By COLlive reporter
Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, has for the first time released a public statement responding to the child abuse scandal at Australian Chabad schools, last week.
It said that the testimony shared at Australia’s Royal Commission proceedings on Institutional Responses to Child Abuse at the Sydney and Melbourne Yeshivas was “extremely alarming” and “utterly disturbing,” and mentioned “Child Safety Code guidelines.”
It went on to say that “the unfortunate incidents alleged to have occurred in Australia may have well been avoided if the institutions in question would have adhered to the Child Safety Code guidelines of the Merkos Educational Office.”
Following an inquiry of COLlive.com, Merkos has provided the 20-page document titled “Guidelines for Schools – The Safety of Our Children” to be available to the public. You can read or print it here.
Rabbi Nochum Kaplan, author of the guidelines, says he plans to make additional improvements in the document following the Australia scandal and see how they can be better implemented at all Chabad schools.
Rabbi Kaplan is the Director of the Merkos Chinuch Office, the educational division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, serving Chabad-Lubavitch educational institutions. He is also the director of the office of Vaad Rabbonei Lubavitch – The Central Committee of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbis in the United States and Canada.
3 years ago he also launched the Safety Kid® program which has trained every child from age 3 through 8 in all Crown Heights Jewish educational institutions how to protect themselves against predators.
Here are 9 questions COLlive.com presented to Rabbi Kaplan in an exclusive interview:
1. Can you tell us more about Merkos’ Guidelines?
I wrote the guidelines around 13 years ago after much consultation with a variety of professional sources. Later, attorneys went through it with a fine tooth-comb and it was also reviewed by Vaad Rabonei Lubavitch. The process took a half a year and it required that we had to go through a number of drafts to assure that the Guidelines met both legal and Halachic demands.
2. What led to writing it?
This was was one of the first initiatives of the Chinuch Office when it was created. I had been a yeshiva principal for 30 years [many of which were] at non-Chabad schools, and during that time I unfortunately met up with numerous cases of abuse. I realized that many of the tragedies could have been avoided had there been strong guidelines, but there was nothing systematic in place. I felt that since I had assumed a position which allows me access to so many schools, I had to do something. This was before we knew the data of the devastating effects of abuse that we know now.
3. What do the Guidelines offer?
It outlines what constitutes abuse and how to recognize it. What should a teacher or principal look for in a child, what signs are there that something is going on. And then, how to ferret out the information if something happened. Schools are expected to give these Guidelines to teachers and also look out for signs of abuse in the home, not only in schools.
4. Why is the public unfamiliar with their existence?
The reason too many people don’t know about the Guidelines is because like many issues, this one was dealt with directly from Chinuch Office to schools. While at that time we did not publically promote the Guidelines nor talk about these kinds of things in a public forum, they were publicized to the Chabad school network. It’s different today, we talk more openly about the problems of abuse and that’s a positive thing. But people shouldn’t assume we aren’t dealing with them – we just deal with them institutionally.
5. How do Chabad institutions compare to others in this aspect?
I think our people and schools are very sensitive to all children’s issues as compared with the other schools. We were one of the first to put such guidelines into place. No one in the wider Jewish community had anything like this at the time. It was not done in a vacuum, I had a number of our mechanchim involved.
In the last few years there’s been a great deal of sensitivity to the issue of child safety in our society. We made a big deal out of the Safety Kid Program because we had to involve the parents. The whole community cooperated; we implemented it in our schools through the good work of many volunteers, with no problems; all the schools are on board.
6. How many Chabad schools are using your Guidelines, and what will it take for more to join?
We encourage all Chabad schools to sign it, but we don’t know exactly how many have implemented it. We make it available, we promote our policies and we educated mechanchim about it at our annual Chinuch Conferences.
7. Why haven’t Vaad Rabbonei Lubavitch issued a halachic ruling on how to deal with abuse/abusers?
A statement of Vaad Rabbonei Lubavitch at the time seemed superfluous because they approved the Guidelines. Whenever it arises, you must get authorities involved. Additionally, there are some cases which need to be dealt with individually based on specific halachic parameters. Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv A”H and others have written Teshuvahs on this.
8. A related question, our children are being exposed to all kinds of things as a result of electronic communication and social media, can anything be done to inoculate our children from the undesired consequences?
Among other programs in the planning stages, we are in the process of creating a curriculum for young men about the concepts of Kedusha and of Taharah, according to Halacha and Chassidus, interwoven with stories and personal encouragement as well as personal responsibility. A commission of educators from across the country are involved in this effort. The curriculum will be presented for implementation in all our schools in grades 7 – 10. We have spent months working on it and it will completed in about a year or so.
