Rabbi Rigoberto Emmanuel Viñas decided to invite new members of colour into the aging synagogue – the Lincoln Park Jewish Center – “to breathe new life into the sleepy congregation”, the Forward reported. But the congregation did not approve of the mixed-race newcomers.
Called mamzers, the Hebrew word for mongrel, mixed-race people are often not welcome in Orthodox congregations.
“They thought I was trying to racially transform the synagogue,” Viñas alleged in a federal discrimination complaint filed in May. “And they didn’t like that.”
Viñas is charging them with “unlawful discriminatory practices relating to his employment based on race, national origin and retaliation”.
More than 30 new families had joined the synagogue with the The New York Times calling Viñas a “savior”. The board however terminated his contract.
The “racist” board members turned the congregation “Spanish and Black,” according to a federal discrimination complaint.
His home in Yonkers, owned by the synagogue, is also being taken away from him. Viñas is scheduled to appear at an eviction hearing on November 15.
The board was initially excited about his plans, he says, but racial tensions erupted when Jews from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico started joining. The other members complained about the “darkies” taking over. The conflict came to a head with the sale of the synagogue in 2016.
According to Viñas, one board member, Helen Schwartz, remarked: “Wouldn’t it be terrible if the darkies took over the synagogue?”
“They terminated him, and now they’re trying to evict him from the house that he’s been living in for years,” said Vincent P. White, Viñas’s attorney. “They’re retaliating.”
The board’s retaliation against Viñas included cutting his salary, docking his pay and manufacturing criticisms, The New York Post reported.
The rabbi has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Racist members employed subterfuge and sabotage against not only Rabbi Viñas but new Latino and African American members,” the complaint said. “They have attacked any bi-racial or non-white member as ‘not really Jewish.’”
One comment
All Jews are mixed race. Not one Hebrew amongst ’em.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.