The Awareness Center is The Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA)
Case of Rabbi Michael David Mayersohn
Temple Beth David
Westminster, California
Accused of "groping" a female congregant who was undergoing pastoral counseling with the rabbi, due to marital problems. The rabbi is also accused of tring to "convince the congregant to have sex with him" in a second meeting. The female congregant refused.
Mayersohn said that the complaint is fiction and that even the most lenient professional reprimand is unjustified. The Survivor is equally adamant that her allegation of "sexual boundary violations" has merit and criticizes the rabbinical association for showing favoritism to its members by failing to follow its own guidelines.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis' board of trustees voted June 20, 2004 to support its earlier letter of reprimand of Rabbi Michael Mayersohn in the wake of charges by a former congregant.
The move stems from a May 2002 complaint of "sexual
boundary violations." The Survivor accused Mayersohn of trying to seduce
her during a marital counseling session while he was rabbi of Temple Beth
David in Westminster, Calif.
Your Financial Support is Needed!
Make
a Donation
Email Groups for the Awareness Center This link will bring you to a list of different mailing lists offered by The Awareness Center. We offers several different email groups,which include our general mailing list, press-releases, Jewish survivors of childhood sexual abuse, Parents of children who were molested, Family members of sex offenders, etc.
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:
http://www.s2soft.com/renewing/background.html
* Student Rabbi, Astoria Center of Israel, New York
City
In 1978-9 Michael was finishing his rabbinic studies and serving as the student rabbi at this historic synagogue in Queens. He led worship services, directed the religious school and helped the mostly older congregants to deal with issues of aging and their relationships with their children.
* Founding Rabbi, Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland, Massachusetts
After ordination as a rabbi in 1979, Michael became the founding rabbi of this brand new congregation in a suburb west of Boston. The congregation had only met a few times by the time he arrived and all the members were young families. He started and directed the religious school and helped to create what became the traditions of this dynamic and blossoming congregation. In 1986 the congregation had grown to two hundred families and Rabbi Mayersohn had been closely involved in the lives of the families. A great deal of his pastoral work with the congregation focused on parenting issues.
The building is the First Unitarian Church of Wayland, home of Temple Shir Tikva 1979-81.
* Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Downey, California
Rabbi Mayersohn led this older and long-established congregation from 1986-90. Many of the people were dealing with issues of aging, including retirement, new physical limitations and challenges with grown children.
* Rabbi, Temple Beth David, Westminster, California
Michael led this diverse and flourishing congregation from 1990 to 2003 and initiated several ground-breaking programs of Outreach to intermarried families. He pioneered discussion groups, services and welcoming programs that brought intermarried couples and their families into synagogue life. The congregation includes the full range of ages and socio-economic status and in his pastoral work the rabbi provided counsel and support to young families, couples experiencing difficulties and older members.
* Member, Reform Judaism's National Commission on Outreach and Synagogue Community
The Reform movement initiated Outreach to intermarrieds programming in the late 1970s and Rabbi Mayersohn has been involved since the beginning. He has created programs that have been reproduced around the country as congregations seek to welcome intermarried families into Jewish life.
* Dean, Orange County Academy of Jewish Learning
Rabbi Mayersohn is creating and directing this new and innovative program of adult Jewish learning in Orange County. People interested in pluralistic, committed Jewish learning will be able to pursue a three-year certificate that will be recognized by the entire community.
* Co-teaching Pastoral Counseling, Rabbinic Program, Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles
In addition to learning Bible, Talmud, Jewish history and sacred texts, students studying to be rabbis have to learn how to provide pastoral counseling to their congregants. Rabbi Mayersohn has been co-teaching the Pastoral Counseling course to rabbinic students since 2001.
* Lecturer, CSULB, Extension Services, teaching Survey of Jewish History in Religious Studies Department
This Survey of Jewish History course will have a special focus on the historic interaction between Jews and their neighbors.
* Past Member, Boards of Directors, Long Beach Jewish Community Center, Orange County Bureau of Jewish Education, Orange County Jewish Family Service
Michael has served on the Boards of almost every community agency and works closely with the professionals of all the agencies.
* Recipient of Reform Judaism's Belin Outreach Award for High Holyday Service for Intermarrieds
This innovative service has become a model for other communities around the country. The service reaches out to intermarried families and creates a welcoming atmosphere for those who have been away from Jewish life for a while or who have never been to a worship service. The service is stopped at various times so the rabbi can explain the meaning and origin of the prayers.
* Review of Jewish Pastoral Care: A Practical Handbook by Dayle Friedman, in 'CCAR Journal,' Spring, 2002.
This has become the most widely used text for learning about pastoral care and counseling from a Jewish perspective. Rabbi Mayersohn wrote the review for it that appeared in the professional journal of Reform rabbis.
Case #768471 Miller Vs. David ETAL
Filling date: 3 Sep 1996
Court Type: CI
Caste Type: CB
American Jewry
FOCUS ON ISSUES:
Are rabbinic guidelines on sex abuse working? California case shines light
By Joe Berkofsky
JTA - June 15, 2004
http://jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=14178&intcategoryid=4
NEW YORK, June 15 (JTA) — A lengthy battle over how the Reform movement should handle a charge of sexual misconduct against a California rabbi is coming to a head.
