January 21, 2022

Dear Members of Chicago Sinai Congregation,

We are happy to share that Rabbi Limmer, who had agreed to step back from his day-to-day role during the course of an investigation, will be returning next month as our Senior Rabbi.

We are incredibly grateful to Rabbi Greene and Rabbi Zinn, as well as to Jan Kaufman and the entire Sinai staff, as they worked tirelessly over the past few months. We look forward to their continued leadership as we move forward.

As you may recall, in early October you received a communication to inform you that the Officers and the Board of Trustees elected to conduct a comprehensive independent investigation when serious concerns about our workplace culture of inclusiveness came to our attention. In order to ensure the investigation we commissioned would be fact-based and unbiased, that communication contained few details. We realize that our letter raised many questions, and has resulted in a lot of speculation and concern about what this matter was all about, and its potential impact on our congregation. We regret that we have had to maintain silence on this for such a long period, but now that the investigation has concluded, we are able to share more. That said, we are still committed to respecting the privacy of those involved.

We conducted the independent investigation following receipt of accusations of employment discrimination from some current and past staff. As part of some of these complaints, affected individuals also reported that they felt they had been treated disrespectfully, and in a way that was not appropriate for a workplace culture that states its goal and mission to be an “inclusive house of worship” where all are treated with dignity and respect.

A few key details:

• The independent investigators we hired to look into these allegations conducted approximately 47 one-on-one interviews. These interviews were conducted with individuals who were the source of these concerns plus other staff, lay leaders and congregants who were familiar with individuals who had raised concerns and/or had an in-depth knowledge, experience, and exposure to Sinai’s culture, its lay leadership, our rabbis and staff.

• A small Confidential Investigation Advisory Committee (CIAC) was elected by the Sinai Board to review the report and underlying documents, and then give its recommendations to the Board. The report identified instances of behavior that are inconsistent with our policies and values. The seven members of the CIAC were in substantial agreement with the investigators’ recommended findings. After thorough deliberations, the CIAC made recommendations to the Board that Sinai pursue a path toward healing and repair. This path involves addressing the issues the report documented, and implementing a plan to ensure our culture better reflects Sinai’s policies and values. The Board recently voted to approve those recommendations.

• It is important to clarify that there were no allegations against Rabbi Limmer concerning criminal conduct, moral turpitude or sexual misconduct. Further, the investigation, led by Equitability, concluded that there were no violations of the synagogue’s anti- discrimination policies. However, the report did find that there were times when the Rabbi’s actions did not live up to our highest values. Rabbi Limmer is grateful for the feedback and looks forward to working towards healing and repair. Rabbi Limmer and the lay leadership agree that the work of healing must now begin, but that while moving forward it is also important to celebrate his return to the congregation. 

• We are aware that Sinai’s lay leadership also has accountability for the difficulties that have been highlighted during the past few months, and have identified areas for improvement as we move forward.

Moving forward:

Given the nature of these findings and the incidents giving rise to the investigation, we are committed to engaging in a process to help us better understand how we can work together constructively to move forward. We have therefore engaged Dr. Michael Freidman, a professional congregational consultant, to work with staff, clergy, and lay leadership to help us better live our values of inclusiveness and caring so that we can move forward productively. He will also help us enhance our collaboration for the continued betterment of the congregation.

We accept shared responsibility for the difficulties that have been highlighted during the past few months. We truly regret the pain it has caused for our community, our staff and in some cases our families. Our work with Dr. Freidman will help us assess where we can do better as an institution and as individuals. We take this work seriously and hold ourselves responsible together for moving us forward successfully.

Finally, Sinai is exemplary in so many ways and will continue to be so. We are committed to becoming the very best we can be and are excited about the benefits of our work ahead. May this jointly authored communication be just the first example of our renewed commitment to working together to achieve our congregation’s mission by keeping true to Sinai’s values.

Sincerely,

Seth Limmer, Senior Rabbi

Dr. Alison Tothy, President of the Board of Trustees

Barb Markoff-Eggener, Vice President of the Board of Trustees

Mike Rosenthal, Vice President of the Board of Trustees

Josh Silverman, Secretary of the Board of Trustees

Jason Taylor, Treasurer of the Board of Trustees

Ellie Bahrmasel, Member of the Board of Trustees

Marc Berman, Member of the Board of Trustees

Jacki Torshen Drimmer, Member of the Board of Trustees

Ava Eggener, Member of the Board of Trustees

Howard Gossage, Member of the Board of Trustees

Norm Hirsch, Member of the Board of Trustees

Penny Pollack, Member of the Board of Trustees

Alexandra Salomon, Member of the Board of Trustees

Larry Schor, Member of the Board of Trustees

Sam Schumer, Member of the Board of Trustees

Midge Shafton, Member of the Board of Trustees

Betty Signer, Member of the Board of Trustees

Bruce Simons, Member of the Board of Trustees

Christine Tepper, Member of the Board of Trustees

Rachel Tingley, Member of the Board of Trustees

Julie Tornow, Member of the Board of Trustees

Jack Tovin, Member of the Board of Trustees

Samantha Winerman, Member of the Board of Trustees