ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva
By Haim Lev
First Publish: 7/19/2015
Haredi leaders appear to be taking stock of several recent sexual harassment scandals, Kikar Hashabbat reports Sunday.
On Sunday, Rabbi Shalom Arush, Breslov leader and head of the Chut Shel Chessed yeshiva (Torah academy), announced that he will stop meeting with women during public reception hours in light of the scandals.
Rabbi Arush explained that the move is to set a precedent for caution.
“The evil inclination of rabbis is even greater than that of other people,” he said, reflecting a Judaic concept that people with great potential also have greater challenges.
Therefore, he said, he will not see women in person anymore, even if they are accompanied by their husbands.
The decision was made against the backdrop of at least ten women accusing Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg of Tzfat (Safed) of sexual abuse in a religious context, which made headlines after Sheinberg attempted to flee Israel and was arrested before his departure.
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.