Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

Fifteen years ago my righteous daughters were cruelly taken from Bnei Brak to Italy, where they systematically tried to turn them against their religion. My eldest daughter was thirteen years old and her sister was nine years old. They received an excellent Jewish education in the wonderful schools of Beis Yaacov. But they were taken to the ultimate heresy. My story was serialized in AMI MAGAZINE and then published as a book titled: TO MY DAUGHTERS WITH LOVE / GITTY GOLD For the past fifteen years I have been providing physical and emotional support to women abused by their former husbands, powerful and the wealthy men , who try and sometimes succeed in gaining custody of the children for various reasons and mainly manipulating the courts in the worst possible way, claiming their wives are insane or lack parenting skills. Time after time I have flown to places to try and prove the innocence of women, who in most cases have never had mental health problems. Their great distress stems from the fact that their parental rights have been undermined. They simple want to keep their most precious possession - their children. This is almost always the same woman in different circumstances;" I meet an intelligent and warm woman, without any economic support to back her in her struggle, her entire world destroyed. Hanging on any shred of hope that might overturn this evil decree, maybe G-d will help and this will not happen. Maybe there will be messengers that will redeem her and her children from their suffering. From the pain of separation, the incitement and destruction from that status.

Yael's story
There is an unfortunately young lady - the mother of two young children of the age of 4-5 who cries bitterly. Yael cries for her children. She is fully aware that she is suffering from one of the worst possible tragedies. Not only is she an agunah without the clear prospect of receiving a Get but even more painful is that her children have been cruelly taken away from her by her husband. He not only deserted her but has deserted Yiddishkeit to which he was raised. He has changed his language, dress and food. The children's father has thrown off all commitment to Heaven and he lives a hedonistic life in London as the manager of two restaurants and performs as a magician. This disgusting man visited me in my home with the appearance of a tzadik and requested my help to return his children to England. He claimed that his wife had run away with the two children and he greatly missed them. . This shameful husband had the chutzpah to come to me in frum dress - a bright white shirt and black pants, large velvet kippa on his head and tzitzis flapping in the wind. This disgraceful husband had the arrogance to ask from Rav Rosenberg my husband a heter to go to the secular courts with the claim that the mother kidnapped the children and hadn't returned them to their home.
1

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

This disgusting husband came to ask from beis din a decree to prevent Yael and the children leaving Israel so they couldn't escape. I spoke by phone to Yael and explained to her the seriousness of her situation. I tried to convince her to return to England with the children and have a proper judgment so she could have the kids on a legal basis. The husband already returned to London where he had a job waiting. He was certain that Yael would not escape and he was confident that he would win the court case since his uncle from Canada had offered to pay all legal fees while Yael didn't even have the bare minimum of money for a lawyer. Yael had a job working as an assistant in a nursing home and was only with great difficulty able to pay for the necessities of the family. Obviously she had no money for a lawyer. I tried to help her get an agreement with her husband that would to remain in Israel near her parents. It soon became obvious what was happening and the husband completely gave up religious observance. He started living with a non-Jewish woman and obviously had no interest in returning to his wife. He also had no intention of giving her a Get. The husband's mother worked in an important position in Chinuch Atzmoi while his father was in kollel truly righteous people. They sat with me for many hours and they told me the following story. They truly loved Yael their daughter in law and viewed her as a good person and devoted mother. In contrast their son had always been problematic and become a bum when he became a teenager. In fact his Canadian uncle had paid for his education as a magician so that he would have parnossa. In contrast Yael was a seminary student before they were married and her teacher suggested the shidduch. In seems that her teacher's husband was a shalom bayis counsellor who had been dealing for many years with the husband's parents marital problem and had been successful in keeping them married. As a result Yael's husband had never experience a normal family. As a result he wanted to get away from his family in order to openly reject religion which he viewed as the basis for the marital problems. The only reason that he hadn't was simply that he need the financial support he was getting from his parents. Consequently the parents were happy that the young couple should fly to England and thus not damage the shidduchim of their other children because of the public knowledge of the rejection of religion by their magician son. In the meantime Yael became pregnant twice and gave birth to a son and daughter. However this served to further alienate her husband from her and his children. The husband had a strange schedule. He would perform as a magician at night and then would sleep the next day until 5 p.m. He would then organize his day. The years passed without their forming a true Torah household or even a meaningful family. Eventually Yael realized that there was no hope for her husband and that he would continue to deteriorate and that they would never have a normal life together. Her only valid option was to return to her parents so that her children would at least receive proper education in Israel and she would have the full support of her family. This would solve all the major problems.

