NY Guidelines For Yeshiva Educational Requirements Are Struck Down

Yesterday a New York state trial court judge struck down the state's controversial Guidelines adopted last year aimed at  assuring that yeshivas, as well as other non-public religious and independent schools, comply with state law requiring them to offer an education substantially equivalent to that of public schools. (See prior related posting.) In Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools v. Rosa, (Albany Cty. Sup. Ct., April 17, 2019), the court held that the education commissioner did not comply with the notice and comment requirements of the State Administrative Procedure Act in adopting the Guidelines. Gothamist reports on the decision. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Morocco Names Chief Rabbinical Court Master, Ending 100 Years of Vacancies In the Post

Arutz Sheva reports that the government of Morocco, on behalf of the country's King Mohammed VI, has appointed Rabbi Yoshiahu Pinto to the post of Supreme Chief Rabbinical Court Master. The post has been vacant for last 100 years. In his position, Pinto will head the Moroccan Jewish community's kosher food supervision and will adjudicate religious and customary issues for the country's 10,000 Jewish residents, as well as for the many Jewish visitors to the country.

Parents Sue Prominent DC Synagogue Over Child Abuse of Pre-Schoolers

Washington Post reports on a lawsuit filed Monday in D.C. Superior Court against a prominent Reform synagogue in D.C. Parents who brought the suit allege that at least seven children in the synagogue's preschool were sexually abused by a teacher for more than a year. The 239-page complaint filed against Washington Hebrew Congregation and Deborah Jensen, its director of early childhood education, does not include the teacher who is the alleged abuser as a defendant.  According to the Post:

The lawsuit states that the preschool teacher identified in the complaint was allowed to be alone with students despite city regulations requiring at least two adults to be present with toddlers in licensed child development centers. The school also did not properly train staff on ways to reduce the potential for child sexual abuse and to recognize signs that it may have happened, the lawsuit alleges....

Within a month of the man beginning work at Washington Hebrew, teachers and parents reported to Jensen incidents of inappropriate behavior, according to the lawsuit. The alleged behavior included being late returning students when he was alone with them and not responding to co-workers who were looking for him while he was with students.

The lawsuit states that when an adult reported potential abuse to Jensen, the director said that the person reporting the potential abuse had a “sick mind” and that the teacher would never abuse children. Jensen did not investigate the incidents further, did not restrict the teacher’s access to children and did not report the allegations to city officials, according to the lawsuit.

Parents Sue Over NY Vaccination Order; One Child Care Facility Ordered Closed

Yesterday five mothers of children who claim religious exemptions from vaccination requirements filed suit in a New York state trial court challenging last week's emergency order by the New York City Health Department requiring everyone living or working in zip codes comprising the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to be vaccinated against measles unless they already have immunity or are medically exempt. (See prior posting.)  The complaint (full text) in C.F. v. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, (Kings Cty. Sup. Ct., filed 4/15/2019) contends:

There is insufficient evidence of a measles epidemic or dangerous outbreak to justify the respondents’ extraordinary measures, including forced vaccination. The Orders are, therefore, arbitrary, capricious, contrary to law and in violation of petitioners’ rights under the United States Constitution and New York State law.

The complaint also contends that the Order ignores the risk of harm from compulsory vaccination.  Courthouse News Service reports on the lawsuit.

Meanwhile yesterday New York officials ordered a child care center in Williamsburg closed for failing to provide the Health Department access to medical and attendance records showing that the school is excluding unvaccinated children. (New York Times; Yeshiva World News).

Anti-Vax Movement Targets Ultra Orthodox Jews In New York

The New York Times in an article posted yesterday reports on the ways in which the anti-vaccination movement, particularly an organization known as Parents Educating and Advocating for Children's Health ("Peach"), is targeting ultra-Orthodox Jews in New York:

Peach’s handbook — with letters signed by rabbis and sections like “Halachic Points of Interest” — has become one of the main vehicles for misinformation among ultra-Orthodox groups, including Hasidim. Its message is being shared on hotlines and in group text messages.....

The majority of ultra-Orthodox rabbis said they ... urged vaccination, citing religious scripture about protecting one’s health and the health of others.

But all of that has not been enough to persuade vaccine skeptics....

