Tuesday, August 17, 1999

Case of Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman


Case of Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman 
Rabbi Charles Shalman- Clergy Sexual Abuse
 (AKA: Arthur Friedman, Arthur Shalman, Charles Friedman, Charlie Friedman)
 
Rabbi, Emanuel Synagouge - Oklahoma City, OK
Rabbi, Temple Shaarey Zedek - Amherst, NY
President, Board of Rabbis - Buffalo, NY
Board of Trustees, Kadimah School - Buffalo, NY
 
Rabbi A. Charles Shalman has been removed from the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the international association of Conservative Judaism.
 
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April 9, 1999 --  an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly, reportedly concluded that Rabbi Shalman violated several principles of rabbinic conduct (professional sexual misconduct). In a letter the committee decided that Rabbi Shalman must "enter therapy" with a therapist approved by the Rabbinical Assembly and report regularly to a rabbinical mentor. It adds that Rabbi Shalman will "not be eligible for placement in a congregation or in a position" in which he teaches or counsels women without the "express written commission" of the ethics committee.
 
Charles Shalman who was the rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek, Amherst, who also served as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, was accused of sexual misconduct toward at least three female members of the Conservative synagogue in Amherst. The women have accused the rabbi of asking detailed questions about their sex lives and touching them in an inappropriate manner. .
 
This case was first reported in The Buffalo News and on WGRZ-TV, the local NBC affiliate. Temple Shaarey Zedek's board of trustees voted 20 to nine allowing Rabbi Shalman to retain his post if he sought counseling and refrained from counseling or teaching women.  At the time Rabbi Shalman was 44, a married father of four. According to his contract he was paid more than $100,000 a year.  Charlie Shalman originially came to Shaarey Zedek in 1995, after leaving his rabbinical post at the Emanuel Synagogue, Oklahoma City, OK. 
 
January, 2008 -- :Rabbi Shalman stepped down in the face of an allegation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a congregant. His resignation comes nine years after the same congregation voted to retain him despite findings of sexual misconduct.
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek, of the largest Conservative congregation in Buffalo, N.Y.  It is not known at this time if Rabbi Shalman will also resign his post on the Board of Rabbis of Buffalo, and on the Board of Trustees at the Kadimah School of Buffalo.
 
June, 2008 -- Rabbi Shalman has permenently been removed as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly.

September, 2012 -- Shalman assisted  during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur ervices at Hillel, the primary Jewish student organization on the University at Buffalo campus.  
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Table of Contents:  
1999
  1. Death Announcement from Rabbi Charles Shalman
  2. Discussion at Jewish Community Center Will Explore Controversial Life and Death Issues   (05/08/1999)
  3. Temple Members to Meet To Decide Rabbi's Fate  (08/17/1999)
  4. Congregation Sets Meeting On Rabbi's Fate   (08/17/1999)
  5. Rabbi faces sexual misconduct charges  (08/17/1999)
  6. Synagogue Retains Rabbi After Sexual Allegations  (08/20/1999)
  7. Temple Congregation Votes to Retain Rabbi Accused of Sexual Misconduct   (08/21/1999)
  8. Buffalo Rabbi's in a Brouhaha: Shul votes to keep Clergyman despite complaints  (08/27/1999)
2008
  1. Message From Temple Shaarey Zedek's President  (01/23/2008)
  2. Rabbi Charles Shalman Lecture Series   (01/2008)
  3. Rabbi at Amherst's Temple Shaarey Zedek resigns amid complaint   (01/23/2008)
  4. Rabbi's Resignation in Buffalo Resurrects Painful Memories  (01/23/2008)
  5. Conservative assembly removes former rabbi of Shaarey Zedek   (06/14/2008) 

2012
  1. Rabbi who was ousted or inappropriate relationship assists in services  (09/27/2012)
  2. Expelled rabbi's role in High Holiday service condemned  (11/04/2012) 

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Death Announcement from Rabbi Charles Shalman
Ramahnik: Official Camp Ramah New England Alulmni Club Site - 2004
http://www.ramahnik.com/cgi-bin/show_message.cgi
 
Note:  Rabbi Shalman's changed his name from Charles (Charlie) Friedman to Charles Shalman
 
It is with great sorrow that I share news of the death of Moshe Lifshen, age 34, on December 19th. Condolences may be sent to his parents' home, Rabbi and Mrs. Leonard Lifshen, 5324 Bondy Drive, Erie, PA 16509
 
Rabbi Charles Shalman
(formerly Charlie Friedman, Palmer 1967, 1973 - 78)
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Discussion at Jewish Community Center Will Explore Controversial Life and Death Issues
Buffalo News - May 8, 1999
 
"Is There a Right to Die?" will be the topic of a discussion at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Holland Building of the Jewish Community Center, 787 Delaware Ave.
 
The speakers will be Rabbi A. Charles Shalman of Temple Shaarey Zedek, Amherst, who serves as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, and Dr. Jack Freer, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University at Buffalo Medical School and associate director of the Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care. Issues will range from assisted suicide to the morality of disconnecting life support for dying patients.
 
The program is free and open to everyone. Gospel messages in Chinese
 
An evangelistic team from Hong Kong will present a program of testimonies, song and Gospel messages in the Chinese language at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Buffalo Chinese Christian Church, 763 Englewood Ave., Kenmore.
 
The program will be offered in Mandarin but a Cantonese translation will be available for those who take FM radios and earphones. There will be no English translation. The program is free and open to everyone.
 
