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Y.U. cuts ties with Jerusalem yeshiva
JTA Daily Briefing - March 12, 2003 (Original Author) - http://www.jta.org/brknews.asp?id=57356


Chicago Jewish News - Friday, March 14, 2003 - http://www.chicagojewishnews.org/today.jsp


Yeshiva University cut ties with an Israeli yeshiva amid charges that a rabbi suspected of sexual and psychological abuse is maintaining improper influence over some students. A Y.U. official confirmed reports that the university severed ties with Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim in Jerusalem after it learned that 10 sophomores who had studied with a certain rabbi during their Year in Israel program continued to attend Jewish studies classes with him instead of attending regular classes upon their return. "The students had a tie to this rabbi, they had a certain allegiance to him and they felt they wanted to continue their relationship with him — and this is what raised questions, in light of the fact that there is a history of allegations," the official said. "The allegations were serious enough that it would not be appropriate for Yeshiva University to have their students in that kind of environment." Y.U. will not take disciplinary action against the students for failing to attend class, and no one charges that they have been abused, the official said. An official at Derech Etz Chaim blasted Y.U., telling the Jerusalem Post that the university probe into the matter "did not include us." Sexual abuse allegations against the rabbi first surfaced 20 years ago at a California yeshiva, the Post reported, though they were never proven. Y.U. is making alternate plans for 11 freshman and four sophomores still at the yeshiva in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood, the official said.

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YU cuts ties with yeshiva in Jerusalem over rabbi's conduct
ELLI WOHLGELERNTER

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition - Mar. 10, 2003

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1047183201270


A prominent rabbi loosely affiliated with a Jerusalem yeshiva was investigated by Yeshiva University and found to have allegedly sexually abused and engaged in cult-like behavior with his students, leading YU to sever ties with the Jerusalem school.

The school, Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim (DEC) located in Har Nof, is "perplexed at the allegations, and angry at the process and the lack of menshlechkeit" on the part of YU.

DEC, one of some 15 yeshivot that are part of YU's Israel Program, was founded five years ago. It is home to some 35 male students all from the US who study in Israel in their post-high school year, and sometimes for a second year.

According to YU's newspaper, The Commentator, which first disclosed the news last week, the school's office of admissions sent a letter on February 14 to parents of current DEC students, informing them: "After a review of the educational standards and the learning environment at Derech Etz Chaim," maintaining its association with DEC would be "betraying the trust between Yeshiva University and its students."

A source within YU said the investigation had more to do with the rabbi's domineering influence on the students which was apparent when the students enrolled at the university upon their return from Israel than the alleged charge of sexual abuse.

The letter of termination was sent two days before YU officials met with the head of DEC, Rabbi Aharon Katz, to inform him of the investigation and the school's decision.

"The YU investigation did not include us," a spokesman for DEC told The Jerusalem Post. "What kind of investigation does not approach, address, or notify the party being investigated? Let them send us a letter telling us about the allegations, and we'll deny it."

The spokesman said the rabbi in question who comes from a prominent rabbinic family in America has no official capacity with the school; has never received any money from it; and has stopped the weekly Torah portion lecture that he used to give on Thursday nights.

Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual adviser to YU students who is presently in Israel, said, "The description of the role that the rabbi in question played in the school, in terms of the number of classes he gives, is accurate; but the role he actually plays in terms of the school being run by his pupils, and many students going to him for Friday and Shabbat, is far greater than that which is reflected in the number of classes he gives in the school."

Sexual charges first surfaced over 20 years ago at a yeshiva the rabbi headed in Santa Clara, California, called Yeshivat Kerem. The Commentator writes:

"The yeshiva had been thriving until the fall of 1983, when students began to come out with allegations that they had been sexually abused by the said rabbi during their years in the yeshiva. Within a few months after the rabbi, shunned by the student populace and confirmed as a sexual deviant, left the yeshiva amidst controversy Yeshivat Kerem shut down. Because many of the allegations had been kept quiet, the yeshiva's closing was perceived as the result of financial difficulty."

The spokesman for DEC said, "We had heard rumors of allegations from 20 years ago, but they were vague, they were never proven, and we treated them as such."

