'Rabbi Elon's Charisma Makes Him Very Dangerous'
By Yehuda Shlezinger
Rabbi Mordechai Elon's conviction of indecent acts rattles national-religious community • Forum Takana, which exposed him, says more serious complaints were not revealed in trial • Elon's supporters insist: There is no one else of his caliber.
At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, merely an hour and a half after the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court convicted him of two counts of indecent acts against a minor, Rabbi Mordechai Elon spoke by telephone with another prominent national-religious public figure, Rabbi Haim Druckman.
Druckman was taken aback by the judge's verdict. "Dear God in heaven, that's ridiculous. It can't be, it simply can't be. I'm no lawyer, but maybe you should appeal to the Supreme Court and explain it to the judges," he told Elon.
Like other rabbis in the national-religious community, Druckman was struggling to come to terms with the new reality. Elon, who for years had been considered the star of the national-religious public, to the point where he was dubbed the "admor," an honorific title meaning "master, teacher and rebbe," had been deemed a sex offender. Neither Elon nor the Forum Takana, a group which seeks to fight sexual abuse by authority figures in the national-religious community and which first exposed Elon's actions, ever envisioned that the outcome would be so conclusive.
Elon's associates were certain of his innocence, and even Takana officials had said there was reasonable doubt that left room for the possibility of an acquittal in the case, which would have plunged the organization into a particularly tough public-relations battle.
During the last moments before the court convened, both parties did their best to foster an image of "business as usual." Yehudit Shilat, the chairwoman of Takana, was on vacation in the north, while Elon was the surprise guest at the 60th birthday of one of his followers.
The day before the verdict, Takana members tried to distance themselves from the case, saying that whatever happened in court was no concern of theirs. They said the claims that had prompted them to act were far worse than the accounts presented to the court.
Or, as Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, a former candidate for the position of chief Ashkenazi rabbi and Takana's most senior religious ruler, put it: Only the testimonies of the "minnows" and not of the "whales" was reviewed during the trial. Meanwhile, Elon chose to show that he was carrying on with his routine, confident of his innocence and unafraid.
The confrontation
Takana officials say that over the past few years, the forum has tried to protect the plaintiffs' confidentiality, show Elon deference and repel the attacks against it, but these attacks eventually demanded at least a partial revelation of the events. In the past, the forum was accused of having colluded with a particularly severe, sensationalist and invasive press report that harshly criticized Elon. The forum was suspected of having cooperated with the newspaper by giving it information.
The Elon affair has rattled the national-religious community to the core. Elon's followers refused to remain silent and fought back, flooding the Internet with Elon's version of events, knocking on rabbis' doors, confronting members of Takana, and gathering a great deal of material to refute to the forum's claims, causing many to question the accusations and profess Elon's innocence.
Elon's associates countered each claim by Takana with their own version of events. This happened after Takana said that in 2005, a married man in his 30s had complained to the forum that in his youth he and another young man were the victims of sexual harassment by Elon. The nature of the acts described, Takana said, left little room for misinterpretation.
Takana officials set up a five-member panel that met with Elon and heard his version of events. They said he confessed to many of the acts and expressed remorse.
But Elon's associates refused to remain silent. "[Takana] is falsifying reality. He [Elon] admitted that he had met with the young man, admitted that he tried to help him, that he hugged him -- but nowhere is there any admission by the rabbi that he engaged in any sexual act. If any had occurred, there certainly would have been a recording," one of them said.
According to an official statement by Takana, during that meeting Elon signed a piece of paper by which he pledged to cease having private meetings with male students or people who came to him for counseling, and it was even recommended that he seek medical treatment or therapy.
The rabbi's associates, however, claim that the document he signed contained no such promise and that he only signed it to keep the matter quiet. "He did not want it to get to the point where rumors would begin circulating, so he signed whatever they asked him to sign, just to get the matter off the agenda," one of his people claimed.
Takana's statement about Elon says that a year later, a much more severe complaint reached it concerning "a clearly sexual relationship with a former student."
"The acts took place in various locations, including schools where Rabbi Elon taught, and hotels," Takana said.
"The plaintiff testified in detail before all five members of the panel. Rabbi Elon was invited to provide his version of events. He appeared before the panel, and while he admitted to many of the charges, he claimed that the plaintiff was an individual in emotional distress whom he [Elon] had tried to help, and the plaintiff was the one who led him to commit those acts.
"Alongside Rabbi Elon's unequivocal confession to having engaged in inappropriate acts, he added in his defense that no sexual exploitation had taken place within the framework of a relationship of authority, since at the time the plaintiff had not been a student of his and had not been receiving counseling from him. Nor were they in an employer-employee relationship."
But according to Elon's close associates, he held meetings in the hotel when the Bereshit Movement, which he established, rented a conference room where people came to consult with him, and dismiss the other complaints against him as nonsense. His supporters even have an answer for the toughest question of all: why, in 2006, Elon had agreed to cease his public engagements and move to the community of Migdal in northern Israel. He was afraid, they said, that the false accusations against him would be made public, so he chose to move to the north until the matter blew over. Regardless of the reason, Elon's followers are adamant that he never confessed to any wrongdoing.
