Congregation should save synagogue by other means

Residents in Roosevelt are up in arms regarding the possibility of a yeshiva for boys, an Orthodox Jewish high school, moving into the community.

Congregation Anshei Roosevelt is currently looking into allowing a yeshiva to use the Roosevelt synagogue as a way to rejuvenate an institution that has waned in membership over the years. However, residents of the small borough see the potential financial dangers in the plan. Adding more people, a dormitory, and/or tax-exempt houses to a borough of 900 people and limited municipal services could be devastating.

Without bringing in the yeshiva, the only way the synagogue could survive is if it boosted its membership. Because many people who live in Roosevelt and the surrounding area are of the Jewish faith, it may be most appropriate for the institution to reach out to the community.

Many residents have said they would join the congregation if it were more liberal. Just as the neighboring Perrineville Jewish Center did when its congregation started to decrease in size, the Roosevelt synagogue could make some changes. Although the synagogue in Millstone started out as an Orthodox Jewish institution, its current rabbi took note of cultural trends, implemented changes and hence, drew more people.

Changes that could boost more interest in the synagogue include children on the bema, helping the rabbi run services, and the offering of kabala, or Jewish mysticism, classes.

Roosevelt is a place where the township government doesn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance before the start of a municipal meeting, so most likely its population requires a synagogue with less formal services and one that welcomes couples of mixed faith.

If it hasn’t already, Congrega-tion Anshei Roosevelt should contact Perrineville Jewish Center members and see what’s working for them. The two institutions might work together to rejuvenate the area’s opportunities for people of the Jewish faith.

The more information that is coming out about the congregation’s plans, the more the public is realizing that the plans were being decided well before residents ever found out and without any thought to them.

In a town so small, with so little that can change, and so much less that’s not talked about, it’s hard to believe that efforts weren’t made on behalf of the congregation to keep information about the yeshiva quiet for two to three months. But why? In a borough so accepting and understanding of different people and their cultures, faiths and other characteristics, why wouldn’t the congregation float these plans by its neighbors?

Residents now seem to think that there’s, at the very least, an appearance of impropriety by Mayor Neil Marko, who not only served as the past president of the synagogue, but also as a member of the Pine Valley Swim Club, which at one time was part of this plan.

What’s commendable is that residents continue to flood municipal meetings looking for answers. What’s more commendable is that despite even personal relationships, the Borough Council voted to compel the mayor to speak about the issue at hand when he kept refusing to answer residents.

As difficult as it may be, the mayor should try to do what residents want and tell the congregation that the community has spoken out against having the yeshiva in town. At the very least, he should answer all questions posed to him by his constituents openly and honestly. If he believes he cannot do so, he should step down from his post as mayor.

Marko should also address why residents are saying that he said the yeshiva would bring a better class of people into town. Those who elected him and others in town would like him to clarify the matter.

People don’t move to a place like Roosevelt to be judged by their personal beliefs or tax brackets. Many moved to the borough because it exudes a sense of community unlike any other municipality in the area. It is unique in that the population seems to encourage individuality, but thrives on the communal understanding the town was founded on long ago. The people of Roosevelt know that the borough’s essence would change dramatically if a special interest group took hold and began making decisions for the entire community — and they hope that hasn’t already happened.