From: privateinvesigations.blogspot.co.uk
Los Angeles,
CA - The recent guilty plea of an Orthodox Rabbi to molestation charges in New
Jersey as well as the District Attorney’s expressed hope that this case will
encourage other parents of abused children from the Orthodox community to come
forward to report crimes, beg the questions that have bothered me for years :
Why is there such a reticence on the part of Orthodox Jews to put these
perpetrators behind bars?
Why are
threats of retribution aimed at the victims and their families if they report
these crimes, when logic dictates that our wrath should be aimed at the abuser
and not at the abused?
I recently
read an article in the L.A. Times about Phil Jackson’s new book, and what he
says in it about Kobe Bryant. Jackson writes that he harbored a deep underlying
hatred for Bryant the year that he was accused of sexual assault, because
Jackson’s daughter was a victim of a similar assault years earlier. That episode,
therefore, hit Jackson close to home.
It struck me
clearly that the mere fact that Jackson had a daughter wasn’t enough to affect
him deeply. The basic feelings of empathy and compassion that dictate revulsion
at the mere mention of such a heinous crime were apparently beyond even beyond
Phil Jackson’s capabilities.
I am not here
to criticize Jackson, but could it be that we the chosen people, are mired in
the same place? Do we hear the words “abuse” and “molestation”, shake our heads
and move on?
Do we, Heaven
forbid have to feel the pain personally before we react the way a parent of a
victim would? Let me make a suggestion: let us rename these people “murderers”
instead of molesters. From a religious point of view , that is exactly what
they are. Killing one’s souls, in Jewish law, is at least as destructive as
killing one physically.
In addition
when a Rabbi or other religious authority figure invades a child’s world with
abuse, he shatters the positive association with Torah that so significantly
contributes to the child’s spirituality.
When we
compound the tragedy with intimation and cover-up, we bear the guilt of both
pushing the knife into the hearts of the victims, and becoming accessories to
the future murders of innocent neshamos.
I am not
being overly dramatic. Listen to the mental health professionals and hear how
much of a struggle it is to rebuild theses victims’ self- esteem and trust. Can
a Jew come to love Torah when its representative has so ravaged his inner peace
and self-worth?
The Torah
commands us not to stand by idly as our fellow Jew’s blood is being
spilled.
This Halacha
clearly encompasses more than actual blood: one’s mental and spiritual health
are within its purview as well.
Factoring in
the intimacy issues that abuse raises later in life, the damaged caused is
incalculable. Arguably, there is no greater single threat to a chid’s emerging
Ruchnius than suffering the pain of sexual abuse.
So let’s stop
focusing on the sterling reputations of perpetrators and their family members,
who inevitably rally to the molesters side. Let’s stop nonsensically pretending
that we are turning innocent people over to the KGB or the Gestapo. Let’s stop
listening to the empty promises that it won’t happen again. Instead, let’s
start looking into these children’s hearts and let us cry at the agony that we
see.
Let’s look
honestly at the fact that today as an Orthodox community we cannot manage our
own house, and cannot promise that there will be no more victims. We don’t have
the power. We don’t have the authority. And sadly, I fear that we don’t have
the empathy.
Rabbi
Avrohom Stulberger is a prominent Charedi Rabbi and noted speaker. Rabbi
Stulberger has been the Dean of Valley Torah High School for 27 years. Serves
as the President of the Yeshiva Principals council of LA and has served on the
Halachic Advisory Board of Aleinu Jewish Family Services for over a decade.
A case is being put together to challenge them, and some vital information can still be useful.
Please contact RDH, RCH, AS or GO.
Also, if you happen to have any info on the blogger behind the CHScandal blog, please report to them as well, so that a case can be opened immediately, without having to go through Google.
If you wish, I can send you an email with his identity.
What is your email address?
Ans thanks to CHScandal blog for publicizing our post and creating some more attention for us. It surely helps.
And once again, anyone with any information, small or large, about this case, should please approach one of the four victims, so that we can get the act together.
Do it for the truth and for the community.