Menorah Removal Creates Outcry At Mahwah Condo Complex

MAHWAH, NJ —Residents are upset after a condo association removed a menorah and from its holiday display.

Ellen Stein is Jewish and has lived at the Apple Ridge condominium complex for 22 years. Every year a holiday display of a menorah and a Christmas tree, were put up outside of the clubhouse.

That is, until this week when Stein said the menorah was removed. Now, there are only Christmas trees outside of the building and a few wreaths hanging from doors.

"If you take those things away, there's nothing religious," Stein said.

Stein said she has talked to seven other Apple Ridge residents who are upset that the items were removed.

An email from the association on Nov. 30 stated that the association's Landscape Committee, is "attempting to achieve peace and harmony by taking a seasonal approach of good will to all," and decided "not to incorporate any religious symbols into our common area holiday decorating."

Susan Sorkenn, a member of the Landscaping Committee, said removing the items "was in no one way anti-Semitic.

"I am Jewish, six of the seven members of the board are Jewish," said Sorkenn. "It's been blown up way out of proportion. The committee discussed having something displayed, but then we would have had a [nativity] as well. This is the first year we haven't had a menorah."

Sorkenn said some of the boxes of presents placed under the Christmas tree outside the clubhouse, which is a subtle way of acknowledging Hanukkah.

A nativity scene has never been outside of the clubhouse in all the years Stein has lived there, Stein said.

Donald Marx, a member of Apple Ridge's Board of Directors, said he could not answer any questions when reached for comment by phone.

Board President Howard Bader did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

A representative from Apple Ridge's management firm, Wilkin Management Group Inc., could not be reached for comment.

"It's very upsetting," said Stein. "I've always liked living here, but I don't feel welcome here anymore."

It is not the first alleged incident of anti-Semitism in town in recent years.

The township settled a lawsuit in September filed by the state Attorney General's office for an alleged attempt to restrict Orthodox Jews from the township, including its parks. The lawsuit stemmed from an ordinance the Town Council approved last year that prohibited non-New Jersey residents from using public parks, the state alleged. The ordinance was later rescinded. (See related: Mahwah Settles Lawsuit Charging Town With Anti-Semitism)

There was also an ordinance amendment, which the council did not approve, the Attorney General's office said was discriminatory. It would have banned posting on utility poles the boundaries of an eruv used by Orthodox Jews, including those from neighboring Rockland County, New York, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also challenged actions that town took to have an existing eruv removed. (See related: Mahwah Township Excluded Orthodox Jews, State Claims In Lawsuit)

Eruvs symbolically extend the private domain of Jewish households into public areas. Jewish households within an eruv are allowed to participate in activities that are normally banned on the Sabbath.

In a related matter, the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association sued the town to keep the eruv in tact by keeping white PVC pipes on utility poles.

The lawsuit claimed that the town, especially then-Mayor Bill Laforet, initially recognized the eruv's constitutional validity, but later yielded to an openly anti-Semitic campaign by residents Mahwah and other neighboring municipalities. The town settled the lawsuit in January.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: The holiday display outside of the Apple Ridge condominium complex's clubhouse. A menorah was removed from the display by the condo association's Landscaping Committee. (Courtesy of Ellen Stein)