UNITED STATES
Elmad
Posted by Judy Klitsner on June 28, 2016
As I recently sat in a movie theater watching the Oscar-winning Spotlight, one recurring thought dominated all others: I could have written this script. Although the film focuses on abusive priests and the Catholic Church that protected them, the patterns and ingredients were all painfully familiar from my own experiences in a Jewish youth group in the 1970’s.
In my teenage years, I came into contact with a charismatic, powerful rabbi who regularly blurred the lines between religious leadership and his own need for physical and psychological gratification. I watched as he carefully selected and “groomed” specific teenagers, using his position of religious authority in order to manipulate young minds and to create an ever-increasing cadre of loyal followers who would follow his every directive. The rabbi was not particularly careful in hiding his actions; those around him would make knowing jokes about his behavior without ever attempting to stop him. In fact, when the rabbi tried to assault me and I threatened to speak to his superiors, he laughed and assured me I would be telling them nothing they did not already know.
In the years following my experience, I have come to terms with the fact that there are sociopaths in every realm of life, and that the clergy is no exception. What I have found much more difficult to accept is the web of support surrounding the offender: too often, communal leaders and members willfully refuse to protect victims and potential victims of predatory spiritual leaders. In my efforts to understand this persistent lack of moral action, I have observed the following processes: feelings of collegiality, of cognitive dissonance (such a holy person could not have done such spotlight-movie 510x300__OPterrible things), a misguided concern about lashon ha-ra (speaking ill of others), and fear for one’s own position or livelihood in challenging a colleague of great power and stature. To my mind, worst of all is a kind of cost-benefit analysis in human lives, which suggests that if the offending spiritual leader does more good than harm, it is best to not to interfere. Whatever the motivations are for the protectors, one thing is clear: without their support, the scourge of abusive clergy would be ended.
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