NEW YORK
Riverdale Press
The Riverdale Jewish Center executive committee’s June 9 letter to congregants.
By Shant Shahrigian
Posted 6/10/15
Riverdale Jewish Center’s (RJC) board appears to be on the way to ousting Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt following recent revelations he took boys to a sauna naked over a period of years.
After a Monday night board meeting and vote about how to handle the situation, RJC’s executive committee on Tuesday sent a letter to congregants stating in part: “We discussed the ongoing challenges and the profound impact on our shul community. The Board ultimately concluded that, in view of all these circumstances, the best course of action would be to achieve an amicable resolution with Rabbi Rosenblatt, and we are constructively engaged in discussions to that end.”
Yesterday, RJC President Samson Fine and other board members did not answer phone and e-mail inquiries seeking clarification about the Monday night vote. On Tuesday, The Jewish Weekly cited 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 board vote followed growing discontent among RJC members. On Sunday, at least 44 of them e-mailed Rabbi Rosenblatt a petition calling on him to resign. They wrote that the 30-year-long leader of the synagogue “is unfortunately but irrevocably unable to lead our community.”
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