Today the New York Times ran an extensive story about how ultra-orthodox Jews shun people in their own community who report child sex abuse.
This is really sickening. Here are just the opening paragraphs:
This is the same mentality that led to the sex abuse scandal of the Catholic bishops. It’s these extreme insular religious views that cause more problems than they solve. I hope the religious extremists that do evil and hide behind their religion all burn in hell together.
Hmmmm, people with rigid belief systems behaving rigidly.
Color me saddened but unsurprised.
I read that article on the commuter train this morning and thought, “this makes me feel like being Recreationally Outraged on the Dope!” So here I am.
I got such a strange sense of deja vu when reading the OP that I had to check the date. Where did I hear this before? Was it a Law & Order episode by any chance?
Disgusting behavior.
Any Hasidic sect that’s doing this sort of thing needs to have its collective head forcibly pulled out of its collective ass. Unfortunately, Hasidic sects are generally so devoted to their Rebbes-who-can-do-no-wrong that even condemnation by other Orthodox Jewish groups might not make a difference.
Yikes.
I’m Jewish, but not Hasidic or even Orthodox. If I knew of someone in my synagogue who was molesting children, I’d call the authorities in a New York minute. I would hope that anyone else in my synagogue who knew of such a thing would do the same. I’d call them on Shabbat, if that was when I found out about it. I wouldn’t call the rabbi first before I called the authorities. If I talked to him about it later, and he said anything other than some variant of “you did the right thing,” I’d be looking for a new synagogue. If I were cooperating with the authorities on a child molestation case, and someone from my synagogue told me to stop doing that, I’d also be looking for a new synagogue.
They say they consider publicly airing allegations against fellow Jews to be a chillul Hashem, or desecration of God’s name. I think that knowing about a child molester and not turning them in to the authorities because they’re a member of your religion is a chillul Hashem. This is going to make some people think badly of Judaism. I won’t be shocked if such sentiments come up in this thread.
Hopefully the only thing that comes up will be disgust with religious extremists - of any religion.
No, it won’t. Bigotry would make people think badly about Judaism as a group due to the actions of a few. But then again, any negative actions by Jews (or blacks, or hispanics, or gays, or…) would do the same. Bigotry is a cognitive malfunction.
It certainly makes me think poorly of Jews who think that their religious rules require that they shield child molesters and the religious leaders and judges who promote that rule.
If those religious leaders claim that they have to follow this rule in order not to make Judaism look bad, then I think it’s perfectly reasonable to point out that in the “Making Judaism Look Bad” Olympics, it’s not the child molesters who are taking home the gold.
Well, here, it might not just be bigotry. There are laws in Judaism against being an informer. This dates to times when it was illegal to practice Judaism or be Jewish. Of course it would be a bad thing to turn your Marrano neighbor in to the authorities for lighting Shabbat candles, or to tell the Nazis about the Jewish family hiding in the neighbor’s attic. Some of us don’t think these laws should apply to things like child molestation, where someone else is being harmed. Some Jews, though, think that law applies and means you shouldn’t turn in fellow Jews, even if they are sinful and wicked. I can see the need for that argument- otherwise, it might be okay to turn your neighbors over to the Inquisition for being Marranos if you were upset at them over something else.
I don’t agree with the Hasidim here, and I think sheltering child molesters for any reason is an absolutely disgusting thing to do, almost as bad as molesting a child yourself. But I know why they think they shouldn’t turn in members of their own community to the secular authorities.
Anne Neville:
I am well aware of these laws, and that’s very likely the reason why the Hasidim react the way they do to the guy who reported the problem.
However, the point of these laws is so that the problem should be handled within the framework of Jewish law, by a proper Bais Din (Jewish religious court). If said court is just going to ignore the complainant, or worse, participate in the cover-up rather than protect the community from such criminals, the aggrieved party has every right to go to the secular authorities, even according to Halacha.
But then the issue, for any non-bigot, is “Jews who refrain from protecting the innocent from child molesters due to an outdated moral code? They’re assholes who are effectively complicit in child rape.”
Bigots, however, jump to the Fallacy of Composition, and generally then slice it back up with the Fallacy of Division. “You know them Jews, clannish and only looking after their own, willing to even cover up child molestation if another Jew is involved. So you can’t trust any of them people.”
Hell, I’ll join you in saying that the Hassidic community in question is most likely chock full of rabid assholes who should be flogged. But their actions reflect on nobody but themselves.
Substitute “Catholic priests” for “Jews” in your statement. It’s all the same.
How would the Bais Din handle a charge of molestation? What could it do to the offender?
Are there any ultra-Orthodox communities that aren’t chock full of rabid assholes?
Ha see dem, but Ha don’t believe dem!
And here I thought they were just chock full o’ nuts!
I guess my Mom was a bigot. She thought Hasidic Jews were unclean - as in, not bathing sufficiently.
And she was Jewish. Go figure.*
Ostracizing people for reporting pedophiles, though, is beyond the pale, if you catches my drift.
*I always thought that of all the things I could have done to upset my mother - becoming a Moonie, joining the Weather Underground, coming out as gay, etc. - the absolute worst thing in her eyes would have been my converting to ultra-Orthodox Judaism. 
Now wait a minute.
If your Mother was Jewish, so are you. So you wouldn’t have to convert, you’d just act like the UC folks.