Maryland Court Orders Closure of Chabad Center

A Montgomery County, Maryland state trial judge last week ordered the Chabad Israeli Center in Rockville (MD) to close down for violating a court order that only allowed it to operate Friday evenings and Saturday mornings for Sabbath services. Yesterday The Gazette (suburban Maryland) reported that in fact meetings were held there at other times and a few girls stayed at the residence for a few nights.  The court order limiting the Center's operations came after the Center was cited for violating the city's fire prevention and building codes. The Sabbath operations were conditioned on there being a special fire watch system in place, and attendance was to be limited to 25. A neighborhood committee has been monitoring the Center to see if it complied. The committee's activities have disrupted the lives of the rabbi's family. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]