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sensitivities involved. Tahel accompanies
the victims through hospital procedures and
criminal proceedings, including legal guidance
for assault victims. Using its expertise, Tahel
organizes international conferences on violence
and abuse in the community, held every three
years in Israel, with over 600 participants from
all over the world.
“We Became Informers”
A.,supported byTahel,livesinanultra-Orthodox
community in a peripheral Israeli town. Her
three children attended one of the most sought
after“cheders”in the area. Over the years, all the
sons had the same teacher, a respected member
of their community. But one day her eldest son
reported to the school administration that the
teacher had sexually abused him. “His little
brother had begun studying in the same school
and he didn’t want his brother to get hurt too,”
A. tells us. The walls of silence collapsed. One by
one the three children confessed to her that they
had all fallen victim to unspeakable abuse.
“During the first two weeks, we were simply in
shock,”she recalls.“We were with the children at
home as we digested what had happened, the
administration had to report to the police, and
my children were summoned to testify...” For
almost two years, A. and her children spent time
in police stations and in courts. The teacher was
indeed suspended from his post and eventually
imprisoned. But what the family went through
since they dared to break the silence was an
ongoing nightmare. “It was a terrible time. We
were completely isolated. We spoke with rabbis
and they told us to ‘leave it,’ ‘get the children
seen to,’‘move from the city.’They tried to silence determined: “Do parents ask themselves if
everything. People from the community came to
our house, angry that we had gone to the police.
One of the attacker’s relatives came to us and
tried to offer money to keep us quiet. After the
case reached the police, the attacker’s associates
changed strategy and tried to ostracize us from
the community. They embarked on a legal and
social war of attrition. They teased my children,
told them they were informers.”
This story and many others have motivated
Debbie Gross to embark on a new project this
year – “Tahel for Protection.” The Standard
for Child Protection Certification (“Tav Tahel”)
was developed to provide standardization and How can you actually reach every
tools for implementing child protection policies community in the world?
and procedures in schools, organizations, “I work with communities that invite me. People
communities and synagogues. This certification who want change and who want to create
is based on the need for comprehensive policies a protected community. In practice, the Tav
to prevent sexual abuse and to provide tools for Tahel sets a new standard; measurable criteria
intervention in abuse cases. The certification intended to provide a range of protection. How
process is intended to help the organization they apply the Standard is the community’s
develop a comprehensive approach to the or institution’s choice. I do not have to be
protection of children and to ensure proper physically present in a community because
reporting and intervention. that community can choose its own local
services for child guidance and other matters.
TfoarvCThaihldelPCreortteicftiicoante It becomes my job to ensure that the standard
of the content is up to date, so that creating the
is hereby awarded to: Tav Tahel will enable me to achieve the goal of
creating protected communities in the Jewish
Moriah Primary School world.”
The news about Tav Tahel has already spread.
for the implemeTnatahteiolnSotafncdhailrddpsrfootreCcthioilnd pPorloicteiecstioanndCperroticfiecadtuiorens as required by This October (16-19), Debbie Gross has been
invited to present at the Charleston ChildTrauma
Debbie Gross 01/8/2018 Conference in South Carolina for professionals in
Name/Title of Presenter Date the non-Jewish sector.
What do rabbis say about your activities?
“If every school, community, synagogue, “You will be surprised to hear that I am in close
organization, factory and society adopts the contact with ultra-Orthodox rabbis as well as
Tav Tahel, we can certainly prevent or minimize with liberal ones. In the ultra-Orthodox and
most of the incidents,”says Debbie Gross. Chassidic communities, we have rabbinical
“Over the course of my work, I have come approval for educational materials, plays and
across 25-year-old men who were sexually workshops so that we can work within the
abused during bar mitzvah preparations or educational institutions.”
childhood sports activities, and girls who came What is your hope for the New Year?
to Israel a year after high school and reported “Protected communities and protected schools
harassment by the program’s staff. We are are my dream. I hope and pray that we’ll get the
lacking professionalism, and this is the next job done. I hope that every person will realize
goal I’m setting for myself.” Debbie sounds that ensuring the safety of our children is their
responsibility as well. The vast majority of cases
their synagogue has protection regulations? can be prevented if there is proper guidance and
Does the rabbi speak about the subject in the an available system that could activate a red
community? Does the school have a curriculum light for anyone in distress.”
that covers this subject? Does the summer
camp have anyone who can identify abnormal To build a program in your community, or to
behavior (of an adult or between children, who help Tahel reach its goal of ensuring child safety
are now exposed to a great deal of sexuality on in every community, contact Debbie Gross at
the internet)? Unfortunately, in my experience, debbie@crisiscenter.org.il
most places have nothing, and where they do, it
is extremely minimal.”
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