Jews for Allah

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Case of Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov
Chabad Chedar Menachem School




Table of Contents


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Table of Contents:

Rabbi sentenced to year in prison for lewd acts (12/21/2001)

Rabbi Jailed - Instructor at Cheder Menachem grade school accused of molesting boys. (12/21/2001)

Rabbi arrested on 10 counts of molestation (12/21/2001)

"Child Molester Arrested" (12/05/2001)

A Rabbi Is Accused Of Molesting A Student - More Possible Victims (12/06/2001)

Rabbi Accused of Molesting Young Male Students (12/07/2001)

Instructor at Cheder Menachem grade school accused of molesting boys (12/14/2001)


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Rabbi sentenced to year in prison for lewd acts

Hebrew Teacher Pleads Guilty to Lewd Acts

LA Times - February 5, 2002

From Times Staff Reports

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000009105feb05.story


LOS ANGELES - A rabbi who taught Hebrew at a private school in Hollywood pleaded guilty Monday to sexual abuse and committing lewd acts against three boys.

Mordecai Yomtov, 36, a teacher at Chedar Menachem School, was charged in December with committing 10 lewd acts against three boys, ages 8 to 10. Conviction on all counts could have sent him to prison for 40 years, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Irene Wakabayashi.

In the plea arrangement, he was allowed to plead guilty to two acts of continuous sexual abuse of minors and one count of lewd conduct, Wakabayashi said.

In addition to the jail time and probation, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer ordered that he not associate with minors or seek any jobs teaching minors.

The all-male Orthodox Jewish school on Melrose Avenue serves about 185 students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

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Rabbi Jailed - Instructor at Cheder Menachem grade school accused of molesting boys.

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles - December 14, 2001

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=7856


A rabbi accused of molesting three boys at a Chabad elementary school was arrested Dec. 3 and remained at the L.A. Men's Central Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail as The Journal went to press.

Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov's arrest on 10 felony counts of committing lewd acts with children came following an investigation by the LAPD after three boys, ages 8 to 10, reported last month that Yomtov was keeping each of them alone in the classroom and molesting them while the other children were at recess.

Yomtov, 36, an Australian-born rabbi with a wife and four children, pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court is set for Dec. 17.

Yomtov has taught 8- to 10-year-olds for six years at Cheder Menachem, a school with 220 boys, kindergarten through eighth grade, on Melrose Avenue in the Beverly Boulevard-La Brea Avenue neighborhood.

The school issued a written statement following the arrest: "Due to the sensitivity of the issues involved and to protect the privacy of our students, parents, teachers and staff, the school will be making no public comment." The statement went on, "We request that our privacy be respected. The school is cooperating fully with all applicable authorities."

Rabbi Chaim Cunin, spokesman for West Coast Chabad, expressed deep pain at the incident and said the school is doing everything possible to cooperate with the authorities.

"In over 36 years and in well over 30 schools that are under the Chabad umbrella on the West Coast, we have never had to deal with anything remotely similar to this," he said. "It is very painful to even be having this conversation."

Cunin said Chabad has arranged for therapists and psychiatrists to come to the school and give the parents, teachers and children the tools they need to deal with the incident. "We are doing everything we can do to be there for the community and the school and the parents, and we are doing anything and everything we can to make sure nothing like this should, God forbid, ever happen again, not in our school or in any school or in any community," he said.

Mental health professionals familiar with the situation said the school seems to be taking all the correct restorative steps to help students, parents and staff cope.

Dr. David Fox, a clinical psychologist and Orthodox rabbi who is not involved with the Cheder Menachem case, said situations of abuse in the Orthodox community arouse feelings of "shock and grave disappointment."

"We expect our people to conform not just to the general standards of moral decency, but to the Torah system. We expect observant Jewish people to function at the highest level of regard for people's welfare and for own moral welfare," he said, adding that nonetheless, in the last seven years or so, "there has been a lot more openness in discussing these issues in discreet forums, and, more and more, the rabbinic community is making use of Orthodox mental health professionals who have specialized training in both prevention and treatment of perpetrators and their victims."

Fox himself is a leader in Nefesh, the International Association of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, which, in conjunction with several Orthodox umbrella organizations, put together a think tank in September 2000 to develop prevention models for the Jewish community.

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (JFS), a beneficiary agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, has an Orthodox Counseling Division staffed by Orthodox professionals sensitive to the particular cultural and religious milieu of the community.

