Rabbi intent on pursuing synagogue plans on Litchfield Green

LITCHFIELD, CT — Rabbi intent on pursuing synagogue plans on Litchfield Green. Chabad Lubavitch has no intention of abandoning its plan to convert an 1872 house here into a synagogue, despite the official rejection of its building plan.

After letting the deadline lapse to appeal a Dec. 20 decision by the Litchfield Historic District Commission, the Orthodox Jewish group has mounted a go-ahead strategy that it is keeping under wraps for the moment.

“We are blessed with a great plan of action, but I can’t disclose anything at this time,” Chabad’s leader, Rabbi Joseph I. Eisenbach, said Wednesday.

While saying that the plan will be unveiled within the month, Eisenbach made it clear that he would not accept a significantly scaled-down version of the building, as proposed by the commission.

“This is the minimum needed for Chabad to complete our mission here,” he said, referring to the proposed 20,000-square-foot addition to the Victorian house on West Street that Chabad purchased in 2005.

By not filing an appeal in Litchfield Superior Court before Jan. 5 and not accepting the commission’s invitation to resubmit an application for a smaller building, further avenues would appear to be closed under Connecticut’s statutes governing historic districts.

But a case on grounds of religious freedom, an issue which Chabad’s attorneys have raised in the past, could be mounted. Eisenbach has said nothing about such a case being pursued.

“Although there’s not a lot of case law in Connecticut, there are state and federal protections for religious uses,” said Michael Zizka, a Hartford land-use attorney, when asked about the possibilities.