Tranquility Bay parents on attack

[Eliscu2]

:eek:

[Joel]

Edited: Wednesday, October 06, 2010

[Ursus]

I'd like to see the anonymity of the 'net' protected, but I almost hope these parents would get their wish. Let's face it....TB was one of the worst and if they do get their way, all that shit will come pouring out and it will have a much bigger 'audience' this time.

Well... this isn't the first time this case graced the public's reading roster. Previously, a lawsuit was filed against Tranquility Bay on behalf of the adolescent in question, Isaac Hersh. That suit was filed by friends and family which, incidentally, did not include his parents. After all, they sent him away in the first place, and were, apparently, quite unapologetic about said decision.

The case first splashed 'cross the New York papers in late March of 2008. At the time, there was even (very) brief mention of it in The New York Times:

City Room · March 25, 2008, 9:06 am

A battle has erupted in an Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager, Isaac Hersh, 16, who was sent by his family to a behavioral "boot camp" in Jamaica that his lawyer says has abused him. The boy's father, Michael Hersh, is chief executive of a large Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah; the boy, one of eight children, had been living with another Orthodox family in Texas.[/list]

Far and away the best coverage, however, in case anyone is interested, was by the New York Daily News:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

New York Daily News
Jewish family sues Jamaican reform school for troubled teens
BY Kirsten Danis · DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, March 25th 2008, 2:15 AM


Boys lay prone on stone floor at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica that has been called a concentration camp.


Isaac Hersh

A battle has erupted in the Orthodox Jewish community over a Brooklyn teenager sent by his prominent family to a behavior boot camp accused of terrifying abuse.

Isaac Hersh, 16, has been trapped since last summer at Tranquility Bay, a reform school on the island of Jamaica with a soothing name - and harsh discipline, according to the lawyer hired to try to get him out.

"It's a modern-day concentration camp," said Maryland lawyer Joshua Ambush.

Isaac's estranged parents sent him to the boot camp last year after luring him back to Brooklyn from his new home in Texas, court papers claim.

Isaac's twin brother, Sol, is panicked he's next to go.

"He's very worried about his brother. He's very worried about himself, too," said a friend of the family who asked to remain anonymous.

Tranquility Bay offers the promise of turning bad boys into focused achievers, but the walled-off camp with barred windows has been called a nightmare.

Children have been beaten, forced to eat their vomit and made to stand in painful contortions for hours, according to a separate suit filed in Utah by former students against private boot camps, including Tranquility Bay.

The case has so riled up members of the normally insular Orthodox community that several are taking the rare step of publicizing Isaac's situation.

One one side is Isaac's informal Texas foster family, who are also Orthodox, and their supporters, who prompted a nonprofit to file suit in Washington last week on Isaac's behalf.

They claim he was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of a job, handcuffed and thrown into a van that took him to the boot camp as he cried and begged to be released, the suit says.

On the other side are the teen's father, Michael Hersh - CEO of Brooklyn's huge Orthodox volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah - and his wife, Miriam.

"Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement.

The couple has a prominent supporter in Rabbi Aaron Schecter, head of Brooklyn's tight-knit Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, according to the suit.

It is unclear what prompted the parents to send Isaac to another country. Michael Hersh did not return a call for comment.

They had a troubled relationship for years, according to the suit.

Isaac, one of eight children, was sent to schools in Virginia and Long Island before the family moved to Israel in 2002, where the parents were accused of abusing Isaac, the suit says.

From there, the boys went to live with families in Texas, although the parents never lost custody.

"They're healthy, good, normal teenage boys," said the family friend.

[email protected]


© Copyright 2010 NYDailyNews.com.

[anythinganyone]

Why is it emphasised so much that they are a Jewish family?

[Samara]

You would have to be a total looney toon asswipe of a parent to send your kid to a behaviorial modification abroad.  Jesus. Talk about NO protection or chance of it. *shudders* I split CEDU. Mexico or Jamaica might as well be Mars.

[Ursus]

Comments left for the above article, "Jewish family sues Jamaican reform school for troubled teens" (by Kirsten Danis, March 25th 2008, New York Daily News):


Ras Natty-Uhuru - 9:28 AM · Mar 25, 2008

I am wondering if JAMAICA was part of George Bush's rendition program. It sound like Jamaica is no better than Egypt and Syria. Is the JAMAICAN Government receiving any subsidy from the US Government to run this facility?. "Ras Brother"

Yeshua - 9:36 AM · Mar 25, 2008

What did he do for his parents to take such drastic measures?

