New York – VIN News reached out to the Executive vice president of the OU Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb to discuss the recent attention given to the issue of child abuse and molestation that has been raised by Assemblyman Dov Hikind and various other activist in the frum community.
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Rabbi Weinreb Had this to say to VIN News:
“The OU is very concerned about this problem”. “I personally have spoken often on the topic and am convinced that we have a real problem in our community and it must be addressed by our rabbinical and educational leadership, in cooperation with municipal authorities.”
“Within our organization, we have implemented very stringent guidelines regarding the behaviour of all our personnel who work with children.” “Our guidelines are available on our website. This is a real problem, and it should not be covered up.” Said the Rabbi.
“As far as Assemblyman Hikind’s specific initiative, I do not know enough about it to comment for the OU. But my statement says a lot, including the need to cooperate with “municipal authorities”.” said Rabbi Weinreb
Repeat after me: IT’S ABOUT TIME!!!
it is about time that the ou is getting involved, they looked away for 25 plus years when abuse was going on in nscy, let’s see them make a real effort together with dov hikind
If you eat OU’s hechsher you’ll heed to OU’s opinion.
The community where Hikind is meddeling does niether.
a simple statement like if your child has been abused go to the police would have been much more effective.
Sorry until then the problem will not go away. History, has proven that to be true, in all the now famous cases the perpetrated was stopped only when someone went to the police.
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is a well respected Rabbi has been executive vice president of the Orthodox Union since January, 2002. In that role, he heads the multi-purpose agency which represents and serves Orthodox Jewry through hundreds of synagogues across North America and beyond. From kosher food supervision to youth, public policy and social action programming.
A talented teacher, writer and orator, Rabbi Weinreb was previously the spiritual leader of Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Baltimore, MD, which he joined in January, 1989. Under his leadership, the congregation grew from approximately 160 to more than 400 families.
Rabbi Weinreb served as Assistant Supervisor of Psychological Services for the Prince George’s County Public Schools, as Chief Psychologist of the Potomac Foundation for Mental Health, and also maintained a private practice of psychotherapy.
He is Rabbinic Liaison for NEFESH: the North American Network of Orthodox Mental Heath Professionals. Rabbi Weinreb serves on the boards of various other organizational and educational institutions.
The answer is very simple When you have a situation it should not be covered up. Report it. Deal with it. and if the yeshiva doesnt do a thing then go the goverment
How can Rabbi Weinreb and Dov Hikind and Rabbi Horowitz and Rabbi Dr. Twerski expect anything to be done if the Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim keep their heads in the sand. Except to take their heads out long enough to scream at the above respected individuals that they aren’t right. This is one of the most serious problems facing Klal Yisroel today and the “leadership” is busy with concerts.
A cheder will need a Hechsher, so they can gain my trust. The Teachers and Rebbes, Menahlim have to be fingerprinted. Why should we be different than the Public School System. we need transparency in the system. the yeshivas have to open their books to the public, if they are a non profit instituition.
Hersh Weinreb is a very respectable individual.
That said, the OU “statement” is a day late and a dollar short.
the ou has been very busy at work on this ever since the lanner scandal. its been years and they have been very invovled on multiple fronts taking many initiatives. this isnt late at all – this is the party line for years since the big scandal. which is alot more than anyone can say for the agudath
may hashem give you strength
To Anon.
yitzchokm:16 AM,
You forgot the most important part of the resume. He gave the Daf Yomi & was the Baal Tefiloh at Sternhells.
I have a question i wonder if anyone can explain this to me
Dov Hikind hired Rabbi Twerski to help us help our kids YET Dov DID NOT give Rabbi Twerski the protection and backing he needed against the monsters!! right??
Doesn’t Dov have some kind of authority?? couldnt he get some detective to go after the guys that threaten peoples lives especialy on this issue??
Dov knows who he is working against! Dov knew that the other guy working on this issue was theatened WHY DID HE NOT TAKE MORE SEIROUS LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT RABBI TWERSKI and our kids AND how will OU change that?
The OU should be commended for their statement. However, they do not carry the impact that a statement like that would be made by Torah Umesorah, which is the widely accepted umbrella organization offering guidance to all Orthodox educational institutions at many levels. When they come out with such a statement along with the means of doing it (checking etc.), then we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As far as going to the governmental authorities, I believe everyone has the right to discuss it with their Rov and find out that they SHOULD report the offense. Reporting it does not bring down the whole Yeshiva or the breadwinner of innocent families. Only actually, proven, guilty beyond a shodow of doubt ones! And those may be prosecuted, according to my Rov!
