Case of Rabbi Tobias Gabriel
(Cantor / Hazzen)
(Born) La Paz, Bolivia
(1949) Lima, Peru
(1955 - 1959) Telzer Yeshiva (High School) - Cleveland, OH
Yeshiva University (Cantorial School) - New York, NY
(1966 - 1968) MBA in International Marketing - City University of New York - New York, NY
Mexico
President, Zionist Federation of Peru - Peru
Cantor, Religious Affairs Director and Bar Mitzvah Instructor - Peru
Bakery Business, Israel
(1990) Toronto, Canada
(1968 - 2006) Former Member - Cantor Assembly (CA)
(1990 - 1992) Former Cantor, Shaar Shalom - Thornhill, Canada
(1994 - Present) Cantor, Beth Tzedec - Toronto, Canada
(2002 - 2006) Jewish Theological Seminary (Rabbinical School) - New York, NY
(2006) Spiritual Director, Camp Ramah - Utterson, Ontario, Canada
(2006 - 2007) Former Member - Rabbinical Assembly (RA)
(2006 - Present) Rabbi, Beth Tzedec - Toronto, Canada
Rabbi Tobias Gabriel was accused by a few women of clergy sexual abuse /professional sexual misconduct, while providing spiritual counseling.
Early in 2007, the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) and the Cantor Assembly (CA) organized a tribunal headed by Rabbi Harold Kravitz of Adath Jeshurun Synagogue (Minnetonka, MN), to hold a hearing in Toronto as part of the investigation of the allegations. Beth Tzedic synagogue also conducted its own internal investigation, yet the results of that investigation were never been made public.
Upon hearing of the intention of the RA and the CA to come to Toronto to investigate the allegations, Rabbi Gabriel resigned from both organizations and is no longer a member of either. As past policy, upon Gabriel's resignation the tribunal cancelled its investigation.
June, 2007 - Rabbi Gabriel attempts to re-applied for admission to the Rabbinical Assembly and the Cantor Assembly, He was informed that he could not be re-admitted without them first completing their investigation.
October, 2007 - An out-of-c ourt settlemen was reached between Rabbi Tobias Gabriel, Beth Tzedec Synagogue and the two women who state they were sexually victimized. Neighter Gabriel or Beth Tzedec made admission of fault or liability in the settlement.
March 21, 2008 - According to an e-mail sent by Herbert S. Garten,Esq. - Counsel to Cantors Assembly, Inc., Tobias Gabriel is no longer considered a member.
If you or anyone you know feel they have been sexually
manipulated or victimized by Rabbi Gabriel please contact
The Awareness Center immediately:
443-857-5560.
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does
not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for
themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.
Also see:
Recidivism of Sex Offenders (U.S. Department of Justice: Center for Sex Offender Management)
When A Family Member Molests: Reality, Conflice and The Need For Support
The Awareness Center - June 16, 2007
Rabbi Tobias Gabriel has been accused by more then one woman of clergy sexual abuse /professional sexual misconduct.
Early in 2007, the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) and the Cantor Assembly (CA) organized a tribunal headed by Rabbi Harold Kravitz of Adath Jeshurun Synagogue (Minnetonka, MN), to hold a hearing in Toronto as part of the investigation of the allegations.
Beth Tzedic synagogue has also conducted its own internal investigation, yet the results of that investigation have never been made public.
Upon hearing of the intention of the RA and the CA to come to Toronto to investigate the allegations, Rabbi Gabriel resigned from both organizations and is no longer a member of either. As past policy, upon Gabriel's resignation the tribunal cancelled its investigation.
Recently Rabbi Gabriel re-applied for admission to the Rabbinical Assembly and the Cantor Assembly . He was informed that he could not be re-admitted without them first completing their investigation. They are now scheduled to hold meetings in Toronto this coming August.
If you or anyone you know feel they have been sexually manipulated or victimized by Rabbi Gabriel please contact The Awareness Center immediately: 443-857-5560.
Beth Tzedec cantor is ordained as rabbi at age
62
By RANCES KRAFT, Staff Reporter
Canadian Jewish News - February 2, 2006 (6 Shevat, 5766)
Congregants at Beth Tzedec Congregation are still getting used to referring to their chazzan sheni as Rabbi Gabriel, instead of the more familiar "Cantor Gabriel."
