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6 Tammuz 5777 - June 29, 2017 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
The Right to Affirm Religious Law is Upheld

by Dei'ah Vediubr Staff

Upholding the constitutional right to freedom of religion, a New Jersey judge dismissed a slander and defamation lawsuit against a rabbi who told congregants to avoid all contact with a person who was put in cherem after he was pronounced a mesarev bedin by a Beis Din.

The plaintiff in the case, which was brought to New Jersey Superior Court in December 2016, had been going through a difficult divorce when he was summoned to a Din Torah. The man ignored the summons, prompting the Beis Din to issue a seruv labeling him as being in contempt of court. Despite the associated sanctions, the plaintiff continued to come to shul as before.

Members of the shul asked their Rav to clarify the halachically appropriate way to handle the situation. The Rav advised them that, al pi halacha, they were not permitted to speak to the plaintiff, do business with him or associate with him in any way. The congregants followed his directive.

Several years later, the Rav was summoned to legal proceedings as the husband in the divorce case filed a suit against him in secular court charging him with defamation and slander. According to the plaintiff, the Rav's instructions to his congregants caused him tremendous harm, both personally and professionally. The Rav called the Agudah's New Jersey office whose legal services division put him in contact with attorney Ronald Coleman, a partner with the firm of Archer & Greiner.

Mr. Coleman agreed to represent the Rav pro bono and succeeded in convincing the judge that the Rav's actions were protected under the Constitution's First Amendment. The case was dismissed, affirming an important rule of law allowing rabbonim to carry out their religious duties without fear of retribution and affirming the right of Beis Din to issue a seruv, with all of its associated consequences, against a recalcitrant husband.

"We are gratified the judge did not hesitate to address explicitly the important First Amendment issue raised in the claim against the rabbi," said Mr. Coleman. "In reaffirming the rule that secular courts have no jurisdiction over a Rav's conduct as a congregational leader, the court strengthened the rule of law, of which freedom of religion is a pillar under the Constitution."

Rabbi Avi Schnall, Director, Agudath Israel of America's New Jersey Region, said, "This case empowers Rabbonim to lead their Kehilas and Batei Din to issue a psak without the fear of being litigated."

 

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