If another person approaches me and asks me when am I going to write a story about sexual molestation in the Reform and Conservative communities, I think I’m going to scream.
Instead of fixing what is broken, facing up to the transgressions breeding in this current system, there’s always someone else to blame.
For the record, do some research and read what this reporter wrote about a leader in the community several years ago. Oh, by the way, the perp was a member of a Reform temple. I know that doesn’t count now for some.
But here’s my favorite story of life’s hypocrisy.
I chair a once-a-year shul function. I am directed each year by my rabbi to call an individual of his choosing. That individual receives an $800-$1,000 honoraria from the Pearlstone Foundation through the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. The scholar-in-residence comes to shul, usually speaks on a Friday night and a Shabbat afternoon.
Years ago when this program was in its infancy I invited a respected yeshiva rabbi to be our speaker.
When he got up to speak, instead of first addressing the issue of the day, he went off on a tangent, attacking me by name and my rabbi by name. Why? Because on the Associated’s Pearlstone brochure publicizing the various scholar-in-residence programs, his name was listed along side a noted lesbian feminist, who was performing at a nearby synagogue.
The rabbi absolutely attacked us, insisting that had known he would be on the same list as the woman, he never would have accepted the gig at our shul.
About a year ago, that rabbi’s career came took an interesting turn when molestation victims outed him as a sexual predator.
The lesbian feminist singer, by the way, never molested anyone.
So please, something is broken in this system. It needs to be turned inside out, dissected and examined.
We are having little difficulty finding more and more victims of sexual molestation. We aren’t looking for them, they are searching for us.
So are we “Orthodox Bashing?”
No, but are we sexual predator bashing?
Stay tuned.

A single accusation that is found to have merit should be reported to the authorities.  It should be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.  It should never be dismissed outright.  That is the idea behind an independent panel that investigates abuse claims.  That is the idea of mandatory reporting that is the law in NYS.  To wait until a second victim comes forward is totally irresponsible.  The service that The Awareness Center provides is that they do the behind the scenes investigating and they have been extremely successful to date.  Until the proposals that were adopted last week by the RCA are implemented, that is the best we have.  Again, until you can documentone case where TAC slandered an individual unfairly, you should stop your own slander of TAC and Vicki Polin.

So according to you, steve from ny, a single accusation should be grounds for public slander and ending a teacher’s career?

Let the witch hunt go on!

“because in the mind of intelligent people there is no way a single accusation should be a cause for public slander”

In other words, the first one is always a freebie.  And if it’s the same victim, then it’s unlimited access and the pervert is free to molest that victim at will.

I have not seen a case with only one accusation.  Nevertheless, that does not make the accusation less credible, nor does it make the accused less of a danger.  Your refusal to post a name shows that your accusations are empty.  Furthermore, labeling someone who is doing the work of the community as “crazy”, does not make a predator less guilty.  Stop hiding behind this illusion that the accusations are made up and that the molestation plague is exaggerated.  Stop attacking the messengers who are only looking out for the good of the kahal.  They are not the problem, the sexual predators that prey on innocent children are.  Add up all those cases listed in TAC, then multiply them by 2.5, then you will get an idea of how rampant this problem is.  Most cases go unreported, plus there are other cases that were handled “discreetly” by the schools.  I wish that we didn’t have to turn to bloggers to do this work for us.  Unfortunately, the yeshivot refuse to implement a course of action to prevent sexual abuse, or even acknowledge that there is a major problem.  So we end up turning to the bloggers, who have done a heroic job (in the words of Gil Student) to date in exposing molesters and protecting our children.

“every case that they have listed is one of multiple allegations” is a flat-out lie.

I refuse to post a name. That would be unfair to those with only one accusation, and there are more than one, because in the mind of intelligent people there is no way a single accusation should be a cause for public slander.

TAC is run by a crazy woman. How many times has Phil Jacobs mentioned the Sidran Institute, JFS, and other local options for victims? He never tells victims to contact TAC, because that would be bad.

Bill,

I have read TAC thoroughly and every case that they have listed is one of multiple allegations.  All I can say is thank G-d for Vicki Polin, UOJ and JWB.  The work that they have done behind the scenes to protect our children from predators is immeasurable.  If it wasn’t for the bloggers, we would still be “sweeping under the carpet” and molesters would be free to attack at their whim.  Wake up and look at the results and stop making false accusations at them.  They have been working tirelessly without any financial reward and they have been thorough in their investigations.

Steve from NY, if you haven’t found a false accusation on TAC then you haven’t read TAC. Good for you, but don’t go riding on Steve, because he’s obviously done his reading.

