Controversial Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant to head Adass Israel School
Herald Sun
Shannon Deery
3 July 2017
A CONTROVERSIAL rabbi caught intimidating and vilifying victims of child sexual abuse will now head a Melbourne school accused of covering up the sex crimes of a fugitive principal.
In a move that has devastated victims of sexual abuse, Meir Shlomo Kluwgant has been appointed as principal of the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick.
In 2008 the school’s committee helped principal Malka Leifer flee Melbourne after she was publicly accused of sexually assaulting students.
Kluwgant was forced to resign as Australia’s top rabbi amid a humiliating scandal in the wake of the child abuse royal commission’s probe into the notorious Yeshivah College in 2015.
He was also stripped of or forced to resign from positions with Jewish Care Victoria, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, Victoria Police and the Victoria Police Multi-Faith Council.
Critics of Kluwgant’s appointment say it is evidence that Adass is not serious about tackling the scourge of abuse.
In 2008 school officials helped then principal Malka Leifer flee to Israel under the cover of night after she was publicly accused of molesting students.
One of the students, Dassi Erlich, was subsequently awarded more than $1 million in a Supreme Court lawsuit against the school.
Justice Jack Rush slammed the way in which Leifer was spirited out of the country.
“The conduct of the board is deserving of the court’s disapprobation and denunciation,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the conduct was deliberate ... the conduct ... in facilitating the urgent departure of Leifer was likely motivated by a desire to conceal her wrongdoing and confine and isolate the conduct and its consequences to within the Adass community,” he said.
“Upon consideration of the manner in which the School arranged for Leifer’s departure from the country I find the deliberate flouting of jurisdiction the most likely motivation,” he said.
In a move that has devastated victims of sexual abuse, Meir Shlomo Kluwgant has been appointed as principal of the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick.
In 2008 the school’s committee helped principal Malka Leifer flee Melbourne after she was publicly accused of sexually assaulting students.
Kluwgant was forced to resign as Australia’s top rabbi amid a humiliating scandal in the wake of the child abuse royal commission’s probe into the notorious Yeshivah College in 2015.
He was also stripped of or forced to resign from positions with Jewish Care Victoria, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, Victoria Police and the Victoria Police Multi-Faith Council.
Critics of Kluwgant’s appointment say it is evidence that Adass is not serious about tackling the scourge of abuse.
In 2008 school officials helped then principal Malka Leifer flee to Israel under the cover of night after she was publicly accused of molesting students.
One of the students, Dassi Erlich, was subsequently awarded more than $1 million in a Supreme Court lawsuit against the school.
Justice Jack Rush slammed the way in which Leifer was spirited out of the country.
“The conduct of the board is deserving of the court’s disapprobation and denunciation,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the conduct was deliberate ... the conduct ... in facilitating the urgent departure of Leifer was likely motivated by a desire to conceal her wrongdoing and confine and isolate the conduct and its consequences to within the Adass community,” he said.
“Upon consideration of the manner in which the School arranged for Leifer’s departure from the country I find the deliberate flouting of jurisdiction the most likely motivation,” he said.
Leifer has remained in hiding in Israel and has refused to return to Victoria where police plan to charge her with more than 70 child sex offences.
In an open letter to Adass Ms Erlich urged them to reconsider the appointment of Kluwgant.
“I implore you, please do not make the mistake of hiring Rabbi Kluwgant,” she said.
“When you hire a principal it is not merely an administrative matter, it is a statement of your moral code as a community.
“I was hoping my case encouraged change in your culture of silence. This new appointment tells me nothing has changed.
“Is it your intention to make it that much harder for the already terrified victims to come forward, with this additional hurdle to overcome?”
The decorated rabbi was left humiliated after it was revealed he had intimidated a victim who called on Jewish leaders to confront the child sexual abuse crisis by telling him to “remain silent”.
He was also publicly shamed during the child abuse Royal Commission after it was revealed he had labelled the father of sexual assault victim Manny Waks a “lunatic”.
Mr Waks said in his new role Kluwgant would be responsible for receiving disclosures of child sexual abuse from students and responsible for administering child safety policies.
He called on the Minister for Education and other relevant government agencies to urgently intervene.
Kluwgant refused to answer questions from the Herald Sun.
The school has been contacted for comment.
Originally published at Herald Sun.