Rabbi Rabbs: “I don’t want kids. I’d be a terrible parent just like my parents.”
“I am strongly against child abuse. That’s my big ticket item… I see myself as a leader in standing up against child abuse.
“Why do I say I’m a leader? Because nobody in the frum community has taken a position on it. The concept of standing up against the cycle of abuse in the frum community does not exist outside of Rabbi Rabbs… The average frumie walking on the street doesn’t even know what the cycle of abuse is. They don’t know the difference between an abuse cycle and a motorcycle.”
“It’s amazing to me how many centuries behind in thinking the average frumie is compared to me.”
“There are some frumies who have no problem with me. And you know what they’re called? They’re called the gadolim. Big rabbis have no problem with what I’m saying.”
Luke: “When you say you were abused, what do you mean?”
Rabbi: “I mean I grew up emotionally and verbally abused. And neglect… There was some physical but I’m not complaining about that… Nothing sexual, so don’t get any weird ideas. We were cussed at and called every name in the book every day.”
“Probably the rabbis that I have been closest to have been substitute father figures.”
Luke: “Did anyone in your community give a damn?”
Rabbi: “Nobody has ever given a damn.”
“Three years ago, I got engaged. She also grew up abused… She resolved that she would not continue the cycle of abuse. She was the only frumie on the planet who agreed with me. It was obvious to me that she was my other half. We resolved never to have kids. We went around looking for a rabbi to do the wedding. We could not get anybody to get on board with us. Every rabbi said, ‘I don’t know if I can do a wedding where there’s not going to be any kids. That goes against Judaism.’
“I said, ‘We have a heter from a major rav‘. It doesn’t matter. They can’t handle it.”
