Case of Rabbi Mordechai Elon

Case of Rabbi Mordechai Elon

(AKA: Motty Elon, Mottie Elon, Motie Elon, Moti Elon, Motti Elon)  

Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Hakotel - Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv, Israel

After nearly ten years after the first allegations were made, Rabbi Moti Elon was sentenced to six months of community service.  Many believe this was a slap on the hand, and that he should have received the maximum sentence of seven years in prison..  

Elon was indicted on two counts of indecent and sexual assault against two 17-year-old male students between 2003 and 2005, when he was head of Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Half the indictment sheet against Motti Elon dropped after alleged sexual assault victim pressured out of taking the stand

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Table of Contents

1989

1. A New Generation At Horev's Schools (05/12/1989)

2003 - 2005  Elon allegedly molest two 17-year-old male students at Yeshivat HaKotel

2010

1. Rabbi Moti Elon to be charged with sex crimes (02/10/2010)
2. New harassment claims against Rabbi Elon (02/16/2010)
3. Show of support in Migdal: We believe in Rabbi Elon (02/16/2010)
4. Mazuz told police in 2006: No charges against Rabbi Elon (02/17/2010)
5. Elon slams sex allegations as 'blood libel' (02/17/2010)
6. Religious-Zionist rabbi's life threatened for revealing sexual harassment case (02/17/2010)
7. 'Elon had sex with male students' (02/17/2010)
8. Pursue justice - within the community (02/18/2010)
9. Sex-abuse claims against famed rabbi grip Israel (02/20/2010)
10. Sexual assault punished differently among religious, secular Jews (02/21/2010)
11. Rabbi: Elon case could benefit the religious (02/23/2010)
12. Bill goes after sexual harassment by spiritual leaders (02/24/2010)
13. Dr. Hana Kehat, does the commotion around rabbi Mordechai Elon stem from the fact that he is gay? (02/24/2010)
14. 'Is the fuss over Rabbi Mordechai Elon down to his homosexuality?' (02/25/2010)
15. Sex allegations against rabbi roil Israel's Orthodox community (02/28/2010) 
16. Sex allegations against rabbi disturb Orthodox Israelis No charges filed against popular scholar, but group cites illicit contact (03/07/2010)
17. Abuse of Power (04/07/2010)
18. Under Pressure, Haredi Rabbi Withdraws Teaching Invitation To Accused Clergy Abuser (07/15/2010) 
19. Police call for sex crime charges against Rabbi Mordechai Elon. Files on allegations of forceful sexual molestation against at least two minors to be passed on to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office (08/09/2010) 
20. Rabbinical forum says police announcement does not affect their warnings against Rabbi Elon (08/10/2010)
21. Amid sexual abuse claims, synagogue revokes invite to Rabbi Elon (08/10/2010)
22. Tel Aviv synagogue reconsiders invitation to Rabbi Elon (08/10/2010)
23. Students denounce sex-crime allegations against their rabbi, Mordechai Elon (10/22/2010)

2011

1. Moti Elon called in for hearing on sex allegations. Rabbi faces indictment for suspected offenses against two underage plaintiffs (02/11/2011)
2. Expert warns religious educators about denial of sexual abuse of minors. Community taboo surrounding issue of molestation leads to low number of reports (05/26/2011)
3. Moti Elon indicted for indecent assault (11/02/2011)

  
2012

1. Rabbi Moti Elon admits to hugging and kissing students, denies sexual intention  (01/23/2012)
2. New witness comes forward in Moti Elon trial (04/10/2012)
3. No more room under the carpet (12/28/2012)
4. Central witness testifies in Moti Elon trial (12/05/2012)

2013

1. Witness refuses to testify against popular rabbi (02/27/2013)
2. Rabbi Moti Elon Guilty of Indecent Act (08/07/2013)
3. Rabbi Elon convicted of indecent assault by force against minor (08/07/2013)
4. Rabbi Motti Elon gets community service for sexual assault conviction (12/18/2013)
5. Rabbi Motti Elon Gets Slap on Wrist for Sex Abuse (12/18/2013)

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A New Generation At Horev's Schools
By Dan Izenberg
Jerusalem Post - May 12, 1989 

THE HOREV school system will celebrate another landmark in its 55-year history next week when the cornerstone is laid for a new yeshiva high school in Jerusalem's Sanhedria Murhevet neighbourhood. 

Horev has come a long way since its first days in 1934, when the principal, Dr. Yonah Cohen, taught 16 children at his home on Ethiopia Street. Today, 1,800 pupils study at three campuses in the city: the primary school in Katamon where 900 boys and girls attend grades 1-6; the girls' comprehensive school in Bayit Vegan with its 640 students; and the yeshiva high school, currently housed in Katamon, with 380 students. 

For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Orthodox community, Horev is a difficult institution to define. From the looks of its students, in their modern Western clothes and clean-shaven faces, one would never guess that it is an ultra-Orthodox school; yet that is the way its leaders like to describe it. 

"Nationalist-haredi," Shlomo Merzel, the educational head of the Horev system, says with a smile, delighting at the apparent contradiction in terms. "We are haredim in that we insist on 100 per cent observance of the laws. But we are part of the State and we work on behalf of the State." 

Today, many other schools in Israel teach their students to observe religious law strictly while fully participating in the life of the larger, primarily secular, community. Most of these institutions, however, come from the national-religious stream. They have confronted Western culture and science only indirectly, through the prism of secular Zionism. Over the years, while embracing Zionism and the purely functional aspects of Western society, they have turned increasingly Orthodox. 

The founders of Horev were Orthodox German Jews whose fathers had painstakingly hammered out a synthesis between Western culture and Jewish faith. They did not find themselves at home among either the East European haredim, who rejected modernism, or the national-religious Jews, who seemed to live in the shadow of the secular Zionists and who, in yekke eyes, did not show sufficient regard for mitzvot or intellectual rigour. 

The motto of Horev's founders was Tora-and-Derech Eretz (knowing the ways of the community at large, but also translated variously). The slogan was borrowed from the writings of their spiritual mentor, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the founder of West European, post-Emancipation Orthodoxy. 

Times, of course, have changed. The ideological roots of Horev disappeared in the Holocaust. A new generation of thinkers, teachers and pupils had to be found in an entirely new, and in many ways narrower, context: Israel. 

Nevertheless, "the 'Herr Doktor-Rabbiner' remains the ideal," says Rabbi Mordechai Elon, the 30-year-old head of the yeshiva high school. 

To achieve its aims, the school provides an almost superhuman curriculum - one which may, among other things, make secular parents and educators think about what they are offering their own children. 

Classes begin at 7 a.m. and continue until as late as 6 p.m. for boys in junior high and 7:30 p.m. for those in grades 9-12. During those hours, the students are offered two complete curricula: a yeshiva programme of religious studies and a high school programme leading to bagrut (matriculation). 

FOURTEEN-year-old Yuval Bash from Neve Ilan, a secular moshav about 20 kms. from Jerusalem, is a ba'al t'shuva who decided to attend Horev because "the religious standards of the school are so high." 

His day at Horev begins with morning prayers at seven. Breakfast is served between 8:00 and 8:25. Next is a 1-hour Talmud lesson taught in conventional style with the teacher in front of the room. After a 10-minute recess, the pupils reconvene to study Mishna. They then break up into pairs and between 11 and 12:30 study Talmud on their own. This is followed by a half-hour class with Rabbi Eilon on ethics. At 1 p.m. they recess for lunch. Less than half an hour later, they start all over again: this time with secular studies. The high school students end their day with another Talmud lesson. 

Rabbi Elon says that the school stresses independent study. Pupils are given contemporary problems and asked to find solutions based on the texts they are studying. 

Elon, a graduate of Mercaz Harav Kook, became head of the yeshiva two years ago, and he has put added emphasis on Jewish philosophy. He upgraded the course from one hour a week to three and began teaching it in grade 9 instead of grade 11; students can now earn three matriculation credits for the course instead of one. 

Horev is one of the few yeshivot which insists that its students live at home instead of in dormitories. This, said Elon, is because it regards education as an active partnership between the parents and the school. But students often spend holidays or Shabbat at the school or at the homes of their teachers. Independence Day was celebrated at Horev with a special prayer service and a festive meal. 

Merzel, the educational director-general of Horev, says that as an educator he is sometimes troubled by the power he has in selecting the pupils to be admitted to the school. He had just explained to someone on the phone that there was no room in the girls' high school for a prospective candidate. 

"In some ways I feel like God because I know that my decision will shape the future of that girl," he said. "It will determine the person she will be, the life she will have, the man she will marry and the kind of family they will raise." 

For all its stress on education in the broader sense, Horev encourages its students to think independently about controversial issues - as long as the views are compatible with religious faith and observance. Politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the future of the occupied territories are some of the issues in which differences of opinion are tolerated. 

"We teach our students two things," says Elon. "One is that 'every man is precious because he was created in the image of God.' The other is that it is a moral act for Jews to settle in Eretz Yisrael." 

The political atmosphere at Horev is indicative of how the school has moved over the years towards the mainstream of National-Religious thinking. But this is partly an optical illusion. In many ways it is the National-Religious community that has been on the move, overtaking Horev in a headlong dash to the right. 

For example, national religious educators are demanding ever more insistently that primary schools which have been co-ed from the very beginning, separate the boys and girls. While Horev invites lecturers representing almost the entire range of contemporary political thinking to address its students, National Religious schools present a clear ideological line.
Despite the changes and pressures of time, the stubborn yekke spirit of perfectionism and critical thinking lingers on at Horev.

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Rabbi Moti Elon to be charged with sex crimes
Jerusalem Post - February 11, 2010

After police investigation, file submitted to J'lem District Prosecutors; decision to press charges comes six months later.

Jerusalem District prosecutors on Thursday said that following an investigation, it has decided to bring former Yeshivat Hakotel head Rabbi Mordechai Elon to trial for sex crimes against two of his underage students during the years 2003 and 2005.

Before filing charges, Elon will be given an opportunity to argue why he should not be charged.

Police finished their investigation into Rabbi Mordechai "Moti" Elon in August of last year. Elon was accused of child molestation several months ago, and police found that there was sufficient evidence to connect him to the allegations.

Elon's attorney, Yair Golan, rejected the accusations, saying "a complete review will clarify that Rabbi Elon did not commit any crime, and ultimately will not be indicted. The rabbi will continue to fight for the truth and his good name."

The police submitted the case file to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's office in August. Evidence was found alleging Elon committed indecent acts with two minors, one of them by force.

Police had recently reopened the investigations after a former student of the charismatic rabbi accused him of sexual abuse. 

Ben Hartman contributed to this report.

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New harassment claims against Rabbi Elon
YNET News - February 16, 2010

Since original case exposed, other young people turn to Takana forum, saying they were also victims of sexual harassment. Forum to hold emergency meeting. Deputy attorney general threatens to launch investigation into complaints

Since the case of Rabbi Mordechai (Motty) Elon was published, Ynet has learned that other young people and parents have turned to the Takana forum claiming that they too were victims of Elon's sexual harassment.

Sources connected with the case confirmed that there had been further claims, though they have not yet been submitted formally to the Takana forum, the Religious Zionist organization charged with handling cases of sexual harassment among the movement's leaders.

However, forum staff is already beginning to investigate, and members are due to hold an emergency meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening to discuss developments.

Attorney Ran Nizri, the attorney general's senior assistant, sent a letter to the Takana forum saying complaints filed against Rabbi Mordechai Elon for sexual harassment must be turned over to the police. He added that the police may launch an investigation into the complaints.

On Tuesday morning in the northern town of Migdal, Rabbi Elon had spoken to supporters, focusing on disproving and rejecting the allegations.

Following the rabbi's sweeping denial and his claim that they were blood libels, forum members will also discuss whether to make details of the case public along with various documents.

In the light of the relatively moderate nature of the rabbi's speech, no dramatic decision is likely to be taken during Tuesday's meeting.

"We always knew that the real enemy who may cause Haman to win is jealousy and hate," Rabbi Elon had said. "We won't get swept up in this. I won't attack – we'll build. I refuse to take part in the mudslinging. And I ask everyone to refrain from this."

