Ben Levi:
Well written, and I hear the message. Just that you pointed to some of the shortcomings of today’s society, without recognizing that there is so much more that is responsible for our current disastrous matzav.
Our lifestyles are founded greatly on appearance. Yes, image. That is why we have the audacity to call our yeshivos, threaten them to withdraw our children if they allow a certain child into their yeshiva. We effectively take control by our “image” to stop others from benefitting from Torah chinuch. Our dress codes in school have departed from the mission of chinuch (though teaching tznius is a valid portion of chinuch). We demand the extremes of pomp and flair for our Roshei Yeshivos, Chassidishe Rebbes, etc. while missing the proliferation of Yir’as Shomayim that needs to surround these people. We are far more preoccupied with “Kavod Hatorah” than with insuring “No Child Left Behind”.
We deserve the grime that covers the frum community (Hashem Yishmereinu) because we empower people to do that which they cannot. Therapists without any training in the field, educators, including menahalim, rebbes, teachers, and others who have zero background in how to conduct their jobs, and countless spokespeople who may have oratory skills but lack the grounding of knowledge on their subjects. That disgrace rears its ugly head from time to time, and has done so here.
Every rebbe needs to exercise all the good judgment to keep himself protected. Yes, we must live defensively. Not because of the rogues out there, but because of ourselves. We cannot be so utterly stupid as to point to the latest conviction, and bemoan the anti-semitism because he wears a shtreimel on Shabbos. (I don’t know that anti-semitism wasn’t a factor, but that’s not the problem of the moment.)
Therapists are in authoritative roles, and must recognize that they can be exposed by their clients. How do they protect themselves? By texting young women and girls during the night? By seeing female clients in their offices at hours when the only females they see are their own wives? By trashing hilchos yichud on a regular basis?
I will not cry for those rebbeim that choose to leave the field. They will probably be happier with better incomes elsewhere. I only hope that the new crop of applicants for their positions have training in the field, and bring responsible skills to the job, not the pseudo-qualification of having learned in kollel for multiple years.
You cry for the convict’s family. Perhaps they deserve some sympathy. After all, they did not commit any crimes. But we must ask, where were his wife and children when he took young girls and women behind locked doors, in an empty building, at odd hours of the night? We ask today the questions that should have been asked years ago. How silly.
Yes, today’s world is quite different. We have issues of keeping cell phones off in shul. We have instant communication, whether by phone, text, or email. We can shop for anything, products, services, even inappropriate materials (chas veshalom) without leaving our chairs. Our children have self-esteems that are fragile, and are easily damaged. Not by having cheaper shoes than their classmates, but by the ridicule and bizarre verbal and emotional abuse that happens everyday by bullies and poorly trained mechanchim. We can no longer protect our children from knowing the latest news, whether it is the OJ trial, the Penn State scandal, or our latest community schmutz. By quite young ages, our children know much more about things than we could have. Is there a 10 year old who does not what ebay or Amazon are? (I grew up knowing that Amazon was a river in Africa.)
We cannot legitimately compare today’s world with yesteryear, and drawing comparisons is either an effort at comedy or plain foolish. We have major hurdles to overcome if we are to cope with the decadent world of today, and it is NOT the fault of how this latest affair was handled. That jury might reflect the tzuris of our time, but is not a cause for anything, besides someone who was a public menace being put away. Yes, he deserves the opportunity to appeal, though I believe his guilt. How we got here is our fault, and we need to examine ourselves before blaming others.