Agudath Israel has filed countless amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs over the years, but it isn’t often that the organization sues an entity as the plaintiff. Yet, that is what we did this week, when we sued Jackson Township for its discriminatory actions targeting Orthodox Jews. As our New Jersey director Rabbi Avi Schnall said, legal action was a “last resort,” but necessary. To find out why we pursued legal action click here. The lawsuit received immediate media attention which can be found here and here. To read the brief click on the image below.

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Who are we representing? You! Whether or not you live in or near Jackson, the idea that Orthodox Jews, and frankly, any group, should be prevented from living in a certain community is un-American and illegal. That’s why Agudath Israel was one of the organizations that helped draft and lobby for the federal RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act).

One way to prevent lawsuits is to understand the law of the land, which was the focus of our new webinar series for those involved in nonprofits.

In Florida, where the state’s scholarship tax credit program no longer faced a lawsuit, legislators made positive changes to the programs for low and middle- income families and students with special needs.  Our Florida director, Rabbi Moshe Matz, traveled to Tallahassee earlier in the session to advocate for those changes and to support school security grants. Thank you and congratulations to the team at Step Up for Students and all of our Florida coalition partners!

Finally, Rabbi Ariel Sadwin joined the Pennsylvania celebration of the 16th year of its popular scholarship tax credit program.

Save the Date: Illinois Agudath Israel dinner May 24th

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