Yeshiva Man - 9:44 AM · Mar 25, 2008

I know Isaac (and his twin) very well as he has been to our home a few times. He is a kind hearted soul who has, despite a life of abuse, is one of the sweetes boys I know. As a parent, I am aghast as to how low a parent can stoop. Tranquility Bay is a under numerous investigations, and operates outside the US due to closures of its sister facilities in the US and other thirld world countries. A simple google search of "Tranquility Bay abuse" will leave you with hair standing. It reminds me of the horrors my grandparents went through in Germany!

cbs1578 - 10:49 AM · Mar 25, 2008

"Hatzalah will carefully monitor these proceedings, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations," the organization said in a statement. Im sorry but whats that got to do with thiscase? Hatzolah is an EMS agency that feels they are above the law to begin with - maybe Daddy and his boys club should start playing by the rules of society around here and stop treating his kids like they are objects for his disposal... such typical nonsense from there stone age thinking.

webber - 10:51 AM · Mar 25, 2008

Of course this is a situation involving Orthrodox Jews and they do have their own laws which bypass and are above the laws of whatever country they are living in. Muslims have simular laws

Aint_Haten_On_U... - 3:35 PM · Mar 25, 2008

of course they are ras. its jamaicas version of juvenile hall. only the abuses there would never be tolerated here hence the closing of their us facilities. you know something isnt right if other 3rd world countries have also closed their facilities. im sure the parents of isaac gave the bay a huge donation to do what they did. what i want to know is why the parents sent him away in the first place.my guess is he didnt want to follow hasidic laws and rules. what the family doesnt get it that he will be 17 soon and under ny law he will be old enough to do what he wants. what is also disturbing is under hasidic law he became a man at 13 when he had his bar mitzvah. so why is the family really doing this to him. ? i pray his foster family can help get him out of that place. and get him the help he is going to need once he does get out

VeeBee - 3:58 PM · Mar 25, 2008

This is what happens next: This young man survives "boot camp" then returns home mentally (and, perhaps physically) damaged from his ordeals at "boot camp." He tells his twin all that he's endured, then, he and his twin kill their parents but are found not guilty of murdering their parents because it was done in self-defense.

abruck - 6:10 PM · Mar 25, 2008

in response to webber: Never heard so much anti-semetic dribble in a long time: what about the other 249 non-jews in the same facility in Jamaica

Rachaell - 6:34 PM · Mar 25, 2008

I don't know where the photo of the "prone" students is from, but I have seen it on the internet before. Perhaps the photo is another "urban legend". I personally have spoken to students who have attended this school. I have met graduates of this school. It is not a boot camp, it is a school. None of the students that I spoke with reported any irregularities. In fact they were lovely young men and women who were now leading their lives. They were placed at Tranquility Bay because of a destructive path they were on and the people who loved them above all else, were unable to keep them safe from self destructing. There is always another side to a story isn't there?

RegularJoe - 6:36 PM · Mar 25, 2008

the parents couldnt control him so they sent him to a school in a 3rd world country and now they're complaining? NEXT

Rachaell - 6:47 PM · Mar 25, 2008

The parents aren't complaining, the foster family is.

BoroParkJew - 9:34 PM · Mar 25, 2008

Rachel, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!!!! This has nothing to do with young Isaac. The hatemongering posters have found an opportunity to bash Hatzalah AND the Hassidm, I promise you they don't give a damn about Issac (who let's not forget is a Hassid himself). It's not everyday that something like this comes up. Apparently the fact that there IS ANOTHER side to the story is totally irrelevant. And the fact that Hatzalah just hired this guy a few months ago seemingly without prior knowledge of this incident, means nothing to these idiot morons either. So please, don't interrupt theHassid-bashfest. Get the drift?

