Etz Chaim battle heads to Twitter

Each week, Rabbi Daniel Feldman holds Shabbat services in his Queen Anne Road in Teaneck. Feldman is employed by and the house is owned by 554 Queen Anne Road Inc., which operates as Etz Chaim.

The organization is embroiled in a dispute with some of its neighbors who argue Feldman and his employers are misusing the house by holding weekly Shabbat services on the property. After a cease-and-desist order from Teaneck in 2008 and discussions with borough officials, Etz Chaim began a process to receive variances on the property to designate portions as a house of worship to satisfy township regulations. For a brief update on that process, click here and here for a short history of the dispute.

The story isn’t staying within the confines of the municipal hearings, however, despite the efforts Feldman told The Jewish Standard Etz Chaim has made to make peace with its neighbors.

Earlier this week, a Twitter account called “EtzHayimTeaneck” was created by unknown users. As of Friday, “EtzHayimTeaneck” had made two posts.

Our first tweet! Now this is even more exciting that keeping the story straight with the town and the damn neighbors. 6:04 PM Feb 3rd from Echofon

and

Candle lighting at 5:00 pm. Please don’t park near the shul (at least until we get our variance). about 14 hours ago from Echofon

On Friday morning, “EtzHayimTeaneck” began to follow @JewishStandard.

An e-mail to Feldman and a phone call with Etz Chaim president Robert Erlich confirmed The Big Lipowsky’s suspicions: The @etzhayimteaneck has no affiliation with Etz Chaim or its leadership, which claimed no knowledge of the feed until it was brought to their attention this morning.

The true identity of @EtzHayimTeaneck remains a mystery for now. The user has not yet responded to a direct message from the Standard through Twitter to clarify his/her identity.

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