Sexual Violence and Lashon Hara - How Do You Survive?
Just curious how survivors who are torah observant deal with the issue of Lashon Hara ('derogatory speech, that is true') ?
posted by Jewish Survivors at Friday, January 07, 2005
3 Comments:
Very difficult question. I don't think it constitutes loshon horah to talk about an abuser who has access to children who may be in danger of being victimized. I think any survivor can talk about what happened in order to help them process and heal. This is l'toelet.
How about when someone is being sexually harassed by a congregational rabbi? When it's just innuendoes. There wasn't any actually touching, just looks and suggestive comments? Is it lashon hara to tell anyone?
I think Luke Ford put it best, in this comment he left in the Cross Currents blog in response to a post by Yaakov Menken (since deleted, but saved here:)
"There is no beautiful teaching that can not be abused. Judaism's laws and teachings about forbidden speech, about lashon hara, are not a shield from independent scrutiny, nor a club to beat away all inconvenient facts. The prophet Nathan had no problem saying to King David, thou art the man.
Judaism is a constellation of values and practices. You can't seize one interpretation of Jewish law (the Chafetz Chaim's teachings on lashon hara) and claim it trumps all other values.
For instance, when there is a life at stake, that value trumps all of Jewish law but for three laws."
http://yourmoralleader.blogspot.com/2004/12/awesome-new-orthodox-blog.html
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