Once a Place of Hope, Now a Source of Tension

By KIRK JOHNSON

ASPEN, Colo. — The Silver Lining Ranch has often been a scene of anguish over the years, and also of hope. Since the late 1990s, thousands of children with cancer have come here to experience a few weeks of outdoor life in a beautiful spot through a group co-founded by the former tennis star Andrea Jaeger, who became an Anglican Dominican nun after leaving the professional tennis circuit.

But these days anguish appears to be winning out. The Little Star Foundation, which runs the ranch, is teetering on the brink of collapse, Ms. Jaeger said, through that most earthbound and profane of things: real estate.

The 6.5 acres that the ranch sits on, just outside downtown Aspen, was donated in 1994 and is now immensely valuable in this enclave of superwealth. But a proposed sale of the property, intended to bolster the foundation’s finances and create a long-term endowment, has backfired.

Neighbors of Ms. Jaeger, who is president of the foundation, say the proposed sale, for $13.5 million — to the Chabad Jewish Community Center, a synagogue transplanted to the central Rockies from the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn nine years ago — is illegal, citing covenants of a homeowners’ association that allow the property to be used only as a private home or for treating terminally ill children. Despite the covenants, the Aspen City Council unanimously approved the sale in May.

Most of Little Star’s operations have ceased and many employees have not been paid for months. The loans that were supposed to support the foundation until the sale have come up short.

The result is a stew of recrimination, entrenchment and talk of lawsuits. High-minded goals and spirituality have given way to lawyers and money, which Aspen has in abundance.

Ms. Jaeger, 44, who was briefly the No. 2 women’s tennis player in the world before injuries forced her from the game at age 19, spoke in tones of nostalgia and grief as she recited from memory the odyssey of the children who had come through her care.

In an interview in the silent main building (most of the foundation’s work was transferred in 2006 to a property in Durango, Colo., in preparation for a sale, and to reduce costs), she spoke of the hurdles of illness and life, and — all too often — death, that the children faced. She ran her fingers down the hand-painted tiles left behind on a wall in the recreation room and spoke of their memories and dreams: a relapse and decline, a first experience riding a horse, a hope of living long enough to attend college.

“I don’t think they said, ‘I’m going to wake up today and destroy thousands of kids’ lives because I want to choose my neighbors,’ ” Ms. Jaeger said, referring to members of the homeowners’ association. But the blocked contract is having that effect, she said, as children are turned down for help and programs are cut.

One member of the five-family homeowners’ association agreed that the results of the standoff were lamentable. But the member, Peter Gerson, said Ms. Jaeger was entirely at fault for entering into a contract in violation of property covenants.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but the Silver Lining Ranch people brought it upon themselves,” said Mr. Gerson, who like all the owners lives far enough away, across a private open space of woods and fields, that the ranch buildings can barely be seen, if at all.

At the City Council hearings, the homeowners’ association also raised concerns about a sale to Chabad on grounds that a new use would increase traffic and noise problems on Ute Avenue, where the Silver Lining Ranch has its driveway — even though no other members of the group other than the ranch even use that road to reach their homes.

As for having Chabad as a neighbor, Mr. Gerson said he would be for it; the rabbi who directs the center, Mendel Mintz, is a friend, he said. But Mr. Gerson added that the covenants allowed only the two approved uses on the property and that Chabad did not fit.

“We’re powerless to do anything,” Mr. Gerson said.

The president of the homeowners’ association, Thomas P. Reagan, said of the land covenant: “It was meant to be extremely restrictive, and the proposed use does simply not fit the allowed use.”

Some people in town, including a former City Council member who supported the sale to Chabad, point out that the homeowners’ association was not powerless and amended the covenants earlier this year after the contract between the foundation and Chabad had been signed but before the Council’s vote to approve the sale.

The conference call to amend the covenants took place in January without Ms. Jaeger’s participation, and the homeowners approved language that would “clarify” the original intent of the covenants — that only terminally ill children or market-based private housing were allowed on Lot 5, the ranch property.

“They probably didn’t like the Silver Lining Ranch use either, but they had to put up with it,” said Jack Johnson, who served on the Council for four years before being defeated in an election in May.

Mr. Johnson said he thought the association’s goal was to get a private homeowner on the land. “If they continue to bully and block,” he said, “there’s no doubt of their intentions.”

Rabbi Mintz said that until the legal cloud was lifted, he could not close on the sale without exposing the community center to liability. He said he had seen no evidence of anti-Semitism, only the expression of wealth.

“It’s part of dealing with very affluent people who are used to having things go their way,” he said in an interview at the group’s downtown Aspen community center.

But as Ms. Jaeger readily admits, she also had a clear financial motive. Some people say she may have undermined support for her cause by having tried to do the same thing a few years ago that it appears the homeowners’ group wants to do now — shifting the property back to a private, higher-value use.

She initially tried to sell the ranch to a family for $24 million, which would have gone a long way to building Little Star’s endowment, she said in the interview. But the City Council denied permission, saying the best use of the land was for nonprofit community use. That reduced the value of the land and buildings almost in half and led to the negotiations with Chabad.

Mayor Mick Ireland of Aspen said he thought the newly restrictive covenants were an effort to “straitjacket” the city into allowing a change back into private use as a solution to everyone’s problems — more money for Ms. Jaeger’s foundation and the dropping of objections from the neighbors. Mr. Ireland said that would not happen.

“As a community, we want to encourage places of worship and kids’ facilities; that’s what communities do,” he said. “It’s not our job to make a property more marketable.”

Lubavitch Shul Expanding

Chabad Lubavitch of Baltimore, at 6701 Old Pimlico Road, has received Baltimore County’s approval to build a 3,600-square-foot addition on the site of an existing playground.

But the synagogue’s Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan said there are no immediate plans to activate the plan. “It’s too early to know if we will build,” he said. “We have to do fund raising first.”

Don Rascoe, of the county’s Department of Permits and Development, said the congregation came to the county several times with versions of the addition proposal. “We agreed to a refinement of a previously approved plan,” he said.

The initial plan was submitted in October 2008. Paul Abrams, a neighbor, said he received a letter from the county informing him of a hearing. Mr. Abrams said he and about eight other neighbors raised questions about the plan and met with Rabbi Kaplan and his wife, Rochelle.

Mr. Abrams said his neighbors were satisfied with the Kaplans’ plan, but he was not.

Another hearing was held last January. County Deputy Zoning Commissioner Thomas Bostwick heard testimony about the plan for a 11⁄2-story addition that would be connected to the main building via a covered hallway. The plan required an amendment to the existing zoning, which Mr. Bostwick subsequently approved.

Mr. Abrams said he attended this hearing and protested the plan, which in his opinion would disrupt the neighborhood. He also brought up the issue of parking, saying the synagogue has a small parking lot that would not accommodate additional activities. No appeals were filed regarding Mr. Bostwick’s decision within the required 30 days.

Mrs. Kaplan said the addition is 11⁄2 stories because of the topography of the land. On the lower level, she said, there would be a social hall and on the main level an adult ed center.

Jewish Community Center sees silver lining in ranch

Aspen City Council is set to decide an application on Monday that would see the Jewish Resource Center Chabad of Aspen make its new home at the Silver Lining Ranch in east Aspen.

The application would add a 700-square-foot accessory dwelling unit residence, improve driveway and circulation access and add 10 parking spaces to the property at the end of Ute Avenue, which from 1999 through 2007 served as a getaway for children with cancer and other serious illness.

The existing 15,000-square-foot building would not be changed, save for the relocation of some interior walls to convert some of the downstairs space into preschool classrooms that would serve between 35 and 45 children each day.

In 2006, Aspen Chabad had received land-use approval, and had began the permit process, to build a new Jewish community center on Main Street. The 35,000-square-foot facility would have taken over the block where the L’Auberge D’Aspen rental cabins now sit.

Rabbi Mendel Mintz said he changed course when the ranch became available, because its gorgeous, wide-open setting seemed more fitting for a spiritual institution where a children’s day care center would be a major component. The congregation, one of two major Jewish organizations in Aspen, serves about 100 local families, Mintz said.

“Look at this,” Mintz said, motioning to the dramatic Independence Pass view. “Why should we be on Main Street?”

Not everyone thinks the relocation is a great idea, as the city has been fielding letters from neighbors, some of whom live across the Roaring Fork River in the Stillwater subdivision, who oppose the change in use plan.

One letter from an across-the-river homeowner states the homeowner’s belief that the Jewish community center would bring a high-intensity use to the ranch and would degrade the natural setting. Others who live along Ute Avenue have voiced concerns about traffic impacts the center would add to the street.

Mintz said he sees the traffic concerns as legitimate, and that Monday’s presentation to the council will include details on how the center will use vans and carpooling to reduce traffic to the center, which will have just 20 parking spaces. As far as neighbors across the river who are complaining, the rabbi said he was perplexed as to how some homeowners, the closest of whom is 700 feet away, could be troubled by the thought of more children running around the ranch’s 6-acre property.

Deliberations Begin on Chabad

By Fay Abrahamsson, Courier Senior Staff Writer:

If an exit poll was conducted of the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) members as they departed the first day of deliberations on the Chabad’s application, the mood could only be described as favorable to the applicant.

That’s because as members tossed around opinions, arguments, and facts concerning the application, only one person appeared skeptical that the application met the requirements of a special permit.

In its first meeting held to deliberate the Chabad-Lubavitch of the Shoreline’s application for a special permit to build a 13,700 square foot house of worship and day care center at 181 Goose Lane, Chairman Shirley Girioni stressed that the decision can be based only on information received by the commission during the public hearings, which closed Nov. 19.

