A Showdown in
Behind the new lawsuit challenging longtime
synagogue protesters.
MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX SHERMAN
Jews in the D
I
t’
s a brutally cold Saturday morning in February, and Dearborn
resident Chris Mark is one of only two people from a group
called Witness for Peace standing outside Ann Arbor’
s Beth Israel
Congregation.
The group used to be bigger, but Mark said many members have
passed away over the years, and it’
s hard to bring out people in the win-
ter. This week, even the group’
s leader and founder, Henry Herskovitz,
is on vacation in Florida.
Mark stands on the farther side of Washtenaw
Road with signs opposing the Israeli occupation of
Palestine, as well as a concept the group calls “Jewish
power.
”
In the synagogue parking lot, arriving congre-
gants pay no attention. On Washtenaw, cars speed
past Mark and the group’
s other member that day,
but drivers mostly ignore the protests, too. After all,
they’
ve taken place every Saturday morning since
2003, as congregants file into Shabbat services.
Two months from now, not even the COVID-19 outbreak will stop
Witness for Peace. Some members will continue to protest outside Beth
Israel, even after the synagogue has shut its physical doors.
For now, well before the pandemic is on anyone’
s mind, cars speed
past Mark and the group’
s other member. Drivers mostly ignore the
pickets, but some will flash Mark a thumbs-up, or a middle finger.
One man slows down as he passes through the intersection and rais-
es his middle finger. Mark yells out at him.
“Thank you! Love you! Love your dog!” Mark screams. “He gets me
every week. Always gotta give me the finger. He has a really nice choco-
late lab, though, really sweet.
”
This has been the scene outside Beth Israel for more than 16 years.
But now something is different. Now, Witness for Peace is at the cen-
ter of a lawsuit challenging the distinction between lawful protest and
impeding religious freedom.
FREE ASSEMBLY OR HATE?
Herskovitz, an Ann Arbor resident who says he formerly identified as
Jewish, started protesting outside Beth Israel after returning from a trip
to Israel over 16 years ago.
In 2003, he founded a group called Jewish Witnesses
for Peace and Friends for the purpose of organizing the
protests. About three years ago, Herskovitz changed the
group name to Witness for Peace.
But Canton-based attorney Marc Susselman told the
Jewish News he first found out about the protests in the
spring of 2019, when his friend Henry Brysk sent him
an article about them.
Susselman did some legal research, which led
him to believe the protesters’
actions were not protected by the First
Amendment. So on Dec. 19, 2019, after finding a Beth Israel member
named Marvin Gerber willing to be a plaintiff, Susselman filed a com-
plaint against the protesters in the U.S. Eastern District Court.
Brysk’
s wife Miriam Brysk, a Holocaust survivor, also joined the suit
as a plaintiff on Jan. 2, 2020. The synagogue itself has decided not to
participate in the suit.
The suit argues that Herskovitz’
s group violates the First Amendment
by impeding congregants’
right to practice their religion and compel-
ling them to see the protests even if they don’
t want to. The complaint
also lists several Ann Arbor city officials, including Mayor Christopher
Taylor, contending that the protests violate city code but that officials
have neglected to enforce their rules.
continued on page 12
10 | APRIL 23 • 2020
Ann Arbor
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