Post-war Poland is forum topic
"Christian-Jewish Relations Under Post-War Polish Governments" will be the topic of a public forum at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Harlem Road Community Center, 4255 Harlem Road, Amherst.
  
The speakers will be Stanislaw Krajewski, Polish consultant to the American Jewish Committee, and Piotr Wrobel, professor of Polish studies in the History Department at the University of Toronto. The Rev. Benjamin Fiore, permanent chair of Polish culture at Canisius College, will be moderator.
 
The program will be sponsored by the Permanent chair of Polish culture at Canisius and the Polish American-Jewish American Council of Western New York.
 
Jewish-Christian dialogue set
The American Jewish Committee and Buffalo Catholic Diocese will co-sponsor a Jewish-Christian dialogue June 8 and 9 at Christ the King Seminary, 711 Knox Road, East Aurora.
The speakers will be Professor Dennis D. McManus, associate director of the Secretariat for the Liturgy of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Rabbi Leon Klenicki, director of the Department of Interfaith Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
 
The June 8 program, scheduled from 6:30 to 9 p.m., is intended for the general public. It will focus on understanding anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism and their effects on Jewish-Christian relations, interpreting contemporary Catholic documents on Jewish-Christian relations and examining anti-Judaism in the liturgy of Holy Week.
 
The program on June 9, running from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., is open to clergy and educators. Topics will include identifying the roots of anti-Semitism, exploring the Jewish and Christian understanding of God's covenant with the Jews and Holy Week issues.
 
The fee for each session or for both is $5. Registration for the June 8 program is encouraged by contacting the seminary. Registration for the June 9 program is required so a study packet can be provided prior to the program.
 
Choirs join for Choral Eucharist
Three choirs will combine for a Choral Eucharist Service in honor of the Feast of the Ascension at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Church and Pearl streets.
 
The groups are the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and the choirs of Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo, and Calvary Episcopal Church, Williamsville. The Rev. Allen Farabee, dean of the cathedral, will preside and the Rev. Stephen Metcalfe, rector of Calvary Church, will preach. The service is free and open to everyone and nursery care will be provided.
 
Sunday service honors mothers
Mothers, living and deceased, will be honored during a Mother's Day Service at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Shrine of the Crucifixion in Mount Calvary Cemetery, 800 Pine Ridge Road, Cheektowaga.
 
The Rev. Mark David Skura of St. Francis High School, Athol Springs, will conduct the service, which is open to the public. Flowers will be given to all mothers attending the service.
 
Grant funds 'Natural Choice'
The state Health Department has awarded a $190,000 grant to the Catholic Health System to fund natural family planning services and programs for three years.
 
The project, coordinated by the Office of Natural Family Planning of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, will include the teaching of natural family planning to couples who want to achieve or postpone pregnancy, a fertility appreciation and education program and an outreach program for women.
 
The project will be promoted by billboards on the Niagara Thruway and Scajaquada Expressway advocating "The Natural Choice."
 
Father Baker video available
The Office of Communications of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese is offering a 24-minute video of the March 11 Prayer Service during which the remains of Monsignor Nelson Baker were reburied in Our Lady of Victory Basilica, Lackawanna.
 
The video, prepared by Daybreak TV Productions, is available for $14.95 by contacting the Office of Communications, 795 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y., 14203.
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Temple Members to Meet To Decide Rabbi's Fate
By Gene Warner
The Buffalo News - August 17, 1999
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek will hold a special congregational meeting Thursday night to decide whether to remove Rabbi A. Charles Shalman from his post because of allegations of sexual misconduct toward several female members.
 
Rabbi Shalman, who also serves as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, has been accused since early this year of sexual misconduct toward at least three female members of the Conservative synagogue in Amherst. The women have accused the rabbi of asking detailed questions about their sex lives and touching them in an inappropriate manner.
 
Neither Rabbi Shalman, who is on vacation, nor his attorney could be reached to comment Monday.
 
Rabbi Shalman has been under a cloud of suspicion since at least March, when Shaarey Zedek's board of trustees voted 20-9 to implement several steps to allow the synagogue and its rabbi to effectively continue their relationship.
 
Those steps included temporarily prohibiting the rabbi's one-on-one counseling sessions with women and having him seek counseling with a qualified professional.
 
But since then, an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents about 1,400 Conservative rabbis worldwide, reportedly has concluded that Rabbi Shalman violated several principles of rabbinic conduct.
 
That finding helped lead members of the temple to circulate dueling petitions.
 
One petition asks simply that he be removed from the pulpit. The other calls on him to stay as the synagogue's spiritual leader; urges the congregation to refrain from any remarks that would undermine its relationship with him: and calls on the congregation to bring closure to the whole matter.
 
The full congregation will vote on those two positions at a 7 p.m. meeting inside the synagogue's auditorium on Getzville Road.
 
"It's completely destroyed the congregation," said Krista Gottlieb, an attorney who represents one of the women making allegations against the rabbi. "It has turned people against their friends and polarized them about whether he should or should not be retained."
 
The rabbi reportedly has four years left on a contract that pays him more than $100,000 per year.
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Congregation Sets Meeting on Rabbi's Fate
Buffalo News - August 17, 1999
By   GENE WARNER, News Staff Reporter
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek will hold a special congregational meeting Thursday night to decide whether to remove Rabbi A. Charles Shalman from his post because of allegations of sexual misconduct toward several female members.
 
Rabbi Shalman, who also serves as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, has been accused of sexual misconduct toward at least three female members of the Conservative synagogue in Amherst. The women have accused the rabbi of asking detailed questions about their sex lives and touching them in an inappropriate manner.
 
Neither Rabbi Shalman, who is on vacation, nor his attorney could be reached to comment Monday.
 
Rabbi Shalman has been under a cloud of suspicion since at least March, when Shaarey Zedek's board of trustees voted, 20-9, to implement several steps to allow the synagogue and its rabbi to effectively continue their relationship.
 
Those steps included temporarily prohibiting the rabbi's one-on-one counseling sessions with women and having him seek counseling with a qualified professional.
 
The resolution also acknowledged some members of the congregation were hurt by his actions.
 
"As a first step in restoring the rabbi's good reputation in our community, the board affirms its faith that, although members of our community have been hurt, we believe that the rabbi's actions were never malicious," the resolution stated. "We believe that he can address matters of concern, and that the congregation can continue to enjoy the many blessings that the rabbi has brought our community. . . ."
 
But since then, an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents about 1,400 Conservative rabbis worldwide, reportedly has concluded that Rabbi Shalman violated several principles of rabbinic conduct.
 
That finding helped lead members of the temple to circulate opposing petitions.
 
One petition asks simply that Rabbi Shalman be removed from the pulpit. The other calls on him to stay as the synagogue's spiritual leader; urges the congregation to refrain from any remarks that would undermine its relationship with him; and calls on the congregation to bring closure to the whole matter. The congregation will vote on the positions at a 7 p.m. meeting in the synagogue's auditorium on Getzville Road.
 
"It's completely destroyed the congregation," said Krista Gottlieb, an attorney who represents one of the women making allegations against the rabbi. "It has turned people against their friends and polarized them about whether he should or should not be retained."
Ms. Gottlieb has notified the synagogue and Rabbi Shalman that her client has a claim against them and will pursue action, up to and possibly including a lawsuit.
 
"We're talking about inappropriate, intimate questions of a sexual nature and inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature, including touching," Ms. Gottlieb said.
 
She wouldn't elaborate on the misconduct, which her client claims occurred on several occasions early this year.
 
The attorney said her client is not interested in adding to the already divisive atmosphere within the congregation. The primary concern of her client is an assurance that this type of misconduct won't be repeated against anyone.
 
Rabbi Shalman, who came to Shaarey Zedek in July 1995, has carved out a reputation as a bright Talmudic scholar and an engaging public speaker who has been a leader in local interfaith dialogue.
 
The rabbi reportedly has four years left on a contract that pays him more than $100,000 per year.
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Rabbi faces sexual misconduct charges

Newsbank.com - August 17, 1999
http://www.lockport-ny.com/buffalo.htm
 
A Buffalo rabbi, earning over $100,000 a year to service his congregation, is reported the subject of an ouster action.  The Buffalo News reports that Rabbi A. Charles Shalman stands accused by female members of his congregation at Temple Shaarey Zedek.  The charges have reportedly been simmering since the Spring and are under investigation by synagogue leaders.  No criminal charges have been placed. 
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Synagogue Retains Rabbi After Sexual Allegations
The Buffalo News - August 20, 1999
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek decided Thursday to retain Rabbi A. Charles Shalman after a special congregational meeting into allegations of sexual misconduct involving several women in the congregation.
 
"In the coming months, we will be focusing our energies on those things that unite us and to put behind those things that may have divided some of the members of our congregation," said Ed Drozen, president of the temple's board of trustees. Rabbi Shalman, who also serves as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, had been accused of sexual misconduct involving least three women in the Conservative synagogue in Amherst.
 
The women accused the rabbi of asking detailed questions about their sex lives and touching them in an inappropriate manner.
 
The congregation voted to retain Rabbi Shalman after a six-hour meeting that began at 7 p.m. in the synagogue's auditorium on Getzville Road.
 
Drozen, who declined to give details of the vote, characterized the meeting as cordial and democratic.
 
"There was a great deal of information that needed to be processed and a great deal of discussion. People behaved very appropriately," he said.
 
Rabbi Shalman, who came to Shaarey Zedek in 1995, has been under suspicion since at least March, when the synagogue's board of trustees voted 20-9 to implement several steps to allow the congregation and its rabbi to continue their relationship.
 
Those steps included temporarily prohibiting the rabbi's one-on-one counseling sessions with women and having him seek counseling with a qualified professional.
 
But since then, an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents about 1,400 Conservative rabbis worldwide, reportedly concluded that Rabbi Shalman violated several principles of rabbinic conduct.
 
That finding helped lead members of the temple to circulate opposing petitions.
 
One asked that Rabbi Shalman be removed from the pulpit.
 
The other called on him to stay as the synagogue's spiritual leader, urged the congregation to refrain from any remarks that would undermine its relationship with him and called on the congregation to bring closure to the whole matter.
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Temple congregation Votes to Retain Rabbi Accused of Sexual Misconduct
The Buffalo News - August 21, 1999
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek decided to retain Rabbi A. Charles Shalman after a special congregational meeting Thursday into allegations of sexual misconduct toward female members of the congregation.
 
"In the coming months we will be focusing our energies on those things that unite us and to put behind those things that may have divided some of the members of our congregation," said Ed Drozen, president of the temple's board of trustees. Rabbi Shalman had been accused of sexual misconduct toward at least three female members of the Conservative synagogue in Amherst. The women accused the rabbi of asking detailed questions about their sex lives and touching them in an inappropriate manner.
 
