Campus Shliach Loses Lawsuit over Underage Drinking
A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of Illinois Chabad Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein’s lawsuit against Northwestern University, in which claimed that the university illegally discriminated against him and his organization when it disaffiliated with him over accusations of excessive alcohol consumption by minors at his events.
In his written decision, Judge Richard Posner quotes from Chabad.org articles by Rabbis Yanki Tauber and Tzvi Freeman as he concludes that there is no religious requirement among Orthodox Jews or adherents of Chabad for excessive alcohol consumption.
The lawsuit was filed by Rabbi Klein and the Tannenbaum Chabad House against Northwestern University in September of 2012, a month after Chabad’s disaffiliation over accusations of continued alcohol consumption by minors at his events, despite several warnings from the university’s leadership.
In its lawsuit, Rabbi Klein claimed that the university discriminated against him because they disaffiliated only with him while campus fraternities and sororities were also guilty of underage drinking.
“As far as we’ve been able to determine, plying minors with hard liquor is not required by any Jewish religious observance,” Posner said in his decision.
“It’s true that according to some adherents of Chabad Lubavitch “it is a mitzvah [a divine command] to drink, and drink to excess, on Purim” (and possibly on other holidays as well) (Yanki Tauber, “The Purim Drink”). But drinking an alcoholic beverage is not mandatory; one is allowed to be drunk simply on “happiness” (Tzvi Freeman, “Purim & Alcohol”). Klein acknowledges that grape juice can be substituted for wine on the Sabbath; what we don’t know is whether it is considered proper under Jewish law and excused by secular law to permit or encourage minors to drink hard liquor on Purim or other Jewish holidays,” the judge wrote.
“He had gotten away for more than a quarter of a century with an irresponsible attitude toward excessive underage drinking that went on under his nose in the Chabad house, and seems to have thought that he could continue to do so, with impunity, indefinitely,” Posner wrote.“He was warned repeatedly, but did not react. Had he stepped forward on his own initiative and promised to mend his ways, the Tannenbaum Chabad House might still be a Northwestern University affiliate.”
Rabbi Meir Moscowitz, the director of Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, told the Northwestern Daily that he was disappointed by the ruling and was mulling any further action.
“Rabbi Klein followed Northwestern’s rules and despite that was singled out by the university,” Moscowitz told the Northwestern Daily. “Rabbi Klein remains steadfastly committed to serving the students and faculty of Northwestern University, as he has for close to three decades.”
The following is the complete text of the Appeals Court’s decision. Click on the images below to enlarge the text:
Meshuge.
seems like someone got fixed real good…
forget the judge
what about the Rebbe??? He spoke very strongly against even adults getting drunk, let alone kids.
If you are depressed, go hear a kosher comic. Read a funny book. Just leave the booze behind – you are to precious to kill your brain cells with booze, especially under the auspices of the Rebbe and Chabad.
YOSSI
ONE BIG DUH!!
This is an awful Chilul Hashem.
1) What is, indeed, the Mitzvah to keep on serving excess alcohol?
2) After multiple warning, you need to be dumb not to do something about this issue.
3) Didn’t the Rebbe say not to drink more than 4 small cups?
You go against school policy, you go against the Rebbe’s request, and then you complain when they kick you out?
correct me if I'm wrong
but this opinion seems to concur with the oft repeated opinion of the Rebbe on excessive alcoholism in the later years. The Rebbe harshly rebuked the practice. Times have changed, people have changed. What was once a cure is now a poison. The Rebbe saw it and pulled the alarm.
Cajun Chosid
Judge Posner is one of the best judges in the country.
know the facts
Before you comment, know what you are saying. I happen to have been in Evanston, and know that Rabbi Klein followed the rule and laws of the university. This is a case of discrimination.
