Kept From Keeping the Sabbath
10th October 2021
Late last month, several Orthodox Jewish residents of a New Jersey apartment building—all elderly, some handicapped—filed a federal lawsuit because their co-op board would not let doormen press the elevator button for them on the Jewish Sabbath.
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Yet though the solutions are easy, some are unwilling to make space for religious practice. In the present case, Kurlansky v. 1530 Owners Corp., the plaintiffs have alleged building policies and comments from co-op board members that, if proven true, can only be described as discriminatory. Some of the plaintiffs have alleged hearing co-op board members say that they did not want “too many of those types of Jews” in the building. The building—referred to as the Colony—provides, according to its website, a wide range of amenities, including concierge and delivery service. Yet service doormen are, allegedly, expressly prohibited from pressing elevator buttons for Orthodox Jews on the Sabbath.
The totalitarian impulse arises naturally.