NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
Gary Rosenblatt
Editor And Publisher
After an often-contentious four-and-a-half hour congregational meeting on Wednesday night, the membership of the Riverdale Jewish Center voted overwhelmingly in favor of a board-recommended retirement agreement for Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt. He will end his 31-year-tenure as spiritual leader of the Modern Orthodox synagogue next week.
The vote was 352-75 in favor of the rabbi stepping down from the pulpit. He will be compensated with a retirement package spread out until 2032 and valued at about $2.1 million. As a private citizen he will have no title in the synagogue, where he will be given a life membership.
It is believed that it will be at least a year before a new rabbi is hired.
Rabbi Rosenblatt (no relation) has been the center of controversy for his unusual practice over the years of inviting teenage boys, and later young men, to engage in close conversation with him unclothed in the sauna after playing racquetball. Critics said such behavior was highly inappropriate, though not illegal, and unbefitting a rabbi; defenders insisted his reputation was being unfairly tainted for an innocent, if odd, means of seeking to connect as a mentor to young men.
Some members of the congregation opposed the deal because they supported the rabbi and wanted him to remain in his post until his contract ends in August 2018. Others opposed the deal for a different reason; they wanted the rabbi out but felt he was being overly compensated, especially since the synagogue’s membership and reputation have been adversely affected.
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