The rabbi had also spoken about the "exile" that had been imposed on him in Migdal and that for years he had tried to avoid blasphemy, which led him to do illogical things – against the advice of others.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report.

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Show of support in Migdal: We believe in Rabbi Elon
By Sharon Roffe-Ofir
YNET News - February 16, 2010 

Dozens of supporters, students, and rabbis from around country flood into northern town of Migdal to show support for rabbi warned Monday by religious forum for handling sexual harassment. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: I felt like my flesh was being cut; we must not let him be alone.

"I am not mad at the rabbis of the Takana forum; these are important rabbis. But I think there is spiritual decline here," said Rabbi David Lahiani from Safed on Tuesday from the Breshit seminary presided over by Rabbi Mordechai (Motty) Elon.

Lahiani arrived on the site in order to show support for Elon, who was issued a warning by the Takana forum, the Religious Zionist organization charged with handling cases of sexual harassment among the movement's leaders.

Ever since the affair broke, dozens of supporters from around the country, including well-known rabbis and students, have been flowing into the northern town of Migdal in a show of support for Rabbi Elon. They all speak of two earth-shattering issues, "both from the perspective of Rabbi Elon, who is considered among the most important rabbis in Religious Zionism and from the perspective of the well-known rabbis who are members of the forum and signed the document."

The rabbi entered the house of study on Tuesday afternoon and was received with warm welcomes and hugs from his supporters all around.

Rabbi Elon, surrounded by his students, will give an open lesson to the media representatives later Tuesday. He will not answer journalists' questions, but is slated to present his students with his interpretation of the suspicions raised against him by the Takana forum rabbis.

Alongside him are his family members, including Rabbi Benny Elon and Rabbi Emunah Elon.

Among the rabbis who came to show their support was the son of Israel's chief rabbi. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said, "We are like a family that needs to be reconnected. We must not let the rabbi be alone right now. We can come out stronger, or we can be crushed. I felt last night like my flesh was being cut."

"Rabbi Motty is a rabbi full of love and warmth. Every part of him wants to give to others, and this is why the crisis is so large – from this perspective and from the perspectives of those rabbis. They are well-known rabbis and leaders for all of us," said Yerucham Shimovitz, who came all the way from Herzliya.

"From my acquaintance with the rabbi, I have no doubt that he did not do the things ascribed to him. I can say as a teacher that it is very easy to smear a teacher with having done things of a sexual nature, in all manner of contact, pats on the back. When a student has a problem, you give a fatherly hug. And this is precisely what Rabbi Elon did," his student continued.

Rabbi Elon's childhood friend who came from the Jerusalem area said with eyes red from tears that he did not sleep all night: "I am not a child. I know that life is complex; it is hard and painful. If, Heaven forbid, it is true, I say this is a disease. I very much hope that it is not true, but it is hard for me to ignore the rabbinical figures who signed the document. I am ripped apart inside. Friendship is measured at a time a difficulty, and if it is true, I will remain his friend."

Takana forum's statement
The affair broke Monday when the Takana forum issued a statement that it has been dealing for quite some time on the issue of Rabbi Elon following complaints of "acts conflicting with holy and ethical values."

"Unfortunately, these complaints were verified," the statement says, adding that the rabbi was forced to relinquish all religious leadership and seek personal counseling.

"In accordance with the halachic-moral values that guide the forum, among them the need to protect the public and the complainants while maintaining respect for the accused and his family, the forum has so far refrained from making the matter public," the statement says.

"The said balance was meant to be achieved first of all through the meticulous application of restrictions. Unfortunately, we recently learned that such restrictions were only applied partially and that protecting the public and preventing a stumbling block obligates us to bring these issues to the masses," the statement explains.

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Mazuz told police in 2006: No charges against Rabbi Elon

By Tomer Zarchin
Haaretz - Feb. 17, 2010

Police were informed about alleged misconduct by Rabbi Mordechai Elon as early as October 2006, a letter sent yesterday from Raz Nizri, senior aide to the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, to Takana rabbinical forum director Rabbi Yehudit Shilat revealed.

According to Nizri, former attorney general Menachem Mazuz passed on the details of the complaint, alleging sexual misconduct by the rabbi, to former police investigation and intelligence head, Maj. Gen. Yohanan Danino, along with materials received from Takana. 

Police confirmed the complaint and materials were handed over to them, and stressed that Mazuz recommended they don't investigate the matter.

The first communication between the attorney general and the forum took place in June 2006. Professor Yedidia Stern, a member of the forum, approached Mazuz about a specific issue concerning a "senior rabbi," who was left unnamed.

Later on, information on the rabbi was delivered in a meeting attended by Mazuz, Nizri and then-state prosecutor, Eran Shendar.

According to Nizri, in 2006 the attorney general's office told the forum that Mazuz was considering passing the material to the police as there was a risk Elon carried out indecent acts of which the forum was not informed.

The information was duly passed on. The police decided not to appeal Mazuz's decision to not begin a criminal investigation against the rabbi.

The attorney general's office also told the forum that following careful consideration, Mazuz decided to let Takana continue with their internal proceedings against Elon - among other reasons, because of the forum's sensitivity to the special circumstances of the affair, and because the estimate was there was no point in pressing criminal charges, as the complainant was adamantly refusing to file an official complaint or cooperate in any way with the police.

Nizri's letter also said that in the event suspicions arise of a criminal offense during the process conducted by the forum, they will be obliged to inform Mazuz.

In the letter, Nizri says that at a meeting held between the forum and Mazuz in January, the forum said it thought Elon was not keeping to the limits set for him, and they feared other victims may not be aware of the forum's existence and work on the case.

They therefore asked Mazuz to give them legal backing when they went public.

According to Nizri, Mazuz made clear that the Justice Ministry could not give the forum, an independent voluntary organization, legal counseling on making the issue public, and that this was entirely their decision. 

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Elon slams sex allegations as 'blood libel' 
By Ben Hartman, Dan Izenberg and Jonah Mandel
Jerusalem Post - February 17, 2010  

abbi Mordechai (Motti) Elon on Tuesday insisted he would keep silent in the face of allegations of inappropriate behavior made against him by a rabbinical forum that works to prevent sexual harassment in the national-religious sector. 

"I believe that out of this crisis only a great joy will arise and have therefore decided to remain silent," Elon told students and supporters at the northern moshav of Migdal on Tuesday, responding to allegations that he may have committed "acts in contradiction to the values of sanctity and morality." 

The Takana forum posted an announcement Monday warning that Elon was dangerous to the public and demanded he step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities. 

The organization referred to the statement as "painful and sad," but said the issue must be brought to a resolution. 

The rabbi had relocated from Jerusalem to Migdal some four years ago, citing health reasons as the explanation for the unexpected move. 

"Meaning to prevent desecration of God's name, I did illogical things," Elon said Tuesday, referring to his decision to leave Jerusalem and move to the North. 

Elon has denied all of the allegations against him and said they derived from one "seriously disturbed" student, adding that the charges constituted "a blood libel, but I am happy that the truth is beginning to emerge," he said. 

The incident has brought media attention to Takana, an organization that deals with complaints of sexual harassment by teachers or administrators in the religious school system. 

The organization's Web site refers to Takana as "the forum for treatment and prevention of sexual harassment by teachers and authority figures in the religious sector," and says it was founded by a broad group of religious community leaders in 2003 "to create a framework to deal with sexual harassment by teachers and authority figures within the religious community." 

The organization states its guidelines are not meant to replace the authority of the state, rather that it helps victims who, for personal or other reasons, feel uncomfortable going to the police. 

The forum says it first informs every complainant of the legal options against the alleged attacker. It says that for many members of the community, submitting a complaint to Takana is seen as a way to report the crime and deal with it, without worrying about the reaction of the religious community. 

Rabbi Avi Giser, a member of the secretariat forum of Takana and the chief rabbi of Ofra, told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday that Takana serves as a way to address complaints of sexual abuse or harassment for a community in which reporting such acts creates a new set of problems. 

"I don't think there is a difference in the rates of claims of harassment in the religious community versus the secular community, but there is more pressure [on complainants] in the religious system," Giser said, saying that in additional to communal pressure, relations between students and rabbis makes getting to the bottom of complaints more difficult. 

"The big difference is in terms of the relationship between rabbis and students. The rabbi is viewed as a highly respected figure and there is often a lot of fear that prevents people from coming out against him. There is also sometimes a sort of innocent belief that some people have that tells them that if the rabbi does something, it's okay." 

Giser, who refused to comment on the allegations against Elon, denied any insinuation that Takana functions as a means of keeping complaints about harassment in the religious sector "in-house" to confront such issues without police involvement or media attention.
"The reality is the exact opposite. Our initial advice to any complainant who comes to us is to go to the police," he said. 

Giser said the majority of complainants contact the organization specifically because they can report what happened without it going to the police or being made public. 

Giser said the organization "tries to provide victims support and look into the allegations, and if we believe the accused party is someone who could be a danger to children we work to extract them from this situation." 

Meanwhile, in view of criticism aimed at Attorney- General Menahem Mazuz for not ordering a criminal investigation against Elon in 2006, when he was allegedly informed of the affair, the Attorney-General's Office made public a letter sent Tuesday to Yehudit Shilat, the head of the Takana forum. 

According to Raz Nazri, who served as Mazuz's senior aide and continues to serve Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein in the same capacity, in June 2006, Bar-Ilan University Professor Yedidia Stern, a member of the forum, asked for a meeting and told Mazuz about "a specific matter involving a senior rabbi." Stern did not name the rabbi at the time. 

It is not clear from Nazri's letter exactly what Stern told Mazuz. Afterwards, Stern met with Mazuz and the state attorney and "related the facts" to them in person and, later in a letter.
On July 6, 2006, in a letter to Takana, Mazuz told the forum that "we expect that in any case in which a suspicion arises during the procedures conducted by Takana that a criminal act has been perpetrated you will submit a statement, as detailed as possible, to the attorney- general." 

Mazuz went on to say that in such circumstances, Article 270 of the Penal Law allowed for the possibility that the Takana procedures would continue and the attorney- general would not launch a criminal investigation. 

This, he continued, would depend "on the contribution that the forum makes in the struggle to reveal and handle instances of sexual harassment." 

In the specific case of Elon, continued Nazri, the attorney-general decided to let Takana continue handling the matter, partly because of the organization's work and aims and partly because "we estimated that we would not be able to achieve anything by taking the criminal course, primarily because of the complainaint's firm refusal to lodge a complaint with the police or cooperate with a police investigation, as you explained in your letter." 

Mazuz also informed Takana that because Elon may have committed similar acts that the forum did not know about, he would consider letting the police know about the allegation against him. The attorney-general did so in October 2006. 

Two months ago, continued Nazri, Takana informed the attorney-general that Elon had allegedly violated the conditions that the forum had set down and was worried that the rabbi might have sexually harassed others. At the same time, it asked the attorney-general to guarantee that it would give legal backing to Takana if the forum published its suspicions against Elon and in response, someone who regarded himself as a victim of Elon's actions sued Takana for not publishing the suspicion against him in 2006. This, the attorney-general refused to do, wrote Nazri. 

"We reiterate, as we did on more than one occasion in writing and in our discussions with you, and as you agreed, that in situations of this nature, where a criminal act is suspected, one should first try to persuade the complainant to file a complaint with the police in order to investigate the matter and handle it 'in the optimal way' via the responsible authorities," wrote Nazri. 

But he added that the attorney-general understood this was not always possible. 

Nazri concluded by stressing that in the event additional complaints against Elon surface, Takana "must notify the police immediately." 

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Religious-Zionist rabbi's life threatened for revealing sexual harassment case

By Kobi Nahshoni

YNET News - February 17, 2010

Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, who is among the religious-Zionist Takana forum members who revealed sexual harassment claims against Rabbi Mordechai Elon, claims his life has been threatened.

"I received a letter full of threats from a relative of Rabbi Elon, who said he would hurt me in any way possible," he told his students at Har Etzion yeshiva while at times bursting into tears. "This is the reward we have received for long hours of meetings held by important people."

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'Elon had sex with male students'

By Ben Hartman

Jerusalem Post - February 17, 2010

Rabbinical forum: Rabbi Moti Elon admitted to allegation made by more than one person.

Rabbi Mordechai Elon had sexual relations with male students in the past, a rabbinical forum that works to prevent sexual abuse in the national-religious sector said in a statement on Wednesday

The Takana forum held an emergency meeting Tuesday night to discuss the allegations facing Elon, following an announcement they posted Monday demanding Elon step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities, warning he is a threat to the public.

Elon admitted to the acts during the emergency meeting, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, a member of Takana told Army Radio Wednesday, adding that the rabbi's confession is documented in the forum's protocol.

The statement released by Takana on Wednesday addresses their decision to post the announcement, and says the incidents in question “can only be described as acts of the most severe kind“.

The statement says that after it was founded by a group of leading national religious rabbis and community leaders in 2003, one of the first complaints Takana received was against Rabbi Elon, dealing with allegations of “sexual exploitation by a religious authority.” 

After the first complaints were received, Elon was called in for a meeting with Takana and “swore that he had overcome his problems and that the allegations were in the past and there were no additional incidents,” the statement reads. 

After a year passed Takana received another complaint, this one reportedly of a more severe nature than the first one, according to the statement. 

Takana said that when they looked into the new complaint, it dealt with incidents “of a deliberate sexual nature carried out over an extended period of time” that allegedly took place while the group was holding discussions on the original allegations. The group said that because they then “lost all belief in the words of the rabbi – who concealed these actions while the committee was discussing the original complaint” they came to the conclusion that it was no longer fitting for him to work as a religious teacher or counselor.

According to the statement, the rabbi was then asked to leave his post as head of the Kotel Yeshiva and cancel a number of public appearances and community roles. 

The statement says that Elon “has not fulfilled his obligations he agreed to” – in particular the requirement that he stay away from intimate, personal and private meetings with people seeking his advice or religious counsel. The statement says Takana made the decision to go public with the allegations “because they saw no other way to protect the public from possible harm in the future.”

Elon has publicly denied all of the allegations against him and said they derived from one “seriously disturbed” student, adding that the charges constituted “a blood libel, but I am happy that the truth is beginning to emerge."

Takana Chairman Yehudit Shilat told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that claims made that the allegations against Elon were solely the result of a single disgruntled student or someone with a personal vendetta against the rabbi were “absolutely false.”

Shilat, who said she hadn’t slept over the past 55 hours, would not comment on the number of complaints received against Elon nor the severity of them, saying the organization still needed more time to determine how many of them have any basis.

According to a statement posted by Takana Wednesday, the group was reluctant to publicize the matter in order to “protect the complainants.”

Shilat said this was in order to protect the privacy of the families of the complainants, a desire that was later outweighed by the public security concerns that prompted the posting of Monday’s announcement.  

Shilat said that the publication of the allegations has been met by “sadness and anger” in the national religious community, but the organization’s principal concerns were for the torah and the community. 

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Pursue justice - within the community

By Yair Sheleg

Haaretz - February 18, 2010 

As is customary in these parts, the Rabbi Mordechai Elon affair very quickly became the Takana affair. The public debate has shifted - as Elon's supporters wished - from shock at Elon's alleged sexual misconduct to a discussion of the legitimacy of Takana, an umbrella group of religious Zionist organizations aimed at combating sexual harassment by religious figures.

Two main contentions have been raised against Takana, which examined the allegations against Elon and recently revealed them to the public. The argument that the group lacks the adequate tools to examine such matters is practical, while the other claim - that in a properly functioning country it is improper to set up an independent tribunal alongside the official law enforcement system - is a matter of principle.
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The practical argument seems stronger. A group such as Takana does indeed lack the ability of the police to obtain evidence. But this case is not about a physical assault that can be proved with physical evidence, but about sexual harassment complaints. The police would also probably have difficulty finding clear-cut evidence in this case.

Moreover, either side could have gone to the police had it felt the process did not do it justice. The fact that nobody did so shows that both sides believed this process was better for them.

How, then, can either party (in this case, Elon) now claim that "natural justice" has been impaired?

As for the second contention, the counterargument is that the criminal process is not a goal in itself, but a means to three ends: punishing the offenders, halting the transgressions and deterring potential perpetrators. Had Takana not investigated the allegations, would any of these goals have been achieved (either in this case or in similar ones)? Probably not. The complainants would not have gone to the police for fear of being publicly exposed. This fear is common among sexual assault victims, especially in the religious community, and even more so when the complaint is against a dominant religious figure.

Takana's course of action, by contrast, facilitates sanctions for those who did wrong, increases the chances that they will put a stop to their actions (because they know they have been exposed and are under surveillance) and, to a certain extent, helps deter others.

Are not these partial achievements preferable to failing to deal with the issue in the first place? Or must the formal standard be maintained at all cost, regardless of the situation's complexity? In such a case, many would simply forgo the criminal procedure. In other words, had a group like Takana not existed, or if the criticism leads to its being dismantled, would the sexual assault victims be better off or worse off?

One could say a community-based course of action like the kind represented by Takana has advantages over the criminal procedure. Going the criminal justice route requires quite a bit of exposure, and is also formalistic and technical - a difficult ordeal, especially when it comes to delicate issues like sexual assault. In such cases, community action has a better chance of doing justice while treading carefully to preserve the dignity of all concerned, as apparently was done in this case.

Those who support going through the courts should acknowledge that there are certain procedures that work better when they are conducted within the community. Perhaps we should adopt the principle that in delicate issues like sexual assault, the state will officially authorize a community-based tribunal for those who are interested. In such a case, the equivalents of judges would receive their authorization from the state, which would also be able to assess their suitability. Such a tribunal would be subject to Israeli law, but would be able to go about its business with the proper sensitivity and discretion.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Hana Kehat, does the commotion around rabbi Mordechai Elon stem from the fact that he is gay? 
By Neri Livneh
Haaretz - February 24, 2010

Dr. Hana Kehat began her fight against sexual harassment within Israel's religious sector even before initiating the Takana forum, from which she has now resigned in the wake of the Rabbi Mordechai Elon affair. Kehat is a founder and board member of Kolech - a feminist, religious Zionist movement established more than 20 years ago which aims to achieve equality for women within the religious community.

Kehat, a lecturer in Bible and Israeli thought, started taking on sexual harassment at Kolech, where she exposed how such harassment on the part of Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, head of the women's religious college at Bar-Ilan University, had been handled. The affair nearly led to her firing from Orot College by its director, Rabbi Neria Guttel, and demonstrated the great need to establish the Takana forum. Kolech put pressure on Bar-Ilan; as a result the university set up an investigatory committee headed by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, today one of Takana's leaders.
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Kehat's resignation from Takana, along with other members of Kolech from the forum they created, was carried out in protest against how the Elon case has been treated - with a lack of transparency - which resulted in the women being excluded from its handling.

Dr. Kehat, might all the commotion around Mordechai Elon stem from the fact that he is homosexual?

Definitely not. Takana treats sexual harassment according to the seriousness of the case, not according to sexual preference. The commotion comes from the severity of the offenses, from the fact that it involves an assault, and also because it involves a rabbi who managed to turn himself into almost a kind of saint.

Would the same amount of noise had been made if Elon had sexually assaulted women who came to see him for advice?

I believe so. I am also certain that Takana treats rabbis who sexually harass men or women with the same gravity. We were partner to the establishment of Takana because of other cases we handled in which we discovered the total lack of awareness of the entire matter of sexual harassment on the part of rabbis. Not only was it not clear to them that it was illegal, they were not aware that it was an improper and indecent phenomenon.

We had previously dealt with the case of [Rabbi Ze'ev] Kopilovitch from Netiv Meir [yeshiva] who harassed many students and had been protected by [other] rabbis; and with the cases of Yitzchak Cohen and Rabbi [Shlomo] Aviner. Deliberations about Aviner took place entirely in a rabbinical court - lasting seven years and ending only a few months ago - with the decision that Aviner may not advise women any more.

And during those seven years he taught and dispensed advice?

Yes. But in any case it is impossible to compare the severity of his offenses with those of Elon. In Aviner's case, unbecoming behavior and verbal abuse were involved, but in Elon's there is also physical abuse.

We established Takana as a result of our activities, when rabbis began to understand that we were right and it was not a good idea for them - the rabbis - to be portrayed in front of their students as supporters of sexual harassment or as those who exploit their stature, which is much greater than the stature of regular teachers with their students, to commit such deeds. Until then, it had been accepted that rabbis were permitted to do anything, they were the highest authority and no one could question or attack them.

After the forum was established, it took two years to explain to rabbis the law against sexual harassment. Then they began to act according to the model of disciplinary committees in other institutions, which include jurists and psychologists and representatives of other bodies. But it is still difficult to conduct matters with transparency within the framework of hundreds of rabbis. In Elon's case, it was clear all along that a ticking time bomb lay under the surface because of his special stature; due to the fear of what the story would do to the religious community, we [female] representatives of Takana were excluded entirely.

According to Takana's bylaws, our representatives sit in on every panel and discussion. Until this case, it has always been this way. And in all the forums and deliberations in which we did play a part, they did not tell us there was a ticking time bomb beneath the surface.

Why? Because of your fighting spirit? Were they afraid you wouldn't cooperate in concealing the case?

Just about. The matter between Takana and Kolech is clear now. The treatment of the case was unprofessional and lasted four years. Elon was asked to resign from two teaching positions and he moved to Migdal, where he mocked Takana's decisions and continued to teach. Furthermore, he built himself up as a kind of saint who had moved to the Galilee and become an ascetic, while the whole time no one was supervising his behavior.

So you are basically saying that because Elon was important, Takana decided to sweep the matter under the carpet.

There was concealment to a certain degree here, not a whitewash. There was deception. They also broke the forum's rules, and I imagine there will be discussions about this now. In the end, lessons will be learned and it will be sorted out and they will go back to conducting themselves as a public body.

What was the significance of Elon's move to Migdal? Out of sight, out of mind?

No, this solution was proposed by Elon himself when he was forced to leave his teaching posts. As an explanation, he said the move was due to health problems. He made up the story and in hindsight, without their intending it to happen this way, Takana helped him create the image of a saint.

Are there any positive sides to the story?

First of all, it signifies a very important change in the religious sector's approach to sexual harassment. But the ones who have gained the most from the story are religious homosexuals, and I of course welcome this. From their point of view, things really turned out well. As Elon was one of their greatest opponents, they can now say that homophobia is proof of hidden homosexuality.

Second of all, from now on it will be possible to say that it is legitimate to be a religious homosexual. It's a fact that there are other religious leaders like Elon. They received a great deal of legitimization, however indirectly. I also think that it will make it easier for lesbians and gay men to accept their identity and find a framework within religious society; it's very important that they create communities that will help them deal with the dichotomy of being religious and homosexual. It is not a simple struggle to wage. I admire this struggle and support it.

On the same topic, is it possible that throughout all these years Rabbi Elon conducted a double life - being a married family man and at the same an active homosexual - and no one knew?

In any case, I didn't know. I don't know if others knew.

Where do you see him in another 10 years?

I think he has lost his place in public life. His followers will sober up, too. I don't pity him. My heart is with those who were hurt.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sex-abuse claims against famed rabbi grip Israel
By Alastair Macdonald 
Reuters - Feburary 20, 2010 

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli police said on Friday they were looking into allegations of sexual abuse against one of the country's most famous and politically influential rabbis, in a case that has triggered dramatic headlines this week. 

Mordechai Elon - known as "Rabbi Motti" by viewers of his popular weekly television show and by many young men in the West Bank settler movement - has vehemently denied the accusations by a group of fellow rabbis who say their aim is to combat sexual harassment by authority figures. 

But that has not stopped a wave of soul-searching, which has some parallels with recent turmoil marring the Roman Catholic Church. 