Blau, who met with DEC representatives last week, said YU has "an obligation to be 100 percent sure that there is no risk to our students. We are not asserting clear knowledge of anything inappropriate now. Because of the history, and the levels of closeness and involvement that a number of students have with him that seems to be encouraged by the school itself, we felt that we cannot take the responsibility of affiliating our name, which parents take as an indication that we endorse the school."

An Orthodox rabbi in the United States said he had heard about the rumors back then, and that "everyone in the yeshiva world had a suspicion about this. People saw him as a strange character. He was different."

Nevertheless, the rabbi said the alleged offender was a "talmid hacham" (scholar), and a "brilliant thinker, whose sefarim [religious texts] were well received."

The DEC spokesman said YU is being vague in its questioning of the yeshiva's "educational standards and the learning environment," and that by "writing this, they can bring into question almost anything about anything involved in the yeshiva. What specifically are they claiming?"

The spokesman said that next year, "We may not be able to open. It's unfortunate that young rebei'im [teachers] will be out of a job, a fine institution will be shut down, and students who want to come back for a second year will have to find someplace else to go. We have no intention of shutting down, but we'll have to see."

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From the Editor's Desk - Yehoshua Levine
Yeshiva University Commentator - Volume 67, Issue 9

March 6, 2003 - Adar II 5763

http://www.yucommentator.com/v67i9/oped/arkansas.html


A few weeks ago, a senior staff writer with The Arkansas Traveler, the student newspaper at the University of Arkansas, contacted The Commentator to gain a perspective on increased security on New York City college campuses in light of the recent Code Orange government warning. She particularly wanted to know if the security response here was different because we are a Jewish college, "presumably with close ties to Israel," as she put it. This was certainly a perceptive question, and it prompted a factual, no-frills response. But it was the string of friendly follow up questions that really struck a chord.

The writer wrote that she has "always been curious" about Yeshiva University and about other colleges "with outwardly religious identifications." She wondered if and how the religion directly carries over to our classes and our student activities. At one point, she went right to the newspaper. Does our newspaper include "religious sermons or Bible or other Jewish topics"? she wanted to know. Do our religious beliefs influence what we write?

Without thinking too much, I answered in the affirmative. I was more than aware of what she was referring to, I told myself. The notion that The Commentator must answer to a higher authority than other college newspapers has been a central part of the discourse that our newspaper propounds. And I wholeheartedly agree with every defense in the book. Of course we are bound by halacha, and it goes without saying that what we cover and how we cover it must adhere to a certain morality dictated by the spirit of the halachic system. Easy.

The day after I received the last of the e-mails from the Arkansan journalist, a group of Yeshiva administrators decided to terminate Derech Etz Chaim's affiliation with the University, and I set out to discover the reasons behind the decision. As I began to learn more and more about what was going on and what the allegations were – and as I started to consider publishing an article that would no doubt publicize what I had learned – the woman's questions took on a new meaning as I realized that my easily and automatically articulated response to her was translating into a practical nightmare. Effortlessly preaching the ideal may be a universally-accepted custom – as it should be – but everything gets exponentially harder when a practical case comes up, I began to realize. In certain instances, finding common ground between journalistic responsibility and the halachic value system proves extremely difficult, and my first thought was that the case at hand serves as a perfect example of such an instance.

For two weeks, I weighed the benefits and drawbacks of publishing the story. Relevance to YU students, while usually the most important criteria for inclusion in The Commentator, was put on the back burner in favor of more pressing concerns. I recognized that the biggest problem with recounting the allegations against the rabbi and the general background to YU's decision would be potential lashon hara about Derech Etz Chaim and, most directly, about the rabbi himself. Furthermore, a number of students (not only alumni) had suggested that the case is already closed, that the rabbi has been embarrassed enough. Why should I rub salt in the wound and spread undue lashon hara, they pointed out to me, if there's no to'eles, productive purpose, that will come out of it?

Ironically, it was precisely the way this argument was formulated that convinced me that I have every right – and possibly even an obligation – to indeed publish it. The argument is fundamentally flawed. The case is not closed. The rabbi may be publicly shamed, but that was the case twenty years ago as well. Just like then, he may be down, but he's certainly not out. Notifying the public as to what he has allegedly done may very well prevent him from abuse not only in Derech Etz Chaim, but in other yeshivos as well. Since 1983, he has managed to rise up once again and exert his charisma over an entirely new crop of students. If we let the issue slide and refuse to publicize what we have discovered about him (which is what occurred in 1983), what's to stop him from abusing yet another group of students in ten years from now, somewhere else? Of course there's a to'eles here.

And the to'eles extends beyond the specific rabbi as well. This case should serve as a reality check to the potentials of dangerous rebbe-talmid relationships, especially those that may develop in Israel – or anywhere else where the student is far from home or otherwise vulnerable. And indeed, it often takes specific examples to get a point across. To study Locke's assessment of scientific knowledge from a purely theoretical standpoint, for example – without understanding how Locke treats Newtonian mechanics – is useless. Similarly, paying lip service to the risks of abuse or cult-like conduct in religious role models does not come close to providing specific examples in which such behavior has allegedly occurred. People remember information, not abstractions.

I'm not trying to play hero. Far from it. I'm merely relaying the objective facts of the decision-making and investigatory processes to the YU community and hoping that doing this will, in some even remotely indirect way, publicly label the said rabbi as someone who cannot be involved in any form of chinuch and also alert the public as to the potentialities of overly domineering and controlling rabbeim, especially for open-minded, often naïve students away from home for the first time in their lives. Of course, we cannot take advantage of the situation by embarking on a highly detailed and opinionated diatribe against the rabbi based on the results of the investigation. But to assume that there's no purpose in letting people know what's going on with this allegedly pedophilic rabbi and the yeshiva that he has molded is, in my opinion, inane and untenable.

It must be noted that the allegations fueling YU's decision tell us nothing about the Derech Etz Chaim students or alumni, who have been shoved into this whole mess by virtue of the mere fact that they are learning or have learned in the yeshiva. These students are sincere guys who did nothing wrong, and they should not be viewed as members of a cult. To accuse them of such things – and even to think of them in this manner – is groundless stupidity and serves as a perfect example of impetuous, irrational behavior.

To satisfy another of the Chafetz Chaim's conditions for what allows potentially harmful information to be publicly offered even in a case of definite to'eles, I made two modifications to earlier drafts of the article that now appear in the final draft. First, as is clearly evident, I removed the name of the rabbi. Although at least two respected rabbeim advised me that there is just as much of a chiyuv to publicize the rabbi's name as there is a chiyuv to divulge what happened, I felt more comfortable leaving it out. Anyone wishing to find out his name can easily do so. Second, I removed a portion of the article that thoroughly described the allegations themselves, both back then and now in Derech Etz Chaim. I again assumed that this additional information would be superfluous to the point at hand.

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Derech Etz Chaim Severed from YU Israel Program
by Yehoshua Levine

The Commentator (Yeshiva University)

Volume 67, Issue 9

March 6, 2003 - Adar II 5763

http://www.yucommentator.com/v67i9/news/derech.html


Yeshiva officials recently terminated Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim's affiliation with the S. Daniel Abraham Joint Israel Program after discovering "compelling evidence" that a rabbi integrally associated with the yeshiva has a history of allegedly sexually abusing and engaging in cult-like behavior with his students. The decision, which took effect on February 13 and was made public in a letter sent to parents of current Derech Etz Chaim (DEC) students, followed an intensive international investigation in which the University concluded that maintaining its association with DEC would be "betraying the trust between Yeshiva University and its students."

Yeshivat Derech Etz Chaim is a small yeshiva in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem that has been a favorite of Yeshiva's Joint Israel Committee since it opened its doors five years ago. It has been a favorite of Yeshiva students as well, boasting more and more students in Yeshiva's Israel Program each year.

Throughout the past four weeks, YU administrators on the Joint Israel Committee have ascertained that the rabbi, under whose influence and tutelage DEC operates, has a longtime record of allegedly exhibiting exceedingly inappropriate behavior with his students. "What he has allegedly done," one close source said, "is inconceivably shocking."

