It was standing room only as Rabbi Shlomo Beitsh delivered his Rosh Hashanah sermon on Sept. 12.

Many more than the expected 130 attendees showed up for Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville’s first services in its new building, and the rabbi’s sermon was met with thunderous applause.

But it almost didn’t happen, between delays in building completion, a long after-hours meeting with city officials and a fire safety inspection hours before Rosh Hashanah services.

Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville operated on Rollins Avenue for the past 22 years before announcing in fall 2025 that it would expand into an Israeli community center. The new center on East Jefferson Street will feature a place of worship, classrooms and a social hall, and is better able to accommodate the 500-plus congregants who attend its High Holiday services.

“The attendance was staggering,” said Steven VanGrack, who has served as legal counsel to the Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville since 2008. “Fifty or 60 people attend the Shabbos services, which is too much for a neighborhood synagogue, so they knew they had to find a new place.”

Chabad usually rents space at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington for High Holiday services, but the community has wanted its own larger building for years, according to Beitsh.

The rabbi learned that the City of Rockville had not issued the permits to occupy the building on East Jefferson Street, in the late morning of Sept. 9 — two days before Rosh Hashanah.

Contractors were on the premises on Sept. 9 completing the requirements to open. As Beitsh spoke with them, he thought to call VanGrack to help with the city permit process. The attorney walked into the building just then, “like an act of God,” Beitsh said.

The two contacted Rockville Council member Adam Van Grack and City Manager Jeff Mihelich to expedite the approval process.

The following day, Steven VanGrack showed up at the new building, again unannounced.

“I knew it was close to Rosh Hashanah, and I knew they hadn’t been approved [for occupancy] yet,” he said.

To obtain building occupancy approval in Rockville, a building must pass all required construction and safety inspections and receive a final sign-off from city officials.

Beitsh and VanGrack needed to inform the City of Rockville that the safety and other requirements had been met. But the officials who would approve that process had left city hall for the day late in the afternoon Sept. 10.

Unable to speak with anyone, VanGrack said he felt they were out of options. Efrat Tamary, a Rockville resident who regularly attends events at the Chabad Israeli Center, encouraged them to go with her to city hall and helped arrange a late Zoom meeting with city officials.

One long session later, the officials agreed that Chabad could host Rosh Hashanah services if the city fire marshal’s Friday inspection was free of issues. The inspection was successful — the fire marshal approved the building for occupancy just after noon on Sept. 11, hours before Friday evening services commenced.

“It was certainly a challenging few days, but I knew how important it was for the community to gather in its new home for Rosh Hashanah,” Tamary wrote in an email response to VanGrack.

She expressed gratitude to Council member Van Grack, Mihelich, other city officials, including fire protection engineer Shannon Patrick, chief of inspection services Kina Campbell, City of Rockville fire marshal Carl Young, the contractors and everyone else who “worked with us under such extraordinary time pressure.”

“Hearing that the synagogue was filled beyond the planned 130 seats makes every phone call, meeting and last-minute effort worthwhile,” Tamary wrote.

In his Rosh Hashanah sermon, Beitsh recognized VanGrack for his efforts in getting the building approved in time for the holiday.

“[Sermons typically] talk about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob — they talk about all these wonderful people — and [Rabbi Beitsh] talked about me and how I was there,” VanGrack said. “I’ve been very fortunate and thankful in my life to receive a lot of honors. This is one of the greatest.”

While these extra steps made Rosh Hashanah especially meaningful this year, there is more work ahead, Tamary said. The building’s construction and final occupancy are not yet complete; Young, the fire marshal, granted a temporary certificate of occupancy for Yom Kippur services. The sanctuary’s 300 seats were all filled for Sunday evening’s Kol Nidre service.

Tamary is confident that finalizing the process won’t be an issue.

“Where there’s goodwill, even the impossible becomes possible,” Tamary told Washington Jewish Week.

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com