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June 11, 2004/Sivan 22 5764, Vol. 56, No. 38
Community walks fine line
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - The Jewish religious establish-ment is trying to walk a fine line, telling Jews to go out and vote, but not for whom.
The major religious denomi-nations are coordinating to inform rabbis and other syna-gogue leaders about what they can and can't do to educate congregants about candidates and issues in the upcoming presidential elections.
The efforts come as Presi-dent Bush's re-election team is working to campaign through liaisons in the nation's churches and new legislation in the U.S. House of Rep-resentatives would allow churches to endorse political candidates and play a more active role in partisan politics.
Some are charging that the administration is stretching the tax-exempt status granted to places of worship, which by tax law are prohibited from partisan political activity.
The news last week that Bush's campaign was seeking advocates to coordinate campaigns in 1,600 "friendly con-gregations" in Penn-sylvania has sparked debate about what's legal to say and do in churches and syna-gogues. Similar con-cerns apply to other religious nonprofit institutions, such as Jewish federations, community cen-ters and day schools.
With both national cam-paigns preparing to reach out to the Jewish community this election season, there's a very real possibility that syna-gogues will be thrown into the midst of the political squabble.
The Jewish religious leadership's message to followers is two-fold: It wants community members to be active and engaged, hoping to maintain Jews' traditional influence in the political process, but it also wants synagogues and federations to follow the law.
"We're going to ... encourage our community to be involved, but be cognizant of what the rules are," said Reva Price, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
The JCPA and the congregational arms of Judaism's four major streams have sent out "Get Out the Vote 2004" guides to leaders across the country. The publications outline how organizations can participate in the political process by registering members to vote, holding candidate forums and even serving as polling places.
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