And, Fox said, he has seen a rise both in the number of articles in rabbinic journals dealing with maladaptive behavior, and in conferences targeting youth leaders, mikvah personnel and educators, to train them how to spot abuse or potentially abusive situations.

Still, he acknowledged, "There has not been an overwhelmingly unanimous receptiveness, because many of these groups hail from a tradition where the problems are dealt with very discreetly and in-house, and they shun publicity."

Resistance to preventive and educational programs is not exclusive to the Orthodox community, said Sally Weber, director of Jewish Community Programs for JFS, which has developed Steps to Safety, an abuse prevention program involving children, parents and educators that has been presented at some Los Angeles preschools and day schools.

There are still a lot of barriers to realizing that this happens in the Jewish community and in Jewish schools. There is a certain resistance to the urgency of it," she said.

Weber is meeting this week with several Orthodox principals to review the program and see what changes would be necessary to make the script more appropriate for the observant community.

The program involves one session each for teachers, parents and children. It begins with training educators to spot signs of abuse and reviewing the legal issues around reporting suspected abuse. JFS also works with schools to have a system in place so that any abuse can be handled appropriately and efficiently.

JFS professionals let parents know what their children will be learning and teach them how to talk to their children about body privacy and abuse. The program for children, tailored to age levels, reviews what is inappropriate behavior, how to get out of uncomfortable situations, and how to tell a trusted adult.

One Orthodox mental health professional says the work should not be left just to schools, but should begin at home with children as young as preschool age.

"The children need to be taught how and when to say no; they need to be taught that anytime an adult says 'don't tell your Mommy or Daddy,' that you have to tell, even if they [the adult] says Mommy and Daddy won't love you," she said.

Fox said that while he and other professionals are not adopting an attitude of "I told you so," there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that cases like the one at Cheder Menachem, devastating as it is, can only help increase awareness.

"There's always been a kill-the-messenger attitude in religious circles when someone blows the whistle or tries to alert those in charge to the presence of a deviant or a molester or an abuser," Fox said. "Everyone used to hush these things up, and no one likes to be reminded that these pathologies can seep into religious circles. But when, to our chagrin, some of these situations do attract publicity, there is some satisfaction in the mental health community that now, maybe we will take appropriate steps to offer some prevention."

For more information on Steps to Safety, contact Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles at (323) 761-8800. Anyone with information relating to this case should call the LAPD's Sexually Exploited Child Unit, Monday thru Friday at (213) 485-2883. On weekends and evenings, call the Detective Information Desk at (877) 529-3855.

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Rabbi arrested on 10 counts of molestation

By JULIE GRUENBAUM FAX Jewish Telegraphic Agency


LOS ANGELES -- A rabbi accused of molesting three boys at a Chabad elementary school remained at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles this week in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov was arrested last Monday on 10 felony counts of committing lewd acts with children.

The arrest came after a Los Angeles Police Department investigation into claims last month by three boys, ages eight to 10, that Yomtov was keeping each of them alone in the classroom and molesting them while the other children were at recess.

Yomtov, 36, an Australian-born rabbi with a wife and four children, pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court is set for Dec. 17.

Yomtov has taught eight- to 10-year-olds for six years at Cheder Menachem, a kindergarten- through eighth-grade school with 220 boys.

Cheder Menachem issued a written statement following the arrest.

"Due to the sensitivity of the issues involved and to protect the privacy of our students, parents, teachers and staff, the school will be making no public comment," it read. "We request that our privacy be respected. The school is cooperating fully with all applicable authorities."

Chaim Cunin, spokesman for West Coast Chabad, said the school is doing everything possible to cooperate with the authorities.

"In over 36 years and in well over 30 schools that are under the Chabad umbrella on the West Coast, we have never had to deal with anything remotely similar to this," Cunin said. "It is very painful to even be having this conversation."

Cunin says Chabad has arranged for therapists and psychiatrists to come into the school.

"We are all of us doing everything we can do to be there for the community and the school and the parents, and we are doing anything and everything we can to make sure nothing like this should G-d forbid ever happen again, not in our school or in any school or in any community," Cunin said.

Mental health professionals familiar with the situation said that the school seems to be taking all the right restorative steps to help students, parents and staff cope with the situation.

Dr. David Fox, a clinical psychologist and Orthodox rabbi who is not involved with the Cheder Menachem case, says situations of abuse in the Orthodox community arouse feelings of "shock and grave disappointment."