Those involved in the recent decision to terminate the affiliation pointed out that striking parallels to the rabbi's alleged domineering behavior are currently resurfacing in DEC. "We've been finding cases that sound eerily similar to those which allegedly occurred in the past with [the rabbi]," the source said. "And given this situation, we can't wait three months for something to happen."


The Clues

The charges extend back to 1983, when Yeshivat Kerem, a yeshiva in Santa Clara, California, mysteriously shut down. The yeshiva had been thriving until the fall of 1983 when students began to come out with allegations that they had been sexually abused by the said rabbi during their years in the yeshiva. Within a few months – after the rabbi, shunned by the student populace and confirmed as a sexual deviant, left the yeshiva amidst controversy – Yeshivat Kerem shut down. Because many of the allegations had been kept quiet, the yeshiva's closing was perceived as the result of financial difficulty.

The Yeshiva administrators who made the decision to terminate DEC's affiliation with YU point out that this rabbi is the driving force behind everything in DEC – from its teaching approach to its overall hashkafa. To begin with, one of his closest students is DEC Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Aharon Katz, whom he effectively raised since Katz's teenage years. Two of his sons are rabbeim in the yeshiva. And with rare exceptions, DEC students consider him their rebbe. Although they have since been removed in order to downplay his association with DEC, numerous pictures of DEC students with the rabbi had been on the DEC website, www.ondec.net. Even a regular online shiur he gives can be found on a site sponsored by DEC. In the words of a Yeshiva source, "He is not just involved with the yeshiva – he is the yeshiva."

Asked why, according to his understanding, Yeshivat Kerem closed, Katz responded, "I have no idea. I graduated as a student there some time before it closed. My understanding was that the school had financial problems, not uncommon at that time."

Katz also denies the extent of the said rabbi's influence and involvement. "On Thursday evenings we host a public shiur which enjoys the attendance of over 100 people including community members and most DEC students," he said, in reference to the rabbi's weekly class. Katz would not comment further on the rabbi's supposed association with DEC or on any of the specific cases of close interaction with students.


The Evidence

A few weeks ago, a member of the Judaic Studies administration received a call from a woman whose shabbos guest, a DEC alum, had repeated a d'var Torah in the name of the rabbi that had contained what she considered inappropriate and irrelevant sexual references. The woman, an expert on child abuse who had been on the Independent NCSY Special Commission investigating Rabbi Baruch Lanner, was mildly distressed and wished to bring this to the attention of YU, to which DEC was affiliated.

"Her phone call didn't worry me too much at the time," the administrator explained. "But it did prompt me to make a few phone calls, just to make sure. We spoke with the parents of the guy [who had given the d'var Torah], alumni, and others familiar with the yeshiva. We spoke with rabbeim who had heard Derech Etz Chaim alumni claim that they don't go to shiur because only their derech of learning is [the correct one]. And one thing led to another."

At that point, a number of other administrators joined the investigation. They spoke with Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz, a Los Angeles resident who is currently the principal of Emek Hebrew Academy, an elementary school in the San Fernando Valley, and a former Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Kerem, who offered the names and phone numbers of victims and professionals who had allegedly been involved at many different levels in Kerem. Also explaining that many students had gone through significant therapy after coming out with their allegations, Eidlitz attributed the yeshiva's closure to what had been going on under the rabbi's leadership.

Before contacting anyone else, the investigation narrowed in on Eidlitz and the sources he had supplied to insure that they could be trusted. According to a Yeshiva administrator who had made "a number of calls" to get a sense of Eidlitz's honesty and reliability, "He [Eidlitz] checks people unbelievably well." And in reference to the victims and professionals who later recalled the specifics of what went on in Kerem, the administrator noted that "they were first ascertained to be well-respected members of their [respective] communities, and most importantly, impeccably honest people."