On June 20 (2004), the board of trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the movement's rabbinical arm, is expected to decide whether to uphold its earlier reprimand of Rabbi Michael Mayersohn or to censure him, a more serious step, which the conference's Committee on Ethics and Appeals initially had recommended.
The issue stems from a May 2002 complaint by Chavah Hogue of Huntington Beach, Calif., who alleged that Mayersohn tried to seduce her during a closed-door marital counseling session while he was the rabbi at Temple Beth David in Westminster, Calif.
Mayersohn, who has since left his congregation and now is a full-time pastoral counselor, vehemently denies the charge.
The California case returns the spotlight to rabbinic ethics policies in the wake of several high-profile cases of sexual abuse in the Jewish community, as well as the well-publicized scandals of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.
It also comes nearly eight years after a groundbreaking series by JTA heightened awareness of the issue in the Jewish community.
Perhaps the most prominent Jewish scandal in recent years involved Rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox day school principal in New Jersey, who was convicted and jailed in 2002 for sexually abusing teenage girls and women and physically abusing boys as an official of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth.
A report for the youth group's parent organization, the Orthodox Union, found that Lanner's superiors did not act forcefully enough to intervene after receiving complaints about his behavior.
"The Lanner case and what happened with the Catholic priesthood raised the awareness of the public, and gave the public the sense that we should not ignore it if a member of the clergy is doing something wrong," said Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly.
Hogue, 44, who was raised in an Anglo-Catholic home, said she discovered Jewish roots in her family and joined the Reform congregation in 1999, changing her name to Chavah from Lori and converting along with her daughter in a Conservative ceremony a year after joining the Reform temple.
Her husband did not convert. Hogue said she chose a Conservative conversion to ensure that her young daughter would be accepted by most Jews in America when it comes time to marry.
In a telephone interview with JTA, Hogue alleged that Mayersohn began "hitting on me" some eight months after she joined the temple, trying to kiss her, hug her or touch her inappropriately.
Hogue was experiencing marital problems involving interfaith issues, and at the rabbi's suggestion began attending pastoral counseling sessions alone with him, she said. After asking about her sex life in their first session, the rabbi "groped me and kissed me and tried to convince me to have sex with him" in a second meeting, she said. Hogue refused.
In May 2002, Hogue filed a formal sexual misconduct complaint to the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Committee on Ethics and Appeals, which handles such charges. Her complaint against Mayersohn alleged "sexual boundary violations."
Mayersohn, 52, has flatly denied all of the allegations to Reform movement officials, and he reiterated his denials to JTA.
"There was absolutely nothing inappropriate about our relationship and there was nothing, from my end, that was sexual about it," he said. "Nothing that she alleges happened in those meetings happened. Unfortunately, like all rabbis who meet with people behind closed doors, I am vulnerable to people's fabrications."
The rabbi also maintained that it was Hogue who initiated the pastoral counseling sessions, which he said he conducted with many congregants.
Though Mayerson said he sometimes touched congregants in public in a "warm, friendly" manner, Hogue "confused" his gestures for something else.
She "mistook my rabbinic concerns for her well interest" for "romantic or sexual interest," he said.
He also told the ethics panel that he took pre-emptive action against Hogue's "misperceptions," notifying the temple board and the Central Conference of American Rabbis of her assertions soon after their counseling sessions.
After the three-member ethics committee's investigating team looked into the case, the panel in June 2003 said in a report to Gold that Hogue's charge "cannot be clearly confirmed or denied," but that it was "troubling to dismiss her experience here as having been entirely imagined."
Though the panel could not prove Mayersohn was guilty of any ethical lapse, it maintained that "there is an indication of a rabbi in need of some kind of support and/or training."
The panel found there was sufficient evidence Mayersohn had "exercised poor judgment" in his dealings with Hogue and in August voted to censure him. That was less than the gravest possible penalties — expulsion or suspension — but more serious than a letter of reprimand.
Under the Reform code of ethics, a reprimand remains the least serious form of punishment. It takes the form of a private letter to the rabbi involved.
By being censured, Mayersohn was required to undergo psychological evaluation, therapy and counseling for teshuvah, or repentance.
If a censured rabbi fails to fulfill such orders or additional problems surface, the Central Conference of American Rabbis could recommend that they be removed from some or all of their professional duties.
In a letter notifying Hogue of the censure, the ethics panel's chairwoman, Rabbi Rosalind Gold of Reston, Va., said Mayersohn had the right to appeal to the rabbinic conference's board of trustees.
Yet the full board overturns such decisions only "when the proper process of adjudication has not been followed; I do not believe there is any ground for such an appeal in this case," she wrote at the time.
Mayersohn stepped down from his pulpit that same month, after giving his temple a required six-month notification. He said the action against him and his leaving "have nothing to do with each other," but that after 13 years in the pulpit, he wanted to be a full-time pastoral counselor.
