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{{No footnotes|date=December 2009}} |
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{{Chabad}} |
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{{About|the organisation of this name in Melbourne|its counterpart in Sydney|Yeshivah Centre, Sydney}} |
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{{About|the organisation of this name in Melbourne|its counterpart in Sydney|Yeshivah Centre, Sydney}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} |
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The '''Yeshivah Centre''' is an ] ] umbrella organisation in ], ], ] that serves the needs of the Melbourne Jewish community. It is run by the ] movement, until recently, under the direct administration of Rabbi ]. Rabbi ] has been brought as the new ] (rabbinical judge) of the Centre and Lubavitch community. |
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{{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}} |
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{{More footnotes needed|date=December 2009}} |
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{{Infobox religious building |
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| name = Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne |
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| image = Yeshiva Synagogue entrance.jpg |
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| image_upright = 1.2 |
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| caption = The main entrance to the Yeshivah College complex, via the ] |
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| map_type = Australia Melbourne |
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| map_size = 250 |
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| map_caption = Location in ] |
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| location = ], ] |
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| country = Australia |
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}} |
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The '''Yeshivah Centre''' is an ] ] umbrella organisation in ], ], ], that serves the needs of the Melbourne Jewish community. It is run by the ] movement, until recently, under the direct administration of ] ]. Rabbi ] has been brought as the new ] (rabbinical judge) of the Centre and Lubavitch community. |
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In 2017, the organisation had the distinction of having the ] come and address members. Chief Rabbi ] attended various venues in Melbourne on his Australia tour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |last2=Zlatkis |first2=Evan |title=Chief Rabbi Lau tours Australia |url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/chief-rabbi-lau-tours-australia/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=www.australianjewishnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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In 2011, the Yeshivah was rocked by a sexual abuse scandal at the school and the failure of the school leadership, led by Rabbi Groner to report the matters to police. |
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Victoria Police launched a formal investigation and established a taskforce. Whilst the investigation initially focused on former teacher Rabbi David Kramer and alleged sexual assulats between 1989 and 1993, it has spread to include other alleged perpetrators operating on the Yeshivah grounds. The matter has been widely reported in the mainstream press including The Age<ref>http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/jewish-community-leader-tells-of-sex-abuse-20110707-1h4t4.html</ref>; The Australian<ref>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/jewish-boys-school-gave-molester-free-run/story-e6frg6nf-1226095591892</ref>; and The Australian Jewish News<ref>http://www.jewishnews.net.au/further-abuse-claims-rock-community/21931</ref>. A number of the assualts are alleged to have taken place in the ritual bathhouse. |
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The investigation by Victoria Police into alleged sexual abuse at the Yeshivah is ongoing. |
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== Brief history == |
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]The Yeshivah Centre was established by a group of Jewish migrants in the late 1940s in response to a massive postwar influx of Jews to Melbourne. In 1949, Yeshivah Centre opened a ] with only 3 full time students. This led, in 1954, to the purchase of the Yeshivah College campus. This was followed by the purchase of the Beth Rivkah Ladies College campus in 1959. In 1958, Rabbi Y.D. Groner arrived in Melbourne as an emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in order to take up the position of full time Director of the Yeshivah Centre, and appointed honorary officers to assist him in operating the organisation. The first matriculation of students took place in 1965 with a class of 8 boys. |
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In 2011, Victoria Police launched an investigation into alleged sexual abuse at Yeshivah College between 1989 and 1993. |
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== Facilities == |
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== Facilities == |
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The centre comprises a network of educational facilities that include: |
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The centre comprises a network of educational facilities that include: |
