UNITED STATES
Failed Messiah
We ask our Rabbonim: Please issue a statement supporting Nechemia Weberman’s victims and condemning the harassment they continue to suffer.
Petition by
Miriam Pearlmutter
Cleveland Heights, OH
Despite Nechemia Weberman’s conviction, Mrs. Deutsch and her family continue to be harassed and intimidated by members of the religious community. In the most recent display of baseless hatred, she and her family were shamed during Rosh Hashanah davening and made to leave their shul. This event was chronicled in secular newspapers, such as the New York Post.
We, as the Orthodox community, cannot allow this Chillul Hashem to go unaddressed. This is not who we are, and we must publically condemn the shaming and bullying that many sexual-abuse victims experience following their ordeals. Victims of these horrific crimes are entitled to our communities’ support and encouragement. In the alternative, victims will fear speaking out and we will be complicit in their suffering.
The specific Rabbonim asked to issue a statement are: the Agudas Yisroel (Chaim Dovid Zweibel,Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin,Rabbi Labish Becker); the Orthodox Union (Rabbi Simcha Katz,Rabbi Steven Weil); the Rabbinical Council of America (Rabbi Leonard Matanky, Rabbi Mark Dratch, Rabbi Basil Herring, Rabbi Barry Kornblau); National Council of Young Israel (Rabbi Perry Tirschwell, Rabbi Chaim Leibtag); Chabad- Lubavitch (Rabbi Osdoba, Rabbi Schwei, Rabbi Braun, Rabbi Heller); Satmar (Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum); and the Beis Din of America (Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz; Rabbi Mordechai Willig,Rabbi Yona Reiss,Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann).
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