Sullivan County, NY – Fallsburg Rosh Yeshiva Vigorously Denies He Has Welcomed Accused Abuser

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    Sullivan County, NY – In the Catskills this summer, worries about children’s safety are extending beyond the swimming pool.

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    Yehuda Kolko, the rebbe who pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment and who is suspected of abusing dozens of children in his teaching career, moved into a summer home at a development in South Fallsburg, N.Y., on June 12. Pines Estates, where he is renting, is a popular summer destination for Orthodox families and is also inhabited year-round by families connected to the well-known Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, nearby.

    On Kolko’s first Friday night there, a summer resident aware of Kolko’s history confronted him in the shul during Maariv and told him to leave the neighborhood quietly, a witness said. When Kolko refused, the man interrupted the tefilah to announce from the bima that Kolko was a child molester and posed a danger to children. When congregants protested, the man at the bima, a student of Rav Dovid Feinstein, replied with multiple Halachic sources to support his action, one of which was Masechet Chullin 8a, which discusses the need to be strict when it comes to matters of danger.

    The next day, Shabbat morning, at the Yeshiva of South Fallsburg nearby, the same witness said Kolko was welcomed and called to the Torah for an Aliyah.

    Daniel Sosnowik, a resident of Pines Estates who has an eight-year-old son, was shocked. Sosnowik is a captain in the New York City Police Department.

    “We have hundreds of kids here,” Sosnowik told the Jewish Star, “Kolko doesn’t belong here.”

    When Sosnowik spoke to the gabbai of the yeshiva minyan he was told that Rabbi Tzvi Abba Gorelick, the dean and owner of Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, had declared Kolko to be “kosher.” That night, residents of Pines Estates visited Kolko and apologized for their neighbor’s actions the previous night. When Sosnowik met with Rabbi Gorelick to express his concerns Rabbi Gorelick maintained that the yeshiva must be “neutral” regarding Kolko, Sosnowik recalled. He quoted Rabbi Gorelick as saying that the issue was complicated by the “stigma” associated with child abuse.

    One of Kolko’s sons attended Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, Sosnowik said he was told.

    “Am I the only one crazy here?” Sosnowik asked, “How could parents do this? How could yeshiva leaders do this?”

    Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel, the rosh yeshiva, vigorously denied that Kolko was welcomed.

    “We just said we can’t throw him out; nobody knows him!” he exclaimed. “I don’t even know him! I met him for the first time!

    People are making these assumptions [about the yeshiva’s dealings with Kolko], they are making up things. I heard years ago about him [Kolko]. Some people say yes, people say no…”

    Asked if he felt Kolko was a threat to children, Rabbi Wachtfogel replied, “I don’t know.”

    “You can ask Binyamin Hirsch,” Rabbi Wachtfogel said, then hung up.

    He was apparently referring to Ben Hirsch, president of Survivors for Justice, an organization that advocates for and assists victims of child and sexual abuse in the Orthodox community.

    Chaim Bloom, who attends the Yeshiva of South Fallsburg Kollel and lives in Pines Estates said that he wasn’t comfortable with Kolko being around.

    “I try to keep away from these things. To be honest, that’s why I live in South Fallsburg and not Lakewood,” he explained. “I didn’t welcome him. I’d never welcome a child molester.”

    “I think people are paranoid or afraid of him because of the label he’s been given, which has never been proven in a court of law,” said Jeffrey Schwartz, the attorney who defended Kolko against three criminal charges. “That has nothing to do with any sex-related offense. He was not registered as a sex offender. He never did admit to any sexually inappropriate conduct to any child.”

    Schwartz added that he believed that Kolko posed no danger and was “just a sick old man, and should be left alone.” He would let Kolko be with his own kids, he claimed.

    Before moving to Pines Estates, Kolko lived in the summer-home community of Mesorah Woods in Woodridge, NY. On July 5, a community activist, Rabbi Levi Goldenberg, said he was asked by a concerned parent to help get Kolko out of the community. He described the parent as “very anxious.”

    “They seemed afraid of the guy,” he said. “The women were very concerned, watching their kids and not allowing them out of their sight.”

    Goldenberg said there were no legal means to force Kolko out of Mesorah Woods, since Kolko’s plea deal with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office did not require him to register under Megan’s Law, the registry of convicted predators.

    “Maybe he did teshuva,” one resident told Goldenberg, “but let him do teshuva somewhere else.” Kolko was persuaded to leave Mesorah Woods and moved to the Pines Estates on July 12th.

