A Jewish university student realizes that an important exam has been scheduled for Yom Kippur. An elderly nursing home resident is told by the staff that the only food available to her is non-kosher and that her family’s offer to underwrite the costs of special kosher meals has not been accepted. A parent is told by the hospital administrator that his son cannot be admitted until admission papers are signed, despite the fact that it is Shabbos.

An employee is informed that her job is in jeopardy because her religious observance doesn’t allow her to attend a meeting on Yomtov.

All of the above individuals – at least in New Jersey and at least if a legislative package introduced by State Assemblyman Gary Schaer becomes law – will have their religious convictions accommodated.

At the urging of Agudath Israel of America, the New Jersey legislator has championed the group of bills and on June 11 they passed the state General Assembly.

The legislative initiatives would require all New Jersey colleges and universities to accommodate students whose religious obligations prevent their taking tests on religious holidays, and require administrators of standardized tests to provide alternative testing days for students who for religious reasons can’t take the tests on the scheduled day; ensure that nursing home residents have the right to, on request, receive foods that meet their religious dietary needs (at the expense of the patient); prevent health care facilities from requiring the signing of papers at times when patients or guardians are religiously prohibited from doing so; and expand the state Law Against Discrimination to explicitly require that employers accommodate the religious observances of their employees, unless doing so would result in significant expense or difficulty to the employer.

Rabbi Mordechai Biser, Agudath Israel’s associate general counsel, explained why he asked the New Jersey Assemblyman to consider such legislation and assisted in drafting the bills.

“Agudath Israel regularly receives calls from members of the observant Jewish community, including many in New Jersey, who have come up against employers, college administrators, and others who refuse to accommodate their religious needs.  We realized that it was time to try to extend to New Jersey the protections that New York laws have long provided for the religiously observant, and so we called upon Assemblyman Schaer to help.”

Rabbi Biser and the director of Agudath Israel’s New Jersey office, Rabbi Shragi Greenbaum, expressed their deep gratitude to Mr. Schaer for introducing and championing the bills.  “Assemblyman Schaer didn’t need to be persuaded of the importance of this legislation,” noted Rabbi Biser; “he promptly took the lead and ably steered the bills through passage in the Assembly.”  Rabbi Greenbaum, calling the Assemblyman “a true champion of religious liberty,” observed that “the legislation, if passed, will help religiously observant people of all faiths who often face difficulties in the workplace and in academia because of their beliefs.”

For his part, Assemblyman Schaer felt honored to be called upon to consider and introduce the bills.

“Religious freedom,” he said on the day the legislative package cleared the Assembly, “has always been one of America’s core values and these bills reflect and built upon that time-honored tradition.”

The bills are now before the State Senate, and Agudath Israel is hopeful that that legislature’s members will be as determined to protect the rights of religious Americans as their colleagues in the State Assembly.