The Vizhnitzer Rebbe spoke to hasidim this week and told them that, despite the worsening financial situation for many haredi Jews, there is no heter (legal permission) to cut legal or ethical corners, or to steal. But he still has not condemned child sexual abuse and rape.
The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak
The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak spoke to hasidim this week and told them that, despite the worsening financial situation for many haredi Jews, there is no heter (legal permission) to cut legal or ethical corners, or to steal.
“We are Jews who believe” in God, he said, and told a story that was meant to show that being honest pays off in the end while cheating, stealing and cutting corners does not.
The Vizhnitzer Rebbe has been at the forefront of the anti-draft movement, ordering yeshiva students not to report to IDF induction centers, even if it means going to prison.
He also paid an infamous shiva call to a son of the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe in Massisyahu Prison where the now-Shomrei Emunim Rebbe was imprisoned for raping and sexually abusing one of his own family members. The victim was a little girl when the rapes began.
The Viznitzer Rebbe has not publicly condemned those rapes and he did not publicly condemn the appointment of the rapist as a Shomrei Emunim Rebbe after his father's death. He has also not spoken out in support of victims or done anything else to reduce or end the sexual abuse of children in haredi communities.