| Women sexually abused by senior rabbi speak out for first time |
Complainants against Safed
Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg describe to Israel Hayom how he wielded his
influence to have them perform sexual acts • Sheinberg pleaded guilty to
eight counts of sexual offenses as part of a plea bargain inked in
July.
Safed Rabbi Ezra
Sheinberg
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Complainants against Safed Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg are speaking out for the first time.
Sheinberg, a prominent rabbi who previously
headed a Jewish community and a network of yeshivas in the northern
Israeli city pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual offenses against
eight separate women who had turned to Sheinberg for spiritual guidance,
as part of a plea bargain signed in July.
Three of Sheinberg's victims spoke to
Israel Hayom about how he used his influence to demand they perform
sexual acts on themselves while speaking to him via video chat and later
that they meet with him privately.
"The meetings slowly became more physical.
In his home and at my home, when my husband was away," one of the
victims said. "A medical issue that I had in my body went away, and I
was convinced it was due to the 'treatments' he performed on me. It
created a sort of dependency on my part. Every time, he would think of a
new sickness I had, and I believed the illnesses went away because of
him. He said that if I said anything about the 'relaxation treatments,'
the blessing would not take effect, and something terrible would happen
to my husband or my kids."
Another victim said, "The treatments became
more and more humiliating and difficult. I wanted my treatment to be
over already. He asked if I would agree to 'receive his spiritual
abundance inside my mouth.' He asked me to think of him when I was with
my husband. When I asked him how that could be, because he is a
righteous man, his answer was, 'I enjoy giving abundance.' He used to
say that when he heals, he has no inhibitions. I believed it."
The third complainant described her experience to Israel Hayom as follows:
"When he asked me to strip and put on a
blindfold, I refused at first. ... I was ashamed of myself – how
irresponsible of me to doubt him. No one knew I was going to him, and he
emphasized that the blessing would only take effect if it was hidden
from view. One day, he told me, 'Let's do a reverse relaxation. You
touch me in the same spots on my body.' He said that if he gives me
'abundance,' then the treatment will end. I told myself; let him do what
he needs to do, just so the agony would end. In my body and soul, I
felt I was being raped, but I couldn't stop it.
"I would be crying uncontrollably. When I
asked to stop meeting with him, he gave me the sense that I had done
something wrong. I thought to myself, 'You go to a gynecologist and he
pokes you there, so he's also a type of doctor."
Sheinberg's attorney Menachem Rubinstein declined to comment.
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