Rabbi Rosenblatt resigns from RJC

Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt plans to retire from Riverdale Jewish Center (RJC), according to an email the president of the synagogue sent congregants earlier this week.

The move came after many members left the synagogue in the wake of a May report in The New York Times that said the rabbi habitually played racquetball with boys and led them nude into the sauna in the 1980s and 1990s, though there were no allegations of sexual touching or criminal conduct.

The recent email said RJC’s board of trustees supported an agreement with Rabbi Rosenblatt “that is both respectful of the Rabbi’s tenure and his role in the lives of our members, and also responsible with respect to the institution’s present and future.”

The message, signed by Dr. Samson Fine, did not mention Rabbi Rosenblatt’s contract with RJC. The email said congregants are scheduled to vote on ratifying the agreement on Thursday, March 17.

“Rabbi Rosenblatt and his family will always be welcome at the RJC and in the RJC community, though with his retirement, he will have no official or officiating role in the RJC going forward. Rabbi Rosenblatt will, of course, remain accessible to our community, even as he resumes his private life,” Dr. Fine wrote.