T
hings got a little more crowd-
ed at the Farmington home of
Tessa Goldberg, administrative
manager of the Jewish
News Foundation, on
Sunday when she wel-
comed four Maccabi ath-
letes for the duration of
the JCC Maccabi Games.
“Since I’
m an empty
nester and have a house,
I thought it would be
important to open my
home to some athletes,”
she said. “I signed up
for two and they requested I take four
because they were short on housing.”
The JCC provided air mattresses
for the extra guests. After the games,
unused or returned air mattresses will
be donated to a local homeless shelter,
Goldberg said.
Two of the boys she’
s hosting are
from Ann Arbor: Jonah Klein, a
13-year-old tennis player, and Jesse
Newpol, 14, who plays on the basket-
ball team. They are looking forward to
all the activities planned
and to “winning!” they
said.
The other two boys,
also members of the
Ann Arbor delegation,
are friends from Israel:
swimmers Shahaf Sela,
14, and Gal Shumak,
13, both from Moshav
Nahalal.
All four of the boys
will be competing in the Maccabi
Games for the first time — and there
are other firsts as well. Jonah and
Jesse saw Little Ceasars Arena for the
first time. “I was impressed by the
size,” Jonah said.
For Shahaf and Gal, it was their
first time in the United States. The
boys spent a few days in Ann Arbor
before coming to Detroit for the
opening ceremonies. Both said they
liked it very much. Shahaf is hoping
he gets to go to a mall while he’
s in
town. Gal is most looking forward to
“meeting people.”
Goldberg is responsible for feed-
ing the boys breakfast and dropping
them off at the JCC before 8 a.m. and
making sure they’
re where they need
to be.
On Monday, Goldberg said when
she dropped them off, the two Israeli
boys joined a rabbi at the JCC and
prayed with tefillin in front of a repli-
ca of the Western Wall. “They are
not religious kids … they don’
t keep
kosher … but praying with tefillin
was important to them,” she said. “I
think that’
s the Israeli mindset.”
Goldberg said the boys are
busy until 9 p.m. every day except
Wednesday, when they get out at 3
p.m. to spend the rest of the day with
their host families. Goldberg plans
on taking them to the mall and then
perhaps to a planned event at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield. ■
N
early 20 percent of Americans
believe small business owners
can refuse service to Jews and
other minorities based on religious
freedom.
Back in June, the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency (JTA) reported on a recent
poll that found that roughly 1 in 5
Americans believe small business own-
ers have the right to decline service to
Jews and other minorities if it violates
their religious values.
Wayne State University legal and
constitutional law professor Robert
Sedler was not shocked by the data.
“It should not be surprising that
people who are hostile
to gays and lesbians,
to minorities, would
also be hostile to Jews,”
Sedler says. “This should
not surprise us. This has
always been the case.
“It is not uncommon
for businesses to use
religious freedom as a means to defend
their discrimination against a differing
group,” he adds.
One example, in 2014, was when
Hobby Lobby was under scrutiny for
disagreeing with the Affordable Care
Act’
s mandate to provide contracep-
tives to employees because of the fami-
ly-owned business’
religious beliefs.
“The Supreme Court ruled to
uphold their claim of religious
freedom because as an alternative,
Congress simply has the employer
notify the insurance company that
they’
re not covering this and the
insurance company will then cover it,”
Sedler says.
“What you see here is religious
groups now using freedom of religion
to try to deny women access to con-
traception,” Sedler says. “You also saw
this appear in the bakery case when
the baker complained that their reli-
gious freedom granted them the right
to deny baking a cake for a same-sex
couple.”
According to the Michigan
Department of Civil Rights (MDCR)
Director Agustin Arbulu, the MDCR
has had 13 complaints
since 2015 related to
discrimination based on
religion and, more spe-
cifically, against Jews.
“Some of these com-
plaints are still under
investigation and we can-
not speak to the specifics
of those cases. A number of complaints
have been closed for insufficient evi-
dence,
” Arbulu says.
Resolution was reached in three com-
plaints — one filed against J.P
. Morgan
Bank, which was resolved with a letter
saying the claimant can do business
at the location in question. Another
complaint against Jewish Family Service
was resolved with a settlement of $210.
A third complaint filed against Dollar
General Corporation was resolved with
a welcome letter from the respondent to
the complainant.
“There is no religion that requires
discrimination,
” Sedler says. “These are
people’
s own religious views. If they are a
business open to the public or if they’
re
an agency that contracts with the state,
they should not be entitled to discrimi-
nate.
”
If you or anyone you know has expe-
rienced discrimination in any form, you
are urged to report it to the MDCR.
“Individuals should contact MDCR
if they believe they have been subject-
ed to unlawful discrimination. They
have up to 180 days from the date of
incident to file a complaint. To file a
complaint online, go to michigan.gov/
mdcr and click on “File a Complaint”
or call 1-800-482-3604,” Arbulu
says. ■
14 August 8 • 2019
jn
Freedom to
Discriminate?
Poll shows some Americans
believe small businesses
can refuse services to Jews,
minorities.
jews d
in
the
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
Robert Sedler
Agustin Arbulu
Welcome to Detroit!
Four teen athletes fi
nd a home with Tessa Goldberg.
JN STAFF
Shahaf Sela, Gal Shumak,
Jesse Newpol and Jonah Klein
— Tessa Goldberg’
s “boys” for
the Maccabi games.
TESSA GOLDBERG