A predator is a rodef and every bit as dangerous as the guy with the suicide vest. Worse, in fact, because he can keep exploding young lives again and again until he is arrested and locked up.
Finally, there is one more similarity between the Kletzky tragedy and that of 9/11 – there had been similar incidents, albeit on a smaller scale, that were not given the attention they deserved.
Many members of our community had been lulled into a false sense of security and were not preparing our children with the kind of safety training that perhaps could have helped Leiby refuse to enter a car with a stranger.
We cannot turn the clock back, and all the justifiable recriminations in the world will not return Leiby to us. However, the many abuse survivors in our community who have been misunderstood and even shunned are watching carefully for signs that this terrible tragedy will provide us with the resolve and steely determination to provide our children with a safe and secure future.
Lma’an Hashem, please let’s finally make it happen.
Rabbi Yakov Horowitz is founder and dean of Yeshiva Darchei Noam and founder and director of Agudath Israel’s Project YES.
