“May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants.”
When President George Washington delivered this message to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R.I., in 1790, he could hardly have predicted the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, the slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia during the 1990s or the murder of Christians in Nigeria today.
Still, he recognized that religious freedom is not just an aspiration but a promise: a promise that can be fulfilled only by remaining vigilant against the forces of hatred and bigotry wherever and whenever they rear their ugly heads.
Some 250 years after our nation’s founding, unchecked antisemitism now fuels violence and terrorism globally. We have grown accustomed to the usual playbook: more conferences, more photo-ops and an ever-growing list of NGOs claiming to finally tackle this hatred once and for all. But when we focus only on combating antisemitism, we risk defining ourselves by the hatred that targets us rather than the culture, traditions and values that unite us.
Guided by Judeo-Christian values, our founding fathers understood that religious freedom is more than just a freedom from something. They understood that faith is at the center of our nation’s shared destiny—uniting our moral purpose and fortifying our quest for justice. When they declared that all men are “endowed by their creator with … life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” they were not merely promising freedom from bigotry, hatred and intolerance. They were promising something greater: the freedom to—the freedom to live, the freedom to believe, the freedom to care.
Too often, we have forgotten the “to.” The hatred and violence against Jews over the last 250 years demanded that we coin a term known as “antisemitism,” a term defined by what it opposes. As we enter the next 250 years, let us coin a new one: “pro-Semitism,” a term defined by what it affirms.
Pro-Semitism is not just the freedom from antisemitism. It is the freedom to be Jewish: the freedom to embrace our values, the freedom to be proud of our heritage, and the freedom—when we unite—to build a world for God to spread his blessings upon us all.
On July 3, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and I hosted America’s 250th Birthday Shabbat Dinner at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Convening ambassadors, senior U.S. officials and Jewish community leaders [in partnership with the Combat Antisemitism Movement], we showed the world how we really answer hatred: not only by embracing our traditions but by sharing them with others.
To our guests, many of whom were not Jewish or may have never attended a Shabbat dinner before, we explained the significance of kippot, siddurim, candles, challah and even the weekly Torah portion.
In the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial and at tables adorned with red, white and blue, we talked about the important contributions of Jews to our nation’s 250-year legacy, remembering heroes from history like Haym Salomon and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who have left an indelible imprint on the lives of all Americans.
“Secretary Rubio has made it clear,” I told the guests. “America is not a congress. America is not a president. And America is not even a government ... America is a family.” Jews always have been and always will be a part of that family. That is the promise George Washington made to the Hebrew Congregation in 1790, and that is the promise we renew when we refuse to let antisemitism define us and choose instead to live unapologetically Jewish lives.
The Trump administration has made it clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated anywhere in America or in the world. Let us commit to helping Jewish communities around the world be proud of being Jewish. Let us teach the world about the beauty of our heritage and the vibrancy of our communities today.
And let us remind the world about the power of our many accomplishments and how we have strengthened every society of which we are a part.
