Beth's case taken up by new president of the board of deputies

As published on the Daas Torah blog.

 

Beth's case taken up by new president of the board of deputies

The following appeared in the Jewish Telegraph Friday July 17, 2015 page 26

Arkush: I will be robust for Beth

JONATHAN Arkush has promised to “robustly”take-up the case of Beth Alexander with the leaders of the Austrian Jewish community.

Last week, we revealed how 18 rabbis from Britain had signed an open letter criticising their Austrian counterparts and the community there over the treatment of the Mancunian mother. Beth, formerly married to Dr Michael Schlesinger, of Vienna, lost custody of her twin sons, now aged six. She has access to them for only six overnight stays each month and has fought a bitter battle through the courts with her ex-husband.

Mr Arkush told the Jewish Telegraph: “It is a matter of deep concern. This is something I am personally committed to. “It is a painful case and also one which is deeply regrettable. I will do my best to move things along.”

He also said he, together with Board senior vice president Richard Verber, last week met with Martin Eichtinger, the Austrian ambassador to the UK. “I am also planning to meet Jewish leaders in Austria and be robust in dealing with the matter with them,” Mr Arkush added. [...]

 

 

 

Jewish News: UK rabbis slam Austrian peers for ‘shunning’ orthodox woman in custody battle

July 6, 2015

As published here.

 
Some of London’s leading rabbis have slammed their peers in Austria for “shunning” an Orthodox woman after a Viennese court deprived a British Jewish mother of her children.

The group of 17 rabbis, from London, Liverpool, Reading and Manchester, as well as one from Australia, called on other rabbis to get involved, saying Beth Alexander had been through “dreadful and unnecessary pain”.

In a series of legal rulings following her divorce from Michael Schlesinger in 2009, Alexander lost custody of her children, Sammy and Benji, and is now limited to six nights a month, no weekends, having to pay handover fees and child maintenance.

Last year, British lawmakers said the case was “Kafkaesque,” and rabbis last week mirrored the language, calling the rulings which all but barred Beth from seeing her two boys “perverse” and “an injustice”.

The rabbis’ letter blasts the “Austrian Jewish community and certain members of the Austrian rabbinate [who] have largely shunned her,” and takes aim at “Austrian Jewish communal leaders [who] have not adequately supported a vulnerable and defenceless young woman”.

Among the signatories are Rabbi Danny Bergson of Pinner, Rabbi Boruch Boudilovsky of Borehamwood and Elstree, Rabbi Boruch Davis of Chigwell and Hainault, Rabbi Elchonon Feldman at Belmont, and Rabbi Yisroel Fine, formerly at Cockfosters.

Others include Rabbi Moshe Freedman from New West End shul, Rabbis Pinchas Hackenbroch and Gary Wayland of Woodside Park, Rabbis Dov Kaplan and Marc Levene of Hampstead Garden Suburb, Rabbi Daniel Roselaar of Alei Tzion, Rabbi Meir Salasnik from Bushey and Rabbi Nissan Wilson from Redbridge.

JTA: British rabbis criticize Austrian counterparts for shunning divorcee

July 7, 2015 2:49pm

As published here.

(JTA) — Leading British rabbis criticized their Austrian counterparts for shunning an Orthodox British woman living in Vienna who lost custody of her children.

The rabbis from London, Liverpool, Reading and Manchester called on the Austrian Jewish community and its leaders to show support for Beth Alexander, who lost custody of her twin sons in 2013 by order of a court in Vienna following her divorce from Dr. Michael Schlesinger.
She can see her sons six nights a month, no weekends, and is required to pay maintenance, the British Jewish News reported.

“Beth Alexander is a warm, kind-natured and generous person who deserves to play a full and active role in bringing up her children,” the rabbis wrote. “We hope and pray that the natural maternal love that she has for them will ultimately break through the effects of this disgraceful injustice that she and her children have been forced to endure.”

The letter criticizes the Jewish community for having “not adequately supported a vulnerable and defenseless young woman.”

The rabbis state that “Schlesinger has been given opportunities to make life easier for Beth and the children, and yet appears to have deliberately ignored them. This gives the impression that his children are merely pawns in a spiteful game to make life for Beth a living hell.”

Jewish Chronicle: UK rabbis urge support for Beth Alexander in custody battle

By Tal Fox, July 7, 2015

As published here.

Beth Alexander and her sons

A group of leading British rabbis have criticised the Austrian Jewish community for its treatment of a British woman involved in a custody battle with her Austrian ex-husband.

The 18 rabbis have signed a petition in support of Beth Alexander, saying that she had suffered “dreadful and unnecessary pain” since her divorce and that the Austrian Jewish community and rabbinate have “largely shunned her”.

The rabbis said they were disappointed over the lack of support from the community and its leaders.
In 2013, a court in Vienna granted full custody of Ms Alexander’s twin boys to their father, Dr Michael Schlesinger.

A subsequent appeal against the decision was rejected.

The rabbi’s called for the access rights granted by the courts to be observed by Dr Schlesinger
They wrote: ‘Beth Alexander is a warm, kind-natured and generous person who deserves to play a full and active role in bringing up her children. We hope and pray that the natural maternal love that she has for them will ultimately break through the effects of this disgraceful injustice that she and her children have been forced to endure.’

Signatories to the petition included London rabbis Elchonon Feldman and Meir Salasnik, Rabbi Arnold Saunders of Manchester and Liverpool’s Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg.

Rabbis protest Michael's spiteful mistreatment of Beth and Twins

As published on Daas Torah.

 

בס״ד

Re. Beth Alexander

We have followed the case of Beth Alexander for some time and have had the opportunity to hear from her about the dreadful and unnecessary pain that she has suffered following her divorce. In the initial stages of Beth’s separation, her husband was evicted by the police after allegations that he had been violent. The Austrian court only allowed him restricted and supervised access to his children.

Yet many of us have followed the Kafkaesque decisions made by subsequent courts which have granted full custody to Beth’s ex-husband with only limited visiting rights. Beth is naturally distraught over the lack of care being given to her children. They are looked after by paid help who speak little German or English.

Beth is also concerned for the health of her children, especially after dental procedures were performed without her knowledge to remove teeth from both of the boys. What is more perverse is that on top of the injustice in denying Beth’s children proper access to their mother, Beth has had to pay up to 50EUR for each 2-minute handover, failing which, she would have been unable to see her children. This is in addition to the child maintenance she must pay as mandated by the court.

To add insult to injury, Beth finds that the Austrian Jewish community and certain members of the Austrian rabbinate have largely shunned her. She has been told by individuals in the community to keep quiet or go back to England and forget about her children. While we recognise that the court’s decisions must be respected, we are profoundly disappointed that the Austrian Jewish community and leadership have not adequately supported a vulnerable and defenceless young woman, who has been thrust into this intolerable situation against her will.

We are also deeply concerned that Dr. Schlesinger has been given opportunities to make life easier for Beth and the children, and yet appears to have deliberately ignored them. This gives the impression that his children are merely pawns in a spiteful game to make life for Beth a living hell. We therefore request that Dr. Schlesinger takes the following steps to alleviate Beth’s situation for the sake of Sammy and Benji.

• To accept the offer of a simple and inexpensive handover of the children, coordinated by the Chief Rabbi of Austria or others within the community.

• To comply with the Court’s access orders in full.

• To stop cancelling access visits to Beth in defiance of the courts.

• To accept the generous offer of Rabbi Hofmeister to host Beth and the boys for one Shabbat meal a month with immediate effect.

We wish to send the strongest message possible to Dr. Schlesinger that his behaviour is a disgrace and our patience has run out.

Beth Alexander is a warm, kind-natured and generous person who deserves to play a full and active role in bringing up her children. We hope and pray that the natural maternal love that she has for them will ultimately break through the effects of this disgraceful injustice that she and her children have been forced to endure.

We therefore join the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis and our other colleagues who are working to help address the best interests of Beth and her children, and call upon other rabbonim and communal leaders to join us in our endeavours.

Rabbi Danny Bergson, London
Rabbi Boruch Boudilovsky, London
Rabbi Alex Chapper, London
Rabbi Zvi Cohen, London
Rabbi Boruch Davis, London
Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, London
Rabbi Yisroel Fine, London
Rabbi Dr. Moshe Freedman, London
Rabbi Pinchas Hackenbroch, London
Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz, London
Rabbi Dov Kaplan, London
Rabbi James Kennard, Melbourne, Australia
Rabbi Anthony Knopf, Cape Town, South Africa
Rabbi Marc Levene, London
Rabbi David Mason, London
Rabbi Alon Meltzer, Canberra, Australia
Rabbi Joel Portnoy, Manchester
Rabbi Yosef Richards, London
Rabbi Shaul Robinson, New York, USA
Rabbi Daniel Roselaar, London
Rabbi Meir Salasnik, London
Rabbi Arnold Saunders, Manchester
Rabbi Zvi Solomons, Reading
Rabbi Gary Wayland, London
Rabbi Nissan Wilson, London
Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg, Liverpool

 

Rabbi my rock as I battled to win back my sons

As published in the Jewish Telegraph newspaper.

Jewish Telegraph 5th June 2015

MY five-year battle with the Austrian courts to win custody of my sons Sammy and Benji from my ex-husband has brought me into contact with so many rabbis around the world.

But I have been shocked and dismayed to discover that, contrary to the picture-book image I was fed as a child, not all those with the title "rabbi" are worthy of veneration.

Rabbi Yehuda Brodie was a rare exception.

It takes more than a title to make a rabbi and Rabbi Brodie, the registrar of Manchester Beth Din who died on Tuesday, personified everything a true rabbi should be.

He knew of me growing up in Manchester and knew my family well.

However, there are others who were closer who chose "not to get involved" as I battled the Austrian judicial system to try to get my boys back.

They distanced themselves from our crisis and made it clear they were not even willing to listen.

The very first person to call me when the news of my plight broke back in 2010 was Rabbi Brodie.

Without a moment's hesitation, he offered to take the next flight out to Vienna to try to mediate and help in my hour of need.

At the time, I didn't yet realise just how far things would escalate and told him there was no need. But looking back, I will never forget such a spontaneous act of courage and kindness.

Since then, he never deserted me.

His steadfast support, encouragement and belief in me got me through many a dark day when I thought nothing could break the spell of disconsolate misery.

