Jewish Leadership Dissociates Community from Statements of Rabbi Yossi Feldman

Executive Council of Australian Jewry
February 9, 2015

http://www.ecaj.org.au/2015/jewish-leadership-condemns-child-abuse-perpetrators-protectors-2/

Rabbi Yossi Feldman’s reported statements to the Royal Commission have shocked and appalled his fellow rabbis, the Australian Jewish community and the wider community. Amongst his other objectionable comments, it is unacceptable for any religious leader to confess ignorance of basic law relating to the crime of child sexual abuse or to suggest that there are circumstances in which instances of such abuse should not be reported to the authorities. Nobody should take the law into their own hands, or be encouraged to do so.

Yossi Feldman’s statements are repugnant to Jewish values and to Judaism, which is centred on the sanctity and dignity of individual life, especially the life of a child.

We believe his position as a religious leader has become untenable. As painful as the Royal Commission is for us, it has performed an essential service in exposing deeply troubling and misguided thinking by certain religious figures and raises questions about their education and training.

Robert Goot AM SC,

President,

Executive Council

of Australian Jewry

Peter Wertheim AM,

Executive Director,

Executive Council

of Australian Jewry

Contact:

Peter Wertheim AM Executive Director

ph: 02 8353 8500 | m: 0408 160 904

e: pwertheim@ecaj.org.au | www.ecaj.org.au