Judaism’s golden mean

An ultra-Orthodox couple from Beit Shemesh are under arrest for allegedly assaulting at least some of their 12 children. Sadly, that’s not earth-shattering news in a country where child abuse seems to be on the rise. That some of the couple’s children may have engaged in incest only adds to the grotesque revelations.

Yet what makes this story truly bizarre is that the 54-year-old wife and mother involved also heads a sect of several dozen women who maintain a Taliban-like dress code requiring them to cover their faces and wear multiple layers of clothing.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, in another ultra-Orthodox household, several people are under police investigation for abusing two toddlers. The youngest remains hospitalized and in a coma. The mother allegedly “corrected” the children’s behaviour by whipping them. Police insinuate she may be part of a sect which adheres to violent child-rearing practices.

Rabbis & Crime

FailedMessiah.com Covering Orthodox Judaism Since 2004

Rabbis & Crime. There are over almost 700 hundred posts on religious criminals on this index page.

Here is a summary of the Brooklyn haredi community’s attempts to deal with alleged serial child molester Rabbi Yehuda Kolko. Haredi leaders were unable to deal with Rabbi Kolko and, at the same time, refused to turn him over to police. The end result was almost 40 years of child molestation.

Posts on alleged haredi child rapist Avrohom Mondrowitz are here.

Mondrowitz fled the US for Israel at the urging of haredi leaders as he was being indicted for raping young boys. He lived safely in Jerusalem for over 20 years, under the protection of the Ger hasidic community and its rebbes, the latest of whom, Rabbi Ya’akov Aryeh Alter, is pictured at right.

At this writing, there are over almost 700 hundred posts on religious criminals on this index page. It is quite large and may take a few minutes to completely load. The posts are chronological, newest at the top of the page, oldest at the bottom.