Two summonses against four Brooklyn Jewish merchants charged with doing business on Sunday in violation of the Sabbath law were dismissed yesterday and two were put over in the latest clash in a long-running dispute involving Jewish business operations on Sundays in New York.
Three of the defendants Henek Blisko Baruch Gerstenblit and Herman Minzer, operate coin-box automatic laundering shops. The fourth Jacob Weiz, has a grocery In each case the defendants told Magistrate Michael Potter that they close their business on Fridays before sundown and remain closed all day Saturdays during which they attend synagogue services.
Moses M Zelig their attorney, cited Section 2144 of the Penal Law which permits work on Sunday for those who observe another day as the Sabbath Dismissals of the summonses were based on the magistrate’s acceptance of Zelig’s argument.
Summonses against Blisko and Weiz were held over because the policeman was not in court in each case.
Police at the station from which radio patrol police served the summonses said that there was no special drive against Sunday violations. Magistrate Potter said the police were only doing their duty.
The dismissal for Blisko involved the ninth such summons. The summons dismissed for Minzer was his third.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