From the lawyer who filed the case
The Seventh Circuit got it Wrong
To Whom it May Concern: I was not involved in the Lubavitch-Chabad v. Northwestern University Appeal, but I was very much part of the case when it was before Judge Darrah in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. There was a qualitative difference between Judge Darrah’s opinion granting summary judgment, and the decision written by Judge Posner of the Seventh Circuit.
The legal issues are too numerous and complicated to be given full treatment here, but some matters ought to be addressed.
Judge Darrah, who was the judge assigned to the case when I filed the Complaint, and before whom the parties briefed Motions for Summary Judgment, analyzed the applicable law, and examined the relevant facts in arriving at a conclusion that I vehemently opposed, but that could only be called well-reasoned. His error in defining illegal discrimination was a common error in analyzing discrimination complaints. Here’s an example: Employee A, a Jewish person, is accused of stealing inventory from a retail company. He is terminated. Open and shut case, right? Perhaps, but perhaps not. If Employee B, not a Jewish person, committed the exact same offense and was not terminated, the company may be liable for a wrongful termination. If two employees are alike in every relevant way but for their race, religion, etc., any termination – even if it could be supported by allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the employee – would be wrongful and illegal.
The Plaintiff in LCI v. Northwestern was accused of serving alcohol to minors. The specific accusation, however, dates back to 2005. After the 2005 allegations were brought to the attention of University administrators, an agreement was reached between the University and Rabbi Klein with respect to how alcohol was to be served at the Tannenbaum Chabad House. Rabbi Klein kept to that agreement, and never strayed from it one iota.
The only recent allegation of wrongdoing came from hundreds of miles away, from the parent of a student at Northwestern, who was outspoken in his hatred of Lubavitch-Chabad. That student, acting presumably at the behest of his bigoted father, and a university administrator named Patricia Telles-Irvin, sent emails to fellow students asking them to send information to Telles-Irvin, who was, at that time, gathering information about Rabbi Klein’s perceived sins. The students who were contacted responded that there was nothing to talk about, that Chabad was a great place for students to hang out, and that nothing irresponsible was taking place. This theme has been consistent in nearly every contemporary report about Rabbi Klein and his Chabad House: he offers a warm place for students to hang out and learn about Judaism. He does not “ply” underage students (underage only in the sense that they were old enough to die for their country, over 18, but still not 21) with alcohol.
By contrast, incidents of hazing at fraternities involving alcohol, and even incidents of frat parties in which students became dangerously intoxicated, are commonplace at Northwestern. One report had a student waking up in an emergency room after being unconscious for many hours, with no identifying information on his person (the doctors had no idea who he was, and nobody came forward who knew him until he regained consciousness on the afternoon after he was admitted to the ER) after attending a Northwestern frat party that featured kegs being loaded into buses along with plastic bottles of vodka and everclear. Dangerous doesn’t begin to describe some of the shenanigans that were taking place – and here’s the kicker – Telles-Irvin and Northwestern’s esteemed administration did nothing to take these groups off of campus. Only Chabad earned that distinction.
So while the TLDR (internet-speak for “too long, didn’t read”) version of the case (which Judge Posner’s Order really was) has a Rabbi giving alcohol to students and being thrown off of campus for it, what actually happened was very different. The decision simply disregards the actual record before the Court, and instead points to Wikipedia articles and Youtube videos to support its wild guesses as to what happened at the Chabad House. The evidence demonstrated that Northwestern did not act out of a genuine concern for the safety of students. Were that their concern, they would have dealt first with the many fraternities and sororities that frequently endanger the lives of students through their irresponsible and excessive unsupervised consumption of alcohol. Instead, they removed a true gem, an asset to his community, Rabbi Klein.
I sincerely hope that Lubavitch-Chabad seeks further review of the unfortunate Order written recently by Judge Posner, and that they are successful in pursuing their claims of discrimination against Nortwestern University and its administration.
