US/World News

Gender-segregated swimming policy at Lakewood complex makes waves

(JTA) — A New Jersey housing community with a majority haredi Orthodox population is angering some homeowners with its stepped-up gender-segregated swimming pool hours. In yet another example of tensions between the Lakewood area’s growing haredi Orthodox population and non-Orthodox residents, several non-Jewish residents at A Country Place are speaking out about the housing complex’s swimming pool policies, the Asbury Park Press reported last Friday. The controversy comes as a nearby township is urging the U.S. Justice Department to investigate haredi Orthodox leaders for allegedly encouraging “blockbusting” — aggressive tactics designed to pressure homeowners to sell their property. Haredi Orthodox Jews believe it is forbidden for men and women to swim together.

A Country Place, a 376-residence Lakewood community for adults 55 and older, is private. The complex is governed by an elected board of directors, who vote on policies concerning shared spaces such as the swimming pool and clubhouse.

Coed swimming at the pool, which is open 13 hours a day in the summer, is restricted to two hours per day plus all of Shabbat, when haredi Orthodox Jews do not use the pool. Not all Orthodox residents support the policy, however, the Press reported, noting that Jerry Fried, who is 65 and Orthodox, asked the board at its last meeting to consider increasing the number of mixed-gender hours, but was rebuffed. Fried told the Press the conflict is between residents and the board, and not between Jew and non-Jew.

The swimming pool issue is not the first controversy at the housing complex, In 2008, a legal dispute arose over a homeowner converting his house into a synagogue. In 2011, a heated argument over residents’ plans to hold Yom Kippur services at the complex’s clubhouse led to police being called in.

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