Tzedek - A Night of Healing

Anton Block (Pres.)
Executive Council Australian Jewry

On Monday evening, in the wake of the impact of the Royal Commission members of the community gathered at the invitation of TZEDEK, a victim advocacy group with a focus on the prevention of child sexual abuse in our community.  

Under the steerage of CEO, Michele Meyer, a spectrum of community members came together to reflect and engage on where we are, what there is to be learnt and what it means for us to find ourselves in this position.  Obviously in a brief evening these matters could barely be addressed in full, but the thoughtfulness of those selected to address the audience, the sensitivity of the speakers and their heartfelt sincerity would have been a boon to many in the audience.

I want to say a few words about the presence and words that distinguished Anton Block, President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry on Monday night.  

Two years ago, during Case Study 22 there was next to no-one present other than victims, those summoned to provide testimony by the Commission, counsel for various individuals and organisations, officers of the Commission, support staff and media.  I was shocked at the absence of our communal leadership, the JCCV,  the ECAJ and leaders of other major communal organisations religious and/or secular.  Our Jewish community leaders commonly seen bumping each other sideways for space at the podium during communal events were nowhere to be found.  The community had disappeared and only a few individuals were present to provide support - overwhelmingly it seemed for those whom the Royal Commission were taking to task.  

Who was there for the victims of abuse?  To witness?  To acknowledge?  To support? I could count them on the fingers of one hand.

Numerous other communal organisations that should have had a presence in that room from beginning to end to witness and fortify those most in need, to provide them with validation and assurance were entirely absent.  When I took this absence up with those in leadership I spoke to over the following weeks I heard common themes; "We listened on-line"; "We weren't asked to be there"; "We were too busy".  Repeated refrains from the same excuse book.  Pitiful and shameful.

To be honest over the last two years it has been difficult to see much of anyone in leadership step up and be prepared to stand by the victims, articulate their rights and fight for their entitlements in our community.

On Monday night Anton acknowledged these failings of leadership.  He reflected on his own experiences at the Royal Commission last week as part of a Jewish Community Leadership Panel.  On his own profound shock to find the Jewish community in such a position - leader after leader of the Jewish community asked whether shunning of a victim could ever be considered appropriate - and being asked again, leader after leader, whether there could there be any ambiguity to the question. 

On Monday night Anton apologised for our leadership, apologised for their absence, apologised for failures to our children and apologised to the victims.  A long overdue and heartfelt apology that brought me to tears. 

I hope the victims, those present on the night and those who will hear his words later, begin to find some measure of solace in his words.

Most importantly, I hope Anton's apology is owned by all community leaders, by all to whom they must be an example.  The time for excuses is over.    

marcia pinskier

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - Afterthoughts

For some who may have been following my notes on Facebook during my attendance over the last few days in Sydney it may seem that whatever may be needed to be said has been worked up and down.

Sadly no - and I suspect that I among others will have thoughts to share in the wake of the Commission for some time to come.

Today I wanted to make a few comments about an article that was issued in the on-line Jerusalem Post on March 23, the day of Case Study 53, when the Royal Commission re-visited Yeshivah Melbourne and Yeshivah Bondi.  This Case Study followed Case Study 22, a further examination of the institutions two years later, in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including their responses to allegation of child sexual abuse and associated matters.

If the community is coming to learn one thing with the passage of time, slowly and painfully; it is that the victims of child sexual abuse under the 'care' of our institutions deserve respect, dignity, recognition and acknowledgment.   They are not to be shunned or ostracised, not to be unseen or disregarded and they are to be supported in every way possible through their pain.

In light of this, on the very day of Case Study 53, to see a journalist intimate that previously there was only one survivor of abuse who spoke publicly during Case Study 22 at the Royal Commission and that his testimony - and the findings of the Commission - were responsible for leading to sea changes in Chabad does not impress.  

Case Study 22 was held in an open Court Room.  As one of the members of the community who attended for most of the weeks during which the Case Study was held, along with  the thousands who listened on-line; we are all aware that there were a number of victims who told their harrowing stories in this very public space and that their bravery, dignity and willingness to step forward contributed overwhelmingly to the recommendations of the Commission and the following outcomes for the Yeshivah community.

That all these victims are not acknowledged as having even been present to give testimony much less in regard to their enormous contributions to the community is only another form of disrespect and abuse of those who have been previously disdained and disrespected.  Along with many in the community these victims contributed to the outcomes of the Commission and it is of consequence that just as the Royal Commission has constantly remembered that it is interacting and engaging with a wider community - so too should the media when reporting the facts.