NEW JERSEY
The Jewish Press
Apology Letter to Mrs S.
By: Harry Maryles
Published: June 18th, 2013
I hope the victim and his family can take some solace from this letter, Apology Letter to Mrs S. On June 4th a letter was written by Rabbi Dovid Epstein apologizing profusely for the damage he caused the family of a victim of sex abuse by a Yosef Kolko. Kolko was a ‘Mechanench’ (educator) who confessed to that crime both privately and later publicly during his trial when the evidence for it became overwhelming.
I don’t know who Rabbi Epstein is. But it is clear from his letter that he was part of a move to treat a major Talmid Chacham in Lakewood as a pariah. They accused him of being a Moser (someone who informs secular authorities about the illegal activities a fellow Jew – which is considered a major crime).
I am not going to get into whether Mesirah applies today. There is ample precedent among major Poskim – both past and present – that in a country where there is a fair system of Justice, Mesirah does not apply. I agree with them – as does just about all of the Poskim that I value. But the fact is that there are some Poskim that still feel it does apply in societies like ours. These are the people I am addressing.
The Lakewood community of which Rabbi Epstein is a part – is a community that seems to feel Mesirah applies even here and now. I’m sure that the Talmid Chacham whose child was sexually abused probably believes that too. Or at least feels that one should factor in the possibility that it does. To that extent the father (let’s call him Rabbi S) played by the rules, as one would expect a Talmid Chacham of that stature to do. Rabbi S went to some of Lakewood’s city elders and a Beis Din was convened to examine the facts of the accusation. Apparently they felt that there was enough credible evidence to require Kolko to seek counseling.
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