The Commentator

An overflow crowd gathered in the Harry Fischel Beis Midrash on February 19 to hear RIETS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Willig deliver an extraordinary sichas mussar, in which he apologized publicly for his role in the 1989 beis din concerning Rabbi Baruch Lanner. Precipitated in part by pressure from the local Jewish media, the speech calmed the political tension that had been steadily mounting on campus due to the ongoing controversy.

Rabbi Willig opened with a joint statement on behalf of himself, Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Yosef Blau, and Professor of Economics Rabbi Dr. Aaron Levine, the three rabbis who adjudicated the 1989 case. The rabbis affirmed that "Rabbi Lanner, based on the misdeeds of which we found him guilty and our understanding of abuse in 2003, which was inadequate in 1989, is unfit for communal and youth work." They admitted that during the 1989 proceedings, they had made "errors in judgment and procedure that caused unnecessary pain and aggravation."  They formally apologized to Elie Hiller, who brought the initial allegations of abuse against Rabbi Lanner, and to witnesses, victims, and their families.

Community members had criticized the beit din, and in particular Rabbi Willig, for suppressing knowledge of Rabbi Lanner's abusive behavior and for failing to condemn it after its full extent became public knowledge. 

Rabbi Willig then delivered a sermon on the subject of recognizing errors, integrating his personal story with examples from the Bible and Talmud. "A person is blind to his own faults," conceded Rabbi Willig, citing the celebrated example of Adam in the Garden of Eden. He compared his own sightlessness to that of King David, who comprehended that he had sinned with Batsheva only after the prophet Nathan challenged him. In this case, the unconditional support of his students had exacerbated his "self-denial of even the smallest mistakes." Rabbi Willig thanked his friends, colleagues, and critics who fulfilled the role of Nathan by helping him recognize that he had erred. He exhorted his students, especially those who will be come rabbis, that "when you become aware of a mistake on your own or through your Nasan Ha-Navi, admit and take responsibility for it immediately and unconditionally. Even if the mistake was unintentional, and even if you share the blame with others, if you contributed to it, say chatasi [I have sinned]."

Although the speech occupied the time slot usually reserved for the weekly sichas mussar, it attracted a larger and more colorful crowd than its more generic counterparts. At Rabbi Willig's behest, both the media and his critics from the community attended. The small group of women present, which included student leaders from Stern College, sat separately in the front of the beis medrash.  Among the men, the overflow crowd lined the walls and spilled out into the hallway.

Some students questioned whether Rabbi Willig chose the appropriate venue for his speech. "If he has something to say to the media, he should say it directly," said YC junior Mordechai Raskas. One student leader admitted to leaving the room after Rabbi Willig read the beis din statement, believing that "what he was saying wasn't relevant to me."

In addition, SCWSC President Sharon Weiss, who did attend the speech, lamented the fact that arrangements were not made to accommodate the large number of Stern College students who wanted to listen. "Everyone knew that this wasn't a regular shiur," said Weiss. "It's very understandable that Stern students, especially those who are involved in NCSY, wanted to be there. They had a right and a reason to go. If non-yeshiva students from the uptown campus were able to attend this MYP event, they should have found a way for Stern students to attend as well." Last-minute plans to bring Stern students to the speech fell through when it became evident that the beis medrash would not have space for them.

Yet the majority of those in attendance considered Rabbi Willig's message both pertinent and instructive for its target student audience. "There is no greater form of mussar than a rebbe giving mussar to himself in front of his students," opined Ephraim Shapiro YC '01. "Rabbi Willig's sorely-needed message to his talmidim that no one is infallible is best served up as a mussar shmooze in their makom torah rather than a press conference." YSU vice president Yaakov Green concurred. "Coming from a former NCSY'er and a current NCSY administrator, I thought it was one of the most powerful and appropriate messages to be delivered in a Sichas Mussar. To hear a gadol BaTorah and one of a handful of poskei hador get up in front of an enormous crowd of his own talmidim and unequivocally admit his mistakes sends the message that not only are gedolim not infallible, but that it is the fact that they are able to admit their mistakes that makes them gedolim. We should all aspire to be that honest with our peers and ourselves."

Rabbi Blau, the mashgiach ruchani of MYP and RIETS, expresses concern that many students have been doubting Rabbi Willig's sincerity, whether because of cynicism or because of excessive loyalty.  "The internal yeshiva critics of Rabbi Willig are cynically dismissing how extraordinary is his public admission of mistakes.  The reaction of a number of his supporters to dismiss his comments since he was pressured by some evil forces to make them is even more troubling. If neither our Torah nor our college education has taught our students to be able to process new information and rethink existing positions, Y.U. is failing in helping our talmidim grow as adult religious Jews.

"Rabbi Willig taught us of the danger of being self-righteous and not considering the possibilty that others might be right and our rabbeim wrong about a particular matter.  I hope that the present denial is merely a stage in the process of recognizing the complexities of life and of Torah.  In the famous fourth footnote of "Halakhic Man" the Rav zt'l rejects the concept of religion that guarantees a peaceful harmonious existence without continuous struggle.  It is time for both our students and ourselves to move beyond a simplistic Judaism that avoids rather then confronts endless challenges to conventional pieties."

The speech capped a tumultuous three weeks of public controversy, during which Yeshiva students acted to defend Rabbi Willig from his critics in a variety of settings. Upwards of 100 students attended a lecture on parenting that Rabbi Willig delivered on Sunday, February 2 at Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, NJ, exclusively to show solidarity with their Rosh Yeshiva. Others in the audience came expressly to challenge Rabbi Willig for his silence concerning the beis din.

A column by Commentator editor Zack Streit, published on February 13, further fueled the controversy by criticizing Rabbi Willig's silence and claiming that "although certain Roshei Yeshiva may be revered for their mastery of Torah, some may have undesirable traits that make us wonder as to why they should serve as role models in the fullest sense of the word."

The day before Rabbi Willig's speech, the SOY board voted 3-1 not to have Jordan Hirsch, the lead singer for Neshoma Orchestra, play at Yeshiva's Purim Chagigah. Hirsch was one of Rabbi Willig's most vocal critics, and had signed the letter that was circulated to the media calling upon him to apologize. The vote was not binding, even at the time, and, after Rabbi Willig's apology, Hirsch will indeed play at Yeshiva for Purim. SOY board members declined to comment about the vote.

Rabbi Willig stressed in his speech that he desired to restore peace both in the campus and in the community at large. "Let me be clear: I bear no grudge against any of my critics, be them victim, supporter, or journalist. I wish them bracha v'hatzlacha, and I beg, even command, that my talmidim do the same. After the primary goal of protecting our children, my next goal is to restore shalom in our Yeshiva and beyond. I hope that in four weeks on Purim, we will all dance together to the music of Jordan Hirsch, and with all our neshama, in the spirit of shalom."

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