Posted on 08/22/2011 11:00:30 AM PDT by Jewbacca
Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a law last month that would require homeowner associations to permit religious displays on residents’ doors, including mezuzahs.
According to the law, the religious item must be under 25 inches and remain in the doorway.
The law was introduced after a Conservative Jewish couple was ordered to remove a mezuzah from the door of their rental apartment and then fined when they refused. The couple sued to be allowed to keep the mezuzah up and lost; they moved from the building when their lease was up. They then turned to Houston Rep. Garnet Coleman to help push the bill through the Texas legislature to prevent the same thing from happening to others, according to the Houston Chronicle.
It’s a reasonable accomodation for two little nail holes in a wooden doorframe. They have to repaint by law after a tenant leaves, regardless.
As an aside, the lawsuit from whence this stemmed noted that Christmas wreaths and seasonal decorations were permitted.
The law is, indeed, religiously neutral.
Your Festivus bar is safe.
I’ve always been told it’s how you use it.
“any New Yorker knows that a mezuzah is more important in real estate than a good lawyer”
LOL! I kept the mezuzah left by the previous owner of my co-op. I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’m not Jewish & don’t know what prayer is said, but as I walked into my apt it reminded me to thank God for a roof over my head and a loving family.
Does the housing have to meet specific religious requirements in its production, or simply the scroll in the housing, which if I understand correctly needs to be done on a kosher sheepskin parchment with a certain sort of pen and ink by a religiously observant scribe.
Most of them use a couple of tiny nails, such as might be used for attaching a picture hook. Nothing that a dab of spackle and a stroke of paint could not fix.
why not a yeehaW (with the W being the “shin” character)
Earlier one theory has it the Assyrians took Israel captive and sent the 10 tribes to some other place ~ Afghanistan is one proposed location.
So, we had a dozen or so Afghan families on this street and they all put up a Mezuzah on their front door.
Otherwise they were just ordinary (look like Americans) Afghans who prayed at one of the neighborhood mosques.
Like many Buddhists they all placed a stone circle in the yard somewhere and planted a tree.
I have no doubt they wouldn't have fit in all that well in a community with tight architectural control standards and enforcement.
Of course, where I live in NYC, they’re on practically every door. A very pretty religious item. I love to stop and examine them before getting on the elevator!
As a former president of a condo, I can tell you it taught me never to buy into a condo or co-op or one of those developments where the Homeowners Association is big brother. The mezuzah is such a small object - where I live you really have to LOOK to see it on a door. But of course that’s what these board are made up of: people who have too much time on their hands.
What about sticky back tape. The residue from most such tape will come off of painted surfaces with a little naptha (and off of the back of any metal mezuza).
I just bought a house in Ft Worth. Moved in on Saturday, nailed the mezuzah on the front door on Sunday. I didn’t even think twice about it because I haven’t read my HOA rules yet. There must be over 100 pages of rules. I am sure they will let me know when I break one.
How did these associations ever get started? And why would they care about such tiny things? Like you said, you really have to look for them. Committees are such a pain.
“Does the housing have to meet specific religious requirements in its production”
I am not an expert on the matter, but I don’t think so.
I am pretty sure it just has to protect the scroll, which is highly dependend of where you are.
I’ve never not seen the letter Shin (that the first letter of the Name) written on the outside of the case, so I suspect that may be a requirement.
That’s a very good question. In my case, it was in the by-laws of the building that we had a board. No one wanted to be on it and I got stuck. One of the worst experiences of my life.
“Moved in on Saturday,”
Heck of a Sabbath rest you had there. ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.