Rabbi Brodie had a unique sense of humour and even at my lowest points, he knew just the way to cheer me up and make me see that there is always light ahead.

For every occasion, he had the perfect words, delivered with an inimitable wit that could slice through a stone.

Rabbi Brodie was indeed my rock and I will miss him terribly.

He always offered the sincerest advice and non-judgemental opinions.

A modest man, he shied away from lofty praise. And for his self-deprecation alone, a trait so exceptional in a public figure, I admired him more than perhaps he was even aware.

In every email and meeting we had, he called me a heroine. But for me, he was the real hero.

A natural leader, he didn't need to command respect.

His actions and unassuming manner unquestionably earned him the highest esteem.

I always wished my boys Sammy and Benji could meet the man who unconditionally fought so much for them and learn of his greatness first-hand.

Unfortunately, that isn't to be. But if I can instil in them even a fraction of the values and lessons Rabbi Brodie exemplified, I will be profoundly proud.

The giant who made a massive imprint on our lives leaves a towering legacy which will always be remembered.

Beth Schlesinger (Alexander),
(formerly of Manchester),
Vienna,
Austria.

E-MAIL: letters@jewishtelegraph.com
Full names and addresses must accompany letters and will be published unless correspondents specify otherwise.


[Rabbi Brodie's open letter can be read here.]

Support letter from Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg of Manchester

 

As published on the Daas Torah blog:

Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg from Prestwich Synagogue in Manchester

18th May 2015

To whom it may concern

I have heard many reports about the sad custody case between Beth Schlesinger and her former Husband Dr. Michael and the effects it is having on their twins Benjamin and Samuel. Her visitation rights are very curtailed as well and she is clearly a woman in great distress.

I would urge anyone who is able to offer real assistance to try and help those involved bring this terrible conflict to an end.

With prayers for a speedy and honest resolution to this case.

Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg

Rabbi Jacobs of Birmingham supports Beth

As published on the Daas Torah blog.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

 

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Jacobs

Rabbi Yossi Jacobs is the Chabad Shliach in Birmingham and Chief Minister of Birmingham Singers Hill Hebrew Congregation. Click here to read more about their work. 

 

28th April 2015

To whom it may concern

I would like to join the Chief Rabbi and other colleagues in my prayers for Beth Alexander to be reunited with her children.

I am unaware of all the details relating to this case but do understand the importance children being raised by their own healthy mother.

I would ask all those involved to do what they can for the sake of Samuel and Benjamin.

Best wishes

Rabbi Yossi Jacobs BA (BHL)
Chief Minister
Birmingham Hebrew Congregation
 

Rabbi Dov Kaplan objects to Austrian courts inexplicable ruling of extremely restricted visitation rights for Beth

As posted on Daas Torah.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Rabbi Dov Kaplan from the Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue in London

14th April 2015

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing in order to speak out about and make known my continued concern for Samuel and Benjamin Schlesinger and their wellbeing. Due to the very uncommon and much questioned decision taken by the Austrian courts to only award their mother Beth extremely restricted visitation rights, these two young boys are currently being denied a relationship with their mother.

Everyone who has heard of the case is struck by the acute distress that this issue causes Beth. The reports of the detrimental effects that this situation is having on the twins’ development are an even more important cause for concern. There are also reports that Beth is facing significant obstacles, the likes of which impede her from exercising even the minimal visitation rights awarded to her by the court. All of this only proves to further worsen an already appalling state of affairs.

I would like to add my voice to those urging everyone involved to act solely in the best interests of these young boys. I ask that everything possible be done in order to find appropriate ways to bring about a solution to this unbearable situation.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Dov Kaplan

 

 

Rabbi Zalman Lent of Dublin writes support letter for Beth Alexander

As published on the Daas Torah blog.

Rabbi Zalman Lent (Dublin Hebrew Congration)

 

B”H

Rabbi Zalman Lent

Dublin Hebrew Congregation

Dublin 6W, Ireland

14th April 2015 | 25^th Nisan 5775

Re: Beth Alexander custody

To whom it may concern, 

Although I am not acquainted fully with the details of the case in question, I have been given to understand that a grave injustice is being committed by depriving a loving mother of access to her two young children. 

I have also been given to understand that this is causing emotional and developmental difficulties for those same children.

Unless a parent is deemed dangerous or a harmful influence, it is inconceivable that they be denied access to their children, especially in the early formative years of childhood. A mother’s nurturing role is absolutely vital for healthy emotional growth.

It behoves each and every one of us to do what we can to help in situations such as these, in a spirit of positivity and Ahavas Yisroel, and without negativity or prejudice.

With prayers for a speedy and positive resolution to this situation, 

Zalman Lent,

Rabbi, Dublin Hebrew Congregation

President of World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, visits Vienna

 

As published on  Daas Torah and Austrian Times.

 

President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder addressed the Viennese Jewish community at an event held Sunday evening, an informal dialogue with former President of the community, Ariel Muzicant.

Mr Lauder, son of Estee Lauder, founder of the Estee Lauder Companies, spoke about his time in Vienna as US ambassador from 1986 to 1987. Other topics included anti-semitism in Europe as well as Lauder's peace negotiations with Syrian leader Hafez al-Asad in 1998.

Mr Lauder spoke proudly about his philanthropic work to revive Jewish life in Europe and the 17 schools and institutions he has founded, including the Lauder Business School in Vienna. The only problem, he admitted, was that students were leaving for the US after their studies.

'We have enough people in the States,' he said. 'Young people are needed here to build up the community.'

Mr Muzicant spoke about the Viennese approach to integrating outsiders.

'Our community, more than any other European city does the most to welcome in new immigrants and integrate them into our community. We are a community who really care about everyone,' he said.

At the end of the discussion, the tragic plight of UK mother, Beth Alexander was raised with Mr Lauder. The President acknowledged that he was aware of the situation and told Beth personally he would 'look into it further.'

 

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence's letter of support

As published on the Daas Torah blog.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Schlesinger Twins: Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence's letter of support for Beth

Here is another major contribution to the growing flood of support letters for Beth and her children. These letters clearly reflect the pain of community leaders and rabbis to the obvious injustice being done to Beth and her children. The only real question is when the Jews of Austria will act to end this cruel injustice. 

You should note that there are no letters supporting Dr. Michael Schlesinger - for the obvious reason that his actions are not defensible.

19 March 2015

Re: Beth Alexander

I have recently had the opportunity to meet with Beth Alexander and to learn at first hand of her

tragic circumstances.

Beth says that though she was able to escape a marriage, where she endured both physical and
psychological abuse, these were as nothing compared to the ongoing injustices perpetrated against

her and her twin six year old boys.

Beth has been deprived appropriate access to the children and is legitimately concerned for their

health, general physical and spiritual welfare.

After her husband was evicted by the police for his violence, the court only allowed him restricted
and supervised access. Perversely, she is now able to see them only occasionally and at a cost. What
she has witnessed distresses her but through he ex-husband’s machinations and allegations against

her, she is unable to deal with their school or their doctors and address their needs.

Beth grew up in England but now lives alone in a foreign land. As a stranger she has found the
community rebuff her in her need, sapping her faith in the local religious leadership and the integrity

of officials who have connived against her.

There appears to be a truly monstrous miscarriage of justice and violation of parental rights.

I am concerned for Beth. I am concerned for her children. I am also concerned for every victim in an
abusive relationship who will learn of Beth’s plight, and thus be scared to speak up and speak out.

As we approach the season of freedom from oppression and prepare to read of the children at the

Seder Table, I urge awareness and urge support for a family trapped in darkness and a family whose

Seder will be bereft of its twin sons.

I join the Chief Rabbi, my rabbinic colleagues and the leaders of Anglo Jewry in urging all who are
connected with this case to do their utmost to address the best interests of the children. May all

ensure that Beth receives justice, given with ahavat chesed, fairness and compassion.

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence

Senior Rabbi, Finchley United Synagogue

 

 

Shul President Livshin and Rabbis Simmonds and Cohen write letter of support for Beth and her children

Shul President Livshin and Rabbis Simmonds and Cohen write letter of support for Beth and her children

Rabbi Benjy Simmonds

Rabbi Chaim Cohen                             

As published on the Daas Torah blog.

To whom this may concern,

We are most concerned about the plight of Mrs. Beth Schlesinger (nee Alexander) and the welfare of her sons, Benji and Sammy.

Deprived of shared custody of her twin sons, Beth has also been robbed of her opportunity to speak out online. We can’t imagine the living nightmare that she undergoes daily waking up without her children, knowing that she is prevented from even crying out!

Beth has very limited access to her children, and has had her visits cancelled numerous times. We are most concerned for Benji and Sammy’s physical and emotional development, and that their mother has no say in their health, welfare and education. The fact that she has to pay for visitation rights with her own children when that can be easily avoided is in itself a travesty, and highlights how others are not acting within the boys’ best interest.

As Beth has been abandoned by so many in her community, it behoves us here in Manchester to provide support in any way that we can. We echo the words of the Chief Rabbi by asking ‘that all concerned should address the best interests of the children and consider ways to build a better future for the boys.’

Yours sincerely,


Michael Livshin

Rabbi Benjy Simmons

Rabbi Chaim Cohen

Chabad Rabbi Daniel Walker writes letter of support for Beth

As published on the Daas Torah blog:

29 Shevat 5775

18 February 2015

To whom it may concern:

I write to reiterate my ongoing concern for the welfare of Benjamin and Samuel Schlesinger who are being deprived of a relationship with their mother by the highly unusual and much questioned decision of the Austrian courts to award their mother Beth only very limited visitation rights.

The terrible distress this causes Beth concerns all who have heard of the case. Even more worrying are the reports of the adverse effects this is having on the twin’s growth and development and the reports of impediments that are being placed before Beth that prevent her from exercising even those limited visitation rights that the court has awarded her, thus making an already terrible situation worse.

I urge all concerned to act only in the best interests of the children and find ways to bring this intolerable situation to an end.

Rabbi Daniel Walker

Chabad Lubavitch UK Issues a Public Statement in Support of Beth and the Schlesinger Twins

As published on the Chabad Lubavitch UK website:

2 Feburary 2015

To Whom it may concern,

We are concerned about the wellbeing of Benjamin and Samuel Schlesinger. In a rare case, the courts in Austria have granted full and final custody to the father, with very limited visiting rights to the mother, Ms. Beth Alexander.

