Chabad’s Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Northwestern University Thrown Out Of Court

U.S. District Court Judge John Darrah ruled that Northwestern showed a "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason" for cutting all ties with Chabad because of Chabad’s clear and repeated violations of the university’s alcohol policy.

Chabad’s Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Northwestern University Thrown Out Of Court
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Chabad’s religious discrimination lawsuit against Northwestern University was been thrown out of court by a federal judge earlier this month, the Daily Northwestern reported Friday.

U.S. District Court Judge John Darrah ruled that Northwestern showed a "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason" for cutting all ties with Chabad because of Chabad’s clear and repeated violations of the university’s alcohol policy.

Lubavitch-Chabad of Illinois filed suit in September, claiming Northwestern singled out Chabad while fraternities and sororities “committed the same acts" but, while punished, were not disaffiliated.

Darrah rejected that claim. He ruled that Chabad was “comparing apples to oranges” because Northwestern has a completely different disciplinary system that governs all religious groups on campus than the system which governs fraternities and sororities.

Darrah also noted that a detailed investigation by Northwestern into alcohol use at Chabad since 2001 found repeated incidents of Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein serving alcohol to minors, including one incident in which an underage student was rushed to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.

In September 2012, Klein said publicly that underage students were regularly served wine and hard liquor at Chabad’s Shabbat dinners. Klein insisted that did not break any state laws, however, because the Shabbat meals were “religious ceremonies.”

Northwestern’s policy contains no such exemption.

Further, halakha (Jewish law) does not mandate alcohol consumption and anyone can fulfill the religious requirements of kiddush with grape juice – or by everyone else in the room by sipping a literal drop of wine if kiddush is made by one adult male over a full kiddush sized cup with the intent of including them. And, despite Klein’s misleading claims, there is never a halakhic requirement to drink hard alcohol.

The director of Lubavitch-Chabad of Illinois, Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz – known in some non-Chabad circles for allegedly lying to Rabbi Aharon Soleveichik about the nature of Chabad messianism after the rebbe of Chabad, Menachem Mendel Schneerson died – reportedly said Friday that plans to appeal the the decision.

"We are very supportive of Rabbi Klein and we think he does a great job and his being on campus is important for all of Northwestern University,” Moscowitz reportedly said.

Related:

All Chabad v Northwestern University Posts.

Comments

[(The other) Eli]

Wait. Laphroaig, Bowmore and Balvenie?!
If a Chabad was serving that, I'd probably start going to Chabad mass on Shabbat

[dapper danny]

I'm guessing that the reality is more like Slilovitz and Cold Turkey.

[dapper danny]

I must admit that it thrills me to see alcohol consumption in Evanston, Illinois where the Women's Christian Temperance Union was founded. Evanston even has a micro-distillery nowadays.

[S M L]

Slivovitz! Do they still produce that? Haven't heard that name in ages..

There's something very strange about this - an ostensibly Jewish organization being tossed off campus for promoting underage drinking. Runs counter to stereotype somehow. The frum continue to burnish the reputation of Jews...not.

[ah-pee-chorus]

sensible ruling.

++Lubavitch-Chabad of Illinois filed suit in September, claiming Northwestern singled out Chabad while fraternities and sororities “committed the same acts" but, while punished, were not disaffiliated. +++

as usual the frum insist the rules dont apply to them and anyone who dares try to apply them is an anti-semite. then when that doesn't work they argue that other people also break the rules.

[Alter Kocker]

Chabad and the entire Ultra-orthodox world still believe that the rules as written are merely suggestions and that their law is the only law. Is it not halacha to follow the laws of the land?

It all ends in the same place, the leaders of Chabad are disingenuous in stating their claims to Northwestern's governors and the judiciary. They refuse to consider that they have indeed broken secular laws or that those laws gevern them as well as the rest of the country. Many kids are sent off to university with the understanding that alcohol will not be consumed in any campus institution by those under the age of majority. Chabad believes it attracts the kids by offering alcohol in excess and proselytizing them. Denying them access to the campus and ensuring that they do not serve alcohol removes a steady stream of converts.

[rocky]

Rabbi Klein should be required to spend time in jail for serving alcohol to minors.

[m]

chabad has some nerve to file a discrimination lawsuit . it isn't at all .
there is nothing , absolutely nothing that shows discrimination .

I hate chabad with all my heart , but I have to say that rabbi klein is a very very nice man , a sweet heart . I'm sorry it happened to him . klein is a very sincere person who truly believes in what he is doing unlike 99 % of all chabad rabbis who are fake , disgusting . they are not truthful and do schlihus bc they have to .they have no respect for anybody who is not chabad and they discriminate .

rabbi klein is a convert who does his job beautifully . this is the first time I met a true chabad rabbi . he is so good , he does not belong to chabad . he is too good for them . klein gave me the vibe of being an ex episcopalian , former protestant .

[Account Deleted]

They can appeal, it is the nature of the system, it DOES NOT mean they will win.

On a separate note, saying that 99 % of all chabad rabbis are fake , disgusting . must be a deep personal opinion of yours, I can imagine that a Chabadnick must have screwed you good in the past for you to hold such contempt and pack them all in the same box. Good luck with anger management class dude, you need it.

