A teacher who was sacked from a Jewish school after making anti-Zionist and anti-Israel statements on her personal blog has launched a lawsuit against the institution, saying that it breached labor regulations.
Jessie Sander, 26, was fired from Westchester Reform Temple School in Scarsdale, New York, after only 15 days on the job.
Warren Haber, the synagogue president, said at the time that it “made this termination decision after much consideration and in accordance with WRT’s religious mission.”
But Sander, who is Jewish, said her firing is a violation of labor laws that prevent employers from policing how employees use their time when not at work.
Her lawsuit, which was filed before New York State Supreme Court in Westchester, accuses the school of violating labor law by firing her “because of her uncompensated lawful recreational activity, outside of work hours, of the employer’s premises and without the use of the employer’s equipment or other property.” It seeks her reinstatement plus compensatory damages.
She feels she was dismissed because of her critical views of Zionism and Israel, which she voiced in a prior blog post that her bosses saw. Sander stated that when her bosses saw the post, they summoned her for interrogation.
Rabbi David E. Levy inquired as to whether she backed the Palestinian party Hamas and what she understood by the term “anti-Zionist.”
He agreed with most of what she said during the questioning, she told the New York Times and lauded her as a wonderful role model for the pupils. But she was sacked a week later.
When she asked why, Eli Kornreich, the temple’s executive director, told her: “It’s just not a good fit.”
Sander said: “In the earlier meeting, I was like, ‘Wow, here’s a manager who gets it and says, ‘No one should fire you for your political beliefs,’ then at the next meeting it was, ‘Oh, except for me’.”
The temple defended her firing on the basis that the synagogue’s work is based on the principle of Clal Yisrael, which calls for “strengthening our commitment to Israel and the Jewish people of all lands and working to establish understanding and commonality among the various expressions of Judaism.”
But previous rabbis at WRT have expressed critical views of Israel. One, Rabbi Jonathan Blake, criticized “extremists, cynical political officials and wealthy patrons” in Israel for promoting “a grandiose vision of Jewish totalitarianism in the biblical Holy Land.”
Unlike Sander, however, they stopped short of questioning the right of Israel to exist, and of dissociating Zionism with Jewish identity entirely.
In her blog post, Sander wrote: “We reject the notion that Zionism is a value of Judaism. Zionism is not equivalent to, or a necessary component of, Jewish identity. To conflate Zionism and Judaism is not only inaccurate but dangerous.”
She continued: “In fact, support for Israel often conceals deeply antisemitic views, as seen in some vocally pro-Israel evangelical Christian groups.”
She also critiqued a common justification for the existence of Israel: That it provides a homeland for the long-persecuted Jewish people.
“Antisemitism (and white supremacy) do not disappear with the existence of israel — israel only placates us against revolution by giving Jewish people hope that there is a safe haven from antisemitism while turning us away from the struggle all marginalized groups must fight together,” said Sander. “As American Jews, we demand an end to American funding of Palestinian genocide.”
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