Long considered Brooklyn's patronage king, Mr. Lopez is the founder of the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization that has received millions in government contracts and also employs his longtime girlfriend, Angela M. Battaglia, who serves on the New York City Planning Commission. This pedophile scandal is sui generis because the Catholic Church is truly like no other religious institution, with its rich and complicated history, adherents worldwide and, of course, a pope who is not accountable to any earthly superior. The allegations against Elon came to light a year ago after Takana, a national religious rabbinical forum that investigates allegations of sexual abuse in the religious community, posted a message on its website demanding that Elon step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities, claiming he was a threat to the public. Takana sees itself as a venue in which allegations of wrongdoing that would probably not make their way to the police are addressed, and through which those accused of impropriety are kept away from members of the public. The forum was founded because many in the religious community are not willing to turn to the police, and also because some ethical violations would not be considered criminal violations by police.

In October 2006, then-attorney-general Menahem Mazuz instructed police not to open a criminal investigation into allegations against Elon. Lee was serving 27 months to 15 years for a 2005 criminal sexual conduct offense involving a victim younger than 13 years old, according to online corrections department records. A charismatic leader in Israel’s religious Zionist community, Elon was forced into «retirement» four years ago by Takana, a private forum on rabbinic sexual abuse, after it quietly investigated the charges against him without revealing the names of alleged victims to civil authorities. Rabbi Blau said, the Jewish commandment against «lashon harah,» gossiping, in the matter of suspected abuse, is waived, overridden by the teaching of Lev. The decision to open the investigation came after Takana published a letter on their website demanding that Elon step down from all teaching and rabbinical duties following allegations of sexual abuse. The letter also says that in June 2006, the forum received a document from a former student of Elon containing far more serious allegations.

The decision came less than a week after Takana, a rabbinical forum that probes allegations of sexual abuse within the religious community, posted a warning on its Web site demanding that the rabbi step down from all teaching, rabbinical, and community responsibilities, saying he poses a threat to the public. Takana member and Petach Tikvah Yeshivat Hesder Rabbi Yuval Cherlov said that the forum published the letter on their website about the allegations because of the importance of maintaining public trust in their work, according to a post on his own site this week. In February, Takana posted a warning on its Web site demanding that Elon cease all teaching, rabbinical and community activities, saying he poses a threat to the public. But there are uncomfortable echoes of this scandal with similar ones within the Jewish community. Yes, it is true some folks documented here actually committed sex offenses and there are victim/s of their crimes that may read this blog. The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office has called Rabbi Mordechai Elon in for a hearing, following which it will be decided whether to indict him on charges of sexual offenses against two underage plaintiffs.

The Roman Catholic Church’s defensive response to the cascading charges of clergy sexual abuse has unleashed an astonishing spectacle: the world’s most powerful church draping itself in the mantle of victimhood. The church’s predicament should serve as a warning to other faith communities: Power can corrupt even those who claim to walk with God. To some outsiders, the Catholic conundrum can be traced to the church’s insistence on celibacy, sexy Naked ass and the unnatural expectations that places on the men who become priests. As this drama unfolds, it’s important to focus on the real victims: certainly not the church itself, no matter how much it protests, but the thousands of people who claim to have been abused by Catholic priests and whose stories were cruelly ignored or discounted while the alleged perpetrators have been allowed by a protective church hierarchy to skirt justice and accountability. I'm sure there are many people who are still angry at Takana and I can't blame them, but I think that the number of people who are angry at Takana has been reduced and will continue to fall. The police will pass the investigative file to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office. And no, they probably will not change.

Rabbis who have been caught in their own abuse scandals were not celibate. Some observers say that similar allegations against a secular high school teacher would have been handled more aggressively. The Greenfield letter contends that the forum never adequately investigated the allegations against the rabbi before deciding that he was guilty of wrongdoing, and that accusers were coerced by the forum into making complaints against Elon. On their website this week, the Takana forum published a response to a letter entitled «Rabbi Moti Elon — the real story,» attributed to a man named Yossi Greenfield, and has been circulating on the Internet in recent months. Moti Elon called in for hearing on sex allegations. One newspaper reportedly knew about the allegations against Elon for years but refrained from publishing anything, according to reports elsewhere. 6 years at the time… When I first got out of prison back in 2003, my only goals were to find my own residence and a job, keep a low profile, and not «rock the boat.» In two years since my release, I had achieved what I set out to do, and things were starting to look up. Organization: Self-Help Group For Jewish Survivors: VOICES In Action, Inc. creates the first Special Interest Group (SIG) for Jewish Survivors of childhood Sexual Abuse.