Rabbis and Jewish Leaders Who Wrongly Banned Me Should Seek Teshuvah

Our religion and heritage commands that Jews who wronged other Jews should seek Teshuvah from the person they wronged. I’m waiting to hear from rabbis and leaders—they know who they are— who banned me from speaking and banned their congregants, members and students from hearing my defense of Israel.

Why was I banned by these three groups? Because a woman I never met decided to enrich herself by bearing false witness. I have disproved her allegation by her own emails and statements as well as those of her lawyers. She has never produced an iota of evidence that she ever met me.

Her emails and book manuscript prove she didn’t. One of her lawyers is on tape admitting “she is wrong, simply wrong.” Another has acknowledged that she committed perjury by accusing Leslie Wexner, Ehud Barak, Marvin Minsky and other prominent Jews of similar misconduct. The lawyers who filed the false accusation have withdrawn it; the judge struck it; and she herself has dropped her legal claim against me. I offered to present the proof of my total innocence to the three Jewish groups that banned me — including travel, American Express and phone records that establish that I could not have been at the places where she claimed to have met me—but they said that would be unnecessary because they also don’t believe her.

They just don’t “want trouble.”

In other words, the accusation, even if entirely made up, is enough to ban me because it “causes trouble.” This was how McCarthyism was justified. This is how blood libels were justified.

In the midst of the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (the ten days of repentance), I have written to these rabbis and leaders inviting them to ask me and those who they denied the ability to hear me for Teshuvah.

Here is what I wrote to one leader:

Do you not feel a religious obligation to seek teshuva from me? Do you feel no guilt about banning me on the basis of someone bearing false witness? Do you not worry that you deprived your students of my expertise in defending Israel when they get to college? You yourself told me you don’t believe her but have to listen to your board. I hope for your sake you at least feel bad for violating basic principles of Judaism and Americanism.  As a great rabbi once said: “Rabbis who take their guidance from their board of directors instead of the Torah are functionaries, not rabbis.”

I wrote similarly to the others.

None has responded. Instead, they have given sermons and made speeches extolling the virtues of principle, fairness and justice. They justify their actions by their desires to placate their boards.

Perhaps these rabbis and leaders want to keep their jobs and they know that making the morally right decision may affect their livelihood.

I don’t know which is worse: a rabbi or leader who knows he or she is doing wrong but justifies it on self-serving grounds — or one who claims to believe a demonstrably false accusation. They are both a violation of our tradition and of basic fairness.

The Holy Days are a time of introspection and self-criticism. I challenge these rabbis and leaders to look inward and ask themselves whether their actions have benefitted the Jewish community or Israel by silencing one of the most influential voices in defense of Israel. By banning me, they have given universities and other institutions an excuse to keep me from making the case for Israel.

If they think I have wronged them for speaking my truth, I seek their Teshuvah. If they have the courage to see how they have wronged me, as well as their members and congregants, it is still not too late for them to seek Teshuvah.

Alan M. Dershowitz is author of 30 books and Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School.