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.
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