NEW YORK
Riverdale Press
By Shant Shahrigian
Posted 6/11/15
Nearly 200 members of the Riverdale Jewish Center (RJC) have signed a petition calling for Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt to remain the leader of the 700-strong synagogue, a petition organizer says.
The move came after RJC’s board appeared poised to oust the longtime leader of the synagogue following a May 29 New York Times article reporting that Rabbi Rosenblatt had led boys to a sauna naked in the 1980s and 1990s.
Mark Friedlander, a recently retired Supreme Court judge and 43-year-long RJC member, said as of Thursday afternoon, 187 total members have signed a document saying they “have never supported, do not support and will not support any effort to ‘buy out’ the rabbi’s contract and we urge all members, trustees and officers of the synagogue to continue to treat the rabbi with the full respect required.”
A Tuesday article in The Jewish Week quoted unnamed sources as saying the board had voted 34-8 “to seek a financial settlement with the rabbi and for him to step down.” The move followed a petition from at least 44 RJC members calling for the rabbi to leave.
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