Kolko comments

Those of you wondering where blind faith in the Rabbis can lead, are welcome to read the comment section here.

Also, don't miss the comment of the day (about 220 in) where an honored guest takes issue with the misguided defense of theose yeshiva administrators who abdicated their responsibility to the young children in their charge by protecting alleged child molester Yehuda Kolko for 25 years.

A gadol is not an idiot.

A person who tells children who have been fondled by an adult, kal v'chomer by an adult they trusted, kal v'chomer by a person who himself purports to be a teacher of Torah; a person who tells such children that they have not been abused because l'halahcha penetration is required before it can be called "abuse," and then takes no action to stop the fondler or investigate the children's claims, is not a gadol.

The immense Torah knowledge such a person may have acquired apparently did not penetrate his neshama with the Godly attributes of rachamim and chessed, nor has he acquired a sense from his Torah learning of when and how to take action on matters that are not explicated verbatim in the sources he's studied.

If it is indeed true that R. Scheinberg behaved in the manner reported by New York magazine, then he is not a "gadol." He is a talmid chacham, yes, but not a gadol.

If it is true that the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Temimah* behaved in the manner described in New York magazine, then he is not a gadol either, but a criminal, and he belongs in jail.

People who have learned a tremendous amount of Torah, more than my husband or any of his teachers could ever learn in their lifetimes - if such people turn a blind eye to the behavior of reshaim, and fail to protect children from reshaim, then they are not gedolim. Their behavior is much more reminscent of the behavior of an "idiot" than of a gadol.

If R. Scheinberg did what the magazine says he did - and I hope we find out the full story sooner rather than later - then he is not a gadol, is far from a gadol, and I would not only say so here, but to his face as well. Though I might feel compelled to speak in third person when I did so, because one should speak in third person to a talmid chacham, to show respect not to him, but to the Torah he has learned, and for which he continues to be a vessel.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's my friend the RenReb. [continued in the next post]

*In the original comment, RenReb named the wrong Yeshiva. Her remarks have been corrected.