Is Cheesecake on Shavuos A Religious Right? Apparently It Is

by CrownHeights.info

Two Jewish inmates incarcerated in a Michigan penitentiary found themselves in front of a judge demanding cheesecake on religious grounds, and they won.

According to court documents, Gerald Ackerman and Mark Shaykin are Jewish prisoners confined in MDOC facilities in Michigan. Being Shmiras Kashrus, they only eat the pre prepared kosher meals provided by the facility, which are vegan only, and found themselves denied what they claimed to be a religious right on Shavuos. Cheesecake.

Not to be deterred, the two filed a lawsuit against the prison, claiming that the prison is forcing them to “eat vegan meals on these days substantially burden their sincere religious beliefs.”

In court paperwork from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, it says that the Michigan Department Of Corrections stopped providing meat and dairy kosher meals in 2013, as well as stopped the practice of allowing Jewish organizations to send food for holiday celebrations.

The outcome left the Jewish prisoners with vegan meals only, prompting the two to file their lawsuit on behalf of all Jewish prisoners.

Initially, the two lost their case in a lower court, but had their case reinstated and made it to bench trial.

“The district court issued a bench opinion ruling in the prisoners’ favor,” the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. “It concluded that MDOC policies substantially burdened the prisoners’ sincere religious beliefs “requir[ing] them to consume meat and dairy on the Sabbath and the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shavuot.”

Despite a later appeal by MDOC, the Sixth Circuit upheld the ruling in favor of the prisoners. So for all Michigan’s Jewish Prisoners, enjoy your cheesecake.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://crownheights.info/assets/2021/10/Sixth-Circuit-Shavuos.pdf” title=”Sixth Circuit Shavuos”]