Drozen characterized the meeting as cordial and democratic.
 
"There was a great deal of information that needed to be processed and a great deal of discussion. People behaved very appropriately," he said.
 
The measure to keep the rabbi won by a vote of 232 to 87, with 29 contested votes, said Helaine Sanders, a member of the congregation. A second vote to remove him lost by a vote of 190 to 69, with 20 contested votes, she said. Ms. Sanders attributed the different votes counts to members leaving the temple after the first vote.
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Buffalo Rabbi's in a Brouhaha: Shul votes to keep Clergyman despite complaints
by E.J. Kessler
Forward (NY) - Aug 27, 1999
 
NEW YORK -- The largest Conservative synagogue in western New York is voting to keep its rabbi after female members anonymously alleged that he touched them inappropriately and made improper suggestions.
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek, in Buffalo, N.Y., took the vote at a tumultuous meeting last Thursday after petitions circulated among its membership, one asking for the rabbi's removal, another asking that he remain in his pulpit. The conduct of the rabbi, A. Charles Shalman, was the subject earlier this year of a resolution by the synagogue's board of trustees and of an investigation of the ethics committee of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly.
 
The situation, which was first reported in The Buffalo News and on WGRZ-TV, the local NBC affiliate, shows how questions of rabbinical conduct, fueled by anonymous accusations, can tear at the fabric of even the most stable synagogue. Shaarey Zedek's president, Edward Drozen, said the shul -- with more than 600 families and a more than 100-year history, the flagship Conservative synagogue in western New York -- is known for its vibrant Purim services, for a program feeding the hungry and for its support of Israel Bonds. Now, he said, the synagogue is seeking help from professionals, including an Episcopal priest and a Unitarian minister, in order to heal itself from the ordeal.
 
"It's a very difficult situation," Mr. Drozen said. "We have members very adamantly for the rabbi's continued service and members very adamantly opposed to the rabbi's continued service.... We hope to bring closure to this episode and move on in the life of the temple.... We have very good people on both sides of this issue, and I hope they will work together."
The synagogue's board of trustees voted 20 to nine in March to allow Rabbi Shalman to retain his post if he sought counseling and refrained from counseling or teaching women, Mr. Drozen said. The petitions began circulating after the Rabbinical Assembly made its investigation of Rabbi Shalman's conduct this past spring. Rabbi Shalman, 44, a married father of four, came to Shaarey Zedek in 1995 and has four years left on a contract that pays more than $100,000 a year, Mr. Drozen said.
 
At the meeting on August 19, the congregants voted 232 to 87 to keep Rabbi Shalman. The text of that motion said in part. "We believe that behaviors that have been termed `misconduct' have actually been attempts by Rabbi Shalman -- appropriate or misjudged -- to provide comfort and support to individuals in need of such assistance." The motion went on to say, "We sincerely regret that anonymous allegations were aired and acted upon. To judge a person on anonymous allegations and subsequent rumors is contrary to paramount principles of Jewish and American law. Due process of law (i.e. an individual's guarantee of fair procedures) is a fundamental underpinning of our civil and Jewish legal systems and an integral part of how we define ourselves as a Jewish people."
 
A second vote at the meeting, to remove Rabbi Shalman, failed 69 to 190.
 
Rabbi Shalman said in an interview that the vote is "a step in the direction of bringing the synagogue back together." He said, "I deeply regret that some of my actions, though well-intentioned, caused hurt." He also said that as stories have been repeated, they have grown.
 
"I am very encouraged by the congregation's vote of confidence that we can grow together, learn from past problems and find hope and healing as the new year begins," Rabbi Shalman said.
 
The women making allegations against Rabbi Shalman have not spoken publicly. One has retained a lawyer in order to pursue a claim against him and the synagogue. The lawyer, Krista Gottlieb, declined to name her client. "The rabbi knows who she is," Ms. Gottlieb said. "I am not revealing her name to the public because it's not necessary. I do not intend to address her cause in a circus scenario." She would not disclose specifics of her client's allegations, saying only that Rabbi Shalman's behavior was "inappropriate."
 
"My client is open to a resolution without having to drag this through the courts, but if necessary, she will," Ms. Gottlieb said. She characterized the situation as "extremely difficult for this congregation.... It has turned friend against friend, family member against family member," and she said, "we'd love to find a way to heal everybody."
 
Rabbi Shalman's lawyer and the synagogue's lawyer did not return calls seeking comment.
The rabbi's situation provides a rare window into the way the Rabbinical Assembly, a body of more than 1,400 members, deals with allegations of sexual misconduct among its ranks. The executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Joel Meyers, said that body is "not looking to expel" Rabbi Shalman. "The R.A. has acted. The rabbi is following all requirements the R.A. has imposed on him," Rabbi Meyers said. "Every procedure has correctly been followed here." He characterized last Thursday's vote as "a congregation's decision and a rabbi's decision." He declined to comment further, citing confidentiality.
 
The Forward has obtained a letter sent to Rabbi Shalman from the Rabbinical Assembly's ethics committee summarizing its investigation. "Having heard the participants at our meeting, having had conversations with other women from your congregation and in the community, having heard from you about similar potential issues in your former congregations, it is painfully clear that you have violated several principles of rabbinic conduct which have caused harm to certain of the women counseled or taught by you," the ethics committee's chairman, Rabbi Milton Feierstein, writes. "You have violated their person through improper touching, their integrity through improper suggestions, and their trust through your behavior. You have `placed stumbling blocks before the blind' and `taken advantage with kind words.'"
 
