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| RCA President Rabbi Leonard Matanky |
That is of course one of the most ridiculous and disgusting statements
anyone can make about the lofty profession of being a rabbi. And yet if one
would read what is being said by some victim’s advocates and many people who
comment on the issue, this would be the conclusion. I’m not saying that anyone actually
believes that. But that is the impression one gets. The venom I often see spewed
at the rabbinate is so over the top that it is almost comical.
The truth of course is nothing of the sort. The vast
majority of rabbis are altruistic dedicated people that strive mightily to
serve God and His people. Unfortunately there are always the bad apples that
ruin it for everybody. This is what happens when one discovers the Lanners, Kolkos,
Webermans, Gordons, Mondrowitzes, and Freundels of the world. They have abused
their position to one extent or another in order to satisfy their own lust at the expense
of others. Sometimes to the point of permanent psychological damage to their
victims that occasionally end in suicide! This is not even arguable.
The public is rightly outraged by these miscreants. And
their call for change is justified. There have indeed been far too many cases
of cover-up. I believe that this is why the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA)
is reviewing its conversion procedures. I support their doing so, despite the
umbrage taken by some of its rabbis.
(Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is one such rabbi. He has resigned as
a Dayan (judge)from the conversion court he was involved in because he felt
that Halacha as embodied in the RCA’s Gerus Protocol and Standards (GPS) might
be tampered with. While I understand his concern, I think he acted too hastily
in resigning. The RCA has clearly stated
that their review will be geared only toward additional protection of the the convert. It will not tamper with
Halacha. At the very least rabbi Pruzansky should have waited to see what would
happen before he resigned. But that is neither here nor there with respect to
this issue.)
The precipitating event that caused the RCA to convene this
committee was the Freundel scandal. As most people know by now, in his capacity
as the Rabbi and overseer of conversions in his synagogue, he abused his power
in many ways, the most egregious of which was installing cameras in the Mikva
so that he could watch and record women utilizing the Mikva undress and
immerse.
Converts are required to immerse in a Mikva in order to complete their
conversions. They are particularly vulnerable as their conversions are under
the complete discretion of the rabbi that brings them to conversion.
One may recall that a while back such vulnerability had caused a rather famous conversion rabbi to take sexual advantage of one of his female converts.
That said, I think it is completely unfair to paint all rabbis
as less than idealistic. It is unfair to say that all of them – or even most of
them - would abuse or cover-up abuse of their fellow rabbis. That cover-ups
happen is not surprising since it is so hard to believe a long time respected colleague
would ever do things he is being accused of. But to assume that all or most
rabbis would protect their colleagues at the expense of victims is at best
a gross exaggeration.
I have to agree with Rabbi Eliyahu Safran’s defense of the honor of the rabbinate.
He described it as place where idealistic young men have chosen
a career to serve God and His people according to the dictates of the Torah.
You don’t go into the rabbinate for the money. It is therefore unfair to paint
the rabbinate with a broad brush. The care taken by rabbis at conversions he
has been involved with should not be overlooked. I think what he described is more
the rule than the exception.
Ordinarily I would say that such dedication and devotion to
doing the right thing would suffice for them to self regulate. But the fact
that there have been so many cases of sexual abuse by rabbis means that the rabbinate needs
more transparency. The few have ruined it for the many.
How we go about achieving this is the $64,000 question. This
is what the RCA is doing. Hopefully. At least with respect to Mikva use by the
convert - procedures can be developed that will prevent any future attempt at
abuse by any rabbi.
It is a shame that the honor of the rabbinate has been tainted
this way. There are a lot of good rabbis out there that must be paranoid by now…
thinking that everyone thinks they are predators. Or protectors of
their cronies who are. I do not believe for a moment that is the norm. But it
is a problem that exists. And it needs to be dealt with.
Good rabbis that have deservedly been trusted before might now
feel embarrassed and insulted by this turn of events. Which is an unfair and uncomfortable
consequence of all this. But the better part of caution should require that
rabbinic honor be subordinated to the welfare of the public. Transparency is
now - sadly - a necessity. As long as
current conversion standards are not tampered with - I am all for it.
But at the same time, it is wrong to paint the rabbinate
with the broadest of negative brushes that is so common these days. Most rabbis deserve our respect. And we ought
to give it to them.
