Events
Religion & State: America & Its Jews
Rabbi Denker weaves together ancient Jewish texts and US historical documents to tell the story of the separation of religion and government from a Judaic perspective. Rabbi Steve Denker retired after over 40 years of service to Reform congregations in the Chicago and Cleveland areas and served Temple Kol Ami, West Bloomfield as Interim Rabbi in 2022-23. He taught at several universities including Loyola and DePaul. Rabbi Denker teaches adult learning with an emphasis on... Read More
Jewish Women and Religious Freedom: Knowing & Fighting for Our Rights!
We were honored to host a transformative day of empowerment and enlightenment at the “Jewish Women and Religious Freedom: Knowing & Fighting for Our Rights!” conference, on December 3, 2023, at the Temple Beth Emet in Cooper City, Florida. This in-person gathering brought together passionate advocates, thought leaders, and inspiring voices to explore the intersection of religious freedom, personal power and public policy. Our esteemed lineup of speakers included retired Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente,... Read More
Trampling Our Rights: Jewish Women and Religious Freedom in Florida
On Tuesday, October 17th, our esteemed panel of speakers—Florida State Senator Lauren Book, Dr. Cori Baill, and Rabbi Rachael Jackson, along with our moderator, Vice Mayor Broward County and former State Senator Nan Rich— delved deep into critical issues at the intersection of religious freedom and public policy, including reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights. Step into the heart of Florida’s religious freedom battleground.
Repro Revolution Through The Ballot: How You Can Help No Matter Where You Live
What happens when We The People get to decide, democratically, whether abortion should be legal? Voting to keep abortion legal is happening in several states in the coming months. In this webinar, three panelists from three battleground states with upcoming ballot initiatives shared updates and helped us understand how to make a difference no matter where we live. Speakers were Dr. Laura Beene, Executive Director, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights; Cathy Nichols, Executive Director, Arizona... Read More
Reclaiming Real Religious Freedom: The 1st Amendment’s Significance for Jewish Women
We believe “religious freedom” as defined by the U.S. Constitution means the right for all to live free from discrimination based on religious belief or identity. Unfortunately, the term has been dangerously flipped on its head by those using it to strip freedoms from other people. Women and LGBTQ+ folks are being disproportionately targeted and, as a minority religion, Jews have a unique voice in defending the separation of religion and government. Please join us... Read More
Religious Privilege and the Freedom to Oppress: A Conversation with Author Kate Cohen
Kate Cohen is a Washington Post contributing columnist and author of “We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too),” forthcoming from Godine. She joined Paul Golin, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and lead staff of its pluralistic social justice initiative, Jews for a Secular Democracy, to discuss her journey “from pretending Jew to admitting atheist” and how it relates to her understanding of religious privilege... Read More
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