AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks
6 December 2016
Following our public statement from earlier today, Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz has sent the statement below to his community. We welcome Rabbi Yurkowicz’s public apology, and his public commitment to child protection within his community.
Dear Chabad Malvern Community,
I am writing to let you know that I have stepped down as a member of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) and the newly formed Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand (RCANZ).
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over the las t few years, has highlighted the unfortunate and inexcusable mistakes that were made in the past. I understand that during the time I was on the committee of management and a trustee of the Yeshivah Centre (since 2006), victims of child sexual abuse, and others have suffered, and I sincerely apologise for that. I no longer have any involvement in the Yeshivah Centre, and have been asked to resign my membership from these Rabbinic groups because of the position I held at that time.
We at Chabad Malvern have always prioritised child protection at all of our activities. Our crèche, after school programs, camps and Shul all have child protection policies in place which our staff are strongly committed too. Since the Royal Commission, Chabad Malvern and its leadership have enrolled in the Australian Childhood Foundation’s accreditation program, and myself and our staff have furthered our awareness and vigilance and continue to do so.
Over the past 30 years, we at Chabad Malvern have built a wonderful community which you are a part of or have been connected to in some way, and therefore I wanted to personally notify you of my decision.
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