Michael Lesher

This is an interesting and informative book about a troubling subject only now coming to light since the publicity surrounding the problems in the Catholic church have come to light. I dare say that this is also a problem in some (not all!) orthodox Jewish communities is a revelation to a lot of people.
It's a problem that needed to be brought to light, and this the book does well. However, I really don't know what can be effectively done about it considering the insular nature of these communities; it would require a major adjustment of attitudes in these communities, and I really don't know how possible that is.… (meer)

I hope and pray this book by Michael Lesher shakes my fellow Jews to their roots. Older relatives of mine as I grew up in the 50s in Detroit tried to keep me on the path of Conservative Judaism, to that end they failed. While attending Hebrew school I got into trouble with the administrators for asking why when they told me to just accept and believe what they said and not to question. God never expected me to just blindly sit and accept nor should the Orthodox Jewish Communities think that society at large as well as the Jewish one within accepts the abuse and raping of children.
Lesher has met fierce resistance to his work because of the clear exposure it brings to the Jewish people and to the world at large and to those rabbis who want their unquestioned power to dominate even secular government. But he accepts this mantle and insists, “There can be no legitimate role for a rabbinic court in any sex abuse investigation.”
Why was it ok for an Orthodox father in Israel to throw his baby against the wall and after the death of the infant the Orthodox community rallied to his defense of the fathers judging that his son was not born perfect? Michael Lesher asks, what hope is there for children raped by Orthodox rabbis and teachers?
Under Orthodox law, if a Jew threatens to inform on another Jew to gentile authorities, the whole community must use force, even deadly force, to prevent that betrayal. This is why I’ve continued all my life to ask why and not to blindly accept just because it’s written or we don’t discuss that subject ever. I have been and will always be proud of being a Jew and will never change nor walk into the ovens for anyone. The Jewish community in the world must read and learn from efforts such as Michael Lesher and others to expose and change this bigoted and reprieve form of Judaism.… (meer)

This book is painful to read. Not due to the writing which I found informative and not pedantic at all. The subject matter as presented is sickening. Mr. Lesher shows us so many of the failings possible within a closed community. Regardless of one's views on organized religion or orthodoxy, we are presented with a clear description of a catastrophic problem.

With respect to the book itself, I enjoyed Mr. Lesher's writing style and found it communicative of this very difficult subject matter. He is not overlong in descriptions although a tad receptive at the end. What this book brings is a way to force a reader to look to deeper sociological questions and face that humans have to make decisions whether to allow something to happen or not.… (meer)