“No more discussion or emails can be done or letters can be read,” said Girioni.

The discussion regarding the Chabad’s application was informal as the members discussed the standards of a special permit. The PZC did not make a motion in favor or against the application and no vote was taken. A vote is likely at its next scheduled meeting, Dec. 17.

The location of the Chabad’s proposed synagogue is currently zoned residential. The property to the direct north is also zoned residential; the property to the direct south is zoned commercial.

Criteria of a special permit include such things as the proposed type, character, and size of the building should be in harmony with the neighborhood; that the building must have adequate access for fire protection; and that it will not create an undue traffic hazard or congestion. In addition, the lot must be of sufficient size for the use, the proposed building cannot be detrimental to the neighborhood or adjacent lots, and the design of the building cannot conflict with the architectural design and style of adjacent properties, among other criteria.

The PZC is allowed to impose as many conditions as it feels necessary should it grant a special permit in this case. For example, the Inland Wetlands Commission, in its approval of the construction of Guilford Commons on the “Rockpile,” listed more than 50 conditions.

Commission member David Grigsby questioned many of the applicant’s plans, including the level of use proposed for the synagogue and social hall.

“Are we in a position that we can enforce a limit of maximum occupancy?” he asked.
Town attorney Charles Andres said certain terms of use such as occupancy could be included as one of the conditions of approval.

Grigsby’s initial hesitancy regarding the amount of people using the facility, which the applicant said could reach 200, was apparent as he spoke about the possible impact of increased traffic and noise such a crowd could bring to the site.

“It is difficult to believe that there will be absolutely no impact on the property to the north,” said Grigsby.

Commission member Ray Bower agreed with Grigsby about an increase in traffic to the area, but noted that the PZC’s impartial traffic expert and the chief of police believe there would be no traffic issues.

Girioni said that she feels the applicant’s property “is an area of transition,” and that any impacts such as traffic and noise are already present.

“This lot is directly across the street from a major interstate,” said Girioni. “There are hospitals and doctors’ offices to the south, the largest industrial zone in Guilford across the street, and to the north, a residential home used for a doctor’s office and medical practice.”

PZC member Robert Richard agreed, voicing that the area is not strictly residential.

“If you drew an imaginary circle around the applicant’s site, you would find that it is mixed–a mixture of different zones,” he said.

The Guilford Planning & Zoning Commission may be prepared to render a decision on the Chabad’s application at its next meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Greene Community Center on Church Street.

Chabad finds NIMBY resistance to new schools, even in 'Kosher District'

A plan by the Chabad group to build a new school, condos, bathhouse and stores is one of several Westside and Valley projects meeting increasing resistance from neighbors, many of them fellow Jews.
By Tami Abdollah

December 7, 2008

On most weekdays, young boys in yarmulkes can be seen hanging out with friends in front of the new kosher Subway sandwich shop, while Orthodox women in modest dress stroll past Judaica stores and synagogues along Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

Dubbed the "Kosher District" by some planners, this roughly 12-block stretch near Robertson Boulevard has exploded in recent years with restaurants, shops and religious institutions aimed at serving the neighborhood's growing Jewish population.

But growth has also spurred tensions within the community.

Neighbors are threatening legal action against Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish outreach organization whose Hebrew acronym stands for wisdom, understanding and knowledge, over its proposal to construct a new girls school, condos, a ritual bathhouse and retail stores between Wetherly and Crest drives.

Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, the head of Chabad of California, said his group has been battling neighborhood opposition in one form or another across the region for the last 40 years. But these days much of the opposition comes from its own Jewish neighbors.

"Oy vey, oy vey, is what they say," said Cunin, describing neighborhood concerns with a common Yiddish expression. "That's the song."

Earlier this year, a Chabad preschool in Pacific Palisades was forced to move from its location at Temescal Gateway Park after complaints from neighbors and the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy.

In Brentwood, a Chabad house is being constructed on Bundy Drive off San Vicente Boulevard despite concerns in the residential neighborhood that it will ultimately be used as a house of worship, violating zoning regulations and inviting a constant stream of visitors.

A development project in Valley Village north of Studio City has met with stiff opposition from neighbors over the height of the project and inadequate parking. And on Pico Boulevardin West Los Angeles, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, another Jewish organization, has become embroiled in a dispute with its mostly Jewish neighbors over its expansion plans for the Museum of Tolerance, a Holocaust memorial.

All of the projects are in Westside or San Fernando Valley neighborhoods prone to overdevelopment, traffic and parking problems.

But Lorrie Stone, a Pico Boulevard neighborhood spokeswoman who lives near the latest proposed Chabad project, thinks enough is enough.

"It's like, give us a break, there's no public transportation here, there's no parking here, and now you just keep making it worse," Stone said. "None of us are opposed to Chabad . . . Chabad is a wonderful organization; they do unbelievable things. They just can't do it all right here."

For Cunin, plans for a massive residential and retail project on Pico Boulevard between Wetherly and Crest Drives represent a major part of his grand vision of Chabad facilities in West Los Angeles. The new development, which would include a new girls high school, would be built directly across the street from a recently completed elementary and middle school for girls.

The existing building is an imposing neo-Gothic brick structure and one reason why the design for its proposed sister building is more sleek and colorful. But Stone said the area is already overbuilt and that residents worry about inadequate parking for another large structure.

"It's too tall, it's too dense, and there aren't enough parking spots," she said. "They have to park somewhere, and we know they'll end up on our block, just like the other building."

City planners are reviewing the project. But Stone and other neighborhood representatives have voiced strong opposition to the development, which they say would threaten their quality of life.

"Maybe all of us who live on the Westside are feeling the same thing," Stone said. "We don't want just uncontrolled growth. We understand it has to grow; we understand things have to be developed but just not completely uncontrolled. And that's exactly what every single one of these fights is about."

On a recent weekday, dressed in a long black coat, white shirt and black skullcap, Cunin stood in a conference room in the Bais Chaya Mushka School, completed about four years ago, and spoke proudly of Chabad's accomplishments.

"We're not dreamers, we're doers," he said. "Look what we've done." He gestured at the new school building he stood in: three stories of sparkling hallways, airy classrooms, computer rooms with sleek flat-screens and a large gymnasium.

"You should have seen what . . . this building looked like before," Cunin said. "They were studying in closets . . . like broken down shanties."

The project site across the street is currently occupied by four nondescript buildings that once held a jewelry manufacturer, a Jewish boys high school and apartment buildings. One of the aging structures now provides classroom space for Chabad's girls school.

"We've tried very hard to keep up the building," said Rabbi Danny Yiftach, a school administrator. "It's like an old person. If you fix one thing, the next thing is wrong; if you fix another thing, another thing is wrong."

Plans for the new girls high school call for a 108,000-square-foot building on a parcel nearly one-fourth that size. The structure would stand 80 feet high -- almost twice the maximum 45-foot height allowed under current zoning -- with two levels of underground parking, with space for 71 vehicles instead of the required 168.

"There is no zoning in this city to accommodate an institution," said Ben Reznik, an attorney for Chabad who has worked many land-use cases on the Westside. "The zone does not allow enough building height. If we had to build this school within limits of what the zoning was, you would not have any art classes, computer classes; you'd be literally squishing kids into small rooms. It would be a qualitative disaster."

But Daniel Fink, a member of the neighborhood council's board, said the new building would push the neighborhood over the edge.

"It would just damage beyond repair the residential neighborhood immediately to the north," Fink said. "The law is very specific, and they want an exemption . . . My personal goal is to preserve the quality of residential life . . . because if we don't have nice places to live, the rest of it isn't worth it."

The South Robertson Neighborhoods Council has held several meetings on the proposed development. In an August meeting its board members voted unanimously against the project, but the city will make the final decision.

For now city planners are working on a draft environmental impact report. Once they finish, the public will have a 45-day comment period.

"We are just going to lie the process out," Cunin said. "It's America. There's hearings. There's this, there's that. We'll just go with the flow. We've hired the best engineers, the best traffic people; we've done everything the right way."

Abdollah is a Times staff writer.

Chabad granted permit for campus synagogue

University of Wisconsin students and Madison Jewish community members will soon have an on-campus synagogue due to a conditional use permit granted to the Chabad organization.

The property, located at 223 W. Gilman St., is currently owned by Chabad, which provides education and services for the local Jewish community.

The approval of the conditional use permit allows for constructional alterations on the first floor to provide a place of worship for members. The two-unit apartment building will be converted into a first floor synagogue, while the second floor will house the rabbi and his family.

Ald. Mike Verveer, whose District 4 includes the Gilman Street property, said the new location for the synagogue is “obviously very convenient for a lot of students.”

Chabad at UW is home to one of the largest Jewish student populations at the university, and the construction of the new synagogue would be at a convenient location for Jewish students and faculty to attend multiple services.

Rabbi Mendel Matusof, owner and developer of the property, lives on the main level with his family and provides services to Jewish students. The upper level is currently rented out to students.

Matusof said the first floor would be remodeled from an apartment to a large synagogue area. A small kitchen would be added, as would handicap access to bathrooms.

A modest addition to the back of the house, along with an accessible ramp for disabled persons, would help fit about 73 worshippers on the first floor, Verveer said.

He added the synagogue would mostly be geared toward the UW community, and neighborhood residents are happy and supportive of the old but popular house. The house was built in 1921 and survived initial attempts at converting it into a parking ramp.

“I support the conditional use permit,” Verveer said. “I think it’s actually cool that the family will be living there.”

