New Jersey yeshiva director abruptly resigns amid past sexual abuse allegations

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(JTA) – Rabbi Shlomo Adelman returned to his post as head of a modern Orthodox yeshiva in New Jersey in October, just weeks after being put on leave following an allegation he assaulted a decades-old camper earlier.

So it came as a surprise on Wednesday morning when parents at the Bergen County Torah Academy woke up to an email announcing Adelman’s resignation as principal of the school, with immediate effect.

The email, which came from the school board and included a lengthy note from Adelman, did not directly address the allegations or the investigation the school said it conducted before firing Adelman to his position.

“Unfortunately, over the past six months, due to issues in my personal life, I have found myself unable to devote my full attention to my duties at TABC,” Adelman wrote in the letter. “The students and parents of TABC deserve a principal who is not distracted by outside issues and, at this time, I cannot make the full-time commitment that the job requires and that the Yeshiva deserves. “

A screenshot of the email was shared by Asher Lovy, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse in the Orthodox community.

Adelman was put on paid leave in September amid public revelations that a lawsuit had been filed against him alleging child sexual abuse more than 30 years earlier. According to the lawsuit, Adelman was charged with assaulting Joseph Kastner at Camp Rogen Avraham in upstate New York in 1990. According to the lawsuit, Adelman was a counselor in a bunk near Kastner, a camper at the ‘era.

The lawsuit was filed in July 2021 under the New York State Child Victims Act, which reopened the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse to prosecute their alleged abusers. Details about it and other lawsuits drew attention after the window to sue in August was closed.

Through his lawyer, Adelman denied the allegation in the lawsuit. The school put him on back-to-school leave while a law firm it had recruited to conduct an investigation completed its work.

The school fired Adelman from his post in October. This was after “the conclusion of a thorough and independent investigation” and “consultation with an attorney and a panel comprised of a well-respected local rabbinical scholar and well-known experts in the fields of mental health and protection. of childhood, ”Azi Mandel, chairman of the school’s board, wrote in an email to parents at the time, according to the Jewish Standard.

In recent months, attention to how allegations of abuse are handled in Orthodox communities has only grown, with the response to a Haaretz investigation that brought charges against Chaim Walder, an author of popular haredi children’s books. After a Brooklyn bookstore owner announced that he would no longer be selling Walder’s work, a cascade of actions against him followed. (Walder committed suicide last month.)

The response to the allegations against Walder has made Lovy and others question whether the tendency in some parts of the Orthodox world to downplay or ignore allegations of sexual abuse might change.

Adelman was appointed principal at the Bergen County Torah Academy, known as TABC, in 2020. He previously ran a Jewish school on Long Island and worked in day schools in Texas.

Adelman’s biography was no longer on the school’s website Wednesday morning.

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