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

While Yael wanted a divorce but she did not want to live in England where she was alone without support and didn't even speak English and had no clear way of supporting herself. Furthermore she was concerned of legal action against her to take her children away from her. Yael ran away a second time. At that time I had published an article in Ami magazine describing some of my cases. As a result of this article, Yael came to see me in tears. She did not have the strength to go back and she was deathly afraid that she would lose the custody of her children. She had simple run out of options and had no idea what she should do. I was forced to take a lawyer in Israel and one in England as well as opening a file in the beis din of the Rabbinute in order to try and obtain a Get for her, custody of the children and support. At the same time I was forced to deal with the enormous expenses to deal with the problem of the violation of the Hague Conventions with the requirement to return the children that she had snatched away from her husband. The judge ruled that Yael must return to England with her children in order that there be judgment by the court their regarding custody. The husband was required to prove in court that he had obtained a normal apartment for them and had paid the rent for a year. By an incredible miracle I succeeded in obtaining proof that this apartment was in fact not fit for habitation. Her husband had produced fraudulent papers in court. In fact this apartment was being renovated and it was obvious that this would not be a fit place to live for Yael and her two children. I flew to England to talk to the husband. I found his current residence. I dont believe it. . He is living with a non-Jewish woman in a house registered in her name and lives with Goya and no attempt was made to conceal the fact! Registered in the name and not even try to hide the fact. When I pressed the intercom to be able to enter the building, he opened the main door. But when I pressed the bell of the apartment he refused to open. I drove away from there to beis din. My goal was to refute the husbands claim that there was an open file for divorce in beis din in London. Because of his this claim he said he was not willing to come to divorce court in the Israel. The whole thing was a blatant lie. I received a document signed by the secretary of the London beis din that there was no open file for the couple to obtain a divorce. The dayan called the husband and asked him to appear in beis din. He refused, claiming his rabbi will not let him to talk with me. This is totally absurd! With the approaching deadline for submitting documents to the court, the lawyer demanded first of all we remove the financial obligation that had been decided in previous judgments debt and only then to submit the documents to the Family Court.
3

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

If you want to appeal to the District Court - with the fee according to the customary rates in England - there is the necessity of first obtaining a civil divorce court and then they discus custody arrangements. Ladies and gentlemen, these are life and death issues! Lawyers are not prepared to even start the process until all previous fees have been paid. And of course the poor have no money. Fifteen years in Italy my daughters lived with their father who had become a Catholic. Today they have no interest in returning. But Yael's children could still be saved. The problem was that we lacked the money to pay lawyers, they threatened to cease representing Yael but I did not have more sources of funding. I had already contacted everyone I know without success. I decided to fly to Vienna to try to raise money from the women of the community for Yael. My friends organized a number of lecturers in which I told my own personal story which ended in tragedy when my daughters were taken from me. I also told the story of Yael and these righteous women generously contributed to help pay for her lawyers.

Beth Schlesinger's story

At the end of one lecture a young woman approached me and told me the story of Beth Schlesinger a story that the entire community of Vienna knows very well but no one is able to intervene. She asked me to try to help Beth get custody of her twins cruelly taken from her by concocting her husband [falsely claiming he was a psychiatrist] who claimed she was insane and unfit to raise her children. Everybody in Vienna knows that's not true, but the husband has been supported by a number of rabbis and a close friend of the judge. Since then I have returned to Vienna several times to try to connect the puzzle of the Schlesinger family. Hearing evidence of community members I met personally and from conversations with friends of Beth, as well as meetings with Beth and the children, I uncovered a few facts. Beth, a young, intelligent, pretty, thirty year old, has suffered a humiliating and trying ordeal. All the while the people around her are fully aware of the injustices done to her and are unable to help her uncover the truth. They are afraid!!! Everyone who spoke to me painfully told me how much they sympathized with Beth, know that she is 100% innocent and her children were impeccably well cared for by her, but they implored me in every way possible not to get involved in the story and not to ask them to testify because they were afraid, because their husbands did not allow them to intervene, or they had already been threatened more than once; if they help Beth, their lives are in danger. Religious men and women and even Rabbonim shared with me their distress and a sense of powerlessness knowing that nothing could be done. They received threatening phone calls and emails that if they helped Beth, their reputations would be ruined in the community and they would be forced to remove their children from the Jewish schools.
4

