ISRAEL
The Jewish Week
Tue, 12/31/2013
Daniel Goldman and Miriam Zussman
Society in Israel and North America are different in many ways, but when it comes to understanding the dangers of sexual abuse of children by rabbis, communities in Israel and the diaspora must find ways to cooperate in making progress on this painful and complex issue.
Several years ago, a group called the Takanah Forum, was established by Orthodox leaders including Rabbis Aaron Lichtenstein, Shlomo Riskin, Eliyakim Levanon and David Stav along with Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Yaffa Gisser and others, as a watchdog for sexual abuse and harassment in the religious community. It found Rabbi Mordechai “Moti” Elon, a charismatic, much beloved rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel who hosted television and radio programs in Israel, responsible for multiple cases of abuse of power, and sexual exploitation against students. They made the difficult but necessary decision to require Rabbi Elon be removed from teaching, or having any contact with youth in an effort to protect future victims.
Nearly four years ago Rabbi Elon violated his agreement with the Takanah Forum, and hence the issue was brought into the public domain. This past week, the Jerusalem District court convicted Rabbi Elon on two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor. Although the punishment was disappointingly light, the conviction should have caused deep repercussions in the Orthodox world – a sign that abuse can come from highly respected rabbis. Unfortunately not everyone is outraged at Rabbi Elon’s violations, and not everyone sees him as a dangerous and habitual predator.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.