Image by YOUTUBE

By Anne Cohen September 9, 2013

The young Orthodox woman whose testimony of sexual abuse was the basis for the arrest and conviction of counselor Nechemya Weberman was booed out of synagogue on Rosh Hashana, the New York Post reported Monday.

The 18-year-old victim was praying in a Williamsburg synagogue during the holiday when a man reportedly yelled out: “*Moser *, out of the shul!” — a shaming term for a Jew who betrays their community to secular authorities.

“They stopped the praying until she left,” the victim’s husband, Boorey Deutsch, 26, told the Post. “Some woman tried telling my wife to stay there and not leave. She shouldn’t care what they say. But my wife ended up leaving.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“She felt horrible and mistreated. They treat survivors as if they are the abusers,” Deutsch added.

Deutsch said that he and his wife have been under constant pressure from the community ever since she first came forward about her abuse at the hands of Weberman, an ultra-Orthodox community counselor in Williamsburg.

According to the Post, a man pleaded guilty last month to offering the couple $500,000 to leave the country and drop the case.

Weberman, 54, is currently serving a 50-year sentence at the Shawagunk Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

At the time of the trial, the victim explained that she had been reluctant to report the abuse that started when she was first sent to counseling at the age of 12, because of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar community’s reluctance to believe stories of abuse.

“Satmar would have kicked me out, and if Satmar kicks you out, nobody accepts you,” she testified last year.

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

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.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount