Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Suspended Member of Synagogue Files $100,000 Suit; Ousted over Segregation of Women

March 23, 1951
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

A $100,000 damage suit against the board of trustees of the Knesset Israel Congregation was filed here by a member of the congregation suspended from the synagogue in a dispute over the method of seating women at the synagogue’s services.

Formerly men were seated in the auditorium and the women sat in the gallery. Nov both men and women sit in the auditorium, the women separated by a partition. The plaintiff, Harry Simon, claims he was suspended because he was a leader of efforts by a faction of the congregation to retain the old seating arrangement.

Seeking damages, Mr. Simon said he was humiliated, that he lost business in hic profession as a salesman, that he has been prevented from taking part in activities of a congregation of which he was a member for 30 years, and that he has suffered bodily and mental illness which has required him to be placed under care of a physician in recent weeks.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement