A secular court judge took under advisement today a plea for an injunction from a minority group in Chevra Thillim Congregation to ban a plan for mixed seating voted by the majority. Judge Frank J. Stitch of Civil District Court announced this action after hearing concluding arguments from attorneys for both sides and said he hoped to announce his decision by the end of July.
In his closing arguments, David Gertler, attorney for the plaintiffs, stressed that one of the basic principles which led the minority group to seek the injunction was the protection of the rights of a minority from violation by the majority. Asserting that lay witnesses for the majority group had testified there could be no objection to separation of the sexes during worship on theological grounds, Mr. Gertler said that the plaintiffs could not pray in the synagogue if mixed seating was retained.
Robert Weinste in, attorney for the defendant, said that the four rabbinical experts for the plaintiffs were in disagreement as to whether Chevra Thillim could be considered Orthodox, since it has no center “Bimah” and the microphone is used for services, both of which are in violation of Jewish Law. He argued there was, therefore, no basis for the injunction.
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