If I Were A Rosh Yeshiva

If I were a rosh yeshiva, and I discovered that my name had been signed to a letter without my permission, this is what I would do.

1. Institute a policy that any public letter I sign will be hanging in my yeshiva's administrative office for six months so that anyone can walk in off the street and verify that I signed it. If it isn't hanging there, I didn't sign it.

2. Contact the editor of the newspaper that printed the letter and:

A. Inform him of my new policy

B. Demand that he publish a retraction stating that I never signed the letter and, perhaps, explaining my position, or lack thereof, on the subject

C. Let him know that if he does not publish a retraction then I will inform his competitors of the situation and ask them to publish the retraction and inform the public that said newspaper refused to publish it even after I called and specifically requested it.

But I'm not a rosh yeshiva so I do not have to worry that my name and reputation will be used, or even distorted, without my permission.