Dear Reader:

Please take a moment to click on this link and read this letter that I wrote to our readers. Whatever you can do to be of assistance would be most appreciated.

Thank you so very much,

Yakov

Today, the talmidim of Yeshiva Darchei Noam, where I serve as Dean, moved into our new building after living in rented quarters for 11 years so you can well imagine how hectic things were in my office this week.

Amid all the activity yesterday, I fielded several anguished calls from my dear chaver and colleague, Dr. Benzion Twerski, describing the pressure he was undergoing and the harassment that his family members were undergoing as a result of his courageous efforts to help reverse the frightening and growing abuse statistics in our community.

I have had the privilege of interacting with Reb Benzion many hundreds of times over the past 11 years as I’ve sought his guidance in dealing with the abuse cases that have come my way. I would like to inform those who do not know him that he is a genuine talmid chochom, a true chassid, and an osek b’tzarchei tzibur b’emunah (one who selflessly devotes himself to communal needs) in every sense of the word. I am proud to call him a friend and I am inspired by his devotion to the children of our community.

I must admit that I advised him to resign from the position he had assumed due to the very real harassment that he and his family members were undergoing. I felt that he almost had no choice due to the circumstances.

What an olam hafuch we have created. A decent, caring mental health professional who has devoted his life to helping Yiddishe kinder is terrorized while evil monsters like Avrohom Mondrowitz and others like him live peaceful lives in our communities. One week ago, I published a column on this subject in the Jewish Press, Lm'aan Hashem -- What Will it Take?.

Here is a quote from the article:

“Is there any more sacred obligation than protecting the children entrusted to our care? Shame on us, for failing to treat it as such. Shame on us, for allowing ourselves to repeatedly get distracted with meaningless and often silly non-issues raised by self-appointed “askanim” that purport to pose spiritual risk to our children while our paramount communal responsibility to keep evil people from destroying the physical and spiritual lives of our children keeps getting bumped to the back burner.”

Well, to this I add: Shame on those who harassed a wonderful member of our community like Dr. Twerski. You have the blood of future abuse victims on your hands – kids who could have been saved by the initiatives that Dr. Twerski would have implemented.

And shame on all of us for allowing such an olam hafuch to be perpetuated.