The Forward’s September 16, 2011 news story and editorial questioning the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program because it purportedly disproportionately serves Jewish institutions (and Orthodox institutions, at that), betrays several profound misunderstandings about the program’s purpose, government’s role in supporting non-profits, and the Orthodox community’s leading role in the Jewish organizational world.

The news story’s title, “How an Anti-Terror Program Became A Jewish Earmark,” suggests that something tawdry is going on because about 75% of the grants have gone to Jewish institutions. A 2010 report prepared by the state Office of Homeland Security based on legislation I authored, the “Non-Profit Homeland Preparedness Study Act,” found that 21% of terrorist attacks in the United States targeted non-profit institutions, and experience tells us that Jewish institutions are major targets. This program’s outcomes reflects that reality. Remember the outrage when small towns got federal homeland security dollars at New York City’s expense, just so the money could be distributed more “evenly?”

Another misplaced concern is about government funding for religious institutions (and the challenge in the editorial, “Crossing the Line” that Jews wouldn’t support the program if most recipient institutions were “mosques and evangelical churches”). We already pour billions of dollars into social service programs operated by religious organizations of every variety because they fill a vital role that government could not possibly fill on its own.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

As taxpayers and Jews, we should be proud of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and I am certainly proud of my role in supporting it.

Rory I. Lancman

Assembly Member, Twenty-Fifth District

New York

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount