Ordinarily I would say that such dedication and devotion to doing the right thing would suffice for them to self regulate. But the fact that there have been so many cases of sexual abuse by rabbis means that the rabbinate needs more transparency. The few have ruined it for the many.
How we go about achieving this is the $64,000 question. This is what the RCA is doing. Hopefully. At least with respect to Mikva use by the convert – procedures can be developed that will prevent any future attempt at abuse by any rabbi.
It is a shame that the honor of the rabbinate has been tainted this way. There are a lot of good rabbis out there that must be paranoid by now… thinking that everyone thinks they are predators. Or protectors of their cronies who are. I do not believe for a moment that is the norm. But it is a problem that exists. And it needs to be dealt with.
Good rabbis that have deservedly been trusted before might now feel embarrassed and insulted by this turn of events. Which is an unfair and uncomfortable consequence of all this. But the better part of caution should require that rabbinic honor be subordinated to the welfare of the public. Transparency is now – sadly – a necessity. As long as current conversion standards are not tampered with – I am all for it.
But at the same time, it is wrong to paint the rabbinate with the broadest of negative brushes that is so common these days. Most rabbis deserve our respect. And we ought to give it to them.