The Hillel foundation on Langdon Street is another Jewish organization that provides programs and activities for students. Matusof said it serves a “different function” than the synagogue on Gilman Street would.

Matusof said Hillel is “a lot more of a Jewish student center, and ours is a much more synagogue-family base.” Overall, he added, it would have the feel of a “smaller family-style service.”

Construction is to begin in late January 2009, with the anticipated date of completion around September of that year.

“It’s nice that students of the Jewish faith will have this option for them to follow their faith, so to speak,” Verveer said.

Verveer mentioned the existence of a couple other synagogues on the west side of campus, on Regent and Monroe streets, which are farther away on campus and less convenient for students to get to.

Matusof said the Hillel foundation is planning a construction project to build a larger student center in 2009.

GUILFORD-The night after Tuesday's election will see another chapter written on whether or not Chabad of the Shoreline synagogue will be built at 181

The proposal - hotly contested by area residents led by Dr. Donna Criscenzo but supported by a number of shoreline men and women - is unlikely to be approved or rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday.
The 7:30 p.m. meeting at the community center will see a continuation of the previous two public hearings.
Opponents of the synagogue have cited increased traffic, noise, a drop in surrounding property values and a dramatic change in the quality of life in the neighborhood as reason for their opposition. They also claim the 17,000 square foot project is not appropriate in an R-5 zone.
Chabad and its Rabbi, Yossi Yaffe, have said none of the neighbors concerns are based on fact. Chabad insists its studies show the synagogue would not cause any appreciable increase in traffic, no drop in property values, little noise and no change in the quality of neighborhood life
Experts hired by both sides have debated these and other issues.
The controversy has raised considerable interest.
Town Planner George Kral has pointed out that religious institutions are permitted in all zones if they meet special permit requirements.
Whether the synagogue proposal meets those requirements will decide the issue.
Chabad is a Hasidic Jewish organization now operating out of a small office in Branford.

Chabad Pushes Big Development in L.A.

Los Angeles — The ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement is famous for multitasking, with its religious services, schools and museums, but a new development in Los Angeles is taking Chabad in an unexpected direction: the commercial and residential real estate business.

Chabad of California is angling to build a massive, mixed-use development that would include a girl’s high school with its own dormitories, 32 residential condominiums, and seven retail shops, in the heart of the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The proposed complex — which is raising hackles amongst some neighborhood activists — would dwarf other existing buildings that line the pedestrian-friendly stretch of Pico Boulevard.

Hasidic sects are not new to the residential real estate business. The Satmars, for example, have long managed housing complexes in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. But Chabad has gotten into the act more recently.

The most glaring difference between the Satmar community — which has spread beyond the confines of Brooklyn and established itself in the Catskill village of Kiryas Joel — and Chabad is that Chabad is staking its claim within the urban confines.

“Unlike the Satmars, who want to escape the city,” said David Myers, director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, “Chabad wants the menorah in the public square.”

Nomi Stolzenberg, a professor at University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, said that the Chabad proposal is part of a wider trend that has taken hold across the country. Religious groups, she said, have become far more aggressive in recent years when it comes to real estate development. Passage of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 gave religious organizations greater latitude to sue local zoning authorities if their permits were denied, she explained.

“A lot of religious groups have really been emboldened to pursue development plans that formerly they would have not been likely to get through the zoning process,” Stolzenberg said. “The basic reason for that is because of pretty significant changes in the law, but the changes in the law also reflect changes in the broader political culture with regard to attitudes about the relationship between church and state.”

Whether Chabad gets its permit has yet to be determined. A cadre of local residents is incensed by the sheer size of the proposed project, which well exceeds what the zoning laws permit. Chabad is seeking variances on building height and density and on parking capacity.

“They want to build this monolith, this huge structure that is out of character with the neighborhood,” said Lorrie Stone, a physician who has lived right behind the proposed building site for some 30 years. “They want three times the density than what’s allowed on this little plot of land.”

Benjamin Reznik, a lawyer who has long represented Chabad in its real estate dealings, said that because the area is zoned for retail, Chabad has no choice but to ask for variances in order to build a school.

“If you look at the Pico-Robertson area as a whole,” Reznik said, “where should institutions go?”

It appears to be the first time that Chabad — the Hasidic movement that sends emissaries across the globe — has conceived an entire communal village. While Chabad’s missionary reach has expanded outward, with outposts in such far-flung locales as Katmandu, observers note that this represents the first time that Chabad has established such a large, visible presence in the heart of L.A.’s symbolic Jewish center.

The proposed development, which would occupy the block between Westerly Drive and Crest Drive, would replace four buildings that currently sit on the property. Chabad is hoping to erect a building that is roughly 108,000 square feet and rising five stories high, which would include two levels of belowground parking and 9,000 square feet dedicated to retail shops. A girls’ high school, which now has about 100 students, would be nearly quadrupled — Chabad is seeking an occupancy permit for up to 400 — and a 150-bed dormitory would be added to house the students.

According to Chaim Cunin, CEO of Chabad of California, the 32 residential condominiums are being built with an eye toward affordable housing. Chabad hopes to use the units for various residents — teachers, school administrators, senior citizens and Holocaust survivors — who otherwise couldn’t afford the pricey Pico-Robertson neighborhood.

“This is being planned with our senior citizen community in mind, and our Holocaust survivor community in mind, that otherwise might be all alone in their homes or apartments,” Cunin said.

The Pico-Robertson area has seen explosive growth in recent years, as the Modern Orthodox community has expanded and retail shops and restaurants have proliferated to meet their needs. As a result of the neighborhood’s rapid growth, reasonably priced housing there has become a scarce commodity.

Chabad also owns the block directly west of the proposed development site. In 2003, the organization erected a large brick building modeled after the one in Brooklyn where the Chabad rebbe lived until his death.

Hamptons Diary

So what exactly am I doing in the Hamptons for a long holiday Shabbos weekend? I mean, I have never tied a light summer sweater over my shoulders or sat for a full day at a pool drinking a tequila sunrise or an apple martini. But still, there is something gravitational and intriguing about summer in these Hampton enclaves that is worth exploring.

First, it’s important to note that we were at a friend’s house very close to the Hampton Synagogue, which was founded 18 years ago by Rabbi Marc Schneier and is thriving in a place and a situation where such success was considered extremely unlikely. If you want to gain some insight into what an eclectic mix of modern Jewish men and women from very diverse backgrounds are doing these days, it’s worthwhile taking a look inside what Rabbi Schneier has built and developed here in the Hamptons.

Today there is definitely a hunger and a thirst in the world, and, as the prophet said, the hunger is not just for delicious challah and the thirst is not exclusively for just one more drink. That profound 21st-century desire is for much more than those mundane things. Out here you can clearly begin to see and feel that the hunger and the thirst transcends the obvious and is rather a desire to reach out and get involved in something greater, something that lives inside us all.

But it took some vision and a great deal of initiative—not to mention courage—to make what has happened here in Westhampton, New York, possible. There’s a lot going on here, and most of those activities in this Suffolk County community now revolve around the Hampton Shul. People are drawn out here for a variety of reasons. For many, it’s the change of pace from the usual daily routine that makes this place so interesting and attractive. It’s a summer getaway in a pristine and countrified setting.

Those involved in significant ways in Jewish life populate some areas of the Hamptons. Perhaps it has been like that for many, many years but only more recently—over the last ten years or so—has Jewish life made an imprint of sorts with a spirited and organized focus. This past Shabbos, the shul in Westhampton was jam-packed with an overflow crowd. Doors at both sides of the shul—leading from the men’s section and the women’s section—had to be opened and hundreds of chairs added to accommodate shul-goers who streamed in throughout the morning.

Earlier that Friday morning, I made stops to visit and survey the progress elsewhere in the Hamptons. Though cut out of what seems to be a small swatch of land at the other end of Long Island, Westhampton covers a rather large area—so much so that a second shul is presently on the rise. And that is the Chabad shul at the beach, currently run by Rabbi and Mrs. Eli Popack. The shul is located in a rather nondescript structure that resembles a bungalow. Speaking with the young rabbi, one gets the sense that the present setup is temporary, as the momentum and energy behind the shul is very much on the rise.

Needless to say, with the large crowds congregating in this part of the Hamptons every weekend, a second shul is exactly what is required. I stopped by the shul at the beach on Friday morning to drop off some copies of the Five Towns Jewish Times and to chat with the rabbi. Of course, he has come up through the Chabad system, but he did not come out here to be the rabbi of a shul. He is originally from Toronto and his wife from Brooklyn; they used to come out, like so many others, for an uncomplicated weekend away. Over a relatively brief period, Rabbi Popack emerged as a leader of the minyan in many ways, to the point where he is now the spiritual leader as well. This week, on Friday afternoon, the shul at the beach plans to host its first sefer Torah dedication ceremony.

About 15 miles further east, we rang the bell at the home and shul of Chabad of Southampton, where we’ve spent some wonderful Shabbos weekends together with fascinating people from far-flung directions of the world, weekends full of intense inspiration. The source of all this Hampton excitement is Rabbi Rafe Konikov, who, along with his wife and children, split their time between Southampton and Crown Heights.

The shul was quiet on this early Friday afternoon, but Mrs. Konikov appeared to be setting up for about 30 guests for Friday-night dinner following the services. What I have always found additionally interesting about Southampton in particular was that this was the only Jewish house of worship in town. If there were no Chabad here, there would be no shul, no synagogue, no temple, no nothing. Of course there are plenty of Jews who spend summers or summer weekends here, as well as many who live out here year-round. Where most of us come from, it would be unthinkable to live in a place where there was no shul for 20 or so miles. I suppose no one really gave it much thought until Rafe Konikov arrived.