uberchristian - 12:36 AM · Mar 26, 2008

Lunatic, inbred hasidim are above the law in NY. I'm shocked the media was able to print a negative story on them. These things are always hushed up. the only other time I remember the hasidim getting negative press was when someone challenged their receiving federal funds to run a religious sect in upstate ny, seperation of church and state doesn't apply to them of course. Let the hasidim be a lesson to all ethnic groups on how to be above the US law. Stick together, keep your mouths closed to outsiders and anytime someone challenges you scream racism.

jktz122 - 9:20 AM · Mar 26, 2008

hey uberchristian ummmmm inbred ultra fundamentalist christian are above the law "you like that statement"? whats happened is probably the kid has adhd and/or aspergers disorder and the parents dont know how to deal with it so whats the big deal but a**holes have to make an anti semitic story out of it

BoroParkJew - 12:44 PM · Mar 26, 2008

Really, SHOCKING??? Every second day there are negative stories about the Hassidim, where the heck do you live and what papers do you read besides AM NewYork???------------------- I'm not even going to comment on the rest of your filthy words which surprisingly made it rough the Daily News filter.

BoroParkJew - 12:55 PM · Mar 26, 2008

You're not an anti-semite youre a class lower than that.------------ Now lets hear all the ex-cop "I lives/worked in the Hassidic areas and blah blah blah" stories.

djjone5 - 2:32 PM · Mar 27, 2008

rachaell you're an idiot. first off, Tranquility Bay is no a "boot camp" you're almost right....it's actually far worse. The prone students photo is taken from older photos of Tranquility Bay...another "school" run by the same company was shut down by Mexican Authorities for Human Rights Violations. I was also in one of these places and can attest to the fact that THEY ARE NOT SCHOOLS!! in fact, most kids that go, end up years BEHIND in their education. Look into the NYS court case against the Academy at Ivy Ridge (which was WWASP's ONLY "School") and all the fake diplomas they issued. These places are child abuse that is often unknown to parents, and severe brainwashing and psychological trauma. Do some research on it...unfortunately, somehow all the youth advocacy sites about this topic have been hacked into at the same time the last few weeks (hmmm coincidence that this happens around the same time congress has been investigating?---Oct 10th Hearing by the House Committee on Ed

webdiva - 3:14 PM · Mar 27, 2008

Wow I simply post a link about the truth stating that this has been going on INSIDE the US for years and YEARS and it get's removed. My brothers death was not in vain and it's a shame some people feel the need to censor the truth. You can read his story here

http://www.webdiva.org/straight/[/list]
Benthere - 12:12 AM · Mar 28, 2008

I am writing to you in regarding Tranquility Bay. My daughter was there for about a year and a half. Our daughter had always been a wonderfully talented girl and very close to her parents. However, as she entered adolescence she began making self destructive choices including being asked to leave two different schools. We were helpless. When we placed our daughter at Tranquility Bay, she did not like it and acted out in every way. However, she chose to settle down, become a positive leader and graduated the program at Tranquility Bay. I have pictures of her hugging the staff and she even chose to go back there after graduation to visit. While she was there we visited her many times and she was able to go to the beach with us. She also took the S.A.T. test and was accepted to the university of her choice. We saved our daughter's life and it is great to see her smiling, happy and healthy. Please don't distort the truth. Parents need to know there is help for their teens.

djjone5 - 8:32 AM · Mar 28, 2008

The "going back:" part is Stockholm Syndrome. I did the same thing. As for you "going to the beach with her" you must be the only parent in the 10 years I've spent researching these places that was afforded such a visit from a WWASP facility. Or, yet again, you're trying to skirt the facts of these places that abuses are rampant. It's not even something you can dismiss anymore now that it's been investigated by the government and proven to happen. You may be able to say "not to my child," which I highly doubt, but regardless of the reason, child abuse in any form is NOT THERAPEUTIC!!