    Sosnowik, the NYPD captain, was disheartened by the entire episode.

    “Kolko pleaded guilty to child abuse charges. He didn’t have to. He is guilty. If it’s good enough for the criminal justice system it should be good enough for us.”


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    75 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Guess where i WILL NOT be spending any time this summer

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    just another case of rabbonim shoving everything under the rug!!!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    i am taking my kids back to lakewood see ya

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    pretty brazen of him to be out in public

    Yudi's talmid
    Yudi's talmid
    14 years ago

    Yudi knows EXACTLY what he is guilty of. I often wish that he had been a terrible Rebbi and a low-life through-and-through – unfortunately, that was not the case. I believe it would have made things easier on his victims (and their fellow talmidim).

    However, he perpetrated many evil acts on innocent kids.. he CHOSE to stay in Chinuch, he CHOSE to continue to be exposed to kids, he CHOSE to continue to test his area of nisayon. He CHOSE to fail.

    Yudi, you did this to yourself. You were and still are sick. You could have gotten help. You didn’t.

    You will (deservedly) eternally be michutz la’machaneh.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    kolko is innocent
    some money hungry people decided to attack the good rabbi and torah temima

    PMO
    PMO
    14 years ago

    Kolko belongs in prison. He got lucky.

    At this point he belongs on a deserted island by himself. I wish him no harm. However, he is a child molester. Just because the parents were afraid their kids would forever be outcasts in the community if they testified, he should not be granted a normal life. He is a dangerous man and a rodef. He has no place in any community, anywhere. If he showed up here in FL, I would stand on his lawn and follow him everywhere he went announcing who he is until he moved away. Again, I don’t wish him any harm… just a quiet peaceful existence somewhere in a cabin on a deserted island would be fine with me.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    a torah aliyah? my god save is soul

    Reality Check
    Reality Check
    14 years ago

    We don’t have the bais hamikdash.
    We don’t have the sanhedrin.
    We don’t have Arei Miklat.

    May we be zoche to clarity very soon.

    Jack
    Jack
    14 years ago

    Chabdeihu V’cashdeihu but safeguard our children.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    They should paint this guys door red it will get him out of there quick enough I am surprised that the yeshiva is not working to get him out.

    a disgrace
    a disgrace
    14 years ago

    it is time he should be made to live in a community with old age people
    anyone that allows him near kids should be ashamed and has no right to call himself a rabbi

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    what a shame

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Let’s examine the Mesorah Woods issue for a moment. This individual does not own a home there. He was renting from one of the owners. There is a contract that exists that rentals require approval of the board, which is comprised of several of the owners of the colony. This approval had not been sought or obtained. When the matter was raised, it was discussed, and consultations were made with others. There was consultation with a Rav who paskened that he should be told to leave.

    Let’s just consider being a resident in the same colony. Mothers have justification to be fearful of his being in contact with their children. They do not need a conviction in court. Besides, the defendant pleaded guilty. Whether the offenses qualified him for Megan’s registry is an academic question, and no mother needs to answer it. The bottom line is that mothers were hesitant to allow their children to play as normal without physical supervision. Add to this all that he was the only adult male on premises in the colony all week. Does this look a bit different? There was no attempt to have him wear a scarlet letter. Just leave. He was persuaded. The contract that owners have might have been legal force, but it did not reach that point. he was asked to leave. He did so. No idea what occurred in Yeshiva or Pines Estates.

    kovnerdayan
    kovnerdayan
    14 years ago

    No Dayan paskened that He doesnt deserve full Viahavta liraiacha komochah ,just like all other yidden . Living next door poses no danger whatsoever .
    I would also tell my gabai to give a him kibud , Whatever was Im sure he suffered enough .
    Dont lose your olam haboh over this

    Avrohom Abba
    Avrohom Abba
    14 years ago

    I think Mr. Koko has a right to do teshuva after he admitted to doing terrible things. I think he is past those times and past those acts and past that way of thinking. He is not worse than the guys sticking their hands in public mailboxes to steal while wearing yarmulkes. He is also not worse than the guys who pay bribes to public officials.
    Each type of transgression is different of course, but to Hashem, we are all in need of doing teshuva.

    bar kamtzu
    bar kamtzu
    14 years ago

    THis reminds us of the story of kamtzu and bar kamtzu, where he was told to leave b’rabim. Im sure there must be a better way to tell someone to leave a shul instead of embarrassing him. Yes he does’nt belong between children, but PLEEEEEZ 2 wrongs dont make it right!

    das torah
    das torah
    14 years ago

    I don’t understant what happened to Das Torah, aren’t there Halochis how to deal with this matter,we all know what it says about embaresing someone in public,(what if Hashem forgave him when he did Teshuva)why all this Kitrug Erev Tishu Beuv.

