A significant issue for members of the Orthodox Jewish community is our ability to obtain religious accommodations in places we work so that we can observe Shabbat and chagim, wear head coverings and fulfill other mitzvot.
In 2023, after decades of advocacy, employees have a stronger legal right to have their religious needs accommodated by their employers thanks to a historic Supreme Court decision, Groff v. DeJoy. This decision requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for religious needs unless it causes them significant difficulty.
The court overruled a 1977 precedent (TWA v. Hardison) which had allowed employers to reject a religious accommodation request if doing so would be even a minimal burden on the employer.Since that ruling more than 25 years ago, OU Advocacy sought to have it reversed. Last year, OU Advocacy (OUA) joined with other religious allies to successfully petition the Supreme Court to reexamine the issue in the Groff case. OUA filed a “friend of the court” brief which was quoted by Justice Alito in the court’s unanimous ruling.
In the past year, we continued to see a rise in antisemitism in the United States, and OU Advocacy increased its work to solicit an appropriate response from government offi cials. In December, OU Advocacy convened a summit meeting on the topic at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York. We brought together our community leaders with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Each of these leaders committed to new efforts to combat antisemitism.
After this summit, President Biden directed his administration to produce a National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. OU Advocacy actively participated in a series of meetings with senior offi cials, which resulted in the release of the National Strategy in May 2023. OUA staff is now working with federal offi cials to implement the next steps.
"THE OU ADVOCACY CENTER HAD A TREMENDOUS POSITIVE IMPACT UPON OUR COMMUNITY’S NEEDS AND INTERESTS LAST YEAR. OUA DELIVERED RECORD FUNDING FOR THE SECURITY OF SHULS AND SCHOOLS VIA GRANTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, AND OUA’S ADVOCACY LED TO THE WHITE HOUSE ISSUING A HISTORIC NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COUNTER ANTISEMITISM. OUA ALSO SAW DECADES OF DETERMINED ADVOCACY PAY OFF IN A HISTORIC SUPREME COURT RULING GUARANTEEING GREATER RIGHTS TO RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN THEIR WORKPLACES."
In 2023, OUA successfully worked with elected offi cials and our coalition partners to dramatically increase funding for the Nonprofi t Security Grant Program (NSGP) to $305 million. NSGP grants, administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, fund security upgrades and the hiring of contract security guards across our communities. OUA is currently working with allies including DHS Secretary Mayorkas and Senator Chuck Schumer to increase NSGP funding to $360 million for 2024.
OUA worked with bipartisan allies in Congress — Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) — to have OUA-crafted legislation, the Nonprofit Energy Effi ciency Act, incorporated into the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was signed into law by President Biden in 2021. This created a new Department of Energy program — funded with $50 million in its first year — that will award grants to nonprofits for making their buildings more energy efficient via the installation of new HVAC systems and the like. OUA is actively working with partners to ensure that shuls and schools receive grants in the first round of funding.
OUA also worked with key Democratic allies — including Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) — to amend an existing federal tax deduction supporting energy efficiency building upgrades (known as 179D deductions) so that it can be used by nonprofit entities, such as shuls and schools, when they upgrade their buildings. The law’s revision was included in the “Inflation Reduction Act” enacted in 2022.
The combination of the new grant program and newly available tax deduction will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to individual schools and shuls and will reduce the operating costs and harmful emissions of shuls, schools and other entities.
In 2022 – 23, prior to the outbreak of war in October, OUA successfully advocated for a number of policies supporting U.S.-Israel relations. Foremost among those was admission of Israel to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program which allows Israelis to travel more freely to the U.S. OUA also regularly engaged with senior Administration offi cials and Congressional allies in support of Israel’s security operations to thwart both Iran and its proxies. These relationships with top policymakers became all the more important after the outbreak of war on October 7.
"THE OU ADVOCACY CENTER WAS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THIS BILL. IT’S NOT RIGHT THAT HOUSES OF WORSHIP AND NONPROFITS DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO BOTH PURSUE THEIR MISSIONS AND SEEK ENERGY EFFICIENCY"