​Yeshivah College (Melbourne, Australia) Board Member and co-Chair, Dr Debbie Herbst, has published the following open letter to the Yeshivah community:
                                                                                                   
​Dr Debbie Herbst
Erev Pesach 5778

​
Dear Friends,

For those of us who love and belong to the Yeshivah community, the last few years have been difficult and often painful. Our community has been on a journey of revelation, recovery, healing and growth that has at times not been easy. Tomorrow night when we will all sit down at the Seder we will begin telling the story of our collective journey out of Mitzrayim. Pesach is about freedom not only from physical slavery but freedom from limitations and constraints. We are enjoined to transcend the limitations, the metzarim, that hold us back and limit growth. It is a time for individual as well as communal growth and escape from that which has been holding us back.

Leadership and children are two essential themes of Seder night and of Pesach. Moshe Rabbeinu is the quintessential and archetypical leader chosen for his care of every one of his flock whilst carrying the responsibility of the entire nation. The Seder puts children very much front and centre to the point that most of what we do at the Seder is predicated on arousing the interest of the children and engaging our youth.

Leadership and children.

When I stood for election to the Board of Yeshivah Beth Rivkah Schools in 2016, I did so because I wanted to be a part of another journey. I wanted to serve on the Board, not because it is easy; I knew it would be hard. Some of you will recall that I promised, if elected, to be part of ‘A Board that Cares’ and I have tried my utmost since taking a seat on the Board to live up to that commitment.

An intrinsic part of Yeshivah’s growth and healing requires us to honestly address our past mistakes as a community and learn from them. We have done well to engage with processes such as the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and to listen to their findings. As a member and Co-Chair of the Board I tried to make it a high priority to ensure we continued to work towards best practice in governance, child protection and complaints handling.

I personally sat and listened to Justice Jennifer Coates as she spoke about the centrality of governance and leadership in child safety. The first of the child safe standards overseen by the Commission for Children and Young People relates to governance. Strong and clear governance arrangements allow leaders to ensure child safety is a focus within their organisation. I believe that this includes leading from the top and embedding a culture that makes child safety paramount. I believe that a culture of child safety is more than having a set of policies and procedures in place. It’s an attitude that is built into everyday thinking and practice within an organisation and is the best defence against abuse. Of note the last of the standards relates to the involvement and empowerment of children.

Leadership and children.

After serious reflection, it is now my belief that I will better be able to advocate for Yeshivah’s advance towards these goals from outside of the Board. It is this conclusion which led me to resign my Board positions last week.

I remain absolutely committed to the well-being of our Yeshivah community and to the welfare of each individual within it. My resignation from the Board in no way signals the end of my involvement in, advocacy for and service to Yeshivah and I look forward to doing so for many years to come.

I will continue to advocate for Yeshivah to apply the recommendations in the final Report of the Royal Commission, in conjunction with the ten Child Safe Standards that were developed by the Royal Commission for use in all institutions dealing with children throughout Australia.

Included among those recommendations are the following:

Recommendation 16.45

“...each religious institution should ensure that all people in religious or pastoral ministry, including religious leaders, have professional supervision with a trained professional or pastoral supervisor who has a degree of independence from the institution within which the person is in ministry”.

Recommendation 16.51

“All religious institutions’ complaint handling policies should require that, upon receiving a complaint of child sexual abuse, an initial risk assessment is conducted to identify and minimise any risks to children”

Recommendation 16.30

“All Jewish institutions in Australia should ensure that their complaint handling policies explicitly state that the halachic concepts of mesirah, moser and loshon horo do not apply to the communication and reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse to police and other civil authorities”

In light of the trauma and violation experienced throughout our community in recent years - by children, parents, staff and whistleblowers - and also in light of the journey of healing and growth our community is now undertaking, I hope that Yeshivah strives not just to meet, but to exceed, the recommendations and requirements of the Royal Commission and of the law. We should aim for best practice governance, and a culture, that serves as a model for others.

I would like to thank all the dedicated staff and volunteers and parents who give of themselves for the benefit of our children. To those of you who have supported me with your votes, your advice, your mentoring and your kindness during this time, thank you. I trust I have not given you any cause to feel it was misplaced.

Chag Kasher VSameach, A Kosher n Freilichen Pesach.

We should all merit true freedom and redemption this Pesach.

Dr Debbie Herbst

‘[I]n light of the journey of healing and growth our community is now undertaking...’. Really? Doesn’t look to me like there’s much healing or growth, no matter how many times people within Yeshivah speak about it. There is no ‘healing’ if the people who have been hurt don’t feel it and no ‘growth’ if (Rabbis) Chaim Zvi Groner and Telsner are still involved in the Yeshivah leadership.

