Vicki Polin of The Awareness Centerwrites: Rabbi Shlomo Porter has stepped down from the advisory board due to the fact he cannot take personal responsibility for the veracity and halachic conformity of all data listed on the website. He supports and wishes the Awareness Center great success.
Luke says: I think there might be more Orthodox rabbis resigning from TAC. They are concerned that it is not always run according to halacah (Jewish Law). Vicki Polin is an atheist and has more of a therapeutic and activist approach. She's an advocate for those she says are "survivors" of sexual abuse. Rabbis have to be concerned with not only advocating on behalf of "victims," but being fair to those accused, so their good name is not besmirched unfairly, and, above all, to operating according to halacah at all times. From Orthodox rabbis who've spoken to me of late, there's growing concern that TAC has gone too far, that it is operating a witch hunt against rabbis who are being accused on the flimsiest of evidence. They are concerned about "victims activists" (and they, to varying degrees place Polin in this category) who push women to come forward with accusations of sexual abuse that are based on hazy memories and tricky regressions (stuff that would not hold up in either a Beit Din or a secular court).
The Awareness Center is having a board meeting in early December. I expect that the Orthodox Jews on the board will demand that TAW be run according to halacah in every way or they will leave.
