IICSA: the doctrine of mesirah — that reporting a Jew to non-Rabbinic authority is forbidden — found to prevent abuse being reported outside Charedi communities

Proceedings

1. 2021-09-02 · statutory inquiry investigation report published

   Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), England and Wales. In 'Child protection in religious organisations and settings', the Inquiry found that 'for some in Jewish Charedi communities, the concept of mesirah — that for one Jew to report another to a non-Rabbinic authority is forbidden — may prevent the reporting of abuse outside the Charedi community', and that it 'is believed to be forbidden under Halacha, the strict codes of biblical and Rabbinic law that govern the daily lives of those within the Charedi community' (¶55). A witness described the term as being 'used as a weight and leverage against victims and survivors in reporting their abuse to the authorities'. The Inquiry recorded the mechanism operating in practice: a senior UOHC rabbi was shown in a 2013 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary using the term to counsel a survivor of sexual abuse against reporting the perpetrator to police (¶56). It also recorded evidence that a rabbi in the Charedi community holds 'unlimited and unparalleled power and influence and is the ultimate decision-maker in every aspect of life, literally', within a culture of 'complete reverence and subordination to the Rabbi' in which 'it is often believed — consciously or otherwise — that the Rabbi can do no wrong' (¶26). On institutional practice, the Inquiry noted a Hackney girls' school child-protection policy stipulating that outside agencies be involved only 'after consultation with the Rabbinate of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations' (¶54). The Inquiry further assessed the Rabbinate's own post-2013 position — that there are 'certain circumstances which it is right and proper to contact the social service and/or the police' — and found that although welcome, 'it is of note that it implies that there will be circumstances when it would not be proper to contact social services or the police', a formulation Rabbi Jehudah Baumgarten accepted was not sufficiently clear (¶57).

Documented coercion mechanisms

• mesirah — the belief, held to be required under Halacha, that reporting one Jew to a non-Rabbinic authority is forbidden
• the designation 'Moiser' for anyone who reports to secular authorities, and the shunning that follows it
• a community small enough that shunning removes social, religious, family and employment life at once
• a school child-protection policy requiring consultation with the Rabbinate before outside agencies are involved