Case of Rabbi Uzi Rivlin

Case of Rabbi Uzi Rivlin

Teaneck, NJ

Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y

Arrested and charged with child sexual-assault charges.  Rivlin was arrested in 2000 in New York City and charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and public lewdness. He later pleaded guilty to public lewdness, a misdemeanor charge equivalent to New Jersey’s disorderly-persons offense.

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Table of Contents:

2010

1. Israeli boys become bar mitzvah with help from local friends (07/16/2010)

2011

1. New Jersey Rabbi Uzi Rivlin Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Charges  (04/17/2011)
2. Tarrytown synagogue teacher accused of molesting boys; Temple Beth Abraham colleague 'shocked' (04/18/2011)
3. Teaneck Rabbi Accused of Sexually Abusing Two Boys  (08/16/2011)
4. Shock and disbelief follow Teaneck rabbi’s arrest on sex abuse charges (08/17/2011)
5. Teaneck Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty in Sex Abuse Case  (08/17/2011)
6. Teaneck Rabbi Accused of Molesting Teens  (08/17/2011)
7. N.J. rabbi arrested for allegedly molesting two Israeli boys  (08/18/2011)

2012

1. Teaneck rabbi indicted on sex charges (02/09/2012)
2. Rabbi Rivlin indicted on sex charges (02/15/2012)

2013

1. Prosecutor, defense argue points in Teaneck rabbi’s pre-trial hearing on child sex-assault charges (03/19/2013)
2. Trial to Begin in Teaneck Rabbi Sex Abuse Case (03/19/2013)
3. Judge denies dismissal at rabbi's pre-trial hearing  (03/27/2013)
4. Teaneck Rabbi Accused in Sex Abuse Case Has Stroke, Trial On Hold  (06/03/2013)

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Israeli boys become bar mitzvah with help from local friends

How the fund — and the relationships — grew

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Jewish Standard - July 16, 2010

The Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel (Keren Milgot) began about a dozen years ago when Rabbi Uzi Rivlin read in an Israeli newspaper about a family in the southern development town of Kiryat Gat that was so poor they had only one pacifier for two babies.

“Uzi contacted the reporter, who got him in touch with Chaim Shalom, then the head of the city’s welfare department,” related his wife, Jenny. “Uzi called him and said we would like to help. That particular family got [assistance] as a result of the article, but Uzi said perhaps there were others in crisis. Chaim gave us a few names, and that summer Uzi came to Israel and went with Chaim to see them.”

Keren Milgot now helps children referred by social services all over Israel. Local synagogues that regularly contribute to the program include Cong. Beth Aaron of Teaneck, Cong. Ahavat Achim of Fair Lawn, and The Jewish Center of Teaneck. For several summers, Rivlin has arranged bar mitzvahs at these shuls or at Camp Moshava for Israeli children who are orphaned or whose parents are too overwhelmed, sick, or destitute to sponsor such an event.

At Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., where the Rivlins teach fifth-graders every Sunday, the rabbi set up a pen-pal program between the students and scholarship recipients their age.

“He translates the letters from English to Hebrew and I translate the letters from Hebrew to English. It takes us hours,” said Jenny Rivlin. “A few years ago, one of the kids came to Uzi and said, ‘I’ve been writing to this boy in Israel the whole year. I want to invite him here.’ Uzi was so shocked he did not know what to say.” But the idea soon mushroomed among the congregants.

The Westchester families have become an integral part of the Keren Milgot summer experience. Several foot the entire cost of the children’s trip, welcome them in their homes, and even outfit them for camp. As many of the visitors keep kosher, host families from this Reform congregation also buy food especially for their needs.

After camp, (NAME REMOVED) and  (NAME REMOVED) ill visit with the family of their pen-pals — twin girls who, coincidentally, also experienced the death of their father not long ago.

“The mother is ready to take (NAMES REMOVED shopping for whatever they need,” said Rivlin. “We plan to bring the two girls to Fair Lawn for  (NAME REMOVED s bar mitzvah on Aug. 14, although Ahavat Achim is an Orthodox synagogue. When you talk about tragedy, it doesn’t matter if you are Reform or Orthodox. They are just Jewish children.”

Tax-deductible contributions may be made payable to Cong. Beth Aaron, with “Scholarship Fund” in the memo line and mailed to P.O. Box 1155, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

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Shock and disbelief follow Teaneck rabbi’s arrest on sex abuse charges

Foundation’s future at risk

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Jewish Standard - August 17, 2011

The arrest this week of Rabbi Uzi Rivlin casts doubt on the future of a scholarship fund he created for needy Israeli children.

