Wife of Accused Safed Rabbi Said She Knew about Sex Acts

JTA
August 13, 2015

http://www.jta.org/2015/08/13/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/wife-of-accused-safed-rabbi-said-she-knew-about-sex-acts

The wife of a Safed rabbi charged with sex crimes said she knew about his sex acts with two women.

Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg’s wife told Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Safed, that she knew her husband had sex with two women, she is heard saying in a recording of the conversation played on Israel Channel 2. The sex, she said, was part of their therapy.

The wife, whose name was not given, refers to the acts as “relaxation message,” a euphemism for sex.

Sheinberg, 46, was charged last month in Nazareth District Court, on 13 counts of rape, indecent assault, sexual harassment, fraud and obstructing an investigation.

His wife said her husband only told her about two women; 13 have come forward to accuse him. The women had come to the rabbi with religious questions.

After Eliyahu asks her if she knows what the “relaxation message” is, she tells him: “He told me that it was part of the blessing, and I accepted that too.”

The court ruled last week that Sheinberg will remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.