RCA Rebels Decry Shift To The Left

R ebels seeking to oust much of the Rabbinical Council of America's current moderate leadership allegedly oppose the proposed hiring of Rabbi Mark Dratch, founder of the anti-child sexual abuse organization J-Safe, as the Centrist Orthodox organization's executive vice president, and object to a possible rapprochement with the left wing Modern Orthodox Yeshiva Chovevei Torah.

Rabbi Mark Dratch

The Jewish Week broke the story today, which you can read here.

Here is a brief summary from me about the history of the split that ends with the name of the man most responsible for it:

1. The RCA used to be Modern Orthodox.

2. After the incapacitation Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the undisputed leader of Modern Orthodoxy and of Yeshiva University's rabbinical school, and then his death in 1993, American Modern Orthodoxy began shifting rightward.

3. This shift was driven in part by the OU Kosher, which used that shift to shore up its reputation in the kosher supervision business, and by rabbis like Hershel Schachter who desired acceptance from haredi rabbinic leaders.

4. In this process, the left wing of Modern Orthodoxy (and some of its center, as well) were deligitimized by the rulings and the directives of the right.

5. Last year, as a reaction to years of overreaching by the right, the center left regained control.

6. Now right wing rebels are trying to get back what they lost.

7. To do so they are using several hot button issues to galvanize support.

8. One of those issues is a possible rapprochement with Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, which is viewed by many RCA members as not being a serious Orthodox school, and is hated by others simply for challenging the Yeshiva University monopoly.

9. Another is the proposed hiring of Rabbi Mark Dratch, who served as chairman of its task force on rabbinic improprieties for the RCA and who was responsible for spearheading and formulating its policy guidelines for responding to allegations against member rabbis. Dratch has angered some on the right because of his activities with J-Safe, his work within the RCA to combat abuse, and  because he is seen as being too liberal. His father-in-law, Rabbi Norman Lamm, a major figure in American Modern Orthodoxy, is now elderly and cannot provide political cover for him.

10. Centrist Orthodox rabbis like Hershal Schachter are essentially indistinguishable from haredi rabbis on most issues except issues directly related to Zionism.

11. The rabbis leading the current 'rebellion' are mostly Schachter's men.

12. The current RCA leadership is not.

13. It is very unlikely that the right wing rebels would have acted without consulting Schachter first.

Read The Jewish Week's report on the dispute here.

Comments

[just saying]

Rabbi Dratch, an immense talmud chochom, wife doesnt wear a sheitel. Gasp! Neither does Michael Broyde's wife despite his black hat! So how right wing can they really be?

[Yochanan Lavie]

Anyone who calls himself "centrist" is ashamed of the label "modern." That is very telling. They are chareidim in disguise.

In addition, RCA makes inferior products. Sony or Samsung are much better.

[JustTheFacts]

He needs to grow a beard, simple as that.

[Jeff]

This is what I keep saying. Apart from a few fringe individuals and their followers or students, there is no more Modern Orthodoxy.

His father-in-law, Rabbi Norman Lamm, a major figure in American Modern Orthodoxy, is now elderly and cannot provide political cover for him.

Lamm is still the Chancellor of YU. Does that not give him some clout?

[Yochanan Lavie]

The silence of the Lamm.

[ah-pee-chorus]

He needs to grow a beard, simple as that.

Posted by: JustTheFacts

why?

[Just Curious]

Neither did Rabbi Bulman's wife when he was rabbi in South Fallsburg!

[Question]

Does anyone know if and why R' Berel Wein's smechia is still not acceptable for RCA membership.

[Bassy the Haredi Slayer]

Rabbi Dratch was a board member of Vicki Polin's Awarness Center. Not sure if he ever agreed with her that Jewish people eat babies and if he approves of her Oprah appearance.

However by associating with her he showed lack of judgement and common sense and should not be in position of authority.

[jerise]

going to donate to J-Safe right now!

[ghj]

Even though the RCA is now, by the majority of members, a "right wing" organization, the right wing dissenters do not have enough votes to overturn the slate that had been proposed by the RCA "establishment".

YCT is a different issue entirely. As far as the mainstream centrist orthodox ideology in America, there are some tremendous people coming out, as well as some who would not pass muster. Rabbi Yaakov Love, who teaches Yore Deah, is a big talmid chocham, definitely right of center, and has smicha from R' Yisroel Gustman.

