What Remains (Cross-Currents): "Because all that many, if not most, of the Jewish Week’s readers will likely ever remember about the entire business will be a
mendacious headline. Despite all the setting straight of facts, what will remain
in minds – not to mention in the eternal echo-chamber of cyberspace – will be
only those deceptive, in fact slanderous, words."
Shafran is writing about the distortions in a report that evaluated sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. Shafran took issue with the methodology and has received some level of support from the authors of the report.
This post is a response to the responses to Shafran original article. As he points out, many respondents took umbrage at what they saw as a willingness to cover-up abuse in the Orthodox community.
What I note is the last paragraph, which reminds me that it is far too easy to assume that we know who the enemy is and what he will say. We speak far too often and listen far too little. I don't agree with R' Shafran on many, many issues, but I find him routinely insightful and his input is invaluable.
