Prior to the divorce, the parties had been Protestants and had also raised their children in the same religion. Before the parties separated, the mother had become interested in Judaism.
Before the divorce, she converted to Orthodox Judaism, and then several months later, over the objections of the plaintiff/father, she also converted the children to Judaism. After the defendant the defendant/mother got remarried to an observant Orthodox Jew.
The defendant filed a post-judgment motion that sought a modification of the terms of the PSA with regard to the plaintiff’s visitation schedule. The defendant sought to change any visitation on the Sabbath and on other Jewish religious holidays. The defendant sought to obtain assurances that the plaintiff would ensure that the children complied with Jewish dietary law during his parenting time. The defendant sought to restrain the plaintiff from taking the children to church. Finally, the defendant sought permission to enroll the children into a Hebrew day school.
The trial court granted the defendant a plenary hearing. The trial court issued an order; (1) permitting the defendant to continue to raise her children in her home according to the Orthodox Jewish religion; (2) allowing the children to follow the cultural household routine and the religious practices of the plaintiff when they are with him provided that they are not enrolled in any Christian Sunday school or any other formal religious educational program; (3) directing that the children continue to attend public or private nonreligious school; and (4) modifying the visitation so as to permit the children to spend major Jewish religious holidays with their mother and to have major Christian holidays with their father.
The case was then appealed. The Appellate Division upheld the case. The Appellate Division held that it was satisfied that the trial judge’s findings, and that they were supported by sufficient credible evidence in the record. The Appellate Division held that the defendant had the right to raise children according to the Orthodox Jewish religion. However, the court did emphasize that it was neither approving nor disapproving of the religious conversion. Instead, the court emphasized that it was simply trying to establish secular rules to minimize the conflicting pressures that were placed on the children. The Appellate Court finally held that the trial court’s orders did not endorse either religion or the culture of either parent.
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