Jews for Allah

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A Feud, and a Fire, Drive Wedge Between Rival Shuls
By SHELDON GORDON
FORWARD CORRESPONDENT
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan —When a Conservative synagogue in this western Canadian city was firebombed in early April, most observers blamed the desecration on tensions in the Middle East. The city's tiny Jewish community mourned the destruction of Congregation Agudas Israel's archives and religious texts, worth an estimated $60,000.

But as the investigation into the attack enters its second month, the police have not ruled out as a possible motive the ongoing tensions among local Jews and a bitter rivalry between Agudas Israel and a breakaway congregation. In a community of only 200 Jews, there are currently four lawsuits under way involving at least two dozen of them.

"We are aware that there is some discord in there, and we have to keep it in our minds in our investigation," said Sergeant Keith Atkinson, spokesman for the Saskatoon Police Service. "We're looking at all alternatives right now."

At the center of the litigation is Brooklyn-born Rabbi Steven Kaplan, who was hired in 1998 by Agudas Israel, then the city's only synagogue. He was fired in March 2000 following allegations, detailed in court documents, that he lacked proper ordination, sexually harassed female congregants and committed adultery with one of them.

Kaplan, 52, led a breakaway group of 50 dissidents, including some former officers of Agudas Israel, in forming a rival Conservative congregation called Shir Chadash. He is suing Agudas Israel for breach of his five-year contract, and is also suing for defamation over an article about him that was published in the Agudas Israel newsletter.

Meanwhile, his new congregation claims that Agudas Israel violated rabbinic canon law by operating a non-kosher kitchen and by burying cremated remains and suicide victims in the Jewish cemetery. Shir Chadash is suing Agudas Israel for all of its assets, including the building, cemetery, Torah and other sacred texts — some of which were destroyed in the firebombing.

Agudas Israel, in turn, is counter-suing Shir Chadash and specific members of its congregation for the damages it suffered through their defections. None of the allegations in the lawsuits has been proven in court.

But for all the allegations and litigation, no one in the Jewish community wants to believe that the animosity was at the root of the firebombing.

"If a police department is going to be worth anything, it can't discount anybody" as a suspect, said Kaplan. "But in my wildest dreams, I can't believe it would be somebody from my congregation."

Benjamin Goldstein, a provincial court judge and president of Shir Chadash, said "it's a stupid suggestion. If you're suing for your assets, why would you try to destroy them?"

Grant Scharfstein, past president of Agudas Israel, also discounted the possibility that anyone from the Jewish community might be involved in the attack. "We don't believe for a minute that it was anyone at Shir Chadash," he said. "That's absolutely nothing but sheer speculation, and it's not speculation that we accept. It's extremely embarrassing. We know those people. As difficult as things are between us, they would not do that."

Still, there's no denying the bitterness that developed after Kaplan was hired in 1998. Court documents filed by Agudas Israel detail a series of complaints against him, none of which has been proven in court.

One allegation, made by Agudas Israel, was that he made passes at female members and embarrassed them with lewd remarks. Agudas Israel also alleges that he carried on with a local Jewish woman while engaged to a Californian. According to the court documents, one synagogue member says the rabbi groped her in the cloakroom.

One male congregant filed for divorce, accusing his wife of committing adultery with the rabbi. Kaplan had counseled the couple on their marriage. The rabbi and the woman eventually lived together.

According to court documents filed by Agudas Israel, one of Kaplan's graduate degrees came from California Christian University, an institution that offers mail-order degrees, sometimes using life experience as an academic qualification. The documents also allege that the rabbi left the Hillel at the University of South Florida in 1988 after it raised questions about his behavior and qualifications.

Kaplan's lawyer has filed court documents denying all of the allegations. With the parties to the litigation still being deposed, Kaplan refused to discuss the details, but he said the effects have been "horrendous" on him and his family in the United States.

Goldstein, the breakaway congregation's president, says Kaplan was denied due process when Agudas Israel's board discussed its concerns over his rabbinic ordination. He maintains that Kaplan, "for the services which he is required to perform, is a sufficient rabbi."

He claims Kaplan angered the new, younger leadership of Agudas Israel when he began to object to certain practices. These included plans to hire a Catholic teacher for the congregation school, the playing of football at the synagogue by members' children on Shabbat and the improper burial of cremated remains and suicide victims in the congregation's cemetery.

"He stepped on toes by bringing these things up," Goldstein said.

Scharfstein said Agudas Israel "continues to be a member in good standing of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. They are aware of what is going on here and certainly have offered their full support to us." Shir Chadash, though a Conservative synagogue, has not yet sought affiliation with United Synagogue.

When Goldstein approached Agudas Israel following the firebombing with an offer to help, the older congregation asked Shir Chadash to terminate its lawsuit.

Goldstein refused. "It's gone too far now," he said.