The synagogue of convicted sex offender Rabbi Chaim Halpern has been told it must oust him or face disaffiliation from the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC).
Halpern was yesterday found guilty at Harrow Crown Court of two accounts of sexual assault of a young woman who came to see him for religious advice in the flat above his Golders Green synagogue in 2022.
Now the Union’s president, Rabbi Binyomin Stern, has written to the wardens of Divrei Chaim to say that Halpern must go if it is to remain within the UOHC.
Photo issued by Metropolitan Police of Halpern (Metropolitan Police/Press Association)Metropolitan Police/Press Association
“In light of recent events that necessitated us to issue an announcement that Rabbi Chaim Halpern [was] no longer part of the UOHC, we regret to inform you that if he remains Rov of you kehilla [community], the beth hamedrah can no longer remain affiliated,” Rabbi Stern wrote.
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