The Gold Standard

To win a courtcase, there must be some contact with the opposing counsel. In the case of Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya or ECOS (Every Congregant's Overtly Sinning) there was a winner before any correspondence was sent between Akiva Shapiro ECOS lawyer and Teaneck.

When going to court against a township, especially in the case of "religious discrimination" and the duress of Robert Erlich, it is important to pick an experienced and qualified lawyer to help you win. But that's not the case here. ECOS picked a lawyer who values something more than religious freedom for the Shtibshul Prayer Group. It can't be the money because he is doing the case pro bono, so what is in it for him?

Lets learn a little bit more about Akiva Shapiro from Martindale (a handy website where you can research lawyers). I'll be sure to bold the important parts.

Practice Areas Litigation Appellate and Constitutional Law Media, Entertainment and Technology White Collar Defense and Investigations
University	Columbia University, Bachelor of Arts, History, 2001; Yale University, Master of Arts, Religious Studies, 2008
Law School	Columbia University Law School, Juris Doctor, 2008
Admitted	2009, New York; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Akiva Shapiro is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's New York office, where he is a member of the firm's Litigation Practice, as well as its Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group. Mr. Shapiro's practice focuses on a broad range of appellate, constitutional, criminal, and complex commercial litigation matters, often involving challenges to the policies and legal determinations of government actors. Mr. Shapiro is regularly engaged in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts of appeal, and New York's trial courts. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)


Some representative matters in which Mr. Shapiro has been involved include: Persuading a New York appellate court to grant an emergency stay, and issue a precedent-setting ruling on the merits, preventing the NYPD from continuing to target the ticket-sales practices of an entertainment venue; representing a brand drug manufacturer in an interlocking, multi-year cluster of intellectual property lawsuits, both at trial and on appeal ; suing to prevent the implementation of a statute on takings and environmental impact grounds; and a wide range of high-stakes commercial disputes involving-among other things-fraud, breach of contract, and class action claims. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)

Mr. Shapiro has participated in the preparation of numerous certiorari and merits stage briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, including as principal architect and author of a number of amicus briefs relied on by the Court in the constitutional, criminal-immigration, and separation of powers contexts.

Mr. Shapiro is also currently leading the trial team in a suit to protect the land use and First Amendment rights of a New Jersey synagogue; for his work on that case, among others, Mr. Shapiro was nominated for the Frank Wheat Award, given to lawyers in the firm who demonstrate leadership and obtain significant results for their pro bono clients.

Mr. Shapiro earned his Juris Doctor in 2008 from Columbia Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Columbia Law Review, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and a semifinalist in the Harlan Fiske Stone Honors Moot Court competition. After law school, Mr. Shapiro served as a research assistant to Judge Debra Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Professor Harold Edgar. He also received a Master's Degree in Religious Studies from Yale University, where he was a member of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities and the recipient of a Yale University Fellowship. In 2001, Mr. Shapiro graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Mr. Shapiro is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. (Since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most - my addition)

Mr. Shapiro regularly speaks on constitutional and legal ethics topics , and has published "Should the Lower Courts Save Taxpayer Standing?" in The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, 10 J. APP. PRAC. & PROCESS 273 (2009)."

Very impressive guy this Akiva Shapiro and he totally fits ECOS. He graduated college in 2001 and got his MA in religious studies and his JD in 2008, from two different Universities located in two different states. Very impressive to  go to Yale and Columbia concurrently and earn those degrees. He was admitted to the bar in 2009. That's a ton of education and experience for ECOS to draw upon to help them win, NOT! 

Akiva Shapiro has an impressive write up and has achieved a lot since 2009 - 2 1/2 years at most. Obviously ECOS wasn't happy with their last lawyer and they took on this experienced lawyer to show Teaneck that they mean business, afterall he was the lawyer who prepared a brief for Zivotofsky vs Clinton which was argued in the Supreme Court in 2011. 

So what is in it for  Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya or ECOS (Every Congregant's Overtly Sinning) ? Why Akiva Shapiro? 

