Bronx Rabbi Case Prompts Prosecutors to Ask People to Come Forward, by Andy Newman, New York Times (June 3, 2015)

Prosecutors in the Bronx are asking people to come forward in the case of a prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi who took boys as young as 12 into the sauna naked.

“If something happened within the statute of limitations, we will investigate,” Terry Raskyn, a spokeswoman for the Bronx district attorney’s office, said on Wednesday.

An article in The New York Times on Sunday described how in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the rabbi, Jonathan Rosenblatt of the Riverdale Jewish Center, would play squash or racquetball with young congregants, then take them to shower and, often naked, to the sauna or hot tub. He would have long talks with them in the sauna that he said were part of his mentoring process.

Some of the boys, who are now grown, said that Rabbi Rosenblatt had gawked at their naked bodies, or rested a hand on a clothed leg during one-on-one nighttime chats at his house.

No one has accused Rabbi Rosenblatt of sexual touching.

For all but the most serious crimes, the statute of limitations in New York State is generally, at most, six years.

Even if an offense occurred outside the statute of limitations, Ms. Raskyn said, the district attorney’s office provides counseling and other services. “We will help anyone who is a victim of a crime in the Bronx,” she said.

Synagogue leaders, after meeting on Monday night, told members in an email on Tuesday that they were “gathering more information and giving careful consideration to our options in the best interest of the community.”

The email added, “Years ago, when R.J.C. leadership heard rumors about the Rabbi’s alleged interactions surrounding athletic activities, the details were assessed and no evidence of misconduct was found.”

The board first heard about the sauna visits in the 1980s, when Sura Jeselsohn, a synagogue member, questioned Rabbi Rosenblatt’s conduct. She wrote in a 1989 journal entry that the synagogue’s president at the time had told her “the rabbi promised” not to take boys to the sauna anymore and urged her not to involve outsiders in the synagogue’s affairs. The rabbi continued to take boys to the sauna after that, one of them has said.

The board president at the time, Marvin Hochberg, died several years ago. Other past synagogue officials declined to speak for publication about the rabbi and the sauna.

Rabbi Rosenblatt later conducted similar sauna conversations with young men, including college students and rabbinical interns. He was asked to stop by the organizations with whom the men were affiliated.

Rabbi Rosenblatt, who has been on leave at a fellowship at Harvard University, attended a prayer service on Sunday at Riverdale Jewish Center but did not address the congregation, one member said. The email from the synagogue leaders said he was “planning to send his own communication to the congregation.”

Synagogue officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the action by the district attorney’s office.

Rabbi Rosenblatt, who did not respond to interview requests for the article in The Times, told The Jewish Week, a newspaper, in a statement released through a spokesman: “There is significant reason to believe that the attack on my reputation is being promoted by those whose real attack is on my beliefs and principles. The respected rabbi of an important congregation would, for some, represent a significant trophy in the predatory quest to discredit his ideas and, possibly, an opportunity to change the nature of the community he leads.”

On Wednesday, Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer speaking for Rabbi Rosenblatt, said, “There was absolutely no criminal conduct by Rabbi Rosenblatt whatsoever.”