This past Shabbat, Shabbat
Zachor, I had one of the most meaningful and memorable Seudat Shlishit
that I have had in a long time. After Mincha I went with a group of
close friends and stood outside the Heichal Rachamim Shul in Givat
Shmuel where dozens of other Gabash residents had already gathered. Men,
women and children of all ages had all come to spend their Seudat
Shlishit here in protest of the appearance at a communal event of
Mordechai Elon, a formerly prominent rabbi in the religious Zionist
community. Elon, who was once considered a rising rabbinic star in the
community, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault against a minor
in 2013. Takana Forum, which is a council of religious Zionist communal
and rabbinic leaders, has described Elon as a threat to the public and
has demanded that he refrain from taking rabbinical, teaching and
communal positions.
Nevertheless, Elon continues to be honored at communal events and continues to teach.
Nevertheless, Elon continues to be honored at communal events and continues to teach.
Three
and a half years before his conviction, Takana Forum had stated
publicly that they had received incontrovertible evidence that Elon had
sexually exploited a number of his students. The Takana Forum received
evidence of Elon’s misconduct years earlier and confronted him about it.
Elon agreed to take upon himself a number of restrictions in order to
avoid further misconduct. The Forum only publicly released the evidence
after receiving reports that Elon had committed even more severe
offences and had violated the restrictions he had agreed to follow. The
chairman of Takana Forum has since stated that the charges that were
ultimately brought against Elon in court are small fry compared to the
far more serious abuses that they had been presented evidence of.
Although Elon is said to have confessed in front of the Takana Forum he
has never publicly admitted or expressed any remorse for his actions.
A few days before Shabbat Zachor notices began
to appear around Givat Shmuel inviting the public to participate in a
series of events over the course of the Shabbat featuring Mordechai Elon
as the honored guest and speaker. Quickly word spread throughout the
community and a number of people began organizing a protest to take
place outside the shul’s event hall where a seudat shlishit with Elon
speaking was to be held. As a member of the Bar Ilan University chapter
of Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah student organization I created a Facebook
event and invited fellow students to participate in the protest. In the
end the turnout was estimated to be over a hundred people. Drinks and
food were passed around and the crowd joined together beautifully
singing Shabbat songs while holding signs saying “Mordechai Elon, we
will not be silent”.
I felt that it was particularly meaningful to
stand up against this particular form of injustice on Shabbat Zachor,
the Shabbat that religious Jews fulfill the various commandments
relating to the crimes committed against us by Amelek. I was always
taught that the crimes of Amalek represent a particularly heinous form
of immorality. Amalek attacked, without provocation, the defenseless
Israelites from behind, where the weak and exhausted people were. The
immorality exhibited by Amalek in their attack on the weak and
defenseless represents the antithesis of Jewish morality which is so
concerned with protecting the weak and defenseless.
Our tradition treats
the crimes of Amalek with utmost severity and there are therefore three
separate commandments relating to Amalek; their actions must never be
forgotten, their actions must be remembered and their memory must be
wiped out. The offences that Elon was convicted of embody this same
immorality. The victims, students of Elon’s, had come to him in times of
personal crisis, weak and defenseless. They looked to him for help and
guidance and he took advantage of them. How can a man who commits such
crimes so antithetical to Jewish morality return to be a spiritual
leader in any Jewish community?
I do not believe that Mordechai Elon should be
treated as if we was a member of Amalek. However, a community can not
justifiably allow a man, who has committed such gravely immoral abuses
of power, to return to a position of spiritual leadership. By allowing
someone, who so flagrantly violates the Torah’s moral demands, teach
that very same Torah, the Torah is effectively emptied of all its moral
content. I am proud that my community stood up to him and I hope that if
he continues to make public appearances in other communities they too
will rise in protest. We must not be silent.
Benzion Sanders is an American-Israeli student of Philosophy and the Middle East and a former IDF special forces soldier.