Rabbi Blames Fake Cop Drama on Bipolar Disorder
A suburban New York rabbi accused of impersonating a police officer is claiming his bipolar disorder led to his attempt to stop and yell at a woman driver who was driving slowly in a school zone.
Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski of Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont in Westchester County, N.Y., was arrested on June 19 and subsequently accused of similar behavior by two other locals. Last week, Borodowski was fired from his job as executive director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.
Borodowski, in a statement released by his lawyer, apologized, “for any alarm or discomfort his behavior may have caused.” The statement also said he has received mental health treatment for several years and antidepressant medication exacerbated his disorder.
Andrew Rubin, Borodowski’s lawyer, told a local newspaper that his client is receiving treatment and has been hospitalized for the past few weeks.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30