Mayersohn also appealed the censure, a move that forestalled any of its requirements, and in January 2004, Gold wrote Hogue that the Central Conference of American Rabbis' board had reduced the penalty to a reprimand.
Ultimately, neither Mayersohn nor Hogue was happy with how the seven-month investigation was handled.
"I understand the difficulty of their task, but I do believe either flaws in the system or mistakes in the process have resulted in injury to me," Mayersohn said.
For her part, Hogue said, "They were dragging their feet and taking as long as possible to conduct this case."
Gold, Central Conference of American Rabbis President Rabbi Janet Marder and other conference members declined to discuss the case with JTA, citing confidentiality policies.
Meanwhile, the full Central Conference of American Rabbis board acknowledged that in deciding to overturn the censure, it ignored a rule in the movement's rabbinical ethics code, forcing this month's second hearing on the matter.
Under the code, the board, before deciding on a complaint, is supposed to allow both the person making the charge and the rabbi involved to make their case, but this time only Mayersohn was invited to give his input beforehand.
Ultimately, Hogue maintains the Central Conference of American Rabbis was "falling down in their sacred duty to protect those who come to them for help."
"I felt they were not giving my case the importance it deserved," she said.
Rabbi Paul Menitoff, the group's executive vice president, defended the way the rabbinic conference handles complaints about members.
"Anybody who looks at our process and how it has been implemented over the years would be hard-pressed to say it's not serious," Menitoff said.
In a typical year, the rabbinic conference fields five to six complaints of rabbinic sexual misconduct, he said, and the charges are found worthy of some action "more often than not."
But he and other officials would not discuss the details of those cases.
Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who advocated for tougher Reform ethics rules and who helped shape the current guidelines in the mid-1990s, said the movement was among the first streams to get tough on rabbinic sexual misbehavior.
Now Schaefer hopes the movement will mandate more classes on sexual misconduct issues for rabbis and seminary students to prevent further abuse.
Reform movement considers sex abuse
case
By JOE BERKOFSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 18, 2004/Sivan 29 5764, Vol. 56, No.39
NEW YORK - A lengthy battle over how the Reform movement should handle a charge of sexual misconduct against a California rabbi is coming to a head.
On June 20, the board of trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the movement's rabbinical arm, is expected to decide whether to uphold its earlier reprimand of Rabbi Michael Mayersohn. He could also be censured, a more serious step, which the conference's Committee on Ethics and Appeals initially had recommended.
The issue stems from a May 2002 complaint by Chavah Hogue of Huntington Beach, Calif., who alleged that Mayersohn tried to seduce her during a closed-door marital counseling session while he was the rabbi at Temple Beth David in Westminster, Calif.
Mayersohn, who has since left his congregation and now is a full-time pastoral counselor, vehemently denies the charge.
The California case returns the spotlight to rabbinic ethics policies in the wake of several high-profile cases of sexual abuse in the Jewish community, as well as the well-publicized scandals of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.
Hogue, 44, who was raised in an Anglo-Catholic home, said she discovered Jewish roots in her family and joined the Reform congregation in 1999, changing her name to Chavah from Lori and converting along with her daughter in a Conservative ceremony a year after joining the Reform temple. Her husband did not convert.
In a telephone interview with JTA, Hogue alleged that Mayersohn began "hitting on me" some eight months after she joined the temple, trying to kiss her, hug her or touch her inappropriately.
Hogue was experiencing marital problems involving interfaith issues, and at the rabbi's suggestion began attending pastoral coun-seling sessions alone with him, she said. After asking about her sex life in their first session, the rabbi "groped me and kissed me and tried to convince me to have sex with him" in a second meeting, she said.
Hogue said that she refused.
In May 2002, Hogue filed a formal sexual misconduct complaint to the CCAR's Committee on Ethics and Appeals, which handles such charges. Her com-plaint against Mayersohn alleged "sexual boundary violations."
Mayersohn, 52, has flatly denied all of the allegations to Reform movement officials.
"There was absolutely nothing inappropriate about our relationship and there was nothing, from my end, that was sexual about it," he said. "Nothing that she alleges happened in those meetings happened. Unfortunately, like all rabbis who meet with people behind closed doors, I am vulnerable to people's fabrications."
Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who advocated for tougher Reform ethics rules and who helped shape the current guidelines in the mid-1990s, said the movement was among the first streams to get tough on rabbinic sexual misbehavior.
Now Schaefer hopes the movement will mandate more classes on sexual misconduct issues for rabbis and seminary students to prevent further abuse.
Are Sex Abuse Guidelines
Working?
"Like all rabbis who meet with people behind closed doors,I am vulnerable to people's fabrications."
by Joe Berkofsky, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles - June 18, 2004
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/print.php?id=12436
A lengthy battle over how the Reform movement should handle a charge of sexual misconduct against a California rabbi is coming to a head.
On June 20, the board of trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), the movement's rabbinical arm, is expected to decide whether to uphold its earlier reprimand of Rabbi Michael Mayersohn or to censure him, a more serious step, which the conference's Committee on Ethics and Appeals initially had recommended.
