Events
Celebrating Harvey Milk’s Legacy and Continuing the Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Rights
With Stuart Milk of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Jaimie Krass of Keshet, and Paul Golin of Society for Humanistic Judaism/Jews for a Secular Democracy Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, Milk was assassinated along with mayor of San Francisco George Moscone on November 27, 1978. A close friend remembered him as “very much a cultural... Read More
Religion-Government Separation in Michigan Today with State Senators Moss and Bayer
Hosted by the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit, Jews for a Secular Democracy facilitated a lively conversation with State Senator Rosemary Bayer and President Pro Tempore of the Michigan Senate Jeremy Moss, moderated by JFASD Michigan Director Nomi Joyrich and introduced by Society for Humanistic Judaism Executive Director Paul Golin. It was a wide-ranging conversation covering white Christian Nationalism, abortion access, LGBTQ rights, and many other timely church-state separation issues. Many thanks to... Read More
Book Banning and Our Freedom to Read: Censorship in Our Libraries and Schools
Book banning and censorship in the United States has a sordid and persistent history. Often based on white Christian Nationalistic values, books dealing with slavery, gender identity, sexuality, disabilities, the Holocaust, mental illness, racism, and non-Christian religions including Judaism are continually challenged and banned from our libraries and schools. And unfortunately, this type of censorship is on the rise. According to the American Library Association, individual book challenges increased markedly in the last few years,... Read More
The Rabbi Suing Florida Over Religious Freedom
In June 2022, Rabbi Barry Silver filed a lawsuit seeking to block Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the new law unconstitutional under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as well as the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The suit argues that the 15-week abortion ban represents just one religious group’s views and not those of other faiths and/or secular beliefs. Rabbi Silver is a public interest attorney... Read More
Are Jews Still Protected By Religious Freedom?
Presented by Jews for a Secular Democracy staff and volunteers, we discussed the historic and moral imperatives for our work. We also provided an update on what JFASD has accomplished this year and addressed ongoing issues related to the separation of government and religion as we seek to galvanize the Jewish community to combat the rising threat of white Christian nationalism.
Michigan 2022 Ballot Proposals: Deep Dive and Relational Organizing Training with Nomi Joyrich
On September 29, 2022, Nomi Joyrich, Michigan Director of Jews for a Secular Democracy, offered volunteers a deeper understanding of statewide ballot proposals and equipped them to answer all their friends’ and neighbors’ questions. Relational Organizing is the most effective way to get out the vote and create change. Learn this structured approach and help get out the vote.
History of Christian Nationalism Christian Nationalism Ascendant—A Rabbi Offers a Deep Dive On Its History and Our Concerns
Rabbi Jeffrey Falick of the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit (https://www.chj-detroit.org/) delivers a deeply researched and damning history of a movement that seeks religious theocracy in America, and is succeeding in many terrifying ways. Beyond the general concern for all religious minorities and non-religious people, he also explains how anti-Semitism is very much at the root of the movement, despite cynical uses of the phrase “Judeo-Christian.” If you’re just beginning to hear and... Read More
Freedom From Religion in the Classroom
Christian Nationalists are seeking to put their understanding of God “back into the classroom” and the Supreme Court may help them. How real is the threat and what can we do about it? A distinguished panel discussed the issues related to education and religious freedom. With Cheryl Blau of Farmington MI Board of Education, Richard Katskee of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Daniel Mach of the American Civil Liberties Union. Moderated... Read More
Messaging for Change: Op-Ed Writing and Social Media
How can we best articulate our support for important issues such as church-state separation — and amplify it to more people utilizing opinion/editorial writing and social media platforms? Learn from Carol Robidoux, a multimedia journalist experienced in web content management; Rosemarie Rung, who had a 25+ year career in corporate communications as a public affairs leader for companies such as United Way and YMCA; and Rick Gold, Florida Jews for a Secular Democracy Coordinator with... Read More
Ending Child Marriage in America
Child marriage is still legal in all but six U.S. states! Fraidy Reiss, the Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last (https://UnchainedAtLast.org) shares her remarkable personal journey out of forced marriage as a teenager growing up in the ultra-Orthodox community, and discusses the important legislative successes her organization has had so far in fighting this human-rights abuse. Interviewed on behalf of Jews for a Secular Democracy by Paul Golin, Executive Director of the Society... Read More
NY State Church-State Separation Issues: Hospital Transparency and Secular Education
