caption: Tefillin. Photo courtesy of Benjamín Núñez González via Wikimedia Commons.

A viral video of Jews wrapping tefillin with “overwhelmingly positive reception” is seemingly enough to get one suspended from a country club in Boca Raton, Fla. That’s according to the Dhillon Law Group, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish family that said it was unfairly suspended from the Boca Grove Country Club for practicing its Jewish faith.

Host Punished

Isaac Scharf invited Jewish influencer and comedian Jake Adams to the club to play golf in December 2024, according to the suit. At the club, Adams filmed a video for his “Jewish country clubs” series, which featured him playing golf, touring the club and its amenities, and adding comedic flair. He also filmed himself donning tefillin, assisted by Scharf.

The video, which he posted on Jan. 6, went viral, and shortly thereafter, Scharf was suspended from all amenities for 90 days, because the footage “contained references to religious practices that have been deemed offensive to a reasonable person.” (At press time, the Instagram post had 23,835 Likes.)

The club later extended the suspension to Scharf’s wife and five children, including a 1-year-old daughter.

Matthew Sarelson, a partner at the law firm, stated that it was clear after reviewing the documentation that this was “serious discrimination.”

“This may be the most egregious religious discrimination case I’ve ever handled,” Sarelson said. “Boca Grove didn’t just target one man. They punished an entire family for participating in an innocuous act of Jewish faith.”

Despite the “overwhelmingly positive reception of the video,” according to the suit, “the board’s anti-Orthodox members were furious.”

Orthodox Exclusion?

The suit alleges that the club members were “enraged that Adams’s video brought attention to Orthodox Jewish life at Boca Grove and made the community look inviting and welcoming to Orthodox Jews.” That, per the suit, interfered with “their goal of driving the Orthodox community away and reducing its visibility.”

The complaint details other patterns of Orthodox exclusion, including cancelling kosher dining options and dismantling walking paths that many used on Shabbat.

“This wasn’t about enforcing a policy,” stated Jacob Roth, an associate at Dhillon. “It was about sending a message to Orthodox Jews that they’re not welcome.”

Sarleson told JNS that anti-Jewish discrimination is part of a growing trend, especially since the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. “We have been fielding and taking many more of these cases,” he told JNS. “If anything, we have seen an uptake in inquiries.”

The plaintiffs are seeking $50 million in damages for civil-rights violations, emotional distress and economic harm.

Harmeet Dhillon, who founded Dhillon Law Group, left the firm in 2025 to become assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights.