A New Jersey rabbi filed a civil rights suit against a municipality alleging that it filmed prayers at his home to prove he was running a “house of worship.” Rabbi Avraham Bernstein, a Chabad rabbi who hosts Sabbath prayers in his Freehold home, was given a summons by the township for operating a “house of worship” without zoning permission, according to a story appearing Wednesday on lubavitch.com, the Chabad Web site.
Bernstein sued, saying the council was overreaching. Subsequently, the rabbi alleged, the council set up a camera to monitor comings and goings to his home. That prompted a federal civil rights lawsuit with the assistance of the Rutherford Institute, a group that advocates for religious freedoms.
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.