6 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 1942 - 2023 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel. VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity. DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer Executive Director: Marni Raitt Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory Editorial Director of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Contributing Editors: David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Digital Manager: Elizabeth King eking@thejewishnews.com Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky Advertising Sales Director of Advertising: Keith Farber kfarber@thejewishnews.com Senior Account Executive: Kathy Harvey-Mitton kmitton@thejewishnews.com | Business Office Director of Operations: Amy Gill agill@thejewishnews.com Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho agusho@thejewishnews.com Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo Circulation: Danielle Smith Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, Deborah Schultz, Michelle Sheridan PURELY COMMENTARY essay A New U.S. Supreme Court Case Could Make Shabbat Observance Easier T he Supreme Court announced earlier this month that it will hear yet another blockbuster church- state case, Groff v. DeJoy. At the core of the case lies a conundrum that has plagued federal law for nearly half a century: How far must employers go when providing religious accommodations? Until now, the court’s inter- pretation has required little of employers. Unsurprisingly, this position has long roiled, among other religious minorities, American Jews, who often find themselves seeking accom- modation in the workplace for religious practices such as observance of Shabbat. In taking the case, the Supreme Court has signaled its willingness to revisit its wide- ly criticized interpretation of existing protections, providing optimism to religious employees hoping to navigate the compet- ing demands of faith and work. Groff v. DeJoy is the latest case seeking to have the court expand the protections afforded religious employees in the work- place. It involves a U.S. Postal Service employee, Gerald Groff, who sought to have his Sunday observance of the Sabbath accommodated. The Postal Service ultimately refused to do so, arguing that doing so would have had a significant impact on its operations. A federal court of appeals found in favor of the Postal Service and the employee appealed to the Supreme Court. So, under what circumstances should the Postal Service have to accommodate the Sabbath observances of its employee? Employers’ obligation to accom- modate employees’ religious practice derives from Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Because the original text of Title VII provided limited guidance in terms of what kind of pro- tections it afforded employees from religious discrimination, Congress subsequently amend- ed Title VII in order to make clear that employers were required to “reasonably accom- modate” an employee’s “religious observance or practice” unless, and here is the kicker, providing an accommodation would pres- ent an “undue hardship. ” Like so many legal standards, “undue hardship” obscured more than illuminated. At what point can an employer claim that the hardship caused by a requested accommodation is “undue”? In a landmark 1977 case, TWA v. Hardison, the Supreme Court provided a surprising — and dubious — answer to the question. Like in Groff, Larry Hardison, the plaintiff and a member of the Worldwide Church of God, had requested to avoid work on his Sabbath — for him, on Saturday — in keeping with his religious commitments. But his employer claimed that they were unable to accommodate the request because doing so would have violated the seniority sys- tem that the company had nego- tiated with the representative union. The plaintiff, as a result, lost his job, and he sued TWA for failing to accommodate his religious practice. Michael A. Helfand Forward.com