A lot of Jews do not want non-whites in their synagogues, schools and neighborhoods. Jews tend to lead white flight though some Hasidic Jews stay (such as Chabad in Crown Heights). <\/p>\n
New York Post<\/a>: A Westchester rabbi who sought to diversify his synagogue was panned by its \u201cracist\u201d board members for turning the congregation \u201cSpanish and Black,\u201d according to a federal discrimination complaint.<\/p>\n Rabbi Rigoberto Emmanuel Vi\u00f1as, a Sephardic Jew who trained as an Orthodox rabbi, claims the board at Lincoln Park Jewish Center in Yonkers has a \u201clong history\u201d of discriminatory practices against \u201cnon-Whites.\u201d<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1as\u2019 explosive allegations are laid out in a complaint recently filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cRacist members employed subterfuge and sabotage against not only Rabbi Vi\u00f1as but new Latino and African American members,\u201d the complaint said. \u201cThey have attacked any bi-racial or non-white member as \u2018not really Jewish.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1as, who joined the synagogue in 2003, claims one board member, Helen Schwartz, commented, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be terrible if the darkies took over the synagogue?\u201d without realizing the rabbi\u2019s Cuban background.<\/p>\n In 2011, Schwartz also allegedly complained to a director that Vi\u00f1as wasn\u2019t actually Jewish because of his \u201cSephardic\/Hispanic background.\u201d<\/p>\n Board members allegedly spread rumors that the rabbi was out to turn the congregation \u201cSpanish\u201d \u2013 and even accused him in 2008 of stealing from the rabbi\u2019s discretionary fund to change the congregation to Spanish members.<\/p>\n \u201cAn investigation revealed that the funds were properly distributed,\u201d the complaint said. \u201cHowever, the very same false allegations arose again several months later, again with no finding of wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1as accuses the board of doing nothing when a White congregation member with a Dominican spouse and biracial kids complained of racist treatment in 2010.<\/p>\n \u201cSpecifically, board members raised her biracial background, claimed she \u2018didn\u2019t look Jewish\u2019 and said the family was \u2018creating the wrong impression at the congregation,\u2019\u201d the complaint said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A lot of Jews do not want non-whites in their synagogues, schools and neighborhoods. Jews tend to lead white flight though some Hasidic Jews stay (such as Chabad in Crown Heights). New York Post: A Westchester rabbi who sought to … Continue reading