What happened at the Adass Yisroel school in Melbourne, Australia?
Parents would like to know, but rabbis…
…are covering up, as the Australian Jewish News reports:
THE
principal of the Adass Israel Girls School in Elsternwick has returned
to Israel amid allegations of improper behaviour towards students.
Malka
Leifer, who joined the school as a teacher eight years ago and has been
principal for five years, had her employment terminated and left
Melbourne within 24 hours of being investigated by the school board.
[At right, sefer Torah dedication at Adass Yisroel congegation.]
President
of the Adass Israel congregation, Benjamin Koppel, told The AJN that
the school first acted on Tuesday last week after receiving a call
suggesting that inappropriate behaviour may have taken place with one
or more of the school’s current or former students.
In a
statement to The AJN, Koppel said that the “relevant authority” had
been notified of the allegations, but would not confirm whether the
authority in question was a rabbinical court, an independent schools
board or the Victoria Police.
A police spokesperson was unable
to confirm whether or not an investigation is underway into Leifer’s
behaviour because of the sensitive nature of the allegations. However,
The AJN understands that the principal’s conduct was reported to the
police by concerned parents.…
Now let's let The Age tell the story:
The head of campus for Jewish studies at Adass Israel Girls
School, Malka Leifer, was forced to resign last week and left for
Israel shortly after, school committee member Issac Benedikt told
The Age.
"It came both at the same time, she was told she can't be at the
school, she said in that case I'm resigning," Mr Benedikt said.
The allegations involve some students at the school aged 18 and
19, he said.
"We are investigating it at the moment. At the moment we don't
have any conclusive evidence," Mr Benedikt said.
"We can't really say what happened and what didn't happen."…
The Age goes on to note police can't comment on the case, especially when "underage children" are involved.
But aren't these girls 18 or older?
A Melbourne correspondent tells me that the story seems to be something like this. The principal seduced and had sex with several, perhaps many, different girls, some below the age of 18. One of these girls eventually got married but found the marital bed to be unsatisfying or difficult. She sought counseling. In counseling, she admitted her relationship with the principal. The counselor called police.
Now, back to the AJN report, and the coverup:
…The
tight-knit Adass community has been in turmoil since a notice was
placed on a school noticeboard last Thursday, indicating that Leifer
had suddenly left the school.
On Shabbat morning last week, the
spiritual leader of the Adass Israel community, Rabbi Avrohom Zvi Beck,
addressed the small community and said they should not consider Leifer
guilty of any crimes because there has been no investigation. He also
told congregants that they are forbidden to discuss the matter and if
they do, it will be considered lashon hara (malicious gossip).
A
number of parents from the school contacted The AJN this week. Their
attitudes ranged from disgust to disappointment. Some parents want the
principal’s behaviour to be investigated, others are more concerned
that the school has not been forthcoming in providing counselling for
those students who claim to have had inappropriate contact with Leifer [as opposed to the general counseling all students are receiving to help them deal with overall effects of the scandal].
Links to Neturei Karta
Rabbi Beck's brother is one of the Neturi Karta rabbis who went to Tehran for the Holocaust denial conference. Beck himself is a Vishnitzer hasid.
Although Adass Yisroel issued a strong general condemnation of Neturei Karta, Rabbi Beck refused to issue a condemnation in his own name.
Of course, the man who challenged him to do so was Rabbi Joseph Gutnick, so I can see why Rabbi Beck may have ignored Rabbi Gutnick's attempt at moralizing. On the other hand, the AJN reports that:
Melbourne businessman and rabbi, Joseph
Gutnick, whose connections to Chabad are considerable, is noted in an
Adass publication as “the largest single donor to Adass in its 50-year
history” and his name adorns the Adass Gutnick Hall and Talmud Torah
complex.
So perhaps dissing Gutnick took some courage. It seems blood is thicker than Joe Gutnick's money.
What is Adass Yisroel's religious affiliation withing haredism?
According to another AJN report:
Fired by its distinctive brand of Hungarian and
Slovakian Chassidism and Ashkenaz Orthodoxy, Adass draws its strengths
from the destroyed yeshivot of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Galicia,
from Jewish centres such as Ger, Belz and Vishnitz.
Its rabbis
are trained at kollels in the US and the Edah Hareidis in Jerusalem.…
…If anything, the Adass way of life has become stricter as modernity has encroached all around.
Community secretary Shlomo Boruch Abelesz
recalls a postwar generation of Adass men who “were not too keen to
have the outward appearance of being Jewish” and says beards and payot
are a relatively recent development that harks back to pre-Holocaust
traditions. In the early years, the school was co-educational.
Now the community resembles Kiryas Joel or Mea Shearim.
The AJN also notes that Adass is "non-Zionist" and has close ties to Satmar.
What will happen to Malka Leifer?
Nothing, it seems. She'll walk free in Israel, will probably not be extradited, and will face no restriction of movement at all. She'll probably continue to work in haredi education, teaching girls.
The Chafetz Chaim's Code of Omerta will see to that.
…are covering up, as the Australian Jewish News reports: