<h3 align="center"><br>
PEDOPHILIA 'RAMPANT' IN ORTHODOX JUDAISM</h3>
<p align="center"><strong>By Rev. Ted Pike<br>
1 Dec 08</strong><br>
</p>
<p>From its founding by the ancient Pharisees and still today, Orthodox
Judaism <em>is </em>Judaism. [1] The state of Israel officially endorses
Orthodoxy. For 2,000 years—since before such relatively recent
variants as Conservative and Reform Judaism branched off—Talmud-believing
Orthodox Judaism has been the spiritual center of gravity of the
Jewish people. [2] <br>
<br>
Now the Associated Press reports that the Orthodox Jewish community struggles
to contain what has been a closely guarded secret: pedophilia. [3] AP says that,
especially in areas most populated by Orthodox Jews (such as New York where 37
percent of Jews are Orthodox), widespread sexual molestation of children can
no longer be denied. Yet "initiatives encouraging victims to come forward
or offering support for those claiming they were molested encounter strong opposition,
lead to death-threats in the Jewish community…" <br>
<br>
In a previous e-alert, "Pedophilia: Thriving in Judaism's Right Wing" [4],
I related how an Orthodox Jew, Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn assemblyman, is attempting
to address what AP calls "a taboo subject" among the Orthodox. <br>
<br>
Since Hikind broached the subject on his radio show this summer, "dozens
of people have come forward with stories about children being molested in the
Orthodox community which strictly follows Jewish law…Dov Hikind says as
many as four people a day have come to him over the past three months with painful
accounts of secrets often kept for decades, accusing more than sixty individuals." <br>
<br>
Yet the assemblyman and radio host faces increasing opposition from many Orthodox
Jews who practice pedophilia, condone it, or look the other way. "His campaign
has set off a firestorm in the Orthodox community, where people are reluctant
to involve secular authorities. One rabbi said he got death threats for speaking
out." Hikind said:"In our community, people don't talk about
=the things they've come to my office and revealed." He said he encourages
people who confide in him to talk to Jewish authorities. But none will, he said,
for fear of ostracism. <br>
<br>
"One rabbi and psychologist told Jewish media outlets he was hounded into
quitting a task force on child molestation days after Hikind appointed him to
lead it…Another New York rabbi told the <em>Daily News</em> this month
that vicious fliers and death threat calls scared him into shutting down a sex
abuse victims hot-line he had set up." <br>
<br>
Six former students are suing an Orthodox school in New York for allegedly covering
up the abuse of Rabbi Yehuda Kolkol, charged with sexually molesting boys. He
pled guilty to a lesser charge and was put on probation. Hikind has been subpoenaed
to testify as to further evidence against Kolkol or other school staffers. [5]
Michael Daud, lawyer for the six students, won $11.4 million in damages against
a Catholic youth minister who raped two teens on Long Island. With an initial
60 cases of pedophilia emerging, Daud could win similar restitution through judgments
against persons in the wealthy Brooklyn Orthodox community. </p>
<p align="center"><strong>Why Do They Do It?</strong></p>
<p> Actually, the existence of pedophilia is not Orthodoxy's best kept secret. What
truly cannot be uttered by the Jewish community or media worldwide is that
the Talmud, Judaism's highest legal authority, <em>encourages</em> pedophilia.
If this fact became widely known, it could destroy Judaism as one of the world's
great religions. It would confirm millennia of "anti-Semitic" accusations
(beginning with Jesus' incendiary attacks on the Pharisees) that pharisaic
Judaism is based on gutter values. <br>
<br>
In my article "Pedophilia: the Talmud's Dirty Secret" [6]
I document that the greatest Talmudic sages repeatedly upheld the right of
Jewish men to marry 3-year-old baby girls by having sex with them. The more
Orthodox Judaism is, the more literally it follows every dictum of such rabbinic
authorities. Shockingly, one of the most revered rabbis of the Talmud, Simeon
ben Yohai, asserts "that a proselyte under the age of three years and
one day may be married to a priest." [7] <br>
<br>
The Talmud says ben Yohai's endorsement of pedophilia is "halachah," binding
Jewish law (Yebamoth 60b). </p>
<p align="center"><strong>Pedophilia in </strong><strong>Israel</strong><strong> Today</strong></p>
<p> In a related story, YnetNews.com says that in Israel, "in spite of efforts
by welfare officials, local rabbis, state authorities are unable to curb rampant
child abuse in ultra-Orthodox families." <br>
<br>
It says there emerges "One harrowing case after another, yet welfare
officials stand by helpless: faced with a string of heart-wrenching cases of
child abuse in the haredi [ultra-Orthodox]…" <br>
<br>
"One recent disturbing case, for instance, in which a Netivot mother had
sexually abused her son, only came to light when the son began attending boarding
school and molested a fellow pupil. The social workers who handled his case quickly
realized that the child had no idea that what he had done was wrong." [8] <br>
<br>
Incredibly, this, too, is sanctioned by the Talmud. In my article "Judaism
and Homosexuality: A Marriage Made in Hell" [9], I document the Talmud's
repeated permission for women to have sex with boys under age nine. It
says such relations are non-sexual and without moral implications. Sanhedrin
69b asserts that "if a woman sported lewdly with her young son [a minor],
and he committed the first stage of cohabitation with her [penetration]," –the
rabbinic school of the great Hillel (namesake of New York's Jewish Hillel
Theological Seminary) declared her "fit for the priesthood" (Sanhedrin
69b). <br>
<br>
The Talmud gives the clear impression that boys under age nine are fair game
for sexual predation by women and even men. Such passages are not obscure,
infrequent, or difficult to find. They are readily encountered in perusal of
Talmudic treatises Kethuboth, Yebamoth, and Sanhedrin. <br>
<br>
The extreme devotion of Orthodox Jews to obedience to every jot and tittle
of the Talmud powerfully inclines us to suspect that Talmudic sanction of pedophilia
may underlie the problem of pedophilia in Judaism today. </p>
<p align="center"><strong>Is There a Solution?</strong></p>
<p> What can be done? Unlike pedophilia among Catholic priests—which largely
results from unnatural repression of human need and is sternly disapproved
by the Catholic Church—pedophilia in Judaism enjoys frequent, conspicuous,
and enthusiastic support from Judaism's greatest authority, the Talmud