True Jewish Heritage

Shabbat Emor 5785, May 16, 2025

Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ

Apparently May is Jewish Heritage Month in America, something I didn’t actually know until I read it this week.  This commemoration has been a thing since 2006, when it was started as a belated way of celebrating the 350th Anniversary of American Judaism, which actually took place in 2004.  Jewish Heritage Month was proclaimed by Congress in 2005, and in 2006 it was signed into law by then-President George W. Bush. 

For this year’s celebration, President Donald Trump released a long statement—released it today, in fact, on May 16th, over halfway through the month.  Like Elijah at the Seder, it is tardy but welcome.  It reads: “Since the time the United States was but a coalition of villages and settlements, America’s Jewish citizens have played an indispensable role in our national story.  They arrived as farmers, soldiers, tailors, and merchants, settling quickly and contributing greatly to the fields of law, art, science, and medicine.  At crucial moments, Jewish Americans have joined their fellow citizens in working towards America’s unique vision of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“The New World allowed those Jewish people emigrating from Europe to freely practice their faith without persecution, for the American experiment offered something providential — an escape from every indignity, every abuse, and every tragedy visited upon the Jewish people over their long history.

“In my proclamation declaring Jewish American Heritage Month in 2019, I drew from the words President George Washington drafted and sent to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, on August 18, 1790, addressing the Jewish citizens of our new Republic.  President Washington’s letter contained a blessing, that ‘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 everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.’

“During my first 4 years as President, in the several proclamations I issued for Jewish American Heritage Month, I often had the unfortunate task of contrasting President Washington’s timeless blessing with whatever violent acts of anti-Semitism had occurred in the previous year.  Each time, it was an all too painful reminder of the fragility of President Washington’s words.

“Then, October 7, 2023, happened, shattering the peace, not only abroad but also at home.  Since those horrific attacks, the Jewish community in the United States — and around the world — has faced an incredible trial, though one that was not unfamiliar in Jewish history.  College campuses and city streets erupted into violence.  Blood libels were displayed proudly at protests.  Those wearing yarmulkes were openly assaulted in the streets.  The America that its Jewish citizens felt that they once knew appeared to have shifted completely.

“In his letter, President Washington championed a different vision:  “For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.”

“…my Administration has been determined to confront anti-Semitism in all its manifestations.  I say that at home and abroad, on college campuses and in city streets, this dangerous return of anti-Semitism — at times disguised as anti-Zionism, Holocaust denialism, and false equivalencies of every kind — must find no quarter.

“We proudly celebrate the history and culture of the Jewish people in America, and we hold that President Washington’s words, though nearly 250 years old, still carry the revolutionary promise of our Republic:  that every citizen who demeans himself as a good citizen shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree — a covenant added to a blessing.”

Long, but to the point.  While some of us have concerns about the way that fighting antisemitism is being used as a lever against a variety of institutions in America now, we certainly welcome the effort to address the climate of anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist violence and hatred that has risen up in our nation over the last 18 months.  We Jews have played a central role in so much of American history and development, and we continue to contribute tremendously to American life.  And antisemitism has increased dramatically ever since October 7, 2023, and it remains a growing problem in our country in a way that hasn’t been true for many years.

Back to this unique time: we are now more than halfway through American-Jewish Heritage Month, which I thought was one of the things eliminated by DOGE, but apparently it wasn’t after all.  Mazal Tov!

Now I think I would be more excited about this American-Jewish Heritage Month if I hadn’t looked up just how many National Heritage Months our US Congress has already proclaimed.  You probably were unaware of the fact that there are currently national heritage months for Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Greek-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Filipino-Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans, Haitian-Americans, Native Americans, as well as Caribbean-Americans.  For some reason, German-Americans only merit a single day on the calendar, not a whole month, but since Germans are very efficient that’s probably all they need.  For us Jews, who are far messier, I think a month may not prove fully sufficient… in addition, of course, we also have Black History Month and Women’s History Month. 

When you start looking at all the commemorations and holidays proclaimed by our federal government you begin to think that the Jewish calendar’s plethora of festivals isn’t really so over the top:  there are actually 46 special months recognized by American presidential proclamation—46 special months when there are only 12 months in the year; only the government could manage that arithmetic!—as well as 20 special weeks and 47 special days recognized by presidential proclamation.  This even makes the Catholic saints’ day calendar, which has had many more centuries to develop, seem kind of reasonable.

Just this month our American-Jewish Heritage Month is shared with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, South Asian Heritage Month, Older Americans Month, National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, National Foster Care Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month.  At least I can understand sharing May with Mental Health Awareness Month—after all, we Jews invented psychology, once called “the Jewish science,” with Sigmund Freud as the principal creative force.  And I am married to a psychologist, and Beit Simcha’s president is a psychologist.  We should be very mentally healthy around here.

Some of my other favorite special American periods of national time include National Financial Literacy Month, National Cybersecurity Month, and the ever-popular National Critical Infrastructure Protection Month, all real winners in the excitement category. But who can fail to celebrate National Dairy Goat Awareness Week with appropriate festivities? 

I was, however, distressed to learn that we no longer regularly celebrate another presidentially proclaimed holiday, National Catfish Day… But I was pleased to discover that last Tuesday was National Apple Pie Day.

Now for all the excesses of publicly proclaimed special American months, weeks and days, the idea that certain periods of the year should be celebrated resonates with Jews quite naturally.  In this week’s portion of Emor all the Biblical holidays, from Shabbat through Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur to Pesach, Shavu’ot and Sukkot are enumerated, including the seven weeks/50 days counting of the Omer that we ritually fulfilled earlier tonight.  Each of these holy days are explicated with their timing, rationale, and ritual observances. 

And of course, in addition to the many festivals spelled out in Emor, a number of other Jewish holidays have been added to the calendar over the more than 2000 years since the Torah was completed.  We have added a slew of other holidays and commemorations: Purim, Hanukkah, Tu Bishvat, Tisha B’Av, Simchat Torah, Lag Ba’omer—that was last night and today—Yom HaAtzm’aut, Yom HaShoah, and Yom Yerushalayim among other special times that make the Jewish ritual calendar both rich and complex.  So, in a way, if you follow and observe the many Jewish holy days every month can seem like Jewish Heritage month.

In any case, May is indeed National Jewish American Heritage Month, and since we have been around here in America for 368 years now, ever since the first group of refugees from Brazil landed in New Amsterdam, and in an era when people now think that bagels are a purely American baked good it’s worth noting that our contributions to American society are extensive and go well beyond the culinary.  But it is wise to highlight both the contributions Jews have made and continue to make to America, and the challenges we face today. 

So go ahead and feel especially proud to be an American-Jew for the rest of this month of May—and, of course, find a way to celebrate by doing things that are actually and actively Jewish, like attending Shabbat services, as you are doing tonight, or studying Torah, or taking classes, or coming to the community Shavu’ot celebration on Sunday night, June 1st at the JCC.

Because something worth celebrating in one month of the year is well worth taking active pride in all the other months, too.