Thursday, October 17, 2013

New accusers in rabbi ‘torture’ ring

NY Post   A prosecutor said Wednesday that “the phone has not stopped ringing” with calls from Orthodox Jewish men who claim they were kidnapped by a rabbinical torture ring that used a cattle prod to force recalcitrant husbands to divorce their unhappy wives.

Assistant US Attorney Joseph Gribko said that while the feds were aware of 20 abductions when the unholy gang was busted last week, it’s unclear how many more will be uncovered.

“It’s larger than we thought,” Gribko said in Trenton federal court.

“The threats are not just in the past. This is an ongoing business.”

16 comments :

  1. With the massive international publicity the FBI bustup of this violent Get gang received in the local, Jewish and worldwide media, undoubtably Epstein victims from over 20+ years are now coming out of the woodwork and cooperating with the FBI in this prosecution.

    The US District Attorney at the Epstein gang bail hearing said that his phone is ringing off the hook all day with victims calling him and identifying themselves as Epstein victims and are willing to cooperate and testify in the prosecution of Epstein.

    After over 20 years of Epstein hiding his hand being the monster behind the curtain in directing his terrorism and sending his masked, unidentified, goons in skimasks hiding their faces while beating their victims, the victims now see all the masks off and the faces identified and now the good guys prosecuting the bad guys.

    Many of the victims knew all along who their tormenters were, Epstein and company, but could never prove it. As we saw with the Rubin incident in the mid-1990s as he knew Epstein and Wolmark were his terrorists and sued but couldn't prove they were the men behind the masks.

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  2. Asher pihem diber shavOctober 17, 2013 at 9:14 PM

    My problems with Epstien are mostly about his violating Halacha. I would also use a term "skirting Halacha". Using heterim broadly, willingly violating the meaning of the law, not without negios.

    1) taking a lot of money as a Dayan
    2) no hazmana RECIEVED by Baal
    3) Hearing one sides claim before both sides are at din
    4) faulty Siruv
    5) faulty psak that it is muttar to beat a man who doesn't exist
    6) paskening to force a Get Meusa in a case of Maus alay

    These are REAL problems. The little secret is, he is NOT the only one operating a beis din like this. This behavior is RAMPANT.

    We have similar issues with Rabbonim who sign letters against one side, without ever consulting the other side.

    The kidnapping and beating and everything that goes along with that follows naturally, after a beis din skirts Halacha, and thinks that they are free to do whatever they want.

    The big chillul Hashem is the one that is still going on !!!!!

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    1. Don't forget that Epstein operated a Mamzeirim Factory. Every time he got a woman a get me'usa purporting to allow her to "marry" someone else while halachicly she is still married to her first husband since the Get was invalid (as it was non-halachicly coerced), she is then committing znus and bearing mamzeirim children with her second guy.

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  3. Asher pihem:

    You can add kidnapping to your list....

    Chazal tell us that kidnapping - which was part of the Epstein/Wolmark modus operandi - is what לא תגנוב in the Aseres Hadibdos is all about.

    Hearing one side - without a psak, might be okay בדיעבד. It's rendering a Psak that's very problematic and the Psak is surely NOT VALID, as noted in C"M 17:5 - See the נושאי כלים there. But that's probably what you meant, anyway.

    אָסוּר לַדַּיָּן לִשְׁמֹעַ דִּבְרֵי בַּעַל דִּין הָאֶחָד שֶׁלֹּא בִּפְנֵי בַּעַל דִּין חֲבֵרוֹ. .... וְלֹא יִכְתֹּב שׁוּם חָכָם פְּסָק לְאֶחָד מִבַּעֲלֵי הַדִּינִין ... שֶׁיִּכְתֹּב לוֹ דַּעְתּוֹ בְּלֹא פְסָק, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁלֹּא שָׁמַע דִּבְרֵי שְׁנֵיהֶם, שֶׁמָּא מִתּוֹךְ דְּבָרָיו יִלְמְדוּ לְשַׁקֵּר;

    See the ברכי יוסף who very vociferously protests the practice of some Rabbonim to pasken without hearing both sides, which seems to have already been a problem in his days, by writing:

    ומאנה הנחם נפשי על זה וכיוצא בו שראיתי באיזה מורים וגדולי הערים וכבר אמרו חז"ל כל פרצה שאינה מן הגדולים אינה פרצה.. וה' הטוב יכפר בעדו השב ישיב לנו שופטנו כבראשונה ודי בזה.



    And as Tal pointed out - there doesn't seem to be the mitigating factor of psychological disturbance.... but upon second thought I'm sure the defendants will find an expert witness to vouch for something in the DSM, if it will help their case...


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  4. The Feds can go after the people that hired these guys--I am sure they have the records--especially if the husbands press charges--they have all the records--You can't hire people to kidnap people and beat people up--If I were one of these people, I would think about aliya right about now.

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    Replies
    1. tooclose2detroit: Exactly right. You will be starting to see handcuffs on a handful of the "ex-" wives who got their Get me'usa through paying off Epstein to have his gangsters beat their husbands.

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  5. Why is the word torture in inverted commas in the title? We are talking about torture according to every definition of the word.

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  6. There should be a public awakening of the need for services of this kind. Any Kehila that supports learning, a Mikveh, a shochet, has the obligation to provide means for enforcing the judgement of their Batei Dinim. (just like the Goyim do, with their Sheva Mitsvot.)

    So the authorities have over 20 complaints?! R. Epstein has over 100 times that number in successfully freeing women.
    Anyone who has had to go through this understands the impotence of the Batei Dinim on a husband with no scruples.
    He should have been well paid by the community, just as the OU and Mikveh authorities.
    So they got him on 'money' issues.... I KNOW how often he took cases with no hope of ever getting paid anything. What was he supposed to do for parnassa?
    So the FBI comes in, money no object. Sets up a sting, fake Beis Din, judgement, whatever etc. All this for what?

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    1. They got him on violence, torture and gang beating issues. He is facing life imprisonment. Things he is guilty of doing to his victims for over 20 years with many victims.

      That isn't just "money issues".

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    2. Dave,
      Here I'm just putting on my Frum hat.
      If there is a psak, and a husband refuses to divorce his wife... who will enforce this ruling?
      Have you ever been abandoned? with 8+ minor children?
      Husband leaves the country?
      Do you have ANY idea what every day looks like.... she has to work, give attention to the children, stay sane, somehow get the money to pay tuition... who on earth is she going to HIRE to drag this piece of garbage to the beit din to finish things?
      She can't move on,
      She can't remarry,
      I just can't cry for the 20+ men who are crying.

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    3. FSarah:

      There was no psak that the husband must give his wife a Get.

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    4. You just assumed that in these 20 cases the husband fled the country. How absurd. If anything you should assume the 20 cases were just like the one the feds caught them on - where absolutely no investigation was done and they took the woman's side because they paid big bucks. Furthermore, if someone fled the country, I doubt this gang had the means to pull off an international kidnapping - they would need the Mossad for that.

      Then you make a ridiculous excuse for financial crimes "what was he supposed to do for parnassa?" Wow, can I say that about Madoff too? And anyone who steals, takes bribes, or extorts or does all manner of financial crimes? They need parnassa?

      What are you, epstein's wife? Only someone with emotional ties could irrationally defend these actions in this manner.

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    5. Oh, and if they admit to 20 cases as soon as they are caught, I'm sure there are at least 100.

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  7. Rabbi Eidensohn:

    I would appreciate it if you were to start a discussion as to whether the historical Gittin obtained through Epstein and Wolmark over the past 20 years where they literally tortured the husband to coerce the divorce, if they are valid or invalid get me'usa.

    And most importantly, if the latter (get me'usa) whether than means those women's subsequent marriages were adultery and thus there new children mamzeirim.

    Thanks

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