Tel-Chai Nation

Another rabbinical figure of apparently Haredi background has been accused of sexual abuse, this one being rabbi Tzvi Tau of the Har Hamor yeshiva:

Senior religious Zionist rabbis Yuval Cherlow and David Stav, heads of the Tzohar rabbinic organization, wrote on Wednesday evening that there should be an investigation into the claim that rabbi Zvi Thau sexually assaulted several women and minors over the years, a claim made by several women a few months ago.

Later on Thursday, Channel 12 reported that an investigation was opened by Israel Police into the allegations against Thau. The allegations, one of which was publicized in a Facebook post back in August, did not receive much journalistic attention at the time. Cherlow and Stav’s addressing of the allegations grants more weight to them and could shift the course of events.

The 84-year-old rabbi, co-founder and president of the Har Hamor yeshiva based in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem, is one of the most prominent rabbis in the religious Zionist community. Thau is also the spiritual leader of the Noam faction, headed by Avi Maoz, of the Religious Zionist Party (RZP) in the Knesset.

This is, of course, most unfortunate that somebody serving as the guru for Noam turns out to be a potential predator, because it could undermine their platform opposed to LGBT propaganda. Simultaneously, it's ironic, when one considers how much Haredi customs may have influenced homosexuality, no matter how unintentionally.

IN AUGUST, Nechama Teena, a resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement, alleged in a Facebook post that Thau sexually assaulted her when she was a minor.

Teena said that she is a 38-year-old divorced woman and mother of five children. “It took me almost 30 years to be able to tell the truth,” she wrote, adding that the publications of sexual assault and rape by rabbis and leaders – such as haredi (ultra-Orthodox) author Chaim Walder, who committed suicide following allegations against him – and the harsh response of Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, have convinced her to share her story.

“I know how small the chances are that my voice will be heard, and yet, after so many years of silence, I choose to voice it,” Teena wrote.

She added a photo of Thau to the post, identifying him as the perpetrator. “It is not yet the time to tell how and in what manner, but it is the time to say out loud: Rabbi Thau sexually assaulted me as a minor.”

Teena said that, “when I tried to raise my voice, he threatened me; this is not yet the time and place to tell how.

“I know how weak my voice is compared to the other voices; I know how many women on so many fronts are fighting and paying prices in the war for the truth. But this is my story, and this is my life, and it is the truth. Now is the time to hear it,” she said.

“This person, in the picture, who has so much power and countless people [working] under him, hurt me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one,” Teena said, sharing in August that she passed a polygraph test, contacted the police and had an article filmed that was supposed to be published the day before, but “due to the force that his man has and used, it has not yet been published.”

There's more news over here. Tau should be investigated, and arrested, and the police would do well to make sure that this time, he's not allowed to evade justice the way Walder did by committing suicide last year. What they must do is arrest him, plain and simple.

Labels: communications, haredi corruption, Israel, misogyny, Moonbattery, sexual violence