To the Rabbis of the RCBC:
For decades the Jewish community has lived in peace and tranquility with its non-Jewish neighbors in Teaneck. Jews serve the residents of Teaneck on the Town Council and many of its committees. We benefit from over two dozen kosher restaurants under your capable supervision. We are able to walk to many shuls on Shabbat within not one but two eruvim. We have a magnificent new mikvah. We have access to the best halachic minds on this side of the George Washington Bridge.
We also live in a town that is witnessing a chilul hashem of epic proportions. For years, Congregation Etz Chaim has been working surreptitiously to build a shul without going through the proper channels that ALL other shuls in Teaneck have followed. Their leaders have been at the center of controversy since day one of their founding and even before through acts that bordered - and possibly crossed the line - on outright fraud.
After Etz Chaim finally went through the correct process under pressure from neighbors to “do the right thing” and publicly stated that they would abide by the ruling of the Board of Adjustment they got the variance they applied for and then turned on the very Board that granted exactly what Etz Chaim had requested by suing them.
Etz Chaim claims that their suit is against the Board of Adjustment and not the neighbors but their suit IS against every single resident of Teaneck. The ramifications of suing the Board of Adjustment may very well negatively affect the relationship the Jews of Teaneck have with our non-Jewish neighbors for many years.
If Etz Chaim’s lawsuit had any merit, which it does not, it still would not be advisable to sue the Township for what they want. Had Etz Chaim followed the procedures for getting permission to create a shul everyone’s lives would have been very different today. The restrictions placed on Etz Chaim could have been appealed through the regular procedures in place and perhaps the Board of Adjustment would have decided that maybe some of the restrictions could be altered. But instead, Etz Chaim, “guns a blazing”, go on the offensive and attack the Board of Adjustment. The next shul in town, a new one looking to open its doors or an old one looking to expand, is going to have to apply for variances and follow the prescribed procedures but run the risk of being denied just because of the precedent Etz Chaim has set of how shuls and Orthodox Jews behave. The Board of Adjustment may reject the application because they know that the shul will do whatever they want anyway, after all Etz Chaim did.
The ends really never justify the means. Etz Chaim has tarnished the relationship between the Jews and non-Jews of Teaneck and has caused irreparable damage through a heinous chillul hashem. It is now up to the Rabbis of the RCBC to stand up, from the pulpit or through their pens, and actively and forcefully demand that Etz Chaim stop this chillul hashem immediately. It is time for the Rabbis of the RCBC to call on their member, Rabbi Daniel Feldman, to stop the chillul hashem that will have a real impact on their shuls and the continued growth of the Orthodox community in Teaneck for many years in the future. It is time for our Rabbinic leaders to lead and bring an end to the hurtful actions of one of its member shuls.
Sincerely,
Concerned Orthodox Jews of Teaneck
