AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

February 10, 2015 by J-Wire Staff

The Progressive Rabbinic Council of Australia, Asia and New Zealand and the Union for Progressive Judaism have stated their position on statements made at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Signed by Stephen Freeman, president of the UPJ and Rabbi Adi Cohen, Chairman of Moetzah, the statement reads:

The Rabbis of the Moetzah (the Progressive Rabbinic Council of Australia, Asia and New Zealand) and the leadership of the Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) join those who are shocked and horrified by the revelations about the deceit and ignorance displayed by rabbis within the Chabad Yeshivahs and communities in Australia.

The abhorrence to these statements is compounded by the attempts of these senior leaders to use Jewish tradition and Jewish Law as an excuse for them to cover up child sexual abuse; to protect the perpetrators; and to…