Bruce Cooke, a supporter of victims of the Chabad Yeshiva Centre child
sexual abuse scandal, went to his normal synagogue on Saturday and was
allegedly confronted there and threatened by Sam Tatarka, President of
the Zionist Council of Victoria.
Sam Tatarka
Brother Of Chabad Official Implicated In Child Sex Abuse Coverup Allegedly Threatens Victims’ Advocate – In Shul
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Bruce Cooke, a supporter of victims of the Chabad Yeshiva Centre child sexual abuse scandal, went to his normal synagogue on Saturday and was allegedly confronted there and threatened by Sam Tatarka, President of the Zionist Council of Victoria.
Tatarka’s brother Reuven was the head of Lubavitch Youth at the time much of the child sexual abuse occurred. He is alleged to have known about some of that child sexual abuse, but he did not call police.
Sam Tatarka allegedly “unleashed a tirade of abuse in a physically threatening way,” at Bruce Cooke, including using foul language, while inside the synagogue and in front of many witnesses.
This is not the first time that Tatarka is alleged to have threatened Cooke.
But it is the first time, allegedly, that Cooke reported the threats to police.
Cooke declined to comment on the specifics of the incident at this time, but he did tell me that he does “not dispute the veracity” of what I am reporting.
Chabad rabbis and community leaders have treated family members and supporters of alleged child sexual abuse victims with cruelty and abuse, going as far as banning the father of one victim from having an aliya to the Torah and from leading prayer services in Chabad's main synagogue – a position it retracted after it's abusive behavior was exposed.
Police have testified in court that Chabad community members and rabbis have refused to cooperate with investigations, and have given police false and misleading information – what we call in America "obstruction of justice."