According to the New York State Registry, Betzalel Dym has moved addresses to 188 Summit Park Rd, Spring Valley, New York, 10977 Betzalel, was convicted in August 2006 of first-degree sex abuse. He was convicted of having sex with a then-10-year-old Monsey boy five times between January and May of 2006. As a result of […]
Category Archives: media
Getting Away With Abuse
By Dr. Michael J. Salamon, originally published in the The New York Jewish Week. Just last week a New York State licensed teacher, an admitted and convicted child molester, received what is being referred to as a sweetheart sentence for his crimes. This 31-year-old charedi man (JCW Admin Note: Moshe Friedman) sodomized a 6-year-old, bit […]
Chabad Combating Child Sexual Abuse In Israel
Chabad in Israel is taking new initiatives to combat the sexual abuse against children that has existed for years in the Chabad educational system. The new program, called “And you shall guard your souls” after the Biblical commandment, is teaching children learning in Chabad institutions to be watchful of sexual abuse and to report any […]
David Shapiro Arrested On Embezzlement Related Charges
Several months ago, Jewish Community Watch (JCW), an organization which combats child sexual abuse, noticed several internal financial irregularities. JCW immediately brought this to the attention of the North Miami Beach Police Department and fully cooperated with their investigation. That investigation culminated today with the arrest of Mr. Shapiro on charges of grand theft, identify […]
The Confusion Of Incest
Originally published in Neshamas. My adoration for him was the moon and sun, The sky and earth. Even after my my blocked memories resurfaced, And my seething anger ceased, I still saw him, Through those bright blue eyes, And blue Bais Yaakov uniform. He was still my special brother, The one who protected me. The […]
A Letter to myself as a little girl – מכתב לילדה הקטנה שבליבי
כואב לי שכואב לך. כואב לי שההורים שלי לא ידעו כואב לי שהרס והחריב את החיים שלי כואב לי שאני חיה אותו כל פעם מחדש כואב לי שאני חושבת עליו כואב לי ששלט בי כואב לי שנגע בגוף שלי כואב לי כואב לי שלא נוח לי בגוף שלי כואב לי שאני “קשה” על עצמי כואב […]
I will no longer be shamed into carrying the burdens that my abusers should carry
I wish I could pinpoint the sexual abuse I endured to one day, and group it all together to a horrific event, so that I could label it and acknowledge it as one day in my history. So that I could declare, on X day I was murdered. But the truth is my body and […]
Is There An Exit? A Survivor’s Poem
Songs of hope fail me. Dance of faith walks away from me. Left alone, In the shadows of darkness. Left to be, In the mercy of light. For light of day so far, Do I see. For dark of night, Not only near, Yet, Within me. Escape this death of, Abuse. My […]
Rambam on Sexual Perversion
Rambam: Hilchos Yesodai HaTorah 5:7 ומנין שאפילו במקום סכנת נפשות אין עוברין על אחת משלש עבירות אלו שנאמר ואהבת את ה’ אלהיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאודך אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך והריגת נפש מישראל לרפאות נפש אחרת או להציל אדם מיד אנס דבר שהדעת נוטה לו הוא שאין מאבדין נפש מפני נפש ועריות […]
Words of advice from one survivor to another
Last month JCW Israel finished its first women’s survivors support group in Jerusalem. At the end of the group we asked the amazing participants to share their words of wisdom and advice to survivors. Here is the last of a series essays we have shared over the past month. *** PLEASE don’t ever judge […]
I was abused when I was 12, here’s why I’m publishing my story.
I was raised ultra-orthodox (Chabad) in a large wonderful family right in the middle of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. I attended the popular elementary school Oholei Torah and during summer breaks I was generally at a Chabad sleep-away camp. For high school (yeshiva) I attended Chabad schools in Europe and Israel. I was sexually abused […]
I don’t need to meet you to know what it feels like to be you right now.
