House Approves Aid to Sandy-Hit Synagogues

The House of Representatives approved legislation that would allow synagogues and houses of worship to be eligible for federal disaster relief. H.R. 592, the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013, passed 354-72, and will now move on to the Senate.
Since Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast on October 29, organizations like the Orthodox Union, Jewish Federations of North America, the New York Board of Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, and Agudath Israel have pressured Congress to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
The Constitution bans government aid to houses of worship. However, some institutions believed they should be eligible as non-profits that provided necessary services during the storm, in the roles of shelters and schools.
In December, Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs told the Forward, “It’s not about church and state issues, or the impact that Sandy may have wrought on a number of houses of worship, but whether or not they [FEMA] have the ability under their operating statute to make those grants.”
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who voted for the legislation, compared the devastation of Sandy to Hurricane Katrina in the gulf region and recounted the impact it had on churches and synagogues in the area, which she described as not rich institutions.
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) spoke out against the amendment, saying the issue was rushed to the floor and needed to be examined more thoroughly, since it raised important constitutional questions. Robert C. Scott (D-VA) was also against the amendment, saying it would violate years of precedence.
In a letter to Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sponsored the bill along with Grace Meng (D-NY), Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for federal government affairs for Agudath Israel, said religious institutions were integral in rebuilding devastated neighborhoods.
Temple Israel of Long Beach was one of the hardest hit synagogues in the area. Rabbi David Bauman has estimated damages totaling $5 million. He previously told the Forward that federal aid “would allow not only my synagogue, but all faith institutions to get the help they need. They deserve it, they’re the backbone of this country.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Fast Forward Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters, including one American
-
Fast Forward Trump administration freezes research funding to Princeton amid antisemitism investigations
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.