THe unusual decision to deny a mother the right to raise her children, combined with the limited and often cancelled access, has caused substantial stress to Ms. Alexander. More worrying are the reports about the twins' delayed growth and development, and that the mother is not consulted regarding their welfare or education.

We request from all concerned that they address the best interests of the children and explore ways of guaranteeing these boys a better childhood.

Rabbi Bentzi Sudak
Chabad Lubavitch UK

Chabad Rabbi explains how important it is to help others- Lesson for Australia and Vienna?

As published on the Daas Torah blog:

Rabbi James Kennard: Chabad's shameful response to injustice in Australia and Vienna

As published on the Daas Torah blog:

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Rabbi James Kennard: Chabad's shameful response to injustice in Australia and Vienna

Guest post by Rabbi James Kennard, principal of one of Australia’s largest Jewish school

========================

In January 2014 I commented in the Australian Jewish News on the impending departure of the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Sydney, and suggested that one Modern Orthodox rabbi should be replaced with another, rather than a Chabadnik

This reasonable notion outraged the Chabad leadership in Australia to such an extent that, although unable to pen a reply themselves, they recruited Rabbi Schochet from London to write a hatchet-job, vehemently attacking both me and the very idea that not every synagogue needs to be led by a Chabad rabbi.

My response was a column, published in the Australian Jewish News on 13 February 2014 in which, inter alia, I detailed a number of moral failures that Chabad had shown in Australia and elsewhere. I complained about the lack of any call for the leadership to take responsibility for the child abuse and the cover-up in Melbourne; I referred to the support that the Chabad director and the Chabad organization in Vienna had given to an abusive husband and a corrupt court system that were conspiring against a suffering mother and her two children.

The answer was denial, vilification and threats. The avoidance of any responsibility for numerous acts of abuse in Melbourne and Sydney continued, together with the blaming of victims. Now, the tide begins to turn, but tearful apologies at the Royal Commission are far too little and far too late. And we still await the resignations and the completely fresh start that will demonstrate that the organization has learnt and changed.

It is possible that what is left of the reputation of Chabad in Australia may one day be redeemed, but that would be far in the future. Meanwhile, there is still a chance for Chabad to correct its appalling complicity with the injustice in Vienna. There is still time for the Chabad leadership to demand that Rabbi Biderman, the organizations director in that city cease ignoring the plight of this mother and her children, cease claiming to be “too busy” or “not able to interfere”, cease treating the abusive father as a respected member of his congregation, and start to actively assist the oppressed. As a very small first step, he could facilitate the weekly visits of the children to their mother, which the father is currently illegally denying since “he cannot find any way of arranging it” (Rabbi Biderman’s response to date has been to ignore this most modest suggestion entirely)

There is still time for supporters of Chabad worldwide to cease claiming that Vienna is “too far away” or “Rabbi Biderman is respected” or “there are always two sides to the story”. There are indeed two sides to this story; good and evil.

We are watching the claims by Chabad Rabbis in Australia that they did not know what was happening here unravel before our eyes. When Chabad is held to account for its role in the tragedy in Vienna, they will not even be able to cling to that excuse. They know and they look away. If Chabad genuinely wants to learn from its mistakes, the time for action is now.

 

Timely lessons to be learned from the Australian abuse scandal

As published on the Daas Torah blog

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Schlesinger Twins: Timely lessons to be learned from the Australian abuse scandal

picture not of Schlesinger twins

Guest Post by Beth Alexander

It has taken over 20 years for the victims of child abuse in Australia to finally be vindicated and awarded their day of justice at last. Not that anything could ever undo the pain and horror they suffered at the hands of the perpetrators at the time or remove the stain of guilty memories all those torturous years thereafter but at least now it is no longer they who have to carry the heavy burden of shame and silence.

This week marks the second in a two week government inquiry set up to investigate claims of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s and 1990s in Sydney and Melbourne. Commissioners of the Australian Royal Commission are currently hearing the victims and interrogating rabbis who were employed by the Yeshivah Centre at the time.

As details come to light, it is horrifying to discover that many of the highest ranking rabbis were informed about the abuse taking place but conspired to cover it up and instead shunned and silenced the victims. Their responses today make for shocking reading but perhaps these individuals, unfit to hold the title rabbi, are more shocked than anyone. Confident it had all been buried in the past, they never expected the scandal to resurface years later to destroy them and their families.

Austria is just one syllable away

Following these events while desperately fighting for justice for my own little boys here in Vienna is chilling. There are so many parallels. 'A week from hell' is how the past week has felt for the Australian Jewish community. I have spent the past four years in that hell - repeatedly calling on the rabbis in Vienna, on Chabad Vienna and the community leaders of Vienna to listen to our anguished pleas for help to end my own little boys' suffering. Instead of the protection, support and compassion their moral code of conduct obligates them to provide, I have also been met by stony silence, indifference and worse, ostracized and re-victimized over again for speaking out, as were the victims in Australia who naively misplaced their trust and confided in the rabbis about what was happening to them.