The problem is that bringing up the name of a false accusation is just an excuse for the anonymous bloggers to repeat their stories and make up new ones. So it would be dumb to name names for you.

Its not just these Jewish bloggers. Everyone knows that when you can hide behind an anonymous name on blogger.com, you can say anything you want about anyone.

Steve,

Please stop accusing the bloggers of making false accusations. Until you can produce one case that they fabricated, your false accusations are not any better than what you are accusing them of.

“Any blogger that fabricates accusations against anyone will never be taken seriously, not in the real world and not in cyberspace.”

I wish you were right.

“What is rampant is allegations from people who are remain anonymous and unsubstantiated. “

You cannot even name one.  Again, the allegations are not coming from anonymous bloggers, they are coming from real live victims.  If a blogger should make an accusation against a teacher without any victims to back up the accusations, who in his right mind is going to fire that teacher?  This has never happened and I don’t see this happening.  Accusations must be thoroughly investigated by an independent panel, like the Baltimore letter suggests.  When the allegations are found to have credibility, then action must be taken against the perpetrator.  Any blogger that fabricates accusations against anyone will never be taken seriously, not in the real world and not in cyberspace.

True, allegations from people labeling themselves as victims are not rampant. What is rampant is allegations from people who are remain anonymous and unsubstantiated.

You say “It would be totally reckless and irresponsible to allow a teacher who has been accused of molestation, to continue teaching.”

I’ll tell you what reckless is: to have a system where every accusation is believed and the accused is removed, as you describe. False accusers would REALLY have a powerful weapon in their hands. Even worse, it might remove all seriousness from even the true allegations - not exactly what you’re looking for…

Be responsible. Stop the blind crusade and don’t take action until you know the evidence is credible. If you don’t, this whole campaign will fall on its face.

When allegations are made, especially of such as a serious nature as child sexual abuse, the Torah mandates a thorough investigation of the charges.  One who makes such false allegations is as wicked as the one who actually molests.  However, your statement that “false accusations are rampant” is inaccurate.  It is very rare for a child or even an adult to falsely label himself a victim of sexual abuse.  On the contrary, most cases of actual abuse go unreported.  And when there are multiple accusers against one individual, especially when the accusers don’t know each other, one must take immediate action and notify the authorities.  The accused still has a right to his day in court.  However, the protection of our children comes first and the accused must be kept away from them, and his name must be publicized to other institutions.  I do not know of any cases on The Awareness Center that have been proven false.  In fact I know of many molesters that they exposed that either fled or were relieved of their positions and now are not an immediate threat to children.  In my opinion, our children’s rights to protection supersede the rights of the accused.  It would be totally reckless and irresponsible to allow a teacher who has been accused of molestation, to continue teaching.

It’s well known that false allegations are rampant. Why do you think that the letter from the Baltimore Rabbis included a paragraph about that and that Rabbis in Baltimore who spoke about abuse in their Sermons made a point of mentioning the false allegations. I know of cases that have been listed on the Awareness Center site have been looked into and have been proven as absolutely false, but that news never makes it on these blogs and sites. They assume, as some commentators here do and Phil Jacobs himself does, that if its alleged there must be truth to it because they’re on a crusade to expose molesters. That’s a very dangerous course to take. Why don’t you even consider that there is such a thing as a false allegation? Would you want to murder someone’s reputation based on hearsay? You know what that does to the falsely accused, their family, and the institutions they’re associated with? Consider that it’s possible that someone would falsely accuse - just consider it. Be responsible. Don’t let your crusade trample on the innocent…

The allegations don’t originate from blogs.  They come from real life victims.  When there are multiple allegations against an individual that span many years, then you must take those allegations very seriously.  Unless you subscribe to vast conspiracy theories, you would have to believe these alleged victims.  Unfortunately, most abuse cases go unreported, which leaves predators free to continue molesting.  Therefore, what you read on the blogs or on The Awareness Center site is just a tip of the iceberg.  The cases that have been brought to the forefront by Phil Jacobs, by UOJ and by The Awareness Center are all cases of multiple sexual abuse allegations.  To shrug them off and say that they are “made up” or that the victims are vicious fabricators in cahoots with each other, is totally irresponsible and dangerous.  As for your question whether rabbinic ordination leads a person to abuse others, the answer is no.  However, it has been proven that a pedophile will choose a profession that will bring him in contact with children on a regular basis.  Hence, you have the many cases of teachers, counselors and rabbis that have been accused of molestation.

