Rabbi Lazarow, TBI part company
TEMPLE Beth Israel (TBI) senior rabbi Gersh Lazarow and the shule’s board have announced a separation agreement that sees him departing his role, effective immediately.
In an announcement to members late on Monday afternoon, TBI president Joanne Loewy Irons stated, “It is with sadness that I am writing to you today to let you know that, following ongoing discussions between the board and Rabbi Gersh Lazarow, we have arrived at a mutually agreed decision for Rabbi Lazarow to leave his position as senior rabbi at TBI, effective immediately.”
“I know that many in our community will be disappointed in this outcome, and in some of the background factors that have led us to this point. In many ways, the board shares this disappointment, but at the same time supports Rabbi Lazarow’s decision to leave.
“Rabbi Lazarow departs this role having made an indelible impact on the congregation,” Loewy Irons stated.
As reported in The AJN, Rabbi Lazarow had stood down in November last year amid probes into alleged plagiarism by him of sermons, drashes and articles spanning and pre-dating his nine years at TBI.
Since he stood down, further allegations have been made that he plagiarised material that helped form the basis of his assessment for s’micha (ordination). A review of these allegations is underway in the United States by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
Earlier this month, Rabbi Lazarow stated he is “wholeheartedly committed to owning my actions and making teshuvah for my mistakes”, but expressed “disappointment that these matters continue to be ventilated in the media rather than allowing the ongoing investigations to take their course”.
Sydney’s Rabbi Gary Robuck this month began as TBI’s interim rabbi on a 12-month contract.
Further coverage in this week’s AJN, out on Thursday.
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