IT is a crime whose name, for a very long time, we dared not even speak. Most of us shudder when we even think of the sexual abuse of children, yet today, in an age when many of mankind’s deepest and darkest secrets are being pulled into the light of day, we can no longer claim ignorance or naiveté as an excuse.
After untold centuries in the shadows, the truth of sexual molestation is coming out, in all its horrific and lurid detail and all its cathartic force.
Today, the perpetrators of this crime whether family members, priests, ministers or rabbis, youth leaders, teachers or coaches are finding it ever more difficult to hide and, thankfully, ever more difficult to victimize the young.
Sexual abuse no longer has the luxury of being a secret.
Yet the threat remains, even in this era of growing disclosure and toughening prosecution. Although media reports routinely expose more and more abusers, many of them with long histories of violation, sexual abusers remain in our midst, their crime remains a threat.
The Jewish world has not been immune to the phenomenon, either as victims or as perpetrators. While much slower to cast its spotlight on the Jewish community than the Catholic Church, the media is now paying much closer attention.
People who are now adults are relating what happened to them as children.
Accounts are surfacing not only of incidents of abuse, but of Jewish communal patterns especially in East Coast religious communities in which abusers are allegedly shielded from exposure and prosecution and enabled to continue their abuse.
A few courageous Jewish community leaders and rabbis have begun to publicly out perpetrators, in the press, online, even from synagogue pulpits.
In short, Jews, like many others, are beginning to openly accuse their abusers and demand community accountability and justice.
Read the related IJN editorial, “Preventing sexual abuse in schools“
It is within the context of this newly open atmosphere one recently magnified by the very public trial and conviction of Jerry Sandusky, assistant football coach at Penn State that the Intermountain Jewish News takes a local look at this issue.
No public accusations of sexual abuse have surfaced among members of the Denver Jewish community in recent years, which doesnt mean that it hasnt occurred, or isnt presently occurring. In fact, statistics strongly suggest that it most likely is taking place.
It remains extremely difficult to uncover such abuse if its happening within the privacy of a family, by far the most likely environment for sexual abuse to take place. Unless a victim or witness comes forward to report such an incident, it can remain hidden for years or decades.
In the public sphere, however speaking specifically of schools and other educational venues sexual abuse is a more difficult crime to pull off, although it certainly remains possible, as the Penn State scandal proved.
The Denver Jewish educators who agreed to be interviewed on the subject are acutely aware of that possibility.
The Colorado Agency for Jewish Education, Denver Academy of Torah, Denver Jewish Day School, Hillel Academy and Yeshiva Toras Chaim discussed their policies concerning sexual abuse with the IJN. Beth Jacob High School for Girls declined to be interviewed for this article.
Although those who discussed the subject clearly found it difficult and uncomfortable to discuss, even in this new era of openness, they freely shared what their respective schools are doing not only to deal with sexual abuse should an incident or accusation take place but to minimize the possibility that such a thing could happen.
The rest of this article including comments from Tammy Themel, Avi Halzel and Rabbis Israel M. Kagan, Mordechai Hoffman, Yitzchok Goldstein and Daniel Alter is available in the IJN’s print edition only. Contact Carol to order your copy at (303) 861-2234 or carol@ijn.com.
