ABC’s Rachael Kohn has interviewed Manny Waks…the oldest member of seventeen children who was sexually abused as a child attending Yeshiva in Melbourne….
The Waks family with their 17 children lived across from the Yeshiva, or religious school, in Melbourne’s tight-knit Chassidic Jewish community.
When the oldest boy, Manny, was sexually molested by two teachers, the impact on his faith, his family and the community was devastating.
While Manny has lost his faith but not his love of Judaism, his father Zephaniah has lost virtually all his friends in the community as a result of going public.
To bring justice for those who have suffered in silence Manny established Tzedek a non profit advocacy organisation for Jewish victims of child sexual abuse.