You have the Obligation to Remain Silent…

We all know our rights. We have the right to remain silent…

…but, do we have the right to remain speaking?

I haven’t written about the Malka Leifer episode for some time now. There hasn’t been much reason to. Here’s a quick update:

In late May, there was a court ruling that Mrs. Leifer is indeed mentally fit to be extradited. Not a big surprise to me. On July 20, there was a hearing on the legal merits of extradition itself. The hearing did not go on for very long and I have no idea what arguments were put out. The media reported that the defense argued that the Australian authorities haven’t proved that the alleged offenses were non-consensual. I am no legal expert, but it seems odd to me why this should matter if it means they are conceding that the alleged offenses actually occurred. I have previously written that the defense should argue that there is no proof that any offenses took place at all. I wonder why they did not go that route.

I work pro-bono.

In any case, it seems like this solitary court hearing is all the court activity there will be and a decision will be handed down on Sept. 21 (Tzom Gedaliah). If it’s in favor of extradition, there may yet be some appeals. After all this, there will be the issue of extraditing somebody during a world-wide pandemic. This is the current state of affairs and, with everything else that is going on these days, it is hardly news. So, there really hasn’t been much for me to write about on this topic…until last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday, there was an earth-shaking development in Victoria, the home state of the Sapper sisters (accusers of Mrs. Leifer). On August 26, it was disclosed that the State of Victoria “quietly” made some changes back in February to a law called the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act (JPRA) which only surfaced now. These changes effectively ban all victims of sexual abuse from identifying themselves by name when telling over their stories on public forums. Apparently, this is only applicable to cases where the offender has been convicted but perhaps even an arrest or indictment counts. 

Click HERE to see the article that was linked in Dassi's Facebook page.

It seems like there is nothing wrong with disclosing the name of the offender, only the name of the victim! As a result, all victims are silenced unless they hide their names. The only way to circumvent this requires a court order.

This means that, as of the current time, the Sapper sisters can no longer discuss the Malka Leifer episode or present updates on the case on their dedicated Facebook page since the Facebook page is under their name and is not anonymous. They are stunned, “aghast and bewildered” not to mention upset and angry.

I am also a bit "aghast and bewildered" because their Facebook page was my main source of information.

If you are wondering what is the underlying rationale and objective of these changes and what is the logic behind it, you are not alone. The media hasn’t revealed it and it doesn’t seem to make much sense. It is a very strange and obscure law that seems to fly in the face of all Western civil liberties of freedom of speech and right to protest. It seems to be protective of offenders though it’s not clear how. 

Some say it is the work of the sinister underworld that nurtures and protects offenders and some say it was a quirk in the language of the act and is not intentional. There is a tremendous outcry from victims’ advocates and quite a few politicians along with vows to right this wrong as soon as possible. Time will tell how it pans out. But, for the moment, it is in effect.

This situation looks to be exclusive to Victoria, Australia. Not to any other part of Australia and, certainly, not anywhere else in the Western world. The fact that the Leifer episode is alleged to have happened there and that these accusing sisters are residents of Victoria is just a stroke of bad luck. 

Or is it?

Personally, I am just as bewildered as everyone else and cannot see the rhyme and reason for this law. I don’t believe governments should silence anybody, especially legitimate victims of crimes. This is absurd if not draconian.

But, as a believing Jew, we must look for the yad Hashem. We all know the pasuk in Mishlei (21:1):

לב שרים ומלכים ביד השם.

The hearts of princes and kings (and politicians) are in the hands of G-d. 

Regular folks have free will (bechira), but when it comes to the big shots (think Pharaoh and Nevuchadnetzer), HKBH programs them to act like He wants. If an absurd, logic-defying law was implemented in Victoria, Australia, even – or especially – only temporarily, it’s because HKBH wants this law to be in effect in Victoria, Australia. If victims of sexual abuse need to keep their names out of the media in Victoria, it’s because HKBH wants them to keep their names out of the media in Victoria.

Is it possible that this fashla occurred primarily for its impact on the Sapper sisters and the Leifer case? 

Many of us know the gemara in Yevamos 63a:

אמר רב אלעזר בר אבינא אין פורענות באה לעולם אלא בשביל ישראל שנאמר ... וכתיב (צפניה ג:ה) "אמרתי אך תראי אותם תקחי מוסר".

Rav Elazar ben Avina says: Bad events in the world only occur for the sake of [the nation of] Israel (Rashi – To frighten them into doing teshuva) as it states (Tzephania 3:7): “I have said that if only you will see it you will accept rebuke”.

We definitely need to learn something from this. 

