The state’s highest court ruled Thursday that a New Jersey yeshiva had a right to tell families why it fired a rabbi , dismissing his claims that the school falsely branded him a “pedophile.” In a unanimous decision , the state Supreme Court found that “ministerial exception” applied to Rabbi Shlomo Hyman’s case against Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, a private Orthodox Jewish school in Bergen County. “Ministerial exception” is an interpretation of the First Amendment that says religious groups have the freedom to oversee their ministers without governmental interference.
When Hyman was fired five years ago, the River Edge yeshiva sent out a letter notifying the community about his termination. It said the rabbi was fired for “conduct had been neither acceptable nor consistent with how a rebbe in our Yeshiva should interact with students.” That prompted Hyman to sue the yeshiva for defamation, alleging he was falsely labeled as a “pedophile.
” The rabbi was accused of inappropriately touching 5th and 6th grade girls, including massaging their shoulders and creating games in class that caused him to touch them, according to the legal papers. Court documents do not say he was ever charged with a crime. Richard Scharlat, Hyman’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment on the state Supreme Court decision.
An attorney for the yeshiva praised the decision. “Today is a good day for religious liberty,” said Akiva Shapiro, who represents the .