The work was controversial at first, with a group of community rabbis accusing Rand of idolatry. Rabbi Lopian, a local supporter of the murals, took the dispute to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who was regarded at the time as the "de facto" supreme rabbinic authority in North America for Orthodox Jewry. Feinstein declared that "the work is kosher and the spirit under which the work was done is commendable," and so Rand was able to complete his project. The murals have since become much loved within the community, and the former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, Rav Ovadia Yosef, has been a frequent visitor.