"We expect our people to conform not just to the general standards of moral decency, but to the Torah system," Fox said. "We expect observant Jewish people to function at the highest level of regard for people's welfare and for our own moral welfare."

In the past, such attitudes have made Orthodox clergy and leaders reluctant to deal with these issues, but in recent years he has seen a growing willingness to address issues of domestic and child abuse and sexual deviance, Fox said.

"There has been a lot more openness in discussing these issues in discreet forums, and more and more the rabbinic community is making use of Orthodox mental health professionals who have specialized training in both prevention and treatment of perpetrators and their victims," he said.

Fox himself is a leader in Nefesh, The International Association of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, which put together a think tank in September, 2000 in conjunction with several Orthodox umbrella organizations to develop prevention models for the Jewish community.

Jewish Family Service in Los Angeles has an Orthodox counseling division staffed by Orthodox professionals, sensitive to the community's particular cultural and religious milieu.

Fox also says he has seen a rise in the number of articles in rabbinic journals dealing with maladaptive behavior, and at conferences targeted at youth leaders, mikvah personnel and educators, to train them to spot abuse or potentially abusive situations.

Still, Fox acknowledges that the educational efforts have not reached every corner of the community.

"There has not been an overwhelmingly unanimous receptiveness, because many of these groups hail from a tradition where the problems are dealt with very discreetly and in-house, and they shun publicity," Fox said.

But even those communities are increasingly turning toward the growing pool of Orthodox mental health professionals.

Resistance to preventive and educational programs is not exclusive to the Orthodox community, said Sally Weber, director of Jewish Community Programs for LA's Jewish Family Service.

JFS has developed Steps to Safety, a three-pronged abuse prevention program involving children, parents and educators that has been presented at some Los Angeles preschools and day schools.

"Preschools have been enormously responsive to the program, but it's been difficult to get into day schools in general," she said.

"Part of it is there are still a lot of barriers to realizing that this happens in the Jewish community and in Jewish schools. There is a certain resistance to the urgency of it."

Weber is meeting this week with several Orthodox principals to review the program to see what changes would be necessary to make the script more appropriate for the observant community.

One Orthodox mental health professional said the work should not be left just to schools, but should begin at home with children as young as preschool age.

"The children need to be taught how and when to say no, they need to be taught that their privates are their own, they need to be taught that any time an adult says 'don't tell your Mommy or Daddy,' that you have to tell, even if they say Mommy and Daddy won't love you," she said.

Fox said that while he and other professionals are not adopting an "I told you so" attitude, there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that cases like the one at Cheder Menachem can only increase awareness.

"There's always been a 'kill the messenger' attitude in religious circles, when someone blows the whistle or tries to alert those in charge to the presence of a deviant or a molester or an abuser," he said. "Everyone used to hush these things up and no one likes to be reminded that these pathologies can seep into religious circles. But when, to our chagrin, some of these situations do attract publicity, there is some satisfaction in mental health community that now maybe we will take appropriate steps to offer some prevention.''

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LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, December 5, 2001


"Child Molester Arrested"

http://www.lapdonline.org/press_releases/2001/12/pr01804.htm

Hollywood: On Monday, December 3, 2001, the Los Angeles Police Department's Sexually Exploited Child Unit, arrested 36 year-old Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov for Lewd Acts With Children Under 14 Years of Age.

In November 2001, three students of the Chedar Menachem School in Hollywood, an all boys Jewish school, reported to the LAPD that their Hebrew teacher kept each of them in the classroom and individually molested them. The acts occurred throughout the school year when the other students were at recess. The victims range in age from eight to ten. Officials from the school have been cooperative with the investigators.

On December 5, 2001, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Christina Flemming filed ten felony counts that included Continuous Lewd Acts with a Child Under 14 Years of Age. The Office of the District Attorney suggested that bail be set at 3.5 million dollars. Yomtov was arraigned today in Division 30. Further court dates are pending.

Detectives are requesting assistance from the public in identifying other possible victims. Rabbi Yomtov taught Hebrew at the Chedar Menachem School for the last seven years. His students were boys in the 8-10 year age group. A photograph of Rabbi Yomtov is available at Media Relations Section.

Anyone with information should call Juvenile Division's Sexually Exploited Child Unit at 213-485-2883 during the week days. On weekends and during off-hours, call the 24-hour toll free number at Detective Information Desk, 1-877-LAWFULL (1-877-529-3855).

