I have no doubt that some people are really happy with their good work of late. Vendettas have been pursued rigourously and the wheels of justice are going round, well oiled, in the general public interest.
But from a kehilla that tends to pride itself on being machmir about so many things, a kehilla in which davening, learning, finding the perfect esrog and mocking the rest of Anglo-Jewry are all part and parcel of our way of life, we have disgraced ourselves beyond all imagination. I am minded to set up a pig on Golders Green Road for us all to file past and reflect on just how grob the kehilla really is.
Some months ago RCH resigned all his public offices. This wasn't enough of a downcoming, as he still had his own shteible. No. In order to effect a more complete humiliation, our wise and compassionate rabbonim issued their notorious declaration, about which the least said the better. Then came the campaign against the Union/Kedassia; and some of the most despicable blogging from anyone remotely connected to any kind of yiddishkeit. Some of these posts were, in plain English, unbecoming of human beings. Bloggers, domem, tzomai'ach, chay, odom. That's it. Yisroel? Don't make me sick.
All this was going on while a BD from abroad was preparing to sit and try the case at hand, so that justice on Torah lines would prevail. But no. The man had to resort to the English courts just so that the internet campaign against him could be stopped in the meantime. Not one rabbi stopped this campaign of hate. Not one rabbi showed an ounce of public compassion. All the bloggers no doubt got to their minyonim 3 times a day, with their gemorohs to lean on, and remembered to say 100 (or 1000) brochos a day. One big shame and disgrace on the entire community.
And the fight has now been taken into the secular boxing ring, with the man trying to protect his name before the BD paskens in his case now brought even lower by his enemies. The courts have become the weapon: if he can go to court to keep us quiet, we will see him taken to court - in handcuffs. Oh, and is one permitted to read the megilah on a train bedi'eved?? Ha! ha! ha! "Rachmonim bnei rachmonim" don't behave like this, sorry.
Being a rov, and being a leader, are not the same thing. Being frum and being a mensch are also not the same thing. And being makpid bein odom laMokom whilst being a boor to a fellow yid is just about as incongruous as coming to shul wearing a tzailem. When I go for my walk this shabbos (zochor) I will try not to think too ill of all the frummer yidden coming out of shul wishing eachother gut shabbos - while RC has been disgustingly fed to the lions (the ones now coming out of shul) by the rabbonim. All I can see is the pig on Golders Green Road with half of the community filing past, in silence at last. Purim can be cancelled this year, replaced with Tisha B'av. Or better still, nothing. We are not frum enough to warrant tisha b'av.
All the people joking about this situation:
ReplyDeleteWhichever side of the argument one is, this is a very sorry situation and not at all a laughing matter.
There are people locked up in a tiny cell having had all the liberties you and I take for granted, taken from them. It is extremely demeaning and depressing.
Plus, there are their families: wives, parents, sons, daughters, son's in law, daughters in law & extended family and friends, all worried sick. Countless innocents who have not slept for nights, people too sick with worry to be able to eat more than a few morsels.
This is supposed to be the happiest time in our year, and there are people who are suffering as nobody should ever have to suffer and people stand by cracking jokes.
Can we really be so heartless?
Before we crack the next joke, lets just think for a second about the plight of these people and their families (whether we think it deserved or otherwise) and how we would feel if we were in their position.
Then lets see if the joke is still as funny as it sounded initially.
Only the bloggers who dislike Rabbi Kalpern are claiming the arrest is for inappropriate intimate contact, the charges seem to be related to offering money to people to keep quiet. Now even if the recipients had no information of guilt to reveal, it looks suspicious if hush money is paid. This does not mean that any guilt will ever show up, it just means that police have reason to take someone in for questioning. Of course the people who pushed for this have triggered much more resentment now. The Halperns are fine people and not vindictive, but some of their admirers may get their revenge later on.
DeleteYou are correct about is that this is indeed an extremely sad state of affairs. You are not correct in blaming everybody, but one thing is certain, nobody has acted perfectly here, but then again and in fairness to the Gilui Daas Rabonim, they could never have imagined he would have acted in the way he did, holding steadfast to his position seemingly completely oblivious to the furore erupting around him as chareidi London tore itself apart because of him.
ReplyDeleteEverybody I'm sure will agree that, innocent or guilty, the right thing for him to have done, would have been to slink away quietly to let this die down, even if only for a short time.
Addenda:
ReplyDeleteWas there a Gilui Da'as condemning the unbecoming and disrespectful blogging? Was there a kedassia "Kashrus Alert" notice forbidding such public hostility towards RC? Where on earth was the leadership???
