March 2, 2006
A School or a Shul?
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Yeshivat Yavneh, a private Jewish school operating at a former law school on Third Street.
Administrators at Yeshivat Yavneh knew that the "No Trespassing" signs wouldn't go over well with neighbors, especially the ones who used to run their dogs on the plush green stretch that fronts the Third Street main entrance to the Orthodox day school.
But about two years ago they felt they had no choice.
Neighbors had been seen standing outside of Yavneh on Shabbat videotaping everyone who entered, to see whether Yavneh was violating permit stipulations limiting who can pray there on Saturdays. The videotaping was an affront both to the school's religious sensibilities and to its sense of security.
To neighbors, the "No Trespassing" signs are yet another indication that the school has no desire to fit in.
Yavneh moved into the Tudor estate, which formerly housed the Whittier Law School, in 1999. The school has about 400 students in preschool through eighth grade, and insists it has worked hard to foster a good relationship with neighbors. But things have soured in the last few years, as Yavneh tests the strict limitations of its conditional-use permit.
One clause in that permit states that Yavneh may hold prayer services for its students as part of their religious education. Yavneh interpreted that to mean that the school could hold Shabbat services, on the weekend, for students and their families.
Neighbors say Yavneh has, in effect, established a full-service congregation -- one that serves more than just students and their immediate families.
Yavneh maintains that nearly all of the 100-150 people who attend services on a regular Shabbat are students and their family members. At the same time, however, the school plans to request a permit change also allowing board members, alumni and others associated with Yavneh to daven there, but to cap the total number at 300. The current permit does not stipulate a limit. In addition, Yavneh will ask the Zoning Board to approve an 8-foot perimeter fence for general security in this post-Sept./11 world.
The Hancock Park Homeowners Association has come out against these requests, asking that Yavneh meet the original permit conditions.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, the head of Yavneh, is meeting regularly with neighbors, part of a conciliation effort by both sides.
