Orthodox Jewish family claims video led to unfair suspension by Boca property association
The civil-rights lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, says that the Boca Grove Property Owners Association suspended the family's rights to use the development's facilities for 90 days after blaming the father for release of a video that showed a traditional Jewish prayer ritual.
The ritual, known as 'wrapping tefillin,' was characterized in a complaint filed by the association as 'outrageous religious conduct,' according to the lawsuit.
Issac Scharf said he was singled out for punishment because he invited a social media influencer, Jake Adams, to play the country club's golf course and release a comedic video of the events in December 2024, according to the lawsuit. The video included a scene in which Adams performed the ritual with Scharf's help, the suit states.
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The association's manager did not respond to the South Florida Sun Sentinel's request for comment. The court docket does not yet list an attorney representing the association in the matter.
Scharf is seeking $50 million, claiming that the suspension violated the Fair Housing Act and traumatized members of his family. While the suspension was at first levied against only him, the development later extended it to his wife and five children, the suit states.
Adams frequently posts videos of his visits to various country club golf courses and making light jokes aimed at the Jewish community, the suit states.
Tefillin, according to the website ExploringJudaism.com, 'consists of two black boxes provided with leather straps to hold them into place wrapped around the arm, hand, and head.'
Each of the boxes contains pieces of parchment with passages of the Torah. One is placed on the arm and the other on the head. Straps are used to bind the boxes — 'effectively binding our hearts and our minds to God,' the website says.
Scharf's lawsuit states that members of the association's governing board became angry when they saw the video and initiated disciplinary proceedings against Scharf, saying it 'contained references to religious practices that have been deemed offensive to a reasonable person.'
Scharf claimed in the suit that the suspension was part of a series of actions by the association meant to dissuade Orthodox families from settling in the upscale country club development.
Other actions include obstructing a golf course path that Orthodox residents used to walk to a nearby synagogue on Saturdays and religious holidays and campaigning against efforts to create kosher food services in the development, the suit claims.
'This wasn't about enforcing a policy. It was about sending a message to Orthodox Jews that they're not welcome,' said the Scharfs' attorney, Jacob Roth of Dhillon Law Group.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
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