A religious court in Jerusalem has taken up the case of sex abuse charges leveled at Rabbi Matis Weinberg, the noted Torah scholar, author and lecturer accused of making advances toward former yeshiva students, The Jewish Week has learned.
The bet din is affiliated with the Badatz Eida Haredi, a well-known religious court in the fervently Orthodox sector of the community.
The bet din’s decision to take the case was based on hearings conducted in New York in early May by Rabbis Shmuel Kaminetsky of Philadelphia, Feivel Cohen of Brooklyn and Moshe Hauer of Baltimore, prompted by a report in The Jewish Week. The report included allegations against Rabbi Weinberg made by former students, some from earlier this year and others going back more than 20 years. Rabbi Weinberg denies all the charges.
Several of the former students appeared before the three American rabbis to offer testimony. The American bet din provided the Israeli court with transcripts from the May proceedings.
Several alleged victims in Israel say they will seek permission from the bet din there to press civil and criminal charges against Rabbi Weinberg, in addition to a finding that would publicly attest to the rabbi’s guilt. Rabbi Weinberg is the scion of a prominent Baltimore rabbinic family and has published a number of highly praised volumes of Torah study.