Last month JCW Israel finished its first women’s survivors support group in Jerusalem. At the end of the group we asked the amazing participants to share their words of wisdom and advice to survivors. Here is the third of a series essays we are sharing throughout the month. — You don’t know me but I […]
My brother molested me for years but they called me the “troublemaker”
Blank. My mind is blank. I want to write, to share, to tell my story. So why is my mind not responding? Breathe, I tell myself, breathe. Your brain is not responding because the moment you begin to think about this, your body shuts down. Your brain feels the need to protect you and so […]
We are survivors of the night
I put on my pajama pants. Tie the draw strings real tight. I then put on my second pair. Tie the draw strings real tight. Again, I put on my third pair. Tie the draw strings real tight. Next, I move my dresser and chair to barricade my bedroom door. Lastly, I wrap my blanket […]
10 lessons I learned on the journey from victim to survivor
Last month JCW Israel finished its first women’s survivors support group in Jerusalem. At the end of the group we asked the amazing participants to share their words of wisdom and advice to survivors. Here is the second of a series essays we are sharing throughout the month. *** Dearest Survivor I know that […]
You Will Be OK
Last month JCW Israel finished it’s first women’s survivors support group in Jerusalem. At the end of the group we asked the amazing participants to share their words of wisdom and advice to survivors who are early on in their journey of healing, a place very familiar to every one of them from not that […]
A mother’s Eicha
Admin’s Note: Yesterday we posted a letter from a mother whose child had been abused by a cousin, here is a personal version of Eicha she submitted to JCW. Photo for illustration purposes only. איכה ישבה בדד העיר רבתי עם How is it possible that me, a family person, one who has kept my family […]
A mother’s heartbreaking lessons learned from her daughter’s abuse
Dear Brothers and Sisters, The purpose of this letter is to give the community some insight of the ramifications of not taking sexual abuse seriously and victimizing the victim when abuse is revealed. I am a mother of a child who has been sexually abused by her cousin. I will begin by saying I am […]
Am I putting my son in danger?
By Pattie Fitzgerald, child safety educator, founder of www.safelyeverafter.com and prevention education adviser to JCW. When our kids are very young, it’s often easier to control who they play with and what they’re doing. As they grow up, we often question when to let go or what types of relationships are safe or healthy. A […]
39 year old father of 7 arrested in Tzfat on suspicion of sexually abusing numerous minors over many years
A 39 year old former shaliach of Chabad, father of 7, was arrested yesterday on suspicions of committing a long list of sexual offenses against minors. The suspect, originally a resident of a neighborhood near Rishon Letzion, was living outside of Israel until 6 months ago, and is accused of molesting children from the time […]
Convicted Pedophile Stefan Colmer Found Using Alias
Stefan Colmer, convicted and imprisoned for sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys, is now going by the name David Cohen. Colmer changed his name after fleeing to Israel to avoid trial. He was extradited to the United States in 2007, and in 2009 was found guilty and sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Colmer was […]
Corrupt local district attorneys protecting predators
Republished from ProtectJewishKids.com Charges have been leveled at the Brooklyn, Rockland County, Orange County and Ocean County district attorneys for years that they fail to vigorously investigate and prosecute cases of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. The claim is that this is due to the intense pressure put upon them by rabbis to […]
Why Is Mendy Tevel Still Not On The Sex Offender Registry?
Frum Follies reports: On June 8, 2015 ~33-year-old (born 1983) Menachem Tewel (aka Mendy Tevel) was sentenced to one year of imprisonment for repeatedly performing oral sex on a 14-year-old camper over a period of a year. Risk level assessments for placement on the Offender Registry are normally held before defendants are released. These hearings […]
JCW 2016 Donor Drive – 3,000 Strong Against Child Sexual Abuse
Add your Name. Protect children from sexual abuse. Stand with survivors. Five years ago, Jewish Community Watch burst on to the scene with a rallying cry which resonated throughout the Jewish community: Enough!!! Enough of our children being abused! Enough cover-ups! Enough protecting abusers! Enough shaming victims! Enough abandoning survivors! From its humble beginnings, JCW […]
Sex Offender Yoel Oberlander Arrested for Groping Sleeping Woman on El Al flight
Yoel Oberlander was arrested and charged with groping a sleeping woman aboard a flight from Israel to New Jersey in May. This unfortunate story has many important lessons and highlights the dire need for the work done by JCW. In 2002 Oberlander was convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl in Monsey, New York. Despite […]