Rabbi Tobias (Tobi) Gabriel was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary on Dec. 15, an accomplishment all the more impressive for the fact that he kept up with full-time synagogue duties while commuting by plane twice a week to classes in New York, just over 800 km away. Not to mention that, at age 62, the father of three and grandfather of seven is decades older than most of the students in his graduating class.
The new rabbi said there were a number of factors involved in his decision to enter rabbinical school, including "a thirst for learning," but above all he sees it as professional development.
"When you're building community and you are in a clergy capacity, you owe it to yourself to get as much knowledge as possible."
In a way, he is also returning to his roots. A native of La Paz, Bolivia, Rabbi Gabriel was raised in an Orthodox home in a small, tightly knit Jewish community by German immigrant parents who fled Europe in 1938. As a young teenager, his parents sent him from Peru (where they moved when he was 7) to New York to get a Jewish high school education.
A graduate of Yeshiva University where he attended cantorial school and also took some classes in the rabbinical school, Rabbi Gabriel distanced himself shortly afterward from an Orthodoxy that he felt left little room for questioning. "I found my niche in Conservative Judaism, which allowed me to learn and to query...in an an environment where I was still able to follow the halachic tradition."
He earned his MBA in International Marketing at the City University of New York in 1968 and embarked on a business career that took him and his family to Mexico, Peru and Israel before they immigrated to Toronto in 1990. A constant thread, however, was their involvement in local Jewish communities.
In Lima, Rabbi Gabriel served as president of the Zionist Federation of Peru for two years, and – in the absence of an Ashkenazi rabbi for almost 12 years – led services and served as cantor, religious affairs director and bar mitzvah instructor.
Following his arrival in Canada, he was involved in Shaar Shalom Congregation in Thornhill, volunteering as cantor, Torah reader and ritual committee member until he left the business world and took on the position at Beth Tzedec in 1994.
He credits family – Sara, his wife of 41 years, and their children – as well as Beth Tzedec congregants, friends and colleagues at the synagogue for making his studies possible, including scholarship funding from the synagogue and the donation of air miles by congregants.
Although it took "a bit of imagination and hard work" to convince JTS to accept him as a student while he was holding a full-time job, faculty members ended up being very supportive, he said.
Technology also "helped quite a bit," he added, referring to distance courses included in his curriculum and also his ability to use the Internet for research.
But his schedule was "brutal, to say the least," he said of the two-year endeavour. Although he was exempt from some courses because of his experience and background, he was considered a full-time student with courses two half-days a week, some distance courses, and a full-time intensive course load over his four-week summer vacation.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights and weekends," said Rabbi Gabriel. Occasionally, he noted, if a flight was delayed by weather, his colleagues at Beth Tzedec would cover for him. Likewise, faculty members at JTS were "very understanding" if he was snowed in and arrived late to class. If he couldn't make it at all, someone would tape the classes for him.
While he will maintain his ongoing duties at Beth Tzedec, where the clergy includes three other rabbis, "the congregation will dictate" any new directions Rabbi Gabriel may take in the synagogue. He will also become involved with Camp Ramah in his new capacity as a rabbi.
"It was hard going back to school," he admitted. "But I adapted rather quickly... I always loved doing research."
No matter what stage of life you're in, he said, "if you want to go for professional development, you can do it." The right attitude, time management, and "a little help from friends" ease the way, he added.
Beth Tzedec - June 16, 2007
http://www.beth-tzedec.org/our_clergy/
Rabbi
email: TGabriel@beth-tzedec.org
Phone 416.781.3514 ext. 226
Born in La Paz, Bolivia a few years after his parents immigrated from Germany to escape from the Holocaust. The family moved to Lima, Peru in 1949, where he attended the Jewish Community Day School until his Bar Mitzvah. Coming from an observant Jewish home, his family thought it best for him to continue with both his Jewish and secular education in the United States. He finished High School at the Telzer Yeshiva in Cleveland in 1959.
Synagogue settles sex
lawsuits
Out-of-court deal follows allegations of misconduct by rabbi, who will resign at year's end
By Sandro Contenta
Toronto Star - October 17, 2007
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/267699
Two women accusing a rabbi of sexual misconduct have agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the rabbi and a prominent Toronto synagogue, their lawyer says.
The defendants in the case – Rabbi Tobias Gabriel and Beth Tzedec Synagogue – make no admission of fault or liability in the settlement, Simona Jellinek, the women's lawyer, said yesterday.