It's telling that victims in Australia were threatened not to breathe a word to the non-Jewish authorities because of mesirah yet in my case the rabbis and leaders in Vienna have repeated like a mantra, 'It must go though the courts' when they are fully aware  that the judicial process has been subverted by a member of the Jewish community, a high court judge who happens to be a friend of the father and convert to Judaism. Add to that an orthodox psychiatrist who tried (unsuccessfully) to have me committed to a mental hospital on the orders of my ex husband before admitting he had never met me, a false statement by a Chabad rabbi and a court issued gagging order on me and you have the makings of another giant cover up.

Unlike Australia today, not a single Austrian rabbi will be able to claim they didn't know about Samuel and Benjamin Schlesinger in their community.

Recently, one local at the centre of the Viennese community (who has never spoken to me directly) admitted to a trusted friend back home in the UK, 'This is a conspiracy against Beth.' Not only that, he warned portentously, 'The case of the Schlesinger twins will haunt this community. In ten years the rabbis will be shamed, they will have blood on their hands.'

While it is too late to save Manny Waks and the countless other victims who now have to live with their scars and somehow find the strength and courage to rebuild their shattered lives as emotionally and psychologically damaged adults, Sammy and Benji Schlesinger are still young enough to be saved. Will any lessons be learned from Australia?

Open letter of support from Rabbi Aaron Modcha Lipsey

As published on Daas Torah blog.

February 2015

I write to say how concerned I am about the ongoing reports concerning the welfare of Benji and Sammy Schlesinger and in particular the obstacles set before their mother, Beth (nee Alexander), in her efforts to have a full and active role in their upbringing.

The Austrian court’s continued determination to deprive a mother of the opportunity to  meaningfully share in the custody of her children provokes significant concerns for the twins’ growth and development and of course pays no regards for her pain and anguish.

The recent rulings of the courts in November 2014 that photographs of the twins on Beth’s Facebook page must be removed coupled with a gagging order on Beth represent the latest in a series of bafflingly inexplicable rulings that may suggest the courts have lost sight of their first objective which is to create the best environment possible to allow the children to grow and to flourish.

This is a very sad state of affairs for all concerned and I call on the courts to remedy it at the
earliest available opportunity.

Rabbi A M Lipsey
UHC of Newcastle upon Tyne

Australian Jewish News Article 06.06.2013

Read online


This article, written by Rabbi Kennard MA (Oxon.), featured in the Australian Jewish News on 6th June 2013. Rabbi Kennard is the principal of the Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Co-educational Jewish Day School, with over 1,500 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, located in Melbourne, Australia.

A mother’s battle for JUSTICE … and her children

Two years after her twin boys were taken from their home by their father, a young mother is still fighting for their safe return.


It seemed like a fairytale romance. He was a medical student from central Europe; she a Cambridge graduate from England. They met at an international student event, and shortly after they were married and living in his home town.

But this fairytale did not have a happy ending. Immediately after the wedding, as she was trying to find her way in a city of strangers, learning a foreign language, she relates that he became unaffectionate, controlling and abusive. Even when she fell pregnant, and gave birth to beautiful twin boys, there was no change.

After months of having to cope with the demands of two babies, apparently suffering from his cruelty and indifference, the situation became intolerable and she fled overnight to a refuge for battered women. But when she returned the next morning he had arranged for the police and paramedics to commit her to a mental institution, on the word of a psychiatrist who had never met her.

Fortunately, an independent police psychiatrist declared the diagnosis of mental illness to be completely unfounded. The father was immediately evicted from the home, deemed a danger to his children and was only granted fully supervised access to them from then on.  The mother thought she and her boys were safe at last.


But she was wrong. And anyone who thought that in a civilized European country the law would protect abused mothers and their children from violent fathers would also have been wrong. Because from that moment she found herself trapped in the legal system, with those whom society appoints to protect the powerless, instead providing the most support to the powerful.


One year after his attempt to get the mother committed, the Supreme Court granted the father unsupervised visitation rights. Six months after that he came back to the apartment. Not for the mother, but for the children. Armed with a highly irregular court order that awarded him full custody, and accompanied by four armed policemen, he snatched the boys as their mother was feeding them supper, taking with them only the clothes on their backs, oblivious to their screams.


After a long legal struggle and weeks with no visitation rights at all, the order was amended to temporary custody and the mother was allowed to see her children three times a fortnight, pending a final legal decision.


Two and half years later, the “final legal decision” is still far off and the situation remains the same. Every Tuesday and alternate Sundays, mother and children are united at a cold and clinical visiting centre far away from home, and can spend a few hours (some taken up by travelling from and back to the centre) laughing, playing and loving together, until yet another tear-stained parting.


The visits are often cancelled on the whim of the father. The children’s kindergarten teachers tell the mother that they fear to share information on her children’s progress, and she is denied any involvement in their medical issues. She only learnt that each boy had teeth removed, for reasons that she still does not know, when she collected them for a visit and in shock saw the gaps in their smiles.


The question of custody in the event of family breakdown is always tragic and inevitably acrimonious. There is no right answer. But what stands out in this case is that the court’s rulings deviate from the traditional assumption across the world that, if forced to choose, the mother is a more appropriate guardian, especially when the children are young.


