AUSTRALIA
J-Wire
February 15, 2015 by Henry Benjamin
Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant, the current president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia was quizzed at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing in Melbourne on Friday about a text he sent in which he wrote about Zephaniah Waks “He is attacking Chabad”.
During his evidence, Rabbi Kluwgant said: I might have sent that yes” when quizzed about a text message relating to whistleblower Manny Waks’s father Zephaniah. He was asked if he had sent…
“Zephaniah is killing us. Zephaniah is attacking Chabad. He is a lunatic on the fringe, guilty of neglect of his own children.m Where was he when all this was happening? ” Rabbi Kluwgant responded: “I may have sent that, yes”
He told the Commission he is the immediate past president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and is currently general manager of cultural and spiritual services at Jewish Care Victoria and he works as a minister for the Chabad Institutions of Australia.
Quizzed on the Rabbinical Council of Victoria by Counsel assisting the Commission Maria Gerace, Rabbi Kluwgant told the Commission: “Initially it was set up to be a rather insular organisation as support for rabbis providing professional development and support. When I took on the role as president I expanded those so that it would be engaged with the broader community not just the Jewish community through a range of multi-faith and multicultural initiatives as well.”
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