Negotiations began after Richmond Hill resident (NAME REMMOVED), 52, filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court last July, alleging she was coerced into a sexual relationship by Gabriel a year earlier.
Her lawsuit demanded $1.3 million from Gabriel and Beth Tzedec for breach of fiduciary duty and the pain and suffering she claims the relationship caused her and her marriage. The rabbi was accused of abusing the trust of a deeply religious woman.
Gabriel, who spent 13 years working at the synagogue, was Beth Tzedec's cantor at the time of (NAME REMOVED)'s alleged incident. He has rejected her claims as "groundless," and his lawyer has defended his work as "exemplary." He was suspended with pay until the end of the year, when he'll officially resign.
The allegations rocked the congregation when the Bathurst St. synagogue sent a letter to its 6,000 members last August stating that "the impropriety (had) occurred."
A second woman came forward with allegations similar to (NAME REMOVED)'s after the Star published a story about (NAME REMOVED)'s claim.
Jellinek said the second woman, who lives in Toronto and is in her early 50s, was mentioned but not named in (NAME REMOVED)'s statement of claim. The Toronto woman was married and became sexually involved with Gabriel "while she was grieving the loss of one of her parents," according to the statement.
Beth Tzedec officials knew of Gabriel's relationship with the Toronto woman before he became involved with (NAME REMOVED), the statement of claim says.
Asked if the women received financial compensation as part of the settlement, Jellinek said the agreement prevents her from revealing such details. "Everybody knows there's going to be money exchanged, but I can't tell you that that is in fact true," she said.
Beth Tzedec's lawyer, Michael Royce, told the Star in August that the synagogue was prepared to compensate (NAME REMOVED) financially. Royce was not available for comment yesterday.
Jellinek described (NAME REMOVED) and her husband as somewhat relieved by the settlement, but added: "It's going to take them a while to rebuild their marriage."
The New York-based Rabbinical Assembly, a world-wide association of conservative rabbis, is expected to bar Gabriel from membership at a meeting later this month, Jellinek said. That would make it difficult for him to get a job as a rabbi or cantor in North America, she added.
(NAME REMOVED) alleged she was pressured into a sexual relationship with Gabriel while she was the only female student in his class for cantors at the synagogue in July 2006.
Beth Tzedec recently said it would implement a code of conduct for its clergy, Jellinek said.
Settlement reached in case of alleged
sexual misconduct
Canadian Jewish News - Thursday, 25 October 2007
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13356&Itemid=86
TORONTO — Beth Tzedec Congregation and one of its rabbis have settled a lawsuit with two women who alleged improper sexual conduct on the part of the clergyman.
Details of the settlement were not released and neither Rabbi Tobias Gabriel nor the synagogue admitted fault or liability.
(NAME and Age Removed), had alleged that Rabbi Gabriel pressured her into a sexual relationship after participating in a program offered by the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly to train shamashim, synagogue beadles who serve as attendants, caretakers or custodians. The course was offered last summer at Beth Tzedec, and Rabbi Gabriel was one of the instructors. (NAME REMOVED) was the only woman in the program.
The second woman, who is unidentified, says she became sexually involved with Rabbi Gabriel while grieving the loss of one of her parents. She was mentioned, though not named, in Nadler's statement of claim, which demanded $1.3 million from the rabbi and synagogue for breach of fiduciary duty and for pain and suffering.
In a letter to members distributed when the allegations were publicized, Beth Tzedec President Shep Gangbar referred to allegations of "impropriety and abuse" stemming from an "inappropriate relationship between Rabbi Gabriel and a married adult woman who is not a congregant... Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the impropriety occurred."
The letter went on to distance the synagogue from the allegations, saying "it is not liable for the actions of Rabbi Gabriel" and it noted that the rabbi would no longer be involved with the synagogue in any capacity.
In New York, meanwhile, the Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative rabbis, was considering disciplining Rabbi Gabriel.
Rabbi Tobias Gabriel Expelled from the Cantors
Assembly
Subject: RE: Tobias Gabriel
From: Herbert S. Garten
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008
This is to advise you that Tobias Gabriel is no longer a member of the Cantors Assembly, Inc. and that he will not be eligible for readmission at any time in the future.
Herbert S. Garten,Esq.
Counsel to Cantors Assembly,Inc.
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Last Updated: 04/08/2008
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