This press release was prepared by Public Information Officer Grace Brady, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586. For Release 5:00 pm PST


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A Rabbi Is Accused Of Molesting A Student - More Possible Victims

Dec 6, 2001

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/120601_nw_rabbi_molestation.html


LOS ANGELES — There could be more victims. That is the word from Los Angeles police as they probe the case of a Hollywood-area Rabbi arrested on suspicion of child molestation.

Mordechai Yomtov, 36, was arrested Monday on suspicion of committing lewd acts with children younger than 14, said Los Angeles police Officer Grace Brady.

Last month, three of his students at Hollywood's Chedar Menachem School, 5120 Melrose Ave., reported that the Yomtov kept them in class during recess and molested them during the current school year, she said. The victims are between 8 and 10 years old, according to police. Yomtov was charged with 10 felonies in connection with the alleged molestations, police said.

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December 7, 2001

Rabbi Accused of Molesting Young Male Students

By KENNETH REICH, TIMES STAFF WRITER - LOS ANGELES TIMES

http://latimes.com/news/local/la-000097287dec07.story

A rabbi who taught Hebrew at a private school in Hollywood was in jail Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail on charges of committing lewd acts with three of his male students, ages 8 to 10.

Los Angeles police said Mordechai Yomtov, 36, was arrested Monday on 10 felony counts, one for each alleged act. They appealed to the public to come forward to identify other incidents that may have occurred during the last seven years.

Yomtov has taught during that time at the Chedar Menachem School, an all-male Orthodox Jewish school serving about 185 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The school, at 5120 Melrose Ave., was in session behind locked gates as usual Thursday and officials declined to discuss the case beyond issuing a written statement.

"Due to the sensitivity of the issues involved and to protect the privacy of our students, parents, teachers and staff, the school will be making no public comment," the statement said. "We request that our privacy be respected.

"The school is cooperating fully with all applicable authorities," it said.

Yomtov was arraigned Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, and a preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 17 in Judge Michael Sauer's court. Detectives said the investigation began last month after three students each reported to the LAPD that Yomtov had molested them in a classroom while other students were at recess.

Det. Dale Darraclough said police experience in such cases has been that other students may have been molested too, and so the police are asking anyone with further knowledge to call investigators at a 24-hour toll-free number, (877) 529-3855.

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Rabbi Accused of Molesting Young Male Students

By KENNETH REICH, LA TIMES STAFF WRITER

December 7, 2001

http://latimes.com/news/local/la-000097287dec07.story


A rabbi who taught Hebrew at a private school in Hollywood was in jail Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail on charges of committing lewd acts with three of his male students, ages 8 to 10.

Los Angeles police said Mordechai Yomtov, 36, was arrested Monday on 10 felony counts, one for each alleged act. They appealed to the public to come forward to identify other incidents that may have occurred during the last seven years.

Yomtov has taught during that time at the Chedar Menachem School, an all-male Orthodox Jewish school serving about 185 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The school, at 5120 Melrose Ave., was in session behind locked gates as usual Thursday and officials declined to discuss the case beyond issuing a written statement.

"Due to the sensitivity of the issues involved and to protect the privacy of our students, parents, teachers and staff, the school will be making no public comment," the statement said. "We request that our privacy be respected.

"The school is cooperating fully with all applicable authorities," it said.

Yomtov was arraigned Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, and a preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 17 in Judge Michael Sauer's court.

Detectives said the investigation began last month after three students each reported to the LAPD that Yomtov had molested them in a classroom while other students were at recess. Det. Dale Darraclough said police experience in such cases has been that other students may have been molested too, and so the police are asking anyone with further knowledge to call investigators at a 24-hour toll-free number, (877) 529-3855.

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Instructor at Cheder Menachem grade school accused of molesting boys

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=7856

December 14, 2001

A rabbi accused of molesting three boys at a Chabad elementary school was arrested Dec. 3 and remained at the L.A. Men's Central Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail as The Journal went to press.

Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov's arrest on 10 felony counts of committing lewd acts with children came following an investigation by the LAPD after three boys, ages 8 to 10, reported last month that Yomtov was keeping each of them alone in the classroom and molesting them while the other children were at recess.

Yomtov, 36, an Australian-born rabbi with a wife and four children, pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court is set for Dec. 17.

Yomtov has taught 8- to 10-year-olds for six years at Cheder Menachem, a school with 220 boys, kindergarten through eighth grade, on Melrose Avenue in the Beverly Boulevard-La Brea Avenue neighborhood.