The issue stems from a May 2002 complaint by Chavah Hogue of Huntington Beach, who alleged that Mayersohn tried to seduce her during a closed-door marital counseling session while he was the rabbi at Temple Beth David in Westminster.
Mayersohn, who has since left his congregation and now is a full-time pastoral counselor, vehemently denies the charge.
The California case returns the spotlight to rabbinic ethics policies in the wake of several high-profile cases of sexual abuse in the Jewish community, as well as the well-publicized scandals of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.
Perhaps the most prominent Jewish scandal in recent years involved Rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox day school principal in New Jersey, who was convicted and jailed in 2002 for sexually abusing teenage girls and women and physically abusing boys as an official of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth.
A report for the youth group's parent organization, the Orthodox Union, found that Lanner's superiors did not act forcefully enough to intervene after receiving complaints about his behavior.
"The Lanner case and what happened with the Catholic priesthood raised the awareness of the public, and gave the public the sense that we should not ignore it if a member of the clergy is doing something wrong," said Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly.
Hogue, 44, who was raised in an Anglo-Catholic home, said she discovered Jewish roots in her family and joined the Reform congregation in 1999, changing her name to Chavah from Lori and converting along with her daughter in a Conservative ceremony a year after joining the Reform temple.
Her husband did not convert. Hogue said she chose a Conservative conversion to ensure that her young daughter would be accepted by most Jews in America when it comes time to marry.
In a telephone interview, Hogue alleged that Mayersohn began "hitting on me" some eight months after she joined the temple, trying to kiss her, hug her or touch her inappropriately.
Hogue was experiencing marital problems involving interfaith issues, and at the rabbi's suggestion began attending pastoral counseling sessions alone with him, she said. After asking about her sex life in their first session, the rabbi "groped me and kissed me and tried to convince me to have sex with him" in a second meeting, she said. Hogue refused.
In May 2002, Hogue filed a formal sexual misconduct complaint to the CCAR's Committee on Ethics and Appeals, which handles such charges. Her complaint against Mayersohn alleged "sexual boundary violations."
Mayersohn, 52, has flatly denied all of the allegations to Reform movement officials, and he reiterated his denials.
"There was absolutely nothing inappropriate about our relationship and there was nothing, from my end, that was sexual about it," he said. "Nothing that she alleges happened in those meetings happened. Unfortunately, like all rabbis who meet with people behind closed doors, I am vulnerable to people's fabrications."
The rabbi also maintained that it was Hogue who initiated the pastoral counseling sessions, which he said he conducted with many congregants.
Though Mayerson said he sometimes touched congregants in public in a "warm, friendly" manner, Hogue "confused" his gestures for something else.
She "mistook my rabbinic concerns for her well interest" for "romantic or sexual interest," he said.
He also told the ethics panel that he took pre-emptive action against Hogue's "misperceptions," notifying the temple board and CCAR of her assertions soon after their counseling sessions.
After the three-member ethics committee's investigating team looked into the case, the panel in June 2003 said in a report to Gold that Hogue's charge "cannot be clearly confirmed or denied," but that it was "troubling to dismiss her experience here as having been entirely imagined."
Although the panel could not prove Mayersohn was guilty of any ethical lapse, it maintained that "there is an indication of a rabbi in need of some kind of support and/or training."
The panel found there was sufficient evidence Mayersohn had "exercised poor judgment" in his dealings with Hogue and in August voted to censure him. That was less than the gravest possible penalties — expulsion or suspension — but more serious than a letter of reprimand.
Under the Reform code of ethics, a reprimand remains the least serious form of punishment. It takes the form of a private letter to the rabbi involved.
By being censured, Mayersohn was required to undergo psychological evaluation, therapy and counseling for teshuvah (repentance).
If a censured rabbi fails to fulfill such orders or additional problems surface, the CCAR could recommend that they be removed from some or all of their professional duties.
In a letter notifying Hogue of the censure, the ethics panel's chair, Rabbi Rosalind Gold of Reston, Va., said Mayersohn had the right to appeal to the rabbinic conference's board of trustees.
Yet the full board overturns such decisions only "when the proper process of adjudication has not been followed; I do not believe there is any ground for such an appeal in this case," she wrote at the time.
Mayersohn stepped down from his pulpit that same month, after giving his temple a required six-month notification. He said the action against him and his leaving "have nothing to do with each other," but that after 13 years in the pulpit, he wanted to be a full-time pastoral counselor.
Mayersohn also appealed the censure, a move that forestalled any of its requirements, and in January 2004, Gold wrote Hogue that the CCAR's board had reduced the penalty to a reprimand.
Ultimately, neither Mayersohn nor Hogue was happy with how the seven-month investigation was handled.
"I understand the difficulty of their task, but I do believe either flaws in the system or mistakes in the process have resulted in injury to me," Mayersohn said.
For her part, Hogue said, "They were dragging their feet and taking as long as possible to conduct this case."
Gold, CCAR President Rabbi Janet Marder and other conference members declined to discuss the case, citing confidentiality policies.
Meanwhile, the full CCAR board acknowledged that in deciding to overturn the censure, it ignored a rule in the movement's rabbinical ethics code, forcing this month's second hearing on the matter.
