanwhile, another suspect arrested by police late Sunday night was remanded in custody on Monday for five days by a Jerusalem court.
The suspect, Avraham Maskalchi, a yeshiva student who twice tried to flee arrest and was nabbed after a police chase, allegedly took part in the abuse of the children, a police representative told the court.
One of the woman’s eight children identified him as taking part in the abuse as well, the police representative testified in court.
The charge sheet in the gruesome child abuse case recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days – letting them out only for brief periods of time – repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burned their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers.
The abusive mother and "educators" are also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of the child, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing his mouth with masking tape, and giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited.
The woman remains in police custody.
Since her arrest last month, the mother was repeatedly shown pictures of her children’s injuries, but on most of the days she was in remand, she did not inquire about the children nor did she ask who was taking care of them, the police said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not confirm whether they were working with Israeli police to track down Chen, saying that releasing that type of information could harm the investigation if one were ongoing.
The Canadian Justice Ministry also declined to confirm whether it had received requests from Israel for Chen’s arrest and extradition, citing the confidentiality of communications between countries.
But should Chen be found in Canada under an international arrest warrant and Israel requests extradition, a Canadian judge will determine whether the suspect can be deported under the extradition treaty existing between the two countries, followed by a review of the attorney-general, a Justice Ministry spokesman said.
According to the extradition agreement between Canada and Israel, for extradition to go forward the suspect must be accused of having committed an act that is considered a crime in both countries – as child abuse is. Extradition would also be held up if there was concern that the suspect was being prosecuted for political motives or could face the death penalty, the latter of which has sometimes complicated extradition from Canada to the United States but shouldn’t affect deportation to Israel.
The main issue from Canada’s perspective is "are we respecting the person’s rights and the [Canadian] charter’s rights," explained an aide to MP Irwin Cotler, who served as attorney-general and justice minister in the last government and has argued cases before the Israeli Supreme Court.
A Haaretz report quoted an associated of Chen’s as saying that he chose to flee to Canada because "the extradition law is tough." But observers say that assertion might not jibe with the reality, though extradition from Canada can take a long time because of protections including the right to appeal at different points in the process.
"He’s going to be in for a surprise," said Canadian Jewish News editor Mordechai Ben-Dat.
"This is a more law-and-order government than other governments," he said of the current Canadian leadership, meaning the attorney-general was unlikely to stay an extradition judgment.
Ben-Dat said that while the Canadian Jewish community is a tight-knit one, it also has many different haredi groups, groups which might be sufficiently cut off from the outside world and media to know that Chen is accused of committing serious crimes.
Chen might be able to take advantage of these enclaves, Ben-Dat said, "if he wants to disappear."
When I do a Google desktop search of my computer for "minnie," I get a pop up asking for a user name and password for a certain site I have no affiliation with (cherylshuman.com). What does that mean?
My McAfee anti-virus and firewall protection is up to date.
I have no reason to believe my computer was hacked. A friend emails: "If you looked at a page on a secure site and then later you use Google Desktop to search for something that was on that secure page, then Google Desktop I’m guessing might try to bring up that page but since you’re not logged in, you’d get a login screen to popup."
Pico/Robertson is home to three big Modern Orthodox shuls — Young Israel of Century City (YICC), Beth Jacob (BJ) and Bnai David Judea (BDJ).
An Orthodox friend calls: "Who is the number one shul in Los Angeles for technical adherence in chumrot in davening and Torah reading etc? I think it’d be YICC. When you’re reading the megillah, there are certain verses pronounced certain ways and the trick is, ‘Can I adhere to all of them? If I’m going to adhere to only some of them, do I have at my finger tips the reasons why I’m not?’
"They can’t compete on other authenticity grounds because their wives wear pants during the week and don’t cover their hair. They have authenticity guilt. Their service may be more halachicly (Jewish law) correct than a black hat service because they have this penis envy. They want their kids to have exposure to Western thought, then will try to over compensate by worrying about bugs on lettuce, etc. Who assuages their guilt over lack of observance by these technical concerns?"
It’s like the old joke about a simple Jew coming to his rebbe before his wedding. He asks if he’s allowed to receive BJs from his wife. Yes. What about using the workman’s entrance? Yes. What about sex standing up? Absolutely not. Why not? Because it could lead to mixed dancing.
He’s funnier than Chris Rock and knows more Torah.
