#Metoo inspires rabbi to come out as abuse victim

Did you hear about the big news last week?  A Chabad rabbi in Utah became possibly the first orthodox rabbi to come out in public about the sexual abuse he went through as a child from his nanny.  I won't go through the details, but you can read the article here.  I didn't see it until after I sent my email last Friday, so I thought to add my commentary today.

Many people were shocked that someone could be so successful and charismatic while living the double life of pain, guilt & shame. I'm not surprised by this at all.  

The Talmud tells us the stats.  "A majority of the population (>50%) struggle with stealing, a minority (<50%) struggle with adultery and everyone struggles with gossip.

The stats are that 20% of all women have been abused, although it's a very hard number to get accurate because of its sensitivity.

With these kinds of numbers, survivors have got to be all across the spectrum.

Almost 20 years after the abuse started and ten years after it stopped, he decided to go public about it, being inspired by the #metoo movement.

I've mentioned in my classes and sermons that I believe the #metoo movement is playing a big role in Moshiach coming.

You see, Hashem created the world, and we all know how it's supposed to run.  We know what health feels like and yet, so many people suffer from disease.  We get a taste of the beauty of marriage, but somewhere down the line we wonder why it doesn't stay the way it's meant to.  Raising children is a tremendous joy, but then why are we so distant from them once they've grown?  We know how children are sponges and it's such a pleasure to watch them grow. Unfortunately, many children are abused, causing deeply rooted confusion surrounding relationships and sexuality, as seen in the article on Rabbi Zippel.

Moshiach is about the world running in the way it was meant to run.  All disease will be cured, marriage will have all the pluses with none of the minuses, and the parent-child relationship will be the way it was meant to be.  Of course when Moshiach comes, there will be no more abuse.

For some reason, Hashem wants us to bring Moshiach.  Sure, He could have created a perfect world with no suffering or pain, but he wants us to make it happen.

In recent years, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, because Moshiach is so close.  There's a wall of golus (exile) with huge bricks of disease, mental health, war, abuse, loneliness and everything else negative in the world blocking most of the light.

The #Metoo movement and Rabbi Zippel have just taken a sledgehammer and knocked out much of the brick called abuse.  For 5,000 years, the world hasn't talked about abuse or done anything to curtail it, and now, in just the last three years, children are being educated, and adults are finally being punished for inappropriate touch.

I have more to say on this, but I'll leave it for next week.