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Another Lawsuit In Battle Between Neighboring Hasidic Synagogues

By Howard M. Friedman

The long-running battle between two Hasidic synagogues in the town of Kiryas Joel, New York, has generated yet another lawsuit. Opponents of the village's chief rabbi had for 25 years been using the former living quarters of the chief rabbi (next to the main synagogue) as their own place of worship, operating under the name Bais Yoel Ohel Feige. However the main synagogue, Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar, convinced a state court last fall that the the dissidents' use of the former home as a place of worship requires a site plan review by the Village Zoning Board. (See prior posting.) The group finally stopped using the house in December after a state court judge threatened to jail their leaders for contempt. The group applied to the Zoning Board in February for approval to move back into the building. Yesterday's Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record reports that when the Village Zoning Board finally convened in April to consider the application, the Zoning Board members said nothing. Only lawyers and the village administrator spoke during the 90 minute meeting.

Now Bais Yoel Ohel Feige has filed a lawsuit claiming that the Zoning Board is improperly constituted. Zoning Board members also serve on the village Planning Board in violation of a federal court order barring village residents from serving on more than one village board at the same time. The lawsuit claims that since the village lacks a duly constituted Zoning Board, the court should hear the application to reopen the synagogue. Bais Yoel Ohel Feige argues further that use of the house as a synagogue is part of a broader 1975 approval of the site's use by the Town of Monroe.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 02, 2010 (boomark / email).