Rabbi Orlowek is speaking Wednesday night in Pico/Robertson for the Helkeinu Foundation.
Here’s the press release: "Total Transcendence: How to connect spiritually without stepping foot in synagogue. Three philosophical and practical tools for connecting wherever you are and whoever you are.
"Rabbi Noach Orlowek is a world-renowned rabbi’s rabbi. He is an educator, counselor and acclaimed author. He is sought after world wide. He is a Torah giant of our generation, genius in both Torah and secular knowledge."
Russian: Is he checking his blood pressure?
untpunt: ohh yeeaaahhh
RussianDragon: is that bulletproof
KhunDiddy: either that or strapping on a suicide vest
Emma: What is that
QuixoticLass: no, bullets would go through
cuntpunt: its a tefillin vest so sins dont stick to ya
Emma: I dont get it
KhunDiddy: if they don’t stick to you where do they go lady?
QuixoticLass: tefillin….mmmm so sexy
RussianDragon: interesting
Emma: lmfao
RussianDragon: jewclass 101
cuntpunt: satan was that you?
KhunDiddy: hahahaaa
QuixoticLass: nothing sexier than a religious man wrapped in leather straps
KhunDiddy: he’s going to blow himself up
Emma: lol
RussianDragon: are we supposed to see a mujahidin creep up on you now
cuntpunt: From Your Wisdom you, O supreme God, may you imbue me; From your understanding give me understanding; with your kindness do greatly with me; with your power cut down my foes and rebels. May you pour goodly oil upon the seven arms of the menorah, to cause
KhunDiddy: Luke looks like a miner going into a cave
RussianDragon: wow this takes time to prepare
cuntpunt: You should be standing when putting on or taking off tefillin. While wearing them you may sit, but while putting them on or taking them off you should be standing.
Emma: Now what happens
RussianDragon: you look impressive luke
YourMoralLeader: I blog
KhunDiddy: does that thing have a light on it?
cuntpunt: ROCKSTAR!!!
Emma: Funky
KhunDiddy: does it come with batteries?
RussianDragon: what’s in the box luke
YourMoralLeader: I have to be holy while wearing these
RussianDragon: boxes
YourMoralLeader: verses from torah
RussianDragon: did you say horny
KhunDiddy: Emma does Luke’s gut turn you on?
Emma: Ah
RussianDragon: aha
Emma: Does it turn you on?
RussianDragon: if you get turned on by this
KhunDiddy: not in the least YOU turn me on
Emma: lol
RussianDragon: you should consider donating you brain to science
KhunDiddy: love that blue eye
KhunDiddy: I only saw one
cuntpunt: When putting on tefillin it is very important to have a clean body. In addition to general cleanliness, one must be especially careful to be clean after going to the bathroom.
cuntpunt: One should go to the bathroom before putting on the tefillin, or at least be absolutely sure he will not have to go while wearing the tefillin. If while wearing tefillin you feel the need to go, you must remove the tefillin and go.
cuntpunt: If you feel the need to pass gas while wearing tefillin, you must first remove your tefillin.
Emma: So you do this everyday Luke?
RussianDragon: i’m learning here
QuixoticLass: you can always tell a religious man…he has tefillin head
KhunDiddy: if you go to the bathroom WITH teffilin then what happens?
YourMoralLeader: yes except for shabbat
Emma: Ok I see
QuixoticLass: like hat head, only more virtuous
KhunDiddy: Is G-D angry?
cuntpunt: Never take tefillin or any holy item into a bathroom. While wearing tefillin, one should only think about clean things.. As well as speaking out loud.
KhunDiddy: why not
KhunDiddy: when I where tefillin I only think of EMMA
KhunDiddy: and her sister
Emma: Lol how holy
RussianDragon: diddy you should take a cold shower
Emma: lol yeah
RussianDragon: i helped a bit for me
RussianDragon: :p
KhunDiddy: Luke looks like he’s ready to make a Swords and sandals movie
Emma: Interesting Luke..thanks for showing
cuntpunt: think clean things LUKE clean
KhunDiddy: I’m glad the shirt is back on
cuntpunt: Thank you, Luke
YourMoralLeader: I did not think of Emma while I had the tefillin on.
YourMoralLeader: Nor her sisters.
