Erev Rosh HaShana, Lakewood 9:32 asked (click here to view comment in article) : “What will your answer be this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when the Bais Din Shel Maala will ask you why are you permitting so much Loshon Hara etc. to be written on your site? What will your answer be to the Isur of L’fnie Ivair? What will your answer be as to why are you being Machzik B’Machlokes and allowing others to be Machzik B’Machlokes (by printing many of the comments)? And what about the Onaas Devorim?” As an involved Reader, here’s my response. What TLS answers is its business.
What perfect timing! The great tzaddik Gedalia ben Achikam, was murdered on Rosh HaShana (Ba’er Heitev, 549:1), along with a multitude of others. A calamity that finished-off churban Bayis Rishon. The Fast was set for 3 Tishrei—today. Please study carefully Yirmiyahu 40 and 41 for a full description of this calamity. Do NOT gloss over Yirmiyahu 41:9, where the Novi says that all these people were murdered ‘by the hand of Gedalia’—“Beyad Gedaliyahu”—because, like you, he refused to accept Loshon Hora. See Chazal Nidda 61A, where he is squarely blamed for this, and the greater, subsequent tragedy of all those killed in Egypt. No you cannot hide behind the rhetoric as an excuse to bury your head in the sand. You MUST examine the facts. “Lemeichash Miba’i”!!!! Vedai lameivin.
Do you believe Chazal when they say ‘gadol hamachtio yoser min hahorgo’? You do? Good. Now, do you believe all the experts who say that 85% of all kids-at-risk and post-risk dropped-out due to failure to detect/treat their childhood learning disabilities? Let’s trust the experts in EY who have carefully studied this issue. So now we know we are dealing with dinei nefashos. The only question is: who is the rodef, who is the nirdaf, who is the savior, and could s/he have done so ‘be’echad me’eivarav’, that is privately, not publicly, so as not to be shofech damim by being malbin pnei chavero berabim. A valid concern. Let’s examine the record.
For years, this issue has been brought to everyone in town. Everyone. Fact is no one lifted a finger. In Dovid haMelech’s words: “Ain Oseh Tov, Ain Gam Echad!” (Tehillim 14:3). We will not list them all here. There is no heter for THAT. The people most directly involved were, and still are, our elected BOE members and their attorney. Time and again they were asked to stop the systemwide child abuse and neglect. And yet . . . Nothing. Business as usual. Instead, they pleaded, and still do, the Eichman defense, ‘We are just following orders from our authority”. Never mind that this or that authority has openly confessed to having negios. Big ones.
You want to talk about ‘Lifnei Iver’, how about another “Iver”, one who is posul by the Torah to rule on a matter in which he is blinded by negios, but still in all, has no problem ruling, and directly intervening to hush-up this injustice? Forgot that one, did you? How on earth can an oracle forget Lav # 83, forbidding ruling on an issue where there are negios? Or Lav # 82 forbidding ruling on an issue by shikul ha’da’as instead of the evidence? Or Lav # 74, ruling without hearing all sides of the dispute? Not to mention another host of Lavim dealing with Gezel, Oshek (here, both of a Rabbim) Travesty of Justice (##s 233 & 235), and Lo Saamod Al Dam Re’echa- #237. BTW, look up top of Shabbos 139A, where Chazal illuminate for us what is the root cause of all the problems we face today.
So, a handful of hardy, determined souls—advised and guided by genuine Gedolei Torah— are going around town complaining that Lakewood kids are being systematically shechted by those who divert and pocket the public money—federal, state, and local—earmarked for helping them overcome their learning disabilities. Everyone just shrugs their shoulders. Worse. Some BOE members and their enablers, shout down anyone who tries to bring this issue to the public’s ‘radar screen’. As recently as this past Wednesday night, a prominent member of LAC who tried to publicly address the BOE was shamelessly shouted down by the BOE president, who allowed 2 others to speak under the same circumstances.
Elie Wiesel in his books remembers the yid who escaped from Auschwitz and arrived at his (Wiesel’s) home town, Sighet, in the early 1940s, describing the horrors. They said he obviously needs help and locked him up in a mental asylum. In Lakewood they didn’t quite go that far, not quite so kind, but found other ways to silence those who rang the alarm bells. In short, every other method of alerting the community to the massacre was tried, and failed—for years!
