A federal court ruled that a Chabad couple who allege that a Florida homeowners association is guilty of Jew-hatred for blocking them from using their property as a synagogue can go forward with a lawsuit.
Rabbi Naftaly and Henya Hertzel also accuse the association of vandalism and discrimination based on their faith.
Aileen Cannon, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and an appointee of U.S. President Donald Trump, rejected last month the effort of the Loggers Run Homeowners Association in Boca Raton, Fla., to dismiss the Hertzel family’s suit.
The Hertzels have lived in the association for 14 years and say they provide the only Jewish services within a six-mile radius, necessitating the need for a synagogue.
The local Jewish congregation worships in a nearby storefront shopping center or the couple’s home. To better accommodate the congregation, the Hertzels bought a neighboring house, but the association barred them from using it for religious services. The couple alleges that the association permits regular Christian study sessions to be held in private homes.
The couple requested to build a permanent synagogue within the association’s boundaries, near several churches, in 2017, according to the suit. The association declined to consider the proposal, says the couple, which alleges that the association board said that it “didn’t want Jews” in the area. (JNS sought comment from the association.)
The manager of the association allegedly said of Jews that the Nazis “should have ended them,” per the suit.
The association “repeatedly created a hostile housing environment for the Hertzels through selective rule enforcement, ignoring violations by other residents and hurling antisemitic insults at Jewish residents,” according to First Liberty Institute, which represents the plaintiffs.
“Vandals have knocked down religious symbols, spray-painted buildings, broken windows, flown drones over their home and screamed antisemitic slurs outside their home while meetings were being conducted,” the institute stated.
The judge wrote in her July 17 decision that “upon full review of the motion, and with the benefit of extensive oral argument, the court concludes that plaintiffs have plausibly stated claims for each of the 10 counts alleged in the amended complaint under the associated substantive law applicable to each claim,” according to the institute. “The court also concludes that none of the defendants’ proffered affirmative defenses provides a basis to dismiss any of the plaintiffs’ claims at this stage.”
“We are grateful the court agrees that this case must continue,” stated Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at the institute. “The HOA’s leadership has engaged in open antisemitism against Rabbi Hertzel and created a hostile environment for Jewish residents living in their community.”
