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An Edison police chaplain for 18 years until last week, Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg -- backed by a number of local supporters -- is challenging the township's legal rationale for eliminating his position and its proposal for a new chaplaincy.

Following a meeting between Rosenberg and township officials, Edison Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez wrote the rabbi of Congregation Beth-El on May 26 that the township had terminated his duties as a part-time employee because "without an ordinance authorizing you as Police Chaplain, we do not have the authority to either appoint you as Police Chaplain or to continue to compensate you for your services."

Rosenberg said that during his meeting with Gonzalez, Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, and Township Attorney Karl Kemm, he offered to take pay cut from his previous $3,800 salary or serve for free until Edison is able to pay him, but never received a counter-offer.

Gonzalez said in an interview with The Jewish State that two state laws stipulate how a municipality can create the positions of police and indoor fire chaplains with ordinances. He said Edison will submit an ordinance for a police chaplain to the municipal council in time for the council's June 9 meeting, and if the ordinance passes that initial vote, the township will hold a public hearing on the matter June 23, where the council will vote again. Ricigliano will have the chance to appoint a chaplain 20 days after the hearing.

The ordinance will recommend that Edison appoint several unpaid volunteer chaplains, Gonzalez said; Rosenberg was the lone chaplain before the position's termination. If the position is created by council ordinance, "the mayor intends to appoint Rabbi Rosenberg if he remains interested in providing the service," Gonzalez said.

"We are just trying to do this the right way," Gonzalez said.

Rosenberg said he would only accept a position as a senior chaplain, and would not be simply "one of three." He said he deserves to be paid because using his credentials -- including two master's degrees and two doctorates, as well as 35 years of experience with police -- he provides officers with services like sensitivity training and marriage counseling that "would otherwise cost [Edison] $20,000."

While he is willing to work for no pay until Edison is able to compensate him, Rosenberg said he made it clear to the township that he wouldn't "be a volunteer forever." Whether he is re-appointed as chaplain or not, Rosenberg said he will still help local police and firemen for free as their friend, "as I always have."

Many community members -- including several local clergymen -- have called or written the township praising Rosenberg's service as police chaplain and criticizing the grounds of his dismissal, primarily questioning the relevance of a township ordinance when Rosenberg had already held the position for 18 years without one.

Cynthia Bloom, co-president of Congregation Beth-El, told The Jewish State that the lack of an ordinance is "really a matter of semantics."

"If you can conveniently come up with the terminology to dismiss somebody, then that's what they did [to Rosenberg]," Bloom said.

"He has dedicated 18 years of his life to this and it shouldn't be dismissed the way it was done," she said.

Regarding why previous township administrations didn't explore the legality of the chaplain position, Gonzalez said he is new to Edison, and that the situation was simply something the township mistakenly overlooked for years.

By comparison, New Brunswick has seven fire chaplains and six police chaplains, all volunteers appointed by the police and fire directors without the existence of an ordinance. East Brunswick has three unpaid police chaplains, and Section 3-84, Article 13 of the township's municipal ordinances states that "the police director may appoint police chaplains."

East Brunswick's ordinance was established in accordance with state law for the appointment of chaplains, Director of Public Safety Barry Roberson said. He said the chaplains officiate over swearing-in ceremonies, promotions, and award nights, and provide occasional counseling.

James White, East Brunswick's business administrator, explained that "the department directors are empowered to appoint as necessary staff to achieve their purposes, and the fact that this is an unpaid position, that makes it a lot easier."

Rosenberg said that at his meeting with township officials before being dismissed, he was asked to disclose the names of officers he counseled as police chaplain. He said officials insisted he do so because he was a township employee, but Rosenberg said he couldn't because as a clergyman, that constitutes a major violation of his constituents' privacy.

Gonzalez said that Rosenberg was in fact asked if he would reveal names of officers he served, but that "nothing was demanded" of him. Gonzalez added that personally, he asked Rosenberg for the number of people he counseled, not their names.

Regarding the cause for his dismissal -- beyond the township's stated reason of a lack of an ordinance -- Rosenberg said a community activist named Burton Gimelstob requested that the township remove him as chaplain. In the meeting between Rosenberg and township officials, his wife Charlene, who was also present, said that when officials acknowledged complaints about Rosenberg from an Edison resident, the couple asked if Gimelstob was the person they were referring to and officials responded "He's the one."

Gimelstob declined to comment for this story. When asked about Gimelstob's involvement, Gonzalez said "I really don't want to get into those issues," explaining that the township's focus is correcting the legality of the chaplain position and "it's not really a matter of the names of the individuals involved."

Before moving to New Jersey, Rosenberg was a paid police chaplain in Westchester County, N.Y., for 15 years. He was appointed to serve in that capacity for Edison under Mayor Sam Convery in 1992, and continued to do so under Mayor George Spadoro and Mayor Jun Choi.

Due to political differences, Choi chose to ignore Rosenberg's services during his term, but never officially dismissed him from the chaplain position.

"He didn't use me, but he didn't show me disrespect by getting rid of me," Rosenberg said.

In stark contrast to Rosenberg's rocky relationship with Choi, the rabbi donated money to and worked for Ricigliano's mayoral campaign, including holding an open house for her at his home. Bloom said that in light of Rosenberg's strong support for Ricigliano during the mayor's race, she was surprised that Ricigliano didn't support him in his position as chaplain -- a sentiment expressed by a number of community members who criticized the township for Rosenberg's dismissal.

Besides for recruiting the assistance of the Edison Policemen's Benevolent Association, his congregation, and other community institutions, Rosenberg said he is searching for an attorney to help him fight his dismissal and planning a protest outside town hall.

Rosenberg has also asked the Anti-Defamation League's New Jersey Region and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights to investigate his ouster. If Rosenberg was removed as chaplain due to the lack of an ordinance, why haven't chaplains in other municipalities without ordinances been removed, he asked. The fact that Rosenberg was a paid chaplain and others are volunteers isn't a valid answer, he said, because his compensation was not a salary but rather a stipend for the specific services he provided to police.

"They singled me out," Rosenberg said.