Zetek - 10:16 AM · Mar 28, 2008

Hi. I am writing to you about the story that was in the daily news about Isaac Hersh. The story is a fabrication to the highest degree. I grew up with them and know them since I was a little kid. The parents never abused anyone and I would know since my own family took in 10 foster children from abusive homes over the years.

flossie - 3:14 PM · Mar 28, 2008

I have to agree with Djjone5....Rachaell you are a certified idiot and or a WWASPS spy put on this to say postive things about Tranquility Bay, which is sinful to even put the words "TRANQUILITY, BAY, AND POSITIVE" in the same sentence. In fact, I would love for Rachaell or any other person who thinks this school is a school to visit it or better yet let me set a vacation scene for you there...."Come to Tranquility Bay and view the beautiful sea and sniff the breezy air.....go ahead fill your lungs with the aroma of stank. Then enjoy a delicious 5 course dinner as you watch the sun set over the lovely concete wall. Enjoy drinks and snacks poolside and request the foot massage while lounging. May I also recommend the comfortable rooms with many amenities for your convenience. However, our policy requires you not look in a mirror for any longer than 5 seconds, and that spend at least one full day face down, in the dirt with your hands and feet chained to fence in which you will noti

WDtony - 5:24 AM · Apr 2, 2008

These programs are all BAD news. Some kids have sued their parents for placing them in programs and won in court. I hope this happens in this case. There is ample information online about how psychologically damaging these programs for troubled teens are. The methods are that of a cult and are purported as a cure-all for any bad behavior a kid presents as a reflection to the environment. This is just one example of thousands, why parents shouldn't be allowed to have their kids kidnapped, tortured and imprisoned at the hands of Nazi-like, mentally ill program directors.

© Copyright 2010 NYDailyNews.com.

[DannyB II]

Why is it emphasised so much that they are a Jewish family?

Have you been reading he is Jewish, his parents are Jewish, the people who were advocating for his release from TB were Jewish, the people who sued the parents originally were Jewish, the people taking care of the boy now in Texas are Jewish, the News Papers who are publishing the story are owned by Jewish people, the person reporting the story is Jewish and finally his parents and the lawyer that are presenting the current suit are Jewish.
Hope this takes care of the "emphasis" of the word Jewish.

[Ursus]

Why is it emphasised so much that they are a Jewish family?

Have you been reading he is Jewish, his parents are Jewish, the people who were advocating for his release from TB were Jewish, the people who sued the parents originally were Jewish, the people taking care of the boy now in Texas are Jewish, the News Papers who are publishing the story are owned by Jewish people, the person reporting the story is Jewish and finally his parents and the lawyer that are presenting the current suit are Jewish.
Hope this takes care of the "emphasis" of the word Jewish.

Probably also 'cuz he's from a "normally insular Orthodox community"...

[Yael Eshet Khever]

They're emphasizing his being Jewish because he's not just an ordinary Jewish kid, he's from a highly orthodox family belonging to the Hassidut movement. These people live extremely insular lives in communities that are often trying their best to segregate themselves and their kids from the outside world. Weird bunch.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

It also multiplies the irony.

You'd think that Orthodox Jews, of all the people in the world, would know better than to send their own kids to camps run by control freaks...

[Ursus]

A followup on Isaac Hersh's experience was published a few days after the above article came out. I gather he did not return to his parents' home...

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

New York Daily News
I was beaten & bound in boot camp, claims Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox teen
BY Kirsten Danis · DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Friday, March 28th 2008, 11:29 PM

A Brooklyn teen banished to a behavior boot camp in Jamaica by his family - sparking an internal battle among ultra-Orthodox Jews - is back in the United States after a showdown on the island nation.

Isaac Hersh, 16, landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Friday after his father was persuaded to let him leave Tranquility Bay, a private reform school.

"Relieved is not the word," said Zvi Gluck, a Queens financial worker. "The entire way home he was describing the atrocities that were happening there."

Gluck was one of a handful of Orthodox men who jetted to Jamaica on Wednesday to try to fetch the teen and was briefly detained until Isaac's father agreed to his release.

The ending capped a dramatic week when some members of Isaac's tight-knit community took the unusual step of publicizing his case.

The teen, who had been living with an Orthodox Texas family in an informal foster situation, had been brought back to Brooklyn by his parents last June and then shipped off to Tranquility Bay.

The family that had been caring for Isaac had no idea where he was until about three weeks ago - and became worried that he was living in a facility that has been accused of abuse.

Isaac told Gluck and others that he was beaten and forced to lie on a mat with his hands and feet tied as punishment for minor infractions.

The story so divided the religious community that Isaac's father, Michael Hersh, was forced to take a leave of absence from his job as CEO of Hatzalah, the large, Brooklyn-based volunteer ambulance corps. Hersh's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Friends of the Hersh family described Isaac as a troubled son who had clashed with his parents for years. Others described him as a normal teen. He is living in an undisclosed location while custody arrangements are worked out.

