[COMMUNICATED]
“I couldn’t believe this was happening right around the corner from me…”
These were the dumbfounded words of Mrs. S, a young mother of 2 living in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Jerusalem. Mrs. S sends her son to a cheder in Sanhedria Murchevet, and was shocked to see video footage recently released by Rav Yizchok Berkowitz.
The security camera footage showed multiple cases of children being abducted and assaulted in the Sanhedria area, just a block away from Mrs. S’s son’s school. The videos were not released, of course, with the intention of ‘shock value.’ They have been shown to the public to highlight a community problem, and to highlight a solution. How the rabbanim came to discover this problem and begin to solve it is fascinating:
In 2018 the neighborhood of Sanhedria was overwhelmed by Friday night robberies. And so, several individuals, including Rav Yizchok Berkovitz, joined together to install security cameras on the street. What they saw was something far darker than robbery: Children were being picked up by pedophiles in broad daylight.
“Perhaps Hashem had sent us the burglaries, for the sake of being able to discover. Throughout the week, all sorts of individuals from outside the neighborhood are driving in and did awful things to children,” says Rabbi Berkowitz, in a direct video address. “We had absolutely no awareness of anything like this going on.”
Perhaps more surprising than the discovery of the assaults themselves was the fact that the cameras seemed to work. Awareness of the fact that the streets were being recorded caused a massive decrease in reported incidents. Those that did occur included evidence such as license plate numbers, and have led to arrests.
Unfortunately, the cameras are expensive to maintain, and funding them has been a community effort. Some months, the cameras have remained off. Rav Berkowitz, Rav Morgenstern, and Rav Soloveitchik have officially named their effort ‘Jerusalem Eye,’ and are raising money to keep the cameras on, increase the surveillance to further neighborhoods, and continue to keep the children of Jerusalem safe.
Readers can join them on this important mission by donating via The Chesed Fund.
There is a documentary about the entire story with interviews from Rabbonim, therapists, parents of victims, and the police.
why does Pinzel need 1 Million dollars for this project?? why does it cost so much?
There are 2 clearly different things that this money is going toward. One is the upkeep of the current cameras in Sanhedria Murchevet. The other is the installation of a similar network of cameras for Ramat Shlomo (which incidentally has a much bigger area to cover).
Hope this clarifies.
If my post does not go through it’s the last time I view this site as Matzav removes things they feel are detrimental to their bottom line even if true.
This campaign is sketchy to say the least. In last weeks post they raised and spent a fortune on the cameras and instalation BUT need 1 million for upkeep lol!!!!!!. Now the request is to pay for installation!!!. Its way out of proportion campaigns that turn ppl off.
Wow, I’m impressed thank you for posting my comment I’m shocked!.
The video doesn’t show anything that they are claiming
The footage WAS shown containing abuse, and EVERYONE was able to see it. However, it was edited to the virtually nothing that you see now because victims came forward and asked that their privacy be respected.
To Jacob:
On what basis are you saying that the requested funds are more than necessary?
Placing cameras and monitoring them over large areas would seem to be costly and apparently seem to be necessary here unfortunately.
It would be a shame to turn people away from contributing to a worthy cause based on unfounded statements that are not backed up.
Show me news reports of people arrested for child abuse that mention these cameras
So no news reports about it means it doesn’t exist? Are you telling me that all people getting arrested for child abuse etc. end up on the news???
If it prevents one child from being abused, which basically means being affected for life, then it is worth a billion dollars.
Documentary of the entire saga
Part1
https://vimeo.com/383637929
Part 2
https://vimeo.com/383637929
Matzav please post this as it is very important for people to be aware of and to finally stop brushing things under the carpet.
Thank you
The current situation is not connected at all with what was spoken about in the documentary. It is sad and true but different.
@Anonymous. I can be wrong, however they have made conflicting statements a week apart. And as I said last week, if these was not fluffed then post a video with marked out faces that actually backs up their claim, and they shouldn’t have an issue raising funds. Many campaigns today sound more and more unbelievable, and 1 million dollars to upkeep cameras? Is this a campaign for the next 10 years….. when you push too much……..
There has been no conflict of statements. There are 2 clearly different things that this money is going toward. One is the upkeep of the current cameras in Sanhedria Murchevet. The other is the installation of a similar network of cameras for Ramat Shlomo (which incidentally has a much bigger area to cover).
Hope this clarifies.
Dont confuse my statements. I’m in no way saying what they allege isnt real…
R’ Berkovits asked that this be publicized, as he addressed the campaign this past Friday.
Rabbi Berkovits clarified that this is not specifically a Sanhedria Murchvet issue, and that Sanhedria Murchevet is actually extremely safe now thanks to the cameras. He decried the sensationalism that has been attached to the campaign.
See his addressing this issue (this past Friday) here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14kmNtLzzcqovIDQAJCay9BISz9ao_SI2/view?usp=drive_web