The school issued a written statement following the arrest: "Due to the sensitivity of the issues involved and to protect the privacy of our students, parents, teachers and staff, the school will be making no public comment." The statement went on, "We request that our privacy be respected. The school is cooperating fully with all applicable authorities."

Rabbi Chaim Cunin, spokesman for West Coast Chabad, expressed deep pain at the incident and said the school is doing everything possible to cooperate with the authorities.

"In over 36 years and in well over 30 schools that are under the Chabad umbrella on the West Coast, we have never had to deal with anything remotely similar to this," he said. "It is very painful to even be having this conversation."

Cunin said Chabad has arranged for therapists and psychiatrists to come to the school and give the parents, teachers and children the tools they need to deal with the incident. "We are doing everything we can do to be there for the community and the school and the parents, and we are doing anything and everything we can to make sure nothing like this should, God forbid, ever happen again, not in our school or in any school or in any community," he said.

Mental health professionals familiar with the situation said the school seems to be taking all the correct restorative steps to help students, parents and staff cope.

Dr. David Fox, a clinical psychologist and Orthodox rabbi who is not involved with the Cheder Menachem case, said situations of abuse in the Orthodox community arouse feelings of "shock and grave disappointment."

"We expect our people to conform not just to the general standards of moral decency, but to the Torah system. We expect observant Jewish people to function at the highest level of regard for people's welfare and for own moral welfare," he said, adding that nonetheless, in the last seven years or so, "there has been a lot more openness in discussing these issues in discreet forums, and, more and more, the rabbinic community is making use of Orthodox mental health professionals who have specialized training in both prevention and treatment of perpetrators and their victims."

Fox himself is a leader in Nefesh, the International Association of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, which, in conjunction with several Orthodox umbrella organizations, put together a think tank in September 2000 to develop prevention models for the Jewish community.

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (JFS), a beneficiary agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, has an Orthodox Counseling Division staffed by Orthodox professionals sensitive to the particular cultural and religious milieu of the community.

And, Fox said, he has seen a rise both in the number of articles in rabbinic journals dealing with maladaptive behavior, and in conferences targeting youth leaders, mikvah personnel and educators, to train them how to spot abuse or potentially abusive situations.

Still, he acknowledged, "There has not been an overwhelmingly unanimous receptiveness, because many of these groups hail from a tradition where the problems are dealt with very discreetly and in-house, and they shun publicity."

Resistance to preventive and educational programs is not exclusive to the Orthodox community, said Sally Weber, director of Jewish Community Programs for JFS, which has developed Steps to Safety, an abuse prevention program involving children, parents and educators that has been presented at some Los Angeles preschools and day schools.

There are still a lot of barriers to realizing that this happens in the Jewish community and in Jewish schools. There is a certain resistance to the urgency of it," she said.

Weber is meeting this week with several Orthodox principals to review the program and see what changes would be necessary to make the script more appropriate for the observant community.

The program involves one session each for teachers, parents and children. It begins with training educators to spot signs of abuse and reviewing the legal issues around reporting suspected abuse. JFS also works with schools to have a system in place so that any abuse can be handled appropriately and efficiently.

JFS professionals let parents know what their children will be learning and teach them how to talk to their children about body privacy and abuse. The program for children, tailored to age levels, reviews what is inappropriate behavior, how to get out of uncomfortable situations, and how to tell a trusted adult.

One Orthodox mental health professional says the work should not be left just to schools, but should begin at home with children as young as preschool age.

"The children need to be taught how and when to say no; they need to be taught that anytime an adult says 'don't tell your Mommy or Daddy,' that you have to tell, even if they [the adult] says Mommy and Daddy won't love you," she said.

Fox said that while he and other professionals are not adopting an attitude of "I told you so," there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that cases like the one at Cheder Menachem, devastating as it is, can only help increase awareness.

"There's always been a kill-the-messenger attitude in religious circles when someone blows the whistle or tries to alert those in charge to the presence of a deviant or a molester or an abuser," Fox said. "Everyone used to hush these things up, and no one likes to be reminded that these pathologies can seep into religious circles. But when, to our chagrin, some of these situations do attract publicity, there is some satisfaction in the mental health community that now, maybe we will take appropriate steps to offer some prevention."

For more information on Steps to Safety, contact Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles at (323) 761-8800. Anyone with information relating to this case should call the LAPD's Sexually Exploited Child Unit, Monday thru Friday at (213) 485-2883. On weekends and evenings, call the Detective Information Desk at (877) 529-3855.


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