Lakewood, NJ – Prayer Meetings Halted By Judge

Lakewood, NJ – Superior Court Judge Frank A. Buczynski Jr. ordered the Orthodox Jewish prayer gatherings to halt at the one-story home in A Country Place until an independent engineer determines the dwelling, which has undergone major renovations, is safe. Of particular concern, Buczynski noted, was whether a wall that had been removed was one that supported other parts of the house. The postponement will likely last into July.

“If a bearing wall were removed, I can assure you there’d be a restraint in 30 seconds,” the judge said.

A Country Place filed a lawsuit in February against the condo owner, Anna Kahan, saying she violated the private community’s bylaws by renovating without permission and using the unit for reasons other than residential.

Kahan’s attorney, Gary Theodore, described the residence on Azalea Court as not an official synagogue but a private “prayer group” for mainly elderly handicapped residents who can’t walk to another temple.

At least one Orthodox resident disagrees with the condo operators’ tactics. Rabbi Martin Boas said he was pressured by what he called a “manipulated” Beth Medrash Gevoha dean to refrain from submitting a critical letter to the association’s board. In a subsequent letter addressed to the board, however, he wrote: “It is not the existence of a synagogue per se that rankles me. It is the underhanded fashion by which it was done.”

Kahan lives in Brooklyn and only occasionally visits the Lakewood condo, people from both sides of the case said. [APP]