Australia Abuse Victim’s Brother Tussles With Chabad Rabbi in Synagogue

A senior Australian Orthodox rabbi had his glasses ripped from his face during a synagogue altercation with a relative of a prominent advocate for sex abuse victims.
Rabbi Zvi Telsner, the spiritual leader of the Yeshivah Center, which houses the city’s Chabad headquarters, offered festive greetings to Chaim Waks at the end of the Shavuot holiday service on Tuesday night inside Chabad’s main synagogue in Melbourne..
But Waks, 24, whose brother, Manny, has been at loggerheads with Chabad since he first went public in 2011 with claims he was sexually abused when he was at the Chabad-run school in the 1980s, admitted to asking the rabbi: “How dare you f***|ing wish me a good Yom Tov?”
Manny Waks confirmed his brother also admitted throwing Telsner’s glasses on the floor.
Telsner, who was born in New York, declined to comment but confirmed to JTA that the incident happened.
Manny Waks said in a statement: “I have informed Chaim that this type of behavior is completely unacceptable. It makes no difference what an individual has done – in this case the ongoing attacks by Rabbi Telsner and some within his community against my family. The use of violence is never an option and needs to be unequivocally condemned.”
Waks also accuses senior Chabad rabbis of covering up complaints by parents of sexual abuse and even helping alleged perpetrators flee the country, sparking a bitter feud between the family and Chabad officials. He also claims his complaints to Chabad’s then-chief rabbi were ignored.
His father, Zephaniah Waks, claims he has been shunned by his own community and denied rites at Chabad’s main synagogue since the furor erupted in 2011. Chabad officials deny those claims.
Zephaniah Waks claimed he was harassed by another congregant inside the sanctuary the day after the incident between his son and Telsner. He has reported the matter to police.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Protesters clash in Crown Heights as Ben-Gvir visits Chabad headquarters
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקער שמואל קאַסאָוו דערציילט מעשׂיות פֿון זײַן משפּחה־געשיכטעVIDEO: Historian Samuel Kassow shares stories about his family history
דער ווידעאָ איז טשיקאַווע סײַ פֿאַרן אינהאַלט סײַ פֿאַר קאַסאָווס נאַטירלעכן ליטוויש־ייִדיש
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.