Rivlin, 63, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The charges were brought by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit, the Teaneck Police Department, and the Israeli police, with the assistance of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Through the FBI, the county unit was informed of two separate complaints of inappropriate touching lodged with the Israeli police by two 13-year-old boys who had stayed at Rivlin’s home, one in the summer of 2009 and the other in 2010.

Maureen Parenta, spokeswoman for the Bergen County prosecutor’s office, told The Jewish Standard on Wednesday that the investigation will continue. “We’d like to determine if any other children have been victims,” she said.

Rivlin founded the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel (Keren Milgot le-Kiddum Yeladim be-Yisrael) about 12 years ago, after learning of the desperate straits of families in impoverished areas in his native country. Over the years, the Standard has published several articles about Rivlin’s efforts, which include monetary and material assistance to hundreds of 4- to 18-year-old children recommended by Israeli social service agencies and municipal officials.

The teenagers in the fund are paired with pen-pals in Rivlin’s religious school classes at Temple Beth Abraham, located in Tarrytown, N.Y. Often, the American families support their children’s Israeli pen-pals and host them during the summer. Rivlin has arranged for several of the children to mark their becoming b’nai mitzvah at synagogues in and around Bergen County, including Cong. Beth Aaron and the Jewish Center of Teaneck and Fair Lawn’s Cong. Ahavat Achim. He also arranged b’nai and b’not mitzvah celebrations in Israel for indigent boys and girls under his care.

People who have worked with Rivlin on both sides of the ocean expressed shock and disbelief over his arrest.

“I couldn’t give you the exact number of years I’ve known him, but the accusations are inconsistent with anything we know about Uzi Rivlin,” said Rabbi David Holtz of Temple Beth Abraham. “As far as we know, he’s spent his life taking care of kids through his scholarship organization, getting kids out of poverty, and making sure they get appropriate education.”

Reached by the Standard on Wednesday, Holtz said that Rivlin had been teaching fifth-grade students about Israel’s history and politics.

“We’ve never had a hint of a complaint about this kind of thing,” Holtz said. “He is passionate about teaching kids and the work he does in his foundation in helping kids.”

Rivlin’s wife and daughter have also taught in the after-school program, according to Holtz.

“I’m sure you are emphasizing the innocent till proven guilty aspect of all this,” Holtz said.

Echoing the Tarrytown rabbi was Chaim Shalom, the former vice mayor of Kiryat Gat, a development town where many of the scholarship’s beneficiaries live. “I don’t believe it,” Shalom said.

Shalom said several boys who have stayed at Rivlin’s home the past few summers were from particularly troubled backgrounds and that at least one of them lives in a group home.

“Uzi has done only good for kids here. No other man has done so much for these children. I’ve worked with him many years; I just spoke with him two weeks ago,” said Shalom. “He sends clothing, food for holidays, school supplies…. He takes children from very sad situations to the United States to go to camp. He arranges bar mitzvahs for them, he buys them tallit and tefillin. This must be a mistake. It is terrible for a man who has fought for so many children to have his good name tarnished in this way.”

Shalom said two of Rivlin’s six children live in Israel — a daughter with several children of her own and a son serving with the paratroopers. Shalom did not hear of the arrest until informed by this reporter, and said he would try to call Rivlin’s wife, Jenny, immediately.

At press time, The Jewish Standard was unable to reach Jenny Rivlin or Rabbi Moshe Yasgur of Teaneck, who until a few years ago helped Rivlin with the fund.

Rabbi Yosef Adler, principal of Torah Academy of Bergen County, also expressed surprise at the news. Last year, Adler said, a 14-year-old boy from Sderot boarded with the Rivlins and attended the all-boys high school in Teaneck through the fund.

“There were no problems and no suspicions whatsoever,” said Adler. “I had contact with Rabbi Rivlin many times, and he only had the best interests of the children in mind. He gives his life for these people.”

The previous year, the Rivlins had housed two boys from the scholarship fund while they attended Yeshiva University’s high school for boys for a semester. Rivlin reportedly traveled to Israel often to check on the circumstances of each child in his care. He once told the Standard that he spent many hours at home in Teaneck calling government officials in Israel to gain better housing or other social welfare assistance for the most serious cases.

At his arraignment on Wednesday, Rivlin was ordered to surrender his Israeli passport (he told the court he did not have a U.S. passport) and he was forbidden to have contact with any children under age 18, including the two alleged victims. Bail was set at $175,000, to be paid in full, meaning that the traditional 10 percent bond will not be accepted in this case.

