WASHINGTON (JTA) — President George W. Bush’s first act as president, on Jan. 29, 2001, was to open an office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Church-state separations that had hindered such partnerships, he said in a statement, were “inherently unfair.” Jewish groups, civil libertarians and Democrats immediately raised concerns, and the Bush administration soon dispatched…
(JTA) — President Donald Trump signed into law a bill to extend disaster assistance by Federal Emergency Management Agency to houses of worship. On Friday morning, Trump signed a two-year budget measure that included the provisions extending assistance. The government had shut down overnight, as lawmakers were unable to agree on the larger budget bill….
Ever since the Seattle Hebrew Academy was damaged by an earthquake in 2001, Jewish and non-Jewish religious groups have been trying to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency to grant repair funds to houses of worship hit by natural disaster. But internal rules put in place to ensure federal dollars don’t go to religious causes…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that allows federal disaster relief funds to go to houses of worship. On Thursday, the House voted 251-169 to approve the bill. The vote was not strictly along party lines, although more Republicans than Democrats favored it. The Senate is considering a similar bill….
Armed with a presidential tweet, a bill moving forward in Congress and a pending lawsuit, Jewish and Christian advocates believe they are on the verge of overturning a long-standing policy that has prohibited federal emergency funds from reaching houses of worship hit by natural disasters. The public face of this campaign is Christian. A short…
For Houston’s devastated synagogues, government funds to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey may not come. The historic flooding that has brought death and terror to parts of Texas this week has damaged an untold number of houses of worship, including at least two synagogues. Government rules could bar those holy sites from receiving government rebuilding grants…
The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island was awarded almost $500,000 in federal funding to repair damages that occurred during Superstorm Sandy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency originally allocated $1,860 to the council for the devastation its buildings received during the October 2013 hurricane. On Friday, FEMA allocated an additional $482,500. “This is great…
It has become my annual ritual. I flippantly say, minutes before the first night of Hanukkah, “I’m going to 116th Street to blur the separation between church and state.” Apparently, some very well-meaning and generous person from Indiana donated a large, electric menorah to the Jewish community of the Rockaways following 9/11, because our community…
100% of profits support our journalism