We finally ended up in East Hampton, where we also spent a Shabbos last summer. I don’t know who is doing better in the Yiddishkeit department or who is cultivating more important and generous donors for Chabad, but there is definitely something extra-special happening out here in East Hampton. The rabbi, Label Baumgarten (who we wrote about last year), used to commute out here regularly from his home in Coram, where he was setting up a Chabad House. It quickly became clear to him that there was a great deal of work to be done in the Jewish community in East Hampton. When we were there last Friday, Mrs. Baumgarten and her children who were not in summer camp were setting up for about 50 Shabbos dinner guests.

There’s always something interesting and exciting happening on weekends in all of these shuls. Each in its own right is a hub of Jewish activity, which makes Shabbos something extra special for those who live here or visit. All have one thing in common—bringing Jews closer to Torah study and what it means to be a Jew in a way one can relate to and understand.

For those who have spent their lives in yeshiva or in Torah academies, some of what goes on out here might seem simplistic or even sometimes superficial. But it’s not. The effort and sacrifice involved in motivating and inspiring a Jew who has been distant or simply has no background in Torah study or even simple prayer is no minor matter. The point is that in all the shuls, they are here, and they are here to daven—to the extent they know how—and they are here to learn.

Which brings us back to Westhampton and the Hampton Synagogue, which is busy with interesting and innovative programs almost every day of the week. This year, Rabbi Schneier, with the assistance of Yeshiva University, has instituted a kollel-type program where people can gather once a week, on Tuesday evening, and partake in a Torah study program. There’s probably nothing like this nor has there been anything like it for tens of miles in any direction.

On Thursday night, when we arrived in Westhampton, we immediately put our bags down and went to the shul to hear a lecture from Madeleine Kunin, former governor of Vermont and ambassador to Switzerland during the Clinton administration. On Friday night at the seudah we heard stirring words from Rabbi Charles Klein of the New York Board of Rabbis. At seudah shelishis on late Shabbos afternoon, the guest speaker was former Hadassah president and now chairperson of the Conference of Presidents, June Walker.

There are wonderful, informative, and inspiring things happening out here in all corners of the Hamptons. In the near future, they are hoping to build impressive synagogue structures in both Southampton and East Hampton. Both Chabad organizations have purchased properties adjacent to their existing buildings and are ready to build. Of course there is resistance from the locals about what they are going to build, what the restrictions will be, and so on. In Westhampton—quite a few years ahead of the others—there is talk of an eruv in town. Local residents don’t like it, because—as the New York Times reported a few weeks ago—they are afraid the eruv will turn the Hamptons into another Five Towns.

I don’t see anything specifically wrong with that, but then again that’s just my opinion. The Hamptons are alive with the sounds of morning minyan, Minchah, Maariv, and a kol Torah that was once just an echo that originated from some other distant location. Now everything you can ask for is right here, and it’s a moving, important, and wonderful thing.


Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.

Chabad to leave Temescal Canyon

Robert Garcia, executive director and counsel for The City Project, sent in a posting early this morning to our blog about the ongoing Chabad saga we mentioned last week and what happened at last night's emergency meeting.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board voted 8-1, and the Advisory Board voted unanimously, to keep Tesmescal [sic] Gateway Park open for all. The Conservancy upheld the decision by the Executive Director and Staff not to renew a non-renewable lease for a private day-care center at the Park, denying the appeal by a private Palisades group. Several hundred people attended the hearing at the Park July 7, which went from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Sandy Cooney, the state resources agency's representative on the board, was the sole dissenting vote in favor of renewing the lease, according to those at the meeting. We haven't been able to reach him today to ask about his vote, but we'll update this post when we do. *(Update: We were able to reach him Wednesday. His comments are at the end of the post.) His boss, Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman, wrote that letter to Chabad at the behest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It includes guidelines on how to deal with the conservancy and suggestions (that Chabad took into account) on how to formulate an appeal for an extended lease.

Addressing the board last night, Chabad attorney Benjamin Reznik asked its members to be flexible with Chabad and allow the group five months to get its paperwork in order, noting that the conservancy for years has used Chabad's money to help pay for park upkeep. Today, Reznik was pretty matter-of-fact on the phone about the final vote.

"This is a lot of to do about nothing quite frankly," Reznik said. "I guess they’ll be looking for an alternative site in the interim."

He also said that whatever happened with the new Los Liones site for the preschool (which has riled the Getty Villa and a local Mormon church) will likely be "more exciting" and a "more interesting case." Reznik and Chabad plan to file paperwork (a conditional use permit) next week to allow them to use the site for the preschool. Meanwhile, they also are drawing up road plans to submit to the city.

"The city is not accepting dedicated roads these days because of a shortage of funds in some areas," Reznik said. "We’re going to offer to pay for it. So we're going through that process, designing plans -- Chabad is in the process of doing all that."

Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston, who denied the lease extension last month, was "gratified" that the board decided to keep to its word and not renew the lease.

"The board last year said no extensions under any circumstances, and they should adhere to what they said before," Edmiston said today. "We're not in the private rental business. We're in the public park area. How about five more months? Nobody believes they can do what they need to get done in five months. They're not going to leave in January ...

"And frankly in January, I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."

Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who heads Chabad of the Pacific Palisades, said the organization would not appeal again and sounded resigned to the decision.

"The board did what it did," Cunin said. "It’s unfortunate. Our requests were very minimal. We will live with their decision, and we will immediately be identifying any other locations as necessary because we anticipate there may be delays in our CUP process" beyond Sept. 4, when the school's fall term begins.

"It would have been heartwarming to feel a sensitive partnership," he continued. "But it was not in the cards."

*New comments below:

Cooney, who was the lone dissenting vote on the Board at Monday night's meeting, said he'd voted in favor of Chabad's appeal, but had not made up his mind on whether the lease should be renewed.

"The item on the agenda put into motion in the discussion, and ultimately voted on, which was to grant Chabad an appeal, in effect overturned Joe’s denial of the lease extension, but it did not convey a new lease," Cooney said. "What it did was set into motion a new process through which a new lease could be potentially be granted."

He said the overarching conversation on public access versus private interest was not the "issue on the table to be voted"; especially since the Conservancy had previously allowed a non-renewable lease to be extended.

"Obviously I was completely outnumbered by the entire board …" Cooney said. "In the end, out of fairness and listening to all sides and trying to be as absolutely objective as possible, I felt that we should have moved to the next step, which is grant the appeal, then we should consider the remainder of the agenda and whether or not we should take those steps that would move toward a new lease."

-- Tami Abdollah

Photo: Rabbi Zushe Cunin, at the preschool's current site, is at odds with Getty Villa, state parks, the Coastal Commission and a Pacific Palisades neighborhood association. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
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As an American and as a Jew whose parents survived the horrors of the Holocaust, I was in complete shock when I read Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston's quote to the Los Angeles Times: "I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."

It's 2008. As a public official, if Edmiston were to make such comments about a priest or a mullah, he would and should be called to task and severely reprimanded. Does the fact that Edmiston is Jewish give him a green light to make sinister and racist comments about a rabbi? I don't think so.

There is no place in our community for intolerance and racism, even against your own people. Period.

Posted by: Norman Sweetzer | July 08, 2008 at 08:30 PM

We appreciate the Times continuing coverage of Temescal Gateway Park.

Jane Ulman covers the July 7 hearing in the Jewish Journal:

"The vote upheld the unequivocal denial by Conservancy executive director Joe Edmiston on June 12 to extend Chabad's lease. It also confirmed the decision of the Conservancy in April 2007 to stop leasing the public parkland to private entities -- including Chabad's Palisades Jewish Early Education Center and Little Dolphins Preschool -- and to increase public access to the park, especially for underprivileged youth from congested urban areas. . . .

"And while Chabad supporters stressed that the school is using less than half an acre in a 140-acre park, the Conservancy's Edmiston said that the park is predominately covered by chaparral, while Chabad's site, which includes three trailers and a fenced-in field, occupies one of only two flat, grassy spots in the park that can accommodate large groups of children. 'It's a zero-sum situation. If you have trailers there, you're not going to be able to have kids playing there,' he said.

Amy Lethbridge, in charge of education for the Conservancy, told the group that more experiential programs have been planned for the coming year, including additional contracts with Los Angeles Unified School District to bring out more kids.

'I need space to serve the very programs the park was purchased to serve,' she said."

Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 08:31 PM

The most interesting part of this whole affair is the fact that Joe Edmiston must have gone through a major charachter change. Is this the same person that put up two fake stop sign violation cameras on the road of the "all access" park that he so proudly refers to in the article? Is this the same Joe Edmiston that is denying a tiny area of the park to a small school for a few months while continuing his crooked fund raising efforts via collecting $100 at least 5,000 times (by last count)from unsuspecting motorists whom are traveling legally close to a stop sign on the only road of his "open" park?

Posted by: Gary Solomon | July 08, 2008 at 08:46 PM

Joe Edmiston should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst.

Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 10:14 PM

There is no justification for personal attacks here.

A board member emphasized at the July 7 heating that everyone was respectful and avoided personal attacks throughout the three hour hearing. This was true regardless of how one felt on the merits -- whether the lease should be renewed for a non-park use, or whether the parks should be kept open for all.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board voted 8-1 against renewing the non-renewable lease. The Advisory Council voted unanimously against renewing the non-renewable lease. As discussed at length at the three hour hearing on July 7, the Palisades group promised not to seek renewal of the lease. What does that have to do with any individual?

