nation / world
German Synagogue Reports Shattered Window During Yom Kippur
Services A broken window interrupted the final moments of Yom Kippur services in
Hanover, Germany, unsettling a Jewish community on edge because of prior
attacks during the holiday, JTA.org reported.

It was unclear late Oct. 5 exactly what had happened at the Orthodox syna-
gogue in the northern German city, officials there said. Police are investigating
and had learned that there are no video cameras in the vicinity, according to local
media reports. No one was injured in the incident.

The chair of the synagogue said he believed someone had entered the synagogue
grounds and thrown an object through the window. The synagogue’s rabbi said
he believed that the broken window represented an assault on his community.

“I don’t want to play down what happened, but such criminal acts were often
our historical companions,” Rabbi Shlomo Afanasev wrote on Twitter, where he
posted videos of the broken window. “We will not be intimidated and will con-
tinue to build: our communities, our families, and Judaism in Germany.”
Orthodox Jewish Groups Join an Evangelical Christian Mailman’s
Supreme Court Case
Multiple Orthodox Jewish groups are filing friend of the court briefs on behalf of
an evangelical Christian postal worker who is taking his case to get Sundays off
to the Supreme Court, JTA.org reported.

The case, Groff v. DeJoy, seeks to expand the standard the Supreme Court set
in a 1977 ruling regarding what constituted “undue hardship” to an employer in
providing religious accommodation.

Groff v. DeJoy involves a Pennsylvania mailman who sought accommodations
after the U.S. Postal Service started Sunday deliveries on behalf of Amazon in
2013. At first, Gerald Groff was able to work around Sunday deliveries, but as
demand for the service grew, USPS disciplined him for declining Sunday shifts.

He quit and sued. (Louis DeJoy is the postmaster general.)
Lower courts have ruled in favor of the post office.

Now, Orthodox groups are filing amicus briefs this week in support of Groff.

They see the case as a chance to overturn Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, the
1977 decision that ruled for the airline over a member of a Christian sect who
sought Saturdays off, rejecting as “undue hardships” three possible accommoda-
tions posited by a lower court.

Jewish Gun Club Sues NY Governor to Allow Concealed Weapons in
Synagogues A group of Jewish gun owners filed a lawsuit against New York Gov. Kathy
Hochul’s gun laws, saying they infringe on their religious freedom as well as their
right to bear arms, New York Jewish Week reported.

The New York State Jewish Gun Club, a Rockland County-based firearms club,
funded and put together the lawsuit, which was filed on Sept. 29. It specifically
targets the section of the new gun laws that prohibits the carrying of concealed
weapons in “sensitive locations,” including houses of worship.

“New York State has expressed that legal carry in New York is okay, but not for
those who observe religious rituals and customs,” a NYS-JGC press release said. “This
law specifically targets religious people, by threatening them with arrest and felony
prosecution if they carry their firearm while engaging in religious observance.”
In July, Hochul signed the Concealed Carry Improvement Act in response to
the June Supreme Court decision that struck down New York’s strict concealed
carry laws. The CCIA law added multiple checks on gun ownership in the state.

Novak Djokovic Wins Tel Aviv Tournament
Novak Djokovic won his third trophy of 2022 and the 89th of his career at the Aviv
Watergen Open on Oct. 2, defeating Marin Cilic in straight sets, JNS.org reported.

Djokovic, 35, won 6-3, 6-4 to add the Israeli title to his successes in Rome and
Wimbledon this season.

Due to his unwillingness to get immunized against the coronavirus, Djokovic
was barred from the US Open and the entire North American hard court season. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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