The real behind-the-scene story is that 90% of RCA members come from RIETS. R' Herschel Schachter is the posek for the RCA. He doesn't want them in. R' Dr. Lamm doesn't want them in. No other Rosh Yeshiva at YU wants them in. Richard Joel has not asked that they qualify for membership. This is YU politics, not ideology. If YU could kick out Skokie and Ner Yisroel, they would. They want to maintain their control over OU shuls.

[Jake]

Wasting your money when donating to J-Safe !

[Lawrence M. Reisman]

I have a few problems with the accepted history as set forth above:

1. The RCA, from the very beginning,had a "right-wing" contingent, some of whom were very influential in its leadership.

2. Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik was a very reluctant leader of Modern Orthodoxy. (Actually, he was a very reluctant leader of anything) Half the time, he acted and sounded like his Brisker cousins in Eretz Yisroel, and his YU shiurim were very "right wing" in tone.

3. American Modern Orthodoxy has been shifting to the "right" for at least 50 years. It is a consequence of greater literacy in traditional texts and the willingness to take the Shulchan Aruch at its word.

In any case, I find the "right wing" opposition to Rabbi Dratch to be a little puzzling. Having talked to Agudah staffers, I can tell you he enjoys a comparatively good reputation with the Agudah.

[reb chaim]

As someone who knows Rabbi Dratch personally and who has sat in on many of his weekly shiurim, I can add the following comments to the discussion.

Rabbinic politics is all too often a dirty, petty business where many if not most of the participants care more about their personal kavod than the overall well-being of the Jewish communities that they are supposed to serve. This being said, I find Rabbi Dratch to be a pleasant exception to this rule who clearly places the community's good above his personal agenda. Clearly, a talmud chacham, he is the embodiment of the respectful term which we grew up with - a modern orthodox rabbi. His involvement with JSafe is another plus on his resume as this organization was one of the first that sought to redress the reticence of the right wing powers that be to confront the growing problem of childhood sexual abuse. I.e., they wanted to sweep it under the rug so that it would disappear.

Therefore appointing him to a position of responsibility in the RCA gives this organization increased credibility as a modern centrist entity as opposed to such groups as Agudah which would like nothing better than to minimize interactions with non-Jewish society and turn back the clock several centuries by restablishing the kehillah system of the middle ages.

[mojo]

i am changing my posting name from yechi to modern orthodox jew or moj,maybe mojo is more catching,but who really cares, from yechi.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

"However by associating with her he showed lack of judgement and common sense and should not be in position of authority."

He did distance himself from her due to her methods. I'm trying to give this rabbi the benefit of the doubt, but I'm still looking for a good brand of mind bleach to lighten the stain the association between the two left on him.

[JJG]

I don't know the players all that well, but I would not have thought of Rabbi Freundel as a right-winger, though he's the head of the "insurgent" slate. Am I missing something?

[True]

Rabbi Yosef Blau was also on Vicki polin's rabbinical board

[Jeff]

2. Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik was a very reluctant leader of Modern Orthodoxy. (Actually, he was a very reluctant leader of anything) Half the time, he acted and sounded like his Brisker cousins in Eretz Yisroel, and his YU shiurim were very "right wing" in tone.

I think Rav Soloveitchik is one of those figures, like Rav Kook, whom various factions like to claim for themselves, and whose writings can be used to justify it. When I say - as I often do - that pre-war Modern Orthodoxy is the MO of Rav S., I don't simply mean that it was more liberal, but rather that it had a spirit of inquiry and wasn't intimidated by the Haredim - which leads me to...

3. American Modern Orthodoxy has been shifting to the "right" for at least 50 years. It is a consequence of greater literacy in traditional texts and the willingness to take the Shulchan Aruch at its word.

Lawrence, I tend to think it has far more to do with the basic insecurity of the Modern Orthodox and their all-too-willing capitulation to the Haredim, who've spent the past fifty-odd years browbeating them.

[Fact]

R Berel Wein smechia was never recognized by any mainstream organization, he may be a brilliant lawyer, historian, and orator, but that has limits as to what he can produce.

[Shmuel]

Can someone inform us of the nature of his smicha?

[spacedout BT]

Vicky Polin- despite her loopy past had much accurate and valuable information on her website

[Yerachmiel Lopin]

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's wife did not cover her hear routinely in public. He agreed to that condition when they were married and unlike the rest of these clowns he believed in keeping his word even though he would have preferred it otherwise. (This information comes to me from someone who is a scholarly expert on Moshe Feinstein,respects him immensely and has no axe to grind. My source is haredi so there is no motive for this not to be true.