Some children and adults did indeed speak about their experiences in the pre-school, including the religious, spiritual, and cultural aspects. Some children and adults spoke about their experience in hiking and playing in the park, including cultural aspects of being in the Palisades and coming from the inner city. The history of discriminatory access to parks and recreation in Los Angeles was explicitly. There have been no sinister, racist, or intolerant comments.

I suggest that people remain respectful and civil here.

Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 10:27 PM

I'm sorry but Joe Edmiston and his remarks are no different than Rev. Wright, only Edmiston is paid for by California taxpayers. How sad and shameful. I am sick to my stomach. Edmiston should publicly apologize and then he should resign.

Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 08, 2008 at 11:22 PM

In my view Mr. Garcia is being disingenuous. In my view it was clear at the Board meeting that many participants from the inner-city "anti" coalition were misled into believing that the issue was a permanent privatization, rather than a short temporary lease extension. Further, if they had taken the trouble to read Chabad's appeal, one of the conditions Chabad stipulated was that the meadow surrounding the temporary site was to be released from any restrictions that interfered with public use. It was falsely represented that access to this meadow, a key flat area, would be unavailable to the public.

In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left.

The Board, despite that, decided on the merits to deny Chabad's appeal on grounds that it did not comply with the SMMC Act, rather than on any political grounds. To their credit they were dispassionate, listened to all points of view with attention, and then voted based on the law.

Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 11:31 PM

i agree. edmiston and his outrageous remarks must be rejected and cannot be tolerated. it's a dangerous and slippery-slope when public officials engage in divisive rhetoric and religious intolerance. the entire community must stand united when it comes to combating hatred and divisiveness.

Posted by: marco binecca | July 08, 2008 at 11:46 PM

Joe Edmiston has secured his bully pulpit over the last 25 years without ever having to face a public election. His actions are directly responsible for the recent fires that burnt in the canyons of Malibu which left so many good citizens in disarray. Talk about "zero sum", his bully tactics, and secured position make Joe more of a mafia man then a honest public servant.

Joe Edmiston has a badge and gun, his own police force, direct control of hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds and lands. He serves at the pleasure of a Board of Directors, also unelected. He is not accountable to the public who pays his salary.

People with such power should be required to be elected. They should be required to answer to the public for the actions that they take.

Preserving open space is important but education to children should take priority. And if they need a bit more time to move into their new location, is there not enough public outdoor space to fill the need in the interim? Shame on you Joe.

Steve P. Weiner
Malibu, CA

Posted by: Steve Weiner | July 08, 2008 at 11:55 PM

This is the same Robert Garcia who appeared at the Malibu City Council meeting to support Edmiston in his quest to force overnight camping into our box canyons and parks where fire to cook would be allowed. The residents, in fear for their lives and homes with three fires last year to cope with, were incensed. I guess Garcia and Edmiston are BFFs and so where Edmiston goes, Garcia goes to do his Hispandering. Sounds incestuous to me. It should be investigated.

Posted by: Susan Tellem | July 09, 2008 at 08:34 AM

Joe Edmiston and Robert Garcia teaming up, that is eco-terrorism in my opinion. Garcia uses a lot of jumbled jargon to inflame his "peers" and garner public attention, Edmiston uses public funds to boost his own ego. Both need to go, neither of them are worth the paper they push to gain power.
This statement by Commentator in response to Garcia's mumbling puts it all in perspective, Garcia USES poor kids to push his agenda and tries to say he does it for poor people.
"In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left."

Posted by: marko peer | July 09, 2008 at 09:11 AM

Where does Chabad get the money for all this real estate, just from the telethons? Seems like they have a site in every community in the united states with a population of 5,000 or more.

Fires in the canyons. Good jobs Garcia and Edmiston. You two are rocket scientists.

Shame on you, Edmiston -- torah and coattails. Shame on you, previous commenter, for wrapping yourself in the holocaust. Shame on you, Chabad, for not sticking to the strip malls.

Posted by: Uncle Billy Went to Washington | July 09, 2008 at 09:29 AM

Joe Edmiston has always treated his post like a throne and the park like his personal property. He is callous, and in the view of many who know him in the environmental community, he is a bourgeois elitist. And aren't we suffering from a lack of schools and school sites to begin with?? How exactly is this helping that situation or moreover, how is it benefiting the site? He most certainly should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst, or at least flogged in the parking lot of the school he is evicting.

Posted by: R. Mills | July 09, 2008 at 09:39 AM

Where does Chabad get the money? From many thousands of contributors, large and small, in every community where they are located, over the entire year, not just at Telethon time, In addition, the Chabad non-sectarian programs receive Federal, State and local funding, and are scrutinized closely and regularly by those agencies to insure compliance with both the U.S. and California Constitutions, and associated licensing, certification, and other regulations. Chabad of California is audited by an independent CPA firm; in fact many of its grants require such an audit.

But the question is a red herring with, it seems to me, unworthy implications.. This discussion isn't about sources of 501(c)(3) charitable funds overseen by the IRS and other regulatory agencies. The IRS code is both explicit and strict. Instead the discussion is about the hearing on the Temescal Gateway Park.

In fact, the question of Chabad funding was raised as a red-herring argument by those leftists at the meeting attempting to create a straw man of "rich" Chabad vs. the poor children of the inner city. In fact the "anti" coalition is perfectly free to appeal for charitable funds to the mainstream Latino and broader mainstream community if they are a legal tax-exempt organisation. If they have not been more sucessful that is certainly not the fault of Chabad's contributors, but rather evidence of lack of support by the mainstream communities.

Posted by: Commentator | July 09, 2008 at 09:53 AM

What most people don't know is that Joe's wife runs a little camp of her own called Happy Trails (yep, stole it from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, it is not affiliated with that organization or foundation in the least). It is the ONLY link on the website for Joe's little fiefdom and purports to provide camping opportunities for underprivileged children. I find it highly suspicious that taxpayer funds are used to provide promotions for a spouse's boutique efforts and thereby garnering even more of the tax base for the Edmiston household to feed off of. Remove special favors and non-bid contract awards to spouses, but also clean house by removing Edmiston himself so that we don't find favors being gifted to any other "groups" such as the City Project. The hungry foxes have definitely gotten into the chicken coop, time for us Farmers to hike up the suspenders and load the shotguns to clean our land of the marauding varmits feasting on our efforts.

Posted by: Smokey Joe Needs to Be Put Out | July 09, 2008 at 11:40 AM

Forget everything I wrote above, I just realized that I am an idiot.

Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 09, 2008 at 10:52 PM

I apologize for my ridiculous remarks which were posted earlier. I have a very low income and haven't accomplished anywhere near the amount of things Joe has in his lifetime, so once again I am sorry and I am way out of line.

Posted by: marco binecca | July 09, 2008 at 10:59 PM

Preschool Plan Pits Antiquities Museum Against Hasidim in Ritzy L.A. Enclave

By Rebecca Spence
Wed. Jun 25, 2008

Los Angeles — A brewing land-use dispute that involves a Southern California Chabad-Lubavitch branch, a powerful Los Angeles art museum and a host of outraged neighbors is stoking tensions between the Hasidic Orthodox sect and residents of one of this city’s wealthiest enclaves.
The fracas began when a Chabad group in Pacific Palisades — a tony L.A. community of some 25,000, nestled near Malibu — made plans to relocate its nonsectarian preschool to a warehouse that abuts the Getty Villa, an antiquities museum that is part of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The 3,000-square-foot warehouse, owned by a private
citizen and used for 25 years as a Getty storage facility, is also flanked by a Mormon church and rests in a canyon not far from a cluster of pricey homes.
In recent months, as Chabad made minor adjustments to the warehouse property — installing windows, placing tables and chairs inside, and putting up play structure equipment — the Getty balked at Chabad’s use of a service road that the museum claims is private. At the same time, a local neighborhood group raised hackles over
potential noise pollution and traffic problems, and both the Getty and irate neighbors have expressed concerns that Chabad acted without proper permissions from the museum or the City of Los Angeles, an allegation that Chabad officials staunchly deny.
This is not the first time that the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a Hasidic sect of Judaism that sends emissaries across the globe to promote Torah learning, has found itself embroiled in thorny zoning disputes. A case in Hollywood, Fla., that began in 1999, when a Chabad group purchased two homes and started to transform one into a synagogue, erupted into a protracted, years-long legal battle that involved allegations of antisemitism.
While Pacific Palisades Chabad officials argue that neighbors have misunderstood their intentions in this case, and that they are planning to secure all necessary permits to operate the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center come September, some local residents say that Chabad’s approach has been brazen and cavalier.
“I’m embarrassed that it’s a subsection of my own religion that is behaving toward the community, of which I am a member, in this very aggressive manner,” said Mike Lofchie, who is a board member of the local neighborhood association, the Castellammare Mesa Home Owners Association, and a political science professor at the
University of California, Los Angeles. “Their style is to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. ” Lofchie said, referring to Chabad.
Rabbi Zushe Cunin, director of Chabad of Pacific Palisades since 1992, fiercely rebutted accusations that his group had acted inappropriately. Cunin, 38, also said he was disturbed that other Jews put such a negative spin on Chabad’s actions and that they were basing their conclusions on misinformation.
Much of the dispute centers on zoning technicalities. The Getty insists that the service access road is their private property, and in June, after forbidding Chabad officials from using it, the organization put up a fence.
A Getty spokeswoman, Julie Jaskol, also said that the institution was first and foremost concerned with safety issues. “It’s a heavily traveled narrow road that you can’t turn around on, and they’re proposing to have 50 to 100 preschoolers on it,” Jaskol said.
Chabad officials maintain that the Getty access road is, in fact, partially public property and that they’ve done nothing wrong. “There’s a right of way for 26 years to that building,” Cunin said. “There’s a city road to that
building. Any permission that needs to be asked is from the city,” he said.
A lawyer for Chabad, Benjamin Reznik — who has long represented the sect in its California real estate dealings — said that thus far, the Pacific Palisades Chabad has not given the building any adjustments that would require permits. “They have not occupied it, and don’t plan to until they’ve gone through the proper hearings,” he said.
Chabad, Reznik said, is initiating the permitting process with the City of Los Angeles for both a conditional-use permit and the required coastal development permit.
At least one local Jewish resident is defending Cunin and the Pacific Palisades Chabad. Laurie Rosenthal, whose son attended the preschool in its previous location in Temescal Gateway Park, said that she trusts Cunin.
“Chabad can be rough, and sometimes they come in and do what they want to do,” Rosenthal said. “But I don’t know that they’ve done that in this neighborhood.”

