The Haute Couture of Public Shaming

The other day I received an urgent email from a friend of a very good friend. He asked that I be made aware of an “urgent” email sent out by Vicki “Dingo” Polin of the “Awareness Center.”

Polin writes below a verse from Leviticus 19:16 – You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. Neither shall you stand idly by the blood of your neighbor. I am God – which defines the parameters of reporting another man’s actions. One should not be spreading baseless rumors, but, at the same time, if there is a critical situation, whereby someone’s blood is about to be spilled, or similarly dire circumstances, then you should do your best to intervene. And pray to God for inspiration and intuition, meaning, be sure your actions are for the sake of heaven.

Under that ambitious slogan, Polin is sending a blanket email with the subject: URGENT - Gafni and Worch Speaking in Chicago? Below which she states, in her unique version of the English language: According to a blog ran by Yori Yanover, Rabbis Marc Gafni and Hershy Worch are planning on speaking at a cafe in Chicago…I understand that the majority of Jews would not attend this function, the problem is that many unsuspecting, unaffiliated Jew's and non-Jews may attend.

Please call the "No Exit Cafe" to help verify that Marc Winiarz (AKA: Mordechai Gafni, and Hershy Worch are speaking. If they are, please WARN the owners of the cafe that both of these individuals have serious allegations of sexual violence made against them.

No Exit Cafe: (773) 743-3355

She adds links to her website, which I consider pornography under the guise of public service.

I wrote the friend’s friend:

The woman who sent you this email participated in the Oprah show in the 1980's where she accused the Jews of Chicago of belonging to a Satanic cult. She said she was forced to eat her own babies, which were the fruit of sex with her father. Go to my website for the full transcript, the video is to follow, I hope, soon. She and a small group of her allies -- there are not more than 4 or 5 of them -- have made it their task to destroy rabbis, whether they have a smidgen of proof or they don't. She is quoted by numerous White Power and Jihad websites, showing that rabbis are, indeed, "sexual predators" and "mind-manipulators." It is a mitzvah, in my view, to support her victims in any way possible.

One of her minions has attacked me personally, published the names of my wife and child online, published a list of my clients, urging people to call on them and convince them to stop advertising in my magazine. He urged people to report me to the IRS. He tried to torpedo a local event I was hosting, by sending anonymous emails to the participants, accusing me of terrible things.

I don't know much about Gafni, but I know my friend Hershy, and I support him as I will support all of my friends, without limit. That woman has attempted to destroy my friend with similar allegations, of being able to control the minds of females with a Svengali-like hypnotic power. The source was a dejected girlfriend who copied his hard drive and used private content plus her own embellishment to ruin him. At this point I don't even care to explain why the claim of mind manipulation is BS -- if you think it can be done, I say bottle it and sell it. In my view this Polin woman is the sick conductor of a witch hunt, and I am determined to stop her. For now, as far as I'm concerned, whenever she says it's night, it is day.

To which he responded:

Let me assure you that I don't believe in mind - control but yes I do recognize many charismatic figure including Rabbis who use their charisma for exploitation. My info. on Gafni does not come at all from Vicki Polin but from several other totally reliable sources (including his own admission of having committed many years ago what is now considered statutory rape of a minor). I have never heard of your friend hershy and i do not rely on Polin's website for info. The reason I sent this to you was my sense that maybe you did not know of Gafni's past and that you should know it - if you are hosting or promoting him in any way. I hope sending you this did not cause harmful agmat nefesh to you- I had no idea you had a history with the Polin website people.

To which I say:

According to my own sources, Gafni was 19 at the time, and the girl was 14, and they did not have sex as it was defined by the legal system at the time. Incidentally, he was not a rabbinical student at the time.

Do you really see merit in destroying him?

What about Polin's other most recent "call to action," against Peter Yarrow, of "Peter, Paul and Mary," who will be performing at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation next Saturday evening. According to her (atrocious spelling in the original), "Peter Yarrow plead guilty to taking immoral and improper liberties' with a 14-year-old girl back in 1970." Do you really endorse this?

Are you aware that Polin's allegations are highly prized by numerous anti-Semitic sites? Are you aware of the amount of hard-core pornography she has online, posing as information? Are you aware of her accusing the Chicago Jewish community of being involved in a vast Satanic cult?

Case after case on this terrible woman's website is rumor and innuendo, supported by nothing except the faulty judgment of some YU rabbis who have since abandoned her, but refuse to take responsibility for the horror they helped create. If anyone should be stopped, and by stopped I mean be brought to trial on charges of unmitigated slander, quite in line with the verse from Va'Yikra that she quotes in her email, it’s this horrible woman.