• He's a member of  ECOS
• He's doing it Pro Bono
• He convinced Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman its a good idea
• Zalman Levine doesn't like losing
• Robert Erlich wasn't happy with the accurate quotes in the various newspapers
• Since Mario Guralnik is not involved with ECOS anymore they feel their chances for victory greatly improved
• ECOS already used Jason Flynn for their parking initiative and it failed
• Gary Miller was extremely active and disappeared
• They will have nothing to talk about during laining if there are no lawsuits

Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya loses either way because of the bad press and the stigma of going to a shul that has separated itself from the community and is built on hate.

Teaneck loses either way because the tax payers have to foot the bill for the BOA's defense.

Akiva Shapiro, ESQ has already won. 

• He is lead counsel on this case.
• He was nominated for the Frank Wheat Award, given to lawyers in the firm who demonstrate leadership and obtain significant results for their pro bono clients.
• He was honored at Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya's  last dinner.
• He was promised  2 aliya's a month by Levi Goldberg and then Levi changed it to 3 aliya's because Zalman told him to.
• Rabbi Daniel Feldman will speak at Beth Aaron on a Tuesday night in his honor, for a modest donation of course.
• He will have his picture and name in prestigious newspapers like the Jewish Standard and Teaneck Suburbanite.
• Columbia and Yale will write about him in their alumnus newsletters.
• The Famous Urine Cake King will give Akiva a lifetime supply of splash guards and cakes for his urinals.
• Free high risk deliveries from Dr. Abdelhak.
• Mario Guralnik promised him free parking in his backyard.
• Rochelle Mandelbaum will make sure he gets all the approvals to extend his house, when Akiva is ready.
• Elliot Frome put in a huge bet in Vegas on the verdict and promised Akiva 10%.
• Allan Chanan Cohen promised to smile if Akiva wins.

Akiva Shapiro arranged special permission to argue the case in NJ because he is only recognized in NYS. 

He wins no matter what the outcome, because Akiva doesn't "really" care about ECOS or money. Akiva wants the recognition, the press, the awards and the accolades. Akiva Shapiro is 2 1/2 years into his law career and isn't focused on the outcome. Being first chair is all he cares about and he steered ECOS and Teaneck into the lawsuit for personal reasons. 

Akiva Shapiro is the perfect lawyer for Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya. They both fit together

The Shul Who May Not Be Named

Which is Rabbi Daniel Feldman's real PPG (private prayer group)?

How many names can one place have?

• The Teaneck Shul
• The Teaneck Shtibul
• Torat Chessed
• Toras Chessed
• Etz Chaim
• Ohr Saadya
• 544 Queen Anne, Inc.
• The Shteibshul
• Another name?

They have currently decided to follow the money and go with Ohr Saadya, which means light of the help of g-d. Sounds like a Mosque, which coincidentally is what I suggested they do in my posting Surefire Way To Get Approved On Wednesday.

It was named after Yaakov Abdelhak's grandfather, for a sizable donation of money of course. Who is Yaakov Abdelhak and why does he need a shul named after his grandfather? Better yet, why did the South of Cedar need ANOTHER private prayer group? What really happened to the Mechitza Minyan/Merkaz L'Torah at the Jewish Center of Teaneck? Why did Yaakov Abdelhak need a PPG of his own and why is the PPG suing Teaneck Township? 

Next time you visit Torat Chesed/Toras Chesed/Etz Chaim/Ohr Saadya ask these questions to Rabbi Daniel Feldman, Zalman Levine, Rochelle Mandelbaum, Allan (Chanan) Cohen, Levi Goldberg, Famous Urine Cake King, Robert Ehrlich or even Yaakov Abdelhak himself. I'm sure not only will you be fascinated by their "non" answers, but you will find them encouraging you to pray elsewhere.

Some Famous Bypasses

Coronary Bypass

Highway Bypass

Gastric Bypass

AND..........................................

Neighbor Bypass

Teaneck congregation appeals conditions placed on house of worship permit

Monday, January 10, 2011
BY JOSEPH AX
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
TEANECK — A Queen Anne Road congregation that received a house of worship permit last fall after months of controversial hearings has appealed several of the permit’s conditions, calling them arbitrary and unduly burdensome.

Etz Chaim, which battled with several neighbors for years prior to getting approval from the town’s zoning board, asserted in a lawsuit filed in Bergen County Superior Court that the variances it had sought – including a request to have only six parking spaces, rather than the 21 required – were relatively minor in nature.

