an adulterer among us

I was torn whether to post this or not. I decided to, but as a compromise I blacked out the name of the affected party from the published letter below. I did not really need to. This letter was sent out to all the homes in RBS, far more than the number of people who read this blog, so his name and the claim is far more public than I can possibly make it. But I still felt uncomfortable publicizing it, especially because I do not know if ti is true and what the background is..

On to the post - A letter was distributed in the mailboxes around RBS yesterday. The envelope was addressed to me and had a stamp on it that said "For Parents only". That was intriguing raising my curiosity level.

To be honest, I probably normally would not have even looked at the letter. I would have opened it up, seen the form letter, assumed it was some charity I was not interested in giving money to and would have thrown it right into the garbage without even a further glance. But somebody emailed me and told me he had received this strange letter, so I was looking for it.

The letter says, "This letter is being distributed after much indecision. On the one hand, publicizing it and raising the issue in the public forum can bring unnecessary awareness to the issue. But after consulting with Rabbonim and Educators, we came to the conclusion that we cannot ignore this. The Rabbonim requested that we, who were directly affected by this, should be the representatives on the matter.

As well, evil claims have been spread, that our neighborhood, supposedly "modern" because residents work for their livelihood, is the cause of this shameful story. Obviously that is not true and should be denied strongly.

The situation, as many already know, Is a local resident, Mr. K. from Nahal Uriah street. As previously publicized inappropriately, has committed actions that should not have been done and is suspected of adultery with married women of the neighborhood.

After it was publicized, many parties understood the problem of having contact with him. Immediately, Mr. K lost his employment at the Yated Ne'eman and as the Communications Advisor to the Mayor of Beitar.

According to the instruction of Rabbonim and Educators, everybody should be careful to warn their family members, those married and unmarried, not to get near this person. Not to deal with him in work related matters, not to come into close proximity of him, especially in public places such as offices, stores, medical clinics, public transportation 9which he sometimes uses even though he has his own car), etc.

After much clarification with the Rabbonim, it is clear he did not do his actions out of wickedness or out of contempt for the Torah. Rather because of an uncontrollable urge (mental illness). Therefore, despite what was previously publicized, nobody should harm him directly, and his family who did no wrong should not be harmed by anybody, in addition to the difficult period they are going through since the story was first revealed.

(signed)
It should be His will that this is being done with pure intentions
The Representatives

nb. There were different opinions whether to publicize this or not, even after experts heard about the possibility of his family coming to harm. We, whose daughters were directly harmed, have felt obligated to warn others, men and women, and we have what to rely upon."

I do not know the background of this story. I live on the other side of the neighborhood, so I guess the signs and flyers that went up when it broke were under my radar. I heard about his resignation, both from the Beitar office and from the Yated, but the information that was publicized then was the he resigned to open his own business (a PR firm). Not that he was forced out because of this scandal.

Further, I posted to a local Hebrew forum asking for some background to the letter, and the moderator deleted my message (I suspected he would because this kind of stuff is too hot).

What bothers me about the letter is that the letter is written anonymously, and while he says he consulted with Rabbonim and they decided he should write the letter, he does not say which Rabbonim. I understand why he is anonymous. he wants to protect his daughter/wife (if it is true) and his family reputation. But why should the Rabbonim remain anonymous. if they are taking a stand on a local issue that is possibly dangerous to the community, they should stand behind their words. they should let us know to take them seriously.

As of right now this is an anonymous letter quoting anonymous Rabbis and educators defaming a person who might or might not have done what they claim.

This actually reminds me of two similar stories that happened not too long ago.
The third link in the previous sentence was a story that happened on the same street where this fellow lives. That must have been a happening place!

Again, I do not know the background to the story (if any of you do know it, feel free to write it in the comments (but no rumors please - only if you know the story) or email it to me) and am hesitant to believe an anonymous letter quoting anonymous Rabbis in an attempt to hurt someone. If you want me to believe you, use your name of the name of someone who can back up the story.