Lakewood Wakeup! Your rabbis need to publicly apologize for their public abuse of Rabbi "S"

After Yosef Kolko publicly confessed to raping a child, there has been studied silence from his supporters. We are not talking about some psychopaths who enjoyed destroying a distinguished talmid chachom and his family and driving them out of Lakewood for trying to defend his son according to the halacha. We are talking about the rabbinical leadership of Lakewood who lynched one of its own. We are talking about rabbis who get up before their congregations and tell them that they should be good and not speak lashon harah. Rabbis who are makpid that everyone should observe the most exacting chumros of kashrus and Shabbos. Rabbis who have devoted their lives and considerable talents to building one of the most important Torah communities in the world. We are talking about the failure of the spiritual leaders of the community!

It is astounding to me -  as a fellow Torah Jew and human being - that these rabbis who led the lynch mobs against Rabbi "S" are now silent when it has been revealed to all intelligent rational beings that they were wrong about Yosef Kolko. I am ashamed that these rabbis who have set themselves as paragons of Torah knowledge and conduct - have failed in the most elementary task - to repent and to publicly apologize to the man that they recently terrorized in the name of halacha.

It is clear - as the letters I received from Rabbi Goldin (president of the RCA) and others show - that there are many who are very uncomfortable with the lack of menschlikeit and failure to follow the halacha of publicly apologizing for their egregious error. While there are in fact some of those who terrorized Rabbi "S" - who have apologized to him in private. and even publicly- these are the very rare exception.

As a consequence of the moral and halachic cowardice of these rabbis, Lakewood is splitting into two camps. There are many avreichim who are ashamed of their rabbis. Who have lost respect for them as moral leaders. Who now have no one to turn to for "daas Torah". These are hurt and bitter individuals who will pass on this poison of cynicism and distrust for rabbinical authority to their children.  They are afraid to speak up themselves because they are totally dependent on the "system" for their existence - but they no longer are believers in the "system". They have effectively dropped out - yet remain as a fifth column in our community. The other camp is no less dangerous. These are people who refuse to believe the overwhelming evidence of Yosef Kolko's guilt - and are convinced more than ever that the world is only interested in destroying frum yidden. These are fanatics who are not capable of dealing with reality themselves - but only accept that which there rabbis tell them.  Just as emunas chachomim was destroyed by the public fight between Rav Yaakov Emden and Rav Yonason Eybschuetz  in the 18th century and which prepared the ground for the destructive forces of Reform and the Haskala - so too is the clash between those who want to accept reality and those who deny it.

It is therefore important that people convey to the rabbis of Lakewood their pained feelings and damaged emunas chachomim. It is critical for these rabbis to be aware of the horrible price the Jewish people will pay for their failure to provide moral leadership. It is imperative that the Lakewood rabbis publicly apologize to Rabbi "S" and clear the poisonous atmosphere that has developed because of the Kolko case. From what I understand he would welcome the opportunity to forgive those who have hurt him and to get on with life. It is time to stop obsessing over minor factors for kids going off the derech as well as other suffering in our community and to stand up and confront the real problems.