[email protected]


© Copyright 2010 NYDailyNews.com.

[SUCK IT]

It also multiplies the irony.

You'd think that Orthodox Jews, of all the people in the world, would know better than to send their own kids to camps run by control freaks...

For the uninitiated fornits reader, who is scratching their head at this comment, according to fornits mythology, treatment programs for adolescents are akin to WW2 nazi concentration camps. Now I've never been in a nazi concentration camp, but I did go to a holocaust mueum once, and comparing the treatment I went through to that is disingenuous to say the least, not to mention dismissive of the truly horrible experience the jews went through then. But this is about propoganda not accuracy for the fornits poster.

[Troll Control]

Isaac told Gluck and others that he was beaten and forced to lie on a mat with his hands and feet tied as punishment for minor infractions.

Yeah, this sounds like a vacation in paradise to me.  No abuse here.  Nothing to see.  Move along.

[DannyB II]

Isaac told Gluck and others that he was beaten and forced to lie on a mat with his hands and feet tied as punishment for minor infractions.

Yeah, this sounds like a vacation in paradise to me.  No abuse here.  Nothing to see.  Move along.

Yep and you just lap it up, there doggy.

[Ursus]

A bit of a twist to the story...

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

New York Daily News
Ponzi suspect got me out of hell - teen
BY Thomas Zambito · DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, September 2nd 2008, 11:57 PM


Youngsters lie on floor of boot camp in Jamaica. Isaac Hersh  (below) says Joseph Shereshevsky saved him from the camp by paying for flight back to New York.


A Brooklyn  teen once banished to a Jamaican boot camp has come to the defense of a businessman charged with scamming mostly Orthodox Jewish investors out of $250 million.

Isaac Hersh, 16, says accused swindler Joseph Shereshevsky paid for the private jet that whisked him out of Jamaica in March, freeing him from what he called a "living hell."

"If not for Joseph, I would have still been in hell," Isaac wrote to the Manhattan federal judge who will decide whether Shereshevsky should be released on bail. "I owe my life to him."

Isaac's family sent him to Tranquility Bay, a private Jamaican reform school last year, a move that sparked an internal battle among ultra-Orthodox Jews.

After 9-1/2 months, Isaac was freed in March when some members of the Orthodox community rallied to his cause. He claimed he was repeatedly abused and forced to lie on a mat with his hands and feet tied.

Shereshevsky's lawyer, John Meringolo, will ask a judge Thursday to release the Jewish philanthropist from Norfolk, Va., on $5 million bail. He is being held without bail.

Shereshevsky and a Chicago-based partner are accused of masterminding a Ponzi scheme that snookered some 1,200 investors across the globe, including some who toiled in Manhattan's Diamond District.

The feds say Shereshevsky, the son of a rabbi, drew upon the shared ties he and his investors have in the Orthodox Jewish faith to convince them to turn over their hard-earned cash.

Dozens of members of the Orthodox Jewish community in Norfolk have sent letters supporting Shereshevsky's release, including several rabbis.

His father-in-law has agreed to put up the deed to his Baltimore home and 10 others are willing to post some $4million in cash, Meringolo said.

"Mr. Shereshevsky's enduring and strong connection to the community indicates that there is no reason to believe that he will not appear before this court when required," Meringolo added.

The father of seven is asking to be kept on home confinement so he can continue supporting his family and a quadriplegic brother.

In his letter, Isaac said he was awakened in the middle of the night at his father's Brooklyn home by two burly men who handcuffed him and tossed him in the back of a car before forcing him to board a jet for Jamaica.

"They got me on a plane to the island of Jamaica and transported me to an inhumane facility where malnutrition, child abuse and mistreatment was practiced on a day-to-day basis," Isaac wrote.

Shereshevsky agreed to help. "Despite the fact that he never met me, he right away went ahead and paid for the jet [home] out of his own pocket," wrote Isaac, who now lives with an aunt in Brooklyn.

"I consider Joseph Shereshevsky a great individual and mentor and I strictly don't believe the horrific things being said about him."

[email protected]


© Copyright 2010 NYDailyNews.com.