9. Are you saying our children are safer today?
Absolutely. The whole atmosphere is different, things have changed over the last 20 years. The fact is that our schools have been greatly sensitized and we deal all of this in a very mature way.
To Benny,
Can you publish a list of suggestions for the Merkos guideline and post it as a response article instead of a comment.
Thanks,
A Fan
I have read the Merkos guidelines, and while they are a good start, they are insufficient and badly written. As someone that has written policy and advised on policy, I find the policy and some of its notations to be insufficient…It only covers the bare minimum to prevent school liability. I strongly encourage Merkos to continue to review this policy, and determine other clauses and edits that can and should be made to improve it. Importantly, Merkos recognizes that Dinai Nefashos is more important than reputation, and if abuse is suspected, we should do everything to prevent even the potential… Read more »
Thank you for standing up for whats right!
Thank you Rabbi Kaplan for personally protecting our children for the past 13 years.
Safety Kid an organization in California. The Crown Heights initiative and funding came from the Chinuch Office.
It goes from prek to 3rd grade
he does not shy away from painful topics
he says it like it is
he is always willing to hear what people have to say and he listens with an open mind and true respect
just by reading the comments one can see what he is up against
thank you Rabbi Kaplan for doing a thankless task these past many years
I understand you 100% .BH you were able to get married and have a nice family.
But you should know that the actions of the abusers to other people , have destroyed many lives for ever(many people left yiddishkait, many didn’t get married, many they are psychological affected,disturbed)we have many korbanos
The abusers continued doing more because the rabbis let them , and they only punished and threatened the victims and it is obvious that they should have fired them and not allowed them to be in contact with children
Australia is being looked to like a hot bed of abuse, but that’s only because it’s being dealt with there. If there was the equivalent of a royal commission in Israel or the US, we all know how much worse it would be. At least the schools in Australia are aware and dealing.
You are asking that you were involved in 2 Chabad schools and never heard of the Guidelines – next time when there is a Kinus of Mechanchim / Mechanchos, please participate like everyone else and be part of the system. Thank you.
I thought safety kid was run by a Cali organization – nothing to do with chabad or merkos. As far as I’m aware, local schools are only starting the training at first grade – not 3 yr old as thus article suggests
1. The Cheder in Monsey has been following these guidelines for years
2. These guidelines were indroduced several times at the annual summer conferences
3. They have been posted on the chinuch office website for years.
Be careful what you wish for. An accused molester is violently obliterated by nazi prison gangs instantly. So whatever your feelings, say it how it is. It’s a death sentence.
20 yrs ago was a different era. The victims ( myself included!) would have suffered more if it would have been dealt with the way things are done nowadays! Leave the Rabbis alone! Think of all the good they have done for us and the community as a whole. I say jail the abusers but u just cannot go after the heads of communities… They Did not comit the crime and dealt with it how they knew best ! I will not be going after my abuser , I will not be going after the people of authority who could… Read more »
In the wall of shame there are abusers from Last Year ! Some yeshivas teachers , and from NY!! Guidelines? It’s a joke!! I remember some 18 years ago it was an abuser ( not rabbi not teacher) in a yeshiva. In NJ And when it was discovered they dealt very well with the situation In NY they didn’t deal the same way when some rabbi was denounced as a molester. , Raboisai , these announcements” are just politic statements Lemaaise now we are in different times where we have cameras cell phones computers and BH is very hard for… Read more »
To all the comments saying the abuse in melbourne happened over 20 years ago, so merkos’ guidelines wouldn’t have helped. The recent revelations of pretty shocking behavior by the leaders there were about many more years, much more recent, than just the abuse from 20 years ago. In the past few years way more went on by the leadership in australia that could have well been prevented had they been more up to date on the way to treat victims when they come forward. The sooner you all admit this, the sooner all involved can begin to heal. And its… Read more »
but the claim that Melbourne could have prevented such incidents had they followed the Merkos Guidlines is ignoring the fact that these incidents of abuse happened more than thirteen years ago- before this guideline was put together.
At present, Yeshiva College of Melbourne has a comprehensive safety policy in place and is a safe and healthy school.
what about the horrific introduction of alcohol in yeshivos?
The alcoholics in our community were first introduced in the walls of the Yeshiva. This has destroyed families and lives…. Its time yeshivas realize we live in a time when kids with addictions are suffering more than ever. You can farbreing without alcohol…TIME TO RETHINK- GET WITH THE TIMES- KIDS ARE SUFFERING WITH ADDICTIONS MORE THAN EVER…….
