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| Deputy Heath Minister Yaakov Litzman at a recent press conference (TOI) |
“Every request I receive, regardless of who it is, I take care of it.”
This comment was made by Yaakov Tessler, a former aide to Deputy Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman. I’m sure he was simply restating his former boss’s position.
I used to have a soft spot for Litzman. By most accounts he
has been a very effective health minister. His polices have benefited all
Israelis, secular and religious. He commanded the respect of all Israelis for his service
and was so effective at his job that for a while he became Health Minister (dropping
‘Deputy’ from his title). That made him one of the most powerful politicians in Israel.
That was quite an accomplishment for a Charedi politician. First
because to the best of my knowledge no Charedi politician has ever been a member of the Israeli
cabinet. And 2nd because this
was an exception made by Charedi leaders in their Hashkafic policy of never serving in a
cabinet position .
He has since resigned and returned to his deputy position in
protest over Israel’s draft laws. But for all practical purposes he is the Health
Minister since there is no one carrying that title. He is the man at the top.
Unfortunately recent actions by Litzman have made me lose
that soft spot. Because he apparently has his own soft spot for convicted
pedophile rapists and perhaps even convicted murderers – at least if they are
Charedi. The Times of Israel reports the following:
Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman allegedly helped at least 10 serious sex offenders obtain improved conditions, including home visits and other benefits, by pressuring state psychiatrists and prisons service officials, according to a report Tuesday.
This follows the revelation a few moths ago that Litzman
interceded on behalf of Malka Leifer, a former religious girls high school principal in
Australia. Facing 74 counts of sexually abusing her students Liefer fled
to Israel. All attempts at extradition have thus far been thwarted. Litzman who has interceded on her behalf has been accused of trying to get state psychiatrists to falsify their evaluations of
Leifer’s mental state by saying that she was mentally unfit for trial and
therefore not to be extradited.
Litzman denies all these reports calling them ‘lies and
slander’. But that belies his own admission of trying to help any citizen that appeals
to his office for help. Trying to get state psychiatrists to lie about their
psychiatric evaluation of an accused pedophile goes just a ‘wee bit’ beyond helping Israeli citizens.
Litzman apparently feels that rapists and murderers deserve compassion
too if they are Charedi. What about
compassion for the victims and their families? Does he not understand that
being kind to the cruel ends up being cruel to the kind? How does he think the
victims and their families feel about what he is doing? Where is his compassion
for them?
How can someone who defines himself as being Chareid L’Dvar
HaShem (fearing the word of God) not follow the example of God Himself who is a Rachum V’Chanun? We are a
people who have compassion in our blood dating back to the patriarchs? What Litzman
is doing is the opposite of that disguised as compassion. His compassion if
for the tormentors. Not for the tormented who need and deserve his compassion. How
can it be that someone like that misses the mark by so much?
I don’t really know the answer to that. But Litzman is a
Gerrer Chasid. It is unfortunately a characteristic of Ger Chasidus that protects their own no matter how vile one of ‘their own’ might be.
This has nothing to do with anti Chasidic bias. It has to do with demonstrable fact as the following example will illustrate.
This has nothing to do with anti Chasidic bias. It has to do with demonstrable fact as the following example will illustrate.
Avreimel Mondrowitz is a Gerrer Chasid and a notorious
pedophile. Here is what he did to earn that reputation.
Mondrowitz advertised in the Jewish Press posing
as a psychologist (which was a lie – he never attended college, never received any training, and created
false degrees from prestigious universities that he hung on his wall). The ad
read something like ‘Psychology Al Pi Halahca’.
Religious parents would send him children
in need of therapy. He groomed countless
numbers of them into becoming his rape victims - many of them via Mishkav
Zechor! His sex abuse was so prolific that over the years his victims included Jews
and non Jews alike. Until he was caught.
He fled to Israel and has been living a full life free to go where he pleases and do what he pleases with whomever he pleases. The US tried
to extradite him and has failed every time they tried. Ger pulled out all the stops to prevent that and succeeded.
There is little doubt about Mondrowitz’s guilt. At the time many survivors of his abuse came forward - all describing the same pattern of grooming
and abuse. I can’t explain Ger’s actions other than to say they thought he was
innocent - despite all the evidence to the contrary. Evidence so strong that even some prominent
Charedi leaders believed it. One of whom publicly called Mondrowitz a monster!
I guess that Litzman’s actions in this regard is consistent
with Ger’s general attitude of presuming all Frum accused sex criminals to be
innocent regardless of the evidence.
In my view, Litzman has lost the right to his office and
should resign. He may have been a good public servant in that role in the past.
But he lost that distinction. He should
be trying to heal the souls of survivors, not trying to help the abusers that made them survivors. He should no more be the Deputy Minister of
Health than Avreimal Mondrowitz should.