Since suffering a stroke this spring that left him unable to travel, Rivlin had turned some of his responsibilities over to 19-year-old Daniel Vaks of Kiryat Gat, an orphan who lives with his grandmother and is one of the fund’s first beneficiaries. In 2006, when he was 14 1/2, Vaks marked his becoming a bar mitzvah at Teaneck’s Cong. Beth Aaron. Rivlin also arranged for a party at a now-defunct Hackensack hotel.

An accounting and economics major at Bar-Ilan University, in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, as part of an army program for gifted students, Vaks was to have returned to Bergen County in September to accompany two of the fund’s current recipients, one from Eilat and one from Kiryat Gat, on a vacation break before the school year begins.

A week before Rivlin’s arrest, the Standard spoke with Vaks about his then-upcoming trip and how the scholarship fund (“keren”) had helped him. “I really think I would be in a much worse place now if I didn’t have the keren helping me,” he said.

Now supporting himself, Vaks has been counseling younger fund participants, helping to distribute money and items sent from the United States and advising Rivlin on the most efficient use of donations earmarked for such necessities as clothing, shoes, and bedding.

Rivlin said in early August that he was short of money to buy the school supplies that the parents of at least half the children in the fund could not afford.

In Israel on Thursday, Vaks said that he had not heard about Rivlin’s arrest until contacted by The Jewish Standard and was “totally in shock” over the news. He said he did not stay at the Rivlins during the two summers in question, but he had been a house guest during Passover and two other summers, and had never experienced any inappropriate behavior toward himself or other Israeli teenagers who stayed there with him.

“I just do not believe it,” said Vaks. “Rav Rivlin is an honorable human being who has helped so many of us.” He added that the Rivlins and his Westchester sponsors are like family to him.

“I really think I would be in a much worse place now if I didn’t have the keren helping me,” he said.

Regardless of the eventual outcome of the charges, it is unlikely that Rivlin will be able to continue administering the scholarship fund.

On Thursday morning, Jenny Rivlin e-mailed this reporter, saying, “We can only hope that justice will prevail.”

Heather Robinson contributed to this story.

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New Jersey Rabbi Uzi Rivlin Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Charges 

CBS News NY - August 17, 2011

CLICK HERE to watch video

HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — A summer trip to New Jersey took a terrifying turn for two teenage boys from Israel. The 13-year-olds say there were touched inappropriately by a rabbi they were staying with in Teaneck.

That rabbi is now facing sex assault charges and faced a judge on Wednesday, reports CBS 2’s John Slattery.

The rabbi, 63-year-old Uzi Rivlin, denied the charges that were based on accusations from two 13-year-olds.

“He’s perplexed, upset and he’s innocent of the charges,” defense attorney Howard Simmons said.

Rivlin, who founded an advocacy organization in Israel for disadvantaged children, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

“He’s quite surprised at the allegations against him,” Simmons said.

Rivlin, who is married, lives in Teaneck. He was arrested at his home. Prosecutors said the two boys who made the allegations had come here from Israel — one in 2009; the other, last summer.

“Very short periods of time,” Simmons said when asked if the boys ever spent time in the accuser’s home. “Sort of a way station on their way to camp, summer camp.”

After returning to Israel, the two boys complained separately to Israeli authorities that Rivlin touched them in a sexual manner. The authorities contacted the FBI, which, in turn, contacted Bergen County to pursue the case. Rivlin, who was said to be a teacher at Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., has lived in the United States for 20 years. He had to surrender his passport from Israel. Bail was set at $175,000.

The next move for prosecutors is to fly the two teens in from Israel to testify before a grand jury, in an effort to get an indictment.

As a condition of his release, Rivlin must agree also to have no contact with children under the age of 18.

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Tarrytown synagogue teacher accused of molesting boys; Temple Beth Abraham colleague 'shocked'

By Richard Liebson

LoHud - August 18, 2011

TARRYTOWN — The rabbi of Temple Beth Abraham said he was "shocked" at the arrest on child-molestation charges of a fifth-grade teacher at the synagogue's religious school.

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 63, is accused of sexually abusing two 13-year-old Israeli boys who were staying at his New Jersey home in 2009 and 2010 as part of an exchange program he helped start.

"I'm completely shocked," Rabbi David Holtz said of the allegations. "These charges are inconsistent with anything we have ever heard or known about Rabbi Rivlin. They're completely out of character."

