WASHINGTON, DC — A new bill in Congress will seek to ensure that condo dwellers enjoy the same religious freedoms that others do. New York congressman, Jerrold Nadler, intends to make it illegal for apartment buildings or condo owners to regulate what residents display. If passed, the bill would overturn the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision earlier this summer.
New Bill To Allow Condo Owners to Post Mezuzahs
WASHINGTON, DC — A new bill in Congress will seek to ensure that condo dwellers enjoy the same religious freedoms that others do. New York congressman, Jerrold Nadler, intends to make it illegal for apartment buildings or condo owners to regulate what residents display. If passed, the bill would overturn the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision earlier this summer.
Lynne Bloch, a Chicago resident, certainly appreciates the move.
It was in mid-July that Lubavitch.com first noted Bloch’s predicament when her co-op, a federal court ruled, had the right to ban the placement of mezuzahs on its hallways’ doorposts. While Americans generally enjoy freedom of religion and expression, American law does not protect an individual’s rights in a co-op. The board of such establishments has the same power as a homeowner to determine protocol.
Following the legal battle, while interesting to Rabbi Shmuel Kesselman, is not nearly as important as getting the job done. Kesselman is the director of the Chabad-Lubavitch sponsored Mezuzah campaign. Mezuza was one of a multi-point mitzvah campaign launched by the Lubavitcher Rebbe back in 1974. The idea was to ensure that Jewish homes have a mezuzah on their front door, and on all the doorways inside their homes. Since then, says Kesselman, general awareness of mezuzahs has skyrocketed.
“When the campaign began 35 years ago,” he explains, “almost 90 percent of mezuzahs were not kosher. People thought that kosher mezuzahs were only for rabbis.” In order for a mezuzah to be kosher, the first two paragraphs of the Shema prayer must be handwritten on parchment by a certified scribe and inserted into a protective case. Today, he says, “a large percentage of mezuzahs on doorposts are kosher.”