As I recently noted on my personal Facebook page:

Let no one forget that Melbourne's Yeshivah Centre continues to behave in the most disgusting ways. Just because it's no longer being constantly highlighted publicly, doesn't mean they've changed their immoral ways. Despite their repeated public pronouncements, their disgraced (Rabbi) Telsner is still their senior rabbi. He continues to be the religious leader of this community - just last weekend he gave the traditional Shabbat HaGadol sermon, an honour given to the head rabbi. This disgraceful institution continues to wreak havoc in the lives of their innumerable victims. And by repeatedly lying and keeping him in his role, they continue to put children in harm's way (by his words and deeds, he is an enabler of abuse). I'm now convinced that this institution should just be shut down.

It is my view that any Yeshivah board that continues to employ the services of (Rabbi) Telsner is illegitimate. Moreover, (Rabbi) Groner's life tenure on their Board is also untenable. This is why, months ago, I severed all ties with the Yeshivah Centre and College leadership. 

​I’m now in a position to provide a further update regarding the vicious physical assault against the father of an alleged victim of child sexual abuse and advocate that transpired in the Bait synagogue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during celebrations of the festival of Purim (see below for my initial Facebook post).

Recently, the physical assault victim had a meeting with the Jewish Federation in Sao Paulo, Brazil (and others). The Federation President, Mr Luiz Kignel, made it clear to the assault victim that he has two options in how to deal with the physical assault matter: either through the police or through the Federation. And if the victim proceeds with the police case, the Federation will not be able to assist him in the matter. Mr Kignel also made it clear that, despite acknowledging that there is an issue of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community, he believes that this needs to be addressed within the community in “the Jewish way” (taken to mean quietly, within the Jewish community, rather than publicly).

To summarise: The senior Jewish leadership in Brazil that is involved in this case is now putting pressure on a victim of physical assault in a synagogue, who is alleging several cases of child sexual abuse and their subsequent cover-ups  (with compelling evidence), not to pursue a criminal matter against his vicious attacker and those who facilitated the attack (security officials, including the head security official of the Federation itself). This, despite their acknowledgement that this attack indeed took place.

It’s important to note that initially the Federation attempted to cover up their involvement in the physical assault, despite having seen the surveillance footage. They were left with no choice after the victim himself provided unequivocal evidence to them at their recent meeting - while the victim didn’t have access to their video images, he had his own evidence, which clearly proved the Federation’s involvement in the assault. Had the courageous victim not had the evidence, it’s safe to assume that the Federation’s response would’ve been even poorer.

Mr Kignel also made it clear that they will not work with the assault victim in his efforts to address the issue of child sexual abuse within his jurisdiction, including implementing prevention initiatives (which the victim is trying to do, and which currently don’t exist there), if he continues to address the issue of child sexual abuse more broadly in a public manner (the victim arranged an interview for me on a local Brazilian Jewish TV channel, Shalom Brasil, which the Federation objected to, not because of its content, but simply on the grounds that this issue shouldn’t be discussed so publicly - I will address this matter separately in due course).

This is outrageous. The Jewish leadership in Brazil should stand up for justice and do everything it can to adequately address the issue of child sexual abuse within their community – and not in “the Jewish way,” which has repeatedly proved counter-productive. They should unequivocally support the victim in his pursuit of justice through the police, stand down the relevant security officers involved in the assault, provide the victim with whatever assistance he requires, work to ensure this incident is not repeated, and work to address the issue of child sexual abuse within their community more broadly. It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, there is still much more to come out of the South American Jewish community in terms of how (poorly) they are responding to this issue. I will continue to share what I can, in the hope that it will catalyse a much-needed cultural change there.
 
Original Facebook post (published 2 March 2018):

I can now confirm that the courageous father of an alleged victim of child sexual abuse who is merely trying to pursue justice for his young daughter and raise awareness in the local Jewish community was physically assaulted in the Bait synagogue last night during the Purim celebrations (http://www.bait.org.br/rabino-equipe). Rabbi Abi Michaan was the rabbi who called security to remove this individual, and is effectively the one responsible for the repeated physical assault against this courageous whistle-blower.
 
A police statement has now been provided, and a medical examination conducted. Some of the evidence of the assaults has also been provided to the local police. (There is more evidence available through the synagogue’s CCTV.) It is now up to the victim to decide whether to request a formal police investigation.
 
In the meantime, the local Jewish Federation has been contacted, as one of the security guards identified himself as the head Federation security officer, and not only watched while the assaults were taking place, but actively facilitated it by allowing the offender to bash the victim in a closed room, deliberately not allowing him to leave the premises and escape the relentless attacks. This security officer was with two other local synagogue security officers, who also allowed the assaults to proceed. I understand that the Federation President is taking this issue seriously, and we expect that all three security officers will be sacked. Hopefully this will be confirmed in due course.
 
