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NEW YORK — For those who look up to the American Jewish clergy, it has not been a good year.

Last week, one of the Reform movement's most prominent rabbis was suspended from the movement's rabbinical association for past sexual misconduct.

Shortly after his suspension from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, widely respected as a Jewish thinker and teacher, resigned as president of the movement's Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

The news about Zimmerman came on the heels of several other widely publicized incidents involving Jewish clergy:

*A Reform rabbi in Cherry Hill, N.J., faces a possible death sentence for allegedly hiring people to murder his wife in 1994.

*A Conservative cantor in the Chicago area was arrested over Thanksgiving weekend for alleged involvement in a prostitution ring.

*The Orthodox Union has just received a report investigating its handling of allegations that a New Jersey rabbi working for the movement's national youth group sexually harassed and molested teens. The report's findings and recommendations will not be made public until late this month.

The wave of incidents is refocusing attention on an issue that has come into public view only in recent years.

In the past, rabbinic misconduct — particularly sexual misconduct — was rarely discussed publicly. Many advocates for victims complained that rabbinical associations were more interested in protecting their members than the people they hurt.

Today there are stirrings of change. Leaders of the rabbinic organizations say misconduct remains rare, but in the past five years, three of the four major denominations have developed new guidelines — or modified old ones — for addressing misconduct.

In addition, some rabbinic seminaries are raising the issues for rabbis-in-training, both before and after ordination.

It is unclear what overall impact such changes are having, since no one appears to be tracking the issue or monitoring how the new guidelines are affecting the number of complaints or the actions taken against rabbis.

While some believe that recent high-profile cases may encourage victims to come forward, others worry that the pendulum may swing too far.

They worry that fear of false accusations or misunderstandings are leading rabbis to become nervous about even innocently hugging congregants in need of comfort or counseling people behind closed doors.

One result from all the publicity is a growing awareness of the issue, which many expect will lead to less tolerance for misconduct.

"The wall of silence around clergy misconduct is being taken down," said Susan Weidman Schneider, editor of Lilith, a feminist Jewish magazine.

In 1998, the magazine published an article about women who said they were sexually harassed by the late charismatic Orthodox leader Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

Rabbi Debra Orenstein, a fellow at the Wilstein Institute in Encino, who has been an advocate on this issue in the past, said, "People are less skittish and afraid of saying this happens with rabbis and are therefore more willing to deal with it."

Rabbinic sexual misconduct is an extraordinarily complex issue.

It ranges from more obvious transgressions, such as sexual harassment and inappropriate touching, to more ambiguous cases in which a rabbi has a seemingly consensual relationship with a congregant or staff person, but which is questionable because of the power dynamics involved.

It is difficult to know how prevalent misconduct cases are or what percentage is reported.

As Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, put it, "I can never guarantee there are not things that happen that don't get taken care of.

"Obviously someone has to lodge a complaint. My office is not a police force and we're not on witch hunts."

It is also difficult to assess how fairly cases are handled, since rabbinic ethics committees — in order to protect both the accuser and the accused — operate in secrecy.

That secrecy "by its very nature makes it difficult to evaluate the process at all," said Rabbi Shira Stern, chairwoman of the Reform movement's Women's Rabbinic Network.

The Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform rabbinical associations have created or modified policies concerning sexual misconduct within the past five years.

The Conservative movement's guidelines — in the works for several years — have not yet been printed and distributed to rabbis, but they are expected to be completed in June 2001.

The Orthodox rabbinical association has not modified its procedures in more than 50 years, according to Rabbi Steven Dworken, the group's executive vice president.

But the group's president, Rabbi Kenneth Hain, said the process may be re-examined if that is recommended in the Orthodox Union's new report on the handling of the youth abuse case.

The movements vary in how explicit their guidelines are about procedures for inquiry and punitive measures. The Rabbinical Council of America, which is Orthodox, and the Reform movement's CCAR made their guidelines available to JTA, while the Conservative and Reconstructionist associations gave overviews but would not distribute actual policies.

All the ethics committees request complaints in writing and give an opportunity for the accused rabbi to respond in writing. They then interview both parties and other sources, where appropriate, in order to ascertain what happened and how to respond.

When rabbis are found guilty, the responses range from a reprimand to suspension to expulsion from the association, depending on the misconduct and the assessment of the ethics committee.

Some of the movements require therapy and a process of tshuvah, or repentance, in order for the charged to pursue their rabbinic careers.

In addition, the Reform movement informs any future employers of that rabbi about that rabbi's past transgressions and rehabilitation process.

For more JTA stories, go to http://www.jta.org