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| Rebbetzin Chana Weinberg: strongly condems any form of abuse |
Chana Weinberg passed away on January 23 2012 at the age of 85. She
was known for her advocacy work with Jewish women who were survivors of
domestic violence.
After my experiences of living in the orthodox world for over a
decade, I am aware I'm going to catch some flack for what I'm about to
write -- yet I feel it's important to say. Just like anyone else, Chana Weinberg
was human and made mistakes. She was also an extremely powerful and
influential woman in the Baltimore Jewish community. Not only was she
the daughter of rabbi Yitzchok Ruderman, who was one of the founders of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, she was also the wife of rabbi Yaakov Weinberg whose brother, rabbi Noah Weinberg was the founder and director of Aish HaTorah
Chana Weinberg passed away on January 23 2012 at the age of
85. She was known for her advocacy work with Jewish women who were
survivors of domestic violence.
After my experiences of living in the orthodox world for over a decade, I am aware I'm going to catch some flack for what I'm about to write -- yet I feel it's important to say. Just like anyone else, Chana Weinberg was human and made mistakes. She was also an extremely powerful and influential woman in the Baltimore Jewish community. Not only was she the daughter of rabbi Yitzchok Ruderman, who was one of the founders of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, she was also the wife of rabbi Yaakov Weinberg whose brother, rabbi Noah Weinberg was the founder and director of Aish HaTorah.
Chana Weinberg was someone who I once met, after the Vaad of Baltimore issued a statement regarding sexual abuse. Chana was loved by so many that it is difficult to write about the other side of her. The truth is that both she and her husband caused so much harm to those who were allegedly molested by her son, rabbi Matis Weinberg, by doing nothing and allegedly covering up the crimes.
The first allegations made against Matis were made back when he was around sixteen years old. He allegedly was the leader of a gang of boys who went around molesting other boys on the campus of Ner Israel. His parents response was to send him away.
In the 1980's his family arranged for him to be the Rosh Yeshiva (dean), of a high school in Santa Clara, CA. The school had been thriving until the fall of 1983 when students began to come out with allegations that they had been both physically and sexually abused by rabbi Matis Weinberg, and that he had cult like practices. Within a few months after the disclosures Yeshivat Kerem shut down. The status quo back in the 1980s is not very much different then today. No police reports were made, instead the rabbonim handled these types of allegations internally and as quickly and quietly as possible. The yeshiva's closing was perceived as the result of financial difficulty.
The agreement was made that Matis would never teach at a yeshiva again, yet in 2003, new allegations of sexual misconduct were made again against Rabbi Matis Weinberg. This time in Israel. As a result Yeshiva University terminated Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim's affiliation with the S. Daniel Abraham Joint Israel Program after discovering "compelling evidence" that a rabbi integrally associated with the yeshiva has a history of allegedly sexually abusing and engaging in cult-like behavior with his students.
According to the New York Jewish week's article, "Panel To Hear Charges Against Prominent Rabbi", "Rabbi Weinberg noted that while he was physically demonstrative to his students, often hugging them, it was never in a sexual way. "I don't get a hard-on" from such encounters," asserted the rabbi, who is married and has a large family."
Upon further investigation of the happenings of the 1980s one can see that right after the allegations of sexual offense Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg and Rebbetzin Chana Weinberg felt the need to protect their images. It was around that time that Rabbi Weinberg got involved as the Jewish legal advisor for the organization "Jews for Judaism", which is an anti cult / anti-missionary group and Rebbetzin Weinberg started her crusade in assisting battered women, with the organization “CHANA”.
As a result of the allegations made against Matis Weinberg back in the 1980s he was banished from the campus of Ner Israel and relocated to Israel to be closer to his uncle Noah. Over the years there were rumors, yet could never be substantiated, that Matis Weinberg received a stipend to stay away from the campus. According to reliable sources rav Weinberg was rarely seen publicly at family events.
When the 2003 allegations of sexual misconduct were made public along with Matis Weinberg's past history of alleged child molestation back in the 80's, his mother (Chana Weinberg) and sister, Dr. Aviva Weisbord spoke with Phil Jacobs, who at the time was the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times. In his article "Condemning Abuse: Weinberg family takes action to protect victims of abuse," Chana Weinberg was quoted as saying "We strongly condemn any and all abuse by anybody against anybody at any time in any place in any form." Aviva stated, The Weinberg’s, along with the rabbis, plan to produce a central phone number that can be used by those who feel victimized so that cases can be heard and investigated. "The idea is to protect people and to make them feel they can come forward".
At the time a spokesperson from The Awareness Center pointed out that there are inherent problems with the approach of dealing with allegations of sexual abuse suggested by the Weinberg’s. We are firm believers that in any community (including the observant world), when an individual suspects child abuse and/or neglect, they should be mandated to call child abuse hot-lines in their community immediately. This will insure that evidence does not become contaminated.
Calling law enforcement officials is the only way to be sure that there are no cover-ups or biases. This is one way to insure that individuals do not investigate allegations against friends, colleagues, and/or family members). Child Protection workers are highly skilled, highly trained professionals who know how to collect forensic evidence to determine if a case is valid and/or if there is enough evidence to press criminal charges. Child Protection workers know how to do forensic victim-sensitive interviews with victims of all ages (without accidentally asking leading questions).
