This is the Forward’s coverage of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City home to a major population of Hasidic Jews.
Brooklyn
The Latest
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Fast Forward Accused Abuser’s Son Charged in Bleach Attack
A Brooklyn fishmonger was indicted for throwing a cup of bleach in the face of a Chasidic rabbi who advocates for victims of sexual abuse in the haredi Orthodox community. Meilech Schnitzler, 36, of Williamsburg, a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, was indicted Wednesday on two counts of attempted assault, two counts of assault…
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News Inside Hasidic Modesty Patrols
One of the most striking ironies of the Nechemya Weberman trial, which ended with his conviction on 59 counts of sexual abuse, was the revelation that the unlicensed therapist was a member of the Va’ad Hatznius, or modesty patrol, the self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong in the Satmar community. Until recently, the Va’ad Hatznius…
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Fast Forward Child Abusers Faced Music in 2012
Experts say 2012 was a year of unparalleled justice for child sex abuse victims, but whether the string of high-profile convictions will translate into a turning point for juvenile safety remains to be seen. The year’s headlines heralded the criminal convictions of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, Monsignor William Lynn of the Catholic…
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News ‘Ub-u-sive’
Guilty on all 59 counts: guilty, guilty, guilty. On Monday, December 10, a jury of 12 found Nechemya Weberman enormously guilty. The jurors convicted him of sexually abusing an underage girl entrusted to his care. They declared the respected member of the ultra-Orthodox community to be a criminal and a fraud, and thousands of survivors,…
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Opinion Was Nechemya Weberman on Trial — or Satmars?
On December 10, Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed youth and marriage counselor in the Satmar community of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, was convicted of 59 counts of sexual misconduct against a minor. As in any trial, the judge reminded the jurors that the defendant’s guilt must be proved “beyond reasonable doubt.” But with Weberman now facing a possible…
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Fast Forward Lawmakers Demand Release of Jacob Ostreicher
A bipartisan slate of nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged Bolivian President Evo Morales to bring about the release of New York businessman Jacob Ostreicher, who has been jailed without charges for 18 months. A Bolivian appeals court this week refused to release Ostreicher, instead sending his case back to a lower…
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News Is Breakthrough Near in Jacob Ostreicher Case?
Long months of standstill in the case of Jacob Ostreicher, a New York Jewish businessman locked up in Bolivia for 20 months, have given way in recent weeks to a flurry of activity that has spurred hope for Ostreicher’s possible release. In a dramatic sequence of events, top Bolivian government officials involved in the prosecution…
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Fast Forward Nechemya Weberman Convicted in Sex Case
A Brooklyn rabbi who acted as a therapist was convicted of sexually abusing a Brooklyn girl, authorities said Monday. Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed therapist, was found guilty of 59 separate counts of abuse and faces up to 117 years in prison. “The victim showed great courage to come forward in a very difficult time. Hopefully,…
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