Feldman-Waks war opens on new front
Following the very public stoush involving Rebbetzin Pnina Feldman in Sydney and child sexual abuse victims’ advocate Manny Waks in Melbourne, a new battle has sprung up…this time between Waks and Feldman’s son Rabbi Eli Feldman.
The first round between Waks and Rebbetzin Feldman involved a chain of emails starting with a request by Waks’s father to sign a petition demanding that two rabbis apologise to victims of sexual abuse and resign from all positions of leadership,
The chain of emails was reported here.
Round 2: Begins with a posting by Waks on Rabbi Pnina Feldman’s son Rabbi Eli Feldman’s Facebook page pictured below.
Round 3: Feldman responded by issuing the following statement
“I was shocked and saddened this morning to see the disgusting and defamatory post on my Facebook wall.
Rabbi Eli Feldman Photo: Henry Benjamin
It is the height of irony and an unfortunate tragedy when the abused becomes the abuser.
Manny was outraged by an offensive private email sent to him by my mother, but he finds it fine to publicly offend me on my Facebook wall in front of the entire world?
You can’t have it both ways – to speak up against harassment and intimidation and then engage in it when it suits you.
This type of aggression is unacceptable and I expect an immediate public retraction and apology from Manny.
I also call upon the Tzedek board to clarify if they support this action from Manny and if it reflects the organisation’s policy of communal engagement.”
Round 4: The Facebook posting was removed. By whom?
Round5: Rabbi Eli Feldman said : “I definitely did not delete it nor did I instruct anyone else to delete it. I expect no less then an unconditional public apology by Manny, posted on my Facebook wall, the same forum at which he defamed me.”
He told J-Wire that he was seeking legal advice believing he has been defamed.
Manny Waks
Round 6: J-Wire approaches Manny Waks who now wants all communications to come through his lawyer. Fair enough. So we approach the lawyer George Newhouse who tells us: “I am not in a position to comment now.”
Round 7: They are currently in their corners.
After outrage was experienced by Rabbi Feldman on his Feldman FB wall, would he not normally just delete Mr Waks from his list of Facebook Friends? Isn’t that the regular response, to moral outrage? Surely Mr Waks would have had to be a FB friend of the rabbi, in order to be able to post a comment on his wall?
12 year old kids know how to delete a FB friend!
many waks should continue to seek recognition of the misdeeds committed against himself and should not be be deterred by these
false claims of injustice coated in piety.