AUSTRALIA
J-Wire
December 6, 2016 by J-Wire Staff
Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz, Rabbi of Melburne’s Chabad Malvern has resigned his membership of the Orthodox Rabbinic bodies in Australia.
Child sexual abuse advocate Manny Waks writes on his blog: “This follows the release last week of damning findings by the Royal Commission into the response of the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne and Yeshiva Bondi, Sydney to child sexual abuse, which found its leadership responsible for the horrific treatment of victims/survivors and their families.
The Royal Commission found that the Yeshivah leadership ‘did not create an environment conducive to the communication of information about child sexual abuse. If anything, the mixed messages are likely to have produced inaction’.
The Royal Commission was damming of the Yeshivah Cente stating ‘there was an absence of supportive leadership for survivors of child sexual abuse and their families within Yeshivah Melbourne. Halachic [Jewish Law] principles were stridently – even if incorrectly applied. Criticism of those that spoke out was forceful’.
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