Rivlin, who is married with grown children, was arrested after each of the boys reported to police in Israel that the rabbi had touched them sexually; one in 2009 and the other last year. Israeli authorities contacted the FBI, who investigated the accusations with Teaneck, N.J., police and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit.

He was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Rivlin, who pleaded not guilty, was ordered to surrender his Israeli and U.S. passports during his arraignment Wednesday in Hackensack, N.J., Superior Court.

He was also prohibited from having contact with children if he posts his $175,000 bail. He is being held in the Bergen County jail.

After Rivlin's brief court appearance, his lawyer, Howard Simmons, told NorthJersey.com that the accusations are a "complete and utter shock to him.

"He (Rivlin) just doesn't understand why these children would make these allegations," Simmons said.

Holtz said Rivlin has worked as a fifth-grade teacher at Temple Beth Abraham for several years.

"He teaches about the land of Israel," he said. "He would have been one of our teachers again this year.

"As a precautionary measure," Holtz said, "we are putting (Rivlin) on leave until the legal process has been completed."

The boys were at Rivlin's Teaneck home through the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel, which he helped found more than a decade ago.

The program places Israeli children with U.S. host families while they attend camp. Rivlin served as a host, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

Authorities are continuing their investigation "to determine if any other children who had visited the United States from Israel and stayed with Rivlin may have been a victim of sexual abuse," Molinelli said in a statement.

Holtz said that while a few parents have called him to ask what Temple Beth Abraham's response will be, "I haven't heard a lot of reaction to this so far. A lot of people are away on vacation."

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Teaneck Rabbi Accused of Sexually Abusing Two Boys

Township man met the boys through a scholarship program he partly sponsors, Bergen County prosecutors say.

By Noah Cohen

Teaneck Patch - August 16, 2011

A 63-year-old Teaneck Rabbi is accused of sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys from Israel who were staying with him as part of a scholarship program, authorities said Tuesday.

Uzi Rivlin, who is married, met the boys through the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel, which he partly sponsors, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said in a statement.  The program brings children from Israel to stay in the United States over the summers.

Molinelli said the two boys separately reported the sexual abuse to Israeli police, who notified the FBI, which contacted authorities in Teaneck and Bergen County. One boy reported the abuse took place during a visit in the summer of 2009 and the other told police he was abused in summer 2010, prosecutors said.

While staying at his Lindbergh Boulevard home, the boys told police Rivlin “touched them in a sexual manner,” Molinelli said in the statement.

According to a July 2010 article in the Jewish Standard, Rivlin started the scholarship program to help children in Israel.  He organized bar mitzvahs at area synagogues for disadvantaged Israeli children, the report said.  

Rivlin is a teacher at Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown N.Y., according to an updated statement from the prosecutor's office. An earlier statement e-mailed to media by the prosecutor's office said Rivlin was employed as a teacher at Congregation Beth Aaron in Teaneck, however, Rabbi Laurence Rothwachs emphatically denied that Rivlin was ever formally employed at the congregation.

"Rabbi Rivlin has never been employed by the synagogue nor has he ever been associated with the shul in any official capacity," Rothwachs said in a phone interview Tuesday.

When reached for comment Tuesday night, Molinelli first said Rivlin told authorities he worked part-time at Beth Aaron for 12-years teaching Hebrew and Israeli studies on Sundays and Mondays. However, a copy of the media statement posted on the prosecutor's office websitewas updated late Tuesday to list Rivlin as working at Beth Abraham. It was not clear if Rivlin would remain employed.

Rabbi David Holtz, of Beth Abraham, confirmed Rivlin was a teacher at the congregation but declined to comment on the allegations. 

"I actually have no idea what his employment status is," Holtz said, noting the school year had not started yet.

Rabbi Jordan Yasgur, who has worked with Rivlin, defended his former colleague and said there should not be a rush to judgment. 

"I don't believe the allegations," Yasgur said. "The matter has to be properly dealt with."

No one answered the door at Rivlin's home Tuesday night and neighbors said they didn't see him much.

Rivlin was arrested Tuesday by Teaneck and Bergen County investigators.  He is charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said.

He was held at the Bergen County Jail on $175,000 bail with no ten percent option, officials said. He was also ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victims or anyone under 18.

Molinelli said investigators were working to determine if other children could have been victimized.

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Teaneck Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty in Sex Abuse Case

Defense attorney says client expressed shock over abuse allegations.

