Editing Agudath Israel of America (section)

===Political activity===
Aside from its national branch in Manhattan, Agudah has active branches in the regions of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Missouri, New England, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Quebec, and Washington, D.C. The regional director of each branch lobbies the judicial and legislative branches of their state and local governments on any issue deemed morally or religiously important to their constituency (for example, [[abortion]], [[physician-assisted suicide]], [[same-sex marriage]], [[school voucher]]s/[[school choice]]).{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} Agudah's advocacy in New York state is led by [[Rabbi Yeruchim Silber]], Director of New York Government Affairs.

Agudath Israel's federal activities are coordinated by Rabbi Abba Cohen, the Director and Counsel of the organization's Washington, D.C. office. Agudah was the first Orthodox Jewish group to open an office in Washington, in 1988, and maintains ongoing relations with the [[White House]] and executive agencies, as well as with the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]], on various domestic and foreign issues.<ref>"Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel's Washington Director" -{{cite news |newspaper=Hamodia
|title=Agudath Israel of America National Board of Trustees |url=http://hamodia.com/2016/02/27/agudath-israel-of-america-national-board-of-trustees-leadership-mission-to-washington-dc |date=February 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>"After 28 years in Washington, Abba Cohen of Agudath Israel of America ..." {{cite web |title=Abba Cohen: The Ultra-Orthodox Man In Washington |url=http://forward.com/series/forward-50/2017/abba-cohen |website=forward.com|date=November 2017 }}</ref> Agudath Israel World Organization also has a representative at the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.archives.un.org/agudath-israel-world-organization-2|title=Agudath Israel World Organization - UNARMS|website=search.archives.un.org}}</ref>

Agudah files [[amicus curiae|amicus briefs]] in cases at all levels of the judiciary, often signing on as one of the organization signatories to a brief authored by [[Nat Lewin]] or the [[National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs]].

In 2023, Agudah's [[New Jersey]] state director [[Avi Schnall]] was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[New Jersey General Assembly]] from the otherwise solidly [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[New Jersey's 30th legislative district|30th District]], in what political commentators called a "massive demonstration" of the Orthodox community's political power.<ref>[https://newjerseyglobe.com/fr/how-avi-schnall-turned-a-deep-red-legislative-district-blue/ How Avi Schnall turned a deep-red legislative district blue], [[New Jersey Globe]], Nov. 9, 2023</ref>

====Fingerprinting controversy====
Official spokesman Rabbi Avi Shafran denied claims by [https://web.archive.org/web/20091112194357/http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13404/News/New_York.html The Jewish Week] that Aguda "is opposed to both the [[Mandated reporter|mandated reporting]] and [[Fingerprint|fingerprinting]], and [[background check]] legislation" then under consideration for teachers of children<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vosizneias.com/20265/2008/09/13/new-york-agudath-israel-we-strongly-support-employee-background-check-in-yeshivas-reports-to-the-contrary-false
|title=New York - Agudath Israel: We Strongly Support Bill Requiring Employee Background Check In Yeshivas, Reports To The Contrary False |work=Vos Iz Neias| date=September 13, 2008|access-date=November 30, 2017}}</ref> and cited a memorandum from 2 years prior<ref>dated June 20, 2006</ref> expressing strong support for the legislation. The difference is Aguda's 2006 support was for legislation that passed in 2007 permitting but not mandating fingerprinting/background checking.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=NY Post |date=May 30, 2010 |title=Jewish Schools in NY Ignore Fingerprint Checks |url=https://www.vosizneias.com/56552/2010/05/30/new-york-less-that-1-of-private-schools-run-fingerprint-checks}}, {{cite web| url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/schools_failing_on_perv_fingerprint_46dOHX9OBmBYCTW4LgLkdJ |title=Schools failing on ...|date=30 May 2010 }}</ref>