Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...
, the highest award an American school can receive. The school also fostered a creative arts program that began in 1985, headed by musician and educator, Jonathan Dzik and professional stage/film producer, Jay Michaels.
Predecessor schools
Akiba Hebrew Academy was affiliated with the Hebrew Institute of University Heights, predecessor to the Hebrew University of Riverdale. Members of the congregation asked its rabbi, Simon G. Kramer, to form a day school, because the area public schools were inadequate. It started with kindergarten in 1947, in the Hebrew Institute building, and added grades annually until it had a full K-8 program. Kramer led the school until 1964, when he left to head the Hebrew Theological College in Chicago. The school dissolved three years later, merging with Salanter and Riverdale.
Salanter Yeshiva originated in Harlem around 1906 by Rabbi Shmarya Leib Hurwitz, a constituent of his Rabbi Israel Salanter Synagogue and Talmud Torah. The organization was located at 114th Street and Madison Avenue. It later moved to 74 East 118th Street, and in 1923, to 1389 Washington Avenue in the Bronx. At this time, it was also called Yeshiva D'Bronx. In 1940, it moved to 1946 Webster Avenue. In 1970, it merged with Akiba and Riverdale.
Controversies and investigations
Systemic sexual abuse
Stanley Rosenfeld, assistant principal
Stanley Rosenfeld, a convicted sex offender, was an assistant principal and English teacher at SAR. Nearly 40 witnesses have testified that while they were students there, Rosenfeld would invite children to his home on
shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
for a sleepover, and
sexually abuse them while they slept. There are also allegations of
physical abuse
Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or ...
. When other faculty alerted the principal, no actions were taken. Even after he was dismissed from the school, he was brought back to teach language arts, years later.
In a documented report, it is noted that administrators were aware of his actions even when he was hired back.
Rabbi Sheldon Schwartz, teacher
Schwartz, formerly a Judaics teacher at SAR, was also named in reports of systemic sexual abuse at SAR. Former students reported that he assisted Rosenfeld in recruiting students for sleepovers, stayed with them overnight as well, and told students that their abuse had been a dream. He was employed until his dismissal in 2018.
Production of child pornography
Rabbi Jonathan Skolnick was the associate principal of Judaic Studies at SAR until he was arrested by the FBI on September 13, 2019, for the production of
child pornography
Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
, on charges of "charges of child enticement; production, receipt, and possession of child pornography; and sending extortionate communications" with the students of SAR.
It was disclosed to the school in an email sent the following Monday, three days after his arrest on Friday night. Skolnick was accused of posing as several teenage girls to trick underage boys into sending nude photographs of themselves, and then threatening to publicly release the ones he had to secure the sending of more.
Geoffrey Berman at the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
commented that "This arrest exemplifies law enforcement's ability to detect those attempting to use the 'anonymity' of the internet to prey on young children."
The FBI investigation revealed some evidence that Skolnick had a known pattern of such behavior prior to his appointment at SAR.
Skolnick pled guilty on April 5, 2022, to one count of child enticement and one count of possession of child pornography and in October, Skolnick was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Notable alumni
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Dahlia Adler, author
*
Brian Ash, screenwriter, producer
*
Ari Gold, singer-songwriter
*
Shabbos Kestenbaum, antisemitism activist
*
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...
, fashion designer (Salanter)
[Gross, Michael]
"Genuine Authentic"
via Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
, p. 41, HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 2004
. Accessed December 31, 2008.
*
Achinoam Nini
Achinoam Nini (; born ), known professionally as Noa (), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist working internationally. She is accompanied by guitarist Gil Dor and often plays the conga drums a ...
, singer-songwriter
*
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author, novelist, playwright, editor and rabbi. Of the more than a dozen novels he authored, his first book '' The Chosen'' (1967) was listed on ''The New York Times'' Best ...
, author (graduated from Salanter)
*
Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist.
After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...
, singer-songwriter
*
Jonathan Tropper, novelist
*
Hillel Fuld, businessman
References
External links
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Educational institutions established in 1938
Private elementary schools in the Bronx
Private middle schools in the Bronx
Private high schools in the Bronx
Private K–12 schools in New York City
Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States
Riverdale, Bronx
1938 establishments in New York City
Jews and Judaism in the Bronx