Chabad preschool plan has Pacific Palisades in an uproar

Pacific Palisades neighbors and others object to plan for a site next to Getty Villa.

By Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 28, 2008

Residents of Pacific Palisades began buzzing in early April when the local newspaper ran a blurb about a fundraiser for the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center.

What got them talking wasn't the news that 10 tons of fresh snow would be trucked in for the April 6 event at the public Temescal Gateway Park, where the preschool operates out of three trailers and a fenced playground. No, it was the mention that the Chabad preschool would maintain its "natural setting" come fall when it moved to a location in the Castellammare area of the Palisades.

"The new facility will be open for community visits on or about May 5. Enrollment is now underway," the item read.

"What preschool?" residents of the quietly exclusive coastal enclave wondered.

Thus began a saga with more twists and turns than "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," as one resident wryly calls it. How else to refer to a controversy, now coming to a head, that involves a branch of Judaism often characterized by ecstatic piety, the Mormon church, the Getty Villa, the state Department of Parks and Recreation, the California Coastal Commission, a city councilman, and a bunch of his affluent and highly agitated constituents for whom money is no object?

It all started, residents say, when Chabad of Pacific Palisades went looking for a new preschool site after the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy evicted it from Temescal Gateway Park, just north of Sunset Boulevard. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that Topanga State Park might be closed as part of a cost-cutting push, Chabad spoke with state parks officials about using a portion of Topanga in Los Liones Canyon. Parks officials were cool to the idea.

Chabad officials spotted a structure on the other side of Los Liones Drive at the back entrance of the nearby Getty Villa, next to a Mormon church. They learned that it was a warehouse at the rear of a Bellino Drive residential property owned by Gene Gladden, a longtime resident. Gladden agreed to lease the building to Chabad.

Under the direction of Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who heads Chabad of Pacific Palisades, workers installed windows, playground equipment, and pint-size tables and chairs. Chabad said it also planned to install three bathrooms.

Lori Fox, an attorney for the J. Paul Getty Trust, wrote to Cunin and Gladden, explaining that the warehouse was partly on Getty property and that Chabad representatives had been entering the property via the Getty service road, without permission. Fox expressed concern about whether the warehouse was safe for dozens of preschoolers. And she asked whether Chabad had sought all necessary permits and consulted with neighbors.

Chabad had not sought permits and has yet to formally apply, although Cunin said it planned to do so.

In a May 9 letter to neighborhood leaders, Fox said several men drove through the Getty's Los Liones gate April 24, "ignoring our security officers' instructions that they stop, and entered the warehouse."

By then, neighbors were in an uproar. How, they asked, would parents, children and staff gain access to the building? The only easy way in was the service road, and the Getty, citing its conditional-use permit and safety concerns, declined to give permission.

Chabad next looked to Bellino Drive on the hilltop above Gladden's warehouse. That entry point was problematic because it meant using a driveway shared by other residents, including actor Bo Svenson, who were vehemently opposed to the idea. From Bellino, the drive briefly descends before taking a sharp left turn. There is no convenient turnaround space. From Gladden's house, children, parents and staff would have to walk down a steep trail. The fact that Chabad would even consider it irritated some Bellino residents.

"To me, as a Jew, this is chutzpah, and I'm offended that a community within my own religion would be behaving toward a residential neighborhood in this manner," said Mike Lofchie, a member of the Castellammare Mesa Home Owners Assn.

The controversy is shining a light on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a controversial branch of Orthodox, Hasidic Judaism. Chabad is an acronym from the Hebrew for wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

Many mainstream Jews regard the movement's outreach as evangelizing, a practice they frown upon. In California, Chabad is perhaps best identified with its annual star-studded telethon, which raises money for charities.

Chabad is also known for zoning conflicts with neighbors as rabbis seek to establish gathering spots -- known as Chabad houses -- in residential areas. Over the years, zoning battles have raged in Florida, New York and New Jersey.

With the Getty road and Bellino effectively out of the picture, Cunin, 38, said Chabad is seeking permission from Mormon Church officials in Salt Lake City to use the Los Liones church parking lot. "We're very hopeful, and we believe that our access will be through the church parking lot," he said.

Keith Atkinson, West Coast spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said "the common practice of the church is not to encumber church property."

"We want to be good neighbors and certainly help other faith groups where we can, but we need to be sensitive to all of the neighbors," Atkinson said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl met Friday with Cunin and got his assurance that Chabad would follow the city's conditional-use permit process.

The school would also be required to have a coastal development permit, said Jack Ainsworth, deputy director of the California Coastal Commission. The panel is taking about six months to process applications, Ainsworth said.

Chabad, which will be leaving Temescal Gateway Park in June, has said it plans a September opening for the preschool, with as many as 70 children.

The school isn't the only issue causing friction. A couple of miles east of Los Liones Canyon, Cunin is embroiled in a controversy with neighbors over plans to dramatically enlarge his house.

Cunin and his wife, Zisi, have seven children. And that, he says, is why they are seeking to expand their residence on Bestor Boulevard, in an area of the Palisades known as the Alphabet Streets. Neighbors say the current house is 1,698 square feet.

The Cunins, who regularly welcome members of their group to the house, intend to enlarge it to about 8,400 square feet. About 6,300 square feet would be above ground, with the rest a basement. The above-ground portion would be 47% larger than allowed under neighborhood rules, opponents contend.

The Pacific Palisades Civic League, which reviews architectural plans for new construction and remodels, has been talking with Cunin, who has already secured city permits. The league's opinions are not binding, but its board is pressuring the rabbi to abide by neighborhood guidelines.

"We hope to resolve this matter with the homeowner through discussion," the board said in a statement to the Palisadian-Post, "but if that fails, we are looking at our litigation options."

martha.groves@latimes.com

Chabad: there's no big secret

A recent published report on a plan to expand a West Street building into a synagogue and community center for Chabad Lubavitch called the project "a secret."

But the plans are no secret, and the organization, led by Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach, has every intention of pursuing its plans for the project. Whether it can and will sue the historic district commission on its ruling to deny the plan, or comply with its suggestion to reduce the size of it, remains to be seen.
"The issue is that right now the process the team is putting together is not a secret," Rabbi Eisenbach said Monday. "They just haven't done anything yet. That's the only secret.
"The bottom line is there's really nothing's happening ... our plan of action is that there's no secret. We haven't decided on what we're going to do," he said.
The proposal would expand the historic building on West Street and would include administrative offices, kitchen facilities, a swimming pool and a ceremonial bath, classrooms and a synagogue, as well as residential quarters on one floor of the addition.
Chabad Lubavitch bought the old building in 2006 and presented its expansion plans to the Litchfield Historic District Commission last year, participating in a hearing process that requested that board to grant them a certificate of appropriateness for the plans. The commission, after numerous hearings and discussion, ruled that the size of the plans were too large for the historic district and asked that it be scaled back, noting that it would allow the Chabad to create an addition that would double the size of the building, not quadruple it. The existing building is about 2,600 square feet.
The additions proposed to the West Street structure, a house that was designed by the Deming family in the 1870s, would create an extension to the building behind it. The front of the original structure would have a clock tower and a Star of David added to the façade as well as stonework on the front of the building. The rabbi said recently that the changes his architects are proposing to the original building maintain its historic character. But because it is a religious facility, some changes must be made to reflect that fact.
One of the controversies surrounding the proposal is the claim that the Chabad's freedom of religion rights are being impeded by the commission ruling. The controversy began in the fall when commission chairman Wendy Kuhne noted that the Star of David and changes to the front of the building might not comply with the character of the district, resulting in a firestorm of criticism that her comments were somehow "anti-Semitic."
Ms. Kuhne was eventually asked to recuse herself from the hearings on the proposal, which she reluctantly did. She was then criticized on an online blog, which included a photograph of a woman in a Nazi uniform with her name next to the image. That blog was linked to the Cool Justice Web site, a blog run by Litchfield resident and journalist Andy Thibault, This outraged many citizens in town, including Rabbi Eisenbach, who said any connection to the Nazis and the Holocaust was inappropriate.
Bloggers and opinions aside, the commission members have maintained at hearings and through their attorney, Jim Stedronsky, that they are charged with preserving the historic character of the borough of Litchfield and that they are simply trying to uphold their responsibilities.
When the vote was made at the commission's hearing late last year, however, Rabbi Eisenbach said he believed that the Litchfield of today was supportive of the plan to expand the house and that his organization has outgrown its current home on Village Green Drive, which proved the need for the new facility.
Rabbi Eisenbach, however, said that at this point, there are no plans in place to sue anyone. He has, however, maintained that the 20,000-square-foot addition is necessary.
"What we're going to do, and how we're going to proceed; it just hasn't been decided yet," the Rabbi reiterated. "We have not had any contact with the historic district commission, because we're still digesting the information we received from them at the last hearing. Our team is going over it."