In a letter between Dovid Tzvi Hoffman and Rabbi Carlebach (uncle of the singer and father of the former mashgiach at Chaim Berlin) it was noted that Yekkes shook hands across gender lines but the women covered their hair while the litvaks didn't shake hands and didn't cover their hair.

So enough hair splitting about wigs, kerchiefs and turbans.

This is politics and may be related to the abuse issue on which Dratch has staked out a distinct position. The formal policy of the RCA is good. If he gets his hands on the levers he might push for implementation.

[Yochanan Lavie]

When I first read the headline I did a double take. What shift to the left? What planet are they on? What color is the sky there? If anything, there has been a huge lurch to the right, aided and abetted by so-called centrists who have Fiddler on the Roof nostalgia for chareidim, and would be happy to leave religious vocations to them (rabbi, mohel, shochet, sofer, etc.) so that they can pursue materialist yuppie-doxy.

So let them look over the right shoulders of their (shatnes-free) Armani suits. And don't act shocked when your bearded, black hatted children (educated by chareidi limudei kodesh teachers at day school) look down upon you.

[Jeff]

Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | June 14, 2012 at 07:51 AM

Yes, THANK YOU.

[Johnny]

60 years ago YU shiurim were in Yiddish from Litvishe old school rabbis, after shiur and semicha, most shuls the r=graduates went to had no mechitzas and minority of shomer shabbos members. Some things have moved to the right, some to the left. far more modern orthodox shuls have women's tefila groups, special minyanim for bat mitzva. Are you sure there has been a movement to the right? Doesn't it all depend on which issues are your criteria?

[rca friend]

JJG got it right. This is led by Rabbi Barry Freundel, not a crazy right winger and not a talmid of Rav Schachter.

Shmarya & Jewish Week: No need for speculation and innuendo. Just ask the "insurgents" what their purpose in running is. They are very open about it. They feel that the RCA's leadership is extremely unresponsive, acts without consulting the membership, and is generally in dire need of fresh blood. It is not about Rabbi Dratch (some of the insurgents support him), it is not about YCT (the insurgents are not united on the issue), and it is not about right or left. It is just about getting responsive leadership to run the organization well.

Oh, and my sources tell me that Rav Schachter is staying away from this fight. And I'd be willing to bet that the Jewish Week story was planted by the current RCA leadership. (Note that it does not name its sources.)

[elizabeth]

To whom it may concern regarding RCA/Rabbi Dratch issue:

I have researched Jsafe.org, R. Dratch’s charity. According to public records available to anyone using Guidestar.org the charitable register online which provides one with one 990 tax reports which are public records for any charity, and a computer and willing to look up Jsafe foundations records. R. Dratch has collected approximately 1.5 million dollars over some 8 years for his supposed work on behalf of abused women and children. Instead he used it for his own personal needs and took between 80 and 90% of the monies raised as his salary according to publicly available tax filings of which the organization is behind 2 years in records.

That money could have been used to do a lot of good for victims of abuse and the organizations that truly serve them. Instead he used it for your own personal needs.

R. Dratch produced no programs, no conferences, no materials beyond some speeches and a few lectures. He hired no professional staff and had no board of directors for oversight as is normal in the not for profit world. All he did was pay for his own living expenses and that of your family. His office is in his home and his home is paid for by charitable funds. He took as an egregious salary percentage of monies raised. This is immoral, unethical, and potentially illegal. It offends me that he could take money under these circumstances and done nothing to provide abused women and children services that they desperately need. R. Dratch’s website repeatable states, “we will” as to programs and projects but under news it offers nothing that it has actually done. Nor can I find any evidence of anything R. Dratch has accomplished on behalf of these tragic victims who would have been better served by donations to other organizations actually doing the work.

I am saddened that no news organization realized this as this is the reason R. Dratch is unfit to run any organization. RCA leadership has been made aware of this. I have also notified the leaders of the OU, and YU, as well as offering Rabbi Dratch and the above organizations a few weeks to withdraw his name so as not embarrass all the reputable people involved. Since neither he nor they have not done this I am left with no choice but to hope you, as members of the press will report this appropriately. Please help the women’s and children who he purports to help receive the help they need and provide those interested with a list of legitimate charities to support.

Kosher ve Yosher

[Max]

Elizabeth,

If what you say is true, nice investigating. As your post reads like a letter you are sending out I just wanted to let you know that, "Since neither he nor they have not done this..." should read, "Since neither he nor they have done this..."