New York – The rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University is making headlines after a recording emerged of him using a racially charged term during a meeting with London rabbis on the topic of child sex abuse.
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Rabbi Herschel Schachter is heard on tape warning rabbis to be careful about turning over allegations of child sex abuse to police because a Jew may end up sharing a jail cell with “a shvartze, in a cell with a Muslim, a black Muslim who wants to kill all the Jews.” Schachter also cautioned that children lie and “it could be that the whole thing is a bubbe-mayse [tall-tale],” according to a report in the Forward (http://bit.ly/XSkYRv). The tape was originally posted by controversial blogger failedmessiah.com
Asked for a comment about Rabbi Schachter’s remarks, Yeshiva University first defended the widely-respected rabbinic dean and his right to academic freedom of speech saying, “Not all statements made by faculty members are consistent with the views of the University. Any offensive or derogatory comments about any people or groups are inconsistent with the values or mission of Yeshiva University.”
However, following condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League, YU issued a stronger statement denouncing the rabbi’s language. “The recent use of a derogatory racial term and negative characterizations of African-Americans and Muslims, by a member of the faculty, are inappropriate, offensive, and do not represent the values and mission of Yeshiva University,” the statement said.
I fail to understand what the racially charged term was. Was it Muslim?
In other words, his content is irrelavent. Focus on a word that is NOT deragetory always. It can be but he did not mean it that way.
YU backed down?! They are swayed because of the ADL?! That flaky? Rav Shechter is a gadol! YU should back him.
This is a case of hypersensitivity that the most brittle of people are causing.
This is galus.
A University cannot be a Yeshiva.
A Yeshiva cannot be a University.
It is true what he said, but it is only partly true because it gets much worse than that for jews and the system that was fortunately but ubfortnately not designed for ‘them’ Sorry but someone had to call out the emperor wears no clothes. Than you Rabbi.
Since when is a crayon color derogatory, maybe YU’s PR guy should take the subway and listen to how friendly greetings are conveyed.
University = political correctness. FACT.
ADL Has Nothing better to do … All they can do is constatnly attack jews to defend other people… who appointed them to be our higher authority, Abe foxman has held his position for 30 years and basically its a one man operation without even be en elected by membership. So its time to look who they are at ADL. they always seem to be in kahootz with the forward or jewish week.
There is only way to get rid of this subtle racism, thats whithin all of us Yidden.
By following the pleadings of Rav Yechiel Yakov Weinberg, and clearly teach our Talmudim, that the Halochos, of, Hashovas Aveido L’nochri, To’os Akim, Shor Sh’nogach Shoiroi shel Goy, Lo Maalin V’lo Moridin, etc etc, do not apply to Non-Yidden of our generation.
HKB”H will have Nachas Ruach, and Never-Again bring on, any Pogroms or other haterd towards us.
If one doesn’t commit a crime, one never has to worry about who his cellmate will be. Perhaps if the potentional criminals would think about the possible cellmates as well as the tremendous chillul Hashem they would refrain.
We don’t have the doctrine of infallibility of our gedolim.
I support such language. its harmless and emesdik.
Even I’m not offended!
YU exists in the real world. Rav Schachter is respected and is very knowledgable. He also made some unfortunate statements. He is not infallible, we do not believe in that stuff. That is Catholicism. If a Rav makes a mistake, he should acknowledge it and deal with it. It makes him greater not lesser. Chareidim should learn a lesson.
First of all, shvartze means black. It is quite common for blacks to refers to Jewish people as a Jewman a Jewwoman, etc. Secondly, this rabbi is WRONG about protecting sex offenders period. Third of all, this rabbi would be better off leaving to a more right wing environment.
In this day and age, no one, certainly not a rabbi of his standing, should use the word ‘shvartze’. And don’t tell me it just means ‘black’. ‘Hymietown’ just means a city filled with Jews with names Hymie? Think , before you speak. Also, think, before you put on blackface at a Purim party, especially if you’re a person in the public eye.
Sheesh, do I really have to say all the above? I thought we Jews were smarter than that !
Here we go again—-the knee-jerk defense of verbal acts of stupidity & insensitivity.