Before anything else, we must acknowledge that, from the perspective of Judaism, not all types of speech are legitimate. To follow, is a short list of some types of speech that are not legitimate and should not be allowed:

• Anything that promotes idolatry, heresy, and/or atheism (avoda zara).
• Anything that promotes bloodshed (shpichas damim)
• Anything that promotes immorality, promiscuity and homosexuality (giluy arayos)
• The four חברת חשמ"ל – Those who are not mekabel pnei haShechina (Sota 42a):

               Chanufa (ח) – Praising one who is wicked or undeserving

               Sheker (ש) – Falsehood

               Mesaper lashon hara or Motzi shem ra (מ) – Defamation

               Leitzanus (ל) – Scoffing

• Echad b’peh and echad b’lev – Conniver (דברנו דופי)

But after we rule out these and perhaps a few other varieties, we can consider everything else legitimate. Especially things that promote Torah, Halacha and yiras shamayim and things happening in the world that people should be aware of.

When it comes to legitimate speech, I don’t believe anyone should be silenced. If someone is a victim of a traumatic experience or of a known confirmed offender and wants to talk about themselves for the benefit of others (and not for the detriment of others), I don’t think they should be silenced. Also, if someone wants to preach the Word of G-d, I don’t think he should be silenced, either.

So, on the face of things, it may seem that the Sapper sisters and other victims are justified to complain about being silenced. Except for one thing that I noticed from many people who claim to be victims of sexual offenses. 

They only complain when they are being silenced.

They don’t seem to complain when the people they are accusing are being silenced. Or when those who speak up for them are being silenced. But it’s not just that. 

Often enough, they do everything in their power to ensure that the “other” people are being silenced. It doesn’t seem to bother them then. It’s okay to silence the opposition. The “other” people are criminals and supporters of criminals, anyway. We’re the good guys.

We all know, this is the new freedom of speech in the western world. If you are liberal, “PC”, atheist, gay, black, and/or a “victim”, you are entitled to extended (free) prime time in the media and on the campuses. If you are conservative, traditional, religious, straight, and/or “under indictment”, there’s no time left on the program.

This was the subject of my very first “preamble” post on the Malka Leifer episode. It was titled Midas HaDin and focused on how accused people cannot be heard over the “din” of the accusers. I repeated it again in the post about Victim Turned Predator. 

Of course, for my trouble, there was a drive to silence me. Firstly, there was the attempt by a group of liberal rabbis in Australia that call themselves RCANZ to disparage me. Not through debate, but blanket discreditation. I wrote about this HERE. 

About the same time, the Jewish Community Watch team – Meyer Seewald and Shana Aaronson – posted a malicious, defamatory article against me on their site. It can still be accessed, but I do not want to link to it. Their closing line was:

Our only goal is very clear- that he (Hirshman) cease all public writing that directly targets victims, and that he be removed from the platform with which to preach his dangerous and damaging beliefs.

They don’t acknowledge that the “victims” they refer to are currently playing the role of accusers. Also, they don’t bother to explain why the “beliefs” that I “preach” – i.e., the Halachic prohibitions of extradition and mesira as well as my contention that these girls should terminate their prosecution campaign for their own wellbeing – are “dangerous” and “damaging”.

Incidentally, the “Comments” button on this article has been disabled.

It goes without saying that my comments, which almost always consist of a link to a relevant blog post and nothing more, are not welcome on the Facebook pages of Dassi Erlich and Shana Aaronson. No question, they are perfectly entitled to block the links – it’s their FB pages, after all – but the pages are meant for the public and censoring out dissenting opinions, as opposed to allowing them and rebutting them, is still censorship. Also, it's a display of spinelessness.

In thirteen years, I have never disallowed or deleted a comment that anybody posted on my blog site unless it fell into one of the categories of illegitimate speech listed above.

I have noticed that I may not be the only person who is censored from Dassi Erlich’s Facebook page. Back in December 2019, Dassi posted a muse about how her blood pressure is affected by this roller coaster ride. As expected, all the well-wishers were wishing her well. But there was one commenter named Andrew Adams who felt that Dassi and her sisters really ought to rethink where all this is getting them. In the first of his three comments he wrote:

It's good that you don't know who I am. I can see that all three of you are unable to see what danger you are doing to your own lives by making this Leifer part of your lives and allowing her to take over your minds.

He does not seem to be hostile to their cause and he seems to be genuinely concerned for their welfare. Believe it or not, I also want what is best for them so I agree with him completely on this – but I have no voice. Amazingly, just as I would have been if they were my comments, Mr. Adams was summarily attacked by other commenters as well as by Dassi herself for daring to suggest that it is a good idea to stop this insanity.

Next time I looked, his three comments were gone. Did he remove them? 

All told, silencing people is a very popular pastime in today’s world…as long as it’s the “other” guy who is silenced. For those who make a hobby out of censoring other people for legitimate speech, it is very difficult to sympathize when they find themselves on the receiving end. What goes around, comes around.

התקוששו וקושו – קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים. (בבא בתרא ס:)

Adorn yourself and, only then, adorn others!