Changes in the communal response to sexual abuse
Not a week goes by without a new case of sexual abuse being
reported in mainstream media. Almost every heartbreaking story is
accompanied by numerous articles exposing the layers and layers of
institutional, community, and leadership cover-up of those same cases.
The community protection of perpetrators, which has allowed the
devastating life-altering crime of child sexual abuse to thrive, is now
finally being publically acknowledged.
The unprecedented level of exposure has forced our community to stare the ugly truth in the face. It is unfortunate that it has taken such a public explosion, which has brought tremendous pain, shame, fear, conflict, and the shattering of communal myths, for this issue to finally be seen and spoken about. For years, the Jewish community denied the prevalence of sexual abuse, so it is undeniable that this discussion is progress.
However, the presence, weight and lengthy continuation of the ‘speaking about the problem’ stage, has created a distraction, allowing many individuals, communities, and organizations to hide behind or disappear within the emotions and details of the chaos. It is clearly much easier to discuss, criticize, and get angry, then it is to take direct and responsible action to prevent abuse from occurring again. However, we need to recognize that if we remain comfortable or paralyzed in the analytical space of this painful and shameful history, stuck in the wounds after the Band-Aid has been ripped off, the injury will continue to bleed and children will continue to be abused.
It takes bravery and leadership to step up and set standards, and instead of just hoping and discussing that it shouldn’t happen again, implementing training and concrete policies and changes to ensure that it won’t.
Many Jewish summer camps have been taking a strong step forward in the area of abuse prevention by partnering with ASAP’s Camp Safety Program to ensure all their staff are trained before camp even begins. Moving one step forward, a new trend is developing – leaders of the different camping communities, Bnei Akiva of the US and Canada for example, are creating this partnership from the top down, and bestowing the abuse-prevention program as a gift for all of their affiliated independent summer programs. Through this pioneering act, these umbrella organizations have prioritized the safety of the children and youth entrusted in their care above all else, sending a clear message throughout their chain of impact that safety is the new standard.
It is time for us as a community to move to the next stage. We are ready to transition beyond discussions and cultural shifts, and instead take concrete actions that are practical, simple, and most importantly, proven to prevent the next generation of pain, suffering, and public explosions of shame. Preventing abuse is simple, all it takes is willingness and a small amount of effort.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/changes-in-the-communal-response-to-sexual-abuse/?fbclid=IwAR3sIXF_2gwixE7bTvEtQsfNjxWiv6ZFwwkF4GZnu0J5JCcO7jqL-mn3zms
The unprecedented level of exposure has forced our community to stare the ugly truth in the face. It is unfortunate that it has taken such a public explosion, which has brought tremendous pain, shame, fear, conflict, and the shattering of communal myths, for this issue to finally be seen and spoken about. For years, the Jewish community denied the prevalence of sexual abuse, so it is undeniable that this discussion is progress.
However, the presence, weight and lengthy continuation of the ‘speaking about the problem’ stage, has created a distraction, allowing many individuals, communities, and organizations to hide behind or disappear within the emotions and details of the chaos. It is clearly much easier to discuss, criticize, and get angry, then it is to take direct and responsible action to prevent abuse from occurring again. However, we need to recognize that if we remain comfortable or paralyzed in the analytical space of this painful and shameful history, stuck in the wounds after the Band-Aid has been ripped off, the injury will continue to bleed and children will continue to be abused.
It takes bravery and leadership to step up and set standards, and instead of just hoping and discussing that it shouldn’t happen again, implementing training and concrete policies and changes to ensure that it won’t.
Many Jewish summer camps have been taking a strong step forward in the area of abuse prevention by partnering with ASAP’s Camp Safety Program to ensure all their staff are trained before camp even begins. Moving one step forward, a new trend is developing – leaders of the different camping communities, Bnei Akiva of the US and Canada for example, are creating this partnership from the top down, and bestowing the abuse-prevention program as a gift for all of their affiliated independent summer programs. Through this pioneering act, these umbrella organizations have prioritized the safety of the children and youth entrusted in their care above all else, sending a clear message throughout their chain of impact that safety is the new standard.
It is time for us as a community to move to the next stage. We are ready to transition beyond discussions and cultural shifts, and instead take concrete actions that are practical, simple, and most importantly, proven to prevent the next generation of pain, suffering, and public explosions of shame. Preventing abuse is simple, all it takes is willingness and a small amount of effort.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/changes-in-the-communal-response-to-sexual-abuse/?fbclid=IwAR3sIXF_2gwixE7bTvEtQsfNjxWiv6ZFwwkF4GZnu0J5JCcO7jqL-mn3zms
3 comments:
First there was denial. Then there was attacking the accusers. Then there was an admission that it happens but it's soooooo rare we don't have to worry about. Now it's an admission that it happens, it's a problem but we're still going to leave it up to "the Gedolim" to handle it.
Changes in the communal response to sexual abuse? Ho-ho! Ho-ho-ho! No changes at all! Look at this photo [http://klikr.org/e552bf601c52cb301adbac7841fa.jpg], taken just a couple of days ago at the Torah Institute of Baltimore 66th Anniversary Dinner. Here they come: pedophile rabbi Eliezer Eisgrau and Hillel Tendler, who protects criminals and himself works for another sex criminal of the mobster Ner Yisroel clan -- Isaac Neuberger. Welcome into the real world...
I followed the links in the above post and, to my huge surprise, saw that no “Orthodox” man in Neuberger’s law firm had a skullcap! I know that rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Tendlers are related to him) allowed to stay bareheaded in the workplace if wearing a yarmulke could jeopardize one’s employment. But Neuberger, anyhow, has his unvarying group of moneyed corporate clients. (He is so rich that he doesn’t even need to put ads in the media to advertise his business.) What is he afraid of? Why on Earth can’t he take a picture in a yarmulke or, at least, a hat? Why can’t his Jewish “associates” display some Judaism too (many of them, like Isaac Neuberger, graduated from Ner Yisroel of Baltimore)? Rabbi Feinsten’s ruling was issued decades ago, things have changed since then, even Ivanka Trump is allowed to “publicly” be Jewish, so what’s wrong with displaying a little sign of Hebraism? Didn’t the early rabbis say the word yarmulke should be read as yare Malka, “fear of God”? Didn’t the Talmud (Kidushin 31a) warn against walking four cubits bareheaded because God’s presence is above one’s head? Ner Yisroel yeshiva taught these lawyers that the Jewish religion may be twisted any way they want: That is why Isaac Neuberger became a proud-as-a-peacock molester, and some men in his firm had illicit sex affairs. Disappearing skullcaps of the fear of God are warning bells of sinister changes happening to the Orthodox Judaism today — owing to such heinous institutions as Ner Yisroel.
Post a Comment