By contrast, the congregation claimed, the board’s conditions “are vague and ambiguous on their face, largely have no connection to any legitimate land use concern, and are far more onerous than the conditions imposed on other, comparable secular and religious institutions.”

The case has sometimes delved into the murky definition of a “house of worship,” as the congregation holds services in a private residence.

Etz Chaim owns 554 Queen Anne Road, and the group’s rabbi, Daniel Feldman, lives at the home. The congregation received permission from the town to add a family room and to hold private prayer meetings there.

A group of neighbors – some of whom had feuded with one of the members of Etz Chaim prior to the group’s establishment – complained to the town that the congregation should have applied for a house of worship permit.

The town’s zoning official issued a cease and desist order in August 2008, and the congregation decided to apply for the permit rather than filing a lawsuit then. After a series of contentious hearings, the zoning board issued the permit – along with two dozen conditions – last fall.

Among the restrictions flagged in the lawsuit are a ban on using the outdoor space for celebrations, a limit on the number of religious services permitted during the week, a ban on outdoor signage and a requirement that participants leave the home an hour after services are finished on Saturday mornings, as well as others.

“Shackled by the onerous conditions imposed by the board, Etz Chaim is not able to proceed as a fully operational Orthodox Jewish house of worship,” the lawsuit reads.

The suit claims the restrictions violate the group’s First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights, the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and state law. It seeks to have many of the conditions thrown out and to impose punitive and compensatory damages.

The group’s lawyer, Akiva Shapiro, of New York-based Gibson Dunn, said his clients would welcome an out-of-court settlement.

Harold Ritvo, the zoning board attorney, did not return a call seeking comment. Rif Campeas, one of the neighbors who led the fight against Etz Chaim, declined to comment on the suit.

E-mail: ax@northjersey.com

Surefire Way To Get Approved on Wednesday

This was forwarded to me and I feel it is good solid vital advice for Etz Chaim, Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, its moral compass, Robert Erlich, its fearless figurehead president and its planning committee puppets to use on Wednesday at the BOA meeting.

It is a surefire way to get the approvals you need for 554 Queen Anne Rd from the township:

Building permit

I just applied for a building permit for a new house.

It was going to be 100 ft tall and 400 ft wide with 9 turrets
at various heights and windows all over the place and a
loud outside entertainment sound system.
It would have parking for 200 old cars and I was going
to paint it snot green with tatty pink trim.

The City Council told me to get lost.

So I sent in the application again,

but this time I called it a

Mosque.

Work starts on Monday

Thank You Teaneck Thank You

I want to thank everyone for a wonderful Tisha B’Av. I enjoyed synagogue hopping and experiencing the mourning of the destruction of both Temples. The community in Teaneck really came together to show their achdut (togetherness) as a Jewish people. There are some elements in Teaneck that made it even more special and really put me in the right mood.

They say that you don’t really learn something until you experience it for yourself. Let me tell you friends, Teaneck is the destination to truly feel the meaning of Tisha B’Av. The fast day was extra meaningful in Teaneck.

Gilluy Arayot (prohibited sexual relations), a reason for the destruction of the 1st Temple, is very prominent here. Couples are getting divorced because of affairs and wife swapping is rampant. I must admit, Teaneck is not as bad as Monsey because they do not have a Key Club. What is a Key Club? Check the comments if someone asks.

Where else can one experience the true meaning of Sinat Chinam (hatred of others), a reason for the destruction of the 2nd Temple, on a daily basis. Just see how the members of Rabbi Daniel Feldman’s synagogue at 554 Queen Anne Road, Inc. DBA: Congregation Etz Chaim of Teaneck treat their neighbors, fellow Jews that are local to their location and the Jews of Teaneck at large. They inspire me to pray harder, to tear my clothing in 2 places and to eat extra eggs smothered in delicious ashes.

Teaneck is the place to be for the three weeks, nine days and especially Tisha B’Av. One day, when the Messiah comes, it will be a holiday and we will travel on the wings of eagles to the holy land of Israel. We will all rejoice together in Jerusalem at THE synagogue, the rebuilt 3rd Temple. A Temple not funded by illegitimately obtained monies and based on illegally filed building plans.

Amen!

This posting was brought to you by the letter A, the number 55 and
etzchaimteaneck.blogspot.com and
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