At issue is the power of charismatic clerics over young people in their care, as well as questions about the extent to which religious communities should regulate their own affairs without involving Israel's secular authorities. 

A Justice Ministry spokesman said that the attorney-general had asked police to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to mount a formal criminal investigation, after the organization Takana alleged that Elon had broken a promise made to fellow rabbis some years ago to limit his contacts with young men and youths. 

Elon, 50, gave up his regular TV show and retired as head of a major yeshiva religious school in Jerusalem three years ago. 

A police spokesman said on Friday no investigation had yet been launched but officers were considering the request. 

Since Monday, when Takana issued a statement saying Elon was the subject of complaints about "acts at odds with sacred and moral values" and that it wanted to "protect the public," supporters and critics of the rabbi, a scion of a prominent Zionist family, have poured out emotions in the media. 

Former students have rallied to his home, some telling of the "fatherly hugs" he was wont to bestow. Others have spoken of "heartbreak" at the division sown within their community.
Columnist Nahum Barnea of Israel's top-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said: "Every word in this story becomes an emotional atom bomb when it happens in a religious society - sex, homosexuality, charisma, minors, a rabbi's power. 

"This is not a storm in a teacup. This is a typhoon. No wonder many in the national-religious public felt this week that their world had collapsed," Barnea wrote on Friday. 

Elon's father sat on Israel's supreme court and one brother was a Cabinet minister. The leftish Haaretz newspaper called the Elons "the Kennedys of the religious Zionist camp." 

While many of Israel's founders were secular socialists, the religious, nationalist right has a growing role, notably in settlements in occupied land Israel seized in its 1967 war with the Arabs. 

Religious Zionists are distinguished from more traditional ultra-Orthodox groups which tend not to share the same focused commitment to building up the country's state power and territory. 

Mordechai Elon was an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's move in 2005 to pull settlers and troops out of the Gaza Strip and was once spoken of as a future chief rabbi. But he has had a much lower public profile in the years since.
 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sexual assault punished differently among religious, secular Jews
By Gideon Levy
Haaretz - February 2, 2010

Religious Zionism presents: a show of arrogance. For about three years, they kept their dirty laundry at home, but now they have been so kind as to display it for everyone to see. The fact that in the State of Israel there is an alternative law enforcement system such as the Takana forum, which investigates and metes out punishment only to religious Zionists, is intolerable. The fact that this system is run by the heads of a movement that in vain regulates to itself what is morally, ethically and culturally permissible is another sign of its arrogance.

A high school teacher at a secular school who sexually assaults his students would be turned over to the police. A rabbi at a yeshiva suspected of the same thing would be turned over to Takana. Perish any connection between them, but the criminal underworld also has its own judicial system with the means to investigate and punish. In that respect, there is no difference between the underworld and Takana.

Religious Zionists are not the first to conduct themselves this way. They were preceded by the kibbutz movement, which prided itself for years over its moral principles, and it, too, used to settle such matters "in-house." The kibbutz movement has contributed a lot more to society and the state than religious Zionism, but the kibbutz movement's arrogance was also without foundation, and it, too, was not entitled to maintain a separate set of laws. It was not for nothing that the rape incident at Kibbutz Shomrat sparked public indignation at the time. The kibbutzniks and the rabbis are not a higher breed. Their offenders must be dealt with precisely as any other citizen would be. Rabbi Mordechai Elon and John Doe are one and the same.

Takana has every good intention. A good word should also be said about the fact that it disclosed, ultimately, the suspicions against Elon, and better late than never. Its ethical code speaks of "conduct that is not becoming in relations between him and her," as if there is no such thing as "between him and him" and "her and her" in their community. It has also been said in the community that "acts of injustice should not be covered up on the argument that God's name will be desecrated through their disclosure," but that is exactly what they did with Elon. The claim that the students refused to come forward and complain to the police is an attempt at deception and cover-up. When the police are looking for complaints, they know how to encourage alleged victims to come forward. Just ask Haim Ramon.

The fact that now, after the suspicions were reported, additional complaints against Elon have begun to surface, as Takana has also acknowledged, just reinforces the need that there was to disclose them immediately when they became known to Takana. Its official response regarding the failure to go public with the suspicions, as if it was seeking to protect the complainants, is also clearly unconvincing. It could have been disclosed anonymously, as has been done now, and the supreme interest should have been maximum exposure of the complaints to prevent additional individuals from becoming victims.

The fact that Takana also notified the attorney general at the time, who the movement claims prevented the police from entering the picture, does not absolve Takana in this failed case, even if the attorney general conducted himself outrageously. And the failure was serious: A respected rabbi continued, for years, to teach his students and, suspicion has it, also to treat them inappropriately.

The press is now full of reports of the "astonishment" which has swept the religious-Zionist community, and about the terrible "rift" and "split" that has affected it. What's the issue? Has anyone cast doubt on the fact that there are homosexual rabbis, lesbian teachers at religious girls' high schools and even some who sexually harass their students? That is precisely the kind of arrogance that also characterizes the Takana forum. They could have checked, listened, dealt with it, shown sensitivity as much as they wished, but then transfer the matter without delay to the authorized government institutions.

An ironic coincidence has placed two important men of letters in the eye of the storm. The poet Yitzhak Laor is left to his fate. There is no Takana to examine the suspicions against him, which were all disclosed publicly immediately, perhaps even hastily. There is no "split" on the left and no "rift" in the peace camp. Laor's students are not being photographed with him embarrassingly kissing and hugging, and they are not writing angry articles in the newspapers. But highly publicized demonstrations of support for Elon have been held near his Migdal home, following three years of disgraceful silence on the part of Takana. The only good thing that can come out of all of this now is that Takana immediately changes its ways, or shuts down.

_________________________________________________________________________________

 
Rabbi: Elon case could benefit the religious
BY JONAH MANDEL
Jerusalem Post - February 23, 2010 

As the bitter pill of the recently revealed alleged sexual misconduct of Rabbi Mordechai Elon is reluctantly being digested by the national religious nationwide, rabbis from within the sector are groping for the answers, and the questions, which would enable them to turn what many see as a tragic downfall into a beneficial, albeit painful, opportunity.

The Takana Forum’s announcement last week spelled out what scores had feared to be the case – “sexual abuse by a man possessing spiritual authority.”

Police have in the meanwhile launched a preliminary investigation into the allegations against Elon.

A rabbi and educator who teaches at a yeshiva took great care to express his “shock, grief and sorrow” over the affair in a recent conversation with The Jerusalem Post, before expounding on the issues and challenges facing him now as a teacher and spiritual mentor of young religious men.

“This is a chance to examine ourselves and work on our shortcomings, students as well as rabbis,” the educator said.

“Everybody sins: rabbis, scholars, people with long beards and white beards who talk Torah. If Elon sinned, we all can,” he added, affirming to the Post that one of the most closeted topics within the religious sector, homosexuality, will inevitably be on the table in the wake of the allegations against Elon.

“Great rabbis are people, too, not angels,” he continued. “David Hamelech, who wrote the psalms, sinned [in sending warrior Uriah to his certain death, so that he’d be able to wed his wife Batsheva]. The greater a man, the greater his urges,” the rabbi quoted. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

Bill goes after sexual harassment by spiritual leaders
By Neri Livneh
YNET News - February 24, 2010

MK Orlev, who initiated bill, says: From now on, rabbis will not be able to shirk their responsibility and maintain limitations on preventing sexual harassment. Orlev careful to deny any connection between timing of bill and Rabbi Mordechai Elon harassment affair

The Knesset plenum on Wednesday passed two similar bills in a preliminary reading stipulating that offers or treatment of a sexual nature suggested by religious or spiritual instructors to their students be considered sexual harassment. This also would apply if the recipient does not expressly decline the offer.

The explanation of the bill initiated by Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) expounded, "The bill for preventing sexual harassment defines the circumstances in which sexual offers or treatment focusing on the sexuality of the person be within the bounds of sexual harassment, even if the victim does not display to the harasser that he is not interested in the offers or treatment being put forth by the harasser.
 "This refers to circumstances in which there is a relationship of authority or dependence between the harasser and the victim: in the framework of an educational framework (when referring to a minor or helpless person), attendant-patient relations, employer-employee relations, or service providers.

"It is being suggested to add to this list circumstances in which a person seeking spiritual or religious guidance and thus puts his faith in a spiritual or religious guide, who exploits the relationship of dependence and sexually harasses. Such circumstances are likely to prevent the victim from expressing his opposition to the harassment because of the dependency or authority relationship created between him and the guide to whom he ascribes spiritual or religious authority."

According to MK Orlev, "From now, real or fake spiritual leaders as well as rabbis will not be able to shirk their responsibility to maintain the limitations of preventing sexual harassment. This was a loophole worthy of closing."

Regarding claims that the bill is connected to the sexual harassment complaints filed against Rabbi Mordechai Elon, Orlev said, "There is no connection to the Elon affair. Any connection between the timing of the vote on the bill and the break of the affair is entirely circumstantial. In any case, this is just a preliminary reading. There is no retroactive legislating, and there is, therefore, no connection to the Elon affair."

Some 65 members of Knesset voted in favor of the bill, with no abstentions and no opposition. The second bill, initiated by MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) received the support of 59 MKs. The cabinet supported both bills. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

'Is the fuss over Rabbi Mordechai Elon down to his homosexuality?'
By Neri Livneh
Haaretz - February 25, 2010 

Dr. Hana Kehat began her fight against sexual harassment within Israel's religious sector even before initiating the Takana forum, from which she has now resigned in the wake of the Rabbi Mordechai Elon affair. Kehat is a founder and board member of Kolech - a feminist, religious Zionist movement established more than 20 years ago which aims to achieve equality for women within the religious community.

Kehat, a lecturer in Bible and Israeli thought, started taking on sexual harassment at Kolech, where she exposed how such harassment on the part of Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, head of the women's religious college at Bar-Ilan University, had been handled. The affair nearly led to her firing from Orot College by its director, Rabbi Neria Guttel, and demonstrated the great need to establish the Takana forum. Kolech put pressure on Bar-Ilan; as a result the university set up an investigatory committee headed by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, today one of Takana's leaders.

Kehat's resignation from Takana, along with other members of Kolech from the forum they created, was carried out in protest against how the Elon case has been treated - with a lack of transparency - which resulted in the women being excluded from its handling.
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Dr. Kehat, might all the commotion around Mordechai Elon stem from the fact that he is homosexual?

Definitely not. Takana treats sexual harassment according to the seriousness of the case, not according to sexual preference. The commotion comes from the severity of the offenses, from the fact that it involves an assault, and also because it involves a rabbi who managed to turn himself into almost a kind of saint.

Would the same amount of noise had been made if Elon had sexually assaulted women who came to see him for advice?

I believe so. I am also certain that Takana treats rabbis who sexually harass men or women with the same gravity. We were partner to the establishment of Takana because of other cases we handled in which we discovered the total lack of awareness of the entire matter of sexual harassment on the part of rabbis. Not only was it not clear to them that it was illegal, they were not aware that it was an improper and indecent phenomenon.

We had previously dealt with the case of [Rabbi Ze'ev] Kopilovitch from Netiv Meir [yeshiva] who harassed many students and had been protected by [other] rabbis; and with the cases of Yitzchak Cohen and Rabbi [Shlomo] Aviner. Deliberations about Aviner took place entirely in a rabbinical court - lasting seven years and ending only a few months ago - with the decision that Aviner may not advise women any more.

And during those seven years he taught and dispensed advice?

Yes. But in any case it is impossible to compare the severity of his offenses with those of Elon. In Aviner's case, unbecoming behavior and verbal abuse were involved, but in Elon's there is also physical abuse.

We established Takana as a result of our activities, when rabbis began to understand that we were right and it was not a good idea for them - the rabbis - to be portrayed in front of their students as supporters of sexual harassment or as those who exploit their stature, which is much greater than the stature of regular teachers with their students, to commit such deeds. Until then, it had been accepted that rabbis were permitted to do anything, they were the highest authority and no one could question or attack them.