Volunteers for the New York State cohort of Jews for a Secular Democracy welcomed guests representing two organizations: Allie Bohm, Policy Counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union (https://www.nyclu.org/), who spoke about a bill requiring hospitals to make patients aware of what procedures may be denied to them based on the hospital’s religious views; and David Golovner, Advocacy Director at YAFFED (https://yaffed.org/), who discussed access to secular education currently being denied students in dozens... Read More
Multi-Denominational Rabbis Panel on Church-State Separation
Moderated by Nomi Joyrich, Michigan Coordinator of the Jews for a Secular Democracy initiative, this in-person and online event discussed what the Jewish tradition tells us on key issues including reproductive rights and public funds to private religious schools. The panelists were Rabbi Brent Gutmann (Reform) of Temple Kol Ami, Rabbi Asher Lopatin (Modern Orthodox) of Kehillat Etz Chayim and AJC of Detroit, and Rabbi Blair Nosanwisch (Conservative) of Adat Shalom Synagogue. The event was... Read More
We Heart Equality: In Collaboration with Keshet, the Jewish LGBTQ Equality Organization
In this partnership between Keshet, the Jewish LGBTQ equality organization, and Jews for a Secular Democracy, an initiative of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, we learn why taking action for LGBTQ rights is a Jewish value, and how LGBTQ equality is a church-state separation issue. Sarah Levin and Paul Golin present on behalf of Jews for a Secular Democracy together with Jon Cohen, Keshet’s Director of Community Mobilization, and Shannon Saul, Keshet’s Community Mobilization Manager.... Read More
Rep. Jamie Raskin Accepts the Jews for a Secular Democracy Constitutional Defender Award
On December 5, 2021 in Silver Spring, MD, nearly 100 masked-and-vaxxed attendees of the “Hanukkah: A Celebration of Freedom” event — co-sponsored by Machar: The Washington Congregation for Secular Humanistic Judaism and the Society for Humanistic Judaism — gave a rousing show of appreciation for Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) as he was awarded the Constitutional Defender Award of Humanistic Judaism’s Jews for a Secular Democracy social justice initiative. He spoke eloquently of the meaning and... Read More
Abortion and the Supreme Court with Monica Miller of American Humanist Association
Recorded on November 9, 2021, Monica Miller, Legal Director and Senior Counsel at the American Humanist Association, discussed the recent Texas abortion ban, which outlaws all abortions after 6 weeks and allows citizens to sue individuals who aid or abet an abortion, and why the Supreme Court let it stand for now. Having argued in front of the Supreme Court herself, she answered questions and addressed concerns for the future of reproductive rights, and what... Read More
Christian Nationalism On The Rise: Jewish Role in Protecting Separation of Church and State
Hosted by Temple Israel in Central Florida (https://tiflorida.org/), with an introduction and contributions from the synagogue’s Rabbi Joshua Neely, this interfaith panel discussion addressed questions including: What is Christian nationalism? How does it impact our national and local politics, and the Jewish community specifically? This session unpacks all of these big questions from various perspectives and presents attendees with how their congregation can advocate for the separation of religion and government. Panelists: Rabbi Merrill Shapiro,... Read More
The 2020 Pew Survey of American Jews: Beliefs, Politics, and How They Relate
During this joint presentation from the Society for Humanistic Judaism (http://SHJ.org) and its pluralistic social justice initiative, Jews for a Secular Democracy (http://JFASD.org), Paul Golin discusses some of the key findings about rising secularity among American Jews and how it impacts their political decisions, and the relationship between secularity/liberal religion with liberal political views. One issue discussed is how the questions in the survey are particularistic to an organized Jewish communal worldview, rather than reflecting... Read More
Fighting for Church-State Separation in the Military with Mikey Weinstein of MRFF
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, founder and executive director of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), discusses the organization’s work protecting the constitutional right to religious freedom for all members of the United States Armed Forces. A 1977 Honor Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mikey was named one of the 50 most influential Jews in America by the Forward Jewish newspaper and was honored by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice with the... Read More
Understanding Fulton v. Philadelphia with Nick Little of Center for Inquiry
The Supreme Court will soon issue a decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case which will have major implications for the separation of church and state. The question at hand? Whether the City of Philadelphia can stop funding a private, faith-based foster care agency that won’t adopt out to same-sex couples, in violation of the City’s nondiscrimination regulations. Another case working its way to the Court is Maddonna v. Dept. of Health and... Read More
How Racial Justice Relates to Church-State Separation—And What is the Jewish Role?
Dr. Sabrina Dent, Senior Faith Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, discusses the role of racism in Christian nationalism, and how we in the Jewish community can help foster positive change.