We also expect that there will be serious consequences to both the offender who assaulted this courageous individual, and to (Rabbi) Abi Michaan who bears most of the responsibility for this entire episode. Michaan is clearly unfit to be a rabbi at this stage, and we expect that at the very least he is forced to step aside until he provides a sincere and comprehensive public apology and undertakes education regarding the issue of child sexual abuse (and perhaps even basic decency).
 
I will continue to update regarding this unacceptable situation.

​In 2009, Yona Weinberg was convicted of numerous sexual offenses against children in the US. He served around a year in prison and was designated a Level 3 sex offender (high risk of repeat offense and threat to public safety). It has been reported that, in 2014, when police investigated* further allegations against Weinberg, he left** to Israel. US-based victims' advocate, Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, publicly alerted the Israeli community of Weinberg's presence there. Weinberg launched civil action for defamation against Rabbi Horowitz. See a timeline regarding this case.

The trial commences this week in Jerusalem, Israel. We strongly encourage the public to attend this case in support of all of us - Rabbi Horowitz, victims' advocates, victims/survivors of child sexual abuse and our children today. If you can't attend, please raise public awareness regarding this case.

Details as follows:

Date: Thursday 22 March, 2018
Time: 9:30am
Address: Jerusalem Civil Courthouse, 1 Shne'ur Kheshin St, Jerusalem

I proudly stand with my dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Horowitz, and will do everything I can to ensure I am there to support him in person.

As this matter is currently before the court, I am not in a position to make any further comment at this stage. I will endeavour to keep the public updated via this blog post and/or the Kol v'Oz Facebook page. Please do not post any potentially defamatory comment or it will be deleted.

UPDATE (18 March): **Weinberg contacted me via email to inform me that he did not flee from the US to Israel, so I've amended the first paragraph accordingly to avoid a potential escalation (from 'fled' to 'left').

UPDATE (18 March): *Weinberg contacted me again, where, among other things, he claimed that there was no further police investigation. Therefore I have added the words 'It has been reported that' in the first paragraph, as well as an additional link to the Timeline link, where it reports about the investigation (and the alleged fleeing from the US to Israel).

UPDATE (22 March): At today's hearing, the trial was set for 25 October 2018 at 10am. The protocol from today's hearing is available below (Hebrew). Below that are two further documents that have been submitted by both parties. Weinberg has submitted an email correspondence, apparently from an NYPD detective claiming that Weinberg left the US and did not flee, and that there are no outstanding warrants against Weinberg. By contrast, Rabbi Horowitz has submitted a letter on official NYPD letterhead from an NYPD detective claiming that Weinberg is indeed wanted in NY, and will be arrested upon his return there. Please note that the documents below may not be view-able on a smart-phone (only on a laptop/computer). ​

​Not that we really need any more evidence to highlight the immorality of many within the ultra-Orthodox community when it comes to addressing the issue of child sexual abuse. But it's important to remind the community what we are up against. As I'm currently in the UK, two examples were just brought to my attention in the local community here. 

Today, Yehudis Goldsobel, courageous survivor of sexual abuse by Mendy Levy, posted on Facebook the following:

Mr & Mrs Cohen owners of B Kosher are having their house built by Mendy Levy - a convicted sex offender - under the pretence of "he is a valued customer" and "helping him out".

Where is the same value given to victims? Let me tell you, there isn't.

I wonder if B Kosher will value all their customers as much when we choose to shop elsewhere.

#wemattertoo

The second case involves the ultra-Orthodox community in Manchester. Shockingly, some in the community there are encouraging the public to pray and support convicted child rapist David Glauzius who is serving a 22-year sentence for his horrific crimes against innocent children.












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This ongoing outrageous behaviour must stop. We must all do what we can to ensure the community culture changes in the context of addressing the issue of child sexual abuse. And just to be clear, as I have previously noted, this culture change is desperately needed across the Jewish community, not just within the ultra-Orthodox community.

While the Malka Leifer extradition scandal drags on and victims continue to suffer from this prolonged terrible injustice, it is timely to remember that the Adass Israel School, the organisation responsible for this mess, maintain their shameful silence and continue to force their victims to fight for justice alone and without their support.

Based on the dozens of charges against her, Leifer should have been in an Australian jail cell for the last 10 years, not living as a free woman in Israel. The battle to bring her back and the trauma that has caused so many should never have been necessary. However, when the Adass Board found out what Leifer had done, they simply arranged for her to flee to Israel in the middle of the night to escape justice. 

In a 2015 judgement, Justice Rush of the Supreme Court of Victoria held that the decision of the Adass Board to arrange urgent flights was “likely motivated by a desire to conceal her wrongdoing and confine and isolate the conduct and its consequences to within the Adass community. The conduct amounts to disgraceful, contumelious behaviour demonstrating a complete disregard of Leifer’s victims. The conduct demonstrates a disdain for due process of criminal investigation in
this state.”