R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find Out What It Means To Me

To the Editor:

The Commentator recently printed a letter to the editor by a YU student unhappy with the musar "rankings," "antics," and "showmanship" delivered by Rabbis in general and by our Roshei Yeshiva: "pundits," "demagogues," and "grinning yodels," in particular. I was more astounded than offended by the way he expressed his feelings. I was also struck by the irony - in the process of giving musar to the Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbis about how they give musar, he committed many of the same offenses of which he accused them.

I will not address the substance of his complaints; I hesitate to debate a person agitated enough to refer to three Roshei Yeshiva as "tactless nitwits" and "incarnations of Beavis and Butthead." We have all heard sichot musar which do not edify us. Perhaps we have even heard sichot which offend or anger us. But feeling that a Rosh Yeshiva has said something disrespectful does not entitle us to behave with utter disrespect ourselves. When we are angered by talmidei hakhamim, perhaps the warnings of the Gemara (Sanhedrin 99b), and Rambam (Talmud Torah 6:11), should encourage us to formulate our criticism carefully and express them in the right forum - "It is a great sin to degrade the sages . . . Jerusalem was destroyed only when they bega n to degrade the sages there . . . ."

Lastly, perhaps the editors of the Commentator might take this opportunity to rethink what sort of letters they choose to print. That the Commentator broadcasts not only to the YU community, but also to many alumni and to the broader community, burdens the editors with the heavy responsibility for drawing the line between publishable fact, opinion and sensationalistic pieces resulting in chillul Hashem.

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