Mi KeAmcha Yisrael: Another Look at Chaim Walder

This morning I watched the unveiling of a new statue of John F. Kennedy recently erected in Washington’s  Kennedy Center.

John F. Kennedy in a statue?

Yes, he was a beloved former US president but he was also a sex addict, an adulterer, and a man who used women as objects for his pleasure.  JFK’s dalliances have been well documented including his relationship with a woman who also shared her bed with prominent Mafiosi.

So nu?

Where are the #metoo folks, the statue breakers of the summer of 2020?

Nobody has said a thing or taken out a sledgehammer. Instead, the media sings praises for the fallen commander in chief.

And us?

While we need to ask ourselves how Chaim Walder remained under the radar for so many years and why he received a hero’s funeral at the end of the day we took the guy down. Yes, we could have done it earlier, much earlier, and spared innocent lives. Yes, we could have done it ourselves without the whistle blown by a secular newspaper.

Still, it’s fair to say most of the Torah observant community, the people who made Walder into a superstar are disgusted by his actions to the point that they are throwing his books into the trash–even though their content is innocent and even positive.

And what about the rest of the world?

Look at the Kennedy statue. Look at Bill Gates and  Bill Clinton both former guests on  Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious sex island. Look at Hillary Clinton the so-called feminist who has turned a blind eye to her husband’s escapades and on the other side of the political aisle look at Donald Trump.

Though much of our world tolerates and indeed glorifies licentiousness we Torah observing Jews do not. We are far from perfect  There are other less-known Chaim Walder’s within our communities. Let’s hope they are apprehended soon but for the most part, we live lives of moral purity. Adultery is the exception rather than the rule and for the most part, we lack moral confusion. The Torah informs our thinking on the difference between right and wrong.

As troubling as this story is it is certain that no one will ever erect a Chaim Walder statue or portrait or monument in Bnai Brak or any place else and for that, we need to be proud.