This is the note I shared with congregation before Shabbos this week - in honor of July 4th weekend
There is something special about the
celebrations surrounding July 4, which includes the reality that overall, the
experience of the Jewish people in the United States of America has been a
blessing of history. Since the time George Washington wrote his famous letter
to the Touro Synagogue, Jews found a freedom of worship in the United States in
America that was second to none in the history of the Diaspora. Yes, there were
pockets in time and in different lands where Jews went unbothered, and where
there was tremendous growth, freedom, scholarship, and even political
advancement. But every nation in Europe also, at least once, expelled the Jews
from their land over religious intolerance. The founding President of the
United States wrote:
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land
continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every
one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none
to make him afraid.
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness,
upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in
His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
Particularly
in Rhode Island, this followed a policy established at its founding, that Rhode
Island be:
a lively
experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be
maintained…with a full liberty in religious concernments… our royal will and
pleasure is, that no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter shall
be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any
differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the
civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons
may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and
enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious
concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they
behaving themselves peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to
licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward
disturbance of others, any law, statute, or clause therein contained, or to
be contained, usage or custom of this realm, to the contrary hereof, in any
wise notwithstanding. (https://fee.org/articles/george-washingtons-letter-to-the-jews/)
True - Jews were
sometimes excluded from country clubs, fired for not working on Shabbos, and
subjected to subtle bigotry in some areas and at the hands of non-governmental
organizations, even into the latter part of the 20th century, but the
idea of religious persecution from the state was by-and-large impossible due to
the founding documents that made the United States of America unique from other
States and Republics.
We are certainly
living in challenging times, and while certain peoples in this land who do not
understand the principles upon which this nation was founded would do well to
heed the rules set forth above in Rhode Island (which I highlighted in bold),
we can and should be appreciative that the State allows for and protects our
liberties, including that which we cherish most – to worship freely.
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That was the note. Incidentally, I recently became aware of a way the Jewish Farmers of America aimed to help Jews deal with the soft bigotry... See the screenshot of a facebook post below, and follow the following link
https://www.wbur.org/
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