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3 Questions with Bob Evans: Rabbi Avremi Zippel discusses years of sexual abuse, road to recovery

Posted at 11:01 PM, Mar 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-04 09:53:19-05

SALT LAKE CITY -- He is the son of prominent Utah Jewish leader, Rabbi Benny Zippel.

Avermi Zippel is himself a Rabbi who in recent months revealed he was severely sexually abused by a nanny from the time he was a young boy into his late teens.

He says what happened tormented him for decades and underscores how sexual abuse does not discriminate between classes, creeds or circumstances.

Rabbi Avremi Zippel now has a wife and two children, is in recovery and considers himself a survivor.

He sat down with Bob Evans who asked him three questions:

  1. So, here you were, as a young boy - and the abuse happened from the time you were eight years old, until you were 18?
  2. I'm certain that you have contemplated this question for decades now. But what is it about sexual abuse that is so violating to the victims? Why is it that sexual abuse, of all kinds of abuse, is so devastating to the human soul?
  3. No doubt there are others, who, like you, are suffering through sexual abuse, even now as we speak. If you could speak directly to them, based on your experience, and what you've been through, and where you are on this spectrum of recovery, what would you say to them to encourage them, and to maybe instill some courage in them?

See below for the complete interview with Rabbi Avremi Zippel:

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