On Friday march 25, 2011 over 100 people and advocates joined hands in one voice to show their support for the two families that were victims of alleged sexual crimes by meir dascklovitz and rabbi nechemia weberman.
The courtrooms of Judges Dimango and Cyrulnick were packed with a cross section of supporters that came from all walks of life.one can only feel the strong emotions as the clerk read the various charges and heinous crimes of the defendants.
The tension in the packed courtroom was evident too all of as we sat in silence and prayed that jutice will prevail and for the healing process to begin for the vicims and their families.
Looking around the room were advocates and friends who came from various communities and groups with diffrent ideoigies but were here as one voice declaring that enough is enough and we as a people will no long sit in silence as our children are being abused in our own backyards.
The volunteers from yeshiva univirsity,Dr asher lippner,zvi gluck,Mark meyer Appel ,Rabbi yakov horowitz of project yes- agudas israel,Haim dweck representing the syrian jewish community as well as representatives of various social justice groups from other ethnic groups sat together with prayers and unity to support the call for justice.
It is our hope and prayer that this united and strong showing in court will mark a a new turning point in our community’s reaction to abuse survivors and provide a new approach in providing comfort to survivors who were abused in their childhood — who lacked the support structure that current and future survivors will hopefully have. Throughout much of our struggle victims were often ignored and looked at with suscpion this cultural phenomenon has greatly contributed to the underreporting of child abusers in our community.
It is our hope and prayer, though, that all members of our newly united community will develop the comfort level in this jstice system to view the authorities who police and prosecute pedophiles to be our allies in our sacred obligation to keep our children safe and secure.