Some Hasidim have said that longstanding tension between members of the ultra-Orthodox community and the government have made them wary of officials’ efforts to contain the outbreak.

The past persecution of the Jewish people is still a factor, they said. And more recently, quarrels with secular leaders over a circumcision ritual that has transmitted fatal herpes infections to infants and the government’s oversight of ultra-Orthodox Jewish private schools known as yeshivas have only soured relations.

Mandatory Measles Vaccinations Ordered In Brooklyn Neighborhood

The New York City Commissioner of Health yesterday declared a public health emergency and ordered everyone who lives, works or resides in zip codes comprising the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to be vaccinated against measles unless they already have immunity or are medically exempt (full text of order).  NBC News reports on the order.  The epicenter of the measles outbreak is in the ultra-Orthodox community of Williamsburg. Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced the order. According to a health department release:

Under the mandatory vaccinations, members of the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will check the vaccination records of any individual who may have been in contact with infected patients. Those who have not received the MMR vaccine or do not have evidence of immunity may be given a violation and could be fined $1,000.

This emergency declaration comes a day after the city health department ordered yeshivas in Brooklyn to exclude all unvaccinated students from classes, or else face possible closure.

Settlement Reached Requiring Subdivision Gates To Be Open On Sabbath

According to a press release this week from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, a settlement agreement has been reached in a religious discrimination suit filed with the state civil rights division:

The homeowner, Nathan Reiss, filed a discrimination complaint in 2017 against The Enclave at the Fairways in Lakewood, alleging that security measures at the adult community interfered with his ability – and the ability of his fellow Orthodox Jewish neighbors – to observe the Sabbath. Specifically, Reiss alleged, a locking electronic pedestrian gate at a community entrance near his home prevented Orthodox Jewish Sabbath observers from walking to synagogue....

Under the settlement announced today and a similar settlement reached in a case filed in federal court, the Enclave Homeowners Association has agreed to unlock the pedestrian gate on the Sabbath, and to make other scheduling accommodations for Jewish Holy Days.

Matzav reports on the settlement. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Limits On Rescheduling Hearings That Conflict With Religious Holidays Do Not Violate Free Exercise Rights

In Jack Jaffa & Associates v. City of New York, (NY Cty. Sup. St., March 21, 2019), a New York state trial court rejected a claim that rules of New York City's Office of Trials and Hearings violate the First Amendment.  Plaintiff, which represents clients who have been issued administrative summonses by New York City agencies, contended that rules which limit the ability to reschedule hearings that conflict with Jewish and Muslim holidays violate its rights and the rights of its clients.  The court held:

Petitioner has failed to state a claim for violation of its First Amendment right of free exercise of its religion. OATH's rules concerning the rescheduling and adjournment of hearings are neutral in both object and application and therefore "the First Amendment has not been offended."

Discrimination Suit By Jewish Woman Denied Admission To Social Work Program Moves Ahead

In Weiss v. City University of New York, (SD NY, March 18, 2019), a New York federal district court allowed a Jewish woman to move ahead with several racial and religious discrimination claims against City University of New York and its trustees, as well as against several administrators, growing out of the denial of plaintiff's application for admission to the school's Master of Social Work program.  Faigy Weiss was raised in the Hasidic Satmar community in New York, with Yiddish as her first language.  She alleges that the Dean for Diversity and Compliance told her that the social work school "conducted the group admissions interviews to weed out conservatives, because Trumps and Cruzes can’t be social workers" and that "Jews from religious backgrounds are too conservative to be social workers." The court held that these allegations sufficiently state an equal protection claim for discrimination based on race and religion, a claim under Title VI, and an Establishment Clause claim.

Certiorari Denied In Historic Touro Synagogue Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied review in Congregation Jeshuat Israel v. Congregation Shearith Israel, (Docket No. 18-530, certiorari denied 3/18/2019). (Order List.) In the case, the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals held that Rhode Island's historic Touro Synagogue, and a pair of historic silver Torah ornaments worth some $7 million, are owned by New York's Shearith Israel congregation. (See prior posting and denial of en banc review.) Providence Journal reports on the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari.