After the forum was established, it took two years to explain to rabbis the law against sexual harassment. Then they began to act according to the model of disciplinary committees in other institutions, which include jurists and psychologists and representatives of other bodies. But it is still difficult to conduct matters with transparency within the framework of hundreds of rabbis. In Elon's case, it was clear all along that a ticking time bomb lay under the surface because of his special stature; due to the fear of what the story would do to the religious community, we [female] representatives of Takana were excluded entirely.

According to Takana's bylaws, our representatives sit in on every panel and discussion. Until this case, it has always been this way. And in all the forums and deliberations in which we did play a part, they did not tell us there was a ticking time bomb beneath the surface.

Why? Because of your fighting spirit? Were they afraid you wouldn't cooperate in concealing the case?

Just about. The matter between Takana and Kolech is clear now. The treatment of the case was unprofessional and lasted four years. Elon was asked to resign from two teaching positions and he moved to Migdal, where he mocked Takana's decisions and continued to teach. Furthermore, he built himself up as a kind of saint who had moved to the Galilee and become an ascetic, while the whole time no one was supervising his behavior.

So you are basically saying that because Elon was important, Takana decided to sweep the matter under the carpet.

There was concealment to a certain degree here, not a whitewash. There was deception. They also broke the forum's rules, and I imagine there will be discussions about this now. In the end, lessons will be learned and it will be sorted out and they will go back to conducting themselves as a public body.

What was the significance of Elon's move to Migdal? Out of sight, out of mind?

No, this solution was proposed by Elon himself when he was forced to leave his teaching posts. As an explanation, he said the move was due to health problems. He made up the story and in hindsight, without their intending it to happen this way, Takana helped him create the image of a saint.

Are there any positive sides to the story?

First of all, it signifies a very important change in the religious sector's approach to sexual harassment. But the ones who have gained the most from the story are religious homosexuals, and I of course welcome this. From their point of view, things really turned out well. As Elon was one of their greatest opponents, they can now say that homophobia is proof of hidden homosexuality.

Second of all, from now on it will be possible to say that it is legitimate to be a religious homosexual. It's a fact that there are other religious leaders like Elon. They received a great deal of legitimization, however indirectly. I also think that it will make it easier for lesbians and gay men to accept their identity and find a framework within religious society; it's very important that they create communities that will help them deal with the dichotomy of being religious and homosexual. It is not a simple struggle to wage. I admire this struggle and support it.

On the same topic, is it possible that throughout all these years Rabbi Elon conducted a double life - being a married family man and at the same an active homosexual - and no one knew?

In any case, I didn't know. I don't know if others knew.

Where do you see him in another 10 years?

I think he has lost his place in public life. His followers will sober up, too. I don't pity him. My heart is with those who were hurt.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sex allegations against rabbi roil Israel's Orthodox community
By Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times - February 28, 2010  

Many Israelis pride themselves on a kind of European sophistication when it comes to public sex scandals: For the most part, they shrug them off.

But those limits are being tested by a brewing controversy concerning an Orthodox rabbi who has been accused by a nongovernmental religious organization of sexually exploiting male students.

Rabbi Mordechai Elon, 50, a popular spiritual figure from a prominent family, has not been charged with any crime, and no evidence has emerged that any of the students allegedly involved were under age 18, according to police and child-protection advocates. No students have filed police complaints, a law enforcement official said.

But the case is rattling the foundations of Israel's Orthodox community by casting a public focus on topics that some would prefer to avoid: sexual harassment by religious leaders and homosexuality among rabbis.

"It's an issue that automatically makes people uncomfortable," said Orthodox rabbi Ron Yosef, who runs a support group for those struggling to balance their sexuality and religious beliefs.

Yosef, who came out as gay a year ago, said he's found acceptance from his own congregation but has also received death threats.

The allegations brought by the religious forum are "only a symptom of a bigger problem," he said. "They need to deal with this. It's not going to disappear."

The first report of inappropriate sexual conduct involving Elon was received more than five years ago by Takana, a forum of rabbis and others from diverse parts of the Orthodox community. The group was set up to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct and serve as a mediator with law enforcement agencies in the aftermath of a 1999 case in which a rabbi was convicted of sexually assaulting male students. In statements released this month on its website, Takana accused Elon of "sexual exploitation" and engaging in "a long-term relationship that was clearly of a sexual nature."

When the group first approached Elon years ago, the rabbi told them he had "overcome his problem," according to Takana's statement. Sometime later, Takana leaders said they received a "more severe" complaint indicating a "more substantial problem."

After consultations with the attorney general in 2006, it was agreed that Takana would handle the matter privately, in part because there was no evidence of criminal activity and no students came forward to press charges, according to a statement from the attorney general's office.

Though Takana has no government enforcement powers, its role as a go-between is viewed as critical in dealing with the sensitive issue of sexual misconduct, in which victims often are reluctant to come forward publicly or fear making allegations against religious leaders.

Under pressure from Takana, Elon agreed in 2006 to stop teaching at religious schools and was ordered to limit his contact with young male students. He retired and relocated from Jerusalem. But in recent weeks some Takana leaders received information that Elon had violated that agreement, so they issued their statement.

Since then, as many as 15 young men have come forward with similar stories, Israel's Channel 10 reported.

After Takana posted its statement, Elon dismissed the allegations as "blood libel" from "a person whose stability is doubtful."

Friends and former students have rushed to Elon's defense, describing him as a warm, generous man whose affectionate manner might have been misunderstood. Critics say law enforcement agencies and even Israeli newspapers appear to have given Elon special treatment because of his standing in the religious community and his family's stature.

Elon's father was a Supreme Court vice president, and his brother served in the Knesset. Some observers say that similar allegations against a secular high school teacher would have been handled more aggressively.

One newspaper reportedly knew about the allegations against Elon for years but refrained from publishing anything, according to reports elsewhere.

"The non-disclosure in this case was an act of kindness to Elon but engenders a sense that a double standard was applied," Tel Aviv University law professor Zeev Segal wrote in Haaretz newspaper.

Law enforcement agencies have not opened a formal investigation, though they said they were considering such a step.

Key details remain unclear, including the nature of Elon's actions and the number and ages of young men allegedly involved.

Moshe Meir, educator at the Shalom Hartman Institute, said the Elon case offers Israel a chance to confront negative attitudes in the Orthodox community about homosexuality.

"If indeed it appears that Rabbi Motti Elon has homosexual tendencies, this is no crime," Meir said. His possible transgression "is the abuse of authority, not the sexual identity." 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sex allegations against rabbi disturb Orthodox Israelis No charges filed against popular scholar, but group cites illicit contact
By Edmund Snders
Houston Chronicle - March 7, 2010 

ABSTRACT:

in recent weeks some Takana leaders received information that Elon had violated that agreement, so they issued their statement. [...] as many as 15 young men have come forward with similar stories, Israel's Channel 10 reported.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Abuse of Power  
Editorial
Forward -  April 07, 2010

The Roman Catholic Church’s defensive response to the cascading charges of clergy sexual abuse has unleashed an astonishing spectacle: the world’s most powerful church draping itself in the mantle of victimhood. In the process, the church has managed to draw Jews into this story, with an offensive comparison made by the preacher of the papal household that the church’s bad press is somehow akin to historical antisemitism — a statement the Vatican later disavowed.

As this drama unfolds, it’s important to focus on the real victims: certainly not the church itself, no matter how much it protests, but the thousands of people who claim to have been abused by Catholic priests and whose stories were cruelly ignored or discounted while the alleged perpetrators have been allowed by a protective church hierarchy to skirt justice and accountability.

This pedophile scandal is sui generis because the Catholic Church is truly like no other religious institution, with its rich and complicated history, adherents worldwide and, of course, a pope who is not accountable to any earthly superior. But there are uncomfortable echoes of this scandal with similar ones within the Jewish community.

The common thread is not necessarily sex, or sexual abuse. That is, instead, the painful byproduct, the awful consequence of unbridled, unchecked power.

To some outsiders, the Catholic conundrum can be traced to the church’s insistence on celibacy, and the unnatural expectations that places on the men who become priests. (Little mention is ever made in this context of the women who become nuns.) But the requirement to “serve the Lord without distraction,” as Paul said, is an insufficient explanation for the epidemic of reprehensible behavior.

Rabbis who have been caught in their own abuse scandals were not celibate. Moreover, child sexual abuse is more likely to occur inside a family than in a church, synagogue or schoolroom.

Instead, the common thread is the abuse of power, the willingness of a closed and autocratic leadership to avoid transparency and protect the lives and reputations of those within their ranks, rather than those who have been harmed.

We’ve seen this same dynamic play out in some of the recent scandals involving rabbis in the United States and Israel. Take, for instance, the case of Rabbi Mordechai Elon, accused of having sex with his male students. A charismatic leader in Israel’s religious Zionist community, Elon was forced into “retirement” four years ago by Takana, a private forum on rabbinic sexual abuse, after it quietly investigated the charges against him without revealing the names of alleged victims to civil authorities.

This is eerily reminiscent of attempts by the Catholic hierarchy to probe, sometimes punish — and too often protect — its own. While any institution has the right to guard against unfair accusations, the failure to openly confront alleged wrongdoing compounds the hurt of victims and endangers the public’s trust.

The Vatican is faced with an enormous challenge, in part religious, in part managerial, and blaming this crisis on the media or anyone else only prevents the Holy See from completing the painful self-examination and institutional reforms necessary to reclaim the faith of its flock. The church’s predicament should serve as a warning to other faith communities: Power can corrupt even those who claim to walk with God. 

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Under Pressure, Haredi Rabbi Withdraws Teaching Invitation To Accused Clergy Abuser  
By Shmyra Rosenberg
Failed Messiah - July 15, 2010

A rabbinic panel found Rabbi Mordechai Elon seduced male students who came to him for counseling an imposed restrictions on the scope of Elon's professional activities. But a leading haredi rabbi tried to help Elon do an end run around those restrictions, saying the panel was not an official beit din and its decision is therefore meaningless.

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Police call for sex crime charges against Rabbi Mordechai Elon. Files on allegations of forceful sexual molestation against at least two minors to be passed on to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office

Ben Hartman
Jerusalem Post - August 9, 2010


Police have sufficient evidence to press charges against Rabbi Mordechai Elon in the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against him by former students, police said on Sunday.
The allegations include forceful sexual molestation, and sexual molestation against at least two minors. The police will pass the investigative file to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office. 

In mid-February, police opened an investigation into allegations against Elon, following a meeting between Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein and head of the police investigative branch Cmdr. Yoav Segelovich. 

The decision came less than a week after Takana, a rabbinical forum that probes allegations of sexual abuse within the religious community, posted a warning on its Web site demanding that the rabbi step down from all teaching, rabbinical, and community responsibilities, saying he poses a threat to the public. 

Two days later, Takana posted a statement that said that Elon stood accused of having sexual relations with male students in the past. 

In October 2006, then-attorney-general Menahem Mazuz instructed police not to open a criminal investigation into allegations against Elon. 

A day after the allegations were made public in February, Takana leaders held an emergency meeting with Elon. Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, a member of Takana, said at the time that Elon admitted to the acts during the meeting and that in the days following the publication of the allegations, 10 more former students of the rabbi filed complaints against him to the forum. 

Elon, 50, was widely respected in the national- religious community and headed some of the most prominent houses of learning in religious Zionism, including the Horev and Hakotel yeshivas in Jerusalem. 

He was also the host of a popular TV program on the weekly Torah portion and worked to build understanding and cooperation between the religious and secular sectors. 

His family is one of the most prominent in the religious-Zionist community. His brother Benny is a former MK and tourism minister, and his father, Menahem Elon, is a former Supreme Court justice.
 

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Rabbinical forum says police announcement does not affect their warnings against Rabbi Elon
By Ben Hartman
Jerusalem Post - August 10, 2010

The police's announcement on Sunday that there was enough evidence to pursue sex crimes charges against Rabbi Mordechai "Moti" Elon was greeted with a measured response by members of a rabbinical forum that fights sexual abuse by religious leaders, a member of the forum told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. 

