As published on the Daas Torah blog http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2016/09/child-abuse-michael-schlesinger-refuses.html
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Guest
Blog Post by Adrian Alexander, brother to Beth Alexander, the mother of the
Schlesinger twins in Vienna. Since 2011, following a series of bizarre court
rulings, Beth has been denied custody of the twins. Access to her children and
her rights are severely restricted.
At the
beginning of last week's parsha, which is usually read during the month of
Ellul, the Torah teaches us how scrupulous judges must be when it comes to
upholding laws. “Righteousness, righteousness you shall pursue so that you will
live and take possession of the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you.”
[Devorim 16:20]. All the commentaries are bothered by the redundancy of “Tzedek
Tzedek tirdof”.
Rav Elya
Meir Bloch interprets that “the pursuit OF righteousness must also be pursued WITH
righteousness”. We are not merely being taught to run AFTER justice. We are
told to run AFTER justice WITH justice.
Currently,
reports are surfacing that Chareidim in Stamford Hill, London, have set up a
£1m fund for child custody cases with the aim being to support the ‘frum’
parent against the ‘modern one’ who intends to take the children outside of
their community. These funds are to pay for the legal fees to ensure the parent
who wishes to keep the children inside wins custody. You can see those reports
here helpbeth.blogspot.co.il/2016/09/chareidim-raise-1m-for-child-custody.html
It is
not an issue specific to the Stamford Hill community. The Jewish community of
Vienna has demonstrated how far a community will go to protect one of their
own. It is not only an unlimited supply of funds that can be brought to a
custody battle. Communal shunning, false rumour peddling ( http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2014/04/schlesinger-twins-beths-friend.html ) ,
influence over Jewish organisations (like ESRA http://www.esra.at/ ),
links to the judiciary ( http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2014/12/schlesinger-twins-who-is-judge.html ) are
just some of the tools that were weaponised in the determination to remove the
Schlesinger twins from their mother.
This was
noted by Rabbi Guttentag back in 2012. helpbeth.blogspot.co.il/p/rabbinic-emails-that-have-been-ignored.html
“From what it
appears in this situation, however, and for whatever reason, there is an
unfairness and an injustice being perpetrated against Beth, a single woman in a
foreign country, without proper support – pitted against a family, in a
community with all the connections naturally available to them.”
Child
abuse survivors face similar treatment from the moment they first voice
allegations. http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2015/07/gateshead-rav-on-child-abuse-it-is-time.html
Rav Zimmerman: “We
have to wonder, how is it that there are those who err so much as to provide
unlimited support to child molesters and won't instead help the victims.”
It is
widely agreed that in a custody case, every effort should be made to find an
outcome that is in the best interests of
the children. There are many factors that are taken into account when
judging a custody case, including the community in which the children live, but
that is not the only factor. The reason why courts exist, is because each
situation needs to be judged on its own merit, on a case-by-case basis. If such
hard-and-fast rules existed, there wouldn't be any need for a court. In a
hypothetical situation where one parent is a violent, abusive, criminal,
narcissistic sex abuser, but lives inside the Chareidi community, whilst the
other parent wishes to live in the “modern orthodox” world, would anyone really
claim that it is better for the children to be in the custody of the violent
parent? What is the likelihood of a child who grows up in an abusive family
environment remaining in that community anyway?
Has
anyone in these cases wondered who makes the decision as to which side of a
custody battle the community takes? On what basis do they make these decisions?
Do they meet with both parents and mediate? Beth grew up in a respected Jewish
home, attended only Jewish schools and lived her married life as an active and
participating member of the Jewish community in Vienna. At no point had she
expressed any interest in living any differently. Myself, Beth and our older
brother, all had a strong Jewish upbringing and want the same for our children.
Mr
Schlesinger works at a local mental hospital http://www.wienkav.at/kav/ows/ZeigeAnsprech.asp?ID=23618 and
regularly works on Shabbos. During those times, the twins are with a Filipino
nanny. It is cruel that Mr Schlesinger doesn’t allow the children to spend
Shabbos with their mother. On the few occasions that Beth has had the children
for a Shabbos (approximately 5 times in the last 5 years), Beth has taken them
to Shul (Chazan Barzilai encouraged the twins to join the children’s choir on
the Bhimah) and given them a Shabbos or yom tov experience in her home.
A
community is a powerful entity. When its capabilities are directed for the
good, they can make enormous positive change to people's lives: Hatzalah, Bikur
Cholim, Hachnasat Orchim, gemachs, countless tzedaka funds to ensure children
don't go hungry, the list goes on. However, when used in the wrong way, a
community can become a tyrannical force of destruction causing untold damage to
innocent people's lives, men, women and children alike. It is nothing more than
a bully throwing its weight behind abusers, child molesters and criminals to
re-victimise the vulnerable. When communities descend into a hoarde of savages,
they leave the door wide open to anti-Semitism, and no doubt they will be the
first to complain about it. http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Austrian-Jewish-leader-Anti-Semitic-attacks-on-rise
Rabbi
Arie Folger has recently started his role as the new Chief Rabbi of Vienna
following a large media fanfare. Many people will be looking at him to draw on
support from the international Rabbinic community and right the wrongs that
have disgusted the Jewish world for too long.
“Tzedek
Tzedek tirdof”? It is a pertinent and timely lesson for all our communities.
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