Controversial rabbi to keep post at Jewish Center

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After a tumultuous summer that saw the Riverdale Jewish Center’s (RJC) congregants sharply divided over whether to keep Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt as head of the synagogue, the institution’s board has indicated he will maintain his role.

Following an Aug. 12 board meeting, the body sent congregants a letter saying, “After carefully considering various scenarios over the last several weeks, we firmly believe that the approach laid out by Rabbi Rosenblatt is an effective and appropriate way forward for the RJC.”

The move came after a May report in The New York Times described the rabbi’s practice of taking boys to a sauna naked in the 1980s and 1990s. Rabbi Rosenblatt declined an interview request for this article.

Some RJC members said there was anger among board members that no vote was taken on whether to keep the rabbi in his role, with several of them resigning after the Aug. 12 meeting.

“Anyone who knows anything is outraged. I think there’s more and more rage going on. Things are getting worse,” said longtime RJC member Robert Feinerman.

After dozens of RJC members issued a petition calling on Rabbi Rosenblatt to resign as head of the synagogue and others stopped attending services there, the rabbi addressed his congregation on June 24. He said he is ready to apologize to anyone who may have been hurt by his actions. He also attributed his behavior to a lapse of judgment in which he thought he was forming bonds by momentarily shedding the role of rabbi.

Still, about 70 people have started attending private services at individuals’ homes, according to Mr. Feinerman. An e-mail inquiry sent to the breakaway group was not immediately answered.

Board member Steven Aaronson said he was confident in the rabbi’s plans for the synagogue. He declined to state exactly what the rabbi outlined, explaining that board meetings are confidential, but said the rabbi touched on “the spiritual, the emotional, the personal, the financial” at RJC.

Following the Times report, the Bronx district attorney’s office called on anyone with information about possible wrongdoing at the rabbi’s hands to come forward. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said she did not have any updates.

Mr. Aaronson said most RJC members support the rabbi and think his 30 years of service outweigh reports he regularly went to the sauna naked with young males after squash sessions.

“There’s been no lawsuit, there’s been no criminal action and nothing that suggests real evidence of anything other than discomfort,” he said. “For every one person who says they were discomforted, 10, if not 50, said, ‘It was great. I was honored to be asked to play squash with the rabbi.’ When you play squash, you’re in a gym and when you’re in a gym, you shower.”

Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, Riverdale Jewish Center, Shant Shahrigian

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