Seattle Press on Line - 'I am hurt, disappointed'

'I am hurt, disappointed'

By Laurel Holliday

Aug 15, 2002 --

Rabbi Earl Starr breaks silence over embezzlement allegation, hopeful facts would restore his reputation

After months of quietly enduring accusations of embezzling up to $400,000 of synagogue money, a widely revered Seattle rabbi is breaking his silence to deny the allegations and to clear his name.

Retired Senior Rabbi Earl Starr, in a written statement to the Seattle Press, said he was hurt and disappointed by the allegations that he may have misappropriated trust funds meant for the charitable services of the Temple de Hirsch Sinai, the largest Jewish congregation in the Pacific Northwest.

"My receipt and discretionary use of trust funds was in keeping with my understanding of the purpose of the trust, and was done with the knowledge of other officials of Temple De Hirsch Sinai," Starr's statement reads in part.

"When all of the facts are known, I am confident that this entire matter will be resolved fairly, and I am hopeful that my reputation will be restored," Starr added.

Starr issued the statement after the Seattle Press learned about the Temple's intention to file an insurance claim to recover the missing money. The claim may lead to possible legal action against Starr.

Starr's counsel, Seattle attorney Robert Chicoine, declined to discuss details when contacted by the Seattle Press for more information. Chicoine said he is in the midst of "a carefully reasoned analysis of the facts" surrounding Starr's situation.

"The more I got into this, the more I was amazed how some people were willing to assume that this man has purposely cheated the Temple," he said.

In the middle of May, the Temple's board of trustees went public with allegations that Starr, who recently retired, had diverted synagogue funds for his own personal use. Although, at the time, Board President Jon Howard Rosen refused to go on record with the amount of money or the time period during which it was alleged to have been diverted, it has since been reported in Seattle media and The Associated Press that congregants say they have reason to believe Starr embezzled as much as $300,000 to $400,000 from the Temple over a 20- to 25-year period.

In a meeting of Temple de Hirsch Sinai's congregants and in a letter which was sent to them, Rosen announced that Starr had agreed to pay back the diverted funds over a period of several years, and that no further action would be necessary. Temple members expressed their shock, sense of betrayal, pain, disappointment, and sadness in widely published reports. Still, it appeared that the tragic chapter in the 103-year-old Temple's history was about to close.

On June 20, however, Rosen sent another letter to Temple members telling them that Starr reneged on his agreement to repay the funds. "Rabbi Starr became unhappy about press coverage and sought to significantly reduce the amount of restitution he agreed to pay," Rosen's June 20 letter read in part.

Rosen's letter said that while the Temple's board of trustees had hoped Starr's repayment plan would make further action unnecessary, they now had no alternative but to file an insurance claim to recover the diverted funds. To substantiate their loss for the insurance company, Temple officials would have to provide documentation of everything that had occurred with regard to the missing money.

While expressing their regrets for having to inform temple members of this decision, Rosen wrote that the board would strive for openness and candor in order to garner members' trust and respect. "With our faith, and our commitment to the timeless principles of Torah and Talmud, I know we will prevail once again and grow stronger as our future evolves," he wrote.

Contacted by the Seattle Press for further comment, Rosen said, "We're a family and no family is perfect. We're going through a wonderful transitional time now. We have new young leaders taking over and taking us into a new millennium."

Laurel Holliday is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Fremont. She can be reached at editor@seattlepress.com, attention Laurel Holliday.

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jeanne senders	Oct 05, 2003	san monica, california
my husband,ralph, was formerly a president of the brotherhood,and as such a member of the temple's board. living in california, we wonder why the legal system of this country is not followed in judging rabbi starr. i.e.="innocent unless proven guilty"or,in our words of the Torah="judge not lest ye be judged"


marc flayton	Jul 01, 2004	nc	self -employed
Im jewish and was bar-mitzvahed by the late Rabbi Isreal Moshowitz, in Queens NYC.It seems to me that some people who call themselves men and women of God will suffer for their inability to look inside themselves. To say a family is not perfect is not good enough Starr was your leader the person who was actually in charge of your family-he will suffer internally-because it is not good to take money earmarked for Gods work for oneself.