Will this be the End of an Era?

The 2 accused rabbis against a backdrop of YU - courtesy the Forward (2012)

This is yet another instance where I have mixed feelings. Yeshiva University is being sued by a group of 38 men with the claim that back in the 70s they were sexually abused by 2 faculty members when they were students at YU’s high school. This is being made possible by the passage of Child Victims Act which gives survivors a one year window to ‘look back’ up to 50 years and sue the abusers and enablers they would have otherwise not been  able to because the statute of limitations. More about that later.

The big fear by Agudah and many day schools and Yeshivas (and the reason for their opposition) was that this law would bankrupt and destroy Jewish education as we know it via these lawsuits. Institutions that have long since changed all personnel since the abuse happened, innocent faculty, staff and administration as well parents and children - would be unfairly hurt.

For a variety of reasons I had maintained that this would not be the case. I spoke to an official at Agudah last week and was informed that only two schools (of which Agudah has any connection religiously) and a summer camp  had lawsuits because of this new law. I realize there may eventually be more. But I have my doubts about there being a lot more. 

This legislation has been pending for a few years now. Surely most survivors that sought justice have been preparing for the day when they could finally file suit. That only 2 schools have been sued so far indicates that I was right. Jewish education will survive just fine. (At least I hope it will.)  And perhaps more importantly, survivors will get their day in court.

Back to YU. The facts are undisputed. Two faculty members at YU’s high school abused a lot of students over their tenure. They were tolerated for a while but eventually fired. However, they were never prosecuted. They went on to live normal lives elsewhere without suffering any negative publicity about what they had done. They had even moved on to other successful careers. 

Meanwhile at least 38 lives were destroyed. Or at least are still suffering from the trauma of that decades old abuse. 

That they did not sue YU before the time to file expired due to the statute of limitation was a fairly common occurrence among survivors. They are often reticent to publicly admit they have been sexually abused. Preferring the world not know about it because of the stigma that attaches to them and to their families. In many cases by they time they get the courage to act, it’s too late. That is what happened in YU’s case. Those 38 survivors deserve justice. Hopefully they will get it now.

Rav Soloveitchik

So why do I have mixed feelings? It’s because YU is the only institution of it’s type. If it is destroyed by lawsuits, the Hashkafa itself will be destroyed. There will be no major (or perhaps even minor) institution that promotes and teaches the Hashkafa of Torah U’Madda (TuM).

The fact is that YU has for many decades done a magnificent job in training young people to be Orthodox rabbis in the modern world. As well as training many layman to be Jewishly educated with a strong Torah U’Madda perspective. Without YU we will be left with a post high school system comprised almost exclusively of  Charedi institutions. The Touro university System will not replace YU. They do not have a TuM philosophy. They are a career oriented school system that is open to anyone of any Hashkafa. They do not teach TuM.

YU was the home of Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchick, whose contributions to Orthodox Jewish thought are unparalleled in the 20^th century. Where else could somebody whose unmatched credentials in both Torah and Mada find a home? Should anyone appear on the scene with anywhere near that kind of genius, where will they hang their hat? Where will they find a philosophical home? Where else can one find a University President like Rabbi Norman Lamm, who was both a Talmid Chacham and one of the chief expositors of Torah U’Madda? If YU dies in this way, so too does its legacy. And so too the future of TuM!

Dr. Lamm

There is no question that mistakes were made in how YU and then President Lamm handled sex abuse cases they were confronted with back then. Not that this is any kind of excuse, but almost every institution (religious, Jewish, or otherwise) handled things that way. They avoided publicity, told victims to keep quiet about the abuse and eventually quietly fired the abusers without informing any other schools about the reason they were fired. Thus enabling them to continue their abusive ways anew. That is what is now known as sweeping it under the rug.

Like I said, that is not an excuse. Justice must therefore be pursued and served. The lawsuits are justified. If the allegations are proven, survivors deserve to be compensated accordingly. They have suffered enough. For many years!

But although justice will be served, it will come at a price. One that may mean the death knell for the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy. Which will end up leaving Modern Orthodoxy in the hands of a very controversial left wing - formerly known as Open Orthodoxy.  A movement that already has one foot out the door of Orthodoxy and seems to be charging full speed ahead to put its other foot out the door.

My hope is that survivors will get justice and that YU will somehow survive. But honestly… I don’t see both happening. Which will mean that we may very well be seeing the end of an era.