RussianDragon: i don’t believe you luke
KhunDiddy: I can’t think clean thoughts looking at a shirtless Luke
RussianDragon: sin is all over your beard
Emma: I hope not my sisters lol
KhunDiddy: maybe more…you know those Catholics..they knock the kids out like rabbits
QuixoticLass: I wonder if you have tefillin that are pasul, can you take the parchments out and use the straps for something else, or do you need to put the whole thing in the geniza?
Emma: 3 including moi
cuntpunt: russian dragon, that you in the pic below?
RussianDragon: aha ok
RussianDragon: yes
RussianDragon: one grown up one small
KhunDiddy: MOI that sounds like a Thai name
YourMoralLeader: I didn’t even think about the cute sisters.
cuntpunt: sexy, very sexy
RussianDragon: sounds french to me
I went to a lecture recently on the wickedness of gossip.
The rabbi said when we say bad things about people and spread rumors, we tend to do this from a haughty place of looking down on others and rubbishing them to make ourselves feel better. But underneath our haughtiness, is a fear that we don’t count. That we don’t matter. And therefore we spread gossip to try to feel worthy.
What if you spread gossip because it is what you do best, it is how you make your living? Or maybe it is all part of the cleansing process before the coming of the Messiah? Or maybe it is just because I am so on fire for G-d that I can’t stand the sight of wickedness? Or maybe I just don’t have anything better to do? Or maybe it’s because my mommy died when I was four and I hate you all?
Sure, they’ve got the Rabbinical Council of California, but I’m setting up my own kangaroo court. We’ll be overseeing conversions, business disputes and divorces.
We’re going to sponsor beauty contests and add some excitement to Orthodox Judaism.
guest59: Luke needs sponsorship.
guest59: Da Vinci had it.
YourMoralLeader: how about some gaming companies?
guest59: What a great idea!
guest59: I wonder who first suggested that.
guest59: Pfizer for your Viagra, and gaming companies because that is the demographic you hit. Or used to hit
guest59: What a pity you didn’t establish that relationship in the old lukeford.com days, you would be rich now
guest59: There’d be an Emma on each arm
guest59: I see the old lady is bugging you
ToTheSea: Where’s the queen of the chat room today?
guest59: I’m here
guest59: I’mkinda shy
GUAPO: ohh emma real sexy
guest59: So I switched names
ToTheSea: Where’s Emma? The lady………who bring Kedushah to our midst.
guest59: Here I am!
GUAPO: luke done aged 20 years in about 5
guest59: Sometimes I feel like being a lady, and sometimes I don’t
GUAPO: luke angry today
guest59: Luke looks very distinguished. Like an important rabbi
guest59: Like Jesus
GUAPO: luke you bone emma?
ToTheSea: Luke, you have given much more thought to setting up a Kangaroo court to compete with the RCC………?
guest59: Not a bad idea!
ToTheSea: We could use set it up at the LA zoo……..
guest59: Since you are australian, you can arrange for real live kangaroos to sit with you in judgement
ToTheSea: It would be a great locale. When parents are sitting in court, the kiddies can play with the animals.
GUAPO: luke i asked you a question muf**ker
guest59: Are there different races of roo? Are there black kangaroos and white kangaroos?
ToTheSea: Luke….are there different races among Kangaroos?
YourMoralLeader: yes
guest59: Black and white?
guest59: Do the Black ones produce chocolate milk?
ToTheSea: Maybe we could settle matches between the RCC and the Kangaroo court by having them box things out.
guest59: Luke, I would like it a lot if you cut off a locket of your beard hair and sent it to me.
guest59: Of course, I would reciprocate
KhunDiddy: No Emma arrrggghhh!
YourMoralLeader: yo khun
GUAPO: luke you aint been real friendly latley
guest59: I’m here
KhunDiddy: No Amalek?
KhunDiddy: Emma you changed your name?
guest59: I can’t tell who anyone is, except MyMoralLeader
KhunDiddy: Oy vey INDDED
ToTheSea: That oy vey sounds very FRUM, Luke!
KhunDiddy: another day in paradise
GUAPO: you like wu luke?
KhunDiddy: but Paradise ain’t Paradise without Emma
ToTheSea: If you add "Ad Masei" to it, then you’re frum.
ToTheSea: So, Luke are you going to reveal yourself as the Moshiach?
YourMoralLeader: sooon
ToTheSea: Can we start another Rebbe as Moshiach controversy?
