Reining in abuse Inside the eruv: Are some Orthodox discreet or closing their eyes?

By EUGENE L. MEYER and RICHARD GREENBERG Shafran, who accused the online detractors of making glib and sweeping generalizations without corroborating EW YORK (JTA) — Within Jewish circles, much evidence, termed the comments “abhorrent.” of the focus on sexual predators has centered on Other communities were criticized as well on one Web Nthe Orthodox community, particularly its more fer- site. vently religious precincts, where some contend that clergy “Denial, secrecy, and sweeping under the carpet are not sex abuse is more hidden — and possibly more widespread unique to charedi, Orthodox, or Jewish institutions,” wrote — than elsewhere. Nachum Klafter, a self-described “frum psychiatrist,” in a Whether or not those contentions are true, the problem Nov. 26 posting on the Web site haloscan.com. “They are typi- in that community was spotlighted by two recent episodes. cal reactions of well-intentioned, scandalized human beings They are among several incidents, emanating from across the to the horrible shock of childhood sexual abuse.” denominational spectrum, that JTA examined in this six-part Eleven days after those remarks were posted, a haredi investigation of the Jewish community’s response to clergy , Yehuda Kolko, was arrested and charged in connection sex abuse. with the alleged molestation of The first of two episodes a 9-year-old boy and a 31-year- that JTA tracked in the fervent- ‘ hey are typical reactions of well- old man, both former students ly Orthodox, or haredi, com- T of his during different eras at munity involved a fierce debate intentioned, scandalized human Brooklyn’s -Mesivta over remarks by a haredi rabbi beings to the horrible shock of Torah Temimah. Kolko, 60, who reportedly suggested that had long served the yeshiva his community sweeps the is- childhood sexual abuse.’ as a teacher and an assistant sue “under the carpet.” The Nachum Klafter principal. second involved the arrest of Self-described ‘frum psychiatrist’ Kolko, meanwhile, is named a haredi rabbi and teacher, who in at least four civil suits filed was charged with sexual abuse over the past eight months by and endangering the welfare of his alleged victims, including a minor. the 9-year-old boy. The most recent litigation, which seeks $10 On Thanksgiving, at the annual national convention of million in damages from Torah Temimah, was filed in New Agudath Israel of America, a haredi advocacy organization, York state court the day before Kolko was arrested. It alleges Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, a featured speaker, ignited a con- not only that Kolko molested the 9-year-old during the 2003-04 troversy with his discussion of the haredi response to clergy school year, but that the school administration covered up the sex abuse. rabbi’s pedophilia for 25 years. Salomon, a dean of in Lakewood, The suit charges that Rabbi Lipa Margulies, identified N.J., one of the world’s largest , said, according to an as the leader of Torah Temimah, knew of many “credible Agudath Israel spokesman, that haredim are indeed guilty of allegations of sexual abuse and pedophilia against Kolko,” “sweeping things under the carpet.” yet continued to employ him as an elementary school teacher What he meant was open to interpretation. Salomon de- “and give him unfettered access to young children.” clined comment, but according to the Agudath Israel spokes- Avi Moskowitz, the attorney representing Torah Temi- man, Rabbi Avi Shafran, Salomon meant that rather than mah, said: “The yeshiva adamantly denies the allegations in ignoring or covering up sexual misconduct, as detractors the complaints and is sure that when the cases are over, the maintain, haredi officials deal with it discreetly to protect yeshiva will be vindicated.” the dignity of the families of perpetrators and victims. Another one of the lawsuits brought against Torah Temi- The response to Salomon’s remarks was swift and often mah was filed in May by David Framowitz, now 49 and living heated, with several Web site and blog contributors arguing in Israel. In that $10 million federal litigation Framowitz, that the rabbi’s comments should be taken literally — that who was joined by a co-plaintiff also seeking $10 million, al- is, haredi officials often look the other way when clergy sex leged that he was victimized by Kolko while he was a seventh- abuse takes place in their midst. and eighth-grader at Torah Temimah.

