Job for the cops, not the rabbis
Jewish Chronice - January 11, 2013
How
should the Orthodox community handle allegations of sexual abuse? The
scandal currently rocking London's Charedi world provides a classic
example of how not to do it.
Last year, senior rabbi Chaim Halpern was accused of inappropriate
behaviour towards around 30 women who had come to him for counselling.
While the exact allegations have never been made public, it is hard to
overstate the impact on the Charedim of Golders Green - where the rabbi
lives - and Stamford Hill, where the alleged victims came from. Rabbi
Halpern belongs to one of the most influential rabbinic families in
London, and was himself a religious judge for the Union of Orthodox
Hebrew Congregations.
In Golders Green, local rabbis examined the evidence together with
several dayanim of the London Beth Din, and Rabbi Halpern resigned from
all public positions other than his synagogue. When his shul continued
to attract worshippers, the examining rabbis published an open letter
claiming that he was "not fit and proper to act in any rabbinic
capacity".
Under pressure, the Union announced that it would set up its own
religious court to issue judgment, a move some Golders Green residents
have taken as an insult to their own rabbis. Eventually, the Union
expelled Halpern's shul, but bizarrely retracted the edict within 24
hours following a confrontation with Halpern's brother.
There has been no justice for the women
The
whole episode has turned from tragedy into farce. And yet no one seems
to have reached the obvious conclusion: that this case proves the
Orthodox community is unable to deal with allegations of this nature
internally, and that such cases must be turned over, immediately, to the
police.
Unlike in America (and Stamford Hill), the Golders Green rabbis
cannot be accused of trying to sweep problems under the carpet. Charedi
rabbis Shimon Weingarten and Berel Knopfler, and London Beth Din dayanim
Chanoch Ehrentreu, Menachem Gelley and Yonason Abraham deserve utmost
respect for their refusal to shield their colleague.
But even they must recognise that their efforts have failed. There
has been no justice for the women, whose plight has been forgotten as
the drama unfolds. The rabbis' good intentions have been stymied at
every turn by the personal and political considerations of those with
the interests of the Union and the Halpern family at heart - not those
of the alleged victims.
While a beth din can handle issues of divorce, conversion and certain
arbitrations, rabbis should not be handling potentially criminal cases.
They do not have the jurisdiction, the capabilities or the process.
They are not experts on the subject of abuse and cannot gather or
evaluate evidence like a secular court, nor protect witnesses or enforce
judgment. For that matter, should the rabbi be found guilty of taking
sexual advantage of women, what punishment could they possibly impose
that would be appropriate?
Perhaps "community policing" was suitable in 17th-century Poland. But
this country has a respectable legal system. To pretend that
allegations of sexual misconduct should be judged by rabbis rather than
by the secular authorities is to advance the folly that frum Jews are
somehow above the law.
Waiting for the rabbis' resolution, the women involved have not
co-operated with the Metropolitan Police, which is still assessing
whether Rabbi Halpern has a criminal case to answer. The rabbis must
actively encourage them to come forward; disclose any evidence they may
hold, and, with a long-term view, start fostering an atmosphere where
going to the authorities is not a betrayal, but the only option.
The choice is not between handling abuse accusations discreetly
within the community, or embarrassingly in public. The choice is between
dealing with them through the state - or not having them dealt with properly at all.
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