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] in the Yeshiva lunchroom]] |
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] in the Yeshiva lunchroom]] |
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*], a boys' school; |
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*], a boys' school; |
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*], a girls' school; |
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*], a girls' school; |
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*the Yeshiva ]; |
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*the Yeshiva ]; |
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*], an outreach-focused full-time ]; |
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*], an outreach-focused full-time ]; |
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*], a girls' seminary (post-high school full time Torah study); |
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*], a girls' seminary (post-high school full-time Torah study); |
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*], an outreach organisation; |
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*], an outreach organisation; |
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*] Melbourne, another outreach organisation; |
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*] Melbourne, another outreach organisation; |
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*a network of ]s, and others. |
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*a network of ]s, and others. |
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== Controversies == |
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Not all Chabad institutions in Melbourne are officially under this organisation, e.g., the ] (an academy of advanced Talmudic studies for young men). Although the Yeshivah Gedolah is not ''officially'' under this organisation, it is still closely tied, and they coordinate activities with Chabad Youth, Mivtzoim Melbourne, and private classes, especially with children from Yeshivah College. |
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{{undue weight|date=May 2017}} |
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{{POV|date=September 2017}} |
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The Yeshivah Centre was among several Australian institutions investigated by the ] which examined past incidents and the centre's response to victims. The Royal Commission delivered a specific report into practices at both the Yeshiva Centre, Melbourne and the former Yeshiva College, Sydney.<ref name=royal_commission/> |
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In September 2011, David Cyprys a former student and employee at the Yeshivah College was charged thirteen counts of gross indecency with a child and 16 counts of indecent assault with a child between 1984 and 1991. The youngest of his twelve alleged victims was aged 7 at the time.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/yeshiva-turned-blind-eye-to-sex-abuse-claims/story-e6frg6nf-1226130935332| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110907092243/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/yeshiva-turned-blind-eye-to-sex-abuse-claims/story-e6frg6nf-1226130935332| archive-date = 2011-09-07| title = Yeshiva 'turned blind eye to sex abuse claims' {{!}} The Australian}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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In early 2012, the number of charges against David Cyprys was increased to 51 counts of gross indecency, indecent assault, false imprisonment, common law assault, attempted indecent assault and rape involving eleven alleged victims.<ref name="age2012">{{cite news |url=http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/police-to-ask-us-to-hand-over-exteacher-20120402-1w8vv.html |title=Police to ask US to hand over ex-teacher |author=Topsfield, Jewel |work=] |date=3 April 2012 |access-date=7 April 2019 }}</ref> |
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*] |
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Victoria Police advised the Melbourne Magistrates Court in April 2012, that it intends to seek to extradite a former teacher at Yeshivah College, David Kramer, from the United States over a child sex abuse scandal that was allegedly covered up by the school.<ref name="age2012"/> |
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The centre has been accused of covering up claims of sexual abuse at their institution<ref name=haaretz_sex_hearing>{{cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Dan |title=Australian Jews Distraught Over Chabad Sex Abuse Hearings |publisher=Haaretz |date=10 February 2015 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/.premium-1.641733 |access-date=7 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129184847/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/.premium-1.641733 |archive-date=29 January 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref name=royal_commission>{{cite web |title=Case Study 22: Yeshiva Bondi and Yeshivah Melbourne |publisher=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse |url=http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-study/a5fd40f7-d96c-4043-9801-d4490fba4188/case-study-22,-february-2015,-melbourne |date=February 2015 |location=Melbourne |access-date=7 January 2016 }}</ref> and of retaliating against whistleblowers and victims.<ref name=haaretz_sex_hearing/><ref name=guardian_sex>{{cite web | last=Marr |first=David |author-link=David Marr (journalist) |title=Rabbis' absolute power: how sex abuse tore apart Australia's Orthodox Jewish community |work=] |date=18 February 2015 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/19/rabbis-absolute-power-how-sex-abuse-tore-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community |access-date=7 January 2016 }}</ref> |
