Tzedek-Tzedek

It has recently been reported that Rav Moti Elon will be indicted for sex crimes against minors. This follows a year long police investigation, which was sparked off by the announcement in February 2010, by a then little-known organization Takana, alleging that Rav Elon had behaved inappropriately with male students. This has subsequently raised questions regarding Takana itself. While the public has been generally appreciative of the courage of Takana to ‘out’ Rav Elon, probably the most charismatic and popular rabbi in the National Religious camp, even with his own radio and national TV shows, it was questioned whether Takana themselves had actually covered up his alleged crimes for too long? Takana’s mandate is to investigate allegations of inappropriate and abusive behaviour by rabbonim and teachers within the National Religious camp. Where the investigation shows the allegations to be substantive, corrective measures are recommended and implemented. In the well publicized ca...

The case of Rabbi Motti Elon, the charismatic National Religious rabbi, has now been investigated by the police in Israel , who are apparently recommending prosecuting Rabbi Elon for child abuse and other sex crimes. Meantime, shocking details are emerging from the ultra-orthodox community of Komemiyut , located near Kiryat Gat, regarding a decades long cover-up of a child molester in the community, Shimshon Walzer   – who is reported to have attacked dozens of children. The alleged perpetrator is now in the USA , and is unlikely to return to face his investigators.       Of the 40 cases in which there is suspicion of abuse by Walzer, the police have reportedly collected complaints and testimony from 16 purported victims, who were aged between 7 and 16 when the acts were committed. Two complained against an additional suspect (who was a minor during the time of most of the alleged offenses). Many of the witnesses, now married and living outside the moshav,...

As the expression was, when I lived in England : "today’s news, is tomorrows fish-and-chip-wrapping". The scandal which followed the release of a public statement by Takana in February, regarding allegations of improper conduct against Rav Motti Elon, have submerged into the collective subconscious. Other news and scandals have come and gone, meanwhile. But all is not totally quiet on the Rav Elon front... The police made their own investigation, and are reported to have found that no illegal activities had taken place, as the alleged events were with students above 18, and therefore were not minors, and these students had not pressed charges.  A group of Rav Elon supporters, have now published a website which hosts lessons on line from Rav Elon, in preparation for Shavuot. Back in February, Takana had announced that Rav Elon should refrain from intimate, personal and private meetings with people seeking his advice or religious counsel. Roni Rimon, Elon’s media advis...

Cases of clerical sex-abuse and the Catholic Church’s mismanagement – amounting to systemic enablement – have surfaced and spread out from Boston, where they were first revealed in 2002, then throughout the USA - and are now spreading across Europe, including major scandals in Ireland and Germany. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) himself was responsible for managing sexual abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich in 1980 and when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Apparently, in Munich, a priest Cardinal Ratzinger had sent to therapy for pedophilia, was returned to pastoral work with children. The priest was later convicted on charges of molesting boys. Last week, it was revealed that an office under Cardinal Ratzinger’s command had stopped the prosecution in 1996 of Wisconsin priest Lawrence Murphy, who admitted molesting 200 boys at a school for the deaf where he worked for 20 years. As the first victims and insiders within th...

The Importance of Process Post the Takana Proclamation By Special Guest Writer: Professor Joshua Werblowsky M.D. The writer is a clinical psychiatrist living and practicing in Jerusalem. When a beloved leader crashes , the fallout is not confined to him and his immediate family. There will also be serious consequences for those who have aligned themselves with him and his worldview. During the 35 years I have practiced clinical psychiatry, I have worked with individuals, communities, VIPs (very important persons) and with what I call VVIPs (very, very important persons), dealing with the aftereffects of trauma, including the “fall” of leaders who influenced broad Jewish communities. In that context I have presented communities with an educational plan to accept the “fall” of their leader and to take responsible action with regard to the aftereffects. The essence of this plan is awareness of the nature of the necessary process. Attention must be paid to all feelings and stat...

[Update on this report is given below the article] The dati leumi (National Religious) anti sex-abuse forum " Takana " has published a statement about the erstwhile rabbinical 'star' Rabbi Motti Elon. The statement discloses that Rabbi Elon had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour", and that the forum had found basis for these complaints. Furthermore, the forum had imposed a behavioral code on Rabbi Elon (apparently four years ago), which included him moving from Jerusalem to the small village of Migdal in the North of Israel, and no longer conducting certain educational and one-on-one counseling activities. The Forum has stressed that the investigation of complaints they had received about Rabbi Elon and the containment plan arranged with Rabbi Elon was all done in accordance with legislation and in cooperation with Menni Mazuz, then the Attorney General. I understand that " Takana" was initiated (in 2003) as a response to a scandal...