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Cross vs. Mezuzah, or Door vs. Doorpost?
Is this about religion, or about the distinction between allowing stuff to be hung on the door vs. not on the door post?
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Condo Owner In Fight Over Mezuzah: "I'm Bullied And Saddened"
 Barbara Cadranel of Stratford has a mezuzah, left, on the doorframe of her condo at 40 California Street. Cadranel faces a fine of $50 a day from her condo association for hanging the glass mezuzah and they want it removed while an Easter decoration can be seen on the door of the condo across the hall. A mezuzah contains a tiny parchment and is a sign of faith for a Jewish household. (STEPHEN DUNN / March 28, 2012) |
Barbara Cadranel says she's lived all over the world, but decided to settle near friends in Stratford in October 2010.
When she received a mezuzah as a gift in the fall of 2011, she put it on the doorpost of the front door of her third-floor condo unit, affixing it with Velcro. It was a religious rite that Cadranel, 60, learned in Hebrew school.
It is now a source of controversy. Cadranel faces a fine of $50 a day from her condo association for hanging the glass mezuzah on her doorpost. She is threatening to take legal action against her condo association and has gained the support of the Anti-Defamation League.
Sitting at her dining room table before a bank of television cameras Wednesday, Cadranel said, "I'm not really happy sitting here because I'm feeling hurt basically. This is not fun."
A professional musician, Cadranel said she was "shocked" and "outraged" when she was told to remove the mezuzah.
"I was violated," she said. "I'm bullied and I'm saddened. It's changed my whole existence here."
A Happy Easter wreath with a bunny on it hangs on the door across the hall from hers. She says she's cordial to all in her building, but some neighbors just stare at her without speaking.
The California Condo Association allows unit owners to display religious items on the outside of doors, but not on their doorposts, the frame around the door.
The Connecticut branch of the Anti-Defamation League says such a by-law is an attack against the Jewish faith.
Placing a mezuzah ? a piece of parchment, often in a decorative case, inscribed with verses from the Torah ? on a doorpost is an observance of Jewish religious law, said attorney Alyza D. Lewin of Lewin & Lewin, who is representing unit owner Barbara Cadranel.
In a letter to condo association President Irene Stern, dated March 13, theWashington, D.C.-based law firm threatens to take legal action if the fines continue, claiming the association's board of directors is violating the federal Fair Housing Act in prohibiting a religious decoration.
The association's lawyer, however, argued that Cadranel was well aware of by-laws when she purchased the until on Aug. 31, 2010.
"The declaration expressly prohibits unit owners from hanging or displaying anything on the outside windows or outside walls of any building, and also prohibits any sign from being affixed to or placed upon the exterior walls ? without prior consent of the association's board of directors," the lawyer, Kurt M. Ahlberg, said in a response dated March 21.
In the past, other condo owners have gained permission to affix "any such artifact to their door," Ahlberg wrote.
But Cadranel says she hasn't asked permission because there's no rule saying she must.
"There's nothing in the documents you have to ask permission," she said, "It tells you what you cannot do, and so you don't."
A neighbor, Gilly DaSilva, said he thought the prohibition had something to do with the fire code. But he said he had no objection to the Jewish item.
"As long as they don't have the devil, I don't care," he said.
Cadranel also could not be reached for comment.
The Anti-Defamation League is urging the board of directors to let Cadranel keep the mezuzah on her doorpost.
"A mezuzah is not a decorative choice for Jews, or a choice of any kind. Requiring its removal is tantamount to requiring a Jewish person to move," said Gary Jones, the league's Connecticut regional director.
Cadranel's attorneys said on Tuesday they also plan to file a complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
She says she's so intimidated she doesn't go downstairs to get her mail when most everyone else does.
"They're trying to get me to move," she said, "This is my home. This is my first home. I don't want to live in my home being bullied."
After being questioned a few times about whether she plans to move, she said she's determined to stay.
"Why am I going?" she asked.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-stratford-condo-mezuzah-0328-20120327,0,4766753.story
I am the 99%.
Re: Cross vs. Mezuzah, or Door vs. Doorpost?
I'd like to see what the bylaws say specifically about attaching things to doors and door frames.
I'm failing to see why putting something on a door frame is dangerous or problematic.
I don't remember this being an issue in my apartment complex. Of course we didn't have an HOA, but if it was prohibited by the complex, I didn't know. I even left it there when I moved (once up, it's there to stay.)
If this is some anti-religious douchery, than I hope she really lets them have it.
My bedroom in a rental house had a mezuzah when I moved in. I didn't remove it, and I got my full deposit back.
I fail to see how it's any type of a safety issue.
Click me, click me!
I disagree with this. Mezuzahs are very important to most of us, but there are definitely Jews who don't feel any necessary obligation to put up a mezuzah. By the same token crosses and crucifixes can elicit the same level of importance to Christians. I'm not going to get into a pissing contest of whose religious symbols are more important.
The HOA shouldn't prohibit either from being affixed to doors, doors frames, etc.
I'm not getting into a pissing match here. I'm simply pointing out the fact that while both symbols are of great importance to their respective religions, there is nothing in any Christian faith or interpretation that makes displaying a cross on one's front door a tenet of their faith like there is with a mezuzah.
Click me, click me!
Hanging a mezuzah is not a tenet of Judaism. It's one of 613 mitzvot (commandments) that we're given and required to fulfill. It contains two extremely important pieces of scripture, one of whice IS central to Judaism (the statement that we believe in one God, i.e. the sh'ma), but putting up a mezuzah is not a tenet.
Related anecdote: on the way back from Italy, we were on a plane full of hasids. Apparently Munich, where we had our layover, is the main Euopean hub from Tel Aviv and It was yashiva Passover break so everyone was traveling. Anyway, the Hasid next to me discovered discovered we were Jewish when the flight attendants were trying to pass out Kosher meals and asked my name. We started talking and he asked how I was raised - traditional, liberal, etc. At this point, I finally confessed I converted and he said "oh" and stopped talking to me! lol!
ETA: I meant that TIC and hope it come across that way. Hard to type deep thoughts on an iPad,
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Interesting.
My mother does not have a mezuzzah on her doorpost at her condo, but I'm not sure if that's because of a by-law or because she's not religious. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of by-law about this at the California condo (and if so, then the rule should be carried out for all). I do know that my mother's condo does not allow signs to be hung outside (for example, for sale signs).
As for the cross vs mezzuzzah discussion, having been on both sides of the aisle so to speak, my first reaction was that it was not the same. There is no tradition that Christians should hang up crosses on their doors/doorposts.