Posted to Chabad News on

Chabad may take Commision to Court for Discrimination

Republican American

LITCHFIELD, CT — A federal judge recently struck down a motion to dismiss claims of religious discrimination by the Historic District Commission — among the latest developments in a busy summer of depositions and motions in a legal battle between the borough’s historic preservationists and a local Orthodox Jewish congregation.

The filings push the case closer to what Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest Connecticut requested in its lawsuit: a jury trial that would rule on the commission’s ability to dictate the size and appearance of religious buildings in a borough listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Led by Rabbi Joseph I. Eisenbach, the local Chabad congregation seeks to build a temple and community center on West Street near the Green.

The Historic District Commission voted against granting a “certificate of appropriateness” in December 2007. The commission ruled that the 21,000-square-foot addition proposed was too large and not compatible with the 2,656-square-foot, two-story former home built in 1872 by one of the town’s most prominent early citizens, Julius Deming.

Related Articles:

Lawsuit Update In Chabad of Litchfield Action [10/1/09]

Jewish Group Sues Litchfield Over A Denial [9/10/09]

Chabad: There’s No Big Secret [1/27/08]

Rabbi intent on pursuing synagogue plans on Litchfield Green [1/18/08]

Historic District Rejects Synagogue [12/22/07]

A Tangle Of Tensions [12/20/07]

Chabad’s Litchfield Plan Proceeds [11/22/07]

Jewish Group’s Proposal To Renovate House In Historic District Results In Nit-Picking [10/7/07]

Jewish center has a new home [10/2/05]

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9 Comments

  • Eliezer Waldinger, Brooklyn NY

    Litchfield is an okay town. They are all nice towns in Connecticut and Westhcester. but it will be difficult for me to travel there as I do not have much time with my studies and family life. My hope is that more of the new synagogues would be built closer to Brooklyn. Why do our Rebbes constantly seek to go to these tiny towns anyway? It’s also cold and desolate during the winter months. I stayed there once years ago and celebrations are hard to arrange and get attendance because there are not many Jewish people there in the first place. What’s the point?

  • quit it

    why they making problems just build it in a place where no one will bother you.
    gosh

  • Happy Face

    Get a Picture of you smiling .. may help in PR!

    Shluchim should always smile .. when newspapers take pictures. Even if they ask for a serious poise! You can see from here why.

  • Change the name

    To Number 5…..very funny! Great idea! Call it a mosque and it’ll be built in no time!

  • ANONYMOUS

    RABBI EISENBACH IS THE MAN! HE WILL SURELY OVERRIDE THE COURT! HATZLACHA RAABBA. YOU AND YOUR REBBITZIN DO THE MOST AMAZING WORK!