©The Litchfield Enquirer 2008

"Watch," she whispered, "he'll talk about the Holocaust."

A Tangle Of TensionsMood In Litchfield Grows UglyAs Religion, Historical IntegrityCollide Over Synagogue Plan

[Editor's Note: Historical Integrity???]

By ELIZABETH HAMILTON

Courant Staff Writer

December 20, 2007

When Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach stood to address the Litchfield Historic District Commission this week at the final public hearing on his congregation's plans to put a synagogue near the town green, a woman in the audience turned to the person sitting next to her."Watch," she whispered, "he'll talk about the Holocaust." The rabbi did not mention the Holocaust, but some people — including the woman who suggested he would — didn't stick around to find that out. They left the minute Eisenbach said, "When my family moved into this town, people from around the state told us we were crazy. Litchfield, they said, has a history of hate and bigotry toward Jews.""This is ridiculous," said one audience member. "I'm not staying to listen to this," said another. And about 10 people scraped back their folding chairs and left. As a result, they didn't hear Eisenbach's next statement, which was, "Well, we proved them wrong … we found most of the people in this town to be loving and caring, unbiased, sweet, really a community as good as it gets." Maybe.But the angry scene at Monday's public hearing is emblematic of an unraveling that has taken place in the last two months over the proposal from the orthodox Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County to convert a 135-year-old home on West Street into a synagogue and community center.Simmering tensions over religious tolerance and historical integrity are converging as the commission nears tonight's vote on the application. The historically tough commission's beef with the plans center around the size of an addition and some of the changes that would be made to the original structure, such as the construction of a clock tower. The Deming House, as it is called, was once a private home, but was renovated and gutted of much of its historical integrity in the 1980s so it could be used as a commercial property.The Chabad's plans call for a 21,000-square-foot building that would include, among other things, the synagogue, a swimming pool, living space for the rabbi's family and an apartment for staff. It would also function as a community center for the Chabad, which provides education, special events, children's programs and worship services.

Special Protection?

The dispute, in one sense, is about whether the intended religious use of the building affords the application special protection under the First Amendment that trumps the historic district's regulations. Those arguing from the Chabad's side, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Civil Liberties Union, both of which joined the fray this month, say it does. "Denying this application, because the mass or the size of the addition is, in your opinion, too large, substitutes your opinion for that of Rabbi Eisenbach as to what is necessary to fulfill the Chabad's religious mission," the group's lawyer, Peter C. Herbst, told the commission Monday. "The federal and state constitutions prohibit you, the government, from imposing that secular judgment upon a place of worship." On the other side is a group of residents opposed to the project who hired their own lawyer and an architectural historian to fight the plans. They have argued that the Chabad is "hiding behind" the U.S. Constitution and federal laws. They say the historic district commission should base its decision solely on the merits of the application and whether it conforms to the regulations. "Do not be distracted by the building's purported use," said Patricia Sullivan, a lawyer for the opponents. The dispute has gone way beyond the legal arguments of the case, however. It's gotten downright nasty. Since the application was filed, the chairwoman of the commission — who was quoted widely as having questioned whether a Star of David was appropriate for the town center — recused herself from the proceedings. But that didn't stop an online blogger from depicting her on his website dressed in a Nazi uniform, which prompted some angry residents to cry foul and demand that First Selectman Leo Paul Jr. enter the fray, which he declined to do. As the veiled accusations of anti-Semitism have grown on one side, charges of bullying and zealotry have been levied against the Chabad by residents who feel they have been unfairly painted in the media.It didn't help when residents turned up at Monday's public hearing and found on each chair copies of letters from the ADL and ACLU supporting the Chabad, along with a reprint of a 1943 article from the "Nation" magazine. The article, by author Willson Whitman about traveling to Litchfield on Christmas Eve, states point blank that Jews were not allowed to own property in town. It was "just a sort of general agreement — yes, you could call it a Christian unity among Litchfield people on that point. No, they didn't realize it was Hitler's party line," a local minister told the author in 1943. Needless to say, that didn't calm down anybody at the public hearing in 2007."You know, I'm a simple person, and this confuses me," said Laurel McKewen, who looked more distressed than confused.Resident Zeus Goldberg, who is Jewish, stayed to listen to the rabbi speak Monday. Goldberg didn't comment on the Nation article, but had some pointed criticisms for the Chabad team. "By now, it is abundantly clear that the application by the Chabad Lubavitch group … has turned from its original purpose into an enormous public relations struggle and pseudo-religious freedom issue that will benefit no one, drag on for years and be tremendously costly to all parties involved," Goldberg said. Like others at the hearing, Goldberg opposes the size of the project because he believes it will not "merge" with the historic district. According to Goldberg and Eisenbach, both of whom attended a subsequent meeting of the commission Tuesday night, the panel appears ready to deny the application as is and wants the addition scaled down dramatically before it can be approved. Commission members proposed a motion Tuesday that would give the Chabad an opportunity to revise the plan and bring it back to the commission, Goldberg said. That motion is expected to be approved tonight. "Sadly, we're expecting a denial," Eisenbach said.Historical IntegrityA denial wouldn't be all that surprising, given that Litchfield has a well-deserved reputation for closely guarding its pristine historic character.Highlights of that effort include a 1996 showdown over whether a menorah could be placed on the picturesque town green, a crackdown on a the unfortunate bed and breakfast owner who wanted to put window boxes on the front of her house and a pitched battle over whether to allow a chain store — in this case, a respectable, tweed-filled Talbot's — to take up residence on the green.But the commission's view on this project has also led to accusations of inconsistency. Other religious institutions in the historic district are larger than the proposed synagogue, and its next door neighbor, the United Methodist Church, would be roughly the same size. There is also controversy over whether the Chabad should be allowed to build a clock toweron the roof of the house — a change that was opposed by James Sexton, the architectural historian hired by opponents, because, he said, it would alter the historic character of the original house and because it doesn't comply with the federal Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Sexton was even more critical of the proposed addition, because it would be 18 feet wider and more than twice as long as the original home — another violation of federal standards, he said. Experts for the Chabad, however, recited a list of buildings in the historic district that wouldn't comply with this standard, including the town library and a proposed renovation of town hall, which is currently 7,884-square-feet and would jump to 20,000-square-feet under current plans. The town hall is located almost directly across the street from the proposed synagogue."I have to ask why, when the Historic District Commission is dealing with a constitutionally protected use such as the Chabad, rather than a nursing home … or town hall, which are not afforded similar protection under the Constitution, why would a different and more-difficult-to-meet standard be applied?" asked Herbst, the Chabad's lawyer.The commission might be forced to answer that question in court in the coming months if the project is denied — just as Goldberg predicted. "As a resident in this town and almost a Yankee rabbi, and someone who cares dearly for every resident, and every aspect of this community, I ask you not to make the mistake of denying us our certificate," Eisenberg said Monday night. "It will sadly make Litchfield look like something it really is not, and it will not bring closure to this historic chapter in our community's history."

Chabad of Nova gets OK to go ahead with zoning suit

COOPER CITY - An orthodox Jewish congregation that claims Cooper City's zoning laws discriminate against religious institutions can move forward with several counts of its lawsuit, a federal judge ruled.
Chabad of Nova Inc., filed an eight-count complaint against Cooper City in May claiming that the city's zoning laws are illegally designed to protect the city's tax base by banning all tax-exempt houses of worship from commercial districts.
The city filed a motion to dismiss the suit in June, but United States District Judge Cecilia Altonaga ruled against dismissing at least three of the eight counts on Monday.

In one of the counts upheld, the Chabad claim Cooper City violates the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act because they permit day care centers, a non-religious assembly, to operate in the business district but prohibits religious assemblies.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Franklin Zemel, who is representing the Chabad of Nova, said, "We're very pleased with the results.''
But Fort Lauderdale attorney Michael Burke, who is representing Cooper City in this case, said the judge's ruling was a mixed since some of the counts were dismissed and some the city will have to answer.
According to the lawsuit, the city has discriminated against houses of worship for 30 years by relegating them to the western, agriculturally-zoned borders in order to protect its tax base. Houses of worship do not pay property taxes.
Zemel said Rabbi Shmuel Posner opened a Chabad Outreach Center in the Timberlake shopping plaza last year, but was booted out by Cooper City because of its codes. Posner has temporarily moved the outreach center to 8276 Griffin Road in Davie.
Last October, Cooper City relaxed its ordinance by including houses of worship in office parks and recreational facilities, but the commercial district ban remained.
Despite the changes, Zemel said the city is still violating federal law because new religious congregations tend to start by renting in a commercial district and they don't have that option in Cooper City.

Rabbi fights town's zoning laws

By CHRIS NEWMARKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON -- A rabbi who sued Freehold Township because he claimed it was persecuting him over prayer services in his house now says the town is trying to meddle with his religious freedom by defining his home as a place of worship.

Rabbi Avraham Bernstein is expanding his federal lawsuit against the town, saying that a new law it passed defines his house as a place of worship, something area zoning laws do not allow.

For violating zoning laws, Bernstein could face several hundreds of dollars in fines, according to the township's attorney, Duane Davison.

