Rabbi Yaacov Behrman wrote an op-ed where he says that, although he doesn’t agree with Agudah’s stance that cases of child abuse need rabbinical permission to be brought to the authorities, he also doesn’t agree with Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes' recent move that would make rabbis mandated reporters of such crimes.
Op-Ed Response: Rabbis Cannot be Trusted to Report
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman wrote an op-ed where he says that, although he doesn’t agree with Agudah’s stance that cases of child abuse need rabbinical permission to be brought to the authorities, he also doesn’t agree with Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes‘ recent move that would make rabbis mandated reporters of such crimes.
Rabbi Behrman sets out to argue against DA Charles Hynes new push to make rabbis mandated reporters, but before he gets to that point he takes a long detour and first defends Agudah’s policy.
He begins by explaining Agudah’s reasoning behind their stance that cases of child molestation must be brought to rabbis first:
“Although in the overwhelming majority of cases, abuse allegations turn out to be accurate, there has been a minority of cases in which innocent individuals were wrongly charged with abuse crimes. These individuals were vindicated only after lengthy proceedings. Therefore, some rabbis feel that in a case where there are no witnesses to the abuse and there is only one victim, who is a minor, a rabbi should assess the validity of the allegations before the accusations are brought to the police.”
Later, he advances this line of reasoning with this:
“I strongly believe that only a small minority of rabbis advises against reporting to the police. And in today’s day and age, the number of victims who come forward because of rabbinic and community support is much greater than the number of victims who are advised by their rabbis to remain silent.”
These two arguments for going to rabbis before secular authorities don’t hold up.
The first one, which has been used by Agudah’s Rabbi David Zwiebel, says that because of a minority of cases of wrongful accusations all cases must be vetted by a rabbi. However, what makes rabbis more qualified to vet minors for their truthfulness than police investigators? Rabbi David Zwiebel himself admitted last year that there is no list of rabbis that are trained to perform such assessments. Furthermore, we don’t hear from Agudah that we must get permission from a rav before taking a person to court or beis din for any matter other than child molestation. There are cases of wrongful accusations and innocent parties being vindicated only after lengthy proceedings over other matters, shouldn’t we be concerned about false accusations and damaged reputations no matter what the claim may be?
The second argument – or rather, proposition – holds no water either. Rabbi Behrman “believes” that only a small minority of rabbis advise against reporting to the police. Evidenceshowsotherwise. I am not aware of any evidence to support Rabbi Behrman’s belief and he is welcome to share any evidence he has access to that backs up his claim.
In both of these arguments Rabbi Behrman shows his support for the Agudah policy that says all abuse cases must first go to a rabbi for vetting. Yet if his own feeling is that victims or their parents are not required under Jewish law to ask for rabbinic permission before going to the authorities, why doesn’t he come right out and advise that people skip the middleman and go directly to the authorities instead of arguing in favor of Agudah’s policy?
Rabbi Behrman goes on to say that he doesn’t agree with DA Charles Hynes’ new plan to compel rabbis to report child abuse to authorities because victims will know that the rabbi is a mandated reporter:
“As the law currently stands, victims and their families have the ability to seek the advice of a rabbi with confidence that their allegations will not be disclosed. Parents of victims are often terrified of the psychological effect a public trial would have on victims and their families. Victims often go to the rabbi for support, afraid to report the abuse directly to the authorities, afraid of being intimidated or impugning the reputation of an otherwise-respected member of the community, and afraid that public knowledge will hurt their chances of finding a suitable bride or groom in their community. It is in such cases that the rabbis play an invaluable part; they are often able to persuade a reluctant victim to come forward and testify. To paraphrase what one rabbi told a victim: “I do not say that you may report this crime to the police, I say you must report it to the police.”
Rabbi Behrman is suggesting that the current system is working for victims and their families. They can go to a rabbi to have a private discussion about what has transpired knowing that the rabbi won’t immediately turn around and report the incident and the rabbi will then be able – at his discretion – to persuade, nay command that they go to the police.
What the Catholic scandal has shown us is that leaving the pursuit of justice up to the discretion of religious authorities is a terrible system that leaves all children at risk, but we don’t even have to go to the Catholic church for confirmation of this; David Zwiebel, in an interview with Mishpacha Magazine (May 30 page 41,) admitted that the issue of child molestation hasn’t been handled properly until now in the frum community.
It’s also troubling that Rabbi Behrman accepts the current environment where victims are shunned, intimidated, their reputations impugned when seeking justice for crimes committed against them. Why doesn’t he take this opportunity to encourage that victims and their families be supported, not shunned or intimidated? That they be supported throughout the trial, that communities should embrace them and not make it hard for them to find a shidduch?
