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	A Threat To Society Jewish Week February 23, 2010 http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c51_a18004/Editorial__Opinion/Editorial.html ISRAEL -- It is difficult for American Jews to appreciate the shock, disappointment and disillusionment that religious Zionists in Israel are undergoing now in response to reports that one of their most respected leaders, Rabbi Mordechai "Motti" Elon, has been accused of "sexual exploitation" in relations with male students and lying about it to his rabbinic colleagues. Scion of a prominent family — his father, Menachem, served on the Israeli Supreme Court, and his brother, Benny, is a prominent politician and former cabinet minister — Rabbi Elon was rosh yeshiva of a leading Jerusalem yeshiva and had a national following beyond the Orthodox community through a weekly television program and popular lectures on Jewish history, law and philosophy. As the story has unfolded in recent days, it JW Wine Event seems that when Rabbi Elon disappeared from public life and moved to the north five years ago, it was not for health reasons, as had been indicated. Rather, he had, in effect, quietly been banished by a group called Takana, formed after the Baruch Lanner scandal by religious Zionist rabbinic leaders in Israel to deal with cases of sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. The rabbis of Takana, including Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, the highly respected rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Gush Etzion, had heard allegations from yeshiva students of abuse on the part of Rabbi Elon, and determined that he give up his positions of leadership and teaching, which he did. But the group decided to go public last week after learning of new allegations and concluding reluctantly, according to their statement, that they had "lost all belief in the words of the rabbi." They now refer to him as a threat to society. It is a sad tale, in every respect, but not a new one, unfortunately. And one lesson here is that all of us are human and fallible, even our religious leaders. Their teachings may be brilliant, but not necessarily their behavior; one can never assume that a rabbinic title provides protection from deviant actions. Perhaps most important, while the rabbis of Takana are to be commended for their initial attempt to take effective action, they should have gone to the authorities from the outset and spared subsequent victims from suffering. Colleagues policing colleagues doesn't work — neither does protecting abusers, no matter how well intentioned the effort.
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