Enough is Enough — Part III

Since I had no luck persuading the old administration at Yeshiva University to take down Rosenblatt’s shiurim on YUTorah.org, I decided to approach the new president, Rabbi Ari Berman, who was starting in June 2017. On June 4, 2017, I sent him the following e-mail, referencing the unanswered letter to Richard Joel which you can read in full under Enough is Enough-Part II:

I sent this letter to Richard Joel in December 2016. I never received any reply and the material is still up on YUTorah.com. The letter speaks for itself. We have no trouble concluding, in general, that moral philosophy from tainted sources is unacceptable. Why this matter has been allowed to linger is completely beyond my comprehension.

Again, no reply.

Finally, on September 20, 2017, I sent the following letter, Certified/Return Receipt:

Yeshiva University                                                 September 20, 2017

500 W. 185th Street

New York, NY 10033

Attention: Rabbi Ari Berman, President

Dear Rabbi Berman:

Enclosed please find two letters. The first was sent to Richard Joel. It speaks for itself and was unanswered. The second was an e-mail message sent to yourself which included the letter to Richard Joel and was likewise unanswered.

I have never envied people in authority because they are invariably faced with multiple problems and reasonable solutions can be difficult to achieve. This issue involving Jonathan Rosenblatt should be fairly obvious. Every time I think of him using his obvious intellectual talents, I am reminded of the midrash that says that a pig waves its split hooves around and loudly proclaims, “I am kosher.” He has, at least, partially used Torah as a tool to whitewash himself.

Initially, I thought to hold off on this letter until after the Chagim to allow everyone to focus on self-examination and life affirming personal decisions based on Torah and mitzvot. And then I thought, that, indeed this is the perfect time to rectify an egregious error.

When I was growing up, it was widely believed that the Jewish community did not and could not suffer from many of society’s ills. Unfortunately, that has proven to be incorrect. We will not be judged because dreadful sins have occurred. We will be judged for how we deal with them.

Since the letters were sent Return Receipt, it is clear that they were received. I am still waiting for my answer.