Under the code, the board, before deciding on a complaint, is supposed to allow both the person making the charge and the rabbi involved to make their case, but this time only Mayersohn was invited to give his input beforehand.
Ultimately, Hogue maintains the CCAR was "falling down in their sacred duty to protect those who come to them for help."
"I felt they were not giving my case the importance it deserved," she said.
Rabbi Paul Menitoff, the group's executive vice president, defended the way the rabbinic conference handles complaints about members.
"Anybody who looks at our process and how it has been implemented over the years would be hard-pressed to say it's not serious," Menitoff said.
In a typical year, the rabbinic conference fields five to six complaints of rabbinic sexual misconduct, he said, and the charges are found worthy of some action "more often than not."
But he and other officials would not discuss the details of those cases.
Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who advocated for tougher Reform ethics rules and who helped shape the current guidelines in the mid-1990s, said the movement was among the first streams to get tough on rabbinic sexual misbehavior.
Now Schaefer hopes the movement will mandate more classes on sexual misconduct issues for rabbis and seminary students to prevent further abuse.
Reform board upholds penalty for rabbi accused of sexual
misconduct
By Joe Berkofsky
JTA - July 6, 2004
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Reform+rabbi+rapped+for+violation&intcategoryid=4&SearchOptimize=Jewish+News
NEW YORK, July 6 (JTA) — A Reform rabbinical board has upheld the reprimand of a California rabbi over allegations of sexual misconduct, but it declined to impose a more serious penalty of censure.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis' board of trustees voted June 20 to support its earlier letter of reprimand of Rabbi Michael Mayersohn in the wake of charges by a former congregant.
The move stems from a May 2002 complaint from Chavah (Lori) Hogue of "sexual boundary violations." Hogue accused Mayersohn of trying to seduce her during a marital counseling session while he was rabbi of Temple Beth David in Westminster, Calif.
Such cases typically remain private, but Hogue publicized her charges after the board failed to follow its own ethics policy, shedding light on how the movement handles such complaints.
Mayersohn, who now teaches and practices pastoral counseling, maintains his innocence.
"I continue to hold that I didn't do any of the things she alleges," the rabbi told JTA.
Despite her setback from the Central Conference of American Rabbis' board, Hogue said she was gratified that Mayersohn had agreed to undergo psychological counseling as a condition of the reprimand.
"The key is that he seeks treatment," Hogue told JTA.
Reform rabbinical officials say that every year they handle a variety of ethics complaints against rabbis, which typically remain private. But Hogue took this case public after the Central Conference of American Rabbis' board initially failed to give her a required hearing and, after Mayersohn appealed, voted in early 2004 to downgrade the ethics committee's censure recommendation to a reprimand.
Hogue said she was allotted 10 minutes last month to address the board and make her case for the full censure.
Though Hogue was satisfied with the outcome of the case, she said the Central Conference of American Rabbis continued to treat her poorly. She learned of the latest decision by reading an article in the Orange County, Calif., edition of the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, rather than from Central Conference of American Rabbis officials, she said.
"This is not the way to treat victims," she said.
Rabbi Rosalyn Gold of Reston, Va., who chairs the ethics committee, would not comment on the specifics of the case, but she confirmed that the full board upheld the lesser reprimand.
Other Reform rabbinical officials, including Rabbi Elliot Stevens, associate executive vice president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, also declined to comment.
Mayersohn said he agreed to undergo counseling because he was subject to a "smear" that went public. The charges "appalled" some of his former congregants, he said.
"In situations like this, the Central Conference of American Rabbis encourages counseling, and having been through an experience like this I embrace the opportunity," he said. "It has been an ordeal to be attacked unfairly like this."
Justice or Character
Assassination?
by Andrea Adelson, Contributing Editor
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles - July 7, 2004
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=12505
Rabbi Michael Mayersohn feels betrayed by his own professional association that provided "a loaded gun" to an accuser, who wielded it to take aim at his reputation.
Last month, what Mayersohn described as "a private torment" became a public embarrassment when a charge of sexual misconduct against him was divulged to a wire service by his accuser. The former congregant, Chavah Stevens-Hogue, also revealed a pending disciplinary decision against Mayersohn by the Reform movement's rabbinical arm. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) story appeared June 15.
Ultimately, the board of trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) on June 20 upheld its earlier reprimand, Mayersohn said, overriding the more severe censure recommended by the conference's ethics and appeals committee.
Only the most egregious offenses that warrant expulsion and suspension are routinely disclosed in the conference's newsletter.
Mayersohn, 51, said that Stevens-Hogue's complaint is fiction and that even the most lenient professional reprimand is unjustified. Stevens-Hogue, 44, of Huntington Beach, is equally adamant that her allegation of "sexual boundary violations" has merit and criticizes the rabbinical association for showing favoritism to its members by failing to follow its own guidelines.
"After soul-searching, I had to put privacy aside," said Stevens-Hogue, explaining she took her accusations public only after the CCAR's board tossed out the harsher punishment imposed by the ethics and appeals committee, which handles such charges. "I thought that was a fair and reasonable decision," she said of censure, which would require Mayersohn to undergo psychological testing, therapy and counseling for teshuvah (repentance).
