Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz and two other senior Chicago rabbis – Shmuel Feurst, the dayan (senior decisor of Jewish law) of Agudath Israel of Illinois, and Zev Cohen of Congregation Adas Yeshurun – convened as a special beit din to deal with issues of sexual impropriety. That beit din issued a ruling yesterday warning women not to attend seminaries owned or controlled by Rabbi Elimelech Meisels, noting that it believes students enrolled in Meisels seminaries are at risk of harm.
Above: Rabbi Elimelech Meisels
Haredi Kiruv Rabbi Accused Of Having “Unwanted Physical Contact Of A Sexual Nature” With Female Students
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz is the Av Beis Din (head of the religious court) of the Beit Din of America (BDA) and the previous av beit din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC).
Schwartz and two other senior rabbis – Shmuel Feurst, the dayan (senior decisor of Jewish law) of Agudath Israel of Illinois, and Zev Cohen of Congregation Adas Yeshurun – convened as a special beit din to deal with issues of sexual impropriety and, FrumFollies reported, issued a ruling yesterday warning women not to attend seminaries owned or controlled by Rabbi Elimelech Meisels, noting that it believes students enrolled in Meisels seminaries are at risk of harm.
The beit din, which spoke with Meisels and his accusers before ruling, notes that it was specifically dealing with allegations of “unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature.”
Meisels operates Pninim, Binas Bais Yaakov, Chedvas Bais Yaakov and Keser Chaya seminaries in Israel, which are geared toward anglo haredi women seeking to study for a year or two in Israel.
Meisels is reportedly linked to the haredi kiruv (missionary outreach) Ohr Somayach yeshiva in Jerusalem and co-authored a book called The Kiruv Files published by Targum Press.
The Chicago beit din passed Meisels’ case to an Israel-based beit din made up of Rabbis Menachem Mendel Shafran, Chaim Malinowitz and Tzvi Gartner.
It is unclear whether any of this sex abuse has been reported to police although civil suits may be forthcoming.
Update 7-14-2014 10:22 am CDT– The Israeli beit din issued a preliminary ruling against Rabbi Elimelech Meisels – without ever mentioning him by name.
The key part of the ruling reads: "The problem that was of late revealed through the claims to the beit din in Chicago from a part of the seminaries reached resolution through the removal of the party responsible from every function and connection with the seminaries."
The beit din hasn't yet worked out how the seminaries in question, which are 'owned' by Meisels' family (even though they are legally nonprofits that can't legally be owned by individuals), will be safe until they are transferred to another's control.
Even so, the rabbis rule that they are safe, say that students should return to them, and praise the seminaries' staffs – even though some of those staff members allegedly knew about the sex abuse and did nothing to stop it.