December 15: The First Amendment

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” On this date in 1791, this First Amendment and nine other amendments to the U.S. Constitution took effect following ratification by the legislature of Virginia. It would not be until 1925, however, that the Supreme Court established that the Bill of Rights applied not only to the federal government but to all state and local governments. Jewish organizations, notably the American Jewish Congress, played a leading role in pursuing First Amendment cases, especially regarding church-state separation, in the 1950s and ’60s. These cases helped establish a broad protective umbrella over the right of religious minorities, including atheists and the non-religious, not to have to confront religious activities and symbols in the public sphere. What Thomas Jefferson called in 1802 “the wall of separation between church and state” has very much served to separate American Jews from the forces of political reaction and to preserve Jewish liberalism despite decades of courtship by the religious right.

“The demise of the American Jewish Congress should be an occasion for . . . remembering and reconnecting with the oft-forgotten ideals and values that it helped introduce into Jewish communal life. Who will teach us how to say what we need to say and how to do what we need to do?” —Jerome A. Chanes