Sunday, December 7, 2008

Child abuse -Call police/ Religiousity lessened?


Tzitz Eliezer(19:52)..
.However in a case of physical abuse where it can not be solidly established that it is actually pikuach nefesh (life threatening) then the case is merely one of determining what is in the best interest of the child. In such a non-life threatening case, it is prohibited to file a complaint with the police when it is highly likely that the child will be taken from his religious home or traditional home and be transferred to a non‑Jewish institution or a non-observant Jewish one or one that is not even traditional. The exception being if his home is no different in religious observance than the institute to which they will likely transfer him. This governing principle is found in the Sifre (Ki Satze) where it states that those who cause others to sin are worse than if they had killed them. That is because the killer [only] takes the victim from this world but not the next. In contrast the one who causes sin causes him to lose both this world and the next.

Sifre (Devarim #252):..R’ Shimon said that the Egyptians drowned the Jews in water while the Edomim attacked them with swords and yet the Torah only prohibits them from marriage to Jews for three generations. In contrast the Ammonites and Moabites because they attempted to cause the Jews to sin, the Torah prohibits them from marriage to Jews forever. This teaches that causing another to sin is much worse than killing them. That is because when a person is killed he only loses this world while someone who is caused to sin loses this world and the next world.

2 comments :

  1. Has anyone explored the halachik ramifications of the psychological effects of the abuse? I am specifically addressing the risk that if the abuse is not reported, and not stopped, it will have a negative impact on the religious observance of the victim.

    Actually, I'm sure that the question has been asked and answered before, but is there anything published?

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  2. Kay K said...

    Has anyone explored the halachik ramifications of the psychological effects of the abuse? I am specifically addressing the risk that if the abuse is not reported, and not stopped, it will have a negative impact on the religious observance of the victim.

    See the following article which addresses your concerns.
    http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=931&ThisGroup_ID=272&Type=Article


    "This is not to say that a majority of kids who are ‘off the derech’ were abused. But of all the complex and varied educational, social and familial factors that endanger to our children, the most damaging by far, in my opinion, is abuse. The very real threat posed by the external influences from which we all strive (in various degrees) to protect our children – such as media, Internet, and ‘bad friends’ – are all firecrackers compared to the atom bomb of sexual abuse.

    "Abuse robs children of their safety and innocence. Its ravages follow them through their teens and into adulthood, often shredding their marriages and complicating their relationships. Children who were molested harbor a simmering rage at the adult world that could not provide them with what should be the most basic birthright of every child; a sense of security. This anger displays itself in many forms – cultural, familial and spiritual. What is most dangerous, however, is when the rage turns inward and the children begin to self destruct by using drugs, abusing alcohol, engaging in self-mutilation … even committing suicide.

    "A close friend of mine runs a shelter/group home for charedi runaway kids. I recently ran into him at a wedding and asked him what his thoughts were on the correlation between abuse and the off-the-derech phenomenon. His immediate response was, “Yankie, all I deal with is abuse [victims],” meaning that virtually all the teens in his program were molested."

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