By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California –How the mighty have fallen!
This past week, much has been said about one of Modern Orthodoxy’s greatest scholars of our time—Rabbi Michael Broyde, who allegedly has been using a fake ID to help promote his writings and Halachic scholarship. The use of aliases is common in much of today’s environment, but in Rabbi Broyde’s case, it looks bad because he is such a public figure–he is a man who teaches students about Jewish legal ethics.
The ethical lapse of judgment is something that cannot be overlooked for Rabbi Broyde is reported to have used his fictional identities to promote his works online and in academic journals. He also used his “Rabbi Hershel Goldwasser” persona to attack his critics, while infiltrating opposing rabbinic body listserves.
As mentioned above, Rabbi Broyde teaches courses in Jewish ethics and Talmud at Emory University and now the trustees are trying to determine how to discipline Rabbi Broyde. His academic career may be destroyed along with his reputation. The RCA body of Modern Orthodox rabbis has already thrown him off its national Beth Din (rabbinic court). He has become persona non grata in the world where he once commanded respect.
I wonder how his family will survive. Rabbi Broyde offered a sober Orthodoxy to the kind of extreme Orthodoxy that has metastasized throughout much of the Orthodox world in the United States and abroad.
Fame often comes with a dangerous price. Rabbis are not rock-stars or celebrities. God intended for us to be humble servants of the communities we serve. This in itself ought to be our greatest reward—the opportunity to serve God and not just our egos. However, most rabbis—like many other public figures—do have egos. We have feet of clay; and yes, we do have egos.
In retrospect, the investigating person who exposed Rabbi Broyde in my opinion acted with malice. In my opinion, Rabbi Broyde should have been confronted—privately rather than publicly and be given a chance to clean up his act.
The Chinese have a wise aphorism: Do not remove a fly from your friend’s head with a hatchet. This is sound advice. Trying to remove a fly with a hatchet will never kill the fly, but it will kill your friend.
If he needed a recommendation for any of his books, I would have gladly offered some positive book reviews, but unfortunately, he did not ask. In today’s world of Internet communication, we are witnessing the birth of an Orwellian society where privacy is rapidly disappearing. Almost anyone can track the Internet activity of anyone one chooses to follow.
The loss of privacy in our lives is nothing less than tragic. Who would want their identities subject to such mischievous scrutiny? I fear more witch-hunts and public beheadings are in store for us; our violent impulses and passion for gossip threatens to destroy the fabric of our society and religious communities.
A famous anonymous quote speaks directly to our problem:
- My name is Gossip. I have no respect for justice. I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives. I am cunning, malicious and gather strength with age. The more I am quoted, the more I am believed. I flourish at every level of society. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face. To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. I am nobody’s friend. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I topple governments and wreck marriages. I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion. I spawn suspicion and generate grief. I make innocent people cry in their pillows. Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip.
The Internet can be used to destroy people and there is very little to be done to protect oneself from the cyber-bullying lifestyle of malevolent people.
We say in our daily prayers, “A man should always show reverence toward God in private, like he does in public.” This is wise advice for all of us to wish to act as spiritual teachers for others. Should we fail to live up to this ideal, someday we may face God’s cosmic justice when we least expect it. That knowledge alone ought to keep us humble and mindful.
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted at Michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com