Observers of this story are therefore bewildered as to how and why this happened. The judge’s original ruling to take the children away from their mother was based on a psychological report assessing the children as “retarded” because they could not speak 200 words at two years old and alleging that the mother suffered from mental illness – and this from a psychologist who had only seen the children at 16 months and was unqualified in adult psychiatry.


But despite both the psychologist and her report having now been thoroughly discredited and two subsequent reports having confirmed the complete absence of any mental issues, the decision has not been reversed.


Conversely there was much evidence from health visitors, the children’s doctor, Social Services and other professionals that when the children were previously in the mother’s care they were well developed for their age and were well looked after. Their reports and recommendations for the mother to be granted full custody were ignored.


Even more obvious is that nearly two years in the father’s care have not contributed to the children’s development. Last week saw their fourth birthday, yet they have very limited vocabulary, are not toilet-trained and are repeating their year in kindergarten. Meanwhile the judge has refused to have the children independently assessed, has not held a single custody hearing and has ignored all the concerns submitted by the mother and professionals about the children’s welfare, including numerous reports of danger.


The mother’s supporters can only speculate that the judge’s indifference to the children’s plight in the face of overwhelming evidence of their lack of progress, and her tortuously slow conduct of the case, suggests that she has her own motives, or is being influenced by other parties. Reports in the local press suggest that another judge with links to the father has actively intervened in the case, despite having no official role.


With the court providing only pain rather than help, to whom could the mother turn? At first she received little or no support from her adopted Jewish community. Her husband had the natural “home team advantage” and the sympathy from his countrymen. The allegation of mental illness, though disproved, added to the exclusion that she experienced. Even the town’s rabbis, with some notable exceptions, either openly sided with the father or merely did nothing to help.


With the passage of time this has begun to change. More can see with their own eyes that a terrible injustice has been done and are giving the mother a degree of succour and support. Some of the rabbis have become more helpful and, under pressure from abroad, they arranged a get, allowing the couple to be divorced under Jewish law, even though the civil divorce, bound up with a custody resolution, remains distant.

Yet when asked to work with the father to persuade him to accept mediation, or to tell the court the truth about the children’s welfare, the lay and religious leadership of the community continue to look the other way. Requests to the charitable foundation that supports many Jewish institutions in the city, including the kindergarten that the boys attend, to conduct an investigation, have been ignored.


She has her family back home who have put their own lives on hold in order to support their daughter and sister, and hundreds of supporters amongst those who know her and have heard her story. But on the ground, in a foreign city, battling Kafkaesque court proceedings which seem so far removed from justice, she is on her own. And, except for the few hours each week that they spend in their mother’s arms, her twin boys are just as vulnerable and helpless.


Readers may ask how I can be partisan and side so conclusively with one party. I have studied the case closely; have read court documents and have met with an independent member of the local community. The mother is clearly a well-balanced woman of intelligence, common sense and intense sincerity.


But I admit a emotional involvement. I am inspired by her struggle and by the suffering that she is prepared to undergo in her relentless quest to bring her children home and to help them grow and thrive. When I have asked her if she ever considered leaving the friendless and alien land in order to continue the path of which she had once dreamed – postgraduate study at a prestigious American University – she could not understand the question, and asked incredulously, “how could ever I leave my boys?”


All parents makes sacrifices for their children. Some even resent what they have to give up. Yet here is a young woman who has chosen to forsake everything and would give even more for the sake of her boys. From her I learn what it means to be a parent.

And my personal connection goes deeper. I was her teacher in her teenage years, and, as the Talmud says, our students are like our own children. For that reason above all, I pray that these two boys come home to their mother very soon.

JTA - Beth Alexander’s custody battle in Vienna generating international uproar

As published in various news sources:

http://www.jta.org/2015/01/21/news-opinion/world/beth-alexanders-custody-battle-in-vienna-generating-international-uproar

http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/213214/one-jewish-mothers-international-custody-fight/

http://www.timesofisrael.com/sordid-custody-battle-in-vienna-stirs-international-uproar/

http://jewishtimes.com/33783/custody-battle-vienna-generating-international-uproar/

By Cnaan LiphshizJanuary 21, 2015 2:42pm

Beth Alexander and her twin boys, Benjamin and Samuel. (Times of Israel)

VIENNA (JTA) — In an apartment in the Austrian capital, Beth Alexander is deleting hundreds of photos of her 5-year-old twin boys from Facebook.

In one picture, Benjamin and Samuel are laughing as they hold a toy. In another they are waiting to be served lunch in their native Vienna.

The ordinary snapshots are the kind uploaded by countless mothers all over the world. Yet Alexander, a British-born modern Orthodox mother in her 30s, is barred from displaying them by order of an Austrian court, which in November ruled in favor of her ex-husband’s motion claiming the photos violated the twins’ privacy.

“Removing these pictures is painful to me,” Alexander told JTA this month in an interview via Skype. “They allow my family back in Britain to sort of keep in touch with the boys and they show that despite all that has been said about me, I’m a good mother and the children are happy when they are with me.”

The injunction is the latest in a series of legal setbacks that have left Alexander with restricted access to her boys and declared barely fit to be a mother — rulings that have led to mounting international criticism and claims of a colossal miscarriage of justice.