Ministerial Exception Defense Rejected In Suit To Apply Labor Code To Preschool Teachers

In Su v. Stephen S. Wise Temple, (CA App., March 8, 2019), a California state appellate court held that teachers in a Reform Jewish Temple's preschool are not covered by the ministerial exception rule.  In the case, California's Labor Commissioner sued on behalf of 40 teachers alleging that the school violated the state's Labor Code by failing to provide rest breaks, uninterrupted meal breaks, and overtime pay.In rejecting the Temple's ministerial exception defense, the majority said in part:

Although the Temple’s preschool curriculum has both secular and religious content, its teachers are not required to have any formal Jewish education, to be knowledgeable about Jewish belief and practice, or to adhere to the Temple’s theology.  Further, the Temple does not refer to its teachers as “ministers” or the equivalent, nor do the teachers refer to themselves as such. Accordingly, we conclude the teachers are not “ministers” for purposes of the ministerial exception.

Presiding Judge Edmon filed a concurring opinion contending that the court need not reach the question of whether the teachers held "ministerial" positions, saying in part:

I would conclude that the Temple has not demonstrated that the ministerial exception has any application to the present dispute, which does not touch on the Temple’s freedom to choose its ministers or to practice its beliefs....

[T]he constitutional imperative against encroaching on a church’s selection of its ministers does not, as a logical matter, suggest that churches must be exempted from all laws that would regulate the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers. Given the number and variety of federal and state employment laws, it stands to reason that some laws will impose a greater burden on religious interests than will others. Accordingly, courts can, without doctrinal inconsistency, exempt churches from the application of some employment laws without exempting churches from all such laws.

Yeshivas Sue In Challenge To New York's "Substantial Equivalency" Guidelines

Yesterday, a group of yeshivas, parents and other Orthodox Jewish organizations filed a state-court lawsuit challenging the New York State Education Department's recently adopted Substantial Equivalency Review and Determination Process. The new regulations are aimed at assuring that yeshivas, as well as other non-public religious and independent schools, comply with state law requiring them to offer an education substantially equivalent to that of public schools.  (See prior posting.)  The 50-page complaint (full text) in Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty In Schools, (Sup. Ct. Albany Cty. NY, filed 3/7/2019), alleges in part:

the NYSED’s New Guidelines would effectively frustrate the Petitioners’ constitutionally protected right to the free exercise of religion through a series of onerous requirements; would effectively frustrate the Petitioners’ constitutionally protected free speech rights by dictating what can and cannot be taught in yeshivas; would effectively frustrate the Petitioners’ constitutionally protected due process right to control the upbringing and the education of their children, as recognized by Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925), and Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923); and would hamper and inhibit the educational system that is central to Petitioners’ way of life, raising issues similar, and relevantly indistinguishable, to those addressed by the United States Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972).

The suit challenges the Guidelines on other state law grounds as well. Yeshiva World reports on the lawsuit.

3rd Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Fair Housing Act Challenge To Sex-Segregated Pool Hours

On Tuesday, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Curto v. Country Place Condominium Association, Inc. (audio of full oral arguments). As reported by Courthouse News Service, at issue is whether a New Jersey condominium association's sex-segregated swimming pool hours, instituted to accommodate the condos' large Orthodox Jewish population, violate the federal Fair Housing Act.

Canadian Suit Challenges Failure of Hasidic Schools To Follow Provincial Curriculum

CBC reports that a trial date has been set for a year from now in a case filed in 2015 challenging the failure of Hasidic Jewish schools to comply with the curriculum set by education authorities in the Canadian province of Quebec. Plaintiff Yohanen Lowen and his wife Shifra allege that when Yohanen graduated high school at age 18, he could barely add and subtract, he could not read and write in English or French, and he was unequipped to find employment. The lawsuit was brought against both the Quebec Education Ministry and Hasidic schools in a secluded ultra-Orthodox community near Montreal.

Egypt Will Build Synagogues For Any Resurgent Jewish Community

Jerusalem Post and JTA report that Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a U.S. delegation last week that if a Jewish community is re-established in Egypt, the government will build synagogues and communal institutions for it. Sisi also promised to clean up the ancient Bassatine  Jewish Cemetery in Cairo.  The U.S. delegation was comprised of members of the Anwar Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Commission, which had obtained passage of a law to posthumously grant the late Egyptian President Anway Sadat the Congressional Gold Medal.  The delegation invited Sisi to attend the award ceremony this fall.  Earlier this month the United Arab Emirates formally recognized its small Jewish community.

