Pedophilia Thriving In Judaism's Right Wing?

A recurrent theme of Judaism's highest authority, the Babylonian Talmud, is the right of Jewish men to have sex with 3-year-old girls. My article "Pedophilia: The Talmud's Dirty Secret" (See, Pedophilia: The Talmud's Dirty Secret, 10/11/06) documents this with copies of passages from the Talmud which endorse such perversion.

Jewish apologists reject this accusation. They say the Talmud's approval of child sex is ritualistic and "spiritual" in its connotation. Others say that whatever Talmudic rabbis may have sanctioned 1800 years ago is not practiced today.

Yet throughout the past decades, many instances of pedophilia have surfaced in Judaism, particularly among ultra-Orthodox (Haredim) Jews. A recent article in the Jewish daily Forward, "Haredim Begin Confronting Pedophilia," Oct. 2, 2008, confirms that pedophilia does exist among ultra-Orthodox Judaism, to a degree that can no longer be concealed.

"After years in which the issue of pedophilia has been quietly dealt with among ultra-Orthodox Jews, a number of leaders in the community are speaking out publiclySexual abuse of children has periodically arisen in the ultra-Orthodox community through high-profile cases like that of Yehuda Kolko and Avrohom MondrowitzIn 2006 and 2007 Kolko was charged with several counts of sexual abuse," yet received no prison time. Mondrowitz, a Brooklyn Jew, was indicted on five counts of sodomy and six counts of sexual abuse in 1985 but found asylum in Israel.

Forward says Brooklyn assemblyman Dov Hikind "argued that the ultra-Orthodox community has become a haven for child molesters."

"If you're a child molester, the best community to come to is Borough Park, Flatbush, Lakewood or Monroe," Hikind said, referring to areas that have large ultra-Orthodox populations. "Your chances of being arrested are much smaller because people don't press charges."

Why don't they press charges?

Ultra-Orthodox rabbinic leadership knows the Talmud endorses child sex. Such awareness cannot help but deeply influence how they counsel Jewish victims to respond. Ultra-Orthodox, like all religious Jews, revere the Talmud as God's highest revelation to the Jewish people. They believe His will is expressed through Judaism's greatest spiritual lights: the Pharisees and their Sanhedrin. It must be difficult for Haredi literalists to believe pedophilia is truly wrong when the Talmud repeatedly says it is right. It is difficult for their leaders to sanction criminal prosecution when the greatest sages of the Talmud proclaim pedophilia to be "halakah," or binding Jewish law. (Yebamoth 60B)

The Brooklyn assemblyman, Hikind, "said that lately, an 'avalanche of people' has come to his office to talk about cases of sexual abuse." He wants to create a legislative task force to help control pedophilia in the ultra-Orthodox community. "In August, Rabbi Benzion Twerski, a psychologist and respected member of the community, was tapped to head Hikind's task force." Yet, "He resigned just days after his appointment, reportedly because of the overwhelming pressure and intimidation he received."

This may remind some readers of the pedophilia epidemic discovered in the Catholic Church. There is no parallel between the two. Neither Catholic teaching nor the Bible ever authorizes such child abuse, or protection of it. Yet pedophilia and pederasty are repeatedly endorsed by Judaism's highest authorities.

Haredim: Flexing Power in Israel


Today, ultra-Orthodox followers of Judaism form its fastest growing branch; many Jews, fearing assimilation, are attracted to its structure and legalism. Haredi power in Knesset surges. Israel's new international court of justice, the Sanhedrin, is dominated by Haredi sages. Up to 75 percent of some Jerusalem neighborhoods are Haredi-occupied. Most Jewish settlers and local governments in Israel's occupied territories are ultra-Orthodox; they are largely supported by the wealthy Lubavitcher sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism centered in New York.

Such Haredim are on the front lines of Israeli expansionism; they continue to devour ever more Arab land and clash with Palestinian landowners and even Israeli police. Increasingly violent, they ceaselessly persecute messianic Christians in central Israel and the West Bank. (See, Christians in Israel: An Endangered Species)

The Haredim are Jews who take the Talmud and its mystical companion, the Kabbalah, very seriously. The continuing presence of pedophilia among them reveals the tragic moral consequences of Israel's decision 2000 years ago to reject Jesus Christ and give full loyalty to the Pharisees. Jesus said the Pharisees and their proto-Talmudic oral tradition had "made the law of God of no effect." (Mark 7:13) His charge that they were guilty of "all uncleanness" evidently included pedophilia. (Matt. 23:27)

Are the moral degradations emanating from the Talmud limited to the ultra-Orthodox? No. The leaders of Jewish-founded Hollywood and big TV and publishing in America are descended very largely from Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox ancestors in Poland, Eastern Europe, and Russia. Though many Jewish media elite are today secular or nominally Jewish, they reflect an ultra-Orthodox heritage of immorality which they now pass on to the rest of humanity.

Of course, all religious Jews cannot be criticized just because of pedophilia among the ultra-Orthodox. Yet the Haredim do have one virtue lacking in the Jewish religious community. They interpret the Talmud accurately, literally believing it rather than spiritualizing away the meaning.

The pharisaic Talmud is the primary stumbling block to Jewish enlightenment and wellbeing. Because the Talmud's anti-Christ ethics undergird Jewish revolutionary, messianic, global ambitions, it is also the primary enemy of Christian civilization.

Yet evangelical Christians are dedicated to exempting "God's chosen people" from searching scrutiny and inevitable criticism; thus, they allow the Talmud to remain unexplored and unchallenged. Century after century, this wellspring of evil pollutes the flock of Israel. As God says of Israel's false shepherds, "And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet." (Ezek. 34:19)

Unlike the Old Testament prophets, evangelical leaders raise no alarm or criticism as evil Jewish leaders continue to corrupt their own and others. As a result, immoral Jews in Hollywood, Brooklyn, and Tel Aviv -- the last people who merit special privileges -- live in a realm of total freedom from Christian scrutiny and displeasure, a privilege almost never granted any other group in history.

By Rev. Ted Pike