    Informed Consent
    Informed Consent
    14 years ago

    It may be, that Rabbi Kolko never abused a soul – no clear cut evidence, no smoking gun, no indisputable video tape. This is usually the case in sexual abuse cases – thus making them so mysterious and challenging. Alas, the masses, place the burden of proof on the accused to prove his innocence, and when he fails to do so, although the court cannot convict, the general public has already made up their minds. Guilty.

    I believe that Kolko, fearing a prolonged trial of he said-she said, felt it would be in his best interest to plead down to a child abuse charge and limp away into obscurity.

    It seems to have slipped his mind, that in the court of public opinion, he has been hung. And rightly so! Who in their right mind, would allow a convicted child abuser near their children? Lo Sa’amod al dam Ray’echa trumps Ha’vey dan es kol echad l’kaf zechus. Kolko seems to have forgotten, that he cannot go back to his former life.

    Only one thing is clear, Hashem is giving this man a serious kapparah – especially if he is innocent. Be that as it may, everyone must understand that he can no longer be given the benefit of the doubt.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Kolko is certainly guilty, torah temima is guilty of covering it up. they knew for 30 years and blackmailed the parents into keeping it quiet. that fallsburg yeshiva would not condemn him puts them in the same boat. anyone who thinks he should be forgiven and not judged should see the damage he has done to the boys he molested lives. it was not a victim-less crime. it is way worse than stealing, he ruined lives, he was and still is a a danger to children- certainly should not be allowed near children or be given kavod.

    Oy Vey
    Oy Vey
    14 years ago

    I don’t know Rabbi Kolko, but, I do know that his name has been besmirched all over the internet and beyond.I would like to be dan l’kav zechus, because I am sure his life must be very miserable but, there is no smoke without fire. If he is innocent , he must have done something to cause this reaction to him. I don’t want to believe that an erliche yid could do things that he is accused of. I wouldn’t shun him, but, I would keep my children out of his way and warn them not to get close to him.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    something is wrong with most of the rabonim of today. they don’t seem to know right from wrong. the protect the guiltyy and throw the innocent to the wolves, be it child abuse, money laundering…not that dweck can be excused, but he must have felt that he was being condemned for his crime and the rabbis of his community were guilty of the same thing- fraud. kolko should not be counted in a minyan never mind given any kavod. he admitted his guilt and anyone who lets him near children is guilty of child neglect. those who accused him never saw a penny- just damaged lives…

    joe
    joe
    14 years ago

    what message are we giving our children by giving these type of people aliyot?
    i have heard that in some shuls they make a kiddush on shabbos for a released convict.
    a convict cannot vote. they should also lose the right to get maftir yona and other kibudim.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Any professional and any parent or adult with even a little knowledge of child sexual abuse knows that someone who has confessed to crimes and has been implicated in numerous other such crimes against children is at high risk to repeat. A child molester typically molests hundreds of children. It is extremely difficult to meet the criteria of having two adult witnesses, give warning, etc, and other halachic criteria.
    Pedophiles crave gratification in secrecy, doing what they do to children behind closed doors, when no adult is around, at summer camp, in the locker room, in the mikvah.

    In Far Rockaway, a non-Jewish man was arrested and accused of molesting a Jewish child in the mikvah on Roosevelt Court. There were no witnesses. The boy was special needs. The case was dismissed. Guess where the man still works?

