News & Information for the Weeks of
June 20th - July 2nd, 2021
New York Government Affairs Director, Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, at New York FBI headquarters, discussing combatting hate crimes.
Agudath Israel Applauds the Supreme Court for Taking Case Involving the Religious Liberty of Students 

Agudath Israel of America is pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Carson v. Makin, involving the religious liberty of students.
 
In March, Agudath Israel joined an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court) brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, which was brought by parents with children attending religious schools in Maine. Although many private school students in Maine are eligible for state tuition funding, a state law says that the state will not pay tuition for students who attend a religious school.  
 
Agudath Israel argued that the law, which was upheld by the federal district court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals, violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution, under several recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, because it prohibits students from accessing an otherwise available student aid program solely because of the religious nature of their school.   
 
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Agudath Israel’s executive vice president, stated, "Excluding religious school students from a state aid program that benefits other private school students violates their religious liberty. We are very pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case, and hopefully put an end to that unconstitutional and discriminatory practice.” 
Agudath Israel Supports Governor DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly’s Focus on Students and Families
COLUMBUS, OH (July 1, 2021) – In a bipartisan vote, Ohio House and Senate voted to pass H.B. 110, the state’s biennial operating budget. With the signing of the bill by Governor DeWine, the bill now creates law that is welcomed by families and education advocates alike.

Agudath Israel of Ohio’s executive director, Rabbi Yitz Frank, praised the General Assembly for their vision. “Expanding school choice options empowers underserved families to choose the school that works best for their child. On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of students that benefit from these provisions, we thank Senate President Huffman and Speaker Cupp, who deserve credit for crafting a compromise that will allow all children in Ohio to thrive. We also thank Governor DeWine for his ongoing support of school choice and its crucial role in Ohio’s education landscape.”

The bill includes many key provisions that expand school choice. Included in these changes are:

  • EdChoice and Cleveland Scholarships increase to $5,500 per pupil in grades K-8 and $7,500 per pupil in grades 9-12.
  • Expands scholarship eligibility to include siblings of current scholarship students, students in foster and kinship care, and students entering 9th grade.
  • Increases the value of special needs scholarships.
  • Eliminates deductions from districts’ state aid and instead directly funds EdChoice and Cleveland scholarship programs and charter schools.
  • Creates a $750 state tax credit for individual contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO). Existing or newly formed SGOs may make contributions to tuition accounts for students enrolled at a private school.
  • Creates the ACE Education Savings Account program to provide $500 for education expenses for students with income levels below 300% FPL

“Yesterday’s bill signing marks the culmination of many months of hard work by Agudath Israel of Ohio’s Rabbi Yitz Frank and other advocates, including thousands of parents who contacted legislators about the need for additional school choice options,” said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, national director of state relations of Agudath Israel. “Ohio now has one of the largest and most robust school choice programs in the country, benefiting thousands of families choosing Jewish and other nonpublic schools.”
Positive News for Yeshivos as the New Jersey Budget Process Gets Underway
As the New Jersey budget makes its way through the legislative process before being signed into law, an additional $4,000,000 was added to the Nonpublic Auxiliary Services Aid fund, which pays for remedial services and tutors for nonpublic school children in New Jersey. In addition, the nonpublic school technology initiative received an additional $1,000,000. 
 
For two years, the Auxiliary Services Aid fund has been one of the Agudah’s top legislative priorities. The fund’s allocation has remained static even while the student population was growing. This left the fund woefully inadequate in properly servicing our children’s educational needs. In 2020, the Agudah-led advocacy effort resulted in the legislature adding $6,000,000 to the overall allocation, the first such increase in over a decade. This year, the budget proposal calls for another increase of $4,000,000 in addition to last years increase, bringing the total allocation increase to some $10,000,000. 
 
While the budget process remains ongoing and is not finalized until the Governor signs the budget into law, Agudah’s New Jersey's office director, Rabbi Avi Schnall, is confident that these gains will remain in place, and the increased allocations will result in enhanced services for our children. “Governor Murphy and the New Jersey legislature have once again proven themselves to be dedicated to the education of all New Jersey’s students,” said Rabbi Schnall. In addition, Rabbi Schnall thanked Deputy Assembly Speaker Gary Schaer, who has led the effort for increased funding in the New Jersey legislature. “Assemblyman Schaer has been a tireless advocate for the state’s nonpublic school children, and we are grateful for his leadership,” said Rabbi Schnall. 
 