Trading barbs
These heated exchanges went on for three years. Elon's people did more than comment on events as they unfolded. They leveled harsh criticism at Takana, claiming that the forum's rabbis had conducted an amateurish investigation and had gone after Elon for other reasons entirely.
"When a new singer breaks into the charts and gets many fans, other singers get worried. It's the same in the [Chief] Rabbinate as well. When a rising star starts getting many followers, hypnotizes people with his lectures and becomes a leader, it's only natural that others will look askance at him," an associate of Elon's said.
"Besides that, there is also one woman who has made it her pet project [Takana Chairwoman Yehudit Shilat]. She is the head of the forum or the non-profit organization and she has to show results; otherwise, it won't get donations. A prominent name like Rabbi Elon carries a lot of weight, and that has financial ramifications."
Takana dismissed the allegations, with a high-ranking forum member saying, "Anyone who thinks that Yehudit Shilat would cause a commotion of that kind for NIS 8,000 ($2,270) is disturbed. Anyone who thinks she could manipulate Rabbi Ariel and Rabbi Lichtenstein and wrap several other rabbis, lawyers and psychologists around her little finger hasn't a clue what he's talking about."
"We were facing an impossible situation," the official said.
"We knew that whatever we did, we would be criticized. If we concealed the incident, people would say that we were sweeping things under the rug, or that we hid the fact that a person was dangerous even though he posed a danger to others. But if we disclosed it we would also be wrong, since we couldn't present the public with the proof we had, because of our obligation to protect the victims. That's an impossible situation. The only thing we can tell the public is that prominent and well-known rabbis investigated the matter properly and subjected it to serious scrutiny, because they understand the significance of such an incident, which can ruin the rabbi's reputation and the life for his family. But it was still important for them to warn the public."
After Elon's conviction, the members of Takana seemed calmer.
"The specific incident for which he was charged and convicted is only a tiny fraction of the incidents reported and some are far worse. There were many incidents, severe incidents, that continued over time, but only one person dared complain," one Takana official said.
"Rabbi Motti Elon confessed to us in two instances. But all that is behind us. The court found him guilty on the basis of one minor incident -- that is reason enough to remove him from the category of 'rabbi.' Why do people still call him rabbi? If he were to desecrate the Sabbath, would they call him rabbi? What kind of Judaism is this? What kind of message is it?"
Another forum member said, "Motti Elon has enormous charisma. One need only see how he reacted to the verdict. That's why he's very dangerous. This is a man with no boundaries who has many talents, and a sexual problem as well. There is nothing we can do about it. He has foolish followers whose only connection with God is through a specific person. That's particularly bad in this case because the medium through whom they chose to have their connection is a sick one."
The official said that the court's ruling helped send an important message -- that a community organization that cooperates with the state can do good.
"Every measure we employed was approved by the attorney-general. The most important thing is that today there are many people who are smiling a little, people whose lives were ruined by Motti Elon, who found no solace. Now they have found it. The main thing is to warn people of the destructive power of charisma.
"We should praise the person who dared to complain, the only one who stood up and won and did it to encourage others who had been harmed to complain. That is the only way people who were harmed can deal with it. There are many people -- women and men, secular and religious -- who do not complain. A case like this can give them a lot of strength. That is more important than the whole Forum Takana combined. It is true that this is a terrible tragedy. The lives of [Elon's] wife and children have been ruined, but this man and his desires destroyed the lives of many people whose lives were wasted because of his desire to achieve sexual satisfaction at their expense."
But another forum official sounded slightly fearful two days ago.
"I really thought there was a good chance of acquittal over reasonable doubt, but the verdict gave the forum strong support," he said.
"Still, it's dangerous. There were people on the forum who were very harsh, and now they are going to be overjoyed. I'm afraid that this could lead to a terrible fall. Unfortunately, not everything along the way was done properly, especially at the level of due process. For example, the rabbis were never trained as sex crimes investigators. That's a problem. On the other hand, we can't just do nothing. It's proper that there be an agency that does not deal with the criminal aspect, that does not act as judge or executioner. The idea is to give warning and go into places where the law isn't around. The problem is that the boundaries must be maintained so that they're not blurred and no damage is caused."
'His fate is in the public's hands'
Takana officials said that they do not intend to get involved in the case beyond the statement they issued on the day of the trial.
"We ventured into a place devoid of a court or police. We issued a warning. We did our part. From now on, it is in the hands of the public or of the court," an official said.
Elon's associates rejected the charges outright.
"The judge was very harsh with the rabbi. This whole affair is one big mistake. There is a man who is really unfortunate, and is suffering from all kinds of things, and Rabbi Elon tried to help him. The court comes along and says that the rabbi isn't supposed to hug students -- that's a very radical statement that has implications on many other cases," one of them said.
But even those close to Elon agree that from now on, his position in the public sphere is in the public's hands. In their opinion, as one of them said, "The public has already decided. Three years have gone by since the case broke, and contrary to what happens in such cases, where individuals are deemed sex offenders are shunned by the public, the opposite has happened here.
"The rabbi has been invited to preside over more and more weddings, to give more classes and lectures across the country, and offer words of encouragement to people. He has broken into new circles, and various organizations invite him for Shabbat. There is no one else of his caliber. The public will not allow that to go to waste."
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