Oh-My! It’s about time that Oh-You should do something positive about this situation.
weinreb is all talk and no action. Thats his resume.
What do you mean “about time” they have been doing all along. he only gave this quote cuz vin asked him about the current scandals.
The OU has been at the forefront and frontrunners of fisxing the system and recovering form past mistakes ever since the lanner scandal broke some 7 years ago.
they have done much and continue to do much. this is nisht a chidush for them
unlike the so called yeshivishe velt that has yet to wake up and smell the smell
Oy Gavald,
please. torah mesorah had ample oppurtunity over the last few years to do anything they could have bu they chose not to. they chose instead to make a an overlbow big deal at a 3 day conference about Rebbes playing punchball with students during lunch recess and write a resolution aobut it.
Torah Umesorah went and makde themselves totally irrelevant with that silliness.
We have serious issues and serious problems and they CHOSE to make a big deal about that.
Stop waiting for others to do what needs to be done. Do it yourself-which means go to the police if you have to.
THIS IS A QUOTE FROM RABBI HOROWITZ and you can also hear an interview on the nachum segal show which was recorded yesterday morning.
Can VIN please get a statement from HaRav Herschel Schachter? I’m a chassidishe and yet greatly respect him as a gaon and a huge bar daas.
*********************
And why would you need a quote from Rabbi Shachter?
Are you one of those that run to the untied nations to wait for condemnations on every issue.
Rabbi Schachter has nothing to do with this garbage. We do not see molesters in YU. The molester problems are in other jewish schools.
Get a statement from your wonderful rabanim that have this garbage in THEIR OWN school.
How about getting a statement from Rabbi Margolis instead of Rabbi Schachter?
SCHNITZEL
You dont eat, you dont listen, and you have the most problems makes sense to me.
okay i am taking a vote how long till rabbi weintraub will say i am sorry I getting out of this issue its not for me you can rest assure the Mafia tugs put him on the hit list
like Reba Nuchem Rosenberg Dov Hikind Rabbi twersky and now i already am hearing the heat is on Rabbi Horowitz people wake up smell the coffee we need the FBI here get those few tugs that run our lives and the lives of the rabbnim everybody is afraid of their Taliban style Justice we all know it but we are all quite nobody has the Guts to get up and fight these few trouble makers because they hijacked the Yiddish religion like the Taliban hijacked the Muslim religion they do everything in the name of god t he way they fit to see it and everybody is afraid
Yup! It’s LOOONG overdue…….
But, True to form The Ou is responding again to public sentiment….what’s now becomeing fashionable….
WHERE were you -OU weren’t you supposed to be watching????
How many mistakes, oversites, Kosher alerts {I can see it now: next week’s Jewish PRESS: KASHRUS ALERT!!BE AWARE THE OU SAY’s CHILD ABUSE IS NOT KOSHER!!} do we have to endure till you realize that you-OU are part of the problem???!!!!
Pretty statement from a Chusuveh Ruv very respected,….
But to involve the goyishe Authorities??/ can’t we find away to do something on our own first?? when we haven’t even tried??? You mean with ALL the fine and soooo smart Rabbunim that sit on the OU’s board and yeshiva’s etc…. can’t put there heads together and come up with a solution with out evolving the goyishe authorities??
When in our long history has Governmental involvement in yiddishe affairs EVER been beneficial to Yiddishkite???? In fact the more we looked to “other’s” for help THE WORSE IT GOT!!!
Hashem yeracheim ulleinu!
THERE IS NO ONE LEFT TO LEAD US IN THESE TROUBLING TIMES!!
OY Vey OU!
there is no q that yhere were problems but we do not have reliable statistics to declare this an epidemic or tu compare this cholilo to the church’s huge problems to sensationalize repetively the same stories again and again does not make this a crisis each case must be dealt with if i had constant complaints against an individual i’d fire him i won’t take any chances but to debase the gdolim is asacriledge they know a lot more than you think and they are a lot wiser pikei ovos says don’t get too close to the chachomim you’ll get burnt i agree fully that this has to be dealt with but i’d like to know many calls did dov get
All this talk about going to authorities is great, But let me see you put your child up to a police investigator chalila, to interview, and he might come out more damaged then without..
And THIS is the reason that they can go with this shigetz shtick.. No One is ready to take a chance with their child, Especiallly after abuse. Dont you get it..??
So therefore this is something rabonim and only rabonim can take care of.