“We encourage all Chabad schools to sign it”
Why just encourage, shouldn’t it be mandatory? Just shows how we don’t take this matter seriously.
“we had to involve the parents.”
Why the parents? is this about school safety or about parenting?
“Schools are expected to… look out for signs of abuse in the home, not only in schools”
As a parent, I’d rather be expected to look out for signs of abuse in the classroom, not only in homes.
I’ve worked at Chabad Mosdos, in a leadership position, and never ONCE heard about Merkos GUIDELINES for Children’s Safety. You have to be CRAZY to believe that Melbourne schools are the only chabad schools where child abuse occurs and is ignored. Wake up and realize that csa abuse happens all over the world, and cover-up happens all over the world. This statement has nothing to do with Australia, and ESPECIALLY not after the fact! Abuse is happening in other communities as well! How can you say that Merkos’ guidelines could have saved Melbourne’s victims? these guidelines were never mentioned in… Read more »
Get off your high horse, schools need guidelines and that’s why there are professionals in this area who the schools should go to, why make useless public announcements?
Many are aware that mashpim and leaders have known about abuse going on in schools and elsewhere and have kept there peace or worse have ignored it or even worse ostracized those victims rachamana letzlan!!.So while I appreciate going forward forward in a positive way, as chassisdim shouldnt we also be merciful to something thats is totally wrong. The previous title that was taken out said it as it is “ABUSE COVER UP WAS HORRENDOUS” it doesent matter of it happened 30 years ago because obvuously they didnt validate those victims after so whi cares how long ago it was… Read more »
I’d like to ask the said leaders if ANY of them have bothered to take the time approach those involved, now shamed through your sweeping remarks, to actually seek out the truth? Fact: lies were told on the witness stand during the RC (and no I’m not referring to the Rabbis). Fact: there were many elements to the story that were not exposed on the witness stand because certain questions were not asked. Has Rabbi Kaplan and associates made any effort to learn the truth from the people who were involved? Or, have they fallen into the trap of simply… Read more »
The fact is that most mosdos and teachers were neither aware of these Guildlines, nor given due attention since written. This is evident in the fact that abuse has been going on in our mosdos (shuls, schools and camps) for decades. In fact, it seems every week more abuse cases and abusers are being revealed. I am sorry to disagree with Rabbi Kaplan’s last answer to the question “Are you saying our children are safer today?” Rabbi Kaplan answers “Absolutely. The kinds of problems we had 20 years ago could not happen today.” Has Rabbi Kaplan heard of the Watch?… Read more »
It seems that on page 15, the end of the first paragraph on item 3 should be corrected to “it is not wise for him to try to make a determination of guilt or innocence by himself” or possibly “it is wise for him not to try to make a determination of guilt or innocence by himself”.
I’ve been involved with 2 chabad schools for almost 20 years. This is the first I’ve heard of guidlines?? Seems a bit opportunistic don’t you think?
The story that the world has been watching with the RC in Aus is similar to the one BBC is selling us about what is happening to our brothers in Israel. One sided, bias. This is a game on anti religion and anti Yeshiva that you are buying into. R’ Kaplan, with all due respect did you stay up till 3am each night watching the live feed? Do you know exactly what happened in Aus? How could you merkos make a public statement that stated that had the schools adhered to this guidline, everything could have been avoided. The guideline,… Read more »
thank you for undertaking the task of upgrading the schools and mosdoth , your work is greatly appreciated
I think counslers to talk to children in school would be helpful to guide and support children with their difficulties
I would join a supporting team for this which includes educating and giving the counslers tools for this important task
Many school principals covered up many cases such as this just to put it under the rug .. It didn’t go away! Why aren’t the principals In other schools being accounted for the abuse they covered up. They closed their eyes and looked the other way. Instead of dealing with it. People who cover up up abuse is more at fault than the abuser.
I hope the administers of collive do the right thing and post this important message.
That all people who covered up child abuse no matter who you are at some point all will be known.
It is important for us to remember that if we turn back the calendar some 20 odd years, schools everywhere would have dealt with abuse in the same way. It was a different era. The topic of abuse was not really dealt with anywhere. They didn’t know then what we know now. They are responsible for their actions, but when judging them we need to understand the context. It’s like marginalizing Abraham Lincoln for owning slaves, he lived in an era when it was a normal acceptable practice. If he lived now, he would be opposed to slave ownership. Judge… Read more »
The terrible tales of abuse in Australia occurred 20-25 years ago- exactly which guidelines did Merkos have in place back then???
Human anatomy education? I thought the Rebbe was against that type of Ed