FIRST REPORT: In Monsey, NY, the organization known as Preserve Ramapo has been fighting for years against the development of homes for members of the community as the number of people living in Monsey continues to grow. This year, in their attempt to gain political power (having lost numerous elections for public office), they attempted to overtake the Ramapo Democratic Committee (Ramapo being the town that Monsey is located in). After an election for the few hundred seats on the Committee, the Committee became divided. Upset about the fact that they had not won a majority of seats on the Committee, Preserve Ramapo set out to invalidate election results and the results of subsequent meetings of the Ramapo Democratic Committee. Many of the members they sued were frum people, and those people were served with lawsuits on Yom Kippur itself.

Daniel Friedman, one of the Committee members who was elected but then served with two lawsuits, worked to find out which frum people were served on Yom Kippur and Erev Yom Kippur, and put together witness statements on their behalf saying what happened. Included in those statements was the fact that it is a misdemeanor to serve people on a religious holiday. Today, those papers were mailed to the District Attorney of Rockland County, the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Attorney General’s office, and the State and Rockland County Human Rights Commissions, as well as the NYS Bar Association. The goal is to let officials and the public- especially the frum community- know what kind of people Preserve Ramapo are, and how they prey on law-abiding religious people.

Preserve Ramapo had the papers ready to be served on October 6th, two days before Yom Kippur. Yet they waited for the night of Yom Kippur to serve frum people, and then had the audacity to claim they did not know it was Yom Kippur. Their organization is run by two secular Jews, who most certainly knew what they were doing when they instructed their attorney to personally deliver these papers on Yom Kippur. It is shocking and appalling that such incidents can happen today in America. It is important that these hurtful acts need to be publicized to everyone, not just frum Jews- because an attack on one religious holiday is an attack on all religious people, regardless of their faith.

Here are some statements from two of the five people who were willing to come forward and work to make this known:

Shmuel Orliansky:

“While I was attending prayer services and my wife was home, there was a loud banging at my door. When my wife answered the door, the person identified himself as James L. Hyer, an attorney. He told my wife he was bringing the legal papers to give to me, and then proceeded to ask my wife questions about our neighborhood, and the amount of Jews that lived in my surrounding area. My wife became very disconcerted, and informed Mr. Hyer that it was Yom Kippur, and because of that, other people might not be home if he were to go to them to serve them with legal papers.”

“Mr. Hyer then asked my daughter if she had gotten any presents from me because it was Yom Kippur. My daughter became frightened, having witnessed the entire conversation and she told him that Yom Kippur was a serious holiday, and that nobody received gifts on that day. My wife repeated that it was Yom Kippur and that he should just come back another time. Mr. Hyer then repeated his instruction to my wife that she give me the legal papers, and left.”

Daniel Friedman:

“While I was at home finishing the festive meal with my family and completing my Yom Kippur preparations so that I could go to Yom Kippur services, James L. Hyer, an attorney, knocked on my door. I answered the door myself, and recognized Mr. Hyer. When he recognized me as well, he called out my name, and I asked him what he wanted. As I was preparing for the holiday with my family, they were also present, and witnessed the events. “You are hereby served,” he responded, and handed me a stack of legal papers a few inches thick. “You’re suing me?” I asked. With a smile on his face, he answered, “Yep.” ”

After compiling statements from several frum people who were served on Yom Kippur, Daniel Friedman, one of the complainants, stated, “The continued harassment by Preserve Ramapo of law-abiding people who wish to represent the needs of their community demonstrates the lengths to which these people will go to silence the religious community and anyone who disagrees with them. It is an assault not only on the religious principles these elected Committee members live by, but on the entire political process as well.”

What is perhaps even more outrageous is the fact that Preserve Ramapo created another lawsuit a few weeks later, and then served the same frum people again- this time an hour before the start of Shabbos, and in one case, on Shabbos itself. As if that weren’t enough, these same people were served three times or more with the same papers for the same lawsuit, in another effort to intimidate them.

On Yom Kippur, many received loud knocks on their doors late at night, which woke up their children. Parents getting served with legal papers in the middle of the night as their children look on is something reminiscent of darker times, which we hoped and prayed would never happen again. Yet here we are today, in Monsey, NY, in the most Jewish-American county in America, and history seems to be repeating itself.

(Moshe Altusky – YWN NYC)