Australian Jewish group attacks rabbi

ONE OF Australia’s biggest Jewish groups has criticised a memorial event held for a rabbi accused of failing to report sexual abuse incidents at his Melbourne yeshiva.

The British Chief Rabbi’s son, Danny Mirvis, was among the speakers at the tenth yahrzeit of Yitzchak David Groner, who ran the Melbourne Yeshiva Centre in the 1980s and 1990s.

It was billed as a “night of learning” but criticised by victims at the centre who said organisers had ignored sexual abuse that took place on Rabbi Groner’s watch.

He was posthumously named in an Australian public inquiry as having failed to report complaints against employees David Kramer and Davis Cyprys in 1984. They were later jailed.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said the June 17 event had “caused unnecessary distress to victims of child sexual abuse.”

ECAJ President Anton Block said there should have been an apology.

He said: “The evening should have also been an opportunity for our community to further learn what must be done to protect our most vulnerable, bring perpetrators to justice, and ensure that the tragic failings of the past are never repeated.

“It would also be expected that in the spirit of the National Redress Scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse, which all relevant Jewish institutions in Australia are being strongly encouraged to opt into, a heartfelt apology to all survivors should have been highlighted in an Evening of Learning.”

Rabbi Mirvis, a senior rabbi at Melbourne’s Mizrachi Organisation, spoke on the subject of “Models of Jewish leadership”.

He has defended his decision to take part, telling the the JC last week it was met “both before and after, with overwhelming communal support in Melbourne, including from individuals impacted by the findings of the [public inquiry].”