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Although the lawsuit, which named Kolko as a co-defen- anecdotal evidence that abuse often goes unreported there. dant, referred to Framowitz only as “John Doe No. 1,” he has The reason, they said, is that many individuals in those since dropped his anonymity and gone public with his story. communities, which are noted for their insularity, resistance “That’s the only way that people would believe that there’s to modernity and reverence for religious leaders, are loath to actually a problem, if they knew that there’s a real person confront for fear of being publicly shunned. out there who was molested,” Framowitz told JTA in a recent Shafran said he doubts that clergy sex abuse is more prev- telephone interview. “There are many other victims out alent in the fervently Orthodox world than elsewhere. Asked there, and I want people to know that this really exists.” whether victims there are afraid to report abuse, he said, “I Framowitz grew up in part in fervently Orthodox com- hope it’s not true. But it’s easy to see how someone would be munities in Brooklyn where rabbinic sex abuse, he said, is reluctant to publicly report such an issue.” rarely reported. And when it is reported, he added, rabbinic He said modesty, which is prized by many haredim, might courts seldom have the expertise or the inclination to deal preclude the open discussion of matters “that are part of the with it effectively. average radio talk show agenda.” After his own reports of abuse were met with disbelief In fact, Shafran acknowledged that “for a person whose and inaction, Framowitz said he chose to “deeply bury” his whole life revolves around the community,” the ostracism painful memories of the al- that results from publicly leged incidents. confronting a leader of that “I never really got over it,” ‘It’s a relief knowing that the story community “can be worse than he said, “but I was able to get death.” on with my life.” is finally out there, and that maybe Others believe that under- An accountant by trade, Kolko will be prevented from being reporting of clergy sexual mis- Framowitz made aliyah several conduct may in fact facilitate years ago, and now lives in the around other kids.’ abuse. West Bank community of Kar- David Framowitz “Offenders have learned to nei Shomron with his wife and Alleged abuse victim hide behind” the reluctance of four adult children. They have victims to speak out, said Brian one grandson. Leggiere, an Orthodox Jew and Framowitz said he decided a psychiatrist in Manhattan to speak out publicly about his experience after he learned who has treated both perpetrators and victims of sexual through the Internet in the fall of 2005 that Kolko was still abuse. He added, though, “The situation is changing for the teaching young boys. He said he is relieved that Kolko has better, but very slowly. Each community is different, so it’s been arrested and charged, although in connection with re- hard to generalize.” ported incidents unrelated to his alleged victimization. In some neighborhoods, Leggiere pointed out, public safe- “It’s a relief knowing that the story is finally out there,” ty is beginning to gain traction as an ideal worth defending, Framowitz said, “and that maybe Kolko will be prevented as is the notion that professional therapy or other forms of from being around other kids.” treatment for sex abuse victims, as well as for perpetrators, JTA tried unsuccessfully to reach Kolko, who along with should not be stigmatized. Framowitz was the focus of a May 15 New York magazine story that said “rabbi-on-child molestation,” according to sev- Judging the judges eral sources, “is a widespread problem in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and one that has been long covered up.” Among many Orthodox Jews, the preferred forum for ad- Attorney Jeffrey Herman, who is representing the plain- judicating communal disputes is a beit din, a rabbinic court. tiffs in the lawsuits stemming from Kolko’s alleged miscon- But critics say such panels often try to dissuade sex abuse duct, was quoted in the New York magazine piece saying that victims from pursuing their complaints, a charge vigorously the clergy abuse situation in the haredi community “reminds denied by Shafran. But, he added, “In cases where there is me of where the Catholic church was 15 or 20 years ago. What some degree of doubt, the beit din has a responsibility to I see are some members of the community turning a blind counsel against going to authorities until there is proven eye to what’s going on in their backyards.” criminal activity.” Mark Dratch, a modern Orthodox rabbi who chairs the Sifting the evidence Rabbinical Council of America’s Task Force on Rabbinic Improprieties, said that if the beit din “is used to make the Hard numbers are not available to determine if clergy community safer, that’s appropriate. If that relationship is sex abuse is more widespread in haredi communities than in used to bypass the justice system, I think that’s wrong, par- other Jewish locales. However, several insiders said there is ticularly in cases of suspected criminal activity.