I GUESS SOMEONE HAS TO SAY THIS:
RABBI WEINREB: Where has the O-U been all these years, when liberal deenerate politicians passed Gay-Rights and Hate-Crime legislation that gave special protection to these abusers and encouraged the spread of this vile behavior?
The O-U has been “missing in action.”
You have Senator Lieberman on your Board, who is one of the main promoters of this Schmutz.
How dare you speak on this topic, as if you have clean hands.
where is the agudath yisroel!!! …. they always hide from teh real issues!!! ….where are they ? shouldnt they have something to say?
deepthinker
gay peoeples civil rights has nothing to do with protecting abusers/ what the heck are you smoking???
When the “officials” will get involved and, believe me, they WILL prosecute (as they also moniter these websites) *&%! will hit the fan– big time! NOONE will be able to stop the dirt from becoming international news. Look what happened in the Catholic church after moving the molesters around and paying off the abused in millions of dollars.
Wake up…these molesters and abusers have to be taken out of the situations where they do their “deeds” and get help or put into jail. One thing I can tell you, Hashem is out there and will give these deviates their payback. One young person I know is suffering big time. A slow death and at the end his whole family is suffering too. All because of his SINS.
Let us all be clear this is absolutely an epidemic
I can only tell you now that we speak more open about this issue I could mot believe myself how many yingerlite where one way or the other molested i am not in chinech or an askin just talking to friends everybody has a storey i could not believe it I can say this with an 100 percent convinced that this is so bad that we don’t have an idea how bad this is the reason why they are no complains on the record is clear to the police you cant go because the community so called asking will kill you and make sure you drop charger and will put the utmost pressure now if you go to the asskinim they make you look like an idiot and it gets nowhere so 95 percent of the people say forget it who needs this headaches and keep quite but to say this not an epidemic is false its worse then that trust me
wow the OU wakes up after sleeping on the job and comments on molesters
they tell agri to get new management
how about upening up your books and see how many no show jobs are in their building
id like to see them not give a hechser to chinese products and open up the 300 page report on lanner that shows they kept people on staff that covered for lanner
Does the Agudas Yisroel of America exist anymore?… are they afraid of who might get hurt if they get involved? are they afraid that there might be yeshivos whose roshei yeshivos are on the board that may have rebbeim who are problems!?!?! ….are they scared to get their hands dirty so better stay away from this issue!?!? shame on them!!!!
When people hear that there are abusers in the Jewish community and that the yeshivas don’t do anything to deal with the situation, it leads to mistrust and disrespect of yeshivas and Rabbanim. Yeshivas and Rabbanim are too worried about their self-image and funding sources if allegations of abuse are made public. There needs to be one orgaization that will handle fund raising for yeshivas so they cannot be pressured into keeping criminals on their staff.
what about the ou cleaning up ncsy and everything over the years? what about the guidlines they put in place? what about the seminars? what about the safe schools program? ou is awake. everyone else is alsleeep. (agudah, tum, etc)
torah umesorah rather talk about the internet ..blah blah blah …. they think thats the big problem today!!! …. they just hide behind that issue so they can put the blame and pressure on the parents and off the school!!! ….lets face the facts ,the internet issue was brought up to throw everything back at the parents and away from the yeshivos!!! its easier to do that then look at the physical ,mental and sexual abuse that has been going on in yeshivos for years!!!!
STOP KNOCKING AGUDAS YISROEL.
Their position is very clear. Since they represent the Yeshivos, they don’t want fan the flames and create a witch hunt that will cause many innocent Rebbes to leave the field of Chinuch in disgust.
The way to take care of the abusers is to get the facts, and then confront the parties with the facts.
This is not a job for individuals, you need a group or groups.
Let’s be real. This is a problem but not an epidemic in our community. In the Catholic Church the molesters are the clergy who not being able to marry go after the altar boys, but in our community the psychologists say that it happens closer to home by ordinary people not Rabbis. Therefore the bandage needs to be put on the wound not elsewhere. Sure Yeshiva’s should be protected that not even one molester should exist there, but charging the Yeshiva’s and Rabbonim is the wrong way to approach this. Again this is a problem not an epidemic, even if some would like it to be.
So much Rabbonim bashing, it’s a shame. Only Rabbonim who are aware of a problem and do nothing can be blamed, but first you have to determine that he did nothing. The street has no right to judge without knowing the facts.
THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC. FACT. Your saying it isn’t is proof you are not knowledable about this issue and have not been involved in this to be fully educated. Look into it then state your facts.