The letter, dated April 9, says the committee decided that Rabbi Shalman must "enter therapy" with a therapist approved by the Rabbinical Assembly and report regularly to a rabbinical mentor. It adds that Rabbi Shalman will "not be eligible for placement in a congregation or in a position" in which he teaches or counsels women without the "express written commission" of the ethics committee.
 
"Normally, given the nature of the conduct, we would expect you to withdraw from your congregation," the letter continues. "However, we have been advised that your congregation's Board of Directors, fully aware of the information, has determined to permit you to remain in office under very strictly defined parameters. Under the circumstances, we will permit you to remain in your congregation so long as you are able to satisfactorily carry out your work as rabbi, that you comply with the directives set forth above and with the explicit understanding that we will review your conduct on a periodic basis."
 
Rabbi Shalman declined to offer details of his account of the interactions with the women, saying that to do so would not be helpful in bringing the congregation together. He noted, however, that the Rabbinical Assembly letter is from April, and that it is now August. "I am in ongoing dialogue with the Rabbinical Assembly," Rabbi Shalman said.


 

Message From Temple Shaarey Zedek's President
January 22, 2008
http://www.tszbuffalo.org/
The Temple Shaarey Zedek community was shocked and saddened by the sudden resignation of Rabbi A. Charles Shalman for personal reasons. Neither the officers nor the board asked Rabbi Shalman to resign - that was his personal decision and we are in the process of working out the details of his departure.
We are a strong community; we have remarkable lay leadership and we are blessed with a caring and experienced cantor and professional staff. We will regroup and move forward as we wish Rabbi Shalman all the best in his future endeavors and we begin our search for a new spiritual leader.
Rusty Zackheim, President




Rabbi Charles Shalman Lecture Series
Catholic Bible Studies Program - Jan./2008
http://www.cbstudies.org/Shalman%20Lecture.html
 
This January marks the 5th annual lecture series given by our "Rabbi in residence" Charles Shalman. We have come to look forward to this January "pick-me-up". It changes our stride and lightens our step. The dates are Thursdays: January 3, 10, 17.
 
If we consider Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers to be Israel's Story - Version 1.0, then we can ask: "What is left to tell?" According to the text of Deuteronomy, Moses takes his last opportunity to teach the Israelites everything he thinks they need to know. How does "he" retell the story? Why does it need to be re-interpreted? And how is it at the end, Moses is able to record the account of his own death? Stay tuned! 
 
Topic: Deuteronomy: Version 2.0
Speaker: Rabbi Charles Shalman
When: Thursdays: January 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 6-7 PM
Where: Mt St. Mary Academy, 2nd Floor Study Hall
Cost: $50.00
Prerequisite: You must be a student or graduate of the CBS

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Rabbi at Amherst's Temple Shaarey Zedek resigns amid complaint

Synagogue member alleges misconduct
By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News - January 23, 2008
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/258497.html
 
Rabbi A. Charles Shalman was censured in 1999 after a Rabbinical Assembly investigation concluded that he had violated several principles of rabbinical conduct during his private counseling or teaching sessions with female members of the synagogue.
 
The rabbi of an Amherst synagogue who was censured in 1999 for ethics violations has resigned amid a new complaint alleging misconduct.
 
The Rabbinical Assembly, the union that represents 1,400 Conservative rabbis worldwide, is investigating the complaint, filed by a member of the synagogue who accused Rabbi A. Charles Shalman of having an inappropriately close relationship with the member's wife.
 
Shalman submitted a letter of resignation last Wednesday, citing personal reasons for leaving Temple Shaarey Zedek, a Conservative synagogue at 621 Getzville Road.
 
Shalman, who was hired in 1995, told The Buffalo News on Tuesday that the complaint was just "one piece of a much larger picture" of why he resigned.
 
"I have put a lot of thought into this decision and hope that I can find a less stressful second career, though I know it will never be as gratifying as my service to the congregation has been," Shalman, 52, said in a brief telephone interview.
 
He said he was crafting a letter to the congregation that would explain his decision more fully.
 
Congregation President Rusty Zackheim said the Temple Shaarey Zedek community was shocked and saddened by Shalman's resignation.
 
The temple board did not ask Shalman to resign.
 
Zackheim said she was made aware in late December of the complaint, which she described as being much different in nature from those that surfaced in 1999, when Shalman was nearly removed as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek.
 
A Rabbinical Assembly investigation concluded then that Shalman had violated several principles of rabbinical conduct during his private counseling or teaching sessions with female members of the synagogue.
 
The assembly's ethics board found that Shalman had improperly touched, questioned and made suggestive comments to some women. The assembly ordered him to seek therapy and refrain from counseling or teaching women, unless approved in advance by the ethics board.
 
The congregation voted to retain Shalman, who had four years remaining on a contract that paid more than $100,000 per year.
 
The 1999 investigation split the congregation into dueling factions, and the rabbi indicated to board members that he did not want to see it torn apart again, Zackheim said.
 
"The atmosphere was circuslike," she said. "He did not want to see that happen again."
 
Shabbat services were held Friday evening and Saturday morning without Shalman and will continue under the direction of Cantor Mark Spindler and lay leaders, Zackheim said.
The synagogue has applied to receive an interim rabbi.
 
The programs of Temple Shaarey Zedek also will continue, except for a Talmud class that Shalman taught.
 
