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Disgraced former Reform movement leader Sheldon Zimmerman expelled from rabbinical association
(JTA) – The Reform movement’s rabbinical association has expelled Sheldon Zimmerman, a former leader of major Reform institutions, after an ethics committee reinvestigated allegations of sexual misconduct lodged more than 20 years ago, including that he abused a 17-year-old congregant.
The announcement of Zimmerman’s expulsion was made Tuesday when the Central Conference of American Rabbis added his name to a public list of rabbis found to have violated the association’s code of conduct.
Zimmerman, 81, served as president of the rabbinical association for two years, and later as president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the movement’s seminary.
His expulsion provides a measure of closure in a reckoning that has gripped the Reform movement for nearly two years, after the full nature of Zimmermans’s alleged misconduct first came to light and set off a crisis of trust among rabbis, lay leaders, and congregants.
“Sheldon Zimmerman should have no place in our movement, nor any place of honor, nor position of leadership — especially of programs serving young adults,” Rabbi Mary Zamore, executive director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, said in a statement. “This was a collective failure and one that should not be repeated. We wholeheartedly support the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ moral, responsible and compassionate decision to expel him from its membership.”
The original investigation into Zimmerman concluded in 2000 with his resignation from Hebrew Union College and a suspension from the rabbinical association. But with allegations against him described publicly only in vague terms, Zimmerman retained much of his prestige and status. He went on to hold leadership roles at Birthright and the Jewish Federations of North America and, in 2005, CCAR reinstated his membership.
Then, in 2021, New York City’s Central Synagogue, where Zimmerman had been rabbi from 1972 to 1985, revealed that three women came forward to accuse Zimmerman of sexual misconduct during his tenure and that these allegations were related to his earlier disciplinary action.
In the months following the news about Zimmerman, the Reform movement hired law firms to conduct three separate investigations into the movement’s accountability mechanisms, revealing past failures around sexual misconduct.
Zimmerman’s listing on CCAR’s webpage of expelled rabbis says that his case was reopened in 2021 when new information surfaced indicating that he had violated the terms of his reinstatement, which required he undergo a process of teshuvah, or making amends.
The listing doesn’t specify how he had erred, but an article published in 2021 by Gary Rosenblatt, the former editor of New York Jewish Week, shed light on how Zimmerman viewed both the allegations against him and his responsibilities under the teshuvah process.
According to Rosenblatt, who cited emails he received from Zimmerman in 2005, Zimmerman believed that his accuser was seeking revenge against him. “This is about destroying me and my family,” Zimmerman wrote to Rosenblatt.
Zimmerman also reportedly threatened to reveal the identity of his accuser. “She may leave us no recourse but to respond to her in public and by name, and to lift the veil that has protected her and her actions,” Zimmerman wrote in an email, according to Rosenblatt.
At the time, Rosenblatt refrained from publishing the allegations and Zimmerman’s comments in response in order to protect the identity of the accuser.
In 2021, the rabbinical association’s ethics committee began investigating Zimmerman anew and ultimately expelled him for violations of sections of the rabbinic code of conduct that have to do with “exploitative practices,” “bullying, harassment, intimidation” and “power differential[s]” as well as failure to cooperate with terms of suspension.
Zamore applauded steps taken by Reform institutions to address issues of safety, respect and equity, and vowed to keep pressing for accountability.
“We continue to encourage anyone who has a story of sexual abuse, harassment, misconduct or discrimination to please continue sharing those truths,” she said in the statement.
The list of Reform rabbis who have been expelled, suspended, or publicly censured is updated occasionally to reflect the results of a private ethics investigation.
Besides Zimmerman, recent months have seen at least three additions to the list. Allen Secher, who retired from the pulpit in 2013 after serving most recently in Whitefish, Montana for 13 years, was censured under sections of the code of conduct relating to “sexual misconduct” and “requests for sexual favors.” Gersh Lazarow, a rabbi in Australia, was censured for intellectual dishonesty for having plagiarized sermons. David Kaufman, who led a congregation in Ohio, was expelled following his conviction in an Ohio court for gross sexual imposition.
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The post Disgraced former Reform movement leader Sheldon Zimmerman expelled from rabbinical association appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’
Rep Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, on Sunday likened the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric to Nazi depictions of Jews.
“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, commenting on a social media post by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, in which he suggested that “migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.” Miller, who is Jewish, is the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Omar called Miller’s comments “white supremist rhetoric” and also drew parallels between his characterization of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. to how Jews were demonized and treated when they fled Nazi-era Germany. “As we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back, you know, one of them being Jewish immigrants,” she said.
Now serving as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Miller is central to the White House’s plans for mass deportations and expanded barriers to asylum. During Trump’s first term, Miller led the implementation of the so-called Muslim travel ban in 2017, which barred entry to the U.S. for individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and pushed to further reduce a longtime refugee program.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany.” pic.twitter.com/GAjIMqFq26
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2025
Miller’s comments echoed similar rhetoric by Trump after an Afghan refugee was accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last month, killing one.
Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting last week that Somali immigrants are “garbage” and that he wanted them to be sent “back to where they came from.” The president also singled out Omar, a Somali native who represents Minnesota’s large Somali-American community. “She should be thrown the hell out of our country,” Trump said.
In the Sunday interview, Omar called Trump’s remarks “completely disgusting” and accused him of having “an unhealthy obsession” with her and the Somali community. “This kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president,” she said.
The post Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Nigeria Seeks French Help to Combat Insecurity, Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread violence in the north of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, weeks after the United States threatened to intervene to protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has witnessed an upsurge in attacks in volatile northern areas in the past month, including mass kidnappings from schools and a church.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
Macron said he had a phone call with Tinubu on Sunday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”
“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Macron said in a post on X.
Macron did not say what help would be offered by France, which has withdrawn its troops from West and Central Africa and plans to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.
Nigeria is grappling with a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and deadly clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mostly Christian farmers in the central parts of the country, stretching its security forces.
Washington said last month that it was considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel Nigeria to better protect its Christian communities.
The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups, the US has shared intelligence and sold arms, including fighter jets, and Britain has trained Nigerian troops.
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Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.
Asked by a reporter if planned on retiring from political life if he receives a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “no”.
Netanyahu last month asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, with lawyers for the prime minister arguing that frequent court appearances were hindering Netanyahu’s ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for the country.
Pardons in Israel have typically been granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in response to the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and his lawyers have said that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings, if concluded, would result in a complete acquittal.
US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog, before Netanyahu made his request, urging the Israeli president to consider granting the prime minister a pardon.
Some Israeli opposition politicians have argued that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026.