The insensitivity, and the “racially charged” nature of the speech in question is—for those too dense to figure it out—calling black people” schvartze”.
Get this through your narrow minds: Whether or not you, your friends or Rabbi Schachter think there’s something wrong with talking that way—the simple fact that most of the world now considers it racially offensive is reason enough not to talk that way. You can’t say “We’re Torah Jews; we answer to a higher authority” to justify having LOWER standards of common courtesy & respect of other human beings.
Unfortunately, the Rov stepped into territory of which he probably has little or no knowledge (as evidenced by his ignorant statements). First, in the prison system, child molesters are generally despised by all prisoners and not just “black Muslim[s]”. Secondly, when it comes to allegations of child abuse, statistics have shown that most allegations of abuse made by children are true. Third, prisoners incarcerated on charges of child molestation are entitled to protective custody (basically, solitary confinement). However, I am really surprised that a Rov would want to protect a child molester at the expense of further endangerment to children. Finally, did Yeshiva University issue a statement condemning the Rov’s denigration of victims of child abuse. The real chillul Hashem is the blatant ignorance exhibited by those with the title of “Rov” regarding the heinous crime of child abuse. Further giving fodder to disgusting sited like “FM” run by the Soneh Yisroel, Shmareyahu Rosenberg.
I have met Rabbi Schachter several times in Toronto when he lectured here.I have a high regard for him. He is a good person.
A black man is a black man. He is not African American since many don’t come from Africa; and come from Jamaica, Brasil, etc. A white man is not called an Irish American, a French American, or an English American.If a black man comes from France [and there are plenty black people in France] do we call him a African American or a French American. I have been called a lot worse by blacks but just laugh it off and they end up laughing too
The incredible part is that he appears to be advocating not reporting child sex abuse because the abuser’s cellmate may be the wrong type of cellmate.
I would sugegest that however reprensible using a “racially charged term” may be, this is far bigger problem.
YU accepts government funding and words like this are discrimination!
could someone explain to me,if you were speaking yiddish,how should you express yourself if trying to say “he was a black person” the only word in yiddish for black is”schwartz,so what the heck is it wrong to call someone a schwartze?.
and by the way,i don’t agree with rabbi Schechter,because if someone is convicted for abusing children,and is incarcirated,then whatever punishment he will recieve from his fellow inmates he 1000% deserves,even losing his life,a low life piece of dirt who abuses little kids and ruins them for life,does not deserve to walk this planet
Has anybody got a copy of the entire shiur/ lecture. ? perhaps we are all judging without knowing . I for one would really like to hear it before judging someone like rav schechter.
oiber-chacham, you would be correct if someone was speaking Yiddish, but the problem here is that he was speaking English, and then switching to that “one-word” in Yiddish.
IDK who perverted the word ‘shavartze’ “Black is Beautiful”
בפסוק: על אודות האשה הכושית אשר לקח וכי כושית שמה והלא ציפורה שמה אלא מה כושית משונה בעורה אף ציפורה משונה במעשיה . חז”ל: כושית בגימטריה יפת מראה; על שם נויה נקראת כושית, כאדם הקורא את בנו נאה כדי שלא תשלוט בו עין רעה
btw: I dont agree with “oiber-chacham”
HOLD ON A MINUTE EVERYONE. Putting the whole schvartze narishkeit to the side, Rabbi Schachter is NOT advocating not reporting. He’s advocating caution. He’s speaking of people being falsely accused and facing dangerous circumstances. Read it again. (I notice a lot of our commentators here have trouble with reading. Why is that? Spelling is another sad issue.)
I have to assume all the bloggers here are under 30 since no one brough upt the 1990 mayoral race. In the 1990 nyc mayoral campaign, Jakie Mason called Mayor Dinkins a fancy shvartze and there was an uproar. Mason had to leave Giuliani’s campaign. But the arguments were the same as now, liberal jews called the term shvartze, rasicst and derogatory The “hamishe olim” defended him. My feelings are still the same, any word can be turned into a hurtful word you have to hear the context.. the word shvartze means black, when I use the word I mean a black person and I have no intent to hurt anyone. Examples given above such as jewboy, hymie are ALWAYS used as a putdown.
