Jews are guided to start each day with a statement of gratitude, and so it is fitting as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, we, American Jews, pause to express our profound gratitude.
Grateful are we for a nation that, unlike so many others through Jewish history, did not merely tolerate Jewish life, but made possible its flourishing.
From the earliest days of the American experiment, Jews were drawn to the promise of a nation founded not on bloodline, monarchy, or established religion, but on liberty, covenant, and the dignity of the individual. Having known the weight of persecution and exclusion, Jews recognized in America’s founding ideals something rare in human history: the possibility of belonging without surrendering our identity.
American Jews were not merely beneficiaries of this promise. We helped construct it. Jewish patriots supported the Revolutionary cause with blood, treasure, and the wisdom of our sacred texts. The Liberty Bell, commissioned in 1751, bears a defining expression of the American spirit with a quote from the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus 25:10), “Proclaim Liberty Throughout The Land… .” The conviction that we are all created equal, which was enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, was found in the Bible’s creation story, with its teaching that we are all made in the image of the Divine. Jewish merchants from the Caribbean, together with Jewish Patriots in the Colonies, aided the Continental Army by supplying arms. On July 4, 1788 Jews joined clergy and civic leaders on Independence Mall in Philadelphia to celebrate the ratification of the Constitution, a charter that offered freedoms unprecedented in the modern world.
And in 1790, President George Washington gave an enduring voice to the American promise in his letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, declaring that “For happily the Government of the United States […] gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance…”
Here, Jewish immigrants arrived with little and built lives of dignity. Here, Jewish communities established synagogues, schools, charities, businesses, and institutions of civic life. Here, Jews rose not because success was guaranteed, but because freedom made striving possible.
To us, being American means fidelity to a civic covenant.
We believe in individual liberty: free citizens must be able to live, speak, worship, assemble, and pursue their own paths, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.
We believe in equality of opportunity: every person should have the chance to rise through effort, talent, and perseverance.
We believe in the rule of law: justice must be impartial, rights protected, and power constrained.
We believe in freedom of conscience and expression: truth emerges not through coercion, but through open discourse, moral courage, and democratic persuasion.
We say this with clear eyes. America has not always lived up to its own ideals. Its history is marked by acts and periods of injustice, exclusion and failures that wounded many communities, including at times our own.
Yet America’s greatness has never rested on perfection. It rests on the enduring power of its ideals and the willingness of citizens to struggle to live up to them.
That is our charge now.
At a time of division, distrust, and fragmentation, we recommit ourselves to strengthening the bonds of citizenship, renewing a culture of democratic responsibility, and modeling a patriotic pluralism that makes room for deep difference within shared national purpose. We also commit ourselves to teach these values to our children and our children’s children.
We are proud to contribute to helping America more fully realize the promise of a more perfect union.
Grateful are we. Committed are we.\ Hopeful are we.
God bless America.
Inaugural Signatories:
Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt
Rabbi David Wolpe – Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus, Sinai Temple
Elliott Abrams – Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Tikvah
David Ackerman – Rabbi, Congregation Beth Am Israel
Jan Armstrong Cobb – Immediate Past President, AJC Cincinnati
Rabbi Bradley Artson – AJU Distinguished Scholar, American Jewish University
Amanda Berman – CEO, Zioness
David Bernstein – CEO, North American Values Institute (NAVI)
Mijal Bitton
Marc Blattner – President and CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland
Jacob Blumenthal – CEO, Rabbinical Assembly
David Butler
David L. Cohen – Ambassador
Jacob Cohen – Trustee, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Mark Cohn – Rabbi, Temple Sholom, New Milford (CT)
Philip Darivoff – Chairman Emeritus, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
William Daroff – CEO, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Ted Deutch – CEO, American Jewish Committee
Nathan Diament – Exec. Director, Orthodox Union Advocacy Center
Dr. Kathy Fields
Eric Fingerhut – President and CEO, Jewish Federations of North America
Dr. Anita Friedman
Misha Galperin – President, Zandafi Philanthropic Advisors
Martin J. Geller – Founder and Chairman, Geller & Company
Paul Glasser – VP, Touro University
Leon Glicksman – Professor, MIT
Eric Goldstein – CEO, UJA-Federation of New York
Archie Gottesman – Co-founder, JewBelong
Jonathan Greenblatt – CEO and National Director, ADL
Gidi Grinstein – Founder and President, Reut USA / AJ2054
Amy Gutmann – Ambassador
Jonathan Haidt – Professor, New York University
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield – President, Clal – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
Dara Horn
David Ingber – Founder and Senior Rabbi, Romemu
Hadara Ishak – President, Jewish Future Promise
Jay Kaiman – President, The Marcus Foundation
Bernard Kaminetsky– President, AIPAC
Thomas Katz
Howard Kivell
Betsy Korn – Chair, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Josh Kramer – President and CEO, Ohio Jewish Communities
Monty Krieger – Professor
Yehuda Kurtzer – President, Shalom Hartman Institute
Adam Lehman – President and CEO, Hillel International
Mike Leven – Founder, Jewish Future Promise
Randi Levine – Ambassador
The Honorable Kathy Manning – Former Member of Congress, NC 06
Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus – Chairman and CEO, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law
Anthony Meyer – Past Chair of the Board of Governors, American Jewish Committee
Linda Moskowitz Noonan – National Board Member, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
David Muschel
Nicole Mutchnik – Chairman, Board of Directors, ADL
Anne Neuberger – Former Deputy National Security Advisor
Yehuda Neuberger
Dr. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
Mark Oster – Co-Chair, Board of Trustees, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Rabbi Justin Pines
Steven Pinker – Johnstone Professor, Harvard University
Jonah Platt – Host, Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Julie Platt
Steven Price – Board of Directors, Tikvah and Commentary
Dr. Garry Rayant
Zoya Raynes – Chair of the Board, Jewish Funders Network
Andrew Rehfeld – President, Hebrew Union College
Joe Roberts – Executive Director, Jewish Tulsa
Stephanie Rodgers – National Board Vice President, National Council of Jewish Women
Jimmy Rosenfeld
Steven Rotter – Chair, CLAL The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
Jonathan Sarna – Professor
Charles Savenor – Executive Director, Civic Spirit
Sherrie Savett – Former Board Chair of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
Miriam (Mimi) Schneirov
Philip Siegel – Philanthropist
Amy Skopp Cooper – CEO, National Ramah Commission
Harlan Stone – Trustee, University of Pennsylvania
Michèle Taylor – Ambassador
Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum – Co-Chair, Co-Chair, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Gary Torgow – Chair, Jewish Federations of North America
David Touger
Michael Tuchin – National Board Chair, AIPAC
Ethan Tucker – President and Rosh Yeshiva, Hadar Institute
Paul Ullman – Member Kehillat Romemu
Mike Uram – Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary
Jane Weitzman
Stuart Weitzman
Steven Wisch
David Zalik – Co-Founder, The Zalik Foundation
Carol Zawatsky – CEO, The Tree of Life, inc.
