Ten years ago, a young and idealistic Chabad couple, Rabbi Menachem Rivkin and his wife Sheiny, established their home in Towson, Maryland, as a religious hospitality center where Jewish students from the nearby Towson University and Goucher College could enjoy a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
The Rivkin family grew and so did their desire to welcome local students. So they applied for and received approval to build a significantly larger home on their property. Rivkin’s brother-in-law, Eli, says that Menachem and Sheiny were busy for several years applying for permits and receiving zoning permission. “One of the neighbors wasn’t happy,” he points out, “but it was legal.”
But after the construction was underway, their next-door neighbor, Robin Zoll, discovered a covenant written in 1950 that stipulates that the homes in the area must be set back 115 feet from the road. The Rivkins’ new home is set back just 60 feet as per city regulation. At the time, the court decided to allow construction to continue.
Recently, the issue was thrown back to court and Chabad’s legal team expected that at worst the Rivkins would have to pay Zoll a minimal sum for the alleged decrease in her property value. But instead, on November 2, a judge ordered the property, which is said to be worth $1 million, to be razed.
Chabad appealed the decision, but this time the judge is insisting that the demolition take place by the end of December. When Chabad offered to move the building back to satisfy the setback law, the judge refused the offer.
An article in the Baltimore Sun states, “Neighbors, including Robin Zoll, who lives next door to Chabad, vehemently deny that the case has anything to do with religious discrimination.”
The latest decision to have the building demolished has forced Chabad to go public with the story in an effort to stir up support. They also hired renowned attorney Nathan Lewin to represent them in filing a discrimination lawsuit. Meanwhile an online petition has been signed by over ten thousand people, and a Charidy campaign has already collected close to $150,000 to help “pay for legal fees and to chart the best path forward.”
“There have been zoning battles before,” Eli Rivkin tells Mishpacha. “That happens. But this is the first time in American history that a Jewish center is being destroyed by court order. We’re hoping that the Jewish world will react and the public outcry could help.”
(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 738)