o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at
office@ikg-wien.at
Dear Herr Oskar Deutsch,
Shavua tov. Thank you for your speedy response.
I found it interesting to read. I don't think the question is what the Austrian Jewish community did or didn't do to help Beth over the years, I think the question must be, what is the IKG and Viennese Jewish community doing now to help Sammy and Benji be reunited with their mother.
Mr. Schlesinger has been authorised by the courts to determine what contact the boys have with their mother, yet over the last five years he has authorised one sole visit!
Mr. Schlesinger's actions paint a black mark against the entire Austrian Jewish community. I fear that many, like me, would not be happy if their daughter married a Jewish Austrian and went to live in Austria because it feels like the IKG and the Jewish community does not have the newcomer's back if something Gd forbid goes wrong.
From where I am, it seems that you are not helping right the terrible wrong and are simply brushing it under the carpet. You as a community must encourage Michael to enter a binding contact agreement allowing Beth to be with her boys three or four days a week every week unsupervised, at the least. They have a lot of catching up to do and need to build up their relationships.
Beth coming to their bar mitzvah won't mean much if she doesn't have proper time with the boys in the months leading up to their big day, she'll just be a stranger attending their Simcha and it will Gd forbid lead to further alienation.
I am pleased that Mr. Deutsch has reached out to Rabbi Mirvis, it is an excellent start. Please let Rabbi Mirvis mediate a contact agreement between Beth and Michael. Sammy and Benji are entering their teenage years, they need now more than ever a real and strong relationship with their mother. The entire European Jewish world is looking at you to see how you fix this. You are the leadership of this community, if Michael isn't willing to act like a Mentsch on his own, you need to help him do it. Sammy and Benji desperately need their mother.
I look forward to hearing a positive resolution to the story very soon.
Naomi Kresh, Israel
#openletterstodeutsch #reunitingbethwithhersons
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