An interview with Rabbi Zev Cohen of Chicago’s Special Beis Din dealing with issues of abuse
Chicago’s Rav Zev Cohen was on the job less than five years when he first became aware that abusers were preying on members of his community. He was advised by daas Torah to establish a special beis din to deal with the issue. Three decades later, the success of that effort bears significance for the wider Torah world.
When I started thinking about how the Torah community can avoid repeating the traumatic events of the past few weeks, I kept coming back to one name: Rabbi Zev Cohen, the rav of Adas Yeshurun, one of the principal anchors of the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. With five kollelim from early in the morning until late in the evening, the voice of Torah is constantly heard in the shul.
Over the years, Rabbi Cohen has alerted me to many threats to our communities — the casual entry of cannabis into our celebrations, the dangers of the Internet — all of which he has spoken about loudly and forcibly in multiple forums.
But the reason that I thought about him now is that approximately 30 years ago, he played a pivotal role in the establishment of the first standing beis din to deal with abuse issues — the “Special Beis Din.” The Beis Din does not intend or attempt to substitute for law enforcement, but it has carved out a vital role of its own , using its intimate knowledge of the community to deny perpetrators access to past victims or potential future ones.
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