A California rabbi is threatening legal action after the city of Irvine fined him repeatedly for hosting private prayer meetings in his home. First Liberty Institute sent a demand letter to the city on June 12 demanding that Irvine immediately stop its enforcement actions and revoke past citations against Rabbi Rafi Dadon.
Dadon, an Orthodox Jew, regularly invites friends to his home for prayer, Torah study, and Shabbat and holiday meals. His attorneys describe these gatherings as private, by invitation only, and central to his faith. First Liberty attorney Ryan Gardner told Fox News Digital that Dadon has been fined approximately $5,000 since the city began fining him in August 2025.
According to a demand letter sent by Sullivan and Cromwell LLP and First Liberty Institute, the city's justifications for the fines have changed more than once. The city initially claimed that Dadon was engaging in unpermitted "Church activities" that required a Conditional Use Permit under local zoning regulations. Officials later dropped that language and alleged Dadon was violating zoning rules related to "Accessory Use" and "commercial activity," and suggested his home was operating as a "place of worship."
The demand letter states directly that the shifting rationale raises serious legal concerns. "The City's shifting and inconsistent characterization of Rabbi Dadon's activities... raises serious concerns that the enforcement action is pretextual and directed not at any neutrally applied land-use issue, but rather at protected religious exercise," the letter states.
The letter argues the city could be violating the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Fair Housing Act. It also instructs the city to preserve any documents and communications related to the matter in anticipation of potential legal action.
Gardner issued a statement condemning the city's approach. "It is chilling that City of Irvine officials have resorted to serving fines to a small group of Jewish residents who meet together for worship, prayer, and religious observances," Gardner said. "Rabbi Dadon has a constitutional right to engage in religious exercise at his home with family or friends, free from government burden and interference."
Dadon's case mirrors a situation in Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, where Daniel Grand, also an Orthodox Jew, said city officials targeted his home prayer group and accused him of violating local zoning ordinances. That city demanded Grand apply for a permit that would have converted his home into a commercial house of worship. Although the city later dropped the permit requirement, Grand's attorneys have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his religious liberty case.
The city of Irvine did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
