Manny and Zephaniah Waks tell royal commission about sex abuse ordeal at Yeshivah Centre

By Jessica Longbottom And Norman Hermant
7 News
February 4, 2015

https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/26198909/manny-and-zephaniah-waks-tell-royal-commission-about-sex-abuse-ordeal-at-yeshivah-centre/

Zepheniah (L) and Manny Waks (R) the royal commission into child sexual abuse about abuse at the Yeshivah Centre in the 1990s.

For Manny Waks it has been a long road to the royal commission investigating institutional responses to child sex abuse.

The only survivor of abuse within Melbourne's Jewish community to speak publicly, he has become a name synonymous with the fight against sexual abuse in the Jewish community worldwide.

However it has come with a cost.

Mr Waks has felt so ostracised by the ultra-orthodox Chabad Jewish community that he moved his family to France to start a new life.

Only days ago he returned to Australia to give evidence at the royal commission, as it hears for the first time allegations of abuse in Jewish institutions.

"You know on the plane ride on the way here I had to pinch myself to say, 'Wow, I'm actually coming to Australia because the royal commission is happening'," he said.

"I've literally been working towards this goal, even subconsciously, for decades."

Mr Waks, 39, was sexually abused by security guard David Cyprus at the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne in the 1990s.

He reported the abuse to senior staff at the centre but he says nothing was done.

It was only years later, when he disclosed the abuse to his father Zephaniah, that they went to police.

"There is still a significant group of rabbis, mainly within the ultra-orthodox community, within the Yeshivah Chabad community, who would not support victims to go to the police," Mr Waks said.

"It causes untold damage.

"The reality is we don't even know how much damage it does because we don't know how many victims are out there thinking, 'I'd better not go because it causes all sorts of things'."

It was not the first time Zephaniah Waks had had to deal with sexual abuse claims within his family.

At the royal commission this week, he disclosed publicly for the first time that two other sons had been abused by a Yeshivah Centre teacher, David Kramer, in the 1990s.

He tried to have it dealt with within the community, bounded by the concept of mesirah, a code of silence that prevents Jews informing on other Jews to the police.

"It wasn't that I thought I wanted to report it to police but I can't because it's mesirah," Zephaniah Waks told counsel assisting the commission.

"This was the reason - mesirah and the whole community culture is the reason."

However he said the Yeshivah Centre failed to deal with it effectively.

"The following day, on the Monday, I noticed that Kramer was still teaching at the school.

"I confronted Rabbi Glick [Yeshivah principal] and asked him, 'What's going on? How is it possible that he's still here?'

"I thought this was absolutely outrageous, however, if I reported matters to the police I would be in breach of the Jewish principle mesirah."

Zephaniah Waks told the commission that eventually Yeshivah College's solution was to send Kramer overseas.

He was later jailed for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old victim in the United States.

Zephaniah Waks said that since his son had gone public with his abuse, he and his other family members had also been frozen out of the Jewish Chabad community.

"It's mindboggling. I get emotional just thinking about it," he said, breaking down in tears while giving evidence.

"We felt suddenly reduced to nothing and had lost all our friends."

Revelations that students in Chabad communities in Melbourne and Sydney had suffered sexual abuse divided opinions among leading orthodox rabbis.

Not all believed mesirah should apply in cases involving sexual abuse.

The commission heard from senior orthodox rabbi Moshe Gutnick, a member of the rabbinical court in Sydney.

Rabbi Gutnick testified that he regretted not treating a previous abuse allegation in the 1980s seriously enough.

He said his thinking changed dramatically after learning of another abuse case in 2011.

Now Rabbi Gutnick says most orthodox rabbis believe abuse allegations must be taken to the police.

"The more we publicise issues of abuse, the easier it is for people to come forward," he said.

"The more we can punish those who have done wrong, but more importantly find those who may be currently damaging our children."

As for Manny Waks, his appearance before the royal commission would not be the end of his fight.

He is now trying to take his campaign global by seeking backers to establish a worldwide inquiry into sexual abuse in the Jewish community.

The Australian royal commission is the model.

"I've felt the incredible empowerment and validation that it gives me as a victim and I've seen the same for every victim I've spoken to who's gone through that process," he said.

"So, what it shows me is that this model is something that we should seriously consider in setting up in the global Jewish community, in Jewish communities around the world."