Yeshiva student dwelling splattered with paintballs
Police seek information on who may have been involved in incident
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

ROOSEVELT - A house that local yeshiva students stay in was shot at with paintballs last week.

Around midnight between Sunday, Nov. 19, and Monday, Nov. 20, the private home, located at 53 N. Rochdale Avenue, was shot at with about 70 paintballs, according to Joshua Pruzansky, vice president of Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah.

Rabbi Yisroel Eisenberg, of Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah, is currently leasing the North Rochdale residence from owner Paul Brottman. Some of the students who attend the yeshiva, which operates in a synagogue on Homestead Lane, stay in the North Rochdale home.

"This is a town with about 300 houses, and the only one attacked is where the yeshiva boys stay," Pruzansky said. "I think you can draw your own conclusion at that. It was definitely a target."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a West Orange-based organization founded in 1913 to fight anti-Semitism through programs and services, released a statement condemning the paintball incident.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the attack against the students' home," said Etzion Neuer, the director of ADL's New Jersey office.

Neuer added that "the tenor of the debate" in Roosevelt surrounding the opening of the yeshiva "has concerned us."

The yeshiva, which is an Orthodox school for high school-aged boys, began operating in the Homestead Lane synagogue of Congregation Anshei Roosevelt in September 2005. The school started with 12 students and then added another class of students this past September.

On Sept. 12 of this year, the borough's Planning Board decided that the yeshiva was not operating in accordance to borough ordinances. As a result of that decision, the Borough Council unanimously voted to approve a motion to authorize the borough attorney to file an injunctive relief in court for the yeshiva to cease and desist its operations in accordance with the board's decision. However, the borough attorney has yet to file the relief.

The use of the home on North Rochdale Avenue, which was reportedly shot at with the paintballs, has also fallen subject to review by the borough's Planning Board.

Prior to resigning from his position as the borough's zoning officer, Robert Francis had issued Brottman a violation and said the current living situation in the home, which is located in a zone for single-family residences, does not constitute a single-family use.

The yeshiva is appealing Francis' decision and its attorney is also representing Brottman in the matter.

With regard to the possibility that the paintball incident could have stemmed from the yeshiva's use of the Brottman home, Pruzansky said, "People should not take actions like this. People may have legitimate issues, but they should be brought forward at council or Planning Board meetings."

"Regardless of one's feelings on the matter," Neuer said, "this attack was directed against students and is an act of violence and intimidation which has no place here in New Jersey and runs counter to our state values of acceptance and respect for diversity."

Pruzansky added that he hopes this was an isolated incident.

He said the New Jersey State Police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office are investigating the incident.

According to a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police, the police are working on a number of leads.

"We hope the people are caught and brought to justice," Pruzansky said.

Pruzansky did not estimate how much damage was done to the home.

Anyone with additional information about the paintball incident should contact the New Jersey State Police at (609) 584-5000, ext. 5297.