By Noah Cohen

Teaneck Patch - August 17, 2011

A Teaneck Rabbi pleaded not guilty Wednesday after being charged with sexually abusing two teen boys who were staying at his home as part of a scholarship program.

Uzi Rivlin, 63, of Lindbergh Boulevard, was arrested Tuesday after Bergen County investigators learned that two 13-year-old boys had separately reported the abuse to Israeli police, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said in a statement.

“His reaction was confusion, shock and denial that any of this could have ever happened,” defense attorney Howard Simmons said of his client.

According to prosecutors, the two teens told Israeli police they were abused while staying at Rivlin’s Teaneck home over the summer of 2009 and 2010. Israeli authorities alerted the FBI, who contacted Bergen County investigators.

Simmons said prosecutors must bring the accusers to the United States to make their case.

“They have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, which will be very difficult with these accusers living in Israel,” Simmons said. “They have to be secured and brought to the United States.”

The accusers stayed with Rivlin briefly before attending summer camp as part of the scholarship program he helped run for disadvantaged Israeli youth, Simmons said.

Rivlin remained in custody Wednesday afternoon, but Simmons said his client would likely post bond tomorrow. He was ordered held on $175,000 bail and had to surrender his Israeli passport.

He faces two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of child endangerment. The case now heads to a grand jury.

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Teaneck Rabbi Accused of Molesting Teens

Jewish Week - August 17, 2011

Rabbi Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, who founded an organization to benefit disadvantaged youths, has been charged with two counts each of aggravated criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child following compaints by two Israeli teens who stayed at his home in Teaneck.

The rabbi is a citizen of both Israel and the United States and works as a teacher at Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinell said the arrest resulted from an investigation conducted by his office's Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit, the Teaneck Police Department, the Israeli Police and with the assistance of the F.B.I.

Molinelli said in a statement that one of the 13-year-old boys reported that his visit was in the summer of 2009 and the other reported that his visit was in summer of 2010.

The DA's statement said Rivlin, 63, helped found the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel the 1990s and the boys' visit was connected with the organization, which places kids with a host family while they attend a U.S. summer camp. 

The Bergen Record quoted Rabbi Moshe Yasgur, a past vice president of the fund , defending Rivlin. “I don’t believe that he is a person who would ever engage in such activity,’’ Yasgur told the paper, suggesting that the report to Israeli police could have been “mixed up in translation” or that the teens were blaming an attack by someone else on the rabbi.

The rabbi's bail was set at $175,000.00 dollars by Judge Donald Venezia, but he must pay the full amount rather than a 10 percent option sometimes allowed. He was remaned to Bergen County Jail, ordered to urrender his U.S. and Israeli Passports and barred from any contact with the victims or any children under the age of eighteen if he is released until the outcome of a trial.

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N.J. rabbi arrested for allegedly molesting two Israeli boys

JTA - August 18, 2011

 A rabbi in Teaneck, N.J. was arrested on charges of molesting two Israeli boys who had stayed at his home.

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 63, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in New Jersey state Superior Court in Hackensack to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested Tuesday at his Teaneck, N.J., home.

Rivlin had hosted the two 13-year-old boys in his home as part of a program he founded that brings disadvantaged Israeli children to the United States for the summer. One boy stayed at his home in the summer of 2010 and one in 2009. The boys reported the abuse to Israeli police once they returned home.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Sex Crimes Unit, the Teaneck Police and the FBI were involved in the investigation, according to reports. The probe is continuing to determine if any other boys were molested.

Rivlin is being held in jail after being unable to raise the $175,000 bail. He was required to surrender his Israeli passport to the court; he said he does not have an American passport. 

The rabbi's attorney, Howard Simmons, said Rivlin is "perplexed and upset" by the accusations, The Record of Hackensack reported Wednesday.

"It was a complete, utter shock to him," the paper quoted Simmons as saying after Rivlin was charged in court. "He just doesn't understand why these children would make these allegations.

Rivlin founded the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel, in which the disadvantaged children become pen pals with children from Rivlin's religious school classes at Temple B'nai Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., according to the New Jersey Jewish Standard. The children then visit the homes of their pen pals or other hosts for the summer. The rabbi had arranged for several of the children to have bar and bat mitzvahs at New Jersey synagogues.

The rabbi's wife and daughter also teach in the religious school. Rivlin suffered a stroke several months ago.

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Teaneck rabbi indicted on sex charges

By Kibret Markos

The NJ Record - February 9, 2012

A 64-year-old Teaneck rabbi was indicted on Wednesday on charges that he molested two 13-year-old boys at his home.

