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The response of the Haredi Jewish community in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, to allegations of
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
against its spiritual leaders has drawn scrutiny from inside and outside the Jewish community. When teachers,
rabbis A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as '' semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
, and other leaders have been accused of sexual abuse, authorities in the Haredi community have often failed to report offenses to Brooklyn police, intimidated witnesses, and encouraged
shunning Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rule ...
against victims and those members of the community who speak out against cases of abuse, although work has been done within Jewish communities to begin to address the issue of sexual abuse. Additionally, the existence of sexual abuse has also been used to promote stereotypes or fuel
Antisemitic conspiracy theories Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of J ...
.


Prevalence and under-reporting

The greater New York City area is home to the largest Haredi community outside of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. About a quarter million
Haredim Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...
—who are often called
ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...
, though they themselves do not like that label—live in New York City, most of them in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. According to scholars, the rate of sex abuse within Haredi communities is roughly the same as anywhere else. However, for generations, most victims have not come forward with accusations because of stigmatization from the community, and when they did come forward, the matter generally stayed within the community, rather than being reported to the police and forming part of crime statistics. Sexual abuse within the community is often not reported to police. Many feel that to report a Jew to non-Jewish authorities constitutes the religious crime of ''
mesirah Mesirah (or mesira, ) is the action in which one Jew reports the conduct of another Jew to a non-rabbinic authority in a manner and under the circumstances forbidden by rabbinic law. This may not necessarily apply to reporting legitimate crimes ...
'': Samuel Heilman, a professor of Jewish studies at
Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...
, writes that one reason why cases or patterns of sexual abuse are rarely reported to law enforcement is because "they think that anyone who turns over anyone to the outside authorities is committing a transgression to the community at large". The accuser is then considered a Moser, literally translating to "one who hands over" in the sense of the informant who turns over a Jew to secular authorities.
Agudath Israel of America Agudath Israel of America (; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Judaism, Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Har ...
, a leading Haredi organization, has stated that observant Jews should not report allegations to law enforcement without first consulting with a rabbi. Heilman adds that some wish to protect the community's reputation and the accused's family, and that the rabbis worry that outside scrutiny could weaken their authority: "They are more afraid of the outside world than the deviants within their own community", since "the deviants threaten individuals here or there, but the outside world threatens everyone and the entire structure of their world". However, other rabbis, including a
Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
rabbinic court in Crown Heights and
Yosef Blau Yosef Blau is an American Orthodox rabbi. He is the mashgiach ruchani at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary since 1977. He is also the former president of the Religious Zionists of America. Education Blau earned his Bachelor of Arts de ...
, disagree, and encourage reporting abusers to police, stating that the ban on ''mesirah'' does not apply. Rather than reporting to police, Haredim may take a case of sexual abuse to the shomrim, a local Jewish street patrol. The shomrim keep the names of suspected child molesters on file, but do not share them with law enforcement or take other measures to end abuse, and sometimes try to discourage people from taking a case to the police. Reports of abuse to religious authorities rarely result in punishment for the offender; as in the
Catholic sex abuse cases There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved several allegations, investigations, t ...
—where child molesters were re-assigned to other dioceses—
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
s, teachers, and youth leaders found to be abusing children are usually re-assigned to another yeshiva, perhaps after seeing a board of rabbis. Many of the people accused and/or convicted of sexual abuse and related charges in Brooklyn's Haredi community are rabbis. Others accused include a school principal, a spiritual adviser, and a social worker.


Reprisal

Witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficulty ...
is common in cases of sexual abuse. Reports emerged of victims and accusers (as well as families of victims and accusers) facing threats of violence, false police reports of child abuse, loss of kosher licenses or other harm to business, and/or eviction. They were pressured or offered bribes not to co-operate with prosecutors. Physical harassment, distribution of flyers attacking victims and advocates, and coercion also occurred frequently. Establishment reprisal against sexually abused children and their parents could be severe: Parents were shunned by the community, with rabbis forbidding congregants to speak to them, while abused children were barred from schools and treated as undesirable marriage candidates by matchmakers, hurting the marriage prospects for other siblings and family members. Prosecutors often faced difficulties due to a lack of cooperation from victims and communities. In many cases, victims refused to cooperate, often either out of fear of reprisal or after being bribed to remain silent. District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said, "As soon as we would give the name of a defendant ... (rabbis and others) would engage this community in a relentless search for the victims... And they're very, very good at identifying the victims. And then the victims would be intimidated and threatened, and the case would fall apart." Hynes described the intimidation that occurs in these cases as worse than anything else he had ever seen in his career, including mob cases and
police corruption Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which a law enforcement officer breaks their political contract and abuses their power for personal gain. A corrupt officer may act alone or as part of a group. Corrupt acts include taking ...
cases.


