A Montgomery County judge has forced a Jewish center in a Rockville residential neighborhood to shut down, saying its rabbi transgressed the judge’s rule on what days he could hold services.
Judge Brian Kim ruled late last month that the rabbi violated a May 21 order that limited the Chabad Israeli Center to no more than 25 worshippers, and only on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, because the building did not meet fire safety rules.
The center must stand empty until it is in complete compliance with regulations, Kim said.
The center, a former single-family home on Rollins Avenue, and its Orthodox rabbi, Shlomo Beitsh, have been entangled in regulatory struggles with the city since 2008, when the Israeli Center came to city officials’ attention for operating without occupancy and use permits since 2003.
Steven VanGrack, Beitsh’s lawyer, told The Washington Examiner that the rabbi violated the judge’s order twice since May — once when he was giving members a tour of updates to the building and once when he was housing girls in need of shelter after their former hostess died of cancer.
VanGrack said the heart of the matter was “a good rabbi who meant to do the right thing but he ended up doing something that the court decided — and rightfully so — was violating the court order.”
Beitsh and his family live next door to the Israeli Center. Neighbors have formed an informal committee to closely monitor the center and report code violations to the authorities.
“We just want a nice, quiet neighborhood. We had no problem until the rabbi continually refused to follow the rules and work with the city,” neighbor Katherine Schwering said.
VanGrack said their watchful eyes have frightened the rabbi’s wife and children, but that the attention doesn’t seem to stem from anti-Semitism.
“There’s certainly nothing blatant. … It’s just the feel of the people at the Chabad Israeli Center that they’re under very, very tight scrutiny by a few of these neighbors,” VanGrack said.
The center is now working with the city of Rockville to meet building standards, said Susan Swift, director of community planning and development services for the city.
Beitsh is in Israel and could not be reached for comment.