So, do you keep silent and just allow the slaughter of innocent children to continue? Do we bury our heads in the sand and ignore the hundreds, yes hundreds, of korbanos in our community, like they did in Brooklyn for nearly four decades, until those responsible were shamed into action by exposure in a goyishe magazine? Or do we simply clear our conscience by pretending hundreds of korbanos are not directly caused by the theft of these public monies from our children?
Chazal tell us that when there is no Din Lemata, there is a Din Lema’alah, (B”R 26:6). Those who have now succeeded, with the help of TLS, in exposing this Avla, have helped to remove a stain from, and a kitrug on, our kehilla. They saved dozens, perhaps hundreds of innocent lives. I am jealous of their zchus this R”H and Y”K. By taking a public stand they were “Meorer Rachamim” in Shomayim and in Bais Din Shel Maalah (See Mishnas Reb Aharon, II, p. 104). But their work has only just begun. Now that we know a little about what’s going on through these hardy souls and TLS, it is up to each and every one of US to act. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand. What a powerful message. It couldn’t have possibly come on a more fitting day, after Rosh HaShana, precisely on Tzom Gedalyahu!!
That’s my answer, Mr. BOE member. What’s yours???
Whats with the over dramatizing ie. “Slaughter” “Shechting our kids”? you might have a point, but tone it down a little! ( BTW the chafetz chaim warns that ppl who will talk loshen hora will always say its ‘muttar and EVEN a mitzva’ )
id like to add that listing all the ‘ Lavim’ that they were oiver (in your opinion) is not necess a heter to publicly slander them.
Lipa.
Slander?? Have you been following developments? Point was that the FIRST time in more than 10 years the robbery was stopped, was this past wed nite, and only after LAC involvement and public (TLS) exposure. True or Not True? Got a better way? PLEASE enlighten/share. Not the same as Gedalya ben Achikam? Please enlighten/share? Writer is right, no more hiding behind rhetoric. Stick to the facts.
AWESOME!!!!! Glad an educated individual found the time to give his comment on this issue!! I get so sick how in the past, every time there is a voice speaking for the people of lakewood it gets shut up real fast by the powers that be. GO ON TLS!!!!!! Stay strong!!!
Lakewood is a wholesome, pure, trusting, and yes, slightly naive community. Have we forgotten that just last year our town was rocked when we found out that a ‘yeshiva’ family has been living in Forest Park for the past few years, the father was learning in Yeshiva, they sent their kids to a local yeshivos, davened three times a day, and was not even Jewish!
So now we find out we’ve been taken again, by another con artist. There is no kitrug on our kehilla because we are trusting and dan lkaf zchus. I disagree.
Very well said BUT the comments are out of control how can people say mi is stealing mill if that was the case the he would be arrest alrady its just shocking what people write.
I know of a case of a child who needed schi the evil clan said said absolutely he doesnt need schi he needs tiny tots they bill the government for schi and send to tiny tots where it costs them nothing, can you imagine?! this person besides the suffering of having a special needs child now had to beg on hand and needs to get his child funding. they even forced one of their therapists to write up an evaluation that tiny tots is best for this child, the therapist felt so guilty she privately called the parents and said do not send your kid to tiny tots its a sham! i was just forced to write it up. see what where dealing with huge beards and big smiles the question is whats underneath it all? a place to dark for me to go
Wow hashem help
Abe u are a good man people are jeols of but don’t worry rsk and the real lkwd nows to
Very true. Until you find out what really goes on. Hope you never do. You will NOT sleep well again. Not for quite some time.
How about all the slander we said about choshive people going through the pain of having their child molested and told they are moisrim because no one would help.my son came to me crying telling me that two boys told him what was done to them and told me not to tell anyone. The boys are in therapy but the perpretator is being defended by well meaning friends.we have to wake up and be boidek our own negios so we can save our children. We collect for boni oilam to help bring the joy of parenthood to everyone. And then we shun those trying to help those same children. We need to support people like rabbi abadi and rabbi ghoori who are shining examples of what we must all be doing. Please let us all do our part to help our children we are all askanim. We don’t need a few self serving individuals to pretend they are doing our job for us.may all the askanim that are pretending to work for the klal have a gut gebenched yur and next year I gave them a brocha that they should only have their pictures in the paper on the simchas page.
