Taking it seriously

Rabbis address issue of sexual misconduct protocol

BARRY COHEN
Editor

If allegations of sexual misconduct are to be raised in Valley synagogues, the charges will be taken seriously and dealt with immediately, according to local congregational rabbis.

However, only one rabbi contacted by Jewish News mentioned a specific incident they have had to resolve - alleged inappropriate touching between two students.

"The worst thing to do is to sweep (such charges) under the carpet," said Rabbi David Rebibo of Beth Joseph Congregation in Phoenix.

Many people have a misconception that to protect religious institutions, congregational leaders should downplay allegations of sexual misconduct, he noted.

"You think you are protecting the institution, when in reality, you are hurting the institution," he explained, because discounting or keeping allegations secret fails to protect anybody.

Opportunities for sexual misconduct exist within any religious setting, by rabbis, teachers, volunteers or even teenagers babysitting at the synagogue on a Friday night, said Rabbi William Berk of Temple Chai in Phoenix.

If allegations of improper behavior were to arise, "we would not turn away," said Berk. "We can't afford to do it."

Rabbis with whom Jewish News spoke agreed that if they were to hear of an allegation of sexual misconduct involving a child, they would immediately involve parents and, if indicated, trained professionals. Moreover, they are required to notify the public authorities.

"If you see bruises on a child and suspect he was beaten by a parent, you have no choice, you have to contact the (civil) authorities," said Rebibo.

If he heard of allegations involving a child, said Rabbi Andrew Straus of Temple Emanuel of Tempe, he would contact the parents and with permission, notify the congregational president.

Then, he would meet with the child and at least one other person, and ask what happened, said Straus.

"We have an ethical and moral obligation to create a safe environment," he added. "If that environment is violated, it is quickly dealt with in a legal and ethical manner."

Rabbi Mendy Deitsch of Chabad of the East Valley dealt with an incident in which a child claimed to have been touched inappropriately by a classmate. Parents were notified and a child psychologist was brought in to assist, he said.

Sexual misconduct has received additional attention locally, in light of revelations that Thomas O'Brien, formerly bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, failed to inform supervisors that priests with allegations of sexual misconduct had been transferred to their ministries, and that he allowed suspected priests to work with minors.

Elsewhere, Rabbi Baruch Lanner of New Jersey was recently convicted of sexually abusing youths when he was the director of the National Council of Synagogue Youth. An investigation under rabbinic authority is ongoing in New York, of Rabbi Matis Weinberg, accused of making sexual advances toward his students at the Derech Etz Chaim, a Jerusalem yeshiva.

Though rabbis contacted by Jewish News stressed that they would address potential allegations immediately, most said they have not addressed the issue of sexual misconduct in a formalized way with their congregations.

The subject has not been addressed intensively, said Rebibo, because Beth Joseph Congregation has not had to deal with any examples of abuse.

Sexual misconduct "has not been an issue in the congregation," said Rabbi Bonnie Koppell of Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler. She said she does not see the need to address the congregation formally to implement an official policy to handle it.

"I have confidence with our religious school director (that teachers know what) is appropriate or inappro-priate," said Koppell.

She would not favor a policy preventing teachers from hugging their students, she noted. "I don't want to reject a child running up to a teacher with open arms."

Most of the dozen teachers in the Beth Sholom religious school are members of the synagogue, Koppell said.

"It's a small and intimate enough environment ... and there is nothing going on (with the teachers) in isolation," she said.

If a prospective teacher is unknown, references are checked, added Koppell.

At Temple Emanuel of Tempe, while sexual mis-conduct has not been addressed "in a formalized way," Straus said, he is considering presenting the issue at a meeting of synagogue staff and the board of directors and asking board members for recom-mendations.

Deitsch said he has addressed both employees and parents at Chabad of the East Valley about sexual misconduct and encourages parental involvement at every program involving children.

The Shalom Center at Temple Chai has tentative plans beginning this fall to incorporate parent education in conjunction with the Early Childhood Center and the religious school, said Sharona Silverman, Shalom Center director.

"The goal is to prevent abuse within the family," she said.

In addition, the Shalom Center may set up support groups to address a range of addictions, including alcohol, drugs and sex, she said.

"We want people to find support and education in a Jewish environment," said Silverman.

Rebibo has invited Debbie Fox, director of the Orthodox Counseling Program at Jewish Family Services in Los Angeles, to the Valley this summer to speak about sexual misconduct.

Fox has worked with the Los Angeles federation and Orthodox Rabbinical Council, in addition to day schools and synagogues to set up a "Citywide Conduct Policy and Behavioral Standards," he said.

Fox directed efforts to establish a "conduct policy (that) addresses issues of 'unwanted touch' and sets down clear behavioral guidelines for appropriate faculty/student interaction," according to a statement from the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California.

The Valley can learn from Fox's experience in Los Angeles and how leaders there responded to the issue of sexual misconduct, said Rebibo.

Most local rabbis had little or no training concerning sexual misconduct when they were studying for the rabbinate.

"In my era, it was not so much of an issue," said Koppell, who went to rab-binical school in the 1970s.

Berk, who was ordained 22 years ago, said he received no formal training in rabbinical school.

For Deitsch, the issue of sexual misconduct was addressed only abstractly. In studying Talmud, he recalled addressing the laws of modesty and laws against touching. A literal space must always remain between teacher and student, said Deitsch.

"It is easy to cross that boundary and step into the space," he noted. "You need this space to learn and grow."

Rebibo affirmed that the Talmud outlines clear parameters about physical contact. He also cited the laws of yichud, which forbid a male teacher to be alone with a woman behind closed doors.

While Straus received little instruction in the classroom, he said an allegation made against one of his classmates was instructive. The class-mate was arrested on a charge of sexual misconduct, tried and found innocent.

"This (case) opened our eyes to the issue" and motivated the class to think of ways to protect themselves against similar allegations, he said.

Straus said he never meets with a teen-age girl alone; and when a woman asks to meet in privacy, behind closed doors, he has his secretary interrupt the session after a few minutes, just to be cautious, he noted.

Through her involvement as a member of the Recon-structionist Rabbinical Association's ethics com-mittee, Koppell has had to deal with sexual allegations against her colleagues in other cities. The investi-gations have been "intense experiences," she noted.

She recently accepted an invitation to join the national ethics committee, which has the power to suspend rabbis and even revoke their membership from the national rabbinical organ-ization.

"Sexual misconduct does happen (within Judaism)," said Koppell. "It's not just in the Catholic Church."

Contact the writer at barry_cohen@jewishaz.com.

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