Riverdale Jewish Center

40°53′17″N 73°54′46″W / 40.88806°N 73.91278°W / 40.88806; -73.91278ArchitectureFounderYeshiva UniversityDate established1954 (as a congregation)Websiterjconline.org

The Riverdale Jewish Center, abbreviated as RJC, is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located at 3700 Independence Avenue, in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City, New York, United States.^[1]

The synagogue was founded by the Communal Services Division of Yeshiva University and has always identified itself as a bastion of that institution.^{[citation needed]}

Its rabbis included its founder Jacob Sable, Irving Greenberg, Yehezkel Hartmann, Joshua Shmidman, Abner Weiss, and Jonathan Rosenblatt.^[2][3]

In May 2015, the New York Times claimed that Rosenblatt had a history (in the 1980s and 1990s) of inviting teenage boys to play squash or racquetball often accompanied by sitting in a sauna naked together.^[4] There were no allegations of sexual touching or criminal conduct;^[5] and Rosenblatt retained his position as rabbi of the RJC.^[6][7]

The Senior Rabbi is Rabbi Dovid Zirkind and the assistant rabbi is Rabbi Tzvi Benoff.^{[8][self-published source?]}

The charter school Atmosphere Academy uses part of the building during the week for 8th grade classes.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2009 New York City bomb plot the New York City Police Department foiled a plot by American Muslims to bomb the synagogue.^[9] On May 30, 2009, New York Governor David Paterson announced he would give the Center and the Riverdale Reform Temple $25,000 each to improve their security.^[10]

In 2021, the synagogue was subject to vandalism, including rocks thrown through the synagogue's windows.^[11][12]

• Irving Greenberg^{[citation needed]}
• Joseph Lieberman^{[citation needed]}

• Official website