Jews battle neighbours in cottage country
Last updated May 24 2005 12:45 PM EDT
CBC News
MONTREAL – Quebec Superior Court is deciding what to do with a complaint dealing with a makeshift synagogue in Val Morin, Que.
Hasidic Jews have been vacationing at a cottage colony in the community for about 20 years.
Now, while non-Jewish neighbours in the community in the Laurentians complaining about noise and garbage, the town says the synagogue doesn't comply with zoning rules.
The ultra-Orthodox Jews with the Congregation of the Followers of the Rabbis of Belz to Strengthen Torah operate a small children's prayer centre and a synagogue in two cottages along the river.
The town of Val Morin says that area is for residential use.
The two sides have asked the Quebec Superior Court to decide on the matter.
Families use the prayer centre twice a day for about an hour a day, for eight weeks a year, according to the lawyer for the Jewish congregation, Adam Atlas.
"At what point do certain uses of a residential building, transform that building into something other than a residence?," Atlas argues.
While some non-Jewish families have said that praying and the activity at the cottage colony create a lot of noise, the Jewish families say they are not causing a disturbance.
Atlas says the court case brings up some interesting legal points.
"Specifically, at what point is a house no longer a house when you invite people over to pray?"
The town of Val Morin says it will not comment on the case until Quebec Superior Court hands down its decision.
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc-jew20050524