Christian School May Use Oregon's Religious Exemption To Reject Jewish Faculty Applicant

In King v. Warner Pacific College, (OR App, Feb. 21, 2019), an Oregon state appellate court held that a Christian college's refusal to hire a Jewish applicant for a position as adjunct professor of psychology falls within the religious preference exemption to Oregon's non-discrimination law.  ORS 659A.006(4)provides:

It is not an unlawful employment practice for a bona fide ... religious institution, including ... a school... to prefer an employee, or an applicant for employment, of one religious sect or persuasion over another if:  (a) The religious sect or persuasion to which the employee or applicant belongs is the same as that of the ... institution; ... [and]  (c) The employment involved is closely connected with or related to the primary purposes of the ... institution....

The court held that the exemption allows the school to reject a non-Christian applicant and await a later hiring cycle to fill the position, or to assign the work to an existing Christian employee.  A majority of the judges also held that this particular faculty position met the requirement of being closely connected to the school's religious purpose.

Uganda's Jewish Community Is Split Over Financial Charges and Religious Differences

Haaretz yesterday reported on the controversy-- which has now made its way into the courts-- between factions in Uganda's Jewish community, known as the Abayudaya.  The community's rabbi, Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, has been charged by his half-brother, Joab Jonadab Keki, with mismanagement of the community's funds and property.  Keki has asked a Ugandan court to remove Sizomu as rabbi, claiming he has taken community funds for himself and his family.  Sizomu's supporters deny the charges and have filed a counter-claim. Apparently the controversy also has roots in the attempt by Keki to move the community toward Orthodox Judaism.  Rzbbi Siaomu has completed his rabbinic studies in Los Angeles at the Conservative Jewish seminary, the Ziegler School.  The Orthodox rabbinate in Israel refuses to recognize the Abayudaya as Jewish because the community was converted by Conservative rabbis.

Federal Prison With Special Accommodations For Jewish Inmates

Today's New York Times reports on the religious accommodations for Jewish inmates in the prison at which President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen hopes to serve his three year sentence:

What the minimum-security camp at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, N.Y., does offer is a rarity in the federal prison system: a full-time Hasidic chaplain who oversees a congregation of dozens of Jewish inmates who gather for prayer services three times a day.

“For a Jewish person, there is no place like Otisville,” said Earl Seth David, 54, a former inmate who attended kosher meals, religious classes and weekly Shabbat services in the prison shul, a shared space where the Torah scrolls are locked up every night....

Orthodox inmates wear fringed vests known as zizit under their green prison uniforms. Prison work shifts are scheduled around daily prayer sessions and Sabbath observances. Before many holidays, the men are taken by prison bus to a nearby town for traditional mikvah baths....

Over the years, federal officials have “sort of carved this place out as a special location to put Jewish inmates,” said Benjamin Brafman, a prominent defense lawyer who has represented numerous defendants who have requested Otisville.

NY Court Orders Death Certificate Changed After Religious Objections To Brain Death Test

Hamodia reports that a New York state trial court judge has ordered Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital to change the date on the death certificate of an Orthodox Jewish patient in order to accommodate the family's religious objection to brain death as a definition of death. The patient, Yechezkel Nakar, was transferred to a nursing home after the declaration of brain death. He stopped breathing there some three weeks later.  Normally medical insurance will not cover treatment after a death certificate has been issued.

Challenge To NY Favoritism of Yeshivas Dismissed For Lack of Standing.

In Young Advocates for Fair Education v. Cuomo, (ED NY, Jan. 16, 2019), New York federal district court dismissed for lack of standing and ripeness a challenge to the constitutionality of the "Felder Amendment" which plaintiff claims was designed to reduce the level of secular education that needs to be offered by Hasidic Jewish schools in New York. Plaintiffs alleged that the Felder Amendment creates an unconstitutional preference for Hasidic Jewish schools. While not reaching the merits, the court suggested that state regulations may have made standards for religious schools more rigid. Yeshiva World reports on the decision.