Bernstein has amended his federal lawsuit, arguing that the new ordinance, adopted in late September, is too vague under federal religious protections law and is meant to further empower the town to retaliate against the rabbi for holding prayer services at his house.

"This is a small group of Jews meeting in somebody's home. That's it. If there are a hundred cars pulling up it might be some concern. But these people walk. It's their Sabbath. They can't drive," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va.-based civil liberties group representing the rabbi.

At issue is whether Bernstein, a rabbi with the ultraorthodox Lubavitch Chabad, is allowed to host a minyon -- the necessary 10 men to pray under orthodox Jewish law -- at his home on Shabbat, which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

The Monmouth County township says he is violating local zoning ordinances because he is using his home as a house of worship, according to the lawsuit.

The town claims that it tried to work with the rabbi for years, but eventually had to respond to neighbors' complaints about large meetings, according to Davison.

"We defended him for years, but as the activity got more intense at the house, we decided maybe the neighbors had something to talk about," Davison said.

Bernstein, whose home is located across the street from the township municipal building, received a zoning violation in February 2007 and a summons in April. In May, he filed a lawsuit in state court.

He filed another suit in federal court in August, which included the claim that the town was retaliating against him because it "secretly set up a video camera" aimed at Bernstein's home.

But according to Davison, the camera was about 350 feet away and was needed to establish that about 35 to 50 people -- not the smaller groups claimed by Bernstein -- were visiting the home.

Last month, the Freehold Township Committee amended the zoning law to include a definition of a house of worship as "any structure of building that is used as the regular site for traditional services, meetings and/or gatherings of an organized religious body or community."

Rogers Officials Ask For Services To Stop

THE MORNING NEWS

ROGERS -- A religious service in a residential neighborhood is causing traffic and parking, problems for neighbors.

City Attorney Ben Lipscomb on Friday sent a letter to Rabbi Mendel Greisman asking he quit holding services in his residence until a conditional-use permit from the city is obtained.

Greisman owns a house at 5402 W. Redbud St. in the Hunter's Run subdivision. The house is listed as the address for the Chabad of Northwest Arkansas, according to the Arkansas County Data Web site at www.arcountydata.com/search.asp.

Churches are allowed in residential zones in Rogers, but only with a conditional-use permit, which Greisman doesn't have. Griesman also hasn't filed for a permit.

Lipscomb said Greisman maintains he is simply host of a Bible study, which most would characterize as different from a church or worship service.

However, Lipscomb said the photos from the Chabad's Web site look like a worship center, and there are reports of between 30 and 40 cars parked in the neighborhood by people attending the Chabad.

"If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and has webbed feet like a duck, then it's a duck," Lipscomb said.

Greisman did not return a message left at the residence on Friday.

Lipscomb said he realizes there is a need for Greisman's congregation to meet, but the city also has ordinances that must be followed.

Dan Brown, chairman of the Rogers Planning Commission, told a woman during a meeting on Tuesday that the commission has never denied a conditional use permit for a church. Brown was speaking with regard to another issue.

The issue of the chabad came to Lipscomb's attention when someone called the Rogers Planning and Transportation Department to complain about zoning violations.

Kevin Butler, 5407 W. Redbud St., filed on behalf of the Hunter's Run Property Owner's Association a complaint with Lipscomb's office citing, "Zoning violations, excessive vehicle traffic with parking congestion and excessive pedestrian traffic ... as a result of the opening of the 'Chabad House.'"

Hunter's Run is a subdivision with only 18 houses along two stretches of road that together total less than 1,500 feet. Upon entering Hunter's Run, Redbud Street takes a 90-degree turn to the south then takes another sharp curve to the west.

Cars are parked along this entrance, making it nearly impossible for a fire truck to get through if a house at the back of the neighborhood were on fire, Butler said.

Butler said the subdivision has covenants regarding acceptable traffic and parking situations and operating a business in a residence, although Butler said the covenants say nothing about a religious service.

Lipscomb did not set a deadline for Greisman's compliance.

"I didn't feel like we needed to be heavy-handed. We just want them to follow the city's zoning laws and obtain a conditional use permit," he said.

"If that doesn't happen in a reasonable amount of time, we will revisit the issue," Lipscomb said.

AT A GLANCE

Chabad

Chabad chassidism is a system of religious philosophy teaching understanding and recognition of the creator through the application of the three intellectual qualities of chochmah (wisdom), binah (understanding) and daat (knowledge). The initials of these three Hebrew words form the word "chabad."

Source: The Chabad at the University of Kansas, www.jewishku.com

Web Watch

Chabad Of Northwest Arkansas

www.jewishnwa.org

This Old Synagogue

October 11, 2007

Plans to renovate an 1870s Victorian near the landmark Litchfield town green to house the town's first synagogue have raised architectural objections from a historic district commissioner and constitutional questions from the congregation's lawyer.We suggest the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism as a referee.The chairwoman of the historic district commission says, among other things, that the Jerusalem stone suggested for the siding is not native to the area and the Star of David proposed for the clock tower may not comply with the district.But the rabbi for Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County points out that the Methodist Church one door down has two Stars of David. His lawyer speaks of "certain constitutional protections" that houses of worship enjoy.Though no one suggests religious bias in this dust-up, a mediator could erase any question while negotiating a solution that satisfies both architectural purists and the Constitution.The Historic Preservation Council, part of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, provides technical assistance to historic districts. The council may be reluctant to get involved in a local dispute, but it could at least counsel the town and congregation on federal standards for historic properties. That beats a battle.
Copyright © 2007, The Hartford Courant

In Historic District, Synagogue Plans Are Criticized

By CHRISTINE STUART

LITCHFIELD, Conn. — In the center of this quaint New England town, where the green is surrounded by antique shops, boutiques and restaurants, not much changes without the blessing of the Historic District Commission.
In the past, the commission has gone so far as to order the removal of flower boxes from the front of homes. And it is entangled in a lawsuit initiated by a homeowner who replaced a 19th-century door with a window.
But little has rattled this community like plans by Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County, an Orthodox Jewish organization, to turn a Victorian house into the town’s first synagogue.
Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach, the spiritual leader of the Chabad, presented his plans — which include replacing the slate foundation with stone and building a steeple to display the Star of David — to the commission last month, and was met with stiff opposition.
According to minutes of the meeting, the commission’s chairwoman, Wendy Kuhne, “noted her own objections to the stone, which is not indigenous to the district, feels the clock tower is not appropriate, and the Star of David may not comply with the district.” She also said the proposed stained glass was “an inaccurate feature based on the history of the building.”
Rabbi Eisenbach said he was surprised by the objections. “Every synagogue in the world has Jerusalem stone in it,” he said. He also said that a Methodist church two doors down has a steeple and a cross as well as stained glass windows featuring the Star of David from an old synagogue in New Haven.
Rabbi Eisenbach’s lawyer, Peter Herbst Sr., said he hoped there would be more understanding about Chabad Lubavitch’s position regarding the religious elements, “which are protected under the Constitution.”
Mrs. Kuhne declined to comment on Thursday, saying that she was restrained legally from commenting on matters before the commission and that all questions should be referred to its lawyer, H. James Stedronsky.
Mr. Stedronsky said it was the commission’s job to decide what architectural changes were appropriate for the buildings in the historic district, which encompasses about one square mile in the center of town. He said the commission was not allowed to consider the use of the property.
But based on Mrs. Kuhne’s statements and the commission’s reaction, Rabbi Eisenbach said he was concerned that “some of the basic elements of our Jewish architecture and traditions are being denied.”
Mr. Herbst said on Thursday that he was confident that Rabbi Eisenbach and the commission would find a place for “architectural elements essential to the religion.”
According to town records, Chabad Lubavitch bought the property, built in 1872, for $375,000 in 2005. The organization already has a community center here.
Despite the dispute, Rabbi Eisenbach said, the town had been “very welcoming” and that “you can’t always abide by what the media makes the town look like.” On Wednesday, as he talked to a reporter outside the Victorian house at 85 West Street, Diane McAlpin, one of six burgesses that help govern the borough, approached him to complain that he was giving the town a bad image by publicizing the struggle.
Mrs. McAlpin then said Chabad Lubavitch, a tax-exempt organization, could not get the commission to approve its renovation plan because of liens on the property.
“Nobody has an issue with what’s going to happen here,” Mrs. McAlpin said. “This town embraces everything.”
After speaking with Mrs. McAlpin, Rabbi Eisenbach went to Town Hall, where he learned that there was an outstanding tax bill. Nancy Southard, the town tax collector, said the taxes were from the previous owner of the property. Instead of pursuing the matter legally, Rabbi Eisenbach wrote a check to the town for more than $10,000.
As he left Town Hall, he described Mrs. McAlpin’s visit as a blessing because he wanted to make sure everything was in order before the next commission meeting on Oct. 18.
This was not Rabbi Eisenbach’s first tangle with the town’s arbiters of community taste. In 1996 he asked the commission to allow him to place a nine-foot-tall menorah on the town green for Hanukkah, but according to published reports, several local officials complained it would destroy the purity of the green, and others questioned why outsiders had chosen Litchfield for the display.
The town ultimately approved the placement of the menorah. But Rabbi Eisenbach said he ended up taking it down because he felt it had been vandalized when borough officials extinguished the flames. The officials said they extinguished the menorah because it had been left unattended.
In the latest dust-up, not everyone is concerned about the plans for a synagogue. “It doesn’t bother me,” said Mark Murphy, the owner of Murphy’s Pharmacy on West Street. “It’s a free world.”