Gov. Jon Corzine called the new legislation “a statement that we believe in tolerance and inclusion.” Photos by Robert Wiener
April 17, 2008
With the stroke of the governor’s pen, New Jersey is now the first state in the country to have a Jewish Heritage Month.
The month is April, and it was so proclaimed when Gov. Jon Corzine signed the measure into law April 9, along with four laws guaranteeing religious accommodations to observant people of all faiths.
Christian and Jewish leaders gathered at Ahavas Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Passaic, for the bill signings.
“When we are about to celebrate Passover and the 60th anniversary of Israel, to make sure our great state recognizes the broad contributions the Jewish community makes to our society at large is extraordinarily important,” said Corzine.
Under the spate of new laws, employers are prevented from penalizing workers who take time off for religious holidays, and hospitals and nursing homes may not require patients or their relatives to sign documents at times prohibited by religious practice.
Two other new laws require that alternate testing dates be provided for students and professional license applicants if exams are scheduled on days of worship.
Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Dist. 36), the architect of the religious freedom laws, praised their adoption.
“When too often we see civil liberties in this country challenged and breached as a part of national policy, it is important that we in New Jersey stand up for what is right in our constitutional beliefs,” said Schaer, an Orthodox Jew and Passaic resident.
Schaer and Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Dist. 20) were the key sponsors of the measure designating April of each year as Jewish Heritage Month. Similar laws have been enacted for Black History Month, Women’s History Week, and Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Gary Schaer (holding pen) look on as Gov. Jon Corzine signs religious freedom bills into law. Assemblyman Neil Cohen is second from right.
Reeling off a list of famous American Jews, Cohen said, “All of these will be remembered, and those who come and help our world, they will be remembered also.”
The bill’s provision protecting student religious exemptions had special meaning for State Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Dist. 38), a sponsor who was on hand at the signing.
Gordon, who attended Williams College in Massachusetts as an undergraduate, said professors would regularly schedule midterm exams on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Although the senator said “those policies are long gone,” the experience of challenging them was “seared into my memory.”
Following the ceremony, Schaer told NJ Jewish News he did not view the occasion as a “culmination” of a legislative effort he has waged for two years.
“There are so many other things we need to be doing, but this is a tremendous beginning in ensuring religious rights for everyone,” he said.
- Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com