Here’s a true story:
It’s July 4, 1776. The ink on the Declaration of Independence is still wet. And the first thing Congress does is appoint a committee - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams - to design a national seal.
Franklin proposed a picture of Moses parting the Red Sea. Jefferson wanted the Children of Israel led through the desert by the pillar of cloud and fire.
Congress didn’t go with these designs, but the fact that they proposed them tells you something. These men were steeped in the Torah (they called it the Hebrew Bible). James Madison studied Hebrew at Princeton. Yale’s logo still has Hebrew on it today.
This summer I’m teaching a class called From Sinai to the Constitution that tells the story of how Jewish ideas shaped America’s founding, from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
You don’t need any background in Jewish studies or American history to enjoy this. You just need curiosity.
You’ll walk away knowing a story about America’s relationship with Judaism that you won’t stop telling people about.
Tuesday
7:30 P.M.
June 30th
Oviedo, FL
Led by: Rabbi Tzvi Dubov
Suggested donation: $20 per person