Chicago, IL – Despite Rabbinical Ruling Orthodox Congregation Remains Without a Place to Worship as Parties Bicker

Chicago, IL – Members of Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation know they want to reopen their shuttered Uptown sanctuary, but they don’t agree on who should lead it.

The Orthodox congregation was closed in September 2008 after Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz was accused of mishandling synagogue funds and donations, an allegation Lefkowitz denied and rabbinical court ruled unfounded.

Since then, a group backing the rabbi voted in a new board and named Lefkowitz’s son, Levi, its new president. But Steven Turk, who in the late 1980s restored the synagogue to its earlier prominence and brought in Lefkowitz, also claims the title of board president.

“It will eventually have to be decided by the courts,” said Levi Lefkowitz, adding that he’s “prepared to fight it out.”

Turk does not recognize the new board, saying the synagogue’s full membership did not receive the requisite written notice of the meeting at which “Mr. Lefkowitz claims to have been elected.” The board run by Turk has been holding meetings at the synagogue or in board members’ homes. It plans to reopen the synagogue once it raises enough money and all litigation is resolved, Turk said.

Larry Wolfberg, who was voted in as secretary of the new board during that February 2009 meeting, said congregants had sent Agudas Achim’s board a petition demanding the synagogue be opened and board elections held, but received no response. The new board filed with the state in late September that Levi Lefkowitz is the synagogue’s main agent, Wolfberg said.

Many congregants have rallied around the rabbi, who led the synagogue for 13 years and is credited with reviving Sabbath services and community events while bringing elderly Russian immigrants into the fold. The synagogue had prospered in the early 1900s but experienced a steady decline as Jewish residents moved out of the area.

All I’m trying to do is be a rabbi,” said Lefkowitz, who faces eviction from the condominium the synagogue owns. “I’m trapped. I can’t do anything.”

Lefkowitz and Turk both admit to a personality conflict, which came to a head with the discovery in 2008 of an unknown bank account.

The synagogue has been closed for a year and a half and other congregations are too far to walk to on the Sabbath.

“Most are frail and can’t go far,” Wolfberg said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a synagogue in our area and we cannot pray. It’s very difficult to keep up our religious (life),” said Boris Shuster, 75, a Russian immigrant who had attended Sabbath services every week at Agudas Achim. “I cannot understand why it’s so difficult to reopen the synagogue

There is also an eviction from the synagogue condominium pending against Lefkowitz. The rabbinical court had ordered the congregation to pay the monthly assessments on the synagogue’s condominium, where the rabbi lives and his sons were only allowed to live through August. After months without receiving payment, the condo association filed a lawsuit against the synagogue and sought an eviction order.

The condo association is owed almost $6,300, according to the lawsuit. The question of which board really represents the synagogue came up during eviction hearings, said attorney Kent Genin, who is representing Lefkowitz.

“Until it’s resolved as to who’s making decisions on behalf of the synagogue, it’s unclear what will happen,” Genin said.