jspinner@lauderfoundation.com
info@worldjewishcongress.org
wjc@wjc.co.il
Dear Mr Lauder
Greetings from Israel. I hope that you are well. I write to you today about a grave issue which is very much in your power to address. It is a severe miscarriage of justice and a human rights issue. It involves a Jewish community that you are well- acquainted with. Please keep reading.
In life, people often have regrets and such regrets often surface when one ages or is nearing death. However, what if there was an opportunity to avoid regret? Surely it would be worth grabbing as soon as it surfaced! I write to offer you an opportunity to do just that!
On the subject of death, last week I attended via zoom, the synagogue service for my dear friend Tandi in Australia who tragically passed away after a brave battle with cancer, aged just 44. The synagogue in Sydney was packed with hundreds of attendees and the zoom video conference was overflowing too. A number of people gave sad and emotional speeches but when Tandi’s sons aged just 12 and 10 stood to speak in tribute to their mother, there was not a dry eye in the room. This was the devastating moment when attendees realised that these two sweet and innocent boys would grow up without the love, comfort, wisdom, attention and care of their doting mother whose bond with them was so special and tight. A tragic circumstance so hard to fathom and grasp, but unfortunately life does throw these curveballs at people and in Australia, sadly, those two little boys have no alternative to a motherless future.
In Austria, now turning to two young Jewish boys in Vienna of the same age as Tandi’s eldest, almost at Barmitvah - Sammy and Benji Schlesinger (I believe you are familiar with the background)…these specific boys DO have an alternative to a motherless future! Yet, quite shockingly, their mother Beth is not in their life (and not for any lack of will, availability, sanity or love on her part).
The most unthinkable miscarriage of justice and atrocious breach of basic human rights has been perpetuated over the past decade. A lovely, educated, well-mannered, special and caring Jewish British woman- Beth Alexander (who you once had the honour of meeting in Vienna)- had the terrible misfortune of suffering through an abusive marriage to an Austrian doctor from the Vienna Jewish community (Dr Michael Schlesinger). Sadly, the marriage was one in which Beth suffered domestic abuse and when the couple’s twin sons Sammy and Benji were toddlers the couple separated. What ensued and has continued to ensue for over a decade now (please let that sink in - A DECADE!) is a barrage of lies, threats, corruption, deceit and manipulation by the ex-husband resulting in highly prejudiced court cases with a prejudiced and influenced judge presiding and a Jewish community who outright turned their back on Beth and went the extra mile by actually contributing to the tragedy, the corruption, the injustice and thus the situation to date. That situation is that Beth has no access whatsoever to her sons (who attend the Lauder Chabad school- more on this below) and her sons are deprived of the love, care and nurturing of their capable, sane, healthy and willing mother (as well as their loving grandparents, uncles and cousins)- can you just imagine if your Aerin and Jane had grown up without their mother, or if you had grown up without yours? Simply unimaginable! It is truly unthinkable and appalling that a Jewish mother could be torn apart and prevented any contact or access to her sons! Beth is alive and well, yet for inexplicable reasons, these boys do not have their mother in their life! A tragedy particularly poignant, given the history of the Jewish people in Austria.
Rabbi Biderman, who runs the Lauder Chabad school has sadly been instrumental in perpetuating this tragedy on a daily basis. Instead of acting in a manner one would expect of a rabbi- someone who should be wise, unprejudiced, caring, upholding of Jewish values such as the importance of family life and in particular the importance of a mother for her children, Rabbi Biderman is hiding the twins in his school and blocking all contact with their mother, whilst covering up the abuse and scandal. There is no reason whatsoever, why the mother should not be allowed updates and involvement in her sons’ schooling and no reason whatsoever why the mother should not be allowed access to her sons at the school just like any other parent at the school. I call upon you to phone Rabbi Biderman and demand that he ensures he allows immediate, unconditional and unlimited access to the mother at the school.
UK politicians, prominent rabbis from around the world (including the UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis), influential news personalities, women’s organisations and thousands of caring humans across the globe support Beth in her campaign to gain justice and access to her boys. The world (both Jews and non-Jews alike from across the globe) is watching and is disgusted by what it is witnessing. This untenable situation cannot be allowed to continue for a single day longer!
You may be asking yourself why I am writing to you about this. The answer is very simple. Without need to explain why, it is clear that involvement from you and direct influence from you on the key players in Vienna’s Jewish community with whom you are well acquainted, can help to put an immediate end to this madness. The community has in its power the ability to help right this wrong but it has chosen to turn its back and stick to the rhetoric that they are powerless to intervene (despite having intervened detrimentally in the court cases on this matter) and I now offer you the chance to grab the opportunity to avoid regret later - regret at standing idly by the side now that you are aware, rather than actively helping to resolve this appalling situation.
No child should be without their mother and no mother should endure the torture and cruelty that has been Beth’s reality for way too long now. Please Mr Lauder, do not ignore this matter. I implore you to do the necessary so that two sweet and innocent boys are not deprived of their basic human right to have their mother by their side. If ever there was a positive way to use one’s power and influence, this would be it. Please exercise your power and influence today by making the relevant calls and exerting the relevant pressures (on Rabbi Biderman and everyone else who pulls strings within Vienna’s Jewish community), so that there can be a happy continuation to the lives of Beth, Sammy and Benji and all those who love them.
Yours sincerely,
Natalie Seeff
Tel Aviv, Israel
#OpenLettersToLauder #ReunitingBethWithHerSons
http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2015/03/president-of-world-jewish-congress.html
http://helpbeth.blogspot.com/p/email-to-mr-ronald-lauder-chair-of.html
No comments:
Post a Comment