I heard the boe was afraid they were going to be in the next toy traders ad so they gave in.
The situation in Eretz Yisroel & in the Diaspora is very bad from Terrorists to the entire Economy going down etc… If anyone should ask why are all these Tzaros Happening to Klal Yisroel he only needs to look at what the Rambam says. Saying that as long as we remain ignorant of the present troubles that we have & what the reasons are that they are happening. The situation can only get worse until Mashiach comes. With the society we are living in today we (sadly) CONSTANTLY need reminders (wake-up calls) from HASHEM for us to do T’shuva & return to HASHEM so all this Tzaros can end & Mashiach comes
Can’t be that I stole billions, for years. I would have been arrested years ago. Let me go!
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO IS CALLING A SPADE A SPADE.
I HAVE BEEN THROUGH ALL THE HARRASMENT OF MI AND CO.
AND I FEEL THE PUBLIC HAS THE RIGHT TO KNOW.
MI HAS BEEN HIDING BEHIND RSK FOR MANY YEARS NOW. HE DOES MOSTLY ENDORSE WHAT MI DOES BUT IN MANY CASE HE DOES NOT AND MI DOES WHAT HE IS DOING IN HIS NAME
FURTHERMORE . RSK IS THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS EVER ENDORESED HIM. ALMOST ALL OTHER RABBONIM WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT IS GOING ON ARE VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO MI AND MANY HAVE GIVEN HETERIM TO GO TO THE AUTHORITIES ABOUT WHAT MI IS DOING. RSK IS A YOCHID AGAINST THE RABBIM. IT SHOULD ALSO BE POINTED OUT THAT MI HELPED RSK GET FUNDING FOR A FEW OF HIS GRANDCHILDREN WHICH WOULD MAKE RSK A NOGEI BEDAVAR. I THINK PEOPLE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT IN THIS CASE DAAD TORAH IS AGAINST RSK , AND THAT HE IS MAKING A MISTAKE BECAUSE HE IS A NOGEI BEDAVER AND HENCE HE IS THE ONLY ONE BACKING MI. EVEN MOSHE RABANU WAS NOT ALLOWED TO PASKIN WHEN HE WAS NOGEI BECAUSE EVEN THE BIGGEST GEDOLIM CAN MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN THEY ARE NOGIA.
To the TLS:
You bring examples of cases that must be told the public etc. My only comment is: The Chofetz Chaim wrote a sefer called the Chofetz Chaim. In it, he is very clear about what, when and how one is allowed to speak Loshon Hara. It is very clear from what is written in many of the comments, that the Halachos are not being kept. It is those and articles and comments that you must take responsibility.
To the TLS:
You don’t have to look any further than to look at the comments that you and others wrote and you will see what you are causing.
1) Writer called WOW: Look at what he writes. To write in such a way against a Godal Hador. Do you or he really think that Hashem will agree with what he wrote and in the way he wrote it?
2) You wrote “As recently as this past Wednesday night, a prominent member of LAC who tried to publicly address the BOE was shamelessly shouted down by the BOE president,”. This is blatant lie. He was not shouted at. He was not allowed to speak because he did not sign in. He walked in after the sign in sheet was closed. But someone who reads your article will believe what you wrote. (and if you think that I am mistaken, then you should ask the BOE office for the tape of that night’s session)
3) You bring examples of cases that must be told the public etc. My only comment is: The Chofetz Chaim wrote a sefer called the Chofetz Chaim. In it, he is very clear about what, when and how one is allowed to speak Loshon Hara. It is very clear from what is written in many of the comments, that the Halachos are not kept. It is those and articles and comments that you must take responsibility.
I’d like to know if TLS or LAC could launch an investigation into Catapult.
1. Why is there no bidding for the contract? Why not see if the BOE could hire their own people and save millions.
2. Are the children getting all the services they shoudl be getting?
3. Are teachers who spent years and thousands becoming special ed teachers being paid a fare wage?
4. Are teachers being forced to do things that are not in the best interests of the children (e.g. scheduling, cutting time, etc.) upon the threat of losing their jobs?
It appears that the main mission of Catapult is to enrich the administration and not to service the children.
Isn’t it time something was done about this?