Rabbi David Stav said the Takana forum does not review allegations of sexual impropriety on a criminal or legal level, and therefore the police announcement would have no impact on its recommendations regarding Elon. 

"We aren't influenced by the police; even if they said there is no evidence for him to stand trial, it wouldn't affect us. They deal with issues of law and the penal code; we deal with ethical issues only," Stav said. 

In February, Takana posted a warning on its Web site demanding that Elon cease all teaching, rabbinical and community activities, saying he poses a threat to the public. Two days later, Takana posted a statement that said that Elon stood accused of having sexual relations with male students. 

Takana sees itself as a venue in which allegations of wrongdoing that would probably not make their way to the police are addressed, and through which those accused of impropriety are kept away from members of the public. The forum was founded because many in the religious community are not willing to turn to the police, and also because some ethical violations would not be considered criminal violations by police. 

"In a lot of the cases we deal with, people wouldn't be willing to speak to the police, and it isn't clear that the police would be able to do anything, because in may cases what we say is wrong or unethical isn't always illegal or seen as sexual abuse by the law, but from the ethical perspective we see it as wrong," Stav said. 

"We only deal with issues that people don't want to go to the police about. We are not trying to replace the police; we are part of this country. What we do is that when we see there are complaints about a teacher or a rabbi's behavior, we try to prevent the next case from happening, by informing the community and preventing the accused from staying in his community position. 

After Takana's publication of the warning against Elon, the forum was the subject of much criticism for going after a revered member of the national-religious community, to which the forum belongs. Stav said the police announcement might help change people's minds. 

"Obviously those who said we made these allegations up are wrong and the police announcement strengthens the fact that we didn't make it up," he said. 

"I'm sure there are many people who are still angry at Takana and I can't blame them, but I think that the number of people who are angry at Takana has been reduced and will continue to fall. At the beginning there was much criticism, but after people realized that we didn't make these stories up out of the blue and that rabbis came to us to check what we are doing, I think that most of them were pleased." 

Stav is the chief rabbi of Shoham and the spokesman for the Hesder Yeshiva system. He is a former education leader of the flagship Or Etzion yeshiva. 

The allegations against Elon include forceful sexual molestation, and sexual molestation of at least two minors. 

Police said Sunday they will pass the investigative file against Elon to the Jerusalem District branch of the State Attorney's Office. 

Elon's attorney Yair Golan said on Monday that the police announcement had not significantly changed things for him and his client. 

"After the announcement he told me: I believe in my innocence, I am strong, and I will fight this," Golan said.

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Amid sexual abuse claims, synagogue revokes invite to Rabbi Elon

By Yair Ettinger

Haaretz - August 10, 2010

A prominent rabbi in the religious Zionist movement, Elon is suspected of sexually molesting two minors and forcibly committing an indecent act.

A Tel Aviv synagogue yesterday withdrew its invitation to Rabbi Mordechai Elon to teach a class, a day after police recommended indicting Elon on charges of sexual abuse.

A prominent rabbi in the religious Zionist movement, Elon is suspected of sexually molesting two minors and forcibly committing an indecent act.

On Sunday, about six months after Takana - a forum of prominent religious figures aimed at preventing sexual abuse in the religious community - made public the complaints against Elon, police said they'd collected sufficient evidence to recommend pressing charges against him.

Elon was scheduled to teach a class at the Heichal Meir synagogue on Thursday. He planned to discuss the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, regarded as religious Zionism's founding father.

Yesterday Elon hosted a large gathering marking the beginning of Elul in Migdal, the community he moved to in 2006 as part of the restrictions imposed on him by Takana.

Sources close to the rabbi said yesterday that revoking the class in Tel Aviv notwithstanding, Elon intends to continue teaching and will not stop giving his regular classes in Migdal. 

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Tel Aviv synagogue reconsiders invitation to Rabbi Elon
By Yair Ettlinger
Haaretz - July 15, 2013

The Heichal Meir synagogue in Tel Aviv is considering backtracking on its plan to host classes given by Rabbi Mordechai Elon, who has been accused of sexually exploiting his students, the synagogue's rabbi said yesterday. 

Heichal Meir could face a confrontation with Takana, a watchdog group that aims to prevent sexual exploitation by authority figures in the religious world, if it doesn't withdraw its invitation to Elon. 

"If it leads to malicious gossip, disruptions and outbursts, it could be that we don't need" to have Elon teach, Heichal Meir's Rabbi Shlomo Dichovsky said yesterday. But he said the synagogue board was ultimately responsible for the decision and would do whatever was in the best interest of the synagogue. 

After Haaretz reported yesterday that Heichal Meir was planning to offer classes taught by Elon, Takana head Yehudit Shilat called Dichovsky, a leading ultra-Orthodox figure widely viewed as a bridge between the Haredim and the religious Zionists, to ask him to retract the offer. He said he would examine the issue. 

Dichovsky's wife was also asked to help get the invitation withdrawn. 

The support from Dichovsky implied by the synagogue's invitation was seen as the highest level of support Elon has received since Takana went public with the accusations in February. 

But Dichovsky, who used to serve as a rabbinical judge and had previously won the support of former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as a candidate for the Supreme Court, said yesterday he was not responsible for issuing the invitation. 

He also expressed opposition to the way Takana has dealt with the Elon case. 

Takana has sought to impose restrictions on Elon's activities, including teaching large groups on a regular basis. 

Sources close to Elon said asking to teach at Heichal Meir was a step toward breaking free of the restrictions. They said he remains committed to teaching at the synagogue. 

Takana representatives said the group has received many complaints about Elon. 

"This is a very important group and it issued a very respectable opinion against Rabbi Elon, but it is not the decision of a [rabbinical] court," Dichovsky said. He said such a decision is necessary for a ruling on "serious matters against an individual." 

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Students denounce sex-crime allegations against their rabbi, Mordechai Elon
By Ben Hartman
Jeruaslem Post - October 22, 2010

Hundreds of former students of prominent national religious Rabbi Mordechai "Moti" Elon have signed a petition this week defending their former teacher against claims that he sexually abused students in the past. 

The release of the petition followed news that Yediot Aharonot will this weekend print a report on the allegations leveled against Elon by his former students, charges believed to have been partially leaked to the newspaper by Takana, a forum of national-religious rabbis that handles complaints of sexual abuse by leaders in the community. 

"We, the students of Rabbi Mordechai Elon, were amazed to hear that this Friday a full article will be printed, full of defamations and denigrations, lacking any truth whatsoever, against our teacher and rabbi Mordechai Elon," the petition reads. 

"For all of the years that we were fortunate enough to study under Rabbi Elon, we never encountered, saw or heard of any sort of exploitative or inappropriate behavior by the rabbi towards his students, or any complaints against him from his students.' 

The petition closes with the line that "even chutzpah and depravity have their limits." 

On their website this week, the Takana forum published a response to a letter entitled "Rabbi Moti Elon - the real story," attributed to a man named Yossi Greenfield, and has been circulating on the Internet in recent months. 

Takana says the letter "does not contain the real story" and is full of distortions meant to cast doubt on the credibility of Takana and "throw sand in the eyes of the public." Greenfield's document states that Takana received a complaint in July 2005 from a married 30-year-old man who said he and an additional man were sexually assaulted by Elon on multiple occasions when they were young men. Takana added that they brought Elon in for questioning, where he admitted to the allegations. 

The letter also says that in June 2006, the forum received a document from a former student of Elon containing far more serious allegations. Takana said that Elon again confessed to the allegations, but claimed that the complainant was emotionally distressed, and that the relationship was consensual and not exploitative. 

The Greenfield letter contends that the forum never adequately investigated the allegations against the rabbi before deciding that he was guilty of wrongdoing, and that accusers were coerced by the forum into making complaints against Elon. It also claims that Elon did not believe he was guilty and resigned willfully in order to avoid a media storm. 

The document also attempts to portray one of Elon's alleged victims as "a sexually obsessive and mentally distraught boy." 

Greenfield's letter adds, "After months of laboring to find some sort of suspicious claim, they came across someone who claims Rabbi Elon kissed him on neck and pulled him toward him. Anyone who knows Rabbi Elon knows without a doubt that this is normative behavior for the Rabbi and bears no sexual connotation. The police have decided to press charges and try Rabbi Elon for a kiss on the neck, and I do not know whether to laugh or cry." 

Greenfield also states that the forum never bothered to interview certain witnesses who could hurt the case against Elon. 

Takana member and Petach Tikvah Yeshivat Hesder Rabbi Yuval Cherlov said that the forum published the letter on their website about the allegations because of the importance of maintaining public trust in their work, according to a post on his own site this week. 

"We had no choice but to go to the public with the facts that completely contradict Yossi Greenfield's letter," Cherlov wrote, adding that the letter harmed public faith in the forum and that Takana's continued silence "would make us incapable of carrying out our duties from here on out." 

In August, police announced that they have sufficient evidence to press charges against Elon following the completion of a nearly six-month investigation of complaints leveled against him. 

The allegations include forceful sexual molestation and charges of sexual molestation against at least two minors. 

The decision to open the investigation came after Takana published a letter on their website demanding that Elon step down from all teaching and rabbinical duties following allegations of sexual abuse.

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Moti Elon called in for hearing on sex allegations. Rabbi faces indictment for suspected offenses against two underage plaintiffs
By Ron Friedman
Jerusalem Post - February 11, 2011 

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office has called Rabbi Mordechai Elon in for a hearing, following which it will be decided whether to indict him on charges of sexual offenses against two underage plaintiffs. 

The prosecutors sent Elon's lawyers a letter on Thursday, stating that after studying the investigation material, they were considering indicting him for the alleged offenses, which took place on several occasions between 2003 and 2005. 

According to a statement by the Justice Ministry, the decision to call Elon in for a hearing was approved by Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein in consultation with State Attorney Moshe Lador. 

The allegations against Elon came to light a year ago after Takana, a national religious rabbinical forum that investigates allegations of sexual abuse in the religious community, posted a message on its website demanding that Elon step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities, claiming he was a threat to the public. 

The police began investigations following the publication of the message and managed to reach a number of teenagers they believed had been victims of Elon's alleged actions. Elon himself was called in for questioning twice in the course of the probe. 

After months of investigation, the police determined that they had enough evidence to charge Elon with committing indecent acts against minors, and passed the information over to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, which in turn gave its own recommendation to Lador in January to indict Elon. 

Elon's lawyer Yair Golan told The Jerusalem Post that he was not surprised to have received the request for the hearing. 

"This is not the end of the line, but only the beginning of the crucial decision-making stage. We are now waiting to examine the investigation material and will then respond through the appropriate channels - not the media. I believe that at the end of a fair process, no indictment will be filed against the rabbi," said Golan.

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Expert warns religious educators about denial of sexual abuse of minors. Community taboo surrounding issue of molestation leads to low number of reports
By Jonah Mandel
Jerusalem Post - My 26, 2011 

The denial and complacency within the national-religious sector regarding sexual assault of minors is wrong and harmful to the victims, an expert warned a forum of educators on Wednesday - emphasizing the danger of the belief that a rabbinic figure would not molest a child. 

Speaking at the Rehovot campus of Orot Teachers' College on their annual conference dedicated to leadership, Adi Fishman, an Education Ministry expert on preventing and treating sexual assault, specializing in the national-religious sector, said "the religious public's feeling - as though its children are more protected from sexual assault than those of other populaces - is wrong." 

"When, indeed, nothing has yet happened, that feeling can be a convenient defense mechanism. But once a sexual assault does occur, the belief that 'things like that don't happen in our society' can mar the educator or parent's ability to assist the victimized child," she added. "An educator must first and foremost be aware that there is a good [likelihood] that there is a sexually assaulted child in his classroom. We know that one of every four girls, and five boys, will be sexually assaulted." 

According to Fishman, the chances that a child - who was not educated in advance about reporting sexual assaults - would indeed inform an adult about such an incident were slim to nonexistent. Combining that with the taboo surrounding the topic in religious society, leads to very low rates of reporting such sexual offenses. 

Hence, it is crucial to explain to religious children that such a phenomenon exists, and to encourage them to tell an adult they trust if it occurs to them, Fishman stressed. 

