Following the 15-year prison sentence imposed on Malka Leifer due to her sexual assault of her students, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, the head of the ethics center at 'Tzohar,' states that "the news that the Australian court has sentenced Malka Leifer to a heavy prison term is a very significant milestone in the fight against harm to students."
According to him, "an inseparable part of the rehabilitation process for the victims is the recognition that their complaints were correct, that the actions were extremely severe, and that they are the victims, not the guilty. The conviction is an affirmation of this and opens a larger door to the possibility of rebuilding their lives."
Rabbi Cherlow added that "this is also an opportunity for all those who acted to prevent this punishment to ask for the forgiveness of the victims, and we will all take it upon ourselves to stand by future victims, in the way of Torah and morality. In the week when we read in the Torah about the severe consequences of sexual assault and malicious defamation, these words hold a special significance."
