The Jerusalem Magistrate Court has been quite often the setting for dramatic scenes of the type seen in cinematic thrillers. A succession of “heroes” and “notables” who had gone astray and got entangled with the law has been ushered into these small courtrooms over the years. Last Wednesday, Aug. 7, the entrance to the place was jam-packed long before the proceedings began. A multitude of curious onlookers and passersby crowded the lobby, waiting tensely for the star of the great drama that was about to unfold inside.

Around 9:00 a.m., the defendant, Rabbi Mordechai "Motti" Elon, arrived at the courthouse surrounded by a large entourage of men wearing the knit skullcaps distinctive of the national-religious community. Few rabbis in Israel have reached the status of admiration and worship attained by this man. But now he looked gaunt, his beard gray, an outsized white skullcap covering his head down to the ears. I recalled how he used to look a few years ago. His skullcap was smaller then, and his body fuller. The man who, in his heyday, had swept both the religious community and the secular public off their feet looked like a shadow of his former self.

Already early in the morning, the radio news channels were fueling the tension in anticipation of the court's decision. The revered rabbi, father of 11 children and grandfather of many more, was charged with sexual harassment of a number of minors. The trial stirred up quite a storm in the national religious community. The very thought that Elon could be suspected of indecent acts against young boys triggered an unprecedented spiritual turmoil in the national religious camp.

The complaint filed against him was unusual in the very fact that it had been handled by the state authorities. The national religious community has invariably conducted itself as an intimate family, closed to outsiders. Any irregular incidents that may have occurred within this camp were dealt with inside the community, without involving external law-enforcement elements.