Fishman also noted the false precept, prevalent in the ranks of the religious, that rabbinic figures would never sexually assault anyone, and noted to the conference attendants indicative signs that should raise an educator's awareness to a possible sexual assault. 

"If an average child becomes the classroom clown, or a social kid becomes a loner, and so forth - an educator must take this as a signal of distress and try to reach the bottom of it. In many cases, the child could be telling the environment he or she is in distress and underwent sexual assault. Children have a hard time telling about sexual assaults they experienced, but there is no child who doesn't indicate in some way that they are in distress," she said. 

While noting the growing openness in religious schools to deal with this topic, Fishman said that there is still much work to be done - especially in preliminary education and prevention. 

"In recent years we see a rise in the volume of [complaints] to us from the religious-educational system on issues pertaining to sexual assaults, and I believe this is a result of a higher degree of willingness from within the system to deal with the problem," Fishman said. "More and more principals are enabling us to reach out to students and educate them on the problem - but there is still lots of work ahead in raising the religious public's awareness on the problem itself." 

The national religious society was shocked in the late 1990s to learn that the head of the prestigious Netiv Meir yeshiva high school, Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolovitch, had for many years been sexually abusing some of his male students. 

Part of the shock resulted from the fact that the rabbi's heinous deeds were known to some within the school's administration, and senior members of the religious Zionist movement, who didn't inform police about the crimes. 

More recently, last February the Takana Forum warned the public of Rabbi Motti Elon, who they said was a threat to the public in light of his failure to keep commitments he made to the forum to step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities. 

According to Takana, which was formed in part due to the Kopolovitch case, Elon made these commitments after allegations reached them of "sexual exploitation by a religious authority." 

Police launched an investigation, and evidence was found alleging that he conducted indecent acts with two minors - one of them by force. 

Based on their recommendations, and that of the state attorney, Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein decided to press charges against Elon.

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Rabbi Moti Elon indicted for indecent assault

By Joanna Paraszcuk

Jerusalem Post - November 2, 2011

The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment on Wednesday afternoon against Rabbi Mordechai Elon, charging him with five counts of indecent assault, and indecent assault by force.

According to the indictment, which was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, Elon, 51, the former head of Yeshivat Hakotel and a leading figure in the religious-Zionist world, exploited his position as a revered figure in carrying out the offenses against two minors.

In January 2003, according to the indictment, Elon held a private meeting in his office at Yeshivat Hakotel in the capital with a 17-year-old student, identified as “Bet,” who had lost a personal acquaintance in a traffic accident that day. During the meeting, Elon allegedly hugged Bet, drew him close and kissed him on the neck. Similar incidents occurred later the same day and again several weeks later.

In July 2005, another 17-yearold boy, identified as “Alef,” allegedly arranged a meeting with Elon at the offices of an educational NGO in Jerusalem of which he was the director, to discuss a family crisis. Alef was recommended to speak with Elon by a friend who had previously consulted with the rabbi on personal issues.

At the meeting in his private office, the indictment alleges that Elon forcibly sat Alef down on his lap and inappropriately stroked him on his head, stomach and knees.

The indictment was filed after Elon rejected a plea bargain offered to him by the prosecution on Sunday night, saying he would not admit to crimes he did not commit. Elon was offered a deal in which he would have had to enter a guilty plea, but would not have been subjected to a custodial sentence.

Elon denies the charges and says nothing he did was for sexual gratification, and that his actions were misunderstood.

In February, the State Attorney’s Office announced its decision to press charges after a police investigation against Elon had been conducted at the request of Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein.

After refusing the plea bargain, Elon announced that his lawyer, Yair Golan, had ceased to represent him.

Since then, Elon has hired a new lawyer, Zion Amir. One of the country’s most prominent criminal attorneys, Amir represented several public figures, most notably former president Moshe Katsav.

“The rabbi insists he is perfectly innocent and intends to fight to prove that innocence,” Amir told the media on Wednesday.

Elon has headed several Jewish, religious and social organizations and institutions, and hosted television and radio shows. He also headed a bible study group held at the President’s Residence.

Elon is the son of former Supreme Court deputy president Menachem Elon, and his four siblings include former tourism minister Benny Elon and current Beersheba District Court President Joseph Elon. 

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New witnesses come forward in Moti Elon trial

By Yaakov Lappin

Jerusalem Post - April 10, 2012

Prosecutors say 4 young men who studied under rabbi accused of sexual offenses have agreed to come forward.

Jerusalem District prosecutors are seeking to introduce new witnesses in the trial of Rabbi Moti Elon, who has been charged with two counts of sexual offenses against two underage students.

The trial is set to enter the testimony stage next week, and prosecutors have said that four young men who studied under Elon have agreed to come forward with new, allegedly incriminating information.

The offenses are said to have occurred between 2003 and 2005.

Elon, a charismatic and popular figure, has denied any wrongdoing and furiously dismissed allegations of inappropriately touching the students.

When accusations first surfaced in 2010 against the prominent rabbi from the national religious camp, Elon vowed to remain silent. The allegations rocked the national religious world.

In the following year, he issued an official denial, saying any physical contact with students, such as a hug, had been innocent of any dubious motive.

In January of 2011, prosecutors recommended that Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein place Elon on trial for carrying out indecent acts on two minors.

The prosecutors passed the recommendation on to Weinstein after concluding that the police’s opinion that Elon should stand trial was correct. The police completed their investigation into the allegations in August 2011.

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Rabbi Moti Elon admits to hugging and kissing students, denies sexual intention

By Oz Rosenberg

Haaretz - January 23, 2012

Lawyers for Elon, one of the leaders of religious Zionism, tells the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court that it was his habit to hug his students, as part of his educational methods.

Rabbi Mordechai Elon conceded Sunday that he might have indeed kissed and hugged two of his students - both of them minors - but denied doing so for sexual pleasure, but rather as a way to console and encourage the students.

Lawyers for Elon, one of the leaders of religious Zionism, told the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court that it was his habit to hug his students, as part of his educational methods. Elon was not present at court.

Elon is charged with sexually abusing two students. A 17-year-old student at the time claimed that during a private consultation Elon put his foot between the student's legs, seated him on his knees, hugged him, patted his stomach and knees and kissed his face. The student claimed Elon repeated the actions twice, after summoning the student.

Another student, also aged 17 at the time, complained that on two different occasions Elon hugged him, made him lie face-down, caressed and kissed him. Both students claimed that Elon recited the Priestly Blessing after his acts.

Elon admitted meeting the first student, but said he did not recall kissing him. Still, if he did - it was not for sexual pleasure. As for the second student, Elon does not recall meeting him but admits that if there was such a meeting, it might have included a hug and a kiss.

Elon denied other details in the indictment including acts of explicit sexual nature. "Rabbi Elon admits to some of the facts in the indictment, especially concerning his meetings with students, but denies that there was anything sexual about them. Rabbi Elon ... will prove his innocence in court," said his lawyer, Baruch Rubin.

The proceedings, including witnesses' testimonies, are expected to resume in early March.

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No more room under the carpet  
By Naomi Ragen
Jerusalem Post - December 28, 2012

The case was horrific. A 17-year-old girl from the Satmar community in Williamsburg testified that she was forced by her school to attend "counseling sessions" from age 12 to 15 because she wore stockings that were too thin and asked too many questions about God. Instead of religious mentoring, three times a week she found herself behind a thrice-locked door with a bed, face to face with a fiftyish, overweight, unlicensed father of 10 who forced her to watch pornographic movies and perform sexual acts. 

The defendant, Nechemya Weberman, had risen from the humble post of driver for the Satmar Rebbe to the go-to expert to whom rebellious young girls were forcibly sent. According the victim's mother, Weberman charged her $150 an hour, and demanded thousands of dollars up front. 

At one point, when he insisted on taking her young daughter on a 12-hour, unchaperoned excursion upstate, the victim's mother finally protested. His response? An angry demand for a written apology, and a threat to stop the sessions, which would have resulted in the girl's expulsion from school. 

"What could I do? I wrote it... [Now] I feel like I want to kill myself. How could I have been so blind?" she said. 

Satmar in America has rallied around Weberman, holding a fund-raiser for his legal defense, and allegedly dispatching members of the community to alternately bribe and harass the victim and her family. These efforts supposedly included a half a million dollars in exchange for the girl and her new husband leaving the country, throwing her nieces out of school, and revoking her husband's restaurant hechsher (kosher certificate), putting him out of business. 

With incredible bravery and tenacity, the victim refused to give up, going on to endure a grueling 15-hour, three-day cross-examination by Weberman's high-powered legal firm, something prosecutors said they had never, ever seen done to any victim of sexual assault.
Weberman supporters say he was convicted without any DNA evidence, i.e. no Monica Lewinsky blue dress. It was his word against hers. 

Obviously, however, the jury believed her, convicting him on all 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. He faces a maximum of 117 years in prison. 

SADLY, WEBERMAN's is not an isolated case. People like him are all over the religious world at every level, possessing the perfect opportunity to exploit their lofty, respected status as spiritual leaders to put themselves beyond suspicion, assured that victims will be too intimidated to come forward. 

What is remarkable about the Weberman case is that the victim and her family pursued the case and that the victim received support from the religious community, mostly outside of Satmar, who held public protests against those besmirching her name. 

These included Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum himself, one of two Satmar rebbes, who was widely quoted as saying to an overflow crowd of men on a Saturday night: "I was in Williamsburg this Shabbat and saw an entire community saddened by what is going on. It's a dreadful situation.... A Jewish daughter has descended so low, terrible. Is our sister to be like a whore? ...When they go down, they go down to the ground." 

I was also encouraged by the statement issued about the case by the Rabbinical Council of America, which stated that the RCA "decries any invocation of Jewish law or communal interests as tools in silencing victims or witnesses from reporting abuse or from receiving therapeutic and community support and strongly condemns those members of the Jewish community who use such tactics." 

But while Weberman is behind bars, many are still unnamed and continue to destroy the souls of young boys and girls because of a conspiracy of silence surrounding rabbinical sexual misconduct even in such respected modern Orthodox institutions as Yeshiva University. 

The Forward recently published a shocking expose describing a decades-long cover-up by the YU administration of rabbinical misconduct by two rabbis (both of them now living and working in Israel). Since the article was published, 11 more victims have come forward.

Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel, who was not part of YU when the alleged abuse took place, has been vociferous in his condemnation of such a cover-up: "The actions described represent heinous and inexcusable acts that are antithetical both to Torah values and to everything that Yeshiva University stands for. They have no place here - or anywhere at all." 

The statement goes on to publish a hotline for victims, as well as his own personal phone and email contact information. I find that admirable. But the fact remains that in the past YU ignored victims' claims and allowed the perpetrators to get off. 

The trial of deeply respected rabbinical leader Mordechai Elon on sexual abuse allegations leaves many of us, myself included, conflicted. While in our hearts we would like to see Rav Elon - once one of the most beloved and respected teachers and leaders of modern Orthodoxy in Israel - completely exonerated, on the other hand, his victory would discredit the important and groundbreaking Takana panel set up to hear charges of abuse from victims of sexual assault and which acted in good faith to protect the victims by banning Elon from teaching. 

Such an outcome would be a tragedy that would set back the progress made in giving victims a voice, and the community a responsibility to act quickly and resolutely to prevent such tragedies in the future. 

WHAT IS undeniably a good thing over which we may all rejoice is that the entire topic of rabbinical sexual abuse has come out of the closet, much the way similar abuses by priests is no longer a dirty little secret. 

I hope and pray that Weberman will sit behind bars for many, many years and that the appeal process and some highly-paid legal team (his supporters are allegedly trying to raise a million-dollar defense fund and hire Alan Dershowitz) will not get him off. I hope his punishment will serve as an encouragement for more victims to come forward, and as a deterrent to those in the religious world who have motive, opportunity and the feeling that their pious act and high-up friends will shield them from the law if they choose to unleash their sexual desires, thereby destroying the lives and souls of the young people in their care. 

