In yesterday’s newsletter, we mentioned the decline of America’s mainline churches, a phenomenon that, inter alia, is leading to some lovely buildings falling into disuse. Yet it isn’t easy for them to be transformed into places of prayer for denominations that might be growing. Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt recently discovered this in her and her husband’s attempt to find a home for a newly formed Jewish congregation in New York City:

There were, it turned out, quite a few empty temples and churches in the neighborhood, places that had struggled with membership for years and then got finished off by COVID-19. But they were rarely for sale.

For some, tax exemptions keep carrying costs low enough to keep. At others, chaotic governance prevents decision-making, including the decision to sell. For still others, landmark designations limit redevelopment prospects; . . . the properties seemed not to operate in the universe of bottom lines.

Churches and temples own some of the most valuable real estate in the world, we were learning, but the complexity made their holdings essentially illiquid, even with an eager, well-financed buyer making inquiries. While the old, beautiful sanctuaries sat empty, our bustling young congregation—and we were not the only one—stayed nomadic. The paradox was tripping up our search.

I don’t pretend to understand the finer points of real estate, but this strikes me as a case of excessive government regulation interfering with free commerce, and thereby with other freedoms as well.

Recent reports suggest that the White House has at last acted to allow the shipments of weapons that had been withheld from Israel and to end further the delays. On this topic, Elliott Abrams comments, “I don’t know what and how much has been held up, but it shouldn’t have happened. The level of delay should be zero.”

In this interview with Ariel Kahana, Abrams also comments on the failings of U.S. policy toward Iran, and the Biden administration’s refusal to enforce existing sanctions:

According to Abrams, Iran has indeed halted the advancement of its nuclear program on rare occasions. “This happened when Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, and when [President] Trump eliminated Qassem Suleimani in 2020. The U.S. needs to be ready to use force in Iran, but credibility is critical here. Only if [Iran’s leaders] are convinced that the U.S. is willing to act will they stop.”

Abrams claims that the U.S. president tried for two-and-a-half years to revive the nuclear deal with Iran until he realized it wasn’t interested. “Iran has benefited from this situation, and everyone outside the administration sees it as a failure.”