Judaism
Can rabbis be trusted to govern themselves?
An Orthodox and a Reform rabbi discuss issues in contemporary Jewish life
January 6, 2023 14:21
An Orthodox and a Reform rabbi discuss issues in contemporary Jewish life
January 6, 2023 14:21Question: Should congregational ministers like rabbis be regulated by an external agency as teachers are — or can synagogue bodies be trusted to deal with any instances of misconduct?
An Orthodox view
Some might think that religious leaders advocating for external regulation would be like the proverbial turkey voting for Christmas!
However, it was Shmuel, the great talmudic sage in the third century, who instituted the halachic concept of dina d’malchuta dina — the law of the land is law (when it does not conflict with Jewish religious law).
What makes it even more remarkable is that, unlike the vast majority of other issues dealt with in the Oral Tradition, this ruling is universally accepted. This means that Jews, living in the diaspora are obligated to accept the laws of the country in which they live. There has never been even a suggestion of a hierarchy in which communal leaders are somehow above the law.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the foremost halachic authority of the late 20th century, rules that dina d’malchuta dina applies in democracies, and, for example, obligates us to pay taxes. He writes: “Besides the prohibitions of theft, there are other terrible sins involved, including lying, deceiving, creating Chillul Hashem [desecration of God’s name] and disgracing Torah and those who study it.”
Synagogue bodies, like all UK charities, are regulated by the Charity Commission. They are required to report serious incidents to the commission and to have complaints procedures on their websites. Robust HR policies, clear line management structures and good governance are essential to investigate misconduct.
Last October, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis issued a strong statement in support of the call by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse for mandatory reporting of suspected abuse. He said: “We must do more to ensure child-protection policies and procedures are up to date, actionable and effective across our communal organisations.”
The United Synagogue told the Inquiry that it would support more formal regulation of child protection within religious organisations.
The head of the Federation of Synagogues, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, has also gone on record urging anyone who has knowledge of misconduct to report it to the police.
Within the United Synagogue, trained professionals are employed to undertake rigorous checks on all employees (US rabbis require an enhanced DBS check), safeguarding training is mandatory, and there are robust structures and policies in place to ensure safeguarding and child protection.
It is clear that responsible synagogue bodies understand that there is a definitive halachic imperative to follow normative legal protocols. Jewish communal professionals can be in no doubt that misconduct must be investigated and, when necessary, reported to the relevant authorities so that the full force of the law can protect everyone.
Alex Chapper is senior rabbi of Borehamwood and Elstree (United) Synagogue
A Progressive view
The fact that such a question is even being asked is deeply worrying. It reflects the reality that there have been some high-profile cases of rabbis abusing their position.
It is shocking that people who are supposed to be religious and have been appointed to be leaders of a community have acted in this way. Whatever happened to Isaiah’s “Keep justice and act with integrity” (56.1)?
Of course, it should be admitted that this is not unique to recent times. There have long been instances of rabbinic misbehaviour, but two factors have changed the way they are handled.
First, is the rise of social media. It means that whereas beforehand, it was much easier for the establishment to close down bad news — either because they wanted to protect the perpetrator, or because they wanted to defend the system at large — now it is much harder to engineer cover-ups.
This includes the #MeToo movement, which has spread rapidly and encourages victims to expose all forms of wrongdoing that would previously have been unreported.
Second, the terrible sexual abuses carried out by Catholic priests on children, along with the physical and verbal cruelty by nuns against vulnerable young women, has led to a reassessment of religious authority and power across all faiths.
We can only hope that the misconduct of rabbis has not been anywhere near the extraordinary scale of that within the Church, but even one case is one case too many.
Unregistered Charedi schools in the UK, which are not examined by Ofsted, have hundreds of Jewish pupils attending.
They are dangerously closed from public scrutiny over standards of child protection. Why do we allow them?
There is no doubt that rabbis — be they congregational minister or teachers at all educational bodies — should definitely be regulated. Given that they are in regular contact with adults and children, and sometimes in one-to-one situations, what argument can there possibly be not to do so?
I am sure that using an external agency would be the best method, otherwise there is the strong temptation for vested interests (be it the shul council or school governors) to suppress or pay off complaints so as to preserve the institution’s reputation. Justice has to be transparent.
In addition every rabbinic body should have a code of ethics, which all members have to sign and without which they cannot find employment.
Jonathan Romain is rabbi of Maidenhead (Reform) Synagogue
If you have a question for our rabbis, email it to srocker@thejc.com