Shalman had acquired a reputation as a compelling public speaker and bright Talmudic scholar. He often participated in dialogue on sensitive topics with people of other faiths and offered his perspective in public discussions about Israel and the Middle East, Christian-Jewish relations and other subjects.
 
He is a former president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis and is listed as a faculty member of the Kadimah School of Buffalo.
 
Temple Shaarey Zedek, the area's largest Conservative congregation, with about 500 members, is in the midst of merger talks with the area's oldest Conservative congregation, Temple Beth El in the Town of Tonawanda.
 
Zackheim and Temple Beth El President Ed Drozen said Shalman's resignation would not affect those discussions.
 
"It doesn't throw a wrench into it," Drozen said. "It just gives us something else to deal with."
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Rabbi's Resignation in Buffalo Resurrects Painful Memories
By Anthony Weiss
Forward - Wed. Jan 23, 2008
http://www.forward.com/articles/12540/
 
The rabbi of the largest Conservative congregation in Buffalo, N.Y., is stepping down in the face of an allegation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a congregant. His resignation comes nine years after the same congregation voted to retain him despite findings of sexual misconduct.
 
Rabbi Arthur Charles Shalman submitted a letter of resignation last week as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek, a Conservative congregation just outside Buffalo. The resignation came after one of Shalman's male congregants filed a complaint with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international union of Conservative rabbis, alleging that Shalman had an inappropriate relationship with the man's wife.
 
The R.A. investigated Shalman in 1999, and its ethics committee found that Shalman had violated principles of rabbinic conduct on several counts, including "improper touching" and "improper suggestions." But both the synagogue's board and its membership at large voted overwhelmingly to keep Shalman. As the Forward reported at the time, the assembly deferred to the synagogue and agreed to Shalman remaining in his post, subject to certain restrictions.
 
Now, it appears that this decision has come back to haunt both the synagogue and the R.A. The scandal has been an emotional blow for the congregation, which has been aging and shrinking in the face of Buffalo's decades of demographic decline.
 
"It's a shock to most people in the congregation," said Shaarey Zedek's president, Iris Zackheim. "A lot of people are devastated."
 
Zackheim released a statement saying that Shalman was resigning for "personal reasons" and that neither the officers nor the board asked him to resign. She told the Forward, however, that the resignation came after she and Shalman learned of the complaint that was filed with the assembly.
 
The R.A. did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
 
According to Zackheim, who, as synagogue president, was informed of the complaint, an inappropriate emotional relationship had been alleged. She said she did not know of Shalman engaging in any sexual misconduct.
 
At least some see the current scandal as fallout from the congregation's failure to fire Shalman nine years ago, when a number of women in the congregation came forward and accused him of touching them inappropriately and of making inappropriate suggestions.
"I thought it was not handled at all; it was very badly handled," said Charlotte Schwab, a psychotherapist who has written and lectured about rabbinic abuse, including her own experiences.
 
"The women who called me for help were despondent," Schwab added. "They were the ones who were vilified and blamed and ostracized." Schwab, though not a member of the synagogue, was in contact with several congregants from Shaarey Zedek when the first set of allegations was brought against Shalman.
 
The allegations led to an emotional and public dispute that made its way into the local newspapers and onto television stations.
 
The assembly's ethics committee investigated and found Shalman guilty of wrongdoing. In a letter to Shalman summarizing its findings, the ethics committee wrote, "[I]t is painfully clear that you have violated several principles of rabbinic conduct which have caused harm to certain of the women counseled or taught by you." The R.A. ordered Shalman to work with a therapist and a rabbinical mentor, and told him that it would not place him in a position to teach or counsel women without the ethics committee's written consent.
 
But the R.A. did not expel Shalman from its ranks, nor attempt to remove him from his pulpit. Both the synagogue's board and the members at large voted overwhelmingly to retain Shalman, and the assembly said it would defer to the congregation.
 
Schwab said that because of their emotional attachment to their rabbis, congregants are often reluctant to fire them, even in the face of serious allegations of misconduct.
 
"People are very misguided," Schwab said. "They think that because — people told me that, oh, he buried my mother, he married my daughter. Because of these things, they seem to give total allegiance to these men. And so, they keep them."
 
Dozens of congregants subsequently left Shaarey Zedek, including the president. Others stayed but remained bitter.
 
Despite the ethical allegations against him, Shalman was an accomplished and popular rabbi. He led outreach programs for the elderly and disabled, taught services for major holidays and helped start a minyan café. Shalman was also prominent in the Buffalo community, He taught at the local Kadimah day school, once served as president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis and gave public talks on Jewish topics. (He has since resigned from the day school, at the school's request, according to Zackheim. The school did not respond to a request for comment.)
 
"Rabbi Shalman is probably one of the best pulpit rabbis that you could ever imagine," said Ed Drozen, president of Temple Beth El and a former president of Shaarey Zedek. "He was very charismatic, he was very caring, he helped a lot of people through crises. He did a great deal in that regard, and many people were willing to give him another chance."
 
Board Chairman Mark Richheimer, who joined Shaarey Zedek after the dispute had passed, said that Shalman had proved himself as a rabbi and that but for the after-effects of the previous allegations, Shalman might have weathered the current storm.
 
Now that Shalman is leaving, congregants said that reactions in the synagogue have ranged from anger and betrayal to sadness and even sympathy for the rabbi. Shalman is married and a father of four children.
 
"I'm disappointed in him," Zackheim said. "I'm not sorry I voted for him. I'm just so disappointed it's come to this.