    We are so ignorant–if you do not believe me, just read most of the posts above–that we are targets not only for informants like Dwek and drug smugglers and all sorts of con artists, we are targets through our naivete for pedophiles. How sad.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    it is high time we put together a special task force together from our own people who know how to do the right dedective work and work together with the rabonim and figure out how to prove if these people r guilty or not

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    most molestation accusation is the fantasy of the carefree thinker. a pity that so many people get taken down by anyone imagination. I work in chinuch and have dealt with about 800 children over the last ten years and I have never even met one child who was “damaged for life”, sure we’ve got pleanty of issues in our school as in any, but to call this a rampant problem in the frum community is a terrible overstatement. any type of problem we have is 1000 times worse ON AVERAGE by the goyim, every day we hear in the news about some teacher running away with a 10 year old and so on, by us its 1 in a milllion, far from rampant. stop distorting the facts and scaring people from their rabbaim & teachers. we are an am kadosh, & to deny that is to deny the essence of yiddishkeit

    Pinny
    Pinny
    14 years ago

    I applaud these people who had the courage to speak up. Some people are very ignorant on this issue and always take the side of the molester, either because they don’t believe it or he must have done tshuva. We are talking about someone who is accused of molestation by numerous victims gong back years. If only the stigma would not be there and the victims would be heard, not believed, just enough to do an investigation, a lot of kids would have been saved. It took one person years later to come out with a lawsuit only because he was pushed around and intimidated for years which lead to an investigation which uncovered that there are recent victims. For those who side with him because he did tsuvah. I hope he did and is doing tshuvah. Don’t you feel bad for him? He had suffered enough why let him suffer more? Advise him and other abusers not to be around humans. We know they are weak and can easily fall victim again. Can you imagine a bad little boy in the colony seducing him? With his weak heart he may fall victim again and give in to the Childs desire. And the bushas he will suffer all over again following such an event. These devils should not find a place in society where they could be victimized again.
    I just feel sick writing it.

    save our kids
    save our kids
    14 years ago

    Hundreds may be a stretch. But in most cases there were tens of children involved. One hundred has happened. So please don’t assume that someone else has not done their research and claim as much, when you are just lazy to do your own research…

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Bar Kamsa was a gangster, un-popular amongst his people and Rabbonim. He was a moisser!
    Yet Hashem destroyed the Bais Hamikdosh because of his public humiliation we will never learn from the past and unfortunately we are condemned year after year to repeat it.

    Moshe Phoenix
    Moshe Phoenix
    14 years ago

    I worked for a year with convicted sex offenders in an incarceration unit here in Phoenix at the state hospital. These are the vilest vermin on earth. Not one took responsibility for their crimes, blaming the victims most of the time. I heard that, “she came on to me”. The she was a five year old . Or “she/he consented”. The “consent”was given by a child to have sex, can you imagine such thinking? Statistically, a pedophile will have dozens, if not hundreds of victims before they are caught, convicted, and jailed. Look it up, I’m not exaggerating the magnitude. Also,even if the perpetrator does t’shuvah,which I am doubtful of, the victims suffer all their life. That t’shuvah doesn’t alleviate their pain. I believe that there’s a special Gehinnom for these child molestors and the people who protected them . We have to be aware of this problem, and deal with it effectively, to protect our greatest treasures, our kinderlach.

    jewinjerusalem
    jewinjerusalem
    14 years ago

    I will never give any kavod to Kolko or someone like him. At the same time, it would be nice if R’ Dovid Feinstein, or someone of his stature, were to issue clear guidelines how to act in the above situation. Perhaps it’s enough to warn him that he is not allowed to speak to anyone under 18 years of age. Or else. The man has to live someplace.
    I wish we would be half as worried about lashon hara as we are about him. Isn’t it objectively worse?

    surprising
    surprising
    14 years ago

    Many people would be surprised if I left my name with this email. Yudi kolko tried to molest me many years ago. I was a smart enough 11 year old to run away. I never talked about it whixh is one of the greatest regrets of my life. He is a sick man that needs help and our tefelos but we must not let him be put in nisyonis since he refuses to keep away from them himself

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    those who protect kolko are enablers and are just as guilty, if not more. marguiles should be removed from torah temimah. gorelick should be removed from fallsburg. if people cant see that the rabonim are covering it up, not condemning and threatening the victims and their families and they are allowing this problem to continue- they are worse than kolko- who is sick! a 6,7, 8 year old child could never make this stuff up, they would have no knowledge of such a concept unless it really happened!

    zvi
    zvi
    14 years ago

    when did he lose the din of RODEF? Certainly, the mothers were right!

    (this space is where I erased all the nasty things that I wanted to say but won’t because of VIN’s new policies. Kol hakovod to them for holding me back!)

    May I suggest that he find a home in West Virginia or Wyoming.

    formally
    formally
    14 years ago

    let me get this straight, someone calls out to warn people that a molester is in their mist, so what do the robonim do they give the molester a eliya.