I lived in the dorm at TA and Rabbi Shapiro was my dorm “father”.

I was not molested, nor did anyone at the time tell me he was molested, but I was not surprised to read the article. Looking back now, it makes a lot of sense. He invited me into his apartment a few times when no one else was there and touched me in a way that would now be considered inappropriate (I really can’t remember where I was touched, but the kind of touching I’m talking about, by itslef, would not be cause for alarm). Lest anyone think I’m accusing him of wrong-doing, I’m not. But I always had a bad feeling about those times.

To those who think this is orthodox-bashing, wake up before this happens to your kids. I am orthodox also. “Bayn Adom L’chavaro” is just as important (I would say more important) than a bug on a piece of lettuce not being kosher.

I do have questions about the article that perhaps the author can clarify. You mention a prominent rabbi who thinks R Shapiro may have molested hundreds but you don’t name him. Who is he? Also, the reference to a weekly kiddush of businessmen is vague. Who are these people and what are they saying?

Thank you for bringing the issue of child-molestation to the forefront.

I simply cannot understand any criticism of you. Anyone who does such an abhorrent act, no matter his religious outlook or position deserves to be taken down. Certainly those that have it out for Rabbis will look for an excuse to attack them at every turn and this is just another opportunity. However, Rabbis and religious teachers by the nature of their power are in a most prominent position to hold power over children and therefore if they cross that line, Phil Jacobs, or anyone in this world who knows about it should be taking these people down.

I heard Rabbi Heinneman just told his congregants to not bring the JT in their homes as it is treif. I would hate to be in Rabbi Heinneman’s position when G-d forbid someone he knows is exposed as covering up the abuse and he takes such a stance against a publication who is exposing the truth in a way he does not like. It might at that time unjustly appear he is trying to coverup as well. He should think long and hard about taking such an emotional stance on such an emotional issue. It serves him no positive purpose for him.

I think the most recent article was abhorrent. Yes the issue should be brought to the forefront. Yes the victims of abuse should be helped and supported. But attacking a Rabbi who’s been dead for 20 years, and thereby threatening the authority of the community’s current Rabbis who literally put their lives on the line to help the community, as well as having the accused abuser’s family be embarrassed to show their faces in public is not the way to do this - I’m sorry.

If you feel the community needs to act on this then you nudge your Rabbi every hour on the 8’s to address the issue with the Vaad Harabonim (Rabbinical Council) and you follow-up with him until the issue is at the forefront and action is being taken. Going public because you feel things aren’t the way you would like is nothing less than vicious.

Gila, I understand that power can be abused - my point was that the attack of anonymous bloggers against Rabbis leads one to suspect that they have an agenda against Rabbis. Plus, there are many other positions of authority in the world, as you listed, yet the greatest attack is against Rabbis. Smells fishy to me.

This blog shows precisely why people have a problem with your article on sexual molestation in the frum community. Every week your paper espouses views that are against Torah, and vilifies Orthodoxy’s non-acceptance of these “truths” (like lesbianism). This has ,naturally, created a defensive stance among the Orthodox against your paper. Suddenly, like the proverbial boy who cried wolf, you expect the community to listen with an open heart to every golden, virtuous word that comes out of your mouth. Is it any wonder that the first assumption is that you are once again bashing the Orthodox?
The frum community’s reaction is justified, and should have been expected. You did a good thing, but you remain a tainted source.

Phil,
Your article about Rabbi Shapiro in this week’s JT was shocking, yet credible. I pray that your courage to expose in print those who have caused such hurt and shame will catalyze sermons, confessions, support, and ultimately healing.
In response to Steve, those in authority have the power to abuse their influence over the vulnerable, whether this authority is a rabbi, a priest, a college professor, a youth leader, a Hollywood director, or a boss of any kind. 
Phil, kol ha-kavod and may comfort come to those who have suffered.
bivracha, Gila

Why don’t you consider the cowardice of the sites that many of these allegation originate from? The sites are also anonymous, or run by people who are virtual “nobody"s who have nothing to lose. From what you’ve written you seem to be believing what these anonymous bloggers say about public figures. The alleged predators who are not actually guilty, but part of this Salem Witch trial are no less victims than victims of sexual abuse. Their lives are also a living hell. I heard (or read, not sure) Rabbi Mark Dratch made a point that victims will often have a bone to pick with public individuals, like Rabbinic leadership. Doesn’t that put any of their supposed allegations against Rabbis under severe question? Ever wonder why the bulk of these allegations are against Rabbis? Does it make sense that Rabbinic Ordination and leadership leads a person to abuse others?