In practice, Chabad communal institutions in Melbourne are led by the sons, sons-in-law, grandsons, grandsons-in-law, nephews and other close relatives of the community’s founders and first top rabbis, and many of these leaders either actively covered up child sex abuse and protected the molesters or looked the other way as it was being done. Many board members of Yeshivah Centre have sat on that Yeshivah Centre board for decades. But now that board is reportedly collapsing.
Chabad’s Yeshivah Centre Board On “Brink Of Collapse” After Child Sex Abuse Coverups
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The board of Chabad’s Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne is “on the brink of collapse,” The Age reported.
Michael Goldhirsch – a member of the board and of its committee of management for decades – reportedly resigned this week. In all, five board members have resigned the past three months in the wake of the Royal Commission hearings into child sex abuse and coverups in Chabad institutions.
Only three members remain on the Yeshivah Centre board's Committee of Management. (The three remaining Committee of Management members appear to be Merv Adler, Shimshon Yurkowicz, and Shlomo Werdiger.)
An online petition launched due the abuse coverups exposed by the Royal Commission was signed by many members of Melbourne's Chabad community and by members of the wider Orthodox community there. It demands the entire Chabad Yeshiva Centre’s Committee of Management resign because it no longer has “the confidence of the community” it is supposed to serve.
Parents and Friends of Yeshivah Melbourne, a group, set up in after the Royal Commission investigation into Chabad, is reportedly lobbying for positions on the board. The group also wants increased transparency – including open elections for board positions.
But in practice, Chabad communal institutions in Melbourne are led by the sons, sons-in-law, grandsons, grandsons-in-law, nephews and other close relatives of the community’s founders and first top rabbis, and many of these leaders either actively covered up child sex abuse and protected the molesters or looked the other way as it was being done. Many board members of Yeshivah Centre have sat on that Yeshivah Centre board for decades.
Manny Waks, a former student at Chabad’s Yeshivah College located at Chabad’s Yeshivah Centre, is both a victim of child sex abuse there and an anti-abuse advocate. He supports Parents and Friends of Yeshivah Melbourne’s campaign for openness and transparency and he reportedly told The Age Goldhirsch's resignation after decades on the board was "an important milestone.”
Related Posts:
It's All Relative – Widespread Nepotism In Chabad of Melbourne.
Victims Demand Resignations – Chabad Remains Silent.