    Lets change the story, someone walks into a shul and a person bangs on the bima and says, people we have a mosser amongst us, that bocher and his father who just walked in are mossers they are the ones who went to the police when so and so molested the boy and because of that he shamed that person’s family and shamed our community. (lets assume that the person was convicted and proven without any doubt he was guilty)

    I am ashamed to say, that boy and his father would not get any choved nor will he get an aliya and maybe shunned by the robonum and kick out of shul.

    Step back and do you see how sick this is, how stupid.

    Go in the future and your are by hasem , and he asks why should i let you in to heaven. You, say with a smile i followed your rules and the rebbies rules no matter what. Explain please hashem say, well i was very mochmer when in came to be a mosser I knew this person who was molesting underage children some boys some girl. However, even thought I knew he was doing serious damage and was doing an avera I pride myself in asking a my rebbie and since he said no, I did not do anything you say with a big smile. You where so happy you did not notice that hashem was about to blow. Hashem says, and how many more children suffered because you and your rebbi belived that not being a mosser was more important that protecting my beloved children.

    I do not know, all I know that the rebbe interpreted some posuk that being a mosser is the worst thing a person could be, even to protect children the esser of mosser trumps all. ( no matter what anybody wants to say show me in the Torah where it say not be mosser ever)

    Then all H**l brakes loose and Hashem screams, are you mental, are you stupid, why did I give brains to my people if you where not going to use and just follow any idiotic thing a rebbe says. first, if he could say something like that maybe, you should think his judgment is in error, no matter how holy he is he is still human.

    And if the rebbi says you should wear a skirt, and quack like a duck, would you do it? Would you, answer me would you?

    Would you?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    To all commenters

    Let me give the halachic point of view
    You accept wittness of a minor since adults dont do this in front of kosher witness
    It is enough a shem ra if its based on strong grounds
    You do whatever you need to protect the children based on above including dismissing the person from any service to the public not only melamed job
    You don”t accept Teshuvah to put him back to his job
    You cannot use the above bases to punish the person if your action is not important for the safety of children

    SEE Shoel Umeishif Vol 1 Cheilik alef simen 185
    SEE Maharashdam Yurei Deiu simen 141

    VERY CLEAR WITH NO 2 WAYS ABOUT IT

    Concerned Emma in Klal
    Concerned Emma in Klal
    14 years ago

    This is truly a crisis for this area. Kol Hamirachaim al H’achzarim, sofo L’hitachzer al harachamanim. This was Shaul ‘s downfall with Agog. BTH, what dos Dov Hikind say about it? He is after all the true champion of this cause.

    ahavas yisroel
    ahavas yisroel
    14 years ago

    wats the big issue? its not like hes the daycamp counselor. stop blowing things out of proportion it could be worse…

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Let thye facts be told,i was in the shul when this brave askan spoke .He had no malicious intent ,he spoke from pain ,to warn parents of the danger they face. There were 3 kollel men who went to Rabbi Wachtfogel after shabbos, they told us all the loshon horah there rebbe spoke on this yid,unashamed. They did not even call or have there Rebbe call to hear the facts. They were sent by thier rebbe to welcome Kolko to the community and apologize for this man’s actions and how thw yeshiva is behind him. Now that they face the heat they LIE,no problem ,Rabbi Wachtfogel heard from victims he told people from the community that he did and now they lie. If he did not know facts why get involved . AL ELEH ANI VOCHIYA, surely you would think they would show some humility and fear of heaven. START A CHAIN CALL OR BLOG OR EMAIL TO STOP ALL DONATIONS TO THEM IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO SUPPORTS THEM CALL ONLY THEN, WILL THE RIGHT THING BE DONE.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I just want to point out that it is parents responsibility to watch their children in the country. There are many people out there that can pose a danger to your child, whether you know about it or not. There are also dangers of allowing your children free reign in bungalow colonies, roaming and prowling. There are cars, maintanence staff, roads. There is danger everywhere. Instead of forming a little chatters circle, WATCH YOUR KIDS!! YES!! WATCH YOUR KIDS!! They are your responsibility! I have seen kids wander out of colonies onto busy roads (3 or 4 years old). I have nearly hit little toddlers who were sent out to play. I watched 7 or 8 year old boys try to break into the goyish maintanence mans bungalow. Don’t be naive or complacent. Be on guard, and don’t be selective about what you are watching and shielding your children from!