Leaders of the British and Austrian Jewish communities have spoken out about what they consider to be a highly unusual case that has unfairly limited Alexander’s maternal rights. Her case even made it to the floor of the British Parliament, where lawmakers last year described it as a Kafkaesque situation that has wrongly maligned Alexander as mentally ill and an unfit mother.

“I have no reason to assume that Alexander is in any way incapable of being a mother,” Schlomo Hofmeister, a prominent Viennese rabbi who knows the Schlesinger case well, told JTA. Hofmeister said it was tragic that the children were deprived of equal access to their mother and called on both parents to “find a time-sharing arrangement in the interest of these children, who are suffering.”

Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister

Alexander, who was known in the media by her married name, Beth Schlesinger, until she changed it recently, was separated from her husband, Michael Schlesinger, in 2009 after three years of marriage. The couple formally divorced last year.

In 2011, a court-commissioned psychologist reported that Alexander had “reduced parenting abilities” and was oblivious to her children’s “significant developmental delay.” Though the report by psychologist Ulrike Willinger also acknowledged Alexander’s “close, loving bond” with her children, it concluded that Schlesinger should receive custody.

An Austrian court agreed, awarding Schlesinger full custody and restricting Alexander’s visitation rights to a few hours every week. In 2011, four policemen removed the children from her care as Alexander was feeding them supper. It would be eight weeks until she saw the children again.

Though the Willinger report’s findings were disputed in two subsequent psychological evaluations, the court refused to reconsider its ruling. Last year, Austria’s Supreme Court rejected Alexander’s appeal without explanation.

Alexander, who has a master’s degree from Cambridge University and works in Vienna as a university lecturer and an English teacher, says her ability to fight for her rights in Austria is severely limited because she is a foreigner without local connections and at first was not fluent in German. But while she has been unsuccessful in the courts, her lobbying efforts are becoming increasingly successful in swaying public opinion in her favor.
Her case was the subject of a debate in Britain’s House of Commons last year, during which lawmaker Graham Stringer made the Kafkaesque reference and cited concerns that Schlesinger may be abusing his family’s alleged ties to justice officials.

“One has to suspect that undue influence and conspiracy were taking place,” Stringer said.

Ivan Lewis, another British lawmaker, called the Austrian justice system’s handling of the case “one of the worst miscarriages of justice,” adding that Alexander “was falsely and cruelly labeled mentally ill and an unfit mother, labels both disproved by independent professionals.”
British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Jonathan Arkush, the vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, have also both spoken out on Alexander’s behalf.

Michael Schlesinger did not respond to several requests by JTA to be interviewed for this article. The couple are no longer in contact, the result of a spiteful breakup during which Schlesinger was removed from the couple’s home on police orders after he sought, unsuccessfully, to have his wife committed to a mental institute.

As a result of the legal battle, Alexander said she cannot meet with journalists at her home lest her ex-husband use such meetings for further litigation.

As she continues to fight in court and lobby for more time with her twins, Alexander uses the time she has with them to compensate for her absence from their daily lives with activities like baking, going to the park, reading stories, and arts and crafts.

“I have to make up in one day what other mothers may do with their children in a week,” Alexander said.

Smearing Beth's reputation and intimidation of those who try to help

As published on Daas Torah.

This is testimony from a member of a prominent Viennese family - who unfortunately is afraid (with good cause) to have her identity known.

October 11th 2011

I write as a woman , mother and friend of Ms. Beth Schlesinger, because it hurts that she is completely alone because of lies being spread about her. However, I post anonymously because I do not want the same thing to happen to me that happened to two other ladies in the Jewish community.

The two ladies were contacted by a third party on behalf of family Schlesinger, with the request that they should stop "helping" Mrs. S.

One of these women is actually friends with Mrs. S. . The other lady knows Mrs. Schlesinger only as an acquaintance. This person was accused of giving Mrs. Schlesinger financial support and claimed that only through this help did Mrs Schlesinger succeed in getting the court to agree to longer visits with her children at home in September 2011. A member of the Schlesinger family even (falsely) accused this lady of paying for lawyers who will ensure that "Beth gets the kids now".

The current situation that Mrs Schlesinger doesn't have her children and even the visits with her children have not taken place as specified , is in itself alone deeply sad and shocking. Adding 'salt to the wounds' is not only cruel but purely malignant.

There are rumors going around that have completely isolated Mrs Schlesinger from the Jewish community - portraying her as some kind of terrible mother or even a monster. For example, it would be dangerous to leave the children in her care, she must see the children only under constant supervision and should she be granted unsupervised access, the children would be in danger.
  

Another example, she brought her children to a psychiatric hospital and implored them to take the children from her because she could no longer cope with them. Even though I do not know the details of this dispute, I find it laughable to spread such stories. Mrs Schlesinger is fighting to her last breath for custody of the children, why would she do such a thing (if these malicious rumors were true)? Unfortunately, however, most of the members of the community believe these lies and think Mrs. Schlesinger is evil.

If the children's father's family really wished to "protect" the children then such malicious rumors and lies would not be necessary (to spread around). Obviously, this is not about the welfare of the children but purely a way of punishing the mother.