America at 250: What the Founding Fathers can teach us about fighting antisemitism - opinion

America at 250: What the Founding Fathers can teach us about fighting antisemitism - opinion

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, commentators are looking back at the Founding Fathers' engagement with Jewish rights and religious liberty as a source of guidance for confronting antisemitism today. Three opinion pieces published in The Jerusalem Post—one by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, one by Shlomo Slonim, and one by William C. Daroff—each explore different facets of this historical legacy, underscoring the enduring relevance of America's founding ideals.

Coverage Comparison

Mike Huckabee, writing on July 3, focuses on the Declaration's revolutionary assertion that freedom is a birthright from God, not a gift from government. He emphasizes the intertwining of America's founding ideals with the ancient values of the Jewish people, rooted in the Hebrew Bible. Shlomo Slonim, in an article published on July 4, adopts a more historical perspective, detailing the specific challenges Jews faced in the early republic and the Founding Fathers' responses. William C. Daroff, also writing on July 4, takes a reflective and commemorative tone, honoring Washington's promise to the Hebrew Congregation as a revolutionary act of equal citizenship, while acknowledging that America has not always lived up to its ideals.

All three articles converge on a central figure: George Washington and his 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. Each quotes Washington's famous assurance that the Government of the United States "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." This phrase, repeated across all three pieces, serves as the anchor for their arguments about the founders' commitment to religious liberty.

Key Claims

The Declaration of Independence, signed 250 years ago, declared that freedom is a birthright from God, as noted by Huckabee. He further asserts that America's founding ideals are intertwined with Jewish values, deriving wisdom from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as revealed in the Hebrew Bible. Huckabee highlights that the founders were "steeped in Scripture," drawing from the Exodus story and the Hebrew concept of justice grounded in a higher moral order.

Slonim provides a more granular account of the Founding Fathers' actions. He recounts that Philadelphia resident Jonas Phillips, a retired soldier of the Revolutionary Army, wrote to Washington before he took office, complaining that Pennsylvania's requirement for public officeholders to swear allegiance under the Bible—including the New Testament—discriminated against Jews. Washington, after becoming president, stated that Article VI of the Constitution nullified such religious discrimination, ensuring Jews were equal under the Constitution. Slonim also notes that Thomas Jefferson co-sponsored a bill to allow naturalization of Jews, Catholics, and other non-Protestants, that James Madison was appreciative of Hebrew as a language, and that Alexander Hamilton denounced antisemitism in a court case. These details illustrate the founders' active engagement with Jewish rights.

Daroff's article places Washington's letter in a broader historical and moral context. He describes the Jews who received the letter as descendants of families expelled from Spain and Portugal, who had lived "only on sufferance." Washington offered not mere toleration but equal citizenship secured by law, assuring that Americans of every faith would "sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." Daroff also traces the history of American Jews honoring that promise, from service in the Revolution and the Civil War to conflicts in the 20th and 21st centuries. However, he candidly acknowledges that "America has not always lived up to its ideals," pointing to persistent antisemitism and restrictive immigration policies like the National Origins system.

A recurring motif in all three pieces is the Liberty Bell, though it is most prominently invoked in Daroff's article. He describes it as a symbol of American independence and the abolition of slavery, bearing an inscription from the Book of Leviticus. This biblical connection reinforces the articles' shared thesis that America's founding draws on Jewish and Judeo-Christian heritage.

The claim that the American and Israeli stories share a common thread of defending liberty is advanced most explicitly by Huckabee, writing from Israel. He sees America's founding ideals and the Jewish people's ancient values not as parallel but as intertwined, a perspective echoed in the other articles' celebration of American liberty as a continuation of biblical themes.

In sum, these opinion pieces collectively argue that the Founding Fathers' commitment to religious freedom and equal citizenship—exemplified by Washington's letter—provides a powerful framework for understanding and combating antisemitism today. While they differ in emphasis, with Huckabee focusing on divine birthright, Slonim on historical actions, and Daroff on the promise's legacy and failures, all agree that the founders' ideals remain a moral guide for the present.