UNITED STATES
The Jewish Week
12/03/14
Rachel Delia Benaim
Special to The Jewish Week
This summer Rabbi Elimelech Meisels, 45, a former Chicagoan who has owned and has taught at four Bais Yaakov seminaries for American girls studying in Israel, was found guilty of sexual misconduct by the only American beit din (religious court) specifically dealing with charges of sexual abuse.
In an unusually strong statement dated July 14, the court, based in Chicago, wrote that “based on the testimony and documents” it received, “including testimony by the claimants [several former students, over the age of 18] and by Elimelech Meisels, the Beis Din believes that students in these seminaries are at risk of harm and it does not recommend that prospective students attend these seminaries at this time.”
What’s more, since the four seminaries — Peninim, Binas Bais Yaakov, Chedvas Bais Yaakov and Keser Chaya — are in Israel, the court noted that a “distinguished beis din” made up of three Israeli rabbis, have “assumed responsibility for this matter.”
Why, then, is Rabbi Meisels a free man after reportedly admitting to the Chicago religious court that he is guilty of sexual misconduct? And why are the seminaries in question functioning as usual (though he is no longer on the premises) and American parents continuing to send their daughters to these schools?
The answers are not simple. The case underscores the difficulty of puncturing the protection afforded some figures in the charedi world. And beyond legal matters of jurisdiction, there are the intra-Orthodox disputes between U.S. and Israeli rabbinic leaders. In this case, for example, the members of the Israeli beit din ignored or disagreed with the findings of its American counterparts.
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