The painful case reveals the vulnerability of clergy to character assassination as well as the difficulty for lay people in challenging a religious entity that keeps its decisions secret.
If the phone calls Mayersohn has received are an indication, his predicament is not uncommon. He has received a half-dozen sympathy calls from colleagues around the country who also described defending themselves against complaints they say were unjustified. In at least one other instance where a CCAR reprimand was issued, the colleague told Mayersohn the reproof was taken to pacify the complainant and resolve the issue. Under the Reform code of ethics, a reprimand is the least serious form of punishment and takes the form of a private letter to the rabbi and complainant involved.
"That suggests the pattern is when in doubt the CCAR issues reprimands," said Mayersohn, who contends Reform ethics policies need revision. "Don't put a loaded gun in the hand of a complainant. The policy inadvertently betrays rabbis by informing the complainant of a reprimand. The complainant is a free agent; while they don't want the complainant to go to the press, it must happen."
He is unwilling to file suit against Stevens-Hogue for libel.
Rabbi Paul Menitoff, the group's executive vice president, defended the way the rabbinic conference handles complaints about members.
"Complaints are addressed extremely seriously," he said. "There are people who go through this and feel the resolution is too strict or not strict enough." Although he lacked statistics about the outcomes of ethics complaints or appeals of the ethics panel's decisions, Menitoff said recent appeals were "mixed" and did not solely agree with the appellant.
Stevens-Hogue denies her intention in going public is to damage Mayersohn's reputation. She felt compelled to raise an alarm because "he's in pastoral counseling without supervision; to warn the public, the Jewish community, that there's an issue out there. People need to know.
"I'm not doing this for me," said Stevens-Hogue, who might have brought suit against the temple, a recourse she chose not to pursue. "I feel like he will do it again. I expected the CCAR to keep the rabbinate safe."
The issue stems from a May 2002 complaint made by Stevens-Hogue, who alleged that Mayersohn made sexual advances during a closed-door marital counseling session when he served as rabbi of Westminster's Temple Beth David. After 13 years, he unexpectedly quit the pulpit in February 2003, a resignation he says is unrelated to Stevens-Hogue's complaint. He has resumed work, mostly teaching, but also providing pastoral counseling.
The counseling incident took place in December 1999, Mayersohn said, citing his own correspondence, dated Feb. 26, 2000, which suggests she "misunderstood" his expressions of concern and the nature of their relationship.
"I did the things you are supposed to do," Mayersohn said, describing reporting the assertions to the temple's executive committee, the Reform movement's congregational arm and to the chair of the rabbinical ethics committee in 2000, two years before Stevens-Hogue filed a formal complaint.
"This is a man's life, career and reputation that is on the line," said Melanie Alkov, a Beth David trustee. "I must come to his defense."
"I applaud Rabbi Mayersohn for standing up for his rights — for appealing the reprimand that was injudiciously extended to him and I pray that my faith in Rabbi Mayersohn's integrity will prevail," Alkov wrote in a letter to The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, which ran the JTA story in its June 18 edition.
Another defender is Joan Kaye, director of O.C.'s Bureau of Jewish Education. She hired Mayersohn to head up a new initiative that begins in September. The Jewish Academy of Growth and Learning will award certificates of recognition to students of communitywide adult education courses. Mayersohn's principal role is as its student guidance counselor. Kaye's confidence in him remains unshaken.
"Nothing has changed in the last two years," she said.
Stevens-Hogue, who changed her name to Chavah from Lori at a ceremony a year after joining Beth David, chose a Conservative conversion to ensure that her daughter would be accepted by most American Jews when it comes time to marry. She left the congregation and now sporadically attends services at Long Beach's Orthodox Shul by the Shore, where her daughter attends Hebrew school.
"They have very strict rules about rabbis touching congregants," said Stevens-Hogue, whose husband of 12 years did not convert. "I'm still going through spiritual issues because of what happened."
She questions the fairness and probity of the CCAR's ethics guidelines, which were adopted in June 2003. The ethics' panel made its decision to censure Mayersohn that August. The board came to a different decision last December. Under the code, the board, before deciding on a complaint, is supposed to allow both the person making the complaint and the rabbi involved to make their case. In this instance, only Mayersohn was invited beforehand.
"They violated their own process," said Stevens-Hogue, who was permitted a 10-minute appeal by speakerphone on June 20. Earlier, CCAR's president, Rabbi Janet Marder, of Los Altos, apologized, saying the board wasn't "up to speed on the guidelines." Marder did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"When a religious body investigates its own members, they have to be scrupulous to avoid bias," Stevens-Hogue said. "This clearly shows bias.
She contends the CCAR's board should look to how other religious denominations handle sexual misconduct allegations, including investigating the existence of similar allegations within the congregation. A seven-month investigation, which included rabbis and a lawyer on the investigative team, did not probe that far, she said.
Mayersohn, who has a CCAR pension fund, said he remains an "unhappy" CCAR member.