Victims of abuse and their families have been receiving short shrift in the frum community for far too long. The old policies have not been working; new policies are desperately needed, so why do communal leaders insist on propping up policies that have not protected children until now? It should make you wonder whose interests they are really trying to protect…
CrownHeights.info reached out to Rabbi Yaakov Behrman to respond to the points made in this article. He wrote the following:
“I never suggested victims need permission from a rabbinic authority before reporting abuse to law enforcement. In fact, I said victims don’t need permission. If it was my family member I would go directly to the police.
Although Mr. Mandel is entitled to disagree with my assessment – that a majority of Rabbis support reporting abuse to the authorities – I don’t know of any formal studies that indicate otherwise.”
Meir
Why stop with the rabbis? why not make us all, parents friends neighbors all mandatory reporters, this way we can all prevent abuse at any suspicious.
the only way to fix the problem
anonymous bloggers are the ones who should decide how we treat abuse and who is guilty, and what we should do with them.
dont trust the rabbis, doctors or the courts!
Missing the point
The reason they want to make rabbi’s reporters, is so they can find another reason to put rabbi’s in jail, this is not about stopping abuse or preventing abuse in any community this is about taking down the frum community and hiding behind something that most of the world will agree on.
Alexander
What makes anyone believe that the “authorities” are going to handle alledged abuse in a fair contructive way?
Ask Jonathan Pollard, or Shalom Rubashkin about the fairness of the secular system of law enforcement.
The govt. would love for Frum Jews to start telling on others.
The problem is not something to ignore, however we must be carefull not to overreact and create another problem.
I for one would much prefer a Rabbi to advise us than the wonderfull well meaning authorities. Whatever happened to Ase Leha Rav?
shlomo as always with bad English
ask some doctor, working in jewish hospital, how many stupidities patients bring from they rabeim. and it always happen with hosrej le tshuva that ask any rabby’s. and rabbey’s .real haredy never ask for ex. about IV fluid in delivery, and real rov don’t answer about, they realy anderstood in medicine, newer give such advise. so i think imho it simple don’t ask rov. go to polise
To #3
Being a mandated reporter does not put you in jail. In fact as a health care professional, I am legally obligated to report suspicions of abuse, especially of my patients. Otherwise, failure to do so can result in my liscence being taken away if a child is harmed due to abuse when it could have been prevented
And to #2: only trained professionals are obligated and even allowed to report abuse as we are trained in how to do so
DeClasse- Intellectual
It is good that discussion goes; it should be in other communities as well. Anyone can tell that there are no easy answers, We know what oxccurred to those people in Rome and then there are the NEW YORK TIMES articles. That there should be more information on how to deal with the issue is not the question==one place to start is to educate the school authorities as to the problems and what signs to look for. A better trained administration might help. There has to be a mechanizm when the Rabbi is told of child abuse and because it is serios accusation, that he can go to other professionsals who deal with these issues for advise and guidence because it is never easy to turn some one in. Even a register has to be considered. This dialogue is good place to start.
Watched it Happen!
Alexander, you are correct, the government does not care if it screws anyone as long at it gets what it wants!
The Nudnik
Rabbi Behrman wrote: “Although Mr. Mandel is entitled to disagree with my assessment – that a majority of Rabbis support reporting abuse to the authorities – I don’t know of any formal studies that indicate otherwise.”
Likewise, there are NO formal studies which support his position. So he has no basis to make his statements, either.
Chanie Friedman
I am surprised but not shocked by some of these comments. Having Rabbis as mandated reporters is simply a matter of accountability. If you really believe the only reason would be to put Rabbis in jail my IGNORANCE ALERT goes off – you need to educate yourself about what mandated reporting means. Furthermore, even Zweibel acknowledged that there are no Rabbinic authorities who have the training to determine the validity of an abuse report. Would you go to a baker when you need a gaping wound stitched? Why would you go to someone you KNOW is not qualified in the area when it is a matter of life and death? Abuse truly is a matter of life and death and the bottom line is that Rabbis are NOT qualified or trained to handle it. End of story, end of argument. Have a little faith that hashem has provided you with what you need for every problem – Rabbis for religious issues, Doctors for medical issues, and police authorities for criminal matters. Start using them appropriately and life will be a lot easier for everyone involved.
Meir Shustal
Who is this Rabbi Berman? Where is he a Rabbi?
Does he speak for Chabad-Lubavitch?
Just some real questions…
jj
Behrman is a thirty year individual involved in public service for many years.
