Jewish Groups Split Over Taking Federal Homeland Security Funds

The current issue of New York's Jewish Week reports that Jewish groups-- usually strong supporters of separation of church and state-- are divided over whether to accept federal funds to increase security at local synagogues. United Jewish Communities and a number of other Jewish groups are urging the Department of Homeland Security to release $25 million that has been appropriated to help non-profits increase their security, and are seeking additional appropriations from Congress for next year. However Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, disagrees. He says: "If our security needs are pressing enough that we are lining up at the public trough, then they should be pressing enough that our own community will make meeting those needs a priority.... It is not healthy for our community to come to depend on the government to take care of our communal needs."