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| Daniel Greer (The New Haven Register) |
That list is the stuff of legends. It brought him accolades from in his own New Haven, Connecticut neighborhood of Edgewood Park. From both Jew and non Jew alike. For which his neighbors dubbed him the ‘Mayor of Edgewood’.
It also brought him recognition from the wider
Jewish community. Which one might expect from someone that did so much. Just to mention a few
of his varied and highly successful contributions (as reported in The New Haven Register):
(T)hrough his school and the properties he had bought and renovated for the public, had transformed the neighborhood from a den of drug dealers and prostitutes into “a vibrant, multicultural, affordable neighborhood.” (Greer defense attorney) Grudberg said Greer “has benefitted hundreds, if not thousands of people in the city of New Haven.”
…and from Wikipedia:
After moving to New Haven the Greers established an orthodox day school because there was not a sufficiently religious one in New Haven. Greer continued to work as a lawyer for 14 years. Daniel Greer also served as a time as the New Haven City Police Commissioner. Over the years the Greers expanded their day school into a full Yeshiva (the Yeshiva of New Haven) with both an elementary school and boys and girls high schools…
(H)e also became affiliated with the Save Soviet Jewry movement and was one of the moving figures in getting the United States State Department to intervene in the Leonid Rigerman case.
After (Yale University’s) change in policy in 1995 that required even students with families in New Haven to live on campus, (Greer) sought an exemption for his daughter Batsheva on the grounds that living in co-ed dorms that freely distributed condoms, had lectures on safe sex and co-ed bathrooms were incompatible with Orthodox Judaism. Yale refused to cooperate… In December 1997 Batsheba and three others brought a suit against Yale. The fifth of the Yale five had married three months earlier than planned to avoid having to follow Yale's rules.
That is quite the resume, to say the least! And yet, Daniel Greer
is better described as a psychopath than a saint. He is a sick man that
satisfied his sexual deviancy by victimizing Eliyahu Mirlis - an innocent young
high school student in his Yeshiva - over a period of 4 years.
There is no sin or crime in being sick. Sexual disorders are not
all that uncommon. The crime and the sin is when you abuse others to satisfy the sexual urges
that sickness generates. That is what Greer was found guilty of. For which he
was just sentenced to 20 years in prison (of which he will serve 12). As hard working as he was in contributing so much to Jewish
causes… and making a Kiddush HaShem in the process… that is all wiped away by committing a sin the Torah considers a capital offense and the permanent destruction he caused to a vulnerable young student under his
charge… a Chilul HaShem that literally destroys a lifetime of good works that were seen as a Kiddush HaShem.
I wish I could say I have pity on him… and cite all of his good
works to justify that pity. But I can’t. His crimes are too horrendous.
He has caused permanent damage to his victim who to this day
suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome. And will likely suffer from it the rest
of his life. There is no amount of penance for doing that kind of permanent harm. The prison term he was sentenced to will be of little
solace to Eliyahu. Nor is the 21.7 million dollars he was awarded in his civil lawsuit
against Greer - anywhere near compensation for what Greer did to him As Eliyahu said:
“No amount of money will compensate me for the pain and suffering inflicted on me by Daniel Greer. I will never recover from the emotional pain and suffering. I will suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome for the rest of my life.”
He also said he wishes he could “turn the clock back and relive my childhood.”
Mirlis, who testified during both trials, said, “Each time I had to face Daniel Greer, it was very difficult for me to face him and his attorneys in court. I’ve endured enough trauma in my life.”
How is it possible for someone that dedicates his
life to doing the kind of good works Greer did to be the monster he truly is?
How sick must someone be - someone who was so accomplished and so talented - to sexually abuse a vulnerable young teenager under his charge for 4 years?!
Was it all just a façade? Was he always just evil to the core? I don’t think so. I do not believe a truly evil person can
have a lifetime of so much accomplishment as a façade - just so he can do his dirty
work under cover of his reputation. I think he probably was dedicated to the
causes he worked so diligently for - all his life. The kind of life that
included a 48 year marriage to a still devoted wife. A life that included being a father who is beloved by
his children. All of whom still believe in his innocence
apparently.
And yet, he ended up being an unforgivable monster. All because of sickness he could not control. A crime for which he has never expressed any remorse nor an
apology. A true Jekyll and Hyde.
What a sad but deserving ending to a life once well lived.