Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 4:45 a.m.
A lawsuit between an Orthodox Jewish father and the private school in which he says his son was ridiculed for wearing a yarmulke and other traditional clothing raises a nagging question.
How on earth did it escalate this far?
Amir Odents, a U.S. transplant from Israel, says he felt there was nothing else he could do to protect the rights of his son, who was 6 when the incidents happened two years ago at Merryhill School's Durango campus.
Officials from Merryhill Schools of Nevada returned a phone call but offered no comment on the lawsuit or the schools' dress code policies.
In the Clark County District Court suit filed on Monday, Odents says his son Daniel was repeatedly intimidated by the school principal and told to remove his yarmulke head covering and the shawl-like tzitzit he wore under his school uniform shirt.
In an interview Wednesday, Odents said he and Daniel's mother are divorced, and Daniel attends Merryhill through a court-ordered settlement. The child practices Judaism on weekends, which he spends with his father.
Come Monday mornings, Daniel wears a small yarmulke cap atop his head, which reminds the faithful there is a power higher than their own. He wears the tzitzit, to remind him to follow the Ten Commandmants.
One Monday morning soon after the 2000 school year started, Odents followed as Merryhill principal Donald Parker called Daniel into his office and told him to remove the garments, court documents say. When he refused, Parker reached over and took the yarmulke from the child's head as his father stood there watching.
Odents recalls the incident in a calm, even tone. But his face flushes crimson, betraying his frustration.
"Anger is no good," Odents said. "I had to control myself. But I felt helpless because I couldn't protect him."
Odents moved to Florida from Israel in 1984 and moved to Las Vegas in 1985, where he enrolled in the hotel program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He now owns a kosher delicatessen on the Strip.
"I've never had any situation where I was discriminated against. And I look pretty Jewish," said Odents, whose graying beard reaches to the top of his belt buckle.
A black yarmulke sits atop his head. The fringe of his tzitzit is visible near his waist when he removes his dark suit coat. He says he never imagined his son's religious freedom would be stripped in a country founded on religious freedom.
"For a 6-year-old, this is a connection he makes to his identity and for God also," Odents said. "His identity has been challenged."
The boy, now 8, attends a different Merryhill campus. But his father says the damage is done.
"When he gets to school he takes the yarmulke off because he feels embarrassed," Odents said. "When he started school two years ago, he was very proud to wear it. Now it's something he needs to hide, and that's very disturbing."
Odents is asking for unspecified damages in excess of $10,000 -- the minimum amount required to file a lawsuit. He admits it is a drastic measure, but says no child should be forced to hide part of who he is.
"I couldn't just be quiet about it," Odents said. "If this is what's left for me to do, it is what I will do."
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