Legal brief filed to support case of Ohio Orthodox Jew banned from holding minyan in home

In a significant legal development, the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), alongside the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the National Council of Young Israel, has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the US Supreme Court. This brief champions the case of Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jewish resident of University Heights, Ohio, who has been prohibited by his city from hosting prayer services in his own home.

Grand's home minyan, a quorum of ten men required for communal worship under Jewish law, became necessary because Orthodox Jewish tradition forbids driving on Shabbat, thus preventing him from attending a synagogue. He even invested in a 700-square-foot addition to his home to facilitate these essential religious gatherings. However, a neighbor's complaint led the city to issue a cease-and-desist order, citing zoning laws that allegedly prohibit religious assemblies in single-family districts.

The situation escalated with the mayor publicly encouraging neighbors to report any signs of Jewish worship and with surveillance being directed at Grand's property. When Grand challenged these actions under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), federal courts dismissed the case, stating he must first be denied a special-use permit. The NJAC's brief aims to persuade the Supreme Court to hear the case, arguing that the minyan prohibition is not merely a zoning issue but fits a disturbing pattern of antisemitism, and that the unique religious necessity for home-based prayer for Orthodox Jews must be recognized.