Concurrently, YU confirmed that Rav Elya Svei, Rosh HaYeshiva of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, had written a letter after the Yeshivat Kerem fiasco that was signed by the rabbi. In the letter, the rabbi agreed that he would not become involved with chinuch, Jewish education, neither in the United States nor in Israel, and that in exchange for this agreement, no charges against him would be pressed. Rabbi Pinchas Lipschutz, Editor of Yated Neeman and a close attendant of Rav Svei's, recalled that this letter had indeed been written and signed. Katz, on the other hand, said that he is "not aware of any such document."


The Decision

Roughly ten Yeshiva administrators – including Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Yosef Blau, Dean of Admissions Michael Kranzler, Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduate Jewish Studies Rabbi Danni Rapp, Senior University Dean of Students Dr. Efrem Nulman, Stern College for Women Dean Dr. Karen Bacon, Dean of Undergraduate Jewish Studies Rabbi Michael Shmidman, and Director of Enrollment Management Dr. John Fisher, among others – held a meeting on February 12 and decided to sever YU's affiliation with DEC on the grounds that the yeshiva's ideological and spiritual backbone is someone with a history of alleged sexual and psychological abuse of his students. Because YU stamps an implicit seal of approval upon the schools in its Israel Program, it was decided that keeping DEC in the Program would be betraying the trust between YU and its students and their parents.

On February 14, one day before the Israel Program contract deadline, the Office of Admissions sent out a letter to the parents of current DEC students informing them that "[a]fter a review of the educational standards and the learning environment at Derech Etz Chaim, Yeshiva University has decided to end the affiliation of Derech Etz Chaim with our S. Daniel Abraham Program in Israel." While promising to grant academic credit to students who choose to remain in DEC – or, presumably, to learn there on own their own in the future – the missive offered to "help [students] relocate to another school in Israel or to the New York campus" should the student decide to "leave the school now." It was mainly because of this line that curious parents and students have been contacting YU for information regarding the decision.

The Office of Admissions also sent a letter to traditional constituent high schools with a list of the yeshivos in the Israel Program, urging them to notice that DEC is no longer on the list.

A YU insider stressed that these letters contained no legal overtones. "We didn't want to get involved with legal issues," he explained. "The decision [to dissociate from DEC] was our own response to what we had been finding out. Did we want to continue having a conversation with them? No. We don't want to have anything to do with them. When it comes to the issues involved, there's no rehabilitation. There's enough evidence that people don't change. And his influence pervades the yeshiva. We've already found evidence of [that]. Yes, we were willing to dissociate ourselves from a place that [we had formerly] loved."

Kranzler further emphasized YU's confidence in the decision. "This was an extremely serious, painful decision," he said. "We were aware of the fact that from a recruitment perspective, we had everything to lose and nothing to gain. But we are so comfortable, so secure in [what we decided], as painful and as sad as it is."

Since the decision was made and the letters were mailed, Yeshiva sources note that they have found even further evidence bolstering the allegations against the rabbi. "I started speaking with guys that came out of the woodwork only later, and they gave me levels of detail that you wouldn't believe," one source said. An administrator pointed out that just a few days ago, he received a call from a woman whose son went to Tzefat with the rabbi for three days, and the DEC office would not tell her where they went.

DEC itself is attempting to come to terms with what many have called an effective death penalty for the yeshiva. Referring to YU's decision to end their affiliation with DEC, Katz remarked, "We were shocked and saddened. We have a enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Yeshiva University from the beginnings of our institution. We have viewed them as a partner and a destination we were proud to recommend to our alumni. We had been in regular contact with members of the faculty and administration and were given absolutely no indication that they were unhappy with anything at Derech Etz Chaim."

Katz also expressed frustration at the way YU dealt with the investigation and subsequent unilateral decision. "When we were abruptly informed of the decision, no reasons were given to us, and no avenue for appeal was offered," he said. "Frankly, we expected more."

Katz has been in contact with the said officials and hopes to figure out a way of winning back YU's favor. In a DEC yeshiva-wide shmooze on February 27, in fact, he stressed to his students that the said rabbi is in no way connected to DEC. YU is still quite hesitant, however. "There's no way they can look beyond their fundamental connection to [this rabbi]," an administrator noted. "It'll take [a lot] to get us to reverse our decision."