The Shunning of Lev Tahor: "Before the Cock Crowed."

Superior Court Justice Lynda Templeton alerted us yesterday to the fact that she had received in the mail, two magazines postmarked in Brooklyn, N.Y. and "sealed in clear plastic, one showing a cover story about the Lev Tahor. She did not unseal the magazines," we were told and I applauded her integrity. Apparently this was just one of three events where she felt that attempts had been made to interfere with the court proceedings and influence her decision and she reported that she had contacted the police about the matter.

I have no idea what this is all about,” said the judge. “I am extremely disturbed that anyone in support of the community or in disagreement with the community would send information to a judge,” she said, speaking slowly and deliberately. “I see this solely as an attempt to influence a member of the judiciary… It will not be countenanced.”
The other attempts included: "A person purporting to be a “paralegal and friend” of the Lev Tahor tried to contact the judge by phone in advance of Wednesday’s hearing. “I did not take the call,” Templeton said. “It is entirely inappropriate to contact any judge personally.”
Families involved in the dispute have gone public with “open letters” to the judge, emailing them to media outlets and posting them on websites.
I have not received any such letter nor have I read any such letter,” the judge said. SOURCE
What was very telling was my own assumption about the mail from Brooklyn, N.Y.  I had immediately assumed that the information that had been sent to to this judge was more of the same Lev Tahor bashing material that has had more prominence over the duration of their struggle. I silently congratulated her on letting the senders know that she would not entertain such actions. Justice is blind, I am told, and it was reassuring to hear her publicly state that she would have rejected all material, whether pro or against the community.

To my great surprise, when making my daily pilgrimage to the website of Miriam Helbrans, I saw that Miriam had posted a feature story that had been done recently on Lev Tahor.  The story had been published by AMI magazine and checks of phone numbers showed that they do have an office in Brooklyn, N.Y. I have not yet read the articles but it is obvious that this is the product of an investigation that did not have as its intention, the unquestioning support of, whether by action or inaction, the vilification and shunning of Lev Tahor. Is this the story that had been sent to Judge Templeton?

AMI describes its mission:
Ami Magazine, a weekly publication distributed world-wide, sets a new standard in Jewish media. Ami Magazine offers readers investigative and intriguing features as well as intriguing, inviting, and professional columns. The AMI umbrella includes Ami’s flagship magazine, containing timely news and opinion;...
AMI MAGAZINE HAS ITS FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE JEWISH WORLD: We bring unique and fresh perspectives on issues that matter to our readers, from community issues to happenings on the international scene. Ami does not shy from presenting diverse viewpoints on important matters. We aim to inform, inspire, and provide worthy food for thought to the Jewish community.
NEWSWORTHY FEATURE STORIES: Ami Magazine brings Jewish journalism to the next level: investigative yet respectful and well-written articles on topics that concern the Jewish people. Our readers find fresh topics weekly, along with news and features spanning a broad spectrum. SOURCE

I will soon be reading the articles included in this issue and I will comment on them as I read. Those with an interest in the case, should visit the website of Miriam Helbrans and take the time to read these articles because, in my opinion, the coverage of this story had been shockingly biased thus far. 

I am seeing that there are a total of five articles about Lev Tahor in the issue:

J'accuse! The unjust persecution of a group of pious Jews, and the unsettling silence of the Jewish community. By Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 159-172.

We are all one family: Lev Tahor included. By Bernard Fryshman, Ph.D. | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 172 - 175.

The Director: A conversation with Denis Baraby. | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 176-179

The Lev Tahor Spokeman: Ariel Yosef Goldman | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 180-186

The Immigration Attorney: Guidy Mamann | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 188-195.

When I first heard about this case on March 5, 2014, I had begun reading backwards in time to get a better idea of its history and the thing that struck me was the silence. Yes, there was the media flash and frenzy. We accept that reporters are often deficient and sometimes the pawns [willingly or unwittingly] of powerful forces beyond our ken but I have to thank them for showing up, recording the events, petitioning the courts for hidden information, and getting the facts made available to them and some versions of the story out to us. Yes, a few tackety boots might have felt a hankering to march and there was also that rattling of pitchforks by the ordinary folk wanting a speedy resolution of the "problem" and an even speedier return to daily somnolent enjoyment of their hard-won "rights and freedoms". But the SILENCE screamed and it caught my attention and I addressed it here under "There's A Kind of Hush." Perhaps, I also was partly under the spell of this silence's thrumming as  there was much more that I refrained from saying, not wanting to arrive at any hasty judgements about the community in Montreal and their situation but perhaps at a later date, I will have that important fireside chat with myself. This silence though is what shocked me the most and the thing which at times made the savagery, as painful as that has been to witness, more of an undertone.  I am seeing from the title of the first article by Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter, that this silence has been noticed by others and I am going now to read his opinions.


THE PREDICTION
31 Then Jesus said to them, 
“You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”  
33 Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.”  
34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, 
you will deny me three times.  
35 Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” 
And so said all the disciples. 
---Matthew 26:31-35

THE BETRAYAL
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”
71 When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders,
This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter,
Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.”
74 Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!

At that moment the cock crowed.

75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said:
Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

And he went out and wept bitterly.
---Matthew 26:69-75

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