Rabbi rallies Jewish people to support Alan Dershowitz ...

By Carmine Sabia
Bizpac Review
January 06, 2015

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2015/01/06/rabbi-rallies-jewish-people-to-support-alan-dershowitz-through-rape-allegations-he-deserves-our-solidarity-170736

Rabbi rallies Jewish people to support Alan Dershowitz through rape allegations: ‘He deserves our solidarity’

The sex trade scandal involving Britain’s Prince Andrew is hurting the reputations of several famous figures including prominent attorney and defender of Israel, Alan Dershowitz, with allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with a minor.

In the lawsuit brought by a woman against financier Jeffrey Epstein, Dershowitz is named with others such as the aforementioned prince, former president Bill Clinton, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

The woman, who was a minor at the time, alleges that Dershowitz engaged in sexual activity with her on multiple occasions, according to the Washington Post.

But Dershowitz has at least one staunch defender, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

The Rabbi wrote on op-ed in the New York Observer where he said he believes the attorney and called on the Jewish community to stand firm behind Dershowitz even though no one knows if the allegations against him are factual yet.

“There is no way any of us can know if any of this is true. But I believe Mr. Dershowitz, and not just because he denies it,” he said. “Rather, it would seem that if any of this happened the woman in question would seek criminal charges against Mr. Dershowitz, or at the very least civil damages.

She has not. Rather, she has implicated him in a civil suit against someone else.”

Boteach said that while women who are victims of sexual abuse do need to be defended we must also must also give consideration to the reputations of “individuals who have devoted their lives to the greater good.”

“Where are the Jewish leaders to rise to Mr. Dershowitz’s defense?” he asked.

“At the very least the man deserves the support of his community when he is the subject of bizarre attacks,” Boteach said. In establishing the veracity of these claims, can we not at the very least remind the world of his wholesome reputation? His life of communal service. His half century devoted to the law at the highest levels. The thousands of students to whom he has instilled a passion for the law. His courage in fighting for the Middle East’s only democracy.”

He chastised the Jewish community for running from scandals “like the plague” and called on them to back Dershowitz.

“He deserves our support,” he said. “He deserves our solidarity. And he deserves our voice.”