At least you can never accuse the Journal of sensationalizing. Rather their style of news writing (personal and opinion columns are often lively) seems designed to put the reader to sleep.
Amy Klein writes in the June 15 Jewish Journal:
After a one-year search and some private soul-searching, Shaarey Zedek congregation in Valley Village has appointed a new rabbi.
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenberg, who joined the congregation in March, was formally welcomed last month at the Orthodox synagogue’s annual dinner. He is replacing Rabbi Aron Tendler, who stepped down in March 2006 after 22 years at the synagogue when rumors re-surfaced about "inappropriate misconduct" while teaching at YULA in the 1980s.
The public airing of the allegations, in which no formal charges were filed, and which did not implicate his activity at the synagogue, caused some discord in the synagogue between Tendler’s supporters and detractors, as well as much unwanted public attention.Some bloggers have reported rumors that Tendler is planning to move to Baltimore.
I don’t think this is accurate. What sunk Aron Tendler was not rumors of "inappropriate misconduct" while he was teaching at YULA in the 1980s but telephone recordings of Tendler engaging in phone sex from the Shaarey Zedek office with one of his former YULA students (as well as other evidence of Aron’s post-YULA affairs).
Harold posts:
dud, give sz a break. Tendler was like this svengali there, he had a cult of personality there with some lost soul/baal teshuva types and they defended him. Along came that nutcase girl from the class of 1988 and another skinny annoying girl from that class year as well to reinvigorate some of the rumors of tendler’s unorthodox teachings. They used bloggers like the arabs use gaza to foment some stuff, but in this case, they got him. Tendler did nothing criminal, he aint one of those types, he just had a clintonesque ability to get women out of their pants and he did it because he could. when he got caught, he no longer could, but it was too late, he had gone way too far. There may have been tapes or whatever, but the problem was cutting him loose, especially with the numbnuts board. Anyhow, even though Rosenberg was picked under kind of inausspicious circumstances in much the same way as you pick guys at the Y to play ball, he is caliber.
The past is past in SZ. those who liked tendler can no longer defend him and do not have the money to leave. Those who do not like rosenberg have the money to leave, but their name is already on the friggin building. The rest will learn to like what is clearly a prodigy and my guess is he will serve a long time.
