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May 20, 2002
Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Applauds Unified Congressional & Presidential
Action To Support America’s
Clergy; Community Represented At White House Signing Of Parsonage
Protection Law
Today, the Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish
umbrella organization, through its Institute for Public Affairs, applauded
swift and unified efforts by the U.S. Congress and President Bush to
support the welfare and work of America’s clergy by acting to protect the
longstanding allowance for clergy to deduct fair market housing costs from
their federal taxes.
This 80 year old policy allowing American clergy a tax exclusion for
housing costs, has been called into question by a U.S. Court of Appeals in
California questioning its constitutionality. Like scores of other
religious denominations, the Orthodox Jewish community is deeply concerned
about the burden that eliminating the “parsonage allowance” would impose
upon America’s clergy and the people and institutions they serve. While
confident that the question of §107’s constitutionality would ultimately
be resolved in favor of the clergy, we worry about the disruptions
protracted litigation over this question will generate.
Thus, the Orthodox Union, its member synagogues and affiliated rabbis, are
deeply grateful to the U.S. Congress for swiftly passing legislation
designed to clarify and codify the clergy housing allowance and its
provisions into the federal tax code, and thereby moot the case before the
Court of Appeals. Over the course of the last several weeks, this
bipartisan legislation passed the House by a vote of 408-0 and the Senate
by unanimous consent.
This morning, President Bush will sign this legislation into law. Rabbi
Herschel Billet – President of the Rabbinical Council of America (the
clergy affiliate of the UOJCA with more than 1,000 rabbis in its
membership) and spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Woodmere (New
York) -- will be among the members of the clergy attending the Oval Office
signing ceremony.
View photograph of this event
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