Evaluating the Novominsker Rebbe’s Call to Action on Molestation

UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

An unsigned article in Yated Ne’eman (6/22/16), A Call to Action, claims fantastic things were initiated by the Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, head of the Moetzet (Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel of America). The naïve can be forgiven for believing they live in Moshiach times. The article starts:

The Novominsker Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Perlow, issued a call for action in response to the festering scourge of child abuse and molestation. As a result of his seminal address at the recent Torah Umesorah convention, several groundbreaking initiatives have been launched to ensure that our children are safe at all times.

Unfortunately, they leave out most of the words spoken by R. Perlow at Torah Umesorah (5/26/16) and instead imply he has said all sorts of things which he did not .

I transcribed and posted his Torah Umesorah speech where he complained about bloggers on abuse, opposed extending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse, and insisted rabbis should decide whether to report abuse to the police. Most of all, he got all defensive and lashed out at bloggers as liars. He got in a lather about how much rabbonim care. But the real issue is not caring but tachlis, action.

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.