BEDFORD, N.Y. - Shofar in the Park is back on.
Chabad of Bedford had rallied the troops in August after being denied a permit to hold its annual Rosh Hashanah Tashlich in Mount Kisco’s Leonard Park.
Outraged but hopeful, the religious organization had its legal representative write to local officials to ask them to reconsider.
The denial, it said, was based on concerns being raised by the village/town’s Recreation Commission about deed restrictions regarding religious observances.
The chabad pushed back strongly, arguing that its constitutional rights were in danger of being violated.
In an Aug. 18 letter to the village/town, Lauren Israelovitch, a Chabad member and senior litigation counsel with the National Jewish Advocacy Center, said that the organization was prepared to pursue “all available legal remedies,” including filing a “civil action in federal court.”
The Village Board reacted by hiring outside counsel – the law firm of Dorf Nelson & Zauderer LLP -- to review the deeds, of which there are at least four versions, according to Mayor J. Michael Cindrich.
The upshot of that was it was advised to move forward and to deal with any conflicting wording in the future, he said.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, the synagogue’s founders and spiritual leaders Rabbi Arik and Sara Wolf were “thrilled” to announce that the commission had “reversed course” and approved the permit.
Previously, the commission had referred questions to village elected officials who were preparing an official statement, Halston Media was told.
As of Friday afternoon, it hadn’t been released.
The commission was working with the information it had, Cindrich said Friday, noting that codifying park usages will, in the future, help simplify things in general.
“It’s a work in progress,” the mayor told Halston Media, adding: “We’re not denying anyone anything; we’re just making sure the process is followed.”
Rabbi Wolf sent a heartfelt letter to his loyal congregation – and public supporters – thanking everyone who “took the time and effort to write to the village’s elected officials and to rally other individuals who have influence over them.”
Among those Wolf credited for the positive outcome were state Assemblyman Chris Burdick, who mediated a meeting with Cindrich and himself, and Congressman Michael Lawler who, he said, “personally invested himself in making sure the village did the right thing.”
Burdick told Halston Media that when he’d been contacted by Cindrich for help he said he’d be happy to because he’s “gone a long way back with the mayor and the rabbi.”
(When supervisor of Bedford, Burdick had worked closely with Wolf.)
Although he was precluded from revealing the exact content of the talks or comment on any of the commission’s decisions, Burdick could say that he was “very pleased with the outcome that allows the Chabad to have the ceremony at the park.”
The goal, he added, was to move things along “with deliberate speed” in light of the fact that Rosh Hashanah was fast approaching.
Burdick credited the dispute’s resolution to “the willingness of both the mayor and the rabbi to discuss things openly.”
Lawler sent the following statement to Halston Media on Friday, Sept. 12.
“I was happy to engage with Mayor Cindrich and Rabbi Wolf and help encourage a positive resolution. I thank the mayor for working diligently to resolve the issue and ensure that the Chabad of Bedford’s Shofar event could proceed as originally planned. We encourage folks to attend and celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year.”
“It was heartwarming to experience the way our neighbors have stood with us, and we pledge to continue bringing love and light to our beloved town of Mt. Kisco,” the rabbi wrote in a Facebook post.
He also thanked Israelovitch for representing the community “so patiently, selflessly, and with such moral and legal clarity.”
“The countless hours she devoted to us, pro bono, are a testament to her love and devotion to the Jewish people,” he said.
Israelovitch had argued that even if the dead did have a clause prohibiting religious activity in the park, that would be unconstitutional.
She cited a 1993 Supreme Court case – Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District – which found that public schools who allow community groups to use their facilities for social or civic gatherings, can’t then prohibit folks from holding religious events as well.
Also getting a shout-out for their efforts were Chabad members Roger Nadel, Lloyd Trufelman, and Warren Gottlieb.
Nadel had pointed out to Halston Media that the Chabad couldn’t simply switch to another site because some of its members, being orthodox, can’t drive on the High Holy Days.
Leonard Park is within walking distance of the synagogue, which is located just over the Bedford-Mount Kisco on South Bedford Road.
(The Wolfs are resident of Mount Kisco as are many Chabad members.)
Gottlieb, a resident of New Castle, had delivered a passionate address to the Village Board on Tuesday, Sept. 2, in which he said:
“Our freedoms are very important to us, not just ours, but all groups. Our freedoms rise and fall with everybody else’s. If I saw any other similarly situated group treated this way, I would come and say the same thing.”
Looking forward to the service, Nadel told Halston Media the day after the big announcement that he was “glad that cooler heads prevailed.”
“All we wanted was consistency and fairness,” he explained.
Wolf also thanked Rabbi Zach Beer of the Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation, Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, and Rabbi Aaron Brusso of Bet Torah, a conservative congregation in Mount Kisco.
Shofar in the Park has been held for the past five years, the Wolfs said, noting that it’s always been open to the public and usually lasts less than half an hour. There are no structures, amplification, signage, or disruption to other park visitors.
While they had pointed out that Leonard Park has hosted events such as an Easter egg hunt, they were very careful to stress that it was “a tradition we fully respect and are glad the Christian community can enjoy.”
However, not to allow similar religiously oriented events was, they claimed, not only “disappointing,” but “discriminatory.”
In a letter to Chabad members, Wolf said he had turned to his daughter after hearing the good news about the permit being approved Wednesday night and told her that the episode was “is a reminder that we stand up for what is right and for what we believe in, and we fight for it if necessary.”
“While fighting is uncomfortable and only a last resort, putting our heads in the sand and pretending the discrimination doesn't exist, or excusing it, is a moral failing,” he added.
Chabad members were “elated, excited, and happy” that Shofar in the Park has been revived, Wolf told Halston Media.
Why the change was made exactly, it doesn’t matter.
“We give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If a municipality is given the opportunity to gather all the facts and be made aware of all the relevant laws and it makes the right decision, we applaud it,” he explained, adding: “We are just extremely grateful and happy to have the right to express our faith in the American way.”
Shofar in the Park
The service and traditional shofar blowing will be held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, by Wallace Pond in Leonard Park.
Tashlich is a Jewish ritual in which participants symbolically cast away their sins of the previous year by tossing pebbles, or sometimes bread crumbs, into a body of water. It’s a way of preparing for the new year with a “clean slate.”
The park’s official address is 25 Wallace Drive, Mount Kisco, N.Y. It is located between Main Street and South Bedford Road (Route 172).
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