Authorities have said the boys were visiting from Israel and stayed at the rabbi's home during two summers as part of a scholarship program Rivlin had helped set up. Rivlin also was a teacher at the Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., they said.The indictment charges that Rabbi Uzi Rivlin made sexual contact with the two boys on several occasions in 2009 and 2010.

Bergen County prosecutors said that after the boys returned to Israel, they complained separately to Israeli authorities that Rivlin had molested them.

Israeli authorities took statements from the boys and notified the FBI, which notified Teaneckpolice and the county Prosecutor's Office, authorities said. Rivlin was arrested at his home last August.

Rivlin's lawyer, Howard Simmons, did not return two phone calls Wednesday. Simmons said at the time of Rivlin's arrest that his client was perplexed by the allegations, and that prosecutors would need to fly the alleged victims to Bergen County for testimony before a grand jury.

But Ken Ralph, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor, said Wednesday that state law does not require their testimony before a grand jury.

If the case goes to trial, however, "there is an expectation that the victims will testify," Ralph said.

The 13-count indictment returned Wednesday by a grand jury charges Rivlin with child endangerment by sexual conduct, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact.

If convicted, Rivlin faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the child endangerment charges. He remains free on $175,000 bail.

Rivlin wrote in the temple's bulletin in 2008 that he had 35 years of experience as a Jewish educator. His wife, Jenny, wrote in the same bulletin that the couple had been married for 36 years and had raised six children.

She also wrote that the Rivlins' scholarship fund was set up about 12 years ago to help orphaned and disadvantaged children in Israel. The program has brought more than a dozen Israeli children to the United States, she said.

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Rabbi Rivlin indicted on sex charges
By Howard RosnitzThe Record - February 15, 2012

A Teaneck rabbi has been indicted on charges that he molested two 13-year-old Israeli boys in his Lindbergh Boulevard home.

After the two boys returned to Israel, they separately informed authorities that Rivlin had sexually abused them. Israeli authorizes then notified the FBI, which contacted Teaneck Police and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, according to a press release from the prosecutor.Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 63, allegedly molested the boys in 2009 and 2010 when they were visiting the United States as participants in a scholarship program that Rivlin found. The program brings orphans and other disadvantaged Israeli boys to the United States.

Rivlin, who was employed as a teacher at Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, NY, was arrested in August 2011. He remains free on $175,000 bail with no 10 percent option. The 13-count indictment charges Rivlin with child endangerment by sexual conduct, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact.

Following Rivlin's arrest, a local Jewish newspaper reported that in 2009 the Jewish Center ofTeaneck on Sterling Place conducted a Bar Mitzvah for an Israeli boy participating in Rivlin's program. Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, of the Jewish Center of Teaneck, could not be reached at the time and declined to comment for this article.

At the time of his arrest, Rivlin had initially been mistakenly identified by the prosecutor as a teacher with Congregation Beth Aaron on Queen Anne Road. The prosecutor subsequently issued statement acknowledging the error. However, Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, of Beth Aaron, informed Teaneck Suburbanite in August that, although Rivlin had no association with his congregation, Rothwachs was aware of the scholarship program and had been introduced to children participating in it.

"Despite the allegations made against Rabbi Rivlin, the organization provides a wonderful experience for children from Israel to visit the United States," Rothwachs said at the time. Rothwachs did not return a phone call by press time seeking comment on Rivlin's indictment.

If convicted, Rivlin faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the child endangerment charges.

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Prosecutor, defense argue points in Teaneck rabbi’s pre-trial hearing on child sex-assault charges

By Kibret Markos

North Jersey News - March 19, 2013

One of the two teenage boys who accused a Teaneck rabbi of molesting him at his home had made false accusations of sexual abuse against his own father, the rabbi’s attorney told a judge in Hackensack on Tuesday.

The hearing in state Superior Court offered a glimpse into the complexities of Rivlin’s upcoming trial, in which he is accused of molesting two 13-year-old Israeli boys at his home in 2009 and 2010. Rivlin has maintained his innocence, telling authorities that his accusers were troubled teens and that he did nothing to them.Bergen County prosecutors, meanwhile, disclosed that Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, who is set for trial next month on child sexual-assault charges, was accused years ago of another sexual assault in New York and later pleaded guilty to public lewdness.

The alleged victims, who were staying at Rivlin’s home for the summer as part of a scholarship fund run by Rivlin, made the accusations separately to Israeli authorities after they returned to their country, Bergen County prosecutors said.