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

Had I not heard this for myself from serious people, I would have suspected they had made it up. It sounded so absurd. A whole community knows and is aware of a grave injustice and all stay silent??? I met Beth and the children. I brought them a kindergarten level book about Shabbat as a present, with colored pictures of the Shabbat table with bright script. I sat with the children while they lay in Beths arms and tried to read them the story, to interest them in the nice pictures and try to elicit some kind of reaction from them. I spoke to them in Hebrew, Yiddish and English, words recognizable to any Jewish child that goes to kindergarten; Shabbat candles, challot, kippa. They both stared at the pictures but it was clear that the words were alien to them. They held on to their mother, clinging to her sweater. The only words I heard from them were sounds when I managed to really make them laugh or tickled them. They did a nice activity together but the interaction was mainly just between the two of them We were together for a few hours, both inside and outside the apartment. The children ate meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with rice Beth that Beth had made for them with love and care. We played together and went to the park on bikes. The children interact naturally with their mother but it is difficult to recognize any speech. They are not developed for their age. They only mumble a few syllables in baby talk. The separation from their mother is evidently difficult for them. In order not to make it even more difficult for them, Beth takes them to the park and the visiting center on their bikes; a meeting place with the father which involves traveling an hour away from where she lives, even though the father lives nearby. What a waste of 4 year old childrens energy, to be dragged by bus to a distant place. This story is delusional. I saw a devoted mother who treats her children with love, warmth, who showers them with the love of a mother. I cried together with her. Together we tried to hold back the tears when it was time to return them. I was there. I saw with my own eyes. I cried with her. The world calls out when a cat is taken away or a chicken from its pen but Vienna, an enlightened community of 5774 remains silent while Beth was wickedly separated from her children. I met Beth and the kids again. The heartbreaking picture repeated itself. I took another member of the community with me as a witness. I wanted someone else to see what I saw. This injustice cries to heaven. I wanted someone else to see what irreligious men and women and even Rabbonim shared with me their distress and a sense of powerlessness knowing that nothing could be done. They received threatening phone calls and emails that if they helped Beth, their
5

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

reputations would be ruined in the community and they would be forced to remove their children from the Jewish schools. Had I not heard this for myself from serious people, I would have suspected they had made it up. It sounded so absurd. I asked to interview Beth's friends from the past, those who were her friends when she was married to Dr. Schlesinger and betrayed her. These religious women admitted that they played a role in taking the children away. Either through naivety or stupidity, they were manipulated by the Schlesinger family and spread around that Beth had post natal depression and couldnt function. They wanted to help him get custody the children. They were young and naive and didnt understand how brutal this game is. The community has known him since childhood, Beth is the outsider. Are these grounds enough to separate a devoted mother from her children? It was explained to me how this reality came about. The judge who decided the fate of the Schlesinger children is a friend of the judge on the case. Konstanze Thau is a friend of the father!! A High court judge who is a convert to Judaism and doesnt keep Torah and Mitzvos. At the Bar mitzvah of her son nobody from the religious community was present except for one Rabbi. I met him and talked with him for a long time. The Rabbi assured me that he is not involved in the matter concerning family Schlesinger but lo and behold, he is the only member of the community that is in contact with Konstanze Thau. This judges husband is a psychiatrist who works in the same hospital where Dr. Schlesinger worked! I also found out that every lawyer that has hired to represent her custody case has quit without any explanation. I have been told that it doesnt matter what the reality is, its irrelevant what the facts are, it doesnt matter how much the children are suffering, everyone in Vienna knows that nothing can be done. They will continue to support the father, despite believing the mother. Since then I have returned to Vienna often. On Chanukah the mother was told that there was no Chanukah party in the kindergarten even though there was. The mother was denied entry. An entire community, living, breathing and silent.

Rebbetzin Miriam Rosenbergs Letter

Religious mothers tell their children a bedtime story, tuck their children into their blankets and give them a goodnight kiss. Beths kids are not as lucky. They are looked after by 2 Filipinos On Simchat Torah, they were not with the father in the synagogue, but the rabbis backing him claim he cares for them wonderfully, that the children speak 3 languages and they are thriving! They have even submitted a written statement with these claims to court! I saw with my own eyes ... that's not true. In the Vienna community religious women know the truth and are afraid to speak out. At one of my talks, I gave Beth the opportunity to speak. She is a wonderful, warm and sensitive woman. She is going through an unbearable test. I hope that soon we will celebrate her redemption. And her children will be returned. In sorrow Miriam Rosenberg Hebrew Original Below