U.S. President Donald Trump’s proclamation recognizing May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Month deserves the gratitude of American Jews. It honors not only the contributions Jews have made to the United States, but also the inimitable blessing America has offered the Jewish people: the freedom to live openly, proudly and faithfully as Jews.
That should never be taken for granted.
The proclamation rightly reaches back to President George Washington’s famous 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, R.I. Washington’s promise that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” remains one of the noblest statements in American history. It was not a mere courtesy to a small Jewish community. It was a declaration that in this new republic, Jews would not be tolerated as guests. They would be citizens.
For a people who had known expulsions, ghettos, forced conversions, restrictions, humiliation and violence across centuries of exile, that promise was revolutionary.
American Jews did not respond to that freedom by standing apart from the country. They helped build it. The president’s proclamation mentions Haym Salomon, the Jewish patriot who gave extraordinary support to the American Revolution. He was one of many Jews who believed that America’s cause of liberty was not someone else’s cause, but their cause, too.
Since then, Jews have served this country in uniform, built businesses, taught in its universities, healed in its hospitals, argued in its courts, enriched its culture and strengthened its civic life. America gave Jews room to breathe, and Jews helped America grow.
But the most striking part of the proclamation is its call for Americans, during this 250th anniversary year, to mark a national Shabbat of gratitude from sundown on May 15 to nightfall on May 16. That is more than a ceremonial gesture. It recognizes something profound: Shabbat is one of the Jewish people’s great gifts to civilization.
The idea that human beings are not machines, that workers are entitled to rest, that families need sacred time, that faith must interrupt commerce, that the world belongs to God and not to the marketplace—these are not modern inventions. They are rooted in the Torah and carried into history by the Jewish people.
Shabbat is not simply a “day off.” It is not merely a pleasant family meal or a religious custom preserved out of nostalgia. Shabbat is one of the foundations of Jewish life. It is a weekly declaration that God created the world—that freedom has meaning; that human dignity does not depend on productivity; and that Jewish identity must be lived, taught and transmitted.
For observant Jews, Shabbat is not symbolic. It is real. It shapes our homes, our communities and our children. It tells us when to stop. It tells us what matters. It reminds us that even in a noisy, distracted, anxious world, holiness can still enter through the front door every Friday evening.
That is why the president’s call is so timely.
We live in an America where Jews have achieved remarkable success, but also where Jewish students are harassed on campuses, synagogues require security guards, and antisemitism has returned to public life with a confidence that should alarm every decent American. The proclamation’s commitment to fighting antisemitism is welcome, and it must be matched by action at every level: in schools, universities, law enforcement, public discourse and civic leadership.
Religious liberty cannot mean only the right to pray privately. It must mean the right to live publicly as Jews without fear.
That includes the right of a Jewish student to wear a kippah on campus without being intimidated. It includes the right of a Jewish family to walk to synagogue without looking over its shoulder. It includes the right of a Jewish community to support Israel without being slandered, isolated or threatened.
For religious Zionists, these truths are inseparable. We are grateful Americans, and we are devoted to the State of Israel. Those commitments are not contradictory; they are mutually reinforcing. The same Jewish faith that teaches us to appreciate the blessings of American liberty also binds us eternally to Jerusalem, the Torah and the Land of Israel.
America’s greatness has never required Jews to abandon who we are. At its best, America has allowed Jews to become more fully who we are.
That is why this national Shabbat of gratitude should not be reduced to a slogan or a one-weekend program. It should be an invitation. Invite a neighbor to a Shabbat table. Bring a student to a synagogue. Teach a child why the candles are lit. Speak about Washington’s promise. Speak about America’s blessings. Speak about Israel’s central place in Jewish destiny. Speak, too, about the responsibility that comes with freedom.
A free society is not sustained by politics alone. It requires families, faith, memory, gratitude and moral courage. Shabbat strengthens all of them.
As America marks 250 years of independence, Jews can and should say thank you. Thank you for the freedom to worship. Thank you for the freedom to educate our children. Thank you for the freedom to build institutions, defend Israel, speak out against hatred and contribute to the life of this nation.
But our gratitude should not be passive. It should be lived.
America gave Jews the freedom to keep Shabbat. Shabbat gave Jews the strength to remain Jews. And in a time when both freedom and Jewish identity must again be defended, that may be exactly the lesson America needs.