By ANDREA JACOBS IJN Staff Writer
Intermountain Jewish News - July 16, 2004
It's a Friday night oneg Shabbat at a Reform synagogue in Denver. The male rabbi kisses men and women on the cheek and puts comforting arms around troubled shoulders regardless of gender.
During kiddush at a Conservative synagogue the next morning, the rabbi is warm and welcoming but refrains from hugging women. When a woman he's known for years offers her cheek for a public kiss, he complies to avoid hurting her feelings.
That same morning at an Orthodox shul further out in the suburbs, the rabbi joyfully embraces male congregants but will not touch any woman other than his wife -- and not even her in public. Newcomers are slightly offended.
In each scenario, the significance of a simple hug -- or its absence -- rests in the arms of bestower and recipient.
One problem with human interaction lies in that gray area of potential misunderstanding. What feels perfectly innocent to one person might be interpreted as inappropriate by another.
With the abundance of sexual harassment and abuse charges against US clergy, including the recently adjudicated May, 2002 complaint from Chavah Hogue of "sexual boundary violations" against California Reform Rabbi Michael Mayersohn, the Intermountain Jewish News wanted to know whether Denver rabbis have curtailed social physical contact with congregants.
Their answers are varied, illuminating and often surprising.
In the Reform movement, it's considered natural for rabbis to show physical affection to congregants. Before services and during onegs, rabbis circulate and socialize. Hugs and greetings of "Shabbat Shalom" are more the norm than exception.
"I'm an indiscriminate hugger," says Rabbi Raymond Zwerin, who founded the Reform Temple Sinai in 1967. "I hug everyone.
"Call me simplistic, naive, and old, but I think most normal, rational people understand that saying 'good Shabbos' with a hug isn't the same thing as 'coming on' to them."
After 40 years in the rabbinate, Rabbi Zwerin has developed an acute intuitive feeling about people. "If someone invites a hug, you can tell. If someone doesn't want one, you can tell. I don't push it on anyone. I have a sense of where people are and what they're up to; who is OK and who is a little bit askew."
In 40 years, no one has misinterpreted his actions.
"When women hug each other after services, are we suspicious? he asks rhetorically. "Of course not. That's stupid. A hug means, 'It's great to see you again, we're still alive, things are going well.' And if your life is not OK, let me give you a hug that says I hope you feel better."
For Rabbi Deborah Bronstein of Boulder's Har HaShem, an unmarried Reform rabbi, the issue is more complex. Although she shakes hands with her single male congregants, she is wary of initiating, or accepting, overt forms of public affection. "I don't hug single men due to the possible confusion," she says.
"I often hug fathers of B'nai Mitzvah because it's such an obvious simcha, but not after Shabbat services. And I hug a lot of women. I love my congregation passionately. But in times when there have been transgressions in close religious communities, the clergy has to be especially careful to create a safe place."
In Conservative congregations, rabbis generally prefer verbal exchanges and smiles over friendly embraces when it comes to the opposite sex, but touching is not prohibited.
The HEA's Rabbi Bruce Dollin says that showing physical affection to congregants "is a fine line for rabbis. The further you stay away from it altogether, the better. My rule of thumb is to have as little physical contact as possible.
"There are times you need to touch people because they're grieving, or are in an emotionally bad place. And I will occasionally give a woman a kiss on the cheek, but only if I know she would be embarrassed if I didn't.
"In my community, it's not completely possible to avoid shaking hands because this is society's basic way of greeting someone. But if (physical contact) is misinterpreted, everybody loses regardless of their intentions."
Orthodox men and women touch only family members, in accordance with Halachah, Jewish law. The rule applies equally to Orthodox rabbis and their congregants. A male rabbi giving a bear hug to a male congregant is common. Giving a hug to an unrelated woman is forbidden under any circumstance.
"Forget about being Jewish or Orthodox," says Rabbi Yaakov Meyer of Aish-Ahavas Yisroel, an Orthodox shul. "I just don't think it's appropriate to hug other men's wives or single women. I don't understand the 'huggy-kissy' thing. I can't believe that married or unmarried men kiss other people's wives in a civilized society. I think there's a danger involved."
Because Aish-Ahavas is an outreach congregation, it attracts Jews who are uninformed about halachic observance, including the prohibition against touching the opposite sex. "Some women are confused when they first come here. They think that because I don't shake hands, I don't like them. Then someone explains things, and they no longer take it personally. They understand."
Rabbi Meyer laughs as he tells a true story to illustrate the point.
"About 10 years ago an Orthodox rabbi in Denver made a shiva call at a house of of mourning, and a woman extends her hand," Rabbi Meyer recounts. "Her husband quickly tells her that the rabbi doesn't shake hands. So the wife gives the rabbi a big hug and says, 'Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!'"
In the case of Rabbi Mayersohn and Mrs. Hogue, the alleged sexual harassment occurred at Temple Beth David in Westminster, Calif., where she sought counseling for her marital problems.
Perhaps no setting leaves itself as wide open to possible misinterpretation than a private counseling session between a rabbi and the vulnerable congregant.
While Rabbis Zwerin, Bronstein, Dollin and Meyer freely avail themselves to congregants in emotional need, they all take precautions to avoid any hint of impropriety.