The two boys will be among five witnesses who will be flown in from Israel to testify at the trial in Hackensack.

Rivlin’s attorney, Howard Simmons, said at the hearing Tuesday that he intends to call witnesses and present documents to show one of the alleged victims told police that his father sexually abused him.

 “But those allegations turned out to be unfounded,” Simmons said.

Rivlin, 65, who was released on bail shortly after his arrest, attended the hearing, using a Hebrew interpreter.

Simmons also told Judge Patrick Roma that a teenage girl who stayed at Rivlin’s home for a summer has made statements to authorities that the boy who is now making accusations against Rivlin had himself tried to sexually assault her at Rivlin’s home.

How much of those statements will be admitted as evidence at Rivlin’s trial is a question to be determined in pretrial hearings, said Demetra Agriantonis Maurice, an assistant Bergen Countyprosecutor.

Maurice also told Roma that in a separate case, Rivlin was arrested in 2000 in New York City and charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and public lewdness. He later pleaded guilty to public lewdness, a misdemeanor charge equivalent to New Jersey’s disorderly-persons offense.

Simmons also asked Roma to have Rivlin’s indictment dismissed, arguing that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to the grand jury. All that was presented to the grand jury was the testimony of a detective who answered “yes” or “yes, that’s correct” to a series of leading questions, Simmons said.

Roma denied Simmons’ request, saying the evidence presented to the grand jury was sufficient for prosecutors to proceed with the case.

Prosecutors need to present only enough evidence to a grand jury to show a prima facie — “on its face” — case. That evidence is not subject to cross-examination during grand jury presentation and does not need to pass the high evidentiary bar that is set for criminal trials. Hearsay evidence, for instance, is not admissible in a criminal trial, but can be presented to a grand jury to obtain an indictment, leading to trial.

Rivlin, 65, was a teacher at the Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., and also ran a scholarship fund for more than 10 years for orphans and disadvantaged children in Israel. Participants of the program would come to the United States for a few months to stay with a host family and attend summer camp. Rivlin’s accusers were staying at his home during two summers, in 2009 and 2010, authorities said.

Israeli authorities conducted an investigation after receiving the complaints and notified the FBI, which then contacted local authorities, Bergen County prosecutors said at the time. Rivlin was arrested in August 2011 after being interviewed by detectives for nearly five hours.

A grand jury in Bergen County indicted him early last year on charges of child endangerment, aggravated sexual contact and criminal sexual contact. The most serious of those charges carries up to 10 years in prison upon conviction, followed by lifelong parole.

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Trial to Begin in Teaneck Rabbi Sex Abuse Case

Patch - March 19, 2013

Rabbi faced prior sex abuse allegations, prosecutor says.

Prosecutors plan to fly two Israeli boys to the United States to testify in the trial of a Teaneck rabbi who allegedly molested the teens while they stayed with him during a scholarship program, northjersey.com reported. 

The trial of Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 65, is set for next month in Hackensack. Rivlin was charged in 2011 with sexually abusing the boys in 2009 and 2010. 

Prosecutors disclosed Tuesday in a pretrial hearing that Rivlin had been accused of sexual assault, child endangerment and public lewdness in 2000 in New York City, the report said. The rabbi ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor public lewdness charge. 

Details of that case were not immediately available late Tuesday. 

Rivlin's defense attorney, Howard Simmons, said in the hearing that one of the alleged victims made false allegations of sex abuse in the past against his own father, the report said. 

Simmons also said a teenage girl who stayed with Rivlin told authorities that one of the alleged abuse victims tried to sexually assault her at the rabbi's home, according to the report. 

Pretrial hearings would determine how much of those statements make it in as evidence at the trial. 

Judge Patrick Roma rejected a request by Simmons to have Rivlin's indictment tossed. 

Rivlin met the boys through a program he partly sponsored for disadvantaged Israeli youth, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said after the arrest. He also taught at Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown N.Y., authorities have said. 

Both boys made the abuse allegations separately to Israeli authorities, Molinelli said. Israeli police alerted the FBI, who contacted Teaneck and Bergen County investigators.

Rivlin has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty. 

He faces charges of aggravated sexual contact, criminal sexual contact and child endangerment. Bergen County Jail records show the rabbi has been free on bail. 

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Judge denies dismissal at rabbi's pre-trial hearing
By Megan Burrow
North Jersey.com - March 27, 2013

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin and his attorney Howard Simmons

A Teaneck rabbi appeared in state Superior Court last week for a hearing in advance of his upcoming trial on charges of child endangerment, aggravated sexual contact and criminal sexual assault.

