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Rabbinical court rules Berlin rabbi accused of sexual misconduct should not hold positions of authority

(JTA) – A Jewish religious court has determined that a Berlin rabbi accused of manipulating women into sexual contact should not hold any positions of religious authority in the Jewish world.
The decision, announced Wednesday morning, follows days of testimony from at least 15 women who had accused Reuven Yaacobov of using his rabbinical status to force them to comply with his sexual demands over more than a decade. Yaacobov also testified last week before the court, known as a beit din, after the court delayed its process to accommodate him.
“Reuven Yaacobov is not fit to hold a rabbinical position,” the beit din said in a letter to the plaintiffs who had testified, and who were authorized to share the letter publicly.
“Accordingly, he should not serve in any religious, rabbinical, or educational positions such as a Rabbi, shochet (ritual slaughterer), mohel (circumciser), sofer (scribe), and teacher,” the letter said.
Yaacobov had filled all of those roles in Berlin’s Jewish community over nearly two decades. The Jewish Community of Berlin, the communal umbrella organization, had fired him on May 31, one day after hearing testimony from several women who accused him of sexual misconduct. They and other women came forward afterward to give the beit din their accounts of being preyed upon by Yaacobov, whom they said had taken advantage of their naivete or emotional vulnerability to use religious arguments to lure them into sexual relations.
“I am happy that his status has been removed,” one of the women who testified before the beit din told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Wednesday. “I fear he will continue to influence people, to manipulate and do his things, but the decision means there will be fewer victims.
“The more public it is, the better,” added the woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she said she feared Yaacobov. “If everyone in the whole world shares this, he will have less chances to do his things elsewhere.”
In a public statement, the rabbinical court said its decisions reflected a clear expression of communal values.
“A person who harasses or abuses others is not suitable to hold a rabbinical position and should not be in religious, rabbinical or educational positions,” the court said.
In a statement issued through his attorney, Yaacobov disputed the court’s legitimacy under Jewish law and said its process had been “one-sided,” with his guilt predetermined. He also said the court and he were operating under “two different worldviews as far as Judaism is concerned” because the court is made of Ashkenazi rabbis and he is a Sephardic Jew.
“I do not accept the beit din’s decision and will contradict it in another beit din,” he said in the statement. “Today I know more than before that it was a targeted campaign against me, and that beit din was part of that campaign. I remain strong and will continue to fight until the full truth comes out and all the people who organized this campaign will be punished by the court.”
Yaacobov also noted in the statement that the beit din had not ordained him and thus could not rescind his rabbinic ordination. While the beit din did not claim to rescind his ordination, Rabbi Avichai Apel — who is on the board of ORD, Germany’s Orthodox rabbinical organization, and was one of the rabbis sitting on the bet din — said his group has been in touch with the Israel-based organization that ordained Yaacobov.
The ORD said that all circumcisions and bar mitzvahs carried out by Yaacobov remain valid. Apel told JTA anyone who had concerns about the status of a Torah scroll written by Yaacobov could contact the organization.
The rabbis of the beit din issued several other calls intended to manage the fallout of the case, which has particularly impacted a subset of Germany’s Russian-speaking Jewish community. The rabbis called on the general public to “continue to treat his wife and children with respect,” and to ignore any photos that the accused might publish of his accusers.
Some of the women who spoke to JTA previously said that when they tried to extricate themselves from Yaacobov’s influence, he told them he had taken compromising photos or videos of them and others and would release them.
Apel said the beit din warned Yaacobov not to release any such photos, if he had them.
The rabbis of the beit din also urged the Jewish Community of Berlin to reopen the Sephardic Synagogue, which has been locked since Yaacobov’s firing, as swiftly as possible, and to provide financial support to the women to cover the costs of psychological treatment “for the trauma they have suffered and its consequences.”
Another woman who had testified before the beit din told JTA on Wednesday that the swift action against Yaacobov over the last six weeks reflected the right approach to allegations of sexual misconduct.
“If you want to be sure that something is just a rumor, you have to investigate it,” the woman said. “The person with the resources and the power and the knowledge, they need to investigate.”
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The post Rabbinical court rules Berlin rabbi accused of sexual misconduct should not hold positions of authority appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.