"It's a very sad ending to a very marvelous career," Meyerstein said. "What else is there to say?"
Timeline of Rabbi Jacob A. Max
April 16, 1924: Born in Austria. Three years later, moves to the United States with his family. Grows up in a Jewish enclave in Southwest Baltimore.
1952: Establishes the Liberty Jewish Center, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Howard Park. It later moves to Rockland Hills Drive in Pikesville and is renamed the Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation.
1960s: Girls in the congregation begin to complain that Max makes improper advances, according to interviews with now-grown women. Others cite more recent instances of similar behavior.
November 2001: Retires from Moses Montefiore, and the campus is named after him.
Dec. 4, 2008: An employee at the Sol Levinson & Bros. funeral home in Reisterstown says Max fondles her breasts, then repeats the behavior minutes later. He is later charged with two counts in connection with the incident.
April 13, 2009: Max is convicted in Baltimore County District Court of second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense. He is sentenced to a suspended one-year prison term and one year of unsupervised probation.
July 11, 2009: Rabbi Elan Adler, Max's successor at the shul, tells worshippers that Max's title as rabbi emeritus had been revoked and his name removed from the lobby and the entrance to the site. At about the same time, Max resigns from his 40-year seat on Baltimore Board of Rabbis.
Sept. 13, 2009: At the Jewish Healing Service in Park Heights, an event prompted by revelations about Max, some 200 people gather to end what organizers call a "conspiracy of silence" around all forms of abuse. Several victims recount their experiences.
