|
|
January 2, 2004/Tevet 8 5764, Vol. 56, No. 15
Rabbi to undergo anger management
MARC BALLON and GABY WENIG
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA Hillel rabbi who allegedly lost his temper and assaulted a free-lance journalist who called him a derogatory name has agreed to a recommendation that he undergo 36 hours of anger management and pen a letter of apology to his reported victim. Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller has also said he will place himself on paid administrative leave from UCLA Hillel, while an independent attorney appointed by that organization's national office investigates the Oct. 21 event. It is not known how long the inquiry will last.
Seidler-Feller agreed on Dec. 23 to the recommen-dations, which were made a week earlier by a Los Angeles city attorney hearing officer who had heard the case. Eric Moses, spokesman for the city attorney's office, said Seidler-Feller would take the anger management courses through Pacific Educational Services (PES) and would cover the $450 course fee himself. Donald Etra, Seidler-Feller's attorney, said the rabbi had accepted the recommen-dations because it was "the expedient way of resolving the case." He said Seidler-Feller would only apologize for "the fact that there was an incident."
Etra went on to say that Seidler-Feller was the aggrieved party in this case. "(Rachel Neuwirth) called him names, she physically stuck her hand in his face," Etra said. As of press time, the rabbi could not be reached for comment.
Moses said an apology had to be heartfelt and genuine, although he offered no specific guidelines.
Neuwirth said she would only accept an apology in which the rabbi showed true contrition. "I can't get over this," she said. "I relive this all the time. I never in my life thought a rabbi would behave in such a violent manner."
|