YourMoralLeader: I’m going to give a sign
guest59: Where is everyone frum? And is that an American spelling?
Why must I toil in poverty when a pretty camel fetches $2.7 million?
The unfairness of G-d’s ways.
ABU DHABI (AFP) – The crown prince of the United Arab Emirates of Dubai has bought a female camel for a record 2.72 million dollars, an organiser at a camel beauty pageant said on Monday.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum "bought camels… worth 16.5 million dirhams (4.49 million dollars), including a female camel… for 10 million dirhams (2.72 million dollars)," Hamad bin Kardoum al-Amiri said.
Amiri, quoted by the official WAM news agency, made the remarks on the sidelines of the nine-day beauty pageant which opened on Wednesday in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.
More than 10,000 camels — including females which are the fasting racing camels — from across the Gulf are competing for prize money totalling around 9.5 million dollars. One hundred cars are also up for grabs.
The contest is part of a camel festival in Abu Dhabi that aims to celebrate and preserve the region’s cultural heritage.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the UAE federation, produced the world’s first test-tube purebred camel and has begun using remote-controlled robot riders in its camel races in place of child jockeys.
Says a source: "The case of Isaac Hersh needs to be in the news media until he is allowed to be free of Brooklyn. I believe he wants to be in TX. He has a twin brother living down there. He also has six siblings still living in the Hersh family home. "
Boys lay prone on stone floor at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica that has been called a concentration camp.
Isaac Hersh
A battle has erupted in the Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager sent by his prominent family to a behavior boot camp accused of terrifying abuse.
Isaac Hersh, 16, has been trapped since last summer at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica with a soothing name – and harsh discipline, according to the lawyer hired to try to get him out.
Isaac’s estranged parents sent him to the boot camp last year after luring him back to Brooklyn from his new home in Texas, court papers claim.
Isaac’s twin brother, Sol, is panicked he’s next to go.
"He’s very worried about his brother. He’s very worried about himself, too," said a friend of the family who asked to remain anonymous.
Tranquility Bay offers the promise of turning bad boys into focused achievers, but the walled-off camp with barred windows has been called a nightmare.
Children have been beaten, forced to eat their vomit and made to stand in painful contortions for hours, according to a separate suit filed in Utah by former students against private boot camps, including Tranquility Bay.
The case has so riled up members of the normally insular Orthodox community that several are taking the rare step of publicizing Isaac’s situation.
One one side is Isaac’s informal Texas foster family, who are also Orthodox, and their supporters, who prompted a nonprofit to file suit in Washington last week on Isaac’s behalf.
They claim he was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of a job, handcuffed and thrown into a van that took him to the boot camp as he cried and begged to be released, the suit says.
On the other side are the teen’s father, Michael Hersh – CEO of Brooklyn’s huge Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah – and his wife, Miriam.
"Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement.
A Brooklyn teen banished to a behavior boot camp in Jamaica by his family – sparking an internal battle among ultra-Orthodox Jews – is back in the United States after a showdown on the island nation.
Isaac Hersh, 16, landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Friday after his father was persuaded to let him leave Tranquility Bay, a private reform school.
"Relieved is not the word," said Zvi Gluck, a Queens financial worker. "The entire way home he was describing the atrocities that were happening there."
Gluck was one of a handful of Orthodox men who jetted to Jamaica on Wednesday to try to fetch the teen and was briefly detained until Isaac’s father agreed to his release.
The ending capped a dramatic week when some members of Isaac’s tight-knit community took the unusual step of publicizing his case.
The teen, who had been living with an Orthodox Texas family in an informal foster situation, had been brought back to Brooklyn by his parents last June and then shipped off to Tranquility Bay.
The family that had been caring for Isaac had no idea where he was until about three weeks ago – and became worried that he was living in a facility that has been accused of abuse.
Isaac told Gluck and others that he was beaten and forced to lie on a mat with his hands and feet tied as punishment for minor infractions.
The story so divided the religious community that Isaac’s father, Michael Hersh, was forced to take a leave of absence from his job as CEO of Hatzalah, the large, Brooklyn-based volunteer ambulance corps. Hersh’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
Friends of the Hersh family described Isaac as a troubled son who had clashed with his parents for years. Others described him as a normal teen. He is living in an undisclosed location while custody arrangements are worked out.
