Rabbi Who Cut Children: What if?

Rabbi who cut Children, What if he Were Muslim?: "
Rabbi Elior Noam Chen

A Rabbi has been accused by Israeli officials of burning and cutting toddlers as part of a purification ritual. These stories are ugly and cast a dark shadow on adherents of faith, but one clearly notices how this case is being treated as a lone wolf acting out of a misguided direction. The case is rightly being cast as an aberration and does not impugn all of Judaism as the source of this Rabbi’s criminality. One has to ask though, that well worn question: “what if he were Muslim?”

A self-appointed rabbi accused by Israeli officials of burning and cutting toddlers as part of a purification ritual will be extradited from Brazil, an official said Thursday.

Elior Noam Chen will be picked up Oct. 27 in Brasilia by two Israeli agents, a Brazilian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the case.

An Israeli embassy official also confirmed that extradition was imminent for Chen.

Chen and several of his followers allegedly used knives, hammers and other instruments to abuse children as young as 3 and 4 years old in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit in February and March 2008.

Chen allegedly hit the children in the head and face and burned their hands. One child sustained permanent brain damage and is in a vegetative state, according to Israeli officials.

In Israel, Chen faces charges of child abuse, violence against minors and conspiracy.

Brazilian police arrested Chen in Sao Paulo in June 2008 after a 45-day manhunt. Police have not said how or when he and his family arrived in the South American country.
[ed]: Note this is NOT an accepted Jewish practice, this "rabbi" was acting on his own extremist beliefs. Read the full article at the top link.

Posted by Rev. Jim Sutter at 10/22/2009
Taken from http://www.chasingevil.org/2009/10/rabbi-who-cut-children-what-if-he-were.html