Chaim Dovid
Isn’t he a lawyer?
to # 10
You are obviously brainwashed like most of the noise makers, nobody is saying that when someone is abused that you should go to a rabbi, everyone (at least in chabad and all these comments) agree that you MUST go to the cops, the questions is what happens if someone wants to go to their rabbi just as they would go to a friend to talk over things in their life and want to talk to them about abuse, should the rabbi be forced to call police if his friend (the victim) does not want him to.
sometimes when you get hurt and you show your bruises to a friend you want them to call a doctor and sometimes not.
this should be up to the victim not the rabbis and not the friends.
making rabbis forced to report will only keep people away from talking their problems with someone they look up to and victims will be forced to keep everything inside of them
PS i am a victim of abuse and for years found comfort at my rabbi (and of course therapy) but thank g-d the rabbis did not call the police and put me thru trials and much more. f i knew my rabbi would call the cops i would never go to him and i would not go to therapy (which my rabbi got me to one).
PPS most people making all the noise are people outside the frum community that have no respect for anything religious and want to tear apart the frum community.
these people wont fight the church or the mormans or the amish people, why are they fighting the frum community if they are not frum and dont care? one of 2 answers a way for them to get attention or a way for them to blame their sucky life on. dont blame anyone but yourself! if you want to do something go out and do it! dont cry my parents put me in a religious school so thats why my life sucks! enough is enough. its about time the frum fight back this is not about abuse or protecting anyone we all agree what needs to be done to abusers this is much more
Chanie Friedman
14, I am one of those involved in making all the noise. If you want to know why I do it, I’ll tell you – I do it for my nieces and nephews whom I love dearly and whom are growing up within the frum world. I do not want them to suffer the horrors that so many of my close friends have as a result of abuse. I fight this in the frum community as opposed to among mormons or other religious groups because that is where the vulnerable ones I care about are, that’s where my connections are, and therefore the “charity begins at home” expression applies. I’m sorry my reasons, and the reasons of those I am working with, are not more salacious. It might be disappointing to you to know that many of those “making noise” are frum torah loving jews (including Eli Mandel, the author of this piece.)
It might further surprise some of the commentors here that all adults are mandated reporters in New Jersey and yet the secular authorities are not using the law to arrest Jews and Rabbis left and right. I understand that people would like to be able to discuss these issues with clergy with privilege. It is not an easy issue and there are many sides to the coin but the primary interest should be in removing abusers so they cannot continue to hurt others. I am truly sorry that you were the victim of abuse and I am glad that your Rabbi was able to help you but, having been through what you have been through, would you willingly allow someone else to suffer in that way? At what point do we take personal responsibility for the people around us – especially the children – and work to ensure that a known abuser cannot continue to perpetrate his crimes?
As far as “nobody is saying that when someone is abused that you should go to a rabbi” sadly that is not the case in the rest of the frum world. Chabad is the only group that has come out with a statement to the opposite and has been held as a shining example of how things should be handled as a result of that change. Our goal, as “brainwashed noisemakers” is that other communities adopt that approach. Were that to happen then perhaps Rabbis would not need to be made mandated reporters and can resume their proper role as trusted friends and advisors. (As I said in my earlier comment, every professional has their role.) As it stands now, unfortunately, many frum Rabbis have gotten in the way of pursuing justice and preventing further abuse making legislation that they be mandated reporters necessary.
Make Up Your Mind
#14, if you did not report, does it concern you at all that perhaps other children’s lives might have been ruined because your abuser was not put away?
This IS problem with not reporting abuse; the abuser keeps abusing.
Please clearly state what you feel is a solution to deal with abusers.
If you read the news, you’d know that the Vatican has endured a massive amount of criticism, protests and lawsuits for molestation, the Mormons for polygamy, and Amish rarely ever make news. If they do, it’s for doing things scandalous to them but not to anybody else.
I know some of the ex-frum noise makers and their lack of respect for religion comes from being abused, shamed/forced to tolerate it and deciding to do something about it, even if it meant going frei so they could have freedom to speak out. They don’t want to tear apart the frum community; they just want the hypocrisy and evil acts to stop as they still have children and friends within the system.
How you can admonish them for not having respect for religion but then say your life sucks BECAUSE you’re in a religious school?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…
Make Up Your Mind
“I fight this in the frum community as opposed to among mormons or other religious groups because that is where the vulnerable ones I care about are”
So a non-Jewish child who has been molested, abused, is of no significance to you?
Would it be of significance to you if that child then grew up and abused Jewish children? What if an abused Jewish child grows up to abuse non-Jewish children?
Be a light unto all nations, honey.