‘Rabbi told me not to go to civil authorities’

AUSTRALIA
The Australian Jewish News

YESHIVAH Melbourne’s senior rabbi allegedly told a congregant this week that he had no right to contact police without permission from a rabbi.

The congregant, who was a victim of child sexual abuse, has filed a claim against the Yeshivah Centre and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Telsner with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Right Commission (VEOHRC).

The victim, who has been the subject of bullying and intimidation because he came forward to police, was granted an Interim Intervention Order (IIO) against someone within the Yeshivah Centre community.

On Monday, he told Rabbi Telsner about the IIO so that it could be enforced in synagogue.

“Rabbi Telsner then asked the applicant (victim) whether he had sought and received permission from a rabbi to have the order granted by the court,” the victim said in a statement to the VEOHRC.

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