NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s rabbinical seminary, called for the creation of panels to evaluate the veracity of abuse claims before they are forwarded to the authorities.
At a rabbinical conference in February in London, Schachter called “ridiculous” the idea that Jews should not turn fellow Jews over to secular authorities for fear of violating the principle of “mesirah,” or betrayal — the traditional Jewish prohibition on informing. In fact, he added, failure to cooperate with the authorities is a desecration of God’s name.
However, Schachter warned, communities need to ensure that the claims of abuse are accurate before passing them along to the police. To that end, he called for the creation of boards made up of mental health professionals who are also experts in Jewish law to evaluate whether accusations are credible.
Schachter warned that a false accusation could end up tearing apart families. He also raised the fear that a false allegation could land an innocent person in prison where he faced physical danger. For example, he said, someone convicted for abuse could end up in prison with a “shvartze”— a Yiddish term for a black person that is often deragatory — who hates Jews.
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