I waited. I was hoping to be enlightened. R’ Moti Elon, who is likely to appeal charges against him, and for all anyone knows may not be found guilty, was condemned by Takana, a highly respected group of Modern Orthodox Rabbis and learned women. The court re-affirmed their findings.
In a case like this, one must be careful. Elon does have rights, and one must write alleged. At the same time, there is absolutely no Chiyuv that I know of, which would make it necessary to invite him specifically to give a Torah lecture while this very real cloud hangs over Elon.
Rav Druckman had invited him, and whilst nobody can be anything but impressed by his achievements as a human being and as an educator par excellence, one must question his judgement in this case. I waited for an explanation, but either I’ve missed it, or there is none.
Accordingly, I have suspended my faith in his judgement. It’s a pity we don’t have a body like Takana here in Melbourne. There are some dubious individuals, about which there is a raft of evidence that hasn’t yet seen the courts, circulating with clear ramifications that call for an enquiry. I see no need to INVITE such people to speak on topics given the very dark cloud that surrounds their past. Yes, they are innocent until proven guilty, but we can do better than choosing people who seem to be moral and upright and don’t have such clouds accompanying them. If and when they clear their name, בבקשה.
It reminds me of the sad story re-told by Rabbi Riskin:
“Let me tell you a true incident which for me is a metaphor of our times. A young man attended a yeshiva in Safed.
“The first morning, he arrived a bit late for breakfast and there was no milk left for his coffee. He went to the grocery, purchased a container of milk and placed the container in the yeshiva refrigerator with a sign, ‘Private property.’
“The next morning, the container was gone.
“He bought another container, on which he added to the previous sign, ‘Do not steal.’
“The next morning, that container, too, was missing.
“He purchased a new container, adding to the sign, ‘Questionable gentile milk’ (halav akum). This time no one took his container; he left the yeshiva.”
At the risk of sounding like an Orthodox basher, let me say that far too little is written about the lack of leadership on morality and ethics on the left side of our divide. I did notice criticism of Macabbi in the 2000’s for allegedly not doing enough to separate someone wth a grey cloud over their head, from Macabbi kids. In general, the left leadership is moribund except when it sees an Orthodox target. They includes the reform and the conservatives and the “unaligned” (Shira Chadasha, who for some reason market themselves as Orthodox but are not considered as such by 99% of the Orthodox community).
Jews are a strange group. That’s why we have the crazy notion of people who want to “celebrate” Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur without God. They advertised in the paper. I would imagine they sit around in Yoga type trances and moments of thought, and make “new year resolutions” while consuming apples dipped in honey. Ultimately, they are celebrating with God, for He ordained the concepts and their meaning. They just have a pintele yid, which is clouded by secularist, do good, and tikkun olam (the modern socialist mantra). They are good concepts in the main, but whether they like it or not, God is part of our tradition! Rosh Hashana isn’t “Happy New Year”. Why not run it on December 31st with the others? Isn’t that more inclusive and likely to break down the “barriers”.
It’s actually God’s coronation. It’s not about making “commitments” per se, although one should use these times to improve.
Anyway, I digress, as usual, given this is (as always) an unedited conscious stream …
pitputim 
“why don’t they run it on Dec 31st?”
Don’t you mean Dec 32nd? That’s when the others do it.
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“Yes, they are innocent until proven guilty, but we can do better than choosing people who seem to be moral and upright and don’t have such clouds accompanying them. If and when they clear their name, בבקשה.”
Are you talking about people who have been convicted in court or people who have only been named by gossipers?
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People who have been convicted in court certainly should seek to keep a distance and we should seek them to be at a distance as they are a menace (rodef) to society. If they subsequently are exonerated, then each case is different and we can’t generalise.
In terms if rumours, they need to be reported. It should be done very quietly if not public knowledge, but must be investigated as a sofek rodef. Of course in the same way that we look out for the abused and strongly encourage them to come out (even anonymously to a royal commission) we must also be careful not to destroy someone and their family over incorrect attribution.
My record on these issues is abundantly clear despite some in Tzedek or supporters thereof attempting to openly lie and somehow paint me as a protector of low lives. Nothing could be further than the truth, and its not only on the record, I have demonstrable action to back up my stance in such things.
It pains me greatly when those who are abused seem to think that anyone who seeks for ultimate EMES to prevail becomes some quasi enemy. You simply cannot go off shooting indiscriminately but you do need to alert the relevant authorities and provide warmth and friendship and support to those who have, or have claimed to have suffered.
I simply cannot accept or understand Rav Druckman. He isn’t Charedi and is a lover of the land and people. He’s list ME however.
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“In terms if rumours, they need to be reported.” – who to?
“It should be done very quietly if not public knowledge,” – how does loshon horo become acceptable public knowledge? What, someone comes up to another person during dovening and says ‘Have you heard, Ploni is a molester?’ ‘Thanks for that, I will pass it on.’
I don’t understand.
“but must be investigated as a sofek rodef.” – by who? The Rabbonim that sent Leifer overseas? Yeah, right.
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Reported to authorities of course. I don’t know what happened with the Laufer case for example but that was more than rumours and was allegedly known as such for months.
In other cases, you can tell the authorities, and often they ALREADY know about the rumours. Theirs is a difficult job because people are reticent to approach them often because it seems to take the abused many years to gain the strength to come forward. I don’t judge them on that matter, of course
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Talking of losing faith, I haven’t seen anything written about the Supreme Court judgement of the Gutnick vs Tashi case. Where is the outrage? Maybe because everyone benefits from Yossel’s largesse.
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I read it and saw two businessmen slug it out in court. One was clearly not considered a reliable witness by the judge, and was castigated for his actions. I don’t think that shocked me anywhere near as much the Rav Druckman issue. If anything, it will mean people will be more careful when they do business. I was also shocked by the ability of so called anonymous people to besmirch the Maccabi President and to tar him without so much as any evidence whatsoever. We need to treat these anonymous informants as beneath contempt. Unless THEY have been victims, why the HECK are they anonymous? Then I read the sanctimonious advice from Tzedek about how Shules should “police” their services. Who set them up as the experts on such matters let alone the people who should be advising Shules about how to deal with those who don’t sit with their parents? I sit on the board of a Shule, and I know what we do, and I know what we have done as soon as we heard of such things. We aren’t idiots.
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