A sex abuse survivor details his painful path to healing | Episode 284

Mormon Land

Note • This podcast discusses sexual assault. If you need to report or discuss a sexual assault, you can call the Utah Sexual Violence help line at 801-736-4356. Rabbi Avremi Zippel was 8 years old when his nanny began sexually abusing him in a basement bathroom in his Salt Lake City home. For Zippel, the abuse, which continued for a decade, violated everything he believed as an Orthodox Jew and threw him into a whirlwind of shame, guilt, depression, anxiety and even questions about God. He eventually told his wife, his parents, his siblings, a therapist and the police, which was an agonizing but ultimately healing journey. Zippel, who followed in the footsteps of his father, Rabbi Benny Zippel, a Chabad Lubavitch leader in Utah, tells the harrowing story in his new book, “Not What I Expected: A 20-Year Journey to Reclaim a Child’s Voice.” On this week’s show, Avremi Zippel discusses his book, what he endured and what religious leaders can do in the fight against sexual abuse.