Sacred texts
Jewish people must remind themselves that America was founded based on Jewish ideals as expressed in the Hebrew Bible. These ideals are of weak central government with maximum freedom to the people. The exodus from Egypt was a rejection of statism, as was the American Revolution against Great Britain. The focus of the Torah is behavior directed towards the betterment of society, not for individuals to go to heaven, as is Christianity. America was not a Christian nation!
One of the tenants of the Torah was the reading of the Torah, weekly and once in seven years. The planned reading of the Constitution in the House of Representatives Jan. 6, initiated by Republican lawmakers, mirrors this Jewish concept. Jews need to take this occasion to remind themselves and others of the major Jewish contributions to American democracy, and to work for the goals of weak government and freedom.
Dr. Sanford Aranoff
Monroe Township
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