Before saying that “They represent the yeshivas and couldn’t care less for the small guy”; please check your facts, even if it’s not fashionable.
Those bashing more then likely KNOW rabbonim who did zilch when confronted with the issue.
Fact: 3 members of the moetses and 2 of the presidium had this issue presented to them on a platter and did nothing. This happened years ago!
Just because you write it with CAPITAL LETTERS doesn’t make it a fact. I am knowledgeable, and know that it’s a problem not an epidemic. Calling it an epidemic based on wishful thinking is making an unnecessary chilul HaShem, by getting the non-Jews to say: hey they aren’t at all different, when the truth is that there is a major difference. What exists out there does not exist by us. Yes, a problem, but not an epidemic.
To Oy Vey OU who asked
“When in our long history has Governmental involvement in yiddishe affairs EVER been beneficial to Yiddishkite???? In fact the more we looked to “other’s” for help THE WORSE IT GOT!!! ”
I could be wrong, but I think those involved in gittin would tell you that tha Get law has value or at least causes no harm. There are also laws on the books about truth in advertisng as pertains to kashrus that have value as well. I agree that it is frightening when we think the only way to solve our problems is by turning to secular authority but the reality is the in the US we work with a system of justice that is designed to help us. So long as it doesn’t corrupt itself, we have an obligation to make use of it. Does that mean, the system can never go sour? Of course not. But intelligent orthodoxy owes it to itself to be vigilant, work with the system when appropriate, and watch out for the warning signs of a system gone bad.
deepthinker,
regarding your comment:
“The way to take care of the abusers is to get the facts, and then confront the parties with the facts.
This is not a job for individuals, you need a group or groups.”
please tell me what they have done!?!? …they are a huge group and ahve done nothing, said nothing and between all of us they have become nothing!!! ….they stand for nothing!!! … they just try to play the political game and nothing else!!!they care about themselves and nothing else….
Thios is not a witchhunt!!! this is a cleanout the garbage that have been rebeim for years. This will not scare anyone away from chinuch !!! this will actually help and ge tthe right people as rebeim!!!
“Where was the OU?”
“Where was Torah Umesorah?”
“Where was [fill in the blank]?”
We are walking around without a head!
This is a dor yusom mamosh!
Without mashiach we are finished.
Falling on deaf ears, for crying out loud. The problem, say psychologists are mostly closer to home, not by Rabbeim. The right people ARE Rabbeim, although here and there you get a wormy apple. Again why all this Rabbonim bashing? Do you think that they have to give you an accounting of what they do? If you despise a certain Rov, then confront him, but not condemn ALL Rabbonim.
the ou should clean up its own act.
in the lanner affair they fired the professionals but the leadership such as david luchins still remains and echoes the sound of silence
This is how we know that Rabbi Weinreb and the OU are not being honest.
It has been 8 years now since the huge scandal that broght the community’s attention to the problem with the Jewish Week’s reporting that Rabbi Baruch Lanner was allowed by NCSY and the OU to continually molest and physically abuse children under their auspices.
There has still been no public apology, no accounatbility and no change in the real way of business as ususua. When Lanner’s victims had to bear the excruciating pain of testifying against him on the stand, and having their private lives examined almost as much as his, did the OU support them? NO!
Has the OU published the findings of the indpendent investigation committee they asked to look into what happened? NO!
Now that Baruch Lanner is out of jail, and able to go right back to going after Jewish Children, has the OU even publicly warned Jewish parents to keep their kids away from him? NO!
This last one, you might think is unneccessary, but there are actually many people who still feel that Lanner was innocent and framed. This list includes many modern orthodox rabbis who are friends of his and have never publicly distanced themselves from Lanner. That being the case, does it not behoove our esteemes leader, Rabbi Weinreb, who was brought in to the OU for the sole purpose of fixing this disaster, to do SOMETHING publicly?
This is as far as the OU is concerned. However, Rabbi Weinreb also must answer for the fact that in all of his years in Baltimore, the city became an Ir Hanidachas when it comes to molestation and cover-up. He knows about many, many cases that the rabbis there are covering up for and refuses to get involved in any meaningful way.
This publicity stunt on his part is a disgrace. He should simply be honest and say, “I don’t have the leadership qualities of Dov Hikind, and am even more scared of my own shadow than Benzion Twerski, so please go ask other leaders to help out.”
Take a bat or succah wood from the back yard and use it you know where. If there is a menuval you have to make sure he is thrown in front of dogs