His victims brought their te'einahs to the rabbonim. Who should RC have complained to about the comments being made about him on google? Dayan Ehrentrau? RSW? It shouldn't have been necessary for him to go to court for this, and now he is in the hands of the authorities while his defamers are "getting ready for shabbos"!!!! Priceless. Is this the Jewish way, rabboisai?
Yes there was. Rabbi Roberts released one.
ReplyDeleteRe CH complaining, he and his supporters could have acted with humility and it would all have died down. Instead people fought back with all guns blazing and there was a mad rush of much muddled toing and froing. Of course they acted wrongly, but are you surprised the antis fought back?
Yep, attack the messenger while conveniently forgetting the elephant (or pig) in the room.
ReplyDeleteThe whole year by you is venehapech hu, black is white, up is down, Chaim Halpern is a godol.
Joe Blogs, you seemed to have forgotten that this self appointed rov abused your gender for years with impunity causing trauma after trauma to his victims, and now you're crying because he's sitting in a cell?? It beggers belief. Your thinking and your culture is completely upside down if you have once once of pity for him.
ReplyDeleteYes, straight minded yidden are rejoicing, finally there is the possibility of punishment.
We are hearing this the whole time what is called his victims. So far no ones knows who they are. They have not come on any blog even anonymously telling us about their 'trauma'.
ReplyDeleteThey all went to him willingly. Maybe some didnt like what he did, but to say it caused trauma one needs some symbol of evidence. So far none has been forthcoming. The GD also didnt mention this. Unless someone comes up with some proof I, and I suppose many others are not inclined to believe it.
No-one cares whether you believe it. But even a blind fool like you realises that the police don't arrest people on a whim.
ReplyDeleteIt is not about whether he did or didn't do anything over the last X number of years, and it is not about having sympathy with victims:- it is about conducting any investigation with respect and dignity and waiting for the dayonim trying the case to try it and paskan. The shameful tone of some of the blogging in the interim, forcing a person to silence his detractors before the BD has ruled one way or another is to be deplored. All the yiddishkeit in the world is of no avail if it doesn't lead us to conduct ourselves with something higher than just gut- reaction anger and lynch mob mentality. If this is our standard, we are no better than any hooligan when angry. Is this the mentality that befits making kiddush tonight????
ReplyDeleteDon't worry JB. Your point is well made and understood. Ignore the trolls.
DeleteIt's the mentality of people that can sleep comfortably in their beds tonight and every night, knowing that they have never sexually assaulted women, never attempted to bribe victims to withhold evidence of same, never conspired to pervert the cause of justice to cover up for evil.
ReplyDeleteOh, and never pretended to be a woman on the internet.
That's what's shameful, nothing else.
SH Lost Hope
ReplyDeleteI do understand your apparent fair handednesss in this but in my opinion very misguided and one sided
CH never afforded his adversaries any thought or compassion he branded DCE a mechalel shabos and ruled with an iron fist using any method to discredit them.
The chips were down for him and in a way many saw in this poetic justice
Instead of showing some humility and allowing himself to be suspended pending allegation as would any person in public office on the contrary he displayed a complete disregard for the cohesion of the entire community and is determined to bring everything crashing down around him he has displayed a callous disregard for anything besides his own self interest
He is on a hiding to nothing
anon 6:09
ReplyDeleteThanks. They havent as yet been charged at all. I happen to know who two of the women are, and I can tell you no one would trust them. But it takes the police a bit longer to find this out. If you would not be so 'BLIND' and look at these women, instead of being a fool (a chosid shoite) you would also come to the same conclusion.
CH never afforded his adversaries any thought or compassion he branded DCE a mechalel shabos and ruled with an iron fist using any method to discredit them.
ReplyDeleteDCE on his own admission is selling traifos. Otherwise a 'mehudar' kashrut wouldnt be necessary.
What a self-indulgent, rambling piece of nonsense.
ReplyDeleteGet off the fence, decide and finished.
Your lurches from right to left and back again are making me nauseous.
What a marvellous compassionate and well written work of art.
DeleteI don't generally agree with JB but in this case she's spot on.
If you can't understand that you can condemn the rabbi if you believe he has done wrong, yet at the same time have sympathy for someone imprisoned then you don't have the mental capacity to deal with this issue. Sorry we can't squeeze this in to your limited black-and-white thinking.
This is besides the fact that the others who were dragged in were not connected with this scandal and the police have a lot of questions to answer.
Who is the therapist who gave expert opinion on this, and said that they were overwhelmed by victims of RCH coming in large numbers for guidance? And who is paying the therapist to testify? And is he/she a professionally trained university graduate or a product of some mail-order degree mill?
ReplyDelete