Call Magen or Police About Harassment or Abuse in Seminaries!


(Article by kind permission of Frum Follies) 
By Yerachmiel Lopin

 Magen is an independent, non-profit, victims advocacy organization in Israel. Magen’s English-speaking staff are well acquainted with the seminaries culture. Magen is now working to assemble information about abuse of students at seminaries, in order to:
  • Advocate for and provide support to past victims
  • Develop  safety protocols & programs for seminaries to protect students in the future.
Magen has opened a file about the Meisels seminaries (in addition to others) and have already begun speaking to people who attended those seminaries.  Any information you could share might help them better protect students.
Information provided could also help support prosecution of abuse crimes.
In Israel it is illegal for a clergyman or educator to have sexual relations with students. Consent is not a defense against such charges. In addition, sexual assault are prosecutable under additional statutes.
If you have information about harassment or abuse of seminary students  (whether you experienced it or observed it, or have grounds to suspect it) contact:
Shana Aaronson
shoshana@magenprotects.org
02-9999.678 (press 1)
magenprotects.org
Any information shared will be kept in strict confidence.
I have dealt with Magen and I respect their professionalism, their strict standards for confidentiality,  and their commitment to victims/survivors. Their services are free, including legal consultations to assist in bringing cases to the police and public prosecutors.
If you were a victim of criminal acts by Meisels (or anyone else) in the US, please contact me (Yerachmiel Lopin) by one of the methods described on the upper right of my web page for advice about where to lodge complaints. Even if you think or know your abuse was outside the statute of limitations, the information you share can facilitate the  prosecution of similar crimes inflicted on others.

Comments

  1. clarity9 September 2014 at 18:45

    After you finish your "Investigation" if you discover that he didn't do anything will you publish that too????

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous15 September 2014 at 06:56

    Mr. Morris, I have to concur with "clarity"'s sentiments. I had heard nice things about you, but was totally baffled by the way you dealt with the Meisels scandal. You looked like a slandering crazy man in a number of your posts, not a professional. It started with your criticism on Rabbi Kahane. You lost all credibility in my book when you wrote that he is dangerous and delusional. You clearly don't know him. You may not have agreed with his letter, but Rabbi Kahane is one of the most well respected, talented and successful educators in the Jewish world today. He is a tzadik and a gem of a person. Hardly delusional, far from it. He dedicates his life to helping people particularly abuse and molest victims and raises money for their therapy even pays for them out of his own pocket. What type of silliness did you write about him?? You lost all credibility with that one. Did you even contact him to get details on that letter? I happen to know the details. Its a drastically different picture when you know them. If you had background on why he wrote it, you never would have written your post. You looked pretty foolish and it wasn't fair to him what you did. Then came your mistranslations and attacks on talmidei chachamim whose Torah knowledge surpasses your own many times over. Why give yourself away as an am haaretz by trying to argue on psakim of dayanim??? And now you claim the Meisels schools are dangerous. Do you have any details on the overhaul the system is going through?? Id imagine not a clue cuz you look really silly claiming you will keep them safe. You make your institution look like a joke.

    Like I said, I had heard nice things about you and your work, But after your silliness in this scandal, you lost my respect and the respect of my colleagues who are of the top educators in the Jewish world. I recommend you be a little more accurate and less slanderous with your reporting. It'll be better for your organization (It also wouldn't hurt to take down the Kahane post. He has way more credibility than you. You will continue to look bad).

    Much hatzlacha with your holy work. I just wish you'd be a bit smarter about it. B'emes, I hear you do good things. Why harm your self, your institution and its reputation with silliness?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David Morris15 September 2014 at 12:36

      Anonymous - Thank you for taking the time to pen this comment.

      I understand that as someone who knows Rabbi Kahane well, and sees him as a tzadik, you must have been upset to see the uproar over his letter to students.

      That letter, particularly given the timing, immediately as information about the alleged Mesiels abuses and a cover-up at the seminaries, was outrageous.

      The letter gave a clear message to the recipients to shut-up, and had the effect of being intimidating and manipulative to those girls, with an expressed plan to have a further impact on a broader circle of girls (via a peer-monitoring system). The letter expressed no regret for the inestimable damage caused to girls by Meisels nor any encouragement to get to the bottom of how this horror had come about under Kahane's nose.
      I am 100% certain that Rabbi Kahane has many zchuyot to bring to shamayim.
      However, his initial response to the Meisels episode showed incredibly bad judgement at that time, and was damaging. The letter and its writer deserved to be forcefully criticised.

      As regards my analysis of various documents which were leaked to and published on other blogs, I certainly do not set myself up as any kind of halachik expert nor authority.

      The conflict between these halachik experts was whether or not the seminaries are safe, given that Meisels was arguably out of the picture.

      The CBD heard the girls' testimonies and these reportedly included information about staff who knew and did not act to protect the girls. QED, the seminaries are not safe.

      The IBD stated that they had solely interviewed the staff, but that the IBD had NOT heard any testimony from the plaintifs.
      QED the seminaries are now safe.

      One doesn't need to be a talmid chacham to see which Beit Din is acting responsibly towards the girls, and which was not.


      Delete

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