The budget proposal now heads to the New Jersey legislature for a full vote before going to the Governor’s desk where it awaits Governor Phil Murphy’s signature. 
Agudath Israel Expresses Outrage at Curtis Sliwa Antisemitic Rant
Agudath Israel of America, like all New Yorkers of good will, is outraged at current mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa’s recently publicized rant against Hassidic Jews. Our outrage is accompanied by great surprise, considering how Mr. Sliwa and the Guardian Angels group he founded have shown great concern for the safety of Jews. 

In his 2018 address to a Hudson Valley meeting for the Reform Party, Mr. Sliwa berated Hassidim, hurling age-old misrepresentations and distortions that those who hate Jews have used for centuries at contemporary Jewish residents of Hudson Valley counties, several of which have seen influxes of identifiable Orthodox Jews over recent years. 
Among much other ugliness, he expressed disdain for Jews who donate to political candidates. And derided “able-bodied men who study Torah and Talmud all day while “all they do is make babies like there’s no tomorrow.” 

Such Jews, he said, don’t vote like “normal Americans,” and have the audacity to access educational funding for their schools to which they are entitled. 

Aside from the misleading nature of Mr. Sliwa’s accusations, with violent attacks on Jews, like those in Monsey, Pittsburgh and Jersey City, still in recent memory, words like his only add fuel to the fire of Jew-hatred. 

Mr. Sliwa might find it helpful to speak to representatives of some of the Jews he so dislikes. Some education about Judaism’s priorities and how a true democracy functions would benefit him as he aims to lead a city known and celebrated for its ethnic and religious diversity. A repudiation of the offensive and fallacious words, and an apology – a sincere one – are in order. 

At the end of his diatribe, the then-talk show host touted his Jewish connections, as if that in some way justified his bigoted words, and, in an attempt to head off criticism of his hateful words, asserted that “The moment you bring this to somebody’s attention, you’re called an antisemite.” 

Mr. Sliwa, however, should know that when one parrots the traditional canards used by antisemites one is reasonably suspected of being among them.
The Boston Mayoral Forum Series: Annissa Essaibi George Joins the Agudah Voting Project for a Conversation
The Agudah Voting Project and the New England office of Agudath Israel of America were pleased to host a forum with Boston mayoral candidate, City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, for the third conversation in the Boston Mayoral Candidate Forum Series. 
 
Councilor Essaibi George shared how her experience as a Boston Public Schools teacher and mother of four boys, including 15-year-old triplets, impacts her outlook and priorities. She is particularly invested in policies that would help families set down roots in Boston and that would enable parents to be able to raise their children in the city.  
 
Councilor Essaibi George took questions from community members and shared her overall vision for the city. She strongly condemned antisemitism and stated that it must be combatted on all  fronts, and using all available resources with partners such as the Boston Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office. 
 
Councilor Essaibi George spoke extensively on the need to expand the Boston Universal Pre-K Program and access to childcare more generally to ensure that all children in the city can access high quality and affordable childcare options. She also engaged in a robust conversation with the community regarding affordable housing, home ownership, special education, Kosher food access, and other issues of importance to the community. 
 
“We thank Councilor Essaibi George for joining us,” said Mrs. Ariella Hellman, director of government affairs of Agudath Israel’s New England office. “The Orthodox Jewish community in Boston is committed to the future of the city and we deeply appreciate Councilor Essaibi George’s willingness to engage in this important conversation with all of us.” 
Agudath Israel Endorses Pray Safe Act as Valuable Step in Protecting Houses of Worship and Faith-Based Institutions
Agudath Israel of America has announced its support for the bipartisan Pray Safe Act, introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). This act, if passed, will help faith-based organizations and houses of worship access information on safety and security best practices, federal grants, and training programs. 

“One of the most effective ways of protecting houses of worship and other faith-based institutions is in the gathering of as much information as possible and in learning from the experiences of others,” said Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for government affairs and Washington director of Agudath Israel of America. 

“With these valuable tools in hand, religious communities can devise plans and strategies that will best utilize equipment, personnel, procedures, and other mechanisms to better secure our facilities. Agency coordination on the federal level and the creation of an information clearinghouse will go far in achieving this vital lifesaving goal,” he continued. 

“We commend Senators Rob Portman and Maggie Hassan for putting the Pray Safe Act forward and pledge our support and our commitment to working together with them to have this legislation enacted.” 
Agudath Israel of America's division of government affairs is engaged in advocacy and legislative outreach activities on the local, state, and federal levels. In so doing, Agudath Israel seeks to protect the rights and advance the interests of observant Jews and their growing network of educational and religious institutions; and to offer a uniquely Orthodox Jewish perspective on contemporary issues of public concern.

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