Forward Article on Mordecai Tendler

Synagogue Suspends Rabbi Tendler
By Rukhl Schaechter
Forward (NY) - March 3, 2006

Rabbi Mordecai Tendler, who was expelled from the Rabbinical Council of America last year after an internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, has been suspended by his congregation in Monsey, N.Y. According to a letter sent to congregants by the leadership of Kehillat New Hempstead, the synagogue's board of directors spent the past several months attempting to tackle issues that had been plaguing the synagogue since Tendler's removal from the RCA. Tendler has denied the sexual harassment allegations repeatedly. The letter from the synagogue leadership explains that the board initially had requested that Tendler take a leave of absence but he refused, forcing the synagogue to take more dramatic action. "The rabbi has failed to acknowledge or resolve the breadth of these issues," the letter stated. It added, "The board has voted to suspend the rabbi from his rabbinical duties, compensation and responsibilities." In response, Tendler has summoned the synagogue board members and trustees to a rabbinical court conducted by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, a small ultra-Orthodox organization.