Submitted for your discussion, this clip from YourNabe.com:
YourNabe.com : A Brooklyn Heights woman is claiming her freedom of worship is being denied because a menorah is not allowed in the lobby of her co-op building.
Justine Swartz, who also goes by the name Justine Juggler because of her ability to juggle seven items at one time, alleges that this Chanukah it is forbidden to light a menorah and pray in the lobby of her building at 24-30 Clinton Street.
“My building’s menorah lights have been extinguished,” said Swartz. “I have not kept the Jewish commandment that requires the menorah to be lit in a public place.”
Swartz, who has lived in the building for about 25 years, said at one time the lobby boasted both a Christmas tree and a menorah, but now the building is decorated only with non-religious holiday ornaments, reefs [sic] and holly.
Swartz said when she complained to the BPC Management Corporation, who manage the property, she was told, “You wouldn’t want a Nativity scene, would you?”
,But Swartz countered that she wouldn’t mind a Nativity scene and even helped decorate the Christmas tree when they used to put it up until recent years.
She also believes Kwanza[a] should be represented in the lobby.
