The rabbi, 58, was suspended from his post at the synagogue last month when the Petaluma Police Department charged him with one count of lewd acts with a child and two counts of annoying a child.
Goldenberg pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday at the Sonoma County court house. He has been free since the day after his Dec. 16 arrest, when he posted an undisclosed portion of a $100,000 bail. Goldenberg’s lawyer, Chris Andrian, is hoping the rabbi will be released on his own recognizance. A bail hearing is set for Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Sonoma court.
The week before his arraignment, Seppa called a meeting of the 100-family Conservative congregation to discuss the situation.
“Parents feel assured,” Seppa said. “I think the congregants and preschool parents have some level of faith or trust in how we’re handling this, even though their trust is shaken in terms of the rabbi and allegations against him. We have tried to be as up-front and communicative as possible.”
At the meeting, the congregation also decided that “it would be premature to hire someone new” and that all media inquiries would be directed to Seppa.
“Everyone has an opinion. We don’t see our role as saying how we feel about it,” said congregant Eileen Mattison-Schupnick.
“It’s not for us to talk about publicly. We don’t know enough about the event, or the non-event or whatever it is.”
She and other congregants declined to comment further.
Carolyn Metz, of the Jewish Community Agency of Sonoma County, however, summed up the congregation’s reaction to the charges.
“It has torn the community up, but not apart,” she said.
“I think people are very upset. It’s a shock. People liked the rabbi, they have very conflicted feelings.”
The synagogue hired the rabbi from New York to his first pulpit last year.
Police say the 12-year-old girl told a public school counselor that Goldenberg molested her over a four-month period between September and December while she was receiving religious instruction. According to the arrest warrant, the rabbi allegedly made lewd remarks, touched her breasts and requested that she put her hands in his pockets.
So far, Petaluma Police detectives have turned up no evidence of untoward incidents between Goldenberg and other students at B’nai Israel, said lead investigator Sgt. Todd Hart.
“There are other leads we’re going through on this case, but I’m unable to talk about it,” Hart added. “It would hamper the investigation.”
Both Goldenberg’s lawyer and Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Gary Medvigy, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
If convicted, Goldenberg could face up to eight years in state prison.