New Paltz, NY – The Town Board has unanimously in a resolution condemned incidents of vandalism and behavior targeting the local Jewish community.
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A recent request by Rabbi Moshe Plotkin to use his South Oakwood Terrace residence in the village as a synagoguge triggered the most recent wave of anti-Semitic behavior.
Plotkin’s plan to convert the home he shares with his wife and three small children into a combination residence and house of worship, required a special permit as a nonconforming use. Village planners struggled with language in the village zoning law that did not specifically address that.
But charges of anti-Semitism surfaced when some neighbors questioned if Plotkin was in fact an ordained rabbi. Others questioned the rabbi’s house being offered to SUNY students for Sabbath dinners or to provide a home away from home for them for religious purposes. At present, New Paltz has no synagogue.