Prosecution

Former Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes was responsible for many legal cases in the Haredi community until his retirement in 2012. Hynes received both praise and criticism for his handling of the cases. He was praised for starting a program in 2009 called Kol Tzedek (Voice of Justice), which is geared toward Haredi Jews and encourages them to co-operate with law enforcement; according to Hynes, it reduced the amount of victim intimidation. Since 2009, roughly 100 out of 5389 cases of sexual abuse in the district have come from the Haredi community. The first high-profile child sex abuse case that Hynes brought against the Hasidic community after his election in 1989, was that of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed youth counselor and prominent member of the
Satmar Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...
community, who was convicted on December 10, 2012, of repeatedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl he was supposed to be counseling, and sentenced to 103 years in prison. Hynes received criticism in other cases. Activists accused him of pandering to rabbis and those in power for political reasons, and not prosecuting cases aggressively enough. Described as "a velvet glove wrapped around a velvet fist", his approach did not publicize the names of defendants, even those who were convicted of abuse, and took other steps to remain in the good graces of religious leaders who took the side of accused molesters. In one complex series of cases, for example, after a prominent cantor was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, the boy's father was indicted by prosecutor Hynes for extortion based in part on testimony from a supporter of the cantor. The cantor's conviction was overturned in 2013 based on the father's "indictment and other technicalities".Powell, Michael
"After Sexual Abuse Case, a Hasidic Accuser Is Shunned, Then Indicted"
New York ''Times'', June 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
At trials for these cases,
expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
es inform the jury that Hasidic victims often do not come forward because the community is so insular. Ben Hirsch, a spokesman for Survivors for Justice, criticized the handling of a case against Rabbi Yoel Malik. When Malik, a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, was given a 60-day jail sentence for the abuse of students at the now closed Satmar yeshiva Ohr HaMeir, Hirsch stated, "What DA (Kenneth) Thompson has done is inexplicable", and claimed that, "Through unexplained plea deals such as this, he has effectively quashed any willingness on the part of victims to come forward". It was claimed that the victims were "extremely reluctant to testify publicly", according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case, as quoted in the NY Daily News.


Victim advocacy

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, a Hasidic Rabbi from the Satmar community in
Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...
, created a hotline featuring weekly, impassioned lectures in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English - imploring victims to report sexual abuse to the authorities, while accusing community leaders of silencing the reporting of child abuse. Rosenberg also uses his social media presence to share his opinions on the state of child sexual abuse in the Jewish community, and chronicle his efforts and struggles as an activist. In March 2016, Rosenberg discouraged his followers from participating in a protest against the alleged cover-up of child abuse in Yeshiva Oholei Torah of Crown Heights because it was to be attended by members of the gay community. "We will not stand in rank together with the
faggots ''Faggot'', often shortened to ''fag'', is a slur in the English language that was used to refer to gay men but its meaning has expanded to other members of the queer community. In American youth culture around the turn of the 21st century, ...
", Rosenberg wrote on his blog, "no matter how just the cause". Rosenberg is often shunned by communal authorities, and there have been instances in which he was physically attacked. In 2008, flyers were posted around Williamsburg depicting a coiled snake around Rosenberg's head with the words "Nuchem Snake Rosenberg: Leave Tainted One!". Rosenberg has also been banned from
Satmar Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...
synagogues by its authorities, and he alleges that he has been formally ostracized by several Rabbinic entities. Despite his decades of activism, Rosenberg has yet to be involved in the investigation, arrest, or prosecution of any member of any Jewish community for child sexual abuse. Anti-abuse community activist Rabbi Tzvi Gluck has said that in 2011, a 30-year-old man molested a 14-year-old boy in a ritual bath; this case never made it to the police due to community pressure on the victim. A rabbi made the boy apologize to the molester for seducing him. Monsey rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson has lectured on this topic, which disturbed some people, but also has brought awareness to the problem. In 2019, responding to the increased publicity of sexual harassment and rape charges with the
Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...
and the increased exposure of
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, priests, nuns, and Sexual abuse scandals in Catholic orders and societies, other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st c ...
, the state of New York passed the Child Victims Act which allowed victims to sue their attackers within a one-year period. Other states have passed similar "lookback window" laws. Orthodox victims who had unsuccessfully brought civil action against their molesters in the past used the Child Victims Act to sue the individuals and institutions responsible.


