The Belz Hasidic group, among the largest in Israel, instituted a sexual abuse prevention program for its 7,000 Talmudei Torah students last month, according to reporting from Haaretz and Israeli Army Radio. According to Haaretz, this is the first time a mainstream Haredi community has implemented such a program for boys, while some individual Haredi boys’ schools and girls’ schools have previously done so.

The program, which carries the Hebrew name Sviva Betucha, meaning “Safe Environment,” was described in a letter sent out to parents by Belz's Vaad Mishmeret Hachinuch, or Committee for Oversight of Education. The letter asserts that the new initiative will “provide kids tools and practices of caution and protection of the body and the soul,” while keeping “in the tradition [mesorah] and philosophy [hashkafa] of Belz.” The letter cited studies that “show that when adults in a child’s environment…create clear boundaries, maintain and respect the feelings and the child's needs through healthy communication, the child is less likely to be at risk." 

The letter outlines the three areas the program will focus on: prevention, identification, and reaction. Prevention will involve “adherence to rules to help them avoid risky situations and crossing boundaries." Identification will help students "determine when a line is being crossed that may lead to abuse and how to prevent it in time." Reaction will inform students of methods for "sharing and exposing a line being crossed to competent and trusted parties who are capable of bringing it to a halt."

Yedidut Toronto, an Israeli non-profit that serves the Haredi community, sponsored and formulated the program, according to Haaretz. The organization’s website asserts that it teaches students, “observance of rules that will help them avoid getting into situations of risk and of overstepping boundaries.” Should abuse occur, the organization’s website goes on to say “students are taught how to respond by sharing any inappropriate conduct with people in authority.”

Belz has recently been at the forefront of introducing programs and standards that have commonly not been a part of Haredi communities in the past. Several months ago, the Belzer Rebbe greenlit Ahavat Kedumim, an organization that helps those who leave the community. And while Belz’s prior agreement with the government to introduce secular studies was previously blocked by UTJ, the primary Ashkenazi Haredi political party, Belz is once again in discussions with educators and education officials to roll out core studies in Hebrew, English, and math according to News13.

New York has a significant Belz Hasidic population, with dozens of schools and synagogues, primarily in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn and in Monsey. Shtetl called the Belz headquarters of New York to inquire if the program will come to New York’s Belz Yeshivas, but had not received a response as of the time of publication.