The homeowners’ association in Loggers’ Run, a neighborhood in Boca Raton, Florida, may have believed it could get away with discriminatory behavior toward Jewish residents, but a federal court has now made it clear that it won’t be so simple.
Last spring, First Liberty filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the HOA of anti-Semitic discrimination. The association responded by attempting to get the suit dismissed, likely hoping to avoid facing legal consequences.
This is the same association that openly admitted at one point that it “did not want religious Jews” living in the neighborhood. One HOA manager even made the chilling remark that they “should have ended your kind in the 1930s.”
But now, a federal judge has flatly rejected the HOA’s request to throw out the case.
This decision marks a significant victory, as it allows the case to move ahead and opens the door to holding the HOA legally responsible for its actions and the mistreatment of Rabbi Naftaly and Henya Hertzel.
“We are grateful the court denied this motion to dismiss,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty. “The HOA’s leadership has engaged in open antisemitism against Rabbi Hertzel and created a hostile environment for Jewish residents living in their community.”
For years, the Hertzels have been the target of harassment and bigotry from the HOA. Members have hurled anti-Semitic insults at them, and the board has reportedly twisted its own bylaws in order to block Jewish residents from holding religious gatherings at the Hertzel home.
The Hertzel family has lived in the neighborhood for 14 years and hosts the only regular Orthodox shul within a six-mile radius.
To meet the need, the Hertzels took steps to create a permanent place of worship in the area. Although the kehillah currently gathers at a local storefront and in the Hertzels’ home, the couple also purchased the house next door to expand their capacity.
In 2017, they formally submitted a proposal to build a shul, choosing a location near several Christian churches in the area. But when Henya asked the board to review the proposal, they refused to discuss it or put it to a vote.
Since that time, the HOA has continued to target them with hostility.
In almost every scenario, the board has held the Hertzels to a different standard than other residents. Some homeowners host Baptist church services and twice-weekly Bible studies with no interference. But when the Hertzels attempted to use their second home for similar religious purposes, the HOA objected.
The harassment didn’t stop with red tape. Religious items were vandalized, windows were shattered, and hateful graffiti was sprayed. Drones were flown over their property, and people shouted anti-Semitic abuse outside during minyanim and gatherings.
When Jewish members of the community ran for seats on the HOA board, the association’s president warned residents that the “Jews are trying to take over” and urged others not to vote for them.
The lawsuit details ten separate legal claims against the association for infringing on the Hertzels’ rights.
The judge has found that each of those ten claims is legally viable and will proceed.
{Matzav.com}