"During a counseling session, I would never close the door to my office unless there were secretaries in the outer office," Rabbi Zwerin says. "Ninety-nine percent of the time my door is open. I would never meet with anyone alone in the office when there wasn't someone else around."
Rabbi Zwerin refers the congregant to professionals after two sessions. "If it takes more than two hours to figure out what's going on, I suggest they get specific professional help or advice. In fact, two counseling sessions with me is really rare. I'm an adviser and a listener -- and a referrer."
When Rabbi Bronstein counsels, the door to her office remains open unless the person specifically requests her to close it. If too much time passes, her staff will interrupt and knock on her door. Rabbi Bronstein will meet with women in her home, but not men, children or adolescents. Counseling in a non-office environment "can be confusing," she says. "It isn't doing anyone any favors.
"In part it's self-protection, but I also feel boundaries are extremely helpful. My setting up clear boundaries, in a gentle way, allows the real work to take place. The person doesn't have to waste emotionally energy trying to feel safe. Safety must be a given."
At the HEA, windows were recently installed on all staff doors, including the rabbis' offices.
"We are very sensitive to the issue of sexual accusations at our synagogue, so we implemented this policy," Rabbi Dollin says. "Now we don't have to leave the door ajar during counseling sessions, which might compromise a congregant's confidentiality."
Because the staff is able to pass by the windows and glance inside, the rabbis no longer place themselves in a potentially compromising position.
"As soon as accusations are made, reputations are ruined," Rabbi Dollin says. "It's simply prudent for clergy to be extra cautious. In today's environment, it's always possible that someone may misinterpret something. It can be based on the craziest of notions, but an accusation from the craziest person can be harmful."
Halachah forbids men and women who are not married to be alone behind closed doors. This includes a confidential talk with the rabbi.
Rabbi Meyer, who never shuts his door during counseling sessions, says that his office is "like Grand Central Station. People are always coming in and out. Usually they knock first. There are windows on every door." Despite the built-in precautions, he refuses to counsel congregants when the building is empty.
Rabbi Meyer's story about the rabbi making the shiva call clearly elucidates his approach to female mourners. He will offer words of comfort, words of Torah, but no physical contact.
Rabbi Bronstein establishes boundaries in moments of mourning. "When families in mourning come to my home, of course I hug them. But I don't hug male mourners individually, not at such an emotionally-charged time. There are situations when I'm very careful not to hug because I think that hug could be misinterpreted. Often a person who is feeling very fragile needs something else from me -- a quiet, listening response."
Rabbi Zwerin unhesitatingly comforts mourners with an embrace, and chides those who withhold physical affection at such a crucial time.
"Traditional Jews don't shake hands with women, let alone hug them. Fine, that's their safety barrier. But a woman has just lost her husband of 35 years, and the clergy person isn't going to give her a hug? I don't get it. Comforting someone has nothing to do with sex. It's about comforting their pain. We're not talking about a kiss on the lips. How can this be misunderstood? It's not misunderstood at Temple Sinai, I can tell you that."
A rabbi supports his or her congregants with prayer, wisdom, comfort, guidance and humor. When the rabbi is considered a safe harbor, the synagogue becomes a true sanctuary of peace.
The rabbis we spoke with want their congregants to feel safe and comfortable, but also warmly welcomed. How do they ensure one without jeopardizing the other?
It's like a ballet. The steps are carefully choreographed, but the ultimate experience appears effortless.
Despite the prohibition against touching at Aish-Ahavas Yisroel, no one who knows Rabbi Meyer would call him remote or detached. He exudes positive, concerned energy.
"I'm not sure everyone understands Halachah when they visit here for the first time," he says. "It's not like you walk inside and you're zapped and suddenly understand everything about the Orthodox tradition. But eventually people come to respect it. More than that, they accept it as normal."
Rabbi Dollin is aware that some of his congregants may interpret his lack of physical contact "as being cold and disinterested, but I've always erred on the side of less contact as opposed to more.
"For those congregants who think you're too cold or disinterested, that's a relatively easy thing to fix with time. But when people think you're too intimate, that presents a much more serious situation."
Rabbi Bronstein believes her congregation regards her "as very compassionate. I think they feel I'm very present for them. And I actually think I hug a lot. I just discriminate."
The personal boundaries she sets in certain instances "doesn't mean I'm not warm or I don't hug in a public place or squeeze a person's hand. Clergy shouldn't create a safe place for their congregants out of personal fear, but because we should never make another person feel afraid."
Cognizant of the sexual abuse cases that plague every Jewish denomination, Rabbi Zwerin says he isn't going to change how he interracts with congregants. "I take care, I take precautions," he says, "but it doesn't impact my life at all."
Despite halachic prohibitions and the toughest preventative measures, congregants occasionally develop crushes or more serious feelings for their rabbi. Because rabbis are human, they too are prey to emotionally gray areas -- or worse. No system is infallible. Still, mutual respect, integrity and trust should help keep the rabbi-congregant relationship on a safe, and sacred, course.
FAIR USE NOTICE
Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Last Updated: 08/01/2004
"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