Manny Waks

Manny Waks, born Menachem Leib Waks^[1] in Israel in 1976, is a Jewish activist. He was previously part of the orthodox community in Australia^[2] and later became known for his activism against child sexual abuse in the Jewish community worldwide. He founded Tzedek, an organization to fight child sexual abuse in Jewish communities. Waks assisted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in investigating Melbourne Yeshivah centre of the Orthodox Chabad movement of Judaism on their handling of child sexual abuse cases.^[3]

Personal life

After publicizing child sexual abuse in the Jewish community in Australia, Waks moved to France.^[2] Waks is married and is the father of three children.^[4]

Early life and education

Although born in Israel, Waks was raised primarily in Australia. He is one of 17 children in an Orthodox Jewish family who were part of the Chabad-Lubavitch, Hasidic community in Melbourne, Australia. Before they were eventually ostracized for reporting child sexual abuse within the community, Waks, his parents and siblings were viewed as a "poster family for the Australian Chabad movement." ^[5] Waks returned to Israel when he turned 18, where he served in the Israel Defence Forces.^[4] After returning to Australia from his service in the IDF, he obtained a degree in International Relations. He completed internships with a federal parliamentarian and the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. Waks' family featured in the 2003 SBS documentary Welcome to the Waks Family.^[6]

Some of Waks brothers, in particlular Avi Yamimi, an Active IDF soldier dispute the excommunication stories and spoke publicly against Manny and His father, claiming that his father Zapharia was originally part of the cover-up, and now his claims of being excommunicated are a false way to draw media attention. He relates that their father routinely, physically and emotionally abused him and his 10 brothers; at one time lining them up to be beaten with a belt, until the belt was broken. The abuse caused most of them turning to drugs, and many were kicked out of their home. Avi claims that his father is "taking the blame off himself and instead blaming others".^[7] Avi put out a petition on Change.org against ABC News to stop portraying his father as a victim.^[8][9]Avi says that his family had long planned for to move back to Israel, in particular do to financial difficulties, and that his father once spoke about hiring bodyguards and taking a walk to the synagogue, in order to trick the media that he was being attacked. When he and his brother threatened to speak their side of the story, their father threatened not to join his wedding which he didn't.^[9]

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Testimony

In the late 1980s Waks attended Melbourne's Yeshivah centre, run by the Chabad ultra-orthodox movement of Judaism. Starting at the age of eleven, he was sexually abused by two members of the staff at the centre. Waks reported sexual abuse by two different perpetrators to the Yeshivah leadership and to the police in 1996.^[10] When no action was taken, Waks went public in 2011 with allegations against the abusers, and pressure to keep quiet.

Both perpetrators were convected of sex crimes in 2013.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Waks gave evidence at the Royal Commission that he received abusive emails including one from an executive of the Sydney Yeshivah centre reading "Just because a security guard molested you, don’t blame Yeshivah... Get over it. I haven’t met a person yet with one nice word to say about you. Most people consider you a low life."^[15] The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that Yeshivah rabbis "railed against the whistleblowing Waks" and claimed that Waks and his father had "a vendetta against the centre." ^[16] In testimony before the Royal Commission a former manager and director both apologized to Waks and admitted that they should have prevented this.^[17]

Fallout

As part of their effort to eliminate child sexual abuse in the Jewish community, Manny Waks and his father, Zephaniah Waks testified before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. As Zephaniah Waks shared evidence about the abuse his sons, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant, sent a text message to an editor of the Australian Jewish News accusing him of “destroying Chabad” and labelling him a “lunatic”.^[18] Kluwgant was cross-examined about whether he watched testimony by Zephaniah, initially stating under oath that he hadn't watched much of the testimony because he was preparing to go to hospital, before conceding that he had sent the text message about the testimony. Kluwgant resigned the next week after child sexual abuse victims told him his position was "untenable."^[19]

In 2015 Chabad’s international leadership made overtures to Waks. Waks says he was invited to meet with Chabad's director of operations, Rabbi Mendy Sharfstein, to discuss best practices in responding to allegations of abuse.^[20]

Activism against sexual abuse

Waks is an advocate against child sexual abuse within the Jewish community. In 2012 he founded Tzedek, an Australia-based organisation advocating for a Jewish community free of child sexual abuse, after having brought his own experience of Child sexual abuse in Australia within the Jewish community^[2] into the public arena in July 2011.

In 2015 Chabad’s international leadership made overtures to Waks. Waks says he was invited to meet with Chabad's director of operations, Rabbi Mendy Sharfstein, to discuss best practices in responding to allegations of abuse.^[21]

Waks was featured in a follow-up documentary Breaking The Silence, in which he had a face to face meeting with a man who was convicted of abusing a victim known as AVB.^[22]

In 2016 Waks spoke to the chair of the Knesset Special Committee for the Rights of the Child. In his comments he cautioned the committee: “Sex offenders tend to move from country to country to avoid jail, but what makes Israel unique is the Law of Return, which essentially grants unhindered access to anyone who is Jewish to come here without any real screening." said Manny Waks, the chief executive officer of Kol v’Oz, a newly formed nonprofit that aims to prevent child sexual abuse in the global Jewish community.^[23]

Tzedek

Manny Waks founded Tzedek, an organization dedicated to fighting sexual abuse. The organization has received $300,000 in funding from the Australian Federal Government.^[24]

Global campaign

Waks established a non-profit group, Kol v’Oz. Kol v'Oz is lobbying the Knesset for changes in the statute of limitations on sexual crimes. ^[25] Waks serves as director of Kol v'Oz.^[26]

Lawsuits

Waks has initiated civil proceedings against Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne, Australia.^[27]

Waks was sued for defamation after a member of the public posted a false accusation against a member of the community on his organisation's (Tzedek) web site, and for posting things that suggested to some that this member was guilty.^[28]

See also

• Child sexual abuse
  • Anti-pedophile activism
• Jewish Community Watch
  • Meyer Seewald

References