University Agreement
Can you please elaborate further on the Rabbi’s agreement with the university? What was the agreement, and is the University claiming he violated the agreement. Judge Posner’s ruling states that the Rabbi flat out ignored the University’s warnings.
lifelight
Any alcohol before the age of 20 is well-known to kill brain cells. That someone would purposely go and harm another Yid by allowing/encouraging those under 20 to go and do this is INEXCUSABLE. That they claim to be a Chabad shaliach and NOT KNOW the Rebbe’s position on alcohol consumption is also INEXCUSABLE! And still, the shaliach did not get the message. Hopefully now, the shaliach has gotten the message. We do not need more Chillul Lubavitch. We need more Kiddush Hashem and Kiddush Lubavitch if we want to see Moshiach NOW!
Stop drinking but sue back
Yes cut the drinking but sue northwestern back for anti semetism
a Fellow Campus Shaliach
can you explain to me why this needs to be posted..the pain that this Shaliach is going thru on so many levels is intense- really..do we need to be a tabloid..
Change or get dumped
I have been to so many on campus chanad houses were alcohol consumption is way too high. This will have to be a lesson to the rest of the on campus shluchim.
Got what he deserved.
I must say, the judge is right. There is no excuse for alcohol at any Chabad House these days. Society and civilization has matured beyond that fortunately.certainly not for underage children. This is not what we should be making headlines about.
It is folly to challenge this law, it makes the Chicago Chabad “leadership” look prehistoric and backwards.
Silver lining
Silver lining is that other Shluchim on campus can plan their policy accordingly so they should be able to perform their Shluchim smoothly.
Atun
It’s very sad to see brother who fell and is in pain on the floor being rebuked by his other brother for not listening when mommy or tatty said not to play there.
Besides, all arguments, wake up! There’s a fellow Jew who have been dedicated his life to serve this Jewish students for almost 30 years. Sacrificing his own family and life life to give Jewish “strangers” the chance to have awesome life. Now he’s pain over the list of a huge asset of his Shlichus, and the only thing you have to say is rebuke? Fine, he made a mistake, give him a break! Show love and compassion, show support!
chaim36
This was a very stupid lawsuit. STOP this crazy drinking once and for all.How much did this lawsuit cost and WHO paid for it ?
oy vey
This is just sad. When will Chabad awake from it’s alcohol problem?
.org messed everything up
The modern approach has come to bite corporate back. Sad state of affairs.
Hatzlocha Rabbi Klein!
a lesson for all!!!
Chabad has got to get this problem in check. It’s illigal dangerous and disgusting!!!
before commenting
B”H
for all those that are so quick to judge and condemn (like me), BEFORE you comment – please read comment 7, it might change your opinion.
as a side point, i am appaled that crownheight.info would publish such an article without at least giving the shliach a fair chance of showing the fact on his side – this article paints the shliach in VERY bad lighting, to put it mildly…
AN OLD CHAVER
I just want to bring something to your attention:
I am a very long time friend, former chavrusa, and great admirer of Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein.
He has always been, still is and I believe always will be a real MENTCH in every sense of the word.
He is a dedicated SHLIACH, perhaps one of the most successful SHLUCHIM in the world, and for this reason the Leadership stands by Dov Hillel all along, ie Rabbi Daniel o”h Moskowitz and tzu lange yoren his son remain at Dov Hillel’s side.
It’s NOT for anyone to judge, perhaps now is the time to focus on Rabbi Klein’s extraordinary successes in his holy Shlichus. Perhaps some mistakes were made, im not even sure of that but knowing Rabbi Klein the way I always knew him he DEFINITELY deserves the benefit of doubt.
May HaShem bless him with continued hatzlacha in his great work along with Chasiddishe nachas in absolute abundance! Dov Hillel, to you we say: CHAZAK V’EMOTZ!
Crown Heights Resident
The Rebbe forbade drinking more than four shot glasses of alcohol (“L’chaims”) (mashka cups) for anyone under the age of 40.
Anonymous
Dov Hillel ! Loose the booze focus on the important things how unresponsable you have been
kaporos
Maybe stop drinking in campus and let the shliach find another way in keep student involved!~
An attorney
Judge Posner is one of the most famous jurists in US, known for his intelligence. While this episode may have started by “misnagdim” against Lubavitch, the legal argument brought to court originally seems faulty. Everybody is doing this bad thing (under age alcohol abuse), but you are picking on me and not the secular fraternities, so you must be discriminating against my religion, just doesn’t hold up.
Anon
Selective Prosecution is a legal defense and is a logical argument. It is just difficult to prove…
but the logic is there. If a law is only enforced on a certain segment of the population then it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
YOSSI
We have a lawyers letter that explains how the Chabad Rabbi did something wrong – but since “everyone else is doing it”, it is therefore okay!
What a Chilul Hashem this is!
With all the Rabbi’s experience and success, he should have known that you cannot claim innocence when you did something guilty!
Who knows whether there is discrimination here? What we do know is that this is ilegal, there were warnings issued, this is against Chabad anyway. What more is needed for Rabbi Klein, with all his success, to understand not to be irresponsible and stupid?
Statement by Nathan Lewin
I was dismayed by both the tone and the content of Judge Posner’s opinion. He totally misstated the facts when he said that Rabbi Klein was seeking a “second chance.” Rabbi Klein complied 100% with what Northwestern had asked him to do, but he was given no chance to refute the double hearsay allegation that was the basis for Dr. Telles-Irvin’s decision. Her record of anti-Jewish conduct when she was at the University of Florida more than amply supports Chabad’s claim that she was motivated by anti-Jewish bias when she acted officially to terminate Rabbi Klein without even giving him a chance to deny the accusation made against him. In addition, Judge Posner’s legal conclusion conflicts squarely with the mezuzah case that the full Seventh Circuit decided unanimously. We are confident that this decision will not stand, and that both Rabbi Klein and Tanenbaum House will ultimately prevail and will again be formally affiliated with Northwestern.
Nobody mentioned
The university agreed to keep the Chabad House if Rabbi Hillel were replaced. A little humility would have cleared this up.
YMSP
Thank you Yanki Tauber and Tzvi Freeman for writing against a minhag yisroel and helping harm a Chabad House by so doing……. Maybe write against Kiddush next time. No need not to keep a good thing going – sigh
About time
Anyone serving alcohol to a minor is breaking the law bottom line and is liable. Never mind that we are dealing with many young men who are alcoholics because they were served liquor in yeshivas and in their Rebbe’s house.
If a minor was in an accident while drunk the person who served them is liable.
anonymus
Most of the many clients at Chabad of California’s Residential Treatment Center are young Yeshiva students from all over the USA…most of it starts with Mashke abuse R”L
lifelight
Thank you #22. Torah law is supposed to be the highest standard for our protection, and is usually higher than the law of the land, and all Yidden are supposed to abide by it. May Rabbi Klein continue in his shlichus, but be actively mindful of the health of all the Yidden in his seviva.
Friend of Chabad
To #29 – YMSP: “…writing against a minhag yisroel…”
Excuse me, where is there an inyan to get drunk to the level of stupor? Is that in Shas & Poskim? Sifrei Chassidus? Mussar books? I don’t think so. And please don’t think for a moment we can use the argument “just because everyone does it”, because that doesn’t work.
fyi
I have been to the Tannenbsum Chabad House for many years. For the past 2+ years the entire Chabad House have been completely dry. For the 6+ years before that there has been a bar tender every Purim checking IDs. I was carded. I never witnessed any irresponsible or excessive drinking on a regular Friday night or Yom tov meal. NEVER!! Please everyone check the real facts before rushing to judgement.
why are you posting this article?
This article and especially these comments that are posted on your site are totally uncalled for.
This is insulting, and unimaginable that you would post this type of info