The lengthy Mishpacha piece on Rabbi Moshe Bak’s Project Innocent Heart (“King of Hearts” January 1 2014) and the plethora of responses it generated in the letters section last week are indicative of a positive trend in our community. Child abuse is no longer a taboo subject that can never be discussed. The numerous organizations in the field addressing various aspects of the problem indicate that it has moved to the top of the communal agenda.
That itself is an achievement. For years predators have been emboldened by the unwillingness of the community to discuss much less address the issue of abuse. Now that the issue is out in the open they can no longer hide in the shadows confident that a conspiracy of silence protects them.
The different emphases of Project Innocent Heart and groups like Magenu and Magen also remind us of an important truth: On very few complex and important issues is there one self-evident correct response. And oftentimes the best response is a multilayered one that combines the varied expertise of major actors in the field.
ONE LINE DID STICK OUT in Rachel Ginsberg’s genuinely path-breaking interview with Rabbi Bak: his statement that Project Innocent Heart does not “hunt predators.” No organization in the field as far as I know focuses on hunting predators. Rather their concerns are the education of children parents and teachers; and early intervention and treatment for the victims.
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