1:36 PM
Gil Student
Link to original
(Corresponding statement by women)
The following was drafted by Rabbi Michael Taubes of Teaneck, New Jersey as a proposed letter to the editor of The Jewish Week in the days following the July 29 article regarding Rabbi Hershel Schachter, shlit"a. Rabbi Taubes had initially hoped to send it in the name of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, of which he is the immediate past president, but the varied summer schedules of the RCBC members and the fact that the RCBC does not generally meet during the summer made it impossible to reach the membership in a timely fashion. The letter was therefore not sent to the newspaper.
As people return from their summer vacations and Rabbi Schachter, shlit"a resumes his regular shiurim in RIETS and various communities (including Teaneck, New Jersey) it was felt that it would be appropriate to release the statement at this time.
As rabbis and students who have studied under and/or benefitted from the encompassing, patient and concerned Halachic guidance of Rabbi Hershel Schachter, shlit"a, we were appalled and dismayed by the article in the July 29 edition of The Jewish Week about our revered teacher and Rebbe. This article took out of context a passing remark made by Rabbi Schachter and seized upon it as an excuse to publicly disparage and besmirch the reputation of this highly respected Torah leader. While the author of the article and the other sources cited in the piece may have been unaware of the fact that designating an activity which has no Halachic standing as something that "a monkey could do" simply reflects a fairly common rabbinic expression rooted in the Talmud itself (having nothing, by the way, to do with women), no truly objective person, and certainly nobody who has had the chance to meet and converse with Rabbi Schachter, could possibly think that this sensitive and caring Talmid Chacham would ever intend to belittle women by comparing them in any way to monkeys, as the report suggests. The very allegation would be laughable were it not so outrageous and inappropriate.
This is not, however, the forum to debate the relative merits of Rabbi Schachter's statement or whether it deserved, with all that is going on in the world today, a full story, complete with a picture (though outdated) and in-depth analysis and commentary (though in large part anonymous). It would seem to us, though, that a newspaper with the word "Jewish" in its masthead ought to try and champion, among other things, the concept of kevod haRav, respect for a rabbi, especially one who is so widely acknowledged as a Torah authority by many of its readers who themselves or whose own local rabbis consult him regularly on matters ranging from Kashruth to business law to life and death medical decisions.
Given the fact that the Talmud likens one who mocks a Torah scholar to a heretic, The Jewish Week would do well to instead help its readership understand how accepted and true representatives of Torah values should be treated, even where there may be areas of disagreement. We are sure that Rabbi Schachter would graciously accept an apology for this gratuitous defamation of his character.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Michael Taubes
