June 1, 2026
We’re approaching this 4th of July, America’s 250th, at a time of intense division and polarization in our country. Trust in our fellow Americans and our civic institutions is low, and our democracy is under unprecedented threat. If ever there was a time for American Jews to step up, the time is now.
Jews have been part of America’s civil fabric and pushing to ensure civil liberties since the first Jewish community came as refugees from the Dutch colony of Recife to New Amsterdam in 1654. Peter Stuyvesant, the colony’s governor, complained to the directors of the Dutch West India Company, saying these ragged refugees were “anti-Christs” and would be a financial burden on the nascent colony. He denied them permission to acquire land, engage in trade with other colonies, and serve in the militia. Undeterred, the refugees wrote to influential Jews back in the Netherlands and requested aid in appealing Stuyvesant’s decision. Those Jews, many of whom were investors and trustees in the Dutch West India Company, prevailed, and the directors of Dutch West India Company told Stuyvesant that he must allow the Jews to “travel and trade…live and remain provided the poor among them shall not become a burden to the company or the community, but be supported by their own nation1.”
As Rabbi Dr. Gary P. Zola said in his 2004 remarks on the 350th anniversary of Jews in the United States, the character of New World capitalism trumped Mr. Stuyvesant’s Old World prejudices.2
Despite the explicit orders of the Dutch West India Company, the Jews of New Amsterdam had to continually advocate and petition for permission to travel, trade with neighboring colonies, and own property.
In 1678, after the British took control in New York, Asser Levy was given permission to build a slaughterhouse and obtain a butcher’s license, along with an exemption from slaughtering hogs, as that was against his religion. He became a burgher in the colony and thus was able to serve on a jury. He did so for a case in which Peter Stuyvesant was the defendant.
“Jews, like Asser Levy and his contemporaries, wanted more than toleration. They conceived of themselves as full-fledged citizens, and they conducted themselves as such,” writes Rabbi Dr. Zola. And in doing so, “these Jewish citizens helped to define the meaning of political and civil liberty in this country3.”
Our Jewish forebears did this by insisting on their rights and religious freedoms, and by engaging actively in civic life. It is time for us to do the same. We need to join the conversation around civic life and shared civic values, protect our democracy and the right of all citizens to vote safely and without fear, and we must continue to insist on the separation of Church and State so that our students can learn without religious intimidation or coercion.
Today, there are a number of ways to get involved:
- Join us on August 9 at the Worthington Interfaith Neighbors Festival of Nations at the Village Green Park. Stay after to celebrate the conclusion of faith250 in a multi-faith ritual to mark the end of four months of collaboratively studying America’s foundational texts with Worthington Presbyterian Church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, All Saints Lutheran Church, and Lord of Life Lutheran Church. Join us in the fall as we continue these important conversations.
- Support the Reform Movement’s Every Voice Every Vote campaign, register for the upcoming Protect Our Vote Training, and let me know if you are interested in joining our team as we look toward the 2026 election and beyond. You can also sign up to be a poll worker. You can host a postcard party to encourage registered voters to vote.
- Help us ensure Ohio’s public school students have the freedom to belong, learn, and practice faith freely without government influence. As of writing, HB 531, the School Chaplain Act, is in committee in the House. Contact your legislators today and tell them to keep untrained and uncertified chaplains out of our schools. If you do one thing today, contact your legislators about HB 486, the Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act, which contains several efforts to undermine the separation between Church and State, including permitting educators in public schools and universities to promote “the positive impact of Christianity” on American history. This bill has already passed the House and is in the Senate Committee.
Written by Rabbi Karen Martin of Congregation Beth Tikvah
1 “Directors of the Dutch West India Company to Peter Stuyvesant, 26 April 1655,” in A Documentary History of the Jews in the United States, 1654–1875, ed. Morris U. Schappes (New York: Schocken Books, 1971).
2 Gary Phillip Zola, “Historical Reflections on 350 Years of American Jewish History,” in Honoring Tradition, Embracing Modernity, ed. Beth Lieberman and Hara Person (New York: CCAR Press, 2017), 553.
3 Zola, “Historical Reflections,” 553–555.