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In two separate cases, two employees were convicted and jailed in 2013.<ref name=haaretz_sex_hearing/> Several Chabad rabbis were accused of publicly sermonizing that it was religiously forbidden to report child sex abuse to the police.<ref name=royal_commission/><ref name=guardian_sex/> The Yeshivah's Committee of Management has subsequently been replaced and to have its Board of Trustees disbanded.<ref name=jewishnews_sex>{{cite web |last=Levi |first=Joshua |title=All change at the Yeshivah Centre |work=] |date=18 June 2015 |url=http://www.jewishnews.net.au/all-change-at-the-yeshivah-centre/42341 |access-date=7 January 2016 }}</ref> |
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In February 2016 the educational branch of Chabad Headquarters in New York wrote to the trustees of the Yeshivah Centre objecting to its proposed restructuring, which was part of Yeshiva's response to the 2015 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Yeshivah trustees had appointed five members to a Governance Review Panel (GRP) to recommend how the centre should be managed, including the Yeshivah, plus Beth Rivkah Colleges and all Chabad organizations in it. Rabbi Yisroel Deren of Chabad headquarters clarified the objections the Chabad HQ has made. He noted, however, that Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Groner in Melbourne has the authority to authorise the restructure that Chabad in NY is "powerless to stop any changes."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jewishnews.net.au/chabad-hq-objects-to-yeshiivah-restructure/51768 |title=Chabad HQ objects to Yeshivah restructure |work=] |date=4 February 2016 }}</ref> The intervention by the Chabad World Headquarters angered sexual assault victims.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/intervention-of-world-headquarters-of-jewish/7140126 |title=Intervention of World Headquarters of Jewish movement angers sexual assault victims |work=] |location=Australia |date=3 February 2016 }}</ref> |
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== See also == |
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{{stack|{{Portal|Judaism|Australia}}}} |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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== External links == |
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* {{official website|http://www.ybr.vic.edu.au/}} |
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{{Synagogues in Australia}} |
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{{Jews and Judaism in Australia}} |
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{{Chabad}} |
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{{coord missing|Victoria (state)}} |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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The Yeshivah Centre was among several Australian institutions investigated by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which examined past incidents and the centre's response to victims. The Royal Commission delivered a specific report into practices at both the Yeshiva Centre, Melbourne and the former Yeshiva College, Sydney.
In September 2011, David Cyprys a former student and employee at the Yeshivah College was charged thirteen counts of gross indecency with a child and 16 counts of indecent assault with a child between 1984 and 1991. The youngest of his twelve alleged victims was aged 7 at the time.
In early 2012, the number of charges against David Cyprys was increased to 51 counts of gross indecency, indecent assault, false imprisonment, common law assault, attempted indecent assault and rape involving eleven alleged victims.
Victoria Police advised the Melbourne Magistrates Court in April 2012, that it intends to seek to extradite a former teacher at Yeshivah College, David Kramer, from the United States over a child sex abuse scandal that was allegedly covered up by the school.
The centre has been accused of covering up claims of sexual abuse at their institution and of retaliating against whistleblowers and victims.
In two separate cases, two employees were convicted and jailed in 2013. Several Chabad rabbis were accused of publicly sermonizing that it was religiously forbidden to report child sex abuse to the police. The Yeshivah's Committee of Management has subsequently been replaced and to have its Board of Trustees disbanded.
In February 2016 the educational branch of Chabad Headquarters in New York wrote to the trustees of the Yeshivah Centre objecting to its proposed restructuring, which was part of Yeshiva's response to the 2015 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Yeshivah trustees had appointed five members to a Governance Review Panel (GRP) to recommend how the centre should be managed, including the Yeshivah, plus Beth Rivkah Colleges and all Chabad organizations in it. Rabbi Yisroel Deren of Chabad headquarters clarified the objections the Chabad HQ has made. He noted, however, that Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Groner in Melbourne has the authority to authorise the restructure that Chabad in NY is "powerless to stop any changes." The intervention by the Chabad World Headquarters angered sexual assault victims.
The main entrance to the Yeshivah College complex, via the Shul
Synagogues in Australia 
