By Donald H. Harrison 

Six institutions in San Diego that will divide $320,885 in grants from the federal Department of Homeland Security include five Jewish institutions and the Museum of Natural History, which will be exhibiting the Dead Sea Scrolls in 2007.  Is this a “good news” or a “bad news” story? 

Does this mean that only Jewish institutions, or those with a clear Jewish connection, are considered to be at risk by the Department of Homeland Security,  or does it mean that only such organizations applied for the money?

The latter is the case, according to William Norris, program manager of the City of San Diego Office of Homeland Security.  He said that only seven non-profit organizations in San Diego County applied for the funds—and the one which did not qualify also was a Jewish institution. He declined to identify the unsuccessful applicant.

Notwithstanding some controversy in the Jewish community over whether religious institutions should accept government money, the five local Jewish institutions awarded the grants were the United Jewish Federation, the Lawrence Family JCC (Jacobs Family Campus); the Chabad Synagogues in Poway and in the University City area of San Diego, and Congregation Beth Israel.

Tina Friedman, community relations director of the United Jewish Federation, said the UJF and other local Jewish organizations were quick to take advantage of the availability of the grants because UJF had been tracking them through its parent organization, the United Jewish Communities.   UJC had been part of a broad coalition that lobbied Congress to create the grants, Friedman said.

She said the list of coalition members included Agudath Israel of America; American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging; American Association of Museums; American Jewish Committee; American Jewish Congress; American Red Cross; American Society of Association Executives; Association of Art Museum Directors; Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America; Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies; Independent Sector; Jewish United Fund; Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago; National Association of Evangelicals; National Assembly of Health and Human Service Organizations; National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Theater Communications Group; Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; United Way of America; and YMCA of the USA.

Norris declined to break down by institution how the $320,885 in San Diego grants  was apportioned, but said individual institutions were free to share such information with the media if they desired.  Friedman said the total for the five Jewish institutions came to approximately $240,000, with the smallest share that of the UJF itself, with $7,657.

The Lawrence Family JCC, which logs “140,000 visitations per month,” according to Development Director Ana Kozlowski, will receive $76,558.  Congregation Beth Israel will get $38,319, according to Executive Director Stuart Simons. Chabad at University City was notified it will receive $36,557, Miriam Goldstein, the administrator, said. 

Spokespersons at the Museum of Natural History and Chabad at Poway could not be reached for immediate comment, but based on  the overall figures provided by Friedman, it is possible each could receive grants in the neighborhood of $80,000.

The grants will be for capital improvements to better protect the sites against attack, according a news release issued by Mayor Jerry Sanders' office. 

“The City of San Diego Office of Homeland Security was a strong advocate and active participant in the entire process that has brought these funds to San Diego,” said Sanders.

Norris said that although funds were available in the urban areas surrounding Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Anaheim,  organizations in the greater Anaheim area did not submit any grant requests. 

The local Homeland Security program manager said that representatives of the four metropolitan areas and the State of California jointly judged the applications and decided to award $3.75 million to Los Angeles organizations and  $935,000 to San Francisco Bay Area institutions.  Friedman said that Jewish institutions in Los Angeles accounted for $2 million of that total, while San Francisco area Jewish organizations were awarded $540,000.

While the institutions understandably do not want to publicize their specific security plans, such grants cover a wide variety of possible equipment, depending on the needs of the specific venues.  A list of “authorized equipment” for which these funds can be utilized include motion detectors, barrier fences, impact resistant doors and gates, alarm systems, video detections, personnel and vehicle identification machines, x-ray units, magnetometers, and various systems for resisting blasts and shocks from explosions.

Howard Feldman of Pioneer Security, who has consulted with numerous Chabad Centers in Southern California, said that under Homeland Security grants, typically the institutions will first purchase and install the equipment, then be reimbursed by Homeland Security.

Morris Casuto, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that in furtherance of its policy favoring strict separation of church and state, the ADL has opposed the making of such grants by government to religious institutions. 

However, he said, as long as other Jewish institutions in the community believe they are necessary, he is glad that they were successful in their applications.   Tad Seth Parzen, president of the local American Jewish Committee chapter, could not be reached for comment, but AJC has campaigned hard for church-state separation.

Simmons of Congregation Beth Israel said that the “separation of church and state” issue in connection with the grants also has been widely debated within the Reform movement.  However, he said, he was positively swayed when former Beth Israel President Jerry Goldberg, an attorney whom he considers to be a political “liberal,” expressed  no problems with accepting the grant.

Friedman said some of the concerns of the Jewish community are allayed because “the grants come without strings—there is no quid pro quo.”

Norris said the grants are intended to protect places where citizens gather and which may be at risk either because of the backgrounds of those citizens or because of the iconic value of those places.