I hope it will empower really pious religious leaders to strongly and publicly support victims, and convince parents and educators to listen, and act. Most of all, I hope it will help to eradicate the wall of silence that has the religious world bending to intimidation from within and from without about sexual predators in its midst. 

As the brave victim of Nechemya Weberman who brought down Satmar's veil of secrecy was quoted as saying: "I am doing this so that no other young person will suffer what I did." 

God willing, may that be true.

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Central witness testifies in Moti Elon Trial

By Jeremy Sharon

Jerusalem Post - December 5, 2012

Witness in case of alleged indecent assault against prominent national-religious leader Rabbi Moti Elon testifies.

One of the two central witnesses in a case of alleged indecent assault against prominent national-religious leader Rabbi Moti Elon gave testimony on Tuesday in the Jerusalem District Court.

Elon, formerly the dean of the renowned national-religious institute Yeshivat Hakotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, was charged with five counts of indecent assault and indecent assault by force in November 2012. He strenuously denies the charges.

The two witnesses, known as Aleph and Bet, claim separately that Elon touched, kissed and stroked them in an inappropriate manner in private meetings they held with the rabbi. The incidents in question date back to 2003 and 2005.

Because of the sensitive nature of the allegations the testimony of the two main witnesses is being conducted behind closed doors without media access. Elon denies the allegations against him and has said that nothing he did had any sexual motivation whatsoever.

The rabbi’s supporters argue that he was accustomed to giving warm hugs to many of his students and that the incidents in the meetings with the two witnesses were misinterpreted.

A close associate of Elon’s previously told that anyone who knows him would recognize that this is how the rabbi has acted with thousands of people who have sought his advice and friendship.

“Everyone who knows Rabbi Elon and his body language and reads the accusations thinks it’s ridiculous,” the aide said. “He hugged me at my wedding under the huppa. He is very warm and this is how he expresses it.”

The rabbi’s associates claim that the allegations, originally brought against Elon by the Takana Forum, are politically motivated and stem from his opposition to positions held by other national-religious rabbis on issues of national security, particularly the disengagement from Gaza in 2005.

Elon was opposed to calls for national-religious soldiers involved in the evacuation of settlements in the Strip to refuse orders.

Takana was established by leading figures of the national-religious community to combat harassment and initially brought the allegations against the rabbi to light.

 

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Witness refuses to testify against popular rabbi 
By Asher Zeiger and Aaron Kalman
The Times of Israel - February 27, 2013

Half the indictment sheet against Motti Elon dropped after alleged sexual assault victim pressured out of taking the stand

One of the two witnesses set to testify against Rabbi Motti Elon, who is on trial for sexual harassment, refused to take the stand Tuesday, forcing the prosecution to drop half of the charges against him at the final stages of the court case.

Elon was indicted on two counts of indecent and sexual assault against two 17-year-old male students between 2003 and 2005, when he was head of Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The reluctant witness, who was a minor when Elon allegedly harassed him, wouldn’t face his former teacher in court, Channel 10 reported, citing both fear and heavy pressure from friends and family as the reasons for his sudden change of heart.

“Toward the end of the prosecution’s case against Rabbi Elon, and after an extended period during which we attempted to bring the complainant to court so he could testify, it became clear to the prosecution that the complainant had made up his mind not to testify,” the Jerusalem district prosecution told the Hebrew news channel.

“It was decided not to force him to appear [in court], and, as a result, the prosecution had to retract a second charge being pressed,” the statement said.

Elon — a popular rabbi and educator — was indicted in November. Throughout the proceedings, the rabbi has maintained his innocence, claiming that he may have kissed and hugged students, but it was to console or encourage them, and was never done in a sexual manner.

Both of the alleged victims claimed that they turned to Elon during a time of personal crisis. The first, known as “Aleph,” was not Elon’s student, but was experiencing an emotional crisis when a friend suggested he speak with rabbi. “Aleph” claimed that, on two separate occasions, Elon hugged him, had him lie down on his stomach, then kissed and caressed him. Elon claimed that he didn’t even recall meeting “Aleph.” He said that if they did meet, it is conceivable that he kissed “Aleph” as a means of consolation, but not for sexual gratification.

The second student, “Bet,” claimed that Elon placed his foot between his legs, had him sit on his knees, hugged him, patted him on the stomach and knees, and kissed him on the face.

Both “Aleph” and “Bet” said that Elon recited the ‘priestly blessing’ after his acts.

At one time, Elon was considered to be one of the most prominent of the new generation of leaders within the national religious camp. He was the head of Horev Yeshiva high school from 1987 until 2002, at which time he was named head of Yeshivat Hakotel, where he remained until 2006. He is the son of late Supreme Court justice Menachem Elon, and brother of former MK Benjamin (Benny) Elon and of Beersheba District Court judge Yoseph Elon.

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Rabbi Elon convicted of indecent assault by force against minor

By Jeremy Sharon

Jerusalem Post - August 7, 2013

Prominent national-religious rabbi potentially faces up to seven years in jail for crimes.

Prominent national-religious figure Rabbi Mordechai Elon was convicted on two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. Elon could potentially serve up to seven years in prison for his crime.

Elon had been one of the predominant figures in the national religious world before allegations of misconduct arose and was dean of the renowned HaKotel Yeshiva. His Torah lessons were broadcast on national radio, he had a television slot and enjoyed a large and devoted public following.

The rabbi’s attorney strongly hinted that an appeal against the decision was likely.

Elon did not respond to questions about the conviction as he left the court Wednesday morning.  

Later on Wednesday, while the rabbi was giving a Torah lesson back in his home in the northern town of Migdal, a man interrupted the class demanding that Elon admit what he is accused of.

“I suffered sexual assault from a well-known rabbi. Admit your errors... Why do you not have the strength to say ‘I sinned’.”

The rabbi’s students forcibly evicted the man from the room.

Elon has vigorously denied the allegations and his supporters have argued that he was accustomed to giving warm hugs to many of his students and that the incidents  for which he was convicted were misinterpreted.

The charges against Elon, brought in 2011, were that during a private meeting in 2005 with a 17-year old youth, known as Aleph whose friend had recommended he speak with the rabbi, Elon stroked Aleph’s face and different parts of his body on top of his clothes, sat the boy on his lap and kissed him on the face for a prolonged period.  

According to the indictment, in a separate incident Elon met Aleph in Yeshivat Hakotel and took him to his office, closed the door and sat down next to the youth on a couch. He then brought Aleph towards him, sat him on  his knees and rubbed his genitals against Aleph’s body above his clothes.

Charges regarding a second complainant were dropped in February when the victim refused to testify in court.

Judge Hagit Mak Kalmanovich wrote that she accepted the testimony of Aleph as reliable.

“The witness is credible in my eyes, his testimony is reasonable and logical. Difficulties raised by the defense counsel  do not lead to reasonable doubt and that questions raised by Elon’s defense counsel did not bring about reasonable doubt.

Only limited details of the ruling were released to the public due to the sensitivity of the case.

The judge wrote that testimony provided by another witness, who was a student at Yeshivat Horev which Elon formerly headed but not a formal complainant, about the behavior of Elon towards him bore similarities to the testimony of Aleph.

Kalmanovich continued, writing that a further witness testified about an incident he witnessed in which saw Elon in an “intimate situation with a youth,” saying that although Elon was not charged on these incidents, the testimony of these witnesses strengthened and supported Aleph’s version of events.

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Rabbi Moti Elon Guilty of Indecent Act 

The charismatic rabbi was accused of an indecent act with a minor, denied charges.

By Gil Ronen

Arutz Sheva 7 - August 7, 2013

The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court has delivered a guilty verdict in the trial of Rabbi Mordechai (Moti) Elon, who was accused of performing an indecent act with a minor, while taking advantage of being in a position of authority.

Rabbi Elon, who was cleared by the court of one of the two charges brought against him, denied the accusations and has said he will appeal.

Judge Ronit Mak-Kalmanovich rejected Rabbi Elon's denials.

The judge's verdict was received by a silent courtroom, as Rabbi Elon himself busied himself with the reading of Psalms. A short time after the verdict had been read out, some members of Rabbi Elon's family began crying.

The acts attributed to Elon occurred in 2005.

He is expected to appeal the decision. His lawyer said that he had been disappointed with the judge and her decision, but that this was only “the first battle” and that the campaign would continue.

The maximal punishment for the crime Rabbi Elon was convicted of is seven years' jail. The sentence will be delivered in early October.

On exiting the courtroom, Rabbi Elon thanked G-d, and expressed gratitude to his faamily and his lawyer. He read out verses from Psalms, and said that he had planned to read these verses no matter what the decision turned out to be.

He then invited the public to a Torah lesson he plans to deliver in his beit midrash at Migdal this evening.

The Takana Forum expressed its pleasure with the verdict.

The Takana Forum, which is officially headed by Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, is a body with no official powers that has taken upon itself to handle complaints of sexually inappropriate behavior by authority figures within the religious community. Such complaints, it says, have a tendency to be swept under the rug.

The Forum spearheaded the campaign that led to the trial of Rabbi Elon. 

The person widely seen as the driving spirit behind Takana is Yehudit Shilat. At one time, the Forum included several representatives of Kolech, which is backed by the New Israel Fund, but these announced at a certain point that they were no longer members of the Forum, and will remain in it only as observers.

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Rabbi Motti Elon gets community service for sexual assault conviction
Jewish Light (St. Louis - December 18 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon, an Israeli Modern Orthodox leader, was sentenced to six months of community service for his conviction on two charges of sexually assaulting a minor.

Elon was sentenced Wednesday in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for incidents that took place in 2003 and 2005. The student had come to Elon, the former rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, for advice.

He was also sentenced to 15 months probation and must pay nearly $3,000 in compensation to the victim.

“I welcome my sentencing of community service – I’ve been doing such work for 40 years, and will be happy to continue till I’m 120 years old,” Elon said following the sentence.

He added that the conviction is false. Accusations of sexual misconduct against Elon were first investigated by a Modern Orthodox forum, Takana, which deals with complaints of sexual harassment in the religious school system. The forum in 2006 ordered that Elon no longer have contact with students. Shortly after, Elon left his teaching positions and moved from Jerusalem to Migdal, a moshav in the North, citing health reasons.

The public investigation against Elon began in February 2010 after Takana went to police with the sexual harassment complaints, saying Elon had violated the restrictions on contact with students that had been imposed on him. Elon denied the charges and rejected a plea bargain under which he would have pleaded guilty but not served jail time.

Elon is the founder of the MiBereshit educational program, which is distributed throughout the world in Hebrew and English. He is the son of former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon and the brother of former Knesset member Benny Elon.

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Rabbi Motti Elon Gets Slap on Wrist for Sex Abuse

Israeli Modern Orthodox Leader Avoids Jail Time

JTA - December 18, 2013

JERUSALEM — Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon, an Israeli Modern Orthodox leader, was sentenced to six months of community service for his conviction on two charges of sexually assaulting a minor.

Elon was sentenced Wednesday in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for incidents that took place in 2003 and 2005. The student had come to Elon, the former rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, for advice.

He was also sentenced to 15 months probation and must pay nearly $3,000 in compensation to the victim.

“I welcome my sentencing of community service – I’ve been doing such work for 40 years, and will be happy to continue till I’m 120 years old,” Elon said following the sentence.

He added that the conviction is false. Accusations of sexual misconduct against Elon were first investigated by a Modern Orthodox forum, Takana, which deals with complaints of sexual harassment in the religious school system. The forum in 2006 ordered that Elon no longer have contact with students. Shortly after, Elon left his teaching positions and moved from Jerusalem to Migdal, a moshav in the North, citing health reasons.

The public investigation against Elon began in February 2010 after Takana went to police with the sexual harassment complaints, saying Elon had violated the restrictions on contact with students that had been imposed on him. Elon denied the charges and rejected a plea bargain under which he would have pleaded guilty but not served jail time.

Elon is the founder of the MiBereshit educational program, which is distributed throughout the world in Hebrew and English. He is the son of former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon and the brother of former Knesset member Benny Elon.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  --  Margaret Mead

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