"The hysteria is what I just do not understand," Rabbi Sam Levine says.

Levine is the spiritual leader of the East Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn. The synagogue recently sgned a lease to rent its empty school building to the Urban Dove Team Charter School, which serves students who have struggled academically in high school. Many of them are black or Hispanic.

The synagogue is part of the Conservative branch of Judaism. But neighbors, many of them Orthodox Jews, bitterly complained about the planned rental at a community meeting.

• State Money Still Coming Up Short for High-Need Local School Districts

"I would never in a million years paint the entire community with one brush. Were there comments made that were racist? Sure, absolutely," Levine says. "And I say that not to inflame anybody, but as a representative of a congregation that has people of color."

"Making school children feel unwelcome in ANY neighborhood is an insult to our city," Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted late Tuesday. "The vitriol thrown their way is beyond inappropriate."

A Conservative Jewish day school had used the building, but it closed because of falling enrollment, forcing the synagogue to find a new tenant. It hooked up with Urban Dove, which has outgrown its space in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

• Report: PTA Fundraising May Contribute to NYC School Inequities

Democratic Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch is among those who say it should remain a Jewish school. He represents an adjacent Council district.

"They're all God's children, and it has nothing to do with who those kids are," he says. "To me, it's a building, it's a facility that was always a Hebrew day school, and we have a need in the community."

But Levine says no other Jewish schools offered comparable rent.

Levine called on the area's elected officials to step in and help diffuse tensions between the synagogue and members of the community. Councilwoman Farah Louis, whose district includes the synagogue, says she's trying to find a compromise.

"It's not that we didn't want Urban Dove to be there," the Democrat says. "We wanted to have a discussion about all possible ways to make this work."

• Over 100,000 Homeless: How to Combat a Crisis Among New York City Students

But the synagogue and the charter school say they're forging ahead, and that neighbors have nothing to fear.

"I think when people meet our students and get to know them, they'll see that these are great kids who are just looking for the education they deserve," says Jai Nadal, the founder of Urban Dove Team Charter School.

"You have to really see for yourself," student Aniya Briggs said. "Once they know, and we get settled in the community, everything will be, like, natural."

Since the East Midwood Jewish Center is a private entity renting to a charter school, the city does not need to approve the lease.

------

FURTHER EDUCATION READING

Students Strike Over School Segregation

Environmental Impact of Queens Construction Project Concerns Parents

Is a Plan to Diversify Brooklyn Middle Schools Working?

Possible Location Found for Charter Middle School in Queens

Family Files Complaint Over Student's Alleged Punishment During Ramadan

Families, Providers Say They Still Face Special Ed Payment Delays

------

Looking for an easy way to learn about the issues affecting New York City?

Listen to our "Off Topic/On Politics" podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | RSS