I am writing in response to Judy Klitsner’s Opinion piece, “How To Prevent
Future Rabbinic Scandals” (Opinion, June 12).
This article skips a crucial step. Instead of
focusing on “reactions,” we first should focus on the root cause, which is
not the deviant rabbis themselves. No, the root cause is the automatic and often blind trust we
afford our rabbis as though they are higher beings.
Rabbis are just as, and
sometimes even more, human than their congregants, and deserve respect only
if and when earned, just like other professionals in our midst. Simply put:
We must teach our children and remind ourselves that rabbis are people, too.
If we take that action, then the renegade rabbis will wield less power over
the innocent, and then perhaps we will have fewer of these incidents
requiring our “reactions.”
Englewood, N.J.
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