8/3/2019 Ami Magazine - Frankfurter Op-Ed about Zev Brenner Show

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hls past motzei Shabbos I dld what 1 usually do thattime each week. I checked my BlackBerry e-mailinbox. And. like each week, I received an e-mai1lrom the radio program TalltlineWithZev Brenner an-nouncing that nights show: "Dr' MichaelJ Salamon'PsycholSgist, factting Abuse in Orthodox Jewlsh

dren from people who wouid hurt them, anti-Orthodox zeahuu" .u,.rr.d ctnsiderabie harm The response' to the volof vitriol aimed at the community by these anti-religiousbl.-rorr"rr, has unfortunately been to cause many upstandmembers of the community to not give this cause the attenit deserves.1 was looking forward to the opportunity to confront

Salamon. Hls opening remarks on the show were remark' and telling. After discussing the chl1d abproblem, in a polite demeanor he brouup Natan Slifkin, presumably not a vi

Communitrr"My instinctive response was: There they go again"Iim disappointed," was my two-word e-mail reply to Zev."Why?" he resPonded in turn'

Since he solicited an explanation, i elab-orated: "Because this is a biood llbe1 againstthe Orthodox communlty, perpetrated notby Cathollcs, but by our secular brethren'There are no statistics supporting their al-legations. Abuse is not an Orthodox prob-1em but a giobal human problem' PennState, which had a serious problem, is nei-ther religious nor Orthodox This issue hasbeen used against us b1' self-hating Jews "Zev persisted: "I have on an Orthodoxdoctor."In light of my good friend Zev's tenac-ity, 1 shared with hlm my thoughts: "He is,-,lt the right person to be addressing thisprobiem. Put on Pinny Taub He's a victima.rd att advocate. When he realized theseactivists have an arrti-charedi agenda, heparted company and formed his own ad-,ro.u.y group. Don't get yourself drawn in

oi chlld abuse. Saiamon went on to cite"Zoo Rabbl"'s unrelated grievances agthe charedi community. Likewise tellingDr. Salamon's taklng issue with the conof daos Torah.

1 told the doctor that, from the religcommunity's perspective, there werehorrific abuse problems. One perpetragainst children, and the other againsO"rthodox community itself; and that whe is ostensibly trying to alleviate the fohe is unfortunately committing the latteWhen he strongly objected to myment. i asked him about the biurb oback cover of his book, which reads alows: "lr4ichae1J. Salamon, Ph'D 's bookimportant in that it actually sheds-llgthis issue and identlfies how and whyin the Jervish community ls less reporteless known than that ln the Catholic C

by smooth u1kers."The next e-mail I received from Zev included an invitation:"Do you want to be on the show with him tonight?""einny Taub and I will go on," was my rep\''eerhaps a brief overview of the scourge of child abuse is inorder. Since the time that the abuse problem came to light in

if-r. no^u" Catholic Church, our secular Jewish brethrenhave

seized on the halachic prohibltion against mesira to proclaimifrul-ot,tt"aoxJews failio report abuse to the civil authodties'A, , ..rrrlt, they allege, abuse is more lolerated in the Orthodoxworld than elsewhere.li ;; are a member of the community' according to theseactivists, you are ipso Jacto guilty of abetring one of the worst.ri-"1i"irglnable: child abuse' No one would dare lndict thec^ifr"f* cJrtmunity for the sins of its church hierarchy or in-dlvidual pri.ests. But tarring the entlre Orthodox Jewish u'orld,..-, ,-roi to violate the standards ol politlcal correctness'By hijacklng the serious mandare of protecting innocent chil-

or withln other religious groups "--Dr. Salamon, iroiically, said rhat the blurb was inaccur*^ utro quite gratifpng *hen he confirmed that CDC f,t o* ittu,',l't. .I," oi .liild ub"" is about rhe same in all-""iti"t, and that the law enforcement personnel he dealcorrcut- T" the great chagrin of the many activists who rouclaim that the abuse ratis higher inthe charedt communiao.,o, shared his feeiing thai he personally thought themieht actually be lower there than eisewhere''T;. aJ;"n also didn't seem to see a problem with rabvetting abuse allegations and deciding which allegation,u.l,"i calling police, as many poshim have ruled' as lothose rabbis were properly tralned' And when Pinny Taub.rrt .Z"a the Forwari, JewishWeeh, and blogs' Salamonproclaimed, "l don't like blogs'""--Ai;h;rgh the callers somehow consisted of an inor,rr*tr., oi critlcs of the Orthodox community' as I leBrenner's cluttered studio I had a rather content feeling o

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8 AMI MAGA zrNE IINoVEMBER 23' 2o1'1 ll 26 cHESHVAN' 5772