It makes sense that various Jewish community may want to develop some sort of liaison relationship with the child protection agency in their area. This is one way to insure that the workers have an understanding of our cultural differences For the sake of our children, we need to use the systems that are in place.
It's too bad that over the years that Rebbetzin Weinberg and other officials at Ner Israel were unable to do the right thing when it came to protecting children on their campus and throughout the orthodox community in Baltimore.
After my experiences of living in the orthodox world for over a decade, I am aware I'm going to catch some flack for what I'm about to write -- yet I feel it's important to say. Just like anyone else, Chana Weinberg was human and made mistakes. She was also an extremely powerful and influential woman in the Baltimore Jewish community. Not only was she the daughter of rabbi Yitzchok Ruderman, who was one of the founders of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, she was also the wife of rabbi Yaakov Weinberg whose brother, rabbi Noah Weinberg was the founder and director of Aish HaTorah.
Chana Weinberg was someone who I once met, after the Vaad of Baltimore issued a statement regarding sexual abuse. Chana was loved by so many that it is difficult to write about the other side of her. The truth is that both she and her husband caused so much harm to those who were allegedly molested by her son, rabbi Matis Weinberg, by doing nothing and allegedly covering up the crimes.
The first allegations made against Matis were made back when he was around sixteen years old. He allegedly was the leader of a gang of boys who went around molesting other boys on the campus of Ner Israel. His parents response was to send him away.
In the 1980's his family arranged for him to be the Rosh Yeshiva (dean), of a high school in Santa Clara, CA. The school had been thriving until the fall of 1983 when students began to come out with allegations that they had been both physically and sexually abused by rabbi Matis Weinberg, and that he had cult like practices. Within a few months after the disclosures Yeshivat Kerem shut down. The status quo back in the 1980s is not very much different then today. No police reports were made, instead the rabbonim handled these types of allegations internally and as quickly and quietly as possible. The yeshiva's closing was perceived as the result of financial difficulty.
The agreement was made that Matis would never teach at a yeshiva again, yet in 2003, new allegations of sexual misconduct were made again against Rabbi Matis Weinberg. This time in Israel. As a result Yeshiva University terminated Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim's affiliation with the S. Daniel Abraham Joint Israel Program after discovering "compelling evidence" that a rabbi integrally associated with the yeshiva has a history of allegedly sexually abusing and engaging in cult-like behavior with his students.
According to the New York Jewish week's article, "Panel To Hear Charges Against Prominent Rabbi", "Rabbi Weinberg noted that while he was physically demonstrative to his students, often hugging them, it was never in a sexual way. "I don't get a hard-on" from such encounters," asserted the rabbi, who is married and has a large family."
Upon further investigation of the happenings of the 1980s one can see that right after the allegations of sexual offense Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg and Rebbetzin Chana Weinberg felt the need to protect their images. It was around that time that Rabbi Weinberg got involved as the Jewish legal advisor for the organization "Jews for Judaism", which is an anti cult / anti-missionary group and Rebbetzin Weinberg started her crusade in assisting battered women, with the organization “CHANA”.
As a result of the allegations made against Matis Weinberg back in the 1980s he was banished from the campus of Ner Israel and relocated to Israel to be closer to his uncle Noah. Over the years there were rumors, yet could never be substantiated, that Matis Weinberg received a stipend to stay away from the campus. According to reliable sources rav Weinberg was rarely seen publicly at family events.
When the 2003 allegations of sexual misconduct were made public along with Matis Weinberg's past history of alleged child molestation back in the 80's, his mother (Chana Weinberg) and sister, Dr. Aviva Weisbord spoke with Phil Jacobs, who at the time was the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times. In his article "Condemning Abuse: Weinberg family takes action to protect victims of abuse," Chana Weinberg was quoted as saying "We strongly condemn any and all abuse by anybody against anybody at any time in any place in any form." Aviva stated, The Weinberg’s, along with the rabbis, plan to produce a central phone number that can be used by those who feel victimized so that cases can be heard and investigated. "The idea is to protect people and to make them feel they can come forward".
At the time a spokesperson from The Awareness Center pointed out that there are inherent problems with the approach of dealing with allegations of sexual abuse suggested by the Weinberg’s. We are firm believers that in any community (including the observant world), when an individual suspects child abuse and/or neglect, they should be mandated to call child abuse hot-lines in their community immediately. This will insure that evidence does not become contaminated.
Calling law enforcement officials is the only way to be sure that there are no cover-ups or biases. This is one way to insure that individuals do not investigate allegations against friends, colleagues, and/or family members). Child Protection workers are highly skilled, highly trained professionals who know how to collect forensic evidence to determine if a case is valid and/or if there is enough evidence to press criminal charges. Child Protection workers know how to do forensic victim-sensitive interviews with victims of all ages (without accidentally asking leading questions).
It makes sense that various Jewish community may want to develop some sort of liaison relationship with the child protection agency in their area. This is one way to insure that the workers have an understanding of our cultural differences For the sake of our children, we need to use the systems that are in place.
It's too bad that over the years that Rebbetzin Weinberg and other officials at Ner Israel were unable to do the right thing when it came to protecting children on their campus and throughout the orthodox community in Baltimore.
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