5WPR CEO Ron Torossian Fires Away in the Algemeiner: In response to allegations that two staff members at the High School for Boys’ Manhattan campus sexually abused students, Rabbi Norman Lamm, who was President of YU at the time of these incidents (and is now Chancellor) has admitted that the school permitted the accused to leave YU and go on to teach other children elsewhere. (In one instance a suspected abuser went on to serve as dean of a Florida Jewish school.)
As Joe Paterno was fired from Penn State University for turning a blind eye to sexual abuse and child molestation, so too must Lamm immediately be terminated for his despicable behavior in turning a blind eye to the heinous crime of child abuse.
Lamm said in a public statement that he didn’t notify police of these acts and “This was before things of this sort had attained a certain notoriety.” Rabbi: child molestation has always “had a certain notoriety.”
Perhaps on the heels of this revelation and the rightful indictment of Satmar counselor Nechemya Weberman for the repeated rape of a young girl, the religious community should look inward and examine if morals, ethics and decency should be a more primary focus in yeshivas. Yes, bad apples exist in any community – but I am aghast at the lack of leadership from the Orthodox world in challenging bad people.