This should be His biggest mistake. We all make mistakes and this is just ADL having nothing to complain about this week. We should look more closely at the ADL and not this talmud chacom.
If they get rid of HaRav Shachter, I am sure there are MANY chashuva yeshivas out there that will be happy to have such a gaon olam!!
I am astounded at all of the commentators on this board, who defend the use of the term “schvartze”. It just doesn’t mean “Black” in a paternal sense. It means “Black” in a derogatory, or condescending sense. How many terms have we heard Yidden state “Those schvartzes did this, or those schvartzes did that”. They are not using that term, as a term of endearment. Many Blacks know what that term means, and they resent it. We should not stoop to the level of the gutter, in using such a term. If other groups want to use ethnic slurs, it doesn’t mean that we have to follow suit!
It is nice the Rabbi has taken the time to express concern about those who abuse women and children. So many of us just want monsters in jail, but he takes the time to worry about their roommates!
If it were his kid (G-d forbid), he would be screaming for a lynching.
If we get upset when people make derogatory, anti-Semitic comments, we should be careful not to make racist comments about others.
Sometimes the “Oylam” is a “Goylem”. Heimishe people will call a non religious person a “goy” and they do not mean it as a compliment. They consider that person not to be really Jewish. Sometimes they will call a modern orthodox person, who is dressed differently from them a “goy”. So it comes as little surprise that we might use the “S” word in a derogatory way. What is very surprising is that a Gadol would lapse into this type of language. People don’t report what you didn’t say.
I have listened to several hundred of the 3000+ shiurim available online form R. Schachter, on kol ha torah kulah. He is entitled to a few regrettable turns of phrase now and again. I do wish he would acknowledge that his Spanish-speaking neighbors are no longer “Puerto Ricans” but Dominicans. Such misidentification is likely to lead to physical violence in Washington Heights.
arnold Schwarzenegger- must really run into trouble
R Shacter is a well known and respected man who is entitled to his opinions.
I see nothing wrong with the word ‘schvarz’ since it is Yiddish meaning black.
I do not share his view of not reporting child abuse to the police. They are the ones responsible to investigate the truth. A person who did abuse a child deserves a cell with a schvatz muslim!
Unforunately, regardless of the descriptive term he used, this would have caused a controversy. The implication was that if a jew ends up in jail, he’ll be sharing a cell with a black muslim. Why, is it only black muslims who commonly found in jail, and would be considered a dangerous cellmate? There are people of every race, color and nationanlities in the criminal jail system, and many of them are dangerous regardless of the color of their skin.
Two offenses here. First is use of a term now considered derogatory outside of insular communities, which YU proclaims itself to not be. The other: prejudice and stereotyping of behavior, based on race. Both are evil speech, and neither appropriate for a man of Torah. At the very least, serious teshuva and tikkun is warranted.
Two offenses here. First is use of a term now considered derogatory outside of insular communities, which YU proclaims itself to not be. The other: prejudice and stereotyping of behavior, based on race. Both are evil speech, and neither appropriate for a man of Torah. At the very least, serious teshuva and tikkun is warranted. Perhaps the man needs to get out of the ivory tower beit midrash for a few years and understand common people Jewish and not, and stop spending all his time with rabbis. His das Torah means little if he does to others that which is repugnant to him.
“”” derogatory comments, about any people or groups are inconsistent with the values or mission of Yeshiva University””.
But these comments are exactly what the Rosh Yeshivas have to learn with the Bochrum every day. The Divrei Chazal is all about grouping people, (eg. people who were born to a non-yiddishe Mama, have different criterea.) We make sure to end the, “Shlach Refuah Shleimo” with the words, “L’choilei Amecha”.
Waht may be more disturbing is if his words would encourage rabbis to cover up allegations of child abuse. This pattern of coverup in the charedi circles is disasterous and cannot continue.
This is one of the precious very few occasions when anyone associated with that mockery of Jewish mosed (yeshiva, university, an oxymoron if ever I saw one) said something making sense, whether it is the sensible assessment of the consequences on mesira or the realistic evaluation of the likely population with which the Jewish prisoner is likely to be surrounded with, be it shvartzes or muslims or some combination of both. And, naturally, he is going to pay for it. I would be surprised if he manages to keep his shtellar.