A backlash has followed the decision by a group of rabbis to ban their followers from advertising, viewing or even patronizing the advertisers of an Orthodox Jewish news blog that reports on sexual abuse within their communities. Thirty six rabbis have condemned VosIzNeias.com as sinful, and the response has been sharp.
“For many of the victims of abuse I know, the ban has created feelings of being re-traumatized,” Rabbi Asher Lipner told the North Jersey website CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Most survivors feel that the community's stifling their voices has been more damaging emotionally than the actual molestation they have suffered.”
The communities for years have sought to handle such incidents within their own ranks, calling to mind the behavior of the Catholic Church. More recently, however, families of victims have begun turning to the secular justice system -- including a family from Passaic County that got results.
It’s been a slow evolution, but even those in “ultra-Orthodox” communities in Brooklyn, Rockland County and at the Jersey Shore have begun to come forward. It’s not oversell to say this is a watershed moment in the history of the ultra-Orthodox community.
This pleases those like Lipner, an abuse survivor and vice-president of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, who says that “forbidden criticism of rabbis and immodest speech… have been used for years to silence victims,” which he says only “triggers flashbacks and reawakens feelings of betrayal.”
The movement has clearly rankled many community leaders, however. READ MORE....
Comments