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Conservative assembly removes former rabbi of Shaarey Zedek
By Jay Tokasz - June 14, 2008
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/370088.html
 
Rabbi A. Charles Shalman was accused of misconduct with a congregant.
 
An Amherst rabbi who resigned earlier this year after being accused of misconduct with a congregant has been removed from the Rabbinical Assembly, an international association of Conservative Judaism.
 
Rabbi A. Charles Shalman was expelled from the assembly and can't serve as a rabbi at any synagogue affiliated with the Conservative movement.
 
"His behavior violated our code of conduct for sure. I can't say more than that," said Rabbi Joel H. Meyers, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents 1,400 Conservative rabbis worldwide.
 
Shalman, rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek in Amherst since 1995, was informed of the decision in a letter dated June 5. He did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
 
The Rabbinical Assembly previously censured Shalman in 1999 after an investigation concluded that he had violated several principles of rabbinical conduct during his private counseling or teaching sessions with female members of the synagogue.
 
The assembly's ethics board found that Shalman had improperly touched, questioned and made suggestive comments to some women. The assembly ordered him to seek therapy and refrain from counseling or teaching women, unless approved in advance by the ethics board.
 
The Temple Shaarey Zedek congregation voted then to retain Shalman, who was widely considered a dynamic public speaker and engaging Talmudic scholar.
 
But Shalman resigned his post in January following a complaint from a member who alleged that the rabbi maintained an inappropriate relationship with the member's wife. Shalman cited personal reasons and an interest in finding a less stressful second career.
 
Another investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly's ethics committee led to the expulsion.
The assembly's decision doesn't revoke Shalman's ordination.
 
"What we have done basically is take away the certification of Rabbi Shalman. We cannot take away the title, rabbi," said Meyers.
 
Expulsion from the assembly is a rare occurrence, he added.
 
"The decision cannot be appealed. One year from now, he is permitted to return to the ethics committee and ask for a reassessment and readmission to the Rabbinical Assembly," Meyers said.
 
Rusty Zackheim, president of Temple Shaarey Zedek, would not comment on the decision of the Rabbinical Assembly, other than to say that the congregation has "tried to move forward."
 
Shaarey Zedek, the area's largest Conservative synagogue, is merging with Temple Beth El, which celebrated its final service Monday.
 
The new synagogue will be known as Temple Beth Tzedek and is in the process of hiring an interim rabbi who will serve along with Rabbi Larry Moldo, who has a contract through June 2009.
 
A new, permanent rabbi will be hired for the merged congregation after that.

 
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Rabbi who was ousted for inappropriate relationship assists in services
The Buffalo News - September 27, 2012
BY: Jay Tokasz

Rabbi Charles Shalman - clergy sexual abuse against adults
Rabbi A. Charles Shalman, expelled in 2008 from the worldwide Rabbinical Assembly amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a member of his congregation, has resurfaced as a featured participant in High Holy Day services at Hillel of Buffalo.

Shalman assisted last week during Rosh Hashana services at Hillel, the primary Jewish student organization on the University at Buffalo campus, and he is slated to do the same again tonight and Wednesday for Yom Kippur, Judaism's most solemn holiday.

Shalman's return to the pulpit as Torah reader has caused considerable consternation in some circles of the Jewish community, including a letter from a local rabbi to the Hillel board chairman strongly objecting to the move.

"We all know that Rabbi Shalman is a gifted, knowledgeable and charismatic teacher. However, given his refusal to own up or change, it is not appropriate for him to work with the young, vulnerable student population at Hillel," Rabbi Keith M. Karnofsky wrote in a letter obtained by The Buffalo News.

The letter was addressed to Hillel board Chairman Dan Lenard.

Karnofsky also wrote that leading High Holy Day services "imposes an additional requirement that the leader be above reproach" because his "misdeeds can reflect upon the congregation."
Karnofsky, who is currently the president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, said in a brief telephone interview that he stood by his letter but that it was his opinion, not a statement on behalf of the rabbi board.

He declined to comment further on Shalman's role in worship at Hillel.

Shalman served as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek in Amherst from 1995 until his resignation in 2008, when he was accused by a member of the synagogue of having an inappropriately close relationship with the member's wife.

It was the second time in his tenure at Temple Shaarey Zedek that Shalman faced allegations of misconduct. In 1999, an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly's ethics board concluded that Shalman had violated several principles of rabbinical conduct in his private counseling or teaching sessions with female members of the synagogue. The violations including improper touching and suggestive comments.

The congregation voted to retain Shalman, who had to undergo therapy and refrain from any future one-on-one teaching with women.

But following the 2008 allegation, the Rabbinical Assembly expelled Shalman, effectively meaning that synagogues affiliated with the Conservative Judaism movement cannot hire him.

Hillel is not affiliated with a particular movement, and Lenard on Monday defended the organization's use of Shalman in its High Holy Day services. The Hillel board twice, by a 9-2 vote, approved bringing Shalman aboard this year, said Lenard.

"He was a wonderful altar rabbi, and we needed somebody to read Torah for our liturgies," said Lenard, who described Shalman as a friend.

Lenard pointed out that Shalman was not acting as a rabbi or counseling anybody and that a cantor hired out of Chicago was in charge of leading the services.

"What he brings to the pulpit is a tremendous knowledge of Torah," said Lenard.

Lenard also said Shalman has never been accused of any crimes and deserves as second chance.

