(Article originally published in "The Times of Israel - September 30, 2015)
Over
the past thirty years of being involved in the anti-rape movement, I’ve
worked with hundreds of survivors of clergy abuse from just about every
faith.
Though
each religion has its own beliefs and protocols in the way allegations
of sex crimes should be handled, there are so many similarities between
the various in which these institutions have operated.
Sadly
it appears that the status quo has been to cover-up sex crimes after
they have been committed, and then to turn around and blame those who
have been victimized.
For
years many activists have joked, "that it’s almost as if religious
leaders of all faiths went to the same school to learn how to mishandle
cases involving clergy, along with employees of their religious
institutions."
Though
each faith might use different terminology in their rationals and
religious laws, it all boils down to one thing; The reputations of
their clergy members, community leaders and institutions come first.
Very few really seem to care about the long term effects and
ramifications sex crimes plays on those who have been victimized.
I’ve
heard it over and over again, from professionals working with survivors
of clergy sexual abuse, that it is as if those in affiliated with
religious institutions in leadership roles “are nothing more then a part
of the good ole boys club”. Which makes it appear that they care more
about reputations, then about innocent lives of congregants (including
men, women and children).
Over
the last several weeks, since the first announcement that the Pope
Francis was coming to the United States and since he left; I’ve been
flooded with emails along with postings on both Facebook and Twitter
regarding the Catholic churches inaction when it came to cases of clergy
sexual abuse, along with complaints regarding the continued mishandling
of more recent cases.
Every
time I received one of these announcements regarding the Pope, I can't
help but to thinking to myself that on some levels my Catholic friends
have it so much easier then us Jews. Within Judaism, there is not one
central person in charge of our faith. Meaning there’s not one person
to place the blame. Instead it feels as if we have zillions of
pontiffs. Within Judaism, there is no Pope. Instead each and every
rabbi is more or less like the rulers of their own kingdom.
According
to years of research on the topic, I’ve learned that there is really no
way to “defrock” a rabbi. In the Jewish Renewal, Reform,
Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, receiving rabbinical
ordination is like receiving a college degree. There’s no taking it
back. In the orthodox world, there are some that say that if the rabbi
who gave the ordination takes it back, then the person is no longer
considered ordained. The problem with this is that often rabbis receive
multiple ordinations, meaning various rabbonim would have to remove
their smichas. Another issue is the fact that if the ordinating rabbi
is deceased, there’s nothing one can do to remove the ordination.
Some
believe that if a rabbi is a member of a rabbinical organization it
provides some sort of protection for the rabbis followers. The truth is
that it does not. The worst thing that can happen is that the alleged
offender might have their membership terminated. The alleged offender
is still allowed to call themselves rabbi.
Over
the years we have seen rabbis or other community members who have been
accused of a sex crime chased out of town after committing heinous acts;
yet allowed to move on to a new, unsuspecting community –– where the
alleged offender can have free reign in victimizing more men, women and
or children.
Another
issue we have seen happen time after time is that an alleged or
convicted sex offender will hop from one movement of Judaism to another
to avoid suspicion, without any sort of notification to other branches
of Judaism, which offers the alleged assailant the illusion they can
roam free to offend again.
Unfortunately, to date there are no solution to any of these issues –– leaving our communities vulnerable.
(Originally published by The Times of Israel on September 30, 2015)
