Officials who run a small neighborhood synagogue are accusing the city of Houston of cutting off their electricity and heat before the holiday of Hanukkah over legal grudge going back to 2021.
Congregants of the Heimish of Houston meet at a 2,516 square foot single family home in the southwest part of the city. In 2021, the city threatened to file a lawsuit to shut down the congregation based on selective application of “residential-use” restrictions.
The city said that if the synagogue wasn’t shut down, they could face up to a $1,000 fine per day. In response, the synagogue filed a federal lawsuit accusing officials of infringing on the congregants’ right to religious expression, and the city backed off.
Attorneys for the synagogue believe the city is trying to keep power and heating off at the house of worship out of “animus” from the legal feud two years ago.
“We simply want to continue to worship together as a community and be able to celebrate one of our most important religious festivals of the year,” said Michael Winkler, founding member of the synagogue and owner of the property. “We are very afraid that without power, we will be forced to celebrate the festival of lights in the dark.”
A press release from First Liberty from Nov. 30 detailed the rationale the city used to keep power off at the house of worship.
More recently, the synagogue suffered a significant malfunction of its electrical equipment that resulted in a loss of power to its property. However, because Heimish was red-tagged due to some minor repairs and beautification that it was not aware it needed to be permitted, the city has refused to issue the necessary permit to restore their electricity. Although Heimish of Houston is working to address the red-tag issues, the lack of electrical power to the synagogue in the meantime is preventing its ability to conduct religious ceremonies at its place of worship. Moreover, the City informed Heimish that the process of rectifying and addressing the permitting issues will take more than 30 days. However, Hanukkah begins on December 7. Without power, the synagogue will not be able to host any religious gatherings, including for Hanukkah.
After First Liberty Institute and Burke Law Group filed a restraining order and injunctive relief, the city fast-tracked the process to allow the synagogue to receive its electrical permit in order to restore power.
“The City of Houston will work throughout this process cooperatively with the petitioners to get the electricity restored as soon as possible,” read a statement from senior assistant city attorney Brian Amis.
Here’s a video of their past lawsuit:
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!