Dear Rabbi Freilich
I refer to your letter in The Australian Magazine published yesterday. And
article in the AJN 7 days or so earlier. [enc below]
Could you please elucidate as to how you were misquoted in view of your
last sentence about being tired and emotional?
Kol Tuv
Geoff Seidner
East St Kilda
The Australian Magazine - June 1 - 2, 2013
Firstly let me
congratulate you on your article. However, I would like to clarify a statement
attributed to me that is misleading. The article gives the impression I am of
the view that 95 per cent of the rabbinate believe that child sexual abuse
should be dealt with in-house. In fact I believe that the vast majority of
rabbis in Australia firmly support the immediate reporting of child abuse to the
police. This was always the official stance of the Organisation of Rabbis of
Australia. This misinterpretation may have arisen because my abhorrence of child
sexual abuse is such that when I am interviewed about it I become emotional, and
as a result my expression may not be as clear and precise as it should
be.
David
Freilich OAMChief Rabbi, Perth
Hebrew Congregation
ORIG ARTICLE RE
YOURSELF: May 18 -9, 2013
Perth rabbi Dovid
Freilich estimates that 95 per cent of Australian rabbis believe these matters
should be dealt with internally. He was president of the Organisation of Rabbis
of Australasia at the time the Yeshivah scandal erupted and resigned after his
call for full co-operation with police drew criticism from the membership. "I
was castigated by other rabbis. They don't talk to me anymore. I regard it as a
compliment... The law of the land is the law of the land," he says, dismissing
the idea that victims should go to a priest or a rabbi rather than use the
courts.
Rabbi misquoted on abuse cover-up
THE Australian is
expected to apologise this weekend after it claimed that former president of the
Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia (ORA) Rabbi Dovid Freilich said that 95
per cent of Australian rabbis believe child sexual abuse charges should be dealt
with internally.
Rabbi Freilich praised the article, “The Shunned”, that appeared
in Saturday’s edition of The
Australian, because he said that whatever can be done to stamp out the
scourge of sexual abuse of children in society is to be commended and
encouraged, but said that being misquoted was
disappointing.
“I believe that the vast majority of rabbis in Australia firmly
and categorically support the immediate reporting of child abuse to the police,”
Rabbi Freilich said in a letter toThe
AJN and The
Australian this week.
“This was always the official stance of the
ORA.”
Senior writer at The
Australian Kate Legge apologised to the rabbi when she was contacted by
Rabbi Freilich this week.
“We will clarify the comment on the letter page next week,” the
journalist said to Rabbi Freilich.
But in response to the article, which caused concern throughout
the community because of the claim, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV)
restated its policy on child sexual abuse to the
community.
“The RCV has stated on numerous occasions that all cases of child
abuse must be reported immediately to the police. The council’s resolution to
this effect was adopted by the rabbis of Victoria unanimously and bears the name
of each rabbi,” the statement read.
“The RCV’s widely publicised position that any and all cases of
child abuse must be reported immediately to the police and relevant authorities
has appeared numerous times in Jewish and wider Australian media,” RCV president
Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant said.
Rabbi Kluwgant said there is no basis to the claim that 95 per
cent of Australian rabbis prefer child sexual abuse cases be dealt with
internally, and he said he was expecting a full and swift retraction by those
responsible.
JOSHUA
LEVI
Rabbi Dovid
Freilich.
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