[rainmaker]

Funny thing M. I said the same thing about the one Chabad rabbi I know in Anaheim Ca. So I guess your generalization with the one exception only proves that you have been hard done by. Care to share?

The irony is that for every jackass on here like you, there is another, like me, saying the same about others. Which means when you break it down, most of us might in fact like most of the chabad rabbis and just not "the rest of chabad." which means it is little more than an irrational hatred. The same term explanation offered for anti semitism.

[Mendy Larski]

Why can't the Chabad on Campus chairman, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky and Executive Director Rabbi Yossi Gordon clarify the standing alcohol policy of ALL 140 plus Chabad on Campus branches?
Why wait until this becomes a national headline story?
Where is the leadership?

[bendinai]

In Monsey, members of Tzemach Tzedek, used the yard of a frum non-Chabad family as a short cut. Even though permission was retroactively granted, the family had but one request; that the yard not be used between certain hour at night, as the noise from those Chabadtzkers using it could be disturbing. As you would expect, that one reasonable request was completely ignored. Finally, the man came to Tzemach Tzedek one Shabbos, and took to the bimah (as is the custom in that Torah destroying nut house) to address the problem. He was accused....of course....of being just another person who throughout history who is an enemy of Chabad!

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Isn't CHABAD an acronym for 'Lying, Cheating, and Stealing'?

[bendinai]

@ Marine Jew.....while it is likely not 99%, the numbers are high. But then again, in every "section" of the frum world, you have this among Rabbis. It's about parnasa, it's about ego, it's about kavod. There are those who are true and sincere, but they are in a minority; probably a vast minority. Recently I was told the story by a Chassidishe neighbor about his father starting out as a melamed when he was young. When he expressed his concern about the students he could not reach in learning, more experienced melamdim told him not to worry, it's just a job. He quit, and went into business. Years later, after he retired, he dedicated his life to learning once again.

[Manuel Ferrara]

I have fond memories (though not clear...) of Friday nights in various Chabad houses... Chabad provide a legal way for students to get free alcohol and enjoy traditional Friday Night dinner.

It is very easy to get booz in college but Chabad provides it free, legal and with a smile.

Normal people do not become religious by spending Friday night in Chabad houses, to a BT you need to be very unstable and you become BT and then regret do not blame Chabad for it.

You can enjoy their hospitality without joining them. I went to many rasta parties but did not become one, went to many Gay party but did not become one....

While there are many hip Chabad rabbis, Rabbi Mendel Loschak rulez...

[m]

@marinejew,

saying that ... '90 % of chabad rabbis are fake, disgusting '...is absolutely not a personal opinion . the whole world knows it , it is the incontestable,unconditional truth shared by the entire world . it is the plain truth .

there is no way any chabad could have screwed me up in any possible way , bc I'm very well aware of who they are , and I do not let myself be screwed up . no anger management needed , either , idiot !

how does a cha-bad idiot know about anger management , anyway ? how did u learn that from ?

[Yosef ben Matitya]

well, for them, the most important thing is that the booze is kosher.
apart from that, the university authorities doesn't count. God created them to serve chabad and their messiah!.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Chabad and the entire Ultra-orthodox world still believe that the rules as written are merely suggestions and that their law is the only law. Is it not halacha to follow the laws of the land?

no, no.
chabad is a league on it's own. run of the mill frumsters are jews, a bit crazy, but jews nevertheless.

[Steven Wolf]

" Don't get me wrong!, I love a couple glasses of wine, or a little whisky, however possibly Chabad sometimes over do it!.

This year for Simchat Torah, my local one had an all afternoon open bar.

Besides other issues, could not even see any religious sense in this, as Simchat Torah is a relatively miner festival, moreover this year fall on a Friday, with all the logical and practical issues of a crash with Shabbat.

[Isa]

This is along the lines of how the Indians were made to believe in Christianity.

Indians were starving
The missions had rice
Come to the mission and hear preaching
Then the Indians got to eat
Want to eat again? Come again

hence the term:

Rice Christians

[m]

everything chabad does is exaggerated .
their Shabbat meal is lavish , too much .
and they serve alcohol galore .

[old time brooklyn]

@ Isa - you have no idea hat you are talking about Merry Christmas :)

[BeenThereDoneThat]

My madrich always had a bottle of vodka on top of the door sill in our dorm at chabad (gan-yisroel) camps, and we thought it was a normal occurrence.

[shari]

@ Isa, the term Rice Christians applied to Chinese people who were attracted to Christians missions based on being fed, not Indians, subcontinental or otherwise.

[Feminista]

As a resident of Evanston, the last thing I want to see is more drunk NW students and more Chabbadnicks hanging around helping them get that way.

[Isa]

""""

@ Isa, the term Rice Christians applied to Chinese people who were attracted to Christians missions based on being fed, not Indians, subcontinental or otherwise.

Posted by: shari | December 29, 2013 at 04:31 PM
""""

Yes you are correct
But when it was the Indians turn the word "Rice Christians" was probably already an idiom

So what do we call the 'victims of Chabad booze? Whiskey Jews?

[Allan]

The Chabad Kool Aid is the beverage Jewish college students should really be wary of consuming.