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 65, is accused a molesting two 13-year-old Israeli boys in his home in 2009 and 2010. According to Bergen County prosecutors, the victims had been staying in Rivlin's house during two summers as part of a scholarship fund run by the rabbi. Upon returning to Israel, the alleged victims made the accusations separately to Israeli authorities.

The boys, along with three other witnesses, will be flown to the United States to testify at the trial.

Rivlin taught at Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y. and ran the scholarship fund for more than a decade. The Israeli children who attained the scholarships would stay in the United States for several months, living with a host family and attending summer camp.

Rivlin was arrested in August 2011, after the FBI notified the local authorities of the accusations.

Since the arrest, Rivlin has maintained his innocence, and at the March 19 pre-trial hearing his attorney, Howard Simmons, asked Judge Patrick Roma to dismiss Rivlin's indictment, contending that the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient. Simmons' request was denied.

Rivlin, who has been out on bail since his arrest, attended the hearing with the assistance of a Hebrew interpreter.
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Teaneck rabbi's illness postpones trial in molestation caseBy Kibret Markkos
Associated Press - June 3, 2013

The trial of a Teaneck rabbi accused of molesting two male exchange students at his home was put off indefinitely on Monday after his attorney told a judge in Hackensack that the rabbi suffered a stroke last week.

Lawyers were scheduled to make opening arguments in Uzi Rivlin’s trial on Monday in Superior Court in Hackensack. But his attorney, Howard Simmons, said Rivlin is in a medically induced coma at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck and that he has been on a respirator and remained unresponsive since his admission into the hospital on Wednesday.

Judge Patrick J. Roma said he received a letter from a doctor at the hospital confirming that Rivlin is unable to walk or talk, and unable to attend court.

Simmons said he was contacted by Rivlin’s wife last week, who told him that she saw her husband in bed on Wednesday morning when she went to work and found him there when she returned almost 12 hours later. Rivlin’s wife said she called 911 after she noticed that her husband’s breathing was shallow, and he was rushed to the hospital, Simmons said.

Rivlin remained in critical condition in the intensive care unit Monday, and doctors still were trying to determine the magnitude of the stroke and the extent of possible brain damage, Simmons said.

Rivlin, 65, was arrested in 2011 and charged with fondling two 13-year-old Israeli boys who were staying at his home during an exchange scholarship program that he had helped set up for disadvantaged Israeli children. Bergen County prosecutors said the two boys, who did not know each other and stayed at Rivlin’s home at different times in 2009 and 2010, made the allegations to Israeli authorities, who then contacted U.S. authorities.

Rivlin maintained that he did not molest the boys. Simmons said during a previous court appearance that the boys were troubled students and that one of them had in fact made similar, but false, allegations against his father.

Rivlin was charged with child endangerment, aggravated sexual contact and criminal sexual contact. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Demetra Agriantonis Maurice, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor, said two witnesses already had been flown in from Israel for the trial but have been flown back now that the trial is postponed indefinitely.

Once they received information that Rivlin was unable to stand trial, prosecutors also cancelled the flights of two other witnesses who were going to be flown in late last week, Maurice said.

Roma set a hearing for July 1 to get an update on Rivlin’s condition. Even if Rivlin’s condition improves quickly, his trial would not be scheduled any sooner than early next year, Maurice said.

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Teaneck Rabbi Accused in Sex Abuse Case Has Stroke, Trial On Hold

The township resident is reportedly unresponsive at Holy Name Medical Center

By Noah Cohen

Teaneck Patch - June 3, 2013

The trial of a 65-year-old Teaneck rabbi accused of molesting two teenage boys has been delayed indefinitely after the rabbi suffered a stroke last week, NorthJersey.com reported Monday.

Uzi Rivlin was in a medically induced coma at Holy Name Medical Center, defense attorney Howard Simmons said, according to the report. Rivlin was admitted to the hospital Wednesday and was unresponsive.

Opening arguments were set to begin Monday. Prosecutors charged Rivlin in 2011 with sexually abusing the two 13-year-old Israeli boys, who were staying with him as part of a scholarship program he set up, authorities said. He pleaded not guilty in August 2011.

Simmons has maintained his client is innocent and said one of the alleged victims previously made bogus abuse allegations.

The rabbi faces charges of aggravated sexual contact, criminal sexual contact and child endangerment.

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