Great news! We just secured a win for our client Heimish of Houston, a small Orthodox Jewish synagogue.

We’re happy to announce that Houston city officials agreed to restore electricity to the congregation. Last week, our attorneys filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Houston city officials. They refused to restore power to Heimish and red-flagged the congregation due to some minor repairs and beautification projects.

Within about 24 hours of filing the TRO, our legal team went before a federal judge and reached an agreement with the city. Houston agreed to remove the obstacles so that Heimish could have its power turned back on.

This is a crucial win that comes just in time for Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights which begins on Thursday, Dec. 7.

“Our clients are greatly relieved that they will not be forced to celebrate Hannukah in the dark,” said First Liberty attorney Ryan Gardner.

“We love our community and have been more than willing to work with city officials to get the power to our synagogue restored. Our congregation will be delighted that they will be able to join together again,” said Michael Winkler, who is a founding member of the synagogue and owns the property.

We commend the Houston officials for following the law, which protects houses of worship from unreasonable government interference with their religious exercise. They did the right thing by allowing the lights to be turned back. Now, this Jewish community will be able to worship peacefully and celebrate one of its most important religious holidays.

Thank you for supporting First Liberty. These victories are incredibly meaningful to those involved. Because of your ongoing support, we continue to restore faith and religious liberty in communities everywhere in America.