The Ohio college removed Shlomo Elkan after a police report detailed descriptions of messages about sexually touching children which he says were ‘purely fictional’
The Jewish Daily Forward
A Chabad rabbi was expelled from the campus of Oberlin College last week after the school administration became aware of a police report alleging that he had engaged in sexually explicit conversations online involving minors.
Rabbi Shlomo Elkan, former co-director of Oberlin Chabad, received sexually explicit texts, photos, and videos through the messaging app Kik featuring three young people, ages 7, 12 and 13, according to the police report.
In December 2025 messages to an adult on the platform, Elkan responded to photos of someone giving a child a bath. The person he chatted with alluded to touching the child’s genitals and said he had been aroused when the child was sitting on his lap, the report stated.
According to the Oberlin Police Department report, Elkan shared photos of girls as part of the chat.
In a phone interview with the Forward, Elkan said he ‘regretted’ his participation in the chat, but that his messages were not based on ‘real’ events.
‘To be clear, what had happened was an online chat with an anonymous adult on purely fictional, you know, fantastical things that’s not rooted in any kind of reality whatsoever,’ Elkan said. ‘And I entered that, and I should not have, and I take responsibility for that.’
Elkan added that he has been engaged in ‘professional care and spiritual counseling to deal with all of the stresses and all of the factors that led me to engage in an unhealthy behavior.’
According to the report, in an interview with police, Elkan confirmed the Kik account belonged to him and said the chats were ‘escapism’ from the stress of his everyday life.
Elkan told the Forward that ‘oftentimes people think of rabbis as godlike and infallible,’ and he ‘made a mistake in one of the weakest few moments of my life.’
The fallout on campus
Oberlin president Carmen Twillie Ambar wrote an email last week alerting students and staff of the news that Elkan, who had worked at Oberlin Chabad since 2010, had been banned from campus — without sharing specifics.
‘In the police report, Elkan admits to egregious actions in his personal life — including engaging in online sexual conversations concerning children and objectionable behavior,’ Ambar wrote. ‘This behavior violates Oberlin’s values, shocks the conscience, and makes it clear that we cannot allow him continued access to our campus and community.’
Elkan criticized how Oberlin handled the situation, saying the email that the college sent to the community about his departure was vague and allowed speculation to spread. He also said the email was made public during the meeting in which campus officials informed him that he had been banned.
‘That’s where my hurt, and I think so much of the hurt of the community, lies. Because every time we stuck our neck out for the college, and every time we work for the best interest of them and the community, what feels like the very first opportunity they had to show us that same support, they chose a very different route,’ Elkan said. ‘So I take responsibility for my actions, but I hold the college incredibly responsible for how this has played out.’
Andrea Simakis, a spokesperson for Oberlin, said in a statement that representatives of the college met with Elkan via Zoom just prior to releasing the campus message ‘to let him know we were going to send it, why we were sending it, and that we were banning him from campus.’
Simakis added that the language in the campuswide email ‘reflects the information in the police report, which we obtained through a public records request.’
Along with serving as a Chabad rabbi, Elkan also certified Oberlin’s kosher kitchen and sometimes led Passover services and other religious celebrations on campus, according to Ambar’s email.
Chabad rabbis are not typically employed by universities, instead operating independently through the Chabad umbrella, with Chabad functioning as recognized campus religious organizations.
Elkan resigned from his position with Chabad last Friday, a Chabad spokesperson told the Forward. Chabad did not provide further comment.
In the email to the community, Ambar said Oberlin had not previously received reports concerning Elkan’s behavior and was now asking a third party to investigate whether members of the campus community had been affected.
Ambar added that the news would be especially difficult for ‘those who sought spiritual leadership and guidance from Elkan,’ but ‘the seriousness of this matter requires clear and swift action.’
Rabbi Allison Vann, who had led High Holy Day services on campus with Cleveland Hillel, will work with students for the remainder of the semester.