Regarding Ben Zion Sobel - From Another Blog
posted by Jewish Survivors at Friday, September 08, 2006
This Blog is for and about Jewish Survivors of childhood sexual abuse, survivors of sexual assault, rabbinical sexual misconduct and those who care about them.
posted by Jewish Survivors at Friday, September 08, 2006
I will try to answer both questions asked me. The professionals that I have consulted all say that treatment of repeated sexual offenders has not been successful. The risk in allowing such an individual to return to teaching is too great. We have a responsibility to protect the students. Only Hashem can measure sincerity of teshuva and the individual has every right to make a living in another area of work.
My knowledge of what occurred at Neve Tzion in 1985 comes from my work at Yeshiva University. I have been visiting yeshivos in Israel for YU since 1979. Among the yeshivos that I spoke at, was Neve Yehoshua which became Neve Tzion. During the crisis I was in contact with a number of people who were involved, including the rabbi who brought the accusations to Rabbi Svei's attention. A number of former students in Neve were in YU and I tried to work with them. Then and later I maintained an ongoing relationship with both rabbeim who taught there and alumni.
Unfortunately, some of the key figures have passed away or are no longer well, and there was no documentation. The story of the scandal was kept out of the media.
Yosef Blau