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“The problem in the ultra-Orthodox community is people However, a 2000 report by a special O.U. commission found go to the beit din and not to civil authorities. There is a very that Lanner had also sexually abused women and teenage complicated relationship between rabbis and civil authori- girls, and physically abused boys and girls while he was a ties,” he said. “It doesn’t always work appropriately.” leader at NCSY. The case attracted widespread attention, in Dratch, who now directs JSafe, a nonprofit organization part, because the report said some O.U. and NCSY leaders addressing abuse in the Jewish community, said he has had failed to take action for several years to halt Lanner’s “pleaded with members of Agudah to expose the dangers of misconduct. clerical and familial abuse. I said if you don’t expose, victims Ultimately, according to organization insiders, O.U. Ex- have no place to turn.” ecutive Vice President Rabbi Raphael Butler resigned under Agudath Israel has not promulgated anti-abuse policies pressure in the wake of the scandal. for its affiliated congregations, Shafran conceded, “nor have Both the O.U. and the NCSY have upgraded behavioral there been complaints” of sexual misconduct at Agudath Is- guidelines and enhanced anti-abuse training programs, rael-affiliated congregations. But he added, “I wouldn’t rule according to officials at both organizations. The NCSY poli- out that one day there would be such guidelines. The Talmud cies, which cover 17 pages and were revised most recently in teaches us that we should stay away from even the appear- October, are binding on at least 25,000 individuals, including ance of impropriety.” NCSY professionals, volunteers Agudath Israel does have and program participants. The binding behavioral guidelines ‘ he consensus of contemporary guidelines spell out prohibited that apply to its youth groups T conduct in detail, and include and its five summer camps, Jewish religious authorities is that’ step-by-step instructions for which serve about 2,000 young- reporting sex abuse is religiously filing an abuse complaint. sters, according to Shafran. Both O.U. and NCSY officials Yehuda Kolko worked at one mandatory. said they are not aware of any of those camps, Camp Agudah Rabbi Mark Dratch complaints of sexual miscon- in Ferndale, N.Y., decades ago, duct toward youths since the according to Shafran, appar- NCSY guidelines were upgrad- ently long before the behavioral ed a few years ago. guidelines existed. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has no written conduct The federal lawsuit filed in May states that while Kolko guidelines applying specifically to its estimated 4,000 global was at Camp Agudah, he repeatedly molested Framowitz, emissaries, known as shluchim, or its approximately 3,000 who was a camper there in the summers following his sev- multi-use facilities that double as synagogues and are usu- enth- and eighth-grade years at Torah Temimah. ally referred to as Chabad Houses. Framowitz’s co-plaintiff — “John Doe No. 2,” an adult However, many Chabad Houses have adopted behavioral male living in the United States — alleged that he also was policies originally formulated for the movement’s schools, abused by Kolko, but only at Torah Temimah. The lawsuit according to movement spokesman Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin. contends that the administrations at both the camp and the In addition, according to Shmotkin, shluchim must school knew Kolko was a pedophile and did nothing about it. strictly abide by the Shulchan Aruch, the 16th-century code Shafran declined comment on the litigation, which is of Jewish law that prohibits non-married or unrelated adults being divided into two complaints, one for each plaintiff, ac- of the opposite sex from being secluded with each other. cording to the attorney Herman. The complaint initiated by Framowitz has been dismissed on the plaintiffs’ initiative but On the school front will be refiled, Framowitz and Herman said. An attorney representing Kolko in the federal litigation Some of the denominational policies examined by JTA declined comment on behalf of his client. are designed to guard against situations that could result in inappropriate contact with minors, regardless of their sex. Elsewhere in Orthodoxy They mandate, for example, that at least two adults be present when a child is receiving private religious instruction. The modern Orthodox community was deeply scarred A non-seclusion requirement is among many anti-abuse by the sex abuse scandal involving Rabbi Baruch Lanner, a provisions included in mandatory school behavioral policies former regional director of the National Conference of Syna- adopted by Chabad about five years ago. The policies cover gogue Youth, a branch of the centrist Orthodox Union. approximately 2,000 personnel at some 350 Chabad schools Lanner was sentenced in 2002 to seven years in prison for attended by about 24,000 students. sexually abusing two female students during the 1990s while The policies also instruct school officials to consult two he was their principal at a yeshiva high school in . recognized rabbinic authorities — one Chabad-affiliated and

