TMP: For more than a year, residents of the borough have been crossing swords over whether the Orthodox Jewish school that opened up on Homestead Lane last September has had a negative effect on the borough.
? ? ? The yeshiva, a school where Orthodox Jewish males 13 years and older study the Torah, has been at the center of a debate between proponents who say the school is a welcome addition to the borough and opponents who say its very presence threatens to upend the town’s diversity, as well as its school system.
? ? ? ‘While the yeshiva is up and running and a new class of boys is expected to enter their first year at the school this September, the yeshiva is going to have to get the township approval if it wants to build a dormitory in which the boys will stay.
? ? ? That issue is foreshadowed by legal battles occurring over two violations that the yeshiva has already received. Because the 12 students are currently living in a single-family house on Rochdale Avenue, both the yeshiva (the tenant) and its landlord received a zoning violation May 22, said Zoning Officer Bob Francis, because it is “use of a property that’s not consistent with zoning ordinances.” The single-family house is located in an agricultural residential zone, he added.
? ? ? At a meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on June 20, the Planning Board will look at an appeal of the first violation Mr. Francis issued the yeshiva, which considers the yeshiva to be a private school in a residential area. But Elly Shapiro, president of Congregation Anshei of Roosevelt which owns the synagogue where the yeshiva meets, said the yeshiva is breaking no zoning regulations, and that no one has spoken to the yeshiva of any alternatives.
? ? ? “A synagogue by its very nature is a school, is a place of learning,” said Ms. Shapiro. “We disagree in their suggestion that it’s something that is illegal and improper.”
? ? ? Joshua Hecht, the vice president of the Roosevelt Preservation Association and opponent of the yeshiva, said that whichever side loses will probably pursue a hearing in state Superior Court.
? ? ? But he added that the supporters of the yeshiva will try to get around the zoning regulations.
? ? ? “They are masters of obfuscation,” he said. “It’s a good business for them to try to take over the town, which is really what they want.”
? ? ? The debate has carried out in the past during Planning Board and Borough Council meetings and protest rallies held by opponents before the school’s opening in September. There also has been name-calling and poster campaigns and the fight has made enemies out of neighbors.
? ? ? But according to Ms. Shapiro, creating a divide in the borough was never the intention of her congregation, which just wanted to ensure it did not lose its synagogue because of low attendance and limitations on services it can hold.
? ? ? The congregation was “virtually dying,” Ms. Shapiro said, because it only had about 50 families and was losing membership. Rabbinical services were only held at the synagogue for religious holidays because those were the only days during which the congregation � which had very low dues as well � could afford to pay someone to read the scripture. The congregation did not even have the 10 necessary men it needs to perform the weekly services.
? ? ? A group of 10 or more adult males, who are over the age of bar mitzvah (13), is required for a prayer service to be held in the Jewish Orthodox faith.
? ? ? “So that meant we had to kind of come up with a different and unique way to have Rabbinical services,” said Ms. Shapiro. “We wanted to try to rejuvenate the synagogue, so we reached out to other groups.”
? ? ? The opportunity presented itself when Yeshiva Me’on Hatorah, of Riverdale, N.Y., approached the congregation and offered Rabbinical services in exchange for using the space in the Homestead Lane synagogue for the yeshiva and to house the school’s boys on their property, said Ms. Shapiro.
? ? ? Because some feared the yeshiva would impact enrollment at Roosevelt Public School, as families � who might have children of other ages as well � would be moving into Roosevelt to send their sons to the yeshiva, news of its opening created a stir, said Ms. Shapiro.
? ? ? “Because the enrollment in the (public) school had already started to decrease, and like other towns around us, aid from the state to schools was being cut, they were concerned that we would not have enough students to run it,” she said. “They felt that people of the Orthodox (faith) would not send (their children) to public schools, and, therefore, it would the cut the enrollment in the school even more.”
? ? ? Roosevelt Public School currently has 76 students enrolled, which is on the low end of normal, according to Shari Payson, the school’s principal. But, she said the school goes through cyclical patterns of enrollment.
? ? ? Next year, the school will have about 85 students, she said.
? ? ? She said she does not believe the yeshiva has hurt the school’s enrollment nor will it hurt it in the future.
? ? ? “We’re two separate schools, and I believe that Roosevelt Public School will exist as it has done so historically in the past,” she said. “They (the boys from the yeshiva) utilized the facilities for basketball, as do other groups, throughout the winter, and we co-exist fine.”
? ? ? ”””It was an overreaction that led to name-calling,” Ms. Shapiro said. “People on both sides have had very strong opinions and each side thinks that they’re right.”
? ? ? But according to Mr. Hecht, supporters of the yeshiva are using the religious argument to exploit the real issue � that the yeshiva will change the character of the town that has existed since 1936.
? ? ? “This is not a religious issue, although they insist it is,” Mr. Hecht, who has lived in Roosevelt since it was founded, said. “They try to use that because, ultimately, they want to go for federal law to allow them to go in there. It’s gotten to the point where people are nauseated.”
? ? ? “”””‘��Allowing the school to grow to 150 students also would hurt the diversity of the town and have an overwhelming presence of one ethnic group, he said.
? ? ? “I am against this particular idea because of the incredible financial weight and (because) the demographics would change enormously,” he said.””
? ? ? Further, Mr. Hecht said, the yeshiva has destroyed the synagogue and that because of the Orthodox Jews’ extremism, more liberal Jews who used to attend services at the synagogue regularly feel uncomfortable going there.
? ? ? “Instead of helping the town, they’re actually hurting the town,” he said. “Every time one attempts to use a rational and factual discussion, they hide behind (the argument of) anti-Semitism.”
? ? ? Because most of the opponents are also Jewish, the argument that they are anti-Semitic is not valid, he said.
? ? ? But the “dire” predictions of opponents have not come true, said Ms. Shapiro.
? ? ? “So far, the yeshiva’s been here a year and quite honestly, aside from a couple of mistakes that have been made, they have tried to integrate into the town,” by doing such things as shoveling snow during the winter, she said.
? ? ? Ms. Shapiro maintained that the synagogue has benefited from the yeshiva, as there are now services on Friday nights and Saturday mornings and people are able to pray.
? ? ? “No one ever wanted to divide a town, but all we were doing was trying to save the synagogue,” she said.