Notable cases

*In 2002, Rabbi Yechiel Brauner was convicted on the charges of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree and 3rd Degrees. He was sentenced to 11 years probation, with the condition that he must participate in a sex offender treatment program. *In 2008, Joel Kolko, a rabbi at Yeshiva Torah Temimah, pleaded guilty after being accused of sexually abusing two of his first-grade students. *In 2009, Yona Weinberg, a bar mitzvah tutor and licensed social worker from
Flatbush Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...
, was convicted of molesting two boys under the age of 14. At his trial, where he was sentenced to 13 months in prison, the courtroom was packed with Weinberg's supporters who maintained his innocence. In response, presiding Justice Gordon L. Reichbach criticized the "communal attitude that seeks to blame, indeed punish, victims"; these victims had been kicked out of their schools and summer camps after coming forward with the allegations against Weinberg. *In 2009, Rabbi Israel Weingarten was convicted in a Brooklyn court of raping his daughter between the ages of nine and eighteen. *Some boys have reported being molested while in the
mikvah A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...
, a ritual bath that is considered a symbol of purity in Judaism. *In 2011, a member of the community was charged by a local
Special Victims Unit A Special Victims Unit (SVU), also known as a Special Victims Division, is a specialized branch within some law enforcement agencies, typically police departments. These units focus on cases involving vulnerable or high-risk victims. Detectiv ...
with witness tampering for sending threatening text messages to members of the Orthodox community urging them to pressure the family of an 11-year-old abuse victim to drop the case. *Pearl Engleman, a member of the Satmar sect aged 64 in 2012, said she became an anti-abuse activist after her son was molested as a child by a rabbi at his
yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
. Under New York law, his case could not be prosecuted since the
statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
had already expired. *In 2012,
Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
rabbi Moshe Keller was sentenced to three years' probation for molesting a then-15-year-old boy in 2009. *In 2012, 53-year-old spiritual adviser Nechemya Weberman was accused of having molested a teenage girl, one of his students, over a period of several years. The girl had initially been sent to Weberman because she had been asking theological questions. Weberman, a member of the Satmar Hasidic community, was a widely respected figure in his community, with many unwilling to believe the allegations against him. As a result, the alleged victim was harassed and labeled a "slut", while her family and boyfriend received threats. A campaign called "Libel 75", started by Weberman's supporters, allege that he is innocent. A 48-year-old man named Abraham Rubin was charged with bribery, witness tampering, and coercion in connection with the case; offering the alleged victim and her family money, while suggesting they flee to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
to avoid testifying. Three brothers, Jacob, Joseph, and Hertzka Berger, were also charged after they threatened and then removed the kosher certificate of a restaurant run by the family of the alleged victim's boyfriend. In 2012, Weberman was convicted on all 59 charges, and received 103 years. In 2013, the three brothers admitted to the coercion charges, but received no jail time. Rubin also pleaded guilty a couple of months later, and received four months. Following Weberman's conviction, the victim and her husband continued to face abuse and repercussions. The victim was shamed and driven from the synagogue on the high holy days; and several weeks prior to that, someone had thrown eggs at her husbands store. *In 2012, a woman from Kiryas Joel came forward with allegations that her 14-year-old son had been masturbated by a Hasidic man who worked at his Vizhnitz school. A rabbi allegedly tried to intimidate the mother into dropping the case. The boy was subsequently expelled from the school, and staff at the school also threatened to charge the mother with child abuse. *Mordechai Jungreis, a 38-year-old father, claimed in 2012 that his mentally disabled teenage son had been molested in a
mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
by an older man. Jungreis said he first suspected the abuse after his son came home with blood in his underwear at age 12, and later was caught touching another child on the bus. Jungreis was harassed by other members of his community for coming forward with the allegations, including receiving messages on his answering machine filled with curses. Police later arrested the suspect, 27-year-old Meir Dascalowitz. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse. He was released in July 2016, re-arrested for parole violation a few months later, and was re-released in December 2017. *On December 3, 2012, Emanuel Yegutkin, former principal of Elite High School for the children of Russian-American immigrants, was found guilty of sexually abusing three under-age brothers over the better part of a decade. The victims were not enrolled in Yegutkin's yeshiva. Yegutkin was charged with a variety of sexual crimes, and was found guilty of all 75 counts. On February 7, 2013, Yegutkin was sentenced to 55 years in prison for his crimes. *On July 16, 2023, Jacob Daskal, an ex-leader of the Shomrim in Brooklyn, pled guilty to charges of coercing a minor to engage in illicit sexual conduct, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct after he had groomed and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old Haredi girl over a period of three months in 2017. He was later sentenced to 210 months in prison and a $250,000 fine for transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.


See also

*''
Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi *''Hush!'', a 2002 film dir ...
''


References


Further reading

*Rachel Aviv,
The Outcast
" After a Hasidic man exposed child abuse in his tight/knit Brooklyn community, he found himself the target of a criminal investigation. ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', Nov. 10, 2014, pp. 44–55. {{Pedophilia, state=expanded Haredi Judaism in New York (state) Child sexual abuse scandals in Judaism History of Brooklyn Members of the clergy convicted of rape Child sexual abuse cover-ups Rabbis convicted of crimes Child sexual abuse in the United States Sex scandals in the United States Incidents of violence against girls Incidents of violence against boys