A source emails:
This story is about a prominent Chaim Berlin family with 8 kids. The 2nd and 3rd are twins. The father became a ba’al t’shuva in his teens. His parents were so anti-frum that it was borderline anti-Semitic and they made their feelings known loud and clear. The twins were extremely difficult babies and became inappropriate and violent to their siblings on a regular basis as they got older. No therapy of any kind helped…except one of them did get a bit better and stayed that way. The family moved to Israel in 2002 for a really good job offer and a relative told some rabbanim that they really went there because he was abusing the twins and was running from the law.
They moved back a few years later when Miriam was ill with cancer and a relative told rabanim and authorities that it was because he was running from the law in Israel and that the abuse continued there too. I have stacks of documents that debunk this.
They sent him to a foster family in Texas but after a couple of moths sent him back home because he was too difficult to handle. That is when Rav Aharon gave the green light to send him to a boot camp as he was deemed a danger to himself and to his family.
Now there are people and groups that are doing things to destroy the parents.
Regarding the allegation that Mr. Hersh was running from abuse charges in Israel, here is a quote from an insider to the whole case:
"The charges of abuse in Israel were made by the same anonymous person or people that have filed a number of complaints against the Hersh’s in NY and Michael can give you the documents, if you would like to have them. The case in Israel was closed and ended in favor of Michael. Note that anybody or organization can be accused, but it’s the outcome that counts."
The parents were always hoping that it would pass and that they would be able to find the right psychiatric doctor for him.
I grew up with them and know them since I was a little kid. The parents never abused any of the children. My own family took in 10 foster children from abusive homes over the years so we would smell a rat if there was one.
…Tzvi Gluck knew about this for months and did nothing about it. If it were so bad, he would have done something earlier. You can ask him if he knew.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe really did ask him to leave his home. There are three versions of the story and two come from his own mouth. One was that He did not ask him to leave at all and the second is he said that his wife was pregnant and there was no room for him but a friend would take him in instead. Do you know that his brother is there and was not sent out. Why do you think that they only had room for Sol and not for Isaac?
…The sister in law that was in the last email to you is using Joshua Ambush to send Michael to jail.
I attached a copy of this lawsuit:
Law Offices Joshua M. Ambush, LLC Hilton Plaza 1726 Reisterstown Rd., Suite 206 Baltimore, Maryland 21208
Contact: Joshua M. Ambush, Esquire, 410-484-2070
FEDERAL LAW SUIT FILED TO RESCUE CHILD FROM MODERN DAY CONCENTRATION CAMP
March 20, 2008, Baltimore, MD
The Washington Center for Peace and Justice, Inc. filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a 16 year old Brooklyn boy seeking injunctive relief to stop his abuse and to gain his release from a notorious behavior modification facility in Jamaica, West Indies, where he was sent after being brutally seized at the behest of his parents, Michael and Miriam Hersh. Michael Hersh is a former student of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and a disciple of Rabbi Aaron M. Schecter, dean of the Yeshiva.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, details the long history of abuse of the boy by his father that culminated in his being forcibly removed from his house in the early morning hours on June 13, 2007. The boy was sadistically handcuffed and dragged to a waiting van by two men hired by his parents while shocked witnesses helplessly watched him plead with his abductors. It was not until several months later that worried family members learned that the boy had been sent by his parents to Tranquility Bay, an affiliate of World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs, WWASPS. The complaint details documented cases of abuse at Tranquility Bay which includes beatings, sexual assault, food deprivation and excessive use of isolation. Joshua Ambush, the lead counsel in the case, announced the filing of the action against the parents. Michael Hersh, father of the boy is the CEO of Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc., the largest all-volunteer ambulance service in the United States. The complaint also names the State Department for constitutional and civil rights violations. Ambush emphasized that the lawsuit is not about tort damages, but rather is an effort to save the boy’s life and rescue him from a modern day concentration camp. "Child abuse by a parent should not be tolerated in civilized society, and should not be tolerated when the parents hires surrogates to perpetrate the abuse. It is unconscionable that perpetrators of abuse are able to evade prosecution by virtue of the fact that the abuse is taking place outside the jurisdiction of the Untied States. In addition to rescuing this child, this suit seeks to demonstrate that federal courts, in such cases, retain jurisdiction over the abusers and those that aid and protect them
Joshua Ambush will be available for interviews by phone appointment at 410-484-2070
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
