Rabbi Aron Tendler and a small group of his congregants in Israel for a bar mitzva were a barred from entering the Temple Mount because they did not have ID. Rabbi Tender is claiming discrimination. But the need for ID is very well known. Why didn’t Rabbi Tendler’s group have any ID?
Tendler, grandson of the famous halachic
authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, said that he and his congregants did
not bring ID or other valuables with them because they had been at the
mikveh [ritual bath] and were afraid that while they were immersing
themselves their valuables would be left unguarded.
According to Jewish law, it is necessary to purify oneself in a mikveh before entering the Temple Mount.
Also, Tendler felt that it was preferable from a halachic point
of view to leave all mundane items outside the Temple Mount out of
respect for the holiness of the place.
Of course, the simplest way to solve that problem would be to have one of the group watch the valuables while the others use the mikva, and for the others to watch his belongings while he uses it immediately after. As for the "mundane items," ID – required in Israel and necessary for security reasons – would not fall under the category of "mundane items" Rabbi Tendler claims to be worried about.
So why leave the ID behind? Maybe this. Rabbi Tendler is under a cloud of suspicion. He has been accused by multiple women of sexual abuse and harassment. He resigned from his rabbinical post (effective later this year), in part, it is alleged, because of these allegations. Becoming a hero of sorts to his congregation’s base by being ‘persecuted’ by Israeli security services weeks after Amona may help him regain his post.
For those of you uncertain about the actions of the security service, what they did is called Profiling. It is in large part why Israel is as safe as it is.
FailedMessiah.com 
You have the wrong Tendler. Rabbi Aron Tendler was not accused of sexual abuse.
Nope. Both Aron and Mordechai have been.
Since you request that commentators try to use facts and logic, let me suggest that you have failed to do so. Do you really believe that Rabbi Tendler would be concerned with presenting his id to a guard at the ramp leading up to Har HaBayit because of “a cloud of suspicion” in Los Angeles? No guard at the Kotel is going to decide whether to let someone visit the top of the Temple Mount based on rumors and accusations of moral improprieties in Los Angeles. Rabbi Tendler is not traveling incognito. Rabbi Tendler and his group obviously had to present id when they arrived in Israel, when they checked into their hotel, and I am sure at other times as well. Moreover, if Rabbi Tendler was trying to keep a low profile, why would he give an interview about the incident to a Jerusalem Post reporter? At the risk of being accused of name-calling, your theory about why Rabbi Tendler and his group did not have their ids with them is completely implausible and your comment on the incident is frankly absurd, and reflects the climate of loshon hara and hysteria that has afflicted Rabbi Tendler and his family. Anonymous allegations without any substantiation are posted on internet sites and then passed back and forth, enhanced at each juncture by wild speculation, such as what you have engaged in.
1. “Do you really believe that Rabbi Tendler would be concerned with presenting his id to a guard at the ramp leading up to Har HaBayit because of “a cloud of suspicion” in Los Angeles? No guard at the Kotel is going to decide whether to let someone visit the top of the Temple Mount based on rumors and accusations of moral improprieties in Los Angeles.”
Nore have I ever suggested that. Try re-reading the post.
I only suggested this would benefit Rabbi Tendler, who is attempting to consolidate support back in LA. It is this point you do not address or refute.
2. “Rabbi Tendler and his group obviously had to present id when they arrived in Israel, when they checked into their hotel, and I am sure at other times as well.”
Which makes their lack of ID here very suspicious, especially because of the “reason” for that as stated by Rabbi Tendler.
3. “Moreover, if Rabbi Tendler was trying to keep a low profile, why would he give an interview about the incident to a Jerusalem Post reporter?”
I never wrote or implied that Rabbi TTendler was trying to keep a “low profile.”
4. I suggest you re-read the post and try to understand what it actually says. Your current understanding “is frankly absurd, and reflects the climate of loshon hara and hysteria that has afflicted” many of Rabbi Tendler’s supporters and his family.
Rabbi Aron Tendler is a good an honest man. I do not know who is trying to smear his reputation. But anyone who has had any real contact with him knows this. Stop spreading lies!
I don’t know what your agenda is, but logic and truth is certainly not one of them. You should try a different career: Slandering the National Enquirer.
1. Rabbi Tendler resigned.
2. Rabbi Tendler has been accused of sexual abuse.
3. 1 & 2 may not be related. Then again, they may be.
4. Is Rabbi Aron Tendler a “good and honest man”? Maybe.
5. But as long as Orthodoxy does not have a uniform policy on clergy abuse, and as long as there is no empowered beit din to look into these types of allegations, you will continue to have allegations made on the internet and in other media. Why? becasue victims have no other credible choice.
6. Will the internet and media suffer from false allegations and other problems? Yes.
7. But, again, what other credible choice do legitimate victims have?
8. I was not the first by any means to report on the Tendler allegations. And you’ll note that I do not presume either Rabbi Tendler to be guilty. But I will say this. Rabbi Mordechai Tendler and his supporters have done everything they can to destroy the RCA’s attempt to have a clergy abuse policy and to enforce it. Even if he is innocent, Rabbi Tendler and his supporters are wrong about this and are doing very much harm. The same can be said to a very much lesser degree about Aron.
9. Personally, I like Rabbi Mordechai Tendler and hope he is innocent – and is somehow proven so. I don’t know Aron, but I wish the same for him. But, again, the RCA and the RCC have in effect found for guilt, and a large amount of evidence collected over many years also indicates this.
10. If the Tendlers had simply recognized the RCA’s right to enforce its clergy abuse policy, but differed with the decision (if truly innocent), that would have been fine. But instead, the Tendler machine worked to undermine the RCA (and the RCC, it seems) and rejected the RCA’s fundamental right to act. That endangers clergy abuse victims, just at it endangers innocent clergy wrongly accused. It is this behavior that I find most troubling in this whole sordid affair.
Dear Shmarya:
You bring home a valid point: the Internet is a sewer of allegations and libel such as this web site which should cease and desist its activities.
Do you enjoy slandering people? You seem to be very good at it. There other people in Jewish history who were also quite talented like you.
Really? Here is what his shul board has to say, after moving up his resignation by six months:
The article goes on to talk about the old abuse allegations – which were never proven – and notes the issue of Rabbi Tendler’s current behavior surfaced on blogs more than one year ago. You will note my coverage of Rabbi Tendler is less than one month old, and started only after his resignation, which cooincided with a whole crop of new allegations from women about his behavior.
But, as always, the abused get the very short end of the stick in Orthodoxy. Just look at your comment. While I allow (and hope) that Rabbi Tendler could somehow be innocent, you simply insist he is – and you ignore the damage done to the victims in the process. And that one-sidedness is the most unjewish behavior you could possibly have.
Rav Tendler should ask forgiveness from the victims. Moshe Rabeinu’s grandson worshipped idols and Moshe Feinstein’s grandson(s)acted indecently. Life goes on.
The Jews are not a perfect people. Look at King David’s children! One of David’s son’s (Amnon) raped David’s daughter (Tamar) and another (Avshalom) tried to kill David! Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and Esau’s descendants have been Israel’s enemies ever since. Ibn Ezra, the great Torah commentator, had a son who converted to Islam. Holiness is no guarantee of a family’s immediate future, but ultimately it is. One of King David’s descendants will be the Messiah. Actually, King David’s
ultimate ancestor on his mother’s side was Moav, who was born of an incestuous union between Lot and his daughter.
you donot know what the f@#$k your talking about,he and Rav mordechia, are innocent, so why get a life and shut the f@#$%k up.
DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE, INSTEAD OF TALKING CRAP, YOU LOW LIFE.