Q&A: S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-N
S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-N
Question
A rabbi has come into our area, and he has a range of behaviors that, taken together, give me the impression that this is preparation for silencing people in the event of adultery or sexual misconduct if such is found in him.
He is working hard, and intensely, to accumulate more and more power, even in places where it is less acceptable for a rabbi to push in. He makes sure to publicize himself on a totally disproportionate scale relative to a small, sleepy neighborhood. He makes a lot of noise and creates a situation where he is very well known and it will be hard to criticize him. I have seen how he creates dependency on him in matters that are not really the concern of the rabbinate: “Come to me and I’ll help you with this and that.” He pushes himself to give lectures everywhere, in places that are not strong enough to tell him there is no need because there are plenty of speakers better than he is (he is below average in that field). He pushes into kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, etc. He also tends to lie and scheme, and tries to crush whoever seems to him like a possible target.
In short, in all his known actions so far there is no clear sign of sexual deviance, though he is building around himself power, force, and control at all the main points, so that anyone harmed by him obviously would have no opening to speak.
My questions:
Is it proper to alert the public to this, even though there are no concrete grounds regarding the frightening matter itself?
And also, regarding casting aspersions: how can one blacken someone’s name and say “be careful not to be alone with so-and-so” when there is no evidence at all—along the lines of “what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow”?
Answer
It is hard for me to answer such a general question. If you have a significant concern about harm, you must act to prevent it. But without actually knowing anything, you have no permission to speak defamatory speech about him, and therefore you should warn people to be careful about various things without slandering him.
As for behaviors of his that you do know about, you may oppose them and warn others even if he is hurt by it, if it is for a constructive purpose.
Discussion on Answer
As I wrote, without information you have no permission to speak defamation. General warning is possible.
I read the question twice more in case I had missed something, and I did not understand what aroused your suspicion. You do not know of, and have not heard about, any woman who was harmed, so what exactly are you trying to say? The new rabbi seems publicity-hungry and power-driven to me, so he must be a deviant? A completely bizarre question.
I also had doubts about this.
But the question is from what direction you are looking.
If you look from the end point—at how serial abusers in communities look once they are exposed—you can see how they (maybe not even consciously) paved the way for the silencing and the ability to get away with it, how they became an address for women, people of authority, an intimidating candidate, etc. And based on that, there is some justice to this gentleman’s suspicion.
It is like the algorithm that the Border Police built to identify Arabs who were going to carry out stabbings, and a month or two before they themselves even thought about that extremism, they would come and warn them and their parents that according to the algorithm they were on the way there and needed urgent treatment.
It sounds crazy, but in reality it works—it identifies the stabbers in advance and prevents attacks.
So if you look at a person only as he is now, there is no reason to suspect.
But if you look according to where this ends, the suspicion screams out.
I also have a certain suspicion about a rabbi in my neighborhood. He is a great Torah scholar and I admire him for his greatness in Torah, but there were a few public decisions in the neighborhood that he pushed for that were destructive, and since then my attitude has been: suspect him, yet respect him. I do not know whether he is completely naive. I hope so. As for my own household, I try to keep them at a distance from him without saying anything.
Just an anecdote—according to the midrash, the Jewish people also suspected Moses our Rabbi, and were jealous regarding their wives. Apparently he was quite popular among the women of Israel in a way that annoyed their husbands.
Thank you for the answer. I myself also thought of raising awareness about the accumulation of power, the craving for publicity, pushing into every place, creating dependency, etc.
The problem is that many innocent people see this as normal, as though it is part of a rabbi’s role; at most, they think this is just his style as a rabbi.
And without presenting the implications, they won’t wake up to it.
And the truth is that at the moment we have no “material” beyond the general caution that such a situation requires.
What should be done?
Wait until there is “material” and it becomes public?
After all, the concern is precisely that it will not become public until there are many victims.
On the other hand, slandering without evidence is also improper…