"The guy is human," he said. "What we've got here is a guy who made a big mistake, showed a lack of judgment and paid a tremendous price for it."

Some members of Shalman's former congregation want to make him into a pariah, added Lenard.

"This is a time of forgiveness in the Jewish religion," he said. "Put it behind."

Shalman declined to comment for this story when reached Monday.

Some members of the Jewish community objected to Shalman's pulpit duties with Hillel but said they were uncomfortable speaking out publicly on the matter.

One father of a University at Buffalo student expressed concern about Shalman's pulpit sermonizing leading students to seek him out after the services.

"If a student would assume he's a rabbi and would want to go to him for advice - especially a female student - I would hesitate as a parent to have my daughter go talk to him," the man said.
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Expelled rabbi’s role in High Holy Day service condemned 
Expelled cleric draws rebuke by local board 
By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News - November 4, 2012


A local organization of rabbis has issued a statement condemning a former colleague’s participation in High Holy Day services at Hillel of Buffalo, on the University at Buffalo North Campus in Amherst.

The statement by the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, sent at the end of October to the leaders of various Jewish organizations in Western New York, expressed “deep dismay and disappointment” that Rabbi A. Charles Shalman was invited to participate in a leadership role during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.

Shalman was expelled in 2008 from the Rabbinical Assembly over ethics violations related to an inappropriate relationship with a member of the Amherst synagogue where he served as rabbi, as well as previous allegations of misconduct dating from 1999.

“Clergy abuse is extremely serious, and is not ‘just an affair’ or ‘an imperfection.’ It is imperative that members of the clergy who have violated that trust be prevented from functioning in any way that might be perceived as being in the role of a rabbi,” the statement reads.

Hillel hired Shalman for its High Holy Day services after a deal with another clergyman, Rabbi Keith M. Karnofsky, fell through.

Karnofsky subsequently was among a chorus of critics who objected to the hire and voiced concern that Shalman’s presence on the pulpit was a potential danger to vulnerable female college students.

Karnofsky, a Jewish chaplain with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, wrote a strongly worded letter to Hillel board Chairman Dan Lenard.

At the time, Lenard defended the hiring of Shalman, describing the rabbi as tremendously knowledgeable about Torah and deserving of a second chance.

“I still defend what I did, and so did my board,” Lenard said. “This is a tempest in a teapot.”

Lenard accused Karnofsky of being a “disgruntled employee” who was fired by the Hillel board and is now trying to get back at Lenard.

“It was his fault that this all happened in the first place,” Lenard said.

Shalman did not pose a danger to any student and was “totally supervised” during his Hillel work, Lenard added.

Although well-received at the services, Shalman will not be doing them again next year because of the controversy, Lenard said.

“Maybe it wasn’t a good idea, but it’s over. It’s water under the bridge. He’s not our rabbi. He’s not counseling our students,” he said.

Karnofsky resigned as president of the Board of Rabbis last week, saying he was concerned and disappointed that the organization wasn’t doing enough to inform UB students and their parents of Shalman’s record and should be more forthcoming with information.

In a cover letter to its statement, the Board of Rabbis requested that recipients confine the contents “to those who are the community’s decision makers.”

“They want everything kept real quiet. I can’t in good conscience keep it quiet,” Karnofsky said. “The way to solve the problem for the future is making it public, exposing it to the light of day.”

The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a group critical of the Catholic bishops’ handling of clergy sex abuse allegations, also weighed in on the rabbis’ statement.

SNAP President Barbara Dorris called it “better than nothing, but not much better. It’s late, weak and, perhaps worst of all, it tragically perpetuates the dangerous and long-ago discredited notion that it’s best to keep quiet about clergy sexual misconduct.”

Dorris also said that secrecy “benefits the guilty and the manipulative” and “endangers the innocent and the trusting.”

By resigning the presidency, Karnofsky said he can now be more vocal about the issue. Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein of Congregation Shir Shalom in Amherst, who succeeded Karnofsky as president Friday, acknowledged that the statement was not sent to news media but said that it wasn’t a secret document, either.

“It was sent to all agency leaders,” he said. “It’s not something we’re embarrassed about.”

Lazarus-Klein also said the board was planning educational activities on the topic of sexual abuse.

“We’re trying to prevent it from happening again,” he said. “We have an obligation to protect community members as much as possible. … We do not take this issue lightly. It’s with a great deal of gravity and sadness that we approach this.”

Shalman served as rabbi of Temple Shaarey Zedek in Amherst from 1995 until his resignation in 2008, when he was accused by a member of the synagogue of having an inappropriately close relationship with the member’s wife.

It was the second time in his tenure at Temple Shaarey Zedek that Shalman faced allegations of misconduct. In 1999, an investigation by the Rabbinical Assembly’s ethics board concluded that Shalman had violated several principles of rabbinical conduct in his private counseling or teaching sessions with female members of the synagogue. The violations included improper touching and suggestive comments.

The congregation voted to retain Shalman, who had to undergo therapy and refrain from any future one-on-one teaching with women.

But following the 2008 allegation, the Rabbinical Assembly expelled Shalman, effectively meaning that synagogues affiliated with the Conservative Judaism movement cannot hire him.

Lazarus-Klein said the board has had “private meetings” with Shalman to discuss what happened.

Hillel tried to do its best in a difficult situation but erred in turning to Shalman, he said.

“It was a real last-minute decision made in haste,” Lazarus-Klein said. “The Board of Rabbis will have more of a role on the Hillel board to be a support to them.”


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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead

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