Young Children Tried To Kill Themselves Because Of Sex Abuse, Hatzolah Says
The Melbourne Jewish community's emergency medical response group, Hatzolah, says young children have attempted suicide as a result of being
sexually abused.
Sexual abuse led to suicide bids
Richard Baker & Nick McKenzie • The Age
The Jewish community's emergency medical response group, Hatzolah, has revealed young children have attempted suicide as a result of being sexually abused.
The acknowledgement of child sexual abuse as an "ongoing crisis facing our community" in a letter written by a senior Hatzolah official on Tuesday comes amid revelations of a police investigation into alleged criminal offences at Sydney's Yeshiva Centre in the 1970s and '80s.
In a letter endorsing the establishment of Jewish sexual abuse support group Tzedek, Hatzolah's Melbourne operations manager, Danny Elbaum, wrote of his observations "first hand of the devastating impact of child sexual abuse".
"On many occasions our emergency responders have been called to assist Jewish patients (including young ones) who have self-harmed or attempted suicide, and upon further inquiry it has become clear the underlying cause for these desperate acts has been due to the patient's experience of child sexual abuse."
Mr Elbaum's letter is one of the first times a Jewish community leader has linked child sexual abuse to suicide attempts.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last year announced a royal commission to investigate child sexual abuse and how religious organisations handled such incidents.
New South Wales police are investigating allegations against two men formerly associated with the Yeshiva Centre and school in Bondi.
The NSW police probe was triggered by an earlier inquiry by Victorian detectives into the Yeshivah College in St Kilda, which resulted in two former employees being charged with multiple child sex offences and claims senior rabbis tried to cover-up the scandal.
Fairfax Media reported on Wednesday that one of the accused men associated with Bondi's Yeshiva Centre had told a victim in a recent conversation that he had spoken with the centre's spiritual leader, Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, about incidents involving younger boys.
The accused man's conversation with Rabbi Feldman allegedly occurred in the mid-to-late 1980s.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Rabbi Feldman said he did not recall any confession of child sex abuse crimes by the accused man.
"To make my position absolutely clear, I endorse the unequivocal rabbinical rulings encouraging victims of abuse to report to the police and I will continue to support the efforts of law enforcement agencies in investigating and taking action against these heinous crimes," Rabbi Feldman said.
The leadership of Bondi's Yeshiva Centre said they immediately contacted NSW police last week to offer their assistance after it was revealed detectives were investigating historic child sexual abuse claims involving former members of their community.
Fairfax Media has also learnt that a former Catholic priest last year charged with multiple child sex offences in NSW and Victoria, James Patrick Jennings, worked at the Bondi Yeshiva Centre during the 1980s.
There is something so wrong with Australians. They appear to have major problems above and beyond what we see in other countries both in term of frequency and behavior of aberrant behavior. Why is this so?
Posted by: Curious | February 20, 2013 at 08:16 AM
Curious -Wherever you have fanaticism you have this kind of situation meaning the more extreeme you are in religion the more aberration you will have, its a no brainer.
Posted by: jancsibacsi | February 20, 2013 at 08:26 AM
Oh no - et tu Mr Jennings? Must be contagious.
Posted by: Steven | February 20, 2013 at 08:58 AM
Curious -Wherever you have fanaticism you have this kind of situation meaning the more extreeme you are in religion the more aberration you will have, its a no brainer.
Posted by: jancsibacsi | February 20, 2013 at 08:26 AM
I am referring to the Haredi/Chabad world. There are much more problems/issues with the Australians compared with, say, the states.
Posted by: Curious | February 20, 2013 at 09:17 AM
Curious: Maybe the Australian political system is less corrupt than the US one and more Haredi wrong doers are being investigated and prosecuted in Australia.
Posted by: Rocky | February 20, 2013 at 09:31 AM
I am referring to the Haredi/Chabad world. There are much more problems/issues with the Australians compared with, say, the states.
Posted by: Curious | February 20, 2013 at 09:17 AM
Stop trolling or I'll ban you and delete your comments.
You know very well that everything you've written is complete BS.
No more warnings.
Posted by: Shmarya | February 20, 2013 at 09:38 AM
Oh no - et tu Mr Jennings? Must be contagious.
Posted by: Steven | February 20, 2013 at 08:58 AM
Jennings 'Barchi" a Catholic priest??....Was obvious that he was gay but a priest??...LOL...
For those wondering....He worked in the front office and not as a teacher...
Posted by: Aussie | February 20, 2013 at 02:58 PM
http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page279-james-patrick-jennings.html
Jennings was found not guilty in 2010 in NSW,yes that is correct.
He was subsequently arrested & charged in Victoria .
In 2012 following a committal hearing he was ordered to stand trial for allegations in Victoria (separate from those in NSW).That trial is set for this year 2013.
Any assertion that Jennings is cleared of allegations is misleading & disingenuous.
This is my reply to J Wire on their article today
Posted by: Bruce J Cooke | February 20, 2013 at 06:50 PM
Have you ever wondered why the meshugah live at the end of train lines / bus routes? Simple, they have to get off, they can't go any further, they know they have reached their destination. The same with Australia, its at the bottom of the world, you can't go further than that! Everyone knows that Australia was founded as a penal colony, hence the greater percentage of unlawful and aberrant behaviour.
I'm curious as to why Curious has not yet featured in the Darwin Awards. Everyday, Aussies read accounts and watch the news about this school or that workplace where Americans are murdered in great numbers by gun toting nutters who then remove themselves and supposedly similarly afflicted crazies from the gene pool at a young age. This the reason why the percentage of aberrants is lower in the USA - Meshugahcide!
Posted by: Noah | February 20, 2013 at 07:02 PM
Wow, are you an idiot. Australia is a fascinating country with a rich heritage. Certainly there is an arena in which you excel. Go there.
Posted by: dh | February 20, 2013 at 11:49 PM