"I Didn't Know There Could Be a Bad Rabbi": Confronting Emotional and Religious Abuse, with Rabbi Mark Dratch and Mrs. Rachel Dratch (173)

What may a teacher or kiruv professional do in order to make people frum? Do the ends of bringing people closer to Torah justify the means of manipulating them emotionally? And even if the methodology is valid in some way, does it even work? According to Scott, playing mind games in the service of religion is not just wrong, but literally abusive. It potentially causes trauma, and further cements, in both the teacher and the students, the damaging idea that the teacher has special access to spiritual truth that is denied to the student. While someone who has studied Torah hopefully has a greater knowledge of Jewish law, and while he or she may potentially possess insights into spirituality, that does not translate into genuine knowledge of the mind of G-d; in reality, those who abuse often seem to profess shallow inanities that desecrate G-d's name. Yet some abusive rabbis have become famous and popular not despite their hurtful words, but because of them. And there are others - less famous, to be sure - who may be teaching in the schools attended by our children. To learn more about this troubling phenomenon, Scott spoke with Rabbi Mark Dratch and Mrs. Rachel Dratch. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com