The two last villages to be formed were the Village of Kaser, an exclusively *1057 Orthodox/Hasidic village, and the Village of Airmont, which is one of the defendants in this action. Much of this disenchantment with the Town had to do with its zoning and lack of enforcement thereof. Six of these villages broke away during the 1980's.
Twelve villages have broken away from the Town and incorporated themselves within its borders. The Town of Ramapo has had a divisive history. Rockland County may be the smallest county in New York State, but it appears that Ramapo is geographically its largest town. One of these Orthodox/Hasidic centers is the Town of Ramapo in Rockland County. There consequently seems to be a tendency for the Orthodox, and in particular the Hasidics, to congregate in communities where their percentage of the population is relatively great. In rural and suburban areas, however, where the population density is much lower, numbers can be a problem. A large urban area will usually have a sufficiently dense population that, although Orthodox are a very distinct minority group, there will often be sufficient numbers to support a synagogue and related institutions and facilities. The observation of many of these practices is dependent upon the location of other Orthodox Jews and kosher stores and schools in the community. The Orthodox religious practices referred to above seem to be at least as applicable to the Hasidic. Orthodox witnesses in this case referred to the Conservatives and Reform Jews as "not observant" and "as assimilated." However, there are substantial differences with respect to practices and many of the practices of the Orthodox mentioned earlier are not followed by Reform and Conservative Jews. So far as the evidence indicated, there is no difference in the religious beliefs of these groups from the Orthodox. They attend either Conservative or Reform temples. In the United States, most religious Jews are not Orthodox. The Grand Rabbi exercises substantially more control over his congregation than an Orthodox Rabbi. By contrast, in Hasidic sects, there is a "Grand Rabbi," a position which in some circumstances seems to be family dominated or hereditary. He is a teacher and a spiritual leader, but exercises no direct secular control over his congregation. An Orthodox Rabbi is engaged by a congregation which retains the power to discharge him. While Hasidic dress and liturgy differs from that of Orthodox Jews, the major difference between Hasidics and the Orthodox appears to lie in the position of the Rabbi. Although the nature of their dress suggests an ancient origin, in fact, Hasidism developed only a couple of hundred years ago in Poland. Hasidics are known for their distinctive dress style. Those Jews who follow these ancient and, at least in modern times, inconvenient, practices are referred to as "Orthodox." Within Orthodox Judaism, there are certain sects which may be considered "ultra Orthodox." Most common among these are the Hasidics. Furthermore, Orthodox Jews often have a strong desire, whenever possible, to educate their children in parochial Jewish schools known as Yeshivas. Orthodox Judaism also imposes strict and complicated dietary laws, requirements concerning dress and hair style for men, and the need to eat only Kosher food.
Most pertinent to this case is a prohibition against riding in a vehicle. During the Sabbath, there *1056 are a number of restrictions on what Orthodox Jews can do. In order for Jews to pray, they must have a "minyan," a group of ten adult males, although sometimes a youth can be substituted. These practices include several worship services during the Jewish Sabbath (called the Shabbos in Yiddish) which commences an hour before sundown on Friday and ends with sundown on Saturday. Its practices go back thousands of years. To understand aspects of this decision, some discussion of Judaism, its divisions and practices, is necessary. §§ 3601 et seq., concerns allegations of anti-Semitism and discrimination against Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. This action, brought by the Government under the Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sokoloff, of counsel), for all defendants. Lynch, of counsel), Thurm & Heller, New York City (Brian S. Cott, of counsel), for plaintiff.ĭorfman, McCormack, Lynch & Phillip, Nyack, (Dennis E.A. VILLAGE OF AIRMONT, Airmont Civic Association, Ralph Bracco, in his capacity as Mayor of the Village of Airmont, John Layne, Raymond Kane, Charles Calotta and Ronald Sabo, in their capacities as trustees of the Village of Airmont, Defendants.
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