Legal Battle Continues for Litchfield Chabad Center
From Fox 61:
A lawsuit dragging on for 10 years and counting continued its legal battle in New Haven federal court on Monday.
Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County is suing the Litchfield Historic District Commission, alleging religious discrimination.
Chabad Lubavitch has owned the building at 85 West Street for 15 years, but the property sits vacant. The Borough of Litchfield said the chabad’s plans to expand the existing building are not in keeping with the district’s character and are too big for the area.
“They [Litchfield] approved all of the features that the Chabad wanted,” said Mark Shipman, attorney representing the borough. “They just didn’t approve the size and the mass of the building.”
Shipman said multiple times that the decision to block the expansion plans have nothing to do with religion and everything about the size of the expansion.
Chabad Lubavitch’s owner, Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach, wants to expand the building from 2,900 square feet to 17,000 square feet, adding things like a rabbi study, kosher kitchen and classrooms. The center’s attorney, Dan Dalton, said these are all things a Chabad has in most communities.
The kangeroo
Litchfield has a valid point.Why not spend the money on something else instead of lawyers.
Milhouse
No, it doesn’t. It is obstructing the Chabad House plans for no valid reason, and should just stop. And lawyers play a vital role in any civilized society; who else will defend our rights, if not them? When you have a government entity unfairly preventing the Chabad House from fulfilling its mission, paying lawyers is a much better option than rolling over and giving up.
District boards
District boards and homeowners associations are evil, that’s why.
All across the country, these people have nothing better to do than to impose building restrictions. Google the story where these evil do-nothings associations forced a family to take down a clubhouse that was built for their child with terminal cancer.
It’s one thing not to want a homeless shelter or a loud club that brings violence to the neighborhood, it’s an entirely different thing to impose restrictions on religious centers because it messes with the “look and feel” of their community.
Chabad should give them h*ll and sue them till they buzz off.
Yossie S.
As a donor to Chabad in Litchfield, I am glad to say that the entire legal process was underwritten by the Gentile community, and Chabad never spent a penny.
I am aware that this is an old anti-Semitic town which didn’t allow Jews till the 60-70s to buy homes there. Today it competes with the Hamptons as being the large$t Jewish weekend community in the Northeast.
אף יענעמס….. איז גרינגער פאטשען
Moishe pipek
They gave a reson they want to preserve the historic district. It does not stop Chabad from having a shull etc they ask that they do it in a smaller form. I don’t think that it is a good idea for a religious body not to recon with other peoples values.
Milhouse
Of course they “gave a reason”. What did you expect? They couldn’t just say no without any excuse. That doesn’t make it valid. Their excuse is as transparent as glass, and should not be taken seriously.
Yosef
“Litchfield has a valid point” just as the Germans had.
Disagree
Most Chabad Houses are in the right and should fight against these anti Semitic acts. This Rabbi just loves a fight
Yoskeh
You seem to really to havo NO knowledge of the Rabbi:) He is the sweetest kindest loveliest Shliach out there. World renown for his Chesed!