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In South Brookline, Jewish congregation, neighbors battle over whether congregation's proposed new home is just too large
By adamg on Tue, 09/03/2024 - 9:52am
Brookline.News reports the South Brookline Chabad Center says its outgrown its current home on the Putterham rotary - across from Temple Emeth - and wants to build a new, larger center down Bellingham Road - but nearby residents say the proposal is just too darn big, and besides, the home it would replace are historic.
The conflict echos a similar one in Brighton, where neighbors of a proposed new synagogue - for an Orthodox congregation that has outgrown its current home - filed suit last year to try to block construction. The suit remains unresolved; a judge is currently scheduled to issue a judgment by February, court records show.
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Comments
First Amendment trumps all
build them both. Freedom of religion > NIMBYs.
They have to prove discrimination first.
.
No, they don't
Massachusetts has something called the Dover Amendment, which exempts certain religious development from local zoning requirements. It reached its apotheosis (your Word of the Day) in 2001, when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Belmont could not bar the Mormons from building a temple with a particularly tall steeple on a site off Rte. 2.
Whether that applies here, since the possible issue, at least initially, is historic preservation, not zoning, is a question for the lawyers, but, no, there's no need for the Chabadniks to prove discrimination first.
Yes, I had forgotten that.
But in the court of public opinion anything goes.
Fortunately ...
We're a country of laws (well, more or less).
So, that’s how they conquered
So, that’s how the More mans conquered the skyline along Route 2: the Dover Amendment. I thought it was Romney and influence. It wasn’t ‘The Expanse’ fans who built a tribute to ‘The Navoo.’
Chabad Centers are interesting
They are basically houses where families live that offer various services for religious purposes. They don’t pay real estate taxes but neither do the rectories attached to Catholic Churches I guess. The amount of “services” in these centers aren’t really documented by anyone. This one seems like a legit temple though with services. The sad part is that right across the street is a temple that has plenty of open space that isn’t being used.
Um ...
I have no particular love for Judaism's main proselytizing sect (don't worry, Christians - they only proselytize other Jews) . As somebody who grew up in New York I learned to move to the other side of the street when I spotted a gaggle of them outside one of their torah tanks/mitzvah mobiles (because otherwise I'd be asked whether I was Jewish and if I answered truthfully, would be pestered until I went inside the vehicle to strap on the tefillin and say the morning prayers with them),
But just because you don't know personally what goes on in their centers doesn't mean it's all a grift. Yes, their centers start with a rabbi and his family who move somewhere new and who then try to build a congregation around them, but that's no different than any other proselytizing religious group, and they do do good things - and even people who aren't Chasidic can appreciate what they do (when my father died, the rabbi who led his service was Chasidic).
My friend in Paris was constantly harrassed…
.. for years by the proselytizing Jews in his neighborhood.
In the shops, laundromat, even outside his door.
They challenged him relentlessly. He finally moved.
All religions have their crazies.
Didn't want to imply that it was a grift...
As we already know, priests live in houses that are not taxed and these houses are separate from the church building itself. I wouldn't call it a "grift" but it is what it is.
Most Chabad houses in MA aren't large religious centers. They house other members visiting from other parts of the country, offer spaces for events, have events for teens and other kids groups, sell literature and food. They also do some holiday charity work and events often cooking and hosting meals for those less fortunate.
I know Rabbi Mendy, he's a solid dude who doesn't scam anyone. I don't think any of the Chabad centers or members in MA act like the ones you describe in NY. I do think it is fair to simply point out that most of these centers are homes with large families that have small events and businesses. This one in Brookline is obviously a little different.
Tax all religious buildings.
Tax all religious buildings. Problem solved. This country is so dumb sometimes.
A bit off topic …
… but I’ve been wondering when the synagogue that signs promise on Boylston between Arlington and Berkeley is coming.
It seems like a good place for one. It would add diversity to a business district and be convenient for local worshippers.
I hope the standing buildings will still be usable or at least the interesting facades. They’ve been left to rot. Probably so they will be condemned.
Barf
Historically significant? These houses were built in 1942 and 1949. They have no historical significance.
Shame on these horrible neighbors.
Meh.
This is a little different. Buying up 2 small buildings in two small lots to build a huge building on one huge lot isn’t exactly something that is good for neighborhoods
They have housing value.
Small freestanding homes are disappearing fast.
You might want to tour the area some day
South Brookline is NOT the same as, oh, Beacon Street, it's way more rural (a good part of Allandale Farm is in South Brookline) and, well, Newtony, the sort of place a Robert Kraft or Tom Brady might buy an estate in.
Rural?!?
C'mon, Adam.
OK, granted, the bulls are on the Boston side of the line ...
But compared to the rest of Brookline or even neighboring West Roxbury, I'd hardly categorize South Brookline as "urban."
I don’t think anyone is.
.
Single houses built on ragged
Single houses built on ragged, idyllic rocks.
Very familiar with it.
You might want to not jump to conclusions.
So?
1. Sure they have housing value. Which isn’t historical value.
2. By the sound of it, this Chabad Center will have even more housing value with far more residents in the same footprint.
3. They bought the land, they can do what they want with it. If you disagree, put your money where your mouth is and make them an offer.*
*By the same token, I’d like to see the Country Club and the Lynch course turned into tens of thousands of units of housing, but I presently lack the funds to make that happen so I’ll keep it to myself.
Edit: this may not have more housing value if it’s a synagogue and community center. Oh well.
Buying land does not mean you can do whatever you want with it.
Even feudal lords had restrictions.
Sorry you don’t have the funds to develop a golf course. But keeping something to yourself actually means just that.
Except they won’t be paying
Except they won’t be paying property tax so it’s a loss for everyone in Brookline.
History is made by preserving the past.
And neighborhoods are destroyed by catering to profit-seeking ventures. And let's be honest, this *is* a business with plans that are out of whack for that area.
Don't the people who already live there have a say?
Don't know the law
But this can't be its intended purpose. Taking over single family homes to build religious centers that are basically houses for the religious leader with giant rec rooms to have 70 people over for ceremonies just because you were able to get two lots side-by-side can't possibly be what we want on the whole.
Both sides seem equally gross though. The community trying to use "historical nature" as a means of stopping the project while the religious group tries to use religious exemption to build their rabbi a new multi-million dollar home completely out of character for the area (where it would be much more fitting in a more mixed residential-commercial space) like out on the VFW or something.
The whole thing is just 'ugh'. Can nobody win?
Point of clarification*
The facility being proposed on Bellingham Rd is a Synagoge/Parochial School/Community center. While it is often true that Rabbis and their families live in Chabad Centers, that’s usually due to necessity of them moving far from their homes, and needing to be available to the community. The terminology can be confusing, but when you see the term Chabad House or Chabad Center, it’s synonymous with synagogue. Just as often the Rabbi and his family live in their own house, which very well might be the case here.
So what? People move for jobs
So what? People move for jobs all the time. That’s all a rabbi is, a profession. They should pay property tax.