American ultra-Orthodox singer Lipa Schmeltzer revealed last week that he was sexually molested while growing up in an insular Hasidic village in New York.
In a video posted to YouTube titled “My heartfelt message of personal growth & challenges before Matan Torah 5783” the popular singer known for lively Yiddish lyrics said that he had “been through every type of abuse – physical, mental, verbal.”
“I don’t want to make a story out of it. I’m not looking to go back and judge people, I want to move on,” he said in the video, posted just before Shavuot began.
Schmeltzer, 45, is a divorced father of four who was raised in New Square, New York. The village is dominated by the Skverer Hasidic sect, whose leader, Rabbi David Twersky, has been alleged of ignoring and even covering up acts of child sexual abuse.
“At that time, they would have taken this child to live somewhere else, without going to trial, without calling it rape,” Schmeltzer continued.
How common is child sexual abuse in NY’s Jewish communities?
At least 150 child sex abuse lawsuits were filed against Jewish institutions in New York between 2019-2021 under a special law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations barring old claims, according to an analysis of the New York court system by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This look-back window for reviving allegations was created by the Child Victims Act of 2019 and led to a dramatic wave of lawsuits that peaked just ahead of the August 14 deadline. Survivors took advantage of the CVA window to file nearly 11,000 civil suits against individuals and institutions, according to data provided by the New York’s Office of Court Administration.
The number is also a function of the fact that New York is home to almost two million Jews, far more than any other state, and is the place nearly all major Jewish institutions are headquartered. The bulk of cases involving Jewish institutions were filed in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The lawsuits feature accusations across virtually every denomination of Judaism. The institutions named include summer camps, elementary and high schools, youth movements, community centers, providers of services for disabled people, foster care agencies and synagogues.
ASAF SHALEV/JTA and ELLA ROCKART/JTA contributed to this report.