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one not — regarding the centuries-old Jewish legal injunc- Perhaps as a result of that directive, Pasik said few, if any, tion known as mesirah, which in some instances prohibits parents he knows with children attending schools serviced Jews from reporting Jewish perpetrators to non-Jewish au- by Torah Umesorah were told about the rules unless they thorities. called the Torah Umesorah national office in Manhattan. Mesirah has been blamed for the reticence of some Ortho- Pasik’s children have attended yeshivas affiliated with Torah dox sex abuse victims to go public with their complaints. In a Umesorah. spring 2004 article in the anti-abuse publication Working To- Furthermore, he added, “I have personally spoken gether, Dratch of JSafe said that in cases of child sex abuse, with several teachers and they knew nothing about these “the consensus of contemporary Jewish religious authori- guidelines.” ties is that such reporting is religiously mandatory.” Asked to respond, Fishman declined comment, except to Three years ago, several safeguards were adopted by To- say, “We believe that molesters should be reported.” rah Umesorah-The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, Pasik said the situation shows the need for a centralized a service organization — the largest of its kind in the United governing body — perhaps a state or federal agency — that States — that provides religious educational materials for can hold schools accountable for the safety of students. nearly 200,000 Orthodox students spanning that denomina- “It’s hard for people in any organization to govern them- tion’s ideological spectrum. selves,” he said. “We’re not being patrolled or governed by The Torah Umesorah guidelines, which were presented to anybody.” school principals, warn teachers and other staffers to refrain Pasik recently lobbied for passage of legislation in New from sexually immodest behavior or speech and from inap- York that authorizes non-public schools to require finger- propriate touching. They also prohibit school personnel from printing and FBI background checks for prospective employ- being secluded with students. ees. The measure was enacted Aug. 16. But the guidelines are nonbinding because each of the The larger issue of child molestation in the Orthodox hundreds of schools served by Torah Umesorah are self- community was addressed in a one-page statement accompa- governing. nying the Torah Umesorah guidelines. “We’re a service agency, not a governing agency,” Rabbi Issued by the organization’s rabbinical board, the state- Joshua Fishman, the organization’s executive vice president, ment says in part that “a small number of individuals have told JTA. caused untold pain to many children. In addition to the sins Elliot Pasik, a New York attorney and children’s rights which they have committed, they have created painful memo- advocate, said the way in which the guidelines were distrib- ries in the minds of their victims, memories which can have uted calls into question Torah Umesorah’s commitment to a devastating lifetime impact.” protecting students from sexually predatory teachers and The statement urges “everyone to use every means to stop other staffers. these violations of children, including, at times, exposing The guidelines were accompanied by a Sept. 24, 2003, the identities of the abusers and even their incarceration. cover letter signed by Fishman that said in part: “This docu- At times, our primary intent may not be to punish the per- ment should be maintained with a sense of confidentiality. It petrators, but rather to help them. Therefore, it is preferable, should only be shared with your educational administrative wherever appropriate, to force them to undergo appropriate and teaching staff.” professional therapy.” n

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